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."