1964—THE DETRO IT JEWS H NEW S-4
Friday, January
A Long Arm of Friendship
THE JEWISH NEWS
20, 1951
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July
Member American Association of English—Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National
Editorial Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35,
Mich., VE 8-9364. Subscripuon $6 a year. Foreign $7.
Second Class Postage Paid At Detroit, Michigan
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ SIDNEY SHMARAK
Editor and Publisher
Business Manager
Advertising Manager
CHARLOTTE HYAMS
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the eighteenth day of Shevat, 5724, the following Scriptural selections will
be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal Portion: Exod. 18:1 20:23. Prophetical Portion: Isaiah. 6:17:6; 9:5,6
-
Licht Benshen, Friday, Jan. 31, 5:27 p.m.
VOL. XLIV. No. 23
Page Four
January 31, 1964
Federation Program: Emphasis on Education
In the process of adhering to a con-
Supplementing the routine items
that are usually included in agendas of tinuing community program in many
annual meetings of the Jewish Welfare spheres of activities there has emerged
Federation, this year's gathering to be a recognition of the basic truth that with-
held on Feb. 4 will make special refer- out a well-informed constituency all that
ence to the 45th anniversary of the we are doing along social service and
United Hebrew Schools. relief lines will prove to be a mockery.
In the past 15 years, therefore, allo-
This will make the event an occasion cations for Jewish cultural and educa-
for emphasis on one of the most import- tional needs have doubled and one of the
ant objectives of our organized corn- undisputed priorities in the Federation
munity—that of advancing the cause of program of activities is the support we
Jewish education.
give to educational movements. While
Since the establishment of the State funds raised by Federation in the annual
of Israel, when it became necessary to Allied Jewish Campaigns have been allo-
provide large funds for the rescue of cated with increasing generosity to num-
Jews who survived the Nazi holocaust as erous educational movements, locally and
well as the hundreds of thousands who nationally, the vast sums went to the
became homeless as a result of the tragic United Hebrew Schools.
Recognized as the central Detroit
conditions under which they lived behind
the Iron Curtain and in Moslem countries, educational agency, the United Hebrew
the Federation has conducted campaigns Schools have registered marked progress
that have resulted in the raising of more —in an increased student population, in
than $75,000,000. The major allocations the preparation of textbooks, in central-
went to the United Jewish Appeal for ized curricula for all the schools, by
relief and rehabilitation and for support means of attracting able teaching staffs
of the overseas Jewish needs. and through a distinct Detroit achieve-
But in the course of these years dur- ment in American Jewish educational ex-
ing which overwhelming problems called periences — that of enrolling congrega-
f or constantly increasing assistance to tional schools as affiliates of the corn-
the relief agencies, there has emerged a munity school system.
These achievements will p r o v i d e
growing realization that the interest of
our people may not be maintained in good cause for encomia to the United
the plight of the dispossessed and in the Hebrew Schools and will create an espe-
need to continue our aid to Israel unless cially fine theme for the annual meeting
there is an understanding of these needs. of the Jewish Welfare Federation.
Restless Spirit, Collection
of Zalman Shneour's Writings
,
In "Restless Spirit," published by Thomas Yoseloff (11 E.
36th, NY16), Moshe Spiegel, an able translator of Yiddish and
Russian classics, presents the selected writings of Zalman
Shneour, the distinguished poet and novelist, who, with Chaim
Nachman Bialik and Saul Tchernichovsky, "created modern He-
brew literature and brought it to full maturity among the living
literatures of the world."
Like Bialik and Tchernichovsky, Shneour wrote in both
Hebrew and Yiddish. Spiegel describes him as "a restless spirit,
who hurled defiance at the forces of social injustice and, although
steeped in Talmudic lore, relentlessly challenged the rigidity of
antiquated Judaism."
Shneour was referred to as the "young Samson" by Bialik. A
lineal descendant of Rabbi Schneour Zalman, the founder of Habad
Hasidism, Zalman Schneour's knowledge of Jewish traditions and
Jewish life in Eastern Europe, later supplemented by a
knowledge of the West—he lived in Poland, Switzerland, France,
Israel and the United States—assisted him in writing the gems
that make him stand out among the great in Jewish literature
circles. As the collector of the writings of Shneour in "Restless
Spirit" states, "in poems, short stories, vignettes and novels, he
lashed out against the meek submissiveness, obsequiousness and
cowardice that bound so many Jews to a life of servility and
To Max M. Fisher, who soon will activities in support of Israel—he has degradation."
There are 23 short stories, chosen from among Shneour's
retire from the presidency of the Jewish become nationally vital in the movement
Welfare Federation, goes this year's cov- that assists in the repatriation of many most popular works, and 12 of his best known poems are
included in this volume.
eted Fred M. Butzel Award. He receives thousands of persecuted Jews.
While the poems occupy only 32 of the 312 pages, they
In civic affairs he has gained high include
this distinction deservedly, and the Fed-
some of the famous Shneour works. "Rabbi Levi Itzhak
eration's judges are to be commended status. As chairman of the recent Com- of Berdichev
Arraigns Jehova Once More" is a powerful pan-
munity Chest campaign, he acquired new egyric. "My Yishkor" and "After the Warsaw Ghetto" are stirring
for a wise selection.
Both as president of Federation and high ratings and larger gifts for the works. "The Testament of Don Henriques" is a challenge to
chairman of the Allied Jewish Campaign important causes in our city.
Christianity, addressed to Jesus in behalf of his kin, asserting:
in previous years, he has rendered great
"With your pierced feet you will limp
He has gained recognition also as a
Along jagged roads, even as we,
service to our community. He has ad- politically-minded leader who plays an
Your kin, have done for centuries.
hered to the highest standards of giving active role in Republican affairs.
And the hem of your robe
with his generosity towards Jewish causes,
Will sweep us the filth and hatred
Indeed, the sum total of Mr. Fisher's
and he has shown a deep interest in
Of the nations whose lands you will traverse in flight."
achievements attests commendably to his
Jewish affairs and in Israel.
As an excerpt from "The Emperor and the Rabbi," Shneour's
As treasurer of the Jewish Agency, standing in our community, justifying story relating to his ancestor, under the title "Czar Paul and
Inc.—the American Section of the super- highly this year's choice for the Butzel Rabbi Shneour Zalman," is one of the impressive accounts of a
visory body that conducts the major Award.
saint's intercession for his people.
There is historic merit to "The Vilna Gaon Attacks Has-
sidism," from Shenour's "Napoleon and the Rabbi."
Other stories have great merit in recalling old Jewish
experiences and in interpreting them for the modern reader.
A press attache of the Arab Informa- to the Jews' (they insist on constantly
Maurice Samuel, Joseph Leftwich, Jacob Sloan and other
tion Office in New York, writing to the speaking of Zionists when, as a matter of noted writers are credited with some of the translations in this
New York Times to dispute its editorial fact, many of the ultra-religious Jews who Shneour collection.
Max M. Fisher:Winner of Coveted Butzel Award
An Abortive Program Harmful to the Arabs
position on the Jordan River water dis- went to Palestine in pre-Israel days were
tribution controversy, followed the usual anti-Zionists) search for a spiritual home.
line of the Arab propagandists in attack- It was in just such a home, in a Yeshivah
ing Zionists and Zionism. Charging that that was inhabited by defenseless young-
the Zionist claim that only a small portion sters—in Hebron—that one of the most
of the Jordan River waters will be used brutal massacres was perpetrated by
is "mendacious,” the Arab correspondent Arabs as far back as 1929.
Now the New York Times advocates
went on to say that Zionists had come to
Palestine claiming to be in search of a a return to the Eric Johnston plan. That
spiritual home in the Holy Land, but would imply Arab recognition of the
instead "they displaced indigenous Arabs political term implied in the existence of
of Palestine, expropriated their homes Israel. Arab spokesmen stubbornly refuse
and grabbed everything they owned." to accept the fact of Israel's existence.
There is nothing new in such distor- Yet, they are compelled, when the con-
tions. Only the totally ignorant must be stant mouthing of the term Zionist proves
informed anew that exorbitant prices inadequate, to refer to Israel. As time
were paid for land that was acquired by goes on, they will have to accept that
Jews from Arabs—and many such pur- reality, and as long as Israel is able to
chases were made from absentee Arab defend herself, all meetings must prove
landlords who were exploiting their own abortive and certainly harmful to the
Arab peons while they, themselves, lived Arabs themselves: all because of the in-
in luxury in the capitals of the world. justice, misrepresentation and lack of
The major distortion in the Arab realism of the Arab anti-Zionist, anti-
propagandist's statement is the reference Israel policy.
'Introduction to Jewish Thinking'
Challenge to Confirmands
How does a confirmand react to Jewish life, what are his
attitudes towards Jewish issues and the obligations imposed
upon him or the actions requested from him?
In what he calls "an introduction to Jewish thinking," Rabbi
Arnold Jacob Wolf of Chicago, in a book entitled "Challenge
to Confirmands," published by Scribe Publications, (1133 B'way,
N.Y.), outlines what a Jew must believe, explains the God-idea,
offers his view why we are not Christians, presents the case in
defense of the Bible and defines science and religion and Jewish
ceremonials.
He summarizes, after offering basic views on major prin-
ciples in Jewish life, that "confirmation is not accepting Judaism;
it is creating it." He portrays Judaism as "optimistic," as seeing
"the future as open to man's noblest striving." He emphasizes
that "it is up to us not just to take over the past, but to change
it and make possible a different kind of future."
Drawing upon the late Rabbi Milton Steinberg's dream of
richer
future for the Jew, Rabbi Wolf calls upon confirmands
a
"to grow toward Jewish insight and service . . . to study, search
and build."
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