THE JEWISH NEWS incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951 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 Rd., Detroit, Mich. 48235; VE 8-9364. Subscription $6 a year. Foreign $7. , Second Class Postage Paid At Detroit, Michigan PHILIP SLOMOVITZ CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ SIDNEY SHMARAK Editor and Publisher Advertising Manager Business Manager CHARLOTTE HYAMS City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the twenty-ninth day of Adar, the following Scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues. Pentateuchal portion: Levit. 9:1-11:47. Prophetical portion: I Samuel 20:18-42. Licht Benshen, Friday, April 10, 6:49 p.m. VOL. XLV. No. 7 Page Four April 10, 1964 Does Fair Play Have a Role in USSR? Is Soviet Russia truly sensitive to criticism? Will the appeals that emanated from the Conference on Soviet Jewry, held early this week in Washington, reach the ears of reasonable men in the USSR who may recognize not' only the injustice of the spreading anti-Semitic campaigns among the Russians but also the utter futility of perpetuating injus- tice? There is a heritage from czarism in Communist Russia that has left its ugliest marks upon a people that has thrown away the shackles of one type of tyranny only to retain the fetters, of the mind. The vilest elements of bigotry seem to have turned the Russians, who have been freed from serfdom under supreme mon- archs, into slaves of hatred that had been taught their parents and grandparents by those who misled their thinking in the churches, who directed them towards plunder and murder in order to divert their attentions from the misdeeds of the czarist rulers. The new generation of Russians is yet to learn the very lessons of their own Communist ideologies in dealing with their fellow men, with the Jews who shared with them the suffer- ings under czardom as well as the dan- gers of a struggle for political freedom. Now political ideology is in itself being transformed into a brutal form of treat- ing people whose roots are in Russia, of forcing Jews whose a.icestry in Russia is several centuries old to think of them- selves as a people apart because they are singled out for indignities and discrimina- tions. It is .never right to condemn an en- tire people. Even all the Germans can not be lumped into a single entity to be blamed for the Nazi crimes: there were and there are Germans who abhorred the atrocities. So, also, is the case with the Russians. It would be a total calamity if all Russian were to share the anti-Semi- tism of Stalin, the bias that is being per- petuated also under Khrushchev, the pre- judices that predominate in Russian cir- cles. Yet, there seems to be an official tone in the anti-Jewish attitudes in Rus- sia. There is a revival of tip. medievalism that prevailed in the Russia of the czars, and among the shocking evidences of bigotry and prejudice there has been repeated recrudescence of medievalism, the revival of the ugly ritual murder lie, charges. of speculation against Jewish octo- and nonagenarians — actions that could be attributed only to distorted minds. Because there are decent elements in Russia, because the sense of justice can not be totally dead in any land, even the most backward—and Russia certainly is not in that category scientifically— we raise the question: is there a chance for fair play to become a part of Russian thinking and acting, whether the appeals that have been sent to Russia on behalf of our kinsmen, for minimal privileges for the observance of Passover on the eve of the festival, two and three weeks ago, and now, from the Washington confer- ence, for a restoration of cultural and human rights; or are these pleadings once again to fall on deaf ears? No one can possibly remain immune to appeals that come not only from those who act in behalf of kinsmen but also from other faiths. The protests against USSR anti-Semitism, the appeals for jus- tice for Russian Jewry, have been di- rected to the Kremlin by all religious elements in this land. We hope they will be heeded. Should they be ignored, we must recognize the responsibility of con- tinuing with the condemnations of Rus- sian anti-Semitism, of carrying on the battle for justice for our fellow Jews in the Soviet Union, until the hearts of the Russian people are softened and there is a recognition of the basic rights of three million of their Jewish fellow citizens. Will International Protests Move Moscow? Nothing more horrid than the vile Julius Streicher obscenities could pos- sibly be imposed upon an innocent and misinformed public. Yet caricatures sim- ilar to those that appeared in Streicher's Stuermer in the Hitler days have made their appearance in a country that calls itself a part of the civilized Soviet Union. The Soviet-styled anti-Semitic pro- paganda exposed last week by the Jew- ish Telegraphic Agency, in its expose of the publication "Judaism Without Em- bellishment" issued by the Ukrainian Academy of Science, reveals the depth of depravity to which even academicians have sunk as a result of the shocking spread of anti-Semitism in the USSR. Even the Communist New York daily Morning Fr e i h e i t, which follows the Kremlin line closely, saw fit to demand, editorially, that the book should be stamped as anti-Semitic by the Commu- nist leaders. The Freiheit has itself final- ly become horrified by Ukrainian anti- Semitism and stated: "Of concern here is not only the writers (of the article in the Kiev newspaper). Of con- cern here is that official circles in the Soviet Union must take a good look at the anti-Semitic character of the book. One is concerned about means that must be taken against those who are guilty of compiling and publishing the anti- Semitic 'Judaism' book, as we already indi- cated in an earlier editorial on March 22. The tragic issue of the book shows how necessary it is to strengthen the campaign against anti- Semitism, against the remnants of anti-Semitism from previous eras—of Czarist days, of the days of the Nazi occupation, and of the days of the Stalin cult. "There are reports that the anti-Semitic `Judaism' book has been taken out of circula- tion. That's fine. It is also good that the book was issued originally in a small edition of only 12,000 copies. But it is necessary that the anti- Semitic nature of the book be recognized; that those who are guilty shall be punished; that the penalty imposed on them be made public, so that the entire world will know. "Insofar as Moscow and Kiev reacted in regard to the 'Judaism' book—that is a positive development. But, at the same time, it must be emphasized that the answer is far from satisfactory; that further steps must be taken; that, together with punishment for the guilty, is necessary to initiate a broad campaign of enlightenment about anti-Semitism and a de- cided struggle against the remnants of anti- Semitism." Nov Available as a Paperback Wouk's 'This Is My God' Herman Wouk counts among his best-selling books one he had written for the purpose of explaining Jewish traditional prac- tices and religious observance. His "This Is My God" topped the best sellers for 29 weeks when it first was published in 1959. Now it is available as a paperback, in a popularly priced edition issued by Dell Publishing Co. (750 3rd, NY17). Wouk's book was written in answer to an inquiry from a friend as to an available book that deals with Hanukah, and his friend said his need is "purely for culture, you understarnd, not for religion!" Thereupon the popular author pro- ceeded to write about the manner in which Jews survived, the Jewish historical back- ground, the Sabbath and the festival. Wouk In the course of presenting his outline of "This Is My God," Wouk also gave his views based primarily on traditional aspects, of prayers, the synagogue, the Talmud, the authoritative writings that guide Jewry, - the emergence of Israel, the dialects used by Jews, etc. In fact, all aspects of Jewish life are covered in Wouk's "This Is My God." Judaism Interpreted in . 'Meet the American Jew Symposium by 11 Scholars Eleven spokesmen for a variety of aspects of Jewish life were invited to participate in a symposium that has been published by Broadman Press (127 9th Ave. N., Nashville„ Tenn.) under the title "Meet the American Jew." Compiled and edited by Belden Menkus, who was assisted by Rabbi Arthur Gilbert—,both members of the staff of the National Conference of Christians and Jews—this volume aims at providing non-Jews with an understanding of Jewish ideas. Broadman Press, in a preface to this book, points out that Belden Menkus, who had been a records management analyst for the Baptist Sunday School Board, proposed that Jews them- selves should introduce the American Jew to the average Christian because Christians "still have a limited understand- ing of the contemporary religious community." It is in order that neighbors should know one another, that Christians should know the difference between Orthodox and Reform, how Zionism fits into Jewish plans, and other related matters, that the work came into being. Baptist concern in these questions is described in a "re- sponse" to the publishers' preface by Rabbi Gilbert. Conced- ing that Christian groups were responsible for an atmosphere in which anti-Semitism flourished "prior to the trauma of Hitler," Rabbi Gilbert states that "frequently, sole responsibility for the crucifixion was placed on the head of the Jews, and it relates how Christians opened their doors for conversations with him and he commends "the growing sense of shared humanity that Baptist concern has occasioned." Rabbi Joseph R. Rosenbloom commenced the symposium in "Meet the American Jew" with an article on the American Jewish community. Orthodox, Reform and Conservative Judaism are evaluated in essays by Rabbis Oscar Z. Fasman, Alvin J. Reines and Mordecai Waxman, while Dr. Ira Eisenstein ex- plains Reconstructionism. Dr. Arthur Herzberg is the author of the article on Zion- ism; C. Bezalel Sherman formulates the position of the un- The Kremlin has yielded to the pro- testations that have come from many quarters, especially from Communists themselves in many lands, against the outrageous Ukrainian product, and an official USSR statement repudiates the book. Does this prove that the Soviet leaders are indeed sensitive to criticism? affiliated Jew; and there are essays by Philip Jacobson, Man- In that case, perhaps the appeals that heim S. Shapiro, Albert Vorspan and Benjamin Kaplan on have emanated from the Washington con- Judaism and Church-State Relations, the Sociology of Jewish ference will bring results and there may Life, Jews and Social Justice and Social Equality. be a meeting of minds "on the highest The value of the essays for Christian readers is self-evident, level" with Soviet leaders to put an end but the book has equal merit for Jews who would have the to the discriminations that are making opinions of coreligionists on major Jewish movements, traditions second class citizens of the Jews in Russia. and established social principles.