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Fife Four
THE
80DTH11N ISRAELITE
Friday, February 24, 1954
The Southern Israelite
Published Weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises, 390 Courtland
St., N. E., Atlanta 3, Georgia. ELgin 8249, ELgin 8240. Entered as
second class matter at the post office, Atlanta, Georgia under the Act
of March 3, 1879. Yearly subscription five dollars. The Southern
Israelite invites literary contributions and correspondence but is not
to be considered as sharing the views expressed by writers. DEAD
LINE Is 12:30 P. M., TUESDAY, but material received earlier will have
a much better chance of publication.
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
| as 3> c !3 t 6 m
mwimimxiuua
Member
American Association
of English-Jewish
Newspapers
Adolph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Gustav Oppenheimer, Margaret Merryman, Sylvia Kletzky
Karen Schiftan, Kathleen Neasc
VIOLATION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
BY PHONE COMPANY IMMINENT
Our unreserved protest to Southern Bell officials who on May 1
will have succeeded in pcipetrating one of the most offensive religious
acts we’ve heard of in years—in this country at least.
These automation geniuses, adept at mechanical perfection and
generally keenly sensitive to public opinion, have disregarded the
sensitivities of conscientious Jews by selecting the name “Trinity” for
a phone exchange. Apparently unaware of semantics, they have an
nounced that come May 1, there will not only be one exchange in
Atlanta with the “Trinity” designation—but at least four. Perhaps more
will follow.
Henceforth, for instance, every copy of The Southern Israelite
must bear the word “Trinity.” Likewise, every copy of our magazine
—and much of our correspondence—in which we acknowledge that
we can be reached by means other than by person or via mail—will
also inappropriately have on it the word “Trinity.” Not only will The
Southern Israelite be affected, but every Synagogue in Atlanta will
have a Trinity designation. Most of the rabbis too will have a Trinity
home number. Thus thousands of Jewish members of congregations will
be forced in communicating with leaders of their faith to give volun
tary or involuntary telephone obeisance to a principle of Christain
doctrine. They may invent little fictions that it has no religious signifi
cance or try subconsciously to forget the semantic associations, but
it will require circumlocutions which are certainly unnecessary in this
country of religious liberties. Besides it is a word irretrievably linked to
Christain dogma.
For the benefit of the phone company officials who may be under
the illusion the word is only “historical,” the term is a word dear and
sacred to most of Christaindom. It js indigenous to Christainity
almost as the word Saviour, Holy Ghost, or the component parts of the
“Trinity” itself. Need we spell them out for the phone officials? And
if it has become historical, it is because of association with the church
or a specific church which selected it for its cherished holy signifi
cance.
We have two very strong reasons for objecting to public use of a
word like "Trinity.” Only one of these concerns our Jewishness .
First we feel the compulsion which the phone company has been
able to achieve in ramming this name into our ken is a clearcut vi
olation of our Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion. We
cannot escape the word. It will always be on our desk. Our operators
must repeat it dozens of times a day, and even if our own phone
number would not have this as designation, it would still haunt us
as inexorably as a city regulation requiring all citizens to perform
some religious rite before going from one block to another; or a taxi
company requiring each passenger to genuflect before entering, or
Uncle Sam making us cross ourselves before we could receive a letter
from the mailman.
The phone is too much a part of our daily lives for us to escape
the objectionable badge the phone company seems about to tattoo upon
us.
But we are intrcnsieally opposed to the word on quite another
ground as well—and it does not relate to our own religious beliefs.
We happen to feel that on an ethical business ground such words as
Saviour, Holy Ghost and other words indigenous and sacred to Christ
ainity—and those saered to Judaism as well or any other faith or sect
have no place in the everyday commercial world.
We consider their use in the commercial field as sacrilegious
whether by the phone company or any other public business Thus
regardless of our own beliefs, we feel the phone company is finessing
us into committing a sacrilegious act unworthy of the‘integrity we
seek for our personal life or of "the respect we bear for the integrity
and inviolability of the Christian values for Christians themselves.
In deference, it must be stated that we never for an instance mak
any inference that the selection of “Trinity” holds any anti-semiti
import. Beyond doubt, the word was selected primarily because of it
, a PP ea *° sorT > e official or board who saw nothing inappropri
ate about it - as a letter printed elsewhere suggests. The selectini
group certainly knew nothing about semantics. Neither for that matte
nhWHnLhi!™ t0 ° , We L °u’ are ° f the su bP 1 y of words without an'
objectionable import which is in use by the phone company itsel
in other sections of the country. Take the New York City phone svs
tern. Surely this is the most complex system in the world. The Man
hattan phone book alone has several hundred exchanges listed — am
not a single one is ' Trinity." Southern Bell officials could have use<
", as . a s< ^* rC u • ? as may indeed have been the case with the won
Melrose, which the New York system uses. This was recently givei
to one of the new Atlanta exchanges so the element of duplicatioi
may^be^disregarded as in the selectivity of exchange designations.
We do not feel that our Christian friends at the phone compan
or elsewhere have any desire to force their religious views upon u:
any more than we would do the same to them. Neither surely do the
d , ,u° °(; end sen fativities of hundreds of conscientious person:
But they have achieved this goal without trying.
,'Y, e . ca ^ upon the phone company publicly to chang
the Trinity designation before May 1, if possible, or at the subse
quent September transition.
. any of our readers feel strongly about the matter, they to
should write immediately to the phone company and express thei
objectioiy.
We do not care to sacrifice one iota of our religious freedom udo
the altars of automation.
Explanation of Phone Company
Dear Mr. Rosenberg:
Your letter of November 7, ad
dressed to Mr. F. J. Turner,
reached his office during his ab
sence and I am, therefore, ack
nowledging its receipt.
Renaming of telephone ex
changes in Atlanta is being car
ried out as a part of a nationwide
plan to further improve and ex
pedite the handling and comple
tion of long distance calls. The
adoption of exchange names which
are of such phonetic character
as to be clearly pronounced and
understood by the people in the
United States of America and
Canada is a prerequisite to the
Atlanta Mizrachi Women
Hostess for National Officer
Mrs. Nachman Ebin, national
success of the undertaking. To
this end much study has been
given to the matter by all seg
ments of the telephone industry.
I might add too that great dif
ficulty was encountered in find
ing a sufficient number of com
mon and proper nouns which
conformed to the required speci
fications. The word “Trinity”
meets acceptably all the required
specifications. The word “Trin
ity” meets acceptably all the re
quired characteristics. The name
will be used in many other cities
throughout the country to des
ignate telephone offices. No theo
logical significance was attached
to the name when it was selected
as a designation for telephone
exchanges. As you know, there
is a Trinity street here in our
own city and perhaps those select
ing this street as a site for bus
iness or residence did not con
sider the religious significance of
the name.
We would sincerely hope that
the same broad attitude would be
taken regarding the Trinity tele
phone exchange for under no cir
cumstances would an organiza
tion such as ours, which serves
persons of every nationality and
creed, deliberately offend the
sensibilities of any segment of the
people it serves . . .
Yours very truly,
J. G. Bradbury
Vice President
COUNCIL ELECTION
(Continued from page 1)
scheduling of time so as to avoid
getting in each other’s way.
Dr. Sidney Q. Janus, chairman
of the Atlanta Bureau of Jewish
Education, reported on the pro
gress of religious education co
ordinated by the Bureau, and al
so the development of the many
institutes of adult education, es
pecially the Institute of Jewish
Social Studies.
Meyer Balser, president of the
Atlanta Jewish Community Cen
ter, outlined in detail the facili
ties which the new center will
make available to the communi
ty for recreational, educational,
and civic activities.
Sam E. Levy, chairman of the
Council’s Community Relations
Committee, gave a detailed ac
counting of the many problems
with which the committee had to
deal in its efforts to promote good
community relations and under
standing among all groups in the
community.
Barney Medintz, the out-going
president, in his message review
ed the activities of the Council
and stressed the importance of
leadership.
• Morton L. Weiss and Stanford
Makover, two of the co-chairmen
of the 1956 Campaign of the At
lanta Jewish Felfare Fund, spoke
briefly on the importance and
urgency of the campaign this year,
which is scheduled to start March
18 and run until May 30. They
appealed to the representatives
of all the organizations present
to rally in support of this cam
paign.
Women’s Organization of Ameri
ca will be
guest speaker
at the annual
donor lunch
eon for the
Atlanta chap
ters at 12:30
p.m. Wednes
day, March 7,
at Or Ve Sha
lom Social
Hall.
Cantor Joseph Schwartzman
will present a program of Jewish
folk songs.
Rabbi Joseph Cohen will give
the invocation.
Reservations for the luncheon
can be made by calling ELgin
7483 or ATwood 2432.
Reception March 6
For Mizrachi Leader
Mr. and Mrs. Abe Auerbach,
of 1733 Wildwood Road, N. E.,
will hold a reception at 8:30
p.m. Wednesday, March 6 in hon
or of Mrs. Nachman Ebin, The
Renanna and Atlanta Chapters
of Mizrachi Women, and friends
are invited. No written invita
tions have been issued.
Supper; Square
Dance
Golda Myerson Chapter, Pi
oneer Women will hold their
annual Spaghetti Supper and
Square Dance at the Temple,
Wednesday, March 14, 7 p.m.
for only $1.50. Tickets can be
secured by calling AT. 7830.
New Young Judaea
Roys Club Activated
Young Judaea this week an
nounced the formation of a new
club — the Lions of Tel Chai,
with twenty member boys ranging
in age from 11 to l3.
The group is making plans for
its first club party and dance on
March 25 when the members will
announce their sweetheart.
Officers are Stanley Silver-
board, president; Teddy Krick,
vice president; Marty Libowsky,
treas.; Lawrence Goldman, sec.;
Jay Goldberg, sgt.-at-arms.
The L.T.C. will receive its
charter in ceremonies Sunday,
March 4, during the Young Ju
daea Stunt Day program. Parents
and friends are invited to this
session at Shearith Israel Audi
torium Educational Building at
3 p.m.
B y nai B’rith to Fete
GIs at Purim Dance
B’nai B’rith men and women
of Atlanta will sponsor the USO-
JWB Purim Dance and Festival
for GIs from nearby installations
at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at
the Temple Social Hall.
The event is being planned in
cooperation with the Atlanta
USO-JWB Armed Services Com
mittee, according to Herbert R.
Elsas, chairman.
Music will be furnished by
Third Army Combo. Co-chairmen
are Mrs. Abe Weiner, Mrs. Hy
man Wilson and Abe Goldberg.
The B’nai B’rith Ladies and BB-
Girls will serve as hostesses.
Beth El Synagogue
. . . NEWS
Sunday, February 27, was a
big day at Congregation Beth El.
The morning was highlighted by
a creative art exhibit in which all
students of the Sunday School
participated. Honorable mention
was accorded the following stu
dents: Isadore Mitzner, Rosalind
Berger, Pamela Reich, Sandra
Lewitz and Franklin Leiter.
The judges, Mrs. Marcus Fire
stone and Sam Rosenberg, award
ed a special prize to the class of
Lou Schreibman for their Purim
scene. Members of the class are:
Sheryl Becker, Ted Krick,
Nancy Schreibman, Robert Tre-
bits, Debbie and Gail Weinstein.
Students of the elementary grades
participated in a costume party.
The following received prizes for
their costumes: Bruce Gadlin,
Renee Bagen, Marilyn Levy and
Kenny Merrill. The Adult Edu
cation Class presented an inter
esting panel discussion on the
history and custom of Purim to
the teen-age assembly.
Climax of the day was the
Purim Masquerade Ball held at
the Progressive Club. Here too,
prizes were awarded for unusu
al costumes. The winners were
Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Merrill,
Mrs. Leon Socol and Sydney
Wallenstein.
Calendar
A At,
•PURIM
February 26, Sunday
•PASSOVER
March 27, Tuesday
(First Day)
April 3, Tuesday
(Last Day)
•SHAVOS
May 16, 17—Wed., Thurs.
ROSH IIASHONA
MRS. EBIN
ATLANTA COMMUNITY CALENDAR
TUESDAY—12:30 P. M—is the deadline for items in next
week’s calendar conducted for the convenience of the commu
nity. THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE prefers to have these
items in writing at 390 Courtland St., N.E., hut will accept
them over ELgin 8249. To make the Atlanta Date Clearance
Bureau a success, it must he USED and CONSULTED hy
organizations.
MARCH 4, Sunday:
3:00 P.M.—Junior Judaeans Skit Program. Shearith Israel Educa
tional Building.
8:00 P.M.—Synagogue Youth Conference. Sponsored by all Con
gregations. A.A. Educational Center
7:00 P.M.—B’nai B’rith Gate City Lodge, No. 144 Annual Meeting
and Dinner. U. S. Senator Richard Neuberger, Speaker.
Mayfair Club.
8:00 P.M.—Regular Meeting J.W.V. Post 112. Progressive Club.
MARCH 5, Monday:
8:00 P.M.—JWV Post 112 Executive Committee Meeting. Progressive
Club.
8:15 P.M.—Hebrew Academy PTA Meeting. Herman Popkin, Speak
er. S. I. Educational Building.
MARCH 7, Wednesday:
12:30 P.M.—Temple Sisterhood Donor Luncheon. Standard Town Ik
12:30P.M.—Annual Donor Luncheon, Atlanta Mizrachi Women,
Or Ve Shalom Social Hall.
MARCH 8, Thursday:
8:15 P.M.—Parents Meeting, Dr. Abraham Millgram, USY Educa
tional Director, Principal Speaker. A. A. Educational
Center.
MARCH 12, Monday:
8:00 P.M.—JWV Post 112 Auxiliary Board. Progressive Club.
8:00 P.M.—Beth Jacob Sisterhood’s Annual Passover Workshoo.
Synagogue Vestry Rooms.
MARCH 14, Wednesday:
7:00 P.M.—Annual Spaghetti Supper and Square Dance, Golda Myer
son Chapter, Pioneer Women. Temple Social Hall.
8:00 P.M.—Annual BBG 176 Fashion Show. Progressive Club
MARCH 18, Sunday:
8:00 P.M.—USY Drama Night. A. A. Educational Building
MARCH 19, Monday: s<
8:00 P.M.—Regular Meeting, JWV Post 112, Progressive Club
MARCH 26, Monday:
8:00 P.M.—JWV Post 112 Auxiliary Meeting, Progressive Club
Sept. 6, Thursday
(First Day)
YOM KIPPUR
Sept. 15, Saturday
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