Page Four
THE JEWISH WESTERN BC^^£TIN
Friday, July 4, 1S47
THE NEGEV
By Mordechai Rudensky
Rabbi Israel M. Goldman
Rabbi Gcldman Re-Eiected Pres. Of Rabbinical Assembly of Am.
(mat of Rabbi Goldman attached) Dr. Israel M. Goldman, of Temple Emanu-El, Providence. Rhode Island, was re-elected president of the Rabbinical Assembly of America, the national organization of the Conservative Rabbinate in the United States and Canada, numbering over 400 members, at the close of the 47th Annual Convention ending Jime 26, 1947.
Rabbi Goldman is the director of the National Academy for Adult Jewish Studies under the auspices of the Jewish Theological Seminary, the United Synagogue and Rabbinical Assembly. In this
capacity he has directed a nation wide program for adult Jewish education since the inception of the Academy in 1940. He is a recognized authority in the field of adult Jewish education and has written many articles and delivered many addresses on the subject. He is a lecturer at Brown University Extension Division, lecturer in adult Jewish education at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, member of the National Administrative Committee of the United Synagogue, and the national adinistrative council of the Zionist Organization of America.
The Eternal Light
By Fred A. Stern \
Word has reached of a startling —and, for once, particularly hopeful — development ■ in Germany, the Eternal Light radio program, heard throughout this country on NBC under the uspices of the Jewish Theological Seminary, now • is being broadcast regularly to the German people in their own tongue.
This is the same program we Americans hear—dramatic, forceful, Jewish to the core. Now over Radio Frankfurt and other powerful stations in the American zone —stations that carried very different matemial not so long ago—The German people can hear this out-standmg cultural achievement of American Judaism.
And they listen. At first, scripts on German themes and then ethers selected from the wide range covered by The Eternal Light, were broadcast. In the displaced persons camps loudspeakers were erected so the thousands trapped there might be heartened by the programs. Within a matter of weeks 15,000 letters had poured in on the staff preparing and broadcasting "Das Twige Licht", as it is known in German.
Scripts for the broadcasts are supplied -by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. It was tlie tremendous impact of the Seminary's work in this country that inspired young Israel Blumen-fled, a survivor of the Landsberg concentration camp, to put the program on the air in Germany. Another concentration camp survivor handles musical backgrounds.
Altogether, this is an amazing instance of the stubborn will-to-live of Jewish culture. The Seminary, NBC and the staff in Germany are due a vote of congratulations. And American Jews as a whole may rightly be proud.
Britain Won't Curb Jewish Agency
LONDON (WNS)—Arthur Creedi Jones, Colonial Secretary, told the House of CoTnmons this week that he did not think "the occasion calls" for the suppression, of the Jewish Agency for Palestine.
The Colonial Secretary made the statement when Richard R. Stokes, Laborite, asked whether such action was being contemplated in the light of "the declared intention of the Jews to use force in support of illegal iinmigration into Palestine". At the same time'Mr. Creech Jones deplored the passage of a resolution last month by the Jewish National Council calling for the use of force, if necessary, to secure Jewish immigration and land settlement in the Holy Land.
Sweden To Curb
Anti-Semitic
Literature
NEW YORK (WNS)—The Swedish government has promised it will do everything in its power to stop the worldwide flow of vicious Nazi propaganda, according to a cable received by the American Jewish Committee from David Bernstein, its representative in Stockholm.
Mr. Bernstein's cable stated that the Swedish Cabinet officials promised to take immediate steps to investigate the circularization of anti-Semitic literature from Sweden by Einar Aberg, notorious anti-Semite. Aberg's activities, according to information in tiie hands of the American Jewish Committee, are supported by a group of former Nazis who escaped from . Sweden. His hate propagariSa was. reported reaching every country in Europe and to South America, as well as to Canada and the United States. The Committee has evidence showing that Aberg has been corresponding at length with various American hat groups.
In recent years the Negev has often, been mentioned in connection with the future development of Palestine. It will no doubt occupy an important place in the deliberations of the United Nations Palestine commission. The history of this region is, there-' fore, of vital importance.
The word Negev has a double meaning in Hebrew: south and dry land. Both are correct in relation to the Negev region. It is situated in the southern part of Palestine and most of it consists of desert dry land. The arSa of the Negev is quite large. It has. close to 11,900,000 dunams of land, approximately forty five percent of the area of wesl^m Palestine. In spite of the vastness of the region, a small percentage of theni are cultivating the soil. Little or complete lack of water is characteristic of most parts of ^the Negev. Therefore, the Negev was looked upon as an arid area, where it is hard for plants,'animals and men to live.
Tramping over the sand dunes in the Negev, you very often come across ruins of cities and hamlets. In fact, archeologists have unearthed remnants of a highly developed civilization.
When studying the history of Palestine we find that the Philistine lived in the fortified cities of Beesheba, Gaza, Gath and Ash-selan in the Negev, and that for generations, the Jews were compelled to defend themselves a-gainst their oppressors, the Philistines. In the days of Joshua, the Negev was apportioned to the tribe of Juda, the strongest and one of the leading tribes in Israel.
Not long ago an archeologist discovered a.document written by a Jewish king in the days of the ProJ)het Jeremiah to his Governor in the city of Lochiah. From the. contents it is evident that the Negev was then prosperous and densely populated. In a later period, in the days of the Maca-bees, the whole region of the Negev, up to the Egyptian border, was under Jewish rule.
The travellers of the Middle Ages described the cities of the Negev as the richest in Palestine. Gaza, the site -of the Samson epic, had a larger population than Jerusalem. Even at the end of the nineteenth century Gaza had a population- of 45,000 people, thrice as much as Haifa in these days. A few thousand Jews dwelt there. Today the population of Gaza is only 18,000, among them a score of Jews.
Another historical place, Beer Sheba, has been revived only during the last fifty years. Its population now numbers a few thousand and only ten Jewish families. The main population of the Negev consists of two bedouin tribes, the Esasmer (about 60,000) and the Theier (about 20,000), the latter dwelling the region of Beer Sheba.. Their main occupation is raising sheep and planting of barley, in a very primitive v/ay. Both these tribes did very little to improve the land. On the contrarj', they impoverished the soifby destroying the trees, the wells and the water reservoirs. . '
When the Jews fimally woke up seventy years ago to the importance of reviving their ancient homelond, a number of the fii'st colonies were established in the southern part of Judea, such as Rishon Lezion, Rehovoth, Gedera, Ruchama, etc. These colonies were not for from the Negev. Many of the pioneers were dreaming of conquering the Negev.
When the mandate over Palestine was entrasted to Great Britain at the end of the first World War, the British thought that the Negev was not fit for colonization because of lack of water. Where is was discovered after deep boring, the water as salty and unsuitable for drinking and irrigation purposes. The agricultural experts of the Mandatory Power estimated that a maximum of 1,500,000 dunams of land could be made available for colonization purposes. Sir John- Simpson head of the Fifteenth Royal British
Commission, in his report to the Government, pointed out that the problem of water for the Negev
• had not b^n sufficiently investigated and that if sufficient sweet
. water could be discovered, ■ the area, would accommodate not only the Palestine population but would be capable of absorbing even large scale immigration. The British (oovemment, instead of following the advice of its emmissary, included the Negev, in its shameful White Paper of 1939, in the prohibited zone'Ai
One of the first pioneers to penetrate the Negev was Moshe Snrieliansky of Rehovoth, who is connected with the soil of Palestine for over fifty years. Smelian-sky made friends with Arabs. He is loiown among them as Chavad-jah Mu'ssah-Lord Moses. There is a great area of land in the region" of Beer Sheba which was redeemed by Smeliansky and the Arabs named it the "Vaadi of Chavad-jah Mussah."
Mr. Smeliansky succeeded in" interesting Jews from ..South ' Africa, Belguim, Holland, Great Britain and some refugees from Gerihany to invest money in the purchase of land in the Negev. He succeeded in contracting close to 95,000 dunams of land in the Negev. However, when the second World War broke out many of the purchasers were unable to meet their payments and there was danger' of their losing the acquired soil. Then the Jewish National Fund stepped in and took over most of the land and continued to redeem large areas.
At one time it was possible to purchase land in the Negev at a very low price. Now we are compelled to pay much higher prices, but the redemption is continuing uninterruptedly.
Justice Louis D. Brandeis, about fifteen years ago, displayed a deep interest in redeeming land in the region of Acaaba. He forwarded a substantial amoimt to the Jewish National Fund headquarters in Jerusalem for this purpose, but it was then impossible for the Jewish National Fund to reach out there, since the whole of the Negev was "terra incognito" to the Jewish people. When the British Administration, after the first World War, offered 25,000 dunams of land in the Negev for the Jewish Legionaires, the offer was turned down because we didn't know how to tackle the problems there. Now things have changed radically. The project of the Jordan Valley Authority will help solve the problem of irrigating the Negev.
In the year 1943, in the middle of the second World War, a few settlements were established on the soil of the Jewish National Fund in the Negev. At present
there are already 35 colonies
established in the various regions
of the Negev and many more are
in the making. There, as in other
parts of Palestine, will come true
the old promise of God to Joshua
"Every place that the sole of your
foot shall tread, that have I given
nuto you."
Seven Arts Feature Syndicate
CAPITAL LETTER
By CHABliOTTE HVEBEB
WASHINGTON—The State Department, which in Mardi Was' . (highly optimistic of reaching a settlement with the BEritish about modifications of licensing controls in Palestine- which, were hampering the flow ot American consumer goods into the Holy Land, can today report nothing further than ■ that the matter is still receiving "active consideration."
The matter came to light on March 12 when a newspaper article reported that American manufacturers of important consumer goods such as radios, refrigerators and automobiles, were meeting great difficulties in importing their goods to Palestine because of severe British licensing controls which worked to favor British importers of these items.
Such licensing controls which discriminated against the American importers as against the British are not in line with the terms of the British Loan agreement, it yfas pointed out at the time. Great Britain and the United States agreed in Article 9 of the loan agreement that neither would maintain or impose quotas that would discriminate against the other's products. Britain was allowed to su^end this provision up imtil the end of last year, however, in order that she could save her foreign exchange for food and other necessities.
But the date passed and even in March American applications for import^ licenses still awaited British action. The American Embassy hi London took the complaints up with the British Board of Trade, which corresponds with our Department of Commerce, and a State Department spokesman here indicated that a satisfactory solution would soon be worked out.
A satisfactory solution, it was explained, would not involve suspension of quotas entu^y' but would involve a British guarantee that they would be applied in a non-discriminatory manner. No such agreement has been armounc-ed and, judging from reluctance of States Department officials to discuss the progress of the nego-
Cartoonist Draws Ten Year Term
MUNICH (WNS)-PhiUp Rup-precht, cartoonist for the Julius Streicher's newspaper Rer Stuerm-er, was sentenced this week to ten years at hard labor.
The Nazi artist, whose cartoons were as indecent as they were vile, was tried by a denazification court in the Bavarian town of Ebersberg.
Jewish Youth
All Vancouver Jewish children are asked to meet at the Jewish Community Centre at 10:30 a.m. Sunday July 6 to take part in Jewish National Fund Collection. All youth organizations in the city are invited to take an active part in the JNF drive.
tiations. They are no where near agreement witii the British.
Palestine is, of course, within the British sterling block area and hound by restrictions of the strling pool. In spite of the:fact that Palestine sold some 5,081,268, or about $20,397,510, worth of goods in the United States during 1946, her dollar store was, not greatly increased because she was forced to turn them into the pool. The sterling block restrictions and the extreme shortage of dollars is given as one reason for the difficulty of adjusting just such situations as the import licensing situation in Palestme. But the British Government is pledged, by terms of the loan agreement, to dissolve the sterling block by July 15 of this year. When sterling restrictions come off it may give our government an opportunity to'press for adjustment of the import controls on American goods going into Palestine.
It is interesting to review this item at this particular time because the Ihtematipnal Trade Conference is now meeting in Geneva to lay out broad patterns of world trade policies. Presumably, they will set up import policies which will outlaw just such restrictive practices as that of the British in Palestine. Unfortunately, the position of the U.S. at the conference has been weakened considerably by the passage by both houses of Congress, of a bill setting up high tariffs on wool. With or without a Presidential veto, the action of the Congress lias warned foreign observers that America n?ay be on the road back to economic isola-" tionism of the 1920's, a situation that does not enhance our bargaining position as far as trade policies are concerned.
Seven Arts Feature Syndicate
Judge Appointed Advisor in Germany
WASHINGTON (WNS) — Judge Louis E. Levinthal of Philadelphia has been appointed by the War Department as advisor on Jewish Affairs to General Lucius D, Clay, American Military Governor in the U.S. Zone in Germany.
Judge Levinthal, who is expected to leave for Berlin on July 18, has been on the bench of the Conunon Pleas Court of Philadelphia since 1937 and co-chairman of the United Jewish Appeal arid the United Palestine Appeal. He succeeds Rabbi Philip S. Bemstem, who held the post for foxwteen months.
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