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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday. August 4, 1950
Page Six
The Southern Israelite
Published weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises, Inc., 312
0709 a!*!' N ' E ' Pub,ishers - Atlanta 3, Georgia. WAlnut 0791-
° pb R° s enberg, editor and managing editor. Entered as
TrV r rn0 “ Cr at Ule P0st office - Atlanta, Georgia, under the
i o March 3. 1879. Yearly subscription, three dollars. The
outhern Israelite invites literary contributions and correspond
ence but is not to be considered as sharing the vieyvs expressed by
writers. DEADLINE is 0:00 a. m. WEDNESDAY but material re-
ceived earlier will have a much better chance of publication.
“A Light Unto Life”
— From Our Bible
For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of His mouth cometh knowl
edge ond understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the
righteous; He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
—PROVERBS 2:6,7.
The Price of Freedom
For years Dave Epstein, 78-year-old naturalized citizen
who dwells in Santa Monica, Cal., has been following an
unusual path of action for an American.
As a token of the value he places on the advantages of
freedom, of democracy and all the wonders which go
with the U. S„ he has annually sent a contribution to the
. . Ti easurer because, as he says, “if I had stayed in the
old country under Russia, I wouldn’t have made enough
to be able to give a nickel away.” This year he sent $100
to President Truman to help finance the Korean war,
freedom is priceless. Please accept $100 as my humble
donation to help our country to assure the people of the
world the right to choose their own form of government.”
We do not expect many readers to follow Mr. Epstein’s
example and chip in towards paying for a billion-dollar
war.
But we do call his idealism to the attention of one and
all who if they care not for his particular type of gra-
lousness can at least immolate his feeling by not handi-
capping the war effort through profiteering and hoard
ing.
Atlanta J C C Needs Members
Atlanta’s community center possibilities always seems
to have the power to fire the imagination of joint com
munal action and this year’s campaign for members is
no exception.
T he same recognition of the value of the center is being
demonstrated in development of the new and broader
scope institution as was evidenced in the evolution of the
levered Jewish Educational Alliance which for decades
was a familiar and reliable fixture in the city. Always
there seemed to be people of quite different philosophies
and shades of opinion who were willing to unite in push
ing forward this neutral, as it were, medium for com
munal cultural and recreational needs.
Result was that hardly a single group in Atlanta’s
modern Jewish history has failed to furnish numerous
leadership throughout the years in the old J.E.A. and now-
in the modernizing center.
Does such a stand-bv in a corpmunitv need a sales talk
as the workers go out this year to enlist members? We
think not. The record already made is a substantial one
and demonstrates the values of inspiration and service
a center can mean to a city.
The conversion from the J.E.A. to the remodeled cen
ter facilities literally caught the community in a technical
jam and it has only been through the expanding mem
bership that funds were made available for maintenance
of the two institutions without handicap to the general
program or finances. That conversion process is not yet
completed and continued support is vital and necessary.
We trust the campaign will meet with the success it
merits.
Let the Unsolicited Step Forward
We wish again to call attention to the Atlanta-wide
appeal made by the Jewish Welfare Fund, requesting
donors who were not solicited to come forward volun
tarily with their pledges.
A combination of circumstances prevented workers
during the 1950 campaign from completing all their calls,
what with the usual run of illnesses, out-of-town visitors
and the trolley strike. Officials believe, quite naturally,
that there are several score potential givers, perhaps as
many as a thousand or so who would wish to take part -
in this communal effort.
It is true that our thinking lately has been geared to
the Korean crisis but the situation in the Balkans and the
countries where Jewish people may still escape if they
but had the means remains unchanged. It behooves us
one and all to do our utmost in this direction where our
effectiveness will have the best opportunity of transla
tion into human values.
At the same time, there is the continuous need for cash
with which to continue the numerous tasks begun in the
many countries where the J.D.C. is at work. The program
is directly handicapped by the lack of cash and it is con
servatively estimated that nearly 70,000 persons will be
unable to reach Israel because of the curtainment in the
J.D.C. budget.
Donors, in Atlanta and elsewhere, will be performing
in the highest tradition if they convert pledges into cash
at the earliest opportunity.
PANORAMA by David Schwartz
How They Met
The other night I listened to
a radio program in which
wives told how they met their
husbands—a subject which
lends itself profusely to divert
ing anecdote.
When a penguin, I have read,
discovers another penguin
which has “it” for it and which
it thinks would make a suitable
and intelligent companion thru
the trials and tribulations of
life, it drops a pebble in front
of the would-be mate. If the
other penguin picks up the
pebble, they get out a license,
look for a preacher and the
knot is tied.
That’s a straightforward,
simple and you might say
scientific way, but man seldom
has the honesty for such a
direct approach. Yet among
primitive peoples, there is
something close to this simple
approach.
Even among the Jews, who
were not so primitive in earlier
days, it was the custom for
Jewish maidens to gather on
Yom Kippur and dance and
while the men looked on, sing
songs in which they chanted
their marital desirability. The
good-looking gals would chant
about their comeliness, the less
attractive would warn against
the snares of pulchritude and
emphasize their selling points.
These early Jews had a good
psychological apparently of
what it takes to make a suc
cessful marriage. Eliezer, seek
ing a bride for his master’s son.
Isaac, feels he has found her
when Rebecca at the well pro-
ofers him water form her
pitcher. He had never seen her
before, but she is kind and
generous to a stranger.
An old Jewish proverb has it,
that “fools have pretty wives.’’
Rebecca has “chen” and that is
something else than physican
beauty. That is a kind of spirit
ual, social quality. In English
“chen” might be translated as
charm, and yet there is a little
something different in it.
Charm, it seems, has a little
more austere quality than
“chen." “Chen" has more of the
idea of friendliness in it.
Isaac, one of the “founding
fathers” of the Hebrew people,
found his mate at a well.
George Washington, another
"founding father,” was on his
way to the doctor when he
stopped off at a friend’s house
and there met Martha Custis,
who became his wife. History
does not say whether after
meeting Martha, he went on to
see the doctor. I don’t imagine
that he did. While love cannot
cure illness, I suspect that at
its initial onset, it acts as a
kind of anaesthetic. People in
love are really under a kind of
ether.
I once read a story about
Bernard Baruch, which puts
him something in the class of
the penguin insofar as finding
Jewish Calendar
ROSH HASHONA
Tuesday, September 12
(First Day)
Wednesday, September 13
(Second Day) .
YOM KIPPUR
Thursday, September 21
SUKKOS
Tuesday, September 26
his mate was concerned. He
was Walking along the street
when he saw a young woman
who took his breath away. He
walked up to her and asked if
he might speak to her and she
said, “No, you can’t,” and ran
up the stairs-to her home.
But young Baruch evidently
didn’t believe her “no”; or
maybe being a speculator, as
he now likes to call himself, he
took a chance. Some men of
coufse would have been afraid.
A lady saying “no” might even
call a paliceman—it has been
known to happen—but she
didn’t, she called a preacher—
and they were married.
Some years ago, a young wo
man wrote an article in the old
English section of the Jewish
Daily Forward. After publica
tion of the article, the writer
received a letter from a reader,
who said he was an old man
and who was frankly critical of
the article.
The young woman writer did
not like the sharp criticism and
replied to “the old man.”
Some time later “the old
man” decided to look up the
young woman writer in person.
The "old man," it turned out,
was a handsome young man.
The new developments in
connection with the Korean
situation may have a beneficial
effect on the Arab countries in
their plans with regard to Is
rael , . . Arab leaders who still
dream of a “second round” of
warfare against Israel may
have to give up this dream now
that the United Nations is
gradually succeeding in form
ing an army of its own as a
result of the Korean conflict . . .
It is obvious that if Turkey
and other countries could con
tribute thousands of men for a
U. N. army in Korea, they can
contribute many more thous
ands should the U. N. be forced
to maintain armed forces of its
own in section of Palestine . . .
And it is also obvious that in
case of any slight attempt on
the part of the Arab rulers to
start a new war against Israel,
the United Nations will this
time be in a position to send a
Over 300 lay and professional
leaders of Jewish communities
throughout the country are
serving on committees organi
zed by the Council of Jewish
Federations and Welfare Funds
. . . These committees direct
and guide the work of the
Council’s major departments...
More than 160 Jewish commun
ities were visited during the
last six months by regional di
rectors of the Council of Jewish
Federations and Welfare Funds
. . . They advised the communi
ties and helped them meet their
problems in budgeting, cam
paign organization, coordina
tion of structures . . .
On the other hand, leaders of
more than 100 communities met
during the last six months in
17 regional and zone gatherings
for intimate discussion of com
mon problems . . . Going be
yond discussion, such meetings
have led to combined action by
small and intermediate cities in
meeting problems jointly
And that’s how the Butwins,
who a few years back turned
out that fine translation of
“The Old Country” by Shalom
Aleichem first met—and later
were married.
A sage of the Talmud was
once asked who should do the
pursuing—the man or the wo
man. And his answer was that
since it is generally the person
who has lost something who
does the looking, so it behooves
the man who has lost the rib to
go seeking after it.
Yet I believe if I were a lost
rib, I would be as anxious to
find my brother ribs, as my
brother ribs would to find me.
After all, what can one rib do
alone? It is helpless. I think our
ancient sage was just ribbing.
It is the woman who does the
pursuing and it is perfectly
natural that this should be so,
for to woman, marriage is not
only the satisfying of the cre
ative urge, but most of the time
her entire future, her vocation,
is bound up with it also. To be
sure, woman resorts to the arts
of camouflage in her pursuit,
but the fact that she needs to
have these resorts shows how
much the hunt means to her.
BETWEEN US by Boris Smolar
Military Echoes
On Our Doorsteps
mixed army of its own to check
such an attempt on the spot . . .
Different was the case when
the Arab countries started their
war against Israel to prevent
the establishment of the Jewish
state ... At that time the
United Nations hardly had
enough people to send to Pal
estine as observers . . .
And the formation of a U. N.
army at that time seemed a
far-fetched idea . . . However
now that a. U. N. Army has
been formed and the need for
such an army—composed of
units from various member na
tions—has been acknowledged,’
this army will not be dissolved
even after the Korean conflict
is settled . . . On the contrary,
should the need for such an in
ternational armed force arise
in the Middle East, it will be
fulfilled this time without
much discussion . . .
which no single community is
large enough to handle separ
ately . . .
The B’nai B’rith Foundations
will open their 200th unit this
fall ... It will be a Hillel
Foundation at the Hebrew Uni
versity in Jerusalem .. . At
present the Hillel Foundations
serve more than 150,000 Jewish
students in the United States,
Canada and Cuba. . .
Despite complaints that Jew
ish education in the U. S. is be
ing neglected, the cost of af
fording a Jewish education to
children has quadrupled during
the last 15 years . . . Whereas
in 1935 the sum of about $5,-
000,000 was spent by Jewish
schools and other institutions
engaged in educating children,
more than $20,000,000 will be
spent this year . . . Jewish Fed
erations and Welfare Funds will
probably contribute about $3,-
000,000 this year for Jewish
education.