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."