THE JEWISH NEWS

•onirneli•ing With the iSsIr• Qt • litly 214 1951
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish
Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association. National Editorial Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing ('o. • 17515 W. Nine Mile. Suitv SG5, South • ield• Mich. -180)7.
Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, ,N1ichigan and Additional :Hailing Offices. Soliscription $10 a year.

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ

Business Manager •

DREW LIEBERWITZ

Advertising Manager

‘L ‘N 11 ITS1.1. N('N , cs Editor . . 11E1 DI PRESS. .kss.istattt N•%1S Editor

Sa bbath Scriptural Selections

This Sabbath, the 26th day of lyar, 5737, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion. Leviticus 25:1-27:34, Propheticalportion, Jeremiah 16:19-17:14.

Wednesday. Rosh Ilodesh Sivan- Nu tubers 28:1-13.
Candle lighting. Friday. May 13.8:25 p.m.

VOL. LXX1, No. 10

Page Four

Friday, May 13,1977

Truman and Historic May 14

Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel's Independence
Day, is traditionally observed on the Hebrew
calendar date of the fifth of Iyar. The celebra-
tions have already taken place iri Israel and in
Jewish communities throughout the world. The
civic date of May 14, when Israel's statehood
and sovereignty was proclaimed in 1948, can
not be forgotten or overlooked. It assumes spe-
cial significance at this time, thanks to Clark
Clifford, who was a senior adviser to the Presi-
dent Harry S. Truman.
In an address he delivered some months ago,
and in its extended form in the current issue of
American Heritage magazine, Clifford threw
light on events which marked recognition of Is-
rael.by President Harry A. Truman and the ob-
structions he encountered in the State Depart-
ment and among a number of advisers in the
White House. Clifford, who consistently advised
U.S. support for the emerging Jewish state,
dealt with the charge that Truman was con-
cerned with the Jewish vote in the 1948 elec-
tion, and he completely repudiated the claim,
portraying President Truman's strong adhe-
rence to the Zionist idea, his having been im-
bued with Scriptural teachings and his refusal
to be swerved by political considerations of any
sort.
Clifford's recapitulation of the historic days
of May 11 to 14, 1948 becomes a significant
chapter in Jewish and world history. It gives a
full account of opposition to the cause of Jew-
ish statehood—the name Israel was not chosen
until the declaration of independence by David
Ben-Gurion on the afternoon of May 14. The
then Secretary of State General George Mar-
shall strongly opposed Israel and he had back-
ing from many in the State Department. Tru-
man could not offend his Secretary of State,
but at the last moment, with the backing of
Clark Clifford and the last-minute support of
Robert Lovett, the then Undersecretary of
State—the latter abandoned his opposition to
statehood by Jews—the President followed the
dictates of his own conscience and the U.S. be-
came the first nation in the world to recognize
the declared state of Israel.
The events that preceded the U.S. recognition
of Israel 16 minutes after the declaration of
statehood and the naming of the reborn state
as Israel on May 14 are so significant that the
events must be viewed as of the utmost impor
tance historically.
In his full acount of what had transpired,
Clark Clifford, in the American Heritage ar-
ticle, entitled "Recognizing Israel—The behind-
the-scenes struggle in 1948 between the Presi-
dent and the State Department" explains how
Mr. Lovett became the deciding factor in in-
fluencing the Department to support P-resident
Truman's determination to assist in the great
Zionist adventure's fulfillment and realization.
It was a tough struggle. There even were warn-
ings, which were summarily dismissed, that
Communist Jews would invade the *new state.
This portion of the Clifford article is of such
great importance that it must be placed into
the record of realities in Jewish aspirations
and the tasks of settling the homeless Jews in

the security of Jewish sovereignty:
"But most importantly of all, the President
envisaged recognition as the logical culmina-
tion of his three years of personal diplomacy
and sheer human concern for a people who had
endured the torments of the damned, and
whose instincts for survival and nationhood
still refused to be extinguished.
"President Truman was deeply incensed at
what he considered to be the consistent atti-
tude of obstructionism on the part of the State
Department to his policy toward Palestine. He
was angered even more at the innuendoes and
ultimately the specific charge by the depart-
ment that the only reason for the President's
position was his effort to curry favor with Jew-
ish voters -in this country."
Mr. Clifford reveals the interesting fact that
President Truman was horrified by the nega-
tions to his personal policies as outlined to Dr.
Chaim Weizmann who had made the Zionist ap-
peals to him on several occasions. He resented
being placed in a position of being judged as a
liar. Mr. Clifford exposed the true condition of
President Truman's honorable approach to the
Zionist hopes in Ns American Heritage article
in which he stated:
"The President's qualifications did not ap-
pear in Austin's famous statement of March 19.
To this day I remember the bewilderment and
consternation that were evoked by the trustee-
ship speech. The President instructed me to
`find out how this could have happened.' As he
said: 'I assured Chaim Weizmann that we were
for partition and would stick to it. He must
think I am a plain liar.' He asked me to ascer-
tain if Marshall had foreknowledge of this vir-
tual abandonment of partition. When I in-
vestigated the next day I learned in fact that
both Marshall and Undersecretary Robert
Lovett had known in advance of the de facto re-
versal of the President's policy. President Tru-
man was simply confounded. He felt he could
not repudiate his own Secretary of State's for- .
eign policy. Yet he was entirely unwilling to re-
verse his long-standing commitment to parti-
tion. 'They have made me out a liar and- a
double-crosser,' he said to me. 'We are sunk. —
Thus, May 14 becomes an important date on
the world and the Jewish calendar because it
was then, in the civic reckoning, that Jewish
statehood was reborn, and it was then, in the
best interests of American traditions, that poli-
tics ceased to play a roll and humanism was
the guiding factor affirmed by a great Ameri-
can President.
May 14, as it is thus being reckoned, also be-
comes exemplary for justice-loving people.
Great ideals must not be based on political con-
siderations. Too much that is human is,,being
sacrificed today because it is being politicized.
President Truman acted in defiance of political
pressures and contrary to the belief that a
great human act was to be based on vote-get-
ting or political considerations. He therefore
emerged as the protector of American idealism
and decency. Therefore his name is logically.
understandably, appreciatedly being blessed on
this blessed day of May 14.

—4J174

Maimonides Work Defined,
Readings Supplement Studies

Moses Maimonides—the Rambam—not only was the leading Jew-
ish philosopher and Torah codifier of the Middle Ages. His works are
generally regarded as basic to Torah studies for all ages and as rele-
vant today as they were eight centuries ago.
A new volume, just issued by the Jewish Publication Society of
America, adds significantly to the studies of the Rambam made
through the centuries. In "Maimonides: Torah and Philosophic
Quest," Rabbi David Hartman makes new approaches to the great
personality and to his works.
Dr. Hartman portrays Maimonides as one of the greatest talmud-
ists of all time. He defines his views in analyses of the historic
Maimonides work, "The Guide of the Perplexed." It is interpreted as
the work of a distinguished Halakhist and as the product of a
struggle to achieve philosophical integrity in Halakha.
According to Rabbi Hartman, Maimonides' total philosophic en-
deavor was to indicate an emphasis in the search for truth. The
basis is the study of logic, physics and metaphysics, indicating that
they 'are harmonious with the way of life defined by normative Jew-
ish traditions. •
. While deeply rooted in Jewish traditions, Maimonides is depicted
as the profound thinker Who applied philosophical concepts to Jewish
tenets.
David Hartman is currently a senior lecturer in Jewish philosophy
at Hebrew University. He is also the founder and director of the Sha-
lom - Hartman Institute of Judaic Studies in Jerusalem.
Supplementing Dr. Hartman's "Maimonides" is another notable
work that serves as a supplement to the JPS volume—"Rambam:
Readings in the Philosophy of Moses Maimo-
nides" (Schocken), selected and translated with an introduction and
commentary by Dr. Lenn Evan Goodman. The latter, a 450-page pa-
perback, is thoroughly indexed and annotated. It contains the basic
works of Maimonides and thecommentaries provide textbook data to
enlighten the reader and guide the student to a thorough under-
standing and appreciation of Maimonides' works.
The research of Dr. Hartman, the anthological skill of Dr. Good-
man, combine to offer an enrichment in studies of the Rambam.

Golda's 'My Life' Paperbacked

a
The widely acclaimed Golda Meir autobiography, "My
best seller for many months, has been reissued by Dell Publish-
ing Co. as a paperback.
First published as a hard-cover
book by G. P. Putnam's Sons,
Dell's paperback is "The Un-
forgettable Story of the Un-
forgettable Woman."
Because it is soon to be filmed,
the life of Golda Meir as described
by the noted Israeli leader herself
retains historic significance
The Golda Meir story gains signifi-
cance and timeliness as a result of
the new elections and the crises that
have inveigled Israelis. The refer-
ences to the many personalities in-
volved and the frankness of Mrs.
Meir's approaches to party policies
and_ leadership involvements make
her story as valuable now as it was
GOLDA MEIR
when first published.

