In Book, 'Strangers and Natives,' Judd Teller Offers Important Portrayal of American Jew Sever al popularly acclaimed works on "The Jews" published in the past couple of years have drawn wide attention, and numer- ous approaches, derided as luic- rcus, as resorting to the sensa- tional and to efforts at fun-pun- ning, created disappointment. One DR. JUDD L. TELLER of the recent books by a Jewish university professor was filled with so many misrepresentations that it distressed those anxious to as- sure positive historical approaches to and interpretations of Jewish life in America. There is an element of great re- lief in the constructive task pur- sued by Dr. Judd L. Teller in "Strangers and Natives—The Evo- lution of the American Jew From 1921 to the Present," published by Delacorte Press (750 3rd, NY17). There is a feeling of relief from the nausea of so many other works in Dr. Teller's reminis- cences, his evaluative skill, his personal identification with many of the events about which he has written, his indispitable facts gath- ered for this work which is un- questionably the best that has been written in recent years on the subject of the American Jew. Dr. Teller is currently the execu- tive vice chairman of the Ameri- can Histadrut Cultural Exchange Institute, and in this position he has already rendered great serv- ice in raising cultural standards in Jewish public affairs. In his day he was a reporter for Yiddish newspapers, he wrote in both He- brew and Yiddish, he is equally a master of English, and as editor of Independent Jewish Press Serv- ice and Palcor News Agency- - both long defunct—he helped en- rich Jewish journalism and the quest for news by Jews. His pioneering efforts are re- flected in "Strangers and Natives" in which he analyzes events, com- ments on personalities, evaluates conditions, applies them to our own time. In his impressive fashion as the objective, authoritative ana- lyst of events in the past 45 years, Dr. Teller emerges the able historian, and even when he protests that he is "not a pro- fessional historian," his reports on occurrences not generally found in histories make his work an addendum to whatever his- tories may yet be written that will be respected and treated as enriching the collective records of happenings of our generation and of this century. Dr. Teller is especially effec- tive when he writes about the Yid- dish press. (As editor of an Eng- lish news service it's a pity that he did not also add to his research and study views on the existing English-Jewish press. He is cer- tainly highly qualified to judge the conditions in present-day Jewish journalism). His views on the theater are similarly valuable, and it is im- portant to read his comments on the Zionist anti-Semitism, on movement, and in the up-to-the- minute race issue and the Jewish involvement resulting from the spread of black anti-Semitism. Terms not heard today have their interesting definitions in this work, primarily those relat- ing to Yahudim and Yidn. Dr. Teller describes the interests of the Yahudim, the German- Jewish leadership element, and their concern for the common folk, the Yidn. Re states: "Sam- uel Untermeyer, the authoritar- ian corporation attorney who built a chapel for his Christian wife on his estate; the kindly Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Straus, whose special concern was to provide milk for children; and the Warburg banking family, led a long roster of Yahudim who contributed generously to Amer- ican Jewish charities and to Jewish effort in Palestine. Some of them also sat on the board of the American Jewish Com- mittee, the Yahudim's policy- making body. Whenever requir- ed, they dutifully protested ex- treme measures against Jews in foreign lands. However, their protests were sotto voce, like a turned-down wick, and couched in an English idiom that seemed especially designed for that pur- pose: simultaneously supplicant, accusatory and apologetic, seek- ing to define, deny, justify and assert Jewish `differences.". This was in the early days, under the leadership of Louis Mar- shall who, pursuing an AJCom- mittee policy, according to Dr. Teller, released statements about issues in which the group was in- volved "only when other ameliora- tive methods had failed and pub- licly seemed the only recourse." That's part of the past history, during which Rabbi Stephen Wise, acting as leader of the American Jewish Congress, was able, as the author of "Strangers and Natives" emphasizes, to excoriate both the American Jewish Committee and the New York Times which so often was unfriendly to Zionism. In this regard, the role of Louis Lipsky, the services and activities of other leaders of their time, come in for interesting review. The aftermath of the Six-Day War similarly is analyzed in SNOWMOBILE ENTHUSIASTS 440 Acres of Trail Blazing • Beautiful Accommodations • Great Stone Fireplace • Cocktail Bar $14 Day American Plan From Monday to Friday Lunch LEWISTON LODGE LEWISTON, MICHIGAN — — For Reservations Call DETROIT (313) 542-3700 31/2 Driving Hours from Detroit viewing the Israel situation vis- a-vis American Jewry. Studying the Negro-Jewish situa- tion, the author makes the com- ment that: "The high Negro and the declining Jewish birthrate, to- gether with the diminution of the Jewish voter's ethnic conscious- ness now that he thinks of him- self as part of the Establishment, can lead to a complete dissipation of American Jewry's political power should the politician be corn- pelled to choose between the Jew- ish and the Negro vote. Indeed this would be a consumation not to be wished for as its effects would transcend America's fron- tiers, and be felt in Israel and in other communities that have re- lied on American Jewry for sup- port." Because of American Jewry's significant role as defender and supporter of Israel, Dr. Telleeit views on this aspect of worldwide activities is valuable in his study_ Whether he views politics, social standards, economics, the preSa, the theater, the restaurant, Dr. Teller has portrayed an interesting picture of American Jewry, elevat- ing his "Strangers and Natives" above the other works published on the subject of American Jewry. Feds, Army Probe Blast Damaging Washington D.C. Synagogue Jan. 11 WASHINGTON (JTA)—Federal agents and army experts called in by local police were trying to determine the type of explosive that virtually destroyed Cong. Shaare Tikvah, a Conservative synagogue in the Washington su- burb of Oxen Hill, St. George's County, Maryland the night of Jan. 11. The blast caused an estimated $150,000 damage to the 15-month- old structure. No one was injured by the ex- plosion, which neighbors said sounded like a giant airliner crash- ing. Doors were blown across a field and smoke and flames burst from the windows. Police called in the FBI and army bomb squad experts from Fort McNair, Va. Dr. Issac Frank, executive di- rector of the Greater Washington Jewish Community Council, was consulting with police officials about the incident. Some authori- ties feared the explosion might have been a local manifestation of the recent rash of synagogue burn- ings and vandalism in New York City. Residents of the modest, middle- income suburb said there was no previous record of anti-Semitism there. Rep. Larry Hogan, Maryland Republican, deplored the bomb- ing and said he may initiate action for stronger federal anti- bombing laws. Rep. Hogan t o 1 d Congress, "American people will not tolerate terrorist attacks on houses of wor- ship . . . The time has come to review anti-bombing statutes to determine what additional strong- er federal legislation might be adopted to punish and discourage such terrorism." He said, "to ignore such a re- prehensible deed as the bombing of a synagogue is to invite further depredations of this nature. We are dealing here with not only a desecration of a sacred edifice but a grave threat to lives of innocent persons." He said he is studying existing statutes and would con- sider sponsoring "entirely new legislation" if needed. The explosion might have taken a heavy toll of lives if a dance scheduled in the social activities room had not been cancelled at the last minute because of flu. Rabbi Robert Chernoff of Shaare Tikvah, said the explosion ocurr- ed at a time when the social room would have been occupied by teen- agers. "Had they been in the so- cial activities room, it would have a slaughter," Rabbi Chernoff said. The explosive knocked a hole in a pressed concrete floor, blew out three heavy metal doors and send debris flying across the social room. Police said, "A high explosive charge of undetermined type was plac- ed on the floor of a short pas- sageway between the social room and the kitchen." They re- ported finding no signs of for- cible entry into the locked building and no notes. Members of the 175-family con- gregation said that a group of teen-age boys entered the kitchen through a skylight last fall and raided a supply of sacramental wine. They speculated that the same skylight may have been used to plant the explosives. The major damage was confined to the rear of the synagogue, and Rabbi Cher- noff said the sanctuary would be ready for use by next weekend. He For your very special visit, a very special place... reported receiving "many calls" from Christian churches in the area offering the use of their faci- lities. The Sheraton-Tel Aviv Hotel. 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