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Goldmann and brad
This is a good time to reiterate the position of
Diaspora Jewry in connection with Israel’s inter
na) politics. The matter has been raised in an
extreme form by Dr. Nahum Goldmann’s active
participation in the recent election campaign,
though he is not an Israeli citizen, and still more
by the arguments he advanced in justification of
his behavior. His position is, briefly, that Israel
is not like other nations, that, as it is the center
of the Jewish world, all Jews have a right to ex
press their solidiarity and partnership by partici
pating in its affairs. He further insists that he
would not deny the people in Israel the same
right in Diaspora affairs. These arguments are
completely without justification; they ignore the
difference between interest in Israel’s existence
and interference in her domestic politics. For
Jewish people throughout the world to take an in
formed interest in what is happening in Israel,
analyzing trends and holding an opinion on what
is good and bad for the State or its citizens is
understandable. It is quite another matter for
non-Israelis to take sides in Israeli political
struggles ....
The Jewish Advocate, Boston,
from an Editorial
“We Will Never Forget”
During the dark night of horrors which de
scended on Europe with Hitler’s assumption of
power, there were lights which sparkled in the
night, and the Jewish people will never forget
those who helped them, as it will never forget its
greatest persecutors. We will always remember
the mercy of the Swedes who gave us asylum,
and that true humanitarian, Raoul Wallenberg,
the savior of thousands of Hungarian Jews; the
French underground’s efforts to rescue Jews; the
identification of the Dutch with our plight by wear
ing the yellow patch, and the open rescue efforts
of the Dutch Church. We will never forget the
courage of Italian officialdom in foiling Mussolini;
of those Poles who rescued Jews from the Valley
ofj Death at the risk of their lives. We will never
forget the nobility of the Danish people, who risked
their lives to save the Jews of Denmark. We will
never forget the mercy which the Belgian royal
house displayed, and the Belgian underground
which tried to blow up trains to save the Jews
who were being deported; we will always re
member the Norwegian underground which
jeopardized the lives of its members smuggling Jews
to Sweden. We have heard of the spiritual efforts
of Dr. Grueber, and of his colleagues, who within
the Third Reich itself risked their lives, of people
who believed in humanity and love of fellowmen.
And we will always remember other peoples, the
Yugoslavs, the Greeks, and all those in the con
quered lands who loved humanity and who fought
valiantly, at the risk of their lives, to save men
from death. Thanks must also go to the Red Army
and all the Allied armies, whose swift advance
saved thousands.
Gideon Hausner, from ■■
Trial Transcript
OUR TORAH
by Rabbi Alter Abelson
What is Torah? if you ask,
Torah is life’s Godly task.
Torah is life's loftier road,
Civilization’s human mode,
Work of mind, of heart and hand,
All creative love has planned,
Liberal, forward-looking ways,
Plus the wisdom of ancient days,
And the upward, God-ward look,
Life’s and nature's human book,
Torah is courage, patience, too
When the sudden storms pursue;
Lo, it means to hate all hate
And to love true love, joy’s mate,
Spelling freedom, hate of strife;
Torah means ever-lasting life,
Torah is life’s pi antfold mood,
Crowned with love and Brotherhood.
From “Helen and Shulamith’
Whittier Books, 1969
H
a, The Southern Israelite
and THE SUNCOAST JEWISH NEWS
PubHzhei weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprise*, JN Coort
teai St, Nt, Attests t, Georgia, TE. 1-041, It. (4M«. Beoond
etess postage psM at Attests, Ga. Yearly ssbaatptlon five dollars
The Soothers Israelite barites literary centrlbstions sad correspond -
•nee M Is net to be considered as sharing the views expressed by
writers. DEADLINE Is I fJC, ITUDAY, bst material received earlier
will have a much better ehaneo of psbUcatien.
Adolph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Gustav Gppenheimer, Sylvia Kletzky,
Kathleen Nease, Jeanne Loeb, Ruth Kahn
JOURNALISTIC AFFILIATIONS
MiTlONAl c DlTOtl AL AMERICAN JEWISH PRESS ASSN
’ ^ lAS^bcMTI^N JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY
VJ T SEVEN ARTS FEATURES
“ GEORGIA PRESS ASSOCIATION
COMMENT
Source of Bigotry
Is there a religious factor in bigotry? Can we
trace the sources of anti-Semitism to religious
school teachings, either formal or informal? When
the two men who descrated the synagogue at Col
ogne early in 1960 were about to be sentenced,
they justified their actions on the ground that
Jews represented a threat to their beloved Ger
many. As they were led from the courtroom, al
most as an afterthought, they shouted: “Well, after
all, they killed our Lord.” How significant was
the religious component in the personality struc
ture of these two bigots? Canon Howard A. John
son of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Di
vine, recently stated that “one of the things of
which Episcopalians are most ashamed is the in
disputable fact that the Christian Church, over
the centuries, has contributed to the evil pheno
menon of anti-Semitism because of the way the
Christian doctrine of the Atonement has been
presented ” He cited the experience of an Episco
palian Bishop, renowned for his broadmindedness
and sense of fair play, who preached at a Good
Friday Service. At the end of the service, a man
leaving the Cathedral was heard saying, “If I could
In the Hebrew name of our most solemn festival “Yom Ha- i l,s * get my ha " d , s a Jew thls ^ ai w>n
Johnson regarded this episode as typical of the
hostility evoked by a distorted presentation of the
Crucifixion story, even by the best intentioned
Christian In the recent autobiography of the
Yom Kippur’s Challenging
Message: Repent!
Kippurim” lies a strange significance, for the word “atonement”
in the plural represents—according to our ancient sages—two
streams of love. For as soon as the desire for reconciliation has
awakened in the sinner’s guilty soul and contritely wings its
way heavenward, God’s grace comes down to meet it and to
calm the repentant sinner’s heart with the assurance of Divine
butcher of Auschwitz, Rudolph Hoess, his early
years depict him as a product of a devout Roman
to enter the priesthood. Yet, his calm, detached
description of experimental killing of Jews, at
the same time that he wept over the death of a
pet canary, revealed that he regarded Jews as less
than human beings . . .
Rabbi Morris N. Kertzer,
Journal of Jewish Digest
Algerian Jewry
The plight of our fellow Jews in Algeria be-
pa^on EUttd forgivenMsr “Before morn do you ^ y^- Catholic family. Indeed h^ parents had planner
selves and Who is it that purifies you?” aks the great Rabbi * m 0 com< : a H pneS u h ,, mo ,’; vatP him
Akiba. And he answers: “G^d Almighty does it.” A is said in the early inspiration which would motivate h,m
Ezekiel 36:23: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you
shall be clean.” This proclaims man’s direct access to God and
indicates that the initiative of purification is with the sinner
himself. For by fearless self-examination, by open confession
and by the firm resolve not to repeat the transgressions of the
past, mtm cleanses himself. Our heavenly Father sees the hum
ble self-abasement and the sinner’s penitence and He—and not
the High Priest or any other mediator — sprinkles the clean
water of pardon and forgiveness upon the sinner.
FAST AND PRAYERS
The entire Day of Atonement is devoted to fasting, to pray- cjmes more aggravated and to us, more distress-
er, Scripture reading, to hymns, anthems and severe self-con- in & when we realize that there is little we can
fession. By fasting from morning to sundown, we not only af- dc to hel P- Caught between the FLN (the rebel
flict our soul but strengthen it. Since the main cause of sin is forces who are coming more and more under the
the gratification of bodily appetites, the severe fast proves to s ‘ nls lf r ir ^ f ue ^ e ° f Nasser and the UAR) and
the sinner that man can conquer all physical cravings and that the ^ reiich authorities, ever friendly but now en-
the spirit can always master the body. ga * ed m a h e a " d death Joggle to maintain
„ , .. , their own position, the Jewish citizenry, numbering
However, mere abstention from food and other bodily de- one hundred twenty thousandi find themselves be-
sires is not enough. Fasting must be accompanied by a deep twixt and t^een ... For whatever it may be
remorse and by the sinners earnest promise to do all that is worth to their peace of mind our fellow Jews in
in his power to mend his ways. Without the solemn resolve to A)geria should know that we are mindful of their
abandon all evil ways and unrighteous thoughts, fasting in it- situation and are eager to extend a helping hand
self does not represent the complete fulfillment of the holy
Day of Atonement. “Only repentance atones for all iniquities”
says Maimonides.
THE TEAR OF REPENTANCE
A lovely legend is told of an angel whom God punished for
wrongdoing by sending him to earth to bring back the most
precious thing he could find there. Soon the angel returned
with a drop of blood from a soldier dying for his country. But
this was not the most precious thing.
Back to earth flew the angel. This time he triumphantly the S*™* resumptlon of nuclear testing,
returned with the last breath of a heroic woman who had sacri- In fact ’ this week the radioactive debris from
ficed her life to save others. Although this was more precious, the first USSR explosion of September 1—passing
the angel was sent back to earth. a 500-mile-wide band—is moving across the north -
This time he saw a repentant sinner who, in the last mo
ment, had spared his victim. Tears were streaming down his
cheeks and he sobbed in wild relief. Quickly the angel scooped
up one teEir tmd brought it back to heaven. And lo! the tear of
the repentant sinner was, indeed, the most precious thing on
earth; the angel was forgiven and accepted once more in heav- t bin ic is in W; study it and grow old in it, for thou
en canst have no beter rule than this.”
Slowly the red ball of the sun sinks down marking the This writer, curious, took the Sage’s advice and
end of the solemn Yom Kippur Service: now the Shofar is starting turning the Bible over to see if there is
blown with a long and steady blast as long as the breath can any reference to nuclear explosions,
hold it. The Day of Atonement is over.
as soon as it becomes possible. God speed that day.
The Jewish Exponent, Philadelphia,
from an Editorial
Nuclear Explosions—
Biblical Reference
The topic of the day during this High Holy Day
season—in every part of the globe—revolves around
ein part of the U.S. It is in the fall-out where
the great danger lies.
The great Sage of the first century, speaking
of the Bible in Pirke Avot 5.25, wrote:
“Turn it over and turn it over again, for every -
Democracy’s Survival
—WUP—
By AMI RECCA
West and East Alignments
The debate in the week-long special session of the General As
sembly on the issue of Bizerte produced an unusual alignment of
member states—sixty-six—voting in favor of Tunisia’s claim against
France. Joining the Afro-Asians who sponsored the resolutions were
the Soviet Union and satellites, five Latin-American countries, the
Scandinavian states, all, the Moslem nations, and several NATO
members, Turkey Iran.
Israel, whose delegates remained silent throughout the debates,
joined the group of thirty states that abstained. France, the Ivory
Coast and Niger were absent.
The significance of thir seemingly meaningless session was the
fact that a two-thirds majority was mustered against the known
position of the U.S. whose able delegate Adlai Stevenson found
himself in a rather tough spot.
The result of the voting raised a number of questions. One is:
Will the Soviet and Afro-Asians similarly succeed in mustering a
majority on the is«:ue of China when the regular sessions opening
on the 19th of this month? Diplomacy is a battle and it is incum
bent upon the US to “arm” itself.
In Isaiah, chapter 2, which speaks of a great
disturbance on the planet Earth in connection with
the destruction of idols, he found this (a possible
reference to shelters):
“And men shall go into the caves of the rocks,
and into the holes of the earth, from before the
terror of, the Lord, when He ariseth to shake
mightily the earth In that day shall man cast
away, his idols of silver and his idols of gold
which they have made for themselves to worship
... to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the
crevices of the crags . . .
Ir. Isiah 64 a possible reference to the explo
sion itself:
As wherf fire kindleth the brushwood, and the
tire causeth the waters to boil . . .”
In Zechariah 14:
“And this shall be the plague . . . Their flesh
shall consume away while they stand upon thetr
feet, and their eyes shall consume away their
sockets, and their tongue shaft consume away in
their mouth . . ”
Not a very pleasant picture.