THE JEWISH NEWS

Security for the Aged

Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951

Member American Association of linglish--Jewisb Newspapers, Michigan Press Associations, National

Editorial Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35,

Cast me not off in -the time of old age (Psalm* 71,9j

Mich., VE 3-9364. Subscription $5 a year. Foreign %-
Metered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1942 at Post Office, Detroit, Mich., under act of Congress of
March 8, 1179.

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

SIDNEY SHMARAK CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ HARVEY ZUCKERBERG

Advertising Manager

Business Manager

City Editor

Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the fourteenth day of Siwan, 5722, the following scriptural selections will be
read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion. Naso, Numbers 4:21-7:89. Prophetical portion, Judges 13:2-25.

Licht Benclen, Friday. June 15. 7:51 p.m.

Vol. XLI No. 16

Page Four

June 15, 1962

Israel Bonds and the Era of the Negev

Having demonstrated the soundness
of investments in Israel and already
having repaid a major portion of the
Israel Bond purchases that were initially
introduced to the American public 11
years ago, the organization that is spon-
soring the bond sales is launching another
drive for investment dollars that are to
facilitate Israel's expanding program.
The new Israel Bond program in De-
trciit, which is to receive the blessings of
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, at the dinner
next Thursday. is part of the large-scale
effort to enlist more American investors
in Israel whose participation is needed
to assure the success of many production
projects that are being launched simul-
taneously with the Negev rebuilding
schemes.
A desert that has lain waste for more
than twenty centuries is now begging
for the human touch to revive it. Its re-
demption has begun, and the Israelis are
hopeful that the sand dunes of the south-
ern portion of Israel will be irrigated and
that the land will blossom again.
This is a vital undertaking at this
time, when so many new immigrants are

coming into Israel. This is the era of the
redemption of the Negev, and Detroit
Jewry will play a vital role in this great
task.
The current importance of the Israel
Bond drive emerges in all its significance
as a result of the latest reports which
indicate that Israel once again is suffer-
ing from an increased trade imbalance.
Imports overshadow exports by $400,000,-
000, and Israel is in dire need of increased
economic support to be able to build up
its trade with the aim eventually of re-
ducing this difficulty. Israel Bond dol-
lars assist the economy of the state, and
American Jewry has a continuous oppor-
tunity to aid the new nation in a financial
way through the Israel Bond drive.
The vastness of the cause involved,
the solidity of Israel's position that assures
prompt repayment of the loans made
through Bonci purchases and the fact
that the event at which the new Bond
drive will be launched will be addressed
by so distinguished a personality as Mrs.
Roosevelt lend great importance to next
Thursday's Israel Bond dinner meeting.

Basic Facts on Deterioration of USSR Jewry

It was primarily in answer to charges
regarding anti-Jewish policies in the
Soviet Union made by U. S. Senator Jacob
Javits that five Soviet Jews purportedly
wrote a letter answering and denying the
accusations.
Senator Javits, in a letter to the New
York Times in which he commented upon
the Russian Jews' published statement,
said he was gratified that there should
have been a reaction to the challenges he
had issued, and he called it an excellent
first step. But he added that the inquiries
he had instituted "need to be pursued
with fuller explanations and hopefully
with remedial action. We have learned all
too bitterly the dangers in taking the
course of silence in such situations or of
averting our eyes from them. Both the
facts and the remedies are far more likely
to result from inquiries and protests.
There is every reason to continue such
inquiries and protests regarding the con-
dition of the .Jews in the Soviet Union."
In his letter to the New York Times,
referring to the Russian Jews' "statistics
intended to show that Jews play an osten-
sibly prominent role in higher education,
science and the professions and politics,"
Senator Javits asserts: "Whether or not
these statistics are accurate they do not
tell he whole sory." He thereupon de-
clared:

The fact is that the proportion of Jews
in all these areas has been declining for
many years. The key to the decrease is the
system of nationality quotas in university ad-
missions where a policy has been in effect to
decrease the proportion of Jews while in-
creasing that of other nationalities.
The open letter itself reveals the extent
of the decline. In higher education, for ex-
ample, Jews today represent 3.1 per cent of
all university students. But in 1935 Jews
represented 13.5 per cent of all students.
During this period Jews in the total popula-
tion decreased only 1.6 to 1.1 per cent.
The most •vital weakness of the Soviet
reply is that it -avoids the main point of
my charges. The letter does not answer
these material questions I have raised:
Why the crackdown on Jewish cultural
life and the use of the Yiddish language, the
language of Russian Jewry, as compared with
different treatment for other Soviet minori.
ties? Why the prominence and unique treat-
ment in the Soviet press of Jews charged
with crimes, particularly in currency specul-

ation and black marketing? Why the linking
of these crimes with the synagogue allegedly
as a cover for them?
Why the charges that the synagogues
are centers of subversive activities by Israel
and its diplomatic representatives? Why the
prohibition on so elementary a religious
practice_as the baking of matzoh at Passover
—a prohibition never denied by the Soviet
Government? Why all of these measures
falling most heavily on Jews under the guise
of a general anti-religious campaign?

We share with Senator Javits the sat-
isfaction in knowing that the Russians
had taken "an excellent first step" in
replying to the probing of existing Jewish
conditions in the USSR, thereby suggest-
ing the possibility of an eventual easing
of the sad conditions that affect our peo-
ple in the Communist zones. We reiterate
the editorial view we had taken on May
25, when we commented upon the letter
of the five Russian Jews:
"As long as Russians are sensitive to
criticism, it is to be hoped that this and
other challenges to Russia eventually will
result in an easing of tensions, an aban-
donment of anti-Semitic policies, the com-
mencement of a new program of fairness
to Jews who desire to retain their Jewish
associations and their interests in Jewish
culture. It is to be hoped also that if
there is to be a change in Russian atti-
tudes towards its Jewish population it
will include the right of Jews to emigrate.
Perhaps time will prove a great healer
even in Soviet Russia."

Threat to 'Separation'

Sunday closing laws for businesses and
the introduction of Bible readings in the
schools in several areas of this country
pose a serious threat to the established
principle of separation of church and
state.
The battle involving both business and
the schools is certain to be aired many
times in the highest court of the land.
But the pressures in suport of Sunday
Blue Laws and in favor of the introduction
of religious readings in our schools is
great. It will require much vigilance and
courageous efforts to overcome the threat
to the separation idea which has been a
basic American principle since the found-
ing of this republic.

Novels, Short Stories, Plays by
Mankowitz in 'Expresso Bongo

Wolf Mankowitz, the English-Jewish author, has gained
acclaim in Great Britain for his short stories and novels, as well
as several plays. He is today among the most noted British
writers.
Thomas Yoseloff (11 E. 36th, N.Y. 16) has just issued a
compilation of his works under the title "Expresso Bongo."
Included in this excellent selection are Mankowitz's most note-
worthy novels, as well as his most popular stories and plays.
The wise selection of his works for inclusion in this book
is led off by "A Kid for Two Farthings," which became a best
seller when it first appeared. It is a story about a small boy
who envisions a goat's transformation into a unicorn that
works magic in making wishes come true. The six-year-old boy
helps obviate the depressing spirit of squalor by introducing
a higher note in human relations. Filled with humor, this
novel is a classic worthy of reproduction.
Then there is Mankowitz's other superb novel, "Make Me an
Offer," that deals with an antique dealer's experiences. It is a
highly entertaining London art dealer's story.
The collection of stories that appeared under the title "The
Mendelman Fire" is reproduced here. It has the novella under
the Mendelman title and more than a dozen of Mankowitz's
stories in that popular book.
Three short stories -- "Expresso Bongo," "The Battersea
Miracle" and "My Father as a Dealer" supplement these narra-
tives. The two plays in the hook are: "The Bespoke Overcoat"
and "It Should 'Happen to a Dog."

Gardening and Other Stories

Instructive Children's Books

Books for children have special merit when they instruct,
when they guide them to productive pursuits, when they en-
courage them to seek enjoyment in wholesome efforts.
This type of book for young readers is the Viking Press
attractive "My Garden Grows," written and illustrated by Aldren
A. Watson.
It is a timely work for this time of year, when children
assist their parents in the gardens. planting vegetables and
flowers. The author, by means of a well-told story accompanied
by fine pictures ; directs the young readers towards the hoe and
rake, interesting them in the products of the soil. "My Garden
Grows" is a highly commendable work.
A potential young gardener will be inspired by seeing in
"My Garden Grows" the beautiful fresh-colored pictures and
hearing the matchless words about a child's quiet day-by-day
pleasure in watching all kinds of vegetables grow froth seed
time to harvest—aud ultimate storage in the freezer. Here
is truly a "toad's eye view" of a garden growing. And a big
fat old toad actually peers from the pages as he catches bugs
and flies which might damage the crops. Scenes below the
ground showing root development as plants mature are dif-
ferent from the usual garden pictures, and wonderful cross
sections of fully grown vegetables lend special interest even
to older readers.
From Viking Press also comes another beautifully produced
work, about the outdoors and animals. "A Funny Place to Live,"
by Robert Burch, with illustrations by W. R. Lohse, will delight
youngsters, and parents will find in it the type of story they
will welcome when seeking reading material for their children.
Both the story and the pictures in this book are adorable. In
this story, Vic and Trudy, who were trying to find their way
out of the woods, thought a nest was a "funny" place to live.
They thought all the other forest homes were odd, too, and as
they went from one to the other they were joined by forest
creatures eager to see what kind of home the children wanted.
A remarkable procession of animals wends its way through the trees.
Those who love the outdoors, adventures and animal tales
will find great merit in another Viking book, "A Black Bear's
Story," by Emil E. Liers, pictures drawn by Ray Sherin.

