THE JEWISH NEWS Cooling Off In A Hot Summer Incorporating. The Detroit Jewish, Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20,. 1951: Member American Association of English—Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press. Aesaciation, -, National Editorial Association.. Published every Friday, by The Jewish. News, Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road; Detroit, Mich. 48235. YE 8-9364. Subscription*SE a year. Foreign $7.. Second Class. Postage Paid at Detroit,. Michigan MU? stemovierz Editor and Publisher' CHARLOTTE NYAMS SIDNEY SHMARAK C.ARML M. SLOMOVITZ City Editor- AdVertising Manager Business Manager Sabbath Scriptural: Selections This Sabbath, the fourth day of Elul, 5726, the folTowing. scriptural selections will be read in o:ur synagogues:. Pentateuchal portion, Deut. 16:18-21:9; Prophetical portion•, Isaiah 51:12.-52:12. Licht Benshen, Friday, Aug. 19; 7:09 p. at. Vol. XLIX No. 26 Aug. 19, 1966 Page 4 Legislation on the Right to Pray holding the beauty of God's nature, when putting: Illinois' Senator EverettDirksen is an on a new garment, upon hearing good. tidings,— unusual man. He usually has a sense of in short, there is virtirallY no aspect of human humor. His dry but incisive wit attracts atten- experience that a Jew is not bidden to sanctify tion, draws laughs, gains him: the admiration with prayer.. There is,. therefOre,- nothing inappro-. and friendships that have elevated him to priate, from a Jewish religious point. of view,. and. tempi leadership. That is why it is all we might add, from, a Constitutional point of view,: in a student reciting private prayers. during the the more puzzling why the down-to-earth course. of his - school day, provided. he. does not Republican leader should have undertaken obstruct or impede the normal school program. to put Grr the spot so many members of: the United States Senate by his proposal to legis- PUblic prayer is an entirely different. matter Popular. Autobiography again.. Let us: be clear about the natUre of the late an the. right to pray, who is to pray, when problem. The: difficulty- IS not the location as such, one is to: pray, whether one is to ask him or nor is it essentially what some critics have pre- any one else whether or not to pray or where judicially clescrilied as. "routine,.. formalized, to pray. mechanical recitation". In Jewish tradition, pub- If it were not faced. wits such serious- lic prayers can be recited virtually anywhere ness, there would be something funny about (though the synagogue is its most appropriate. set- When "Trial and Error,'° the autobiography at Dr.. Chaim Weiz- the measure—S. J. Res. 148—which is in ting). Our prayers, not unlike the public prayers effect a constitutional amendment to assure of most other faiths, are formalized both as to mann,.. ERA president, first made its appearance in 1949; it at content and manner of recitation. This is neces- once, assumed the role of a classic. It was a revealing account of the the right to: "voluntary" prayers: in our sarily so, for prayer is the singular expression. of life of one of world.jewry'S greatest personalities; it was history com- schools. His proposal is especially threatening a particular faith community, shaped and formed b e c a u s e it is the first such effort to by, and giving expression to a unique historital bined with dramatic- experiences: entailing many of the world's most tamper with the Bill of Rights and to intro- encounter with the Divine. For this very same ffleinguished people;.. it- was an: account of Zionism and . Zionist trials duce a change in the first 10 amendments to reason, however, it is an act of gross religibus ant. tribulatiOns and a. the emergence of the State of iSraei. the Constitution. It has been called "mis- insensitivity to involve in such a deeply sectarian This book retains the status aC a classic, and as such it now gains chievous" and one Washington correspondent, experience children of differing faiths. This kind Kenneth Crawford, writing in Newsweek, an- of indiscriminate and superficial religiosity leads new stature with its reappearance as a paperback published by Schocken to a trivialization and desecration of _genuine wor- Books WI Park, NY 16). The fact that the republished paperback, ticipates that Senator Dirksen may succeed in forcing some of his colleagues to support t ship. appearing, in its entirety as in the original work, contains an intro- him because they wail: "How can we vote This,. then, is the religious' ground, as ffis- duction by Abba Eban, president of the Weizmann Institute in. Rehovot tinguished- from the political, on. which we base: and now Israel's Foreign Minister, gives this, work an added quality. against prayer?" But Crawford also main- our opposition to sectarian prayers in the public tains: "Some of the .Republican leader's col- *. 111-• schools. It is on this same ground that we would leagues go so far to suggest that he is press- Eban's tribute to the great leader: "Weizmann's power lay in oppose non-sectarian prayers.. Prayer that is not ing his amendment to punish them for past rooted in specific faith and in distinctive religious._ his. capacity to grasp and to convince others that the needs of Jew- transgressions against his commandments. commitment is a meaningless,. empty exercise.- ish: history must ultimately prevail against mountainous obstacles They complain that he is not doing, unto them Does- this mean. that God and religion are to of rationality . . . His triumph had been in the arena of diplomacy. as he would have them do unto him." be banished from our national life, or that the But he knew that the final verdict would be decided in more It has also been suggested that Senator religious foundations of this national life are being strenuous fields. He implored the powerful Jewries, with only Dirksen is carrying on a .vendetta with the challenged? The answer is' clearly and emphati- partial success, to turn their minds away from diplomacy towards U. S. Supreme Court, having stated: "I do cally "no!" We are- in fact a predominantly re- ligious people in our origins and in our traditions. the concrete forces which alone gave diplomacy its content. The not intend to let nine men tell 190 million As clergymen, we seek to make religion an even Americans, including children, where and Balfour Declaration and the Mandate for Palestine were no more more effective part of our society's life than it when they can say their prayers." This is just than opportunities . . . Everything depended on whether they is. Certainly, there is room in American life for the point that has been amply clarified in could be replaced by a geographical reality more substantial than genuine religious deepening 01 a broadening and Supreme Court decisions—that such rights themselves ... . Weizmann's task was to convert a prospect into commitment. But this spiritual heritage and this are not to be tampered with. But Senator religious character is to be attributed to the Amer- reality, a. generous vision into a solid fact .. . Dirksen would, contrary to the expressed ican society as such, and decidedly not to the Continuing his- characterization, indicating that Weizmann's total views of many religious leaders and of the American state as such. consecration to: the great Zionist task was rewarded by his. followers major religious organizations, bypass the It is unfortunate that the entire'Dirksen "with an awed. respect," Eban states that "his relations with his own First Amendment and introduce a new order scheme tends not only to challenge the Su- people rested on. an utter and unbroken intimacy of contact. He probed negating basic American principles separating preme Court and its oft-reiterated rulings in every fiber of Jewish sensitivity: He knew his people M. their many im- church and state. support of the separation principle, but would perfections, and in: the redeeming moments of grandeur ... " A joint statement by the Synagogue additionally shatter an established American Eban says. of the eminent leader that "his liberal captaincy created Council of America and the National -Com- tradition and wouldintroduce government a climate of tolerance of ideals,, hospitable' to criticism and conducive munity Relations Advisory Council, in oppo- rule in permitting the injecting of religious to a broad dispersion of varied energies .. . sition to the Dirksen amendment, indicated ideas into the public school system, also lead- * S. • that the proposal now before the U. S. Senate ing to the injection of religion in state af- is; of course, the autobiography itself that is of the u It. "would place the force of government behind fairs. The hope of the defenders of the separ- importance. Weiznitann's life--his. childhood, his student dk,,, prayer," and presented the following as the ation idea is that. Senators will not be forced Switzerland, his struggle to overcome Jewish opposition to Zio.o,_„ Jewish traditional attitude on praying: ism, the story of the issuance of the Balfour Declaration , — all lead into a role of ruling on prayer as such, under ups to the years when he emerged as the leader in world. Jewry, Jewish tradition., not unlike most other re- pressure of "who can vote against prayer?", respected' in. the non-Jewish. world, listened. to, yet confronted with ligious traditions, knows of two kinds of prayer: but will recognize that in a free society the the problems that made the struggle so difficult. private prayer, and public prayer. There is hardly a place or activity that in Jewish ,tradition ren- right to prayer is sacred and unabridged He. was. the. mart of great dignity and. charm and it was reflected under existing conditions. The Dirksen ders private_ prayer inappropriate. A Jew is bid- alt of his, dealings.. His life's, story describes the many dealings with , amendment will introduce an abridgement in den to recite private prayers before he eats or non-Jews, with those who- responded with warmth and friendship and/ because it will legislate for prayer. drinks, on the completion of his meals, on be- the antagoniSts who stood in the way of fulfillment of the Jewish ) . Let's Make Detroit Safe for All Citizens Firm Steps by Detroit's police, whose fairness has been commended by Negro lead- ers, have assured a check on violence and a warning that the type of lawlessness that has disrupted the peace of a number of Ameri- can communities will,not be tolerated here. The prompt action by Detroit's law-enforcing apparatus is part of a pattern—of the desire of the people of this city to see justice en- acted in human relations and at the same time to make certain that rioting and race violence should be checked. The position of Negro leadership, of the religious ministers and others in their midst,. coupled with the desire of our community to assure equality for all and the best educa- tional and recreational opportunities for. the Negro youths, 'are contributing factors irk a situation that should make Detroit an exam- ple for other cities. We had a sad lesson in 1943, when-whites rioted against Negroes and there was a heavy toll , in lives and properties. It was inexcus- able then and anything akin to it now, whether it is Negroes battling whites, whites attacking Negroes. or people fighting among themselves, must be Viewed as un-American, inhuman and contrary to the basic ideals of our community and our land. All citizens must work jointly to prevent racial strife, to introduce the necessary bene- fits to guarantee the equality of all citizens, to eliminate strife and suspicion. By striving for the highest goals consonant with Ameri- canism, we can make our community safe all wad are example to others. . Wetzmann's 'Trial and Error' in Paperback, With Eban Essay national. dream_ The. JEWS who: apposed him, and those who worked - with him; the obstacles that arose, the dreams: that were accompanied, by heartaches are part of. this man's life which, adinittedly, not only was filled with trials, but. was accompanied by errors that stem from dreams beckoning t became realities. C • • It is the personal life, too, that is of major interest in this classic book that will be referred to, by those seeking information about the history of the last two generations of Jews ., for genera- tions to come. The sorrows occasioned by the loss of a son who died in the service of his. country (Great Britain) and the sad- nesses: that often. overwhelmed him, prove deeply moving in this account of a rich lifetime. The service. to Jewry emerges here in all its glory.. This is the story of. Chaim W'eizmann who. was statetT„ eloquent when the, occasion required it--although the- autobiographer certainly does not boast about personal matters in: his account of his own life—and self-sacrificing in the creation of the movement to it the homelessness of his people.- ; A great service is rendered by the issuance of Weizmann's "Trial 'and 17.1pror" as a paperback, making, it available to larger masses of a 'new generatinn Of interested readers; Not Jews' alone, but people of all faiths Will find this book of immense interest:.