PURELY COMMENTARY
A Communist Epic
Continued from Page 2
the Yiddisher Kultur Far-
band (YKUF), readers'
circles, summer camps for
adults and especially for
children (Camp
Kinderland is still in ex-
istence). The Morning
Freiheit Association laun-
ched a progressive English
magazine, Jewish Currents
(formerly Jewish Life),
which has grown under
the editorship of Morris U.
Schappes into one of the
important progressive
Anglo-Jewish journals in
the United States. We also
have the important Yid-
dishe Kultur, which for
several decades — Nov.,
1938-April, 1964 — was
edited by Nakhman Meisel
and has been edited since
then by Itche Goldberg.
This magazine too was
established with the aid of
the Morning Freiheit. Up
to the present time it is one
of the most important Yid-
dish literary journals. The
Emma Lazarus Federation
of Jewish Women's Clubs
was likewise created with
the assistance of the
Freiheit, as was another
important institution the
Zhitlowsky Foundation.
Slimming up, we can say
that it was not just another
Yiddish newspaper that
was born in the year 1922:
there came to life an in-
stitution for the extension
of Yiddish culture. Besides
Olgin and Morris Winchev-
sky, it could count such
writerrs as Moishe Katz,
Kalman Marmor, N.
Buchwald and J.B. Bailin
as well as other important
writers. In its pages one
could read the creative
works of Moishe Leib
Halpern, Moishe Nadir,
Mani Leib, Menachem
Boreisho, Abraham
Reisen, Tsvi Hirschkorn,
Jacob Milch, Borukh Glaz-
man and — during the Se-
cond World War — Sholem
Asch, Leon Kobrin,
Abraham Regelson and
others.
It is not possible here to
go into the question of
mistakes that were made —
we were not the only ones
in that regard. Some
writers left us and others
came in. Of importance is
the attitude from the very
outset that brought a new
spirit into the Yiddish
scene both with regard to
working class struggles as
well as in the matter of
creating a Yiddish culture
and cultural institutions.
(Let us not forget the part
played in the newspaper
by a number of important
Soviet-Yiddish writers,
headed by David
46 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1989
Bergelson.)
In its battle for Yiddish
culture and the creation of
Yiddish cultural media, the
Morning Freiheit was
largely effetive in negating
the curse of assimilation,
battling against the
enemies of Yiddish
children's schools, against
the defilers of the Yiddish
language, the purveyors of
yellow journalism — a
means for mass circulation
and greed. From its very
outset the Freiheit, which
became the Morning
Freiheit on June 17, 1932,
when it changed from an
afternoon to a morning
paper, received applause
and recognition not only in
the United States and
Canada but also in Europe
and Latin America.
We should not fail to men-
tion here the base founda-
tion which the Morning
Freiheit helped to create:
the JPFO, a part of the
IWO, with about 50,000
members, a basis for
cultural work, Yiddish folk
schools and publications.
The plague of McCar-
thyism destroyed the
Order and thereby
destroyed an important
mainstay of the Morning
Freiheit. A large number of
former members of the
"Order" were scared away,
thus eliminating many
readers of the Morning
Freiheit.
The Morning Freiheit
was born in "storm and in
battles." (May I take the
liberty here of stating that
I was one of its founders,
the first news editor of this
paper and an associate
beginning from the very
first issue.) From the begin-
ning it followed its path as
a militant workers' and
people's newspaper,
alongside the Communist
Party membership. Since
1956, however, when Nikita
Khrushchev disclosed
Stalin's crimes, the Morn-
ing Freiheit was
characterized by
"glasnost" for 32 years. We
fought the anti-Semitism of
Stalin and Brezhnev,
disclosed and fought the
role of the Kitchkos,
Bolshakovs, Yevseyevs,
Kolenikovs, Modzorians
and other Soviet anti-
Semitic writers. (They
should be called to justice
for their anti-Semitic agita-
tion.) We came out against
Brezhnev's intervention in
Czechoslovakia and
Afghanistan and fought
against the Gomulka-
Gierek anti-Semitism in
Poland that has now been
acknowledged in part.
History has justified us!
Since 1947, when at the
U.N. Andrei Gromyko
pointed to the suffering of
the Jews during the war
against Hitler and said
that the Jewish people
were entitled to a "land of
their own," we have
struggled in favor of a
secure Israel. After Pres.
Truman issued an em-
bargo on the shipment of
weapons to the
beleaguered new Jewish
government, the reders of
the Morning Freiheit
responded to its call for
demonstrations in New
York and other American
cities for "ammunition for
the Haganah." There must
be no cessation of the
struggle for a secure State
of Israel and for peace with
its Arab neighbors.
We are distressed by the
loss of the Morning
Freiheit, a loss that will
surely be felt by broad
elements of the Jewish peo-
ple in the United States,
Canada and other Jewish
centers. The loss is even
greater when it is con-
sidered, as already men-
tioned, that it was more
than a newspaper; it was
an institution for Yiddish
culture., an organ with a
progressive standpoint in
Jewish life on a universal
scale, and for democratic
socialism.
And in particular, the
truly historical achieve-
ment of the Morning
Freiheit has been its con-
sistent struggle for con-
structive Jewish unity in
favor of the people's in-
terests. Under this princi-
ple we actively supported,
without any reservations,
the former American
Jewish Conference as well
as other bodies which
brought together Jewish
organizations having dif-
ferent orientations.
May there be a continua-
tion of the stand of the
Morning Freiheit for the
growth of Yiddish culture,
for the creation of unity
among all positive ele-
ments of Jewish life, and in
the battle against reaction,
chauvinism, fanaticism,
anti-Semitism and all
forms of race hatred!
Let there be no relaxa-
tion of effort; let there be a
continuation of the strug-
gle for progressive Jewish
culture and for building a
healthful Jewish life. Let us
say it in the words of our
own J.L. Peretz:
"Console my people,
It has need of solace;
Brace the heart.
Be not the wind
That extinguishes the
flame,
For night is venom.
Console my people,
It has need of solace."
Ti: from the Yiddish
by David Berger
There is this to be added as
an acknowledgement of the
demise of a sensational leftist
journalistic organ. It had a
venomous period to its
discredit. Linguistically,
Freiheit was faultless. Its Yid-
dish was classic. It never ad-
mitted vulgarities.
Novick had the good for-
tune to have Morris Schap-
pes, editor of Jewish Currents
as his Boswell. Schappes
honored Novick annually at
his magazine's banquet of
readers and financial sup-
porters. At the last of such
yearly events, held May 7,
1989, Novick was the honoree
and recipient of the M.S. Ar-
noni Award. The program
printed for that event includ-
ed the last of Novick's
Freiheit editorials.
An important chapter in
the history of the Jewish
press in America thus is
assured by the Novick-
Freiheit documentary. ❑
Minute Stories
Continued from Page 2
to see the young man put to
death, hurried to the ovens
and arrived before the
young man, who was still
praying in the synagogue.
The vizier didn't see the
boy anywhere, so he asked
the potter, "Did you
remember the promise you
made to the sultan?"
Hearing that, the potter
immediately pushed the
vizier into the hot oven,
and that was the end of
him!
When the boy heard
what had happened, he
rushed to tell the sultan,
who said, "I believed the
vizier when he said you
were trying to kill me. Now
he has been punished for
his lies. If you'll forgive me,
I'll never doubt you again."
The boy forgave the
sultan, and never forgot
how his father's advice had
saved his life.
This complete text gives th
reader an opportunity to test
the "One-Minute" timing.
Of importance in studying
the manner in which an
author becomes enchanted
with the Jewish themes is
like a confessional in Lewis'
introduction, in which she
reveals this family
background:
Grandpa was a rabbi. So
were Uncle Saul and
Cousin Moshe. Daddy was
a professor at Yeshiva
University. However, he
was also official magician
for the City of New York,
while Mother was one of
the music coordinators for
the New York City board of
education. As a child, I was
far more fascinated by the
family's theatricality than
by its Jewishness.
Mind you, I've always
loved the traditions and
reveled in a sense of con-
nection to that extended
family that embraces you
not for what you do, but
simple because you are a
member of the tribe. But I
had never delved into
Jewish literature.
So I began this, my ninth
"One-Minute" story book,
as a literary exercise. It
became a personally stirr-
ing experience.
As the saying goes, "A
writer writes, a reader
reads." In case this bit of
wisdom seems too deep or
too dull-witted, I'll explain:
As a writer, you may think
you know who you are and
what the material means to
you, but you can't begin to
know who the reader will
be, or what background
that reader will or won't
bring to the page.
When I started resear-
ching, I tried to visualize
the reader: a Jewish-
American adult, hoping to
share his or her cultural
heritage with a child
whose frame of reference is
mainly shaped by the im-
ages on television.
What I hadn't calculated
was the emotional impact
that immersing myself in
these simple stories of
Jewish life would have on
me. After all, I'd been
casually exposed to this
material many times
before. It had never touch-
ed me, pained me, thrilled
me, inspired me. This time,
I was ready.
I found myself weeping
as I read of the indomin-
table spirit with which
endless generations of
Jews have faced a hostile
world. I was calmed by the
continuing traditions, and
elated by the strength of
the Jewish people's faith
not only in God, but also in
one another. And my
greatest delight was in the
humor with which they
kept bitterness at bay.
Therefore, not only as a
preservation of Jewish tales
but also as an author's confes-
sional, the Shari Lewis in-
troduction defines her share
in Jewish textual
publishing. D