NEW S — Friday, Ju ly 17, 1959—
ea
Purely Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
r `Life Is Hard and Anti-Semitism Is High,'
JTA Correspondent Reports from Poland
By DAVID MILLER
Howard Singer's 'Wake Me When Its Over'
Rates to be Called Funniest Book of 1959
If any one should ever question whether rabbis possess a
sense of humor. you should advise the reading of "Wake Me
When It's Over," by Howard Singer, published by G. P. Put-
nam's Sons (210 Madison, N.Y. 16).
Very few books have provided so many laughs for this
reviewer. The author of the book, who happens to be a rabbi
but whose novel is totally unrelated to religion, considers his
new book "a straight comedy." He is modest in saying so:
"Wake Me When It's Over" is so hilarious that it provides just
the laughs that are needed in this too-serious age.
First, about the author. He received his BA from Yeshiva
University and was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
He was asssociated for a time with the Society for Advance-
ment of Judaism (the Reconstructionist movement), was in
Israel for a year and wrote dramatic scripts for the English
section of Kol Israel's "Broadcasts to the Diaspora", served as
Chaplain in the U.S. Air Force and now is rabbi of Temple
Bnai Zion in Bloomfield, N.J.
There is nothing unusual about such a background. But
there is something very unique about a man who not only
has made his mark in his spiritual sphere but also has succeeded
as a writer. He has written a number of good things in the
past, and his new book, "Wake Me When Ifs Over," will be
made into a movie, has been bought by a British publisher and
will soon be printed as a paperback.
More power to Howard Singer who is as much a professional
writer as he is a rabbi. He has provided excellent entertain-
ment with a remarkable novel, and he no doubt will be the
envy of the entire rabbinate as a result of the success he has
earned so well.
"Wake Me When It's Over" is not a Jewish novel. It is a
story about "a good-natured shnook - ; and a shnook is described
by the novelist at the outset as being "the innocent bystander
who always gets hurt, the would-be hermit who settles down
in a nice, comfortable desert and then finds out the army is
building an experimental rocket and atom bomb range next
door, the businessman who buys a rubber plantation the day
before some genius invents the perfect synthetic."
But "a shnook isn't necessarily an unsuccessful all-thumbs
kind of guy. I've met shnooks who were plenty smart and who
made a lot of dough, which most people .nowadays think is the
only proof a guy can show for having brains. In fact, most
shnooks manage to get out of some pretty horrible messes by
sheer brain power. But the point is, a non-shnook type wouldn't
have gotten into the mess in the first place."
The counterpart is the "yuld": "Yulds are easi, enough to
spot; they're always guys with no imagination, and they're
cocksure and definite about everything."
Well, this story is about a shnook whose wife's major in-
terest is in insurance. On the first day of their honeymoon, she
immediately broaches the question of insurance. But that is
only the beginning. Later she nags him into applying for GI
insurance—and that's how the trouble starts. By giving the
wrong answers to the wrong questions, Gusty Deningzon finds
himself back in service—in Korea.
Always craving to be in charge of a hotel, Gusty sells his
fellow servicemen the idea of establishing a summer resort style
of hotel, with all the trimmings, on the island of Shima. It
becomes popular with the natives as well as servicemen. but the
complications lead to lots of trouble, to a Senatorial investiga-
tion, to abandonment of the hotel after a court martial.
The shnook gets the best of the deal by being cleared, but
the many episodes that are involved, the hilarious occurrences,
the entertaining conversations, the love story between an Air
Force officer and a nurse, cause the story to click at every turn
of every page.
Rabbi Singer has added to the delight of summer reading
with his most imaginative plot and his excellently entertaining
writing. He has provided book reviewers with material that will
make his "Wake Me When It's Over" one of the most delightful
pieces of writing of the year. And when this story finally clears
Hollywood it will be an even funnier movie than "Don't Go
Near the Water."
The Late David Kabaker
David Kabaker was a native-born American. He earned his
law degree with high honors. His studies were in the schools of
this country and according to the traditions of this country. Yet,
he never broke a Jewish law. He observed our traditions re-
ligiously. He honored the Sabbath and upheld the dietary laws.
He possessed a deep knowledge of Jewish affairs, was a
devoted student of the Bible and knew Hebrew well. It was a
self-acquired Jewish knowledge and was part of his devotion and
his eagerness to be well acquainted with his people and their
folkways.
David Kabaker was a generous man. He was especially in-
terested in Israel and in the Zionist cause, and while he was
dedicated to the synagogue, his love for Zion seemed to stem
from the influence of the Bible and the house of worship.
He showed his love for Hebrew on his trip to Israel only a
month ago. It was part of a family tradition, which was estab-
lished by his pious parents, the late Jacob and Ida Kabaker.
Blessed be the memory of this fine gentleman, loyal Ameri-
can and devoted Jew.
The Late Clifford Epstein
Detroit's newspaper fraternity lost a most distinguished
member in the death of Clifford Epstein, who was one of the
best informed men on the staff of the Detroit News and one
of the ablest evaluators of thg most important international
news.
Epstein had been to Palestine in pre-Israel years. He kept
abreast of events that occurred in the Middle East and his
articles on Zionism and the issues that were involved in the
creation of the Jewish State always indicated a keen under-
standing of the Jewish:position.
He was deeply interested in the Jewish community. In the
tragic years of Hitlerism, he was always in the forefront among
those who fought Nazi-Fascist ideologies.
Warm-hearted, humanitarian, he was an asset to his news-
paper and to our community. We mourn his loss.
Special JTA Correspondent
(Copyright, 1959,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc-)
The popular expression in
Warsaw these days is that "at
last, Poland has no Jewish
problem."
The only Yiddish - language
newspaper is the "Folksshtime"
(People's Voice), published by
the Jewish section of the Polish
Communist Party.
The government, as in other
Communist states, subsidizes
part of the Jewish community's
activities. • It underwrites the
Yiddish Theater in Warsaw and
other cultural activities but not
the religious functions.
The total money allotted is
almost impossible to translate
into Western terms. The official
exchange rate for the Polish
zloty is four to one dollar. Tour-
ists legally get 24 and the black
market is at 90 to 100.
Major funds and inspiration.
however, come from the Ameri-
can Joint Distribution Commit-
tee, represented in Warsaw by
Harry Burgher, a veteran social
worker.
The JDC subsidizes the re-
ligious life of Polish Jews. It
maintains kosher food outlets.
pays administrative costs and
keeps the thread of Jewishness
intact.
The Organization for Rehabil-
itation through Training (ORT)
maintains a training school in
Warsaw. Its work, like Bur-
gher's, is humanitarian, not po-
litical.
The center of Jewish life in
Poland is not in Warsaw, where
only 5.000 Jews live, but in
Upper and Lower Silesia, the
disputed territories along the
German frontier placed under
Polish administration in the
Potsdam Agreement.
In 14 main areas, where
the other 28,000 Jews live,
life is a shadow of the pre-
war days.
The biggest settlements are
in Wroclaw (formerly called
Breslau), in Lodz and in Leg-
nica, which have 5,000 Jews
each, and in Walbrzych,
where about 4,500 remain.
Another 2,600 live in the
complex of Katowice, Gliwice,
Zary and Bytom. Other cen-
ters are Krakow and Szczecin,
2,000 each; Dzierzoniow,
1,400; Czestochowa, 10,000;
Swidnica, 500, and Klodzko,
220.
Lodz and Krakow have two
synagogues each and the en-
tire country 17.
The only synagogue in War-
saw today serves a double pur-
pose. Services are held on Fri-
days, Saturdays and holidays on
the ground floor. The balcony.
once reserved for women, is
now boarded up.
Packed tightly in the closed-
off area are suitcases, boxes and
loose items—prized possessions
of the few clinging to the hope
of immigration to Israel.
In the yard outside the syna-
gogue, two men spend every
i working day preparing huge
wooden shipping crates.
Their work is serious and
painfully slow.
The crates, they will tell you,
are for the day when those who
have received their passports
and final approval — and are
still alive—can leave Poland for
another home.
WARSAW — A young Polish
Jew pointed to the monument
marking the site of the famed
Ghetto uprising of World War
II. His face was blank and ex-
pressionless.
The monument, covered with
thick scaffolds, resembled a
gravestone weakened by rain.
"The base of the tablet is
bad," he said, "and the stone is
about to fall. No one has done
anything for weeks. This is the
way it is here for all of us."
The 25-foot high, dark-gray
granite monument, almost hid-
den in a welter of new apart-
] ment houses, pays tribute to the
Warsaw Jews who revolted des-
perately in April, 1943. and won
the admiration of the free
I world.
The stone, originally des-
tined as a tribute to Hitler,
was donated by the Swedish
Government after the war. It
faces the now demolished
brick administration center
from which the Jewish popu-
lace was ruled during the
Nazi occupation.
Like much else in Warsaw
today, the monument was put
together hastily and without
much concern for the future.
Some 3,500,000 Jews lived
in Poland before the war.
Three million were killed.
Half a million fled to the
West- and the Soviet Union.
Only 33,000 live in Poland
now.
Life is hard. AntiSemitism is
high. Passports for immigration
to Israel are hard to get. Re-
Boris Smolor's
ligious life is at an all-time low.
The old, disillusioned and
bitter. want only to live out
their lives with whatever they
I
•
have left.
The young and middle aged
face more difficult problems. If
(Copyright, 1959
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
t h e y ha v e Jewish-sounding
names, they know it is almost Communal Trends:
impossible for them to occupy
Data published by the American Jewish Committee estab-
positions of responsibility and
lishes that 80 percent of all Jews in the United States today are
importance.
American-born . . . A year ago American-born Jews constituted
As a result, some Jews
78 percent of the entire Jewish population in this country . . .
have changed their names
In some cities—like Washington. with its 81,000 Jews—Ameritan-
or otherwise sought to hide
born Jews constituted about 83 percent or more even last year,
their identity.
according to local surveys . . . What these figures actually mean
Some want hopefully to be is that the immigrant Jewish population is now being reduced
identified w i t h the ruling annually by about two percent . . . In about 10 years the entire
power in this Soviet-bloc satel- Jewish population in this country will be American-born. with
lite and have taken an active a small number of aged immigrant Jews still alive . . . This will
role in the Polish Communist mean the close of a colorful chapter in American Jewish history,
Party.
as well as a radical change in Jewish traditional life in America.
Those who do almost auto- . . . Most of the Jewish traditions in this country 'have had their
matically forfeit their claim as inspiration from the "old country." including the tradition of
Jews. From all evidence. how- charity . . . Generous giving for charitable purposes had been
' ever, they never completely stimulated in this country by Jewish leaders who were born in
escape the label of having been the "old country"... Their contributions were not merely philan-
born a Jew.
thropic, but carried with them also nostalgic feelings . • . There
They may not practice Juda- can be no such nostalgia amon the American-born generation
ism but they are continually of Jews, since none of them can, even visualize the Jewish life
suspected as potential "Zion- which their parents have lived in the "old country". . . Born and
, ists" or "foreign agents."
raised in the United States, this generation, of Jews is also not
Although t h e Communist as keen on accepting leading positions in Jewish communal life
Party is the unquestioned ruler as their immigrant parents were . . . Thus, in about ten years
of Poland, a vast segment of from now American Jewry will face a tremendous change in its
the populace voices strong crit- internal communal life, when the last of the Americanized im-
icism of the government. Since migrant Jews disappear . . . The Council of Jewish Federations
the restoration of Wladyslaw and Welfare Funds, anticipating such a situation. is now already
Gomulka as party chairman in concentrating on developing young leadership among American-
October, 1956, the Poles have born Jews . . . So does the United Jewish Appeal. which has
enjoyed a greater measure of established a special department for this purpose . . .
independence than any other
satellite.
The freedom has meant in- iisraeli Issues :
U.S. Supreme Court Judge Felix Frankfurter has refused to
creased public criticism of the
take a hand in the "Who Is a Jew" issue which has brought about
Jews.
Among Polish non - Cominu- a rift between Israel Premier Da'ild Ben-Gurion and the Ortho-
nists and those who deny in- dox world . . • Invited by Ben-Gurion to define who is a Jew,
terest in politics, the Jews are Justice Frankfurter. indicated that he considers the issue an in-
universally classed as Commu- ternal Israeli political affair, and not a philosophical discuision.
nists and receivers of govern- . . . As a member of the U.S. Supreme Court he cannot express
any opinion on an internal political issue of another country. he
ment favors.
Cab drivers will tell you that informed Ben-Gurion . . . Justice Frankfurter was one of a
Hitler did one good thing but number of American Jews of high scholarly standing who were
didn't go far enough. Students invited by Premier Ben-Gurion to help define who is to be con-
will tell you that Jews stick to- sidered a Jew . . . The issue is now a "hot potato" in Israel
gether and work only for them- resulting in the opposition of the religious parties there to the
government . . . It will be one of the major issues at the forth-
selves.
coming national elections in Israel this year . . . So far, none
For the first time in its his-
of the American Jews who have been invited by Ben-Gurion to
tory, Poland, with a popula-
give their definition on "who is a Jew" has made his opinions
tion of 29,000,000, is -nearly
public.
100 percent Roman Catholic.
I
Between You
. and Me