Newspaper Page Text
Friday. May 8, 1M4
Clash of the
r -
Ghettoes
pdria a( the unkpw freedom of
American He, which anii—mnteded
Java agree off era problems aa
iNfi aa premises for the Jew.
Mag that freedom, the Luba-
dtodplee have chosen to
gbettoea to wail themaetves
and (hair children off from the
and blandafameoU of tree-
Specifically, the Lubavitcfaer
Jewe opened a yeehiva » years ago
la Brooklyn. Him the neighborhood
waa natty bhh but the Lubavit-
cher rfmailfflm wen not bothered
much, la the yean since, the Bed
lord Btuyieeant section of Brooklyn
has become a Negro ghetto, one of
the wont in a metropolis in which
My ate not a rarity. This week
the Negro and Jewirii ghettoes in
Bsdford-Sbuyvesant were in knife-
Some 50 Neffo teen-agers, boys
and girts, charged into the school
area during a lunch-hour break,
when more than 100 of the skull-
capped earl ock-wearing cfaikfren
were waiting for the bell to call
them back to class. The Negroes
carried knives, bottles, chains and
sicks. They shouted anti-Semitic
epithets, one of them bearing a
historically-searing brand: “You
don't belong in this country.”
Doaens of the chikk-en were cut
and bruised. Two teachers were in
jured as they fought to protect the
children. Some 50 adults, aH Neg
roes, watched. None made a move
to stop die attack. The fracas final
ly was halted when a white man
pulled Ms car to a stop, jianped
out, raced to the scene and grabbed
one of the young Negroes. After a
brief struggle, he sttodued the youth
and piaoed him under citizen’s ar
rest Then the rest ran.
Later, a much smaller group of
Negroes returned to the school,
Meeultod one pupil and fled. Pol
ice protection, including a patrol
ciar, was put into effect at the
school. For his efforts on behalf
of law, order and justice, the white
man, a city building inspector, re
ceived threatening telephone calls
and police put his house under
watch.
The twin assaults were not uni
que in the school's experience with
the Negro youth—except in the
scope of their violence. The school
has been the target of repeated
vandalism. Extortion of the ptgrils
by Negro youths has been common.
In fact, that was how the big
assaults started.
The two worlds, so closely link
ed geographically, could hardly be
further apart sociologically. The
Yeshdva children do not engage in
fisticuffs, give most of their time
to study, and are members of
tightly-knit, law-abiding families.
The Negro ghetto is a world of
violence, of gangs, of widespread
absenteeism from school, of trouble
and deprivation and, sometimes, of
violent death.
Within this troubled pair of
worlds, the Negroes see the Jews
as not only white and richer but
different. At the same dme, the
Jews are obviously weaker, or at
leant reluctant to get into pfayrical
conflict, an easy target
Since the attacks, many people
of all faiths and colors have visited
the United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth
Grammar High School to assure
the faculty and the children that
the attack was “unfortunate.” The
National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People call
ed the dashes “tragic and shock
log” and said that at a time when
the need for intergragi accord was
never greater, it was “doubly
ironic that the victims of one type
of racism should themselves exhibit
ethnic bias against another group.”
Hie pupils at the yeriiiva “used
to read about these things in Ala
bama and they were very upset
and wanted to help the Negroes,"
said Rabbi Samuel Schrage, the
principal. “Now I don’t know.”
What he did know was dear:
“We want to get out of here aa
qteddy aa we can. A school should
serve its community. We don’t serve
this community.”
The right of the American Jew
to build and live in a ghetto, if he
so chooses, clearly is not operative
if that ghetto is within a larger
enforced ghetto of deprivation, bit
teraess and hatred.
OFF THE RECORD—By Nathan Ziprin
Conversation With a Scholar
OBITUARIES
Mrs. Katherine Gurin
Mrs. Katherine Sender Gurin,
M, of Atlanta died Monday, May 4.
She was a native of Russia and
thr mm; M Joseph S. Gurin. .
Funeral services were held May 5
in Blanchard’s Chapel with Rabbi
Harry Epstein and Cantor Joseph
Scfawartanao officiating. Burial was
in Greenwood Cemetery.
Mrs. Gurin k survived by three
daugiters, Mrs. Miltion A. Cohen,
Mrs. Sam Simon and Mrs. Harry
Halberg, and two sons. Dr. H. Gary
Gurin and Julius Gurin, aH of At
lanta, and eleven grandchildren
Office: JA. 9-441*
Morris H. Manheim, Jr.
MONUMENTS
Home: TR. 4-SMS
SYMPATHY
When some one in your
family has died, it'* hard
to think logically and
dearly. But you can de
pend on our truly courte
ous and sympathetic per
sonnel to sseist you in all
funeral details. Our long
years ot experience result
in complete confidence
tor you.
Henry M. Blanchard
& Son
AMBULANCE SERVICE
1270 Spring St, N.W.
TR. 4-4S11
Mrs. Charles Garber
Mrs. Charles Garber, 65, of At
lanta died May 2.
Born in Russia, Mrs. Garber came
to Sprugfield, Mass., when rite was
very young. She had lived in At
lanta about 45 years. She was a
member of Ahavath Actum Syna
gogue, the Council of Jewish Wom
en and Hadassah.
Funeral services were held Sun
day, May 3, at Blanchard’s Chapel
with Rabbi Harry Epstein and Can
tor Joseph Schwartzman officiating.
Interment was in Greenwood Ceme
tery.
Mrs. Gerber is survived by her
husband; daugiters, Mrs. Edward
Kessler and Mrs. Sam Hirach, both
of Atlanta, and Mrs. Alvin Gross of
Fort Lauderdale: a sister, Mrs.
Herman Boss of Coral Gables; nine
grandchildren and nieces and neph
ews.
Harry Pfeffer
Harry Pfeffer, 75, of Atlanta died
Sunday, May 3.
Born in Eirope, Mr. Pfeffer came
to Atlanta as a child. For almost
forty years he operated a pawn
shop on Decatur Street, but had
been retired in recent years.
Funeral services were held Mon
day, May 4, at Blanchard’s chapel
with Rabbi Harry Epstein and Can
tor Joseph Schwartnnan officiating.
Interment was in Greenwood Ceme
tery.
Mr. Pfeffer is survived by his
wife; a son, Afcert Pfeffer of At
lanta; one sister, Mrs. A1 Bogart
of Atlanta; and a brother, E. W.
Pfeffer, Pine Bluff, Ark., nieces and
nephews
Mrs. Eli Schumach
Mrs. EShka Bhor Schumach, 82,
of Atlanta died Monday, May 4.
A native of Poland, she was a
member of Ahavath Achim Syna
gogue and the widow of Eli Schu
mach.
Funeral services were held Tues
day, May 5, in Blanchard's Chapel,
with Rabbi Harry F^wtehi and Can
tor Joseph Schwertwnan
interment was in Greenwood Ceme
tery.
Mrs. Sohumech is survived fay a
daughter, Mrs. Charles Bertvnan,
and two sons, Joseph and Carl Shu
man, all of Atianta: nne grandchil-
tfren and eleven greet-&-andrhl]-
dran.
“When I came to America in 1940
my first impression of the Jewish
youth was of a potential goldmine,
in complete contrast to what I heard
that there was no hope. At the same
time I was deeply disappointed in
the irrelevance and the intellectual
vapidity of what is Jewish educa
tion on all levels. If I had received
that Jewirii education, I would not
have remained interested.’’
These were the opening remarks
Dr. Abraham Joshua Hesched made
as we sat down for what turned out
to be a ninety-minute-long dialogue
in his study at the Jewish Theolog
ical Seminary of America, where he
is professor of Jewish ethics and
mysticism. As if by silent consent
we agreed that our conversation
when it was published would not be
recorded in what is journalistically
called human-interest style. He
knew has questioner was not un
familiar with his ohassHhe origin,
with his wide range of scholarship,
with the depth of his faith in God
and man and with his authorship of
tomes that are now Jewish classics
both in essence and stylistically,
and this writer felt that a great Jew
ish bbrary was not the climate for
lesser or mundane searchings.
Hie essence of our dialogue was
to have been Jewish life in mid-
century America and neither of us
deviated from the objective.
One of Dr. Heschel's most per
ceptive observations was with res
pect to the absence of indepth
understanding of Judaism. In his
opinion the root of the trouble rest
ed in “unawareness of the depth and
relevance of our great tradition to
humanity.” As a scholar and ob
server of the American Jewish scene
he was not unfamiliar of course with
the varied forces and climates that
contribute to increasing intermar
riage, but he was of the opinion that
the basic cause was to be found
elsewhere—in the lack of proper re
ligious orientation.
Dr. Heschel has often been call
ed one of the leading theologians of
this century, but it is this writer's
impression that the title “theolog
ian'’ is too narrow a crown for so
wide-ranging a searcher for God
and man. To us he seems a deeply
religious man who has been seared
by the fire of greatness in his quest
for finding a path, for expomding
a faith. Yet he is totally tolerant of
the spiritual impact of the secular
ists in our midst. “I have profound
esteem,” he told us, “for what the
secular movements have tried to ac
complish postively " He also has
hi^iest regard for "the general
dvikzipg efforts carried out by Jew
ish movements with concern for
social causes . "
As a scholar of course he has no
objection to the “application of
modern scientific methods to the in
terpretation of Judaism.” However,
he was quick to note that "Judaism
presented without passion, without
depth, remains intellectually paro
chial.” Referring to the “powerful
forces of negativism and cynfcaan in
regard to our legacy, our religious
oommtaaent and religious action,”
Dr. Heschel, wearing his words as
If with an apothecary's scale, said;
“There was an assumption that
what was old was worthless Tra
dition was a synonym for reaction.
However, K is not easy to be a
Jew—to be a Jew requires spiritual
audacity, and, istieas there is a
vision of that which is more prec
ious, no one is ready to resist the
elluranent and temptation of a
great worldly civilization.”
But how Is (fast reaching out to
be attained? IB* answer was that
Jewish energy today suffers from
spectacular waste and that change
can only come about if there is hon
est dedication of great minds to the
understanding of Judaism in depth.
That, he went on, “will require men
of talent, integrity and general cul
ture Our young people are not
guided in that direction. There is
therefore urgent need to direct our
youth in the field of Jewish thought."
At the time of this interview the
Jewish community was seething
over growing signs of Soviet anti-
Semitism and Dr. Heschel had made
a historic address at the Seminary
calling for Jewish fasting and Jew
ish demonstrations until our voices
have been heard in the haHs of the
Kremlin and in the other precincts
of the world that have been strange
ly silent days of Jewish tragedy.
On parting, he told me he consider
ed the problem of Russian Jewry
of central importance to American
Jewry, a must. He said he regard
ed “the lack of sensitivity on the
part of Jewirfi leadership” with
"deepest pain and chagrin,” warn
ing that failure of American Jewry
to make a heroic effort toward
saving Soviet Jewry, "will const:
tute a crime for which there will
be no forgiveness.”
Behind UN Scenes—By David Horowitz
Human Rights
Re-examined
UNITED NATIONS, (WUP) -
Several speeches delivered at the
57th annual meeting of the Ameri
can Jewish Committee last week
created much interest here at the
United Nations, chiefly because of
hints that the United States may
take a second look at the issue of
international covenants.
It is one of the painful paradoxes
of the 18-year old history of the
world organization that America,
which fought the cold war almost
entirely on the grounds of human
rights as involved with Communism,
refused to become a party to the
Genocide Convention and further
negotiated the draft covenants on
human rights on the basis that it
would not become a party to these
formal conventions either.
Hie reason is no secret. It is
partly due to our isolationist past
which still clings to us when it
comes to making formal commit
ments on issues already embodied
in our Constitution. We all recall
the sad decision of the American
Bar Association some years back
when it adopted resolutions oppos
ing our commitment to any inter
national law on the question of
human rights.
There are other reasons. One of
them, largely exploited in Eastern
bloc states, was our fear that our
Negro problem would bring us un
der a charge of genocide. Another,
largely real, is that our colonial
partners in NATO were clin&ng
perilously to the edge of a geno
cide charge in their rank dis
crimination and depression of the
peoples in their colonies.
Now it appears that the United
States may try to reverse this
course. Such a possibility was hint
ed in speeches before the Jewish
Committee both by Secretary of
State Dean Rusk and by his as
sistant for international affairs
Harlan Cleveland.
Whether or not this is real or
just another of these good-will, no-
action speeches is hard to say be
cause while we hear some admis
sions in the Western Camp we are
defamed by the silence when it
comes to confessions. This does
not augur well especially if and
when the admissions are half
hearted or reluctant.
For example, in the speech de
livered by Cardinal Spellman, the
noted Catholic leader addressed
himself to the question of the his
toric guilt of the Jews for the
death of Jesus. We are happy to
bear the Cardinal state that he is
against such an accusation as also
against all manifestations of anti-
Semitism. But when the Prince of
the Church declares in all inno
cence: “I don’t know where they
learned it, but surely it was not
from the teachings of the Church,”
we can only wonder what Spellman
was doing at the last session of
the Ecumenical Council where the
whole issue was tabled by the
Committee of the Conference as a
formal item on the agenda.
Surely the basic mechanism for
the Church control of its flock
rests in the system of confessions.
But here we have a complete ex
pression of bewilderment as to
what had happened in all these
twenty centuries under Christianity
to keep the Jewish peoples of the
world subject to this menacing
smear as if it were completely di
vorced from the history of the
Church. And if there are no ad
missions of wrong and no confes
sions, how can we be sure that the
slate will ever be wiped clear and
even, if cleared a bit, that it will
be of a lasting duration?
The same applies to the Rusk
Cleveland statements on the hu
man rights covenants. We were
not told that our Government not
only opposed ratification but ac
tually worked to delay the adoption
of the conventions by the UN, that
the U.S. was one of the Big Powers
largely responsible for delaying
the translation of the Declaration
of Human Rights into formal in
ternational treaties. This delay
strategy ytill goes on.
Morally, we are for the treaties.
Juridically, we oppose them.
Here, again, the question arises:
how can we be sure of a change
when there is no courage to tell
the whole truth?
Is this not the identical policy
the U.S. is pursuing in the Mideast
with Nasser, with Hussein and the
other Arab leaders at the expense
of Israel?
Now we don't advocate bringing
the Church and our Government to
their knees in breast-beating self
castigation and htkniliation. But we
do thkik that a little setf-critician
and some humility are the very
nuntiman basis for a real change
of policy. It is certainly the duty
of every American to raise his
voice now to make sure that the
small whispers of charge in Wash
ington are amplified to a dear,
loud and unmistakable change of
basic policy