THE JEWISH NEWS
The New Frontier
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.
March Entered
3, 1879. as second class matter Aug. 6, 1942, at Post Office, Detroit, Mich., under Act of Congress of
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Circulation Manager
FRANK SIMONS
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the fourteenth day of Elul, 5718, the following Scriptural selections will be
read in 0,Ur synagogues:
Pentateuchal .portion, Ki Teze, Dent. 21:10-25:19. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 54:1-10.
Licht Benshen, Friday, August 29, 6:26 p.m.
VOL. XXXIII, No. 26
Page Four
August 29, 1958
Is Anti-Israelism Due to Anti-Semitism?
Out of the current chaotic condi-
tions in the Middle East are emerging
some disturbingly shocking proofs of
deep-rooted antagonisms that are hard
to overcome.
Traditional dislikes of Ishmael for
Isaac—of Moslems for Jews----and "the
sin of anti-Semitism," as the Pope has
branded hatred of the Jewish people,
combine to plague Israel and indirectly
to cast slurs upon the entire Jewish
people.
How else are we to explain the at-
tempts to inject anti-Israelism in every
move in the United Nations, in many of
the capitals of the world, wherever
statesmen play the game of diplomacy?
Arabs are battling Arabs for power
in the Middle East. There is also the
very serious element of extreme national-
ism in this conflict. But the contenders
for power, in their search for Arab uni-
fication, also need a s cap ego a t, and
Israel once again is the most convenient
tool for this purpose.
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There is no denying the importance
of Arab nationalist aspirations in the
present crisis. President Eisenhower and
the UN's Secretary General Dag Ham-
marskjold took o c c a s i o n, in their ad-
dresses before the UN General Assembly,
to emphasize the importance of this
nationalism, to glorify and to dignify it.
It is a nationalism that Israel must con-
tend with, that the entire world must
r e s p e c t. But it is a nationalism that
should, as other nationalisms should, be
based on constructive rather than de-
structive aspects.
In his UN General Assembly ad-
dress, Dr. Djalal Abdoh, the representa-
tive of Iran, warned that "negative na-
tionalism" would prove "injurious to
those nations which fall victim to it." Dr.
Abdoh stated in his address:
It is up to the General Assembly to fulfill
its responsibility for the maintenance of inter-
national peace and security by steadfastly
meeting the great challenge with which it is
confronted in the explosive area of the Middle
East.
In my country we wholeheartedly support
the struggle of the peoples of the Middle
East for full emancipation. We believe that
constructive nationalism is one of the most
powerful dynamic forces of our day, awaken-
ing new hopes and aspirations and stimulating
dignity and self-confidence.
If, however, rather than emphasizing the
positive ingredients of nationalism, stress is
laid on its negative ingredients, and if this
xenophobia and is exploited for expansion of
influence, to bring the smaller nations under
the hegemony of larger ones, or to satisfy
local political aims, we cannot approve such
tendencies. Such extremism, which I might
tall negative nationalism, will not only be
injurious to those nations which fall victim
to it, but history has shown that it will
_ultimately be disastrous to those who adhere
to such philosophy and practice it.
We therefore firmly believe that it is
encumbent on the responsible leaders of the
Middle East to exert their moral influence
se that the sacred sentiments towards the pro-
motion of the welfare and prosperity of the
people, as well as toward the achievement of
their legitimate political aspirations.
Within the framework of construc-
tive nationalism, Israel can and should
be a positive factor among the Afro-
Asian nations. But in the nest of nega-
tivism, she is in grave danger.
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The unfortunate injection of non-
existent Israeli aspects in the present
Arab-versus-Arab conflict has been de-
plored by a number of UN delegates. Its
shocking implications were exposed in
an article about "hindsight kibitzers" in
a column by David La w r e n c e, who
pointed out:
Sometimes it is argued by the hindsight
critics that the western allies never should
have allowed the State of Israel to be created
in the first place. This is a favorite gripe,
particularly among some people who want to
continue to do business with the Arab coun-
tries and feel that it is expedient to apologize
constantly for America's interest in Israel.
There never seems to be any inclination
to search the real estate titles in the Middle
East and to go back far enough to discover
that the people of Israel may possibly have
lived there long before the modern Arab
monarchies or colonies came into being.
World War I took most of Asia Minor away
from Turkey and enabled some new republics
and monarchies among the Arabs to start up
in business. But simultaneously Israel's right
to existence as the Palestinian homeland was
recognized in public declarations made by the
Foreign Secretary of Great Britain and by the
President of the United States.
The issue today isn't Israel, or Arabian
supremacy, or colonialism, handy as it may
be to toss slogans around that reflect the
prejudices of the interested parties. The real
issue in the world today is the same as it
was before World War I and before World
War H. It's whether a single power—an au-
thoritarian government and dictatorship —
shall threaten the peaceful life of the free
democracies or true republics of our times.
There is only one way to keep the peace
in the world. It's to build militarily a strong
alliance with Western nations that believe as
we do, to say again and again that force will
be used to secure respect for our rights, and
to mean it.
Unfortunately, there are propagan-
dists who, motivated either by prejudiced
attitudes towards Jews or by the views
that have emanated from the Beirut Uni-
versity group that has sown seeds of
hatred against Zionism, are conducting a
campaign that is detrimental to Israel.
A typical example is the letter writ-
ten to the New York Times by Prof.
Millar Burrows, the Semitist who has
been hailed as an outstanding authority
on the Dead Sea Scrolls, who asserted:
Rabbi Kirshenbaum Warns of
intermarriage Danger in
Book on the Jewish Future
Deeply stirred by the problem of intermarriage, Rabbi David
Kirshenbaum, of London, Ontario, has written a stirring plea in
an impressive book, "Mixed Marriage and the Jewish Future,"
just published by Bloch Publishing Co. of New York.
Rabbi Kirshenbaum states in his foreward that "this book
is neither a scientific nor sociological study, but a cry from one
whose house is on fire and who calls desperately for help."
"Its purpose," he declares, "is to dispel the apathy of the
Jewish public, in the hope that it may save the Jewish home
from the destructive fire of 'mixed marriage."
The author implies that Jews may be ashamed "to mention
this disease aloud," and that the issue therefore is being over-
looked, "or because the sickness has already penetrated so
deeply into the Jewish home and family."
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A decline in Jewish family living is endangering Jewish
existence, Rabbi Kirshenbaum maintains. "Because Jewish
morality, purity, ethics are found in the Jewish family, of which
our father Abraham was the founder, with characteristics dif-
ferent from those of all other peoples, Jewish family life has
remained a pillar of Jewish existence and the prime condition
of our survival and renewed vitality." he asserts.
In his deeply moving appeal against the dangers of inter-
marriage, Rabbi Kirshenbaum warns of the prospects of "spiritual
bankruptcy of the home" and emphasizes that "the continuity
of national, religious and communal Jewish life depend on wheth-
er the Jewish home can be rebuilt on these historic Jewish
foundations."
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It will not do to keep repeating that
Israel is "here to stay"; the question is what
kind of state will or can "stay." It will not
do to insist on the "territorial integrity" of
Israel, as though the armistice lines were
permanent, internationally recognized bound-
aries.
Above all, it will not do to ignore the
festering misery and bitterness of the Arab
refugees, or to suppose that they can be dis-
posed of by compulsory resettlement outside
of their native land, with token payments In
compensation for the loss of their homes.
His analysis of the problem includes a strong appeal for a
thorough Jewish education for our children. He deplores "that
the modern secular schools, Yiddishist or Hebraist, have not
raised a generation imbued with Jewish spiritual values" and
declares:
"Only a religious and national Jewish education is cap-
able of maintaining Jewish unity, and of continuing the
glorious Jewish heritage."
He points to the dangers of linking the Christmas and
Hanukah celebrations and maintains that such joint observances
"lead Jewish children to the Church, to mixed marriage, to the
ultimate extinction of the Hanukah lights, to decline of our
Jewish way of life, and finally, to annihilation of Judaism itself."
Interestingly enough, he calls the new Jewish "integration"
movement a "peril" and states that it takes the place of "assimi-
lation" in our vocabulary. He is critical of the old Haskalah as-
sumptions, condemns those who follow an "easy" Judaism pat-
tern, and calls ignorance, assimilation and mixed marriages the
roots of the basic problem facing Jewish youth. "We must teach
our youth that to be a Jew is to swim against the stream," he
states.
Dr. Burrows has rendered many dis-
services to Israel. This one is one of the
worst stabs at the little state that is striv-
ing to protect her citizens from the on-
slaught of so many enemies. Israel does
not deny responsibility to the Arab ref-
ugees. She is willing to discuss the prob-
lem as part of peace negotiations to be
conducted directly with the Arabs. But
the Arabs refuse to discuss any aspects
of peace, and attitudes such as Prof. Bur-
rows' do not contribute to peace. It is the
Arabs who deny responsibilities in issues
revolving around Israel, the refugees and
the boundaries, and we hold Dr. Burrows
and his associates responsible for the
major ills in the Middle East situation
vis-a-vis Israel.
Ancient anti-Semitic prejudices play
a role in the situation. The prejudices of
unsuccessful missionaries in the Beirut
and other schools of thought are guilty
of the incitements to war and to massacre
in the Middle East. That is why Israel re-
mains in such grave danger.
Boastfulness and deceit among Jewish women, and the price
paid for minimizing our daughters' Jewish education, is one of
the elements linked to the intermarriage dangers.
A lengthy chapter is devoted to the problem of intermar-
riages in small communities, where there are few Jews, and
the admonition of Rabbi Kirshenbaum is that Jewish agencies
should not be indifferent to the problem.
He proceeds to show the family tragedies that accompany
mixed marriages, as a result of religious and ethnic differences
and deplores debasement caused by "converts and proselytizing
rabbis,"—"converts who have accepted Judaism for personal
reasons," rabbis who perform mixed marriages and newspapers
that play up such events.
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He also points to "the tragedy of the children, resulting
from differences of religious identification, emphasizing that
"oil and water" do not mix.
The increasing assimilation, the extent of Jewish mixed
marriages which, he says, now are from 20 to 30 per cent of all
Jewish marriages, are deplored as "demolishing the fences which
have preserved Judaism until now."
The strengthening of the synagogue, the responsibilities of
rabbis, an appeal for practical Judaism through Torah and mit-
zvot which "were never a burden to the Jews" constitute his
final appeal and his warnings against intermarriage. Rabbi
Kirshenbaum's "Mixed Marriage and the Jewish Future" is the
most powerful book that has yet appeared on the subject.
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