The 'Bintel Brief' History: a Chapter in the Story. of U. S. Jewish Journalism There is a famous "institution" in Jewish life that is known by its two Yiddish words: Bintel Brief. For six decades the Yiddish daily, the Forward, conducted a column under this name and many prob- lems were aired as a result of the letters that were written to the editor and were printed under the title "A Sheaf of Letters," the English for bintel brief. It's a real service, as history, to have this phenomenon in Jewish life interpreted and samples of these letters presented to the English-reading public as an under- standing of what had transpired in Jewish ranks, especially in the era of large-scale Jewish migrations to this country. And the practice continues. This reviewer was on the staff of the Detroit News when Nancy Brown (she was the late Mrs. J. E. Leslie) was introduced to the public in an Experience column to give a plat- form to those who had ' troubling issues to confront, and "Nancy" handled them through the newly introduced column. There were members of the staff who were revolted by it: but Malcolm Bingay who, as managing editor, insisted upon it, proved correct in his judg- ment. Now most newspapers boast of similar columns and all sorts of family and community issues, squabbles, sex issues, feuds be- tween husbands and wives are aired—and advice is solicited. The commencement of that tradition is represented in "A Bintel Brief—Sixty Years of Let- ters From the Lower East Side to the Jewish Daily Forward," published by Doubleday. Well tailed by Isaac Metzker, who has written for the Forward for many years, and who had the assistance in this work of his wife, Bella S. Metzker; containing a rep- resentative number of the letters in translations by Diana Shalet Levy, the informative introduction and an equally illuminating fore- word by Harry Golden, who also wrote a number of explanatory travel expenses, then what will we do there later? How will we make a living with our six children? And if he goes alone it'll be hard for me to get along without him here. I have no desire whatever to go, but I am afraid he'll talk the older children into going too. I beg you to give me your opinion about his plan. to go live in Palestine. He has never seen and doesn't know how to work on a plantation. Your reader, S.J.B. ANSWER: The writer and her husband should go to the American Economic Commit- tee for Palestine at 17 East Forty- Second Street, New York. There they can get the necessary information about the production of oranges in Palestine. Also they can tell this man whether he is suited for this kind of work. But if the woman absolutely does not want to leave America, the man should consider her and should not break up his home. notes to some of the letters, make this work stand out as a notable record of an era that has not ended. In fact, the Bintel Brief remains a vital factor of the Forward, and in the past few years there still appeared letters from readers ask- ing for advice on marital prob- lems, infidelity of husbands, telling of illegitimacy, and other happen- ings in the lives of people who needed guidance. The panorama is so vast in this reproduction of letters on every conceivable issue that it is not so easy to review all the aspects of a phenomenal situation that was created by the establish. And here is an exchange, the ment of this sort of advice col- umn. It is a thoroughly Jewish inquiry and the reply, that shows set of experiences and unlike the frankness in the Bintel Brief other similar columns it is not policies: an advice to the lovelorn but a Dear Editor: I ask you to give me some advice in vast human experience. my situation. They were personal problems but I am a young man of twenty-five, six- there were political, social, eco- teen years in America, and I recently met a fine girl. She has a flaw, however, nomic involvements. Some of the that keeps me from marrying her. The Golden annotations explain such fault is she has a dimple in her chin, it is said that people who have this issues that have arisen among and lose their first husband or wife. Jews as intermarriage, Israel, life At first I laughed at the idea, but on New York's Lower East Side. later it began to bother me. I began to observe people with dimpled chins and There was the Zionist urge that found out that their first husbands or caused a problem for one family, wives really had died prematurely. I so interested in this that whenever and this letter and the reply it I got see someone with this defect I ask received are of special interest, about it immediately, and I find out that some of the men have lost their especially since they date back to first wives, and some of the women's 1933: first husbands are dead. Worthy Editor, I have been a reader of the Forverts all the nineteen years I've been in America, and I can tell you that here, in this country,-I have not yet had one quiet minute. I am the mother of six children, and this alone is enough worry and bother to a mother. But that's not all. The main thing is that I always had to work to provide bread for my children. My husband is a janitor and earns very little. But I have not come to you to coin- plain about my hard work. It's about an altogether different thing. From my hard labor, I have saved up several hundred dollars, and naturally this is not a secret from my husband. But now he wants me to give him the money. And what do you think he wants it for? To buy an orange planta- tion in Palestine. Actually, he already bought the plantation and made the down payment and he wants us to go there to live. He wants the money for a ticket so he can go to Palestine first by himself. I argue with him that if this little money I've saved will be spent for This Week in Jewish History (From the files of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency) This upset me so that I don't know what to do. I can't leave my sweetheart. I love her very much. But I'm afraid to marry her lest I die because of the dim- ple. I've questioned many people. Some say it's true, others laugh at the idea. Perhaps you, too, will laugh at me for being such a fool and believing such nonsense, but I cannot rest until I hear your opinion about it. I want to add that my sweetheart knows nothing about this. Respectfully, The Unhappy Fool AlsTS-W kFer The tragedy is not that the girl Jaw a dimple in her chin but that some people have a screw loose in their heads! One would need the knowledge of a genius to explain how a dimple in the chin could drive a husband or wife to the grave. Does the angel of death sit hid- ing in the dimple? It seems to us that it is a beauty spot, and we -never im- agined it could house the Devil! It's tragic 'humor to find such super- stition in the world today. It's truly shameful that a young man who was brought up in AMerica should ask such questions. To calm him, we wish to tell him we know many people with such dimples who have not lost their 'hus- bands or wives, but live out 'their years together in great happiness. The Bintel Brief anthology is a chapter in American Jewish -jour- 40 Years Ago This Week: 1931 nalistic_ history. It's _a recapitula- The new Romanian government acted to suppress attacks on tion of - ,experiences - as enjoyable minorities. Premier Nicolai Jorga said: "The Jews are human the today as wheh they first appeared. same as we are." —P. S. Noted German Jewish poet Dr. Saul Tchernichovsky left Berlin for Palestine. The only Jewish mayor in Missouri was discovered to be J. Lowen- heirn of Bridgeton, which had two Jewish families (including Lowen- heirn's) among its 121-family population. Henry Morgenthau, philanthropist and ex-ambassador to Turkey, died in New York at 75. Dr. Isidore Kitsee, prolific inventor who claimed ancestry back to Moses Maimonides, the Rambam, died in Philadelphia at 87. Nazi lieutenant -Joseph Paul Goebbeis was seized on a contempt- of-court charge, his third arrest in two weeks. Dr. Ernst Praetorius, ousted as bandmaster of the Weimar National Theater because his wife was Jewish, was reinstated by Thuringia's new, non-Fascist cabinet council. Growing Concern for Survival Among Venezuelan Jewry (Copyright 1971, JTA, Inc.) When the new facilities of Cara- cas' Jewish day school were dedi- cated several months ago, it mat- tered little to those present at the ceremonies that their children would be studying Torah on a site once used by priests for medita- tion. They were more concerned about the highway being built alongside the school which would make transportation easier. This is characteristic of Vene- zuela—a spirit of tolerance coupled with a desire for progress. The 15,000 Jews who live here enjoy these benefits along with some 10,000,000 Catholic fellow citizens. Venezuela's position as a major oil exporter makes it unique among Latin American nations. While its neighbors on the continent suffer from economic and social ills which many fear will lead them to Communism, in this Caribbean land, revolution seems far away at the moment. Jews have a comfortable life in Caracas and Maracaibo, the cities with the two largest com- munities. The immigrant genera- tion deals in business, while the younger people are professionals. The average Jewish youth goes to college to study medicine or en- gineering, cares little for local political activity, and hopes to make a good living when he graduates. WHAT'S ALL . An Israeli psychiatrist who met with Adolf Eichmann in jail 30 times was quoted as saying: "By purely psychiatric tests, Eichmann seems more normal than I am by now." Franz Joseph Mueller, 50, former SS aide to Eichmann who - served as commandant of three Nazi concentration camps, was sentenced in Bonn to life imprisonment for murder. The Protestant churches of Berlin and Brandenburg asked their congregants to accept the following text: "All Germans who 'were, old enough to recognize the National Socialist atrocities and the extermina- tion of the Jewish people—even if they themselves helped their Jewish fellow-citizens—must admit that they too made themselves accomplices because of their lack of watchful and self-sacrificing love . . . With God's mercy we must confess to having lived for a long time in grave aberration. From now on, we turn to our Jewish fellow-citizens with feelings and deeds such that they may confide in us again." The merger of Israel's General Zionist and Progressive parties became official at the founding convention of the new Liberal Party. Former Premier Moshe Sharett urged American Zionists to "once and for all establish a central organization." Dr. Isaac I. Schwartzbart, founder and first president of the World Union of General Zionists and long an official of the World Jewish Congress, died in New York at 72. The American Jewish Committee reported that anti-Jewish barriers at major banking firms were being relaxed. What's at the commotion across the street'! ecoplc arc gaihciing. An accident. probably. A traffic accident, as usual. A ,collision tom in .17nrba 48—Friday, April 23, 1971 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 113711 DV 017171 , ' 13,1?1pno aims nx*5 tip flies?! nRE? ?lnlDil? 1 4 "Blessed are they who Linen at :home". Perhaps someone has been run oNer. God forbid Everyone thinks that the road belongs to him., . The pedestrians? What nonsense! What have the pedestrians done Moshch: not'ntse*."-ThepedeStrians jui.et ttip the street. They don't They just Walk! They walk! Of course. they walk! What should they do. fly? Moshch:' Noe exactly fly. They shodld pa).attinition to the traffic light and 'cross at the croskwalks; • .16seph': That's right. Jerusalemites don't wait for' the •green light. They waif on; nx Please don't exaggerate: The people in Jerusalem are like people ?DID'? .71:47 Lin7 nx °'41n on Exactly. besides, sometimes a person is in a great hurry. He wants :7112t ,1`1145 ?nity'? oryn! -nint :9or .onrr. ana x5 o'cr??? •itT? ,rrni?in :nxS ty,r_ :non 1 %7 'c-)x nix5 irona oFiLt .hr 1 1,3 ri51 pnL? 1i1 ton :non Dp3 ,71 1 11r 5 5» •PF some are reckless and irresponsible. to be punctual and not to come late, and he has no patience to OrtS n7F1 :not, note n'in .nipn 571 inn xln D7'?77:41,? "?...gry everywhere. Most of them obey the rules and regulations, but Rachel: :rut5 n717t1p-il a'a5i1 cross the street :my time and any place. Leah: r11p_9? pn7 '75rj .1`pe 1 r ".?? " '17713r'? °T r: '?5i1 pay any tit ktnion, to the traftiC;f0e);.bo,ti:t IV to either side. Leah: .37141'Sa 171115 D'1?Y 5 '7 ?)1 .ant Worse thhti they. Joseph: nn On . 7, ,rt?? ,''.?Vt .1r? ,nx 5? !rrtr,i Anything can happen because Orsueh recklessness. These drivers! . Moshch: The drivers -:ire no saints, bill- sometimes the pedestrians are •nr, :D'ormenn ■ .rTrtn orlyri la cser you cross the street. Leah: '7, .. 1 1 11)3itT*1 .311 111¢59)1 .. 7.1 ,0`711 npxr Moshch: Someone gels hurt every minute. you really risk your life when- Joseph: . . 0 `701rr:# . 33;0 h/T? : 1"-AP.r between (no cars or some such thing: 10 Years Ago This Week: 1961 FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF HEBREW CULTURE THrtommoTioNT? The police tare there)! What's up? Rachel: By Shlo;no`kodesit TARBUTH FOUNDATION . Cast: Moshch, Joseph. Rachel and Leahiceite: 'A street corner irt Leah: •• Aliya has grown since the Six-Day War as has the general concern with Jewish survival. Educational facilities have been improved and expanded with the opening of a new school building for the Colegio Maraley Luces-Herzl Bialik. At the same time, a yeshiva-type depart- ment for those who want a more religious education has been estab- lished within the framework of Maraley Luces. The dining room in the new building is kosher, some- thing which probably would not have been so just a few years ago. A large measure of the progress within the community is no doubt --- due to the presence since 1967 of two American-trained rabbis who have used their influence and know- how to the benefit of their follow- ers. At the same time, the leader-2 ship of the communal institutions is being put in the lia-aids-of younger men who have big pInns-and great hopes for the futurebtVenezuela's Jews. The Central University is closed at this writing in an effort to rid it of petty politics, but few of the 500 Jewish students have been in- volved in reform activities. The two strongest university youth or- ganizations, the MUS (Zionist University Movement) and the Bnai Brith Hillel Foundation, with a combined membership of about 175, meet off-campus as Vene- zuelan universities do not have facilities for religiously affiliated groups. Venezuela is a prominent mem- ber of the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), the only non-Asian and non-Moslem one. At the inauguration of a recent OPEC conference in Caracas, the -Arab delegates, who constituted the majority, created an unpleasant incident when, they refused to be seated as long 'as the Israeli am- A Cohversation Seriei Released bassador was present in the hall. Indicative of Venezuela's sensitiv- ity to the Middle East problem is the fact that Foreign Minister Aristides Calvani personally es- corted the Israeli representative from the premises when he decided to leave as a courtesy to Vene- zuela's President Caldera, who was to give the inaugural speech. Like most South American coun- tries, Venezuela tries to steer a neutral course in the stormy seas of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel has an aid mission here, with ex- perts working in the fields of agri- culture, banking and water devel- opment. At the same time, the large Arab community of over 50,000 has a strong voice and one of its members is president of the Chamber of Deputies in the Vene- zuelan Congress. The left is generally pro-Arab and anti-Israel. Almost every issue of the Communist Party paper, Tribuna Popular, carries some item giving voice to these attitudes. The Soviet Union will soon open an embassy in Cara- cas, while Venezuela is to occupy the building vacated by Israel in Moscow when relations were broken with the Soviets in 1967. Venezuelan Jewry strongly sup- ports Israel and allows no criticism- of the state even by non-official Israeli visitors. By EDNA AIZENBERG 0F7? -79 1 Ph innn alit trn3.:nt? .rnn inn .in pin? rx? int?? -nie5 niDn5 nr135?t? :1n-1 wait for a green light. Moshch: Listen. Madam. while punctuality is truly a fine virtue, believe me, it is better for a person to be a iew minutes late in this world than to arrive in the next world a few years too early. 'rail mtti 571 .17'. 10 191 nrx nn? tr7: -Itrixn nraRryi ,nmrti moo? 1nt37 aittm n1r3 n5i171? rin`? Excerpted from the book "Israel With A Smile", published by Tarbuth Foundation, 515 Park Ave., N.Y.C. 10022