to
THE CANADIAN JEWISH REV4EW
NOVEMEBKR24,
CANADIAN JEWISH REVIEW
An Impartial MeeHum for the Dl�eminetion of Jewish Hows and Views
jcsusss audit sirnxAU or cacuLATtoxs . �_ Goorga W. Cohan, PubUeker__
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Florence P. Cohan, Editor. Rabbi H. J. 8ttrn, ConrWovrmy Editor.
Lena A. Newman, Ida mien, Susenn P. Cohen,
Advertising Manager Toronto Manager Cireulation Manager
I wholly disapprove of what yen toy mod will defend to the death four right to say it � Voltaire to Hehretit
NOV]
24/1944
VOL XXVTJ. No, 8
Commentaries
By Dr. Harry J.
A Heritor. Action To British Callouorissw
A band of terrorists, known as the Stem Group' has boon harassing the Palestine administration and the Jewish community alike lor some months now. R is claimed that assassination qiLord Moyne in Egypt was perpetrated by members of this band,
Tho Jewish Agency of Palestine has deciarexi war on the terrorists responsible for act* of violence. The Jewish Agency has suggested that arms bo put in the hands of the Palestine inhabitants so that they may help in the capture or destruction of mis group since tho police forces of the administration have been unable to cope with tho assassins
All sections of Jewry condemn the terrorists of rVxlesune and their acts of violence. Jews everywhere view with horror these disturbers of Jerusalem's peace aid Son's tranquility.
But the Irgun and Sternist terrorists constitute a mere handful, stemming from a group that was thrown out of the Zionist Or-gcmisation ten years xxgo. It is therefore unfair for a few leaders of Britain to speak in language of a kind that makes the Jewish community of Palestine responsible for this terrorism. Jews everywhere regaxaVthe terrorists as traitors.
JHcwever, for the peace of Son and in the cause of truth, it must be stated that Jewish terrorism is nothing but a reflex action to British calk>usness in keeping out of Palestine the Jewish refugees who might yet be saved from death. These terrorists must be judged as afflicted, mem driven craxy by suffering, by the cruelties which have descended upon their dear ones in the hell of Nasi Europe.
The policy of the White Paper; the exclusion of refugees from* the Jewish hornekmd; the death of these fleeing for their Mves upon steamships such as the Patria and the Struma; the pre-poEcies of the Palestine Admnustration of trying Jews for of arms tfeey **** had to bear in self-defence; me bytWinsrnoWyto
The fur is getting ready to fly in advance of the second esssion of the American Jewish Conference which will be held in Pittsburgh, Perm,, December 3-6. This session will have to decide whether the Conference is to continue, through a new program, or whether it is to die, and there is a movement on foot to reorganise it as an Assembly which will satisfy the need of American Jewry for a central responsible organ of opinion and action. As part of the plan to form an Assembly bloc before the Conference meeting, Joshua Trachtenberg, a Reform Rabbi who lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and has a store of good, sound common sense, has prepared a pamphlet of proposals for action which may turn out to be important in me development of national coordination between the Jewish communities. This column will give a sort of outline of it here.
The American Jewish Conference is almost two years old and dissatisfaction with it is widespread, not because the Conference let the American Jewish public down, as many think, but because mat public, fed up with the anarchy and ^effectuality of a set-up in which autonomous national agencies act independently of each other, and of public opinion, expected some-thina other than it got. The public expected democratic unification because the elections were misleading, giving the false impression of being based on a real public constituency. The public aot. instead, the American Jewish Conference which was created bv the national organisations and never came to represent anything else. .
The Conference is beina run by representatives of the national organizations who think not in communal terms but in or-qanixational terms. Their main objective is to preserve their organisational autonomy, and so it is their business to fight against the establishment of a higher authority. Thus, such a Conference cannot become a representative body on behalf of the community. It could not have any scope because the national organisations would not admit within the purview of the Conference the problems which they were taking care of. To do that would be to admit that the Conference was a superior authority. But the national oro^rnisations' don't intend to do that They mean to keep the control for memiswrves if they can.
The American Jewish Conference has no function, not because it couldn't have but because those in control of it don't want it to have. This column has often called that kind of recurring Organisation, of whatever name, an artifice, a hollow shell, or a sounding board, at any rate ah organisation which could not come alive because of an obstructionism which its organisers, in their cynicism, took for aranted in the first place as part and parcel of the whole. Rabbi Trachtenberg observes that the Conference was conceived as a fanctionless body and was not intended to survive the first session The reason it did sur-vtve was sailaxe of nerve m the face of me by mm
ConqTiSM Keeyps BeKord Of Thousands Of Canadian Jtws In Sonric*
There ere sufficient Jews in the Canadian services to form a full-strength division if they were all transferred to the army, aeeording to figures of the, Wur Efforts Committee of the Canadian Jewish Congress.
The Jewish War Efforu Committee says that as of SeetenfL ber 1,1944, there were 9809 Jewish men and women in the amy, 6801 in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and 488 in the Royal Canadian Navy .These figures do not include the Canadian Jewish men serving in the British, American, Palestine and other United Notions forces.
The War Efforts Committee states that theee figures repre-
sent an actual count of were compiled by the through the cooperation ef members of the Jewish e its. snd are considered
Slots as there must be h men snd women whose names did net their attention.
The Congress maintains s n ord of the Jewish wsr effort M the entire dominion, the names of the Jewish men and women, their ies, and the civilian wsr It also publishes "Jews in Us** form", a periodical devoted t� the military achievements sf Canadian Jews in the war.
Canada Pays For Its . Reluctance To Welcome Refugees
The Vancouver News Herald says:
Two unrelated recent events can be combined to make a picture of considerable significance to all Canadians.
Dimitri J. Tosevic, a Yugoslav writer of considerable prondn-ence. at present living in Canada*, has written a book, "Hot rvdsss, But Germans," which is of considerable importance in the ranks of modern political volumes.
Dr. Hans Emanuel Neuman Enoch has discovered a new "wonder drug" called vivicillin, which is a valuable addition to the penicillin type drugs.
These two men have two things, in common. They are bom European refugees; they are both eminent in their professions*
Mr. Toeevk's bok is a notable addition to Cfcmadian bssy-crrure. It is deinitely Canadian for it is written for Conodiom from a Canadian viewpoint (largely) and makes use of Canadian sources, research and materiaL
Dr. Enoch's discovery is not Canadian. It is not Caivnthin be-cause, though he was held under precautionary iniermneat sore and on his release wished to remain in this country and carry on his medical research, we would not allow him to do so. We sent him back to Britain. Vivicillin � and whatever suture discoveries Dr. Enoch makes � are lost to Canada.
There has been a great deal of reluctance to allow lsfugoss of any type to settle in Canada. Mr. Toeevic won rocky to be allowed to stay here. Dr. Enoch was not TirVy ssiipajh
Yet either would have been a valuable to
try. To rofueo to allow men of Dr. Enoch's
-ZMssVQJbs\ '-Ss^flsPssV QDCsl
Be hi me one
_____________ summit to Britain, mo historic
_of swaei and demand thai justice be meted oat to the Jew,
that Palestine m rruih.be the Jewish homeland, the Jewish democratic coiiiinoiiwealth. And let there be no false impression that the lawn of Paluetins are engaged in a "civil war." The lews of Palestine and mo Jews of the world stand united now more than over in the cause of Erots IsraeL
Bool Month
The Jewish Book Council of America calls upon Jews to observe these weeks up to December 10 as Jewish Book Month for the purpose of initiating sustained interest in Jewish books throughout the year. The hnmediate ends to be realised include: the sfmtukrtioii of an cnbsdfasg seal for knowledge) among young and old. the devosopment of a Jewish cultural atmosphere in Wsims llw iiuih hment of educational ptogimns of clubs, study circles and dhvussfen groups, and me enkugerneni of book collections; hssUlultosirtl Hbtxuies, reading rooms, and private homes.
There is no p^xmsaying mat after the destruction of the Jewish State by the Rontons, Israel succooded in thriving as a people not in any particular geographical locality, but in the realm of books. As a result Israel's kingdom has been the kingdom of die mind. The Jew therefore throoghou! cenraries hc� krred the book. For verily me book gave life to Israel even as Israel in turn gave life to the book. Israel become profoundly attached tg the "eofer" with d passion unBke mat found
Even as me Jew battled for his life, so the gaged m combat on me botlleftesd Even as the Jew was burned at me ssakm, so were Jewish books cotdlscutsd and burned m me nurkst-psaces of medieval European ernes. One need only turn me pages of history to convince htm serf of "The Battle of Jewish Books." For example, what more tragic fate could have betdDen any book man the treatment accorded that veritable library of
Yes, the Pfoflsetons. the rYanUsfsT the trmsr sworosat tfieTcdmnd. Yes, though Pfcmp the Fair and Pope Jufimi m acdered wlsosseals bsirnings of the T<rhnndlc works, yet use mkacks of it afl hi mat the Tamrud, even as me peopes mat crvxrmrfit,oetBvmdsmteodnc^
Why need we deed at length with the tragedy of the Jewish book in past i enlmles when in our own day the bents*? of
bssrnungof boolmbymofW AO
mo more men mat wo Jews in moss days sssousd hold in rever-ssjce the printed word of truth. AS mo nsore we must learn to reamm the old idtibttdc tsovlmug mof mvglste mo book. We. who are the peopes of the book, nvanoned hoof tho book, to oatfrve those who wielded the
are the
of suaftk. If You Woeid ). Go to the
of mat of Israels
� M � - � * � -
oi fsmnsn uuuss,
Jews of
of today, in their hves, me
tor
down to: how to restore Ihe primary oilsakmco and saoport of 'the Jewish public to the ootnmanlty so that, in a conflict the community can prevail; and how to organise so that mis support can become effective.
Efforts in this dfroctiofi have failed because it was assumed that the basis of organisation is the notional community, whereas the notional coaununiry is the end-product The basic unit is the Jocai community. The organised local communifies are me people. Their representatives receive the power to enforce through the ororxnized support they get from the community. An Assembly can be real only when it is a union of organised local communities.
American Jewry is ripe for the Community Council movement which; despite the opposition and often open hostility of the older, fractional groups, has minimrsed competitive activities, coordinated local services, and created a <t�nununity spirit which achieves an effective unity even in the presence of private loyalties. The modern trend is distinctly in mm direction and the Jews of America may be send to be committed to .the ptincinle of central democratic local oommunity organistxtkm.
The Community Council movement has produced a new leaoorship with practical experience in community orgomsa-tion. and with a crsnimrnal point Of view and loyalty. It provides the orqanised mass constituency and responsible local support which an Assembly must have. From tfrmkhvj local mmmnnhios comes the challenge to the wlrfiilnees of autanent-ous notional agencess. A dmnumitir, ryrnonai orgrmmThon tompossd of popularly elected iovteeeutatiree of organised communities, in other words an Assembly, is the logical out-
The real issue at the Session of the American Jewish Conference will be the future of the Cotderence. The division will be Assembly versos anti-Aswssnbty. Rabbi Tradttsnberq is leading the nsovvsnemi to remake me Conference with such a proposal as that the notional organisations shook! be invited to ^Hfr-I^tt as uLseiisri wimoat voting rights. He minks the odds are frrHi*^ ms plan beoaase tho aantosntl onjsswsss will muster all their strength oooJsst it Bat it is meltable. The time wiB came.
PAIXSTXNE PABLEY
(Centinmed from Ps#s One) hsve the fuB msssort ef ssefits of the world.
Ahsiidimmint ef the 1989 Whfte Paper, which <%rultrfies every effort to ewBd the Jewish homiland on etshle U
m
ef United No-for imrUimiet of
the first Worid War, asserted that fret inwsiaiathm to Fslestsss wee the world Jews* g tee test seed today.
He said that during the past five years "Little Palestine'' had
Dr. Jeseeh aiinaesmd that 89,-009 Jews had
thm ewthreak of the md thet ef tads auaefn 17,
by the United
889.
hy
is 1848 for
for that Jewa ef
GERMAN CAMP
Dr
for the Jewish ) Agency in
if legal ed (lead per
^CwevJnmsd from PUoe One) the earfy days of the esssp the
eer^f deys^af^ ti^essss
Pelesttue, who of
uocuy sugn.
ft rSftmwlkin mmtUrimi, YTtiiMilirm
Canadian science, Canadian industry and progress, these are the people we should They will moire the best of OmnrHrms
A Gill For Kinship
The American Jewish World, of MmneapoBs, Bfixau We congratulate Canadian Jewry on its nros&ptsssm ss ing to the appeal "in the name of the muilytsd dead Irving cadavers'' by Dr. Emil Sornmerstein, chaamsst; of Organising Committee of Polish Jews in the Soviet Ihstoui member of me Polish <^�nmittee of National L&etmion. no time, the Cxmarikm Jewish Congress and the United Rsdugee and War Relief Agencies sent a delegation to shnj Ambassador offering their maximum faciBtiesfor the Uimsportatirm and o^stribution of mo clashing, niedtoaments and other forms of relief which nhsf? propared to bsbmL.
What of United States Jewry?
We boys long claimed that we were only watting lor 8s% chance to contact the surviving Jews of Poland, and w " harvesting funds for the day when the ghetto wafls Crumble. Now the day has come. Bat so far U. S. Jewry hi silent L 0., its leodetshrp or leaderships. The only official swsjlir has come from the American Federation for Polish Jews, wl can hardly purport to speak far many other Jewish orgaolsations that rush into print provocation? Here was wholesome provocation and yet
stir. _ ^ \m _ ^
The American Jewish Joint Dsstribation CammMsssv it sl'fSj^^^ ported, is already rmgotkxting with regard to reBel Bex �^ - -J far more man an issue of rebel R is a call for I peal for reintegration into the body of the Bring a deserved a dramatic, imrnoffints reply.
FaOure to ssuke such reply should not be blamed Jews of America, the rank and file, who in the five contaibutsd $82400.000 for overseas refief through me Jewish Appeal alone. The blame reverts upon U. & Jwrje leaders, ^sow many caucus sssetfasss are needed to d^oft ex sssisw? w1-to Dr. fluuuissvsteiu and tor me m i ssjerns e of his nrvsoflosrT ^
^^lies^sneManmaS