I Victimized by Blue Laws THE JEWISH NEWS Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951 Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers. Michigan Press Association. National Editorial Association. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35. Mich.. VE. 8-9364 Subscription $5 a year. Foreign $6. Entered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1952 at Post Office, Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher CARM1 M. SLOMOVITZ SIDNEY SHMARAK Circulation Manager Advertising Manager CLOSE1) SATURDAYS FRANK SIMONS N City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, Shabbat Zakor, the ninth day -of Mar, 5718, the following Scriptural selections will be read i.n our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Tezaveh, Exodus 27:20-30:10; Deuteronomy 25:17 - 19. Prophetical .portion, I Samuel 15:2-34. Fast of Esther will be observed next Wednesday. Purim occurs next Thursday. Licht Benshen, Friday, Feb. 28, 5:38 p.m VOL. XXXII. No. 26 February 28, 1958 Page Four Iraq Can Solve Refugee Problem Only one of the Arab nations—Iraq- had refrained from signing an armistice agreement with Israel after the combined attack on Israel by the seven enemy nations. Now, Iraq holds the upper hand over her weaker partner, Jordan, with whom she became allied in a union competitive to the Egyptian-Syrian merger, and the question is being asked: will Iraq accept a major portion of the refugees in Jordan and thereby assist in solving that unhappy problem? Iraq happens to be the one Arab na- tion that is in greatest need of manpower. Underpopulated, in dire need of labor to develop the neglected land, it has been indicated time and again that Iraq could accept all the Arab refugees and put an end to that issue over-night. But Iraq also has been the most vo- ciferous in the verbal attacks on Israel. Aligned with her sister states in hatred against Israel, Iraq has refused to discuss peace and seems determined to carry on the enmity against Israel, to which she is sworn. Thus, in the midst of Arab-created conditions, in an area that is affected by Communist instigations-to-hatred on the one hand and Western fear on the other, the Middle East situation remains fright- fully beset by dangers that are becoming more aggravated by refusals of Moslem potentates to accept bids for. peace. * * * The issue involving acceptance of the refugees by Iraq was discussed realisti- cally in an editorial in the New York Times in which "Jordan's Refugees" were evaluated as follows: "The federation of Jordan and Iraq has led to renewed speculation as to whether - some of the more than half a million Arab refugees now in Jordan cannot find new homes in underpopulated Iraq. Some persons who are honestly interested in the fate of these refugees have argued that it is better to say as little as possible about this subject, in order to avoid annoyance to Cairo poli- ticians or embarrassment to the Iraqi Gov- ernment. "This position seems to us wrong. Young King Hussein of Jordan has been, in a way, a captive of the fanatically anti-Israel party in his country, and this group has relied on the pitiful situation of the Arab refugees to keep this hostility bitterly alive. Jordan has never even cooperated with the U.N. Relief and Works Agency to the extent of keeping accu- rate registration records of the refugees. "It has been estimated that Iraq could profitably take all the Arab refugees—the half million in Jordan, plus others in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria. This would add about 20 per cent to her population and probably wouldn't be socially and politically wise. She doubtless could, however, take some hundreds of thousands. This would be dis- pleasing to the Arab agitators whose ambi- tion to destroy Israel is sustained by a reser- voir of hate among the refugees. Yet if it were coupled with an offer from Israel to take back at least a token number of Arabs who once had roots in her soil it might vastly relieve the Middle Eastern tension. - "Would this hurt any legitimate interest? To ask such a question is to answer it. What the Middle East most desperately needs is peace, under which the wretchedly low living standards of millions of its people could be raised. And here is a new opportunity for everybody except the handful o: politicians whose livelihood would vanish if there were a solid Middle Eastern peace." * * * In the Spirit of Purim In a number of Israeli quarters, the mergers of Arab states were commended, with the expresssion of hope that the unions would lead to a serious considera- tion of the cultural, economic and health needs of the oppressed peoples in the countries involved. The mergers, if they are intended for the benefit of the Arab peoples, can go a long way to solve the entire Middle East issue—provided responsibility is ac- cepted by the kinsmen of the Arab refu- gees for their plight. The New York Times is correct in stating that a new opportunity awaits "everybody except the politicians" in the effort to advance peace. Unfortunately, the politicians are in the saddle. Yet, we retain hope that those who oppress the m a s s_e s of impoverished Arabs will see the light and will strive for creative solutions rather than for divisive means to keep the Middle East in a state of war. The Lesson of Purim: Israel Endureth' When we celebrate Puri m, next Thursday, we will once again reminisce about a victory over bigotry and tyranny in past ages, and we will again compare the notes of ancient times to the exper- iences of our own day. Discrimination, doomed to defeat, may flourish for a time on soil that is irri- gated in climates of want and misery. But the moment the human element triumphs over indignity and man's ability to care for himself emerges above want, bigotry is unable to survive. Purim's lesson is as valid today as it ever was. People who refuse to yield to the domination of tyrants must emerge free. Those who strive for freedom shall attain it. * * * We must keep in view, in re-evaluating the lesson of Purim, that all people's histories are marked by shadows as well as rays of sunshine. There have been many Purims on our calendar, and while the term "Purim" refers in the main to , the festival that emanated from Persia, there were so many attacks on Jewry, so many threats to our people's existence, that the pages of our history are filled with Purim episodes. We celebrate Purim in a spirit of rejoicing. It is a festival for jubilation for young and old. Throughout the ages it served us well as a reminder that per- secutors must be destroyed. This lesson remains valid to this very day. One Haman after another has been destroyed and bigotry continues to be repudiated. Those who adhere to prejudices must always await repudiation. * * * Thus, the joy of the Purim festival serves to inspire our youth especially to know that not all events in Jewish life are marked by sadness. And for our entire people, and for our neighbors, there is this Midrashic lesson in the Purim story: "Kingdoms arise and kingdoms pass away, but Israel endureth forever." . . A Vicious, Wicked Bloke By Maurice M. Shudofsky Oh, once there was a vicious, wicked bloke With heart as soft as fang, His soul was black and grimed like coke, Oh, he fell foul of a boomerang! Oh, today we'll carol like a lark And have no care or cark. And Esther, lads, she tripped him, oh! In Shushan long ago, In moror mar she dipped him, oh! Purple his phiz did grow! Oh, today we'll carol like a lark And feed him to a shark. Sweet Mordecai he sought to kill, This Haman damned and dull, But in the end he swung, this pill, What a bird-brained, Persian gull! Oh, today we'll carol like a lark And muzzle that Hamaniac bark. Now Hadassah, that's our dear Esther, Ahasuerus she did please, He embraced and lovingly caressed her, For love the King did seize. Oh, today we'll carol like a lark, For Haman missed his mark. Now Mordecai, he led the Jew Against the fearful foe, His memory we'll always strew With roses of perfumed glow. Oh, today we'll carol like a lark, And praise Israel's Monarch. And so on Purim I would advise To sing and dance _apace, For we have bagged a Satanic prize, A felon fell and base. Oh, today we'll carol like a lark And get quite shikkur stark. `Struggle Against Discrimination' Dr. Lewin's Defense of Shehita, Attack on Calendar Reform The salient arguments in defense of Shehita are incorporated in the collection of addresses delivered before committees of both Houses of the U.S. Congress by Dr. Isaac Lewin, professor of history at Yeshiva University and one of the most dis- tinguished leaders of Orthodox Jewry in America. Dr. Lewin's addresses before committees of the United Nations and the U.S. Congress on vital issues are incorporated in a volume, "In the Struggle Against Discrimination," pub- lished by Bloch. Another vital issue with which Dr. Lewin dealt in his appearances before the UN economic committee was that of calendar reform and the proposal to introduce a blank day, which would disrupt the regularity of the Sabbath. Dr. Lewin represented nearly all the major American Jewish organizations in the presentation of his appeal; against legislation that would affect Shehita. In addition to his own arguments, he has Collected and inserted in his volume the viewpoints of leading world scientists who defended the JeWish method of slaughtering cattle as being humane. Similarly, he gathered the replies of many governments to the proposals for calendar reform. Many of them expressed opposition to the plan. Thus, "In the Struggle Against Discrimination" becomes a valuable guide for . those who seek information on two,,. of the most .important, issues affecting _Jewry.