Friday, March 28, 1958—THE DETRO IT JEWISH NEWS-2

Purely Commentary:

Publication Society's
70th Anniversary . . .
Catholic Woman's Re-
port on Israel

By Philip Judaism, Christianity
Slomovitz Not in Competition,

be able to prove to them that there is something more to Israel—
'Put Off Thy Shoes'—an Irish Catholic
and to Zionism: the humanitarian aspect of seeking freedom and
Woman's View of Israel and Jordan
an end to homelessness within a cramped area that is mostly
Two non-Jewish women described their experiences in the desert. One wonder may inspire another: we. are giving the
Middle East in two interesting books.
Judaism Council the benefit of doubt as to the chances of its
We have already reviewed the interesting volume by Mary members repudiating hatred and supporting the humanitarianism
Clawson, "Letters from Jerusalem," (an Abelard-Schuman publi- inherent in Israel and Zionism.
cation), which was appropriately sub-titled "a non-Jewish woman's
Seventieth Anniversary of Jewish Publication Society
love affair with Israel."
The other book, "Put OR Thy Shoes," by Elizabeth Hamilton, of America': A Call for 100,000 Members
published by Charles Scribner's Sons (597 5th, N.Y. 17), sub-
American Jewry will mark a very important anniversary on
titled "A Journey Through Palestine," is a travelogue, describing June 7. It will be the 70th birthday of the Jewish Publication
the author's visits in'Israel and in Jordan. It is a fair appraisal Society of America, and it should serve as an occasion to inspire
by an able observer and adds to the vast experiences now being increased interest in this publishing venture.
accumulated by travelers through the Middle East.
The JPS program must be viewed as the book publishing
Miss Hamilton's title is derived from the Bible and from this project of the entire American Jewish community. It is a
quotation from "A Treatise on the Holy Land" written for his non-profit venture that undertakes to print the most acceptable
sister by Friar Francesco Suriano in the year 1485: "It is called books of Jewish interest by our ablest writers and keeps in
Holy Land, firstly, for .having been so named by God, in the print the outstanding Jewish classics.
book of Exodus, the second Chapter, when He says to Moses:
This society has pioneered in many field's. It sponsored
Tut off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou
the first authorized translation of our Scriptures into English a
standest is holy ground.' "
Miss Hamilton, a deeply religious Catholic who was born generation ago and now is sponsoring a revised Bible translation,
in Ireland and who now lives in London where she teaches Latin outstanding scholars being engaged in this important task.
It introduced to the English-speaking communities the works
and Greek at Sacred Heart Convent, makes a valuable record
of her travels. She has caught the spirit of the new State of of Israel Zangwill and published, in an English translation,
Israel as a result of her travels through the length and breadth Heinrich Graetz's "History of the Jews."
of the country. She reports her observations and states facts—
It has published, and continues to issue, books on Jewish
about Mea Shearim equally objectively as she does about the - history, sociology and philosophy. It is, indeed, the backbone of
Jewish publishing efforts in this country.
kibutzim. -
The contrasts come into full view. An American who toured
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the orthodox section of Jerusalem thought that the Mea Shearim
The latest JPS venture is the publishing, together with
ways will vanish in 20 years, but an Israeli Jew countered with: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, of a series of children's books, to be
"'tradition is strong," and asked for patience in judging the known as the Covenant Books. We wish especially to commend
Israel melting pot.
this venture which seeks to instruct and inspire our youth with
In the course of her descriptionS, Miss Hathilton introduces stories about outstanding Jewish personalities in America.
historic explanations of sites and events, and the reader gets an
The first two books in this series, "Silversmith of Old New
excellent understanding of the background of Israel's de- York: Myer Myers", by William Wise, and "Border Hawk: August
velopment.
Bondi," by Lloyd Alexander, deserve commendation at the very
The "dignity and calm" of Jerusalem as contrasted with the outset. Under the imprint of the Jewish Publication Society
'all rush and bustle" of Tel Aviv emerge in an interesting light and Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, these Covenant Books delineate
from this Catholic woman's observations. The especially valuable the lives of two charming personalities.
observation occurs when Miss Hamilton contrasts Israel and
Myer. Myers, son of Dutch Jews who settled in New York
Jordan, the Old and the New Cities of Jerusalem, upon her
at the beginning of the 18th century, became a great silversmith.
arrival in the Old City, -after her tour of Israel.
"It was not only the frontier and a welter of red tape that He became a leader in the first Jewish congregation in New
separated the countries," Miss Hamilton writes. "In going through York, Shearith Israel, and he took a deep interest in Jewish
the Mandelbaum Gate,. I had passed from one world into another: activities. His Jewish ceremonial objects, his love for his art
from the west into the east. And, yet, this is an over-simplifica- as a silversmith, his experiences with the British during the
ttion, for there is much of the east in Israel, and in Jordan more Revolutionary War, are- eloquently described in this charming
of the west than her detractors will allow for. I am thinking of story.
Similarly, the story of August Bondi will enchant the 'reader.
the good things that the west has brought; medical knowledge,
democratic ideas, a better attitude towards women . . . Israel is It is a tale about a young Jewish boy who fought on the Vienna
impatient of her eastern character: her eyes and her ambitions barricades in 1848, came to the U. S. and became a leading
are set on the west. Jordan, on the other hand, lives in the tradi- opponent of slavery, having been shocked, by the activities on
tion of her past and that is of the east. Jordan is still a country of the New Orleans slave market. Bondi became an outstanding
the camel and the desert-roaming Bedouin. In Israel these have citizen and community leader in Salina, Kansas. Not only his
adopted country, but his birthplace as well—Vienna—recognized
become an anachronism."
The clocks in Jordan were an hour behind, "Summer Time" his genius, and he was honored in Austria on a return visit there
not being observed there, when Miss Hamilton arrived. "In towards the end of the last century.
These two stories are for children who will be enlightened
Israel," the British writer observes, "there had been unceasing
activity, hurry and scurry. Now, I could sit back and reflect. The by knowledge about outstanding Jews in this country. By the
things I wanted to see had been in existence a long, long time. same token, they will inspire the parents who will read these
books with their children • as well as the youths, and will throw
There would still be there tomorrow."
The "impatient" in Israel would surely reply that time does light on interesting chapters in our history_
*
not stand still for them, that there are too many obstacles in their
The joint. effort of publishing such volumes is so commend-
path, that they can't wait. Nevertheless, Miss Hamilton's views are
valuable and are worth taking into account. She proceeds to make able that we link it with the over-all 70-year history of the Jewish
Publication Society, as an interesting development in the society's
these observations:
"Israel had become far away, and yet was very near. Despite 70th year. The fact that it joined forces with so enterprising
a line of partition, Jew and Arab are linked one to another like a publishing house as Farrar, Straus & Cudahy in the Covenant
unwilling oxen harnessed to the same yoke. Try as they will, each Books project lends added importance to its leaders' vision.
The Farrar, Straus and Cudahy group was recently analyzed
cannot ignore, cannot forget, the other. And they try hard enough
—especially the Arab who believes that the best way to be rid in the Trade Winds column in Saturday Review, by John G.
of something unpleasant is to behave as if it did not exist! But Fuller, who pointed out:
"This yeasty house (Farrar, Straus and Cudahy) is now only
nostalgia and curiosity are too strong. As in Israel, for all its
western character, I met Jews who looked with longing at the in its twelfth year, but already has an imposing list of authors
Old City and questioned each traveler who arrived from Jordan, developed under the overall guidance of John Farrar, chairman
so now I found myself asked by the Arabs: 'How is it over there? of the Board, Sheila Cudahy, vice-president and secretary, and
How are the Jews doing?' Or they would want to know about Robert Giroux, vice-president and editor in chief."
"Farrar, Straus and Cudahy owes a lot of its energy to its
their own people living under Israeli rule . . . Sometimes, bitter-
ness was forgotten. It was not unheard of for a Jew and an Arab fireball president, Roger W. Straus, Jr. He is direct, outspoken,
to exchange cigarettes over the barricade, though the next day dynamic.
" 'We started the company on a capitalization of $300,000,'
they might be shooting at each other .,."
Miss Hamilton proceeded to see the holy places across the he said. 'And we lived on raw nerve for awhile. You couldn't
Jordan, the historic sites in Jordanian territory. Out of her do the same thing today for less than a million. But we've been
combined tour has emerged a picture of the Holy Land well worth in the black for eight out of our twelve years—and this year our
studying. Her book is enlightening, her approach reveals fair- volume will be about a million and a half. About a third of this
mindedness. "Put Off Thy Shoes" was written by a spiritually will come in from our back-list books—which is the life blood
inspired woman. It is a book that will be found to be very merito- of many publishers.
`I believe in pushing the subsidiary rights of every book
rious by Jews, Christians and Arabs alike.
we publish, and I get pretty unpopular because I hold out for
Council for Judaism Finds a 'Second Obstacle'
everything I can get for the author. I hate like the devil to see
Wonders will never cease! The Council for Judasim, having authors starve between books, and publishers would get better
unburdened itself of all the venom kinsmen can spout at their results if half their novelists didn't have to teach school in East
kinsmen, at the convention in Houston last week, attacked "ex- Overshoe, Arkansas, to keep alive'."
pansionist Zionism" as the major obstacle to peace in the Middle
More power to this type of enterprising publishers.
East but then proceeded to say that the refusal of the Arab nations
to recognize "the political facts of the State of Israel" is a
To return to the Jewish Publication Society:
second obstacle to that peace.
The 70th anniversary of this very constructive organization
There is no sense debating with bigots—especially when it deserves a great deal of attention from all of us.
is kinsmen • hating kinsmen—about "expansionism"—which is a
The event will be truly great if a large number of American
term that was invented and substituted for Zionism by Arabs and Jews, who are now unaffiliated with it,. will become . members.
this anti-Jewish, anti-American Council. When a group of Ameri-
There is a lot of talk about the need for advancing American
cans meet to discuss the Middle East and sees a mythical "expan- Jewry's cultural status. One way of doing it is to encourage peo-
sionist Zionism" while failing to recognize that their prophet, ple to read. At this time, the Jewish Publication Society has
Gamal Abdel Nasser, is now in an "expansionist" process of his only 10,000 members. The 5,500,000 Jews who form the American
own, it is useless to try to reason with them.
Jewish community should provide at least 100,000 readers of
But when this so-called Jewish Council makes the concession JPS books. This may sound like a fantastic figure—since we
of admitting that the Arabs are an obstacle to peace, it means are starting with the small number of 10,000—but if we are to
that the conscience of these Jews who are inciting to hatred of rise to higher planes that should be our goal.
This is an objective for the seventieth anniversary year of
Israel and Jewry is beginning to bother them. That's a good sign.
Their next move may be to recognize the reality of the danger: the Jewish Publication Society of America.. Will our communi-
the Arabs' first-place-role as peace obstructionists; then we may ties respond to such a need?

Symposium Asserts

That "there is no competitive
rivalry between Christianity and
Judaism" was one of many
points brought out at a sympos-
ium on "Judaism and Christian-
ity at the Parting of the Ways"
under the auspices of the New
York Extension Division of
Dropsie College for Hebrew
and Cognate Learning, Phila-
delphia, held in the Assembly
Hall of Temple Emanu-El, New
York.
Dr. Julius Mark, senior rabbi
of Temple Emanu-El, was chair-
man, and Dr. Abraham A. Neu-
man, president of Dropsie Col-
lege, was moderator.
The main theme of the sym-
posium was the historical back-
ground of the separation of
Christianity from Judaism. The
discussants were Dr. Morton S.
Enslin, professor of Biblical
languages and literature, St.
Lawrence University, Canton,
N. Y.; Dr. Abba Hillel Silver,
Cleveland, and Dr. Solomon
Zeitlin, professor of rabbinic
literature at Dropsie College.
Among the points made were
that Christianity made the He-
brew Bible a universal hook by
accepting it as a part of its Bi-
ble, and by reason of the fact
that Christians based their
claim on the Hebrew Bible that
Jesus was the Messiah; that
Jesus, all the Apostles and Paul
were Jews; that Christianity is
the child of Judaism and the
church is the daughter of the
synagogue; that there was noth-
ing in the message of Jesus
which was responsible for the
separation of Christianity from
Judaism.
"Christianity a n d Judaism
are based on different systems
of thought, each having its own
texture and pattern, and each
faith its own perspective," said
Rabbi Silver.
"These differences should not
obscure the underlying unity of
the human race nor the common
needs of human life which all
the great religions of mankind
aim to serve, or the urgency
for their close cooperation to
achieve their common purpose."
"In its earliest years Christi-
anity consisted mostly of Jews,"
said Dr. Zeitlin. "If it were not
for the Christians the Old Tes-
tament would have remained
the sacred book of a small body
of men. Christianity and Juda-
ism cannot be united, but they
can and must work together
for the betterment of human-
ity."
"The real founder of Christi-
anity was Paul, who at first was
the persecutor of the Christians,
and then became their cham-
pion," said Dr. Enslin. "When
men feel intensely the need of
communion with God they dif-
fer most as to the means of at-
taining it. Thus to me it ap-
pears obvious that a living
church must of necessity be a
divided one."

Rosenzweig. Given
Shevitz's FEPC Post

Louis Rosenzweig, a Bnai
Brith and Jewish community
leader, was named by Governor
G. Mennen Williams to succeed
Sidney Shevitz as a member of
the State Fair Employment
Practices Commission.
Shevitz resigned from the
FEPC after serving as its presi-
dent since the commission's
creation four years ago.
Rosenzweig, 56, a practicing
attorney here since 1924, is a
former president of Greater De-
troit Bnai Brith Council and
was an adviser to the Michigan
Committee on Civil Rights.

