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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
P
Friday, March 3, 1967
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Publish* weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises, 390 Court
IIn* iL,N. E., Atlanta, Georgia 30303, TR. 6-8249, TR. 6-8240.
Second etas postage paid at Atlanta, Georgia. Yearly subscription
47-54- The, Southern Israelite invites literary contributions and
oorrespondbace but is not to be considered as sharing the views
expressed ■ writers. DEADLINE is 5 F.M. FRIDAY, but material
received eaver will have a much better chance of publication.
Iph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Kathleen Nease, Joseph Redlich
ar, Harry Rose, Betty Meyer, Kathy Wood
Vida Go
Georgia Press Assn.
Building Jewish America
\ The Golden Jubi^e Year of the National Jewish Welfare
ird (JWB), which tnds in April, could have turned into an
ipsion for hornblowhg about the national association of YM
& YWHAs and Jewish Community Centers and the Govern
ment—accredited ageney for serving the military and hos
pitalized veterans—but it has not. Instead, it has been con
sistency used to enhance and enrich the quality of Jewish life
Vrica.
Golden Jubilee Convention, itself, could have been
geared Vo produce headlites in the newspapers. Instead, it
featured a dialogue on the dimensions and horizons of Jewish
life in America, and throu^iout the convention’s sessions this
was the dominant theme. A* part of its Golden Jubilee year,
JWB sponsored a successful essay contest on “How My Ex
perience id the Armed Force* Influenced Me as a Jew.’’ More
than twice the number of servicemen and veterans the spon
sor thoughtWould enter did in fact do so. A contest for one-
act plays of Jewish interest it currently being conducted by
JWB. RecentW JWB conducted a National Conference on Ad
vancing the Arts in Jewish Liie, out of which more than 100
specific proposals for enhancing Jewish culture in America
have come. \
It is in the ^eld of publications, however, that JWB par
ticularly shines Bright. Among its many Golden Jubilee publi
cations are a bek-selling Reader and Discussion Guide on
“Dimensions and Rorizons for Jewish Life in America,” whose
contributors makeup a veritable “Who’s Who in American
Jewish Life;” a paihphlet on “The Jewish Community Center
and the American Jewish Future” by JWB’s executive vice-
president Sanford Slender; “Change and Challenge,” a 50-
year history of JWB by Dr. Oscar I. Janowsky, Louis Kraft
and Bernard Postal, an^ 25 other publications.
JWB’s new Catalogof Publications has recently come off
the presses. Of the 369 publications listed, 178 deal with some
aspect of our Jewish heritage—Jewish music, art, dance,
drama, literature and the\cultural arts in general, the Jewish
holidays, Jewish education^ the Jewish religion, Jewish values,
achieving Jewish objectives, Jewish history, vital issues in
Jewish life, places'of Jewish interest, Israel, world Jewry, and
other areas.
JWB’s publications have contribided to the building of an
American Jewish culture for over a/generation, and there is
every indication that they will continue to do so.
SAVANNAH NEWS i srae|is \ VoU n,l<-d
Irving Fineman, novelist-play
wright-poet who has been winter
ing at Savannah Beach with his
poet-wife Esther, has been re
cuperating at the Navy hospital
in Beaufort from a broken hip
suffered in a fall on February 4.
Ramon Rosenzweig has been
elected president of the Savan
nah Bureau ol Jewish Education.
Serving with him will be Abram
Rubin, vice president, and Samuel
Rosenberg, executive director and
secretary. Other members of the
board are Rabbi Hershel Brooks,
Harry R. Friedman, Karl Fried
man, Ben Garfunkel, Irwin Gif-
fen, Mrs. Mickey Greenfield,
Bernard Hirsch, Martin Leffler,
Norton Melaver, A. R. Neiman,
Ben Portman, Rabbi A. I. Rosen
berg, Bernie Slotin, Kayton Smith
Jr., and Albert Tenenbaum.
Abie Levine was honored with
a five-year pin by the shoe manu
facturing company he represents.
By Jordanian Fire
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Two mem
bers of an Israeli border police
detachment were wounded during
a iour-hour exchange of fire with
Jordanian border troops in the
Tulkarem central area. The Is
raeli army spokesman said that a
Jordanian position opened fire on
Israeli surveyors. An Israel se
curity detachment returned the
fire.
United Nations observers twice
called for a cease-fire which Is
rael accepted and the Jordanians
apparently ignored. One of the
Israeli patrolmen was wounded
in the fighting to that point. Fi
nally the Jordanians opened fire
again, wounding the second pa
trolman. The Israelis did not re
turn the renewed fire. Israel filed
a complaint with the Mixed Ar
mistice Commission.
COMMENT and OPINION
AWAKENING 'IN
WAYNE TOWNSHIP
The election of a Jew as vice president of
the Wayne Township, N.J., school board—he
will succeed a man whose anti-Semitic slurs
encouraged bigots to defeat two Jewish candi
dates for the board—is a victory for all men
of good faith. The former vice-president still
seems sadly baffled by the outcry his out
rageous remarks caused. “I would hope,” he
says, "the world would put this to bed now.”
But in a real sense, Wayne is just awakening.
That is a promising omen for Wayne and for
many other communities—including this one—
where men seek good will.
THE NEW YORK POST
TO DIALOGUE OR
NOT TO DIALOGUE
The arguments being voiced these weeks
on the subject of Christian-Jewish dialogue
constitute a crucial debate; what we are wit
nessing is, ironically, a dialogue among Jewish
spokesmen for opposing points of view as to
whether or not we Jews ought to engage, with
Christians, in discussions on religious issues
between (and among) the major faiths. The
issue has gained hot currency via two rabbis
who have taken the negative view. One view
is that expressed by a leading official of the •
Rabbinical Council of America—Rabbi Zev
Segal of Newark—who emphatically terms it
a threat to the “unity and loyalties of the Jew
ish community” for Jewish secular leaders
to engage in religious doctrinal dialogues with
the Christian community. Rabbi Segal feels
that such Jewish participation is a disservice,
damaging and undermining Jewish religious
conJmitment. The other negative counsel is
provided by Rabbi Howard Singer, a Long
Island Rabbi, who, writing in the Saturday
Evening Post, characterizes dialogues between
Christians and Jews on religious differences
as “a farce” and “subtly demeaning to Jews.”
Rabbi Singer observes that “when laymen en
gage in theological dialogue, th©\ cheerfully
exchange superficialities and misinformation.
And when Clergymen and scholars do it, they
gingerly walk around certain topics like infan
trymen poking their way through a mine
field.” Two other rabbis have, independently,
taken sharp issue with these non-dialogue
strictures. Rabbi Balfour Brickner, director of
interfaith activities of the Union of American
Hebrew Congregations, challenges Rabbi Sing
er’s statements, in a reply addressed to the
Saturday Evening Post. It is Rabbi Brickner’s
finding that inter-religious communication is
desirable “even on matters of theology pre
cisely in .order to help Christians understand
why we Jews see our own faith as an ongoing
phenomenon with values for all mankind." Dr.
Seymour Siegel, associate professor of the
ology at the Jewish Theological Seminary of
America, joins Rabbi Brickner in disputing the
Segal-Singer viewpoint. Dr. Siegel makes the
point that ecumenism without dialogue on re
ligious beliefs is absurd. . . While there is an
air of the theoretical about, the viewpoints set
forth by the rabbis resisting interfaith religi
ous dialogue, the positive position rests on
actual experience. Rabbi Brickner, for ex
ample, reports that “we have found a great
eagerness among Christians to learn about
Judaism and a growing willingness to accept
Jewish viewpoints once they understand
them. . . In this tremendously important mat
ter of inter-religious dialogue, it is the yea-
sayers who, in our view, are overwhelmingly
in the right. The fears voiced by the no-sayers
are the fears of timidity, inadequacy, and lack
of confidence; to some extent, perhaps, a resi
due of ghetto diffidence. . . Here in Cleveland
there .has been considerable inter-religious
dialogue activity and we strongly believe it is
all to the good. . .
CLEVELAND JEWISH NEWS
A Tribute to Emanuel Celler
And, in one way or another, they would In
clude every one of us. They would include
every American who has ever benefited from
any piece of liberal legislation passed since
New Deal days. Because Congressman Celler
has supported them all. It is positively fright
ening to think of all the enlightened legislation
that would not now be on the books if the peo
ple of Brooklyn had not sent Emanuel Celler
to Washington in 1923 and had not returned
him with heavy majorities in more than 20
elections since. . .
WILLIAM CROOK ADDRESS, BNAI ZION
EMANUEL CELLER TESTIMONIAL DINNER
FEBRUARY 12
Comparative Israel
Arab Armed Strength
Israel’s regular armed forces normally
number 60,000 to 72,000 men, She has 600 to
800 tanks, many of which are old. The newest
are United States M-48 Patton medium tanks
sent to Israel by the West German Govern
ment. The army also has several hundred self-
propelled guns and howitzers, jeep-mounted,
as well as anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.
Israel’s air strength comprises about 450
planes, including 75 French Mirage 3C fight
ers, some of which are armed with missiles.
The navy is small: two destroyers, a frigate,
four submarines and smaller craft. The United
Arab Republic maintains armed forces of 180,-
000 to 200,000 in peacetime, with a capability
of expanding this to more than 300,000 in war
time. The Egyptian army numbers more than
160,000 men. The UAR has a large amount of
armor—1,200 tanks and self-propelled assault
guns, most of Soviet origin, including 350 T-54
medium tanks and 60 Stalin-III heavy tanks.
The Air Force has more than 500 planes of all
types, including 50 MIG-21 fighters. The navy
operates 6 destroyers, 9 submarines, many
smaller craft and 14 Soviet patrol boats equip
ped with bombardment or antishipping mis
siles of 20-miles range. The Egyptians have
also developed land-based missiles with ranges
of 235 to 440 miles. Syria’s Armed Forces add
up to 61,000 men. It has an air force of 150
planes, including one squadron of 26 MIG-21’s,
and 400 tanks. In Jordan, where American and
British equipment is used, there is a seven-
brigade army totaling 40,000 to 50,000 men. it
has an air force of 50 planes. Iraq maintains a
total military strength of 80,000 men. It has
an air force of 200 planes, including Hunters,
MiG’s and a squadron of IL-28 light bombers. .
The armed forces of the rest of the Arab states
are either too small in number, too backward
in technology, or too pinned down to purely
defensive or internal security duties to play
any major role in the frictions with Israel. On
paper, the collective military power of the
Arab states appears to dwarf that of Israel.
But it is a paper superiority only. Israel has
many advantages, chief among them are pro
fessional leadership and elan. She occupies a
central position; her forces have short dis
tances to move to the defense of her borders;
her enemies are separated bv considerable
distances and have difficult supplv lines. Poli
tically and psychologically, as well as physic
ally, the Arabs are divided; Israel is united’.
Biblical Firsts
Collected By JACOB L. FRIEND
• The FIRST MOTHER was Eve, the wife
of Adam, as we find in Genesis III,2: “and the
man called his wife’s name Eve, because she
was the mother of all living
• The FIRST SHEPHERD was Abel, the son
of Adam mid Eve, and the FIRST FARMER
was Cain, Abel’s brother (Ibidem IV, 2).
• The FIRST MURDERER ivas Cain fib. IV.
8). It was during this first war that one quar
ter of the world’s population was annihilated.
• The FIRST BOATBUILDER ivas Noah
(lb. IV, 14 et al), who built the Ark.
JEWISH
•PURIM
March 26, Sunday
•PASSOVER
April 25, Tuesday
(First Day)
May 2, Tuesday
(Eighth Day)
LAG B’OMER
May 28, Sunday
'•H0MDAY BEGINS
CALENDAR
•SHAVUOT
June 14, Wednesday
•ROSH HASHANA
Oct. 5-6, Thurs.-Fri.
•YOM KIPPUR
October 14, Sat.
SUNDOWN PREVIOUS DAY
The army of those who owe thanks to
Emanuel Celler is not exactly a black tie
crowd. Their ranks include: Every American
who has ever been poor; every citizen who has
been inadequately housed because of racial
discrimination; every worker who has been
denied a job, or a vote, or a courtesy, because
of his race; every senior citizen who has ever
lacked adequate medical attention; every
American who once roamed the world as a
displaced person; every immigrant whose en
try into this promised land was eased by en
lightened immigration laws. Their ranks
would include all these and many more. Their
number would soar into the tens of millions.
• The FIRST TO PRODUCE ARTIFICIAL
FIRE was Adam fTalmud, vol. Pesachim 54)
by hitting two flints together.
• The FIRST SURGERY UNDER ANAS-
THETICS took place when God created Eve
from Adam’s rib (Gen. II, 21, 22.)
• The FIRST PRODUCER OF ALCOHOL
was Noah who planted grapes after the flood,
made wine and often got drunk.
• The FIRST SHLUMIEL was Lemech
(Gen. IV, 23).
• The FIRST MUSICIAN was Jubal, son of
Lemech (lb. IV, 21).
• The FIRST ARTIFICER OF METALS was
Tubal Cain the brother of Jubal.