Page 4 — Tlio Conailiaii Jewitti Newt, FrMoy^ May lit, 1964
THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS
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NASSER BRAGS AGAIN
TIME FOR U.N.
The protest to the United Nations by the British Government against dictator Nasser's last provocation in Yemen calls for serious consideration by all of us.
Speaking in Sa'Ana, capital of Yemen, Abdul Nasser bragged last week that he would destroy the last vestiges of British influence in the Arab world and also destroy Israel.
Nasser's statement is but one of several provocations committed by Arab despots in the last few days. Echoing his mentor, dictator Ben Bella of Algeria also threw in a word about 1964 being the year of destiny for the liberation of Palestine.
In New York city, containing the largest Jewish community in the world, the little king of Jordan had the tem-
CONSERVATIVE RABBIS
erity to exhibit in his pavillion on the grounds of the World's Pair propaganda directed against Israel.
It is apparent that all these provocations by meihber states of the United Nations call for courageous action at East River. It is useless to postpone further a public debate, within the organization of the nations of the world, of this constant, uninterrupted breach
of international decency. The question remains whether any resolution of censure against these Arab war mongers will carry a majorfty vote. It is high time the voice of reason prevail before an actual conflagration erupts in the Middle East, one which could Involve us all.
Open sesame: Now the British have noticed it.,.
Aux Ecoutes, Poris
66
e
99
Dear Editor:
It was with great satisfaction that I read yaiir Coimnentaiy (April ITUi) entlUed, The EvU Eye, iconcemln?' the "liberal" position to Jewish Day Schools. I highly commend you for your audacity to publicly and constructively criticiie those who eagerly desire to lead our. people along the road of assimilation to total "integraUon" among the nations of the earth. As you so eloquenUy stated: "Judaism, the Jewish people, remains andiored to Sinai, to Torah. Without it there is no Jew in the historic arena^
We all painfully realize that in our lifetime we have witnessed the most gruesome calamity that
befell our pe<q>le; the horrible destruction of European Jewry
which had developed through a thousand years of sacrifice and martyrdom. At that crucial moment in Jewish history, there arose faithful and courageous leaders, princes of the Torah, who heard a voice from the past, the urgent plea of Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakai, saying, Give me Yaivneh and her Sages, give me the Torah Schools, to assure Jewish perpetuity.
With tear-laden eyes to the past, they planted the seeds of the future by establishing the Day Sdio<H Movement. To^lay we are grateful beneficiaries of their forslght.
For the past twenty years the Jewish Day Schools have been
blessed with' a idienomenal growth. TH&y have produced tens of thousands of proud bearers of the eternal light of Ttorah. thereby guaranteeing the survival of our people as The People of the Book. Their followers take their places in modem society, play leading roles Ip all fields of endeavour and, at the same time.', loyally adhere to the tradiUons of their forefathers.
The Day School Movement la contributing a glorious chapter to the annals • of Jewish History. Toronto and Montreal Jewry may well pride themselves in having a most eminent position as pioneers of this historic movement
New York City
David Grossman
UNITY — WHAT'S THE PRICE
by The Rt. Hon. L. B. PEARSON
Prime Minister of Canoda
b i e u li n r a 1 i sun
A GREAT CONVENTION
Last week's convention of the Rabbinical Assembly of America at Gros-singers, New York, has been remarkable from more than one point of view.
First of all, one should note the middle-of-the-road attitude taken by the Conservative rabbis in regard to the present religious structure of Israel. While the convention officially endorsed the stand recently taken by its president — that of supporting the American organizations in protesting to - Eshkol against too much power for the Israeli chief rabbinate — the convention saluted Israeli Chief Orthodox Rabbi, Dr. Unterman.
This followed a heated debate in which many Traditionalist rabbis openly opposed the position taken by the president, that of joining non-religious organizations in the battle of Ideas against Orthodoxy.
Many members of the Conservative rabbinate stressed that the Conserv-
RELIGIONIN SCHOOLS
SCARBOROUGH: UNR1
The decision by the Board of Education of Scarborough, Ontario, to in-. troduce in the public schools a revised religious curriculum is, in our opinion, unrealistic.
According to the statement issued by the Board last weekend, its resolution calls for courses both on the Old Testament in Judaism (in Grade?) and on the New Testament and Christianity, in Grade 8. It also proposed a course in other major religions for Grade 9.
We believe this proposal is impractical for many reasons, one of which should be spelled out. It is naive to suggest that religion can be taught in public schools as dispassionately as physics, mathematics or taught or relayed as, "pure mformation", imbias-ed and without prejudice, favorable or otherwise.
The teaching of religion is without any value if instruction in a particular faith is given by a non-believer. Religion boi-ders on this very delicate im- '
ative Movement is anxious to impose a Torah life upon Jews the world over. As one rabbi pointed out, one cannot be opposed to enforced kash-rut in Israel yet, at the same time, demand the same in a North American community.
The foundation on which problems of our federation must be resolved is acceptance, in the first place, of the full partnership of English speaking and French speaking Canadians. In our national federation each province has its own rights, its own resources and its own jurisdiction. This i? particularly significant, surely, in the case of Quebec
share a divided responsibility for regulating a single economic and social structure. It is most unlikely that any constitution could be devised which would enable each to perform its specific functions adequately without impinging seriously on the others. So their activities are-inevitably mingled, and co-operative arrangements must be worked
which, as well as being a j out. In the result, formal province, is also the home I powers are not co-termi^ of most of our French speak-1 nous with operating res-ing Canadians, the guardian I ponsibilities; the two levels of their language, their tra-lof government as well as ditions and their   way   of the several state and pro-
life. The solution, on the essential foundation which I have mentioned, to our problems must be found in what we call cooperative federalism. That means to
However, the most sensational re-     that the federal govem-
mark at this conference was made'Tiy Rabbi Simon Gifeenberg, vice chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, who openly stated that the World Zionist Organization has failed to adapt itself to the present reality of Jewish life. The World Zionist Movement, he said, outlived itself, for the present challenge to oiu: community is spiritual, not political.
Generally, this Rabbinical Assembly Conference will be recorded for its high intellectuai level of debate and for the serious concern demonstrated by all participants in reevaluating accepted truisms.
APPROACH
ponderable, called faith.
For example, how can Judaism be taught by one who does not share this faith, especially where children are involved? How can the New Testament be taught by one wHo does not believe in its holiness?
Time and again it has been stressed that to a believer the Bible is not literature or history. In order to imbue children with more than literary interest in the Holy Book the teacher must believe. Otherwise, it is sheer waste of time; the effect of Instruction may result in exactly the opposite of the dcaired aliii, no matter how lofty.
Thus we think it advisable to eliminate entirely this subject fr(Hn public schools.
The essence of tolerance in a democracy is, accepting the fact that people
one house
ment must of course always seek the approval of provincial governments, when that is necessary under our con^ stitution, before decisions are made. That is obvious. But there must also be consultation on matters which, while within the jurisdiction of the federal government, are shared constitutionally with provincial governments, or are of such great aiid immediate importance to provincial governments that, for good results, provincial support and cooperation must be obtained.
At the same time the federal government ha^ obligations to discharge to the people of Canada as a whole. The necessity, which is admitted, of increased consultation with provinces need not and must not interfere with the discharge of those obligations. The issue is not, and must not, become "provincial rights" versus "Canada first". These slogans and any others which represent competing approaches to national unity are dangerous and could be destroying; and they misrepresent the actual position. This is how Professor Corry of Queen's University puts it in an article on "Constitutional trends and federalism":
We are likely to have to live for a long time with the equivocal structuire cal-
need not piray together in
of worship nor study religion togetherled cooperative federalism, in one classroom, In order to live peace- It has arisen because sever-fully together, al   separate governments
\incial governments mter-penefrate one another in many places and ways. Under the heat and pressiure generated by social and economic change in the twentieth century, the distinct strata of the older federalism have begim to melt and flow into one another. - This is only one reason why any government in Ottawa must confront forces which would separate or divide us, with the aspirations of all Canadians and the determination of the vast majority of them in every part and province of our country to remain Canadian citizens; citizens of no mean country; citizens of a nation which is greater than the sum Of its parts. The dream of a strong and united Canada, as we all know, is older than confederation itself. Indeed, it motivated confederation. It was in the mind of an honourable ntember of parliament, Louis Honore Frechette, in 1875 when he made this statement:
We will form but one great nation with deep-rooted patriotism, and noble aspirations, working as one to common prosperity, and advancing together towards a great and productive future.
NO EASY SOLUTION
On this ideal alone can we find the solution to the problem of the relations between English speaking and French speaking Canadians. It is a problem which by its very nature is higly emotional and particularly sensitive to gustis Of passion and prejudiced There is no easy, magic isolutibn
to it. Diatribes in either of our languages will contribute nothing to national unity but much to national disimity. No magic will dissolve hostilities which are engendered by extremism on either side. No magic will educate suspicious, satisfy the legitimate aspirations of Quebec, remove understandable anxieties outside Quebec; in short, make the problem go away. Moreover, the problem is xomplicated by loose talk and misunderstanding about the meaning of such words as "bicultu-ralism" and "biligualism".
What do we mean by bi-culturalism? Not, surely, that our nation has or will have only two cultural sources, French and English, each exclusive of the other. For one thing, English culture and French cultm^ are not, and cannot be, separate and distinct from each other or from other cultvnal straits in _Canada. Above all, biculturalism does not mean that these other cultural strains in our society, non Anglo-Saxon or non-French, should be discouraged from making their own strong and enriching contribution to what we are trying to develop in Canada.
Cultural segregation, or cultural separatism, is no more welcome than some other forms of segregation or separatism. Equally to be rejected would be any attempt, at cultural absorption by social or political pressure. This is especially the case when the political foundation of a federal state is based on two language groups, with a consequent emphasis on duality which might seem to depreciate the cultural importance of other racial groups in our population. Bicultural does not, as I imderstand it, and must never niean this kind of exclusiveness, with any assumption or appearance of superiority. What biculturalism in our country does and should mean is that there are two strains, French and. for want of a' better word, English, which were the foundation of our national society.
There must be no pres-stire on one to absorb the
Film, Theatre, Music #6/ D. COHN
• Marc Chagall remembers the day he had met sculptor Jacob Epstein. "All artists should know each other," the latter said. Chagall ans wered, Tm not sure tiiat I'm really,an artist."
He is working now on the windows for the Cathedral of Metz, which will be on exhibition at the Musee de Rouen in June, July and August. He is also designing the UN's memorial window for Dag Hammerskjold and two memorial windows for the Rockefellers, these, together with those for Jerusalem, will be reproduced in a nevv book. ' • Richard Tucker begins his 20th year with the Metropolitan Opera. Previously an orthodox cantor in Brooklyn, he made his opera debut in January, 1945, in La Giaconda.
• Ernest Borgnine isn't Jewish but his ex-wife, Rhpda, is. She lives in the San Fernando Valley where she is ralising their daughter, Nancy, 11, in the Jewish faith. -
• Ethel Merman formely Zimmerman, is not Jewish.
• Is Joey Bishop interested in converting anyone? Whenever he does lids warinup during a shoW, he tells the audience, "Immediately after the shoWj we're all going to Temple".
Asked if his wife Sylvia is a redhead, Joey replied, "We've been married 23 years and we've gone through every color."
• Benny Rubin, famous for his Yiddish dialect in vaudeville, played ah Arab for a Red Skelton show and inimediately became emotionally perplexed.
• Myrdri aiid Miriam Cohen will celebrate their 40th anniversary in June. They were married in the Bronx when he was in the isilk business,
• Jerry Vale, Italian vocalist, is married to Rita Gra-pel, Jewish girl from Brooklyn. She taught him to sing, I Love You Much Too Much, which [he sings in Yiddish in ia recentiy released album. ■
# Joey Bishop, working in a Philadelphia cafe, says, "I don't know if it's so good appearing in your home town. You work for years to achieve stardom, then you walk down the street and someone yells, 'Hey, it's Joey Gottlieb!"'
# Sam Levenson has an
Aunt Beckie who is convinced that this is the worst of all possible worlds. The last time he came home from a weekend at her house he decided to shoot' the works and sent her a magniun of champagne and a poimd of caviar. A few evenings later he phoned
— Keep Smiling
NICE THOUGHT
A young father, proudly hold-ins his loUnt son in bla arms, vnu lost In thought ss his mkid trailed off into a daydream of happy anticipation of a siicoess-ful future. Suddenly be turned to his vlfe and said, "You know, dear, I'm going to work hard, and 8<«ie day we are going to tw rich."
His wife quickly replied, •*We are ahrepdy rich. dear. We have each other. Some day maybe we'll have money." ■ .
DEFINITIONS
Average husband: one who Isnt as good as she thought be was before she married blm, nor
as l»d as she thinks he Is after ward. ■
Average person: one who thinks someone else is the: average person.
Babble: a feminine noise, so-
meirtu^ resembllns the sound of
a ;^rook, but with less meaning.
■ Baby sitters: girls you hire to
watch your television sets. • • •
REASONAPLE
Harry: "What part of an au'o-mobile kills the most people?" Larry: "The nut behind the wheel."
HOUDAT / "You didnt take a vacation
this year, did you?" "No, I thought I needed a
rest." ■
her. "How are you. Aunt Beckie?" he asked. "Dying, of course," she moaned. „You never acknowledged my gift," he told her."Didn't you like it?" 'Ill tell you." said Aunt Beckie, "the ginger ale wasn't so bad. But that huckleberry jam! You must have left it standing next to some fish in the refrigerator all night!" • Yitzhak Perhnan, 18, of Tel Aviv, Violinist vdio has performed extensively throvi-ghout Canada and the United States since the age of 12, won the Leventritt international violin competition in New York last "Tuesday and with it a $1,000 prize and the privilege of appearing with the major orchestras of cities on the North American continent.
Mr. Perlman, bom in Tel Aviv, began his musical studies at the Academy of Music there. He has been studying in the U. S. since 1958.. winning scholarships from tlie America-Israel Cultural Foundation and the Juillard School of Music
Mr. Perlman has been lame in both legs as the result of infantile paralysis since he was four years old.
Incidentally, the $25,000 Stradivarius on which he performed was stolen when it was put down momentarily. It was later found at a pawn shop where it was bought for $15. • Dave Brinkley, TV correspondent, reports from the Negev desert in Israel: A Bedouin tribesman traded off his daughter in marriage in exchange for a foiuth wife for himself. His sons were* furious, because they intended to trade her for wives for themselves.
Now if they want wives, they will have to pay bride money. That used to be ten dollars. But now it's one hundred. We don't kno\y why. imless it's supply and demand.
Anyway, they're ^ so furious they've moved out of their father's tent
Difficulties' like this ai;e causing many young Arabs to tiun Communist.
other, but they should develop alongside each other; each, I hope, influencing and improving the other and each influenced and enriched by the cultural contribution of other racial groups strains which are to be encouraged.
Similarly with bilingual-ism. Surely it must not be given a restrictive or coercive meaning. It does not mean, as I see it, that every Canadian will be forced to learn two official languages, or that the two official languages, English and French, must be used in every part of Canada in official texts and public declarations. That would be impracticable and unnecessary, and in any event is a matter for the provinces to decide. The fe-
deral government, however, has an obligation in this linguistic field to ensure that the rights of the French language, as guaranteed in our constitution, are preserved and can be exercised; an obligation to ensure that a Canadicm using French in federal offices and in respect of federal activities and services will not be dis-coxmiged from such use or made to feel a foreigner, especially in his own capital, by another Canadian refusing to acknowledge his right to use the French tongue. Eventually, I believe it must become normal and accepted for all federal services to use both languages interchangeably wherever there are Canadians of both languages living and working.
SERMON FOR THE WEEK
TRUE REWiUID OF VIRTIIEr
There are few more pathetic personal tragedies in the history of the Tahnudic worthies than that of Elisha ben Abuya, a distinguished teacher of Torah who coiuited R. Meir among his disciples, and who became the arch-apostate of his time, flouting and denying all that he had held dear and propagated formerly. So utterly transformed was he that he was given the nickname "^Acher", "another"; so convinced was he of his complete rejection by God that when R. Meir, who remained faithful to him even after his defection, urged hiip to find his way back to God, he answered vrtth poignant sadneiss: "I heard a voice from on high saying, "Return, ye backsliding children — except for Acher." Against him, in his view, the gates of repentance were closed.
The rabbis are naturally greatly exercised to explain this complete apostasy. AcconUng to one explanation, it was the result of an incident which completely shattered his faith in Divine justice. There are two, and two only commandments in the Torsdi of which it is stated that those who fulfil them will have "length of days", the Fifth Commandment and the apparently unimportant one enjoining the sending away of the dam when rifling a nest.
A man requested his son to climb up to the roof of his house and bring down the eggs from a nest, and that he should be careful to send the dain away. The son obeyed his father and thereby at one and the same time fulfilled both the precepts which promise "length of days on the land". And on his descent he slipped and fell to his death. When Elisha ben Abuya saw this it had a shattering effect upon his faith. "Where then is this man's length of days, and where is his happiness?" and the shock changed him into "Acher."
What Is the answer? asks the Talmud, and it is given by R. Jacob, who lays down the fundamental principle that "there is no reward for virtue in this world". "That it may go well with thee" refers to the world which is wholly good, "that thy days- may be long" refers to the world which is eternal. This R. Jacob was the grandson of Elisha ben Abuya, the son of his daughter, and the Talmud sadly comments: "Had Acher only interpreted this verse as did his daughter's son, he would not have sinned".
And from the grandfather we tUm to the grandson. One can well imagine him, a boy at the time of his grandfather's spiritual tragedy, brought up under its shadow, continually asking himself, Why? What is the answer? If the Torah is true, wherein did my grandfather err? And as a result of these agonising questions In which filial piety strove with faith he came to the answer and to the resultant purified conception of the doctrine of retribution.
But that is not all. Can we not now appreciate how, as a result, his whole mind became preoccupied with the problem of the relation of this world to the next, and that preoccupation produces his two favourite maxims which are preserved in the Fourth Chapter of Ethics which we read tomorrow: "R. Jacob said, "This world is like an antechamber to the world to come. Prepare thyself In the ante-chamber that thou mayest enter into the palace".
"He used to say, 'Better is one hour of repentance and good deeds in this world than the whole of the world to come; yet better is one hour of bUssfuhiess of spirit in the world to come that the whole life of this world'." i
And the tragedy of the grandfather produced in the grandson what has been called ('/One of the noblest pearls in the whole realm of religious proverb-lore". ■
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