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UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
The
A Weekly
Southern Israelite
Newspa per for Southern Jewry — Established 1925
FEB 11 ’57
LIBRARIES
XXXII ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1957 NO. 6
Chances Slim For Early
Hearings on Immigration
Israel Not Inclined To Give In To
U N Pressure; Insists On Security
WASHINGTON, (JTA) —
Prospects for early Congressional
hearings on President Eisenhow
er’s proposal for liberalizing
change in the McCarran-Walter
Immigration Act appeared slight
this week.
Chairman Francis Walter (D.,
Pa.) of the House Immigration
subcommittee and co-author of
the nation’s immigration law,
said it would be “a couple of
months before hearings on the
Presi dent’s recommendations
could be scheduled. Sen. J. O.
Eastland (D. Miss.), chairman of
the House Judiciary Committee,
said President Eisenhower would
have to use “a little elbow
grease” if he expects Congress to
act on the proposals, sent to Con
gress late Thursday. Rep. Celler,
who headed a group of 28 De
mocratic representatives propos
ing changes which, would elimi
nate the ‘‘national origins” base
of the McCarran-Walter Act, urg
ed the President to make a na
tional radio and television speech
to emphasize the importance of
liberalizing the nation’s immigra
tion law.
The President asked, among a
number of proposals, that annual
immigration to the United States
be raised from 154,857 to 219,
641 and that additional “unused”
national origins quotas be redis
tributed to four regional quota
pools. Rep. Celler has criticized
the proposals as inadequate. Rep.
Keating (R„ N.Y.) and Rep. Hill
ings (R. Calif.) have introduced
bills in the House to carry out
the President’s recommendations.
Sen. Watkins (R. Utah) has pre
pared a similar bill for the Sen
ate.
NEW YORK, (JTA) — Five
major national Jewish organiza
tions, in a joint statement Mon
day commended President Eisen
hower for his special message to
Congress last week calling for
immigration law revisions. They
called for prompt congressional
action, in accordance with the
President’s urging, commenting
that delay could only be ascrib
ed to a deliberate intent to fore
stall action.
Joining in the statement were
the Jewish Labor Committee,
Jewish War Veterans of the U.
S. A., Union of American Hebrew
Congregations, Union of Orthodox
Jewish Congregations of Ameri
ca, and United Synagogue of
America. The President’s message
was also lauded by the United
Hias Service, Jewish immigra
tion agency, in a separate state
ment.
The Jewish organization coupl-
Berger Installs
Temple Slate
At Beaufort
BEAUFORT, S. C. — Rabbi M.
Herbert Berger, spiritual leader of
Congregation Agudath Achim,
Savannah, delivered the main ad
dress at the annual meeting of
Congregation Beth Israel last
week.
The rabbi also installed Morris
Neidich, who was recently elect
ed for his eleventh term as pres
ident.
Temple Beth Israel is over 50
years old. The Jewish Communi
ty here existed before the found
ing of the Republic, being one
of the oldest communities in the
United States.
Rabbi Berger spoke on “A
! Time for Unity” and also paid tri-
j bute to Rabbi Julius Fisher of
l Beaufort, who is also the Jewish
| chaplain of Parris Island and ac-
itive in the Zionist movement.
ed their commendation of the
President with an expression of
hope that his recommendation
for asylum to victims of com
munist persecution would be en
larged to include “succor to the
equally tragic victims of oppres
sion and persecution at the hands
of other tyrannies.
“The desperate plight of Egypt
ian Jews, who are at this moment
being systematically plundered,
impoverished and forced to flee
by the Nasser dictatorship, sure
ly should command your sympa
thy and our help, just as do the
sufferings of the Hungarian re
fugees from Red despotism,”
they asserted. They approved the
President’s recommendations for
quota increases, redistribution of
quotas and pooling of unused
quotas, while calling again - as
they have done for a number of
years - for total abandonment of
the national origins quota sym-
tem.
Writer Robbins
Crash Victim
NEW YORK, (JTA) — Leo
Robbins, noted Jewish author,
playwright and member of the
editorial staff of the Jewish
Daily Forward since 1921, was
among the passengers killed in
the airplane crash last Friday on
Rikers Island en route from New
York to Miami, it was estab
lished when his body was iden
tified in the ruins of the plane.
Born in Russia in 1895 of a
rabbinical family, he came to the
United States at the age of 15
and later worked on a Boston
English-language newspaper. In
1948 a book of his English short
stories was published. He was the
author of a number of motion
picture scripts and of a play “The
Mother.” In the Jewish Dally
Forward he wrote under the pen
names of L. Malkes and R. Shay-
evski.
Miss Katherine Hertzka, science
teacher at Hoke Smith High
School, has been designated At
lanta’s “Teacher of the Year.”
The selection was made by the
Atlanta Public School Teachers’
Association.
Miss Hertzka has taught in At
lanta schools since 1935. She is a
graduate of Agnes Scott College.
She received a master’s degree in
biology from Emory University
and also studied at Harvard.
Rabbi Tobias Geffen, dean of
traditional Judaism in the South,
will be honored at a testimonial
dinner at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb.
17, at the Atlanta Jewish Com
munity Center.
The 86-year-old rabbi has been
spiritual leader of Shearith Is
rael Congregation for 46 years.
Dr. Irving Greenberg heads the
dinner committee, which is com
posed of leaders in Shearith Is
rael Congregation and the com
munity at large.
Early indications, Dr. Green
berg said, point to an overwhelm
ing response to the earlier an
nouncements of the occasion, not
only from Atlantans but from
friends and relatives of Rabbi
UNITED NATIONS, N. Y., Feb.
3, (JTA) — Israel will remain in
the Gaza and Akaba areas until
she receives adequate guarantees
that her demands for security
and freedom of passage of the
Gulf of Akaba will be met, Is
rael delegate Abba Eban indicated
here after a post-midnight vote
of the General Assembly called
on Israel to evacuate the Gaza
and Sinai east coast Strips.
In a late night session, the As
sembly passed another “immedi
ate withdrawal” resolution by a
vote of 74 to two, with two ab
stentions. Israel and France voted
in the negative and Holland and
Luxemburg abstained.
The Assembly then passed a
second resolution, by 56 to 0, with
the Soviet and Arab blocs ab
staining, broadening the funct
ions of the United Nations Emerg
ency Force and placing it on the
demarcation line between Israel
and Egypt until conditions had
been achieved conducive to the
maintenance of peace in the area.
Both resolutions were introduc
ed by a seven-state bloc: the
United States, India, Brazil, Col
ombia, Indonesia, Norway and
Yugoslavia. Canada, which had
taken a leading role in efforts
to satisfy Israel’s demands for
security guarantees, refused to
sponsor the resolutions because
the U. S. had insisted on de-
In preparation for the visit to
Atlanta on Monday, Feb. 11, by
Dr. Abba Hillel Silver of Cleve
land, a corps of men and women
Zionists will visit Atlanta Jewry
on Sunday, Feb. 10 as “Ambas
sadors of Good-will” to further
American-Israeli friendship.
She will compete with other
teachers from the fifth Congress
ional District for selection as
Georgia’s Teacher of the Year by
Supreme Court Justice Carlton
Mobley, T. Grady Head and Bond
Almond. This is a part of a
teacher’s recognition program
sponsored by the Chamber of
Commerce.
Miss Hertzka is active in the
work of the Atlanta Section,
Council of Jewish Women.
Geffen throughout the nation. He
added: As a tangible expression
of the community esteem for
Rabbi Geffen, the committee has
established a special fund to build
a wing, to be known as the Rab
bi Tobias Geffen Library, in
the new Shearith Israel Syna
gogue, and many generous con
tributions have already been
forthcoming.
Expected to be present will be
all of the honoree’s eight chil
dren, and most of his eighteen
grandchildren and great-grand
children, only one of whom lives
in Atlanta.
The oldest son, Rabbi Joel Gef
fen, national field service direct
or of the Jewish Theological Se-
leting clear language proposed
by Canada.
Israeli circles here expressed
the view that unanimous passage
of the second resolution, despite
its faultiness, represented a clear
victory for the principle of “with
drawal plus related measures”
upon which Israel insisted and
which has now become establish
ed UN policy. Israel wants the
UN Emergency Force to remain
in the Sharm el Sheikh area as
well as on the Gaba-Sinai line.
During the early part of last
evening, Egypt surprised the Gen
eral Assembly by declaring it
would not agree to an expanded
role for UNEF. Egyptian Foreign
Minister Dr. Mahmoud Fawzi de
clared that UNEF was not in
Egypt “to resolve any question
or to settle any problem,” but to
“put an end to the aggression”
and to secure “the withdrawal of
Israel behind the armistice de
marcation line.” The Egyptian
spokesman stated that UNEF is
not in Egypt to infringe upon
Egyptian sovereignty in any fash
ion. He added that Egypt’s con
sent to the entry, stationing and
deployment of the force was “an
indispensable prerequisite.”
United States delegate Henry
Cabot Lodge Jr. told the Assemb
ly that UNEF should “serve as a
restraint” in the maintenance of
Morris Mitzner, the honorary
corps of ambassadors will make
house to house canvass in an ef
fort to how Atlantians the book
“Our Story," a word and picture
presentation of the Land of the
Bible and the new democracy of
Israel, which Dr. Silver is coming
to Atlanta to dedicate on Mon
day evening.
The dedication ceremony will
take place at 8:30 p.m. at the
Jewish Community Center on
Peachtree Road and will be un
der the auspices of the Atlanta
District, Zionist Organization of
America, headed by Ben Golden.
Edited by Dr. Sidney Q. Janus
and Samuel H. Rosenberg, the
book is dedicated to the builders
of the young state of Israel and
to all Americans who have con
tributed to the rebirth of the na-
ion. “It is our hope,” Dr. Janus
RABBI GEFFEN
minary, will be the principal
speaker at the dinner. Another
son, Rabbi Samuel Geffen, who
is the spiritual leader of the
Forest Hills Jewish Center, will
(Continued on Page 5)
peace between Israel and Egypt.
Mr. Lodge added that the “re
straint” should be exercised a-
gainst “any attempt to exercise
belligerent rights or to engage in
hostile actions contrary to the
armistice agreement, the decisions
of the Security Council and the
resolutions of the General As
sembly.”
Mr. Lodge insisted on an Is
raeli withdrawal “forthwith” —
and said that Israel had no right
to “exact a price” for compliance
with Assembly resolutions. He
emphasized also that it would be
necessary after the withdrawal to
prevent the return of the condi
tions “that prevailed prior to the
hostilities.” This was interpreted
by Western observers to mean the
U. S. was placing on Secretary
General Dag Hammarskjold res
ponsibility for making up the re
cognized inadequacy of the sec
ond resolution.
The American delegate indicat
ed that under this resolution Is
rael would not retain the ad
ministration of the Gaza Strip af
ter withdrawal, but did not clari
fy whether he meant that the
Israelis should be replaced by
Egyptian or United Nations ad
ministration. United States sourc
es later admitted that he had
implied that Egypt would move
pointed out, “that we can place
a copy of this book in every
home, library and institution in
our city. It is designed to tell the
modern story of Israel and will
win friends for this struggling
democratic nation.”
Ralph McGill, editor of the At
lanta Constitution, in comment-
DR. ABBA HILLEL SILVER
ing on the book noted that there
is so much misunderstanding and
lack of information about the
Middle East and, in particular,
Israel, that this book “which is
about people and their lives and
not all about international
politics, should be of great value
and interest to every thoughtful
person . .
The public is invited to the
dedication ceremony and every
person approached to purchase
the book on Sunday is asked to
welcome the ambassadors of good
will.
Dr. Silver has for forty years
been the spiritual leader of the
Temple in Cleveland, the largest
liberal Jewish congregation in the
(Continued on Page 5)
Directed by Sol P. Benamy and
Katherine Hertzka Selected
Atlanta's "Teacher of the Year"
Committee Completing Plans
For Geffen Testimonial Feb. 17
To Launch “Our Story” With Sunday Canvass,
Dr. Silver To Dedicate Book Monday Evening