THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS— Friday, January 2,

Purely Commentary

Srere, Welt Head Four Lecturers Listed for
Hospital, Clinic Annual Midrasha Institute

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

At recent meetings of the
board of trustees of Sinai Hos-
One
of
the
Giants
of
Our
Time
Dave Brown
pital and North End Clinic,
David Abraham Brown was one of the remarkable men of Abraham Srere was re-elected
our time.
president of the hospital, and
He had courage, and it bordered on daring. He held opinions Melville S. Welt was again
on Jewish matters with which we did not necessarily agree, chosen to head the clinic during

—

but his convictions were sincere and deep-rooted.
"Do-It-Up Brown" was the headline in a Jewish periodical
when he assumed the leadership of the $14,000,000 Jewish war
relief campaign in 1921. It was the first time in history that any
group, anywhere, dared to speak in terms of so many millions
as an objective in a relief campaign. His associates were skepti-
cal over the results of such a fantastic effort. Not Dave Brown:
he was confident the money could be raised,—and it was. That's
how large-scale fund-raising began in this country.
For several years, Brown toyed with the idea of writing
his memoirs. What a pity that he did not yield to this tempta-
tion ! What he would have written would have been the juiciest
news in decades. There would have been a lot of controversy.
but it would have aired many historical detail's about American
Jews.
The complete David A. Brown story is yet to be written.
His interest in ORT, whose campaign he directed in 1935; his
association with the world's most distinguished personalities;
his devotion to his family; his skill as a conversationalist—these
and many more aspects of his life distinguished this colorful

the coming year.
Elected with Srere were Sid-

Srere

Welt

ney J. Allen, Max NI. Fisher and
Nate S. Shapero, vice-presi-
dents; Irwin I. Cohn, secretary;
and Israel Davidson, treasurer.
Assisting Welt as officers of
personality—this dedicated Jew, patriotic American, able execu- North End Clinic are Benjamin
tive and courageous leader.
E. Jaffe, vice-president; Sidney
His manifold activities have earned for him all the encomia J. Karbel, secretary; and Abe
that are now pouring into the press as tributes to his memory.
Shiffman, treasurer.

How Quickly People Are Forgotten!

Twenty years ago, when his name was fresh in the minds
of the world community, anything David A. Brown would have
done would have been front page copy.
. But only the historically-minded and the old-timers remem-
bered him when he passed away less than two weeks ago.
That's what happens in the main. People are quickly for-,
gotten. Only the select few are remembered. But even those who
make very great contributions to their generations are often
remembered only during the period of their services.
We could list a score- of names of Detroiters who stood out
in their generation, but whose names are unknown to those who
followed them.
That's the fate of man!
. "One generation
Indeed, "dor holekh, v'dor ho . . "
passeth away, and another generation cometh; and the earth
abideth forever."—(Ecclesiastes 1:4).

Lion Feuchtwanger

When his "Jud Suss" was published in German in 1925,

Lion Feuchtwanger at once was acclaimed as one of the great

novelists of our time. The following year, the book was pub-
lished under the title "Power" in an English translation. It was
based on the life and time of Joseph Suss (Jud Suss) Oppen-
heimer, the Jew who, although born in humble circumstances,
rose to become the finance minister and the virtual prime min-
ister of the Duke of Wurttemberg. Oppenheimer was born in
Heidelberg in 1692 and died in Stuttgart in 1738.
Feuchtwanger's death serves as a reminder of a number of
other very great books he had written, primarily his biographical
"Josephus," "The Ugly Duchess," and a score of other excellent
works. He was an escapee from Hitlerism, and as a naturalized
American he had helped advance the cause of democracy. His
contributions as an author were immense and he should be re-
membered for a long time through his novels and biographies.

*

*

St. John's 'Ben-Gurion': Interesting
'Journalese,' But Lacking in Stature

Robert St. John is a perfectly delightful man. He is a
socially charming person. He is an entertaining lecturer, a very
able writer, a good research man, a keen observer. He is a
wonderful friend of Israel.
He has rendered splendid services to the little State of
Israel — by speaking up in her defense, by advocating aid to
Israel, by indicating how the Jewish commonwealth already is
becoming a vital element in world affairs.
His "Tongue of the Prophets" and "Shalom Means Peace"
were genuine contributions towards an understanding of Israel
and of the development of Hebrew as the vital medium of
expression and communication in Israel.
"Ben-Gurion: The Biography of an Extraordinary Man" is
his newest work due for general release this week from the press
of Doubleday and Co.
We are less excited about this work. It does not rise to
the standards of biographical literature.
The trouble with St. John's "Ben-Gurion" is that it is en-
tirely journalese. It makes interesting reading because it includes
a compilation of every interesting anecdote about Israel's Prime
Minister, all details about happenings in Israel in the past 10
years as they relate to nation-building in which Ben-Gurion
played d major role. But the book lacks the depth that is re-
quired to indicate a study of the subject's major characteristics.
The new "Ben-Gurion" is good journalism; it is poor biography.
Compared with the previous studies of Ben-Gurion, his

background, his characteristics, his battles with friends and foes,
St. John's book falls far short of its mark.
For instance, the account given of the Knesset debate over

German reparations, and St. John's resume of the events that
were marked by street riots inspired by Menahem Beigin, is
accompanied by this brief item: Lt. Col. Neheimah Argov,
learning about the smashing of Knesset building windows dur-
ing the rioting, said: "If anything had happened to B.-G., I
would have committed s'uicide." It's an interesting item intended
to indicate the affection in which Ben-Gurion is held by his
associates, but it hardly measures up to the magnitude of the
subject St. John was dealing with. There are many more vital
facts about B-G that make him a world hero.
But that's St. John's style of writing. He makes much of
an incident like the one in which Ben-Gurion is described, at
the height of the Sinai Campaign, 'to have become concerned
that one of his secretaries had retained the name Shifra Rabin-

Rabbi Deputized for
5th Straight Christmas

WILMINGTON, N.C., (JTA)
— Rabbi Samuel Friedman of
Bnai Israel Synagogue was on
duty as a special deputy in the
sheriff's office for his fifth
Christmas in a row so that a
regular deputy could again
spend the holiday with his fam-
ily.
The rabbi said he got the
idea of offering his services
five years ago when a deputy
remarked that he wanted to
spend the holiday with his
family but had to be on duty.

Those interested in enrolling
Four distinguished scholars
will be the speakers at sessions as Midrasha Institute partiCi-
of the third annual Institute of pants should call the Midrasha
Midrasha, the College of Jewish office, DI. 1-3407, or Mrs. Schil-
Studies of the United Hebrew ler.
The Institute planning com-
Schools, to be held on four con-
secutive Wednesday evenings— mittee, under the chairmanship
of Mrs. Schiller, includes S.
Feb. 11 through March 4.
Albert Elazar, superintendent Lawrence A r o n s s o n, Robert
of the United Hebrew Schools, Kasle, Dr. Harvey Lynn, Mrs.
reported this week that 70 par- David Schachter, Philip Slomo-
ticipants have already enrolled vitz, Rabbi NI. Robert Syme and
for the Institute, and that com- Louis LaMed, chairman of the
munity-wide interest, compar- Midrasha board.
able to that shown in the last
two years' Institutes, already Mrs. B. Jones Heads
is in evidence.
Mrs. Carl Schiller, chairman Special Gift Section
of the Institute planning com-
Mrs. Eugene J. Arnfeld,
mittee, announced that the four chairman of the Women's Divi-
lecturers and their topics for sion's 1959 Allied Jewish Cam-
the planned sessions will be:
paign, announces that Mrs.
Feb. 11, Dr. Harry M. Orlin-
Benjamin
sky, professor of Bible at the
Jones will be
New York School of Hebrew
women's spe-
Union College-Jewish Institute
cial gifts chair-
of Religion, "Law—Man's Rela-
man. Mrs.
tion to Society and the World
Jones held the
Around Him —Book of Deu-
same post in
teronomy."
the 1958 cam-
paign when
Feb. 18, Prof. William Irwin,
her division
of Southern Methodist Univer-
raised $175;
sity, "Human Suffering—Man's
000. Special
Relation to Adversity—Book of
gifts division
Job."
is for women
Feb. 25, Rabbi Bernard J.
w h o contrib-
Bamberger, of New York, "Jus-
ute more than
tice and Mercy—Man's Relation
$50 but not
to His Fellow Man—Book of
more than
Amos."
Mrs. Jones p500 to the 58
March 4, Rabbi Ben-Zion Bok-
ser, Forest Hills, N.Y., "God local, national and overseas
and Man — Maimonides' "The causes the Allied Jewish Cam-
paign helps to support.
Guide to the Perplexed."

ovitch. He asked her why she
had not changed it into a He-
brew name, and she said hoped
to do so—by marriage. Ben-
Gurion wished her a nice hus-
band and a Hebrew name.
These are fine episodes, worth
recording. If St. John had writ-
ten his biography as a book for
young people whom he was out
to enlighten about Ben-Gurion
and Israel while entertaining
them, he would have been con-
sidered as performing an excel-
lent service. But as a work of
research into the life of a great
man and the nation he helped
create, St. John's work falls
short of the heights which he
had reached previously.
St. John's is not a work of
great scholarship. It reads like
a commercial undertaking: it's
the kind of a book that inevi-
tably will sell. It reads also as
if the able author were pre-
paring an entertaining lecture
—and for that purpose he pre-
pared his text in a light vein.
But Ben-Gurion lends himself
to more than light streaks.
Your Commentator can't re-
sist the temptation of compar-
ing St. John's work with that
of Israel Cohen, the venerable
British - Jewish octogenarian,
whose biography of Theodor
Herzl will be published (by
Thomas Yoseloff) in a few
days. (The full review is to
come soon). The Cohen work
is dignified. It is historic. It is
a consecutive piece of writing,
and is not interrupted by ir-
relevant news flashes — a
method pursued by St. John.
This comparison is made to
indicate another reason for
our disappointment with Rob-
ert St. John's latest effort.
But since St. John's biograph-
ical sketch of Ben-Gurion reads
so journalistically, let us offer
an advance self-defense: it won't
surprise us if he makes the best-
seller list. Other books that are
mere journalese but are lacking
those high degrees of stature
which elevate their works to
permanence and to literary alti-
tudes have made the best seller
lists. Why not this one?

Boris Smolar's

'Between You
and Me'

Copyright, 1959,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

Congressional Notes:

The 86th U. S. Congress opens with three Jewish Senators
for the first time in American history ... The three are: Senator
Jacob Javitz of New York, Senator Richard Neuberger of Oregon,
and Senator Ernest Gruening of Alaska . . . Seven other Jews
served in the Senate before them, but only one—Sen. Herbert
H. Lehman of New York—was elected by popular vote . . . The
other six were all elected by the legislatures of their respective
states . . . Until May 31, 1913—when the 17th Amendment to
the Constitution, providing for election of Senators by direct
vote of the people, became effective—Senators were chosen by
the state legislatures . . . The first Jewish member of the Senate
was David Levy Yulee, who was born in 1811 in St. Thomas,
the West Indies, and settled in Florida . . . When Florida was
admitted to the Union in 1845, he was elected one of its first
two U. S. Senators ... The second Jew to be named U. S. Senator
was Judah Philip Benjamin, who was also born in St. Thomas
in 1811 . . . He was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1852 by the
Louisiana State Legislature and was later re-elected . . . Upon
Louisiana's secession from the Union in 1861, he resigned from
the Senate . . The same year he became Secretary of War of
the Confederacy and a year later he was advanced to the office
of Secretary of State, in which capacity he served until the
collapse of the Confederacy . . . In 1878 Benjamin Franklin
Jonas, a Kentucky-born Jew, was elected Senator from Louisiana
and served from 1879 to 1885 . . . The fourth Jewish Senator
was Joseph Simon, elected in Oregon in 1898 . . . The next was
Isidor Rayner who was elected U. S. Senator by the Maryland
Legislature in 1904 . . . He was re-elected in 1910, but died in
Washington in 1912, after serving two years of a second term
. . . The last Jewish Senator to be elected by a state legislature
was Simon Guggenheim . . . He was sent to the U. S. Senate
by the Colorado Legislature in 1906 . . . Since then, there was
no Jew in the Senate until Herbert H. Lehman was elected in
1949 by popular vote.

Communal Affairs:

The Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds has

performed an extremely valuable service to the Jewish com-

munity . . . It has issued a guide on effective Jewish community
organization which no official of any Jewish group in this
country can afford to ignore . . . The mimeographed chapters of
the CJFWF handbook can easily be used as lectures for students
in any school of social work, although the material is exclusively
devoted to -Jewish community problems .. . Jewish community
agencies and institutions are guided in the CJFWF project not
only on elements of sound community organization, but also on
fund-raising techniques and on planning fund-raising drives .. .
The entire project—a kind of a correspondence course on build-
ing a successful campaign—is summarized in a paper by Isidore
Sobeloff, executive vice president of the Detroit Jewish Welfare
Federation, who brings out the point that campaigns mean
understanding people . . . He makes it clear that although the
handbook offers a rich array of techniques, the knowledge of
techniques must be related to a knowledge of causes and in-
tegrated with a knowledge and an understanding of people.

