Newspaper Page Text
Vol. XLI
The Southern Israelite
A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry — Established oU \o
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1966
NO. 44
Plead for State Aid
To Religious Schools
NEW YORK (JT^) — Torah
Umesora, the National Society
for Hebrew Day Schools, called
last week for repeal of the New
York State constitutional prohibi
tion on state financial aid to
schools sponsored by religious
groups.
Testifying before the Tempor
ary Commission on the Constitu
tional Convention, Herman Cahn
said that the Federal Constitution
was sturdy enough to protect the
principle of church-state separa
tion and that the state’s restric
tive amendment was superfluous
and unnecessarily restrictive. He
said the amendment now in the
Constitution relegated students
in religious schools to the status
of second-class citizenship.
General Says Israel
‘Can’t Take Much More’
BALTIMORE (JTA) — Gen.
Yigal Yadin, former chief of staff
of the Israel defense forces, told
newsmen here that Israel will have
to use military force to halt bor
der incursions if the United Na-
tons fails to act. Commenting on
the most recent acts Of terrorism,
the general said: “The Israelis
can’t take much more.”
He voiced doubt that an Israeli
reprisal against Syria would re
unite the Arab world. He said the
prospect for such reunification
was “remote.” Gen Yadin said
Israel could cope with Syria
alone, but would need Western
assistance if the Communists
gave full-fledged support to
Syria.
o0 ,. t?ase
Scholars See B\
Of Anti-Semitism in U. S. A.
CLEVELAND (JTA)—A num
ber of the nation’s social scient
ists recently were disclosed to
have agreed that there has been
a massive reduction of overt anti-
Semitism in the United States
since the end of World War II.
However, they disagreed over
whether widespread hostility
against Jews is likely to recur
in this country.
These conclusions are reported
in a book-length study, “Jews in
the Mind of America," made pub
lic here at the concluding session
of a three-day meeting held by
Mrs. Mortimer Jacobson Visits Atlanta
Steady Fight on Soviet Bias
Urged by Hadassah Leader
NEW YORK (JTA) — Mrs.
Mortimer Jacobson, president of
Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist
Organization of America, has re
ported that a recent tour of the
Soviet Union had reinforced her
belief that Western protests
against Soviet oppression of
Russian Jews did have an effect,
and should be continued con
sistently. She headed a group of
14 Hadassah leaders on a two-
and-a-half week tour as the first
American Jewish women’s group
to visit the Soviet Union.
(Mrs. Jacobson was an inspir
ing and welcome guest in the
South last week. She was the
honoree and principal speaker at
the fiftieth anniversary celebra
tion of the Atlanta Chapter of Ha
dassah—the Golden Jubilee Don
or Dinner held Sunday evening,
Oct. 30. She also met with city
Israel Opens
Trade Office
In Atlanta
An office for the Israel Trade
Commissioner's representative has
been opened in Atlanta at 805
Peachtree St., N. E., Room 656.
Eliezer Niv is ,
the agent in
charge of the)
regional head-1
ters.
Other offices I
are in New]
York, Chicago, I
Houston, Los]
Angeles and San|
Francisco.
“Inasmuch as]
the Southeast has
grown so tremendously, and since
the government of Israel has such
friendly relations with the United
States, it was decided to open
this sixth U. S. office of the Com
missioner in Atlanta,” said Mr.
Niv.
“The representative will try to
promote additional sales of Is
raeli merchandise in the South
east consisting of machinery,
spare parts and semi-finished
products of all descriptions, in
cluding textiles, ready-to-wear,
arts and crafts, food, wines and
many other Israeli products."
Mr. Niv, former manager of the
Tel Aviv clearing house for the
Bank of Israel, is married and
the father of two children. He is
a graduate of the Hebrew Uni
versity with a B.A. degree in ec
onomics and political science.
officials and conferred with civic
and community leaders during
her visit.)
In urging continued protests
against Soviet bias, Mrs. Jacob
son told a press conference
that one of the impressions the
Hadassah leaders received was
that stress in such protests on
restoration of Yiddish culture
for Soviet Jews was not the
answer to the problem of Jew
ish survival in the Soviet Union.
She said that Jewish children
and youth in Russia do not know
Yiddish and that, while efforts
should be continued to persuade
Soviet authorities to provide
Yiddish newspapers, books, plays
and other cultural opportunities
in Yiddish, it was more impor
tant to press for such cultural
opportunities in Russian and
other Soviet languages. The
need, she said, is for Russian
Jews, particularly the younger
generation, to have the opportun
ity to leam about Judaism, Jew
ish history and Israel in the
languages they use and under
stand.
She said that if conditions of
today persist, Jewish life in the
Soviet Union will be “snuffed
out” within the next 10 years.
She added that while many Rus
sian Jews apparently believed
that assimilation was the only
answer, a very large number
wanted to remain identified as
Jews and, for that goal, it was
urgent that they be given the
opportunity, in the languages
they use, to leam and keep in
formed about Jewish matters.
As other Jewish leaders have
done, Mrs. Jacobson urged con
tinued pressure on the Soviet
Union to allow Russian Jews to
participate in Jewish communal
life “without fear of anti-Semit
ism and without fear of running
afoul of the law.” She called for
formal ties between the Jewish
communities in all parts of the
Soviet Union, for a federation of
synagogues, for Jews to be allow
ed to participate in Jewish gath
erings outside the Soviet Union,
and for Jews to be allowed to re
unite with faiftilies in other
countries, including Israel.
She said the group offered
Soviet authorities 500 scholar
ships to enable 500 young Rus
sian Jews to spend a summer in
Israel and that the offer was re
jected vigorously. The offer was
made, she said, at a meeting of
the Soviet-American Friendship
League in its building in Mos
cow. The response, she said,
initially was one of a “state of
shock.” Then one of the Soviet
officials said they would certain
ly not want to send any children,
Jewish or non-Jewish, to “the
decadent West,” and that if such
an arrangement ever was made,
the Soviet Union did not want
any money from any foreign
group. She said the offer was
rejected by Aaron Vergelis, edi
tor of the Yiddish magazine
Sovietish Heimland.
She said the Hadassah leaders
had been told by Soviet officials
that the Soviet Union was “an
atheistic country” in which there
was no place for religion. In that
case, she said, the Soviet Union
is obligated, under the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, to
allow Jews who wish to perpet
uate their Jewish heritage “to
leave the Soviet Union for some
other place where this right is
guaranteed them.”
Savannah Mayor Donates
Land for New Synagogue
Land valued at approximately
$30,000 has been donated by
Mayor J. Curtis Lewis of Savan
nah to Congregation Agudath
Aohim for its new synagogue.
Located at the southeast comer
of Lee Blvd. and White Bluff
Rd., the property was given in
honor of Mayor Lewis’ long-time
friend and business associate,
Sam Steinberg, a congregation
member.
. Robert S. Olson, chairman of
the board of directors and chief
executive of the Ford Motor
Credit Co. was the speaker at the
Congregation’s semi-annual meet
ing on October 23 at which the
donation was announced.
Steinberg Joined the J. C.
Lewis Motor Co. as an office as
sistant in July, 1917, and now
heads the financial division of the
mayor’s various business enter
prises.
Karl Friedman, congregation
president, said construction of the
new synagogue is expected to
start soon.
the national executive board of
the American Jewish Committee.
Some of the scholars held that
anti-Semitism, like other group
hatreds, is virtually a closed
chapter in the United States and
will not happen again. Others
argued that, despite the recent
improvement, the attitude of the
non-Jewish majority will con
tinue to alternate between accep
tance and rejection of Jews be
cause a considerable amount of
latent anti-Semitism rema i n s
among the American people.
The first of the study’s two
sections, prepared by Charles H.
Stember, professor of sociology
at Rutgers University, with con
tributions by Prof. Benpamin B.
Ringer of Hunter College, traced
the trend of attitudes toward
Jews and Judaism from 1937 to
1963, as reflected in nationwide
public opinion polls sponsored by
the AJC Committee and other
groups.
One of the main findings is that
overt anti-Semitism has declined
sharply since a peak in about
1944. Both hostile stereotypes and
unwillingness to associate with
Jews have shown a marked de
cline. Jews are increasingly seen
as individuals rather than as a
special kind of people with fix-
* House of Diaspora*
To Rise at Tel Aviv
TEL AYW.XJTA)—Dr. Nahum
Goldmann hm criticised the be
havior of the present Jewish
generation during the slaughter
by the Nazis of European Jewry,
and a “tendency” to forget the
catastrophe at the present time.
The world Jewish leader spoke
at a huge gathering at a ground
breaking ceremony for a pro
jected Beth Hatfutzot, a House
of the Diaspora, planned for Tel
Aviv University. Among those
attending the ceremony were
Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir
and Police Minister Boris
Shitreet, leaders of the Jewish
Agency, Walworth Barbour, the
American Ambassador to Israel,
and other envoys and delegations
from various Jewish commun
ities.
Dr. Goldmann said that the
activity of the present generation
during the European holocaust
did not add any heroic chapters
to Jewish history. O. Valinsky,
chairman of the American Com
mittee of Friends of the House,
said Jews outside of Israel would
raise $3,000,000 to build the
structure.
Eshkol Popularity
Is Down, Says Poll
JERUSALEM (JTA)— Results
of a recent public opinion poll,
disclosed this week show that
Premier Levi Eshkol’s popularity
has slumped from an election eve
peak in 1965 of 55.5 percent to
current low of 17 percent.
The survey, conducted by Is
rael’s largest advertising agency,
polled the views of the same sam
ple interviewed on election eve.
The respondents were presented
a second time with a list of names
of nine Israeli political personal
ities. and asked to name their
choice for the Premiership.
Other names included former
Premier David Ben Gurion, Her-
ut leader Menachem Beigin, for
mer Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan,
Foreign Minister Abba Eban and
Tinance Minister Pinhas Sapir.
Results on their standings were
not disclosed, but the findings
were shown to the Premier.
ed qualities. Another conclusion
is that more Americans view
Jews as members of a religious
group than they did a generation
ago, and fewer hold the mistaken
idea that Jews are a race.
Another finding is that some
degree of latent and ingrained
prejudice remains and could be
activated by a major upheaval
or crisis in American society. The
study noted, however, that such
postwar developments as the es
tablishment of Israel, the Korean
War, the atomic spy trials, the
Sinai campaign and the intensi
fication of the civil rights move
ment have failed to do this.
The second part is comprised
of analytical essays on Prof.
Stember’s findings by historians,
sociologists and social psycholog
ists. Prof. John High am of the
University of Michigan asserted
that anti-Semitism was a passing
phase in the acculturation of
Jewish immigrants, a develop
ment analogous to the accultura
tion problems suffered by other
alien newcomers.
Prof. Robin Williams Jr. of
Cornell University cited a grow
ing resemblance between Jews
and other Americans and com
mented that when people are ask
ed to describe Americans, they
often used the same adjectives as
for the stereotype Jew: ambiti
ous, active, industrious, aggres
sive, and so on.”
The mpst pessimistic view was
nrpsaassd hy -Psot- Bm Hslpetb,
at Bmndeis University, who con
tended that, in the final analysis,
the United States was no differ
ent from other countries in at
titudes toward Jews, and that
American anti-Semitism was one
example of the perennial ambiv
alence of Christians toward Jews
—the uneasy balance of tolerance
and rejection which, he declared,
Christians have maintained,
which has usually fallen short of
acceptance on the one hand and
genocide on the other.
Artist Dies
NEW YORK (JTA)—Saul Ras
kin, 88, an artist widely known
for his paintings of Jewigi life
and religious subjects, died of a
heart attack. Known, too, for his
skatshea of New England fisher
man as well as of pushcart pafe
dlers on the Lower East Side. Mr.
Raskin studied art in Berlin and
Paris, after leaving his native
Kiev, Russia.
Viet Nam Soldiers
Get Jewish Paper
NEW YORK (JTA) — Jewish
servicemen on duty in South Viet
Nam are now receiving a new
monthly Jewish paper, according
to word received here by the Na
tional Jewish Welfare Board. The
periodical, Viet Nam Jewish
Chronicle, is issued by the Jewish
Chaplain’s Office of the Military
Advisory Command in Viet Nam.
The first issue featured an ex
planation of the High Holy Days.
One issue carried a letter from
the outgoing chaplain’s assistant,
Specialist Robert L Balisok, stat
ing that any servicemen who need
JWB supplies such as “tefillin,
arba kanfas, siddurim or other
seforim,” or who are “craving a
little gefilte fish or chicken
soup’” can get them from one of
the three Jewish chaplains in
Viet Nam—Chaplain (Major) Er
nest B. Iapp, in Nha Trang, Chap
lain (Captain) Alan Greenspan in
Saigon, and Chaplain (Lieuten
ant) Robert L Reoner in Da
Nang.