Adventures in San Diego Jewish History, December 10, 1954, Part 4

Compiled by San Diego Jewish World staff

Beware the Demagogue
Southwestern Jewish Press, December 12, 1954, Page 7

It is not easy to be calm and objective about the course of events in the McCarthy affair. The Jews are familiar with the pattern of demagoguery.  Centuries of persecution have taught them not to treat lightly the activities of extremists and rabble rousers.

The controversy over McCarthy has overtones of religious bias that are ominous and dangerous.  Jews were trying to destroy McCarthy because he is a Catholic. The professional anti-Semite, Gerald (there’s a profit in hate) L.K. Smith, got into the act by sending out a letter appealing for money which said: “Five million dollars are available to forces that are determined to destroy McCarthy by murder, character assassination and removal from the Senate. This group of conspirators are alien-minded, Jew financed, etc., etc.”

Catholic Senators also voted against McCarthy but the extremists conveniently ignored this fact and raised a religious issue that has no place in politics or government.  Another example is that of the Texas oil man, who wrote to one of the Senators that Sen. Lehman should be sent out of the country because of his part in the censure of McCarthy.  If the forces of prejudice are allowed to spread then this country will truly be an easy target for the enemies of our Democracy.

The U.S. Senate has done a service to country and at the same time showed the world that the Senate is no place for those who flout the rules. In our opinion the Republican party has gained stature by their action. They can now forget about McCarthy and devote themselves to the problems of securing the peace. 

To the people of the United States we say, “Beware the demagogue.” If McCarthy is to be taken seriously he must fight Communism, not use it as a stepladder for his own ambitions and political ends, or a shield to avoid answering charges of misuse of funds and abuse of outstanding Americans.

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Good Advice in Oregon (Editorial)
Southwestern Jewish Press, December 12, 1954, Page 7

The judgment of the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis is having a decisive influence on national affairs today.

As the eighty-fourth Congress settles down to wrestle with the knotty agenda of foreign and domestic problems, the Democrats will have the power to organize and control the Senate by the hairline margin of one vote due to the last minute election of Democrat Richard L. Neuberger of Oregon.

The brilliant rise of the political career of Neuberger and the ramifications of this next step upward into the United States Senate, is largely the result of the young Senator’s fateful friendship with the late Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis. For it was on the advice of Justice Brandeis back in 1933 that caused Neuberger to remain in Oregon to forge a career in politics that has led him to his present status in American life.

Senator Neuberger received this advice from Brandeis back in 1933 when he began work as a newspaper man in Oregon.  Some years later Neuberger was weighing a tempting offer from a national magazine and in his dilemma he wrote Justice Brandeis asking him if his opinion remained unchanged.

The Justice’s reply was simple:

“Dear Richard Neuberger:
Stay in Oregon.
Cordially,
Louis D. Brandeis

Senator Neuberger headed this advice. Today the balance of national policy is being shaped by the words of advice to an aspiring writer offered by a great Supreme Court Justice.

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More About 300 Years in American History~Chapter 48

Southwestern Jewish Press, December 12, 1954, Page 7

By Philip L. Seman, University of Judaism

Continuing Maimonides’ consideration for the less fortunate, which is the key to Jewish Social Service from the last installment of this series:  There is the one who gives adequately and graciously, but never gives until he has been asked.

One step higher is the one who does not wait to be asked, but wants to know all about it, demanding full information about the recipient and requiring that he should know to whom thanks are due.

Maimonides then speaks of the next step, somewhat more deserving of admiration, he who does ot concern himself about the recipient, but still demands a full and glowing acknowledgment from all men for his generosity.

Far higher, he tells us, stands the one who insists upon secrecy as to himself; although he may demand full knowledge of the one who is the beneficiary of the gift.  Better than all is the one who remains personally unknown, and who does not know the recipient of his benefaction.

The highest of all is the very embodiment of Tzedakah, the  Tzadok himself, and he is the type who does not wait until trouble  falls, but who seeks to prevent it by taking his fellowman by the hand, who treats him as a friend, and either makes him a loan, starts him in business, or does some other practical thing to enable him to help himself.  This example of delicate consideration for the feeling of the  poor has reached a marked development in Jewish life.  IT has risen above Tzodakah to something even more defined.

In the Jewish Ethical Code, there is such a thing as “”Gemiloth Hasodim,” the doing of kindness.  Whatever may have been the ills of the restricted life of the Jews in former days, their benevolence  was possessed of the rarest tenderness of feeling. The family spirit extended itself throughout the community and embraced every member thereof. This manifested itself in such deeds of loving kindness as friends show to friends in all the changing crises of live.

These old familiar duties are summarized in the old ritual of the synagogue—to care for the homeless-care for the stranger—care for the widows and orphans – to provide dowries for the daughters of the poor—to cloth the naked – to visit the sick — to bury the dead. All these acts and others were performed, not in a perfunctory fashion, not in a spirit of patronage, as though bestowing favors, but rather as showing kindness without a thought of reward.

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(Dancing Waters)
Southwestern Jewish Press, December 12, 1954, Page 7

“Dancing Waters,” one of the most popular features at last summer’s Southern California Exposition at Del Mar, will be returned this summer, Manager Paul T. Mannen has announced.

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Local Crusade for Children Seeks 13 Cents Per Second
Southwestern Jewish Press, December 12, 1954, Page 7

“What is the life of a child worth?”  This is a question that the San Diego County Crusade for Children will asks us all between December 11th and 20th. It is a question that must be answered generously in order to maintain and expand treatment and research facilities at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California

The Crusade for Children Committee is dedicated to two primary goals – to insure that the people of San Diego are aware of the life-saving facilities and treatment available to them at the City of Hope free of charge; and second to raise the 13 cents a second it cost to operate the National Medical Center.

Cancer and leukemia have long been recognized by the medical profession as the number one killers of children between the ages of one and 14, and the City of Hope is recognized as one of the outstanding medical centers of its kind in the world today.

Founded 41 years ago as a tuberculosis hospital, the City of Hope has since grown to become one of the “pilot” hospitals in the country today in man’s fight against catastrophic diseases.

For the past 26 years, the City of Hope has been serving San Diego County.  During the past ten years, the City of Hope has given over 7,000 patient days to San Diego area residents at a cost to the City of Hope of over $131,840.  During this same ten year period, the City of Hope received less than ten percent of that amount from San Diego.

The Jewish Press joins the dedicated volunteers of the San Diego county Crusade for Children Committee in appealing to you to “buy” ten seconds of a child’s life by making your check payable to “The City of Hope” and mailing it to the San Diego County Crusade for Children, 902 Third Street, San Diego.  Give a child the most precious gift of them all -0- hi life.

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As the Psychologist Sees You
Southwestern Jewish Press, December 12, 1954, Page 7

Irving Stone

By Irving R. Stone

Inhibition of Thought –When the Progressive Education Movement was new, and often misunderstood, it was the vogue to say that the child should not be inhibited or frustrated but should be allowed to do and say anything and everything he wished. Thus, setting limits to expression was frowned upon. Today, we do not go to those limits in our permissiveness although still recognize that too many limitations may be harmful as too few.

Sometimes limitations are sent, not by parents or other adults, but by the individual himself. The Inhibition of Thought is a case in point. Often, the individual is unable to express himself, not only in verbal expression, I work or play, but even in his thinking.  He becomes unresponsive to things about him, is unable to take a stand on matters of importance, or even to work out details that require his attention.

There are a number of reasons for this inhibition of the thought process. In some cases it is because of a fear of failure. Without effort effort there can be no criticism of failure, even though there is no success either. But at least there is no way of knowing whether or not you can do whatever is done. 

Then, there is the feeling of guilt which keeps a person from giving expression to his thoughts. They are so painful, because of the guilt he feels, that it is safer to eliminate all thought. We call this, in psychological terms, a factor of repression. Unfortunately, repressed thoughts have a nasty way of bubbling to the surface in some other ways, such as slips of the tongue, dreams and the effects of drinking.

In some cases, parental domination has been so great in childhood that the individual now a biologically mature person has not learned how to think for himself or else has inhibited his thinking for fear of retaliation, ridicule or scorn. As an adult, he now fees it safer to bury himself in listening to others, the reading of certain parts of the daily newspaper, or in watching television.

One does not have to be an architect, engineer, poet, composer or an inventory to give freedom to his thinking.  Freedom of expression is basic to every mature individual.  He needs it for his happiness, for his emotional maturity, for good citizenship, and for his interpersonal relationships., It is as important to be able to find some means of releasing one’s thoughts as it is to be able to direct them into suitable channels. The two go hand in hand.

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(Movie critique)
Southwestern Jewish Press, December 12, 1954, Page 8

The perfect answer to the question, “What’s wrong with the movies?” was given one night last week by a little man in a Los Angeles theatre. After the trailer was over, he whispered to his wife: “Always the good picture comes next week.


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Dec. 22 City of Hope Blood Bank Day at Local Red Cross

Southwestern Jewish Press, December 12, 1954, Page 8

Your blood is needed to help the leukemic children at the City of Hope. Go to the Red Cross Blood Bank at 4th and Upas on Wednesday, December 22nd, from 12 noon to 7 p.m.

You can seat a full meal four hours before being a blood donor but in the interim just have fruit juice and black coffee – no food.

Let’s have a line a block long all day at the Blood Bank – please give so that children may live!

Need transportation?  Phone: Muriel, JU-3-0788, or Jeanne, BE-4-9595.

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Home for Aged Building Now Under Construction,  Slated to Open June ‘55
Southwestern Jewish Press, December 12, 1954, Page 8

Construction has started on the new Hebrew Home for the Aged, located on 54th St., one block north of University Ave., according to Victor Schulman, president of the Home.  The new structure is scheduled to be completed by June of 1955 and will contain accommodations for approximately 35 guests.  The building will be in excess of 16,000 square feet and will, in addition to living rooms, have a central dining room, a main lounge, a chapel, a visitors lounge, superintendent’s quarters, and a 4-bed infirmary.  The main lounge will be separated from the patio by a sliding wall to make possible indoor and outdoor activities.

According to Max Maisel, chairman of the building committee, and Milo Berenson, the cost of the building will be less than $10.00 per square foot. Architect for the building is Edward Ullrich, and contractor is B.O. Larsen.

The plans for the building which will include the latest in facilities and design for aging people, have been approved by the State Social Services Department. 

The committee is now negotiating the sale of the present property of the Home at 2750 Fourth Ave.

Interim financing has been arranged with the expectation that funds will be raised before the completion of the new Home.

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Bay City BB’s Sponsor United Nations Dinner
Southwestern Jewish Press, December 12, 1954, Page 8

A dinner sponsored by the United Nations Committee of Bay City B.B. Women with Mrs. Eugene Sacks as chairman will feature foods of over 14 nations.  It will be prepared by Jean Schriebman, Ruth Bloom, Rose Kaufman, Ruth Silverstein, Rose Schwartz, Natalie Meyers, Audrey Sack, Ruth Sax, Freida Hollandersky, Rose Felsman, Estyr Cahan, Ida Addis, Reva Garvin, and Love Marie Sacks.

The Dinner which will be held on Monday, December 13, at 7:00 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 3227 El Cajon Blvd., is part of a United Nations program featured that evening.

Mrs.  Jack Meyers, president, extends a most cordial invitation to all members and prospective members to make their reservations as quickly as possible with Sarah Shannahoff—JU 2-7239 or Estyr Cahan –HO 9-6512.

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Israeli To Speak for Hadassah
Southwestern Jewish Press, December 12, 1954, Page 8

The Discussion Group of the San Diego Chapter of Hadassah will present Mr. Chaim Dagan as guest speaker.

Mr. Dagan, a member of the Ministry of Education in Israel, is in the United States observing the American educational system.  The meeting will be held Tuesday, Dec. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Mrs. Leonard Liebermann, 3504 Dumas Street.

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“Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” is sponsored by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg. Our “Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” series will be a regular feature until we run out of history.  To find stories on specific individuals or organizations, type their names in our search box.