Congress bulletin, 1 avril 1955, Avril

[" BULLETIN PUBLISHED BY CANADIAN JEWISH CONGRESS VOLUME 9: No.4 Editorial Warsaw Ghetto Uprising \u2014 A Passover Theme Lamentations: \u201cHow doth the City sit solitary That was full of people! How is she become as a widow That was great among the nations And Princess among the provinces How is she become solitary!\u201d Why should the Jewish community observe commemorative services of the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto?There surely is a danger of masochism and a hint of necrophilia.This badge of sufferance which Shakespeare refers to is somehow polished by the constant recital of how these slings and arrows of an outrageous fortune determine our lives.We talk so much about suffering through the ages evoking the Pharoahs, the Hamans, the Torquemadas, the Pobiedonostzevs, the Hitlers, that perhaps we get a perverse pleasure out of recounting our woes, our tribulations and our sufferings.Not in this case can it be said that Jews are like people, only more so.Peoples deal mostly with their exploits of valour and conquest.Is not the story of the Warsaw Ghetto quite different from a tale of despair and woe, of carnage, of massacre, of decimation?Actually, most of us born here and educated in the milieu of Anglo-Saxon culture, with our schooling stressing the history of the peoples of these countries and its forebearers, are actually personally quite remote from the meaning of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Nazi terror.Though not quite so remote as from the story of the Hagaddah or the auto-da-fe of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Spain and Portugal or even the Chelminitzki Pogroms of 1648, we are still remote from the enormous struggle that was so personal to so many people.We have to observe such commemoration as a symbol of a vast design and a unique purpose rather than restrict it to an incident of Jewish martyrdom.One does not want to sound impious nor perserve in the reading of history, but when Moses led his people from the land of oppression and tyranny, he did in fact, if we believe in the literal statements of the Pentateuch, get quite a lot of help from God.The ten plagues, including the smiting of the first born, the parting of the Red Sea, the drowning of the Egyptian pursuers and the miracle of manna falling from Heaven to sustain the wanderers in the desert, made Moses\u2019 task possible.In the divine purpose of life, there was no such miracle to come to the rescue of any leader who would take the Jews from Warsaw and bring them to a promised land.The unique purpose and plan of the Warsaw Ghetto has to be found elsewhere than in a divine scheme of things for reasons which the writer, not being a theologian, will be unable to discover.We must find it in a more secular aspect of the nobility of the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto, the vileness of the traitors of the Warsaw Ghetto, the indifference of those resigned to their fate and the valour of the underground movement.We must make of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising an important chapter of ewish history.Maybe the generations to come will add it to the Hagaddah but, if they do not, we at least must continue to instil in the Jewish people a recognition of its meaning.Its meaning is profound.The Warsaw Ghetto and similar uprisings in other ghettos was the catalytic agent which produced the State of Israel.Here the enormity of the crimes against the Jewish people, here the hopelessness of the one-sided fight, here the recognition of the homelessness of the Jewish people and here the resignation that this part of Europe had become a closed chapter in Jewish history, must have had a magical effect on those striving to obtain a Jewish state.The price is high but we have to think in military terms of expendables.Brutally put, it may be that the expendables were the hundreds of thousands of Jews who were symbolized in their incarceration in the Warsaw Ghetto.Their holy war against it was a prefatory page before the book of life could be written.This, then, is the real reason, Whether it is historically accurate or not should not bewilder one.There is no one element which is responsible for the salvation of Jewry but there are single important ones and the revolt of the Jews in the Ghetto of Warsaw is just such an element.What is our own relationship to the Ghetto uprising?Achad Aham was wise to say that \u201cwhen a land is destroyed, a Nehemiah or a Zerubabel can arise to rebuild it; when a people is destroyed, who will bring salvation?\u201d The enormous and significant contribution made by the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising is that they were not interested in rebuilding a land but they did by their very action prevent the destruction of the Jewish people and thus bring salva tion.Our own mission, as is the mission of every person the world over, is self- preservation, but we require the injection of such valorous feats of heroes which will make us sure that we are right.J.J.Wassermann, the Austrian novelist, in \u201cThe Goosemar\u201d portrays his principal character, Dr.Benda, an explorer of Jewish ancestry, unrecognized in Germany, having left and made a great reputation in England and other countries, who on his return to Germany states to his friends \u2014 \u201cI bad demanded too much; ! had been in too much of a hurry.Egoistic impatience had placed false weights and measures in my hands.What 1 have learned during these seventeen years of trial and hardship 1s patience.Everything moves so slowly.Humanity is still a child, and yet we demand justice of it, expect right and righteous action from it.Justice?Ob, there is still a long, long road io be travelled before we reach justice.The way is as long and arduous as that from the primeval forest to the cultivated garden.We must exercise patience \u2014 for the benefit of the many generations of men that are to come after us.\u201d The anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is another chapter of the traditions and values which we want to pass on for the generations yet to come and is another glorious illustration of the Jewish quest for the meaning of death and the purpose of life.MONTREAL APRIL, 1955 Plan UJRA Conference To Review Overseas Aid Canadian Jewry's program of overseas relief is scheduled for review at an all-day Conference of the United Jewish Relief Agencies of the Canadian Jewish Congress on Sunday, May 8th in Montreal.The overseas relief program of Congress has been closely associated with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee since its inception in 1938.Its current work is fully integrated with the JDC through the UJRA, an arm of the Canadian Jewish Congress, and the instrument through which the Canadian Jewish community has extended help to Jews in Europe, North Africa and Israel, during and since the war years, Moses W.Beckelman, Director-General of the Joint Distribution Committee\u2019s Overseas Operations, will be in Montreal May 8 to report on the present situation and needs of the various Jewish communities.Present Situation In a preliminary to his latest budget analysis, Mr.Beckelman declared: \u201cMen, women and children of the Moslem ghettos, facing increased insecurity and uncertainty as they are caught in the cross currents of a rising Nationalism; human beings who #e Moses W.Beckelman Provide Passover Aid Via Mo\u2019ess Chittin The traditional Passover charity, Mo\u2019ess Chittin, has this year again been dedicated in Canada towards providing additional Passover comforts to needy Jews in Israel, North Africa and several European countries.In the early war years, the Canadian Jewish Congress took the initiative in establishing this specific fund.In Montreal, the Central People\u2019s Relief Committee, an organization working under the aegis of the Canadian Jewish Congress and comprising synagogues, societies, landsmanshaf- ten, clubs, women's groups, verbands and ladies auxiliaries has been conducting the Mo\u2019ess Chittin Appeal for a number of years.Mr.Louis Shiff, a prominent Montreal businessman, is the Chairman of this year\u2019s Mo\u2019ess Chittin Appeal in Montreal.In Ontario, Mr.Sam Kronick, Hon- otary Vice-President of Congress, heads the Committee in charge.Mr.Saul Sigler was the Chairman of the 1955 Mo'ess Chittin Appeal in Toronto.In Western Canada the Appeal is cosponsored by the Mizrachi Organization.Arrangements for Passover contforts overseas are usually made early enough by the Joint Distribution Committee so that the supplies reach those who need them in time for the holiday.The proceeds of the Mo\u2019ess Chittin Fund in Canada are disbursed primarily in conjunction with the JDC.In addition, the Fund makes allocations for Passover supplies to be arranged in Israel through the Mizrachi Organization, through the Agudas Israel Group and through the Ezras Torah.survived war and Nazism only to find themselves helpless, completely dependent on outside aid for survival; others who may yet achieve independence if enough aid is given, and quickly enough; the needy, the harassed and the distressed of more than twenty .countries \u2014 such are the 160,000 men, women and children in Moslem countries, in Europe, in Latin America and in Israel, for whom JDC will need a minimum of $29,403,000 during 1955.\u201d The Congress will convene a representative gathering from all allied and affiliated agencies concerned with this aspect of its work to discuss future plans in the light of Mr.Beckelman\u2019s report.Besides reviewing the operations of the United Jewish Relief Agencies and the Joint Distribution Committee, the participants will have a summary of activities to date and the proposed program for the coming year.Attending the Conference will be members of the Dominion Council of Congress, leaders of organizations and groups which cooperate with Congress in its overseas program and integration of new immigrants to Canada.Lavy M.Becker, Chairman of the CJC Eastern Region, will preside.Communities to Mark Warsaw Ghetto Battle To commemorate the Twelfth Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising on April 19 (27 Nissan, 5715, Hebrew calendar), the World Jewish Congress has called upon Jewish communities and affiliates in 65 nations to establish Jewish cultural and educational institutions named for the Warsaw Ghetto fighters.The historic Battle of the Warsaw Ghetto began on April 19, 1943.This year\u2019s call to Jews zverywhere follows a similar appeal issued last year, proposing the establishment of such memorial projects as: a school or institution of Jewish learning; a Jewish library; fellowships in Jewish education; an annual award for the best book or pamphlet on a Jewish theme.At the last Plenary Session of Congress a resolution was adopted to the effect that Congress sponsor annual observance of this occasion, and commemorative meetings are scheduled in centres across Canada.To assist communities in planning for this anniversary, Congress has prepared a program manual containing appropriate program suggestions, dramatic sketches and source materials, which is available without charge upon request. 2 CONGRESS BULLETIN APRIL, 1955 fl 7] / BULLETIN FO Published monthly except July and August by the Canadian Jewish Congress, 493 Sherbrooke Street, West, Montreal, to report on the activities of Canadian Jewry and matters of interest to them.Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa.National President .Samuel Bronfman National Executive Director .Saul Hayes Press Officer.Toby Lipson Ruow Your Congress Montreal Jewish Teachers Seminary The Canadian Jewish community\u2019s gratifying activity in Jewish education certainly reflects public epinion which has given Jewish education high priority on the agenda of communal endeavors.However, there remain very serious problems.Young Canadians seem not to be interested in continuing beyond the barest minimum of Hebrew studies.Even the remarkable growth of Jewish day schools did not improve the situation.At a recent conference on Jewish education convened in Montreal under the auspices of the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Council of Jewish Educational Institutions of Greater Montreal, an alarming note was struck in this respect.In a paper presented by M.Magid, Educational Director of the United Talmud Torahs in Montreal, it was emphasized that \u201cwhile hundreds of students graduate annually from the elementary all-day schools, only very few of them agree to remain with our schools for another year or two.The students are not alone in their pronounced rejection of advancement in Jewish education.The parents, at least, the overwhelming majority, are in full accord with their children in this respect.And in addition, the active sections of our community and its leadership, by condoning such a digression in Jewish life, have helped in no small measure to create an atmosphére conducive to the formation of a \u2018ceiling\u2019 for Jewish education in Montreal.Lately, several isolated attempts have been made in Montreal to develop Hebrew High Schools, but these are rather the exception to the general rule.We have not responded to them readily and, at best, we look upon them as private projects.Moreover, when we become aware of the great enthusiasm which our Jewish youth has always shown for general high school and college education, we must feel very much embarrassed in the face of our own deserted high school classes.It certainly hurts our Jewish ego!\u201d There is a tremendous teacher shortage here and in American Jewish schools and only the willingness of Canadian Jewish youth to become teachers will prevent a crisis.The United Jewish Teachers Seminary which operates in Montreal under the auspices of the Canadian Jewish Congress, recently issued a call for early applications for the school term 1955-56.Last year, for the first time in its existence, the beginners class comprised a majority of Canadian born.The faculty of the Seminary is very optimistic as to this group.They feel that they will make excellent teachers, fully equipped to conduct classes in our schools.Their background, be it of the Talmud Torah or of the Yiddish schools, gives them a very good start in their studies.The United Jewish Teachers Seminary in Montreal offers a two year day course for its students.Unlike many other Jewish teacher training schools, which are conducted on an evening basis, this institution requires of its students to devote 2 years of full-time study for their diplomas.There are 26 hours a week of regular lectures for each group.In addition, students are required to study at home and to practice teaching in Montreal schools.The curriculum includes such subjects as Hebrew; grammar; literature; prophets; Bible; history; prayers; Mishna; history of education; methods of teaching; Yiddish language; Yiddish literature; music; arts and crafts; kindergarten.Special consideration is given to the study of educational psychology which includes the scope and methods of psychology; growth and psychological significance of the learning process; the development of the child's personality; the psychology of learning; the teacher\u2019s tasks and barriers; studying and guiding development.A special aspect of the curriculum is the sociology and social institutions of Jewish life in Canada, giving a historical introduction to Canada; population and demographic aspects; historical development of Jewish life in Canada; cultural group differentials; the role of Jewish communal life and institutional structure; Jewish community organization; and Canadian and World Jewry._ Letters to the Editor Two of our Toronto readers wrote to us regarding the feature story on Mr.H.Wolofsky which appeared in the BULLETIN dated February under the heading \u201cSeries on CJC Pioneers\u201d.Mr.A.B.Bennett, an Honorary Vice-President of Congress, deplored the fact that two erroneous dates were cited in the article, pointing out that the Canadian Jewish Chronicle was founded in 1912, and that the Jewish Daily Eagle became a daily in 1908 not 1914 as stated.Much of the factual material on Mr.Wolofsky was derived from Hart's \u201cThe Jew in Canada\u201d; and the articles on \u201cThe Jewish Press in Canada\u201d (.457) and on Mr.Wolofsky (p.459) contain a discrepancy in the date of the founding of the Jewish Chronicle \u2014 the former citing the year 1914, the latter, 1912.We are obliged to Mr.Bennett for pointing out the error with respect to the date when the Eagle became a daily.Mr.Maurice Goldstick declared that Mr.Wolofsky was strongly opposed to the founding of the Congress and should not therefore be listed as a Congress founder.However, Hart's history states that Mr.Wolofsky took a leading part in the Canadian Jewish Congress held in Montreal in 1919.An article on \u201cThe History of the First Canadian Jewish Congress\u201d by H.M.Caiserman states that Mr.Wolofsky, who at first opposed the formation of Congress, had a change of heart and in November 1918 called a meeting of individuals who had previously opposed the organization of the Congress, and who now formed a \u201cCongress Committee\u201d designed to help in its organization (Ed.).The Books We Need By Trude Weiss-Rosmarin Once there was the language barrier.Jewish books were written in Hebrew and Yiddish; they were inaccessible to the English-reading Jew.But now most of the Great Jewish Books are available in English translations.The Bible, the Talmud, the Midrash, the Zohar, the medieval philosophical tracts and legal codes, the important Bible commentaries, the ethical homilies and the basic works of the Hasidim, as well as the major works of the modern Hebrew and Yiddish classics are now available in good and readable English translations.Yet, despite the intense and dedicated efforts of their publishers and the co-operation of rabbis and Jewish educators, few of these books are found in average Jewish homes.Jewish book dealers in the United States know that their clientele consists chiefly of Jewish professionals \u2014 rabbis, educators, programming personnel, writers and club leaders.It is this group on which publishers of Jewish books have their eye, knowing that they can count on from 2,000 to 3,000 customers who will buy any volume that holds the promise of a sermon topic, a program idea, or perhaps a comment in writing.This gearing of Jewish writing to the small group of Jewish professionals is even more apparent in the magazine field.Over the past three years, five new quarterlies, (among them \u201cJudaism\u201d, of the American Jewish Congress) have been launched.All of them are addressed to the Jewish reader with an above average Jewish background and as a result, their subscribers are limited.In a way, the \u201celite concentration\u201d of current Jewish writing is an act of resignation.Publishers have discovered that average American Jews do not buy Jewish books and they are therefore concentrating on readers with Jewish professional interests.There have been many efforts to provide Jewish books for the average American Jewish home, but they have failed.Average American Jews will not buy Jewish books.Time and again I have observed that audiences which responded favourably to a lecture on a Jewish literary theme will walk away without even so much as a glance at Jewish book exhibits arranged with great care and remarkable good taste.The children starve We have failed thus far to win our adult population for the Jewish book.But this failure need not discourage us as to the future of a certain type of Jewish book in America.There is Jewish youth \u2014 the one-third of our school population who, at some time during their school years, come under the influence of a Jewish school.It is with these youngsters that the future of the Jewish book is bound up.Television, comics and the movies take away much \u201cfree reading\u201d time from average boys and girls.Nevertheless, there are many hours left to fill with good reading and the average boy or girl is accessible to books.Unfortunately the Jewish book production for juvenile readers 1s pitifully small.As the mother of a fifth grader who attends a Jewish Day School and, despite TV, comics and movies, sticks to a ritual of taking out four books a week, I feel qualified to state that there are no more than four or five new books of Jewish interest in a good publishing year, which I can place on my boy's bookshelf.Jewish Encyclopedia Junior?The other day, while using a volume of my Jewish Encyclopedia, Moshe asked me to get him a \u201cJewish Encyclopedia Junior\u2014like my Britannica Junior.\u201d When I told him there was none, he said: \u2018\u2019That\u2019s unfair.Children, too, need an encyclopedia.\u201d While it may be argued that Moshe and his friends are exceptional because they get the advantages of the best type of Jewish education available in the U.S., it is also true that Jewish books for children are the most saleable articles, according to all Jewish book dealers\u2019 statements.But, alas, there are not enough books to satisfy the demand.Would it not be wise to use some of our organizations\u2019 funds to finance a \u201cJewish Children\u2019s Digest\u201d, a \u201cJewish Children\u2019s Encyclopedia\u201d, a series of \u201cLiving Biographies of Great Jews\u201d, and ever so many other Jewish books which our sons and daughters need to grow up as Jews?Indifference to Judaism In every area of American Jewish life one hears complaints about \u201cthe Jewish indifference of our children\u201d.But what is being done to combat this \u201cindifference?\u201d What Jewish diet, in reading and in recreational activities, do we provide for boys and girls like Moshe \u2014 and they are not so rare and exceptional as it would appear.Yet it is comparatively easy to reach these children through the Jewish schools they attend.While it is difficult to distribute Jewish books to the adult population \u2014 there are simply not enough Jewish book stores \u2014 the distribution problems of juvenile literature are much easier to tackle (ed.note: the Book Service of The Canadian Jewish Co1.gress was established to help meet this need).Canadian Jewish Congress President Extends Passover Greetings to Community As we celebrate our Festival of Freedom this Passover, the parallel between the original Exodus, upon which our holiday is based, and the present situation of the Jews in Egypt and other Moslem lands, is inescapable.In this troubled period of mounting tensions in the Middle East, these Jews also look to the \u201cPromised Land\u201d for their salvation.But here the parallel ends; there is no Moses to bring them safely to their destination.Only the inheritors of the Mosaic tradition, the Jews of the free world, can assume the responsibility of preparing and effecting this modern Exodus.Our duty cannot end there\u2014we must continue to strengthen the new State of Israel economically so that the nation will be allowed to develop in peace, and we must look to the annual observance of the Seder as the signal for rededication to the sacred task of invigorating Jewish life at home.\u201cFreedom\u201d and \u201cliberty\u201d dominate our thoughts during Passover, and we are proud and thankful that as Canadian citizens we may know the true meaning of these words.In greeting the Canadian Jewish community this Passover, I dare express a hope that the age-old ideals of liberty, equality and justice which inspired the liberation of our ancestors from Egyptian bondage, may yet inspire our present leaders to establish universal liberty, equality and justice.Passover 5715 SAMUEL BRONFMAN, President, CJC ii wall es Kf fo Or the Lise ni X book ih pl Ke 0: 0k 5 fro di prie, ti he 0 1 de, (ei ; dl hic \u2019 APRIL, 1955 CONGRESS BULLETIN 3 Pesach Is Not Pesach Any More BY ALEX MOGELONSKY Pesach simply isn\u2019t what it used to be! Everytime I pass a grocery store .its windows crammed and jammed with a wondrous array of \u201ckosher for Passover\u201d delicacies and confections to please even the most discriminating gourmet .I stop and try to remember not so many years back, when the only \u201ckosher I'Pesach\u201d item obtainable at the grocer\u2019s was good plain matzo.I think the youngsters nowadays are somehow missing a lot.It may be said, \u201cIt\u2019s easier on the housewife\u201d.This is not an argument, it's a fact.But the gleaming tin can, the sterilized glass bottle, the heavily waxed and sanitary container have robbed us of Pesach romanticism and done away with almost completely the mystic magic which enveloped our family\u2019s preparations for the Passover.If the ladies and the manufacturers will forgive me, I'll continue, I remember quite clearly how it all started, weeks and weeks before the forthcoming festival of freedom .with wine.Pa (who'd dare call him Dad?) would come home from work .late one evening carrying four big baskets of grapes.Ah ha! This was the first signal! We'd gobble down our supper, get the dishes out of the way in a hurry, and before long would be tossing and tumbling the grapes from the baskets into a big \u2018bile-ya\u2019 of clear, cold water.Then, working methodically, we'd pull the clusters from the water, pluck the stems from the fruit, and toss the clean smooth grapes into a big and shining \u2018pesachdika shisil\u2019.The rest of the procedure always remained my mother\u2019s secret.It involved green glass gallon jars, precise amounts of sugar, and a dark but dry shelf in the corner of the basement.We next came upon the Pesach scene many days later, when Pa would mysteriously disappear on a Sunday morning, and around noon Ma would holler, \u201cHe's in the basement .tasting!\u201d Go bring him up before you have a-\"shuker\u2019 for a father!\u201d Before we'd have time to scurry down the basement steps, a peculiar sing- songy voice would drift up from under us.\u201cRRRivvva .this wine .it'll be juuuuusst right .for PPPPesach.\u201d As if jolted by electricity, Ma would drag us to the hall, stuff us into parkas and overshoes, then push us, almost violently, through the door.\u201cOut .out.\u201cshe'd shout, \u201cgrowing boys and girls need lots of nice fresh air\u201d.\u201cBut\u201d, one of us would inevitably stammer.\u201ca little while ago you said it was too cold to go outside to-day\u201d.\u201cI know dear\u201d, she'd try to explain, \u201cbut according to your father, it's much warmer now\u2019, and with that, the door was closed.I can\u2019t quite forget the very appealing aroma which permeated the whole house, the day before the first seder.Having helped to burn the \u2018chumitz\u2019 (a rite that can\u2019t be tampered with thank goodness), we'd sit around the kitchen as Ma prepared the knedlach and gefilte fish.How can mere ink on paper convey or describe the tantalizing goodness which not only filled the kitchen and the entire household, but also, somehow, invaded one\u2019s mind and heart\u2019.the first breath of Pesach! In this modern age you buy the kned- lach and gefilte fish in jars.Somehow, though the contents are good and wholesome, they forgot to send along the invigorating atmosphere I knew so well.And who can forget the making of the \u2018chrain\u2019?It started on an old wooden chair in the kitchen, with Ma pushing the horse-radish into the grinder and turning the handle at a ferocious pace.Then, with tears streaming down her face, she'd surrender the task to Pa, who would move the chair and grinder out onto the back porch and merrily continue to grind away.He'd come back a few moments later, actually crying while asking Ma, \u201cIs this enough?\u201d \u201cNo\u201d, she'd say, carefully regarding the mound of shredded white vegetable in the pan.\u201cBut\u201d, protested Pa, \u201cthere's enough here for two families! The children don\u2019t touch the stuff .and you.only take a tiny bit.Who can eat so much chrain?\u201d Ma would give Pa a long, icy look, and Pa, without another word would go back into the porch and grind and cry some more.As a child the entire procedure frightened yet fascinated me.\u201cWhy are you crying?\u201d I'd ask Pa as he emerged from the kitchen, rubbing his eyes, the job having been completed.\u201cWho's crying?\u201d, he'd answer, replacing his handkerchief, \u201cI'm not crying .I'm making chrain\u201d.The other day I overheard a mother say, \u201cIsn't it marvellous?My Dovidle doesn\u2019t like plain matzo .it\u2019s psychological the doctor says .so at the seder we now have chocolate coated matzos especially for him! You can buy it anywhere!\u201d This brings to mind the time, years and years ago, when my brother, who was a good three years away from Bar Mitzvah (and who always developed strange pangs of hunger on Yom Kippur, which is another story), made a terrible rumpus at the seder table.\u201cHe wants bread\u201d, my mother told my father.\u201cLet him eat matzo\u201d, Pa answered fearing the inevitable.\u201cBut he wants bread.He won't stop crying!\u201d A crisis had developed.If we gave my brother bread, we'd be breaking the Pesach.If we didn\u2019t find a piece of bread for him from somewhere, he (we could be sure) wouldn't stop crying and we'd have a terrible and uncomfortable seder.A decision had to be made! My father and mother went into a huddle.\u201cBut I'll have to go next door to borrow a piece of bread!\u201d, my mother realized in horror.\u201cSo?\u201d, asked my father.The recitation of The Four Questions, when youth solemnly plays its role at the Seder.\u201cBut our neighbours just moved in last week.We don\u2019t even know them!\u201d \u201cGo\u201d, my father commanded in great wisdom.\"An enjoyable seder comes first.They won't refuse you\u201d.Ma went.She came back with a slice of bread.My brother immediately stopped crying.My father started the seder, then suddenly stopped.\u2018Why are you laughing?\u201d, he asked, glaring at my mother.\u201cYOUR son eats \u2018chumitz\u2019 at the seder table, and you laugh?\u201d By this time my mother could no longer repulse her laughter.\"You know what I heard our neighbour say as I was leaving?\u201d my mother blurted out, .\u201cthose poor Jews next door.They can\u2019t even afford a piece of bread!\u201d Milk always posed a special problem for Ma.She firmly believed that growing children should each consume a quart of milk every day.But milk in those days was not for Pesach drinking! Every Passover brought the same reasoning.\"We won't have it in the house .I'll have the milkman leave it in the back porch.I'll keep some glasses there.And if the children now and then should wander out into the porch and take a drink of milk .what harm is there in it?Who'll be watching?Besides,\u201d she'd rationalize, \u201ceven the Torah says that if you're sick, you shouldnt deny yourself food that'll give back your health\u201d.\u201cBut who's sick?\u201d, Pa would inquire, knowing full well that he had already lost the battle.\u201cThe children!\u201d, Ma would exclaim, \u201cJust look how scrawny they are!\u201d \u201cWho's looking .?\u201d, Pa would start to say, endeavouring to refer to our health.\u201cThat's just what I said\u201d, Ma answered in finality, \u201cNo one will see anyway, so let them drink milk to their heart's content\u201d.Well, we're all ready for another Pesach, with a wide assortment of different matzos, very excellent wine from the government stores; chrain and knedlach fresh from the jars, tasty and delightful.But to me, it\u2019s not the same.My father used to tell me stories of how, in his youth, using the edge of a gear wheel from a broken clock, he used to help his father make matzos.I can tell my children of how I watched my Ma and Pa cry over chrain and fill the kitchen with strange, exotic Pesach fragrance and festive excitement.But what will my children, in years to come as parents, tell their own youngsters?1 sometimes wonder.UJRA Programs Supported by United Vewish Appeals Cry-Baby By Samuel Jaffe The six-year-old girl who was crying wasn't even a patient.There was nothing wrong with her, though you could see by the length of the hair growing on her head that she, too, had recently gone through the same process.She had brought her three-year-old brother to the dispensary and was holding him in her\u2019 lap.And as the attendant plucked his head she sat there and cried because of the pain her little brother was undergoing.Some 25,000 men, women and children are treated monthly in the vast network of Joint Distribution Com- mittee-supported OSE health centers throughout Morocco.In these centres JDC has proved that modern drugs and medicines can cure trachoma and tinea, diseases which afflict tens of thousands of Jewish slum children.Infant mortality has been cut, in some areas by as much as 90 per cent, since JDC began its child-health activities, with funds provided in Canada by the United Jewish Appeals on behalf of the United Jewish Relief Agencies.Casablanca \u2014 the room in the OSE bi _\u2014 J dispensary held about 100 children, more or less, ranging from three to eight years.Boys and girls, every one of them had a shaven scalp.In treating tinea (ringworm of the scalp) it is necessary to remove every hair in the head, root and all.The process is simple.A prepared mixture is spread on the head and, as it hardens, it mats itself into the hair.When the mixture is set it is pulled off and with it comes the hair, roots and all.An attendant or a nurse then goes over the child\u2019s head with a pair of tweezers, plucking out the single hairs that still remain.A terribly painful process, yet none of these youngsters squirmed or cried out \u2014 only one was in tears.Life in the Jewish mellahs, or ghettos, of Morocco is bitter and hard.It teaches you patience and silent acceptance of your lot in life.One accepts pain unquestioningly \u2014 there is so much of it.So these hundred children sat, still and quiet, while the attendants probed for remaining roots of hair, plucked the scalps smooth and clean.In an OSE medical dispensary in Casablanca, where youngsters report daily for treatment of tinea, a scalp disease. CONGRESS BULLETIN Commanity Briefs Montreal Jack Becker was elected chairman of the Joint Campaign for the Combined Jewish Appeal and the United Israel Appeal for the year 1955, succeeding Ben Beutel who will be chairman of the Business Men\u2019s Council for this year.Port Arthur The Jewish community presented a brief to the Board of Education against religious education in grades 7 & 8 in the public schools, initiated last fall, asking that the practice be abolished.Halifax At the annual meeting of the Jewish Community Council in Halifax, the following slate of officers was elected:\u2014 Aaron Zive, president; Dr.Syd Cher- nin, vice-president; S.Shane, treasurer; Mrs.Louis Roza, secretary; Mrs.Charles Aaron, Jack Astroff and Jack Schofield, board members.Winnipeg Saul M.Cherniack, Western vice- president of Congress and member of the National Executive, was elected to his second consecutive term as president of the Jewish Welfare Fund.Montreal Ten copies of the 4th volume of \u201cJewish People Past and Present\u201d, recently off the press, will be presented by Congress to several university libraries in Canada.Complete sets are being provided for the Parliamentary library and McGill's Redpath library.* * * A special one year programme for Canadian and American university students for the academic year 1955-56 is being offered by the Hebrew University and complete information is available from the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University, 2025 University Street, Montreal.Conference Recognizes Congress Guiding Force of Jewish Life CALGARY (Special) \u2014 The leaders of Western Canadian Jewish community life, many of them of the \u201cyounger generation,\u201d last month took a big step forward on the road toward a better organized and fuller Jewish life in the area, and demonstrated a mature awareness of the situation, in three days of intensive deliberations here at the Pacific- Western Regional Conference of the Canadian Jewish Congress.The \u201cgrassroots\u201d character of the proceedings was the predominant feature, with the more than 100 delegates, representing large and small communities throughout the four Western provinces, taking an active part in all phases of the ; Qi * Among the spokesmen of the workshop for the six larger communities are, left to right:\u2014 discussions of their community problems.x Mel Sandomirsky, Regina; Ernie Bricker, Saskatoon; Jack Edelson, Calgary; Wolfe Mar- golus, Edmonton; Saul M.Cherniack, Winnipeg; Hy Altman, Vancouver and Moe Cohen, Vancouver, Workshop chairman.The Congress itself emerged from the conference strengthened and reinvigorated, the acknowledged central guiding force of Jewish life in Western Canada \u2014 a force called upon repeatedly by the delegates for continued and intensified guidance and assistance.Highlight of the gathering, in the opinion of delegates and observers alike, was the Community Organization Session, with its workshops and accompanying discussion in which trends and major problems of each community were reported, analyzed and assessed.And constituting the running theme of the reports by the spokesmen of the various communities, and of the ensuing discussion, was the recognition that the intensifying and deepening of Jewish life holds the key to grappling with the many problems of the organized community \u2014 from leadership and community structure to fund-rais- ing and combatting apathy.Another major feature of the parley was the insight given the delegates into national and international Jewish trends and developments, through the reports and addresses of national Congress leaders, and special question-and answer forum.While community structure, leadership and fund-raising problems proved to be a major preoccupation of the spokesmen and delegates from the larger centers, the concern about problems of Jewish education was shared equally by the representatives of small and large communities.The conference recognized Congress\u2019 responsibility in this area by adopting a resolution calling on the Western Educational Committee to draw up curricula for medium and small communities on a Regional basis.The picture of Congress as the representative of Canadian Jewry, as well as its unifying force, operating in all major areas of concern, was graphically delineated in the addresses of Samuel Bronfman, national president, and Saul Hayes, national executive director.Rabbi Joachim Prinz of Newark, New Jersey, was guest speaker at the banquet.APRIL, 1955 WJC Conference Shows Mutuality of Jewish Fate, Responsibility By Edward E.Gelber In a sense, the Jewish world represents a series of concentric circles.Each of these circles constitutes an area of special responsibilities to the group in its midst.Nonetheless, in the total picture of Jewish life there is a reciprocity of duties and responsibilities as between the special and total areas bringing into the closest association problems, hopes and frustrations that are the specific charge of each circle and yet the overriding consideration of all of them.Israel and Diaspora The State of Israel exists: the Jewish world outside Israel also exists.Neither adjourns for the other.Both are keenly aware of the interacting influences of one upon the other.The Jewish problem in North Africa is in a certain sense an extension of the idea of the State of Israel as representing the only feasible solution for a situation of growing complexity and danger.A revivified Germany has its influences on the Israeli position in terms of reparations and in many other ways as well.Austria is a matter affecting both Israel and the Jewish world at large in respect of a whole host of problems \u2014 reparations, restitution and the like.Anti-Semitism The problem of anti-Semitism in general is again a matter with its profound influences in terms of Jewish security both on the Jewish position in whatever area of the Diaspora it may find itself, with Israel being affected in diverse ways by the nature and the intensity of the assault on the Jewish position.The actual condition of Israel itself both politically and economically is a matter of most serious moment to universal Jewry.Its security or otherwise and the consequences that flow therefrom are in ways that are more than subtly intangible of direct effect on Jewish well-being everywhere in the world.Loss of prestige through Israel dislocation is of head-on effect on the Jewish world.Mutual Responsibility In other words, the ancient Hebrew adage that there is a mutuality of fate in Jewish life is but the obverse side of the coin that there must be a mutuality of Jewish responsibility if the\u201dcomplete picture is to remain unmarred and free from tragedy.It is this breaking down of the wishful notion of Jewish parochialism and insularity that the World Jewish Congress comes to remove.It posits the notion of a people scattered in every area of the globe and yet tied together by the closest ties both physical and spiritual.Problems Projected It is precisely this projection of the problems of the Jewish community on a universal scale that was so strikingly revealed at the recently convened meetings of the World Jewish Congress Executive in Paris.Canadian Jewry through its unified instrument, the Canadian Jewish Congress, was represented in these discussions and took its place in the deliberations of many communities, each inspired by a variety of problems through which a common thread was clearly perceivable.Organically, the Canadian Jewish Congress occupies a relationship of something less than being an integral part of the W.J.C., but, nonetheless, a very close and warm affiliate of this highly important instrument of World Jewry.Our Canadian Congress is constantly held up as a paragon of unity speaking with a single voice on all problems affecting the welfare of Canadian and World Jewry.It is indeed fitting that we find our places in the councils of the W.J.C.Specifically, the Paris sessions dealt with the following matters: The area of greatest tension and danger facing the Jewish world today in an immediate sense is North Africa.Jews are finding themselves there in a situation of growing involvement.Arab Rearmament Careful examination was given to the growing danger of Arab rearmament and the need for intervention with the Government supplying such arms.The Israeli delegates present made a strong plea for common political action in this behalf and the meeting so responded.The potential danger of Nazi or some other form of anti-Semitic revival in a rearmed and free Germany was minutely investigated.The evidences of such a potential were present in one form or another.The session deemed it wise to draw the attention of the western powers to the threat that inhered in such a situation.The matter of reparations came in at this point \u2014 it could not be overlooked.Jewish Education It was, however, in regard to the essential spiritual and intellectual well- being of world Jewry that the most serious attention was given.What benefit would accrue from a mere survival of Jewish with a virtual disappearance of Judaism, its values and traditions?The problem of Jewish education was, therefore, of central importance and much time was spent discussing this most fundamental of all matters.\u201c Plans are under way to consider the broadening of the W.J.C.structure to make it indeed a world congress of Jewish organizations.In the light of this the C.J.C.may be called on to re-examine the nature of its affiliation with the W.J.C.which thus far has functioned quite admirably.Support Congress The program of the Canadian Jewish Congress is possible only to the extent of the support of every Jewish community in Canada.GIVE to your annual local appeal for Congress and overseas causes: this is the only source from which Congress obtains its funds.Guide to Good Programming Available from Congress YOUR GUIDE TO GOOD PROGRAMMING, a handbook for leaders and program chairmen in the Jewish community, is now available without charge from the Canadian Jewish Congress Programming Services Department.Outlining the aims of good programming, the brochure presents a series of \u201cDo\u2019s and Don'ts\u201d before proceeding with a summary of the techniques of successful programming.Suggestions include \u201cBuzz\u201d Sessions, Dramatics and Socio-Dramatics, Mock Trials, Story Completions, Speaker Meetings, Listening Teams, Author Meets the Critic, Meet the Press, Panel or Round Table Discussion, Debates, Miniature Conference, Movies and Film Slides, Workshops and Seminars, Group Games, Talent Night, Dances, Visits, Special Interest Groups and Hobbies, Weekends, and Inter-Group Programs.True knowledge and culture who strive to obtain, The older they grow the more wisdom they gain; But those who to knowledge and culture are foes, As older each gets the more foolish be grows.F D | LE "]