Purely Commentary
.
Hyman Safran served as the I community owes a debt of grati-
With more than 1,400 people
in attendance, at the first kosher dinner chairman in the absence tude to Jack Benny for his serv-
The Final Days Before the Election
dinner to be served at Cobo Hall, of his brother, David Safran, gen- ' ices and in the name of Israel's
In five days, the tensions will be at an end. Election Day the Detroit Israel Bond Organiza- eral chairman of the Detroit Is- Foreign Minister Golda Meir he
will have vanished into history and a united American people tion set a new high record for rael Bond Committee, who is on extended an invitation to the
will accept the voters' verdict as the decision of the majority. service to Israel, at the dinner an economic mission in Israel. noted entertainer to visit Israel.
i
"Since the inception of the In the course of his response,
That is how it has been, that is how it should be, that is how
honoring Dr. Joseph J. SChwartz
it always will be.
and Jack Benny, Wednesday Israel Bond drive in May, 1951, Jack Benny said he hoped to
approximately $460,000,000 has give a concert in Israel next
Perhaps some of the heat, which will have completely cooled . evening.
off by Wednesday, will be found to have been unnecessary. Yet,
A high mark of the dinner been raised for Israel's eco- summer.
in so responsible - a task as the choice of a President, keen con- was the announcement that those nomic growth," Dr. Schwartz said.
Governor G. Mennen Wil-
cern over the country's future is inevitable, and it is vital that in attendance • had purchased Is- Pointing to the accomplishments liams addressed the gathering
. parties rael Bonds in the amount of which this investment capital has
there should be deep feelings over the candidates, their
and recalled his two -visits to
and the issues that face them — and us, the voters. If
were $1,300,000—thus setting a new helped to bring about, he said,
Israel. He said he had seen the
"The
gates
of
immigration
have
otherwise, we would be like those behind the Iron Curtain, who high record for Bond sales in
growth between the two tours,
been kept open, the population that he and Mrs. Williams
would like to be able to express themselves but cannot, who wish • the past eight years.
they could freely defy opponents but are prevented from using
Hailing Israel's progress to- has risen by well over a million,
visited "the magnificent Ha-
such prerogatives.
ward, economic maturity, on and yet the economy has kept dassah medical center" and
It is because we can speak and act freely and express our the occasion of an inaugural pace. Industrial production has that their experiences on both
_views frankly that we also can work together after an election.
dinner marking the advent of moved forward, food - production sides of the Jordan lef. their
Because we can criticize opponents, we can call them to task Israel's Bar-Mitzvah (13th an- has met the challenge, and more
indelible marks.
even after they have gained power. Even their power is con-
niversary) year, Dr. Schwartz, than a quarter million housing
The Governor said he left
trollable because we can speak to the winners as the loyal oppo- vice president of the Israel units have been built.
"The decade now beginning Jordan with a sense of nostalgia
sition.
Bond Organization, said that
That's the American way, and it is in the spirit of the
must be a decade of consolida- because he was deeply immersed
Israel has created "the basic
American idea of fair play, of the right to speak, of challenging elements of a sound economy:
tion, in which major strides to- in- old Jerusalem. He said Arabs
those in power — even the President — that we are able to a firm industrial base, an ex-
ward economic independence were friendly on their border
retain our freedom and strive for the perpetuation of our way panding agriculture with
take place," he said, adding, and when he crossed the Mandel-
"This period must witness the baum Gate into Israel he was
of life.
greatly increased irrigation,
We, the voters, are kings for a day — on Election Day. We new housing, a transport and
development of the Negev as welcomed by Israelis wearing
also are the powerful constituency that can speak through our communication network and
an area of settlement and in- polka dot bow ties. He appar-
representatives in defense of the views we hold, whether we are
ently was pleased with his visits
dustrialization. It must be the
the exploitation of natural
the majority or the minority. Election Day is, therefore, not resources!'
time during which Israel com- with both Hussein and Ben-
merely a day of judgment, but a day of celebration — one on
Gurion and he quoted the latter
Dr. Schwartz gave as an ex- pletes its gigantic irrigation
which to acclaim our liberties and our basic rights and on which ample of Israel's growing eco- program, builds the new homes as having expressed the hope for
to say to those for whom we vote as well as those we oppose nomic maturity the fact that while required for another million peace and good .will.
that, while we are determined to uphold Americans' right to Israel "is meeting the needs of citizens, and expands every
Jack Benny ad libbed, told a
differ, we also have faith that those who seek public office l its increasing population, the sector of its economy.
few humorous stories, remi-
"Israel faces a most serious
always will respect their duties to their electors. country has built its export trade
nisced about his youth and his
On the glorious Election Day, we uphold these principles, to the point where it is expected challenge during the coming
very orthodox father, and re-
and whether we win or lose, our American pride remains our to reach a total of $340,000,000 decade: the challenge of main-
lated this experience: As a
chief possession.
for 1960, as compared with taining its economic strength,
young boy, on a Yom Kippur,
of creating the type of eco-
$46,000,000 ten years ago."
he came to services after the
nomic structure which can meet
When Politicians Are Not Briefed . . .
Jack Benny, favorite Ameri-
appointed hour of 8 o'clock.
all the problems that will con-
Democratic Presidential C a n d i d a t e John F. Kennedy's can entertainer and a devoted
It infuriated his father who
front the country. Israel counts
mother, Mrs. Joseph Kennedy, spoke in Oak Park on a Sunday supporter of the upbuilding of
struck him with a siddur. But
heavily on Israel Bonds to pro-
during her Michigan tour in behalf of her son. Addressing a Israel, was the guest of honor
it plagued his father who tried
vide the financial resources it
gathering that was overwhelmingly Jewish, Mrs. Kennedy ex- for the occasion, which sue-
to be nice to him all day.
must have to carry these tasks
pressed pleasure that there was an attendance of approximately ceeded in raising Detroit's total
When they arrived home, to
forward successfully."
300, but she added that there must have been many who were of Israel Bond subscriptions to
break
the fast, his father,
Dr. Schwartz was introduced
absent because they went to Mass. ' more than $1,300,000. With
still striving to ease his con-
That's what happens when political speakers are not briefed
two months still left in 1960, by Rabbi Jacob E. Segal, who
science, said to his son: "On
this amount already exceeds paid a glowing tribute to the Yom Kippur, it's a mitzvah
in advance about the composition of their audiences.
Israel
Bond
leader.
all previous annual totals since
Dr. Schwartz said the Jewish to get hit with a siddur."
1952.
Yiddish as an 'Obstreperous Vehicle'
While in Israel in 1943, Benny
Presentation, at the Isidor Straus Theater, 197 E. Broad
told his audience, he met Henri-
way, New York, of a Yiddish comedy, "In-Laws," by Chune
etta Szold. He quoted Wendell
Gottesfeld, brought an interesting reaction from a non-Jewish
Willkie who said Miss Szold,
critic. Commenting at length on the play, in a review written
founder of Hadassah, was the
for the New York Times, Richard F. Shepard wrote in part:
greatest personality he ever met,
"The Yiddish theater. which came to New York seventy-
VIENNA, (JTA) — The Aus- the government plans to extend and Benny said he learned that
eight years -ago, opened a new season with little fanfare on
trian Parliament approved unan- I such payments, when and if they
East Broadway Saturday night. The occasion was a spirited, imously this week a bill provid- are made, to former Austrian to be true. He said "she is part
of the reason - I am rendering
humorous comedy, 'In-Laws,' written by Chune Gottesfeld, a
30 000
,, 000 schillings (1 ,- Jews living abroad, or to confine the services I am dedicated to."
Yiddish journalist who has looked at the conflicts that have ing f or
the payments only to those Aus-
characterized immigrant Jewish life and has , summed them 200,000) compensation to the trian Jewish victims of Nazism
Appeals for Bond sales were
Jewish
Community
for
the
de-
up more as sarcastic dialogue rather than as an integrated
I struction of synagoguges and living in this country now. There made by Irwin I. Cohn and Tom
bit of stagecraft.
cemeteries by the Nazis in 1938. are about 3,000 of- these victims Borman.
"There was a time when a Yiddish play on the East Side
Rabbi Moses Lehrman of Bnai
In addition, the bill provided in Austria, and about 30,000 Moshe delivered the invocation.
would have been considered less of a foreign language affair
than the English language productions at the Phoenix up on Ifor•annual Government payments abroad.
M-0■43 411
■
■
0 ■
0
to the Jewish Community of 1,-
■ ■
Second Avenue. But times have changed and Yiddish is today a
runner-up to English and Spanish even in the vicinity of the I 800,000 schillings(about $'70,000)
Boris Smolar's
Educational Alliance's Isidor Straus Theater, where 'In-Laws' !for operation of community facil-
iti es.
unfolds on weekends only.
"Despite its statistical decline Mr. Gottesfeld gives evi-
During the debate, one deputy
dence that the language is still an obstreperous vehicle that told Parliament that Austria had
bows to none when it is a question of lampooning the other a moral ,obligation to pay restitu-
fellow. If it is dying, it certainly evinces no signs of expiring tion to Jews as victims of Nazism.
quietly in this first offering by the new Comedy Theater Group
He declared that not only the
(Copyright, 1960,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
under the sponsorship of the Hebrew Actors Union."
Germans who were here during
Lovers of Yiddish will at once detect in this the amazement the Nazi regime, but the Aus-
of those to whom Yiddish is strange but who are overpowered trians as well, "are responsible Family Trends
There are proportionately fewer younger people—under 35
by its virility. Non-Jews who have learned to understand a Yiddish for the anti-Jewish atrocities."
years of age—among Jews in this country than among either
joke when told in translation—something that is often accom-
A bill providing for compensa-
panied by insurmountable obstacles—have expressed the hope tion to Jewish victims of Nazism Protestants or Catholics . . . Jewish fertility in this country is
that they could master the language, for the sake of the Yid- in Austria is pending in parlia- only 79 percent of the national average . . . These facts are
dish joke alone. Jews who have been blessed with a taste for ment, but is making slow prog- brought out by comparative demographic data provided by the
U.S. Census Bureau . . . The intermarriage rate among Jews
Yiddish crave for more of it.
ress. It is still not certain whether
But there is, regrettably, less and less of it. The result the Austrian Government will –as- is given as 7.2 percent while it_is 26.6 percent among Catholics
is that there is "little fanfare" either about a Yiddish play, or sume a major share of the cost of and 8.6 among Protestants . . . Other comparative studies give
the median income of Jewish heads of families as about $6,000
a Yiddish book, or a Yiddish newspaper.
such a compensation program, or
Perhaps it is only in New York City that even the revival will expect West Germany to a year, while for Protestants the median income is about $4,000
and for Catholics a little over $4,300 . . . Jewish communities
of an effort to present a Yiddish play, as in the case of Gottes- shoulder most of the costs.
are now being urged to develop demographic studies during
feld's "In-Laws," is at all possible. Would that it could be given
It is also uncertain whether the next few years to secure a full picture of the modern Jewish
a new lease of life elsewhere. The decline of Yiddish deprives
family in America . .. From studies carried out by some com-
us of a most virile instrument for Jewish expression.
the difference, however, one munities it is known that the Jewish family size is somewhat
must take into consideration the smaller than that of non-Jewish families in similar economic
Student Life in Israel
temptations
that go with life in circumstances, that the Jewish divorce rate is rather low in
Seymour Gitin, a Hebrew Union College student who was
this
country,
as compared with comparison-with the national average, as is Jewish juvenile delin-
visiting in Israel, had the good fortune of being chosen for a
quency .- . . However, there are still many aspects of Jewish
role in an Israeli movie. He studied Hebrew at an Ulpan and conditions in Israel. The free
by family life that have not been studied . . . Many indications, for
acquired an understanding of student life in Israel, and described time of Israelis is not take&
instance; point to the fact that most Jewish young folks today
the differences between students and their activities in Israel television programs. Their recre- are not only eager to marry within the fold, but find the lion's
ational opportunities are not as
that
and the United States as follows:
extensive. Their needs are differ- share of their associates among Jews . . . Or, it seems
"There was no social life as we know it — no fraternities.
I Jewish young people are less oriented with respect to their
ent
and
their
responsibilities
are
Students carry 35 hours a semester and do more work in three
of an entirely different sort. Yet, traditions than are either Protestant or Catholic youngsters with
years than we do in four. In order to enter college they have
respect to theirs . . . On the other hand, the younger Jewish gen-
to have a command of three languages, Hebrew, English and students have something to learn
eration has recently been found to be quite receptive to Jewish
from
young
people
in
other
lands.
perhaps, French, German or Arabic. A student is really a
practices, in attitude if not in overt behavior . . . These and
Israelis
also
have
a
lesson
for
student. Their social life is more of the coffee house type —
other trends in the modern Jewish family are considered worth
Americans,
just
as
we
have
les-
perhaps a chess game or informal conversation on the grass or sons for them. That is why cul- I serious academic research in order to establish a correct picture
in the library. The conversation is almost always shop talk
from
tural exchanges are so valid and of American Jewry as well as to know what to anticipate
abOut school."
the
Jewish
generations
to
come.
There is food for thought in this observation. In judging so vital.
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS -- Friday, November 4,
•
Israel Bond Event Sets High Record with
Sales of $1,300,000
Attendance of 1,400,
.
Austrian Parliament Passes Bill
to Pay for Destroyed Synagogues
,41
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