THE JEWISH NEWS Bias Outlawed in 16 States Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951 Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National editorial Association. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35, Mich., VE 8-9364. Subscription T.5 a year. Foreign ;6. Entered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1942 at Post Offic,.. Detroit, Mich. under act of Congress of March a, 187i PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher SIDNEY SHMARAK CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Advertising Manager Circulation Manager FRANK SIMONS City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the eleventh day of Kislev, 5720, the following Scriptural. selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion., Vayetze, Gen. 28:10-3 2:3. Prophetical portion., Hosea 12:13-14:10. Licht Benshen, Friday, Dec. 11, 4:43 p.m. VOL. XXXVI, No. 15 Page Four December 11, 1959 Assimilation's 'Tide' and Challenge to Jewry Is there cause for despair that an assimilationist tide is threatening Ameri- can Jewry with disintegration? It was not only at the meetings of the National Executive Council of the Zionist Organization of America that such warnings were uttered. They are heard from time to time at Jewish assemblies in this country, and reports from other English-speaking countries show similar concerns in Jewish ranks over the alleged .decline in Jewish cultural activities. Abraham A. Redelheim, the presi- dent of the Zionist Organization of Amer- ica, spoke of a "rising tide" of assimila- tion and stated that the "alleged revival of religion that is so much touted about represents but a temporary response to what we may describe as 'gimmick' Judaism. Other leaders have similarly warned `of an • impending increasing decline in Jewish loyalties resulting from intermar- riage, from a declining interest in Jewry's needs, from a desire for total assimilation. * * * There was another approach to the problem at the annual meeting of the Bnai Brith Hillel Foundations, held in Washington last week. Prof. William Haber, of the University of Michigan, chairman of the Hillel Foundations, said that the Jewish students, who are no longer "escapist," because of the "degree of security" in the Jewish community which "has dissolved apologetics and has relieved external pressures on the Jewish students," needs to probe the reasons for Jewish identification and "now must seek the reason why they are Jews." American- born parents, he said, who, unlike "their grandparents, who had something of East- ern Europe's rich Jewish tradition, do not have this contact with the past, and their children come to the college campus "not knowing of the history, poetry, literature, art and theology of the Jews." At the same meeting, Dr. Arthur J. Llelyveld former director of the Hillel Foundations, expressing concern over "the real danger of fragmentization and organizational competition" in Jewish life, pleaded with Hillel directors to propagate the idea that "nothing, nothing whatever, can be too Jewish." These are indications of the concern that exists in Jewish ranks over the inter- ests of our youth, especially the college students. * * * It is equally as difficult to reach the Jewish youth in our communities after their Bar Mitzvah age, and the prob- lem of extending Jewish schooling beyond that age is among the most pressing ones that face us. Nevertheless, we may be just a bit too pessimistic about the current "de- cline' in Jewish interests. There have been entirely too many despairing views on the subject, fears relating to popula- tion movements towards the suburbs have been exaggerated and greater attention has been given to the panicked than to those striving for the advancement of our cultural efforts as the basic approach to the urgency of enlisting our youth's co- operation in Jewish survivalism. The educational problems facing American Jewry were treated realistically earlier this year, when the American Association for Jewish Education issued its report on the history-making national survey of the status of educational move- ments in this country. In that report, it was indicated that "American Jewish schooling is like a shallow river. 'a mile wide and an inch deep.' " But while the survey recognized a problem, it also accounted for progress. * C * The picture is not altogether gloomy, and there are occasional spurts of interest from many quarters to indicate that assimilation is not a curse of the present era but can be traced to experiences of our people during the past century, since the beginning of the emancipation move- ment in Western Europe. There is no doubt that the decline in persecution and the spread of egali- tarian ideals in democratic countries are the contributing factors towards assimila- tionist trends. It is essential, therefore, in the efforts for Jewish spiritual and cul- tural survival, that ways should be found to reconcile freedom with Judaism and liberty with the retention of Jewish identities. There is sufficient wealth in Jewish legacies and traditions to enable our leaders and guides to direct our people in the direction of such thinking, and we prefer to retain faith that such approaches to Jewish realistic communal programming can be put into practice. There are many things about which we could become truly concerned, espe- cially the failure of some of our leaders to rise to greater spiritual heights in di- recting Jewry's thinking and actions. We have already indicated the - need for higher standards in communal program- ming. We deplore the supremacy that has been given to fund-raising, and we pray that out of a better understanding of Jewish needs will come more spontaneous responses to financial needs for relief, rehabilitation and cultural regeneration— instead of the continued resort to deplora- ble gimmicks in appeals for funds. Serious challenges face our leaders. If the "tide" towards total assimilation is to be stemmed, it must be attained by means of better programming, higher standards of Jewish educational activi- ties, extended.schooling for our children and a more dignified approach to com- munal fund-raising actions. There are needs for changes in Jewish life in the enumerated areas, and greater danger will face our heritage and traditions, which we seek to prepetuate in dignity, unless the changes are made by properly- trained Jewish leadership. U.S. Bible Contest Emulating the great success of the Bible Contest in Israel, the Jewish Agency's department of education and culture and the Israel Bible Society of Jerusalem have undertaken the sponsor- ship of an American Bible Contest. This is an important project. Aimed at promoting wider interest in the Bible and the spread of Bible studies in Jewish school curricula, it is expected that the contest will be of immense value in ad- vancing Jewish studies in this country. By making available to participants the necessary books to be studied, the forthcoming contest, "Hidon Hatanach," is certain to increase an interest in Bibli- cal knowledge, and to inspire interest in other Jewish cultural subjects. It is vital, if this project is to succeed, that it should have the cooperation of Bureaus of Jewish Education in all American communities and of community school systems like Detroit's United He- brew Schools. With such participation, the American Bible Contest should emerge as a cultural event of major signifance in American Jewish communities. 'The Bar Mitzvah Companion' GreatWritingsAb6utJews and Judaism Evaluate Heritage Rabbi Sidney Greenberg, of Philadelphia, and Abraham Rothberg, poet and fiction writer, have combined their skills in gathering poems, stories, essays, legends and statements about Jews and Judaism, in their "Bar Mitzvah Companion," a book of real merit, published by Behrman House (1261 B'way, N.Y. I). The two authors showed real understanding of Jewish literary values in the editing of this volume which, as they state, is more than a mere Bar Mitzvah Companion but is a companion for life. They have utilized important selections from the Bible and the Talmud, have delved deep into the Jewish heritage and have quoted from great Jewish scholars as well as from the writings of eminent non-Jews. * * * The Prologue at once reveals the method of approach of the authors. They start with a quotation from Louis Brandeis who declared that "it is not wealth, social standing and am- bition which can make us worthy of the Jewish name and heritage. To be worthy of them, we must live up to them .. . Every young man must feel that he is the trustee of what is best in Jewish history." Then come quotations from Genesis, Shakespeare and Bernard Lazare emphasizing the importance of the Jewish heritage." Then come the numerous sections that describe the heritage and the Jewish values—under self-explanatory sections—"You and Your God," you and your self, your fellow man, your people, your tradition, your country and Israel. * * * In every section, there are "Words to Live By." In the first, about God, quotations are from the Talmud, Baal Shem Tov, Hassidism, Samuel Agnon and Sam Levenson. The latter said: "My wife and I and our children like to believe that God dwells in our house, so we feel that it is only proper that on the Sabbath we should return the courtesy of visiting Him in Hit house." In the portion "You and Your God," which contains selections from Scriptures and folklore, is incorporated the famous story by Isaac Loeb Peretz, "Bontzye the Meek" ("Bontzye Shweig"). Many famous names are represented in this volume, in- eluding Moses Maimonides, Ahad Ha-Am, Sholem Aleichent, Baruch Spinoza, Maxim Gorky, Maurice Samuel, Mendele Mocher Sforim, Albert Einstein, Meyer Levin, Israel Salanter, Felix Adler, Joseph Hertz, Martin Buber, Edmund Fleg, Mark Twain, Milton Steinberg, Rufus Learsi, Sholem Asch, Matthew Arnold, Heinrich Heine, Simon Dubnow, Abraham J. Heschel, Israel Goldstein, Ludwig Lewisohn, Emma Lazarus, S. An-Sky, Charles Angoff, Henry George, Walt Whitman, Abram Leon Sachar, Quentin Reynolds, Abba Hillel Silver, &maid Garrison Villard, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Grover Cleveland, Emil Hirsch, Stephen S. Wise, Theodor Herzl, ChM& Weizmann, Itzhak Ben-Zvi, Moshe Smilansky, David Ben-Gurion, Max Brod and many others. • * * The famous essay on the Yellow Badge, "Wear It With Pride," which originally appeared in Judische Ruridschau, 'is part of the splendid compilation "You and Your People." A quotation from Anne Frank, "Before I Sleep," is in the "You and Your Self" portion. Maimonides' "Eight Degrees of Charity" is included in the "You and Your Fellow Man" section. In that portion also is in- cluded the famous story by Maxim Gorky, "The Little Jewish Boy." The scores of other quotations are too numerous to mention. Suffice it to indicate that Emma Lazarus' famous poems, "Gifts" and "The New Colossus" are in this book, and that some of the most famous words of wisdom from the Bible and the Talmud will be found in "Bar Mitzvah Companion." Also, major statements on Zionism and Israel are to be found here. This is a truly valuable book which will be treasured by all who possess it.