Friday, January 24, 1964—THE DETR OIT JEWISH NEWS-2
Purely Commentary
By Philip
Slomovitz
'Magic Carpet': Dramatic Beginning and Successful Evolution of a Mass Migration
In 1949, when this Commentator first visited Israel, he had occasion to witness the arrival
of one of the first groups of Yemenite Jews in what was soon to develop into a "Magic Carpet"
migration that resulted in the virtual rescue of 50,000 Jews from Yemen.
Always the genial and smiling folk, no matter how much they had suffered — as they did
in their native land where they were treated as pariahs — we had occasion to see the new
arrivals as they blessed their arrival as if "on eagles' wings," because they applied to themselves
literally the Biblical prophecy: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you
on eagles' wings and brought you to Me." (Ex. 19:4).
They came with the aid of the Joint Distribution Committee whose efforts of rescue continued
both for the Yemenites and for escapees from persecutions in many other lands with the
cooperation of the Jewish Agency for Israel. We greeted the children in their new attires
which, interestingly enough, since the Yemenites know no Yiddish, bore tags reading: "A Matoneh
fun Joint" — "a gift from the Joint." It seemed as if these tags were an inheritance from the
days when JDC assisted Polish and other Yiddish-speaking East European Jews.
They did, however, speak volumes in acclamation of a great task that was begun by JDC,
that continued "on eagles' . wings" from many lands and which is currently being marked so glori-
ously on the 30th anniversary of the commencement of the "Magic Carpet" miracle of rescue.
While the results are a tribute to a great JDC act, they are occasion for joyful affirmation that
Israel thereby gained a wonderfully constructive element in the Jews of Yemen.
*
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and exorbitant in its puritanism, deserves to
The Intermarriage Problem
be quoted. Miss Arendt states that the noto-
Prof. Erich Rosenthal's visit here this week-
rious Heydrich and Hans Frank, the Governor
end, and his major address at the Jewish Center
General of Poland, were thought to be by
on Sunday evening, provide opportunities for
origin half-Jews, and goes on to say that both
closer acquaintance by our community with one
of them repented of their misdeeds before
of the most serious problems facing Jewry —
their deaths. This Miss Arendt finds 'an un-
that of intermarriage.
comfortable fact,' for,' we are solemnly in-
Dr. Rosenthal's research into the question
formed, 'it is difficult not to suspect that
has indicated that there is a vast increase in
what they repented of was not murder but
mixed marriages. It is because of such a wide-
that they had betrayed their own people'!
spread condition that many in our midst fear
How does she know, and what if they did?"
to discuss the issue frankly. Many rabbis, be-
There is a related comment in "Heroes and
cause so many members of their congregations
Heretics: A Social History of Dissent," by Bar-
are affected by it, avoid discussing it. Com-
rows Dunham, published by Knopf. In this chal-
munity leaders, because nearly every Jewish
lenging work in which are reviewed "the lives
home now has either closely or remotely asso-
and ideas of the men who challenged conven-
ciated with it an intermarriage, prefer to shun
tional
wisdom," the author refers to the im-
discussing it.
prisonment of Johann Reuchlin, the Christian
But it is out in the open, and Dr. Rosen-
student of Hebrew, who, in the 16th century,
thal's study, published in the American Jewish
"became the founder of Hebraic studies for
Year Book for 1964, has brought it to the fore.
modern
Christian scholars" but who aroused
The discussion here on Sunday evening will
the wrath of the Inquisition which burned his
afford an opportunity for frank review of the
books. Reuchlin was hounded, among others, by
issue. Allied with it are many problems — those
the Jewish apostate, Johann Pfefferkorn. In that
of mixed dating by youngsters and teen-agers,
connection, Dr. Dunham wrote:
conversions, family acceptances of the diffi-
"Meanwhile the monks, and in particular
culties entailed, the problem of child rearing
the Dominicans, had long taken refuge in that
and their education in conflicting religious
hostility toward knowledge with which reaction-
spheres and other challenges.
aries always surround themselves, defensively,
It was wise to bring Dr. Rosenthal here
like the cuttlefish with its ink. They desired
under the sponsorship of the movements that
enlightenment neither by Reuchlin nor by any-
made his study possible and the co-sponsoring
one else. The weapon of anti-Semitism lay ready,
organizations. Authoritative- reports like .Dr.
as so often happens, to hand: the monks could
Rosenthal's lead to a better understanding of
denounce all study of a language used by Jesus'
issues that face our people and affect our rela-
executioners. (By Jesus, too, of course, along with
tionship's with our neighbors.
the Aramaic, reads a footnote.) Moreover, as so
4,
*
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often happens, there appeared a Jew to assist
The Late Dr. Nehemiah Robinson
the anti-Semitism, one Johann Pfefferkorn, a
late convert to Catholicism. All converts like to
World Jewry lost a most distinguished
attack the organization they have abandoned,
leader and a great scholar in the death of
and not a few converts, who perhaps always
Nehemiah Robinson, who headed the World
lived nearer to fantasy than to fact, give ac-
Jewish Congress Institute of Jewish Affairs.
counts in which very little fact can be found.
We are in the habit of thinking that no
Pfefferkorn could speak as one who had been a
one is irreplaceable. This is hardly so in the
Jew; he could profess himself `ptirified'; he
case of Dr. Robinson, who was the noted author-
could squeeze out the last bitter nonsense from
ity on the conditions that were created by
that dreary, often-repeated, and mendacious rou-
Nazism, who was an expert on German repara-
tine. It was Pfefferkorn's fancy that all Hebrew
tions and under whose direction the basic facts
books except the Bible ought to be destroyed."
have been gathered on the war crimes and on
There is a perplexing element here. Why a
the destruction of the Jewish communities in
scholar of note, who is otherwise fair in handl-
Europe.
ing the issue we are now touching upon, should
The basic facts about the holocaust, those
infer that the Jews were Jesus' "executioners"
gathered by YIVO, the World Jewish Congress
is difficult to understand. After all, only the
and their allied movements, were those gathered
Romans resorted to crucifixions. Dr. Dunham
by Dr. Robinson or under his direction. They
should have spoken about Jesus' kinsmen.
were records that were gotten together scrupu-
But the general question at issue is most
lously, with the utmost care that they should
interesting. There is no doubt that apostates,
be accurate.
many who betray their Jewish heritage, are,
He will he greatly missed. It is to be hoped
more often than not, among the first to abuse
that his associates learned enough from him to
their ancestors. Dr. Dunham wrote wisely when
be able to continue the work of a great expert.
he stated that "all converts like to attack the
Blessed be his memory.
*
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organization they abondoned." Similarly, there
are Jews who, having been rejected by some
The Converts Who Attack
organizations, often attack those movements.
Movements They Abandoned
This has been true of Jews who could not rise
In an excoriating review of Hannah Arendt's
in Zionist ranks and immediately began to attack
"Eichmann in Jerusalem," in Listener and BBC
Zionism. What an interesting study this is in
Television Review, published in England, Elie
human relations!
Kedourie concluded:
*
"The book resembles in tone nothing so
Pillars
of
Courage
much as those ridiculous polemics which
The women of the Jewish National Fund
`thinkers' and nrofessors conduct in learned
hit upon an interesting way of linking names
journals, , and in which the insignificance of
of Detroiters with Israel. By means of Pillars
the issues debated is matched only by the
of Courage which will be erected on the site
intemperateness with which they are main-
of a development area to be financed by Detroit
tained or rebutted. Miss Arendt, for instance,
contributors, at Mishmar Hayarden-Gadot in
launches an attack on Pastor Gruber, a Lu-
northern Galilee, the names of those participat-
theran clergyman who gave evidence at the
ing in the project will be recorded and will
trial. Before the war Pastor Gruber had cour-
reflect honor upon groups and individuals who
ageously interceded with Eichmann on behalf
assist in providing security for Israel in an
of Jews, and for his pains had been sent to a
area located strategically.
concentration camp. His conduct, it now ap-
Israel's land reclamation project thus 'is
pears, was 'morally disastrous' and meant
being aided in a dramatic fashion through the
'involuntary complicity': what the Pastor
Jewish National Fund. By means of this action
should have done was, not to intercede for
supplementary to the major funds for Israel's
certain individuals, but to preach to Eich-
redemption, additional means are provided to
mann the categorical imperative!
assure afforestation and reclamation. The JNF
"This pedantic and unpleasant moral rigour
Women's annual event thereby continues its
—which Eichmann himself affected—runs
special gift to Israel and to the fund that
through the whole book, but one other in-
served as the foundation for the upbuilding
stance, monstrous in its claim to omniscience
of Eretz Israel.
Euromart to Consider Proposals
for Extended Trade With Israel
BRUSSELS (JTA)—The Coun-
cil of Ministers of the Euro-
pean Economic Community, key
policy-making body of the EEC,
will take up proposals for wider
trade with Israel by countries
of the European Common Mar-
ket at its next meeting, Feb. 4.
The proposals are now being
prepared by a special EEC com-
mission following the adoption
last weekend of a resolution by
the consultative assembly of the
EEC, at its meeting in Stras-
bourg, urging the Council of
Ministers to call on their gov-
ernments to reach quick agree-
ments with Israel on its export
trade.
The resolution was offered at
the 17-nation assembly by A.
Vos, rapporteur, a Dutch Social-
ist who visited Israel last Octo-
ber.
The political commission of
the EEC, at a meeting in Stras-
bourg, approved a report on the
political aspects of trade rela-
tions between the European
Economic Community and Is-
rael.
The resolution adopted by the
assembly noted that the difficul-
ties facing Israeli exports "do
not arise from the internal eco-
nomic policies of Israel but from
the development of the EEC,
through the progressive reali-
zation of the common external
tariff and the implementation of
the common agricultural policy."
The resolution "deplored
the fact that nogotiations be-
tween the EEC and Israel
have not been sucessful and
that, following the refusal of
the EEC to conclude a treaty
of association which could
have solved Israel's trade
problems, negotiations for
satisfactory trade agreements
are so protracted, causing dif-
ficulties in Israel,. particularly
with regard to investment
growth."
Vos, opening the meeting,
said that if the Arab states had
reached the same development
as that of Israel, "the situation
would be quite different in the
Middle East." Camille Linden
of Luxembourg stressed the
moral obligation of Europe to
help Israel, which, he said, was
in fact a European country in
the Middle East.
Peter Jacobs, a West German
Socialist, said the strengthening
of Israeli trade was not only a
moral obligation but a goal also
in conformity with the interests
of the EEC member states.
IKNIM.04•11.141!0 ■ 0 11•111:1.041.11111.001•11.411 ■
I
Boris Smolar's
I
'Between You
... and Me'
I
(Copyright, 1964
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
Washington Views
American firms are urged by the U.S. Department of
Commerce to do more business with Israel . . . There is concern
in Washington over the fact that the U.S. percentage share in
the Israel market dropped last year while the British percentage
increased . . . Attention of American exporters is drawn by the
Department of Commerce to the fact that Israel's economy
coninues to be prosperous and prospects for U.S. exports to Israel
remain good ... However, it is emphasized that the Israeli market
is highly competitive and aggressive and salesmanship is re-
quired if the United States is to maintain the high 33 per cent
share it attained in 1962 . . American exporters are told that
the import liberalization program introduced a few years ago
by the Israel government is now tending to slow down due to
pressures from local manufacturers . . Nevertheless, admin-
istrative controls are being removed on 23 additional commodities
covering formerly protected products . . . The Department of
Commerce believes that many of these items should be of interest
to U.S. suppliers . . . They include irrigation pipes and fittings,
plumbing fixtures, switchboards, elevators, circuit breakers,
fuses and other electrical items . . In urging American firms
to intensify their trade with Israel, Washington experts stress
that with emphasis on effective salesmanship U.S. firms can
overtake other countries in selling these items to Israel . . .
They point out that U.S. suppliers have traditionally excelled
in machinery and transport goods, telecommunication equip-
ment, construction equipment, and manufactured goods . . .
They draw attention to the fact that the Israeli market is quality-
conscious and the determining factor in selling to Israel is often
dependent on the quality of the product rather than the price.
* * *
Israel's Outlook
Behind the advice of the Department of Commerce to
American business firms to increase their dealings with Israel
is probably the fact that Israel will no longer get any products
from West Germany as reparations payments . . . Israel received
every year from West Germany during the last decade machinery
and goods worth tens of millions of dollars as part of the
reparations payments . . . Israel's industrial development is due
to machinery and equipment received from West German firms
under the reparations pact . . . Machinery for Israel's copper
mines and for other newly developed industries came from
Germany . . The Haifa harbor was extended and modernized
with equipment from Germany . . . Even private industrial
enterprises in Israel succeeded in securing machinery from
Germany on the account of the reparations payments . . . These
payments. are now • coming to an end and Israel's market for
importing industrial and other articles becomes wide open for
any country that can compete in prices, quality and salesmanship
. The Department of Commerce, although not referring to
the end of West Germany's payments to Israel, is well aware
of the fact that Israel will not buy goods in Germany on a large
scale unless it succeeds in getting from the Bonn government
a large long-term loan . . High officials in Washington, which
included the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of
Agriculture, were impressed with reports on Israel's economic
progress given them by Pinhas Sapir, Israel's Minister of
Finance, ,Trade and Industry, who visited the United States last
October . . . Sapir was deeply impressed by the high esteem in
which 'Israel is held in Washington and in the American financial
world . . Israel's excellent reputation in the U.S. business
world stems from the fact that its per capita national product
indicates its economic growth, as well as from the fact that
Israel has impressive dollar reserves and its annual export is
increasing.