Newspaper Page Text
Page Eight
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, February 15, 1957
Van Paassen’s New Book Is
Magnificent Story of Israel
A PILGRIM’S VOW. By Pierre van Paassen. The Dial Press.
New York. 344 pares. $3.95.
Reviewed by Joseph A. Loewinsohn
PUTTING TWO AND TWO TOGETHER
France—Israel's Noble A lly
By Rinna Grossman
JERUSALEM, (AJP) — There
The Holy Land has always fas
cinated and beckoned with irres
istible force to many writers, in
cluding Pierre van Paassen, the
brilliant and scholarly author of
“A Pilgrim’s Vow."
Mr. van Paassen’s name is well
known to Atlanta’s Jewish com
munity not only through his many
books on Palestine, his many per
sonal appearances on the lecture
platform, but by his militant
stand in behalf of Zionism. Al
though a non-Jew himself, he has
long been identified with the Zi
onist movement as one of its
most eloquent supporters. He has
the unique distinction of being
the only non-Jew for whom one
of the settlements in Israel has
been named.
Dr. van Paassen - he is an or
dained Unitarian minister - has
visited the Holy Land eleven
times. His newly published book
contains a most profound insight
into the glorious and at the same
time tragic history of the Jewish
people and the life of Jesus of
Nazareth.
This delightful, poignantly
written book stems from the sol
emn vow made by van Paassen
after his miraculous escape from
death in World War 1. God, it
seems, intereceded in his behalf
just at the very crucial and an
guished moment when the author
was entombed in a tunnel togeth
er with his Canadian outfit, the
royal engineers.
“I am going to make a pilgrim-
mage to Palestine, I am going to
walk over the roads where Jesus
walked. I am going to do pen
ance,” was van Paassen’s vow.
With rare and sensitive percept
ion the author recreates with
vividness the authentic atmos
phere and lores of the time of
Pontius Pilate, Herod, Caesar Hi-
berius, King Solomon, the Queen
of Sheba and the Master’s chief
and favorite disciples, Peter, John
and James.
I have read and reviewed every
book written by Pierre van Paas
sen, beginning with his “Days of
Our Years” (published in 1938),
but “A Pilgrim’s Vow” doubtless
reaches the peak of the author’s
long and distinctive literary ca
reer. One can’t help but feel Mr.
van Paassen’s intense and pas
sionate urge to call mankind’s at
tention to the inherent divine na
ture of man, his dignity, his ul
timate glorious destiny in a world
beset with greed, petty quarrels,
intolerance, tyranny and super
ficial Tartuffe-like piety.
Pierre van Paassen is the man
who had the courage to expose
the sinister machinations of the
Jerusalem Mufti against the Jews.
He '»as the first man to inform
the »v>rld of the ghastly massa
cre of the Jews in Safed and
later in Hebron where the Arabs
attacked the house of Rabbi Slon-
im. slitting the throats of 38 per
sons in the room. Rabbi Harry H.
Epstein’s own brother had been
among the victims of that mur
derous attack.
The author describes the scene
of the pogrom - he was there at
7 o’clock in the evening of the
same day and saw the whole
ghastly scene by lamplight: the
slain students in the yard of the
Yeshiva, the dead men in the
synagogue and the bodies of 38
slain in Rabbi Slonim’s house.
Much of the book is dedicated
to the efforts of the Zionists in
rebuilding the ancient Eretz Is
rael. There are many moving
pages written with deep compas
sion and one wonders if there are
any other non-Jews whose hearts
arc attuned to the sorrows per
meating the centuries of bondage
and oppression of the Jewish
people.
Page after page in “A Pilgrim’s
Vow” is filled with colorful de
scriptions of the marvelous work
of reconstruction by the Jewish
people, of the reclamation and
rejuvenation of the long neglect
ed soil of the Holy Land. On the
occasion of visiting the settlement
called Kfar Yeladim, village of
children, Mr. Paassen writes mov
ingly that Kfar Yeladim was an
orphan asylum, the first one in
the world, that was run by the
orphans themselves.
“If I could have had my own
way,” writes van Paassen, “I
would have inscribed above the
entrance gate of Kfar Yeladim
these words of the Master: ‘Suf
fer the little children to come
unto me, and forbid them out.’ ”
But he was careful not to give
expression to his thoughts in the
presence of the colonists. “I
knew,” writes Mr. van Paassen,
“that young as they were, these
children would not like to hear
the name of Jesus mentioned, be
cause the suffering they and their
kinsmen and parents and grand
parents had undergone was all
too often inflicted in the name of
Jesus by men calling themselves
Christians.”
are not many things today which
are particularly heartening for
the average Israeli. Life is hard
and likely to be much harder,
and there are many vital and im
portant aspects of the future
which remain ominously unclear.
People, by and large, have settl
ed down to a sort of somber
scepticism about getting any help
from the outside world. We have
gone it alone before, they say,
and we shall manage to go it
alone once again, if necessary.
But there is one startling and
new exception to all of this; one
thing which has remained heart
warming and uplifting — and
that is the unique quality of the
relationship which has been cre
ated between France and Israel.
No one knows how long it will
last. No one knows if it will
formalize itself into an alliance.
But however one defines this bi
national romance, it is a bright
and clear ray in the general ob
scurity and worry.
Someone who came back to Je
rusalem from a trip to Paris re
cently put it aptly. There is no
other feeling, he said, than can
possibly be compared to the feel
ing that overcomes the Israeli
who visits in France right now.
One is surrounded by perpetual
attentions. Some of them are
semi-official, most of them spon
taneous and personal. There is
not a single French statesman of
importance who does not go out
of his way to refer to Israel’s
friendship and the fact that it is
held dear. There is hardly a cus
toms inspector who does not smile
his immediate welcome when he
sees the Israeli passport. Book
stores feature books either about
Israel or by Israelis. School chil
dren, by the hundreds, write let
ters each week to the Israeli em
bassy asking for pen friends in
Talmadge
(Continued from Page 1)
Hitler pattern in a calculated at
tempt to eliminate the Jewish
population of Egypt by what
ever means are necessary.
“The Egyptian Government is
carrying out its campaign of per
secution, harassment, degradation
and intimidation through such
universally-deplored methods as
internment in concentration camps (
forced deportation, confiscation of
property, economic strangulation,
denationalization and discrimina
tory legislation. Jewish refugees
from Egypt arriving by the boat
and planeload in the European
countries of Italy, France, Greece
and Portugal tell how they were
expelled following confiscation of
their property and bank accounts
and the forced signing of state
ments renouncing their citizen
ship and waiving claims against
the Government of Egypt. The
fate of their friends and relatives,
they fear, may be worse.
“Such action cannot be con
doned by the civilized world or
allowed to go unchallenged by
free men. It is incumbent upon
the United States, as the world’s
greatest bastion of individual
freedom, to condemn before the
world and seek to bring to the
bar of aroused public opinion the
nation and its dictator responsi
ble for such outrages against the
dignity and rights of mankind.
Furthermore, we as a nation owe
it to our loyal, patriotic Jewish
citizens and to our staunch and
unwavering anti-communist ally,
Israel, to speak out in defense
of the Jewish people whenever
they are persecuted.
“I am confident you will agree
with me that the facts warrant
the sternest of protests to the
Government of Egypt both through
regular diplomatic channels and
the United Nations. I would be
grateful if you would inform me
whether any such protests have
been made or are contemplated
and, if not, the reasons why they
have not.
“Let me emphasize my intense
and continuing interest in this
matter and my desire to be fully
informed regarding all facets of
it.”
the Jewish State or information
or maps. The problems of Israel
are discussed by Frenchmen in
the press, on TV and radio and,
of course, in the Parisian forum
—the sidewalk cafe.
The basis for a continuing and
mutually profitable relationship
between these two countries —
one so small and young, the other
senior and larger, both united by
their pervading traditions of cul
ture and humanism—is lead down
each day in differing forms. The
French are comrade-in-arms now,
joined by Israel in their defiance
of the leaders of the Moslem
world. But there will be a day
when the exigencies of politics
will have faded a little and then
this requited affection can bear a
truly splendid fruit. The French
know this and they know the
value of Israel in an integrated
and peaceful Middle East. Con
stantly they stress that this is
not a “crisis” love affair to be
abandoned easily when times are
better. Nor is it based only on
mutual hostility towards the
Arabs.
In Israel, on the other hand,
there is an unprecedented out
pouring of gratitude to the
French. From top to bottom, the
Israelis cherish this people who
came to their aid and stayed to
assist whenever and however
possible. The Hebrew-speaking
French Ambassador is Israel’s
most beloved foreigner. Streets
in all Israel’s cities have been
named for the French nation and
there is a tremendous resurgence
of interest in French culture,
brought to Israel so recently on
the lips of the hundreds and
thousands of French-speaking
immigrants. French culture in Is
rael has struck fresh new roots.
There are student exchanges on
all levels. French writers, artists,
engineers and doctors have gone
to Israel in the past few weeks.
Some are just admiring tourists.
Others have come to contribute
in their own fields of endeavor.
French engineers only last week
were charged with the task of en
larging the port of Elath. And so
it goes. The beginning of some
thing good between nations in a
world which has seen all too
little of such amity in recent
times.
Letter to Editor
Dear Editor:
Shortly before Christmas, the
dairy industry in Atlanta start
ed a solicitation among their pa
trons for the benefit of the Hun
garian Freedom Fighters. The
theme of the solicitation was
“Pennies in the Milk Bottle.”
This letter is especially writ
ten to thank the thousands of
Alanta freedom believers, who by
putting “Pennies in the Milk Bot
tle” expressed in a very active
way their support and sympathy
for the Hungarian Freedom Fight
ers.
On October 31, 1956, the people
of Hungary reached a climax in
their fight for freedom of speech
and freedom of religion. It is most
appropriate that on this date -
just three months later - we, the
people of Atlanta and it’s dairy
industry have delivered to the
International Rescue Committee a
check to aid the Hungarian
Fighters and Refugees. This check,
when converted into European
food, will feed more than 7,200
Hungarian men, women and chil
dren for more than a month.
Again, our thanks to Atlanta
for contributing so generously to
this worthy cause.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. McGinty
President and Gen. Manager
Irvindale Farms Dairy
FOR
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