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June 28, 1963 - Image 4

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Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1963-06-28

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THE JEWISH NEWS

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

July 4th-and the Biblical Origin

Member American Association of English—Jewish 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 $6 a year. Foreign $7.
Second Class Postage Paid At Detroit, Michigan

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

Business Manager

SIDNEY SHMARAK

Advertising Manager

HARVEY ZUCKERBERG

City Editor

Sabbath Scriptural Selections
.
This Sabbath,_ the seventh day of Tammuz, the following Scriptural selections will be read in
our synagogues:
Pentatevichal portion, Num. 19:1-22-1. Prophetical portion. Judges 11:1-33.

Licht benshen, Friday, June 28. 7:53 p.m.

VOL. XLIII. No. 18

Page Four

June 28, 1963

The New Prime Minister of Israel

'Levi Eshkol, successor to David Ben-
Gurion as Prime Minister of Israel, comes
to his new high post _as a highly experi-
enced leader of his people.
During numerous absences of Ben-
Gurion from his post, the former Finance
Minister had served as Acting Premier,
and he therefore assumes his new task
well trained for the major Israeli gov-
ernment role.
It is possible that Eshkol's chief diffi-
culties will be with his own party, the
Mapai, in whose ranks there is a measure
of discontent. But he has been known as
a man 'WhO is affiong Israel's best concili-
ators and the least controversial of the

Mapai leaders, and he should be able to
cement the most perfect relationship
between all parties.
Prime Minister Eshkol is much like his
predecessor as well as the late President
Itzhak Ben-Zvi and the present President
Zalman Shazar. He has risen in the ranks
of the labor movement, has labored for
the Zionist cause, in recent years has ad-
vanced Israel's economic position and has
encouraged American Jews in numerous
investment projects.
The new Prime Minister has the good
wishes of all American Jews who pray for
his success as Israel's chief official.

Saudi Arabia's Insult to

Saudia Arabia follows the Nasser line.
There must have been a short period
during which there was no screening of
American Jews in the service of the U.S.
armed forces, in order to prevent their
entering that country. But since the
question was raised, there is a reaffir-
mation from Saudi Arabians of their
insistence upon barring Jews from set-
ting foot on their soil. It has become
necessary for Arabs, wherever they may
be, often under compulsion, to advocate
hatred for Israel and for Jewry. If they
didn't, Nasser would go after them.
We have . no doubt that the U.S. State
Department spokesman uttered the truth
when he said that Saudi Arabia had be-
gun to admit American servicemen
without prejudice as to their religious
affiliations. It all goes to prove that
there could be a getting-together, that
peace is not an impossibility, that there
need not be any sort of prejudice
against select groups in order to perpet-
uate a state of war in the Middle East.
But there are influences that apparently

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Ben-Yosef s Purest Democracy
Americans in World': Fine Kibbutz Study

are stronger than the diplomatic ties
Avraham C. Ben-Yosef. a native of London and a graduate
and the industrial relations between the of London
University, not only has made a place for '5 himself
Saudi Arabians and the United States. in kibbutz life in Israel since
1950, but has emerged
as one of
p
There are hatreds that surmount reason. the major proponents of kibbutz ideology. In 1961 he ex-
That's what is causing the tensions and pounded the kibbutz idea in a book, "The Character of Kib-
war threats in the Middle East.
butz Democracy," and he now acclaims the idea in an impressive
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia is discrim- ;new book, "The Purest Democracy in the World," published
mating between citizens of the United jointly by Herzl Press (515 Park, NY22) and Thomas Yoseloff
States. It is a practice that militates against (11 36th, NY16).
Not only the interpretive factors, but also the factual data
every principle of decency and dilutes the about
the kibbutzim makes this work stand out as a valuable
honor that goes with American citizen- presentation of the manner in which the collective and coopers-
ship. It has been condemned in Congress, tive farm settlements operate in Israel.
there is on record legislation against it,
In the statistical portions of Ben-Yosef's book we find
but expediency has prevented the en- records of the growth of the kibbutzim from 1914 to-date.
forcement of legislative decisions in con- Fifty years ago the percentage of kibbutz settlers to the entire
population was 0.2-180 out of a total of 85,000. In 1961 there
demnation of prejudice.
were 223 kibbutzim with an estimated population of 85,000 out
Justice for all Americans, reaardless
b
total Jewish population of 1,950,000—a percentage of 4.4.
of their race and creed, is not a matter of a The
factual tables also list the various kibbutz federations
to be considered vis-a-vis our Southern and their memberships, as well as the number who originally
states alone. It i8 a serious matter wher- entered the settlements, those who left and the remaining nurn-
ever it may be abused. It certainly is bers—showing that 67 per cent remained in the kibbutzim. Other
being flaunted in Saudi Arabia, where data provided is of persons employed in kibbutz industries (10,-
Americans of the Jewish faith are being 757) as compared.with all Israeli industrial employees (149,400)
discriminated against. The State Depart- in 1959. There also is a record of the agriculture output in the
ment must do something about it besides kibbutzim.
Of value to all who seek information about Israel and
uttering lip service.
its settlements is the list of kibbutzim, the years of their

Reasonable Reactions to Church-State Ruiing

While opinions generally have been
sharply divided in the matter of reciting
prayers in public schools, it is of special
interest, in the instance of the latest U.S.
Supreme Court ruling, that a majority
of the religious leaders in this country
now appear to be favoring the decision.
There is near-unanimity in Jewish
ranks. All of the national Jewish organ-
izations have gone on record commend-
ing the 8-1 high court ruling prohibiting
the reciting of the Lord's Prayer and the
reading of the Bible in our public schools.
At the same time, many Christian leaders
have stated that they accept the decision
and consider it reasonable.
As a matter of fact, the overwhelming
viewpoint is that the latest ruling could
militate in favor of increased religious
devotion in that it encourages objective
study of religion and at the same time
admonishes religious leaders that the
logical places for religious practices are
the homes and the houses of worship.
"Let us turn to both and strengthen both,"
seems to be the prevailing sentiment.
Insofar as the average citizen is con-
cerned, comments such as "I couldn't care
less," quoted as a viewpoint of private
citizens, may be the prevailing sentiment.
The result of all the debates in recent
years on his church-state issue is that the
unemotional are determined that the
Supreme Court should not be interfered
with and that there should not be undue
influence upon the judges in our highest

eartivit\

court: One does not know what will
transpire in later years. Court opinions,
as we have experienced in the past three
decades, can and do change, and it is dif-
ficult to foretell what will be the attitude
of judges in our Supreme Court two
decades later. In the meantime, the latest
ruling appears definitely to echo the
viewpoint of a majority of Americans
who insist upon adherence to the separa-
tion principle.

In the shuffle of conflicting view-
points on matters involving religion in
public life, another important ruling by
the Supreme Court was overlooked. The
high court ruled, on the very day on
which it issued its historic decision oppos-
ing Bible reading in public schools, that
employment could not be denied by any
one of our States to a person whose re-

a particular day. It was a case involving
work on the Sabbath and was raised by
Seventh Day Adventists in a South Caro-
lina contest. This decision undoubtedly
will affect Jewish Sabbath observers. ✓
The high court's rulings provide food
for thought and subjects for debates , and
they also cause us to view with respect
the opinions of a group of judges who
have acted dispassionately in the face of
conflicting public opinion. They have
ruled on the basis of their strongest
inner convictions and they have raised
our respect for them, for their wisdom
and their dignity.

founding, the kibbutz movements with which they are af-
filiated and their locations.
There are two sections to the book—one dealing with kibbutz
ideology under the title "The Purest Democracy in the World,"
and a second portion. headed "Go East, Young Man!" which con-
tains the statistical data and the author's diary of his first year
in an Israeli kibbutz, Ben-Yosef is a member of Kibbutz Sasa.
Ben-Yosef emphasizes that "the kibbutzim are not composed
of the children of generations of farmers" but that "they come
for the most part. from ghetto communities of small peddlers,
from the offices, banks and shops of the Western world." Middle •
Eastern Jews, he notes. "have not taken to kibbutz living."
"Kibbiltzic education," he informs his readers, "has an
orientation all its own ... The Bible is as much an everyday
book for study in kibbutz schools as in others, but in the
nonreligious kibbutzim it becomes- the background textbook
for the history and geography of the country. The children,
naturally, imbibe simultaneously its moral teaching as well.
In the religious kibbutzim, on the other hand, with their
• ideology, the Bible is the basic item of instruction, and its
contents are interpreted in their full religious significance
within the framework of communal life, in a way which,
again, has no exact counterpart outside."
An interesting chapter is devoted to the place of women in
the kibbutz, to the greater difficulty of attracting them to kib-
butz life, but the author contends that "once a woman has
adoped the kibbutz outlook, she will gain infinitely more satis-
faction from being her natural self."
Ben-Yosef states that "an obvious source of kibbutz recruit-
ment is the youth of Israel itself." He explains also: "An obvious
reason why recruitment to the kibbutzim is smaller than would
be desirable is that among people coming from-the modern West-
ern world only a minority likes rural life." He concedes that
it is a serious question whether difficulty to urban kibbutzim
can be overcome, but he maintains:
"Even if recruitment to kibbutzim from outside resources
never again reaches the level that it did during the Hitler
persecution in Europe, the future of the kibbutzim would •
still not be in jeopardy. They could, in fact, maintain them-
selves at their present level through their natural increase
without any outside recruitment."
Numerous problems relating to the kibbutzim are viewed
with great earnestness in Ben-Yosef's book, which may well be
considered one of the valuable studies ever made of the kibbutz
and kibbutz life in Israel.

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