THE JEWISH NEWS
Dumped Human Rights
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
Member American Association of English—Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial
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
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
Business Manager
CHARLOTTE HYAMS
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the first day of Adar I, 5727, the following Scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portions, Ex. 25:1-27:19, Num. 28:9-15. Prophetical portion, Is.
66:1-24.
First day Rosh Hodesh Adar I Tora reading Friday, Feb. 10, Num. 28:1-15.
Candle lighting, Friday, Feb. 10, 5.40 p.m.
VOL. L. No. 25
Page Four
February 10, 196'7
Brotherhood Week—Justice for All
Brotherhood Week, traditionally ob-
served during the period that marks Wash-
ington's Birthday, poses some vital questions.
In his annual message on the occasion of
this year's observance of the good will move-
ment, President Johnson called this a time
for exhibiting "our unrelenting desire to
eliminate from our society any vestige of
injustice." He defined brotherhood as mean-
ing, simply, "giving to others the rights,
respect and dignity they deserve."
The President described this concept as
being "woven into the very fabric of our
Constitution and Bill of Rights." He was real-
istic in declaring that, "unfortunately, the
gap between principle and practice still
remains."
It is in this admission of a basic short-
coming that is represented the major chal-
lenge to all Americans during the one week
in the year when we place emphasis on
brotherhood while praying that the other
51 weeks in the year will serve equally as
well to emphasize that just rights are the
heritage of all human beings and that Ameri-
cans must not differentiate, when administer-
ing justice, between citizens of differing re-
ligious views and varying skin pigmentations.
Brotherhood Week is sponsored by the
National Conference of Christians and Jews
which was founded in 1928 at a time when
there was a wave of anti-Catholicism oc-
casioned by the Presidential candidacy of
Alfred E. Smith. We have overcome many
prejudices, yet there are occasional demon-
strations of bigotry which involve religious
concepts, which especially introduce racial
issues in our political and social life.
Brotherhood Week's challenges therefore
remain as vital today as they have ever been.
There was a reduction in prejudicial actions
and in the thinking of many of our fellow
citizens, but there are minority groups with
as much un-Americanism as in the past. They
undermine the concepts of the Bill of Rights.
They menace our democratic way of life.
They are contributing factors towards under-
mining the basic ideals upon which this na-
tion was founded. The elimination of such
thinking, of these threats to our dignity as a
people, mark the themes of our current
observance of Brotherhood Week.
Temporary Lull in Mid-East War Tensions
A cabled report to the New York Times
from Beirut, Lebanon, by its correspondent,
Thomas F. Brady, contains unusually reveal-
ing facts regarding additional rifts among
Arabs on numerousissues involving the Mid-
dle East situation, including Israel. The report
states that the resignation of Dr. Sabhi Kah-
hala as head of the Arab Jordan River Explor-
ation Authority "appears to complete the
eclipse of the three anti-Israel, pan-Arab or-
ganizations organized in 1964 at the first
meeting of the Arab heads of state." The
other two groups are accounted for as fol-
lows in the Brady report: "The Palestine Lib-
eration, formed on the recommendation of the
chiefs of state, recently went underground,
and a third group, the United Arab Military
Command, established to defend the Jordan
River diversion projects, seems to be moving
toward dissolution on the recommendation of
its Egyptian commander, Lt. Gen. Ali All
Amer."
Brady's lengthy report reviews the rifts
among Arab leaders and points to Ahmed
Shukairy's "plan to supplant the present di-
rection of the Palestine Liberation Organiza-
tion with a 'secret revolutionary committee.' "
This trend, reported anew by Brady as being
a move "directed chiefly against the 'reaction-
ary' regime of King Hussein of Jordan," calls
attention once again to the abortive efforts of
a saber-rattling leader who has diverted his
hatred from Israel to the young Jordanian
ruler. Brady's evaluation of the developing
trends is most interesting. He states in his
cabled report:
"The breakdown of the institutions aimed
at diverting the Jordan's waters before they
flow into Israel, at protecting diversion proj-
ects against Israeli reprisal, and at carrying
out political action against Israel is a result of
the ideological split between the Socialist and
monarchist regimes.
"The development seems to put an end for
the time being to the Arab belief that the con-
flict with Israel is more important than any
conflicts among Arabs themselves.
"An era of relative security for Israel may
now lie ahead. But commando raids and guer-
rilla terrorism, particularly by Syrian-trained
Palestinians, seem likely to continue.
"While pan-Arab ties were withering. the
Saudi Arabian radio announced last night that
the country's United Nations delegate had
been told to inform Secretary General Thant
of two Egyptian bombing raids last week on
the Saudi Arabian town of Najran near the
Yemen border."
While these new developments will prove
heartening not only to Israel but also to Hus-
sein's supporters and defenders in the U. S.
State Department, the point to be emphasized
is that the relief from tensions is temporary
and that the dangers from Arab war-threaten-
ing elements seldom disappear for too long a
period. This serves as an admonishment for
those who are concerned about the peace of
the Middle East not to be too complacent.
The major lesson in a situation of eased
tensions and of a promise of temporary tran-
quility is that peace could be effected on a
permanent basis if the dictators who are now
ruling the Arab nations would stop mislead-
ing their people and would cooperate in plan-
ning amity.
There is so much to be benefited from an
end to the war threats! The Arab states as
well as Israel could then abandon the arms
race. They could devote their energies, separ-
ately as well as on a cooperative basis, in ad-
vancing science, in seeking relief from many
problems that affect the peoples of the Middle
East economically and socially. The tourist
trade could multiply with the opening of all
avenues for free travel.
But destructive elements persist in fan-
ning hatreds. That is why the current "era of
relative security" is so temporary!
Irritations Over Bias
Charges by the foreign ministry of the
Soviet Union that anti-Semitism is on the
rise in Germany brought a vigorous denial
from Bonn government sources.
This is the heartening development in
modern times, that it is considered disgrace-
ful to be charged with bigotry and that no
one wishes to be accused of being biased.
Perhaps this should encourage us to feel
that race and religious hatreds can be fought
successfully. It is undeniable, as the ADL
session heard last week, that anti-Semitic
incidents have increased, but as long as there
is a sense of shame over it, we have hopes
that they can be overcome more easily than
in the past.
itigA
Notable Jewish Experiences
Enyclopedic 'Golden Tradition'
Portrays E. European Jewish Life
Lucy S. Dawidowicz has collected such an impressive amount of
essays, recollections, biographical and autobiographical sketches de-
scribing Jewish life and thought in Eastern Europe that the immense
work, "The Golden Tradition," emerges as encyclopedic. A mere re-
view could not do this splendid work sufficient justice. It merits a
place among the most important textbooks and it should be used for
special courses for adults who seek knowledge about Jewish experiences
over a period of more than 200 years.
Published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, (383 Madison, NY 17),
"The Golden Tradition" covers a vast area and at the same time is
enriched by a highly scholarly introduction by the author whose col-
lection of material for this work elevates her to a high role as a
research expert and as an historian.
Mrs. Dawidowicz describes convincingly how the East Euro-
pean Jewish cultural giants searched for enlightenment "to pre-
serve their Jewish identity and retain their community." She
explains that the memoirs, the letters of some 60 persons "whose
lives document East European Jewish responses to modernity,"
described how the "emergent masses wanted culture and educa-
tion."
It is perhaps most appropriate that her collection of descriptive
essays should commence with the Hasidim and Hasidism. Starting with
Zusya of Annapol and tracing the mysteries of Hasidism through the
Lubavich dynasty, the Hasidic experiences emerge in all their realism.
Continuing with Haskala, drawing upon the searchers for education,
devoting important portions of the book to men of literature, scholars
and philosophers, the Zionist and revolutionary movements, Mrs.
Dawidowicz turned to the most important men in these fields for her
historical data.
Moses Leib Lilienblum, David Frischman, Judah Leib Gordon and
Gershom Bader are among the Maskilim whose biographies and
reminiscences are resorted to in describing the enlightenment.
Reuben Brainin, Mendele Mokher Seforim, S. Ansky, Simon
Dubnow, Jacob Shatzky and many other notable names are among
those included in the sections dealing with education, traditional•
ism, philosophy.
A typical example of the author's practical approach to the over-all
subject is her inclusion_ of a chapter devoted to Rabbi Isaac Jacob
Reines, the founder of the Mizrachi movement to advance Zionism in
Orthodox Jewish ranks. There is an interesting biographical note
which describes how Rabbi Reines introduced secular studies in the
Lida Yeshiva and the description of his life concludes: "Had Reines
found more understanding among Orthodox rabbis for his goal of
conserving rabbinic learning in a modern world, raising its prestige
by acknowledging the necessity for general secular education, he
might indeed have become a great luminary instead of remaining a
half-forgotten figure in Jewish memory."
"The Two Lights of My Life" is the essay by Rabbi Reines ap-
pended to the story of his life. His essay describes his involvement
in Zionism and the founding of Mizrachi.
The marginal items include selections by Nahum Sokolow. The
Zionist aspects are covered by Ahad Ha'am, Chaim Nahman Bialik,
Shneour Zalman Shazar, Vladimir Jabotinsky, and others.
Chaim Zhitlowsky, Abraham, Liessin, Vladimir Medem, Leon Trot-
sky, Sholem Schwartzbard are among those selected for the revolu-
tionary section.
Then there are the political aspects dealt with by Simon Dubnow,
Henrik Sliosberg, Shmarya Levin and Isaac Grynbaum.
The sources of acknowledgment as well as the biographical
sketches of those selected for inclusion as essayists in this re-
markable work serve an important purpose in guiding the reader
and the student of East European Jewish history.
As history and biography, as an ideological work, Mrs. DaWi-
dowicz's is an illuminating account of East European Jewish records.
The retention of the memoirs inserted in "The Golden Tradition"
as a record of our history is a distinct contribution to Jewish litera-
ture.