The Southern Jewish weekly. [volume], June 01, 1951, Image 1

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

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VOL. 28 NO. 19
PLAIN TALK
By Alfred Segal
From a distant city I have re
ceived a letter signed, "A
jSHOST." I like to play at the
of the occult and when a
ghost comes to this column I wel
come him (or maybe her) byway
„of psychic inquiry.
2, The ghost’s letter left no doubt
fas to his identity. It came to the
T point at once. “I am a ghost, a
Jiving ghost.” ’
I invited him to come right in.
A columnist doesn't have ghostly
visitors every day. The visitors a
Jewish columnist gets generally
are full-bodied people calling to
collect contributions for this and
for that.
Indeed, only an hour before this
ghost came in by mail, I had a
visitor who said that if I am truly
a Jew I should be contributing to
the fund for the Gates of Heaven
Yeshivah, if that was the title of
the institution.
And not long before that an
other visitor had admonished me
that if I had any Jewish feeling I
would contribute from my sub
stance for the new ladies' powder
room of the Anshe Giborim Social
and Canasta Club, though I can't
be sure exactly of the organiza
tion's title.
So I was glad to have at my
desk a ghost who wasn’t asking
for anything. He wasn’t even de
manding that his letter be pub
lished, He was giving his feelings
out of'his ghostly heart just for
my own ears.
I felt he had a problem that
should concern every Jewish
community. For that reason I
could feel free to publish the
ghost's letter out of the distant
city.
He was saying: “Too ill to meet
my rabbis in the synagogue I
have waited in vain for them to
visit with me. They know of my
illness. I am dead to my rabbis. I
am dead to my synagogue (except
to the bookkeeper who sends bills
quarterly.) I am a ghost to them,
a living ghost.
"These rabbis are mere intel
lectual robots. Take off their vest
ments and they are nude, void of
loving kindness and consecrated
service to the members of the
congregation as individuals.
“But let us look at the rock
whence they are hewn? Does the
theological college in which they
were nurtured offer inspiration to
selfless living, joyous giving,
moral grandeur. This could be
done by example and by precept.
Rather are they being disciplined
for selfish scholarships, intellec
tual gymnastics, Jewish politics.
Who are their preceptors? What
are they? Why are they where
they are?
The ghost had written this in
response to a recent piece of mine,
titled "Strip Tease in the Pul
pit." It was based on an article
by my friend, the lawyer. Leo
nard Rowe, in the magazine "Li
beral Judaism," published by the
Union of American Hebrew Con
gregations. (Reform).
Mr. Rowe thought some of the
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THE OLDEST AND MOST WIDELY CIRCULATED JEWISH PUBLICATION IN THIS TERRITORY
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A I
.MRS. DAVID BEN-GURION MRS. S. ALEXANDER SRAILOVE
To commemorate the third anniversary of Israel and the achieve
ments of the pioneer women “who are serving so valiantly in the;
upbuilding of the State," Mrs. S. Alexander Brailove, chairman of the j
National Women's Division of the United Jewish Appeal, last Sunday.,
presented Mrs. David Ben-Gurlon with a replica of a historic silver j
Liberty Bowl created by Paul Revere. Mrs. Brailove made the presenta-!
tion to the Prime Minister's wife at the National Action Conference of
the UJA In Chicago, where the UJA women announced thdi a record
total of $78,655,600 has been raised since 1946 for world-wide pro-|
grams of rescue, rehabilitation and resettlement of homeless Jews. In
the first five months of the 1951 campaign, the Jewish women of this
country have contributed a total of $7,663,277 on behalf of the UJA,;
NEW YORK (AJP) Ortho
dox groups conferred this week
in a move to reopen the Jewish
Morning Journal, suspended two
months ago because of its inabil
ity to meet financial commit
ments and the rising costs of pro-
Reform Synagogues Throughout Country to Conduct
Special Solicitation Drive in June
An intensive personal solicita
tion effort will be conducted dur
ing June in 430 Reform congrega
tions in 325 communities in the
United States and Canada, it was
announced by Dr. Samuel S. Hoi
lender of Chicago, general chair
man of the Combined Campaign
of the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations and the Hebrew
Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion. The campaign, which
has a nation-wide goal of sl.-
875,000, is headed by Herbert R.
Bloch, Fred Lazarus, Jr. and
Philip Myers of Cincinnati and
Rabbi Julius Mark and Herman
M. Stein of New York, who are
serving as national co-chairmen
along with Dr. Hollander.
Solicitation drives for indivi
dual gifts will be spearheaded by
officers and board members of
local Reform congregations and
Sisterhoods in an effort to enroll
all congregational members as
contributors to the 1950-51 cam
paign.
'The strengthening and pre
servation of our twin heritage of
Americanism and Judaism will be
the dominant theme of the special
solicitation effort" Dr. Hollender
said. "Our national religious in
stitutions are the custodians and
UJA WOMEN HONOR MRS. BEN-GURION;
GROUP HAS RAISED $78,655,600
MIZRACHI WEIGHS HELPING
SUPPORT REVIVED 'JOURNAL'.
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 1951
duction. #
A spokesman fcr Mizrachi con
firmed a report that the religious-
Zionist organization representing
70,000 members through the
United States had entered into
discussions with ‘other groups’ in
, - ----- -■»———
: POSTER SPURS JUNE DRIVE
FOR REFORM INSTITUTIONS
The strengthening and preservation of
our American Jewish heritage is the
theme of the current Combined Cam
paign of the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations and the Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion. The
above poster is being used to spark spe
cial June solicitation drives in 430 Re
form congregations in the U. S. and
Canada for the national institutions of
Liberal Judaism in America.
Truman Puzzled By U. N.
Actions on "Huleh" Project
Bv MILTON FRIEDMAN
(Copyright, 1951, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
WASHINGTON—
President Truman finds it difficult to understand how the State
Department is carrying out the Point Four program by drafting
United Nations resolutions against reclamation projects.
Conservative Rabbis
To Meet, June 18
The Rabbinical Assembly of
America, the national association
of Conservative rabbis, will hold
its Fifty-First Annual Convention
from June 18 through 21 at the
Hotel Concord, Kiamesha Lake,
New York, Rabbi Max D. David
son, President, has announced.
More than 300 spiritual leaders
of congregations in all parts of
the United States and Canada are
expected to attend the four-day
Convention, the theme of which
will be the “Crisis in Moral and
Intellectual Leadership.” Doctor
Mordecai M. Kaplan, outstanding
theologian, philosopher, author,
and a past President of the Rab
binical Assembly, will address
the Convention on “Religion and
the Crisis” during the session to
be held Wednesday afternoon,
June 20.
an effort to resume publication
of the Journal. They denied any
financial commitments had been
pledged to date toward support
of the daily, if it should reappear.
“Other groups” participating in
discussions aimed at reviving the
paper reportedly include the Na
tional Council for Young Israel.
symbols of that heritage. They
are the basis of our identity as a
religious community in a nation
of religious communities, the
means by which we carry on the
religious and cultural traditions
of Judaism within the framework
of America."
Dr. Hollender reported that the
Reform movement had experi
enced considerable growth in the
last five years with the organiza
tion of dozens of new congrega
tions, consisting , primarily of
young people. “These new con
gregations, established largely in.
new residential areas," he said,
“are indicative of an awakening
interest in religion and a desire
for positive identification among
young people with the faith of
their fathers."
The growth of the Reform
movement, Dr„ Hollender empha
sized, has increased the demands
upr>n the Union of American He
brew Congregations and the He
brew Union College-Jewish Insti
tute of Religion and has neees
sited a corresponding expansion
of services and facilities. The
Combined Campaign, he explain
ed. is the only means by which
these institutions obtain funds for
their maintenance and support.
The President, according to a
high White House source, was a
perplexed man after Secretary of
State Dean Acheson explained to
him how the department was de
fending peace by fighting aggres
sion in the Far East and at the
same time defending peace by ap
peasing the Syrian aggressors
against the only democracy in the
Near East.
Mr. Truman was at a loss to
understand how the U. N. order to
Israel to stop reclamation within
Israel territory came under the
scope of the Security Council
which he naively thought was
constituted to stop aggression.
Perhaps Acheson explained that
Israel was aggressing against the
mosquitoes in the Huleh swamp,
that the Syrian invaders came to
the aid of the mosquitoes, and
therefore the Security Council
was asked by the State Depart
ment to protect these brave little
mosquitoes.
The President knew that Israel
tried to drain a malarial swamp
within its own territory. He knew
also that Syrian military forces
entered Israel and opposed the
project in a display of naked ag
gression. But the President just
couldn’t seem to understand die
State Department logic of draft
ing a U. N. resolution against Is
rael reclamation work because
Syria attacked such work. It was
a little beyond him. He just
couldn’t grasp the dialectic of the
State Department explanation.
President Truman recalled that
Israel Prime Minister Ben Gurion
was impressed by a trip to the
TVA which the State Department
arranged for him. He also recalled
that when Ben Gurion returned
from the TVA trip he came to the
White House and talked about it.
They discussed the importance of
reclamation and development to
the strengthening of free nations.
Five Arab countries bolted
from the neutral Arab-Asian bloc
to vote with the U.S. for U.N.
sanctions against Communist
China. By some strange coinci
dence this occurred only a few
hours before the U. S. urged Se
curity Council members to vote
against Israel in favor of Syria.
The U. S. is the champion of
free people and the opponent of
aggression. This knowledge puz
zled Congressmen who decided
that the State Department found
it expedient to encourage Arab
aggression and to deflate Ben
Gurion's visit accomplishments.
The State Department wants to
raise American prestige in the
Arab world. What it has done has
been to lower our prestige in the
eyes of free people who respect
truth and honor. The State De
partment. however, was concern
ed with a thing called "strategic
expediency" and lost sight of our
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