THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, April 24, 1959-54
1-Volume 'Standard Jewish Encyclopedia':
Large Work a Must for All Jewish Homes
Orthodox offshoot (now Con- pile this work. For the average
Between the appearance of
the 12-volume Funk and Wag- servative) was established in Jewish family in America, this
1869 and called Shaarey Ze- reference work will prove inval-
nails Jewish Encyclopedia,
dek.
The -Jewish population uable. Those seeking informa-
which appeared in 1905, and
increased rapidly in the first tion about their people and all
the 10-volume Universal Jewish
quarter of the 20th cent., co- Jewish movements throughout
Encyclopedia of about a decade
the ages will locate what they
ago, there were published two inciding with the expansion
search for very quickly. Those
one - volume encyclopedias on of the automobile industry.
who are called upon to assist
Most
of
the
new
arrivals
were
Jewish subjects: the Encyclo-
from E Europe. The Jewish school children in gathering
pedia of Jewish Knowledge,
Welfare Federation was organ- facts for school lessons will be
edited by Jacob de Haas (1934)
ized in 1926, and a Commun- greatly aided by this interesting
and Vallentine's Jewish Encyclo-
ity Council founded in 193'7 work. Libraries, schools, offices,
pedia (1938).
with a membership of over newspapers will be grateful for
The most ambitious one-vol-
260 local organizations. The it. But it is the average Jewish
ume encyclopedia that has yet
United Hebrew Schools ad- home that especially needs "The
appeared is the new 1980-page
minister a Hebrew school sys- Standard Jewish Encyclopedia."
one-volume "The Standard Jew-
tem. The Detroit Jewish News We urge its acquisition by all
ish Encyclopedia," published by
(founded 1941) appears week- Jewish homes.—P.S.
Doubleday.
ly. Jewish pop. (195'7): 75,-
With Dr. Cecil Roth, of Lon-
000."
don, as editor in chief, this vol-
For the casual reader this is
ume, which contains more than undoubtedly sufficient. The re-
8,000 references, was compiled search students need more facts.
by 200 scholars in Israel, this This is true of all the items in
country a n d
this volume.
Another example of the
. There undoubtedly are a few "Westernization" of Israel will
several Euro-
minor errors in the book. For soon makes its appearance, with
pean coun-
instance, the story of Michigan, the completion of a beautiful
tries. The text
which is a bit longer than that 18-hole golf course at Caesaria.
i s enlivened
of Detroit, concludes with the
Aside from the fact that it
b y hundreds
statement: "The total Jewish will be unique in the area of
of illustrations
population of the state in 1957 the Middle East, the course is
and the 12 full
was 8,350." In view of the quot- an usual tribute to one man,
color maps as-
ed population for Detroit — whose life was devoted to fur-
sist the search-
which, we believe, was under- thering the prestige of Israel.
er for inf or
estimated—it is to be assumed
He is James A. de Rothschild,
mation to es
that the 8,350 figure was meant
tablish 1 o c a-
for communities outside of De- who did not live to see the com-
pletion of his plan, just as he.
tions men- k:«
troit.
tioned in this Dr.
In the main, however, "The did not live to see the building
reference work.
Standard Jewish Encyclope- of the Knesset building in Jeru-
There are, of course, many bi-
dia" is most accurate and salem, which was left to his
widow and family to donate
ographical notes and numerous
contains a wealth of facts.
to the Jewish state.
items about American Jewry,
Some minor criticisms are in
De Rothschild, himself a keen
including brief outlines of com- order. For i n s t a n c e, in the
munities, national movements, choice of photographs: impor- golfer, had fallen in love with
the area of Caesaria. He had
literary and other facts.
' as Babette Deutsch is as noticed and commented on how
There is an item about the tant
poet and writer, why use her naturally the terrain could be
Louis LaMed Literary Foun- photo accompanying a six-line
dation, Created by the De- sketch of her and not that of converted to a golf course which
troiter Louis LaMed; articles her equally well known hus- would attract enthusiasts from
all over the world.
about Detroit and Michigan,
the author Avrahm Yar-
Caesaria, which dates back to
the Butzel family, Alb e r t band,
molinsky, or those of many Roman times, still bears witness,
Hahn, and other special items scores of outstanding personal-
of interest to readers in this ities, including Dr. Solomon through excavations, to the
grandeur of its past. Today, part
area.
Grayzel, one of the contributors
A number of reproductions of to this encyclopedia, outstand- of the scheme for the develop-
outstanding, well known paint- ing rabbis, scholars and com- ment of the area is to continue
and extend the work of excava-
ings on Jewish subjects by emi-
munity leaders?
tion.
nent artists add to the volume
The Jewish Publication Soci-
But the development plan
of the encyclopedia.
ety of America, recognizing the
Starred names in the encyclo- merits of this encyclopedia, has leaves untouched a tract of
pedia (like those of Prof. Wil- undertaken to be one of its dis- about 1,500 dunams of land,
liam Foxwell Albright) are of tributors and Lesser Zussman, less than a kilometer from
non-Jews. There are numerous the JPS executive secretary, has shore, where the golf course
references to Christians who stated: "The encyclopedia orig- envisioned by James de Roths-
child is nearing completion.
were closely linked with Jewish
inated in Israel • • . . It is a
scholarship, with Zionism and serious, careful digest of Jewish
Hillel to Serve Passover
other movements.
information, meant for every-
This encyclopedia has a very
day use by adults . . . Its style Lunches to Students
distinct advantage in listing Is-
Hillel Foundation at Wayne
is necessarily terse, but its lan-
raeli personalities. It gives not guage is lucid and its informa- State University will serve Pass-
only their present names but
tion reasonably complete ... " over lunches to students during
also those they had dropped be-
This must be said regarding the intermediate days of the
fore adopting Hebrew names. the brevity of the thousands of festival on Monday and Tues-
Here are examples:
items in the encyclopedia: it is day. Lunches will be served
S. Z. Shazar is identifed as much more difficult to be brief from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at
Rubashov. It is indicated that than to write at length, and it Hillel House, 4841 Second. For
Moshe Sharett was Shertok; took considerable genius to corn- information, call TE. 1-0129.
that Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's original
name was Shimshelevitz; David
Ben-Gurion's, Gruen; David Sill-
moni's, Shimonovitz; Yitzhak
Shenhar's, Shenberg; Eliezer
Ben Yehudah's, Perelmann.
It is understandable w h y
nearly all of the references
should be very brief. The one-
volume idea has made lengthy
essays impractical and well nigh
impossible. Only such items as
the history of the State of Is-
rael, Zionism, United Nations,
- United States and similar sub-
jects have induced resort to
greater length.
Therefore, this volume has
merit primarily for quick acqui-
sition of knowledge about basic
facts relating to Jews and Juda-
ism. For extensive research, the
student would have to turn to
the larger encyclopedias. For
example, about Detroit "The
Standard Jewish Encylcopedia"
yt
has this to say:
Westernization
Just a Short Putt
from Caesaria
More Favorable Balance of Trade
Is Made Possible by Israel Bonds
"City in Michigan, US. A
number of Jewish settlers,
mostly from Bavaria, migrated
to D. in 1850s. The first con-
gregation in the state, Beth
El, was formed in D. in 1850;
it inclined to Ref or m. An
The improvement in Israel's economic position with the aid
or Israel Bonds is shown by the change in her balance of
trade. Imports have been reduced by 17 percent, while exports
have increased by 10'7 percent. Food imports per capita have
been reduced by 54 percent, representing a major step toward
self-sufficiency.
DAYENU
BY HENRY LEONARD
when -11,e Messiah come.
4
1
'
(9
"How wonderful! I've been eagerly awaiting
your arrival! This year I want to DOUBLE my
Copr.1618. Leonard PrIttidn
contribution ..."
Student Organization
Support Urged by
Zionist Presidents
Griswold
Mrs. Roosevelt
* * *
A joint statement issued by
the presidents of seven national
Zionist organizations urged un-
stinting support for the Student
Zionist Organization because the
future of the Zionist movement
"and the entire relationship be-
tween American Jewry and Is-
rael, as well as between the
United States and Israel, may
well be determined by these
students."
The Zionist leaders charac-
terize the manifold activities of
the Student Zionist Organization
since its inception in 1955 as
"beyond all expectations." On
Griswold, Mrs. FDR
Get Brotherhood Medals the many college campuses
which it serves, it conducts hun-
dreds of programs each semes-
ter in order to give the students
an objective picture of Israel's
problems and attainments.
The students' group is also
hailed for combating "the un-
truths and the half-truths of
the -Arab propagandists and
their friends;" publishing orig-
inal student research; sponsor-
ing a Summer Ulpan (acceler--
ated Hebrew course) and nu-
merous other activities. The
Zionist leaders also praised the
study-and-work programs in Is-
rael sponsored by the Student
Organization, as well as its as-
sistance to members who plan
to live permanently in Israel.
Headquarters of the National
Student Zionist Organization are
342 Madison Ave., New York.
Drug Firms Cooperate at
College students are urged to
indicate their interest by writ-
to Export Products
JERUSALEM, (JTA)—Eight ing to the New York office.
leading manufacturers of drugs
in Israel have formed an ex- JDA Sets $6,100,000
port firm, in cooperation with
the Ministry of Trade and In- Campaign for 1959
NEW YORK, (JTA)—A cam-
dustry, to sell drugs on the
overseas market, it was an- paign to raise $6,100,000 this
year for the work of the Joint
nounced here.
The drugs, to be exported Defense Appeal — fund-raising
under a common label, have al- arm of the American Jewish
ready been received favorably Committee and the Anti Defa-
by foreign buyers. The new mation League of Bnai Brith-
firm is expected to export be- was inaugurated at a dinner
tween $3,000,000 and $4,000,000 here.
Andrew Goodman, campaign
worth of drugs annually.
It was also announced that chairman, pointed out that the
Baker, Perkins, Ltd., a promi- quota represents a $500,000 in-
nent British firm, has signed crease over last year's goal, to
a preliminary agreement for meet the expansion of the pro-
production in Israel of a grams of the JDA agencies "in
bromide compound, using an those areas where there are
inexpensive process invented by critical problems of anti-Semi-
the Israel Mining Industries. tism and group tensions."
U. S. Sen. Jacob K. Javits,
The new process enriches rela-
who delivered the principal ad-
tively poor ores.
The British firm will erect a dress at the dinner, told• the
plant at Sdom, at a cost of assemblage that the spread of
$250,000, and will also advance hate literature in the South has
$115,000 annually toward ob- multiplied fourfold since the
taining a supply of bromide. school integration crisis arose,
The project is expected to open after the Supreme Court's de-
new possibilities for increasing segregation ruling was handed
down.
Israeli exports.
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt and
A. Whitney Griswold, president
of Yale University, have been
designated recipients of the
1959 Universal Brotherhood
Medal by the Jewish Theological
Seminary of America, it was
announced by Oscar Dane, chair-
man of this year's annual Broth-
erhood dinner which will be
held May 17, at the Waldorf-
Astoria, in New York.
The Brotherhood Medal is
given each year by the Semi-
nary to outstanding figures
whose life and work "have epit-
omized and advanced the prin-
ciples of universal brotherhood
and have made valuable contri-
butions to the betterment of our
civilization."