4 — THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, March 9, 1962 Still Waiting 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 rdltorial . . Association. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35, VE 84364. Subscription 0 a year. Foreign $6. Entered as second class matter Aug. G, 1.942 at Post Office, Detroit. Mich., under act of Congress of : *1 - - • - March 8, 1879. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher SIDNEY SHMARAK CARM1 M. SLOMOVITZ HARVEY ZUCKERBERG Advertising Manager Business Manager City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the fourth day of Adar II, 5722, the following Scriptural selections will be read in our Zynagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Pekude, Exodus 38:21-40:38. Prophetical portion, I Kings 7:51-8:21. Licht Benchen, Friday, March 9, 6:13 p.m. Vol. XLI No. 2 Page Four March 9, 1962 Action in Behalf of Soviet Jewry Maintaining that the United States has the "legitimate right" to intervene in be- half of Soviet Jewry because recent man- ifestations of anti-Semitism in the USSR are in violation of the United Nations Charter which guarantees human rights to all regardless of race, sex, language or religion, Congressman Leonard Farbstein has introduced a second resolution calling for action by our Government against anti-Jewish discrimination in the Soviet Union. Congressman Charles Buckley offered a similar resolution earlier. These resolutions call for action through the United Nations. They call for appropriate means of calling the world's attention to the indignities imposed upon Jews in Russia. While Congressional acts serve to arouse public interest in the unfortunate conditions that prevail in the USSR, it is doubtful whether they can possibly bring immediate results. The Kremlin has be- come calloused to public sentiment. The manner in which the USSR has ignored protests against many other objectionable Soviet activities arouses skepticism as to the possibility of the Russian rulers ever taking a firm stand in defense of Jewish religious and cultural rights. Yet, there have been indications that the Soviet chieftains • are sensitive to con- demnation on issues involving anti-Semit- ism. Discrimination against Jews has come to be considered vulgar and objectionable, and the USSR would not willingly and openly align itself with aiiti-Semites. While the official organ of the Com- munist youth in Russia has reported that Russia will ignore the appeals that have been made in behalf of the four Vilna Jews who are under death sentences for alleged currency violations, it will be in- teresting to watch the results of the in- tervention in behalf of the accused by the Jewish Labor Committee. Will the State Department act on this appeal, and what will be the answer to it by Soviet Ambas- sador Anatole Dobrynin, who has received a copy of it? While there is skepticism over the possibility of getting positive responses to protests, they have to be made neverthe- less. Without direct action there can be no hope that indignities will cease and the situation of Russian Jewry ameliorat- ed. That is why both the protests of the Jewish Labor Committee and other Jew- ish organizations and the Congressional resolutions are necessities in the present crisis facing Soviet Jewry. 'Dramatic Touch in Israel's Development Two noteworthy community gather- ings — one under Catholic and another under Jewish auspices — held here last week on two respeCtive evenings, mir- rored the events that led to the creation and development of the State of Israel and the pride it provides for the builders of Zion. The fact that a great Catholic univer- sity was host to the Ambassador from Is- rael, at numerous functions, including a dignified dinner and a public meeting at which Israel's able representative, Avra- ham Harman, outlined Israel's status in the world today, was one of the most heartening developments. It was the high point of perfection in our search for good will and was proof that there is an in- crease in Catholic friendship for and co- operation with the Jewish people. It was not so long ago when it was believed that Catholic dogma never would permit rec- ognition of the emergence of an autono- mous Jewish state. That fear was proven erroneous on the day on which Catholic dignitaries met with Jews and Protestants to greet Israel's envoy to this country and thereby to accord Israel the respect that is due a friendly nation. But while Israel's Ambassador proved that, for the world at large, Israel has left behind it "the dramatic period," we would be betraying history if there were in- sistence that "the dramatic period" has vanished completely from Jewish life. And it is on this score that Dr. Emanuel Neumann, one of the world's most dis- tinguished Zionist leaders, who spoke here at the annual dinner meeting of the Zionist Organization of Detroit, on the night after Ambassador Harman's lecture, gave credence anew to the historic role of the Zionist movement — a role that can never be left behind in forgetfulness. It is true that for Israel "the dramatic period" has found a substitute in indus- trial pursuits, in navigation, in developing chemical industries, in advancing agri- culturally, in creating high educational standards, in launching new ships and in perfecting aeronautical and nautical en- deavors. Yet, without the drama that pre- ceded these vital functions, there could not have been the immense progress of which the new State boasts justifiably. Dr. Neumann's message was a remin- der that not so long ago there was a great struggle for statehood and that it required hurdling over serious obstacles. Without the Zionist idea, there would have been only limited goals for those who were compelled to seek haven from humiliations in a state of their own. The new approaches by Zionist lead- ers like Dr. Neumann are, simultaneously with their efforts in support of Israel, to help provide the most effective type of educational media to assure the best schooling for our youth and new methods of reaching their elders through adult education programs. Dr. Neumann was primarily responsible for the establish- ment of the Tarbuth Foundation, which, with the gift of $1,000,000 made by Abraham and Jacob Goodman, now • can look to higher goals for the advancement of Jewish learning. Dr. Neumann, himself a noted Heb- raist and educator, has led in the field of Jewish learning. In his way, he per- petuates "the dramatic period" by lending status to a major goal in Zionism — that of increasing and enhancing our cultural values. Ambassador Harman represents the creative forces in Israel who are protect- ing the Israelis' lifebelts by means of creating a strong economic system for the Jewish State. Dr. Neumann belongs to the leadership that seeks high spiritual and cultural goals for Israel and the Israelis' kinsmen everywhere. As a combination,' the Harman-Neumann goal still retains "the dramatic touch" which should serve to inspire Jewry everywhere in kinship to Israel and in loyalty to the great spiritual heritage 'of our people. 15 Israeli Stories 'A Whole Loaf' Who are the Israelis? How do they live? What and how do they think? Through the short story depicting life in Israel, the Ameri- can reader can get the best view of the citizen of the new Jewish State, and the collection of 15 short stories— all but one of which deal with life in Israel and Israelis — edited by Sholom J. Kahn, lecturer in the department of English at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, published by Vanguard Press (424 Madison, N.Y. 24), under the title "A Whole Loaf," provides that opportunity. The book's title is based on the last story in the book,. Samuel Yosef Agnon's "A Whole Loaf," translated by I. M. Lask. The editor considered it vital enough to append a special ex- planatory note on this story, at the end of the book, between the glossary and the biographical sketches of the story-tellers, to indicate that Agnon, like Kafka, "seems to think spontane- ously in symbolic modes," but that "Agnon's debt to rabbinic legend and commentary often brings him closer to explicit allegory." All of the authors of the 15 stories in this collection are living and active in Israel, except two = the late Moshe Smilansky and Yisrael Zarchi. • Other novelists and short story writers whose narratives ap- pear in this volume are: S. Yizhar, Moshe Shamir, Hayim Hazaz, Yehuda Yaari, Nathan Shaham, Aharon Meged, Benjamin Tam- muz, Yaakov Churgin, Yitzhak Shenhar, Yigal Mossinsohn, Yehoshua Bar-Yosef. Translators, in addition to Kahn himself, as editor, and Lask, are: Samuel Katz, S. Ketko, D. Briskman, K. Kaplan, I. Schen, A. Hodes, D. Saraf, Z. Albert. The stories are divided into two sections — Wars and In- dependence and Backgrounds. In the former, the tales deal with Israel's battles for sovereignty and the struggle for survival. Included in this group is the charming Yemenite story by Hazaz, "The Lord Have Mercy!" The second section is composed of character sketches of Israelis before the war. Thus, the reader gets an insight into the lives of the people of Israel, he meets the interesting Yemenites, he learns about the heroism of those who fought for independence. One learns about the sabras, the native Israelis, about their parents and the attitudes of the elders to the youths. And there is an excellent description of the religious life in the land, of the spirituality of Jerusalem. - In addition to his "A Whole Loaf," Agnon is represented by another tale, "Metamorphosis," a story about a divorce and the reconciliation of the couple. The dialect in the Yemenite story by Hazaz is intended to indicate the difference in the Hebraic speech of the interesting folk who came from the backward country of Yemen. "A Whole Loaf" is a collection of tales of delight, which, while entertaining the reader, also enlighten him about a newly developed civilization in ancient Land of Israel. Yeats' Selected Poems An important essay, "The Poetry of Yeats," evaluating the Nobel Prize winning poet's works, lends significance to "Selected Poems of William Butler Yeats," by M. L. Rosenthal, published by Macmillan. The discriminating selection of poems included in this paper- back is in itself the result of an authoritative effort on the part of a noted scholar. His analysis of the poet's works serves as a guide for students of Yeats' creative efforts. Dr. Rosenthal, who is presently associate professor of English at New York University, formerly taught at Michigan State University.