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III IOUIHIIN ISRAELITE
Friday, August 17, 1956
The Southern Israelite
Published Weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises, 390 Courtland
St., N. E., Atlanta 3, Georgia, TR. 6-8249. TR. 6-8240. 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.
Member
American Association
of English-Jewish
Newspapers
Adolph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Gustav Oppenheimer, Margaret Merryman, Sylvia Kletzky
Karen Schlftan, Kathleen Nease
■--- - - — ^ . . ....
What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of
man that Thou thinkest of him? Yet, Thou hast made him
but little lower than the Angels, and hast crowned him
with glory and honor. Thou hast made him to have do
minion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all
things under his feet. —Psalms 8:5,6,7
ISRAEL SAYS NO TO REFORM JUDAISM
Elsewhere in this issue is a scathing letter of condemnation
of the decision by the Israel rabbinate banning Reform Ju
daism from that state.
We disagree completely with the basic premise of the
communication and so will not answer it point by point.
Rather will we devote our space to the determined effort
of Dr. Nelson Glueck to establish a Reform beachhead in Is
rael.
Sources there seem to fear that the Liberal movement
would weaken the religious fibre of the citizenry at a sig
nificant stage in the development and maturing of the young
nation. Certainly there must be thousands among the Dis
placed Persons who have now found a home in Israel who
were reared under the aegis of Reformism. There must also
be many thousands too who in the past two decades under
went such irreligiosity on the part of their motherlands that
they want nothing at all in the way of religion. The shocking
challenge of their experience must have left many men and
women without any faith at all and established a broad base
of agnosticism and scepticism among the Israelis.
We can well imagine that these can find their way back
to faith, if it is indeed possible, under the centrality of Ortho
doxy which Israel seeks to afford them. (We understand
that in the religious schema for Israel, all citizens are not
forced to be Orthodox although as the dominating religion
it is the rule which governs the general customs of the land.)
Later, much later perhaps, they may have reached such an
atmosphere of normalcy that the possibility of choosing which
denomination of Judaism they may prefer will be a strength
ening force instead of as leaders now fear, a devisive one.
In the blueprint we might dream for Israel, we would en
vision the establishment of all three branches of our faith.
Yet, we cannot for a moment escape one very powerful fac
tor. This overpowering fact is that it must be the Israelis —
not the Americans — who should determine how intensive,
how extensive, or how exclusive their religious boundaries
should be. It is not for us in this country to seek to deflect
the Israelis into channels of our own persuasion or determin
ation. We are willing to predict quite freely that the time
will come when the Liberal and Conservative movements
will have representation in Israel. And this time will come
when the Israelis themselves — not the Americans — decide
it is what they want and should have.
This, we feel, is as it should be and we take to task the
president of the Hebrew Union College for the determined
action of its president on this score. It should be explained
that Dr. Glueck has only asked permission for a Reform
room in the library of the projected American School of Arch
aeology at Jerusalem. Ostensibly only foreign students should
use this place for their religious rites. But the Israel rabbin
ate undoubtedly must see that once a foothold is granted,
there would be only a small step from a library room to a
synagogue outside open to Israelis themselves. And this con
cession they are unwilling to make at this time.
We feel Dr. Glueck should abandon this line of action. The
Israelis themselves will decide if and when they/want Re
form Judaism.
Letter To The Editor
July 27, 1956
Dear Adolph:
The news item in this week’s
Israelite to the effect that “Israel
Rabbinate bans Reform Services”
only confirms what has long been
known: There is no freedom of
religion in that country. Israelis
can choose between the govern
ment sanctioned atheism of the
socialists, and the government
sanctionest blackest type of orth
odoxy of the reactionaries. Every
thing else is prohibited.
With this attitude the young
nation willingly lines up with
such other spiritual dictatorships
as Spain on the catholic side,
Saudi Arabia on the Islam side,
Soviet Russia on the atheist side.
All of these do everything in
their power to force every citizen
into the straight jacket of the
state approved religion.
The same caste conscious cli
que of priests which stoned Uriel
da Costa, cursed and exiled Spin
oza, and would love nothing more
than to ensalve all Jews with the
chains of their petrified, fossile
dogmas still are at work where-
ever Jews live. These worshippers
of ritual and deniers of spirit still
have the upper hand in the young
republic, even though their fol
lowers are a minority in parlia
ment.
Israel has won the acclamation
of Jews and non-Jews alike by
her valiant and successful fight
against overwhelming odds, by
her great sacrifices and technical
achievements, by her humanitar
ian actions. But as long as she
officially denies that inalienable
right, Freedom of Worship, she
cannot claim to be a part of the
Western World any more than
can the Moslem states, Spain or
Russia.
Sincerely Yours,
WILLIAM H. SACHS
HINE MA TOY L'MA NAIM SIIEVAT AC HIM GAM YACIIAD —
“How Good it is for Brethren to Live Together” declares Peril Pelzig,
Israeli mosaic artist shown here finishing the unified symbol of the
New Atlanta Jewish Community Center’s purpose and function. Mr.
Pelzig, a native of Germany, went to Israel 18 years ago after study
ing with Picasso, to rebuild mosaics and is best known for his work
on the famous mosaic floor of the 6th century Beth Alpha Syna
gogue recently discovered by archaeologists in the Emek. A part of
the Beth Alpha material is actually used in the Atlanta mosaics.
A J P PRESS
Wait and See
Our anxiety to see signs of
human-ness in Soviet leadership
ought not to cloud our vision to
the abrasive reality that the cur
rent Crop of canny Cossacks who
sit in the Kremlin are — in the
words of a keen authority, Dean
Acheson — “every bit as ruth
less, and dangerous, as the old
ones.” We utter this word of
caution not out of cynicism or
prejudice, but out of a weight
of wary experience. The Soviet
under Stalin was guilty of a pe
culiarly pathological anti-Semi
tism; the Soviet catalogue of
crimes against its Jewish popula
tion was doubly brutal for the
savage hypocrlcy with which it
was carried out. And while Stalin’s
successors have been given a mas
sive drubbing and seem to be
repudiating him from toe to
crown, they have yet to announce
that among the dead dictator’s
heinous offenses were his con
trived and malignant lashings of
Jews — the “doctors plot,” the
equating of Zionism with crim
inalism, the “cosmopolitan purge,”
the dark erasure of Jewish cul
ture. The world looks with sur
prise and eagerness at the flut-
terings in the Soviet curtain.
What’s going on?, the nations
wonder. Are there really changes?
Do they have any significance—
any promise for human better
ment?
Arthur Weyne, The Jewish
Record, Atlantic City
What Now, Mr. Dulles?
When the Communist coun
tries started to arm Egypt, Sec
retary Dulles argued that Israel
should not press for U. S. arms,
but should rather depend on ac
tion by the UN Security Council.
Since the Security Council was
about to discuss the crisis in the
Calendar
— AiL
*ROSH HASHONA
Sept. 6, Thursday
(First Day)
*YOM KIPPUR
Sept. 15, Saturday
•HANNUKAH
Nov. 29, Thursday
•Holidays begin Previous Evening
DIGEST
Middle East, there was no reason
for the U. S. to take action on
its own. The UN Security Council
has now met and what is the
result? Not only has it tal^en no
steps to prevent the breakdown
of the severely-strained Arab-
Israel armistice, but it has ac
tually taken a step backward.
The Arab states, aided and abet
ted by Russia, succeeded in de
leting from the UN resolution the
words which implied UN respon
sibility to press for a peaceful
settlement on a “mutually accept
able basis.”
The American Jewish World,
Minneapolis
Great Need in Jewish
Life
There is impressive evidence,
in the sessions of the 67th an
nual gathering of Reform rabbis
of the vital and creative role
Reform Judaism has played in
the developing life of American
Jewry. The discussions, of an
earnest, deeply probing, and self-
critical nature, provide sound
testimony to the meaningful con
cern with which the Reform rab
binate regards such fundamental
matters as Jewish education, the
place of Hebrew, the practice of
Jewish traditions, and the like.
Reform rabbis are not content to
carry out mere token programs.
The radicalism that once charac
terized the Reform movement is,
we believe, thoroughly blunted.
Keener awareness of Jewish
meanings now mark the life of’
Reform congregations.
The Jewish Record,
Atlantic City
The Real Challenge
The difficulty that immediately
arises, flows from the fact that
in order to implement this res
olution — on Hebrew day-schools
adopted by the Convention meet
ing in Jerusalem last April —
Zionists and other survivalist
elements in our community must
come to grips with one of the
“never discussed” facets of Jew
ish life. We refer, of course, to
the unalterable opposition of the
Federations throughout the coun
try to the whole idea of the day
school movement. The issue is
clear cut. Jewish life will either
survive or disappear on the ba
sis of what happens to the next
few generations. Without proper
education and Jewish back
ground, our cause 1s lost. If we
allow the assimilationists to con-
Levy Will Edit
Jewish Exponent
In Philadelphia
BALTIMORE, (JTA) — The
resignation of Henry W. Levy as
public relations director of the
Associated Jewish Charities and
Welfare Fund of Baltimore to
take over the editorship of the
Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia
has been announced here. Mr.
Levy, who has held the Baltimore
post for over six years, will as
sume his new position on Sept.
4.
A veteran of 25 years in the
newspaper and public relations
field, Mr. Levy has served on the
staffs of the New York Post and
the New York American, as as
sistant managing editor of the
American Hebrew Magazine, as
American News Editor of the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, as a
book reviewer for the Baltimore
Sun and as a contributing editor
to the Universal Jewish Encyclo
pedia.
Prior to coming here, he served
as public relations director for a
number of national Jewish organ
izations in New York, including
the American Jewish Committee,
the Combined Campaign of the
Union of American Hebrew Con
gregations and the Hebrew Union
College, the Hadassah - Hebrew
University Medical School Cam
paign, the Jewish War Veterans
of the United States, the National
Council of Jewish Women and
the Jewish Theological Seminary
of America. He has also served
as publicity director of the Com
bined Jewish Appeal of Boston.
tinue to have their way, then,
what can we expect? If Jewish
education and Jewish schooling
is to go a-begging, in the midst
of our unprecedented prosperity,
what can the future hold as far
as Jewish survival is concerned?
Do we “sha-sha” and say noth
ing, or do we begin to ‘‘sheri
gevalt?
J. L. Fishbein,
The Sentinel, Chicago
Independence Day
July 4, 1776, our American col
onies decided that all men are
created equal and went out to
assert their independence of
Great Britain, then the mightiest
power in history. On this July
4, Israel, having already declared
its independence of Great Brit
ain and any Arab suzerainty eight
years ago, must, eventually, face
45 million Arabs with its two
million Israelis, unless the Unit
ed States, who knows the suf
ferings for liberty, sells arms to
Israel for the defense of its in
dependence.
B’nai B’rith Messenger,
Los Angeles
1776 and 1948
It is deeply significant that the
inscription on the famed Liberty
Bell which hangs now in solemn
silence in our own city’s his
toric shrine, Independence Hall,
is taken from the Bible. Although
the Declaration of Independence
was framed by American patriots
of non-Jewish faith, they saw fit
to use an inscription from Le
viticus in what is commonly re
ferred to as “The Old Testa
ment.” One cannot help but think
for a moment about another de
mocracy fighting aginst the odds
for its independence — Israel. If
any nation is entitled to freedom,
it is the people of Israel, whose
ancestors centuries ago made pos
sible the words which we, in
America, indentify with our most
cherished symbol of our own
struggle for independence 180
years ago — “Proclaim Liberty
throughout all the land unto all
the inhabitants thereof.”
The Jewish Exponent,
Philadelphia
NEA and the Arabs
By submitting to Arab demands
to bar American Jews from par
ticipation in tours which include
Arab countries, the National Ed
ucational Association has shown
a weakness which does it little
credit. Such submission by the
NEA lends endorsement to travel
restrictions and to religious pre
judices, both of which are un-
American. It would have been
wiser and more akin to our
Americanism for the NEA to re
ject such tours entirely, as a re-
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