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The Southern Israelite
VOL. XXVIII
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r Southern Jewry
25
1ARCH 13, 1953
No. 11
Atlanta Welfare Fund Goal for
Emergency U.J.A. Parley in Atlanta
Will Hear Beckelman and Jessel
The true story behind Soviet
attacks on the American Jewish
Joint Distribution Committee will
be told by Moses W. Beckelman,
JDC’s director*general for over
seas operations, during the forth
coming emergency Southeast Re
gion Conference of the United
Jewish Appeal in Atlanta Satur
day and Sunday, March 21 and
22.
Sessions will be held at the
Biltmore Hotel and Barney Me-
dintz, newly elected president of
the Southeastern Region, Council
of Jewish Federations and Wel
fare Funds and of the Atlanta
Jewish Community Council, will
serve as conference chairman.
Mr. Beckelman, who will ad
dress the delegates Saturday
evening, and other leaders of
“Joint” have already made known
to the world that Soviet charges
that the JDC is engaged in es
pionage for American interests
are “utterly fantastic and com
pletely false.”
The Atlanta conference will be
one of"Mr. Beckelman’s first op
portunities in this country to ex
plain the “Joint’s stand in the
face of these charges and to out
line the lifesaving program un
dertaken by the- JDC on behalf
of refugees fleeing iron curtain
countries.
The principal speaker at the
luncheon meeting on Sunday will
be George Jessel, known to mil
lions as the "Toastmaster General
of the United States.” Mr. Jessel’s
talk will be accompanied by a
film “Adventure in Israel” made
by the comedian and his daughter,
Jerilyn, last summer.
Meeting at a time of crisis for
Jews not only in Iron Curtain
countries but in Israel itself,
where the Soviet attack has given
rise to fears that the Arab States
may increase their hostile press
ure, the conference will be faced
Atlantan Opens Gary
Red Cross Campaign
GARY, IND.—Dr. Irving Green
berg, a member of the National
Red Cross Blood Bank Committee,
was the main speaker at a kick
off luncheon meeting in behalf of
the campaign here on Feb. 27.
Earlier, at a breakfast meeting,
he addressed the Administrative
Council of Lake County Medical
Society of Gary, Ind.
with a reconsideration of the re
sponsibilities to be shouldered by
Southeast Jewish communities in
meeting these new threats. In
cluded among the conferees will
be representatives from Georgia,
Alabama, Mississippi and Ten
nessee.
Capt* Abrams Helps Launch Red Cross Drive
Kahn Tells Anniversary Dinner Audience
Israel Imperiled by Red’s Diplomatic Break
By ADOLPH ROSENBERG
Russia’s recent diplomatic
from the rest of the world
assembled last week to honor his
the Atlanta Jewish community.
Mr. Kahn reported on his recent
trip to inspect overseas’ projects
for the United Jewish Appeal as
executive director of the Atlanta
Federation for Jewish Social
Service, of the Atlanta Welfare
Fund and of the Atlanta Jewish
Community Council.
Speaking on the gravity of the
recent developments precipitated
by Soviet anti-Semitism, Mr. Kahn
told of his visit to Berlin and to
the State of Israel.
Israel, he said, is definitely
break is an effort to “isolate Israel
Ed Kahn told an Atlanta audience
quarter century of service with
weakened diplomatically and eco
nomically by breaking off diplo
matic relations. It is part of an
effort to isolate Israel from the
rest of the world.
The one .remaining life-line that
is open is to United States Jewry,
he continued. Israel is surrounded
by her enemies. We must prevent
the fence from closing in.
Approximately three hundred of,
the community leaders, represent
ing all of the organizations in the
community, were on hand for the
dinner.
Friends of Mr. Kahn presented
him with an Israeli bond. \
Julian Boehm, who served as
toastmaster, recalled the initial in
terview of the committee which
engaged Mr. Kahn for the job in
Atlanta. Mr. Boehm was a mem
ber of the committee.
Mr. Boehm called the names of
eight persons who were on the
JEA board 25 years ago. They
were Mrs. J. E. Sommerfield,
Louis J. Levitas, Herman Heyman,
Rabbi David Marx and Dr. Irving
Goldstein, who still serve as di
rectors; Joseph B. Wolfe and
Dr. Joseph Yampolsky, and Hy-
—Continued on Page Two
DAVE SLANN A. L. FELDMAN
Dynamic Leaders of A.J.W.F. Drive for 1953
Columbus Jewry to Witness First
Bas Mitzvah—Debra
1953 Is $1,003,000
Welfare Fund Taps
Slann and Feldman
for ’53 Leadership
Two outstanding men have been selected to lead the Atlanta
Jewish Welfare Fund Campaign for 1953.
The pair of general chairman are Dave Slann and Abe
Feldman, both of whom have long
served the Jewish community in
many capacities.
They have been equally dis
tinguished in broader spheres of
business and civic service.
Their selection was announced
Tuesday by Frank Garson, chair
man of a committee on campaign
strategy. Also on the committee
were all previous campaign chair
men, who constituted themselves
into a “campaign cabinet” to aid
Mr. Feldman and Mr. Slann,
In recognition of the growing
emergencies overseas, the group
felt “this is no time to reduce the
goal for 1953” and adopted last
year’s figure of $1,003,000 as the
objective for this year.
Mr. Feldman has literally run
a chemical formula into a tremen
dous business. He has developed
the Puritan Chemical Company (
with such success that he is able
to be free and unencumbered to
tackle gigantic civic and com
munal tasks year after year.
He is one of the top and ablest
leaders in the work of the Atlanta
Community Chest. He was one of
the dynamos who helped put
across the campaign for a new
million-dollar St. Joseph’s Hos
pital. During World War II, he
served on several governmental
boards which affected the Chem
ical industrial development.
He is a past president of the
Federation for Jewish Social
Service. He was one of the co
ordinators who guided the first
phase of the drive of the Atlanta
Jewish Community Center for new
building facilities.
Energetic and enthusiastic, he
tackles his jobs in direct and dy
namic fashion.
David Slaqn too has emerged
( through the years as a foremost
business man. He is one of the
—Continued on Page Five
Spartanburg
Will Erect
Jewish Center
SPARTANBURG, S. C.—Tem
ple B’nai Israel here has pur
chased the Allen home place on
Heywood Street as site of a future
Jewish Community Center.
Abe Smith, president of the
congregation, said the 7% acre
tract will later be the site of a
new synagogue building.
Mr. Smith said the three-story
house on the site will be reno
vated to provide an auditorium,
Sunday School rooms and meet
ing halls for social and cultural
purposes. There are approximately
15 rooms in the building.
Mr. Smith added that future
plans call for the erection of a
new synagogue beside the present
—Continued on Page Five
Photo
WASHINGTON — Captain Ber
nard Abrams of Atlanta watches
7-year-old Susanna Girardina,
Brooklyn, pin .a button on Presi
dent Eisenhower,, as he opened
the 1953 Red Cross Appeal of
which he is honorary chairman.
A lukemia patient, Susanna has
Courtesy The Atlanta Constitution
been kept alive for five years
through gifts of Red Cross Blood.
Captain Abrams, son of Mr. and
Mrs. A. L. Abrams of Atlanta,
received multiple plasma and
blood transfusions after being se
verely wounded in Korea in Sep
tember, 1951. .
(Special to The Southern liraellte)
COLUMBUS—This coming Sat
urday, March 14, Debra Ann Ger-
son, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Harry Gerson, will celebrate her
Bas Mitzvah at the Shearith Is
rael Synagogue of Columbus,
Georgia.
This is the first time in the
history of Shearith Israel Syna
gogue that a girl will chant the
“Haftorah” according to the tra
ditional melody and will be ac
corded all the honors and privi
leges which until recently were
granted only to a “Bar Mitzvah”
boy.
Debra Ann has attended the Re
ligious School of Shearith Israel
Synagogue for the past five years.
She has received all her Hebrew
education under the guidance of
Rabbj Emanuel Bennett.
In his charge to Debra Ann,
Rabbi Bennett, spiritual leader of
Shearith Israel Synagogue, will
explain the meaning and signifi*
DEBRA ANN GERSON
cance of “Bas Mitzvah.”
The entire Jewish community
of Columbus is invited to attend
this event.