`Loneliness' a Factor in South
African Liberalism Described by
Dan Jacobson in His New Novel
If Dan Jacobson had planned
hiS new novel to coincide with
the current South. African
troubles, he could -not have been
timelier than he is with the ap-
pearance last week of his "Evi-
dence of Love."
The author of "The Zulu and
the Zeide" and two other short-
er novels, Jacobson has emerged
as one of South Africa's most
brilliant writers. He now makes
his home in England and there-
fore is able to write with greater
freedom about conditions in his
native land. He is in his early
thirties and his new novel, "Evi-
dence of Love," published by
Little, Brown & Co. in associa-
tion with Atlantic Monthly
Press (34 Beacon, Boston 6),
has the merit of exposing the
tragedy suffered by the Cape
Colored people.
Kenneth Makeer, the hero of
the story, is a Negro, but his
complexion is so white that,
when he later settles in London,
he is able to "pass." His grand-
father was white.
The heroine in the novel is
Isabel Last, a young liberal.
Another important figure in the
book is Miss Bentwisch, who
was married to a wealthy man
who was of German - Jewish
descent. She inherits his for-
tune, and her great ambition is
to encourage liberals who have
the courage to battle against
Apartheid.
That is how Isabel comes to
her. That, also, is why she takes
an interest in Kenneth. Al-
though Kenneth and Isabel
lived in the same town, they do
not meet until theY come • to
London. That's where their love
affair begins — that's where we
see evidence of love—and it is
there that it is reborn later on.
Miss Bentwisch's nephew and
heir comes to London to inform
Isabel, whom he loves and
wishes to marry, that her lover
is a Cape Colored. He -man-
ages to bring her back to South
Africa. But Isabel's liberalism
triumphs. she returns to her
lover, they marry, they return
_ to South Africa in defiance of
regulations and are arrested, but
they look forward to a better
day.
"By arresting us," Kenneth
said, "the State has made my
love for my wife, and her love
for me, a public and political
act. For this reason we cannot
be punished by the court, but
only released by it. . ."
They are comforted, they
have won by finding the evi-
dence of love, and they also
have defied the bigotries of
their native land.
It is by his description of the
tragedy of racial prejudice that
Jacobson emerges the master in
his new novel. When he intro-
duces Isabel, he describes a
liberal in his former homeland:
"What makes someone a
'liberal' in a country like
South Africa is really a great
mystery. Isabel Last, at the
age of 17, was a liberal; but,
like most South African lib-
erals, Isabel Last at the age
of seven had been a liberal
too. Almost all South African
liberals begin very early:
that is their trouble, or their
glory, if you so prefer. Tiny
little children, they can be,
when they begin to 'feel
sorry' for all the African and
Colored children who have
dirty clothes and are so ob-
viously hungry, neglected,
s p o k en to unkindly; and
though, like any well-brought-
up white child, our little lib-
eral is horrified by the snot
that hangs from the noses of
the black children, the grime
that is encrusted on the backs
of their hands, at the very
blackness of their skins —
still, in a way he does not
AAJE Sets May 15 to Honor Teachers in Community Schools
understand and does not even
desire, he feels a large, un-
welcome, and inexplicable re-
sponsibility for their cold,
their hunger, their misery.
It is a burden to him, and a
double burden—a treble bur-
den, for he is burdened not
only by his pity, and by his
impotence to relieve the mis-
ery that arouses his pity, but
also by his loneliness. Because
he knows very well, our little
liberal, and knows it early,
that most of the p e o p l e
around him do NOT feel as
he does, that there is some-
thing singular and lonely in
what he feels."
Thus, the loneliness of lib-
eralism becomes a major factor
in an interesting novel.
Dan Jacobson has risen to
new heights with his "Evidence
of Love." It will help the lib-
eral cause.
—P. S.
Honest Cabby Gets 'Reward'
When a Tel Aviv taxi driver
discovered a wallet in his cab
on the morning after he had
driven an Italian tourist from
Lod Airport to the Herzliya
Hotel he rushed back to the
hotel, awakened the still sleep-
ing visitor and presented him
the wallet containing IL 4,000
in foreign currency. "He wanted
to kiss me," reported the cabby,
"but I was satisfied with a
thank you."
Teachers. in Jewish schools
throughout the country will be
honored with a special day in
May, for the second successive
year. Known as Yom Ha-Moreh
(Teacher's Day ) the celebra-
tion is being sponsored by the
American Association for Jew-
ish Education, national service
agency for Jewish education.
The purpose of Yom Ha-
Moreh is to have students in
Jewish schools, as well as par-
ent- associations, congregations
and community leadership show
teachers that the Biblical com-
mand of Isaiah, "Let your eyes
gaze with esteem upon your
teachers" has not been for-
gotten.
.
Orders for the cards may be
placed with the central educa-
tional agency in the local com-
munity, or directly with the
American Association for Jew-
ish Education, .1261 Broadway,
New York 1.
A program guide offering de-
tailed suggestions for observing
Yom Ha-Moreh on school, con-
gregation and community levels
has been issued by the AAJE's
national committee on teacher
education and welfare.
Dan Frohman Chorus
Watch For important News
See your doctor once a year
for a cancer check-up.
There are about 17,500 teach-
ers in these schdols, almost
half of them functioning in
week-day classes that meet after
public school hours.
Teacher's Day, to be ob-
served May 15, coincides with
Lag b'Omer, a minor Jewish
holiday also known as the
scholar's festival.
The AAJE,. in preparing for
this year observance, has
made eight greeting cards avail-
able,. which can be sent to
teachers by students and their
parents.
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