THE JEWISH NEWS
Thanksgiving 1960
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
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
SIDNEY SHMARAK CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ HARVEY ZUCKERBERG
Circulation Manager
Editor and Publisher - Advertising Manager
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the seventh day of Kislev, 5721, the following Scriptural selections will be
read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Vayetze, • Gen. 28:10-32:3. Prophetical portion, Hosea 12:13-14:10.
Licht Benshen, Friday, Nov. 25. 4:46 p.m.
VOL. XXXVIII. No. 13
Page Four
November 25, 1960
A Time for Genuine Thanksgiving
We have so much to be thankful for,
we are so rooted in libertarianism, that
this year's Thanksgiving period is cause
for genuine rejoicing.
This is the time to quote Psalm 100—
the Psalm of Thanksgiving that should be
part of our service to express our grati-
tude for the bounties we enjoy in this
great land:
Shout for joy unto the Lord, all ye lands
Serve the Lord with joy: come before Him
with exulting
Know ye that the Lord He is God: He
hath made us, and we are His,
His people and the sheep of His pas-
ture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise:
give thanks unto Him; bless His Name.
For the Lord is good; His loving kindness
is everlasting; and His
faithfulness from generation to .
generation.
In a world laden with dangers and
with threats of war, we are nevertheless
blessed with peace and we have reason
to hope that, with faith in the principles
we uphold, it will be a permanent peace
for the entire world.
In this land of plenty, we have the
great satisfaction not only of perpetuat-
ing the ideals which assure the enjoyment
of the economic opportunities by all our
citizens, but we also strive always to aid
the needy everywhere, wherever they
may be. What we have done through the
years has not been a selfish policy: the
basic principles of America have been
and remain to create a better world, be-
cause we live in one world — and when
there is prosperity everywhere there is a
better chance for universal peace.
As Jews and as Americans, our imme-
diate community has been blessed with
the freedom to act in support of great
social causes and to aid those who are
oppressed. Thanksgiving thus emerges as
a great occasion on which to take note
of the fact that we are striving for per-
petuation of freedoms by assuring liberty
for all. That's the American way: it is the
human way.
As Americans, we have another good
reason for rejoicing on Thanksgiving Day.
It is an occasion on which to remind our-
selves of the great liberty that -has been
granted to us to live the democratic way,
to serve our country the free way, to
express our views without hindrance. to
cast our ballots without coercion for who-
ever we please.
These are the freedoms that can be
multiplied a hundred-fold — because our
American opportunities are unlimited.
Therefore our thanks for the blessings
that are ours also are unlimited.
Mothers' Clubs' 40th Anniversary
Four decades ago, there was a vital ers' Clubs managed to draw in many
need for the . integration of immigrant Americanized women and native born,
Jewish women into our c o m m u n i t y. who became deeply devoted to the cul-
Through the efforts of Miss Mary Caplan, tural aspects of the mothers' groups
with the encouragement of men like the which sponsored literary programs, dis-
late Milton M. Alexander, who served as cussions on public affairs, holiday cele-
president of the Jewish Community Coun- brations and other interesting programs.
cil, the late Fred M. Butzel, who was the The Mothers' Clubs became a vital part of
guiding spirit of our community, and a our community. Their influence began to
number of others, there was founded the be felt, and it was evident in many guar-
Mothers' Clubs movement. ters that they served an important pur-
That undertaking encouraged the Am- pose in Jewish life in Detroit.
The 40th anniversary of the Mothers'
, encanization of immigrant women. It
created a platform for many of them, it Clubs will be celebrated at a luncheon at
helped them in learning the language of the Jewish Center on Nov. 30. It should
be an occasion to honor Miss Caplan and
• our land and the traditions of this coun-
the pioneers who founded the clubs, as
try.
well as the Jewish Community Center,
Before very long, it ceased being a through whose initiative and with whose
movement of immigrants and the Moth- encouragement the clubs came into being.
Serious Challenge to Jewish Educators
A serious challenge was hurled at
Jewish educators by Dr. Robert Gordis,
in his address before the Bnai Brith Hillel
Commission, in Washington, last week.
Rabbi Gordis declared that "unless
Jewish education emphasizes the unique
and distinctive character of Judaism, we
face a threat not of assimilation but of
becoming a community of non-Christians
instead of understanding Jews."
Addino- to the complexity of the issue
was Dr. Gordis'
b
assertion that "gross mis-
understandings . . . have led Jewish youth
to believe that Judaism is merely the
beginning of a Judaeo - Christian tradi-
tion."
If the latter charge is true, then our
youth have yielded to the propaganda
techniques of Christians who shower flat-
tery upon us as a people of the past while
maintaining that our only . salvation is in
their ranks. This is pure proselytism.
There is no doubt that any decline in
devotion to Jewish traditions is ascribable
to the "gross misunderstandings" men-
tioned by Dr. Gordis.
To retain the loyalties that are vital
in developing an increasing interest in
their heritage as Jews among our stu-
dents, new educational approaches may
be needed. They can not come from the
established Semitics and Near Eastern
Departments in our universities—vital as
their courses often are — but must stem
from within, from programming within
Jewish ranks, from strengthened Jewish
educational- systems.
It is of the utmost urgency that Jew-
ish educators should approach the chal-
lenges of Dr. Gordis and his associates
with the greatest seriousness.
The emphasis that is now being given
to Jewish educational needs is an indica-
tion of the existing deep concern over
Jewish cultural needs. The efforts that
are being exerted in communities
throughout the land in Jewish schools
indicate that talk about "education" is
not mere lip service. But whenever chal-
lenges like those hurled at American
Jewry, and particularly at our youth, are
heard in Jewish ranks, they serve to stim-
ulate ever-increasing needs for the spread
of Jewish knowledge. That in itself is
encouraging.
'The Rise of David Levinsky'
Cahan s Famous Novel Now
Available as a Paperback
"The Rise of David Levinsky," the famous novel by the late
Abraham Cahan, which first appeared in 1917 and was a sensation
at that time, now is available in a paperback, as a Harper Torch-
book of the Academy Library, published by Harper & Bros. (49
E. 33rd, N.Y. 16).
This novel has remained in the public eye since its first ap-
pearance, and evaluators of English-Jewish literature constantly
refer to it.
In an elaborate introduction to the new edition, John Higham
describes the era in which Cahan wrote his story, the East Side of
New York which was the background of the Levinsky story, and the
trials and opportunities suggested by this novel.
"The thirty year span of David Levinsky's career in America—
from 1885 to 1915—was the great age of the Lower East Side,"
Higham explains. He tells about the life of the early immigrants,
and as Cahan created his immigrant character, David Levinsky,
Higham sees him as "partly an individual, ,partly a specific type."
Higham views the Levinsky story as follows: "While illumi-
nating a profound conflict of values in American Jewish life,
Levinsky's story also reflects problems of adjustment that faced
immigrants from many lands and backgrounds. They had to cope,
in the hurly-burly of an Atherican city, with an unaccustomed
tempo of life. Stimulation was mingled With confusion, opportunity
and exploitation. Success in such a setting depended on assimi-
lation, and this never came easily or automatically. To understand
an unfamiliar and unpredictable environment, an immigrant had
to distinguish between appearance and reality, between the civic
rhetoric he heard in a school room and the behavior he observed
outside it. Since his native habits were often an encumbrance,
adaptability might damage his inner integrity.. . . If the inunigrant
were a woman, shut BD in the home, and condemned to learn a
new language and new ways from her children while pledging
her Own happiness to them, the strains of assimilation might
become tragically intense. It is no accident that the mother in
many an immigrant novel is a doomed figure, and that Cahan's
one character of true nobility is Dora, clinging to a boorish hus-
band for the sake of a daughter who proves unworthy of her
mother's self-denial."
The roles of the Russian revolutionaries, the parts played in
Jewish life by German Jews, the many Jewish aspirations and
achievements are depicted in the Levinsky story. When it appeared,
according to Higham, "a genteel professor, reviewing the book in a
high-brow magazine in 1917, wondered indignantly if the author
realized how revolting Levinsky was; and a nervous liberal assured
social workers that the book misrepresented American Jewish life."
The acceptance of the novel even at this late date attests to its
enduring popularity.
'A Time to Speak'
21 Essays by Rabbi Rosenberg
Of the 21 essays incorporated by Rabbi Stuart E. Rosenberg
in his new book, "A Time to Speak," published by Bloch, 15 are
based on his sermons at Beth Tzedec Congregation, Toronto, and
six appeared as special articles in various magazines.
Among the articles of special interest is the one that ap-
peared in MacLean's Magazine under the title "We're Wrecking
Our Children With Too Much Love."
The synagogue discourses include sermons on the Sabbath
and festivals, a review of "Exodus," one on "Politics of Success-
ful Marriage," and other timely subjects.
In a preface to the book, Dr. Max Arzt, Vice-Chancellor, of
the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, pays tribute to the
author, to his organizational abilities, and declares: "It is his
own mental picture of the leader that accounts for the dynamism
with which Rabbi Rosenberg endeavors to translate his religious
convictions into life."