Newspaper Page Text
Page Six T II E
—- '
The Southern Israelite
Published weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises Inc. Suite
201-205 Glenn Building, Atlanta 3. Georgia. Walnut 0791-0792. M.
Stephen Schlffer, publisher; Adolph Rosenberg editor; Willy Pels,
business manager. Entered as second class matter at the post office,
Atlanta, Georgia, under the Act of March 3, 1879 Yearly subscrip
tion, three dollars. The Southern Israelite invites literary contribu
tions and correspondence but Is not to be considered as sharing the
views expressed by writers. Deadline Is 9:00 a. m. Wednesday but
material received earlier will have a much better chance of pub
lication.
Scouting and Parents
Current observance of Boy Scout Week is a reminder
of one of the finest youth moveme/its ever to find a place
in America and how negligible its active support has fall
en arnong Jewish groups in Atlanta and elsewhere in the
South, at least.
Scouting, which fills a segment in the wholesome
roundness of the development of American youth which
no Jewish organization occupies, has a deserved foothold
at the Ahavath Achim Educational Center. Here the A. A.
Brotherhood has performed staunchly in promoting the
potentialities of the Boy Scouts and its companion group,
Cub Scouts, for younger boys.
A special “Scout Hut” has been built and it is hoped
that a resurgence of interest will bring the Scouting in
fluence to a growing circle of members.
Earlier during the Boy Scouts’ 39-year-old history, At
lanta Jewry gave more earnest support to Scouting and
other troops flourished, aiding materially in both physi
cal and moral training of young men. When the assimila-
tionist idea took hold and it was thought unsocial to have
Jewish youth segregated in Jewish troops, the movement
rapidly lost popularity. Responsible too was the fact that
boys, along with their parents, were finding other inter
ests, as often as not unwholesome and non-character
forming. The virtual inter-city “disapora” had effect too.
It is especially interesting to note that one of the strong
advantages of Scouting is the close relationship and co
operation it entails for parent and child, without which it
cannot be a focal point of sustained activity and influence.
A Jewish mother recently typified the parental passivity
which has prevented Scouting from reaching those it
might assist today. When the possibility of her son join
ing was put before her, she was willing enough to buy
the kid a uniform—but give the time the organization
might have asked of her? That was out of the question. /
We should like to see the Scouting movement spread,
not only because of the promise it holds for Jewish youth
but because of its implications for bettering parental re
sponsibilities and relationships within the flimsy frame
work of our sophisticated families.
Lincoln's Unfinished Fight
GUEST EDITORIAL
We celebrate the birthdays of our great men in curious
ways. Take Abraham Lincoln, for example, born 140 years
ago today. We eulogize him in print and from the plat
form. We proclaim his deeds and take pride in Ms great
ness. That is all very well. No praise is too great for the
Great Emancipator. But is that enough?
Over eighty years have passed since Abe Lincoln died.
In this period there have been many extensions of demo
cracy along the lines that were dearest to his heart. But
have we really made all the advances he envisaged?
Would he be truly satisfied with the state of this Union
if, by some miracle, he returned today?
In 1863 Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation,
designed to usher in an era of equal rights for all men.
Yet, today, in many parts of the country, Negroes are
still second-class citizens. And not Negroes alone; others,
too, because of religious or ancestry, are similarly de
prived of equal opportunity for schooling, for housing
and jobs.
There can be no doubt that if Lincoln were alive today
he would stand behind the report of the President’s Com
mittee on Civil Rights, which unmasks the un-American
ism of racial and religious discrimination. He would be
leading the nation-wide effort to abolish this evil.
And Abe Lincoln would be taking the stump for an
other great humanitarian movement: to amend the law
which the last Congress enacted for thfe admission of dis
placed persons. Gravest iniquity in this law is the provis
ion that no one shall be eligible for entry to the United
States who arrived in a DP camp after the end of the war
in Europe.
This arbitrary “cut-off” date blasts the hopes of many
displaced persons who had the courage to return to their
homelands at the end of hostilities, only to find that Nazi
domination had been replaced by a political regime which
was equally intolerable to freedom-loving people. And so
these dauntless pilgrims made their way back across
Europe—back to the DP camps. There they have lan
guished for years.
While the free nations of the world have a crying need
for men and women of skill, energy and democratic
faith, hundreds of thousands of such people still remain
uprooted, as useless as fruit withering on the vine.
The platform on which Abe Lincoln was reelected m
1864 declared that “foreign immigration, which in the past
has added so much wealth, development of resources, and
increase of power to this nation—the asylum of the op
pressed of all nations—should be fostered and encouraged
by a liberal and just policy.”
In the present DP law Lincoln would see not a “liberal
and just policy”, but grave inequity, and he would fight
to have it changed.
One mark of Lincoln’s greatness was his readiness to
SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, February 11, 194f
PANORAMA by David Schwartz
Lincoln and Zion
There have been many Pres
idents—as far back as John
Adams—who expressed sympa
thy ydth the idea of the resto
ration of a Jewish state, but I
had never known that Lincoln
was one of these. However, my
friend Philip Slomovitz has
called my attention to a recent
book which refers to a plea
made to Lincoln on this score
by a Christian Zionist.
The man who approached
Lincoln to obtain his support
for Zionism was a Canadian,
Henry Wentworth Monk. The
story is told in a biography of
Monk by Richard S. Lambert.
According to the author, the
meeting between the Canadian
and Lincoln occurred just after
the President had issued the
Emancipation Proclamation.
Lincoln discovering that Monk
was a Canadian asked how the
people of his country looked
upon the Emancipation Procla
mation. Monk said he and they
liked it very much, but added
that there could be no perma
nent peace in the world until
the Jews also were emancipat
ed. The Jews in America and
some other progressive lands,
said Monk, might be free, but
there were many millions who
were not.
Lincoln replied that Monk’s
idea was a noble one, adding
characteristically that his chi
ropodist, Dr. Zacharie, was a
Jew' and he “had put him on
his feet so often, he would like
to give his countrymen a leg
up.” But, said Lincoln, this
w'ould have to wait until the
existing crisis was resolved.
I have sometimes tried men
tally to, picture the steps which
made Lincoln sanction Dr.
Zacharie’s attempt to end the
war by contacting Southern
leaders. In my mind’s eye, I see
the President reposing on his
BETWEEN US, by Boris Smolar
Shape of U. S.—Israel Cooperation
From now on nothing con
cerning American participation
in the development of the Mid
dle East will be undertaken by
Washington without first con
sulting Israel . . . This was in
dicated informally by high offi
cials in the State Department
after they heard a report from
an American Jewish labor
leader who just returned from
a visit to Israel . . . The offi
cials made no secret of the fact
that large economic plans, in
which Israel will have a share,
are now being mapped out by
the U. S. Government for the
benefit of the Middle Eastern
countries . . . President Tru
man is greatly satisfied with
the fact that British Foreign
Minister Ernest Bevin has lost
out on the issue of recognition
of Israel . . . Bevin’s loss of
face is a personal triumph for
Truman . . . There was not
much love lost between Bevin
and Truman over the Palestine
issue . . . And it was Truman’s
view that has finally won out
in England.
Minor Memos:
Americans with all aspects of
life in Israel . . .
Baruch Diener, Hollywood
representative of the Israeli-
American Film Company, has
disclosed that the erection of a
sound, stage and a laboratory
will begin this month on a 15-
acre tract donated by the Israeli
Government . . . The capitaliza
tion for the film project, which
is a conventional profit-making
enterprise, has been set at
$800,000 . . . Half of this sum
has been raised in Israel, and
the remainder will be raised in
the United States through the
sale of stock . . .
Although the shares have not
yet been issued in this country,
$200,000 has already been
pledged . . . And speaking of
film projects, high praise must
be given to the Zionist Organi
zation of America for the first
set of 12 filmstrips on Israel
produced by its education de
partment . . . These films are
the beginning of a film library
on Israel and lend themselves
for use either by youth or adult
groups . . . Each film costs only
bed and-Dr. Zacharie working
on his feet.
The President is speaking,
“Zacharie,” says Lincoln, “why
do you think an attempt to
bring about peace now would
succeed? And why do you think
you would succeed at it? After
all, you are a chiropodist, not—
a diplomat.”
“Mr. President,” said the Chi
ropodist, “what brpught about
the present condition of things?
The callousness of the people
and you know we chiropodists
are always dealing with cal
louses.” •
In any event, it is a very in
teresting fact that while this
Jewish chiropodist was asking
1 for permission to go to Rich
mond and bring about an end
of the war, a Canadian Chris-
’ tian was besieging Lincoln to
help emancipate the Jews and
restore Zion,
Henry Wentworth Monk was
the kind of a Zionist we should
have in our Zionist organiza
tions. He not only went to see
. Lincoln about it. He went to
Palestine himself and for a time
worked in a Jewish farm col
ony. Incidentally, the first
Jewish agricultural colony in
Palestine was started by an
other Christian Zionist, a Phil
adelphian by the name of War
der Cressen. Monk and Cresson
appeared to have known each
other and helped one another.
Monk visualized a restored
Israel as being a place to which
not only Jews would return,
but also Christians who wanted
to live on a less commercial
plane. He dreamed of this re
stored Israel as bridging the
chasm between Jew and Gen
tile and leading humanity to a
higher plane.
$4.00 and is accompanied by a
full narration . . . Projection is
accomplished with a 35 mm
filmstrip projector which can
easily be rented or bought and
is simple to operate . . .
The films show the various
types of Jews in Israel, the
Holy Places, the industries of
Israel, the cultural institutions,
work on the land, military
training, the rehabilitation of
refugees, the various modern
and ancient cities, and other
aspects of life in the Jewish
state.
What About That?
By Rabbi Samuel J. Fox’ -
Believe it or not, no less than
2,000 persons have asked for
free tickets to the Weizmann-
Truman dinner which was
scheduled to take place at the
Waldorf-Astoria on Feb. 19 . . .
Now that the dinner has been
postponed until April 23, the
number of persons who think
that they are entitled to free
tickets will, no doubt, increase
. . . But very few such tickets
will be issued . . . Even tickets
to the press will be limited tc
one for each of the larger Ne\*
York newspapers and news
agencies . . . The establishment
of a Jewish department is now
being planned by the Asia In
stitute of New York, with a
view', primarily, to acquainting
QUESTION: What is “Cham-
isha Asar B’shvat?”
ANSWER: “Chamisha Asar
B’shvat” is one of the minor
Jewish festivals. Its name
means “the fifteenth day of the
Hebrew month of Shvat.”
Nevertheless, in the lives of
Jewish youth, especially in Is
rael, it has assumed grfcat sig
nificance.
QUESTION: What is the ori
gin of this festival?
ANSWER: The Mishnah de
scribes this day as as the an
cient Jewish Arbor Day. It
came to be a day when no pen
itential prayers werei allowed
in the synagogue so as not to
dampen the mood of the day.
QUESTION: What signifi
cance does the festival have in
modern times?
ANSW’ER: During the past
historic decades, this festival
served as the link between the
Diaspora and Israel. It has now
become the official Israeli Ar
bor Day, when the planting of
new trees is marked by all.
Israel Reborn
Israel reborn our homeland it has become,
By dogged determination we have won,
A weaker people would not have survived,
But persecution has made us strong,
With pride and Joy we’ve come into our own.
No more like stepchildren will we roam,
Our adopted countries we’ll love and cherish,
In Israel our refuge, we will not perish.
Feb. 5, ’49 Griffin, Ga. GUSSIE DEICH
acknowledge mistakes in judgment. He once wrote to
Horace Greeley, “I shall try to correct errors when shown
to be errors.”
We hope that the new Congress will be as fortright as
Honest Abe. We hope it will recognize the faults in the
Displaced Persons Act adopted by its predecessor, and
will take remedial action without further delay.
^ewiil dafendar
PURIM
Tuesday, March 15
PASSOVER
Wednesday, April 13
(First Seder)
Thursday, April 14
(First Day)
Thursday, April 21
(Last Day)
LAG B’OMER
Tuesday, May 17
SHAVUOUS
Friday, June 3
TISHAH B’AV
Thursday, August 4