Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 August 1963 — Page 9

Goldwater Doesn’t Hide Jewish Ancestry

By M. Z. FRANK Barry Goldwater is in the news. I suspect many of my readers do not approve of him. I think he deserves a few kind words, however, not because of his politics, but because of the simple, honest, decent position he takes with regard to his M. Z. Frank Jewish ancestry. Several years ago, when Itzhak Karpman was preparing the volume "Who’s Who in World Jewry,” he sent out letters to prospective “who’s.” Among t^em were Clifton Fadiman, Arthur Krock and Barry Goldwater* I am mentioning the names I remember, having read their replies. CLIFTON FADIMAN merely asked not to be included. Arthur Krock’s letter was mean, nasty, rude and stupid. Goldwater said he was not a full Jew, since only his father was Jewish and he was brought up as an Episcopalian. But he did not presume to dictate to the publishers who to count as a Jew for the purposes of

their volume and left it to them whether to include him or not. They did not. The other day I read a story in ‘Ma’ariv” by Philip Ben about the Goldwater family. It reads like an outline for one of the finest books in Yiddish and in Hebrew called “Kentucky” by I. J. Schwartz, about which I will speak later. MOISHE GOLDWASSER came to this country from Poland in 1860 or thereabouts. He followed the goldrush to Arizona, where he sold goods to the prospectors. He raised the only Jewish family in the place. The son Byron married an Episcopalian and Barry is the offspring. As is the pattern in America, the Jewish peddler increased his business until he became the owner of a large department store of which the Senator from Arizona is part owner. This is a typical saga of a Jewish family in America in the past century. Its finest literary expression is to be found in Schwartz’s “Kentucky.” Israel Jacob Schwartz, who recently celebrated his 75th birthday, was the son of a scholarly rabbi in a small town in Lithuania who came here as a young man. His older brother Dr. Abraham Shalom Schwartz,

who died a few years ago, was a noted Hebrew poet. The younger brother, like the older one, taught in Hebrew schools, took part in the Hebrew-language association, but, unlike his brother, he wrote mostly Yiddish. YIDDISH POETRY was flourishing in America during the early part of the century, especially during the post-war years, and Schwartz became one of the leading younger poets. But with his knowledge of Hebrew he devoted a good deal of his time and energy to translating Hebrew poetry into Yiddish (a task he had begun while still in Europe.) I. J. Schwartz has rendered into Yiddish the best there is in Hebrew poetry in the Spanish Golden Era of 800 and 900 years ago and of the modern classical era. The search for a livelihood took him to a Hebrew teacher’s position in Lexington, Ky. Here, in bis spare moments, he wrote the saga of a Jewish family, in verse, beginning with a poor immigrant peddler from Lithuania, and followed its fortunes, growth, problems of integration into the American environment, its preserving its Jewish heritage and its biological and economic growth. “KENTUCKY” was recognized everywhere as one of the finest

I Write as I Please

Haifa is the Premier Attraction

in Israel

For Tourists Visiting

Alpert

By CARL AIJ’ERT HAIFA — “If only someone had told me about Haifa at the beginning ot my trip!”

These are perhaps the most frequently uttered words of tourists to Israel. Accepting the standard tours laid out for them, they find that most of their days

have been dissipated in Tel Aviv, and by the time they get to Israel’s most beautiful city their time has almost run out. EVEN VETERAN VISITORS to Israel are not always aware of the treasury of attractions available in this fascinating city. There are three classical urawing cards, and almost nobody misses these: the breathtaking Mt. Carmel campus of the Tcchnion, where Israel’s architects and engineers derive their education and inspiration; the beautiful and exotic golddomed shrine of the Bahai faith; the gorgeous view not only of Haifa but of most of northern Israel as seen from the lookout posts along Panorama Road. And, of course, Haifa is the gateway to die Galilee and the Emek.

the remnants ot the old hulks which once made history when they brought the “illegal” immigrants to Israel. It sails up the historic Kishon River, by the shipbuilding yards and introduces the passengers to the tangle of masts and rigging which mark this Jewish fishing harbor. Haifa as seen from the water has an entirely different charm. Back ashore, the curious tourist can walk through the narrow alleys of Wadi Salib or through the picturesque Arab lanes of Wadi Nisnas. Then he can board one of the world’s most unusual subway lines, the Carmelit, an underground cable car which in seven short minutes whisks the passengers up to the very top of the mountain. Arabs, school children, housewives, Druzes who ride the Carmelit are almost as fascinating to watch as the quick succession of five underground stations strung along the steep incline. AT THE TOP the tourist can walk or drive around the residential section and see some of the gorgeous villas which indicate that Israel is developing an “upper class,” for better or for worse. Or one can take a bus around Kababir, an Arab village located atop Mt. Carmel and completely within the municipal precincts of Haifa.

But in addition to these there is an almost endless list of things worth seeing, sights which head the roster of priceless memories from the trip to Israel. SEVERAL TIMES daily there are opportunities to sail around the harbor in the sightseeing motor boat. The vessel glides under the prows of the huge tankers and freighters and passenger liners which have come from all corners of the globe. It chugs around

If time permits, the visitor can browse over the heights of Carmeliya, where stone age man had found the outcroppings of flint and had apparently set op there a primitive industrial enterprise for the manufacture of stone knives, spears, arrowheads, etc. The fragments are still srewn plentifully about. In this same area the streets all bear the names of women in the Bible. Here is the charming intersection of Ruth and

NaomfStreets. FOR A COOL DRINK or a tasty meal, stop in at Shulamith Hotel. This used to be a quiet Pension frequented by Israelis only. Tourists discovered it not long ago, and now one has to be sure of an advance reservation if one wants to spend a week or even only a few days at the Shulamith. Instead of high-priced luxury it offers gracious and immaculate comfort. Let as continue our trip There are 10,000 Arabs in Haifa, and the visitor should take in the Palinsky Arab-Jewish Community Center. On common ground of sports, music, art, literature, social affairs etc., Arab and Jewish youth establish and maintain bonds of friendship as citizens of the land. That man sauntering through the lobby is very apt to be Mayor Abba Khoushy, who has made this his favorite project. THERE ARE ATTRACTIONS for every taste in Haifa. Rehov Haneviim (Street of the Prophets) with its glittering lights, crowded movie houses, falafel joints and sidewalk throngs seems almost like a Middle East version of New York’s 42nd St. Up on the hill the old wine cellars in the Rothschild Youth Center have been transformed into a Bohemian Club. Descending the narrow stone stairs into a dungeon-like basement, one finds gay Israeli youth who may do an energetic twist or just as suddenly snake into a quick hora around the beer-barrel tables. Ah, there is so much to see in Haifa. From the slums of Wadi Salit to the luxury villas of Mt. Carmel; from the museum of modern art to the blackened walls of Elijah’s Cave, there are dozens of opportunities to accumulate priceless memories. Truly Haifa is Israel’s chief attraction.

works in Yiddish. Several years ago the author himself completed his own translation of “Kentucky” into Hebrew. It was published by the most reputable house in Jerusalem, the Mossad Bialik. The Hadoar, the only Hebrew weekly published outside of Israel, devoted a good part of a recent issue to the celebration ot Schwartz’s 75th birthday arranged by the Hebrew PEN Club. The affair took place at the Herzl Institute, with Itzhak Ivry presiding. The texts of the addresses are reprinted as delivered by Gabriel Preil, Zvi Sharfstein, Isaac Rivkind and the poet himself. A concern like the Jewish Publication Society could do worse — and has done worse — than commission and put out a good English translation of “Kentucky.”

THE RECENTLY HELD ZOA conclave in Israel may or may not herald the beginning of a new era — time will show. But it certainly marked the end of an era: an era of 15 years during which the principal Zionist activity consisted of arguing with Ben Gurion. Now Ben Gurion is no longer Prime Minister and, besides, he refused to insult Zionists even as a private citizen. President Shazar and Premier Eshkol are friends of organized Zionism. If Eshkol has a job on his hands adjusting the country to life without Ben Gurion in the driver’s seat, Max Nussbaum has an even tougher job: running the ZOA without Ben Gurion to blame for all its failures!

Digest of the Yiddish Press Skulnik and Detroit—

A Jewish Love Affair

By RABBI SAMUEL SILVER Nachas is what Menasha Skulnik "shopped” in Detroit, one of the towns on his tour with the play, “Come Blow Your

Horn.”

Feeling close to the Forward, which is printing his intriguing memoirs, Skulnik wrote to tell Rabbi Silver the readers that Jewish Detroit is a delight, especially Harry Weinberg, who bought out the first night of the play as a benefit for the Sholom Aleichem Institute. The institute is a beauty, Skulnik, who went there to “say hello for an half hour” to a packed hall, wrote. Also glorious is the air-condi-tioned Jewish Center of Detroit, Skulnik said. Skulnik also recorded a fine meeting with Jewish publisher Philip Slomowitz whom he dubs “Detroit’s Harry Golden.” From Detroit the Skulnik itinierary goes to Washington, Baltimore, Louisville and Nyack, NY.

Quips On Nasser, Christine, Bomb Ban The Forward’s quipster, Joseph Goldstein, says that by the

United States and Russia banning the bomb, in effect they declared that they “have it in d’rerd,” i.e., will only test it underground. He also remarked that Nasser has produced tilings that make men die; now if only he could only come up with something that would help his people live. As for the temperature in London, he says it’s "k e e 1 e r” (yiddish for

cooler).

Gathering Place Called For In NY Writers and lovers of Yiddish have no gathering place in New York City, no salon where they might browse, chat, read, play chess, have a cup of coffee and just woolgather. IV. any a Jewish maecenas has underwritten such clubs in Israel, but no one has bothered to do so in the world’s largest Jewish city. There used to be a Cafe Royal where folks could meet, but that’s disappeared. As a consequence, the Yiddisnists have no meeting place for leisurely camaraderie. You would think that some Jewish Center might Bteke a large room, with library available, for such a purpose, but no, no one does anything about it. This plaintive plea, his umpteenth for such a center, is voiced by D. Segal in the Forward.

Book Reviews By MYSTICISM IN WORLD RELIGION, by Sidney Spencer, $1.65 (Pelican). The mystic believes himself “in immediate contact with the Transcendent.” Before Spencer, no one has provided so world-complete a treatise of mysticism in primeval times and in all the religions of antiquity and the present. Philo is mentioned, and there is an excellent and thorough Hebrew section, with quotations from Sholem and other Jewish scholars. The author is a Unitarian minister, who strongly appreciates the inner effect of mysticism on the human soul. IN THE DISPERSION 1963, edited by A. Prag, $1.25 (World Zionist Org.) The second ot a series on the Zionist movemenl and the Jew-

Burstein ish world. The surveys and monographs cover tie United States Africa, Europe and Latin America, with some general items and an essay on Montefiore by S. U. Nahon. Jay Kaufman has contributed a panegyric on Reform Judaism. POINTING THE WAY, by Martin Buber, $1.45 (Harper Torchbooks). Prof., Maurice S. Friedman, America’s chief Buber scholar, has translated, edited, and introduced this collection of essays by the aged theologian. The book gives expression to Buber’s thought on all religions, on religious philosophers, prophecy, dialogue, politics, socialism and the anti-Zionist Gandhi. Decades ot wisdom and opinion, weJJ chosen and presented.