Business for the New Congress THE JEWISH NEWS Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951 Member American Association of English—Jewisb 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, 1942 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 ZUCKFRBERG Business Manager City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the eighth of Shevat, 5722, the following Scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Bo„ Exod. 10:1-13: 16. Prophetical portion, Jeremiah 46:13-28. Licht Benchen, Friday, Jan. 12, 5:04 p.m. Vol. XL, No. 20 Page Four January 12, 1962 A Truly American Reply to Bigots A representative of the Hilton Inter- national Corporation spoke in truly hu- man and American terms when, in reply to the threat of a boycott by Arabs in retaliation for the hotel firm's plans to establish a hotel in Tel Aviv, stated: "As Americans, we consider Arabs and Jews our friends and hope that ulti- mately we can all live in peace. There was no threat from Israel when we opened our Cairo hotel. Does your com- mittee also propose to boycott the United States Government because it maintains diplomatic relations with Israel?" The Hilton spokesman could not have spoken in more direct terms. The threat to Conrad Hilton, president of the hotel corporation, came from a Jew, Alfred M. Lilienthal, secretary-counsel of the American-Arab Association for Commerce and Industry, which issued the threat. Let it be said to the credit even of the destructive and o b n o x i o us American Counsel for Judaism that Lilienthal was even too extreme for that anti-Zionist, anti-Israel and therefore in many respects anti-Jewish group of Jewish self-hating defeatists. Lilienthal, a former officer of the Council for Judaism, had the audacity to inform Mr. Hilton that he had just re- turned from another of his periodic trips to Arab countries and that he had at- tended a meeting of the Arab boycott committee in Damascus, and he warned Mr. Hilton that if he proceeded with his Tel Aviv hotel plans "it means the loss of Hilton holdings in Cairo and the end of any plans you might have in Tunis, Baghdad, Jerusalem (meaning, we pre- sume the Jordan-held part of the Holy City) or any Arab country." The Jewish spokesman for the Arab boycott team had the audacity to add that Arabs and those servicing Arab states "will not stop at your hotels in America or any part of the world." We wonder what would happen to any one in an Arab country who would dare make such threats to an Arab industry! A Lilienthal would probably meet in Arabia the same fate that faced an anti- Nazi under Hitler or an anti-communist in the USSR; it would mean a speedy purge. But we live in a democracy, and any man has a right even to threaten fellow-Americans. Is it any wonder that, as a result of the advantages derived from our democracy, so self-hating a man should also happen to be a Jew? Civil Rights and Anti-Semitic Disease From the Jewish Labor Committee and the Anti-Defamation League came encouraging analyses showing that "dra- matic gains" had been made in 1961 in attaining civil rights in this, country. While the JLC maintained that em- ployment discrimination remains "one of the b i g g es t blots on the American economy," it expressed satisfaction over "the marked concern" shown by the Federal Government for citizens' rights. ADL, praising the imaginative vigor of President Kennedy, expressed "keen disappointment" over his decision not to press further for civil rights legislation. While these are, in the main, the conclusions reached by two of the major civic-protective' movements in this coun- try, it is interesting to .note further that the JLC statement pointed to the contin- ued "widespread practices of deep-rooted prejudices" in college fraternities, civic groups, athletic, business and professional societies. Since this statement, deploring the perpetuation of bigotry, must refer to Jews as well as to Negroes—there has been a mistaken view that attitudes on civil rights take into account only the Negroes—it is proper to delve deeper into the issue and to ask whether anti- Semitism, too, is on the decline, whether real progress has been made in efforts to eradicate this deep-rooted disease and whether we • have really educated many people against the scourge of bigotry. There are many indications that anti- Semitism still is rampant in many quar- ters, that the sickness of religious preju- dice continues to afflict many people and that we have a long road ahead to end the dangerous affliction. The year 1962 may hold many chal- lenges for us. The Rockwells remain in our midst. Anti-Semitic literature con- stantly pours into American mail pouches. Hatreds have not vanished. Fortunately, economic conditions have not been accessories to the crime of anti- Semitism in recent years. That should enable us to make the best use of the advantages in the lull of appeals to bigotry on a much vaster scale. . The challenge to the defenders of decencies remains great. It is to be hoped that those who are charged with the re- sponsibilities of battling against preju- dices and racial and religious hatreds will not be so complacent and that the issues, as they arise, will be faced with courage as well as with dignity. Histradut Role in Kibbutzim and Kupat Holim Detroit's supporters of the Histadrut Israel Jewish Labor Federation campaign this week are marking an interesting an- niversary — the completion of 50 years of Kibbutz movement in Israel and of Kupat Holim, the sick fund of the Labor Zionist movement. It is an occasion for taking into account the emergence of courageous efforts on the part of un- trained and unskilled immigrants into Palestine from Eastern Europe which de- veloped into a chain of cooperative and collective colonies that served as the foundation for the Jewish State. Simultaneous with that self-help ac- tivity on the part of pioneers who were determined, upon leaving areas of per- secution, to become self-sustaining and to provide also for the health and edu- cation of departees from b a c k war d countries where they were subjected to the status of total disfranchisement. With the kibbutz movement, in which Hista- drut played a glorious role, there also developed the labor' movement's Kupat Holim sick fund which continues to this day to serve the needs of large masses of enrolled labor union members. When the Detroit Histadrut campaign sets into motion here next Tuesday, its supporters, cognizant of the kibbutz and Kuppat Holim roles in Israel's develop- ment, will have good cause to feel amply compensated for the support they gave to an important Israeli cause. Ewen's 'Leonard Bernstein: Splendid Biography for Youth David Ewen is one of the outstanding authoritative writers on musicians and musical subjects. He has written many biographies of composers and musical geniuses. His latest is a book for young people and it deserves a rating among the best of his works. It is the biography of Leonard Bernstein, published by Chilton Company, Philadelphia 39. In this biographical sketch, Ewen depicts Bernstein in every mood. He traces his youth, his father's opposition to his studying music (he had an aversion to the klezmer of the Old World), his excellence as a student, his passionate desire to play the piano and later to compose. - The chapter titles are most interesting as revelations of the varying moods: "I Knew with Finality I Would Be a Musician" points to his early desire for a life's work,—a sentiment implement- ed by the chapter that follows, entitled "It Was as Though I Didn't Exist Without Music." Then there is the chapter "It Seemed the Most Natural Thing in the World for Me to be Conducting." In a similar vein run a number of the other chapters, each describing a phase in the great musician's life. It is replete with accomplishments. "He was outstanding in his religious studies at Temple Mishkan Tefila (Boston), where for his confirmation he wrote his own speech, a brilliant one in the Hebrew tongue." He mastered Yiddish, in addition to knowing some Hebrew, and he also speaks French, Spanish and Italian and knows Latin. It was "after Lenny had become -world-famous" that his father explained his position in opposing his son's studying music: "From the early 16th century, my family never made a livelihood in art, and I didn't want to break this tradition. I also felt Lenny could make a better living in business. Remember there was no Leonard Bernstein then. There might not be another Leonard Bernstein for . a thousand years. I'm very proud of Lenny, but the Talmud teaches us, 'Don't expect miracles.' Because God blessed the world with a Leonard Bernstein, it doesn't mean his parents should expect it. You don't EXPECT your child to be -a Moses, a Maimonides, a Leonard Bernstein. If I had to do it all over again, I'd do the same thing." The pride of parenthood is evident in this statement: the father accepts the great gift that came to the Bernstein family. The composing of Bernstein's "Jeremiah. Symphony" is de- scribed in interesting detail by Ewen. He tells how Bernstein, in 1944, commenced this work "in a romantic, rhapsodic style, rich in emotional content . . . The three movements were respectively entitled 'Prophecy,"Profanation' and 'Lamentation' — the last utilizing a verbal text from the Book of Lamentations sung by a mezzo-soprano. Though this symphony was pervaded throughout with intense racial feeling, Bernstein rarely used actual Hebrew melodies. There were two exceptions. The first theme of the second movement a phrase was lifted from a traditional synagogual chant for the Sabbath sung during the reading of the Haftorah. And the opening phrase of the vocal part of the finale was derived from a liturgical cadence heard on Tisha b'Ab . . . 'Other resemblances to Hebrew liturgical music are a matter of emotional quality rather than of the notes themselves,' Bernstein has explained. 'The first movement aims only to parallel in feeling the intensity of the Prophet Jeremiah's plea with his people; and the Scherzo, to give the general sense of destruction and chaos brought up by the pagan corruption within the prieSthood and the people . . . It is the cry of Jeremiah as he mourns his beloved Jerusalem, ruined, pil- laged, and dishonored after his desperate efforts to save it.' " Ewen describes Bernstein's deep interest in the Israel Phil- harmonic Orchestra and his appearances in Israel, especially at the concert that marked the opening of the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv on Oct. 2, 195'7. Ewen's "Leonard Bernstein" is a remarkable biography, and while it is intended for young readers, people of all ages will benefit from it. It concluded with this interesting nate: "Prophecy is a thankless, often futile, always dangerous, task. Nevertheless, from what we already know of Bernstein, both as a man and as an artist, we can hardly resist the temptation of foreseeing for him an ever richer, more rewarding and more productive career—and in every conceivable facet of musicmaking. He would not be Leonard Bernstein if he had done otherwise in the past. He would not be Leonard Bernstein if he were to do otherwise in the future."