THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, November 28, 1980

Purely Commentary

An American Documentary

By Philip
Slomovitz

Seventy Years an American

Seventy years filled with the privilege of being an American must justify the selfish-
ness of pronouncing it to family, friends, the nation.
Only once before, under the slogan of Fifty Years an American, did this Commen-
tator, who often was listed as a perpetuator ofpersonaljournalism, resort to the conceit of
boasting about his Americanism that has always been rooted in the Jewish codes.
Twenty years later, to mark the significance of the arrival date in this sacred land,
Nov. 29, 1910, the Credo of the Commentator's Americanism beckons repetition. With
hopes for its gracious acceptance, here it is from Purely Commentary, Nov. 25 , 1960, in its
present current application. •

From Purely Commentary, Nov. 25, 1960

On Thanksgiving, when we have so much to be grateful for, when Ameri-
cans rejoice in the blessings and the bounties that have been allotted to them,
this Commentator will surely be granted the privilege of a personal word, on a
glorious occasion.
This Column has often taken note of historic events, of anniversaries of
friends and community leaders. Your Commentator has shown appreciation for
occurences. in communities and in the lives of fellow-citizens.
Now, the time has come for a personal reference — because the event is so
vital and so deeply soul stirring.
Nov. 29 will mark Your Commentator's 50th , anniversary as an American.
Many anniversaries are personal in nature: to him such an event, that of
reaching the age of Fifty Years as an American, calls for thanksgiving, for a bit
of reminiscing, for additional soul- and heart-searching.
Fifty Years as an American meant 50 years of freedom— freedom to speak the
mind and to express views without hindrance, 50 years of service to causes that fit
into the American way of life and therefore help in the uplifting of the less
fortunate, 50 years that were not without their battles and debates but they were
disputes and arguments of such a nature as to echo what the si' river for justice
acquired as part of his immersion into Americanism.
The last 50 years revolutionized the world. They were politi tally stirring.
The half-century began with challenges unparalleled in history. They changed
the fabric of America's acts and thoughts. They transformed our land into a new
mold.
Two world wars claimed the lives of millions of our fellow Americans.
Smaller conflicts and some calamities also were costly in human lives.
While the world was being remolded, the Jewish people underwent even
graver changes. Our kinsmen were threatened with extinction. We lost a third
of Jewry in the course of the victimization of mankind by the most devilish
minds that ever afflicted themselves upon us.
As Americans, we were part of a generation that revolted against bestialities.
As Jews we had the obligation of coming to the aid of the afflicted. As American
Jews we were destined by history to be the rescuers of the oppressed.
But while we were rescuing, we, too, were the targets of _bigots. We were
charged with the task of saving lives, and at the same time of repudiating bigots.
In this country we were free to speak our minds against intolerance, to battle the
anti-Semites, to demand justice wherever and whenever it was due.
In that battle, we soon learned the greatness of America. We were not alone
in the fight. We soon learned that there is such a genuine principle as fair play in
this great land of our adoption. We are grateful for that idea. It has helped to
sustain us in our Americanism and it has given us pride in our loyalties to this
great land and its deep-rooted principles.
There was much more to our pride: When you fight the anti-Semite you seek to
eliminate the negative aspects of American life. It is when one searches for the
positive, when you aim to do the creative things in life, that you are faced with the
true test of American greatness. Your Commentator has found the genius of
America in the freedom to act in behalf of his fellow Jews through the Zionist
ideal.
America spells freedom — but it does not qualify it by saying that it is to be
freedom only for Americans. It is an established and a sacred American princi-
ple that one who has his freedoms must not deprive others of their freedoms.
More than that, he who has his freedoms must aid others to acquire similar just
rights.

-

During the five decades of his Americanism — before acquiring citizenship
and during the many years of his enfranchisement — Your Commentator
labored for the Zionist idea. No one hindered him: the best Americans assisted in
the great aspirations. Presidents, Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices,
governors of states and members of both Houses - of Congress ofteli gave him
their blessings. It was the greatness of America that its leiiders always gave us
comfort in our work. The handful of Jews who were fr' q -htened, who, in their
panic, could not assist in the greatest humanitarian effort in history, did not
matter. They were unworthy of concern. They do not count now, although they
still seek to obstruct justice. But there are so few of them that they are insig-
nificant.
But even the few could have - been helpful in rescuing many more people
than we have succeeded in saving since our great Zionist idea became a reality.
Nevertheless, we are grateful — for the millions of our kinsmen who recognized
the immensity of the task and assisted in it; for the many millions of Christian
Americans who, by their actions, by their encouragement, upheld the American
principles of justice and the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of all
mankind, and give us cause for gratitude and thanksgiving on this sacred day.
There is another cause for rejoicing. During the Fifty Years as an American,
this writer had the right to adhere to the faith of our fathers, wherever we were —
at the prepatory high school, at college, white working on newspapers, in the
course of travels — wherever the Stars and Stripes fluttered for us as a symbol of
our citizenship.
The pride of your Commentator's Americanism has accompanied him
abroad, where he was able to hold his head high as an American Jew, and in
Israel, where he enjoyed the fruits of his labors and witnessed the fulfillment of
the dream of an American Jew for whom Zionism was akin to Americanism —
because the aspirations of both are kindred in spirit — and where he saw the
realization of the ideal that all men have a right to pursue happiness and enjoy
freedom:
Major in the sense of elation, next to the exultation that stems from good
family relationships — from a fine wife and good children — (all, incidentally,
native born who share mutual joys as Americans, as Jews, as Zionists) — is the
privilege this writer has acquiredas a working newspaperman. The most glorious
post in journalism is that of the reporter. It is he, as the gatherer of news, who
secures the facts, to keep the people informed on what is happening. The working
newsgatherer is often vastly more important even than the editor and the copy
reader. Without his facts there would be no provisions for editing.
And in the role of a working newspaperman, this humble writer also has
aligned himself with all informational causes, with education and fact gather-
ing, with a dedication to the cause of learning. One must always learn. Mikol
me-lamdai hiskalti — we learn from all who have something to impart to us. And
to learn is to continue an unending ambition in life. To inspire others to learn is
to assist in creating a well-informed community.
Such are the experiences of half-a-century. These are the aspirations of a
life that has been blessed by the great privilege inherent in an Americanism
that does not exclude equal loyalty to Judaism.
These are just a few of the thoughts that crop up in the rejoicing over our
Americanism. Your Commentator was blessed during half-a-century as an
American. His gratitude is unbounded. This is a great day in his life — to be
Fifty Years an American. That's the reason for devoting a column to a personal
expression of thankfulness for such a blessing — to be an American!

This Commentator's Credo

from his Without Malice'

A news commentator's, an editor's duty is to strive for the truth and to establish it.
This has been and is my aim as a working newspaperman.
I do not carry grudges.
I abhor anything akin to terrorism, Nazism or any form of bigotry.
In the process, I recognize the right to differ.
I do not "hate" Arabs. I deplore their enmity and the failure to grant Israel the right to
live.
In the libertarian aim, Zionism remains a major principle in my life.
In its advocacy, I sought understanding from fellow Jews, cooperation from non-
Jews, many of whom have given me personal comfort in the assistance I enrolled for the
,
movement.
To ascertain truth, in justice to the Jewish people and to Israel, I am obliged never to
be silent when there is the merest semblance of injustice anywhere . . . and, to speak out
without malice.