Purely Comment

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Birth Control: Procreation in Jewish Law

A decision reached a few days ago by the New York Board
of Hospitals to provide information on birth control and on birth
control therapy temporarily has brought to an end a controversy
that has raged for several months in New York City. The vote
to abolish an unwritten ban on birth control was 8 to 2, and the
issue therefore may be revived again, especially in view of the
differences of opinion on the subject among the religious groups.
Catholics, as is well known, are strongly opposed to birth
control. Most Protestants. support it, but there is a handful
among them that adheres to the conservative interpretations
of the issue. Jews are divided—the Orthodox being as adamant
against birth control as are the–Catholics, with Conservative
and Reform favoring control of births.
The traditional Jewish position was explained back in 1930
by the well known editor of the Yiddish daily Day-Morning
Journal, B. Z. Goldberg, son-in-law of the late Sholem Aleichem.
Goldberg wrote his interpretation in a book, "The Sacred Fire:
The Story of Sex in Religion," that was published by Horace
Liveright.
"The man who destroyed his powers of procreation was
twice a murderer." Goldberg explained the Jewish traditional
viewpoint nearly 30 years ago. "Even he who was born sterile
had no place in the religious communal life. A Jew is forbidden
to castrate even an animal; he may not so much as request
a Gentile to perform the operation upon his beast. . . . The
command to live and populate the world goes beyond race and
faith. It rests upon all dwellers of the earth, whether or not
their forefathers stood at Sinai and accepted the Law."
In a direct analysis of the birth control idea, as it is faced
by Jewish law. Goldberg wrote:
"Just as it is sinful to abstain from marriage, so is it
unlawful to live childless • in the marital state. One should
not marry a woman that is too old or too young to bear
children. If a man has lived with his wife for ten years and
has had no children with her, he is obligated to divorce
her and to marry another who will bring him offspring.
Masturbation is the great horror of the pious, and the inten-
tional loss of semen is an unpardonable sin. He who wastes
his semen is a murderer. Onan, son of Judah, was slain by
the Lord for 'spilling his seed on the grotind,' in an attempt
to prevent childbirth. He gave his name to masturbation-
onanism."
Man's sexual life. Goldberg pointed out, was accorded the
high purpose in Jewish law for "the continuance of life upon
earth. It was not designed for the carnal pleasures it offers."
But there were restrictions upon such rigid interpretations
of the law and God's will also was interpreted as permitting
the joys that must accompany marital life. because "it was
to do well by His creatures that God willed the earth to be
populated . . ."
The extreme views. therefore, will not stand thorough
examination in accordance with the strictest interpretations of
the law. The ultra-orthodox represent the minority in the birth
control idea, and its opponents are a dwindling element.
*
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The Episcopal-Anglican Attitude

The attitude on birth control, as expressed recently at the
Lambeth Conference in London by 310 Episcopal and Anglican
archbishops and bishops, including 89 from the United States,
is of particular interest. The encyclical letter issued by that
conference stated:
". . . There are many lands today where population is increas-
ing so fast that the survival of young and old is threatened. . . .
In such countries population control has become a necessity.
Abortion and infanticide are to be condemned, but methods of
control, medically endorsed and morally acceptable, may help
the people of these lands so to plan family life that .shildren
may be born without a likelihood of starvation. . . ."
Bishop Stephen F. Bayne, Jr., of Olympia, Wash., headed a
Lambeth_ Conference committee to study family questions. His
committee said they reached the above conclusion "that some
form of family planning, particularly in areas of rapidly growing
population, is an urgent necessity."
Hugh Moore, of New York, president of a fund bearing
his name, formed as "a non-profit educational foundation devoted
to international affairs," followed up the decisions of the Lambeth
Conference with .a statement in which he declared:

This positive religious sanction of conception control as an
effective means of solving one of the most critical problems of our
time—overpopulation—is remarkable because not long ago the
Anglican Church opposed so-called artificial birth control as vig-
orously as the Roman Catholic Church. The Lambeth Conference
of 1920 voiced "an emphatic warning against the use of unnatural
means for the avoidance N' conception . . ." This revolutionary
change of attitude is proof of the gravity of the world population
situation.
World population is now growing by 5.400 every hour or 47,000,000
a year. A r.-umber larger than the total population of France was
added to the people living on this earth in 1957—and the rate is
accelerating. The Population Division of the United Nations esti-
mates that the present world population will more than double—
and reach six or seven billion people—in the next 40 years.
The principal reason for this unprecedented growth is that
medical discoveries and recent wide-spread advances in sanitation
have improved health and prolonged life spans in Asia, Africa and
Latin America. This has lowered death rates—without changing high
birth rates.
As a result hundreds of millions of people in the world are
hungry. A report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture finds that
population growth in the Far East is outstripping the rise in food
production. Food PER CAPITA is less than pre-war.
These millions are ill clothed and housed and generally dissatis-
fied with their lot. In their desperation they are susceptible to Com-
munist propaganda and Infiltration—and may be enticed to violent
actions by 1-..mbitious demagogues.
But improvement of living standards in underdeveloped areas
is impossible without a slow-down in population growth. Birth rates
must somehow be brought into balance with death rates.
Today the "poplili,tion bomb" threatens to create an explosion
as dangerous as the explosion of the H bomb, and with as much
influence on prospects for progress or disaster, war or peace. But
while the H bomb is only being stockpiled, the fuse of the population
bomb is already lighted and burning.

The facts enumerated by Moore are most interesting, and
the arguments in support of family planning are valid and
relevant. But the attitude on "overpopulation" is subject to
scrutiny. We doubt whether the Jewish viewpoint, even among
those who support the humane idea of birth control, can go
along on the supposition that "overpopulation" is a "burning
bomb." There are vast areas in this world that need to be
developed. There are many lands—noteworthy among them
those in the Middle East where so much hatred is being generated

Jewish Community in liedatuled China
•
Reduced by 25 Percent in a Single Year

Within one year the Jewish
community in Communist China
has decreased by about 25 per
cent, according to information
received by the World Jewish
Congress in New York.
One community organization,
in Tientsin, has ceased to func-
tion, although a small number
of Jews still remain in that
city.
A report from the Council of
the Jewish Community in
Shanghai puts the total number
of Jews in China registered with
the Council at 294 as of June 30.
Exactly one year ago the total
was 397. The new report states
that there are 84 Jews in
Shanghai, 32 in Tientsin and 178
in Harbin.
Comparative 1957 figures for
these three centers were: 109,
55 and 229. Last year four Jews
were listed as living in Dalny
and Mukden. There is no ref-
erence to these towns in the
1958 survey.
In Tientsin, which once had a
Jewish population of 2,000, the
local Hebrew Association has
ceased to function after more
than 50 years of activity. The
gradual diminution of the corn-

munity made the liquidation of
the Association necessary and
steps in this direction were
initiated late in 1957.
The furniture, fixtures and
other items belonging to the
Association were sold at public
auction, and civil authorities
were notified of the Associa-
tion's intention to close. The
one remaining Sefer. Torah was
transferred to Israel, the ar-
chives placed in the offices of
the Shanghai Council for safe
keeping, and in January of this
year, the Tientsin community's
central body was totally liqui-
dated.
The welfare of Jews remain-
ing in Tientsin is now the re-
sponsibility of the Shanghai
Jewish Council. This body finds
itself increasingly concerned
with the plight of its own dwin-
dling community, almost 25 per
cent of whom have to be sup-
plied with free meals.
A shelter house and a camp
provide accommodation for
about 20 needy members of the
community. More than 50 per
cent of the Jews of Shanghai
receive medical care at the ex-
pense of the Council. In addi-

tion, the Council ensures He-
brew education for the eight or
nine children of school age.
Despite their depleted num-
bers, the Shanghai Community
notes "encouraging" attend-
ances at its sabbath and holiday
services. As in preceding years,
the report received by the WJC
notes, matzos were baked locally
and- distributed free of charge
to all needy Jews in the city on
Passover.
Chinese authorities recently
informed the Jewish- Council in
Shanghai that no further burials
should be made in any of the
four existing Jewish cemeteries.
This was followed by allocation
to the Council of a separate
plot in the public cemetery and
by a request that the Wei Ming
Lu Cemetery, established in
1917, and the Hwang pe Lu
Cemetery, established in 1862,
be removed to new sites outside
the city. Between them the two
cemeteries house 2,000 graves.
A similar request was made
of the Tientsin community in
1956 and, by November 1957, 559
graves had been removed to a
new site.

USSR. Believed to Be Sensitive to Criticism
of Its Anti-Jewish Policies by World Jewry

NEW YORK, (JTA)—Ameri-
can Jewish organizations who
keep watch on developments in
the Soviet Union with regard
to Jews asserted Tuesday that
there are indications that the
Moscow government is sensitive
to exposures abroad of Soviet
anti-Semitism.
In an analysis issued here,
they expressed the hope that
"continued exposure may yet
bring amelioration" in Mos-
cow's policy of suppressing Jew-
ish culture and communial life.
The analysis claims that there
are indications that the Soviet
Foreign Office has established
a special "counter propaganda"
bureau on the Jewish question.
The functions of the bureau
are: 1. To persuade public
opinion abroad that there exist
Jewish communal and cultural
activities in the USSR and 2.
To persuade Soviet Jews that
their "true motherland" is the
USSR, and that life in Israel is
"a hell on earth," the analysis
says. The bureau is believed to
be feeding overseas Communist
publications dispatches from
Moscow reporting in detail Yid-
dish concerts. It also dissemin-
ates articles and broadcasts on
Birobidjan.
Parallel propaganda within
the USSR — especially in the
provincial press and in the mass
circulation evening papers in
the central cities—seeks to dis-
courage pro-Israel sympathy

against Israel, especially against
the latter's principle of unlim-
ited welcome to immigrants
from countries of oppression—
that need to be irrigated and
made productive.
It has been the Jewish argu-
ment for many years that vast
areas in many portions of the
globe — including the United
States and Canada—can be made
habitable for many millions of
additional settlers. The oppor-
tunities now offered by Alaska
offer proof for such an argu-
ment.
And so, while birth control
is a valid cause and should
be encouraged where problems
of health and economics enter
in, we find it difficult to accept
the argument of "overpopula-
tion."
In any event, the subject of
birth control should be dis-
cussed on a very high level. The
Episcopal - Anglican viewpoint
assists in such a realistic and
normal discussion.

among Soviet Jews by impugn-
ing conditions of life in Israel,
the analysis establishes. This
propaganda apparently has fail-
ed, and the Soviet government
decided to adopt a new method:
it sent 12 Jewish "tourists" to
Israel, chosen from among resi-
dents of large Jewish popula-

I

1

tion centers (Moscow, Lenin-
grad, Kiev, Odessa, Minsk)
whose evident assignment was
to bear "eye witness" testti-
mony on the bad climate and
"repressive" government in
Israel. Articles by some of
these "tourists" have already
appeared in the Soviet press.

,

Boris Smolar's

'Between You
... and Me'

(Copyright, 1958,

Personality Profile

Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

Meet Samuel Rubin—American Jewish leader about whom
you will be hearing quite a lot in the coming season of Jewish
activities . . . Rubin is one of the major contributors to the
United Jewish Appeal—he gave the largest contribution of
$250,000, to the UJA Emergency Drive—and is generously con-
tributing to various causes in Israel and to Jewish and non-Jewish
causes in this country . . . But his great love is culture . • . He
thinks that Israel has great chances to sell itself to the world
by achievement in culture and science . . . Not only the Arab
countries but also countries lying farther afield than the Middle
East will benefit from these developments in Israel, he believes.
. . . That is why he became president of the American-Israel
Cultural Foundation . . . That is also why he contributed $300,000
to Israel's first Academy Award of Music . . . That is why he
established a Middle East Scholarship Fund to enable talented
Arab students to study in Israel . . . That is why he financed
the creation of cultural centers in outlying border settlements
in Israel and instituted a cultural exchange program to bring
to the United States Israeli artists . . . He has seen to it that the
American-Israel Cultural Foundation makes available 100 scholar-
ships worth $2,000 each to Arab, Israel, Greek, Indian and Bur-
mese students to pursue their studies in art . . . Rubin believes
that the peoples of the world have only one common language—
the language of arts and sciences . . . Through inter-cultural
relations he sees the brotherhood of man beoming a reality .
Also the brotherhood between Arab and Israeli.
Rubin, who is president of one of the leading perfume manu-
facturing firms, sees no imminent danger of war . . . He belongs
to the camp of the optimists who cancel out the possibility of a
new war, because of the catastrophe it would bring to the world.
. .. He thinks that intercultural relations help pave the way to
peace and understanding among peoples separated by national
borders and linguistic, cultural and economic barriers . . . An
example is the performance of Inbal, the Yemenite troupe which
captured American audiences and the appearances of the Israeli
Philharmonic Orchestra in a number of American cities . . . And
the concerts given in the U.S. by 15-year-old Israeli prodigy
pianist Daniel Barenboim . .. Each of them created more good-
will for Israel.
Inbal has just been invited by the Japanese government to
come to Tokyo—at the government's expense—and perform
before Japanese audiences.
As president of American-Israel Cultural Foundation, for-
merly the American Fund for Israel Institutions, Rubin is making
it his ambition to pursue cultural exchanges between Israel and
other nations . . He points out that his organization started
the cultural exchange idea long before the United Sates scored
such a success in Moscow with Van Cliburn, the pianist . .. He
believes the success enjoyed in this country by Israeli artists
has reflected not only upon Israel, but also upon the Jews in the

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