Purely Commentary
Israel's Record
in Publishing
The Hasidei Umot HaOlam in the
. A Distinguished By Philip
Era of Crises .
Publisher . . The Who's Who Puzzle SiOMOVitZ
!Ludicrousness of 'Who's a Jew' Discussion
This business of constantly probing the image of the Jew begins to
!assume
ludicrous aspects.
Jewry and Israel in the non-Jewish world.
Look Magazine's article hardly added anything to the discussion.
Interfaith and University Committee recently inserted a full page
for
"A
Christian
,
and
the
frequency with which it is debated reduces its seriousness.
advertisement in the New York Times with an appeal
The entire matter assumes a funny turn. The non-Jew isn't as
Response to Arab Terrorism," with emphasis on the imperative needs: I
who have magnified the issue. Just because there
"Observe UN Cease Fire Lines, Face to Face Arab-Israel Negotia- ' puzzled as those
1 are problems relating to granting certain rights to converts in Israel
tions Leading to Firm Peace."
not
lend
the
issue the importance it has received. A non-Jew
does
cacluded among the hundreds of signers of this appeal were the 1 will meet a Jew and he'll know his affiliation immediately. Whoever
following from Michigan: The Rt. Rev. R. S. Emrich, General S. L. A.
"a Jew is a Jew" hit the nail on the head. If we wish to deal
Marshall and Dr. William B. Sperry of Detroit and the Rev. Duane N. ' said
with the newcomers to our ranks, that's an entirely different tale.
Vore of Lansing.
A Jew who is loyal to his faith, who is a part of the Jewish com-
The entire quartet earns our gratitude. Bishop Emrich has gained i munity, who is concerned about Israel's security, is a Jew. If he is
acclaim for fairness. Rev. Sperry has been to Israel, and he under- , generous he is a - better Jew. If he leaves the fold he becomes an ex-Jew. •
stands the situation, as the Rev. Vore also does. ! , Sometimes outsiders will refuse to accept abandonment of Jewish status
Our special gratitude goes to General Marshall who has been an of those who have left the Jewish fold. But there also are converts to
is
inspiration to American and Israeli Jewries. He has been a guide to Christianity who insist that they still are Jews. A typical instance
the Pentagon leading to its understanding of Israel's position. , the family of Mrs. Meyer Levin (Tereska Torres) as indicated in her'
loyalty
Szwarc
family
claims
General Marshall—SLAM, as he is affectionately called by his book "The Converts" (Knopf). The Marek
friends—has just completed a four-volume collection of memoirs in to Jewry. Yet, as converts to Catholicism, they can not be classified
which we shall surely find much of special interest to Israel. We can as Jews. But if they were to abandon the non-Jewish faith they would
al pi shehata ;
expert in these collected reminiscences evaluations of American exper- I certainly be Jews again and the old dictum "Yisrael of
in '
iences in two world wars, the chancing conditions in world affairs, Yisrael hu"—a Jew even if he has sinned remains a .few—would be
assumed,
force
again.
the form that Israel's relationship with the United States has
It's a matter that has been made so complicated that it has turned
SLAM's own direct participation in advising Israel's military leaders
into a rather funny discussion. But it is not as confusing as it may
in the course of at least two of the three wars with the Arabs.
. and
appear in the sensation-created discussions. A Jew is a Jew .
SLAM shows courage in his defiance of both the indifference to
that is it, as Ben-Gurion or any one else who has more serious business
Israel's needs and the blindness to realities in the Middle East's critical
concerned with would comment.
to
be
status. lie has incorporated his views in this strong statement:
S. L. A. Marshall—Ehad M'Hasidei Umot HaOlam
It is always a source of satisfaction to make note of friends of ,
,
■
• "Although the 'mire even-handed' phrase used by Secretary
of State William P. Rogers is appealing, it is another piece of bureau-
cratic gobbledegook . . . There is no such thing as playing fair be-
tween aggression and self-defense. To try it is to favor the aggressor,
countenance his acts and make them respectable."
"There is no such (even-hands-d) tightrope to be walked in the
Middle East. The Soviets are giving heavy weapons to the Arabs.
The Israelis. who get nothing free, are being locked out of arms
dealing almost everywhere. So if the balance is to be maintained,
the U.S. would have to swing heavy support to Israel.
• "Israel's neighbors are not gunning to recover the lost lands
in the Six-Day War of 1967. Their object has been for 22 years the
elimination of the State and the extermination of the people.
!
• "A great power that abandons principles for what it reckons ,
to be expediency thereby forfeits part of its moral claim on the fealty
of its citizens."
By IIAIM SCHACHTER
No fewer than 3,075 books were
published in Israel during 1968-1969
according to the information pub-
lished by the Israel Statistical
monthly.
About half their number
were
classified as belleslettres or fiction
for both adults and children as
compared with 38 per cent of the
books appearing in the preceding
three years; 92 books dealt with
the Six Day War, 48 were devoted
to the arts, 149 to the natural sci-
ences and 11 were encyclopedias.
About two-thirds of the books
were originally written in Hebrew,
13 per cent in English, 7 per cent
in Russian, 2 per cent in Yiddish
and 12 per cent in other languages:
79 per cent were published in
Hebrew, 11 per cent in English,
and the remainder in other lan-
guages (mostly fiction). Among the
bi-lingual books, the greater part
were devoted to art and agricul-
tore.
About two-thirds of the books
were brought out by professional
publishers, the remainder through
other media. In all, over 9.000,000
copies were printed during the
Threats From the Oil Industry
There is no limit to the threats to Israel and the role of the oil year under review, the average
first edition of a book running
interests is becoming more apparent as time goes on.
All the accumulating admonitions, from columnists down the line into 3,000 copies, and of a reprint
to diplomats and ARAMCO agents, the warnings vis-a-vis Israel arc into 3,800 copies. Books on the Six-
Day War ran into an average edi-
aimed at preventing American aid in the form of jet sales.
The fact that a correspondent finally emerged in one of the local tion of 6,100 copies.
In 1969, no fewer than 481 news-
dailies from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with calamity tales about the oil
crisis and the menacing situation that could occur if Israel were to get papers and periodicals were
more Phantoms indicates how more extensive the Arab propaganda will brought out in Israel. Of these, 128
were of -topical interest while 353
become very soon.
were scientific publications and
journals devoted to various other
subjects.
Official recognition has been given in Israel to the Anglicans, and
During the year under review,
recognition has been given the group under the name Evangelical
24 daily newspapers appeared in
Episcopal Church in Israel.
At the JNF dinner Wednesday evening, Cleveland Amory similarly
Israel-14 in Hebrew, two in Arabic
There is much proof of religious freedom in Israel—except by the
and one each in English, French,
evinced a position of strength in demanding that there should be a full
Orthodox to Reform and Conservative in Jewry. There is much amend- Yiddish, German, Polish, Roma-
understanding of basic facts in establishing American policies: that
ing
to
be done there.
nian, Hungarian and Bulgarian.
while we are fighting a futile battle in Vietnam and Cambodia there
should be an alertness in dealing with the Middle East where there
During that year, 69 journals
and periodicals appeared regularly
are real dangers to democratic ideas and where the one democracy Unbelievers or Nazi Infected Vandals?
Police in Munich view the desecration of Torah Scrolls in the corn- once or more a week, 15 were pub-
in the area—Israel—must be given full American protection.
There are other Christians—and also some Moslems—who show a munity's synagogue as an act of vandals, and at least one Jewish lished more than once a month,
sincere desire for amity among all peoples and for peace in the Middle spokesman, Ernest Landau, agreed that it was the act of "a criminal 141 appeared more than once quar-
East. The attitude of the Michigan men cheers us in an hour of anxiety. and not of a religious fanatic or political hoodlum." But Rabbi Hans J. terly, 131 were quarterlies or six-
All of these men are the Hasidei Umot 11201am—the saintly in the Grunewald believes: "Whoever did it was certainly infected by what monthly publications, 42 were an-
took place in Germanj, 30 years ago."
nuals, and 59 irregular; 93 per
Christian community.
s.-
Judging by the events of the past three decades and the after- cent of the periodicals devoted to
effects of Nazism, realism is on the side of Rabbi Grunewald. Would non-topical subjects were either
Honors for Distinguished Jewish Publisher
Milwaukee's Jewish community will honor a distinguished publisher, that Landau (he was a skeptic about German attitudes when we were monthlies or publications of lesser
former Detroiter Irving G. Rhodes, on his 70th birthday, with a testimo- with him in Jerusalem during the Eichmann trial and afterwards in frequency. Of these, 56 were de-
nial dinner arranged by the Milwaukee State of Israel Bonds Committee. Munich) were correct. Let's hope that whatever the cause of the in- voted to economics, 25 to literature,
29 to education and 24 to medicine.
It isn't often that a Jewish publisher merits the attention we give sanity will be shortlived.
to the Rhodes testimonial. But the ex-Detroiter is an exceptional case.
Under his direction Milwaukee is blessed
with one of the best of the English-Jewish
newspapers in America. In his 40 years'
raphic Agency
From the files of the Jewish Telegraphic
association with the Jewish press—first
40 Years Ago This Week:
in Detroit, then in Kansas City and Buf-
th "economic crisis"
Jews declared concern over the
Polish-Canadian
falo, and finally in Milwaukee where he
,it
,polica
liti
that Polish Jews
has been the publisher of the Wisconsin
edu cational and social inequaes"
BRUSSELS (JTA) — A Roman "are
to" without "official sanction."
Jewish Chronicle for more than 30 years,
re at present
Le
w ould become New York state attorney
he has rendered a distinct service to Catholic body charged here that
Louis J. Lefkowitz
anti-Israel resolutions adopted at general almost three dz
decades
ec (d
later
b y the Citizens Union
Jewish journalism.
v w e " s
B r i a
Under his leadership, his paper kept the World Christian Conference for as "capable, industrious and effective"
Palestine
held
in
Beirut
last
month
ylm
y aJ n x ew on th B y rd
Roth
of
Brooklyn,
ld
the
e
on
Sgt.
his community fully informed with news
e with
pedition, was lauded and promoted. He had taken
coverage and he always sought the best "were nothing short of an appeal South Pole ex pedition,
features to supplement the news columns, to exert violence" and declared him talit, tefilim, tsitsit and sidur.
Mandates
Commission
criticized
Britain
The
League
of
Nations'
Asa community leader he is outstand- that
conference and
did not
repre-
sent the
Christianity
that
the
ing. He was the chairman of the first Catholic Church was not officially for not fulfilling its obligations during the 1929 Palestine disturbances.
A "serious crisis"—a possible Catholic-bred revolution—was re-
million-dollar drive for the United Jewish represented there.
ported following the marriage of Prince Francis I of Liechtenstein to
Appeal in Milwaukee, he has aided the
The
repudiation
was
contained
in
a
Jewess,
Frau Elsa von Eroes, nee Baroness Guttman, of Vienna.
Israel Bond drives and he has been in-1
Hitlerite activities were planned as National Socialists won 14
Irving G. Rhodes
strumental in elevating the standards of a statement released by the Cath-
olic
Subcommission
for
Jewish-
seats
in
Saxony
province to go with their control of Thuringia.
his community's cultural affairs.
10 Years Ago This Week: 1960
He has certainly earned the honors to be accorded him on June Christian Relationship in Belgium.
The
statement
noted
that
those
The Arabs' boycott list included 307 companies and 635 ships that
29 and we join in greeting him from this distance with best wishes fur
who
attended
the
conference
were
traded with Israel.
strength to carry on his important duties.
private persons individually con-
.
A commission was named in Oberammergau to "work out recom-
corned "while those whose official mendations for alleviating anti-Jewish tendencies (in the Passion Play)
Honorary Doctorates for Haber and Levin
task is Jewish Christian relations before the next festival in 1970."
In this period of commencements we have frequent occasion to and who are charged with this task
. .
.„
Three Democratic senators attacked the Eisenhower-Nixon Mid East
express joy over recognition given to distinguished personalities.
policy as both "ambiguous" and "pro-Arab," with one calling its
Two such honors accorded distinguished Michigan men provide
The Belgian Catholics said the pledges to Israel "not worth the paper on which they are written."
special gratification.
resolutions adopted at the con-
Andre Biss, a Hungarian Jew and former industrialist, reported
Judge Theodore Levin was awarded an honorary doctorate by
ference were not official church
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. It decisions but "rather positions that Adolf Eichmann had "sought to sabotage" Heinrich Himmler's
represents a mark of recognition of long services to America and to adopted in order to exert pres- "trucks for Jews" deal with Rudolph Kastner and Joel Brand.
Frieda Hennock, Jewish attorney and the only woman ever to serve
Jewry.
sure on churches as far as the on the Federal Communications Commission, died at age 55.
The honorary degree of doctor of humane letters given Prof.
international political prqblem
Some Grosse Pointe, Mich., residents opposed the "point system"
William Haber by Michigan State University is an added source of (of the Middle East) is concern-
used to bar Jews and other "undesirables" as "an affront to the
satisfaction to his many friends and co-workers. Dr. Haber is without ed."
standards of decency in human relations."
doubt one of the most important—if not the most important—Jewish
The statement declared, "While
New York Mayor Robert F. Wagner turned down a controversial
lay leader in American Jewry. We owe so many debts of gratitude
to him for his services that every honor accorded him represents an the subcommission understands American Nazi Party rally pemit "on July 4 or any other time" as
Christians'
concern
about
the
Pal-
"an
invitation to riot and disorder from a half-penny Hitler."
honor to American Jewry, It is as such that we view the award to
The Security Council rejected Argentina's demand that Israel
him as a mark of respect to all of us who labor with him for social estinian refugees' fate, as well as
all
peoples'
right
to
decide
their
return
Adolf Eichmann, Though it accepted its charge that the kidnap
advancement, for civil rights, for academic freedom, for the uplifting
of the oppressed masses everywhere and for the defense of Israel. own fate, it also expresses sor- was "a violation of the sovereignty of the Argentine Republic," Israel's
Religious Freedom in Israel
-
Anti-Israel Parley
Denounced by
Catholic Body
This Week in History
)
-
2—Friday, Jan 19, 1970
row that the Beirut conference official apology was deemed sufficient reparation by the U.S., Britain
and France.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS failed to be objective and just."