Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 1 June 1962 — Page 16

Nahum Goldmann and Israel The eruption as between Nahum Goldmann on the on* side, and the Israeli government on the other, involves every Jew in the diaspora. On several occasions over the past years we’ve written here that this situation, whether Israel or the diaspora will protect Jews that need help, will have to be Clarified. We’re going through that process now. Jewish communities in the diaspora have spoken out for Jews elsewhere with their own governments and with worldwide bodies such as the United Nations, and there seems to be no quarrel here. Israel also has defended stoutly the rights of Jews wherever they were imperilled. So far there is no conflict, and the position of American Jewry or British Jewry in these matters has been accepted by the non-Jewish world. The non-Jews have also accepted the right of Israel to protest vigorously and do what it could to ameliorate the situation of Jews wherever this was necessary. Where the rub comes in is when the Jews of the diaspora acting through a world-wide Zionist body seek to intervene. And here you have the confusion. So Nahum Goldmann, as president of the World Ziorv ist Organization, and as an emissary of the Jewish Agency has been involving himself in affairs that concern not only world Jewry but also Israel. And since Dr. Goldmann is president also of the World Jewish Congress it is difficult to determine which hat he is wearing when he talks to the U.S. State Department or officials of other

governments.

Israel has taken vigorous exception to Dr. Goldmann’s activities, which it contends often are at variance with official Israeli diplomatic positions. There you have it. And someone else less persistent than Dr. Goldmann would have yielded. But not him. He intends to fight it out, and this is all to the good. Yet he will lose in the long run. That is because he is a president without any constituents — at least none in the U. S. Neither the American Zionists or whatever happens to be the affiliates in the U. S. of the World Jewish Congress have any say whatsoever on decisions within the U.S. Jewish community. Can therefore Dr. Goldmann contend that he represents the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds? Can he say he has any backing from the Jews of Chicago or Los Angeles or for that matter anywhere

m the U.S.?

So Dr. Goldmann will lose, and very likely a long period will elapse before the U.S. Jewish community, which in essence is the diaspora, will take a stand and say to Israel that we too have rights in deciding what shall be done for Jews outside of Israel. The problem is that when Goldmann loses, the diaspora more or less will have lost the same fight. In other words, the settlement should not be on the point of Goldmann versus Israel, as it will be. It should be on the point of the Jewish communities of the world and Israel. Where do Israel’s rights as a soverign state begin and end as far as Jews of the world are concerned. The natural trend will be to let Israel win this fight by default. They are organized. They are a government The diaspora is disorganized, and a look at the U.S. Jewish community will show just how badly off we are when the need is for making a decision. Since the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds does not act as a voice for U.S. Jewry except in matters affecting the interests of the U.S. Jewish community, then there are no other possibilities for arriving at some conclusion than the American Jewish Committee, The American Jewish Congress, the American Council for Judaism or the various rabbinical bodies. For valid reasons, all of these have limitations. This leaves us without the means of playing the role our size and our abilities call for. In fact, we doubt if the matter will be discussed publicly in the U.S. except for this editorial. JEWISH CALENDAR

5723 - 1962

Roih Hashanoh Yom Kippur , . Succoth, 1st Days Hoshana Rabah Shemini Atzereth - Simchath Torah Hanwkkah

1963

Parim Posoch (Passover)

Sept. 29*30 Oct. 8 Oct. 13-14 Oct. 19 _ Oct. 20 Oct. 21 . Dec. 22-29

March 20 _ Apr. 9-16

Th. EDITOR'S CHAIR . . .

We'r* on th« mailing list of th« American Jewish Society for Service. This is a Jewish organization (if you can call a service group that doesn’t have even one paid official a Jewish organization) which supervises free work of Jewish high school youngsters during the summer for various needed projects, regardless of race or creed. A few dedicated souls keep this organization alive. We recently received a plea — one intended for the few members of the group — for funds. This year the Society has three groups in the field — one going even to Israel The idea is one fathered by the Quakers. The kids pay their own way, although this is a usually a modest stipend, and for six weeks devote their labor free to building a recreation hall at a summer camp for children of poor families, help Negroes build bouses, and follow through on the prophetical ideals in a way which exemplifies Judaism in action. So any of you readers ^ho would like to participate financially in this rewarding effort, cun send a remittance to Henry Kohn, president, American Jewish Society for Service, 120 Broadway, New York City. We don’t know at this writing who Dr. Melvin M. Tumin, of Princeton University is, but we would go even further than he does when he says, “it can happen here.’’ We would vouchsafe that deep down in his heart every thinking American Jew believes the same thing. If he doesn’t then he is a darn fool Jewish history would have to be ignored if ww said that when the Jew rises in the economic world to the point where he is a direct threat to th* non-Jew, his security is not threatened. It is one thing to say that we feel that American civilization is different, and the context of our democratic society is such that overt anti-Semi-tism will never blemish American democracy. It is something else to say that such antiSemitism cannot possibly touch America. The news story about Dr. Tumin’s views, doesn't specify any time factor, but we would say that he is not discussing Hitlerian antiSemitism for America in the near future. But what about 50 and 100 years from nowT Our own view is that much of the energy and the time and the substance that American Jewry iS providing for Israel stems from this same subconscious fear, which if it weren’t part of tha psyche of every living Jew, then something would be wrong with him.

Unlike almost all the other drivers who pass us up on the one or two days we take the bus down to work, we try to pick up passengers on our way down town. This must be a throwback to the time when we thumbed our way all over eastern U. S. This then is the introduction to our latest passenger. He is a judge in our municipal court, and he wanted H known to me right off that he was a Conservative. We say that because this was the day that Scott Carpenter was orbiting, and the first question the judge asked me as we listened to the radio was whether this kind of open reporting was not helping our enemies. Wo expressed the view that there were many aspects to this question, but we’d have to go along on the view of those in responsible positions in our government, and then said that very likely the Russians had their own adequate knowledge and know how of shooting men into space. When we got off our chest the remark that we were all products of our environment, and suggested that perhaps the judge’s — at this point we did not know he was a judge — views were formed by reading only the local press. He said he did not read only the local press, but for years had read The Chicago Tribune — at least while McCormack was alive. By then the battle lines were drawn, although neither of us wanted to offend the other. He asked if we had read Dean Clarence Manion’s book, and mentioned one by Lawrence Fertig. The best we could do on these was that we had once met Fertig. who we knew as a top executive of a large advertising agency. Seeking to embarrass the judge, who told us he had worked bis way through college, and who expressed the view that giving financial assistance to college students was a mistake because anyone who wanted a college education could work his way through school, we asked him about high school . — whether these should or should not be free to all. His answer astounded us as ft will you. Ho said that it was a mistake to provide high school for everyone. His position here was that if high schools were not tax supported, and were paid for by those who used them, we would be better off in the long run. The judge also warned us that Conservatives now had the real strength in the community, and that Liberals would be in thirty years the same kind of minority that Conservatives are today. As we parted, and shook hands, he told me his name — Judge Harry Champ of the Municipal Court.

A Rabbi and Friends In tegrate a Restaurant

By Rabbi Maurice Davis Man is the only animal that lies to himself. He sees himself far nobler than he is, and only once in a while does he catch a glimpse of reality. Let me give you an example.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine on the State Civil Rights C o m m i ssion told me of a restaurant in our city that steadfa s 11 y r e -

fused to serve Negroes. He wondered if I could help in establishing a test case against that restaurant inasmuch as every attempt at conciliation had failed. Of course, I would. The only question was how best to prepare for it It suddenly occurred to me that I had a ready made group. I have a bi-weekly television show called SCOPE. On this program five of us, all clergymen, undertake to discuss the day’s news. We never talk religion, but we do discuss current events from the vantage point of our own religious backgrounds. There is an Episcopalian, a Unitarian, • Presbyterian, and Catholic, and I. Now it so happens that the Presbyterian if

a Negro.

Therefore, last week after our show, I explained the situation to them, and asked if we might have lunch together at the restaurant in question. All agreed. Everything was then cleared with the Civil Rights Commission, and the entire matter was kept unpublicized. Yesterday the Catholic Priest called to say that he could not make it. There was no question of his sympathy, or his position. He simply could not make it, and so we were four instead of five. We decided that the Episcopalian and the Unitarian would go in first, and be seated. After a few minutes the Negro Minister and I would join them. WeR, today was the day, and I just returned from the restaurant Let me tell you what happened. We met at noon, and after the fl^st two had gone in, we waited a few minutes, and then followed along. When my friend and I en-

tered, we were met with surprised stares. We stood at the entrance until we located the others, and then joined them at their table. Nothing happened. We continued to wait After a few minutes a waitress came, and took our orders. A little later she came back to say that they had run out of what we had ordered, so we ordered something else. She served us. We ate. We paid the check, left a tip, and IdfL That was HI Outside, one of the men remarked, “Well, that certainly was a wasted effort l" I think we all felt a little disappointed. We had been prepared for an issue, and there was no issue. We had been prepared for a scene, and there was no scene. All that had happened was victory, and we were disappointed! Now I have to sit here a while, and ask myself some difficult questions about myself, and my motives.

The NATIONAL JEWISH POST ond OPINION GABRIEL COHEN, Editor and Publisher CHARLES ROTH, Executive Editor EARIE D. MARKS Executive Director FRANK GROSS Ckcvlatioii Manager SAM SHULMAN Advertising Director ftjblithed every Friday in five editions by The National Jewish POST oil N. Park Ave. Indianapolis 6, Indiana -— ME (rose 4-130/

Rabbi Davis