Newspaper Page Text
THE
SOUTHERN
ISRAELITE
Fridoy, August 20, 1954
Page Four
The Southern Israelite CAPITAL SPOTLIGHT by Milton Friedman
Publitkad Weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises, 390 Courtland St., N. E.
Atlanta 3, Georgia. Elgin 1249, Elgin 8240. Entered os second class matter at the post
office, Atlanta, Georgia, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Yearly subscription three dol
lars. The Southern Israelite invites literary contributions end correspondence but it not
to be considered at sharing the views expressed by writers. DEADLINE is 12:30 9. M.,
TUESDAY but material received earlier will have a much better chance of publication.
Member, American Association of English-Jtwith Newspapers
ADOLPH ROSENBERG, Editor and Eublithor
ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT
GUSTAV OPPENHEIMER MARGARET MERRYMAN
i
MEMBERS OF ADVISORY BOARD
Meyer Salter
Sol Benamy
Dr. Nathan Blau
Dr. Jock Bleich
Joe Cohen
Reuben Cohen
Frank Gorton
Dave Gershon
Abe Goldberg
Dt. Irving Goldstein
Harry Harrison
Hymon Jacobs
Edword Krick
Sam Levy
Irving Libowtky
Thomas Mokover
Ben Motsell
Barney Medintz
Hymon Morris
Eugene Oberdorfer
Gustav Oppenheimer
Berry Rittenboum
Meyer Rosenberg
Phil Schwarts
Dave Slann
Harry Spitzer
A. D. Srochi
Kalman Sunshine
Arthur Weiss
Sam Weinberg
Paul Wolkin
BIBLE COLUMN by D. Ben Aharon
Soil Conservation in the Bible
The Hebrew Bible was the first
to establish a law on soil conser
vation.
It is only within the past few
decades that governments have
taken steps to conserve soil. The
United States officially inaugurat
ed its soil conservation program
in 1933 with Dr. Walter C.
Lowdermilk as one of the chief
experts.
Farmers, of course, realized that
the soil could be over-worked.
To offset the harm done they
formulated a program involving
a yearly rotation of crops. But
this, too, did not help much. Mil
lions of acres of American farm
lands now lie fallow and useless.
"What the farmers and government
experts failed to realize is the
fact that the earth, like a human
being ,is a living, dynamic entity
needing periodic rest.
The Mosiac Law, having its
Source in the Master Architect,
decreed that the earth should l?e
Allowed to rest one whole year
within a period of seven. The fol
lowing from Leviticus, chapter 25,
speaks for itself:
“When ye come into the land
which I give you, then shall the
land keep a sabbath unto the
Lord. Six years shalt thou sow
thy field, and six years shalt thou
prune thy vineyard, and gather
in the produce thereof. But in the
seventh year shall a sabbath of
solemn rest for the land, a sabbath
unto the Lord; thou shalt neither
sow thy field, nor prune thy
vineyard. That which groweth of
itself of thy harvest thou shalt
not reap, and the grapes of thy
undressed vine thou shalt not
gather; it shall be a year of
solemn rest for the land .And the
sabbath-produce of the land shall
be for food for you. for thee, and
thy servant and for thy maid, and
for thy hired servant and for the
settler by thy side that sojourn
with thee; and for thy cattle, and
for the beasts that are in thy land,
shall all the increase thereof be
for food. (Verses 3-7)
Hatred Via the Postman
QUIZ BOX by Rabbi Samuel J. Fox
Kosher Birds and Animals
• QUESTION: How can one tell
which foul are permissable ac
cording jto Jewish Dietary Laws
and which are not?
ANSWER: The Bible explicitly
enumerates twenty four species of
foul that are not permitted ac
cording to Jewish Dietary Laws.
Even though the Bible does not
state what the distinguishing
marks are that separate the clean
from the unclean ,the oral tradi
tion does elucidate upon this.
Generally, all birds of prey are
forbidden. A bird of prey is dis
tinguished by a test in which, as
it stands on a rope. Another dis
tinguishing feature is that it picks
its morsel of food right out of the
air without waiting for the food
to reach the ground. The following
features are also included in those
Other claws, somewhat like the
forefinger stands apart from the
Human thumb. It has a craw. Its
gizzard can be pealed of its inner
lining very easily by hand. Since
it is not a simple matter to de
termine actually which birds are
permissable the custom has pre
vailed to use only such foul as
has already been accepted by local
tradition.
a *
QUESTION: Is it true that Jews
•re permitted to eat locusts? (HG-
Boston, Mass.)
ANSWER: Amongst certain
Oriental Jews who have amongst
them men who are well versed
in the distinction between the
type of locusts, one might oc
casionally find such a possibility.
Certain kinds of locusts are edi
ble and their distinguishing fea
tures are described in the tradi
tional literature. In Western
••untries it has become a practice
to refrain from eating all such
manner of flying or creeping life.
• * *
QUESTION: How are the kind
of animals permitted for Jewish
consumption distinguished?
ANSWER: This distinction is
given in the Bible explicitly by
two distinguishing signs. An ani
mal which is permitted as food
according to the Jewish Dietary
laws must have cloven hoofs and
must chew its cud. All other ani
mals who do not have both of
these features are prohibited. A
number of these animals are
mentioned by name in the Bible.
Two Congressmen, a Democrat
and Republican, are so alarmed
by the increasing mailing of anti-
Semitic propagranda that they are
trying to determine if the Govern
ment can keep such agitation out
of the mails.
Rep. Samuel N. Friedel, Balti
more Democrat, and Rep. Jacob
K. Javits, New York Republican,
were moved to action by the rising
tid^ of hate tracts in the mails.
Both are mindful, however, of
constitutional guarantees protect
ing freedom of the press and of
speech.
A printed postcard arrived at
Rep. Friedel’s office from a group
calling itself “Christian Political
Action.” The postcard bore the
headline: “Communism is Jewish”.
It said: “Look what savage Juda
ism has produced in Russia . . .
Jews are stealthily foisting Com
munism on the Christian people
of America just as they forced it on
the Christian people of Russia.”
Rep. Friedel sent the postcard
to the Postmaster General to de
termine if it was lawfully mailable.
Because it originated in Detroit,
Mich., the Detroit Postmaster was
also concerned. Postal authorities
studied the question very carefully.
Abe McGregor Goff, Chief So
licitor of the Post Office Depart
ment, reported to Rep. Friedel
that “there is no postal law for
bidding the mailing of matter di
rected against a particular race
or religion, or religious group,
per se.”
But the officials had noticed
that the card defamed the late
Rabbi Stephen S. Wise. Therefore,
Mr. Goff said, “in view of the
obvious intent to reflect injuriously
upon the character of the individ
ual named, this card was held to
be non-mailable under the pro
visions of Section 36.*4 (B), Postal
Laws and Regulations of 1948,
U. S. and the Postmaster was so
advised.”
Postal authorities indicated they
were aware of the recent increase
in bulk mailings of anti-Jewish
matter even before Rep. Friedel
called it to their attention. While
they could and did act in the case
of the Detroit postcard because
of regulations pertaining specific
ally to postcards, there is nothing
they can do legally to restrict even
the basest racism from going out
through other classes of mail. Even
if the department could crack
'down, the officials admit it is
questionable whether they would
do so because of constitutional
freedoms permitting the widest
range in expression of ideas.
However, in the case of pro-
Communist propagranda, a senti
ment exists for by- passing the
Bill of Rights in order to suppress
Communism. This was indicated
when legislation was recently in
troduced by Rep. Katherine St.
George, New York Republican.
The St. George bill would deny
second and third class mailing
privileges to Communists mailing
propaganda. Rep. St. George was
advised and aided by the Post
Office Department.
Rep. Javits has introduced a
number of bills, none of which
has ever emerged from the com
mittee, to curb the dissemination
by mail of libels against religious
and racial groups. It is Rep. Javits’
view that “our attention is being
held by the effort to expose Com
munists and subversives and root
them out of key positions. While
this is going on, the lunatic fringe
on the right wing is having a field
day. Under the cover of anti
communism, it is transmitting a
newly-increased stream of violent
hate propaganda through the
mails.”
He said “the deep current con
cern of the country with Congres
sional investigations of Commu
nism and subversion, and the
protests against the excesses in
such investigations, appear to be
the opportunity they have sought
to parade their (Propaganda) . . .
.. Under the guise of participation
in the anti- Communist struggle*
Rep. Javits submitted to ths
Post Office Department, through
a House resolution of inquiry,
asked about ten particularly ob
jectionable publications which
have emerged throughout the
country. They included many pre
viously listed by major Jewish
organizations as defamatory.
Associated with Rep. Javits on
this issue is his expert administra
tive assistant, Roy H. Millenson.
Mr. Millenson noted and studied
the tatics by which anti-Semitic
material enjoys and exploits mail
ing privileges indirectly financed
by the taxpayers. Devoting him
self to this critical problem, Mr.
Millenson did extensive research
on behalf of Rep. Javits. While
anxious for a solution, Mr. Millen
son insists that it must be in accord
with constitutional principles.
Mr .Millenson feels protection
of free speech does not necessari
ly mean that we should not define
criminal libel for what it is, or
that we should not prohibit the
use of the mails in cases where
incitement to prejudice threaten*
the very foundation of our society.
The Javits resolutions propose
that the Postmaster General pro
vide the facts, and that an inves
tigation be conducted by the House
Committee on Post Office.
Rep. Javits summed up the
situation in a statement to the
House. He said: “The deep concern
of the country with internal se
curity and Communist infiltration,
subversion, and aggression, should
not be permitted to divert us 8#
as to afford a cover for hate pro
paganda distributed or transmitted
through the mails. To prevent such
exploitation of the deeply anti-
Communist feelings of the people
by ultra-rightists is an equally
vital question of internal security.’*
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