THE JEWISH NEWS
Incotworating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle coin men•inc,c with the issue 0f July 20, 1951
Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nime-Mile. Suite s65, Southfield, Mich. -18075.
Second-Class Postage Paid at SOuthfield. Michigan and AdditionaVNEiling Offices. Subs•riRtion $10 a year.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
Man iiitsky. :Nests Editor . . .
Prcss.
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
kssistant
Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 22nd day of Adar, 5737, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Exodus 30:11-34:35; Numbers 19:1-22. Prophetical portion, Ezekiel 36:16-38.
Candle lighting, Friday, March 11, 6:16 p.m.
VOL. LXXI, No. 1
Page Four
Friday, March 11, 1977
Effects of Criticisms on Unity
Responsible Jewish leaders, especially government can not and must not be chas-
a group speaking for the American Jewish tised on a national scale for the corruption
Congress, have expressed concern over an that has divided Israelis and has created
implied menace to Israel resulting from a havoc in many quarters there.
lack of unity in American Jewish ranks.
Percentage-wise, there may be less fraudu-
The implication is that discord in lency in Israel than elsewhere and
Jewish ranks over Israel and developments generalizing about a people's shortcomings
in the Jewish state may seriously harm the is injudicious. But, if guidance from Ameri-
cooperation with Israel and the aid to Israel can Jewry and demands for stricter adher-
by this country. It was stated quite bluntly ence to the ethical means of advancing the
that President Jimmy Carter's reactions to standards of Israel's sovereignty are to
Israel may be affected negatively if disunity prove beneficial to the Jewish state, should
should creep into American Jewry.
the voice of American Jewry be silenced?
While the concerned showed confidence
In the consideration of the urgency of
that the Jews of this country will stand unity in Jewish ranks it is vital that the
firmly in support of Israel and that there is right to criticize should be viewed with all
unanimity on the subject, there are other - seriousness. Proper rebukes inherent in
factors to be taken into consideration.
criticism can be beneficial and they should
Item One: There is apparent justifica- not be barred from wholesome participation
tion of criticisms of the Jewish Agency lead- by Diaspora Jews in tackling serious Israeli
ership, primarily over the selection of per- issues, as long as intrusion into the political
sonnel, the domination by a ruling Israeli affairs of Israel is barred and prevented.
political party and the failure to resist such
Perhaps the failure by American Jews
pressures. Should American Jews be en- especially to express themselves on many
couraged to be silent on the subject, and major matters involving Israel's growth
should there be interference with an ex- and progress has developed into a grave
pression of views by Diaspora Jews over de- error from the beginning of Israel's reborn
velopments in Israel, especially those be- statehood. Criticisms in no sense imply de-
nefiting from philanthropy by the Jews of struction. Proper guidance must lead to a
this country?
better understanding-in a partnership such
Item Tivo: Israel as a nation or as a as the Israeli-Diaspora relationship.
Jewish Press and Language Problem
Many changes have taken place in subsidies. Their circulations are very small.
Jewish journalism in the past three de- The hope that Israel's influence upon the
cades. The powerful Yiddish press has been Diaspora would encourage increased read-
reduced to a fraction. The Hebrew news- ership in Hebrew, did not materialize.
papers are effective only in Israel. The
The realities related to the language
English-Jewish press has emerged as the question
Jewish ranks must not be ig-
most important in English-speaking coun- nored. In in
Israel
Hebrew is the language of
tries.
the land, therefore the Hebrew press there
So effective is the growth of the latter is
dominant. Because many of the Israelis
that the only news gathering and distribut- have
inherited a love for Yiddish, which was
ing agency in the world operates in English. their mother
tongue, a Yiddish daily is able
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, which this
year observes its 60th birthday, serves the to prosper there. Will the next generation
provide strength for its survival? That too,
needs ofJewish newspapers throughout the is
problematic.
world.
Therefore, the English-Jewish press
The status of the Jewish press merits
added consideration at this time in view of predominates and the services rendered by
what has occurred in two communities in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, whose JTA
the past weeks.
logo has gained international recognition,
Two Yiddish newspapers in Brazil are especially vital as proYiders of the news
found it necessary to merge. There, as here, without which a newspaper could not func-
the declining Yiddish readership accounts tion.
for it primarily.. But there is another impor-
The great need is for the English-
tant reason for the disappearance of some Jewish press to acquire status based on
newspapers. There are too few left to set editorial excellence. English-Jewish news
Yiddish type, to operate the Yiddish papers have the obligation to encourage
keyboard on the linotype machine. When a knowledgeable editorial skill to assure ac-
Yiddish typesetter disappears from the curacy in interpretive as well as reportorial
scene, so, as has happened in several Latin tasks. A number of monthly and quarterly
American Jewish communities, so does the journals already produce scholarly works
Yiddish paper he was providing the type for. dealing with Jewish issues. Scholarship be-
This is, of course, cause for great concern. comes a necessity for the Jewish press as
mush as it does for the schools and the
In another instance, a new Hebrew synagogues. Perhaps these needs em-
periodical that was introduced in New York phasize community roles for newsmen as
City was 'shortlived. It collapsed soon after they do for teachers and rabbis. Only fully
its initial publication.
informed and dedicated public servants in
The latter experience is easily explain- these aspects ofJewish life can properly ful-
able. The existing Hebrew periodicals in fill duties that are so vital for Jews
this country appear only because they enjoy everywhere.
—4,Trx1
Pictorial 'Old Country'
From Shtetl to Liberty.
Nostalgic Immigrants' Story
When Abraham Shulman, the well known staff member of
the Jewish Daily Forward, published his photographic work
"The Old Country," his manner of portraying Old World experi-
ences aroused nostalgic memories among those whose birth
places were in the areas illustrated, and created fascination in
the second and third generation of Americans. The author,
whose descriptions of the photographs in that work added to a
knowledge of the Old World and an appreciation of the spiritual
influences that stemmed from there, enhanced his own career
as a Yiddish short story writer and essayist in the Forward.
That aspect of his life's work is now enlarged upon in Shul-
man's newest pictorial record, that of the Jewish settlers in this
country, in the voluminous "The New Country: Jewish Immi-
grants in America" (Charles Scribner's Sons).
Shulman's new book is about the hordes of Jews who came to
this country in search of a new life and of the freedom of which
they were deprived in their native lands.
Perhaps two million of them came here at the end of the last
and the beginning of this century. They were part of a large
migration of peoples from many lands, but the Jewish migrant
was different. He not only left lands that were economically
depressed but especially the countries where they suffered per-
secutions. They came here in search of freedom and they strug-
gled to attain it.
The new generations of American Jews are introduced via
the Shulman volume to their grandparents and great-great-
grandparents and are provided with lessons in integration into
a strange society by people who made a reality of a melting pot
in the form of a new American society of Jews who have ab-
sorbed the free spirit of a great land while retaining the
spiritual from the old.
In a sense "The New Country" is a lesson for newcomers in
the present era teaching how people were able to pull them-
selves up, literally by their bootstraps, to create a wholesome
economic life. while aspiring for the highest goals educationally
for their children.
There was a welcome for the newcomers. There was HIAS.
They had help from relatives in this country who sent them
"shiffskarten," tickets for their boat trips. They came and wer
welcomed by the Statue of Liberty. The beginning was tough
but they carried on a battle for life that emerges pictorially in
this volume as a descriptive story commencing in the shtetl
where the prospective immigrants were awaiting word from
relatives that they were ready for them to come here, through
the many stages of life in the making.
It is natural for a story told in pictures by Shulman to begin
in Manhattan. But the author takes the reader on a tour of the
entire American continent, to the South, to the Midwest. There
is a recollection of Golda Meir having lived in Milwaukee and the
cover of the book shows, in color, the former Israel Prime Minis-
ter at a festive event at the Statue of Liberty.
The many sectional titles give an added idea of the vastness
of the book's contents. They are: "Shtetl," "The Exodus," "Arri-
val," "The New Land," "Children," "Work," "Holidays," "Old
Age," "Theatre," "Agricultural Settlements," and "Family Al-
bum."