Purely Commentary
Gerold Frank's Timely Appearance in Detroit
Gerold Frank is much more than an author. He is an authority
on the Middle East and his close association with the representa-
tives of the several governments who were represented on the
commissions of inquiry into Arab-Jewish relations prior to the
creation of the State of Israel brought him closer to the Palestin-
ian scene than any other correspondent.
As author of "The Deed," the sensational book that is being
acclaimed by his publishers (Simon & Schuster) as "one of the
most electrifying works of non-fiction to appear in America in the
1960s," he comes to Detroit next Wednesday to speak to the
Zionist Organization of Detroit on a major topic of interest—the
intense feeling of the small group that turned to violence. In
"The Deed" he described the objectives of this group that turned
to violence, two of whose youths assassinated Lord Moyne, who
"were of the People of the Book, living in the land of the Book—
yet they violated its supreme commandment: Thou shalt not kill."
Frank's -story also is a splendid evaluation of the historic
Zionist movement, and his lecture here at the Beth Aaron Syna-
gogue should draw an overflow audience. This is the proper time
for the strengthening of the movement that again becomes vital
to Jewry in time of crisis, and members of all Zionist parties
should hear Frank's reports on his interesting experiences.
The appearance here of Gerold Frank draws attention also
to the shocking demonstrations of indignities by the Council for
Judaism. Last week we expressed shock at the manner in which
a responsible newspaper undertook to cover the convention of this
anti-Israel—we do not hestitate to say, on the basis of its perform-
ances that it is anti-Jewish—Council. A paper that has not sent a
representative to an out-of-town Jewish convention in decades,
should not have rendered such insults to Jewry by giving a plat-
form to otu- people's enemies, even if they are fellow-Jews. (A
Jewish anti-Semite is more repugnant than the non-Jewish bigot).
Gerold Frank is acquainted with the workings of the Council for
Judaism and his message here should have some bearing on the
existing situation vis-a-vis -Israel and Zionism.
*
The Passing of the Menorah Journal
For a number of years, prior to the formation of the Hillel
Foundations by the Bnai Brith, the Jewish college students were
served by a movement that left its impact upon many. It was
the Menorah Association and its founder was the late Henry
Hurwitz.
Many notables were among the pioneers in the Menorah
Movement, and among them was Michigan's distinguished scholar
and leader, Prof. I. Leo Sharfman. Sharfman's father was a
pioneer Zionist, and the University of Michigan professor of
economics inherited from him a keen Jewish loyalty and a love
for Zion.
Hurwitz, similarly, was a man steeped in Jewish knowledge.
He, too, in his early years, cherished a love for Zion.
But in the last years of his life, Hurwitz, for unknown
reasons, unless they stemmed from a lack of recognition by
Zionist leaders, turned to the Council for Judaism. His new
approaches to Jewish issues began to lack the constructive spirit
that animated his earlier works. He became a tool of the destruc-
tive elements in Jewry.
Hurwitz had become a power in Jewry. Under the imprima-
tur of the Menorah Association he founded the Menorah Journal
and he molded it into a great instrument for learning. He made
of it a medium for cultural creativity.
He started the journal as a monthly magazine in 1915. For
many years it remained a monthly publication, until both it and
the Menorah Association began to lose strength and adherents.
Perhaps that is what had soured the able man.
At any rate, he continued his work and kept the Menorah
Journal alive, during the last years of its existence merely as a
semi-annual.
But with his passing in November of 1961 it was incon-
ceivable that the magazine could possibly survive.
Nevertheless, Hurwitz's devoted son, David L. Hurwood,
who remained secretary of the Menorah Association—a move-
ment retained in name for the purpose of publishing the Journal
—succeeded in publishing one more issue as a memorial to
his father.
That issue is the last one to be published. It serves as a
monument to his distinguished father who possessed so much
power as a writer and as a leader of men. What a pity that the
ideals that motivated Hurwitz's activities in his younger years
should have been abandoned by him. He could have been such
a power for good in the fund-raising he condemned, in the
nationalism he derided, in the inspirations he spurned.
In the Menorah Journal he had created an impressive
monument for himself. Would that it had not been marred
by the negativism of his association with the most destructive
movement that has been inflicted upon Jewry—a movement that
finds comfort in an alignment with Israel's worst enemies.- But
except for that one blunder in his career his name will be
remembered in association with a movement that rendered great
services to Jews in our universities during the early years of
this century.
*
*
*
Status of Youth: Plight of Elders
United Synagogue Review, the organ of Conservative Juda-
ism, recently undertook to probe questions of conflict among
young Jews, and many of the negative aspects that are creating
concern over an evident indifference among our youth emerged
from the discussions as well as from the many letters that
reached the magazine in comment upon the frankness of the
articles. In an editorial comment on "The Plight of the Young
Jew," the magazine stated:
"The lesson is clear, the moral unmistakable, American
Jews, standing at the crossroads, are baffled by the obstacles
which thwart them in their efforts to divert their children
from the secular way and guide them along the synagogue
way. Almost to the point of desperation, they are eager to
find ways of overcoming these obstacles. They welcome a
candid airing of the problem in the hope that the light
that is shed on it will produce the energy to resolve it. To
ignore it, they feel, is to submit with resignation to the
corrosive influences that threaten to reduce the Jewish
heritage to a memory.
"By extension, this forthright attitude can conquer
Authoritative Gerold
Frank . . Journal's
Passing .. Youth Status
By Philip
Slomovitz
other problems. Judaism has proved itself a sturdy growth:
it has survived—and even been revived by—many threaten-
ing forces. Never, however, has so large a Jewish com-
munity been subjected to such subtly seductive blandish-
ments as those held out to the young Jew by modern
American society. Not only does faith itself tend to
falter; the courage required for faith is dissipated by our
social system's worldly demands, both material and psychol-
ogical. And there can be no incentive for the younger
generation to seek renewed faith or courage if their elders
betray timidity or trepidation in confronting the essence
of the problem.
"All our correspondents are agreed that too many
of our youngsters are, alas, abandoning their Jewishness.
The question is: can we stem their flight by ignoring their
plight? The answer would seem to be clear."
The answer, regrettably, is not as cleared as assumed.
It is good to know that the issues involved are not being
ignored, that a threatening shying away from Jewish life by our
youth is causing us sufficient concern to discuss and to evaluate
the problem. But the proper heading for the United Synagogue
Review editorial should instead have been "The Plight of Elder
Jewry That Is Losing Its Youth." Unless young Jews are aware
of the detrimental abandonment of links with their people they
can not be in plight. It is those who need them, their elders,
the concerted Jewish people that then enters a stage of being
in plight.
It is commendable that the issue was raised, yet it is so
der lorable that the many pages that were devoted, subsequent
to the publication of the article that probed the problem, to
letters of comment on the articles which were not really comments
but mere approbations for the idea of printing the original essays.
Nearly all the letters were innocuous. Even some of the most
dist inguished scholars in Jewry,. who were among. the - cor-
respondents, did nothing more than to repeat, ad nauseam, the
message of "congratulations" to the editor. Why didn't they
offer solutions and instead express opinions on the vital issue
at stake?
There is no denying the fact that in our universities espe-
cially there is an indifference among young Jews towards things
Jewish that should challenge us to abandon our complacency.
If w.e are to have a generation of Jews interested in a creative
Jewish life, concerned with the entity of Jewry, then we must
inspire a new interest among the college youth. Perhaps we
should begin with the high school youth so that they may be
prepared for Jewish interests and affiliations during their
college days.
How is this to be attained? What miraculous force can we
resort to in order to restore a Jewish devotionalism in our youth?
The answer is not and can not be simple. But it must be
found—not by being smug and by deluding ourselves, as many
synagogue and other leaders are, into believing that a few con-
tribut.ons to a worthy cause may signify a lasting interest in
our communal needs. The way to be discovered is how to get
our students to acquire even the basic in Jewish knowledge,
how to get them to gain pride in their heritage, how to link
them with the past and thereby also to provide them with a
realization of the requirements of the present and the hopes
for the future.
It's a big order, but if rabbis, educational leaders and those
who have charge of Hillel affairs will not seek the proper
solution, they will be losing their rights to the responsibilities
both assigned to them and assumed by them.
Lag b'Omer
(Copyright, 1963,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
Why is the .18th of Iyai,con-
sidered a holiday (Lag
b-Omer) occurring this year
on Sunday, May 12th?
A number of reasons are giv-
en including the following: Ac-
cording to a tradition handed
down by the Gaonim, the plague
or slaughter which killed 24,000
students 'f Rabbi Akiba during
this period of the year came to
a halt on this date. Thus, the
famous Maharil (1365 to 1427)
worte that for 32 days the peo-
ple of Israel considered them-
selves mourners and on the
33rd day (Lag b'Omer) they
make a day of rejoicing. It is
also claimed that Bar Chochba,
the general who led the revolt
against the Romans in which
Rabbi Akiba and his students
were involved achieved some
kind of victory on that day.
This was at the time an unbe-
lievable event because it was so
odd that any one could be vic-
torious against the great Roman
Legions. Others claim that this
day is considered a holiday be-
cause the manner which fed 4-..he
Jews through the wonderings in
the wilderness began to come
down to them on that day. Rabbi
Isaac Luria (1535-1572) consid-
ered the day not only because
of physical victory or the end
of physical death, but more so
because of the fact that on that
day it seemed assured that
Rabbi Akibah's students could
continue the great traditions of
Judaism. Kabbalists celebrate
this day . as the day on which
the great Rabbi Simon Bar
Yochai passed away. He was
considered the original author
of the classic book of the Kahl-
balah and his removal from this
* *
.
Why is it customary to kin-
dle a fire at the grave of
Rabbi Simon Bar Yochai on
Lag b'Omer?
The Zohar relates that on the
day in which he died (which is
Lag b'Omer) a great fire and
a brilliant light surrounded
him. The Zohar further states
that his bier ascended Heaven-
ward with a torch of fire pre-
ceding it, thus the followers of
the Kabbalah still light this fire
to remember this great day
Senator Exposes Nasser-Employed Nazis
By MILTON FRIEDMAN
(Copyright, 1963, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
WASHINGTON — President
Nasser's extensive reliance on
German Nazis for secret police,
military, and other functions
in the United Arab Republic
has been re-
revealed by a
Senator w h o
recently visit-
ed Cairo.
He is Sen.
Ernest Gruen-
ing, Alaska:
Democrat,.
who went to
E:g;y p t as a
member of
the Senate
Committee on
Government
Operation to Sen. Gruening
examine the operation of the
foreign aid program.
The Senator's attention to
the Nazi role was aroused by
American military s o u r c e s.
Sen. Gruening reported to Con-
gress that the following Nazis
are among those employed by
Nasser:
SS General Dirlewanger; known
as the "Butcher of Warsaw," a
military adviser on guerrilla war-
fare.
Leopold Gleim, alias Lt. Col. Al-
Nasher; who is in charge of Nas-
ser's State Security Police cadre,
modeled after Hitler's SS corps,
and was a chief of Hitler's per-
sonal guard, and a Gestapo secur-
ity chief in occupied Poland.
Joachim Daeming; who is an ad-
viser on concentration camps in
Egypt -a former Gestapo chief in
Dusseldorf.
Dr. Hans Eisele; active in medi-
cal program at Egyptian concen-
tration camps; a former chief
physician at Buchenwald concen-
tration camp and wanted in Europe
for trial for medical atrocities.
SS Fuhrer Bernhardt Bende r,
alias Col. Ben Salem; who is In
charge of Nasser's prison police
lignece of Wehrmacht security di-
guards, and was Chief of Intel-
vision in the Ukraine.
SS Gruppenfuhrer Moser, alias
Col. Hassan Suleiman, who is in
charge of youth training.
Erich Altern, alias Ali Bella, who
was the Gestapo's commissar for
Jews in Galicia.
Johann von Leers, alias Omn
Amin von Leers; who is in charge
of propaganda work for Nasser,
and was formerly in the Berlin
Louis Heiden, .alias Louis Al-
foreign ministry.
Hadsch, former chief of German
News Agency; distributes Arabic
translation of "Mein Kampf."
George Dieudonne, former leader
of Swiss Nazi party; works on
anti-Jewish propaganda with Von-
Leers.
SS Haupstarzt Heinrich Willer-
mann, alias Lt. Col. Naim Fahum;
official of Egyptian concentration
camp system, a former "medical
director" at Dachau.
Nasser's intended future use
of these skilled Nazis. was in-
dicated by a "Voice of Cairo"
broadcast quoted by the Sen-
ator.
The Cairo Radio called on
the Arab world to prepare to
"march together on our dear
usurped land—Jerusalem, Jaffa
and Haifa—and the crime of
Israel will no longer exist. We
call the army and the people
in the Arabian peninsula and
Jordan to quick action and to
bloody revolution."
Radio Cairo said the "arch-
enemies" of the Arabs included
"the Americans and the Jews."
"Free Arab soldiers and of-
ficers," said the broadcast, "the
people call on you to shoulder
your full responsibilities in the
forthcoming battle for the lib-
eration of Palestine . . . our
Arab people are irrevocably de-
termined to wipe away the dis-
grace to Israel and to purge
the Holy Land of the remnants
of Zionism . . ."
Sen. Gruening's travels in
the Middle East found "great
apprehension about the grow-
ing power of Nasser and a
resentment over the lavish
aid which the United States,
was giving him, which he
uses to achieve conquest and
domination of that en t i r e
area." He heard objections
voiced in Iran, Turkey, Leb-
anon, Jordan and Greece.
"While we are pouring in
money on domestic rehabilita-
tion. Nasser is pouring it out
in warfare," said the Senator.
He charged that Russian
planes provided to Nasser air-
lifted an estimated 30,000 Egyp-
tian troops into Yemen to im-
pose a puppet regime there.
In this connection, Sen.
Hugh Scott, Pennsylvania Re-
publican, reported "the Egyp-
tians have been fighting a very
dirty war in Yemen . . . in
which it bombs villages and
strafes shepherds and their
flocks." He said the UAR
force in Yemen was armed with
the most modern Soviet equip-
ment, and supported by Soviet
jet fighters and bombers fly-
ing some 150 sorties daily
against defenseless Yemenite
villages.
But, Sen. Scott, like Sen.
Gruening, concluded that Nas-
ser was moving toward "the
ultimate goal of the destruction
of Israel."