Purely Commentary

The Briscoe Tragedy...
Recapturing Dignity of -

Jewish Family Life

By Philip
Slomovitz

Vast Agricultural
Increase in Israel

Direct JTA Teletype Wire

to The Jewish News
teen-ager should, normally; have no desire to resort to. and in
e4 'Practicing Jews' and Their 'Escaping' Children
remain unatonable. JERUSALEM — Agricultural
There was a time when Jewish parents sat "shivah" when a tragedy that may
a.
Our society must be on the lookout against the recurrence production in Israel jumped
ct their children either intermarried, thereby fleeing from Judaism,
of such delinquencies. Protection against it must begin in the 400 per cent in the first ten
E or abandoned the .Jewish faith.
home. It must start from the top—from a parenthood that will years of statehood, with a total
Conditions have changed. There is a vast increase in inter- not show the example of the bar being the most sought-after spot, expenditure on farm settlement
marriage, and while there are very few conversions of Jews to
of adults guiding their- children in paths of higher standards, and water resources develop-
other faiths. much of the "intermingling"—to use a mild term—
away from atmospheres and conditions that tempt to trouble. ment of 1.500.000,000 pounds, it
unfortunately has been accepted with a reduction of protests.
The Charlotte rabbi's warnings against late Saturday night was reported Tuesday.
Examples of increases in intermarriage are made available parties might well be interpreted as false alarms. But• the con-
The data was disclosed by a
by the .Jewish Welfare Federation of San Francisco, Marin ditions he pointed to are part of a system that could become survey carried out by a public
.•-•• County and the Peninsula. The California report states that while demoralized, unless we keep aware of the responsibilities to our advisory committee on agricul-
5: a third of all Jewish families in the three indicated areas light children—to set for them examples of responsibility to their tural affairs. which reported
:4 candles on Friday nights, only 4.4 per cent in San Francisco studies. to their schools—and to their homes. But first; the ! that farm production per capita
observe kashrut and only 3 per cent in Marin County and the homes must set the right examples, by recapturing the high . was doubled in that decade.
Peninsula. The intermarriage rates are 17 per cent in San Fran- dignity of the sniritual values that made Jewish family life the
By 1958, the survey found 50
•is•o. 20 per cent in the Peninsula and 37 per cent in Marin.
::
envy of all mankind.
1 t per cent of Israel's cotton needs
*
I
=
i
These figures are duplicated in many communities. That is
and 20 per cent of sugar re-
• why the "shivah" over mixed marriages is seldom resorted to,
Origin of 'Wie es christelt sich .. .'
quirements were being provided
because the families of the intermarried accept the inevitable.
Your Commentator on numerous occasions quoted the by-now froc local yields. although both
That is how extensive the tragedy has become.
popular phrase: "wie es christelt sich, so juedelt sich," and crops had never before been
1-i •
Yet. there are times when a line must be drawn in asserting he always credited it to Heinrich Heine.
in Israel territory.
But in his most interesting and informative book, "The I Land under cultivation
a ready acceptance of such developments.
in-
to,
Jews
in
the
Renaissance."
just
published
by
the
Jewish
Publica-
On other occasions, when referring to Eddie Cantor's auto-
CC
biographical books, it became necessary for us to deplore the tion Society of America, Dr. Cecil Roth writes, in the second creased 400 per cent. the num-
I
ber
of
tractors
by
700
per
cent
good entertainer's public boasts about the successes of his chapter, entitled "The Jews in Renaissance Society:
There is a Yiddish proverb Vi es kristelt rich azoi ! and the total number of milk
daughters' intermarriages. The mere fact that Eddie constantly
yidlt sich ("As the Gentile does, so does the Jew.") i cows by 300 per cent. The
emphasizes it seems to indicate that he finds a need for sub-
The pages that will follow will amply exemplify th a t amount of fruit. as new orchards
conscious expression of what may be guilty conscience.
constant fact." I progressively began to bear
Now comes the news about the conversion of Robert Briscoe's
We doubt the correctness of Dr. Roth's quotation, and we fruit, went up 300 per cent.
daughter. With a sense of shock. Jews have read Briscoe's state-
Israel Arabs accounted for six
ment that his daughter "radiated joy" when she abandoned her • do not believe that the source is from Yiddish folklore. We
per cent of the total production,
faith and that his family was pleased with the daughter's happi- had never heard the word azoi used in this proverb.
In our search for the source, we found the following, in the survey reported. noting that
ness. If he was quoted correctly. his assertion that his daughter
was benefiting from the same religious freedom that enabled him. Dr. .Joseph L. Baron's "A Treasury of Jewish Quotations," in the benefits to non-Jewish farm-
in Ireland. to be a **practicing Jew" sounds utterly ridiculous. the section devoted to "Christians": ers from the increased yields
As the Jew, so the Christian (Wie es rich juedelt, had been reflected in higher liv-
There is reason to believe that Bob Briscoe is not as happy
l ing standards and real income
so christelt s-ich ).
as his statement sounds. Adding to the discomfiture. however, is
returns.
Proverb.
q. Z ooz mann, Zitatenschatz.
another aspect: the fact that Briscoe found it necessary to
A boom in village building
As the Christian, so the Jew. Proverb. q. Jacobs.
speak up. It would have been the better aspect of valor and
increased livestock ownership,
Jewish Ideals.
common sense if he had personally kept silent in the matter.
We are inclined to accept the Baron accreditation. although and water and electricity instal-
What are the Cantors and the Briscoes and many others—
some of whom have graced our public platforms in behalf of we are still looking for another source, which may yet turn lations were cited as evidence. of
.Jewish causes—boasting about, when they defend their children's out to be from Heine. the growing prosperity of Arab
(See review of Dr. Roth's book on Page 4)
I farmers in Israel.
intermarriages, when they "radiate joy" over conversions? Do
they really believe that they are ingratiating themselves with
the non-Jews? Haven't they learned the truth — if this is the
way to express the truth by those who utter the mah yomru ha- Dr, Kramer Gives
goyim (what will the gentiles say ) — that a Christian usually
Boris Smolar's
has greater respect for his fellow-citizen who is a Jew when the Borman Lectures
Jew holds fast to his faith?
Briscoe unwisely flaunted the news about his personal trag- at Wayne State
/
('dies when he supplemented the news about the conversion of .
Dr. Samuel N. Kramer. of the
his 21-year-old daughter Elsie with the announcement that an-
• • .
other daughter, Frances Joan, a doctor who lives with her Catho- University of Pennsylvania, will
(Copyright, 1960.
lie physician husband in Toronto, became a Catholic a number deliver the next Borman Near
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
of years ago. Eastern Lecture. at the Commu- !
Such matters as intermarriage, conversions and withdrawal nity Arts Auditorium of Wayne The Big Question:
State Univer- i
from Jewish ranks are deplorable enough 'to be treated as private
Can it be assumed that the Jewish community in the United
matters when they affect people like the Briscoes. Why do they
sity. at 8 p. m. States will, in the long future, sustain the great philanthropic
M onday , on commitments that this generation is so generously supporting? ...
flaunt it?
*
*
*
t h e subject This question was posed by Dr. William Haber, president of
"Educa tion. American ORT Federation, at a conference of the Joint Distribu-
Rep. Frances P. Bolton, icho ha.s represented her Cleveland
district in C'ongress for 20 years. attributes her good health
Social Reform, ! tion Committee . . . Himself optimistic, Dr. Haber nevertheless
this
practices
of
at 74 to the practice of Yoga. Among the
Law. Medicine questioned whether the style of life in our American community
physical art is standing on one's head and turning somersaults.
and Poetry —; —and our means of transmitting Jewish values to the American
That's what Israel Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion has been
Some Signifi- Jewish youth—are likely to prepare the young generation to
doing. It supposedly gives physical. mental and spiritual
-cant Firsts in carry on the tasks which the present generation is shouldering ...
strength to its practitioners. Thus, Hinduism complements
Prof. Kramer Man's Record- He cited the fact that there are 325.000 Jewish students in
Americanis - ni and Judaism.
ed History." He will be in - American colleges and universities today, and that approximately
.
.
.
troduced by Dr. Tracy Pulman. 70 percent of Jewish boys and girls of college and university age
At 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Prof.: are so enrolled, as compared with the proportion of 27 percent
'Zest for Life,' Bar-Frequenters, Problem-Creators
In Charlotte. N. C.. Rabbi Israel Gerber risked his popular- Kramer will speak in the Kresge for the general population .. . Are these Jewish youths prepared
ity by his request to parents in his congregation to establish an Auditorium on "Old Mesopo- : in their morals, in their Jewish commitment, in their understand-

Between You
and Me

' ing of Jewish cultural values, to sustain and support the identity
11 p.m. curfew for children on Saturday nights. He said that tamia and the Bible."
Under auspices of the his- with Jewish life overseas? . . . Dr. Haber stressed the fact
one of the Beth El Temple Sunday School teachers related to
him about the absence of a pupil whose mother said that "the tory department, Dr. Kramer American Jews no longer belong to an immigrant generation and
child stayed up too late the night before and was in no condition also will deliver a lecture to are overwhelmingly native-born . . . He said that although 95
I 700 students, in the Commun- percent of the Jewish students in this country do not deny their
to attend."
Jewishness—and many are even proud of it—they are nevertheless
The Charlotte rabbi therefore urged parents to enforce a ity Arts Auditorium, at 1
severed from the Jewish past ... They have no collective memory
rule that a child should not be permitted to attend a Saturday P-m. Monday.
Dr. Kramer has been a mem- about Jews in other countries as their immigrant parents or
night social function unless he had "already prepared the
and
he
warned
that
'
ber
of
the
University
of
Penn-
grandparents
had . .. Unlike their immigrant parents or grand-
religious school lesson for the next day,"
too many children are out on late socials and that the children , sylvania faculty since 1929 and parents, they have no organic link with the Jewish past because
"cannot continue this way much longer wig- out losing their ; was a member of excavating ex - American Jewry is, in the Jewish sense, frighteningly poor .. .
zest for life, undermining their health and mak - ig of themselves ; peditions at Tell Billah, Tepe The cultural challenge now facing the American Jewish com-
intellectual midgets." I Gawra, and Fara in Iraq. He munity is, therefore. in Dr. Haber's opinion, of major importance
Interpretation of this warning depends upon the individual's has completed extensive study for nurturing Jewish kinship among the Jewish youth to make
interpretation of "zest for life." We are already suffering from i and research in the field of them feel their commitment to Jews in other lands.
•
•
•

differences of opinion as to the zest one is to aspire to in life, ' archaeology and anthropology
and the overzestful already may have created a serious problem . both in this country and abroad. A Master Plan:
His lectures will be illustrat-
I
An American expert. sent to Israel under the United Nations
for all of us.
The JTA Charlotte, N. C., story refers to "religious school ed. In his Monday evening lec- sponsorship. is helping the Israel government -draw up a five-
children " How old are these children? What makes them crave ture, he will explain the origin year master plan to assure a. smooth development of Israel's
for post-11 p.m. socials? Do they, like their parents, precede the and development of the cunei-, economy .. Prof. Hollis Chenery of Stanford University.
socials with cocktail hours, at the bars? form system of writing, and will I specialist in correlating various branches of the economy and
Let there be no offense at the posing of this question: the discuss important documents in co-ordination of developments in separate fields. is assisting
introduction of the bar at our social functions. at public din- discuss documents discovered Israel in tying its various detailed economic plans into an overall
plan designed to bring about a series of realistic achievements
ners, regardless of their character, may some day pose more in the ruins of Sumer.
The Sumerians were gifted by 1965 . . . With the German reparations payments due to end
challenging queries than we have just advanced.
It is not that we fear drunkenness in our ranks: we may people who flourished in the in 1963, Israel will face a sharp reduction in investment funds ...
never sink to that. But if the bar is to become the most im- third millennium B.C. in the This loss must be balanced by increased local savings and by
portant spot in Jewish homes, replacing the library, then we are land later known as Babylonia. more private investments from abroad . . . The five - year plan
facing trouble. Dr. Abram Spiro, director of calls for industrial investments totalling $800,000,000 . . . This
Primarily, the danger lies in the fact that if a bar is given i the Borman Lecture Series, would raise Israel's total industrial output from $850,000,000 in
preference in one's home, it may also be accepted as preferred states that in his lecture Tues- 1958 to $1,500,000,000 in 1965 . . . A major part of this output
outside the home, regardless of its character. 1day afternoon Dr. Kramer will would be for export and another part would replace imported

A few days ago, two of our young boys. aged 19 and 20, explain "the rather puzzling fact goods, thus paring the trade deficit and reducing it from the
committed a murder. They had gotten into a brawl. There was that the Sumerians do not seem present $330,000,000 a year to no more than $220,000,000 by
a motivating fear that caused the shooting. What was it that to be mentioned in the Bible, in 1965 ... At present, the deficit is made up by American Jewish
led a couple of our youths to promise narcotics to a stranger spite of their outstanding liter- philanthropic aid, by U.S. Government aid, by the sale of Israel
they met in a bar room? How did they come to know about ary and cultural importance for bonds, by the German reparations payments, by individual resti-
"benzedrine" pills? But the fact remains that it all began with the ancient Near Eastern tution from Germany to Israeli citizens, and by private invest-
drinking at a bar, that it resulted in use of a gun which a world." ments from foreign investors