Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Israelite
A Weekly
Vol. XU ll
Drug Leaders
Many Jewish
Newspaper for Southern Jewry -
Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, September 27, 1968
Claim Israel Of fit
Users No War, No
Established,
I'eace
No. 39
NEW YORK (JTA)—An Orth
odox rabbi reported that he had
been told by Timothy Leary, the
self-appointed leader of the
“fulfillment-through drugs” phi
losophy, that there were many
more Jewish youth in the ranks
of the hippies than had general
ly been reported and that the
number of Jewish students
among his followers was “very
extensive.” Rabbi Irving S.
Borvick, spiritual leader of the
Young Israel of Syracuse, re
ported on the conversation with
Dr. Leary in the current issue
of the Young Israel Viewpoint.
The rabbi reported that soon af
ter he and Dr. Leary began
their conversation, during a
Leary visit to lecture at Syra
cuse University, the drug phi
losopher was “surrounded by six
adoring young people. Three of
the six were Jewish. One long
haired young Jew travelled all
the way from Toronto to meet
his hero.” Jewish membership
in the fading hippie enclave at
Haight-Asbury in San Francis
co has generally been estimated
at about 25 percent. Dr. Leary
told Rabbi Borvick that he be
lieved the Jewish proportion
was closer to 40 percent.
Rabbi Borvick said he had
asked Dr. Leary why the latter
felt that Jewish youth were in
volved in such activities and
that Dr. Leary replied that
“young Jewish men and wom
en are very thoughtful and gen
erally Jewish people are in the
forefront of any avant-gard
movement. Dr. Leary also as
serted, according to Rabbi Bor
vick, that “many of the Jewish
flower children have joined the
hippie movement out of the re
jection of the sham and hypoc
risy of their parents’ life” and
that “the Jewish home has lo6t
most of its original vitality and
its spirituality has been dulled.”
He suggested that the parents
of the modern Jewish youth had
lived and struggled through a
severe economic depression and
were over-concerned with ma
terial advantages, but that their
children, “born after 1940, are
not interested in joining the
quest for more cars, more mach
ines and more material things.”
The rabbi quoted Dr. Leary as
telling him that “the Seder ri
tual and the question ‘why is
this night different’ — that’s
powerful, man but the kids have
turned away from their homes
and there is now something
else that is turning them on.
Rabbi, don’t you know what
your kids are taking? They are
smoking marijuana.”
Commenting on the interview,
ment,’ which promises them
"instant happiness” through ma
rijuana and “instant religion”
through LSD, peyote and mes
caline. He added that the chal
lenge to Judaism was to con
vince the young people that “as
it comes, it goes, and there is no
eternity, no substance in this es
capist philosophy.” He said the
Jewish community “must pro
vide a setting both in the home,
the school and the synagogue
which will be conducive to the
achievement of a true and last
ing Kedusha” (holiness) which
he said was Judaism’s path to
motivating Jews to “cope with
social ills and transform this
earthly society into a holy so
ciety” rather than to follow
Leary’s advice to drop out of
society.’
JERUSALEM (JTA)— Israeli
officials were understood to
have come to the conclusion
that Egypt was seeking neither
a major confrontation nor a
peaceful settlement with Israel
at this time. Informed sources
said that Egypt’s military esca
lation along the Suez Canal In re
cent weeks appeared aimed at
creating new pressure for Is
rael’s withdrawal from the east
bank of the Canal, possibly for
a partial settlement to permit
reopening the CanaL Is
rael remains firm on the posi
tion that such withdrawal can
take place only in the context
of a formal peace treaty open
ing the waterway to passage for
ships of all countries, including
Israel.
The sources also indicated a
belief that the world and the
United Nations have not shown
any greater acceptance of Is
rael’s presence on the canal
than they did 15 months ago
but, from Israel’s security pos
ition, the situation was consid-
erd better now than after the
1956 Sinai campaign when the
UN, backed by the United
States, demanded Israeli with
drawal under implied threat of
sanctions. Israel’s arguments at
the forthcoming session of the
UN General Assembly accord
ingly will be to press for peace
based on contractual agree
ments and to expose Egyptian
responsibility for lack of prog-
gress toward peace.
Meanwhile a Cairo dispatch
by tlifc^London Daily Telegraph
indicated little evidence in the
Egyptian capital of a widely re
ported “war fever.” Correspon
dent Eric Downton said Cairo
was as normal as it had been at
any time since the June 1967
Fortas Fight Producing
Anti-Semitic Overtones
NEW YORK, (JTA) — An of
ficial of the American Jewish
Committee said this week that
“we do not view the Fortas
case as being rooted in anti-
Semitism but it seems clear that
anti-Semites and extremists are
exploiting and aggravating it.”
Nathan Perlmutter associate di
rector of the AJ Committee’s
trends and analysis division, of
fered the comment in connection
with a report he made public
that charged extremist groups of
the far right with a major role
in stirring up opposition to
President Johnson’s appointment
of Abe Fortas as Chief Justice of
the United States.
“While Mr. Fortas’ faith has
not figured in the' statements of
either rightwing or moderate
opponents of his appointment
this has not been the case with
organizations of the nation’s
overtly anti-Semitic movement,”
Mr. Perlmutter said. The right-
wing groups, many of whose
leaders publicly testified against
the confirmation of Mr. Fortas,
allege that the Associate Justice
is a Communist or Communist
sympathizer, according to the
APCommittee report. Among
these groups and individuals are
the racist-tinged Liberty Lobby,
the John Birch Society, the Con
servative Society of America,
founded by John Birch member
Kent Courtney, Dan Smoot,
publisher of the extremist right-
wing Dan Smoot Report, and
other extremist groups such as
“We The People” and “Let
Freedom Ring.” The appoint
ment also has been attacked in
vicious anti-Semitic terms by
the American Nazi Party, now
masquerading as the National
Socialist White People’s Party,
the Nazi-like National States
Rights Party, the United Klans
for America, and the veteran
WALTHAM, MASS. — Ford
Foundation President McGeorge
Bundy will be the principal
speaker on Saturday, Oct. 5,
during weekend ceremonies
which will culminate on Sun
day, Oct. 6, in the inaguration of
Morris Berthold Abram as sec
ond President of Brandeis Uni
versity.
A former special assistant to
Presidents Kennedy and Johnson,
Mr. Bundy will address dele
gates from academic institutions
and societies at a noon luncheon
at the Brandeis Faculty Center.
President Abram, a noted New
York attorney and United Na
tions diplomat, succeeds Dr.
Abram L. Sachar, who is now
serving as University Chancel
lor.
Highlights of the three-day
(Oct. 4-6) inaugural weekend
will include symposia, dinners
hate-monger, Gerald L. K.
Smith, the AJCommittee report
said.
In Washington, Sen. Joseph
S. Clark, Pennsylvania Demo
crat, warned that anti-Semitism
“is definitely playing apart in
the opposition” to the nomina
tion. The Senator likened the
Continued on page 5
and luncheons and an inagural
ball.
Racism, the draft, campus
riots and university governance
will be topics for discussion dur
ing the several symposia.
Among those participating in
the symposia will be Burke
Marshall, former chairman of
the President’s Commission on
the Draft; Presidential News
Secretary George E. Reedy; Jac
queline Grennan, president of
Webster College; author and
civil rights leader Bayard Rus-
tin; Harris Wofford, president of
the State University of New
York at Old Westbury; and Fred
Hechinger, education editor of
The New York Times.
President and Mrs. Abram will
preside at an Inaugural Ball to
be held Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at
the Sheraton-Boston Hotel.
Brandeis U. Reads
Abram Inaugural
war. He added that the “Of
ficial Egyptian attitude” was
one of hope for a peaceful so
lution through the Security
Council Nov. 22, 1967 resolu
tion which sent Swedish diplo
mat Gunnar Jarring to the Mid
dle East.
Agreement that a new war
with Egypt was not imminent
was expressed by Israel’s top
military leaders—Defense Min
ister Moshe Dayan and Chief of
Staff Chaim Bar-Lev. Gen.
Dayan spoke at a Labor party
meeting. Gen. Bar-Lev spoke
in a radio interview. Gen.
Dayan warned Egypt not to
make the “fatal mistake” of
trying to leap across” the Suez
Canal, adding he did not think
the Egyptians would try but Is
rael must remain alert. He said
Israel must be ready for a pos
sible war and that it could not
halt preparations for conflict
“even if hostilities do not break
out immediately.” He said also
that if the United States stood
fast in support of Middle East
calm, “the Russians will not in
tervene and risk a confrontation
with the United States.”
Gen. Bar-lev said that Israel’s
re-armament since the 1967 war
was “satisfactory,” except in
advanced design aircraft, a ref
erence apparently to Israel’s
long-delayed request for F-4
Phantom Jet warplanes from
the United States. He said such
aircraft were needed for their
“deterrent image.” He also said
Israel had much more military
power than before the 1967 war
and said Israel’s present general
deployment could “repulse any
aggressor.”
Commissioner
Reelected Hillel
NATHAN JAY
Regional Jewish Education
Parley Called For Nov. 12-13
Rabbi Borvick agreed that
young Jewish men and women
were “maturing within a civili
zation which is strongly influ
enced by the psychedelic move-’
Mrs. Leifer Heads
Mizrachi Women
NEW YORK (JTA) _ The
Mizrachi Women’s Organiza
tion of America re-elected Mrs.
Aaron Leifer, of Brooklyn, N.Y.,
as its national president at the
close of its 43rd annual conven
tion, and adopted a budget of
$1,495,000 „to continue and ex
pand its child care, youth ali-
yah. education and social serv
ice programs in Israel.
A Southern Regional Confer
ence on Jewish Education will
be held for community lay
leaders on Tuesday and Wed
nesday, November 12 and 13, at
the Jewish Community Center
at Atlanta, it was announced
by Isadore Breslau, president of
the American Association for
Jewish Education.
The Conference theme is
“Community Responsibility: The
More Effective Way For Jew
ish Education.” The aim of the
Conference is to focus the at
tention of the lay leadership of
Jewish communities in the
South on the crucial importance
of Jewish education and to mo
bilize the resources of those
agencies most intimately con
cerned with Jewish education.
The Conference sessions will
deal with an analysis of the
status and problems of Jewish
education in the South and will
propose successful communal
approaches for enhancing the
effectiveness and quality of
Jewish education.
The opening plenary session
of the conference will take place
Tuesday evening followed by
concurrent workshop sessions
on Wednesday morning. These
sessions will deal with major
educational areas of direct in
terest to southern communities.
Workshop summaries and con
ference resolutions will be pre
sented at Wednesday’s conclud
ing lunch session. Opportunities
will be provided for consulta
tion with lay leaders of individ
ual communities. - •
WASHINGTON — At the re
cent B’nai B’rith International
Convention here, Nathan Jay of
Athens, Ga. was reelected to the
Hillel Commission.
Owner of Jay’s Department
Store in Commerce, Ga., Mr.
Jay makes his home in Athens.
He has been widely active and
prominent in development of
Hillel at the University of Geor
gia and with other Jewish
movements. He will serve a full
three-year term.
He has been a member of
B’nai B’rith for 18 years and
at one time headed the Geor
gia Association of B’nai. B’rith^—-
Lodges. He succeeded the late
Hyman Jacobs of Atlanta as the
group’s perennial treasurer.