THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS -- Friday, February 1, 1 963 — 30

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Connecticut Bill
Seeks Charter for
Jewish University

HARTFORD, Conn., (JTA)—
A bill for a charter to incor-
porate and establish a Jewish
University of America in Con-
necticut, has been introduced
in the state House of Represen-
tatives.
Rep. Joseph Buckley, a non-
Jew, introduced the measure
after the proposal had been
presented to him by five Con-
necticut Jewish leaders — Har-
old B. Yudkin and George Yud-
kin of Derby, Charles Henschel
of New Haven, Dr. J. H. Galen
of Shelton and Rabbi Theodore
Gluck of Derby.
Goal of the group is to create
a Jewish-sponsored university
designed to perpetuate Jewish
culture but operated on a non-
sectarian basis. Harold Yudkin,
originator of the plan, said that
if the general assembly ap-
proved the measure and the
governor signed it, the corpora-
tion would be located in Derby
and would start campaign to
raise funds.
Yudkin, who said he was
ready to give 100 acres for such
a school in Derby, emphasized
that plans were not restricted
to his city. He said if any offer
was made of greater acreage
elsewhere in the state, "that
would be fine, too." Buckley
said he had taken part in the
project because "it will help
to perpetuate Jewish culture
and advance general learning."
Yudkin said it was hoped that
the university would begin as
a liberal arts college and even-
tually add post-graduate schools.
He told the Connecticut Jewish
Ledger that he started back in
1931 to dream of such a univer-
sity, while he was still attend-
ing college. "In 1942, during
the war," he said, "I gave the
matter more serious thought
and began studying the field
of education. However, when
Brandeis University was start-
ed, I felt that the founding of
one Jewish university at a time
was enough. Now that Brandeis
is on a firm footing, we hope
to build a new university with
contributions from Jews but
open to all to attend—regard-
less of race, religion or color."

Newsman at Execution
Adolph D. Straus, a 19th cen-
tury American Jewish journal-
ist, was a correspondent for the
New York Times in various
Caribbean countries and was
the only newspaperman present
at the execution of Emperor
Maximilain of Mexico.

Nazism Exposed, 'Warsaw Ghetto Horrors Pronouncement
Revealed, Dreyfus, Oppenheimer, Other of Blessings
Trials Traced in Dickler's 'Man on Trial' By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX

Excerpts from original rec-
ords in their proceedings are
included by Gerald Dickler in
"Man on Trial," an account of
history-making trials, published
by Doubleday.
Dickler, a prominent New
York lawyer who has devoted
himself to the study of history
and biography, has developed
the themes revolving around
the clash of contending forces
in trials that include Jesus (30
CE), the Dreyfus Case (1894),
the Reichstag Fire (1925), the
Nuremberg trial (1945-46) and
the Oppenheimer hearing
(1954).
Starting with the trial of Soc-
rates (399 BCE), the other
trials in this book are: Joan of
Arc (1431), Galileo (1633),
Charles I (1649), Salem witch-
craft trials (1692), Andrew
Johnson (1868), the Scopes case
(1925), the Moscow trials (1936-
38).
The trial of Jesus is depicted
on the basis of the account in
Mark, the earliest of the Gos-
pels, in which a crowd is shown
demanding the crucifixion and
Pilate's yielding to the crowd.
It is regrettable that Dickler's
approach did not provide for
resort to Jewish sources which
offer more adequate explana-
tions of the position of the
Sanhedrin. -
Providing the corners for
the jigsaw puzzle to come into
place in the famous French
case, the author of this im-
pressive work states: "The
facts of the Dreyfus case are
unbelievable. Justice miscar-
ries often enough to give it a
bad name; and the righting
of judicial wrongs can seldom
be accomplished without stur-
dy opposition. But when the
leaders of an entire genera-
tion of France's political and
military elite compromised
their honor and gambled their
careers to prevent the vindi-
cation of an innocent man,
they left behind a record
which will never be read with-
out astonishment."
The history_ of the case is
traced to the "trauma of 1871,"
to the German-French conflicts,
to --the Panama Canal scandal
and the anti-Semitic background
of European developments. All
the heroes and the villains in
the Dreyfus Case pass in re-
view. "No transscript of the
1894 court-martial survives if,
indeed, it ever existed," but
"the second court-martial was
widely reported," and from it
Dickler quotes extensively in
his account of this trial.
"The Reichstag Fire Trial"
also contains excerpts from the
record. This section in Dickler's
book describes how a landslide
was started by Marnius van der
Lubbe, the man who kicked a
pebble on a mountaintop. It is
a valuable addition to the story
of the rise of Nazism.
Similarly valuable as part of
the history of the tragic events
of the 1930s and 1940s is the
story of the Moscow trials. The
victims are depicted here and
there are lengthy quotations
from the trial records.
The Nuremberg trial, its
strange setting, the role play-

ed by Justice Jackson, the
evidence offered, the revela-
tions of the anti-Semitic plans
promulgated by Hitler and
his hordes of criminals, are
part of this record. Of ex-
treme value in this story is
the evidence that was offered
by SS General Juergen Stroop
of the horrors during the last
days of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Having quoted this evidence,
Dickler states: "Thus, in mi-
crocosm, Hitler's 'final solu-
tion of the Jewish problem.'
Hans Frank, one of the prin-
cipal actors in the tragedy,
confessed at Nuremberg: 'A
thousand years will pass and
this guilt of Germany will not
be erased.' "
In the record of the brutali-
ties are incorporated the state-
ments of Hitler's prime support-
ers, of Goering, Ribbentrop,
Schacht, von Schirach and oth-
ers. The horrors of the concen-
tration camps are reviewed, the
policies of extermination are
exposed, and as on many other
occasions some of the culprits
dared say they did not know
there was a policy to extermi-
nate Jews. Here, too, the story
is supplemented with quotes
from the trial records.
Dickler points out that "at
Nuremberg the retribution was
neither swift nor sure." He
states: "Joseph Stalin would
have preferred, as he proposed
to Winston Churchill, that the
top 50,000 Nazis simply be taken
out and hanged. But he had
yielded when Churchill told him
that the British people would
never stand for any such ac-
tion." In a footnote, at this
point, Dickler wrote:
"For his own part, Church-
ill thought a lengthy trial
would be a mistake, accord-
ing to Roosevelt's personal
counsel, Samuel I. Rosenman.
And similar sentiments were
expressed by U. S. Secretary
of State Cordell Hull, Treas-
ury Secretary Henry Morgen-
thau, Jr., Supreme, Court
Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone,
and other eminent Americans.
The French were already
shooting collaborators with-
out trial by -the thousands."
Dickler declared that "as his-
tory the trial justified itself
magnificently. No future gener-
ation will challenge the crystal-
clear record on the bestiality
of Nazism, the corruptibility of
the Prussian officer class, or
the primary responsibility for
World War II."
Dickler's book closes with
"The Oppenheimer Hearing" in
which Dr. J. Robert Oppenhei-
mer is described as the "well-
nigh indispensable man" in the
development of the atom bomb,
as one of those who advised

Israel Lists 210
Science Periodicals

The rapid development of Is-
rael's scientific activity in re-
cent years is illustrated by a
catalogue of 210 Israel scien-
tific periodicals, issued by the
Information Center of the Na-
tional Council for Research and
,Development.

President Truman to drop the
bomb on Japan. He is described
as never having joined the Com-
munist Party, "unlike his broth-
er Frank," but as having been
"deeply embroiled in half a
dozen activities 'in behalf of
humanitarian objectives.' . . .
Although he joined few 'front'
organizations, he gave liberally
to the Spanish Loyalist cause;
and soon he was making peri-
odic cash contributions to the
Communist Party, principally,
as he thought, for Spanish re-
lief."
This is how this great scien-
tist, who coined the aphorism
"the physicists have known sin,"
became involved in a sad scan-
dal. He is described as having
been "far from his articulate
and self-possessed self when ac-
counting for his own conduct,
but completely in command of
the situation when abstract or
scientific subjects are under
consideration." In this case, too,
the record is quoted at length.
"Man on Trial" is a well writ-
ten, excellently documented ac-
count of the great trials in
history.

Tennis in Israel

BY HAROLD U. RIBALOW

(Copyright, 1963,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

A visitor to Israel cannot help
being impressed with the love
of sports throughout the coun-
try. The kids are stalwart and
athletic, many of them, and the
pleasant Middle East sun shines
warmly and brightly over the
land, allowing for outdoor sports
most of the year.
While baseball isn't. Israel's
cup - of tea, basketball has been
picked up with great enthusiasm
and now Israel's hoop teams
perform admirably in interna-
tional competitions.
Boxing is frowned upon and
our kind of football holds no
meaning to Israelis, whose par-
ents, if they know anything at
all about the game, have their
knowledge of European football,
which is soccer. And American
football must be outlandish to
the Oriental Jews living in
Israel.
Golf is starting to pick up,
thanks to the golf course at
Caesaria and the tourists from
America who come to Israel
with a foreknowledge of the
game.
The United States Committee
—Sports for Israel—is now on
the right track by promoting ten-
nis. The committee has announc-
ed "Operation Tennis in Israel,"
a project to cost $175,000, to
build 50 tennis courts in Israel,
in new towns, old cities and
schools. Each court will cost
$3,500 and the Israeli townships
will supply the land and the
coaching. Beersheba in the Ne-
g,ev, Ashdod, Ashkelon and other
new communities will get courts
and so will Tel Aviv and Haifa,
the old, big established cities.
There, the courts will be built
in cooperation with the school
systems.
The U. S. Committee—Sports
for Israel is looking for financial
help from Americans. It should
be forthcoming sooner for this
project than any previous one.

(Copyright, 1963,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

Why does Jewish tradition
require the pronouncement of
a blessing before . eating or
drinking something?.
According to the explanation
given in the Talmud (Berachoth
35a) one who eats or drings,
or generally speaking, derives
direct enjoyment from anything
in this physical world without
offering a blessing beforehand
is considered to be guilty of
illegally enjoying and benefiting
from something which is holy.
The Talmud even goes so far
as to say that consuming some-
thing without an appropriate
blessing makes one appear to be
guilty of stealing something from
the Almighty. The basis for this
contention is that all the uni-
verse belongs to the Almighty
who created it. He is ready to
let us have it. The only thing
he asks of us is to acknowledge
the ultimate source of the ob-
jects we enjoy in this world.
This is done in the form of a
blessing. Maimonides (Laws of
Blessings 3) explains that the
offering of blessings is a practi-
cal means of having one con-
stantly remind himself of his
Creator. Judah Halevi (Cuzari
3:13:17 goes fuurther to say that
the pronouncement of a bless-
ing before consuming something
makes the experience of our con-
sumption more enjoyable and
more meaningful.
Why is it necessary to pro-
nounce a blessing before per-
forming a Divine Command-
ment?
Most of the aforementioned
reasons are offered also for the
requirement of pronouncing a
blessing before performing a Di-
vine Commandment. Some claim
that since the performance of a
Divine Commandment is a spiri-
tual delight one owes the
Almighty recognition for afford-
ing him even this delight. Also,
some claim that one is required
to establish his right to perform
the commandment — this being
done by proclaiming that he has
been bidden to do this by the
Almighty himself. Some go as far
as to say that the blessing estab-
lishes man's right to feel himself
in contact with the Divine.
There are some who claim that
Moses did this out of Divine In-
spiration. It is also claimed that
after Moses' time they were for-
gotten so that King David re-
introduced them. Others claim
that after David's time they were
again forgoten and Ezra the
Scribe re-introduced them. It is
generally agreed that the text
of our prayers and blessings as -
we have them today stem from
the time of Ezra and from the
time of the "Men of the Great
Synagogue." (Anshei Knesses
Hagdolah.)

Israel Gives Law
Books to Toronto U.

TORONTO, (JTA) — A com-
plete set of books embracing
Israeli law, consisting of 12 vol-
umes of legal material and de=
scrip tive juridical anotations
and commentary, was presented
to the law library of the Uni-
versity of Toronto by Eliezer N.
Dembitz, Israeli Consul here.

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