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 $7 a year. Fo'eign $8.
Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit, Michigan
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
CHARLOTTE DUBIN
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 27th day of Tishri, 5729, the following scriptural selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Gen. 1:1-6:8. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 42:5-43:16.
Rosh Hodesh Heshvan Tora readings, Tuesday and Wednesday, Num. 28:1-15.
Candle lighting, Friday, Oct. 18, 6:28 p.m.
VOL. LIV. No. 5
Page Four
October 18, 1968
Social and Political Challenges
Adherence to Ideals, Rejection of Fear
As Election Day draws closer, the Ameri-
can electorate surely must become more
keenly aware of the dangers that lurk on
our horizons, of the challenges to all Ameri-
cans from quarters that threaten the Ameri-
can way of life as well as our security as
citizens.
We do not place too much credence in
polls. Indeed, they are partial indications
of the thinking of voters, but the results
attained are only partial. We are convinced
that, as in 1948, polls not only can but do
lie. And we are even more definitely con-
vinced that when responsible American citi-
zens go to the polls on Nov. 5 they will have
in mind their children and their grandchil-
dren, that their thoughts will not be merely
about a temporary condition or the need
for more policemen, but of a future that
must be protected, of generations for whom
we must pave a way for a better life, with-
out fears and devoid of panic.
What is happening in American life to-
day is rooted in fears. The increase in crimes,
the upsurge of insane manifestations, are
the primary cause of support gained by those
who would force us into a police state. One
candidate is an outright advocate of resort
to the nightstick, without rhyme or reason.
In the party of the GOP there are South-
erners who have instigated a witch hunt
vis-a-vis the Supreme Court and a nominee
for the chief justiceship the defaming of
whose character could have been prevented
by the party's new leader who has failed to
act in defense of justice. And our preferred
candidate, Vice President Humphrey, must be
given even greater respect because, in spite
of the handicaps in his own party, he adheres
to established goals for social and political
decencies.
It is not our policy to endorse candidates,
but this is an exceptional time in which lack
of concern for the welfare of our nation
would mean submission to the lower ten-
dencies in the political structures of this
country. The police state proponents in the
third party and the Southern bigots in the
group that already counts itself into the
White House trouble us greatly and are due
cause for our preference for the Vice Presi-
dent whose services to our nation spell out
the most admirable record of any living
American.
Politics alone is not the cause for con-
cern. There is a social issue that must be
confronted with courage and with a sense of
honor. We have begun to erase the injus-
tices and indignities of more than a cen-
tury, and in the course of accomplishing the
task of assuring honor and dignity for the
American people we are confronted with
dangers--from the right and the left—from
those who are being helped and those who
do not understand how best to help the
previously downtrodden.
The fear that has been injected into the
hearts of Americans stems from the results
of extremism. There are bigots who would
stem the tide toward a just society, and
they are the worst enemies of the people
of this country because they refuse to recog-
nize the equality of men regardless of race
or creed.
And there are those among the formerly
downtrodden who now are raising their heads
high, who are impatient, whose demands are
tinged with suspicions and who therefore
demonstrate often without reason. From this
group has emerged a new anti-Semitism that
has become among the vilest on record.
These thoroughly blinded people have per-
mitted men of hate, who misrepresent the
Middle East situation and who attack Jews
and Israelis by having embraced the cause
of the Arab antagonists of the Jewish people,
and have thereby injected the crime of anti-
Semitism into their program. Other false
issues have entered into the act, thereby
harming the sacred cause of civil liberties.
There is a third element—the New Left
that demonstrates for the sake of dem-
onstrating, that burns draft cards and the
American flag, whose passions, even if they
are based on adherence to what has become
a great ideal for them, nevertheless under-
mines decency and justice rather than helps
fairness in the American way of life.
It is in order to be able to meet these
problems that Americans should become
more cautious in choosing their representa-
tives in all legislative bodies and for the
White House; that a people that needs to be
socially-minded must also retain a political-
mindedness not to be misled by fears and by
misrepresentations.
We either advance or we permit the clock
to be turned back, and for the sake of the
welfare of generations to follow us we must
be on guard, fearless, refusing to yield to
panic, adhering to the principles that have
made this nation the leader in defense of
democratic ideals..
There are the Jewish codes of ethics that
link our aims inseparably with our Ameri-
can obligations. They are the duties to up-
lift the downtrodden, to reduce and if pos-
sible to eliminate poverty, to create a just
society not only for ourselves but also for
the stranger in our midst—and we are es-
pecially obligated to attain the highest goals
for all our fellow citizens.
Drastic Changes in Educational Systems
A report on the changes in - enrollment
of pupils in Jewish schools in New York
seems to indicate that a decline in the at-
tendance in weekday afternoon schools is
being offset by increased enrollments in
day schools; that drops in attendance in
Manhattan also are offset by increases in the
suburbs; and that there is a continuing de-
cline in the attendance at Yiddish schools.
This trend is not unlike that in large
Jewish communities outside New York State.
It is true in Detroit where the suburban at-
tendance must and does offset the virtual
disappearance of Hebrew schools from the
inner city. A similar situation exists in re-
lation to interest in Yiddish.
The studies conducted to establish the
facts regarding the status of Jewish educa-
tion in America reveal many important
changes. Neighborhood changes certainly
affect the needs and the responses. The
various trends indicate that all the mount-
ing emphasis on the priority to be given
educational causes are a direct result of
conditions that call for uninterrupted clarion
calls to parents not to overlook the major
obligation to provide a Jewish education for
their children.
While we gather facts regarding enroll-
ment, we must not overlook the basic need:
fox...teachers. We are certain to face serious
crises in our Jewish schools, and in con-
ducting studies, in making surveys, let there
be serious consideration of the inevitable de-
velopments which are certain seriously to
challenge the very foundations of our school
systems.
Sholom Aleichem Story, Historic
Narrative in Children's Books
Several additions to the children's bookshelf enrich the literary
creations for young Jewish readers.
Extremely fascinating is the newest Jewish Publication Society
volume, the story of Sholom Aleichem by Louis Falstein, entitled "The
Man Who Loved Laughter." It is a splendid delineation of the charac-
ters woven into the stories of the great Jewish humorist, and the new
Covenant Book enriches that series immensely.
Adding interest to the efforts to create narrative literature for chil-
dren is the collection of folk tales by an eminent Yiddish writer. In
"The Seventh Candle," published by May, David Einhorn tells tales
that have great charm and relate to many Jewish experiences, to fes-
tivals, to historic events.
Combining allegory in the spirit of Jewish traditions, inspiring his
young readers with stories that create an interest in Jewish folklore,
Einhorn is the genuine weaver of Jewish tales that stem from experi-
ences in evaluating Jewish events and from a knowledge of the devo-
tions that have marked Jewish life.
Now in his 81st year—Einhorn was born in Russia in 1886—his
stories have been published in many children's magazines, and the
current selection contains some of his most impressive works.
Author of a number of books, including his well-known poems,
"Shtile Gexangen"—"Quiet Songs"—Einhorn has been a member of
the editorial staff of the Jewish Daily Forward since 1920. In 1943 he
authored a volume entitled "Av Harahamirn"—"Merciful Father"—
containing laments over the Holocaust and the slaughter of East Euro-
pean Jewry. Many of his stories have appeared in World Over maga-
zine.
A typical Einhorn story in "The Seventh Candle" is the one
about the Sidur—about a treasured prayer book that gets lost on a
scrap heap, is respected for its text by a youngster who takes it to
a synagogue, and it is later recovered by a descendant of the orig-
inal authors and regains its role as a monumental possession.
"The Synagogue That Wept" is deeply moving. In "The Seventh
Candle" the author narrates the story of a youngster who was taken
from his family by a Polish nobleman. Later in life, happening to see a
shining light in the bereaved couple's home, the boy who had become
a duke and grown to manhood, takes the family to Amsterdam and
returns to the Jewish fold.
All of the 27 stories--each brief enough to be read in about 10
minutes—contains plots that hold the reader glued to the text. There
are fine illustrations throughout the book by Ezekiel Schloss.
Another narrative with a Jewish theme is "The Star and the
Sword" by Pamela Melnikoff, published by Crown. It is a story
about two Jewish youngsters in the time of the Crusades, but it has
a plot that could well be likened to events of our time.
The author, whose story is splendidly illustrated by Hans
Schwarz, takes as the theme 12th Century England and the York
massacre, the anti-Semitism of the Middle Ages, which orphaned the
two children who are the heroes of this story, Benedict and Elvira.
Robin flood and the outlaws are drawn into the tale, when the chil-
dren, in seach of security, set out for Oxford and in search of family-
Their reunion marks the end of an adventure that will keep young
readers not only glued to a tale about olden times in an insecure world,
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The two children are reunited with family and restored to faith.
The youngsters are accompanied and aided by a crusading knight.
Benedict receives a gift from his Uncle Isaac for his Bar klltzva.
He soon learns that is- the treasured Menora of Maxenburg, and
there is compensation spiritually for the tensions and the fears
experienced during trying times in English history.
By linking historical events with dramatic adventures, chil-
dren's books gain a special place on the Jewish bookshelves. And the
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the new additions by the glorification of the role of a
great humorist supplement the gains made in the publication-- of good