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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, December 24, IMS
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Hanukah Greetings
THE LETTER SHOP
1964 W. Peachtree St., N.W. Atlanta, Ga. TR. 4-6228
Business forms, Letterheads, Envelopes, Offset Printing
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Gracious Greetings
BEN SMITH SIGNS
203 Peters St., S.W.
All Types of Metal Signs
Gold and Silver Leaf Lettering
Office Doors — Banners
Presentation Charts and Graphs
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HANUKAH GREETINGS
TAPPAN’S RECORD SHOP
6125 Roswell Road, N.E.
Records, record players, radios
anything in the music line
255-1331
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HANUKAH GREETINGS
THE LAMP HOUSE
30 years Experience, Antique Lamps
CONTINENTAL AIR PARTS, INC.
1551 Washington Ave.
East Point, Ga. $
* Suppliers of aircraft parts and supplies *
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Merchants & Manufacturers
Transfer Co., Inc.
LOCAL DELIVERIES
ALSO
SOLE AGENT
(LCL Pick-up & Delivery)
FOR ATLANTIC COAST LINE,
A. & W. P„ GEORGIA & L & N RAILROADS
RADIO DISPATCHED
Dial 758-7254
1127 SYLVAN RD., S.W.
HANUKAH GREETINGS
M. S. Lumber Company
Maurice Spector
1392 Central Ave.
East Point, Georgia
Minorities in An Open Society
by JACK RADAR
(A Seven Arts Feature)
It is a commonplace of sociolog
ical analysis today to observe
that the greatest threat to Jew
ish survival in America is that
we live in an open society. This
apparent paradox applies equally
whether the Jews are viewed as
a people, a religion, or as a cul
ture. The very freedom of our
environment, its social and ec
onomic mobility, its porous struc
ture and anti-intellectual bias,
the overwhelming dominance of
material values—all combine to
form an almost irresistable suc
tion outward toward the mass so
ciety, with destructive effect on
separate group identity, with
the notable exception, of course,
of the Negroes. The process is
viewed by critics as corrosive and
by the yea-sayers as the very es
sence of this force, which is at
tested to for example in the cur
rent discussion on intermarriage.
In our mass society, so thor
oughly dominated by mass media
and universal education, a small
minority culture must find an
echo in the larger culture all
around us. In a sense we depend
on the general society to give
evidence of our existence and of
our values. I have seen the ex
citement with which my young
sters watch a TV program about
Jews, as if this fact that it was
on TV gave verisimilitude to their
Jewishness. Without the fortifi
cation from without, the minority
culture seems to have a dubious
status and certainly a lesser one.
The magnetism of the majority
culture, especially because it pre
sents no barriers to acceptance, is
irresistible.
We have done little or nothing
to insert a knowledge of Jews and
Jewish history into the broader
framework of the American
school, particularly in the social
studies curriculum. Few textbooks
on American history make more
than the most casual reference to
Jews in America. In most text
books and courses Jews do not
exist in America except for Ha-
yim Solomon at the time of the
Revolution. In European History
courses, the Jews are about on a
par with Finland and Albania.
In Ancient History courses there
is a great deal about Assyria but
the Jews are a footnote to the
Phoenicians and the Egyptians.
The Sephardic period, the whole
Golden Age in the heyday of
Moslem rule is unknown. Perhaps
one reason for this bias is that
the major Jewish contributions
are in the history of ideas rather
than events and this plays a very
minor role in current historio
graphy.
Whatever the reason, even the
major and crucial events of Jew
ish history very rarely find a
place in our American schools. It
is hard to see how a youngster,
who is dutifully attending a Per-
etz Schule and learning the his
tory of his people, can grasp the
full meaning of the place of the
Jews in world history without
some indication in his general
education that it is so. Worse still,
despite all the pratings about bro
therhood, ecumenism and Judeo-
Christian civilization, the non-
Jew is only confirmed in the obvi
ous Christian bias of his culture,
and the Judaic element becomes
a kind of political ceremonial bow
toward his own good conscience,
without any underpinning of
knowledge and authority such as
the school bestows.
My proposal is, therefore, that
we begin to think of ways in
which the history of the Jews
may enter actively into the reg
ular curriculum, especially social
studies, and into the standard
history textbooks. I have no il
lusions that this will answer the
problems of Jewish survival in
America, but it would provide re
inforcement to Jewish youth of
their own backgrounds and would
reach many more than are now
reached through existing Jewish
schools. But such parochial con
siderations apart, we are being
remiss if we fail to make Jewish
history an accepted and normal
part of the history of mankind,
as it is taught in our public
schools and colleges and continue
to allow it the status of a “spec
ial subject,” which means outside
the normal mainstream.
What I am leading up to is this:
it is not only the Jewish past that
is missing from the history books,
but the Jewish present. Very few
chapters dealing with the Second
World War have more than a
passing reference to the Nazi war
on the Jews and I have yet to
come across any significant treat
ment of the Jewish resistance. I
am not speaking here of the many
works that have been written as
“Special” studies, but of general
histories, texts and others. So,
when we take up the cudgels for
the Jewish past we are also bat
tling for ourselves, that this
enormous experience should not
be lost and hopefully, in the new
ecumenical spirit, for a revalua
tion of Christian civilization in
the light of the Catastrophe. Per
haps that is too much to expect,
but the climate for it is receptive
and there exists in this country
a large number of Jewish his
torians who may yet find an in
terest in their own history. At
least, we ought to bring it to the
surface.
The time for such an effort is
ripe. American historiography is
in a highly fluid state. World his
tory is being re-defined to en
compass the many new nations
and peoples who have come to
the fore. The Negro struggle has
also created a new sensitivity to
omissions in our history teaching.
Professor Handlin has created a
strong basis for one possible ap
proach through his studies on the
impact of immigration. There
exists an open situation with re
gard to course content as well,
and curricula are in a state of
re-definition, both with regard to
European and American history.
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
Plumbing & Heating Engineering Co., Inc.
3551 Chamblee Dunwoody Road 451-5456
Chamblee, Georgia
Contracting and Repairs
We extend best wishes for a
Happy Hanukah
to all our friends and customers
Mrs. Kate Schwartz
Sylvia and Fred Schwartz
and Family
and Jack Seltzer
GRACIOUS GREETINGS
OF THE SEASON
MRS. SAMUEL SOBLOSKY
Service Uniform Co.
70 Plaza Way, S.W.
Atlanta 3, Ga.
HAPPY HOLIDAY
GREETINGS
POWELL AND COMPANY
INSURANCE
DECATUR, GEORGIA
IfflUHMU—M
HANUKAH GREETINGS
INTERIORS BY ANNE QUEEN
Tremendous savings on home furnishings
2800 Square feet of furniture
252-1922
HANUKAH GREETINGS
Clark Laundry and
Dry Cleaning, Inc.
1107 Peachtree St., N.E., TR. 6-7391
3189 Maple Dr., N.E., CE. 3-5311
Atlanta, Ga.