THE JEWISH NEWS For the Record Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951 Member American Association of English—Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Associations, 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, 1952 at Post Office, Detroit, Mich., under act of Congress of March 8, 1879. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher SIDNEY SHMARAK Advertising Manager CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ HARVEY ZUCKERBERG Business Manager City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the third day of Kislev, 5722, the following Scriptural selections , will be read in our Synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Toledot, Gen. 25:19-28.9. Prophetical portion, Malachi 1:1-2:7. Licht Berchen, Friday, Nov. 10, 4:58 p.m. VOL. XL, No. 11 Page Four November 10, 1961 Schools' Merger: Step in Right Direction Our community has attained another high goal in the unification of its educa- tional services by the merger of Yeshi- vath Beth Yehudah's afternoon school with the United Hebrew Schools. Unification in no sense means uni- formilization. It means the joining of forces to have one supervisory body, to aspire for a - common curriculum for all our schools, to combine the bus system, to eliminate duplication of efforts and thereby reducing the cost of operation. As in the instance of other unifica- tions—when the Yiddish schools merged" the supervisory activities with the United Hebrew Schools—basic ideals to which Yeshivath Beth Yehudah adheres are not to be sacrificed. There are to be no sacri- legious involvements. Some of the courses offered by the Yiddish schools are being retained in their systems, and courses given in the Yeshivah afternoon school will no doubt be respected. The major aim is to strengthen the recognized community educational sys- tems, as represented by the United Hebrew Schools. This is what is being done through the latest merger. It is an act deserving of acclaim, and all who had Wilderness; a share in achieving this aim have earned the community's gratitude for taking proper steps to merge activities where no harm can possibly come to any of the Penn Warren, the eminent author who has gained branches of the schools. Only the best fame Robert twice as a Pultizer Prize winner, who is known for his results can be hoped for from such action best sellers, "All the King's Men," "The Cave," "The Legacy for all of our community's elements. of the Civil War" and a score of other books, has produced Increasing Middle Eastern Anti-Jewish Threats Property confiscations in Egypt from . pulsions "to prevent subversive action all indications are being conducted pri- against the state." marily against Jews. Such is the tragedy of the Lebanese While all foreigners as well as some Jews, who now number anywhere be- wealthy Egyptian families are affected tween 7,000 and 10,000, who have been in the Nasser orders, it is the wealth of accused of encouraging Israeli "spy the remaining JeWs in Egypt that is being rings," whose loyalties have been flaunted eyed by Nasser, and there is little if any and who have lived in fear of their lives hope left of even the minutest economic since Israel became an autonomous state , security for the less than 18,000 Jews . in 1948. The status of Jews in Arab countries who have survived the Nasser onslaught since the violent anti-Israeli and • anti- remains precarious, and their only hope Jewish campaigns undertaken by the is emigration. Will the United Nations take this aspect of inhumanity into con- Egyptian dictatorship. sideration when the Arab refugees' status The inevitable result of the new Egyp- is discussed during the current General tian confiscatory campaign is certain to Assembly session? Will the representa- be another wave of emigration. It re- . tives of the many nations of the world mains to be seen whether Egypt will view realistically the fact that the num- permit its several thousand surviving ber of Jews who have been expelled from Jews to leave the country, and the search Arab countries matches the number of for new homes for these dispossessed will Arabs who left Israel in 1948; and that present new problems. -- while Israeli Arabs are being given ad- : Egypt • is not alone in the campaign vantages of citizenship, of economic se- - of ridding Arab countries of Jewish resi- curity and education, the Jews under dents. An Arab News Agency report from Moslem domination are being impover- Beitur, received in Jerusalem, reveals ished, hounded and persecuted? that there are preparations for the ex- These are facts , not to be forgotten pulsion of Jews and "other foreigners" during parliamentary discussions; and in from Lebanon. Jews have lived there for the meantime world Jewry must remain many generations, and they have un- aware of a basic responsibility: to find interruptedly, to this very day, con- new homes for the persecuted and to tributed to their homeland's develop- plan for their settlement in areas away ment, economically and culturally; yet from the madievalism of Arab persecu- the newly-revealed order speaks of ex- tions. Impropriety of Religious Programs in Schools The approach of Hanukah and Christ- declares the proper place for sectarian mas will raise anew the propriety of observances to be "in the church, syna- permitting religious celebrations in our gogue and home." public schools. The growth of the Jewish population_ In order to eliminate criticism of the in Detroit's suburban areas may raise religious Christmas observances, some similar problems in our neighboring com- communities have -introduced the prac- munities in a manner akin to the expe- tice of observing both Hanukah and riences of Milwaukee Jewry. We have Christmas, and many Jews have - been the precedents in the Hanukah-Christmas misled into believing that such a policy celebrations that had been introduced in "satisfies" both elements, without taking Detroit schools, in spite of protests by our into consideration the basic principle own Community Council and individual that the ideal of separation of church and lay leaders, during the past two decades. state calls for the prevention of any in- Past experiences do not hold out trusion of religious ideas into our schools. It is to the credit of the Milwaukee much hope that such separation of church Jewish Council that it has expressed it- and state will be possible; that we will self in opposition to "any holiday observ- have convinced all Jews as well as Chris- ance with sectarian content, declaring it tians of the impropriety of religious observances in public-financed institu- "out of place in the public schools." Our own community will find specific tions, and especially in our public schools. interest in the action of the Milwaukee It is to be hoped that the injection of Council which has noted that the influx religious spirits can be prevented in our of JeWs into suburban areas has "height- schools, Detroit as well as suburban, in ened bona fide differences of opinion the best interests of all faiths whose that exist on this delicate issue" and, in sectarianism should be kept within the accord with "the viewpoint of major bounds of religious institutions and the Jewish intergroup relations agencies," homes of the children involved. ' Warren s ' Tale About a Jew in the Civil War another great work — "a tale of the Civil War," — in which a German-Jewish lad who was anxious to fight for freedom 'heads the cast of interesting characters. Published under the title "Wilderness" by Random House, this new novel contains all the high qualities of Warren's first class writing. It• is a stirring novel that is replete with deep feelings aroused by the fratricidal war. The story revolves around Adam Rosenzweig, a Bavarian Jewish lad who had inherited from his father a passion for justice and freedom and who was prepared to make all neces- sary sacrifices to assist in the battle for liberty. He left Bavaria in the summer of 1863, hoping to join the Union Army. On the boat, however, the captain discovered that Adam had a deformed foot and could not possibly be accepted into a fighting force. He accused him of being a stowaway who was seeking free passage to America and put him under arrest. But with the help of a sailor he managed to get 'off the boat and set out to find his father's friend, whose address he was given as "Herr Aaron Blaustein, 5th at 39, City of New York." The adventure begins when Adam is rescued from drown- ing in Blaustein's basement by a Negro. He is taken to Blau- stein who offers to adopt him, revealing that his own son _died in the war, but Adam insists- that he must proceed to the front to attain his goal of fighting "fuer die Freiheit!" Blaustein makes it possible for him to proceed, w _ ith the Negro who saved his life and with the driver, Jedeen Hawks- worth, who many years before was tarred and feathered in his native southern home when he defended a Negro. In the course of their trip, Jed conducted business. hid his money in a belt, later to be murdered by the Negro who had saved Adam's life, absconding with the money belt. Adam took charge of Jed's wagon and goods and continued the sutler's role, soon learning the facts of life in war and the horrors that men endure. Adam had been given. by an uncle who attempted to get him to remain in Bavaria, a bag with talith and phyllacteries. He never failed to remember that "I am a Jew." It was as a Jew that he traveled and never nosed as anything else. He was reminded before he left of the "Jude verrecke — the Jew must be destroyed" cries — of anti-Semites. But he adhered to th hope to share in the battle for human freedom. - Aaron Blausten gave him a good lesson in human re- actions when he told him of being attacked by a mob in New York, commenting: "You know, it is rather refreshing to be attacked by the mob merely for being rich. Not for being a rich Jew. It makes all the trouble of coming to America seem worth while." This sentiment. linked with Adam's passion for justice, helps to create a valid background for a great novel. Adam, in a conversation with the Negro who accompanied him on his southward trip until he robbed and killed Jed, spoke of his father who "loved mankind and wanted men to be fully men. He fought and suffered for that." Adam explained that as the reason for having been given the Hebrew name"Adam" which means "man." Adam, as he travel on, gets into a battle. He kills. a man, in self-defense. He is bewildered but must hobble on. He begins to realize • the privations of men, "in their terror," and their endurance. Psychologically, as a brilliantly told story, "Wilderness" is another great Warren novel. / Halperin s Book on Zionism Among New WSU Publications Dr. Samuel Haplerin's "The Political World of American Zionism" tops the list of current_ books published by Wayne State University Press. The book will be reviewed here later. Other new WSU publications, off the prsss this week, are: "Let's Read—A Linguistic Approach," by Leonard Bloomfield and Clarence L. Barnhart; "Tragedy and the Theory of Drama," by Elder Olson; "Michigan Civil War History — An Annotated Bibliography," edited by George S. May and compiled by, six authorities; "Mental Retardation and Social Work Education," proceedings of conference held at Milford, Mich., edited by Alfred H. Katz.