Purely Commentary

Israel's Cultural Gains . .,
Krumey 's
Novel .
Crimes . . . Racial Cruelties

By Philip
Slomovitz

Cardinal-Designate
Shehan to Speak in
Synagogue Sunday

He will be enchanted by Lucia Santa and her children, by the many
roads that were followed by children from two of Lucia's marriages,
Special to Jewish News
by the aspirations and activities of the youths—by the joys and trage-
BALTIMORE, Md. — Cardinal
of
this
family
in
the
Tenth
Avenue
district
in
New
York.
dies
designate Lawrence Joseph Shehan
And until the time when there is progress, when they move to
will speak Sunday evening in the
Long Island—when Lucia weeps as she is about to leave the old Krieger Auditorium of C h i z u k
residence where so much had happened—there are experiences that Amuno Congregation here on the
are part of America, of a land that welcomes and contributes towards subject "The Ecumenical Council,
progress. while old mores persist and the languages of the Old World
the Jews and Judaism."
still :are in use.
As Archbishop of Baltimore, Car-
There was a time when Lucia needed welfare aid. A welfare dinal-designate Shehan, on his last
worker came and exacted a share of the welfare- payments from the
Italian lady. It was not until Octavia, Lucia's oldest, had returned
from a six-month stay in a sanatorium—an illness that created
the need for relief—that the blackmailer was driven from that
Italian home.
Puzo's description of Charity as "salt in the wound," his delineation
of the application and the taking of relief funds, is among the superb
elements in•this story.
Then there is the story of Octavia's marriage to a Jew. Lucia
didn't object, although others in the Italian group looked upon the
match askance. It wasn't Lucia who was overly concerned: "As for his
being a Jew, it was not that she had no prejudice, it was merely that
her distrust was so great that it included Christians, Irish, Turks and
Jews alike. But this particular fellow carried a stigma. Wherever he
went. there was a book under his arm or open in. his hands."
This Norman Bergeson was a poet—a Yiddish one at that: WOrse,
he knew only one thing thoroughly: Yiddish literature a talent he
CARDINAL SHEHAN
himself said was less in demand than any other on earth."
But the marriage ceremony was in a church. and Norman had no visit in Rome, asked the Vatican
objections to the children being raised as Christians. And then:
Ecumenical Council "to repudiate
"Only once did Lucia Santa make an insulting remark about her entirely, in so many words and
daughter's choice, and that was years later. One day, in the course without any ambiguity or timid
of gossip. cursing her children one by one for their ingr atitude and reservation, the accusation of the
pigheadedness, and finding no fit crime for Octavia, she said with crime of deicide against the Jews."
100
100
withering scorn, "And she, my most intelligent child, picked for a
100
Cardinal Shehan accepted the in-
Total
the only Jew who does not know how to make money.' "
vitation of the rabbi of Chizuk
Is it unfair to equate the None in this table with the atheists? husband
negative
note
could
not
have
been
written
in
malice.
Well, the
Doesn't it mean almost the same thing? And if it does, then we have
Amuno Congregation Dr. Israel M.
nothing to fear. It means that the non-believers, the atheists, will be It did express the sentiments of the Italian illiterate woman who was Goldman, who has befriended Cath-
always
in
dire
need
for
financial
assistance.
And
earlier
in
the
story,
olio religious leader both in Pro-
declining as time progresses.
They have been, they are and they will be among us, but they when the application was made for relief by Lucia. and the unscrupulous
vidence, where he held his first
the
echoes
(also
an
Italian)
investigator
would
not
approve
the
application,
the
thank
God,
says
the
believer;
pulpit, and In Baltimore, where
are few. Barukh ha-Shem,
group
"that
he
was
a
Jew
and
not
was
among
Lucia's
Italian
comment
he has held his present pulpit for
English-speaking counterpart.
*
*
an Italian, for no Italian would serve this government against his own 17 years.
kinfolk."
Israel's Great Cultural Gains
Indeed. prejudices are deep-rooted, and they are echoed in this
Israel has made such great progress that even some of her
Mrs. Meir-Thant Team
antagonists speak of the achievements of the young and very small story, but only as realism, certainly not maliciously, serving as part
of
a
great
story
by
a
master
writer.
Air
Border Situation
admiration.
Many
obstacles
have
been
hurdled
by
state with great .
"The Fortunate Pilgrim" is one of Lucia's sons, who at the outbreak
Israel. Military successes have been recorded. There is a measure
After
10-Day Mission
way,
of the war leaves the family as an enlistee, later to seek his own
of economic security in the land.
(Direct , JTA Teletype Wire
a new air of independence. This boy, Gino, is one
Nevertheless, the whole story is yet to be told — how the Israelis as the pilgrim with
to The Jewish News)
characters in the book, which is such a fine ,
JERUSALEM—United Nations
have created new cultural values and how they have enrolled the of the masterfully portrayed
Secretary General U Thant's spe-
cooperation of JewS everywhere and peoples of all faiths in the story, so splendidly written. c:
*
vial representatives Brig. Indar
numerous undertakings in many spheres.
J. Rikhye and Pier Spinelli corn-
There are two areas in which Israel has commenced to equal Race Cruelty — Its Hatreds and Immortality
A
recent
article
in
the
Post.
by
Harold
H.
Marton
and
Kenneth
pleted
Wednesday a 10-day mission
art,
if not surpass , even the most advanced nations. In music and in
Fairly, described how "the Ku Klux Klan is moving boldly into the investigating recent Israel-Jordan
Israel's status is superb.
The musical attainments are well known. Its orchestras are well open in a last-ditch fight against integration." It was entitled "We Got border clashes and conferred for
i Nothing to Hide," and in it is given an account of the KKK operations. a second time with Mrs Gold*
trained, its musicians are skilled.
The activities of Robert Shelton of Tuscaloosa, Ala., the Imperial Meir, Israel's
an
el's forei n minister.
The devotion to Israel's musical organizations
registered by ;
g to submit a
They are expected
the eminent violinist, Isaac Stern, indicates how the affections ' Wizard of the United Klans of America. Knights of the KuitsKlux Klan,
wizard
in
report
Inc., are reviewed, and there is this cruel reference to the
-. on their findings to the
of noted personalities can be won for deserving movements.
Secretary/General next. week. Thant
Now comes Billy Rose and his leadership in establishing the the Post article:
Shelton told a joke. "You know how they fin'ly found them sent the ; two men to Israel after
new Jerusalem Art Museum and its Shrine of the Book which is to
three boys that was buried in that dam near Philadelphia, Missis- the Ion quiet on the border
house the Dead Sea Scrolls. He has put into it so much love. he has
sippi?" be asked. "The Federal Bureau of Integration didn't find erupted i a series of Jordanian
given such large sums of money to assure its success, he. has secured
them boys. The mailman found them. He walked by there deliver- shootings •articularly on Mt. Sco-
such great art works and has assured the interest in the museum of
ing welfare checks, and the nigger reached up to get his." The pus in th demilitarized zone in
so many art collectors, that the museum will, in a sense, be a living
crowd roared with laughter and delight.
Jerusale
moument to him. When it is dedicated in May, Billy Rose will be
Such inhumanity! Yet it exists! Such hatred and immorality, yet
The t o me .lso paid courtesy
cultural development.
the dominant figure in a great Israeli
*
*
it is being propagated in free America in the second half of the calls on • ent Shazar and Pre-
enlightened Twentieth Century! Is it any wonder that the race issue is mier Eshkol. The Premier report-
Krumey: As If Eichmann Himself Had Been Given Reprieve
edly pointed out to the UN visitors
America?
There is a, real shock in the sentencing of Hermann Krumey to the one major disease that plagues
*
.
*
Jorr7- -1's denial of Israel's rights
five years in jail—a sentence he won't even serve because he already
under the mixed armistice agree-
will have been jailed for close to the German-required period, thus 'The Jewish Angle' in Anger Over Nasser
In a syndicated column explaining the "anger over Nasser," ment covering Israeli access to
nearly fulfilling the commitment!
action originally the Wailing Wall, to the Mount
A request is being made for a revision of the sentence, and the Senator Jacob Javits of New York explained that the
of Olives and other Jewish holy
Hesse state attorney, Dr. Fritz Bauer, calling the verdict "absolutely taken by the House of Representatives, and the subsequent protests
in the Senate against Nasserism, "was not a demagogic appeal to the places in the old city of Jerusalem
incredible," said:
electorate, nor an affront to the President. It was rather the boiling now held by Jordan.
"It is as if Eichmann himself were given five years."
Indeed, Eichmann's right-hand man gets five years' imprisonment over of indignation which could no longer be repressed."
But, as was to be expected, the news agencies injected into the U.S., Israel Negotiate .
which he won't serve, other criminals are being freed and the entire
code of justice is about to be destroyed, if the May 8 statute of limita- issue a "Jewish angle." They made it a point to emphasize that members
of Congress from areas with heavy Jewish populations voted to stop Over Phosphate Plant
tions date is to be enforced!
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
All of which points to leniency in the German judicial system food shipments to Nasser. It was a negation of a fact—that there were
to The Jewish News)
LONDON—Negotiations for • new
that smacks of favoritism to the Nazis. It proves that Eichmann himself Jewish Congressmen who supported the Johnson-State Department
might have gotten away with a short sentence that would have been requests for Congress to reverse its original stand and that there was American participation in the fi-
tantamount to a reprimand. It is the best proof of the injustice of the a large minority that remained angered over Nasser's anti-American nancing of a 500,000-ton phosphate
policies. The "Jewish angle" was greatly exaggerated, in its relation calcination plant in Israel are now
statute of limitations.
Will Bonn ignore world public opinion which demands that the to the major issue—that of putting a stop to anti-Americanism in Cairo. in an advance stage, the Financial
*
*
*
Times reported here.
statute of limitations should he extended indefinitely, to assure punish-
According to the newspaoper,
ment for all Nazis? Unless this is done, what is now termed neo-Nazism Urgent Need for Realism in Israel - Diaspora Relations
will surely become outright Nazism.
There is an n - gent need for realism in Israel-Diaspora relations. Swift and Co. and the banking firm
*
*
*
It has to be a partnership. It needs not be an either "facing Israel" of Carl M. Loeb and Rhoades are
or "facing the Diaspora" approach. If there is to be understanding, the American enterprises involved.
. Arab Pressure
Guilt ... Nazism . . . Holocaust
of
The amount needed for the acqui-
there must develop a strong kinship.
There is a new development in Israel-Bonn relations. Instead
continuing to recognize the obligation of protecting the survivors from
The recent World Zionist Congress slogan "facing the Diaspora" sition and installation of the plant
Nazism, the Bonn government now is revealed as adhering to Arab was questionable at the start. It may have been too-drastic an about- is $6,000,000. The phosphate con-
pressures to end military aid to Israel. Should this charge against the face from previous Congress slogans, all aimed at aiding Israel. But cession in the Negev is now held
Bonn regime prove correct, it will be one of the most shocking de- neither is the "facing Israel" always pragmatic. Partnership denotes by the Israel-American Phosphate
Co.
monstrations of indifference to the guilt of the period of the holo- cooperation; mutual accord does not call for conflict.
If the new expansion program
When, therefore, David Ben-Gurion, on Sunday night, said, in
caust. Even the survivors in Israel thus will be placed in new dangers
Tel Aviv, at a Mapai seminar, that he differed with Dr. Nahum Gold- goes through, it was noted here,
stemming from Germany's yielding to Cairo blackmail.
mann regarding Congress decisions to aid in the strengthening of the phospate works near the Dead
Judaism in countries other than Israel, asserting that instead of ask- Sea in Israel could produce $30,-
Masterful Story About an Immigrant Italian Family
000,000 worth of the mineral by
Mario Puzo has earned a place among the most skillful of the ing Israel to "go to the Diaspora" non-Israeli Jews "should face 1968 or 1969. Mineral exports have
novelists of our time. After reading his newest work, "The Fortunate Israel," he reopened an unnecessary dispute. He resorted to unneces-
not be treated been increasingly a source of
Pilgrim," the reviewer can well understand why Puzo's publishers, sary polemics in stating that American Jews should
as if they were part of East European Jewry prior to the first world foreign currency for Israel, having
Atheneum, should have been so excited over the narrative.
we are concerned with one Jewry which must strive risen in the last three years from
It is a remarkable story about immigrants in America. In "The war. Currently
for
the
survival
of the heritage of Judaism, and even the suggestion $9,000,000 to $23,000,000.
Fortunate Pilgrim" it is the Italians who are the chief actors, but the
of
splintering
is
unwise. What a pity that the great David Ben-Gurion
experiences of an Americanizing force of newcomers to our shores
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
should continue to adhere to dogmas that have no place in the present
is applicable to other groups.
2—Friday, February 12, 1965
Israel-Diaspora
relations.
won't
be
able
to
put
the
novel
down
until
it
is
finished.
The reader

The Secularist and Non-Believer in Jewish Life
"Atheism" suddenly has become an important subject on the
Jewish agenda. One would imagine that it had been non-existent,
that it was a strange factor in our history.
The fact is, as had been indicated by us in the issue of Dec. 11,
that a first century rabbi, Elisha ben Abuyah, was considered an
atheist, although some considered him a traitor in the Jewish political
battle for freedom.
In the history of Jewry in the past two or three centuries, we
have had many secularists who might have been considered atheists.
Actually, they were dedicated Jews, and few ever breathed their last
without reciting the Shema.
So, the debates, the curiosities. are mere exaggerations. All
peoples have their non-believers, and if we were an exception we
would not be like unto the other nations. It is historically true that
we are a bit different, and. surely, in adherence to religious faith
we are expected to take the lead in devotionalism. But exceptions
do often make the rule.
Have we much to fear from atheism? Of course not. We have
some newly-developed facts which point to the contrary.
In behalf of the Jewish Welfare Federation, on a grant from
the United Jewish Charities, Dr. Albert J. Mayer of Wayne State
University reports on the "Social and Economic Characteristics of
the Detroit Jewish Community" and among the interesting figures
he has gathered are included the following under the given classifi-
cation:
RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION 1956, 1963 and 1970
Per Cent Distribution
1970
1963
1956
(Projected)
29
26
21
Reform
52
49
46
Conservative
13
17
22
Orthodox
6
8
11
None

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