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4—THE CATHOLIC THIES Friday. Sept. 30, 1955 ..... THE CATHOLIC TIMES Published Every Week by The Catholic Times, inc. Columbus. Ohio NOTICE: Send All Changes ot Address to P. O. Box 636 Columbus. Ohio Executive and Editorial Offices: 246 E Town Street. Columbus 15. Ohio Address all communications for publication to O. Box 636 Columbus 16. Ohio Telephones: CA. 4-5195 CA 4-5196 Pritt of Th* Catholic Time* t* *3 net year. All •wh«eript4ons should be presented to ou.’ office through the Pastor* of the parishe*. Remittance* should t* mad* payabl* to th* Cath lte Times. Anonymmi* communication* will he disregarded. -We rtn not hold ouraelve* re«poR«lh)e for any View* je opinion* eapreased in th* communication* of eur ertrreapondent*. Entered Second Cl««« Matter at Foat Offic*. Colnmhua Ohm. Si. Franria de Sales. Patron of th* Cathohe Pre**. Pray for ii*! _____ This Paper Printed by Union Labor Religion and Brainwashing Education without i elision is not education. That ought to be clear by this year oi 1955. en turies of progress have not dimmed this fact and modern progress only serves to make it more ap parent to those who care to know it. Only the blind of mind and the opponents of religion refuse to realize what is plainly before them. Perhaps this truth was never more apparent than when a priest and a Rhodes scholar came out of the depths of Communist China recently. The lay man intellectual was a good example of the success of “brainwashing'' by his Communist captors. He was confessing his “guilt” and professing the value of Communism. He e\en felt sorry because he was not worthy nr did not measure up to the om munist ideals In contrast to this sad defaulting on the part of the Rhodes scholar, was the quiet reserve and patience of the priest He told report ers: “I fought Communism. I fought sabotage, strikes, demoralization and progressive (pro Communist) actions at my university. Now all can be quite sorry for the long months of suffering endured by both these lormer pi ison ers of the -Reds. But it would seem quite apparent that intellectualism alone was not sufficient to withstand the mental and physical tortures of the Communists. Without moral values, without intel lectual discipline, without self control and training in spiritual fundamentals, without a devotion to truth, how can one stand up under attacks such as those made by Red persecutors of religion The revelation in a Congressional investigation lome weeks ago that two-thirds of the high school children of New York City had not an much as heard of the Ten Commandments, must give pause to the people who are concerned about the future moral and social fabric of our great nation. If there is moral training in the school, and if (as seems apparent) the home does not instruct in such funda mentals as the Ten Commandments, then whence will the future citizens derive the conscience, the moral principles with which to conduct .themselves and thereh" keep society from complete deterior ation and ruin? Something more than knowledge of material things is evidently necessary. The priest in his long years of training had sought Truth. His devotion to God, Who is Truth, and to sound moral and spir itual principles, made his the truly educated mind. The Rhodes scholar needed more than knowledge to withstand the tortures of “brainwashing." It may hr well tn see if the beginnings of “brainwash inf" a moral way arc not already under way on a large scale in our very midst. Brought to Christ Sunday’s Mass opens with a prayer for peace framed by the Psalmist centuries ago a prayer that has been echoed by generation after genera tion. and that represents the hopes and desires of our nwn times in particular. And the Gospel selec tion brings home to us the fact that the peace we so long for must, indeed, he sought in prayer, as a gift of God It is an account of one of Christ’s nur acles, dealing with human suffering, incurable by human means, as is true of so many of the afflic tions that the world suffers from today. The paralytic who was brought, “lying on a pal let,” and set at the feet of Jesus, was blessed in having friends so concerned for his welfare that they refused to accept the verdict that his case was hopeless after great difficulty they got him into the presence of the Master, with the result that their faith and the afflicted man's faith were re warded by a double manifestation of divine mercy and omnipotence First Christ spoke the.words re storing life to the soul of the paralytic: “Take cour age, son, thy sins are forgiven thee And then came the lesser miracle, which arous ed tear and awe in the hearts of the crowds stand ing hy: “Rise," the Savior said, “take up thy pal let and go to thy house. And the man who hail been helpless found life and strength coursing through his wasted limbs “he arose and went away to his house. The man's need had hecn desper ate. hts soul was stained with sin. and his body wax stricken wuh a malady which was a living death: bringing him to Christ meant the solution for all that had seemed hopeless. If all the world could be brought to Christ, as this paralytic was, how swiftly would the woe and distress that weigh so heavily upon civilization be dispelled! The paralysis that has descended upon men and nations, rendering them unable to free themselves from the trials that enmesh them, is not alone physical, or mental moral disorders, indifference Io spiritual values are the basic cause of the confusion and helplessness Faith in Christ, a turning to Hun for aid and direction, obedience to Hi* tea hings and commands thexe would bring the glorious message: “Thy sins are forgiven arise end walk!" Th” fact that nations and the world as a whole ere so mriillerrnt tn the saving power of Christ means that His follow us, those who profess to know Him and trust in Him, arc not sufficiently zealous in bringing the afflicted to him they fail to turn to Hi.j when they encounter desperate cases of spir itual and physical suffering Their own faith should be so strong that it would inspire faith on the part of others the vigor of their faith should be evi denced in the uprightness of their lives, in their charity, theii justice, so that the world would want to know the Source of the grace that fires them. We canno* look for a peaceful, happy world until men. helpless in their sins and their afflictions, are brought to Chri.d. Religious Russia Anil the Realities W Sometime we feel sure that (I) (hu own United St.-tc- the most naive nation in world hUKory 2 that there was nevet a countrs «n in (■lined to shut eves tn unpleasant realities, CJ) that the first cHIb i coloi eri glasses (unless the Russian claim (hi* dr covci too) weie invent ed and reached their widest ii: i ibution rmhl heie «t Lome ?This p. -sib y cyni'a! reaction w.1.1 brought on by.- the statements of sonic I’olLanna wanderers who have recently returned from a carefully con ducted tour of "religious" Russia Everything was fine Religion «»s flourishing “There are 1.500 Catholic and BOO Uitheran churches open to the people,” said one. Fortunately, our cynicism is considerably check ed hy a more realistic report from some down-to earth business men who saw what they saw, not what they wanted to see. Their report, too, haw on its side the recommendations of logic and ordinary horse-sense. How could religion flourish in Russia? Recently interviewed in the U. S. News find World Report the business men answered the fol lowing questions: Q. Did you visit any churches? A. Most of the churches are abandoned. Some of the ancient churches are being restored. A few churches are being used. Q. Were there many young people in the church, A. Not many. Having heard that it was only the older people who go to church, we w-ere sur prised to see as many as we did. There were per haps 10 or 15 youngish men and women and maybe a dozen children out of about 300 people alto gether. Q. Did you see anything that looked like a marked religious revival? A. No. During the war period there was re vived interest, but our impression is that religion is on the decline. It has heen maintained hy the old people. The young people with whom we talked scoffed at religions belief (italics ours). The influence of the schools is anti-religion, and a teacher who was religious himself would not dare exert a religious influence on any of the pupils. Just Among Ourselves Passing Comment Considered or Inconsiderate The newspapers tell us that there is concern among some sectarian religious leaders about the “peace-of-mind" type of religion that is commonly preached to day and notably by radio. This sort of religion is currently popular many people are join, ing “the church of their choice there seems to he what the papers call “a real resurgence of inter est in religion.” The leaders who are worried think that perhaps the movement is wrongly motivated: “God has been made to appear a servant of man rather than the opposite.” This objection is not without solid foundation. For when a man faces the fact and the responsi bility of human life, and looks to a judgment to come, he must realize that his business is to know, love, and serve God, and not-merely to seek peace of mind for his own present comfort. Peace of mind can mean several things. II may mean a mere lulling of worries that ought not to be lulled. It may mean the “escapism” of the man un willing to exert effort in the acquiring of virtue and the knowing of God’s will in his regard.* Or it may mean the true peace of soul which comes with the conscious possession of God s grace (not the emotional or imaginative self-assurance of having God’s grace), despite the continuing trials and stresses of earthly life. life is meant for the steady carrying of the Cross of Christ. Life is meant for duty, and duty is never altogether free from pain. But true peace, —the peace of soul, the peace of Christ of which Scripture speaks, can exist side by side with hard ship and suffering. It was to people enduring much for the sake of Christ, people who might at any moment be called upon to endure persecution and death, that the Apostle wrote the confident words of hope, “May the peace of Christ abide in your hearts.” The fundamental truth to remember here is this “the truth shall make you free.” A person in quest of peace must know what he is to believe and what he is to do. Without that knowledge, he is a traveller without a map he cannot know whether he is actually travelling to,the right goal or away from it. To what purpose would anyone advise such a man to cultivate peace of mind? Rather, the only sane advice to give the traveller is to find the right road and then travel it faithfully, even if it is a hard one to follow. He may not have peace of mind or peace of body as he toils forward, but he will have peace of soul in the knowledge that he is making headway towards the true goal. He will have the hardships of struggle, but he will “not fight as one beating the air he will have the painful effort of the race, but he will “not run as at an uncertainty.” Now, it has ever been thr mark of the sects that they cry out against the need of knowing, and knowing for sure, what men are to believe and to do. They shout down truth as “dogma," and they decry any authentic directives touching morals as an effort to enforce slavery or serfdom. Christ told His Church to 'teach all men." Rut the sectarians say that to accept teaching is to enslave the mind. Christ told His Church to have men do “all things whatsoever 1 have commanded.” But the sectarians say that to accept direction of conduct is to enslave the will. And now it appears that the sectarians are troubled about the poor fellow to whom they have denied the light of infallible truth, and the direc tives of infallible authority. They tell him he is indeed in a had way, hut that he is not to worry he is to cultivate "pea -e of mind.” No wonder the more thoughtful among the religious leaders in the sects are dubious about this easy prescription for living No wonder they are troubled as they face the fact that the “peace of mind" business is a service of sell and not of God. No wonder they conclude that this type of religion puts God in the place of a servant and man in the place of the person to be served. One minister remarks, "Of Course, religion will give you peace of mind. All true religion seeks to do that, and accomplishes that." But the purpose of religion is to adore and serve God, and to gel a man to heaven ultimately, with perseverence in God's grace religion will bring the peace which surpasseth understanding. But there is no guaran tee that it will bring "peace of mind" here on earth. A hen a naval officer, captain of a gun crew, asked Arnold Lunn whether his conversion to the Catholic religion had marie him happy (a modern officer would have asked Lunn whether his conver sion gave httn “peace of mind") the convert re plied, “What’s the difference? You and your crew tried a new gun yesterday Do you ask whether the gun made the crew happy, or whether it en abled them to hit the target? My embracing of the true faith enables me »e hit the target, to attain the goal of life. Whether it makes me happy is quite heside the point." How often do we hear a person say, "I love to go to that church, or to hear that speaker 1 find go ,ing there nr hearing aim a great consolation." Cer tainly one is tempted to reply. "Why dn you go to church oi listen to sermons? To find conso lation? If so, you go Io servo yourself, and not to serve God The object of religion (to adapt an old saying) is not to attain the consolations of God, but to serve the God of Consolation. The exercise of religion is not an emollient, not an opiate, not the taking of a kind of spiritual aspirin tablet. It is a strong and demanding effort, requiring steady self-discipline, exacting continual acts of self-sacrifice. It does not consist in wor ries or pains, hut it is not a more means of escape from worries and pains. It makes a person riisrr gard worries and pains or helps him endure them bravely as he seeks tn serve God who is also to be his Reward exceeding great. WASHINGTON LETTER Reds Miss WASHINGTON Perhaps the most interesting story to come out of the recent International Astronomical Congress at Dub lin, Ireland, has reached here by private correspondence. It serves to cast new doubt on the authenticity of the “smile" which communists make such a great effort to exhibit to the world in recent days. Registered at the Dublin meet ing as representatives of com munist-dominated Rumania were two delegates. One was Dr. G. Demetresco, 67-year-old director of the Bucharest Observatory and a known anti-communist. The other was Prof. D. Dinules co, whom nobody could identify as an astronomer and who even tually became known as a com munist leader, political commis sar and a sort of undercover man at the Dublin meeting. Professor Dinulesco’s princi pal function at Dublin proved to be to keep Dr. De met resco from having any contact with the West. What brought the whole thing into the open was a chance meet ing between Dr. Nicholas Donici and Dr. Demetresco. Mr. Donici, 81 years old and at present a professor at the Rumanian Col- MONSIGNOR HIGGINS The September 1954 issue of Jubilee magazine included a spe cial 15page section entitled “Catholics and U. S. l^tbor"— an illustrated historical sur vey of what the clergy and laity have done to encour age and assist Am erican labor its struggle for e o nition and status. In our opin was extremely ion, the survey well done. Given the limited space at their disposal, the edi tors of Jubilee covered the sub ject of religion-and-labor com prehensively and, for the most1 part, accurately. Their selection of photographs and cartoons was particularly good. On* Big Flaw It occurred to us recently, how ever, that there was one big flaw, one major gap. in the Jubilee survey: It failed to men iion the contribution which the Catholic women of the United States have made in the field of religion-and-labor. With the single exception of Dorothy Day, founder and guiding spirit of the Catholic Worker, every person mentioned in the article was a man, and the majority were priests or bishops. As one of Jubilee's consult ants and therefore partially re sponsible for this unchivalrous oversight, the present writer would like to make amends, as gracefully as possible, to what the Liturgy so frequently refers to as the "devout feminine sex." More specifically, he would like to make amends to the teaching Sisters of the United States who have’ done so much to prepare the way for the priests and lay men who blandly take the lion's share of the credit for whatever the Church has been able to ac complish in the field of social action, as well as in every field of endeavor. L*y W#m»n, Too In paying special tribute to the good Sisters, we are not un Month of the Rosary Chance to lege in Paris, where exiled Ru manians are taking courses, was walking slowly toward the New man House in Dublin to have a meal. He came upon Dr. Deme tresco, a friend of some 35 years. The two were about to shake hands and embrace, when “Pro fessor” Dinulesco intervened, laid a firm hand upon Dr. De metresco, and led him away. Dr. Donici was not only star tled, but was also saddened. When he could regain his com posure. he told associates that he had never heard of "Profes sor” Dinulesco as an astrono mer. He added that the man who "shadowed” Dr. Demetresco so constantly was not a ‘‘protector," but had purged the Rumanian Academy of Science when the communists took over Rumania. Dr Donici said “Professor" Din ulesco had stricken his name from the list of Academicians. Other delegates report in word received here that it was impos sible for them to talk alone with Dr. Demetresco. As soon as the respected Rumanian astronomer would begin to engage in conver sation with a scientist from the West, “Professor” Dinulesco would appear out erf nowhere and become a third member of the talk. And he insisted on he- Honor— Where Overdue mindful of the great work which has been accomplished by Cath olic lay women in the social apostolate. -We are thinking, for example, of such a woman as IJnna Bresette, who, as the tire less field secretary of-the Cath olic Conference on Industrial Problems, did as much as any other single American of our generation to promote the so cial teaching of the Church. Miss Bresette, who was forced to retire a few years ago for reasons of health, lived out of a suitcase for more than 25 years, traveling constantly from one end of the country to the other to arrange for more than 100 national, regional and dio cesan conferences In the field of industrial relations. Between conferences she represented NCWC on countless committees and agencies concerned with eco nomic and social problems. N*gl*ct*d Pioneer Many other lay women could be singled out for honorable mention in this connection. But they themselves. I am confident, would want us to concentrate at this time on the unheralded con tribution made in the field of Catholic social action by so many teaching Sisters, now living or dead. As a matter of fact, one of these lay women Mary Sy non of Catholic University’s Commissioin on American Citi zenship is immediately re sponsible for our own belated interest in the work of Sisters in the social apostolate. Miss Synon, who in her own right has contributed much to the cause of social justice in^the United States, recently published a biography of Mother Emily, first Mother Superior of the Sin sinawa Dominicans, a neglected pioneer in the history of the Catholic social movement in this country. “Mother Emily of Sin sinawa American Pioneer” (Bruce. $3.75). Vision and Initiative Mother Emily was indeed a pi oneer. Ixrng before the majority of lay people and many of the clergy had awakened to the im portance of the social problem YOU MUST SAY Tue &0SAAYsf wMr SAY IS DM€,A» £SA Use 'Smile' ing “counted in.” More than once the "Professor” took Dr. Deme tresco by the arm and steered him elsewhere. Rumanian exiles here said they had fheard of “Professor" Dinulesco. but not as a scientist. His behavior at the Dublin meet ing seemed to cause them no surprise. They were far more in terested in hearing about Dr. Donici. whom they remember ed as former Professor of Astron omy at the Kishineff University of Bessarabia and founder and director of the Starya Doubos sary Observatory in Bessarabia. They w'ere also interested in hearing about the Pgris sChotfl for Rumanian refugees where Dr. Donici now teaches. There is some speculation as to why the communists let De metresco take part in the Dublin meeting at all. One explanation is that perhaps they thought it would be taken to be a part of the communist "new look." If so, they must have counted on "Professor” Dinulesco doing a less obtrusive job of gumshoe ing. The “Professor" seems to have fallen down on his assign ment, and the Reds have failed to make friends of some of the world's top astronomers. in the United States, she had started to prepare her associ ates at Sinsinawa to take a sym pathetic interest in this problem in the light of Catholic social teaching. As a member of a Re ligious Community, she was not, of course, in a position to en gage in social action as such. But she did everything possible, within the limits of her relig ious calling, to encourage pro gressive movements in the field of social reform. More specifi cally, she demonstrated extra ordinary vision and initiative in preparing the Sisters of her community to pass to their stu dents an intelligent awareness of the social problem and a deep interest in Catholic social teach ing. “Generally,” Miss Synon says, "Mother Emily’s method was socratic rather than formal. She established no classes for the study of the Rerum Novarum but she found other methods of in doctrination. She used the Con gregation custom of oral reading in the refectory to submit sec tions and interpretations of the Pope’s letter. She gave copies to those whom she thought best fitted to become its apostles. She mentioned to individuals, as they told her some particularly flagrant social condition, that Pope l^eo had seen and sought to cure these evils." Better Late Than Never God alone knows the good ac complished by this saintly wom an and her devoted followers and by thousands of like-minded Sisters in many other Religious Communities throughout the United States. We know enough about it, however, to be able to say that in this field, as well as in many others, the women’s religious orders of the United States are deserving of much more recog nition and gratitude than they generally receive from those of us who have benefited so much from their training, their encour agement and—most important of all—their unceasing prayers. It is a little late to be saying thank you, but better late than never. Inquiry Corner --------------—Father Healey Q, The recent return of air num Schmidt and the newspa per accounts of the remarriage of his wife, who believed him dead, has raised the question as to whether such a set of circum stances could arise among Ca tholics. What is the law of the Church concerning the remar riage of a Catholic under sim ilar conditions? A. A situation of this kind would be very rare among Cath olics for the Church is strict in permitting a aefond marriage even when there is a civil dec laration of death. If such a mar riage were to be performed among Catholics, however, and the person who was presumed to be dead should return, the sec ond marriage would be invalid. There certainly would be no question of the person who re married making a choice, for the first marriage would endure “un til death.” A civil declaration of death (e g. prolonged absence by reason of war) would not be suf ficient evidence for remarriage. There would have to be a docu ment or the testimony of wit nesses, etc., to give moral cer tainty of the fact. Ordinarily the bishop would decide whether the evidence w'as conclusive. There ar» some well known instances ■where (e.g. an explorer) a man has been missing for years, but for lack of evidence of his death the wife is still held by the Church to that marriage. Q. Is it correct for a Catholic couple to be married at a low Mass? I thought the Nuptial Mass should be said so that the Nuptial Blessing could be re ceived? A. Ordinarily the Mass offer ed after the reception of the Sac rament of Matrimony is a sung (or high) Mass. Unless circum stances prevent it this Mass, whether a high Mass or a low Mass, will be the Nuptial Mass (Missa pro sponsis). Within this special Mass is the nuptial bless ing. The Nuptial Mass and the nuptial blessing have special power to bring appropriate bless ings upon the newly-married Ca tholics. On some of the major feast days the Mass of the day prevails and the Nuptial Mass is commemorated and the nuptial blessing is given. During Advent and Lent (the “closed times”) RICHARD PATTEE On Arriving in JERUSALEM The run from Amman to Jerusalem is about two and a half hours, straight through the Dead Sea valley via Jericho. This sun-baked s e rile coun tryside is so rich in history and so thick with Bibli a 1 assoc iations that scarcely a s uare foot can be said to be without its significance in our relig i o u s tradition. Jord anian Jerusalem is profoundly, vehem ently.-even raucously Arab, as anyone who listens to the blare of Arabic music for hours on end over the loud speakers can at test. The city outside the walls partakes of the twentieth cen tury. This is strikingly true of the splendid new Ambassador Hotel which, aside from a maitre d’hotel in white robe and tar bush, might be located in Rich mond or Minneapolis. The old city is just what the seeker af ter the exotic wants: narrow, thronged streets, covered alley ways, and the hodgepodge of cos tumes and garments that makes for about as picturesque a sight as one is likely to find anywhere. I was prepared for over-com mercialization of the Hdly Plac e's but, fortunately, in the late summer the tourist crowds seem to have thinned out and will not appear in gaping hordes until Christmas rolls around. Crossing the Line In the week I spent in Arab Jer usalem. as it is commonly called, I hustled about to make all the arrangements for crossing over into Israel. This takes a bit of doing. One must get his^exit per mit. then apply at the American consulate for authorization to cross the No Man’s Ixind that divides the city in two parts. A day, the precise hour, is fixed. Once the papers come through in jny case the con- sulate got them 15 minutes be fore my hour was due—the trav eler rushes- to the Mandalbaum Gate not a gate at all and, appareptly, having nothing to do with anyone named Mandalbaum —and proceeds to cross the line. In Jerusalem, with becoming del icacy, the person contemplating entering Israel is always asked if he plans to “cross over.” Lugging my handbags and portable typewriter, I got through the Jordanian authori ties a*nd proceeded to walk the couple of hundred yards to a shack that housed the Israelis. Here I was met by a husky young man, who looked like something straight out of the British Ninth Army, and was amiably welcomed to Israel. Mr. Haim Zohar of the Press and In formation Department of the Is rael government was on hand and announced that everything the solemn nuptial blessing is forbidden? but. the bishop may permit it even during these times if he judges there is sufficient reason. Q. How can -so non Catholic attend a Catholic wedding as a bridesmaid? I thought all the attendants should be Catholic, not just maid of honor and the best man! A. The whole wedding party should receive Holy Communion and take an intimate part in the ceremony and the Mass, so or dinarily all the attendants of the bride and groom should be Ca tholics. The Fifth Synod of the Diocese of Columbus makes dear that "the principal witnesses (groomsman and bridesmaid or maid of honor) are to be Catho lics in good standing.” Since it does not seem to be explicitly forbidden, however, it would seem to be possible to have an attendant (e. g. a brother or sis ter if one party is a convert) who was a non-Catholic. Such a decision should be left to the pastor. From the synodical leg islation it is clear that a non Catholic cannot be best man or maid bf honor. Q. If a person keeps n sin bark in confession and later confesses it, is it necessary to make n gen eral confession? A. If a mortal sin is deliberate ly withheld in confession that constitutes a bad confession. All later confessions are bad if the person does not correct the de liberate omission. Consequently when the sin is finally confess ed it is necessary to confess all mortal sins (at least) since the original bad confession. It would not be necessary to make a general confession, involving an examination and confession of all sins of a w'hole lifetime, hut all serious sins not properly con fessed must be repeated. In par ticular cases it is well to ask the priest for advice after explain ing simply and honestly what has happened. The confessor wants to help the penitent gain peace of soul and even the shame felt over a series of bad confessions should not stop a person who wants to make a good complete confession. Send questions to Father Ed ward F. Healey, The Inquiry Cor ner. The Catholic Times, Box 636, Columbus (16) Ohio. Israel was in order short trip by of the city. for the entry and car to the eenter Kind of Transmigration No Mans Land is a bleak strip of abandoned territory with ruined buildings, rusty barbed wire and the usual rubble that lies about after battles have been fought. Pockmarked build ings and gaping windows make it a fairly dismal sort of spec tacle. Once on the way to the new Jerusalem, all of this changes quickly. The passage from one part of the city to the other is a kind of transmigration, a meta morphosis in time and atmos phere so startling as to in credible. Arab Jerusalem is the Middle East as it ought to be Israeli Jerusalem is a buzzing, modern urban center in which there is scarcely a note of the Orient save in a very limited number of its streets and quar ters. The first impression of Israel is that it is Western pugna ciously, aggressively, blatantly Western in every aspect of its life. The national garb seems to be khaki shorts and open shirts. The tempo of life is comparable to any busy American city. The external aspect of things, if one could remove the street signs in Hebrew, is of any community in any part of the world except the eastern Mediterranean. Reasonably Good Facsimile To be sure, the visitor is im pressed at once that in this na tion, which is seven years old politically- and five thousand years old historically, there is the most disconcerting medley of human types and races. Somehow or other, Israel has managed in a very short ‘space of time to mold its population until each citizen is a reasonably good facsimile of every other citizen. It is the more remarkable that a larger and larger proportion of Israel’s people are of non European origin: Yemenites and Iraquis, Egyptian Jews and those from Tunis and the rest of North Africa. When one be gins to get the feel of the place, the variations become dearer. On my first day in the country, I did not get things in focus at once. In the general blur I might very easily have landed in some beach spot in Florida by mistake. Limited as one’s Hebrew may be on arrival, one quickly ac quires the use of the ever pres ent and constantly used Shalom for greeting and on taking leave. From the Eden Hotel in down town Jerusalem, I began to try to bring some order into the confusion of appointments and visits that had been proposed tn me. With all respect, 1 would add that if one falls-into the hands of the Israeli authorities to be shown around, he will have precious little time for solitary meditation during his sojourn in the country.