Purely Commentary
The past year should be judged, by all from major catastrophes, and that it is
standards of Jewish historical experience, unrealistic to expect anything approxi-
as having been a very good year. Even mating a world conflict.
On the domestic scene, the New Year
the outburst of anti-Semitism, whether
is marked by a religious issue. The cur-
it was in Munich, Cologne, Oslo, Atlanta
or Washington, was not as disturbing as rent political campaign assumed the
aspects of the 1928 experiences. Yet, it
the troubles of the past. There was such
is safe to say that the repudiation of
spontaneous condemnation of the out-
religious bias in politics by leaders of
rages that their repudiation emerged as
both parties and the condemnation of
the chief factor of interest.
prejudice by clerical and lay leaders are
It was a good year, also, from the
good omens. Perhaps the ghost of re-
point of view of Jewish cultural values.
keen ligious controversies in relation to poli-
There are evidences of so m
tics has been laid to rest, not to be
our
interest in the educational nee
revived again. In any event, the preju-
communities that there is good • use to
feel heartened by the new trends in dices were met with real courage.
There is no end to the East-West
Jewish life. True: we have far to go to
develop thoroughly-well informed Jewish battle, and our nation is deeply involved
in the struggle. Yet, we believe that it
communities. But where there is a will
there may also be a way, and the will not assume war-threatening propor-
tions. The cold war is serious enough.
willingness to advance Jewish spiritual
Khrushchev's current visit here is part of
and cultural values is in evidence.
Without resorting to augury—since all it. Let us hope that the struggle will be
we can do is speculate—we believe that met with wisdom on the part of the new
administration we are soon to elect to
the year 5721 will not be any different.
guide our nation for another four years.
We'll have lots of tensions and anxieties
The Middle East may remain in the
—what's life without them?—and there
throes of conflict and controversy. For-
will be many challenges. Yet, it is safe
tunately for the world at large—for out
to forecast that it will be a year free
By Philip
Slomovitz
The New Year 5721 Augurs
Blessings for Jewry and
for All of Humanity
of the Near East, which has been one
of the battlegrounds of the world, have
come threats to the peace of the entire
universe 2;-TsTael is fairly strong, and only
a strong Israel can assure the peace of
that entire area. If it were not for Israel,
the United Arab Republic and Iraq long
ago would have demolished Hussein's
Jordanian kingdom. But Israel is there
as a threat to those who wish to disrupt
the existing borders, and as long as there
is an Israel Nasser and Kassem will be
kept in check.
Yet, there - will be tensions. They are
inevitable. The mere presence in our
midst of Abdel Gamal Nasser creates
them. Many may be furious that the
Egyptian dictator should be here to cause
trouble, to disturb the peace, to defy the
democracies. Would that his destructive
anti-democratic tactics had been checked
earlier. It would be senseless, however,
to become unduly upset by his dema-
goguery. Whatever he may say or do will
be additional passing phases in a situa-
tion that must be resolved in the course
of time in accordance with international
decencies.
We look forward to a good year. We
must strive for positive attainments—in
the Jewish . community and in our
nation's and in world affairs. We won't
let our less-fortunate kinsmen and neigh-
bors down in time of stress, and we hope
that the nations of the world will not act
irrationally in relation to us. .
Even in the tensest moments, we must
look at events from an historic perspec-
tive, taking into account the fact that
the honorable aspirations of people can
never be destroyed. A people that has
survived as many crises as we have
knows how to face the future with con-
fidence.
There is an old Hebraic greeting, often
used on the advent of a new year, utter-
ing the prayer that the past year with
its curses is ending and may the new
year therefore begin with blessings. The
curses and evils that may have been
directed at us were fruitless. The bless-
ings will come to fruition. May the New
Year be a very good one for all, regard-
less of their faith, regardless of their
nationality status. May the blessings of
peace and justice be humanity's.
Appeal to Moscow to Grant Jews Equal nights
Paris Conference Pleads for
`Humanitarian Considerations'
PARIS, (JTA)—A solemn ap-
peal to Soviet authorities to re-
examine the situation of Soviet
Jews and to grant them equal
rights with other minority
groups in Russia was issued
here by the conference on So-
viet Jewry which brought to-
gether world-famous intellec-
tuals from 14 countries. It was
convened by Dr. Nahum Gold-
mann, who delivered one of the
major addresses at the parley.
The resolution in which the
appeal was made reiterated the
sorrow expressed during the
day by the various speakers.
The resolution asked the Soviet
government to re-establish Jew-
ish organizations, and cultural
and religious institutions and to
permit Soviet Jewry to contact
Jewish religious centers in other
countries and to develop their
own cultural life in Russia.
"Urged by humanitarian con-
siderations, we especially ask
the Soviet Union to permit
Jews living in the Soviet
Union who have been sep-
arated from their families
during the last war to rejoin
them," the resolution empha-
sized. The resolution, which
was couched in moderate
tones, stressed that all ap-
peals in it were based strictly
on humanitarian g.r o u n d s
without any political implica-
tions.
Dr. Goldmann, who presented
in his address a list of religious
a n d national discrimination.
against Jews in the Soviet
Union, paid a warm tribute to
the Soviet Union for. its role in
World War II and for having
outlawed anti-Semitism. He said
that, in spite of that action, the
Jewish community in Russia
was being "collectively discrim-
inated against from both the re-
ligious and national angle."
"A special policy, different
from that applied to all other
minorities, is applied to Soviet
Jews," Dr. Goldmann said. "This
policy, if not modified, can in
the long run bring about the
forced disintegration of the
community and even its dis-
appearance as such."
The Jewish leader cited at
length official Soviet publica-
tions to demonstrate that the
Soviet Government's attitude to-
ward Soviet Jews was contrary
to its own laws. He contrasted
the difficulties for Soviet Jewry
with the advantages granted to
Russia's other minority groups.
In the religious sphere, he corn-
pared the situation of the other
religious groups, all of which
have some form of organization
and which keep in touch with
co-religionists abroad, with the
Jewish faith which he said was
cut off from its brethren abroad
and deprived of all central or-
ganizations within.
He also disclosed that the
Jewish Prayerbook published
in 195'7—the only edition in
40, years — consisted of only
3,000 copies, "a ridiculously
small number for a commun-
ity of 2,500,000 which has
Allied Campaign Cup Presentation
been deprived of prayerbooks
for so many years." He re-
ported that the manufacture
and import of all Jewish
ritual objects, 'such as mezu-
zahs and phylacteries, was
forbidden in the Soviet Union.
In spite of many available
manuscripts, he said, no Yid-
dish books were printed in the
Soviet Union in 1958. In 1959,
he reported, three Yiddish
books were printed in editions
of 3,000 each, the majority of
which were exported. Only a
few hundred were retained for
sale in the Soviet Union.
The Jewish leader declared
that the Biro-Bidjan Yiddish
newspaper was not for sale in
the Soviet Union and that even
the Warsaw Communist paper,
the Folkstimme, has been
banned.
Contrasting these conditions
with the more liberal attitude
in other Communist .countries
and even with the attitude
which prevailed in the Soviet
Union in its early years when
"Jews enjoyed equal rights with
other minorities," Dr. Gold-
mann said this was proof that
"anti-Jewish discrimination is
not an integral aspect of the
Communist regime."
Another equally tragic
grievance, he stated, was the
lack of cooperation shown by
Soviet authorities in helping
in the re-union of Jewish fam-
ilies to eliminate one of the
most horrible aftermaths of
the last war.
Summing up the situation, Dr.
Goldmann said: "This is indeed a
tragic picture. The Jews in Rus-
sia have neither the right nor
the possibility to lead a Jewish
life. They have no possibility to
express their creative senti-
ments as Jews, no newspapers,
no schools,.. no central organiza-
tions and no contacts with Jews
abroad. Russia's Jews cannot
even protest — they can only
wait, pray and hope."
He appealed to the delegates
to draw their own conclusions
and expressed the hope that an
enlightened world opinion
would make its weight felt to
help alleviate the plight of what
the problem and urged the So-
viet Union to give equal rights
to Soviet Jewry.
Label A. Katz, president of
the Bnai Brith, said that "if the
2,500,000 Soviet Jews are not
faced with annihilation, they
are certainly threatened with
cultural dehydration." He urged
the conference participants to
pass a resolution which would
make the Soviet Union aware
of the fact that "the eyes of the
world are on it in this issue."
He agreed that international
politics must be kept out of the
debate.
Wolf Mankiewicz, the young
British Jewish writer, criticized
the Soviet authorities and par-
ticularly the Soviet press for
"calumnies and falsehoods"
against the Jews, which he said
were "reminiscent of those of
the early Nazi era." Messages to
the conference were received
from Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt,
United States Supreme Court
Justice William 0. Douglas and
former French Premier Pierre
Mendes France.
The conference on Soviet
Jewry decided to send a dele-
gation to A. Winogradov, the
Sbviet Ambassador to France,
in an effort to arrange a meet-
ing between Soviet Premier
Khrushchev and Dr. Gold-
mann.
T h e conference secretariat
meanwhile planned an effort to
obtain additional signatures
from leading world figures who
did not attend the conference.
Dr. Goldmann told the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency he was pre-
pared to go to Moscow "only if
I am assured of meeting Premier
Khrushchev. Such an assurance
would indicate that the Soviets
are prepared to compromise and
to grant Jewish _ communities
equal rights with other minori-
ties in the Soviet Union."
The conference participants
planned to remain in contact
with Daniel Mayer, head of the
League for the Rights of Man
who served as chairman for the
conference with some hope of
forming a permanent "Commit-
tee for Russian Jewry." Dr.
Goldmann said it was too early
to talk about a :new organiza-
tion but indicated that a com-
mittee would be set up of lead-
ing Jewish and non - Jewish
personalities known for their
support of the idea of relaxa-
tion of international tensions
who would act on behalf of
I Russian Jewry. -
Litvins Present 350 JPS Bibles
for All Rooms in Sinai Hospital
.was once Fuiturallpktradi-
tiOnar - SonrCe'.16i\41k1ct :tewry.
IRWIN GREEN, chairman of the services division of the
Allied Jewish Campaign (right) is shown receiving the cup
awarded to the leading division in the 1961 drive, from MAX
'AYE, at the annual stag day at Franklin Hills Country Club,
Sept. 14.
Daniel Mayer, Chairinan of
the League for the Rights of
Man, who presided, urged the
conference to study the prob-
lem of Soviet Jewry in a "cold
and dispassionate spirit." Pro-
fessor, Martin Buber, discuss-
ing the concept of the im-
mortality of Judaism, ex-
pressed the hope that the So-
viet Jewry would receive
equal rights so as to develop
its "fundamental cultural
attributes."
Other speakers were Dean
James Pike of San Francisco
and former French Minister
Edouard Deprex who discussed
•
••,•••••
I
!!.4*L
Thanks to the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Boris Litvin, of 57
Lodwewyck, Mt. Clemens, there will now be a traditional Jewish
Publication Society Bible in each room of Sinai Hospital here.
This photograph shows Mr. and Mrs. Litvin making the formal
presentation of 350 specially inscribed Bibles, at Sinai Hospital,
this week, to Dr. Julien Priver, director of the hospital. Philip
Slomovitz, a member of the national board of trustees of the
Jewish Publication Society, represented the JPS at the presenta-
tion. According to Lesser Zussman, national JPS executive di-
rector, "the only other similar generous gift was the presentation
by the Bnai Brith Lodge of Baltimore of several hundred of our
Bibles to one of the Baltimore hospitals."