Purely Commentar y

Injustice in Our Nation's
Capital . . . Polls Do Not
Elect ... Don't Write Off HHH

By

Philip

SiOMOVitZ

' Polls Do Not Elect . . . Demonstrators Who Destroy
1 Dialoguing Do Not Create Good Will for America

The Fortas Case: The Witch Hunt Has Ended

An inglorious case that registered a "Constitutional and historica
specula-
tragedy," as President Johnson has described it, has ended with th e
Too many people are misled by polls and by advance
granted that Hubert H.
gentlemanly withdrawal of Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas.
tions politically. Don't you take it for
you'll
house.
On
the
morning
after
Nov.
5
A cabal representing Republicans and the Southern Democrati c Humphrey is in the dog
we have faith that
representation that has so consistently besmirched the record of it s hear a different story—and for only one reason:
rejudicesnd
fears
and
party has written a chapter of which this generation won't be ver y when the voter goes to the polls 1le'If shed p
will think about the future of America, about his children and his
proud when the entire record will have been compiled.
full realization of the dangers that
Michigan's junior Senator can gloat, but he may have to eat crow grandchildren. Then hell act of in the
association of the GOP candidate
as time goes on for having encouraged an attack on our high court stem from the Alabaman,
to the American ideal (in the
and for having, after his victory over Fortas, attempted to build up a with men who have not lent dignity
Thurmond
tradition as another cause
great case by denigrating the court. How much respect this inspires Fortas case, for example, in the
for our institutions! When there is a lack of self-respect, how can for our rejection of HHH's opponents). Having realized the threats
to the basic principles of our Americanism, we believe we'll be con-
you have respect from others?
Humphrey on Nov. 6.
It is easy to visualize Senator Everett Dirksen drawling that he was gratulating Hubert H.
There is another reason for our faith in the American way of
"duty bound" to look again at the Fortas matter in view of uncovered
evidence against the Supreme Court justice. "Duty bound" to do what? life which rejects fears and irrational demonstrations. It is' the
. . . Join in character assassination . . . in a witch hunt instigated by fact that when 100 out of 2,000 undertake to disturb the peace of a
his party for political purposes . .. become an ally of those who are campus and to act undignifiedly towards a distinguished U.S. Senator,
abusing basic decencies in an effort to prevent a Democratic President they emphasize that fiey are a mere minority. They may be the
from appointing a friend (crony !) to a high post for which he was fully majority of tomorrow—and we pray that those who shout against
war—against all wars!—will be the ones to decide man's destiny. But
qualified?
(The New York Times published this editorial on Sept. 27 under the when they become the majority we know that they will behave like

heading "Justice for Mr. Fortas":
(There is no question that the United States Senate has the obligation
to put Associate Justice Fortas' judicial and ethical standards under the
closest examination in fulfillment of its constitutional duty to pass upon
Mr. Fortas' nomination for the post of Chief Justice. But this involves
. debate, not filibuster.
(It is clear that some Senators are genuinely disturbed by some of
Mr. Fortas' actions after he has ascended the bench. We, too, have ques-
tioned the propriety of his acceptance of an unusually high fee. $15,000,
raised by his former law partner among private individuals, for giving a
series of summer lectures to students.
(Senator Mansfield, the majority leader, put it well when he said,
"I believe this event in retrospect was unfortunate . . . While there Is not
the slightest indication of abuse of office in this criticism, one would hope
that Mr. Fortas no less than any of the other members of the Court would
henceforth bear these distinctions in mind."
(Other questions have been raised about the alleged participation of
Mr. Fortas in White lions" deliberations In preparing legislation. The extent
to which he did this is unknown, but from his own testimony before the
Judiciary Committee it is apparent that he did not altogether desist from
his former role as intimate advism- to the Presl-tent.
(These are matters that need discussion. Whether or not Mr. Fortas is
confirmed, guidelines on the propriety of such actions can be clarified by
by Senate debate.
(But nobody in the national audience watching this case unfold dining
a Presidential election year should be deceived into thinking that the core
of the opposition to Mr. Fortas stems from such considerations. Behind the
developing filibuster are strong undertones of politics, spitefulness and
racism.
(The Republican leader of the opposition, Senator Griffin of Michigan,
says that "We are asked to rubber-stamp a nomination which rewards an
old friend" of the President. What he is really saying is that the post of
Chief Justice should be left open for the next President—presumably the
Republican candidate—to reward one of his friends. It is no argument
against confirmation to say that President Johnson appointed an old friend.
The courts of this nation would be decimated if appointees and nomi-
nees were ruled out on this ground.
(The real leaders of the filibuster are those old guard Southerners,
Senator Eastland of Mississippi and Senator Thurmond of South Carolina.
They are In effect punishing Associate Justice Fortas for the "sins" of the
"Warren C t" over the •ears.
(These Southern bigots must be pleased indeed that more respected
Senators are serving as their cats'-paws in the case against Mr. Fortas.
("We will deny justice to none, nor delay it"—that Is a cardinal principle
in Magna Carta. Associate Justice Fortas deserves justice in the Senatorial
courtroom and a decision without undue delay. On the basis of his superb
professional and Intellectual qualifications—and despite some errors of
Judgment—we still believe that he fully merits confirmation as Chief
Justice.)

gentlemen and will not resort to rowdyism. When they become rulers
of our nation they will, like Senator Edmund Muskie, ask for resort
to reason and not to misbehavior. Then we shall again have dialogues!
It is easy to explain our viewpoint. Dr. Albert Einstein many
years ago advocated that all who oppose war should refuse to take
up arms, that they should fill all jails and then the people in power—
so he believed—would be forced to put an end to warfare. Dr. Ein-
stein didn't blow a cow-horn to make his point, he didn't abuse
people—he reasoned! Would that the university students, those at
MSU who bullied a U.S. Senator who pleaded to reason with them,
and some in other universities, could learn a lesson from Einstein!
The great physicist was compelled to endorse a war against Nazism,
but that's another chapter in man's reasoning. The fact is that he
stood for reason and for human decency in his pacifism—and students
too often riot instead of talk and discuss!
We also pray that students will never stop protesting, that they
will make their voices heard, that the idealism of youth will rule
the world. And that they will achieve their goals in a spirit of good
sportsmanship.
While we respected him highly, we regret that Senator Eugene
McCarthy has failed to control his young followers and did not guide
them towards the reasoning of which he is so capable. He waited
a bit too long. He could have been on the job molding good public
opinion and reasoning, acting against filibusters in the Senate. He
earned his Riviera vacation, but even from there he could have
said that he will back Humphrey, that he will pursue his role as an
advocate of the highest principles in American life. It isn't too late
to act, Senator! And together we can get HHH into the White House
and assure an era of tranquility and confidence for the American
people.
*
*
*

Children and Parents

an Old Conflict

It has taken some time to realize what was really happening in the
There is an old conflict that repeats itself, and frequently—as in
nation's capital. A witch hunt has been instigated, and rational Ameri- '
cans are obligated to condemn it even now that the tragedy has ended. our time—assumes a menacing proportion.
Experiences along this line are varied and many, and one that has
It's no secret that men get paid for their lectures. Abe Fortas'
fee at the University of Wisconsin has been declared justified—and just been called to our attention is especially intriguing.
•-o was the 815,000 American University's compensation—but for Grif-
There is an item in an 1891 magazine that serves a good purpose
fin and Dirksen it became a political nightstick!
in discussing the problem at this time. It comes from the Christadel-

(Profs. Gerhard Casper, Philip B. Kurland and Bernard D. Meltzer of
the Chicago University Law School made this stn
of the filibuster:
(A Senate filibuster would mean that the approval of the Fortas nomi-
nation would require a two-thirds vote of the Senate. The framers care-
fully specified the circumstances under which the Constitution requires a
two-thirds vote for the exercise of the Senate's advice and consent preroga-
tive, i.e., in the case of advice and consent concerning a treaty.
(Are not the Senators who would engage in a filibuster contravening
the Constitution which they took an oath to support? Would not such a
filibuster come with particularly had grace from Senators who accuse the
Supreme Court of departing from the path of strict construction?)

New heroes emerged on the horizon as a result of the Fortas
case. Michigan's junior Senator is gaining top spots in GOP affairs
as a result of his triumph in creating an opposition to Fortas. A few
more such victories, and the American idea of fair play will be further
sullied in the gutter.

While right-wing groups and bigots had injected the Jewish issue
in the Fortas case, it was and remains an American issue. Yet,
something so ludicrous has developed that many who understand the
situation must be laughing up their sleeves. For instance Nixon said
he would appoint a man like the late Supreme Court Justice Felix
Frankfurter; and Senator Fulbright suggested substitution of the
name of former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg for Fortas'
for the chief justiceship! What has that to do with the injustice per-
petrated against Fortas? And what a repulsive way of using Jewish
names to cloak a wrong! The Bronx cheer for Nixon and Fulbright!
Mr. Justice Fortas' withdrawal was as dignified as his entire
conduct throughout the outrageous scandal that was fomented in

,

the Senate. He deplored what had occurred and he had a prayer:

"I pray that we shall see, in all of our nation, renewed dedica-
tion to the principles of fairness and justice and moderation, with-
out which our democracy cannot continue."

How seriously all of us should pray along these lines! And what
an invitation it is to our junior Senator to acknowledge a wrong
unduly done to a man, to our high court and to our nation!
In the course of time, we are certain that if there will be a
protest in relation to our judicial system it won't be the Griffin
line but the admonition of President Johnson who, deploring the
injustice to Fortas while accepting his withdrawal, stated: "I urge
all involved with and concerned about our Constitution and its form
of government to pledge now that this shall be no precedent, that
the Senate hereafter will act by majority will and never fail to address
itself to the issues which it has the constitutional duty to answer."
Now that it's all over, the scandal may never be forgotten, poli-
ticians will play politics, Dirksen will drawl, Mrs. Caroline Fortas

will continue to earn big money as a lawyer (and smoke cigars), Abe
Fortas will undoubtedly retain a love for his violin, and we hope that
Mr. Justice Abe Fortas will remain on our high bench, continuing to
render service as a great legal mind who will some day tell the full
story of the current experience but will remain in the Supreme Court
as a loyal servant of the American people.

2—Friday, October 4, 1968

—

phian, the magazine of an interesting religious sect.
Our Printer—let us call him that, since he is among the most dedi-
cated of the Christadelphian students in our area—has a collection of
the magazine from its inception in 1864, when the Christadelphian
movement was founded, to date. Herbert Styles, Our Printer, has this

valuable set of magazines which he has bound and to which he turns
frequently to indicate to us how his co-religionists consistently sup-

ported the upbuilding of the Holy Land as a Jewish Homeland, how
they supported all movements to counteract anti-Semitism, how in
crucial periods they emerged as protectors of equal rights for Jews—in
the decades when Jewish life was valueless in lands of oppression.
In one of these magazines he found an item that deals with the
parent-child struggle. The issue of Christadelphian dated May 1, 1891—
(AM5895 being given by the Christadelphians as the year of the world
given by Usher)—the year of the beginning of time according to the
Jewish calendar. The item reads:

W
By ReABek,

SAMUEL

•

J. 1112

FOX
Wh (c yoo d yo rrthle 968 16s.rr
t A lene inc i n . ) the

Sefer Tora traditionally end in
the middle of the width of the

page?
The techniques and

style of

writing of sacred Sefer Tora are
matters of sacred traditions that
have been handed down through

the ages. Some claim that the rea-
son the last word of the Sefer
Tora is placed in the middle of
the line (and the writing does not
continue to the end of the line) is
that those who read the Tora
can be imbued with the moral
lesson which is to teach them that
one can never "finish" the st u dy
of even one line in the Tora. As
much erudition as one amasses
one is still "in the middle." Other
customs demonstrate this same
ideal. For example, on the occa-
sion when one reaches the end of
the reading of the Tora. he must
immediately begin from the first
verse to show that he has not
ended his study of the Tora. A
traditional scholar is known as a
"Talmud haham" (i.e., "a wise
student" or "student of a wise
man") to indicate that the great-
est scholar is still a student and
that no one ever completes his
role as a student.

,

Why are three special biblical
verses recited by the worshiper
before leaving the synagogue or

upon finishingthe service at
home?
The Midrash of Esther (Chapter
7) relates that in the days of the

peril that hung over the Jews in
the Persian empire in the days of
Haman's rise to power, Mordecai
met three children leaving the
house of study and asked them to
repeat a verse of the Bible they
had studied during that school day.
One child recited the verse from

Proverbs (3:25) "Be not afraid of
sudden terror, neither of the de-
struction of the wicked when it
comes." A second child repeated
the verse in Isaiah (8:10), "Take
counsel together and it shall be

brought to nought, speak a word
and it shall not stand; for God is
with us." A third child brought

forth the verse from Isaiah (46:4),
"Even to old age I am the same,
and even to hoary hair I will carry
you: I"have made and I will bear;
yea, I will carry and I will save."

It was these verses that gave
Mordecai hope and faith. A Jew in
prayer and/or in the synagogue
is in some kind of protective cus-
tody. Leaving the synagogue or
leaving the mood of prayer the
Jew goes out to face the raw

world of reality which has so often
displayed its harshness to him
through various forms of antago-
nism such as anti-Semitism. He
therefore r ecit es these three
verses, on the one hand being a
realist and not losing sight of the
fact that evil exists in the world,
while on the other hand expressing

the faith that the Almighty will
protect him from the consequences

THE RISING GENERATION—The demoralizing effects of the of evil forces in the world.
current tendency to glorify Darwinism, and displace the Bible and
until it emerged again. Can we
its doctrine of parental control, are beginning to be apparent in learn
something from it to find
the lawlessness of the rising generation. A letter in the Pall Mall
a
solution?
Gazette thus describes the state of things there:
•
Time—time—what a precious
"For the last fifteen or twenty years, the perversion of the
morals of the boys in this place has been going on at a truly alarm- cure for many ills and evils! And
ing rate, and is one that passes all comprehension. The profanity time beckons us to have faith—
and obscenity of language, insolent conduct, and utter blackguard- in children that they will learn.
ism of boys of a certain class, are, I believe, beyond anything that and in parents that they will
guide.
can be seen in any town in the kingdom. If spoken to, these
lads
And if parents will reconstruct
consider an oath, a foul expression or a stone thrown, as a suffi-
their
homes, the solution will be
cient answer. On Sundays, and winter evenings, they are allowed
by their parents to run wild like young savages--which indeed they speedier!
Incidentally, the Christadelphian
are—and hunt in bands, defying all authority. Who, one may well
ask, is to blame? Who is responsible for this? Has the teaching of movement was founded during the
the present day anything to do with it? And one naturally asks if Civil War, in 1864, and its found-
cramming the brains, to what appears to be the detriment of the ers resolved that they will not
moral training, is likely to make good citizens of the rising genera- kill brothers. Since then, their
tion. I know that the masters of the schools in this town, both right to being conscientious objec-
Church and Board, declare that they are not responsible for the tors has been upheld by succeed-
conduct of the lads out of school, and that when in school, they ing American administrations.
Christadelphian backgrounds—.
have but little authority over them, as they are not allowed to
correct them properly. The parents, on their part, appear either the term is from Christus Adelphus
—
date back to its founder, John
afraid of their children, or utterly indifferent to their welfare. The
police do their best, but it is utterly impossible for them to be in Thomas. The movement is Chris-
one and every place at the same time; and the town and its neigh- tian but the Trinity and other fac-
borhood are now completely infested and overrun with these lads." tors are not recogniezd. The mem-
bers conduct their own services,
(The matter will presently be rectified by
law that will go forth
from Zion. That law will be enforced with the
a rod of iron. "No coer- they have not paid ministers, they
cion" will be the obsolete cry of a diabolical
indulge
in studies. They are among
age.)

Apparently time solves all problems, and since the one just
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS referred to was in 1891 it must have been resolved for some years-

the leading Christian Zionists.
What glorious partners in a great
movement!

