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, Mich. 48235.
VE 8-9364. Subscription $6 a year. Foreign $7.
Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit, Michigan
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
SIDNEY SHMARAK
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Advertising Manager
Business Manager
CHARLOTTE HYAMS
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the eleventh day of Tevet, 5727, the following Scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Gen. 47:28-50:26. Prophetical portion, I Kings 2:1.12.
Candle lighting, Friday, Dec. 23, 9:47 p.m..
VOL. L. No. 18
Page Four
December 23, 1966
Alpha Omega's Award to Hadassah
Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity played an
important role in the establishment of the
Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Den-
tal Medicine in Jerusalem. More than 25
years ago, the late Dr. Samuel Lewin-Epstein
came here to interest a group of dentists in
the idea of a school of dentistry in what was
then Palestine. The idea gained adherents
throughout the country and Alpha Omega
became the sponsoring American arm of the
proposed school. It began as a visionary idea
and like most other Zionist projects became
a reality.
Hadassah stepped in to assure the realiza-
tion of the plan. The women's Zionist organi-
zation became a leading partner in the tri=
partite sponsorship with Alpha Omega and
the Hebrew University.
It is in recognition of Hadassah's role in
this great educational task that the dental
fraternity will honor the women Zionists at
the fraternity's convention session next
Thursday evening. In this honor there echoes
also recognition of Hadassah's over-all medi-
cal and health activities, first in the Jewish
settlements in Palestine and among their
Arab neighbors and now in behalf of Israel's
population.
Alpha Omega has indicated, by its spon-
sorship of a vital educational cause, that a
fraternal order need not be all social, that
professional men can elevate their status in
our communities by encouraging and assist-
ing in vital humanitarian tasks. Thus Alpha
Omega, while honoring Hadassah, shares with
the great women's organization the glory of
having attained something most constructive
in the Holy Land.
•
Middle East Crisis: Facts Versus Fiction
An unending crisis afflicts the peoples of
the Middle East and affects Israel's. security
and its status among the nations of the world.
All talk about threats to Israel per se were
exaggerated. The struggle in that part of the
world is as much between the Arabs them-
selves and among their rulers as it is between
them and Israel — if not much more so
among themselves.
Therefore, all expressed fears were un-
founded — as we had constantly advised
those who had planned tours to Israel and
the kinsmen who were concerned about the
future of the reborn Jewish State. All panic-
spreading is based on a lack of knowledge
of existing conditions as well as of Israel's
unenviable position which makes the small
nation constantly on the alert for trouble and
therefore prepared to face attacks.
There is, however, a major problem vis-
a-vis Israel and the Middle East that affects
us very seriously. It is the failure on the
part of many people to understand the justice
of the ,Jewish cause and the challenges which
compel Israel to resort to self-defense, as in
the instance of the attack on Jordan which
brought about the harsh United Nations
resolution of censure. There are many
knowledgeable people who know what has
transpired and understand Israel's needs.
There are the historically- and justice-minded
who understand that Israel's sovereignty
must he guaranteed and that the emergence
of the State of Israel was an act of fulfillment
for an harassed people returned to its ancient
hearth. But there are those who do not know
and do not comprehend. and for them it • is
necessary repeatedly to state facts and to
review existing issues.
First, it is necessary that the events that
led to the UN censure - should be known and
the act itself fully understood. Perhaps the
New Republic editorial, "Israel Condemned,"
best analyzes the issue. In a sense it refutes
the statement by a State Department official
that the Middle East situation can not be
equated with what we are doing in Vietnam.
Then, it points to a basic reason for the harsh-
ness of the U. S. approach at the UN. That
editorial reads:
When, last October. an Israeli border police com-
mand car struck a mine near the Syrian border,
killing three and wounding six, it was the U.S.
ambassador to Israel who persuaded . Prime Min-
ister Eshkol to complain to the -Security Council
instead of immediately striking back against
Syria. Lengthy debates in the Security Council
led nowhere. and a month later another Israeli
patrol vehicle struck a mine, this time near the
border of Jordan. A major reprisal raid was
ordered and its target was an area of Jordan
where, the Israelis claim, Hussein's authority does
not extend and which until recently had been
under the control of terrorist bands loyal to the
Palestine Liberation Organization, and to the
Syrian-led and armed El Fatah. The result was
the Security Council's censure of Israel on Nov-
ember 25 by a vote of 14 to nothing.
Washington was at- first reluctant to condemn
Israel out of hand. It hoped to take some of
the sting out of the UN censure motion by insert-
ing a reference to terrorist raids. Then the
riots broke out in Jordan. The U.S. ambassador
in Amman began sending alarming cables that
unless King Hussein obtained full satisfaction in
the UN, his days were numbered. The State
Department panicked, and in the UN the Ameri-
cans went along with the toughest possible
resolution. Whether the UN's action will do
much to help keep Hussein's regime afloat is
doubtful, for his fate depends rather on his stead-
fast will to resist the pressure of his enemies
and his ability to command the allegiance of his
army. Both as yet seem unimpaired.
The Security Council's action will surely stand.
however, as a landmark in UN peace-keeping
history. In all previous condemnations, with the
exception perhaps of the Red Chinese case in
Korea, a specific act was condemned. In the
Jordan vs Israel case, a country was condemned.
and in the strongest possible terms. Consistency
is not to be expected of nations, but it should
be noted that every big power voting for the
censure of Israel has in the last 10 years engaged
in exactly the same (or worse) kind of opera-
tion as the Israelis, and either got away with it
altogether, or as lightly as possible: France and
Britain at Suez (the missing ingredient in the 1966
raids, which the Israelis lightly overlooked), 15
Russian divisions in Hungary, the Bay of Pigs,
the French against Tunisia, and the British
against Yemen.
(In July 1964) . . . American war planes blasted
one-third of the North Vietnamese navy out of the
water, along with its shore installations, for an
attack on American destroyers, and . . . Presi-
dent Johnson, on February 7, 1965, declared that
the US was now launching "retaliatory attacks
against barracks and staging areas of North Viet-
nam." Twenty-two months and about a half-
million tons of bombs later (225,000 tons of
bombs were expended in Vietnam in 1965, and
638,000 tons were "programmed" for all of Viet-
nam for 1966), this must have become world
history's longest retaliatory raid. And the Secur-
ity Council has yet to lift an admonishing finger.
'Trends, Issues in Jewish Social
Welfare' Has Harold Silver Essay
Proceedings and reports of the National Conference of Jewish Coln-
munal Service have provided basic material for the history of American
Jewish social welfare, incorporated in the latest work of the Jewish
Publication Society of America, "Trends and Issues in Jewish Social
Welfare in the United States." It was edited by Prof. Robert Morris
of Brandeis University and Michael Freund, former research director
of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds.
This volume depicts the drama of 60 years of Jewish adjustment
to the American environment in the papers and speeches of the eminent
personalities who pioneered in Jewish social work and laid the founda-
tions for the great network of Jewish communal organizations and wel-
fare services.
The study of philanthropic trends inherent in these papers and his-
torical records characterizes American Jewry. The volume was com-
piled by the National Conference of Jewish Communal Service.
Included in the collected papers is an article on "The Russian
Jews Looks at Organized Society" by Harold Silver of Detroit,
published in 1927.
"Trends and Issues in Jewish Social Welfare in the United States,
1899-1958," is divided into five major sections. The first deals with the
years of immigrant adjustment, 1899-1919. The second covers the matu-
rity of the American Jewish community from 1920 to 1929. The third
recalls the economic and political challenges of the 1930-1945 era. The
fourth appraises the years of consolidation from 1946 to 1958. The
last -segment, retrospect and prospect, 1899-1958, assays the entire
period.
Among the eminent social workers and communal leaders of the
last two generations who are represented in the volume are: David M.
Bressler, H. L. Sabsovich, Dr. Solomon Lowenstein, Dr. Leo K. Frankel,
Ludwig B. Bernstein, Judge Julian W. Mack, David Blaustein, Jacob
Billikopf, Boris D. Bogen, Morris D. Waldman, Frances Taussig, Harry
L. Lurie, Abraham Cronbach, Dr. Alexander M. Dushkin, Harry L.
Glucksman, Dr. Samuel C. Kohs, William J. Shroder, Dr. I. M. RubinoW,
Dr. Maurice J. Karpf, and Louis Kraft.
Contemporary figures in Jewish social work who are among the
contributors include Dr. John Slawson, Dr. Maurice B. Hexter, Samuel
A. Goldsmith, Harry Greenstein, Benjamin M. Selekman, Charles H.
Jordan, Isaac Franck, Philip Bernstein, Sanford Solender, Martha K.
Selig, Morris Zelditch, Marcel Kovarsky, Robert Morris, George W.
Rabinoff, Louis L. Ruffman and Herman M. Pekarsky.
The volume was produced under the direction of a committee
headed by Miss Miriam R. Ephraim, a former president of the National
Conference of Jewish Emanuel Service and now secretary-general
of the International Conference of Jewish Communal Service.
'M ystic Trends in Judaism '_
by Arnold Posy Is Informative
In "Mystic Trends irfJudiasm," published by Jonathan David (131 E.
23rd, NY10), Arnold Posy has incorporated a collection of classic
studies on a variety of subjects.
His ideas are steeped in faith. He commences his expressions on
basic Jewish issues with an essay on "Belief in Judaism in a Genera-
tion of Disbelief" with an appeal to faith and an expression of con-
fidence that "the Messiah will come ... even though he will tarry."
He discusses ethical aspects of Jewish culture, delves into the
Kabbala, analyzes the meaning as well as the origin of Hasidism and he
devotes a special section to a number of historical items—the Chmiel-
nicki massacres, Shabbatai Zevi, the Messiah movement, the period
of Menasse ben Israel in the days of Cromwell, the eminent Italian
But much more vital issues are involved. Jewish
scholar Moses Chaim Luzzatto.
There are recurring snipings at Israel whose
He emphasizes the Messianic idea as it has been implanted
right to existence is questioned. This is evi-
in Jewish hopes and aspirations and there is his faith in the fule
denced in letters to newspapers by Arab
fillment of the idea.
propagandists and by misled Christians. It
A lengthy chapter, "The Golden Chain," is devoted to a discussion
is as means of refuting their attacks that of the role of I. L. Peretz in Jewish literature. It is a thorough review
Zionist public relations forces must be mob- of Peretz's approach to his literary subjects, of Peretz's mysticism, and
ilized anew, that Jewish spokesmen with of his works as they relate to the two other masters, Sholem Aleichem
ability to present the case fairly and squarely and Mendele Moeller Seforim.
Posy handles a number of subjects, much of the historical and
should be called into action again, in order
literary material, as a knowledgeable writer. His "Mystic Trends in
to prevent misunderstanding and to check Judaism"
contains much that its thought-provoking and a great deal
the spread of false ideas.
that is most informative on Jewish historical data.