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.