The Southern Jewish weekly. [volume], December 25, 1942, Page Page Two, Image 2

About The Southern Jewish weekly. [volume] (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1939-1992

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Page Two
Minority Rabbis Backed by Handful Wealthy j
Jews to Fight Zionism in U. S. A. and Palestine
«JPS*—With pro*'
pert erf spotting all of Ameriear
Jewish life. war has pledged
on Zueaas aad or. all persona and
testitutlona sympathetic to that
program, with the wealth of :n
--fhxential Jews ar.d the power of
Irreligious Jews mobilized in order
to amaah every gair, the Bonist
movement haa made in the United
States and Palestine in forty
years.
That is the ambitious goal ret
fr- itself by the group innocu
ously called the Council fee
American Judaism, which was
born in this city six weeks ago.
The Independent Jewish Press
Service has learned the secret
background of the Council and.
because of the extraordinary is
sues raised and the outstanding
personalities involved, decided to
make the lengthy material avail
able to the general public. These
are some of the elements involv
ed ill a drama which derives spe
cial significance from the present
situation in Europe, where mil
lions of Jews are being slaughter
ed by the Nazis.
(1) A small group of anti-
Zionist Reform rabbis, many of
them retired from public pulpits
because of superannuation, has
undertaken a wide-range po
litical program against Zionism,
to which these rabbis allegedly
object because it is political In
character. Asserting that Zion- j
ism is "secular” and "irreligious” !
and that that is why Reform •
Judaism, as they understand it, ;
opposes it, these anti-Zionist rab
bis have decided to enlist irrelig
ious Jews as well as religious in ;
order to attempt to achieve their ,
anti-Zionist aims, long rejected by 1
the majority of American Jewish
leaders.
(2) The name* of Morris Wolf,
prominent Philadelphia lawyer,
associated with Leaning Rosen
waid of that city, Henry Ittle*on,
wealthy head of Commercial In
vestment Trust, Arthur Hay*
Sulzberger, publisher of the New
York Time*, Samuel Leidesdorf,
prominent New York accountant,
Paul Baerv/ald, Honorary Chair
man of the Joint Distribution
Committee, are among those lay
men involved in the remarkable
story.
(Z) Match that lit the anti-
Zionist fire of these rabbis and
laymen into flame was Sidney
Wallach, until recently "educa
tional director” of the American
Jewish Committee, retiring from
that body under unknown circum
stances.
(4) Secretary of State Hull’s
department can be "reached” by
this anti-Zionist) group, one mem
ber of it, Rabbi William Fine
shriber, of thi* city, claims, quot
ing a statement of anti-Zionist in
tent by one of the leading mem
bers of the State Department.
(5) Rabbi Lazaron also under
took to “see" Secretary of the In
terior Harold L. Ickes before he
delivered his speech on December
6th at the National Council of the
United Palestine Appeal in New
York in order to present the anti-
Zionist position to the Secretary.
Whether he “saw” him or not,
Mr. Ickes said not one word about
Palestine at a national Palestine
Mr <p mtjp
Greetings and Best Wishes $
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Phone 5-6670
Between Laura and Hogan
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MT.4F MTJP MP MrJP MTJP. MUKMPJP
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i FRANK E. DENNIS, Inc. (
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J 2921 N. Edgewood Ate. Phone 5-0911
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Smashing Os American Jewish Com
! mittee Threatened By Group Calling
Itself Council For American Judaism If
Anti-Zionist Platform Rejected
gathering.
Campaign For Large Funds
To achieve its purpose, the
Council for American Judaism, a \
came sponsored by Rabbi Laza
ror. has launched a campaign for :
$25,000 in the first month. It
was assured, however, by Morris
Wolf, attorney for wealth in Phil
adelphia. that “far more” was in ;
sight as soon as the campaign got
started. On the advice of a
“public relations” counsel that it •
would look "nicer” to have a rab
bi instead of a layman as the ex- j
ecutive director erf the organiza
tion, youthful Rabbi Elmer Ger
ger, erf Flint, Mich., did not have
to be persuaded too hard by Rabbi
Wotoey to take the pert.
Meeting of November 2nd
The story is best told as it un- i
folded itself at two intimate and
private meetings at Rabbi Wol
sey’s Rodeph Shalom.
The aged Rabbi Goldenson in
troduced Mr. Sidney Waliach. un
til recently with the American
Jewish Committee but now a
j "free lance” in public relations.
| This opposition movement is the
last stand of the anti-Zionist
forces, he stressed, and to achieve
1 its objective an organized group
must be fought with organization.
The Zionists, he charged, have
■ captured the organs and media of
I public opinion. The American
Jewish Committee, he charged,
has "ducked" this issue. Its mem-
* berg were not aggressively anti-
Zionist, although they were and
are basically anti-Zionist.
Mr. Wallach's plan involved
“grooming for action” several
thousand people, at least one rep
j resentative in every city, who
would fight for a hearing and who
■ would have, according to Mr. Wal
iach, the same functions as a
Christian Science representative
in a community. ,
At this point, Mr. Wallach mod
estly suggested that he did not
w'ant to earn his living doing this
type of public relations, but, af
ter all, he would have to have the
"burden of making a living lifted”
from him, if he were to do this
public relations work.
Rabbi Rosenau said that the
Baltimore rabbis had given a
great deal of thought to this
cause. It was their endeavor to
create a non-U. A. H. C. organ
of Reform Judaism. It was his
thought, however, that stressing
of the American keynote would
cast aspersion on thousands of
those who differ. They claim to
be Americans and are loyal Amer
icans. The movement, he felt, is
a religious one in opposing Zion
ism.
Rabbi Schachtel was impatient
to proceed with practical matters
and said the immediate engage
ment of a person such as Mr.
Wallach was essential. Rabbi
Fineschriber agreed that the
group ought to follow Mr. Wal
laces plan. It was necessary to
have a person like Wallach or to
start a magazine, for* financial
reasons.
Mr. Wallach responded that a
“man’s size job must be done by
a man,” whether himself or some
body else. He felt it would be
wise to get a clarification of the
views of Wendell Willkie and
Secretary Hull on Zionism. In his
view, money-raising for anti-
Zionist purposes should be very
THE SOUTHERN JEWISH WEEKLY
easy. He knew men who would
be ready to contribute.
Rabbi Foster was opposed to
joining with irreligious Jews, say
ing his antagonism to Zionism
| was of religious origin.
Rabbi Lazaron asked the prac
tical questions: How much would
Wallach’s services entail ? What
would he do if he had the money?
How would he raise the money?
Mr. Waliach said be would need
from $7,200 to $7,500 a year. He
would get busy doing the kind of
thing he had been talking about,
get a bearing for anti-Zionism.
One magazine was not enough. If
we show we mean business. Wal
lach said, groups in every city
win contribute, especially if we
• can get tax-exemption. The zeal
ots in every city must be found.
He believed that anti-nationalism
would strengthen Reform, rather
than Reform strengthen anti
nationalism.
Would Use Yiddish Press
Mr. Waliach suggested a key 1
group of individuals in New York
to supervise the spending of the
money and the conduct of the
work. This group would have to
have freedom to work and to
make decisions. The Yiddish
press, he suggested, should be
approached, so that with “friends”
inside, an occasional item would
be published to inject doubt of
Zionism in the readers’ minds.
Rabbi Schachtel wanted t o
I know whether “our movement is
to be pro-Reform or anti-nation-
I alist.” In his view, the main
t program should be “anti-nation
alist.” Rabbi Landman said he
, did not like to see an anti-pro
, gram but a positive one. Rabbi
Shaw agreed.
Then the discussion went on,
with suggestions being offered
for various types of magazines,
methods of getting tax exemption,
and putting speakers onto vari
ous lecture platforms. Rabbi
Goldenson asked whether the
group should identify itself sole
ly with Reform or strike the larg
er American note. He was for
the latter, although sole identifi
cation with either would be a lim
itation on any money-raising
venture.
It was Rabbi Gerstenfeld, sec- '
onded by Rabbi Philipson, who :
proposed that $25,000 be raised in ’
one month, that Mr. Waliach be 1
engaged and a program be work
ed out for the year. The motion ]
carried. ]
Rabbi Wise Reports On Meeting '
The second meeting of the 1
group, called in the same temple
here on November 23rd, heard a 1
letter read from Rabbi Jonah B. I
Wise of New York, a National 1
Chairman of the United Jewish
Appeal and fund-raising chairman 1
of the Joint Distribution Commit- 1
tee, who described a meeting held
in New York on November 16th 1
to consider purposes in which ‘
Rabbi Wolsey’s group was ex- 1
tremely interested. !
A report on a meeting which 1
he and Rabbi Wolsey had had '
with Morris Wolf, a member of 1
the American Jewish Committee, 1
was given by Rabbi Fineshriber.
The most violent clash in the long
history of the American Jewish
Committee is now in progress.
Mr. Wolf is alleged to have said
that if the candidate who suc
ceeds Maurice Wertheim is non-
Zionist, he and his group would
supply the Lazaron-Wolsey com
bination with funds. If the anti-
Zionists failed to gain control of
the American Jewish Committee,
they might secede and their funds
Would be available in any case. In
either case, Rabbi Fineshriber was
assured by Mr. Wolf that sums
far exceeding the hoped-for $25,-
, 000 would become available.
i Another letter was then read
» bv Rabbi Wotoey from Rabbi Jo
nah B. Wise. In it the latter de
! scribed a meeting in New York
!on November 16th. Those present
were Alan M. Stroock, soon of the
I late President of the American
Jewish Committee; William Ros
enwald, President of the National;
Refugee Service and a National
Chairman of the United Jewish
Appeal; Paul Baerwald. Honorary
. Chairman of the Joint Distribu
tion Committee; Arthur Hays
' j Sulzberger, publisher of the New
York Times, who, in four years,
( made no contribution to the Unit
' ed Jewish Appeal on the ground
of his principle objections to Pal
estine; Edward M. M. Warburg, a
lieutenant and Chairman of the
Joint Distribution Committee;
Maurice Hexter, once a member
of the Jewish Agency Executive
in Jerusalem; George Backer,
President of the Jewish Tele
graphic Agency; Samuel Leisdes
dorf. Treasurer of the New York j
United Jewish Appeal; Edgar No- ;
than. Manhattan Borough Presi
dent; Henry S. Hendricks and
Henry Ittleson, head of Commer- j
cial Investment Trust, who, in
, 1942. reduced his contribution to
: the United Jewish Appeal to SSO,- .
000 from the SIOO,OOO level of the
previous year. Excuses for ab
sence were sent by Judge Samuel
Rosenan, confidant of President j
Roosevelt:Lewis Rosenthiel, head
of Schenley Distillers; Nathan ;
Ohrbach, New York merchant,
and Alexander Kahn, managing!
editor of the Jewish Daily For
ward. Joseph M. Proskauer, lead- (
ing and violent anti-Zionist candi- j
date for the Presidency of the
American Jewish Committee, con
veyed his views to the group in a i
letter.
The rabbis, who continuously j
emphasize that they are in favor !
of the upbuilding of Palestine al- j
though they oppose Zionism, a
greed that it would be an excellent j
thing to have their next meeting
in New York on December 7th,
because it was the day following
the meeting of the National
Council of the United Palestine
Appeal, which is a non-partisan
fund-raising organization for Pal
estine. They could then deal with
the subject matter of that meet
ing. ,
State Department Against
Zionists ?
Rabbi Fineshriber then told the
gathering that a prominent Wash
ington official, not indicating
whether this might be Mr. Lessing
Rosenwald, chief of the Salvage
Division, a Philadelphian, had \
learned from the State Depart- !
ment, which has the final author- !
ity with respect to the American I
attitude toward Palestine, that it i
had not yielded to the pressure ■
brought by the Zionists on Con- !
gressmen. On the contrary, Rab-
bi Fineshriber’s highly placed in- i
formant alleged, the State De- j
partment was considerably an- •
noyed by it. !
Thus the meeting closed: with i
the decision to meet again on De- j
cember 7th, a date notorious in j
history for the treacherous Jap- •
anese attack on America by a !
group which had secretly planned ■
its deed for months while pub- I
licly expressing its good will and !
sympathy.
“WE FEED THE MULTITUDES”
Owned aßd OpWHMI hr
*» Jht M%W>rln|i to Btrt* V*
Friday, December 25,
Christian Ladders
Organize Council
On Palestine
DECLARE DESTINY n»
JEWS MATTER OF
CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE
New York, December 14*.
daring that “the destiny of £
Jews is a matter of
concern to the Christian con
science” and the amelioration*
their lot “a duty which rests upon
all who profess Christian prj*
ciples”, the representatives of &
moot 500 Christian leaders, clergy,
men and laymen of all denom£
tione throughout the country, as.
ter an all-day conference held it
the Hotel Pennsylvania in
York today, organized themselv*
as the Christian Council on Palo
tine, and adopted a Statement i
Principles which pointed out that
“of all lands available for the
mass migration of Jews in the
post-war world, Palestine is the
most practicable.”
The Council is committed to the
establishment of a Jewish Com
j monwealth in Palestine in rela
tion to an over-all settlement of
the problem of Jewish migratioa
in the post-war era.
j The principle speakers at the
conference were Prof. Reinhold
Niebuhr of the Union Theological
Seminary of New York. Bishop
Francis John McConnell of the
| New York Methodist Area, an!
Prof. S. Ralph Harlow of Smith
; College, Northampton. Mass. Oth
er speakers at the conference wen
I Rabbi Stephen S. Wise. Chairman
| of the American Emergency Com
mittee for Zionist Affairs, and
MTs. Walter C. Lowdermilk of
.Washington, D. C., who, together
with her husband who is Assist
ant Chief Soil Conservation Ex
pert of the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture, made a study
of soil reclamation work done it
Palestine by Jewish colonists.
j Spanish j
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