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 Road, Detroit 48235 Mich.,
VE 8-9364. Subscription $6 a year. Foreign $7.
Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit, Michigan
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
CHARLOTTE HYAMS
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the fourteenth day of Elul, 5724, the following scriptural selections will be read
in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion: Dent. 21:10 - 25:19; Phop hetical portion: Isaiah 54:1-10.
Licht Benshen, Friday, August 21, 7:07 p.m.
VOL. XLV. No. 26
Page Four
August 21, 1964
Positive Values Emerging From Dialogues
Contrasted with previous "Dialogues"
conducted under the sponsorship of the
American Jewish Congress in Israel, the
events of the past week may well be viewed
as positive and constructive.
Last year's "Dialogue" was a shocking
demonstration of negativism. Men of letters
who happened to be authors of best sellers
were drawn together to exchange what proved
to be self-reviling ideas about Jews and
Judaism.
Last week the "Dialogue" in Jerusalem
took another turn. This time there again
were exchanges of blame over aliyah, educa-
tion, the American-Israel partnerships and
related issues.
Dialogistic discussions must always be
encouraged, and even in the instances when
contempt was hurled at Jews and their tradi-
tions the exchange of ideas must be encour-
aged because they provide either an oppor-
tunity to disprove untruths or to correct
shortcomings. That was the case after last
year's Dialogue, when spokesmen for Jewry
were in position to conduct a self-searching
into our programming. This, again, is
the case after last week's discussions because
of the renewed challenges hurled at Jewry—
especially at American Jews.
*
*
*
Once again ; we are faced by the accusa-
tion that we do not do enough for aliyah, that
American Jews have failed in their Jewish
educational efforts, that we are either too
lenient in our religious approaches or too
arrogant in our criticisms of Israel's so-called
theocratic status.
The views expressed by Mrs. Golda Meir,
while they are not as extreme as were those
of David Ben-Gurion, whose denigration of
Zionists proved a blow to Zionism, deserve
serious consideration. If it is true, as has
been charged, that Jewish leadership gen-
erally discourages aliyah and thereby ren-
ders ineffective any movement for the set-
tlement of young American Jews in Israel,
then the matter should be reviewed in all
seriousness. But a statement by the head of
the American Jewish Congress must not be
viewed as the view of all Jewish leaders,
especially the leaders in Zionism.
The fact is that Zionist leadership has
encouraged those who can provide know-how
for Israel, but it must be considered in the
light of the absolute impossibility to create
a mass movement of Jewish settlers in Israel
from this country.
Only Latin American Jewish youth, who
are now so seriously affected by the spread
of anti-Semitism in the countries south of us,
have gone to Israel in large masses. Only
South African Jews have settled in Israel in
large numbers. American youth must first
be imbued with the Zionist spirit before they
can be expected to become Israeli settlers.
*
*
*
It would be wrong to view the current
situation vis-a-vis aliyah as hopeless. There
is a strong affinity between us and Israel.
Even among our less-informed youth there
is a love for Israel and a deep interest in the
Israelis. That kinship must be strengthened.
It can only be attained, however, by first
assuring a thorough knowledge of Jewry's
heritage by our youth.
That brings us to the second most vital
issue that emerged from the latest Dialogue
in Jerusalem: the problem of Jewish edu-
cation.
It is our conviction that if we truly need
a campaign to save young Jews for Jewry
—and we may well be too pessimistic over
the conditions as they affect our youth—we
can not accomplish it by telling them to go
to Israel. Only those with conviction will go
there; only those who are well integrated
in Jewish ranks can be of any value to Israel.
Therefore, before there is an aliyah there
must be a re-emergence of a great spiritual
force in Jewry.
*
*
*
Now, then, have we really failed so mis-
erably, as one would imply from Mrs. Meir's
rebuke to us that there is no education among
young American Jews after bar mitzvah?
If she intended to speak about the masses,
she was right. But, since when have the
masses really created an overwhelming force
of scholars? Has that ever been the case
even in the shtetel—the pre-war East Euro-
pean community? Is this true even today
in Israel? Isn't there a lack of a fully-
informed constituency in Israel? Aren't Is-
raelis suffering from a lack of teachers, on a
par with all of us whose most serious problem
is the lack of good teachers for our Jewish
schools?
For a few years we believed that we could
draw upon Israel to provide us with teachers.
It was an error, and that mistake now is
being recognized. Israel needs the teachers
for herself, and we, American Jews, must
have teachers who are properly trained do-
mestically, who are able to reach out to Amer-
ican youth in the spirit of the country in
which they live and the familial training they
receive.
*
*
*
Yet, we are not failing entirely. We have
begun to produce good scholars - and it is
possible that in our seminaries we may have
Judaic teachers who can measure up to Is-
rael's. That is in itself an accomplishment.
We have begun to increase attendance in
our Jewish schools, and the day school idea
is taking root and a select number will emerge
among the best trained Jewishly.
Indeed, we are far from the goal. We are
suffering immeasurably from minimal educa-
tional efforts. We do not have the teachers.
But we are as aware of the bar mitzvah dead-
line as is Mrs. Meir and we need not be
rebuked for a condition of which we are well
aware.
We are on the road towards improving
our educational status. We are making the
effort to create a better cultural climate for
American Jewry. That already is a pro-
gressive trek. Therefore we must look hope-
fully to the future. Let there be a recogni-
tion of the existing values out of the Dia-
logues that bring into conflict differing views
out of which must come the understanding
that should lead us to the highest standards
in Jewish living.
In Favor of Proposal 'A'
For the cost of less than two cents a day,
Detroit's average property owner has an op-
portunity to assure the desired education in
uncrowded schools for every youngster in our
community.
This is the basis of Proposition "A" to
be voted on at the Sept. 1 primary election,
and we urge its support by our constituency.
The proposal for a bond issue for our
schools calls for the financing of more rooms
in our schools on the high school level. The
plan is to provide more science laboratories
and vocational training facilities.
Detroit's senior high schools presently are
overcrowded, and 33,714 pupils in the lower
grades are in sub-standard classrooms. Such
conditions must be corrected. The only way
of raising the standards of the entire com-
munity is to provide opportunities for equal
schooling for all elements in our midst. Pro-
position "A" on the ballot at our next elec-
tion makes it possible for all property tax-
payers to assist in the serious effort of
eliminating the low standards which are part-
ly responsible for the race tensions.
Proposition "A" is a step in the right
direction towards ending tensions and elim-
inating injustice.
New Research Marks Revisions
in Roth's British Jewish History
Dr. Cecil Roth, leading Anglo-Jewish historian, made one of his
major contributions to Jewish literature with "A History of the Jews
in England." First published in 1941, a third edition of this important
work has just been issued by Oxford Press (417 5th Ave. NY 17).
"Substantial" changes have been made
in this new edition, and Dr. Roth explains
in his preface that "it has been necessary
to take into account research of the past 15
years."
This study retains the merits of a
fascinating story, and the numerous details
regarding Jewish experiences in the British
Isles often read like fairy tales that emerge
as realities in the rich history of the Jews
of Great Britain. Dr. Roth's superb style,
his ability to trace unknown events in their
application to the Jews, his compilation of
facts, relating to the struggle for and the
attainment of emancipation, make this one
of the most interesting historical accounts.
Commencing with the earliest
settlement of Jews in England, this
Dr. Cecil Roth
history carries the reader through the Emancipation era.
The historian realized at the outset that the attempt to carry the
story of British Jewry to a remote antiquity is fantasy. He declares
that "there can be no doubt that the Jews began to be associated with
England and the British Isles later than with any other country of
western Europe that received them in the Middle Ages."
Asserting that Jewry's connection with Britain most likely began in
Roman times, "when merchants or captives from Palestine reached
every province of the Empire," Dr. Roth traces the early history, lists
the prominent settlers who became known in early history, tells about
the humiliations that were imposed upon Jews in the 12th century,
relates about the ritual murder libels, refers to the first such accusation
on the Continent, at Blois in 1171, and details the similar occurence
in Gloucester in 1168 and points out that there were no serious con-
sequences then because the Jews were "safe in the royal protection."
Thereupon he reviews "the beginning of persecution and the
organization of Jewry, 1189-1216," the York incident and the
pillaging there that remains one of the most tragic occurrences
during the Crusades under King Richard I and the subsequent
experiences under King John. The indignities imposed on Jews
at that time are commented upon as follows in reference to the
rule of King John who had benefited financially from his Jewish
subjects: "In London, 1203, feelings ran so high as to necessitate a
peremptory communication from the king to the mayor, taking
the Jews under his protection Cif I give my peace even to a dog,'
he wrote contemptuously, 'it must be kept inviolate'), and threaten-
ing summary vengeance in case of any attack on them."
Under oppressive rules of ecclesiastical authorities, in the periods
during which Jews were the royal milch cows, the continuing vexations,
the subsequent expulsion, Jewry's precarious existence during the
-
Middle Ages, are reviewed thoroughly.
Then came the perion of readmission, 1609-1664, the Cromwell
era, the continuing attacks upon Jewry during which the Bishop of
Exeter complained among other things about "the prevalence of
`Jewish' in his diocese," in the time when there was a return to the
Bible under Puritanism, and there were accusations of Judaizing. The
role of Menasseh ben Israel whose proposals were considered extrarce-
gant, the fact that "the characteristic feature" of the readmission Wag
marked by the elimination of the German and Italian policies of estab-
lishing the severity of the ghetto, are indicated in Dr. Roth's accoUnt.
The story of the Jews in England during the restoration
period is especially valuable for an understanding of the events
that led to the emancipation. The chapter on Emancipation is
a graphic description of the battle for justice to the Jew, and the
roles of Thomas Babington Macaulay, Lord Bexley, Sir Robed
Grant and others in support of the bill to remove civil dis-
ability are properly delineated.
Especially interesting is the account given of the seating of Baron
de Rothschild as a member of the House of Commons without requir6
ing him to take the oath "on the true faith of a Christian." Sir David
Salomons before him was elected to Parliament several times and took
his seat without pronouncing the Christian oath, but was subsequently
ejected. Baron Lionel de Rothschild, "after all the effort of entering
the House of Commons is never recorded to have made a speech." Since
then there has been in operation "the alembic of English tolerance:*
Dr. Roth asserts.
(