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Friday, September 21, 1984
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
PURELY COMMENTARY
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Sour grapes? ... not when
significance of Genocide
Convention is involved
When President Ronald Reagan an-
nounced on Sept. 5 that he will submit the
Genocide Convention for U.S. Senate ap-
proval, there was the immediate accusa-
tion that he was playing politics with a
serious, albeit long neglected, human is-
sue.
Contestants for important official
positions, especially in an election period
as serious as the present, often resort to
abuse. This, and all forms of name-calling,
must never be tolerated.
Nevertheless, in matters as serious as
the long-delayed action on the Genocide
Convention, there is justified reason for
inquiring why it has been ignored.
Surely, the Genocide Convention, first
propagated for Senatorial adoption by
President Harry S Truman, was not, is not,
a secret.
On Dec. 14, 1983, this newsman ap-
pealed for action on the important interna-
tional issue by calling the President's at-
tention to the serious and consistent efforts
of Senator William Proxmire to secure the
postponed approval. For the first time in
this writer's long journalistic experience,
the appeal for action was ignored.
On June 26, 1984, the appeal for action
was renewed by this writer in a follow-up
communication. Again, no response and
the White House ignored the message.
This is not sour grapes. It is a concern
about a serious matter.
Now the President indicates a readi-
ness to ask the U.S. Senate for action. If as
much attention will be given to the
Genocide Convention as has been allocated
to infusing religion in politics, there can be
an emendation for delay and for failure to
act when the issue's importance was ex-
pressed in a personal appeal to the
President.
A growing feeling in the media is that
the President is inaccessible to the press.
The Jewish News Commentary inaccessi-
bility adds to the evidence.
The time for urgent and earnest action
is at hand.
Yiddish on agenda .. .
nostalgically attuned
Yiddish admittedly has declined. The
Holocaust rendered it the severest blow.
Assimilationist intrusions into Jewish life
added to the dismay.
Nevertheless, there, is the nostalgic
that gives it life and provides endurance.
There is a love for the rich Yiddish litera-
ture that gives it substance.
Then there are the translators, those
who are keeping the Yiddish literary trea-
sures alive and who find the wisdom em-
bedded in thefascinating proverbs and the
legendary, who retain the language in the
limelight.
Exemplary
is the reap-
pearance, as a
paperback, of
Hooray for
.Yiddish
by
Leo Rosten
(Touchstone
Books, a
Simon and
Schuster sub-
sidiary). Ros-
ten has al-
ready gained
fame for his
The Joys of
Yiddish, and
Leo Rosten
other works in
which the language is a landmark of lin-
guistic inspiration.
Rosten is known as the inspirer of
many chuckles, and Horray for Yiddish
multiplies the joy of reading the English
INV
versions and relishing the backgrounds.
Jokes and epigrams are truly garnished
with hilarious stories, and the result is the
"riotous English" into which the Yiddish
legacies have been translated in the Ros-
ten brilliance.
An introduction to this book serves as
a classic essay about Yiddish, its back-
ground, suggesting the author's love for
the tongue, the Mame Loshen, the lan-
guage inherited from mother.
There is a continuing excellence in
Yiddish literary writing, as is currently
evidenced in the impressive collection of
essays by Wolf Snyder, which has just been
released under the title Literarishe un His-
torishe Essayen. Snyder, with a record of
achievement as an educator who was the
principal of Yiddish schools in New York
and Detroit, is also a translator of note. In
that classification, he is accurate and
would never distort nomenclature, as some
would-be translators have recently done by
referring to Sholom Aleichem as Mister
Aleichem.
Snyder's skill as translator became
evident when he did an accompanying
piece at the request of this writer.
There
are many in-
terested per-
sons, more
than is ap-
parent by the
lessened
readership
on the circu-
lation lists of
Yiddish
newspapers,
magazines"
and books.
Locally, for
example,
there is the
Wolf Snyder
lover of Yid-
dish who has also written many inspired
poems. Elisheva Paluda Atlas writes with
concern about the language. She seeks
avenues for its expansion. She submitted a
poem entitled Unzer Yiddishe Shprakh —
"Our Yiddish Language." Since it could not
be published here in its original, the help of
Wolf Snyder was solicited, and this is what
he provided in the English text of Elisheva
Atlas's expression of love for the language:
The Yiddish language
BY ELISHEVA ATLAS
Translated by Wolf Snyder
I am (the) Yiddish tongue
whose sweet and tender sound
was heard in every Jewish home
not so long ago.
I am (the) Yiddish tongue
its users not many have remained
but many prayers still are written in it
with love.
I am (the) Yiddish word
that knocks at every door:
so let me in, I beg.
I feel a place in every Jewish home.
I am Yiddish —
a tongue not to be forgotten,
in its bosom Jewish tears
are hidden with its tunes.
I am (the) Yiddish tongue.
Do not let me be forgotten
There is glory in the supportive for
Yiddish, and the high level of scholarship
accompanying it is thrilling. Yet, there are
also the banalities. There is a "street Yid-
dish" that has enchanted either the
newly-acquired advocates of a Yiddish re-
vivalism and the many who would like to
hold tight to the legacies, mostly from
grandparents. In the latter sphere there
are the oft-evidenced crudities. There are
banalities which are not often exposed —
mostly out of respect for the language itself
and for the inheritance from traditional
homes.
In this
sphere,
without of-
fending him,
there
is
Michigan
State Sena-
tor Jack Fa-
xon. He loves
to pun in
Yiddish. For
the scholarly
like
Wolf
Snyder, or
Sarah and
Moshe
Friedman
Jack Faxon
who estab-
lished the
Chair for the Training of Yiddish Teachers
at Bar-Ian University, and many others
like them, the Faxon approach is a banal-
ity. Yet, he draws laughs, and the very love
for Yiddish demonstrated by the Michigan
legislator is admirable. It should be re-
membered that Faxon is not the shtetl
product. He was born on Euclid Avenue
and whatever he utters in his ferharteten
Yiddish
fractured language — merits
applause mixed with the hopes that he will
aim at correcting crudities.
Wherever he appears, as he did at the
Magen David Adorn event in honor of
Helen and Paul Zuckerman, Jack Faxon
seeks Yiddishized applause. Since his
familiarity with the language is acknowl-
edged, there is hope he'll polish up his de-
livery.
Thus, the story of the struggle for Yid-
dish is retold, and the functioning of the
language on an active agenda is recorded.
The nostalgic is alive!
nored. Community services are always
means of expressing gratitude.
The Detroit Round Table of the Na-
tional Conference of Christians and Jews
has honored many people of distinction.
Henry Ford II and Max M. Fisher were
among the honorees. The late Nate Shap-
ero, Alan Schwartz and others too numer-
ous to mention have been recognized for
their services to the National Conference
of Christians and Jews (NCCJ). Especially
meritorious is the role played in these
ranks by Leonard N. Simons. His interest-
ing book, Simons Says, takes into account
the importance of the Detroit Round Table.
This year's Round Table award reci-
pient at the annual event in November will
be Judge Damon Keith. His selection calls
for special acclaim.
Pierrot on Naguib
The NCCJ singles out Judge Damon Keith.
—
The death in Cairo, on Aug. 28, of
Mohammed Naguib, who was chiefly re-
sponsible for the military coup that ousted
from power King Farouk of Egypt in July
1952, brings to memory an incident related
to Israel.
A famous Detroiter, the late George F.
Pierrot, had met with Naguib before
Naguib was ousted by Gamal Abdel Nasser
and placed under house arrest, where he
lingered for 17 years. Pierrot reported to us
at the time that Naguib was readying a
plan for peace with Israel.
Pierrot was confident that under
Naguib there would have been a lasting
peace pact with Israel. The Pierrot-Naguib
interview is worth recalling.
Damon Keith the judge ,
of great merit, the citizen
with a sense of justice
An active community like ours has a
plethora of testimonials. Merit is never ig-
He is a good judge, as lawyers opinion-
ate, and he is an admired citizen. His selec-
tion for the perennial award is cause for
special attention.
It is as the citizen who is among the
spokespeople who seek to advance the
cause of Good Will, which is a basic princi-
ple in the ideals propagated by the NCCJ
that he possesses a position of leadership.
He is a power in the black community, in
the sense of his having elevated the princi-
ples of cooperation and a sense of honor
among the races and religions that he has
helped write the most glorious chapter in
race relations.
In an era when the suspicious and less
courageous give emphasis to divisiveness
rather than unity between Jews and
blacks, he has contributed immensely
toward an assurance of the desired Good
Will.
Much glory to the Detroit Round Table
of Christians and Jews for having named
Damon Keith, U.S. Appeals Court judge,
the 1984- honoree.
CAPITOL REPORT
U.S.-Soviet cooperation
on Mideast termed unlikely
BY WOLF BLITZER
Special to The Jewish News
Washington — The situation in the
Middle East will probably come up during
Secretary of State George Shultz's meeting
with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei
Gromyko next week at the United Nations,
but only in passing. It is unlikely to arise at
all during President Ronald Reagan's
meeting with the Soviet minister in Wash-
ington Sept. 28.
U.S. officials at the White House and
the State Department noted that there was
absolutely no interest in the Reagan Ad-
ministration of seeking Soviet cooperation
in the Arab-Israeli diplomatic arena. The
Soviets are widely seen by U.S. officials as
strictly negative in their approach.
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