Newspaper Page Text
Claim Low Incidence of
Jewish Juvenile Delinquents
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., (JTA)—
The nation is experiencing a
rising rate of juvenile delin
quency but “Jewish children en
joy a low incidence of trouble
with the law,” it was reported
here by James W. Symington,
executive director of President
Johnson’s committee on juvenile
delinquency and youth crime.
Mr. Symington indicated that
Jewish families traditionally pro
vided “strength and stability to
the family that are beyond the
power of the Government to
produce artifically." He pointed
out that the Government was
“powerless to transplant family
value systems from one com-
Continued. on page 8
u\0 -
The Southern Isri
A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry - Established 1925
Vol. XU
ATLANTA, GEORGIA FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1966
no. e
Seek Common Denominator
Rabbis Urge Unification
Of Branches of Judaism
JWB Officials Survey Needs
Of Military Step-Up in South
Israel Cabinet Decides
Freedom of Prayer to All
NEW YORK, (WUP) — Three
distinguished rabbis, representing
the Orthodox, Reform and Con
servative wings of the Hebraic
faith, proposed this past week
that American Jewry seek ways
and means of forming one re
ligious Judaism in the United
States, thus eliminating conflict
and controversary — sometimes
very bitter—which have marked
the division of the three branches
to date.
The rabbis, expressing their
views at a symposium on Jewish
religious unity at the Stephen
Wise Congres House here, were:
Prof. Jacob J. Petuchowski (Re
form); Dr. Seymour Siegel (Con
servative), and Dr. Irving Green
berg (Orthodox).
Prof. Petuchowski—whose pa
per was read by Rabbi Eugene
Borowitz—proposed that religi
ous Jews unite in accepting three
basic principles as a common de
nominator for unification: 1.
“Affirmation of the personal God.
2. Revelation of Torah by God to
BOSTON (JTA) — Joseph G.
Weisberg, co-publisher of The
Jewish Adv o -
cate, here, and
the weekly
newspaper's ex
ecutive editor,
was appointed
by Gov. John
A. V o 1 p e to
membership on
the state’s new-
ly-constit u t e d
Board of Edu
cation. Weisberg
In that post, he succeeds Dr.
Alexander Brin, publisher of the
Jewish Advocate, who served for
more than 25 years on the old
State Board of Education. Mr.
Weisberg is a former president
of the Jewish Press Association.
man, and 3, the central role of
Oral Tradition."
On the issue of religious ob
servance, however Dr. Petuchow
ski said “it would be foolish even
to dream about religious unity so
long as some of us set ourselves
up as judges to measure our fel
low Jews’ Judaism and to deter
mine who is a better Jew.”
He made it clear that the issue
of combining the three wings of
Judaism into one would "of
necessity involve some give and
take.” In matters of personal
piety, he noted, “let God alone
be the judge.”
Dr. Greenberg, representing
Orthodoxy, welcomed what he
described as a thaw in the posi
tions of the three main denomi
nations which could lead to Jew
ish religious unity.
Conservative Rabbi Siegel
stated that a basis for religious
cooperation among the three
groups lay in “unity based on
concept and diversity based on
interpretation of these concepts.”
Mr. Weisberg’s appointment
brings to four the number of
Jewish leaders on the reorgan
ized bodies of the Massachusetts
Department of Education. Nor
man S. Rabb is chairman of the
new Advisory Council on Educa
tion; Mrs. Sol Weltman is a
member of the Board of Trustees
of the State Colleges; and Mrs.
Frieda S. Ullian is a member of
the Board of Higher Education.
The Jewish Advocate has also
received the first-place award for
“Best Editorial Page in Class V,”
given annually by the New Eng
land Press Association. Members
of the association include more
than 200 weekly and community
daily newspapers in every state
in New England. The award was
given for the editorial page’s “ex
cellence of format and content.”
The most recent of the National
Jewish Welfare Board (JWB)
task forces appraising the ex
panded religious, morale and
welfare requirements of Jewish
GIs in the most heavily military-
impacted areas in the U.S., in
order to help communities plan
and organize to meet these needs,
is show'n visiting the Parris
Island, S. C., Marine Corps Re
cruit Depot. Standing left to right
on the marksmanship training
range are: Corporal C. G. Hamil
ton, junior drill instructor; Rabbi
Max Eichhom, field operations
director of JWB’s Commission on
Jewish Chaplaincy; Benjamin
Sternberg, JWB Armed Forces
and Veterans Services director;
Chaplain Dewey Page, Parris
Island Headquarters and Service
Battalion chaplain, and Nathan
Loshak, JWB Southern Region
consultant.
Other task forces composed of
national and regional JWB per
sonnel made similar studies at
basic training installations in the
Midwest, Fort Dix, the tidewater
area of Virginia and the South
west. As a result of these visits,
closer liaison has been establish
ed between the Jewish chaplains
and the neighboring Armed
Services committees that serve
them. In addition, local commun
ities have broadened their ser
vices to Jewish GIs, giving
special emphasis to on-post pro
grams for trainees—many of
whom are young unmarried men
away from home for the first
time in their lives—who can’t
leave the post for the first eight
weeks of their basic training.
JWB has budgeted more funds
for 1966 to provide for the in
creased costs of serving the in
creased numbers of men.
Mayor Orders
Probe of Fire
In l ei Aviv
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Mayor
Mordechai Namir appointed a
special committee to investigate
what was described as the worst
fire in this city’s history, in which
a 70-year-old man was killed and
64 persons were injured when
the five-story Zim Building in
downtown Tel Aviv was gutted
by flames. All of the injured
were discharged from hospital.
Only a skeleton hulk remained
of the modem structure with
4,000,000 pounds ($667,000-$!,-
333,00). The cause of the fire,
which started on the ground
floor, is still unknown. The
flames spread quickly through
the interior of the building,
which was lavishly decorated
with wood and asbestos.
Israeli Air Force helicopters
rescued 60 persons who were
trapped on the roof and upper
floors of the building, while some
500 persons made their way
down a ladder lifted to the roof
by the fire brigade. The single
fatality occurred when the elder
ly man attempted to climb down
pipes outside the building after
some younger persons had es
caped that way.
JERUSALEM, (JTA)—Israel’s
Cabinet decided unanimously
here Sunday that everyone in
Israel is entitled to pray “at any
place in any form.” The decision
followed a report to the Govern
ment by Prime Minister Levi
Eshkol about alleged pressures
against a group of Reform Jews
who had held worship in a hall
belonging to the B’nai B’rith, in
Tel Aviv, and then were said to
have been expelled from the hall.
Mr. Eshkol told the Cabinet
that he had investigated the de
velopment in response to many
letters on the issue from Israelis
and from other sources abroad.
He said his findings showed there
was no pressure against the Re
form group, and that the Tel
Aviv municipal authorities had
not threatened to increase taxes
on the B’nai B’rith building if the
hall had been permitted for use
for Reform worship.
Dr. Zorah Warhafting, Minister
for Religious Affairs, added that
his Ministry had not threatened
to withdraw its kashruth certi
ficate from the management of
the B’nai B’rith building. He said
the hall had been leased for one
evening only, and that the man
agement of the B’nai B’rith
building never leases its hall on
a permanent basis.
In reply to a question by news
men, a spokesman for the Gov
ernment said that the question
of “freedom of religion” was
mentioned by the Cabinet only
in connection with the resolve to
permit prayer to any one in any
form,” and did not mean that Re
form or Conservative rabbis in
Israel will be entitled to perform
marriage ceremonies or “other
official acts.” These, he noted,
are restricted only to rabbis au
thorized to conduct such activi
ties by the Chief Rabbinate,
which is “the only one with
standing recognized by the
State.” The Chief Rabbinate is
Orthodox.
RUSTLING OF LITERARY LEAVES across the years, across
continents and oceans and a letter comes to the office of The
Southern Israelite from the girl at the right. See page 14 for
details.
Advocate Editor Succeeds
Uncle on Education Body