Purely Commentary
A Quarrel Between Generations and Approach
to Dignity Vital to Human Relations... Recalling
Failures of the 1930s in Life-Saving Struggles
should speak on, the president said:
Communication for the Sake of Amity Between Generations
"Talk Judaism.")
Jewish students hold the commu- communication ! If it's true, let it be
We recognize the faults and we
nity at large responsible for Negro- established (protect us, Almighty, for
Jewish conflicts. They are rebelling using such a word !). If it is not true, know the shortcomings, but we also
know that the generalized charges are
against the Establishment ! Jewish let us understand each other.
not true, that our rabbis have fought
education is dull and unimaginative !
If, as Arthur Goldberg said in for and continue to labor for and with
Synagogues are unresponsive and ir- London on Tuesday, Negro anti-
the
Negro community, that they are
relevant to vital issues of the day ! Semitism is exaggerated, perhaps the
(in the main) liberals. Men like the late
Such were the charges leveled at complaints of our young people also Dr. Morris Adler; leaders of our time
organized Jewry at the confrontation are a bit excessive. From all quarters like Rabbis Balfour Brickner, Maurice
between leaders and students at the come appeals to our youth to become Eisendrath, Robert Gordis and many
conference convened in Washington involved, to be responsive, to work others are great libertarians. Have
by the Bnai Brith Hillel Foundations. with the community at large for bet- you worked with these leaders, boys
One student warned that "from terment, for improvement of the lot and girls, men and women, and have
the campus vantage viewpoint organ- of the American people of all faiths, you responded to their calls — on
ized Judaism is too vast, too stiff, too all races.
Vietnam, in the battle against slum-
unhearing; in a word, too establish-
But they have been estranged ! lords, in the struggle to raise the
ment." He admonished the elders that They did not respond ! All manner of standards of living of the less fortu-
Jewish students do not share the Es- concession was made to them, but the nate, in efforts to improve our school
tablishment's "preoccupation with moment they entered the universities systems ? Where were you when
anti-Semitism and are more concern- there was no hide nor hair resembling needed ?
ed with its responsibility in support- them.
There are faults everywhere. We
ing economic and social reforms for
And the synagogues? Didn't they need improvement on all fronts. Our
the Negro community."
educational
systems need revisions—
make concessions ? Aren't the rabbis
So — in response Bnai Brith Presi- hesitant to preach about the Sabbath, within and outside the Jewish com-
dent Dr. William Wexler replied that about kashrut, against intermarriage munity.
the students who spoke up in rebel- (we realize that youth will consider
But generalizations, efforts to de-
lion are not "really representative" us boors and medieval on the question stroy the Establishment in the interest
of the Jewish student body; but San- of mixed marriages) because the con- of another that has not emerged prop-
ford Sollender of the Jewish Welfare gregations won't like such subjects. erly architectured, helps no one. It
Board told the protesters: "We are as
(Remember the story about the doesn't speak well for destructive
concerned with the overemphasis on new rabbi who was asked by the syna- dialogues.•
material values, with Vietnam, racism gogue's president what he planned to
Uncooperatively youth remains
and poverty as you are" and he added discuss in his sermons and when he estranged; by making itself properly
"there's a common bond between us, said anti-poverty, racial quality, Sab- felt it can be constructive. How else
but there's no communication."
bath observance, etc., the president will the Establishment emerge crea-
We are back where we started: no protested. Asked by the rabbi what he tive, productive, on the high level of
Irving I. Katz's Communal Labors
By Philip
Slomovitz
Jewish traditions and in adherence of
our most sacred ethical values ?
Think about it, the generation to
come ! Too many of you become in-
volved with us only when there is
fund-raising. Do it on a high cultural-
ethical plane !
And let the elders learn the lesson
taught them through criticism: there
is need for change and it must be
based on understanding, knowledge,
rejection of everything that is nega-
tive, destructive, un-Jewish and un-
American. We are being taught a
tragic lesson in the Negro-Jewish con-
frontation. The Negroes, like us, when
they are the high-leveled and not thv
prejudiced, have the same aims we
have: let's work together for the com-
mon good, sans the destructive ideas
that speak only of denigration and
fail to inspire creativity.
While the initial confrontation
with the Hillel students sounded
harsh, perhaps it was necessary that
the showdown, the laying of the cards
on the table—face up—should - not be
delayed. It is hoped that the elders
came to terms with the youth: there
is hope for "communication between
campus and community." We need
more such communication: between
young and old, on many issues, for the
sake of genuine social service, dignity
and self-respect. That's how the fam-
ily of nations should act; that's how
a community should act; that's how
generations must act.
schobl -could admit about 80 fres
men, , but Jewish applicants alone
numbered 700; what should he do.
Dr. Fishbein advised admitting the
ablest on their merits. "In that
case," the dean replied, "we would
be able to admit only Jews, and we
can't do that."
That's the trouble—as evidenced
now in the racial issue—that it is
not merit that counts but recogni-
tion only of ethnic considerations!
But the FDR view expressed in
the above quotation certainly was
not that of a progressive man but
of one searching for expedience.
The newest State Department
volume on U. S. foreign relations
must not be dismissed without tak-
ing note of another item of great
interest. At one of the conferences
in Casablanca, Jan. 23, 1943, ques-
tion was addressed to Grand Vizier
el Mokhri Si Mummeri of Morocco
regarding the status of Jews in
Morocco. The explanatory state-
ment in this volume reads:
"The Jews have never been the
predominant people in Morocco.
In numbers and in influence they
have always been definitely sec-
ond. They have been well treated
by the Moslems. When the Ger-
man Armistice Commission ar-
rived in Morocco they at first
insisted that the Jews inifforocco
should be treated the sums as
they are in Germany. This the
Sultan steadfastly refused to do.
The existing situation has been
the result of centuries of living
together. The Moslems need the
Jews and the Jews need the Mos-
lems. There is no Jewish question
in Morocco and will be none if
matters are left as they are now.
Some Jews thought that the ar-
rival of U. S. troops would mean
the placing of Jews in positions
of authority over the Moslems.
This must not be."
The latter statement is fantastic)
How unreal can statesmen be?
More recent hapepnings in Morocco
have great bearing on past events.
In restrospect, these revelations
These attitudes remind us of the time when there was a numerus
clausus in American medical schools. In the early 1930s, when the Jew- have great interest. Will lessons of
ish hospital issue was merely in discussion stages here, Dr. Morris Fish- past history guide statesmen to
bein, as editor of American Medical Journal, came here to speak in have greater vision and a better
behalf of a Jewish hospital. It was felt at that time that a hospital was understanding of human needs?
needed in the Jewish community for a variety of reasons, but primarily That's what public documents, re-
to supply kosher food for observant Jews and to enable young Jewish vealed 30 or 50 years after events
medical graduates to secure internships---something that was then had occurred should really do.
rather difficult.
Mr. Walter Elliot, Minister of Health, said that the Cabinet should "pro-
ceed on the basis of alleviating the terrible suffering and humiliation which
had been inflicted on many Jews and should take positive action to this end
forthwith."
Temple Beth El wisely assigned a Sabbath Eve service in honor
Such action, Mr. Elliot added. would be expected by public opinion, * in
of Irving I. Katz. The temple's executive secretary has national recog-
Britain. "Many of the Jews now being driven out of Germany would prove
nition as the creator of the movement that linked into a common fel-
valuable citizens."
lowship congregational secretaries and director. But he has earned
The Prime Minister, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, suggested that in addition
to offering territories in the Empire for settlement, Jews should also be
recognition for more than that: as the gatherer of historical material
allowed into Britain as temporary refugees.
about Michigan Jewry, he has emerged as the authority on the records
Sir Samuel Hoare told the Cabinet that the Jewish community was not
attempting to deal with the problem of older refugees, but was concentrating
of Jews in our state.
on the younger ones. Older men and women, however, presented an almost
He showed an understanding of synagogue needs when, as the pio-
insoluble problem.
The Cabinet finally decided to issue a statement on its general views on
neer in his field, he formed the executive secretaries' organization.
the problem of Jewish refugees from Germany.
He knows the value of retaining valuable documents, and he therefore
has become the possessor of the most important data about the Jews
Passage of time permitting revelation of occurrences a generation
of Detroit and the other Jewish communities in Michigan. For these ago applies also to the United States. Documents referring to the Presi-
efforts he has earned greetings not from his temple alone but from dency of Franklin D. Roosevelt and FDR's conference at Casablanca', in
the Jews of the entire state.
1943, discussions at which now have been made public in the Sfate
*
*
Department volume "Foreign Relations and the United States," make
*
references to interesting discussions relating to Jews.
A Great Merger and Detroit's Status
Basic facts regarding these meetings already have appeared in Our
A significant merger (J. L. Hudson Co. and Dayton Corp.) has
much relevance to Detroit's status as a great industrial community columns (Jan. 17, 1969), in a special article by our Washington ear-
;
respondent, Milton Friedman.
and as a city marked by a multiplicity of interests.
In the State Department column referred to, there is a report about
In many respects, it expresses a large measure of faith in a city
that has been called the "arsenal of democracy," as part of one of the discussions with the French resident-general at Rabat, Gen. Charles,A.
progressive American states wherein culture has attained a high level Nogues, and discussions with Robert D. Murphy, who was FDR's repre-
sentative in North Africa. The following quotation from the State De-
and industry has been enlarged to a great degree.
partment volume has special interest:
It is the faith in Detroit that is represented in the significant Hudson
"The matter of political prisoners was then discussed. General
announcement of last week—and it is a faith to be shared by all and to
be passed on where it is most needed.
Nogues stated that for the most part the Jews had now been re-
leased from the concentration camps. It was also stated that the
Jews, especially those in Algeria, had raised the point that they
An Emerging Record of Indifference in 1930s
wish restored to them at once the right of suffrage. The President
A 30-year rule of not making public state papers involving world
stated that the answer to that was very simple, namely, that there
happenings has prevented publication of facts regarding the Nazi era.
just weren't goin gto be any elections, so the Jews need not worry
That period has ended and it has now been made known in England
about the privilege of voting. Mr. Murphy remarked that the Jews
that when the Nazi intentions had become known in 1938 there were
in North Africa were very much disappointed that "the war for
sympathetic proposals to settle Jews in Rhodesia, tb invite some to
liberation" had not immediately resulted in their being given their
England, to permit Jewish women to come as maidservants, but there
complete freedom. The President stated fully that he felt the whole
was not a word of encouragement for those who desired to go to
Jewiesh problem should be studied very carefully and that progress
Palestine.
should be definitely planned. In other words, the number of Jews
The London Jewish Chronicle report on the revelations is interesting
engaged in the practice of the professions (law, medicine, etc.)
enough to be quoted as a basis for historical analyses of reactions to
should be definitely limited to the percentage that the Jewish
Nazism at a time when the Hblocaust could have been prevented:
population in North Africa bears to the whole of the North African
population. Such a plan would therefore permit the Jews to engage
An alleged Nazi plan to inundate Britain with Jews in order to create a
in the professions, at the same time would not permit them to over-
Jewish problem in the country is disclosed In British Cabinet minutes of
1938, made public last week under the 30-year rule.
crowd the professions, and would present an unanswerable argu-
On March 16, 1938, Sir Samuel Hoare, Secretary of State for Home Affairs,
ment that they were being given their full rights. To the foregoing,
reported to the Cabinet that news of the Nazi plan had reached him through
British military intelligence.
General Nogues agreed generally, stating at the same time that it
The Cabinet took note of his warning and instructed Ministers dealing
would be a sad thing for the French to win the war merely to open
with the problem of Jewish refugees from Germany to bear in mind "the
the way for the Jews to control the professions and the business
importance of adopting as humane an attitude as possible and at the same
time avoiding the creation of a Jewish problem" in Britain.
world of North Africa. The President stated that his plan would
Further British efforts to assist German Jewish refugees are disclosed in
further eliminate the specific and understandable complaints which
the minutes of a Cabinet meeting on November 16, 1938.
the Germans bore towards the Jews in Germany, namely, that while
The Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, sug-
gested various parts of the British Empire where Jewish refugees could be
they represented a small part of the population, over fifty per cent
settled, at least temporarily.
of the lawyers, doctors, school teachers, college professors, etc., in
Among them was a vast and uncultivated forest area in British Guiana,
Germany, were Jews."
which, as Mr. MacDonald said, "could only be settled slowly since the forest
would have to be cut down" but could nevertheless "be offered to the Jews
for what it was worth."
Proposals to settle Jewish refugees in Northern Rhodesia, Mr. MacDonald
told the Cabinet, were opposed by some local leaders. The Minister, however,
thought that at least 500 families could be settled there. Kenya and Tan-
ganyika were also mentioned as possible locations.
The discussion followed a report to the Cabinet by Lord Halifax, Secre-
tary of State for Foreign Affairs, on American pressure for Britain, being
closer to Germany topographically, to do more to prevent Nazi persecution of
the Jews.
Lord Halifax suggested that America's critical mood could be changed if
Britain settled some Jewish refugees in various parts of the Empire.
During later discussion, Lord Winterton, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lan-
caster, said: "The crux of the whole question was whether the Jews were
allowed to take money out of Germany."
Sir Samuel Hoare favoured letting Jewish maidservants into Britain to
replace the German domestics who left the country at the time of the crisis.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
In the course of his report here, Dr. Fishbein told of having been
called by the dean of •a St. Thai's 'rnecfiCal school with' a problem: his 2—Friday March 14, 1969