THE JEWISH NEWS

fncorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951

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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Sditer and Publisher

CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

CHARLOTTE MAIN

Business Manager

City Editor

DREW LIEBERWITZ

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Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 10th dad of Shevat, 5733, the following scriptural selections
ti-ill be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Erod. 10:1.13:16. Prophetical portion, Jeremiah 96:13-28.
Harnisha Asar b'Shevat occurs on Thursday, Jan. 18

Canal* lighting, Friday, Jan. 12, 3114 pm.

VOL. LXII. No. 18

Page Four

January 12, 1973

Hatred as a Deterrent to International Amity

A correspondent for an American news-
paper in Nairobi, Kenya, made the rather
puzzling comment that a possible reason for
Peking support of Arab terrorists and Israel's
enemies in and out of the United Nations is
that Israel "lacks sufficient revolutionary cre-
dentials." If it were not for the utter sincer-
ity of this assertion, one would wonder
whether the writer is naive or is misled by
the evidences he confronts among the Afri-
cans whose attitudes on Israel he discussed.

The issue revolves around the diminish-
ing friendships between Israel and the Afri-
can nations and the break in diplomatic re-
lations with Israel by several nations that
were hitherto both greatly helped by Isa-
elis and had enjoyed an exchange of embas-
sies as well as economic and cultural ad-
vantages. For many years, Israel has been
sending teams of experts to nearly all of
the African countries involved, assisting them
culturally and economically, guiding them in
improving their agricultural output; and
many students from African lands benefited
from scholarships offered them in Israel's
universities.
Why the sudden animosities? Is there
rhyme or reason to the break in diplomatic
relations? One may as well ask why the
Soviet Union, having been the second to
recognize Israel's rejuvenation as a nation,
having defended Israel against Arab attacks
during the first years of Israel's struggle for
existence, should suddenly have become an
arch enemy of a friendly state. True: the
Russians have inherited the anti-Semitism of
the Czars. But the redeemed Israel created
a friendly relationship. Yet, it could not last
when the politics affected by search for pow-
er and the oil factor entered to destroy
good will.

In the instance of the African nations it
is, unquestionably, the pressures that had
come from the Arab potentates. Saudi Ara-

bia's King Faisal had just visited Uganda,
Senegal, Niger, Chad and Mauritania, and
immediately the breaks occurred. Faisal is
said to have assisted in a Libya-Chad rap-
prochement. Is it any wonder that Chad, hav-
ing benefited so much from Israel's help and
friendship, should have become the enemy
of its benefactor?
It is sad for the world at large that small
nations should be following the hate-inspired
dictates of peoples who are animated by the
quest for power and the desire to dominate
with instruments like oil supremacy which
could be an influence for good but which is
being transformed into a weapon that could
lead to destruction.
Innocent people in Western countries, in
the United States and among Europeans, now
are being misled by the revelations of new
powers that have been attained by oil-pro-
ducing countries. There is evidence in state-
ments made by readers to editors of respon-
sible newspapers that there should be recog-
nition of increasing needs for Arab-produced
oil by Americans,and Europeans and that,
therefore, friendships for Israel, which they
brand as "one-sided in the A r a b- Israel
struggle," should be abandoned. We have, in
these instances, proof that pressures from oil
interests may add immensely to the tensions
that already disrupt peace and threaten Is-
rael's security.
Breaks in relationships between Arabs
and Israel are part of the new trends toward
mounting animosities in the Middle East. Is-
rael is strong militarily, but the human fac-
tors in international dealings are being en-
dangered by the propaganda and hate-spread-
ing that stems from Arab capitals. When they
are assisted by great powers, as evidenced in
the votes at the United Nations which have
received the support of so-called democratic
countries like the United Kingdom and
France, the situation must be viewed as hav-
ing worsened.

Cooperation for Creativity in Jewish Tasks

It takes a minimum of 25 years for public
documents to become the property of the
people and for hitherto kept state secrets to
be released for common knowledge. Out of
some of the released papers which deal with
matters that affected the Jewish people, we
learn anew how divided our leaderships had
been, the extent to which inner controver-
sies affected the unity that was necessary for
relief and rehabilitation efforts during the
Nazi regime and how the libertarian Zionist
ideals were shunned in an era when adher-
ence to them could have provided for great-
er rescue results.
Such divisiveness should have taught us
a great lesson for our own time—to avoid
splits in our ranks and to strive for coopera-
tion.

It is an accepted fact that when we speak
of unity we do not mean uniformity. That is
why we emphasize cooperation as a great
need in striving for unified tasks in support
of Jewish aims for the advancement of our
status as citizens and as a community with
a heritage and a purpose.
Proof of the need for greater cooperation
in Jewish ranks is provided in the emergence
of various institutes for the study and ad-
vancement of Jewish life.
From the Council of Jewish Federations
and Welfare Funds there has emerged the
Institute . fnr Jewish Life. But it is not the

only agency of its sort. For example, the Syn-
agogue Council of American now has an
office in Washington, D.C. for the Institute
for Policy and Planning Research. It can be
argued that the Synagogue Council devotes
itself entirely to religious matters. Neverthe-
less, the havurot, the fellowship they encour-
age, the research they conduct "regarding the
authenticity and durability of the 'new Jew-
ish consciousness' on campus, and other ap-
proaches, could well develop into competi-
tive projects. And it is this competitiveness
in the various institutes that must be treated
with caution in order that the aim to ac-
complish creatively in Jewish ranks should
not develop into destructive competition.

There is an urgent need for cooperation,
and time does not permit the emergence
of movements which cause confusion rather
than joint effort. It is one thing to worry
about the assimilatory and the proselytizing
schemes that seem at present to endanger
the attitudes of our youth. It is another aspect
in relation to the existing needs to permit
friction.

Perhaps there is less friction than the
existence of overlapping undertakings by
differing movements may indicate. All the
more reason for cooperative aims to avoid
unnecessary competition. The needs are too
great to justify waste of energy on too many

Monumental Ahlstrom Religious
History of the American People

With restrictions on immigration to this country, starting with
the act signed by President Harding in 1921 and continuing with the
subsequent curtailments on new settlers, a transformation began that
influenced religious thinking among Jews, it is the belief of Prof.
Sydney E. Ahlstrom of Yale University. His view is expressed in the
monumental work, "A Religious History of the American People,"
published by Yale University Press.

In his discusssion of the role of the American Jew and of Judaism
in this country, Prof. Ahlstrom notes that the number of Jews in
America grew from 3,500,000 in 1917 to perhaps 5,500,000 in 1964, and
he makes this interesting comment:

"The number of Americans naming Yiddish as their mother
tongue reached Its peak of 1,222,658 in 1930, and this fact points to
what is perhaps the major shaping force in 20th-Century Judaism-
Without the great influx of Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jews from East-
ern Europe, not even the Ilitlerian Holocaust nor the founding of Israel
would have had the impact they later did."

It is with this in view that the eminent author, in one of the most
important works dealing with the religious affiliations of Americans,
explains the East European Jewish backgrounds of Jews who came to
the U. S., the migrations, the changes that had taken place, the
assimilationist tendencies that had set in,

Dr. Ahlstrom's historical analysis points out: "After the defeat
of Napoleon, most of Poland and Lithuania fell under Russian rule,
and Jews were limited to a 'pale of settlement' that tended to keep
them out of Russia proper. The 19th Century also brought great dis-
tress—persecution, famine, inequitable conscription laws—and most
basically, a gradual collapse of the old peasant economy in which
the trades and vocations of Jews had taken an important place. With
the rise of industrialism a movement to the city bad begun, with heavy
de-Judaizing consequences."

The reference to a decline in religious observance is especially
valuable in this study in which the author takes into account the
secular as well as religious trends, the emergence of Zionism, the
forces behind these movements, as well as the anti-Semitic trends
that had a bearing on relationships with the synagogue.

The several divisions in Judaism are fully accounted for and
"the special pressures of 'suburbanized Americanization' " are equally
noted.

With regard to escapism in some ranks, Dr. Ahlstrom refers to
Will Herberg's invocation of "Hansen's Law," which is "the formula-
tion of the great immigration historian, Marcus Lee Hansen: 'What
the son wishes to forget, the grandson wishes to remember,' " Yet
there is a negative, a challenging conclusion relating to changing
trends in all religious areas. He states:

"Jews, like ether Americans, would discover that the religious revival had
provided very feeble preparation for the social and spiritual tumult of the 1870.-
In addition to these violent domestic confrontations, amnia:Magian, increased
social mobility, and the decline of anti-Semitism tended to erode the Jewish
sense of particularity. College student, Is considerable numbers repudiated the
&Stab ni . • culture, constituting themselves, as it weft, in a new category of
'fourth ion' Jews the rate of interfaith marriages rose so markedly that
the question of the "vssilshing Jews" became a whim' of public debate. Radical
mculartsts compounded the problem with denials of the possibility for their
logical Inquiry 'After Auschwitz.' The situation of Judalsos--as indeed of nearly
all traditional forms of organised religion—womb' become unexpectedly critical..

Dr. Ahlstrom's interpretation of America's traditional past, his
anticipation, on a general basis, of new sources of strength to vindicate
the nation's idealism, result from thorough studies of all aspects of the
religious elements. This great book deals at great length with the
"Protestant Empire," the "Lutheran Crisis," the forming of the Catholic
Church, the rise of the black churches and a score or more of other
movements and dozens of experiences in developing religious activities.

"A Religious History of the American People" is one of the most
significant studies yet produced as a basis for American acquaintances
with the..jaitha and.their adherents in this land.

