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Purely Commentary

Dr. Chaim Arlosoroff:
An Unforgettable Name
The 40th anniversary of Arlazaroff branch
of the Farband, the Jewish National Work-
ers Alliance which is now a branch of the La-
bor Zionist Alliance, the merged movement
of all Labor Zionists of America, encourages
reminiscences about the great Zionist leader,
Dr. Chaim Arlosoroff, in whose name the lo-
cal organization was founded. (The Arloso-
roff spelling is adapted here to correspond
with the spelling in the Encyclopedia Ju-
daica).

Dr. Arlosoroff (1899-1933) was a very
young man when he was murdered on the
Tel Aviv beach. The identity of the murderer
had not been ascertained. Some believed he
was killed by an Arab, the Labor Zionists ac-
cused the opposition Revisionists of having
been responsible for the cruel act as a politi-
cal aim of vengeance in party differences
that were assuming bitter proportions. The
truth in the accusations was never estab-
lished.
The fact is that Dr. Arlosoroff had risen to
great eminence in Jewish leadership. Had he
lived, it was believed that he would have
risen to highest political roles both in the
Zionist movement and later in Israel's state-
hood.
He possessed political acumen. As a youth
he already was treated as a master in states-
manship.
He earned his doctorate in philosophy as a
very young man — the result of great schol-
arship, eminence as a linguist and historian.
He was a master on the public platform.
Only a few months before his death he ap-
peared in Detroit at 'a public meeting of the
Labor Zionist movement and was introduced
to the local
gathering by
this commen-
tator at the
Philadelphia-
Byron Hall of
the United
Hebrew
Schools. The
chat between
Arlosoroff and
this commen-
tator in an
hour's walk in
the 12th Street
area after that
meeting left an
unforgettable
impression
CHAIM ARLOSOROFF
about the gen-
ius of this scholar and leader who undoubt-
edly was martyred for the Zionist cause.
Thus, the Arlazaroff organization's anni-
versary has considerable historic signifi-
cance. This anniversary of the Arlazaroff or-
ganization justifies an additional comment.
It has merged with two other groups that
had been associated with the Farband — a
unification of forces that is an evident result
of the decline of the former Yiddish-speak-
ing groups. Like the Landsmanshaften
which are now on a decline, the related
groups that had been a force in the Yiddish-
speaking community are now elements of
the past. The merged group is mostly En-

glish-speaking. This evidence of the disap-
pearance of Yiddish as a force in Jewish life
is among the most deplorable occurrences in
American Jewish life.

The Role of Yiddish
Truly, what is the role of Yiddish in the
world today?

Jewish dialects have vanished. Ladino is
used by all-too-few in Israel, in Turkey and
in Greece, and there still are some in the
United States Who know the Spanish-Jewish
dialect. There is a community in Detroit that
numbers in its ranks some Ladino speaking
elements.
Yiddish is not a dialect: it is a language
rich in literature and in music. But it is not
surviving. The dedicated few in this country
who are encouraging revival of Yiddish have
succeeded in introducing Yiddish courses in
universities, but they are primarily studies
of the legacies of the language, the rich liter-
ature, an interest in which is retained in
translations.
(Ladino's role still has an interesting as-
pect. The 39,000 Jews in the Asian region of
the USSR and Turkey still speak Ladino in
the family circles, and in Turkish syn-
agogues the sermons are still delivered in
Ladino.
(Yiddish, once supreme in synagogues at-
tended by Eastern European Jews, is seldom
heard now in synagogues in the free world.
It is still used by the Lubavitcher and other
Hasidic Rebbes in a limited number of
houses of worship in the United States and
Great Britain, but even in these synagogues
English is now the dominant medium of ex-
pression).

This commentator had occasion to wit-
ness the enthusiasm of Yiddish-loving people
in Israel. H _ eikhal HaTarbut Mann Audi-
torium — was filled to capacity with the
thousands of Yiddish loving people who at-
tended the Yiddish Music Festival. But there
were less than a dozen attendees who were
under 60. The lovers of Yiddish are the elders
in Jewry who stem from East European
countries.
On the way to that concert, The Jewish
News Israel correspondent Moshe Ron ex-
pressed despair. He had just received a re-
port that the only Yiddish newspaper in Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil, was ending a long career
because the only Man procurable as the Yid-
dish linotype compositor was leaving for Is-
rael, and another Yiddish linotype operator
was not available.
That's what's happening to Yiddish, so af-
fectionately referred to as Mame Loshen.
What a pity, and what a great loss to the
cultural life of the Jewish people every-
where!

-

Humanism-Libertarianism and the Yielding to Desert
Philosophies Remain Worlds Apart . . . Role of Yid-
dish, Recollections of Chaim Arlosoroff on the Agenda

, That's when the repeater of the sad augur-
ies is reminded that even in the era of the
Holocaust there was never total submission
to destruction. Even during the darkest peri-
ods in history Jews labored for ultimate
triumph in the battle for survival.
A significant comment by a famous Chris-
tian leader can be recalled in this connection.
In 1947, before the rebirth of Israel, the late
Richard Crossman, then a member of the
British House of Commons, later a member
of the British Cabinet, discussed the status
of Zionism. Then, too, there was despair in
some quarters. That's when Crossman made
this important comment:

History either defeats you or elates
you, either crushes you or makes you
stronger. The British were made
stronger by the blitz and the Jews of
Palestine have been made stronger by
adversity, tougher, more national,
more solid and more impossible to liq-
uidate. Doubt is impossible for them,
and because they believe in their ulti-
mate victory against a Great Power,
they are going to win in the end.

This summarizes the Jewish role. There
are obstacles: they will be hurdled. There are
dangers: they will be overcome.. A people of
faith is not destructible.

The Saudian Lie

Saudi Arabian Petroleum Minister Sheik
Ahmed Zaki Yamani, appearing on the CBS
"Face the Nation" program, repeated the lie
that Jews are not discriminated against in
his country. Here are some of the revealing
facts that disprove this canard:

By BEN GALLOB

The phasing out of Ju-
•daica Chairs in American
universities is one of the
steps being taken by the
Bnai Brith Hillel Founda-
tion to adjust to the impact
of the current economic
slump, according to Rabbi
Norman Frimer, the newly-
named international direc-
tor of Hillel.
Rabbi Frimer outlined
Foundation plans in an in-
terview in the Women's

Reporting that the Ju-
daica Chair at the Univer-
sity of Missouri had already
been eliminated and that
more are being considered
for termination, Rabbi Fri-

U. S. Senate's Failure
Ilk -
to Adopt Genocide Convention

Recollections of the massacre of 1,500,000
Armenians by the Turks, in _1915, rightfully
turned the commemoration into condemna-
tion of Genocide.
The term was . unknown at that time. It
had been formulated by the late Raphael
Lemkin after the murder of the Six Million
Jewish victims of Nazism.
But the recollection of the Armenian trag-
edy serves the important purpose of reviving
the demand that. the U. S. Senate adopt the
United Nations Genocide Convention that
declares mass murder of peoples to be a
crime against humanity.
The U. S. was a major sponsor of the Gen-
oCide Convention in the U.N., yet the U. S.
Senate has failed to act on it. But the new
regulations enforcing cloture may put an
end to the obstinacy of some opponents of
the important international humanitarian
principle. Surely, the Senate has sinned long
enough by its failure to adopt the Genocide
Convention.

Is Anti-Semitism Back
on the WSU Campus?

The new king said "Jerusalem must be
liberated from the claws of Zionism" and
that the Palestinians must have "all their
rights restored."
• Reuters reported in a dispatch from
Riyadh on April 8, quoting government of-
ficials there, that Saudi Arabia would
continue its policy of barring entry to all
Jews "because it believes that most of
them are Zionists."

But even more pressing' is the question
whether university governors are as lacking
in courage as the report indicates.
There is consolation in the fact that the
university newspaper sees fit to expose the
ineptitude of its ruling governors and to
challenge the indecencies of bigots.
Shame upon the sick minds of the bigoted
and all glory to courageous campus journal-
ists!

The shocking story reproduced on this
page, from the 'Wayne State University
South End publication merits the question
whethei- anti-Semitism has been revived on
the campus of Wayne State University.

Ethnic Bigotry at WSU:

Fault of Ignorance or Governors? -

From the April 22 Issue of
South End on Page 1 in
Today 4/25/75 Column .

Indestructibility of
Libertarian Zionism
Israel provides more faith for the visitor Is he cheap too?
than the despairing reports from panic-
For a school so hepped up on ethnicity, a
spreading correspondents might indicate. scene which occured at the WSU Board of
That is why there is such a sense of deep re- Governor's meeting Friday almost made the
gret over the injection of doubts about Is- columns come tumbling down in. the new
rael's future. The concerned have a natural WSU ethnic classrooms. Fencing coach Ist-
feeling of humiliation when people speak van Danosi and four of his lancers were on
about the possible collapse of Israel.
hand to receive the guys' best wishes for win-

World, the publication of
Bnai Brith Women. Agree-
ing that Hillel "dreams of
enlargement" were not real-
istic currently, Rabbi Fri--
mer declared that "the
priorities within the Hillel
Foundation will be applied
where it hurts least."

Frightened Humanitarians?
A 91 to 71 vote marked the protest against
UNESCO's anti-Israelism by the United
Nations Association. The 71 pose the dis-
tressing query: is it possible that humanitar-
ians can be biased and humanitarians can be
frightened by desert and oil-inspired philos-
ophies? The 71 are really a warning that all
is not well with the humanitarians who of-
ten veer towards false liberalism — espe-
cially when the Jew is the minority culprit of
the majority of power seekers.

In a proclamation read over Radio Ri-
yadh on March 1 by Prince Fand, the new
crown prince of Saudi Arabia, King
Khaled said his country "will act in ac-
cordance with the policy formulated by
King Faisal," who was murdered by a
member of the royal family in his palace
March 25.

Hillel Starts Phasing Out Judaica Chairs in Colleges

(Copyright 1975, JTA, Inc.

By Philip
Slomovitz

mer said "We were pioneers
in establishing a chair of Ju-
daic studies but now the
universities are doing it, and
we can go on to other
things," using funds saved
by the phase-outs.

focus of study of that ele-
ment of Hillel was on met-
ropolitan areas where
some Hillel houses are
presently "fairly inacc-
tive."

He said the priorities
program would not affect
campuses in small cities
where Hillel buildings
have become "literally
Jewish centers" and often
the only place where
young Jews in the area
can gather. He said the

Rabbi ,Frimer said recon-
sideration of the use of Hil-
lel facilities was a
"priority." He said a serious
question was developing on
whether to maintain build-
ings off the campus or to
sell those houses and use the
funds to support others.

ning the NCAA fencing. title. In a burst of
emotion while praising one of his foreign-
born swordsmen, Danosi described the lad as
"sneaky and mad. Sneaky because he's a
Jew," Danosi explained, "and mad because
he's Russian." Mon dieu! Did the guys or ad-
ministrators present gulp their coffee? Look
a bit sheepish? Quickly grow ashen-faced?
No, no and no. But what do you expect from
a room full of middle-class, cigar-chomping,
old-boy network types? Consider them en-
lightened to have let three black males dwell
among them. Oh, and one lone female.

Syria OKs UN Troops Until July

UNITED NATIONS —
Syria has officially agreed
to let UN troops remain in
the Golan Heights until
July 30 so that the authori-
zation to keep the peace-
keeping forces in Syria and
Egypt will end at the same
time.

According to Suheil Suk-
kareve, an official of Syria's
governing Baath party who
made the announcement,
the decision had been made
in agreement with Egypt
which earlier decided to ex-

tend the mandate of UN
troops in Sinai for three
months past the April 24 ex-
piration date.
Syria had previously cri-
tized Egypt for the exten-
sion.

Sukkareva said Damas-
cus had decided to extend
the mandate of the UN
troops on the Golan
Heights two months past
the scheduled May 30 expi-
ration "So that the man-
dates of the UN forces
would end at the same
time."

