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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, December 27, 1957
The Southern Israelite
Published Weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises, 390 Courtland
8t„ 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.
Adolph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Gustav Oppenheimer, Margaret Merryman, Sylvia Kletzky
Karen Hurtig, Kathleen Nease
NATIONAL EDITORIAL . Member
American Association
of English-Jewish
Newspapers
ASSOCIATION
1 ^ U KJ
...
What the Press Is Saying
A Digest of Writers’ Opinions
NATO and the Threat to Israel
Even this great conference which is supposed to re-assert the
unity and power of the West is not going to be allowed to forget
about the desperately dangerous issue of Israel versus the Arabs plus
the Soviets. The Turkish delegation has come to the NATO meeting
with the intention of asking the United States and the other Western
powers to support a move to force Israel back to the frontiers laid
down in the UN partition of Palestine in 1947. This amounts to pro
posing an amputation of present Israel rather more severe than the
amputation of Czechoslovakia at Munich. In this manner, a chain of
events set in motion by the Kremlin has menancingly reached into the
midst of the grandiose NATO meeting. The problems of the Middle
East may end by being shoved under the rug at this particiular gath
ering. The American delegation is shoving hard. But the simple fact
of the Turkish intention indicates a new tempo and a new explosive
ness in the whole world situation.
JOSEPH ALSOP. N.Y. Herald Tribune (from Paris)
The Xmas Problem
This is the time of the year when many of our pseudo-sophisticat
ed Jewish parents, who throw up their hands in horrow at the mere
mention of Jewish day schools because they abhor “Parochialism,”
suddenly "see religious observances in the public schools. Jewish
homes throughout this area (Chicago) will resound to voices singing
‘‘Silent Night, Holy Night . . .” and other Christmas carols. Soon af
terwards in public schools—our children will be largely preoccupied
with rehearsing Christmas pageants planning nativity scenes. All this,
of course, is completely contrary to the Constitution of the U S. which
specifically and deliberately imposes the separation of Church and
State. The Bill of Rights provides that “Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof . . .” Teaching of any religious dogma or practice . . . about the
nativity of Christmas, the crucifixion at Easter time in public schools
are violations of the doctrine guaranteeing separation of Church and
State which is so basically a part of our American heritage. That is
why we feel that this whole issue goes far deeper than the mere mat
ter of whether or not Christmas ought to be observed in the public
schools. It goes to the very heart of American democracy itself. If we
consider it of little moment it will not be too long before the other
bastions of freedom crumble away with it. We Jews have the greatest
stake in preserving the right to be different—and yet equal—in this
beloved land of ours.
J. I. FISHBEIN, The Sentinel, Chicago
The American Synagogue
The oldest congregation on this continent is Shearith Israel, founded
in New York in 1654, and located today on Central Park West in Man
hattan. From 1730 to 1825 all New York Jewry worshipped in the 35-
foot square Mill Street Synagogue, the first Jewish house of worship
in America. Until 1850, when the first synagogue was opened in the
then independent city of Brooklyn, Jews rowed across the East River to
spend the Sabbath with their brethren in Manhattan. The next five
congregations to be founded were: Savannah, Georgia (1734); Phila
delphia (1745); Charleston, S.C. (1750); Touro Synagogue, Newport,
R.I. (dedicated 1763); Richmond, Va. (1790). All these congregations
received letters from President George Washington which strongly
championed tolerance and understanding.
Until 1815, most Jewish settlers in the U.S. were descendants of
Jews from Spain and Portugal. In the mid-nineteenth century, new
comers, fleeing from anti-Semitism in Germany, arrived to lay the
cornerstone of the American Reform Judaism. Between 1880 and 1920,
over two million Jews came here from Eastern Europe. They brought
old world customs, warmth and feeling to the American synagogue.
A large proportion of American synagogues belong to synagogue or
ganizations. Some 720 are affiliated with the Union of Orthodox Jew
ish Congregations of America; 600 belong to the United Synagogue of
America (Conservative); 540 belong to the Union of American He
brew Congregations (Reform).
EZEKIEL SCHLOSS, World Over
Atlanta Rites Jan. 5
To Memorialize Six
Million Nazi Victims
Memorial services for six mil
lion Jewish victims of Nazism will
be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 5,
at Anshe S’fard Synagogue, under
auspices of Mizrachi Men and
Women’s Organizations of Atlanta.
Rev. P. S. Clein and Mrs. Ben
Auerbach who head the two
groups announced that the ser
vices will be addressed by a
number of civic, cultural and re
ligious leaders of Atlanta.
The sponsors invite all Jewish
groups of Atlanta to join in the
services:
Special memorial services will
be held also on the program for
the late Dr. Pinkos Churgin, pres
ident of the Bar Ilian University
in Israel.
The date was selected as a re
sult of notification by the chief
rabbinate of Israel that the 10th
day of Tebeth, the Hebrew month
which falls between December 24
and January 21, has been chosen
as the date for the commemora
tion of the six million Nazi vic
tims. The Israel rabbinate has
designated the 10th of Tebeth as
a religious fast day.
Their action marks the first
time that such a definite date had
been designated in an effort to
avoid the wide variance in ob
servance, the sponsors announced.
BEHIND UN SCENES
“Don’t Push”—’58 UN Slogan
By DAVID HOROWITZ
UNITED NATIONS, (AJP —
Despite efforts by Turkey and
some Arab states with the support
of the Soviet Union to force a
solution of the Palestine question
at the expense of Israel, the ma
jority of UN members — Asians
and Africans included — appears
to have accepted the view of
Secretary General Hammarskjold
that the year 1958 will be no
time “to push anything on any
body.”
Mr. Hammarskjold made this
point crystal clear at a press con
ference before he left New York
for Gaza and Egypt. In reply to
a question by your correspond
ent on the possibilities of “tran
slating the Armistice Agreements
into permanent peace settlements
at this time," the UN head said:
“I know one thing, and that is
that patience is the first virtue
in handling these matters. And
the second thing is that the situ
ation is in some respects more
satisfactory than we have seen
it for a while. That is good in
itself; but let something grow,
and let us agree not to push any
thing on anybody.”
There can be no doubt that Mr.
Hammarskjold, who is in constant
touch with all delegations, made
this latter remark about not
pushing anything on anybody,”
in the full knowledge of the pend
ing intrigue within the UN to
resurrect the 1947 partition re
solution on Israel. His designa
tion of Francisco Urrutia, Ambas
sador of Columbia to the UN, as
his personal representative to im
plement the compromise he ach
ieved in his erstwhile trip to
Jordan and Israel over the latter’s
right to carry gasoline to Mt.
Scopus, fits in with this objective.
Urrutia’s task is limited to the
Mt Scopus issue.
For this particular assignment,
the scholarly, shrewd and amiable
Colombian — a career diplomat
with frontier experience in the
Greek-Balkan border war—would
appear eminently fit. But it must
be remembered that diplomatic
casualties run high in the lab
yrinth of the ten-year Palestine
dispute.
Like every good negotiator, Ur
rutia never reaches for Utopia.
He believes, however, that even
the smallest accord reached in
this area could begin a chain re
action for peace, given the prop
er “climate.” Of course, with Mr.
Hammarskjold and the majority
Jewish
Calender
PURIM
Thursday, March 6
PASSOVER
Saturday-Saturday, April 5-12
SHAVUOS
Sunday-Mondav, May 25-26
•Holiday begins previous evening
of UN delegates, he is fully cog
nizant of the fact that, as far as
the reality of the present situa
tion is concerned, the 1947 par
tition resolution is a dead issue.
Yet, with the powerful little
“partition clique” working fev
erishly behind the scenes, the
threat and danger remains alive
and there is no telling yet to
what extent the U.S. will go in
appeasing certain NATO and
Baghdad Pact allies. Thus, as this
writer sees it, everything will de
pend on what position Washing
ton will take. It was not too
pleasant to have heard recently
that the President would do
nothing in the Middle East with
out first consulting the Arab
states There was no mention of
Israel. It appears to this writer
that both Ike and Dulles are tak
ing the Jewish State for granted
and exploiting its idealism and
constant pleas for peace on the
basis of the present Armistice
Agreements.
Perhaps Israel should pursue a
new policy — a policy that both
the Arab states and the U.S.
couldn’t fail to understand: re
vive the Balfour Declaration and
the League of Nations Mandate
which adjudiciated historic Pal
estine — both sides of the Jor
dan — as the National Jewish
Home. In pressing such a policy,
Israel might at least be let alone
and the turn would come for the
Arabs to demand a peace settle
ment on the basis of the present
frontiers.
1958 might be a good year for
Israel to embark upon such a
policy, namely, demand the maxi
mum and get the minimum — the
present Armistice borders and a
peace settlement.
FRANKFORT, (JTA) — The
Federal Bureau of Criminality
released this week what was be
lieved to be the first nation-wide
report in modern German History’
of desecration of cemeteries. The
report revealed that while Christ
ian as well as Jewish burial places
have been violated, proportionate
ly far more desecrations have
taken place in Jewish cemeteries.
The study, covered the period
of January 1, 1948 to May 1,
1957, was motivated, the bureau
said, by the “sharp” public re
action to the desecration of the
Jewish section of the Salzgitter-
Lebenstedt cemetery last April.
The report showed that 203 of
the violated cemeteries were
Christian and 171 Jewish. Dama
ges were reported in four ceme
teries having both Jewish and
Christian sections.
Denver Rabbi Nixes
Inter-Dating
DENVER, (JTA) — A Denver
Reform rabbi has expressed pub
licly his opposition not only to
intermarriage but also to inter
dating.
Rabbi Earl Stone of Temple
Emanuel, speaking at a Universi
ty of Colorado Hillel meeting on
the subject, said there was usual
ly some attraction between two
people if they date each other at
all. He said even a slight attrac
tion could easily lead to involve
ment.
He said that social contacts be
tween Jewish and non-Jewish
groups in high schools and col
leges was a good idea provided
friendships within the groups did
not lead to individual involve
ment.
FIRST CHRISTIAN
CONVERT IN RED
RUSSIA IN ISRAEL
JERUSALEM, (JTA —.The
first and possibly the only Christ
ian who has been converted to
Judaism in Russia since the Bol
shevik revolution has arrived in
Israel.
Daniel Zagayski, the convert, is
a 70-year-old white-bearded man
who has spent most of his time
since his arrival in a Jerusalem
synagogue, reciting the Psalms in
gratitude for being in the Holy
City.
Zagayski, who came to Israel
from Umman, where he was a
shoemaker, said he converted to
Judaism under the impact of the
teachings of the Breslaw Rebbe,
whose tomb is located in Umman.
The convert said that before
World War II, an entire village
of Ukrainians near Umman con
verted to Judaism and that all
of the converts were exterminat
ed by the Nazis.
54 per cent of all Christian ce
meteries were desecrated and 45
per cent of all Jewish burial plac
es. However, it emphasized that
any inference of greater desecra
tions of Christian than Jewish ce
meteries would be inaccurate be
cause there were only about 1,700
Jewish cemeteries in Germany.
Proportionately, the report stated,
many more desecrations have
taken place in Jewish cemeteries.
A much higher percentage of
desecrations of Jewish cemeteries
were solved because police in
vestigated such outrages more
thoroughly than the Christian vi
olations, the report said. The more
intensive police action was due to
charges that Jewish desecrations
were political acts The report,
however, listed only one violation
as a proven “political demonstra
tion.”
Children under 14 were respon
sible for the desecration of near
ly 70 per cent of violated Jewish
graves, leading authors of the re
port to comment that “The Jew
ish cemetery seems to have a mag
ical attraction for children and
youths.”
Most of the cemetery damages
done by the children were ascrib
ed in the report to “what in crim
inological evaluation must be
termed ‘gross mischief.’ ” Other
motives listed were profit-seek
ing, mental distrubances and
drunkenness.
Montreal Hospital
Accepts Community
Check on Kashruth
MONTREAL, (JTA) _ David
Kirsch, president of the Jewish
General Hospital, announced this
week that an agreement has been
reached with the Montreal Jew
ish Community Council for super
vision of Kashruth at the hospital.
The Council, also known as the
Vaad Hoir, was established in
1922 by leaders of Montreal’s Or
thodox Jewry to organize the af
fairs of Orthodox Jews, partic
ularly of Kashruth, on a syste
matic basis and to assure that
the proceeds of Schechitah would
be devoted to the maintenance of
Jewish educational institutions of
all types.
The report noted that nearly
BY HENRY LEONARD
" ..V.w. • *
It say*, 'GIVE TO THE JUDAEAN
WELFARE FUND'/' *-
Copr. 1*57. Leonard PrlUUa
171 Jewish Cemeteries Desecrated
In Germany Since 1948. Govt. Reports