Purely Commentary
Unnecessary Confusion in the White House
Two days after the Jewish War Veterans' statement regarding
President Johnson's alleged irritation over "Jewish attitudes" on the
Vietnamese situation, this commentator pointed to the unfairness of
making aid for Israel, or support of any movement or cause, condi-
tional upon endorsement of the President's policies on Vietnam. It was
our contention, and it remains our view, that no one, whether he is in
the White House or in Congress, has a right to make such conditions:
that assistance to another country, or aid to any cause, must be pre-
dicated upon merit: the cause must deserve support, else the effort
is insincere.
Since then, Bnai Brith leaders met with the President, the earlier
report was repudiated, "inference of an interrelationship between future
American-Israeli affairs and support among Jewish organizations for
administration policies in Vietnam" was declared to appear to them
"to have been as inaccurate as it was unfortunate," and the Bnai Brith
leaders added: "It was an inference wholly inconsistent with Mr.
Johnson's long-standing views regarding United States relations
with Israel."
This is in itself an unwise approach to the entire problem. The
American-Israel relationships should not be so confused as to arouse
suspicion about the President's attitudes. No one has a right to doubt
his sincerity of friendship to a friendly nation. Therefore, even to
place emphasis on the bone of contention that emerged from the dispute
is regrettable.
Apparently the matter could not end there, because Dr. Joachim
Prinz, as chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations, found it necessary to discuss the matter with
the U. S. ambassador to the United Nations, Arthur Goldberg, in what
was trumpeted widely as an effort to adjust differences between the
President and the Jewish organizations, and Rabbi Prinz issued this
statement on Sept. 14:
"The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organiza-
tions met last night with Ambassador Goldberg at his home.
"We had a lull and frank discussion on a number of issues of
mutual interest, including the prospects for peace in Vietnam, Ameri-
can-Israeli relations and a variety of other concerns.
"We are grateful to Ambassador Goldberg for the opportunity he
afforded us to meet with him and to exchange views in an atmosphere
of candor and friendship.
"Our conversation was useful and constructive."
What exactly does this statement mean, and why was it necessary
to issue it in such veiled terms?
Instead of clarifying an issue that should never have arisen, Dr.
Prinz has muddled it further. If he' found it necessary to inform Ameri-
can Jewry and the American people that a discussion of grave im-
portance took place, he owed it to his constituents to tell them what
it is all about, else there should not have been a renewing of a con-
troversy based on mystery, secrecy, emerging suspicions.
It is doubtful whether Ambassador Goldberg would become involved
in a public dispute of this nature — it is a public dispute, even if it
was held behind closed doors — if it necessitated a UN conflict
contrary to American policies; for example, those related to Israel
and the Arab states — the latter still being appeased by our State
Department. Why, then, did he permit himself to be dragged into
peace-making between Jews and our President in a war that does
— surely should not — exist?
There has been a bungling, a rumor-mongering, a panic among
heads of our national organizations — all uncalled-for, unnecessary,
unjustified.
It is not at all surprising that Ambassador Goldberg was reported
to have been "nettled" by the entire affair. We are all not only
nettled but disgusted that the issue should have arisen altogether.
Jews are not alone in their divided opinions on Vietnam nor are we
alone in insisting on the right to differ. The President and the Vice
President have both upheld such right. Those who speak for any
movement in the land should be more cautious about involvements
! like those that have become involved in a confounded confusion.
Unfortunate 'Nettling' Over
Vietnam . . Rockwell and
Questionable Hate Forums
By Philip
Slomovitz
Yorn Kippur Quiz
By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
(Copyright, 1966, JTA, Inc.)
Why is it that Yom Kippur can
never fall on Sunday, Tuesday
or Friday?
I want to limit myself only to the involvement of Jewish stu-
dents in the event. Since the question of free speech has been
raised, I wonder whether Jewish students would rally to the
defense of freedom by arranging a meeting on the Northwestern
This arrangement is one of the
Campus for Sheriff Clark of Selma, members of the Mafia, or for
principal
guidelines of the Hebrew
the defendants in the murder of the civil rights workers in Mis-
sissippi. After all, they too have a right to be heard in a free Calendar. In arranging the calen-
society. Even these Jewish students involved in the Rockwell dar, the Rabbis took special care
episode would not dare to raise the specious free speech issue. to see to it that Yom Kippur would
They would not dare to proclaim in this context that college stu-
be-
dents have a right to 'hear all sides of every question. First, they not fall on Friday or Sunday
is
the
day
either
before
would have the good taste to know that it is not necessary to bring cause that
loathsome characters to a university campus to find out who they or after the Sabbath. This was un-__
are and what they represent. Second, they would have the decency desirable because it would mea t,
to realize that only morbid curiosity would nrompt inviting civil there would be consecutively tw
rights murderers (convicted or acquitted) to occupy a college plat-
days on which all manner of work
form. Third, they would have the sense to know that avowed ad-
vocates of murder do not fit into an academic atmosphere. The would be prohibited and it would
program of Rockwell, to expel Negroes and gas Jews, is well cause undue hardship. Further-
known, even to the members of a planning committee at North- more, the dead would not be able to
western.
be buried on either of these two
To justify a talk by Rockwell on the grounds of academic days. Also, some Rabbis, claim that.
objectivity is as callous as to justify the medical experiments on hardship would occur if the Sab-
living victims of the concentration camps on grounds of scien- bath and Yom Kippur would be
tific research.
consecutive because vegetables
These Jewish students are non-rebels. They want to flaunt have to be picked on Thursday and
authority but they do so in the spirit of those students in California might spoil by the time of the Sab-
who carried posters with dirty words. They do so in the spirit of bath meal or the meal after Yom
their fathers who did naughty things at fraternity smokers. But Kippur. This concern on the part
they do this in public under the pretext of protest.
of the Rabbis in arranging the
I hope that at least some of the Jewish students involved in calendar indeed displays a deeply
the Rockwell episode were merely foolish children. I suspect that human feeling. The reason for
others, however, were acting out the rejection of their own Jew- which Yom Kippur cannot fall on
ishness. They knew well what Rockwell represents. They were not Tuesday is that it would cause an-
in the least bit interested in discrediting him. They wanted to dis- other holiday, Hoshanah Rabbah,
credit themselves. They wanted to discredit their parents. They to fall on the Sabbath. If Hoshanah
wanted to curry favor with non-Jewish students. How was the Rabbah would fall on the Sabbath
dance on the graves of the six million, you children of Abraham, it would make it impossible to
Isaac and Jacob?
carry out the commandment of
All fair-minded Americans are deeply concerned that freedom of beating the willows on that day be-
speech should be protected. Yet, there also is need of protection against cause it is the Sabbath and the
the abuse of that privilege. In his warning against expremism, when willows might tear or people might
he inserted a Jewish News editorial in the Congressional Record, Sena- inadvertently carry them out on
have
tor Robert Griffin, showed how "bigots and neo-Nazi riffraff
a public thoroughfare—both prac-
joined together in an orgy of racial hatred" and declared: "It is incum- tices being prohibited on the Sab-
bent upon all who cherish freedom to be mindful of these developments bath.
* * *
lest such extremists grow in numbers and strength."
Indeed, we have to be on guard, while protecting the primary
Why do worshipers beat their
American ideals: The bigots are utilizing them for their purpose and
fists on their hearts during the
it is a duty to make certain that they are not given a free path to
confession ritual on Yom Kippur?
accomplish their purpose.
*
The Midrash (Koheleth Rabbah
7)
explains this practice by say-
Moishe Haar: He Left a Noble Heritage
Moishe Haar was primarily an educator. He loved Yiddish and ing that the heart is the seat of
was equally as well rooted in Hebrew. Teaching was a labor of love sin. This claim is traced to the
for him. He was well informed, having been an avid reader, and his passage in Koheleth which says:
lectures on Jewish cultural and historic subjects marked noteworthy "And the living shall lay it upon
contributions to this community's educational undertakings. He was
equally effective teaching children as he was instructing their parents. his heart." The heart was under-
His passing is a sad loss to our community. But he has left a stood by the Rabbis to represent
noble heritage. having inspired many to carry on the tasks of per- the source of human emotion which
often leads to sin. Some claim
petuating Jewish knowledge.
•
•
•
that one beats his heart because
witnesses who accuse another are
Deplorable Muddling of Civil Rights Ideals
by Biblical law to throw the
There has been a muddling, the creation of confusion, the in- asked
first stone when the punishment
jection of panic and suspicions, that resulted in the scuttling of the has been meted out by the court.
last civil rights measure.
accuses
Demagogues in the ranks of proponents and opponents of the Since, in confession, man
himself, he is asked to strike the
the
sad
development
in
the
U.
S.
may
have
contributed
to
measure
first blow at himself to show that
Senate this week. The spokesmen for extremists in both ranks have he sincerely believes the charges
Rockwell and the Forums for Hatred
George Lincoln Rockwell h5s gained just what he wanted in assisted in creating fears, and the leaders in the "black power" ranks he recites against himself. Others
be blamed as much as the "white power" advocates.
claim it is to demonstrate the
Chicago: a public platform for his hatred. But he has been getting such are to
An example of irresponsibility is to be found in the special course of sin. The heart (i.e. hu-
a platform for a long time — in many areas, especially in universities.
article
in
the
New
York
Review
of
Books
on
"What
We
Want"
by
Opinions on the way of treating him differ immensely. There are
man thought and emotion or crav-
Carmichael. In the course of his essay he wrote: "Black people ing) plots, and the hand carries out
those who, recognizing that a mere handful was in the vanguard of Stokely
not want to 'take over' this country. They don't want to 'get its dictates. The hand, therefore
Hitlerism and grew to a mass movement of nearly all Germans, insist do
whitey'; they just want to get him off their backs, as the saying goes.
that the anti-Semite and the hater of Jews, Negroes and Catholics — It was for example the exploitation by Jewish landlords and mer- strikes the heart so as to join both
the source which conceives the sin--
of all libertarians, in fact — should be exposed. There is a group that
which first created black resentment toward Jews—not Juda- as well as the instrument which,
feels otherwise. Mike Royko, for example, writing in his column in the chants
ism. The white man is irrelevant to blacks, except as an oppressive eventually carries out the sin. Some`
Chicago Daily News, insists that the "well-known goof" is being given
force . . ."
moralists claim that the clenchef.' .
platform
unnecessarily,
that
"anything
more
than
a
passing
mention
a
But the Jews do emerge relevant! Suddenly a rabble-rouser be- fist strikes the heart to demoi1: --
of his activities is an attempt to spice the day's news," that: "Trotting comes
an authority on theology, differentiates between Jews and
him out in front simply gives the twisted mind an impression that Judaism, introduces a note of hate in his explanation of what his strate that man often sins because
Rockwell's viewpoints are of importance. The result of such exposure, people want. He did not select Negroes who have exploited Negroes, his hand is not open to the poor as
I would guess, is that the membership in Rockwell's private asylum or those of any other group; and he forgot that Jews have always his heart is not open to feel the
increases. This is rather like exposing the dangers of TB by coughing led in the fight for civil rights! Let his own people judge him for his suffering of the needy and af-
flicted.
in someone's face."
Often there is merit to such admonitions not to dignify an anti- unjust appraisal to the issue vis-a-vis the Jews.
Semite, not to build up the case of a bigot who does not have a follow-
ing. Yet, we must recognize that Rockwell, because he could throw
his hat into the civil rights ring as a segregationist rabble-rouser, has
difficult
Jew." As author of the book's extremely restricted. It is
been able to increase his ranks in Chicago.
ROME (JTA)—A leading mem- preface,
to give a valid explanation for the
the
senator
revealed
And there is another matter that will plague us for a long time ber of the Communist Party of
policy of discrimination still exist-
to come: that of every American's right to freedom of speech. In Italy, and one of the party's that he had discussed the Rus-
against Jews in Russia."
ing
defense of this basic principle, the American Civil Liberties Union has founders, criticized the Soviet sian Jewish situation with the
"The full restoration of the na-
defended Rockwell in New York and he is seeking ACLU aid in Chicago. Union severely here Monday night Italian Communist Party's prin-
status of Jewish collectivity
Jews have been among the strongest defenders 'of the basic American for its oppressions against Jews in cipal leader, the late Palmer° tional
must legally be accompanied, as
Togliatti.
Furthermore,
he
re-
principle and on another occasion when he visited Illinois, during Rock- the Soviet Union, and called upon
far as the Jewish religion is con-
well's appearance at Northwestern University, a distinguished rabbi Moscow to restore to the USSR's vealed that Italian Communist cerned, by the establishment of
undertook to clarify the issue for misled Jewish students. Dr. David Jews the fullest religious and cul- leaders here "frequently" dis-
rights equal with those enjoyed
Polish of Evanston, Ill., in an article written for the members of his tural rights guaranteed them by cussed the situation of Soviet by other religions. It is necessary
Jewry
with
their
Soviet
col-
congregation but intended for the students, discussed the Rockwell visit the Soviet constitution.
that, in this fled, there be no de-
at Northwestern as follows:
The statement was made by leagues.
return of the full
In his preface to the book, Sen. lay as to the the
George Lincoln Rockwell, leader of the American Nazi move- Senator Umberto Terracini at a
Soviet Constitu-
application
of
ment, recently addressed a large student meeting at Northwestern ceremony, attended by invited Terracini stated. "After the violent tion's right, bestowed on citizens,
suppression
of
every
cultural
ac-
University. One of the three-man committee to invite him was a Jews and non-Jews, launching the
to an education for each citizen in
Jew. Other Jews were involved in the planning. When a group of publication of a book highly cri- tivity of the Jews in the Stalinist his mother tongue, which in this
Jewish students circulated a statement deploring the invitation :to tical of anti-Jewish oppressions in period, there was no restoration case means Yiddish. The citizens
of legality in this field. The organi-
right to wor-
Rockwell, and signed it "Concerned Jewish Students," other Jews the Soviet Union, entitled "The
zation of the Jewish religion and must be given the
on the campus reacted with anger that the Jewish issue should Jews in the USSR."
ship according to his religion," the
Jews
German
the
exercise
of
its
cult
remained,
have been injected. (I am sure that there were such
de-
Sen. Terracini, who is a Jew,
compared to other churches and Italian Communist senator
made it clear that he was speak-
in the 1930 who were just as.,,, Ilair-minded").
manded.
USSR,
the
existing cults in
ing "as a Communist, not as a other
.
Italian Communist Assails Moscow for Policy on Jews
- :
,27Fridoy,
September,. 23,_J9kb..,.„i,h,,_ : THE .DETROIT JEWISH NEWS