Newspaper Page Text
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The Southern Israelite
A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry — Esta^ |:
XXXTV
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1959
Jh® 5 ^
no. 10
ORTHODOX JEWISH LEADERS ISSUE
SOUTHEAST CONVENTION CALL
•^oO
^59
Atlanta Will Ope
Welfare Fund Drive Tuesday
Rabbi Seymour Kutner (left), President of the Southeast Region
of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, and
Sam Margolin, Chairman of the region’s 14th Annual Convention
to be held in Memphis, Tenn., April 8-5.
Israel Cabinet Votes Tax For
Absorption Of Rumanian Jews
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — The
Israel Cabinet Sunday voted to
impose a special tax ranging
from 6 to 12 percent of the in
come of each citizen, for the
purpose of helping the settle
ment of the Jewish immigrants
arriving here from Rumania*
Poland and other countries.
Approval of the Cabinet’s de
cision will be sought in the
Parliament this week, when the
Cabinet will present a bill for
enactment. The special tax is
expected to provide 40,000,000
Israeli pounds ($22,000,000) ex
tra for immigrant absorption.
The urgent need for housing
for the new immigrants was
considered here at a meeting of
a subcommittee of the coordinat
ing board of the government and
the Jewish Agency under the
chairmanship of Levi Eshkol,
Minister of Finance. The com
mittee dealt with plans to fi
nance housing construction, the
speed-up of construction, and
distribution of the new immi
grants throughout the country.
Officials of the government
and the Jewish Agency reported
today that 60 Rumanian fami
lies, who •‘were settled in the
Negev in the southern desert,
in recent months, have been
found to constitute excellent ele
ment and have already adapted
themselves. The adjustment to
settlement life took place despite
the fact that the newcomers
were inexperienced agricultural
ly, being mostly clerks and
artisans. As a result, plans have
been completed for the settle
ment of another 100 families
there in the next few weeks.
The 60 families are in the 35
to 40 year age bracket and the
average family numbers four
persons, it was reported.
After intensive preparation,
the 1959 campaign of the Atlanta
Jewish Welfare Fund will open
officially next Tuesday, March
10, it was announced by Max
M. Cuba, general chairman.
“We are again faced with the
necessity of providing maximum
support for the regular ongoing
programs of immigration, wel
fare, rehabilitation and other
services of the United Jewish
Appeal and other overseas agen
cies, as well as the national and
local agencies requiring our
support.’
‘‘Over and above that, we in
Atlanta must provide our share
of support for the United Jew
ish Appeal Special Rescue Fund
40 Colorado Lawmakers
Back No Bias Bill
DENVER, (JTA)—Forty mem
bers of the Colorado Legislature
have joined in sponsoring the
Allen Bill which would ban dis
crimination in housing in Colo
rado.
A second bill, aimed at plug
ging loopholes in the penal code
and to provide protection for
schools, churches, synagogues
and other buildings from mali
cious mischief, was introduced
in the House by Rep. Joe Dolan.
Denver Rabbinical
Council Bans Bingo in
Houses of Worship
DENVER, (JTA) — The Rab
binical Council of Denver has
banned bingo, raffles and games
of chance in Denver synagogues
and temples, despite the recent
legalization of such activities.
The Council, in a statement to
all congregations in the area,
said that “the congregations of
the city and their affiliated
groups should not avail them
selves of the recently-voted per
mission to conduct bingo games
or raffles. This policy should
also apply to organizations that
rent or use the facilities of the
local synagogues and temple.”
which is earmarked primarily
for meeting the cost of trans
ferring to Israel thousands of
Jews from Eastern Europe and
to provide the modest sum re
quired for their initial settle
ment.”
Mr. Cuba pointed out "Israel
is faced with its greatest immi
gration crisis since its founding
as a State a decade ago.”
“Some 8,000 Jews are coming
out of Eastern European coun
tries every month.”
The “gallant little democracy
in the Near East may have to
receive and resettle : at least
100,000 persons in 1959,” Mr.
Cuba said.
He coupled his statements on
Israel’s new crisis with an an
nouncement that the Atlanta
Jewish Welfare Fund was join
ing Jewish communities the
nation over to raise the vast
sums needed to save human
lives and redeem them for use
fulness.
Mr. Cuba called special atten
tion to Atlanta’s effort to meet
its share of the United Jewish
Appeal’s $100 million Special
Fund—an “over and above’’ ef
fort—to make possible the trans
fer and resettlement of 100,000
immigrants from Eastern Europe
pouring into Israel, and, in addi
tion to make a desperately need
ed effort to start rehousing
thousands of earlier arrivals
still living in makeshift huts.
He termed the new, driving
pressure of Eastern European
immigration and the deplorable
housing delay “highly acute
problems.” That, he said, is why
we must give absolutely maxi
mum support both to the regu
lar as well as the Special Res
cue Fund.
Through these efforts, Mr.
Cuba stated, American Jews
will help meet the “life-serving
needs of more than 680,000 Jew
ish men, women and children
in Israel and in 25 other coun
tries. They all look to us—to
the men, women and children
in American communities—for
the sinews of salvationl”
Mr. Cuba stated in conclusion
that as general chairman of the
1959 Campaign of the Atlanta
Jewish Welfare Fund he has a
deep faith and confidence in At
lanta's Jewry to respond gener
ously to the urgent needs facing
us m 1959. “I am certain,” he
declared, “Atlanta will continue
the enviable record it has estab
lished in the past and again
prove that we in Atlanta do
care and are concerned with the
fate of our fellow Jews every
where.”
U. S. Considers Solution Of
Israel Arab Problem 'Remote'
Moods Among American Jewish Teen-Agers
WASHINGTON, (JTA) — A
national survey of teen-age Jew
ish youth in the United States
revealed that a cross-section' of
youths of 16 and over thought
American and Israeli Jews
“were part of one people, no
matter where they live.” The
four-month study was conduct
ed by B’nai B’rith in coopera
tion with the youth department
of the American Zionist Council.
A' selected cross-section of Jew
ish youth in 16 cities and
smaller communities was polled.
Label A. Katz, of New Orleans,
national chairman of the B’nai
B’rith youth movement, report
ed the teen-agers rejected 1l any
concept that a Jewish culture
can thrive and be creative only
in Israel. They see a prospering
future for Jewish life in their
native land.” While almost all
youths indicated a desire of
making a tourist visit to Israel,
only five percent expressed in
terest in living there.
The teen-agers were virtually
LATE NEWS
LONDON, (JTA) — For the
third time in ten days, an offi
cial organ of the controlled So
viet propaganda apparatus de
nied that the USSR plans to al
low emigration of Russian Jews
to Israel. Today's denial was
issued by Tass, the Kremlin s
official news service. Ten days
ago, Moscow Radio broadcast
the same announcement. Two
days later, it appeared h) the
Soviet Government’s official
newspaper, Izvestia. t
unanimous in rejecting a view
that "anti-Semitism is inevitable
everywhere, and Jews can be
completely safe only in Israel.”
Only one-third of one percent
called creation of Israel “a mis
take.” About 60 percent thought
that “only in very rare or ex
treme instances will activities in
behalf of Israel be incompatible
with a Jew’s responsibility as a
citizen of the United States.”
Nine out of ten agreed that
American Jews should try to in
fluence the U S. Government in
behalf of Israel, when Israel has
a “justifiable grievance.” But
only half of the teen-agers fav
ored “demonstrations and ral
lies” to back Israel. The teen
agers, by a majority of 92 per^
cent, opposed Israeli law domi
nating secular life. The non-
observance of religious practices
by many Israelis was considered
unharm ful.
The poll revealed that de
velopments viewed as beneficial
to American Jewry were: Is
rael’s immigration policy, the
growth of the Hebrew language,
and the advancement of Israeli
music and art. A majority fav
ored "increasing allocations to
Israel.”
The study showed confusion
about definition of what a Zion
ist is today. Mr. Katz reported
that “the result* show they are
just as confused about this as
their elders.” Although 28 per
cent considered themselves
Zionists, and another 22 percent
said they were non-Zionists,
half of the young people said
they simply did not know. This
indicated a lack of a clear defi
nition of the word “Zionist” in
current usage.
MACON, (JTA)—The prospect
of a real solution of the Israel-
Arab problem was termed “re
mote” by William M. Rountree,
Assistant Secretary of State for
Near Eastern Affairs, in a public
address here this week. He said,
however, that the United States
would continue to seek some
basis for a more stable arrange
ment among the states involved
in the controversy.
Speaking before the Macon
Civitan Club, Mr. Rountree
voiced hope and confidence that
the United States would “be
able to continue progress toward
achieving a more stable peace
in the .Middle East.” He said:
“The tension between the Arab
states and Israel continues to be
one of the most complex and
bitter of the disputes in the
area, casting a cloud over the
JWV To Cite Crusading Editor
At Banquet March 15
Recognition of one of the na
tion’s foremost newspaper edi
tors will feature tne annual
commander’s banquet of the At
lanta Post, No. 112 and Ladies
Auxiliary in Atlanta Sunday,
March 15.
The “Outstanding C it i z e n
Award” will be presented to
Ralph McGill, editor of the At
lanta Constitution and long
known as a champion of individ
ual dignity and human rights,
according to Jerome Mandel,
(Continued on Page 4)
RALPH McGILL
SAM SHAIKKWITZ
entire region. The United States
sincerely hopes for the allevia
tion of these tensions, And it
has on various occasions indi
cated the form and substance of
assistance it would render to a
solution. Although the current
situation and attitudes render
remote a final solution, we con
tinue, both directly and through
the United Nations, to seek some
basis for a more stable arrange
ment among the states involved.”
Declaring that, for decades,
there wa? a growing conflict be
tween the Arab states and the
increasing Jewish population of
Palestine, over the Jewish de
sire for the establishment of a
national homeland, Mr. Roun
tree said that when Israel was
created “many nations, moti
vated by the plight of tne Jew
ish people, and by the long asso
ciation of the race with Pales
tine, supported this move.”
He related that Israel “was
immediately opposed by the
Arabs, who also claimed Pales
tine, and a brief war resulted.
The war was brought to a con
clusion by a series of armistice
agreements, but the legacy of
an uneasy frontier and hundreds
of thousands of Arab refugees
now remain.”
The Arab refugees, he de
clared, have since 1948 been “a
particular concern to the United
States.” He said the United
States provided 70 percent of
the United Nations funds used
for Arab refugees, but “the So
viet Union, despite its claim for
friendship for the Arabs, has
made no contribution whatso
ever. We continue to demonstrate
our interest in the welfare and
in the future status of thaaa
people, which we believe should
be assured through repatriation,
or resettlement with proper
compensation.”
LATE NEWS
VIENNA, (JTA)—Two trans
ports carrying 350 Jews from
Rumania arrived by train here
Monday while 500 Rumanian
Jewish emigrants left Vienna
on a special train for Naples to
embark there on a ship for Is
rael. Another group of 80 emi
grants left here Monday for
Israel on an El A1 plane.