Newspaper Page Text
Vol. XLIII
The Southern Israelite
A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry — Established 1925
Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, December 20, 1968
No. 31
Spain Formally Rescinds
1492 Expulsion Decree
Dayan Outlines Concessions
Possible for Mideast Peace
MADRID (JTA) — The Gov
ernment of Spain has finally
publicly rescinded the 476-year-
old edict of King Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella that expelled
Jews from Spain in 1492. A
document to that effect was
presented by the Ministry of
Justice on Friday to Samuel
Toledano, vice president of the
Madrid Jewish community, who
is a direct descendant of Rabbi
Daniel Toledano, the Rabbi of
Toledo at the time of the ex
pulsion.
It was formally read from the
pulpit of Madrid’s new syna
gogue, the first Jewish house of
worship to be built in the Spanish
capital since the 14th century.
The synagogue which will serve
Madrid’s 2,500 Jews, was conse
crated today in colorful cere
monies attended by more than
600 leaders of the local com
munity and rabbis and Jewish
dignitaries from London, New
York and Buenos Aires. They
were joined by representatives
of the Government, the Madrid
municipality and by Roman
Catholic, Greek Orthodox and
Protestant churchmen.
The document acknowledged
the legal entity of the Madrid
Jewish community and placed on
record the fact that the expulsion
edict was abrogated Jjy the Con
stitution of 1859 ana by subse
quent laws. But until now it was
not publicly endorsed by a
Spanish Government. It repeals
the long-standing regulation that
required Jews to obtain official
permission to hold religious
services.
The new synagogue opened its
doors officially when Rabbi
Benito Gershon of Madrid affixed
a mezuza to the doorpost. Seven
teen Tora scrolls were carried
into the synagogue by elders of
the community. The edifice con
tains a main sanctuary seating
550 persons, classrooms, recrea
tion rooms and a smaller chanel.
It cost $250,000, part of which
was raised by the local commun
ity over the past four years and
the balance of $150 000 provided
bv the Joint Distribution Com
mittee and the Conference on
Jewish Material Claims Against
Germany which allocates funds
for the restoration of Europe
Jewish communities destroyed
during the Hitler era.
Present at the ceremonies were
Max Mazin, president of the
Madrid Jewish community; Theo
dore Feder, associate director-
general of the Joint Distribution
Committee; Dr. Salomon Gaon,
of London; Claude Kelman, chair
man of the European Council of
J e w i s h Community Services;
Rabbi Kohana of Argentina; Wil
liam Nahmias, president of the
World Sephardic Federation, and
representatives of the New York
Board of Rabbis, the American
Jewish Committee and the World
Jewish Congress.
Speaking on behalf of the Jew
ish community, Mr. Mazin noted
that the Jewish population of
Spain has grown over the past
ten years from 3,000 to 8,000 and
Groups Aid Interfaith Effort
To Aid Starving Biafrans
NEW YORK (JTA)—A plane
carrying 40 tons of food and
machines, dispatched from New
York Sunday by the Catholic Re
lief Services, Protestant Church
World Service and the American
Jewish Emergency Effort for Bi-
afran Relief, was to arrive at the
Island of San Tome Tuesday.
The supplies will be flown into
Biafra on the nighttime air-shut
tles operated by Joint Church
Aid, a composite group of Cath
olic and Protestant relief agen
cies. The Jewish group repres
ents 21 major national Jewish or
ganizations. It paid the $40,000
cost of the charter flight. It prev
iously contributed $38,000 to
Catholic emergency programs for
Biafra and sponsored a series of
newspaper ads throughout the
country.
Abie Nathan, the Israeli “peace
flyer,” is coordinating the dis
patch of a Norwegian freighter
from New York carrying 3,000
tons of food and medical supplies
to relieve starvation in Biafra.
The dispatch of the ship is a
combined operation of groups in
14,000 Polish Jews
Seek Emigration
LONDON (JTA) — Fourteen
thousand of Poland’s 25,000 Jews
have registered for emigration
and about 3,000 have already left
the country in the wake of a
continuing anti-Semitic campaign
and a series of "show trials” in
which most of the accused are
Jews, an authority on Polish
Jewry reported here.
The disclosures were made by
Dr. S. J. Roth, director of the
Institute of Jewfsh Affairs at a
press conference sponsored by
the Institute and the World
Jewish Congress.
Holland, England, Canada and
the United States. About 1,000
tons of food from Israel, Holland,
Sweden and Israel will be load
ed aboard in Amsterdam. The
ships will leave there on Dec. 19
for New York and will sail from
New York for San Tome in Jan
uary. Shuttle flights from that
island will convey the cargo to
Biafra. Total cost of the project,
which is sponsored here by the
Biafra Relief Services Founda
tion, is estimated at $460,000.
Hanuka Fete
For Israel Bonds
NEW YORK (JTA)—More than
20,000 people filled Madison
Square Garden Monday for the
first performance of the annual
Hanuka Festival for Israel Bonds.
The festival celebrated the 75th
birthday of Edward G. Robinson,
the actor, who appeared on the
program. A message of greeting
from Prime Minister Levi Eshkol,
read to the gathering praised Mr.
Robinson for his participation in
the bond drive for more than 15
years.
Award To Salo Baron
WASHINGTON (JTA)— Prof.
Salo W. Baron, noted Jewish his
torian, has been named to re
ceive the 1969 Jewish Heritage
Award given by B’nai B'rith for
“excellence in Jewish literature.”
The $1,000 will be presented at
the annual meeting of the B’nai
B’rith Commission on Adult Jew
ish Education in New York on
Jan. 19. Dr. Baron, 73, professor
emeritus at Columbia University,
is best-known for his monumen
tal 12-volume, “Social and Re
ligious History of the Jews.”
in Madrid from 300 in 1959 to
more than 2,500 today. He attri
buted the growth in part to the
immigration of Jews from former
Spanish Morocco, descendants of
Spanish Jews who fled from
Spain to North Africa in the 15th
Century. They have developed a
whole range of community serv
ices, including synagogues, day
schools, vacation camps, two
youth clubs and Talmud Torah
classes. Mr. Mazin said these de
velopments had to be viewed in
the context of the gradual libera
lization of the Spanish Govern
ment’s policy toward religious
minorities which has developed
from “a climate of tolerance”
that began after the first World
War and culminated in the grant
ing of religious freedom to all
minorities by the Constitution of
1966.
Tekoah Doesn't Like
‘E ven-H andedness’
In Peace Dispute
NEW YORK (JTA)—Ambassa
dor Yosef Tekoah of Isfael re
jected the concept of “even-
handedness” advanced last week
by former Gov. William W.
Scranton as a principle of Amer
ican policy toward the Middle
East.
Addressing the annual dinner-
dance of Hadassah, the Women’s
Zionist Organization of America,
Mr. Tekoah said, “There can be
no even-handedness when the
choice is between Israel’s simple
demand for respect of its rights
and the attempt by the Arab
states to vindicate their own
rights while vitiating Israel.
Peace-loving governments cannot
remain uncommitted in such a
situation.”
He said, “It is right to take
sides under circumstances. It is
right to strengthen Israel in its
struggle for peace. It is right to
give no encouragement and no
solace to the Arab states in their
hostility and extremism,” he said.
The Ambassador did not mention
Gov. Scranton by name.
$2,700,000 Pledged
For Haifa Institute
NEW YORK (JTA) — Gifts
totalling $2,700,000 to the Haifa
Institute of Technology were an
nounced at a national dinner here
of the American Teehnion So
ciety, which supports the Haifa
institute. Among the gifts was
one for $250,000 from Julius
Silver, a Manhattan attorney, for
a bio-medical engineering school.
Charles Frost, retired business
executive and philanthropist,
gave $300,000. The funds will be
allocated for various purposes,
including expansion of the Insti
tute’s school for computer sci
ences.
Specialist Makes Survey
For Uipan Courses
NEW \ORK (JTA)—A Hebrew
University expert on teacher
training in conducting a survey
of uipan programs—intensive He
brew language courses — in the
United States with the intention
of establishing such courses in
communities where they do not
exist.
The survey by Aharon Rosen
was undertaken on behalf of the
Jewish Agency American Section
according to Dr. A. P. Gannes,
director of its department of ed
ucation and culture.
NEW YORK (JTA) — Israel’s
Defense Minister Gen. Moshe
D„yan told a nationwide televi
sion audience that Israel was
prepared to give up “lots” of
territory as the price of peace
with its neighbors and affirmed
that his country was prepared to
negotiate a permanent border
with each of its neighbors.
He declared that Israel was
eager to change the present
cease-fire lines to permanent
boundaries and was ready to
work out all the details from
maps at the negotiating table.
Interviewed on the program “Is
sues and Answers” on the Ameri
can Broadcasting Co. network,
Gen. Dayan said Israel wants
peace and relations with its
neighbors. “We want to negotiate
the borders. We do not want to
go back to the old borders. We
want new lines,” he said.
Much of the interview covered
the ground of his speech last
Saturday night at the United
Jewish Appeal dinner here, with
Gen. Dayan reiterating his belief
that the U.S. could improve its
relationships with the Arab states
without having to do so at the
expense of Israel. He said he
did not think the U.S. would
discard old friendships to buy
new ones.
To one of a series of wide-
ranging questions, as to what the
U.S. could do to assure Middle
East peace, Gen. Dayan said a
year and a half ago the U.S. told
the Soviet Union “if you go in,
we go in.” This approach, he
said, proved effective.
Gen. Dayan visibly showed
anger when he was asked about
Arab charges of atrocities and
mistreatment of the Arab popula
tion of the occupied areas. “Not
one Arab civilian has been
killed,” he exclaimed. He chal
lenged his questioner to provide
photographs or other evidence of
Israeli misdeeds as charged by
the Arabs.
Addressing more than 3,00#
delegates to the 30th national
conference of the United Jewish
Appeal here, Gen. Dayan said,
“Soviet policy in the area la
causing us considerable conoem.
The Soviets are supplying Egypt
and Syria with great amounts of
arms and armaments and are
inciting them as well as training
and organizing their forces.” He
warned that “such a Soviet
policy can lead the Arabs, it
they get the green light and
promised support from the
Soviets, to resume the waiJ
Gen. Dayan said Israel wanted
“peace in place of the armistice
agreements” and “new and secure
borders in place of the old armis
tice lines.” He declared (hat
Israel “has no confidence in
United Nations peace - keeping
forces as a means of insuring (he
rights of navigation through the
Straits of Tiran.”
Gen. Dayan said the Arabs
recognize that they have ne
chance of victory in an all-out-
war — “thus the artillery attacks
along the Suez Canal and the
Jordanian attempts to harass our
settlements in the Jordan Valley,”
He said the U.S. could prevent
another war and lay the ground
work for peace by “providing
two elements which Israel can
not do "T5y itself — supplying
weapons which we cannot pro
duce and discouraging the Rus
sians from intervening in (he
area.”
Gen. Dayan paid a courtesy
call on President-elect Nixon ad
the latter’s Hotel Pierre head
quarters in New York. Emerging
after a half-hour meeting, he told
newsmen he was confident that
there would be no diminution of
U.S. support for Israel, adding,
“Certainly not after this morn
ing's meeting.”