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THE JEWISH POSTFriday, December 28, 1945Mortimer Snerd or Charles Lindbergh?MOST readers of The Jewish Post are familiar with Edgar Bergen, the brilliant ventriloquist and his wooden creatures—the witty rascal Charley McCarthy, the good-natured but stupid Mor* timer Snerd and the man-crazy Eppie Klinkcr. I listen to them on the radio every Sunday.I think Edgar Bergen is sc clever that if I was not sure he was a Swede I’d think he was at Litvak Jew. He sure knows how to make money on his dummies. If Charley McCarthy was a real person, he’d be a columnist in The Jewish Post. But, as I recently hinted in this space, it is Mortimer Snerd who interests me. He is so slow-witted that if his manners were more polished he could pass for an hereditary peer in the British House 6i Lords or an hereditary millionaire of German-Jewish extraction in Philadelphia. As I mentioned in one of my columns, there is a moral in Mortimer Snerd.The moral of Mortimer Snerd is the moronic millionaire of American Judaism. ,Mortimer, how can you be so stupid?” Edgar Bergen once asked Mortimer Snerd. I got friends in Washington,” came the r.otso-stupid answer.* * *MR. LESSING J. ROSEN WALD, the Philadelphia Edfendi, a iso has friends in Washington. And what friends! On the very same day the President of these United States received the greatest and sagest Jew of our times, Chaim Weizmann, he also received the other kind. That does not speak well for the President’s sense of discernment. The American Jewish Lord Haw-Haw was given the chance to recite in the White House the lines written for him by his Edgar Bergen. Whether the Edgar Bergen in this case was Elmer Berger or Sidney Wallach, is a matter of guess. Til give you a tip: if they were stupid, they’re Elmer’s; it they’re clever, they’re Sidney’s.Sidney Wallach is a Litvak (the name is the same as Maxim Litvinov’s, original name, and he's a smart Litvak). He is a sleek salesman, who sells Zionism to Zionists, anti-Zionism to anti-Zionists and leadership to stupid millionaires. He could sell a History of Philosophy to Mortimer Snerd, if he tried hard enough. But he does not go In for such peanuts. Some years ago he was in the employ of the American Jewish Committee. Something happened, so Sidney decided to set up shop for himself: Public Relations. He finally found his “angel” in a most unspectacular and practically unknown figure of the Philadelphia EfTendi. This“angel” wanted to be a leader. So he made him a leader.* * *SIDNEY KEEPS in the background now, and the task of keeping Mr. Rosenwald in the limelight has fallen to Elmer. Now, Elmer is not as sleek or as smart as Sidney. There is something odd about Elmer: it is not that he is the only reform rabbi who knows little Hebrew—and less Aramaic—I have met plenty o( those. But he is the only specimen of the species in my long experience without S.A.—at least, insofar as a man is able to judge. Far from looking like an Adonis, as so many r.r.’s do, Elmer struck me like a satyr—but without that clever impish look of the classical satyr. And thereby, hangs a Freudian tale which may explain his vile and ranting anti-Zionism.I met both gentlemen—the Philadelphia EfTendi and Elmer, his Grand Vizier. Mr. Rosenwald is a nice, courteous fellow. Friendly. Looks harmless. But, though his father named him Lessing, he ain't no Nathan the Wise. He likes to let you know that he is a somebody who rubs shoulders with somebodies, even in the opposite camp. In the few minutes I listened to his conversation, I found out that he thought well of Earl Harrison and that he is convinced Mr. Harrison would not have signed his name to a report unless he believed every word in it. (And yet Mr. Rosenwal ddemands a new investigation of the position of the displaced Jews in Europe!); that he had spoken to Zionists and found them ready to listen to him rather than lynch him; that he and Peter Bergson are pretty thick and that he, Mr. Rosenwald knew all the personal plans of the Hebrew Liberator.No doubt Peter has tried to make him a Liberator. Your guess Is as good as mine whether he got any money out of him. So far it would seem more as if Peter has modified his program to suit the predilections of Mr. Rosenwald than the other way round. The not-so-fine distinction drawn by Bergson between Jewish Americans and Hebrews in Europe and Palestine is almost tailor-made to suit the Philadelphia Effendi; the sudden drop of a demand for a Jewish State looks too darn suspicious. Peter started out by being an extremist who wanted to transfer the Palestine Arabs to Iraq.* * *ELMER has recently published a most unreasonable book entitled “The Jew’s Dilemma.” I dare anybody to plough through ir. The book is dedicated to Mr. Lessing J. Rosenwald in appreciation of his “leadership.” Now figure out the cost of a book, that robody wants to read, then add the salary of the Executive Director and all other expenses, bear in mind that membership in the Council Against Judaism is dirt-cheap ($2.00 per annum), and ask yourself the question “What Price Leadership?”Officially, the book has a publisher—Devin Garrity of the Devin-Adair Publishing. Devin put an almost illiterate blurb on the jacket, proclaiming that book to be a guide to statesmen.I met the Philadelphia EfTendi and his grand vizier at the reception in the Harmonie Club when the magnum opus was published. It was the same day that the 4e^fe took place in the Town Hall between Stephen Wise and Morris Lazaron. I recall leporting in this space that I would attend if Olga Ross (the Council’s N. Y. Executive Sec’y.) permitted me to come, and promising to tell my readers about it. Well, I went and I enjoyed myself. I wras glad to meet Olga Ross, a very attractive and gracious lady. I met some other people I liked—not all of them Jews and not all of them of the opposite sex. But there were very few people thpre, and most of them were not Jewrs. The only Jews I saw were those connected with the Council and the only Gentiles I saw were In some way connected with the publisher. But the drinks were good.I understand conclave is to be held in Philadelphia in the nearBy N. PEARLROTHIf yon wont th« derivation of yoor name traced and explained, write to Mr. Pearlroth, The Jewish Pott* Box 1683, Indianapolis, Ind.Dear Mr. Pearlroth,My family, consisting of three sons and my husband, find your column very interesting. My oldest son, who is an interne at Morrissiana Hospital, asked me the meaning of our name. I asked my husband about It and he said he didn’t know. He was born In Latvia.MRS. ANNA BERLIN1730 51st Brooklyn, N. Y.BERLINThis name has nothing to do with the capital of the German Reich. One of your husband’s ancestors' name was Ber or Berl (a word meaning “Bear” in English). When his son was summoned to choose a family name, he selected his father’s personal name and called himself “Berlin” or “son of Berl.” Irving Berlin’s real name is Beilin which means“Son of Beila, or Bella.”* * #Dear Mr. Pearlroth,Some information regarding my name would be enlightening. My father’s grandparents came from Kurland or the section around Riga. (Baltic Sea), and went by oxen-drawn wagon during the free land opening in colony “Illvova” between Kliersm and Odessa by Czar Peter.JOSEPH BAUM 1513 Adams St.,Hollywood, Fla.BAUMThis is a German word meaning “tree.” The name however has nothing to do with a tree. It goes back to the olden days when wayfarers were obliged to pay for the use of the highway.All traffic, whether pedestrian or wheeled, had to stop before a lowered toll barrier, pay a fee and wait for the toll collector to raise the barricade and permit them to proceed. The barrier was known in German as “Schlag-baum.” It is this word reduced to “Baum” which was usually adopted as a family name by the toll gatherer.Between Yon and MeBy BORIS SMOLARTHE Palestine question will loom large at the forthcoming session of the United Nations Organization next month. . . . Although Palestine as such will not be on the agenda, there will be more talk about Palestine than during the San Francisco Conference of the United Nations. . . . This is because the session is expected to take defininte decisions on the question of international trusteeships for mandated territories. ♦ . . And THE Palestine today isPALESTINE practically the only ISSUE territory still underthe mandate of theLeague of Nations Everythingpoints to the fact that the Soviet delegation is determined to have a voice in the question of international trusteeships. ... In fact, Moscow is already indicating that as long as Britain maintains troops in Palestine, the Soviet Government sees no reason why Red Army units should be withdrawn from Iran. . . , And speaking of Palestine, we hear that an important announcement is soon to be made in connection with the Lowdermiik plan for a Jordan Valley Authority. . . * It seems that the British Government is watching the developments around this plan with utmost interest. ... And we learn that Lord Halifax indicated his interest to President Truman in a private talk recently in the White House. . , . The State Department dismisses as mere Arab propaganda the rumors that Ibn Saud intends to cancel American oil concessions in Saudi Arabia in retaliation for a pro-Zionist U.S. policy. . . . Officials of the Arab-American Oil Company have been assured by the ruler of Saudi Arabia, personally, that the concessions of the company are safe, whatever policy the United States adopts on Palestine. . . .♦A delegation composed of leading Jews from twenty-five American cities may soon proceed tofuture where the Big Mortimer of Philadelphia will meet with all the little Mortimerlach from all over the country. Is it open to the press? Will there be a financial report?I am thinking of the Russian proverb “If that were not my own fool, I’d also think it funny.” It is not funny when the President of the United States receives the Philadelphia Effendi. It is not so funny when the Philadelphia EfTendi can hold up the works on the Palestine resolution. Unfortunately, even the most liberal-minded Gentiles have an uncommon respect for wealthy Jews. They take it for granted that wealthy Jew is a representative Jew'. It is a notion born out of a long historic development, which cannot be easily dismissed and against which one must always be on guard.Is the Council stupid or is it wily? Now take the Seven Point Program of the Council which I read in the full-page ad in the New York Post on December 10: a rehash of an editorial in Christian Century with a touch of the Lowdermiik Plan thrown in. The previous evening, being Sunday, I heard Mortimer Snerd on the radio complain of “insomsomsomsom. ... I can’t sleep, Mr. Bergen.” When Bergen asked him if he had tried sleeping pills, Mortimer said yes, he had scattered them all over the bed, but it did no good. Just like the Council Program for saving the refugees of Europe—or rather for saving the “insomsomsom” of the Philadelphia Effendi who is afraid of being identified as a Jew.When Mr. Rosenwald read his lines before the House Foreign Relations Committee shortly before the adoption of the Palestine Resolution, he did make an impression. Fortunately, someone asked him questions—which Edgar Bergen—or Elmer Berger—or Sidney Wallach—could not have foreseen. Mr. Rosenwald answered that he would try to seek admission for the refugee Jews into Soviet Russia.“Mortimer, how can you be so stupid?” Edgar Bergen askedMortimer Snerd on the radio recently. “I am dumb, Mr. Bergen, butI can be pretty good at it,” answered Snerd.* • *ON THE OTHER HAND, it is perhaps not so dumb. Think of Charles Lindbergh—an America Firster like Lessing J. Rosenwald. The other day he made a speech pretending to plead for world government and international organization. But cloaked behind that plea was Nazi propaganda: an attack on the Nuernberg trial etc. On the face of it, Point Three in the Council Program may look like a genuine concession to public opinion and a sincere desire to help Jews settle in Palestine so long as the project is not openly Zionist. Here it is: “Palestine, as a ward of the civilized world, shall receive financial help for the expansion of its economy and the enlargementof its immigration opportunities.** *•Do they really mean it?Europe and Palestine to get acquainted with the needs of the Jews there. . . . The delegation will be sent by the United Jewish Appeal, which is now working on new methods of fund raising, in order to raise the quota of $100,-000,000. It is felt that when these leading Jews return to their cities,after a few months DOMESTIC abroad, they will beTRENDS able to stimulatelarger contributions to the United Jewish Appeal among local givers. . . . Some of them may also address Jewish gotherings in other cities, telling the Jews there what they saw with their own eyes in Europe, and why more funds are necessary. ... As a result of the $100,000,000 campaign for the United Jewish Appeal the question in various Jewish communities throughout the country will soon be: Capital Funds, or Relief Funds? . . . Many Jewish leaders feel that since- 1946 will require immense efforts to rehabilitate surviving Jews in Europe and transport as many of them as possible to Palestine, contributions to the United Jewish Appeal should be given priority over contributions to buildings for Jewish institutions. ... At the national conference of the United Jewish Appeal in Atlantic City a suggestion was advanced that local communities throughout the country should “freeze” their allocations in 1946 for all otherorganizations and institutions, in order to he able to give larger allocations to the U.J.A. . . ** * •In the old days of Czarist Russia the Cossacks were feared most by the Jews * . . They were the wildest servants of the Czarist system. But in this war, a Jewish general, Lev. Dovator, was the leader of a Cossack cavalry corps which participated in the Battle for Moscow. ... And this forty-year-old Jewish general was one of the most beloved military leaders of the Cossacks. . . . He was killed at the front while leading his unit against the Germans, butamong the Cossacks, COSSACKS his memory will re-AND JEWS main alive foreveras one of their outstanding heroes of the war. . . . The change which the Soviet regime in Russia has brought about ‘ in the life of the Cossacks is described extremely well by Maurice Hindus, noted American Jewish writer, in his latest book “The Cossacks,” just published by Doubleday, Doran Co. ... All the old habits and traditions of the Cossacks are recalled by Hindus and compared with the new Cos-sackhood created under the Soviet system. . . . The picture that emerges shows that the Soviets have diluted the old Cossack population with fresh racial and national strains. . . . The Cossack is not the professional soldier that he was once under the Czar. ♦ . * He serves no longer a term in the Army than does any other citizen. ... In time of peace he is exclusively a farmer. , . . The Soviets have modernized and mechanized the Cossack and familiarized him with the most up-to-date weapons and methods of warfare. , , . At the same time, they have also seen to it that in time of peace his immense energies are devoted to peace time pursuits and creative purposes.. .. During the war just concluded there were no sm^ll number of disloyal and treacherous Cossacks who collaborated with the Germans and even retreated with them, . . . But the new Cossack-(Continued on next page) -
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