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 sixth day of Iyar, 5725, the following scriptural selections will
be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion: Levit. 19:1-20:27; prophetical portion: Amos 9:7-15.
Licht benshen, Friday, May 7, 7:19 p.m.
VOL. XLVII, No. 11
Page 4
May '7, 1965
Israel's Seventeenth Anniversary
Israel's 17th anniversary draws attention
once again to one of the most dynamic na-
tions in the world and to a people that has
literally pulled itself up by its own boot-
straps to emerge economically sound, poli-
tically alert, militarily well prepared for its
own defense.
In spite of all the needling from many
antagonistic quarters that this little nation's
success is ascribable to the subsidies it has
received from kinsmen, co-religionists and
friendly nations, the fact is that Israel's eco-
nomic progress is due entirely to the peo-
ple's initiative. The funds that came from
abroad were primarily used to settle hun-
dreds of thousands of newcomers and to in-
tegrate them into a society that was strange
to them.
Similarly, the political advances made by
Israel are the result of a people's ability to
fit into the affairs of the world with an un-
derstanding that matches the training of
diplomats in countries that have been part of
the democratic spheres for a century or
more. Israel's statemanship is on a par with
the most advanced countries in the West, and
the relationships that have been established
by Israel with the rest of the world are de-
serving of highest commendations.
The defensive methods pursued by Israel
have won acclaim. They are the result of a
condition under which Israel has lived since
the founding of the state when her neighbors
began _to harrass and threaten the state's
existence and when the nation's security was
imperiled. The peril has persisted and there
has been no relief for the harrassed. As a
result, Israel has had to devote her major
energies to the task of assuring the country's
safety. Because it has always been a
matter of living with a sword in one hand
and a plow in the other, Israel has gained
military power. The people's knowledge of
the constant threat that they will be "driven
into the sea" has added a devotion that keeps
the nation secure.
But there is never total security. The
threats continue to exist and Israel remains
surrounded by enemies. There are dangers
from neighboring countries, from sources
antagonistic to Israel as a people, from condi-
tions which cause many in the West to resort
to expediency in favoring the Arabs out of
fear of the possibility of Communist intru-
sions in the Middle East.
Thus, the Israelis must remain on guard,
their kinsmen and friends must watch out
vigilantly for that little nation's security, and
all of the previous efforts to strengthen the
nation and to uphold its leaders' hands must
continue.
Hundreds of thousands of expatriated
Jews continue to flock to Israel, and their re-
settlement must be assured by world Jewry.
That is why, on Israel's 17th anniversary,
Israel's kinsmen must continue to support
the funds that provide for mass settlement of
newcomers to Israel. To assure their proper
economic integration, the new settlers must
be provided with jobs, and this is where the
Israel Bond effort comes in.
On Israel's 17th anniversary, as we con-
gratulate the nation that has gained inde-
pendence and sovereignty, we must again
dedicate ourselves to the task of strengthen-
ing her ramparts, of assuring her economic
security, of keeping alive a kinship that
molds together world and Israeli Jewries.
May the beginning of Israel's 18th year
bring added assurance of security and of
economic- strength to the Israelis.
Mariners, Navigators, Astronomers
Chaplain Gathers Fascinating
Collection of Jewish Sea Stories
Many waters cannot quench love,
Neither can floods drown it.
— Song of Songs
Rabbi Samuel Sobel, staff chaplain, Military Sea Transportation
Service, the first Jewish chaplain to be appointed to the regular U. S.
Navy, winner in 1955 and 1964 of Four Chaplain Awards, has produced
a most meritorious anthology in "A Treasure of Jewish Sea Stories."
His collection of 44 stories, published by Jonathan David (131 E.
23rd St., NY 10), includes some of the most fascinating tales about
Jews who plied the seas, ports that either welcomed or rejected Jews,
travel and flight.
It is most appropriate that his treasury should commence with
the quotation from the Song of Songs and an excerpt from the Mid-
rash with "The Navy Hymn" and a flattering foreword by Navy Chief
of Chaplains Rear Admiral J. Floyd Dreith who wrote about "man's
love affair with the sea." It is even more that after a chapter listing
"Biblical Beginnings" Chaplain Sobel has included in his book "Jonah
and the Whale," a story by Robert Nathan, and has used as a frontis-
piece a woodcut made in Holland in 1483, entitled "The Most Famous
Sea Story in the World."
It is because sailors taunted him with the request "Chap-
lain, tell me a sea story," that Rabbi Sobel, who was ordained at
Hebrew Union College and also studied at Yeshiva and Columbia
universities, began to collect tales about Jews who went "down
to the sea in ships."
Chaplain Sobel's is an informative work. It entertains the reader
who must be protected against a recurrence
with the naratives and it instructs those who seek information about
of the tragedies of the past.
Jews who plied the seas and the Jewish traditions related to seafaring.
20 Years After the Defeat of Nazism
Twenty years after the end of Hitlerism,
the Nazi plague continues to haunt mankind.
While trials of the Nazi criminals con-
tinue and in some instances are being
stepped up, as a result of worldwide de-
mands against curtailment of punishments,
there are other remaining evidences of a
perpetuated nightmare that continues to tor-
ment those with memories of one of the most
tragic periods in history.
The Nazi curse was inflicted not on Jews
alone, but on all humanity. While Jewry
was the greatest sufferer, the Christian world
was equally afflicted. Poland was designated
for destruction, and all who resisted Nazism
in the invaded countries were similarly
marked for annihilation.
That is why there was so much resent-
ment last week in Denmark when the Bundes-
wehr returned to the once Nazi-occupied
country for NATO exercises. The reports
from Denmark are that there is widespread
resentment towards all Germans in uniforms,
because their army regalia is a reminder of
the German arrogance of 25 years ago. Ex-
pressing resentment over the decision of
NATO officials to have German military
maneuvers in Denmark, the liberal Copen-
hagen newspaper, Skibe Folkeblad, stated:
"The man in the street is shocked at the poor
judgment with which those in power seem to
make their decisions. They could hardly have
chosen a worse time. We all know that Germany
today is different from Hitler Germany, but the
fact remains that these are Germans arriving,
and that will be enough for us to remember
again all the evil things that happened 25 years
ago. This can never contribute to a strength-
ening of good neighborship."
Jews are not alone, therefore, in request-
ing that the events of the past should not be
forgotten—it would be idiotic to ask that the
crimes should be forgiven; we are not alone
in remembering for the sake of the living
An interesting observation is made by the
senior editor of Look Magazine, Gerald As-
tor, who asserts in an analysis of "Germany
Today" that the common bond that exists
for both East and West Germany is guilt—
for the unspeakable crimes that were ter-
minated by the Allied victory 20 years ago,
for Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, Buchenwald,
Auschwitz, Birkenau and the score more of
concentration and extermination camps that
were the brainchilds of the Germans who
claimed race superiority.
There is great prosperity in West Ger-
many and relative progress in East Germany,
yet, Look's editor states, Hitler Germany's
guilt weighs heavily upon both sectors. But
there is an evident attempt to hide the past,
and part of the scheme is to prettify the rem-
nants of the death camps, to remove the pris-
oners' barracks and other ugly reminders
of German guilt, to set up in their places
museums, parks, statues. Churches are being
built and synagogues are subsidized, but that
is not the way of retaining the memory. It
is a means of compelling forgetfulness.
Germans must share the guilt, and by
remembering they can join with all mankind
in assuring that the horrors will not be re-
peated. But in East Germany, Look's editor
points out, visitors are told that ex-Nazis
abound in "the other country," in West
Germany. Thus guilt is hidden in the Rus-
sian-dominated portion of Germany.
This is the situation that confronts us on
the 20th anniversary of the defeat of the
Nazis and the end of the war with Germany.
Yet, by remembering, we honor the dead,
we show respect for the survivors, we say to
those who would imitate cruelty that a sane
humanity will not permit a return of Hitlerite
insanity.
Related subjects play their role in these stories — accounts_ about
Jewish astronomers, navigators, cartographers.
The author does not indulge in "apologetic literature" and does
not overstate the case of Columbus's Jewishness. But he does make
much use of phrases like "the spirit of God moving upon the face of
the waters" and other biblical references. He makes much use of Tal-
mudic references to this subject and he has chosen parables that dram-
atize "Jewish love for the sea and inherent Jewish values."
"Talmudic Parables" and "Biblical Beginnings" are only two
of the sections that stem from traditional Jewish sources. Many
of the stories are based on Jewish folklore dealing with the sea.
History thus is mingled with narrative literature, and the selection
of stories by some of the most eminent of the world's writers gives
Chaplain Sobel's book special status.
*
"The 'Exodus' Comes Home" by Leon Uris is a natural for this
book, but also are "Navy Maverick" from the book by Donovan Fitz-
patrick and Saul Saphire, "The 'Illegals' " by Aharon Reuveni, Her-
man Wouk's "The Verdict" from "The Caine Mutiny" and many others.
The wise choice of material for this volume is indicated in
the inclusion of "Special Assignment" from "And It Came to Pass"
by Hayim Nahman Bialik, "A Sea Story" by Glueckel of Hameln,
"The Price of Liberty" by Howard Fast, "Miracles of the Sea" by
I. L. Peretz, Sholom Aleichem's "Home for Passover" and others
by some of the prominent writers.
Other authors from whose works Chaplain Sobel has chosen
appropriate selection are: Meyer Levin, Andre Spire, Leo W. Schwarz,
Nora Benjamin Kubie, Emil Bernhard Cohn, Lew Wallace, Gedaliah
ben Joseph ibn Yahia, Obadiah Yareh da Bertinoro, Elma Ehrlich
Levinger, Aaron Halevi, S. J. Agnon, Jerome Weidman, Walter Lord,
Rachel Mine, Francis Beauchesne Thornton, Louis J. Rabinowitz,
Julian N. Jablin, Morris N. - Kertzer, I. Kaufman, Robert Murphy.
Jacland Marmur, Sholem Asch, William J. Lederer, Cornel Adam,
Harry Karetzky, Beverly Nichols.
a
a
In the section containing the biblical selections, the author used
the Jewish Publication Society translation of the tale about "The
Rescue of Moses." "The Great Storm" is a splendid translation of the
Jonah story — appearing here supplementary to the Robert Nathan
narrative of Jonah — by J. M. Powis Smith.
In its entirety, the Sobol work is an excellent collection. It justifies
the compiler's view that "more sailors—and landsmen who love the
sea — will gain from it inspiration and enjoyment."