Whither Goest Thou?
THE 'JEWISH NEWS
1951
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of Jury 20,
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 $5 a year. Foreign $6.
Entered as second class matter Aug. 6. 1942 at Post Office, Detroit, Mich. under act of Congress of March
8, 1879.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
QUO VADIS?
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Circulation Manager
Sabbath Scriotural Selections
This Sabbath, the twenty-eighth day of Ta mmuz, 5720, the following Scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Jer. 2:4-28; 3:4.
Pentateuchal portion, Mattot. Mas'e, Num. 30:2-36:13. Prophetical portion,
Rosh Hadesh Ab, Monday
Licht Benshen, Friday, July 22, 7.43 p.m.
VOL. XXXVII. No. 21
. Page Four
July 22, 1960
Apartheid and South African Jewry
The Jews of South Africa are in a more serious in the latter, and that
much more serious dilemma than the apartheid carries with it graver dangers
Jews in the South of the United States. than segregation.
It is more difficult for the Jews in
Traditionally motivated by principles of
social justice and of equality for all peo- South Africa than for our fellow-Jews in
ples, regardless of their race or creed or our Southern states; While anti-Semitism
the color of their skins, both suffer from also has been injected in the battle for
pressures that inevitably pursue them in desegregation, Jews are free to express
the environment in which they live. But their views in our land, whereas they face
in our South the conditions are heavenly torture and torment in South Africa. A
typical example of the difficulties faced
compared with those in South Africa.
there was offered in this editorial entitled
The Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Dr. "South Africa — 1960," in the Detroit
Louis Rabinowitz, who is believed to be News:
abandoning his post as a result of the
The case of Harry Bloom, South African
firm stand he took against apartheid,
F
novelist and lawyer, emphasizes that there
•
made very important observations on the
is no more justice in the workings of apart-
heid for the white man than there is for the
issue. He showed that out of the 1,700
The views on many subjects of many distinguished Jews
persons who were detained as a result of
black.
are represented in "A Modern Treasury of Jewish Thoughts."
Bloom was arrested shortly after the
the declaration of emergency in South
Ably edited by Rabbi Sidney Greenberg, of Philadelphia,
massacre in Sharpeville in March when '72
Africa, "subject to savage penalties, a fine
Africans were killed by police. He is a published by Thomas Yoseloff (11 E. 36th, N.Y. 16), the book
of $500 or five years' imprisonment,"
liberal, but is not a member of any political contains views on such subjects as To Be or Not to Be a Jew,
there were fewer than 100 "Europeans"
Prayer, Comfort in Sorrow, Anti-Semitism, Israel, Judaism and
party and as far as can be determined he was
and "at least 30 Jews," and that "a con-
not involved in the Sharpeville affair.
Democracy and others.
siderable number, if not even a majority,
In an introduction to the volume, Charles Angoff, well
He has not been told why he was arrested.
of those who have sought temporary
He can be held without trial until March,
known author of several novels and many essays, commends
refuge in the British Protectorate of
Rabbi Greenberg for having included selections from the
1961.
His friends cannot protest his arrest be-
Swaziland and Bechuanaland to escape
writings of a number of non-Jews.
Angoff states: "It is good that through Rabbi Greenberg's
cause the law provides that they are then
certain detention, are Jews." He then
anthology common Jewish readers, to borrow a phrase from
subject to arrest themselves.
commented:
effort to the tradition of English literature, will become acquainted with
Sidney Greenberg s Modern
Treasury of Jewish Thoughts
Anyone who thinks that this abnormally
large participation of Jews in the unequal
struggle for equality and the abolition of
racial discrimination is viewed with anything
like satisfaction by the official Jewish com-
munity, as an outstanding and heart-warming
expression in practice of Jewish ethical values,
is woefully mistaken. On the contrary, it is
almost universally viewed with anxiety, and
there is much wringing of hands at some-
thing which is regarded as deplorable.
In order to understand this aberration,
the attitude of South Africa to the color
problem must be clearly understood. There
is no point in closing one's eyes to the sad but
undoubted fact that color prejudice is as deep-
seated as it is widespread.
Since that prejudice is "the inheritance
of the white population of South Africa as a
whole" those who oppose it actively are not
regarded as "Her Majesty's Opposition" but
as dangerous demagogues and revolutionaries
who are out to destroy "white civilization" in
South Africa. The word "liberal" is a term of
abuse in the country, even equated with
"Communists." And what in any other country
would be regarded as justifiable political
propaganda is here regarded as sedition.
In circumstances such as these the official
community regards those Jews who partici-
pate in these activities as imperilling the se-
curity of the community. To my mind the
community regards itself as being much more
vulnerable than in actual fact it is. With
the exception of one or two irresponsible out-
bursts of an anti-Semitic nature in the House
of Assembly by Nationalist backbenchers, the
attitude of government towards the Jewish
community has been beyond reproach.
There have been no instances to my
knowledge of discrimination against Jews, and
the support consistently given to Israel has
afforded cause for the greatest satisfaction.
What is, however, resented is the criticism
of the South African Board of Deputies for
the passive attitude which is officially taken
up by it on these burning questions.
When at the official synagogue service in
connection with the last Congress of the
Board of Deputies I pleaded that surely there I
was a specifically Jewish attitude towards dis-
crimination on account of race or creed, and
that it was as reasonable to suggest that it
was wrong to denounce theft because some
Jews are thieves as to suggest that it was
wrong to denounce discrimination because
some Jews favor it, I was mercilessly at-
tacked, again for "indulging in politics" and
for "trying to drag the Jewish community
into politics."
While the South of the United States
and South Africa have this related prob-
lem, it is clear that the situation is far
He is not allowed to make any
have himself tried or released.
He is not allowed to discuss his case
with anyone, including his wife.
This is the lawless justice of South Africa
in 1960.
The Jews in our South can resort to
the courts; they even can go elsewhere
if they choose; they can transfer their
belongings to another state. It would be
a sad commentary on our Americanism
if that ever were necessary! But • such
are the facts relating to Southern Jewry.
But in South Africa, reflecting the general
tragedy of the apartheid issue, there is
no escape for anyone advocating justice
for the black man.
Thus, while we are on the verge of a
solution to the problem in our South,
where desegregation is certain to be
achieved very soon, South Africans are
on the verge of even greater tragedies,
and South African Jewry faces trials and
tribulations that may prove unparalleled
in our history. There is no doubt that
the liberal element will continue to be
on the side of the oppressed. It spells
trouble for the liberal, and with it will
come increasing difficulties for all of
South African Jewry.
An NANA report from Johannesburg,
explaining the situation as it affects
Jewry, told of the latent anti-Semitism
among the Afrikaans and states in part:
In South Africa one can hear anti-Semitic
remarks by Afrikaners, the South Africans
of Dutch, German or Huguenot descent.
One Johannesburg taxi driver recently de-
clared: "The Jews here are mostly Com-
munists. We cannot trust them."
And a Professor of Law and Economics in
Capetown said heatedly: "The Jews have done
nothing during the past 6,000 years except
get themselves thoroughly hated throughout
the world. Just wait and see. The Jews
here, sooner or later, will become as much a
problem for this country as the black Afri-
cans."
Thus trouble continues to brew. There
seems no end to problems facing Jewry.
If it isn't Russian Jewry that is suffering
indignities, it is Polish, or German, or our
kinsmen in Moslem countries; and even
in South Africa, which was a paradise for
Jews, the ugly specter of anti-Semitism
is emerging. The anti-Semitic menace
seems unending — and even when Jews
join a sacred battle for justice, they re-
main in the spotlight cast upon them by
bigots.
the thinking of Hayim Greenberg, Milton Steinberg, Leo Baeck,
Israel Friedlander, Simon Dubnow, Solomon Schechter, Harry
A. Wolfson, Abba Hillel Silver, Maurice Samuel, and dozens
of others . . . "
An interesting essay that should prove a guide to adults
seeking to extend their Jewish knowledge is "Adult Jewish
Education," by Dr. Israel M. Goldman, of Baltimore.
Rabbi Morris Adler, of Detroit, is represented in this book
by quotations under the following titles: "Prayer—The Heart
of Significant Living," "Private Prayer," "The Dietary Laws,"
"Judaism Begins at Home," "A Requisite for Jewish Exist
tence," "What Is Torah?," "A Sign of Maturity," "Sorrow Can-
Enlarge the Domain of Our Life," "Thoughts at the 'Brith' of a
New-Born Infant" and "The Source of Jewish Vitality."
/
Dr. Meek sHebrew Origins
"Hebrew Origins," by Dr. Theophile James Meek, which
first appeared in 1936, with another revised edition in 1950,
has just been issued by Harper & Bros. (49 E. 33rd, N.Y. 16)
as a Torchbook paperback.
Dr. Meek's book deals with the origins of the Hebrews,
their laws, the priesthood and prophecies.
Dr. Meek holds that "the Hebrews are dependent for their
legislation only to a very slight degree, if at all, upon the
Hittite and Assyrian codes, but that they did draw to some
extent from Hurrian and Canaanite law and indirectly from
Babylonian. Most of their law, however, was their own, the
product of their own experiences in their nomadic wanderings
and in Palestine, and what they did borrow they made their
own. It was no slavish imitation of an uncreative people, but
an imitation that improved what it took, and in the end what
it did take became definitely Hebrew and did not remain Baby-
lonian or Hurrian or Canaanite. It was Hebrew legislation
suited to Hebrew needs, and under the influence of the prophets
that legislation was sublimated and ethicized. Herein, as so
often, the pupil surpassed the teacher."
Another tribute to the Hebrew is contained in this state-
ment by Dr. Meek:
"The Hebrew prophets began as champions of Yahweh. That
led them to oppose all alien cults, and bit by bit that led them
to the position that Yahweh alone was God. With them mono-
latry blossomed into monotheism, nationalism into universalism,
and religion became a matter of the heart and of righteous
living rather than mere ritualistic practice. With them devel-
oped a new interpretation of God, a new interpretation of man,
and a new interpretation of religion."
Dimondstein: Ambitious Writer
Boris Dimondstein is tireless. He writes and publishes his
works uninterruptedly. No sooner is one essay or book or play
or collection of poems off the press, then he starts on another.
He illustrates his own works. He also is a sculptor. As in
his latest collection, "Neue Gezamelte Shriften," which contain
English as well as Yiddish selections, he also has includes songs
he has composed, with musical scores.
He operates from his Lirerarishe Heftn Publishing Co.
headquarters in Tujunga, Calif., and from Dimondstein Book
Co., 50 E. 13th St., New York 3.
Novels, dramas, short stories, poems and songs are incor-
porated in his newest collection. They reveal an author and
publisher who is remarkably enterprising.