Purely Commentary

The Immensity of Our
Democracy . . . The Myth
of 'Jewish Unity'

By Philip

Slomovitz

honors are deserved, we do not begrudge them. Only when we
We can't pass up this item without calling the attention show enough courage to transform some of our • fund-raising
of our readers to this historic photograph and to the glorious tactics into more dignified performances will there be justifica-
tion for criticism of testimonials.
story it narrates in behalf of democracy.
A more damaging element is contained in an evaluation
of a young American Jew and his lack of knowledge of Israeli
affairs, in an article by Ephraim Kishon, entitled "Meeting
the Automatic Gear," in a recent issue of "World Jewry," a
monthly review published in London by the World Jewish
Congress. The Atherican Jewish youth delineated here is
portrayed as being primarily concerned with the automatic
gear in his 1958 Ford. Here is a portion of the conversation
with a chap "whom (Kishon writes) I shall call Abraham,
after Abraham Lincoln, sitting behind the wheel of a flashy
car, a 1958 Ford with automatic gear and radio."

'Warning Up': The Immensity of Democracy

•

Abraham saw that I was weary and bewildered and offered me
a lift home. It often happens in the States that people offer you a
lift, particularly if the driver happens to work for his uncle and the
uncle tells him to take you home.
Abraham is a typical young American Jew . . . an intelligent
and industrious fellow, full of self-confidence, a first-class salesmen
who already had rises in salary and commission, married, father
of a son aged 19 . .
We drove a few blocks when Abraham turned towards me:
"Are you a Jew?"
"Yes, I'm from Israel."
"But are you a Jew?"
"I told you I come from Israel."
"Only Jews live in Palestine?"
"Not -Palestine, Israel."
"They always said Palestine in my schciol."
"Haven't you heard that meanwhile there is a Jewish State?"
"I heard. But unfortunately I can't read the papers regularly."
"Aren't you curious about Israel?"
"Why shouldn't I be curious? I was born here and I feel 0. K.
I've got everything, a good job, a house with garden, electric kitchen
and my Ford 1958 with automatic gear and radio. What else do
I want?"

Between
You & Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1959, JTA, Inc.)

Domestic Affairs:

The American Jewish Com-
mittee is now determined to
brand as "headline hunters"
those Jewish organizations
which try to cash in on the vio-
lence in the South by rushing

to the press and radio for pub-
licity. . . . In a policy statement,
AJC terms as "questionable"
the method used by some Jew-
ish groups seeking publicity for

themselves every time a Jewish
building in the South is dam-
aged by hoodlums . . . In the
opinion of the American Jewish
Committee, information on per-
petrators of crimes of violence
should be turned over to the
proper local, State or Federal
authorities who have the re-

sponsibility and the where-
withal to deal with suspects and
criminals. . . . AJC points out
that this procedure merely par-
allels any other similar situa,
the
heading
"Warming
Up,"
United
Press
Inter-
Under •
lion where individuals or groups
The
author
of
this
supposedly
humorous
piece
continues
in
national has released this photograph with this story, as of
have information on criminal
this
vein
and
treats
us
to
this
additional
nonsense?
Dec. 27, 1958:
acts. . . . "They normally do
"Tell me, Abraham, are you a Jew?"
"An unidentified man, sitting next to former President
"Sure. My old man is the beadle in the Shul. Ma, too, is active
not go to the nearest newspaper
in some kind of Jewish society. They light the candles every Friday
Harry S. Truman, seems to be more interested in food and
or TV station," AJC sarcastic-
night."
drink at the moment in a Madison Avenue drug store in
"How come then that the war which your brethren are waging
ally remarks. . . . AJC also con-
New York. The weather was brisk as the former Chief
for their very survival leaves you so cold?"
3iders it harmful when Jewish
Abraham
blinked
with
embarrassment.
Executive took his usual - morning walk. He invited newsmen
"That's not true. We just never fought in that sector. We had
organizations dignify inflamma-
and photographers in the store for coffee. The counterman
enough with Korea."
tory canards of bigots with
"But at least you kept your fingers crossed for the Jews, no?"
Truman."
f
ood
from
Mr.
-
refused to accept payment for the
:easonable attempts to answer
"Look, I was born here. I'm all right. I can get everything I

This photograph — and accompanying story — are the
greatest testaments to our democracy. A past President, one
of the most important figures in the world, - a man of chal-
lenge and charm, invites reporters to warm up with him over

a cup of coffee. But the chap seated next to the former
President doesn't even blink an eye!
The security of it all, the charm inherent in this -tale, the
libertarian glOry embedded in this episode strengthen our faith
in democratic ideals. . • - -
Can you imagine Khrushchev in a similar. position? We are
not speaking of a former Russian official — all ex-Communist
leaders appear to be destined either for Siberia or the firing
squad.
The Truman episode creates a warm feeling. It also calls
for reaffirmation of faith in democracy which is always subject
to threat. In the words of the late Mr. Justice . Louis D.
Brandeis (in a letter he wrote on Feb. 25, 1922): "Democracy
. . . substitutes self-restraint for external restraint. It is more
difficult to maintain than to achieve."

The Myth of Jewish Unity

Jews are often referred to as being united as a people.
Some of our friends use the term as a compliment. Anti-
Semites apply it to us as if we were a closely-knit clique that
stands firm in a sort of conspiracy against the world.
Whichever way the term "Jewish unity" is used, it is a
myth. All we need to do to prove it is to indicate some of
the internal wrangling that goes on. in Jewish ranks in this

very day. We are not even referring to the party differences
that have created friction among Israelis, or the conflicts over
certain policies that are always in evidence in the ranks of
American Jewry.
We mean, specifically, the wrangling within and among
Jewish communities.
There have been frictions among American and Israeli
Jewries, which should be cooperating so amicably.
In Tel Aviv, last week, Moshe Sharett, the former Israeli
Prime Minister, speaking at a Mapai meeting on his experi-
ences during his December visit in the United States, deplored
the negative criticisms of American Jewish life by Israelis.
Sharett pleaded for emphasis on the positive aspects of Ameri-
can Jewish life by setting his fellow countryment straight on
certain matters, especially by pointing out to them that Ameri-
can. Jewish life is not shaken by an occasional dynamiting of
a synagogue.
- Israelis are not the only ones who have on occasions
spoken disparagingly of Jewish life in America. In recent
weeks we were treated to fantastic reports of Jewish attitudes
in this country by British Jews. For instance, J. M. Shaftesley,
the former editor of the London Jewish Chronicle, describing
a visit at a Labor Zionist rally in Manhattan, went into great
detail to relate how speaker after speaker at that meeting
monopolized a great deal of time, depriving him of the
opportunity of listening - to the guest speaker, Mayor Abba
Hushi of Haifa, because his patience was exhausted and he left
before the guest attraction was introduced. There is nothing
new -in such an experience, and the overbearing meetings, with
many speakers and entertainers, are not limited to American
Jews. Note, for example, the heading over a letter in a very
recent issue of the Southern. African Jewish Times: "Are There
Too Many Speeches at Communal Functions?"
We suspect that the criticisms implied in Shaftesley's
article are as applicable to British Jewry as they are to us. We
have a lot to learn in program planning. We have tried many
times to point to the need for proper programming, and we
hope that, in the course of time, there will be improvements.
But when a guest comes to our shores and finds only negative
aspects in our life, he renders us a disservice. We are not as

want on the installment plan. What more do I want?"
"Nothing."
"But, I'm not all that indifferent. I am positively against
Nasser, because he is a Communist."
"Is that all?"
"I don't eat on Yom Kippur because of my father . . . I got
Palestine stamps . . "
"Would you like to visit Israel?"
"Sure. I certainly want to get to Europe once. I like traveling.
Was in Chicago last summer. I'd like to see Monte Carlo."
"You don't see any difference between Israel and Monte Carlo?"
"Look, I feel all right here, I am happy here. Anything I
haven't got here?"
"Color TV."
"That's true," and he blushed; "that's still very expensive, but
I'll surprise my wife with it for Christmas."
The Ford slid to a stop outside my place without any need to
change the gear (that's automatic for you!).
"Well," said Abraham, "now that you are going to stay here
I hope to see more of you."
"Sorry, I'm soon going back to Israel."
Abraham's eyes opened wide with astonishment:
"What. you really going back to Palestine? Isn't it better here?"
"It's not so simple. True, it is very nice here. I won't deny
that emotionally I'm strongly attached to America, my heart will
always yearn to return. But you have to understand: I went to
Israel only a few years ago without a single cent, and today I have
my own house with a garden, a refrigerator, a washing-machine, a
radiogram and a car. You know, when one gets used to this great
material confort, it is difficult to get out of the habit . . ."

Thus, after numerous references to Abraham's "1958 Ford
—with automatic gear and radio," Ephraim Kishon, who is des-
cribed by the magazine as being an "Israeli humorist," paints
a fantastic picture of an American Jew — and too many may
be left with the impression that he had portrayed the American

young Jew.
There may be some such Jews, but they are not the

American Jews; else, the UJA would not have been such a
success, Hadassah could not have succeeded, JNF would have
been a flop, Israeli literature, which is read by many in this
country, would not have had the response it receives, from
those who are interested in Israel, her culture, her people,
her advancement.
If we were wont to find fault, we could locate a few Israelis
as subjects for criticism and ridicule. For instance: in his new
book, "Children of the Kibbutz," published by Harvard Univer-
sity Press, (a review of the book will appear in a later issue),
Melford E. Spiro maintains, on the basis of a year's study of
kibbutzim in Israel, that the sabras "harbor few positive feel-
ings for Judaism. They are not merely indifferent to Judaism
but hostile to it. Their reluctance to read Jewish literature,
to study Jewish history, to listen to Jewish music . . . is based
on more than intellectual disagreement or aesthetic dissatisfac-
tion. For if the music is labelled 'Russian' rather than 'Jewish,'
they admire it. And Sholom Aleichem and Mendels are 'boring,'
not because they are inferior writers, but because they write
of the narrow and superstitious shtetl . . ."
So, we all have our faults. But we accomplish very little—
if we can ever accomplish anything at all — by one. Jewry
sniping at another.
If it is true, as Jon Kimche, editor of the London Jewish
Observer and Middle East Review, said, in London, upon his
return from the United States, that in the course of time only
half a million of the five million American Jews will be left
in the hard-core category of Jewish loyalists, then all of us
must think in terms of strengthening Jewish idealism. Assimil-
lation is not a trait that is limited to American Jewry, just as
intermarriage is not the specific problem of the American
Jewish community alone.
Kishon's article, from which we quoted at length for the
purpose of indicating the myopic viewpoints of a would-be
humorist, is not so funny. It is a libel on all Jewry, because
the youth (?) whom he had singled out for ridicule is not
representative of the Jewish people anywhere.
And since there is much truth in the admonition of John
Kimche, it is our contention that unless we plan together,
bad as we have been portrayed. We are not even that evil in we'll fall together.
No, dear friends, there is no such thing as Jewish unity.
the encomia we resort to at so many testimonial functions.
The latter have been used as much to secure funds for im- It's a myth. But in the interest of survival, it had better be

portant causes as they have to hand out honors. When the

turned into a reality. I,.

'heir charges. . . . It emphasizes
that the U.S. Government found
?vidence to this effect during

World War II when the Office
of War Information initiated
"rumor clinics" to counteract
enemy propaganda. . . Since
the rumors were invariably
more sensational than the an-

swers, the former were remem-
bered and circulated, the an-
swers frequently forgotten. .. .

The "clinics" were thereupon
abandoned.

* *

Communal Issues:
Jewish communities through-
out the country are now seeking

ways and means to make the
United Jewish Appeal leaders
more happy with regard to the

share which UJA is to receive
from the fund-raising campaigns

conducted by local Jewish Fed-
erations and Welfare Funds...
UJA has been unhappy because,
since 1948, it has received pro-
gressively less money from the
Federations, and a lesser pro-
portion of the total welfare
fund. . . . This unhappiness was
alleviated in 1956 and 1957;
however, it was resumed in
1958, when the Federations
raised more money than- in 1956,
but UJA received about 10 per-
cent less. . . . The first commu-
nity to formulate a new policy
for 1959 to be satisfactory to
both the UJA and the local
drive is the Detroit community.
. . . The Detroit formula is that,
as partners in the local fund-
raising campaign, all local, na-
tional and overseas gencies, in-
cluding UJA, have to share alike
in losses as well as in gains. . .
The general opinion among
Jewish community leaders is
that the year of 1959 will be a
year of gains in fund-raising as
compared with 1958. . . . The

tendency is to conduct the 1959
campaign by stressing the con-
tinuing critical situation in Is-
rael not as an emergency, but
as a long-term obligation of our
generation of Jews. • . . This
theme will probably reflect a
total community commitment
to all Jewish social needs,

whether domestic or overseas.
. . . Special attention will, in
this respect, be given to the

"big givers" in view of the fact
that five percent of the contri-
butions produce 75 percent of

the total money raised. • .
Efforts will also be made to
"bring back" some key givers
who are now spreading their
giving.

