Newspaper Page Text
Friday. October 15, 1948
Page Four
THE S O T THERN ISRAELITE
The Southern Israelite
Putlishec weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises Inc. Suitt
201-205 Glenn i.milling, Atlanta 3, Georgia. WAlnut 0791-0792 M.
Stephen Schiffer, publisher; Adolph Rosenberg, editor; Willy Pels,
business manager. Entered as second class matter at the post of-
Hce, Atlinta, Georgia, under the Act of March 3. 1079 Yenrlj
description, three dollars. The Southern Israelite invites literar
contributions and correspondence l ut is not to be considered ar
sharing the views expressed by writers. Deadline is 9:00 a. m
Wednesday but material received earlier Will have a much better
chance of publication.
About Displaced Persons
Our recent editorial referring to displaced persons has
been grossly misinterpreted as a condemnation for all D.
P’s and so we feel a clarification of our position is in
order. It seems strange that in view of our past all-out
support that we should be* challenged on this score, but
for the record we are glad to repeat and delineate our
views.
The Southern Israelite hereby reaffirms its unalterable
faith in support of a solution to the D. P. problem. We
believe these people are thr? unfortunate and completely
unjust victims of inhumanity. We believe they have a
right to a place under the sun where they can pursue
their daily lives with the full dignity of human beings,
where they can follow their own inclinations to worship,
to work, to live and to rest.
To this end, we have in good faith devoted our energies
in the past and we will do so in the future.
Latter Day Torquemada
GUEST EDITORIAL
From Spain, land of Torquemada and the Inquisition,
and in our own day of Franco and Fascism, comes a new
definition of what constitutes immorality. Stimulating
sympathy, understanding or love for Jews is immoral,
according to the decision of the ecclesiastical member of
the Film Censorship Board in Madrid. The reverent
cleric of the Film Censorship Board released this sermon
of hate on a waiting world in connection with the film
“Gentleman’s Agreement ” He rejected it for distribution
in Spain on “moral” grounds, because the film dares as
sert that for many Jews it is a matter of pride to be
called Jews.
It should be noted with satisfaction that before twenty-
four hours passed after the release of this medieval blasl
of fanatical anti-Semitism, such outstanding Catholics
in the United States as Cardinal Spellman and the Rev.
John La Farge disowned it in no uncertain terms. “Cath
olic doctrine follows the Commandment of God thou shalt
love the Lord they God . . . and thy neighbor as thyself,”
declared the Cardinal. Rev. La Fargo similarly stated
that the Spanish cleric's statement is contrary to Cath
olic doctrine.
But gratifying as the above statements are, they do not
in themselves serve to dispel the impression created bv
the attack in Madrid. As Jews it is not up to us to discuss
the validity of various iforms of Catholic doctrine. But wo
cannot help being shocked that in 1948, only little more
than three years after the defeat of Nazi Germany, any
one should have the temerity to issue pronunciamentos
of this sort. That Spain is a fascist country is too well
known to need additional proof. But that fascist minded
persons, be they clergy or laymen, should today be so
brazen about their savage “morality” is enough to shake
one out of whatever little complacency one may be in
clined to feel. Even “our own” Father Coughlin in his
heyday felt constrained to hide behind a fig leaf af “good
Jews.” Not so in Spain 1948. There the policies of the In
quisition seem to flower to this day.
Despite the repudiation of this anti-Jewish outburst
in Madrid by Cardinal Spellman and other prominent
Catholics, the incident is not closed. One does not fight
incitement to crime with mere verbal condemnation. The
Catholic Church, to the best of our knowledge, is not a
free debating society. It adheres to rigidly formulated
doctrines which it holds to be eternal. Neither does it, to
the best of our knowledge, tolerate deviations from the
accepted doctrines on the part of its clergymen. Cardinal
Spellman stated that the doctrine df loving one’s neigh
bor is “Catholic doctrine in Rome, Jerusalem, Madrid
and in Kabul. It was Catholic doctrine 2000 years ago. It
is Catholic doctrine today and will be Catholic doctrine
forever.” It remains to be seen whether any action will
follow these words. If the cleric in Madrid does not be
have in the true Catholic spirit we are entitled to expect
that he will not only be criticized, but will also be un
frocked. If no concrete measures are taken against him
by those who vested him with religious authority to
judge on what is moral and what isn’t, could we be
blamed were we to entertain misgivings?
It will be worth while to watch developments in this
incident with careful attention.
PANORAMA by David Schwartz
Succoth—and Jacob’s Cunning
Iheie is ?n appeal aba. t
Succoth that transcends that of
most of the Jewish holidays.
Succoth winds up in the very
gala hilarity of Simchct Torah.
Well, there are other joyous
holidays. Purim is also a day
of carnival joy, but its joy is
not the wholesome kind of
Succoth. Purim makes the tri
umph over an enemy That is
a joy, but it is a joy that at the
same time suggests pain. Suc
coth is joy at merely being, the
joy that comes from the har
vesting of the fruits of the
field, the joy of living, of la
boring and loving. It is a more
natural festival and a more
human festival. It is the kind
of holiday—the thanksgiving
days—that every people have
Jewish legend associates
Jacob with the founding of
Succoth. At first sight, this ap
pears a not very happy thing.
Of the three Hebrew patri
archs, Jacob is the least glam
orous. Abraham seems so much
more lofty, Isaac so much more
saintly. We search for spots in
them and cannot find them
They seem to have oeen born
for distinction. But not so Ja
cob. He is full of the ills of
human flesh.
Let us take a look at his
record.
But let’s look more closely,
as Gixi is supposed to look
when he weighs man m the
scales. Let us look as the psy
chologist does. The psycholo
gist asks why Jacob behaved
as he did.
What does the record show?
The Biblical account tells us
that while Jacob “sat in the
tents," Esau was a man of act
ion, beloved of his father, for
bringing home the vension.
Esau was the success, the ex
trovert. ‘.he man of action. He
had a house in the country,
two automobiles and a seat on
the stock exchange. Jacob, on
the other hand, wore eye
glasses, used to borrow a lot of
books from the library and sit
and read them “in the tents.”
His father used to say go him:
“Why don’t you go out and
make a lot of money like
Esau'.”' The only one to stand
up for him was his mother.
She would take Jacob’s side,
but her love was probably
more compassion than any
anything else. We all love the
successful ones. She had pity
on Jacob. She knew that Jacob
wasn’t good for much more
than reading books and that if
he went out with his gun to
shoot a deer, the gun would
accidentally go off and he
would shoot himself. And yet
to say that Jacob is interior is
to miss the truth. He has, it is
true, an inferiority complex,
but an inferiority complex is
something in itself proof of a
kind of superiority .The doubts,
the hesitancies of man, while
from one aspect are a sign of
weakness, at the same time
show a thoughtfulness, a sen
sitivity that the man of action
sometimes lacks.
But one cannot live in a
steady climate of failure- Jacob
learns that he can sometimes
hold back the forces of this
cruel world and bring about a
crude sort of justice. Encour
aged by his mother, Rebecca,
he falls in with her plan to de
ceive Isaac and win the pater
nal blessing. As a matter of
fact, Rebecca is the sponsor of
this idea. Rebecca is a very
fine woman. Why does she
concoct such a plan? It is very
simple. She reasons; “What the
devil does Esau need any more
blessing'.’ He's got all he wants.
If anybody needs a blessing, it
is Jacob."
The incident teaches Jacob
a lesson He leaves his mother’s
apron strings and finds the
outside world more cruel. He
gets a job with Uncle Laban
and what does Uncle Laban
do? He promises to give Jacob
his daughter Rachel for a wife.
Seven years go by. The wed
ding takes place and when the
veil is lifted, Jacob sees that
Uncle Laban has palmed off
the less attractive Leah. Well,
Jacob can be shrewd, too.
In fact he must be shrewd
if he is to survive. He makes
an agreement to wait seven
wont to do. There is not too
much ethics about him, but he
feels he cannot help it. We see
that he is actually more ethi
cal, more spiritual minded than
his brother. We are told of
Jacob dreaming of seeing a lad
der on which angels go up and
down and he argues and con
tends with the angels. Never
would Esau spend time dream
ing about angels.
Jacob, in brief, is the finer
man, struggling in a hostile
world, trying to walk on a high
plane, but often finding this
impossible and failing, but al
ways dreaming, contending
with the angels, striving for
the finer things.
So it is that when we exam
ine his record more closely, the
very spots that discolor him
seem to make him more attrac
tive. We love him because he
is like us, with our pains and
struggles and weak resolu
tions. So the Jews even took
his name and not that of the
other Patriarchs. We are called
Israel, the name given to
Jacob when he contended with
the angels.
Eire’s Kosher Gifts
Heavily Criticized
DUBLIN, (JTA)—The arrival
here of thirty-four schochtim to
prepare 1,000,000 cans of kosher
meat donated by the government
of Eire to Jewish displaced per
sons was featured recently in all
Irish newspapers.
At the same time, the arrival of
the schochtim was made the oc
casion of an anti-shechita cam
paign on the part of certain sec
tions of the press, with the So
ciety for the Protection of Ani
mals participating. Letters from
readers also appeared in several
newspapers attacking the govern
ment for donating the meat to
Jews.
more years tor Rachel's hand
and comes to an understanding
that he is to get a certain per
centage of the cattle—the strip
ped cattle are all to go to him
He has thought out a scheme
by which most of the stock will
be of the striped variety. Yes,
he puts one over on Uncle La
ban. But there is a certain
justice in this as there was in
his wrestling the parental
blessing trom Isaac.
Jacob meets the challenge of
the world as underpriveged are
C cifendur
SUCCOTH
Monday, October 18
First Day
SUCCOTH
Monday, October 25
Eighth Day
HANUKKAH
Monday, December 27
Arnold Levin's
Heard in the Lobbies
While Mr. Levin is on a. mission to Europe, his column is being written by guest
contributors. This week’s columnist is David Weissman, editor of the B’nai B’rith
Messenger of Los Angeles, who tells of the
West.
The Los Angeles Jewish community has grown
in the past two and a half decades from a 60,000
Jewish population in 1924, to a 250,000 plus in
1948. New faces in quantity, means new problems.
In 1924 .Jewish philanthropy, religion, culture and
social life in I.os Angeles were in the hands of
the dominant German-Jewish descendants, with
Russian and other East European immigrants
clamoring for a voice in community affairs, and
receiving either a suave snub or microscopic
selectivity.
There seemed to be little chance for a common
meeting ground between these two elements The
Russian and East European Jews started their
own line of Jewish philanthropy and culture, with
successful results.
The Hitlerian holocaust effected changes in
local ideologies in Los Angeles as in other Jewish
communities in America. And the new influx of
immigration from the East, trained or schooled,
at least, in communal effort, has brought about
a leveling of class distinction in that direction in
Los Angeles Jewry. Today there is hardly any
conflict between the “Yahudim* and the “proete
Yidden.” The greatest factor in breaking down
this divisive factor was the advent of the Jewish
fastest growing Jewish community in the
Community Council.
We cannot, however, lose sight of the one out
standing fact in the solid foundation of life in
the American scene as implemented by our Jew
ish community, and that is Jewish education.
Stimulated by an effected Bureau of Jewish Edu
cation, a department of the Jewish Community
Council, assisted by such national organizations
as the United Synagogues of America (Jewish
Thelogical Seminary) and the American Union
of Hebrew Congregations. Los Angeles is now
the heir to two great college and university level
Jewish educational institutions, the University of
Judaism and the College of Jewish Studies.
Oi course all is not sweetness and light, all is
not loving neighborliness and companionship in
this Jewish community. There is still competition
on the fund raising level for individual organi
zations. One Old Folks Home seems big enough
for the city to some, while others have different
ideas. There is still not enough Jewish commun
ity centers to warrant us to do any boasting and
there is still need, a desperate need for more
hospital beds, for more housing for indigent con
valescents, and, if you will allow me to be face
tious, for more real Jews.