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Pnee Four
THI IODTDEKN 18 IA ELIT R
Friday, June 24, 1966
THE sou r HERN ISRAELITE
PubILshed weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises, 390 Court
land St., N. E„ Atlanta. Georgia 30303, TR. 6 8249, TR. 6-8240. Sec
ond class postage paid at Atlanta, Georgia. 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. DEADLINE Ls 5 P.M. FRIDAY, but material
received earlier will have a much better chance of publication.
Adolph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Kathleen Nease, Jeanne Loeb, Joseph Redlich
Vida Goldgar, Harry Rose, Betty Meyer, Kathy Wood
Mental Health And Politics
The care of the mentally ill in Georgia becomes a practical issue
periodically whenever we have to elect a governor. We become ac
customed and accept as a fact of public life that there is almost
always a gap between pre-campaign promises and post-campaign
performance, between high sounding words and actual administra
tive action. And, there is always the problem of appropriations. The
latter is a legislative prerogative.
During the past twelve years the term “mental health” has
replaced “mental hygiene,” which has been defined as “the aggregate
of measures designed to preserve merjtal health.”
Back in 1949 the late Albert Deutsch published his survey of
“The Mentally Ill in America.” He visited Georgia then and found
conditions deplorable and primitive in our care and treatment of
the mentally ill. In fact there was no treatment. There was just
custodial care. Seventeen years have passed by. We have made some
progress. But, some of the problems which plagued Georgia then
are still with us. Why?
Because mental health has become “big business” and “industry.”
The expenditures of big sums are required. Contracts for the con
struction of new buildings have to be awarded. The purchase of
food supplies, drugs, etc. is required. Personnel has to be employed.
Jobs can be made available to “deserving” supporters of political
candidates.
In other words, we have built up a complex of political, business
and professional power structures, which have to be guarded against
dissolution. Vested interests take precedence over the human interests
of poor, sick people, who have no vote.
It is a sad commentary upon our political, business and pro
fessional leadership in Georgia that newspaper reporters have to
dig out the facts periodically and present them to the public. The
voters get aroused. Political promises are made to correct the
deplorable situation and the public is once again lulled to inertia
and forgetfulness.
Surveys are again made relating to the efficiency of administra
tion, and the management of institutional affairs. Recommendations
are enacted into law. But no one or almost no one realizes that all
this relates to the externals of the basic problems of the care and
treatment of the mentally ill.
Unlike physical illness there is no one approved and accepted
method of treating mental illness. There are many theories as to
causes and many methods of treatment. It is not merely a situation
where psychiatrists have exclusive control.
It involves the cooperation, understanding, and participation of
a number of other professions, physicians generally, psychologists,
nurses, medical and psychiatric social workers, competent and
literate attendants, and the sympathetic understanding of relatives
and the general public.
True to the American political tradition whenever something
goes wrong in a public institution there is the ready temptation to
put the blame on someone, to use him as a scapegoat. In the mean
time the guilt is removed from those who showed no concern for
the patients and the problem remains unsolved.
When a knowledgeable professional, who understands the prob
lems involved, writes a series of critical letters in the daily papers
he is promptly ignored and he is not asked for further advice.
A German sociologist and publicist of the pre-Hitler era, when
ever he wanted to replenish his low coffers, would come to the
USA for a series of lectures and return home with good American
currency.
One of these, many years ago, was interviewed by reporters in
Berlin. They asked him the following question. “In your travels you
covered the United States from New York to San Francisco, and
from Fargo, North Dakota to Atlanta, Georgia. What, in your
opinion, is the one element which characterizes American civiliza
tion?”
His reply was most interesting. “Two words”, he said, “character
ize the USA—Push and Pull. Wherever you go, you find on doors of
office buildings, banks, government buildings, the words push and
pull."
If we are to get out of the mess we are in the care of the
mentally ill, let us abandon the political, business and professional,
push and pull.
Let us initiate objective standards of personnel practices and
procedures.
Let us start a recruitment and training program for the lower
echelon of institutional personnel. Let us create Boards who will
l>e able to advise on policy, not on administration and treatment.
And here it might be pointed out that one segment of our Geor
gia citizens has only token recognition in appointments on civic
boards and committees. We refer to citizens of the Jewish faith. If
there is one area in which Jews have great competence and experi
ences it is in the fields of health and welfare. Of course, most of
them reside in the larger centers of Georgia’s population. And in
some sections of Georgia they may be regarded as “City slickers.”
But the county unit system has been abolished.We have now
adopted the concept of one man—one vote.
So Georgia is now one State. We are part of our Federal system
of government. Let us utilize all our manpower and all our resources,
Federal. State, County and City to create a network of modem
facilities for the care and treatment of the mentally ill supervised
by the best, most competent personnel that can be made available.
Let us treat our mentally ill citizens as human beings with dig
nity and self respect.
Let us remove the political, business and professional vested
interest from the administration and management of Milledgeville
and all other public institutions in Georgia. K
Comment and Opinion
Bar Mitzvah Ferment
An Orthodox rabbi proposes that Bar Mitzvahs
be abolished. A professor at Yeshiva University
suggests that Bar Mitzvahs be celebrated at age 16
instead of 13. A Conservative temple in New
Jersey refuses to allow Bar Mitzvah ceremonies
unless the child and his parents solemnly pledge to
continue Jewish education for at least three addi
tional years.
Something is happening—and it is good for
the Jews. Perhaps the American Jewish commun
ity is waking up to the true meaning of Bar
Mitzvah and to the way in which we—synagogues,
rabbis, educators, teachers, parents and children—
have distorted this meaning.
We train a boy, at the cost of thousands of
man hours, to chant a few lines he does not under
stand and which he will forget the same afternoon.
We have him read a blessing, "Who hast given us
a Torah of truth and implanted in us eternal life.”
A Digest of Contemporary Opinion
The American-Israel Bridge
The American-Israel bridge must be a
two-way thoroughfare. . . The bromide, “I
give to Israel,” ought to be discarded. . . How
can American Jews set a price upon the feel
ing of pride and self-assurance derived from
the new image of the Jew created by tne
Israeli army, by the halutz farmer, by the
Hebrew nation-builder? How much of the
decline of anti-Semitism in America can be
ascribed to this proud “new look” carried so
buoyantly by the Jew in the United States?
In 1948, when the Israel War of Independence
aroused American Jewry to unprecedented
heights of Jewish consciousness and deepest
concern for the survival and victory of their
brethren in embattled Israel. . . Israel has done
a great deal for American Jewry in many
other ways. The critical shortage of Hebrew
teachers in American Jewish religious schools
is being alleviated by the importation of edu
cators from Israel, as well as by part-time
utilization of Israeli students at American
universities. . . American Jewish culture, in
deed American culture itself, has been en
riched bv a steady stream of Israeli folk sing-
und in 24 hours, Torah, truth, and eternal life are
forgotten. We hypocritically speak of G-d and
His commandments, and everyone knows that
G-d and His commandments are farthest from out
minds. We train a boy to accept the yoke of Torah,
and we his elders see to it that it is without mean
ing Not Shabbos, not prayer, not Tefillin, not
Kashrus, not charity is observed: no wonder there
is finally a hue and cry about Bar Mitzvah.
The current national Bar Mitzvah ferment i
a healthful sign. Something must be done to ele
vate religious standards. Raising Bar Mitzvah',
age—with obligations beginning at 13 but no
formal celebration until 16—is one way. Refusing
Shabbos Bar Mitzvah rights in certain cases is an
other. Certainly the path we have trod until now
has not—with but a few shining exceptions—been
of any significance.
RABBI EMANUEL FELDMAN
From the Congregation Beth Jacob Bulletin
ers and dancers entertaining audiences in this
country. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
won the acclaim of music critics and concert
lovers on two American tours. Inbal, Israel’s
Yemenite Dance Theatre, enthralled Ameri
can audiences with portrayals of Biblical
themes and scenes. The Gadna Youth Orches
tra increased respect in American musical
circles for Israeli talent. The Habimah Theatre
left the Tel Aviv stage to perform before U S
audiences in the east. The parade of Israeli
government officials, generals and other dig
nitaries across the speaking platforms of
Jewish fund-raising meetings, forums, non
sectarian civic club luncheons and univer
sity gatherings constitutes a year-round pro
cession telling the story of Israel’s miraculous
growth and shedding new light on its vexing
problems, quite aside from presenting in per
son what Buber called the “new Jew.” ... In
the words of Abba Eban, the Miracle of Israel
is that it “reestablished the youthful vigor of
an ancient culture; opened the gates of hope
and freedom to hundreds of thousands in
distant lands; brought consolation to a people
at the moment of unfathomable grief; gave the
community of nations a new dimension, a new
link with its oldest spiritual roots.” . . .
Robert Gamzey, in “The Miracle of Israel”
0
Max Rosenberg:
Max Rosenberg, 53, of Savan
nah died June 7 in Boston.
Funeral services were held
June 10 with Rabbi Hershel
Brooks officiating. Interment was
in Bona venture Cemetery.
Mr. Rosenberg had lived in
Savannah for 27 years and op
erated a grocery store. He was a
member of Congregation Agud-
ath Achim and its Brotherhood,
the Jewish Educational Alliance
and the Men's Club of the JEA.
Survivors include his wife, Mrs.
Dora Hirsch Rosenberg; two sons,
Stanley and Barry Rosenberg;
four brothers, Samuel Rosenberg
of Oak Park, Mich., Dr. Barnett
Rosenberg and Nathan Rosen
berg, both of Lansing, Mich., and
Phillip Rosenberg of Detroit; a
sister, Mrs. Rudy Blitzer of
Brooklyn, N. Y., and a number
of nieces and nephews.
Herman Seidman
Herman Seidman, 67, of St.
Petersburg died June 10.
Funeral services were held
Saturday, June 11, in St. Peters
burg with Rabbi Morris Chapman
officiating. Interment was in Chi
cago.
Mr. Seidman was born in Rus
sia and moved to St. Petersburg
from New York City l'l years
ago. He was a Cantor for Con
gregation B’nai Israel.
Survivors include his wife,
Mollie; two daughters, Mrs. Anne
Rosenson, Chicago, and Mrs.
Gloria Goldblatt, Palo Alto,
Calif.; and seven grandchildren.
Nathan Geller
Nathan (Nat) Geller, 76, of
Tampa died recently.
A native of Poland, he had
lived in Tampa for the last 60
years. He was a member of
Beth Israel Synagogue.
Survivors include a daughter,
Mrs. Helen R. Green, Tampa.
BITU ARI
Mrs. S. L. Marienthal
Mrs. Stanley L Marienthal, 53,
of Atlanta died Monday, June 13.
Funeral services were held
June 15 at Spring Hill with Rabbi
Jacob Rothschild officiating. In
terment was in Crest Lawn
Memorial Park.
Mrs. Marienthal, the former
Evelyn Marks, was a native of
Key West, Fla. She was a mem
ber of the Temple, the National
Council of Jewish Women, the
Atlanta Symphony Guild, Bran-
deis Women, Atlanta League of
Women Voters and the Atlanta
Music Club.
She was a former district
chairman for junior festivals of
t h e National Federation of
Music Clubs and a former chair
man of the Happy Day and
Memorial Fund of the Service
Guild. She had studied at Jul-
liard School of Music.
Survivors include her hus
band; a daughter, Miss Judith
Marienthal, Atlanta; parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Herman Marks, Miami;
a sister, Mrs. Rose Imbrey, and
two brothers, Paul and Max
Marks, all of Miami.
Benjamin Goldman
Dr. Benjamin 1 Goldman of
Hazelhurst died June 5 in Hol
lywood, Fla.
Funeral services were held
June 7 in Fort Lauderdale.
He had been a physical! in
Hazelhurst since 1937 and was
former chief of staff of Clyde
Duncan Memorial Hospital.
Survivors include his wife,
Mrs. Katye Goldman; two sons,
Ronald Goldman of Winston-
Salem and Bruce Goldman of
Fort Lauderdale; three brothers,
two sisters and three grandchil
dren.
ES
Max L. Clein
Max L. Clein, 66, of Atlanta
died Saturday, June 18
Funeral services were held
June Hi at Blanchard's Chapel
with Rabbi Harry H. Epstein and
Cantor Isaac Goodfriend officiat
ing. Interment was in Green
wood Cemetery.
Mr. Clein was a retired At
lanta machinery company owner
and a lifelong resident of At
lanta. He was a member of the
Yaarab Temple and Ahavath
Achim Synagogue; a 32nd degree
Mason and a member of Fulton
Masonic Lodge 216.
Survivors include his wife, the
former Sadie Barrett; sons, Joel
E. Clein of Minneapolis, Harvey
A. and Robert B. Clein of At
lanta; sisters, Mrs, Sam Gold
stein, Miami, Mrs. A. Ellison of
Charleston and Mrs. Robert Ros
enthal of Chicago; brothers, Bar
ry, R. J. Hilliard and Ben Clein,
all of Miami, and Ed Clein of
Montgomery.
Edward Bensinger
Edward Bensinger, 58, of
Louisville, Ky., husband of the
former Jean Alpert of Savan
nah, died May 30 in Louisville
JEWISH
CALENDAR
FAST OF TAMMUZ
July 5, Tuesday
TISHAII B'AV
July 26, Tuesday
♦ROSH IIASHONAH
September 15-16,
Thursday and Friday
•YOM KIPPUR
September 24. Saturday
♦HOLIDAY BEGINS
SUNDOWN PREVIOUS DAY
