Friday, January 10, 1964—THE D ETROIT JEWISH NEW S-2
Purely Commentary
By Philip
Slomovitz
30th Anniversary of Historic Youth Aliyah Movement
People are the best criteria for any movement; they are the surest way of
judging a nation; and the faces of the children often reflect the glory of the peo-
plehood whence they stem and whom they represent.
The children of Israel are today the sureties for the legacy that is being sym-
bolized in Jewish Statehood. A great mixture of peoples from many lands is repre-
sented in the Israeli melting pot. They had begun to come to the land of Israel many
years ago—at first in small numbers, then in increasing hordes when the flight
from the horrors of Europe, Asia and Africa drove them to the old-new haven.
It was symbolized in Youth Aliyah—the movement for the rescue of the chil-
dren of Israel that was inaugurated by Hadassah, under the leadership of Henrietta
Szold. The other great Zionist movements joined in that historic effort. Mizrachi
Women's Organization, Pioneer Women and other cooperating groups assisted in
this historic task, and the United Israel Appeal, through the Jewish Agency, and
the Keren Hayesod, joined in providing the means that were needed to make the
task fruitful.
1st Desalination Factory in Israel
Starts Full Scale Operation in Eilat
TEL AVIV, (JTA)—The run-
ning-in of the first desalination
plant in Eilat to utilize the
method invented by Israeli sci-
entist Alexander Zarchin has
been started, and three other
units will be completed and
run-in in the next two months,
it was announced by officials of
Desalination Plant Company,
Ltd., which is developing the
process.
The developing company is
jointly owned by the Israeli
government, the inventor and
Fairbanks-Whitney, Inc. of Wis-
consin, with 37, 13 and 50 per
cent of the shares respectively.
The announcement said that,
by March, Eilat will have 1,000
cubic meters of desalinated wa-
ter per day from all four units.
Construction of the units was
started in May of last year. The
cost of production of the sweet
water will be one Israel pound
(33 cents) per cubic meter.
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Boris Smolar's
'Between You
... and Me'
Jewish Telegraphic
py
Agency, Inc.)
Behind the Scenes
American diplomats are keeping an eye on developments
in connection with the "summit conference" of the 13 Arab
rulers next week, called for Monday by Egyptian President
Nasser in Cairo to deal with Israel's water plans .. . President
Johnson himself has taken a hand in the issue, quietly indicating
to the Arab rulers that the United States will stand by its
pledge to aid development projects which are aimed at improving
living conditions in the Middle East . . . American-plan for
Origin:
Ethiopia
Origin:
Egypt
Origin:
Poland
Origin: Morocco Origin: Romania
joint Arab-Israel development of the Jordan River waters—pre-
The faces of the children who came to Israel through the Youth Aliyah move- pared by the late Eric Johnston—is one of these projects . .
ment now reflect the smiles that have begun to erase tragedies. The accompany- It was originally accepted by Israel and the involved Arab
but was rejected later by the Arab rulers under
ing photos are of children from five areas who have been brought as Youth Aliyah countries,
pressure from the Arab League . . . Nasser stood aloof to this
subjects to the Bessie Gotsfeld Children's Village in Raanana and Mosad Aliyah project, implying that the entire matter is of no interest to his
Children's Village in Petach Tikvah, two of the projects of Mizrachi Women's Or- government, since the Jordan River waters do not flow in
Egypt . . . However, now that Israel is ready to initiate the
ganization of America.
These faces are representative of the 110,000 children who were brought to first phase of the project which would bring water from Jordan
Israel from 72 countries with Youth Aliyah funds. They beckon to us to continue to the Negev, Nasser has seen an opportunity to practice leader-
our work, to make it possible for every child now in bondage to find a home in ship in the Moslem world and summoned the "summit confer-
Israel. It is with Detroit's Allied Jewish Campaign funds that these tasks go on ence" to Cairo . . . Although the United States is certain that
the Arabs would not go to war with Israel when the water
uninterruptedly.
from Jordan starts flowing into the Negev sometime this year,
Through the United Jewish Appeal, which provides the funds for the United President Johnson in personal messages to Nasser, the King of
Israel Appeal, with the aid of the women's Zionist movements which have carried Jordan and heads of state in Syria and Lebanon, made it clear
on the Youth Aliyah activities, the work must go on until every sufferer from in- that he would stand by President Kennedy's policy for the
dignities in lands of oppression is given haven in Israel. The children's smiling Middle East . . . While no large-scale clashes between the Arab
faces reproduced above encourage us in the great task and inspire us never to countries and Israel are anticipated over the Jordan River
interrupt the blessings for the good that came from the Youth Aliyah undertakings. project, it is expected that the "summit conference" in Cairo—
which is to define a common Arab policy on Israel's water plans
*
*
—will result in intensified diplomatic campaigning against
handle
challenging
situations—and
the
Pope's
The Pope's Tour and the Six Million
Israel's water plan in the United Nations and among the major
visit certainly was an occurrence that demanded Western Powers . . . Aid in this campaign will be sought by the
If there ever existed a doubt as to the great
careful planning and dignified handling of a re- Arabs also from Khrushchev, who intends to visit Cairo soon.
significance of the visit to Jordan and Israel by
ligious milestone. Israel's leaders rose to the
Pope Paul VI, it vanished almost immediately
What's in A Name?
occasion with the respect that is due another
upon the Pontiff's arrival on ground that is so
The eyes of the entire world were fixed on the Mandelbaum
religious faith, and they have thereby lent honor Gate in Jerusalem when Pope Paul VI crossed that gate from
sacred to Christianity and is holy to Moslems
to
their
people
everywhere.
as well as to the Jews to whom that entire area
Israeli territory into Jordanian . . . This is the only gate open
*
*
has such historic value.
between Israel and the Arab world, and through it thousands of
Not only the crowds that gathered to greet
Christian pilgrims pass every year to Christian Holy Places . .
Megiddo . . . and Armageddon
the Pope, but his utterances, the dignity with
Megiddo, the ancient Canaanite city at the But who was Mandelbaum? . . . Mandelbaum—who by trick of
which he treated all faiths, the manner in
edge of the Plain of Jez-reel, where the Pope was history has become the name of Israel's key-holding position—
which the Catholic dignitaries arranged the
welcomed by Israel's President Zalman Shazar, did not distinguish himself with anything, except being a land-
pilgrimage, reflected a spirit of good will.
has been referred to as the derivative of Ar- lord . . . He was the owner of the building on the spot where
That spirt was about to be broken when
mageddon, the final battle in Christian tradition the border post between Israel and Jordan was established
the cowed monarch of Jordan utilized the occa-
between the forces 'of good and evil. In its refer- during the Arab-Israel armistice agreement . . . Because there
sion of the Pope's visit to malign and to threaten
ence to Megiddo in Rev. 16:16, Armageddon, de- was no other way of identifying this particular border post, it
Israel.
rived from the Hebrew for Mount Megiddo, thus was nicknamed "The Mandelbaum Gate" ... And so it remained
Is it any wonder that Israel's Foreign Minis-
is conceived as the location for the Messianic until today, becoming a location known to the world by that
name . . . A son of Mandelbaum the landlord, named Simcha
ter Golda Meir found it necessary to charge
struggle.
the king—whose survival from all the attacks
Megiddo was captured by Joshua (Josh. 12: Mandelbaum, is now a resident of New York . . . The Mandel-
leveled at him from Cairo may be due entirely
21), yet it maintained its independence of Israel baum Gate is not to be mixed up with the historic gates in the
wall surrounding Jerusalem's Old City . • . It is merely a
to the fact that Israel is on Jordan's borders as
during the period of the judges.
a protective force for the state Nasser would
In Biblical history, it was near Megiddo that military post in no-man's land surrounded by barbed wire, with
otherwise readily swallow up—with playing
the Song of Deborah marks the Israelites' vic- the Israeli border guards on one side and the Jordanian on the
other.
tory over the Canaanites.
politics?
The New York Times correspondent from
The myth of the world's end in the battle of Portraits in Clay
Credit for the largest number of busts of Zionist personalities
Armageddon seems to have arisen as a result of
Jerusalem (W. Granger Blair) emphasized the
the catastrophe in connection with the death of ever done by a sculptor goes to Robert Berks, 42-year-old Jewish
"marked contrast" in the remarks of Israel's
Joshua in the battle against Pharaohnecho (11 sculptor who has his studio in New York .. . He has done the
Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and those of King
heads of Justice Brandeis, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, Dr. Nahum
Kings 23:29, 11 Chron. 35:22).
Hussein, and he indicated that "Premier Eshkol
There have been many excavations at Meg- Goldman, Golda Meir, Abba Eban, Louis Lipsky, and others .. .
carefully avoided saying anything that might
iddo, and Israel's interest in the historic spot has He has also done busts of Dr. Albert Einstein, Senator Herbert
detract from the essential religious aspects of
been enhanced in recent years. That interest H. Lehman and other noted Jewish figures . . . He has currently
the Pope's tour."
acquires new significance with the appearance attracted wide attention by a portrait in clay which he made
Perhaps the most impressive proof that the
there of Pope Paul VI on his arrival in Israel. of the assassinated President Kennedy . . . Boston-born, he was
Pontiff's visit was aimed at encouraging a spirit
It was an orderly reception, unlike the un- fascinated by the determination and earnestness of the late
of peace and amity was the lighting by his
ruly one in Jordan about which the New York President . . .Shortly after Mr. Kennedy's tragic death he
Apostolic Delegate of six candles, in the tomb
Times stated editorially: "It almost seemed decided to make a head of him, and did it withtin two hours
on Mount Zion designated as a memorial to the
symbolic that the Pope was so unceremoniously after studying more than 60 photographs which threw light on
victims of Nazism, in tribute to the six million
and dangerously shoved around by spectators in Kennedy's personality . . . The bust may be selected for a
who perished during the rule of Hitler. It is a
the Jordanian sector on Saturday. Jordan's proposed Kennedy memorial in London . . . Not all of Berks'
powerful signal to Jewry and to Israel that the
security arrangements were, to say the least, portraits in clay have been done from photographs . . . Many
Catholic church condemns the outrages and
inadequate. The Pontiff must have thought he of them — like those of Prof. Einstein and Dr. Goldman — have
opposes the Nazi ideology.
was on the field of Armageddon (Megiddo) a been done from life in several sittings . • Berks' ambition now
Equally significant is the defense that was
is to have David Ben-Gurion sit for him . . . He has never been
day ahead of time."
uttered on that occasion of the late Pope Pius
There is an interesting anecdote relating to to Israel but hopes to go there . . . His father was born in the
XII and the rejection of the charges leveled at
Megiddo. A hotel had been named Megiddo in United States in a family of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania
him in Rolf Hochhuth's play "The Deputy" in
Haifa, but it was converted into a government . . . His mother was born in England in a family of Jewish im-
which the late Pontiff is accused of having
building where it houses the tax office. A migrants from Russia ... Both of his parents have been known
failed to come to the rescue of Jews during the
visitor, unaware of the change, called for a in Boston as restorers of early American art and both worked
Hitler era. The consistent repudiations by the
reservation at the Megiddo. When he heard a for the Boston museum and other museums . . . They gave him
Vatican of the crimes and the insistence that
voice saying "hello" after he had dialed the a rather meager Jewish education, but he still remembers his
the Catholic church did not condone the mass
given number, he asked, "Megiddo?" To the Bar Mitzvah ceremony and has a warm feeling for the Hecht
murders are, in a sense, affirmations of a new
one on the other end it sounded like Yiddish: House, a Jewish community center in Boston, where he spent
policy that defies the past.
"Men git do?" (meaning, literally, "do they give much of his time as a boy • . . At the age of 12, he did a mural
These factors are all li ced with the visit
here?") To which the tax official promptly re- of the Old Testament for the Hecht House . . . He started
of Pope Paul VI to the Holy Land. His stay in
plied:
"Nein, men nemt do." (literal meaning, modeling in clay at the age of 10 . . . His art education he
Israel was an impressive part of an historic
received in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
"no, we take here."
pilgrimage. The Israelis proved that they can
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