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Friday, Sapt. 5, 1969
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
THE SOIJTHKRJ^SRAELITE
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The Southern Israelite invites literary contributions and correspond
ence but is not to be considered as sharing the views expressed by
writers. DEADLINE Is 5 P.IWL FRIDAY, but material received earlier
will have a much better chance of publication.
Adolph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Kathleen Nease, Vida Goldgar, Edward M. Kahn
Kathy Wood, Paul Warwick, Harry Rose
Betty Meyer, Gertrude Burnham
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GEORGIA PRESS ASSN.
7 ARTS FEATURES
JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC
AGENCY
WORLD UNION PRESS
A True Spiritual Leader
For several decades, the community of Atlanta has had
the privilege of being the locale of an unusual personage.
He went about his official and personal life as a spiritual
leader in dignity and with professional integrity. To the
hundreds of persons with whom he came in contact, he
imparted a spirit of confidence and modesty. His very pres
ence came to signify a spirit of confidence and sincerity
such as rarely is evidenced. Again and again through the
years, he presented himself in support of every worthwhile
movement. Jewish education, Zionism, philanthropy—you
name it and if it was positive it had his backing—not his
lip-service.
Sometimes a modicum of recognition and merited coved
was meted out his way. But rarely. He did not require
such rewards, his constancy clearly proved. If it had come,
he would have accepted it. But it did not and he did not
make it a condition for his support. The rewards he received
instead were the intrinsic values he found in the very es
sence of the purposefulness of the movements themselves.
He often unobstrusively appeared and took a back seat
unnoticed by the me. But his presence was noted by the
rank and file. The people saw. The people knew.
As spiritual leader of the relatively small Sephardic
congregation, he often found himself called upon as a
“moreh,” a teacher in the religious school of his congrega
tion. He also had to serve most of the times as a ‘‘Baal
Tefilah,” a reader of the service and a “Hazan” who would
chant the services.
The only Kohen among the Atlanta rabbinate, there
were observant restrictions to certain of his congregational
duties. But his charges were accommodating and respected
the specifics of his piety and practice.
He held the “unofficial” position of being the commun
ity “Sofer,” a recognition for his special talents as Hebrew
caligrapher. Often when Torahs were donated to congre
gations, he it was who officially presided as persons were
called to the Bimah to finish the final words on the scroll.
As the years sped by, some of his colleagues gave him
the beloved appellation of “rabbi’s rabbi.” This was at once
a tribute to his great piety and devotion to the principles
of Judaism.
The decades have passed and the time came last season
for a successor to be chosen and for him to step down
from the active rabbinical leadership of his congregation.
No wonder that Or VeShalom members and the Jewish
community at large will turn out en mass this Sunday
evening at the Community Center to pay tribute to Rabbi
Joseph Cohen.
This event could be billed as an outstanding honor
in recognition of his many years of service to Or VeShalom
and the many community causes. To us rather it is belated
acknowledgement of the honor Rabbi Cohen has given this
community by the inspiration over the years of his dis
tinctive career.
Boris Smolar
BETWEEN YOU AND ME
ISRAELI IMPRESSIONS
Visiting the front lines in Israel and talking
with Israeli generals in the field as well as with
government leaders such as Golda Meir and Deputy
Premier Yigal Allon one comes to the conclusion
that the Arab rulers will not risk a war against
Israel this year, despite the provocations by Jordan
and the occasional “duels” on land and in the air
with Egypt at the Suez Canal
Israel will not start a full-fledged war, although
the Israeli armed forces are prepared for the pos
sibility. The Arab rulers, on the other hand, are
aware that they have no chance to win a wiar
with Israel now. So do Nasser’s Soviet military ad
visers.
The Israeli intelligence apparatus prides itself
on knowing exactly what the present strength is
of the Arab military forces. Israel knows, for in
stance, that Egypt now has more warplanes than
she had at the outbreak of the Six Day War.
Israel also knows the type, the quality, and the
quantity of other weapons supplied to the Arab
countries by the Soviet Union since the Six Day
War. She- is well informed of the role that Soviet
military instructors play in training the Egyptians.
She kpows that one can' now find a Soviet officer
attached to every Egyptian military unit, even small
as a battalion.
The prevailing opinion among the top Israeli
military commanders is that Nasser will think twice
before deciding on a “fourth round.” Israeli com
manders are certain that Israel would win a
“fourth round.” This is clear to Nasser and his
Soviet military experts and no surprise attack on
Israel is therefore expected this year.
MILITARY AIM
None in the Israel high command believe that
Israel could win a new war in only six days. The
aim of Israeli’s military leaders is to shorten the
length of time that may be required for the com
plete defeat of the enemy in the event of any
new war. And this, they think they can achieve.
Nasser and his Soviet military advisers learned
one thing from the Egyptian air attacks carried out
during the last few weeks in the Suez Canal area.
They were convinced that while the Soviet-equipp
ed Egyptian Air Force is larger than ever, it cannot
compare in quality to the Israeli flyers. In the
recent air duels, the Egyptians lost about 40 So
viet MIGs while Israel lost only three planes, two
of them on anti-aircraft fire.
Foreign military experts with whom I spoke in
Israel, are of the opinion that Egyptian pilots,
though trained by Russians, do not compare with
Israeli combat fliers. The Israeli pilots demonstrate
greater initiative at critical moments. Arab fliers fly
“by the book.” When an unforeseen situation de
velops, the Egyptian fliers become confused and
try to escape or are shot down.
Israel’s command of the sky is alone a suffici
ent deterrent to a possible full-scale war. When
Israel now receives its U. S. “Phantoms,” the pos
sibility of a new Arab war will recede even more.
Modern weapons in the hands of the Israelis are
considered the best guarantee that Nasser will not
start the “fourth round” for which he is being
pressed by extremists in his own ranks.
THE SECURITY PICTURE
Israel does not think in terms of starting a war.
But its leaders are determined to retaliate against
the terrorist incidents on the Jordanian and other
fronts, and against Egyptian “pinpricks” in the
Suez area. The Israeli military replies forcefully
in the border incidents but does not consider these
incidents as a war challenge. They regard the shoot
ings' as a demonstration of Arab weakness rather
than strength; they are intended to bolster Arab
morale and are directed mainly against Israeli civil
ians in the border area.
But I found no fear among the members of the
kibbutzim who are exposed to the enemy’s fire. None
of them intends to .leave his kibbutz, and life
goes on there as usual.
Israel could destroy Jordanian positions and vil
lages from which terrorists fire on the Jewish set
tlements. However, it exercises restraint. From
time to time Israeli forces act against terrorist
nests. But they employ far less force than they are
capable of wielding.
Israeli leaders—civilian and military—believe
that the country is now more secure than ever be
cause of the new borders won in the Six Day War.
Prior to the War, Egyptian bombers were only a
few minutes away from Tel Aviv. Today, with the
Israel army at the Suez Canal, Egyptian planes
would have to penetrate Israeli defenses over Sinai
to reach Tel Aviv. It is a 25-minute flight which
even the best Egyptian pilot cannot undertake with
out coming under heavy fire from ground or air.
The situation is similar with Jordan and Syria.
The strategic position of Israel has changed vis-a-
vis those countries. The Israeli Army is close
enough to Damascus, to occupy the Syrian capital
within four hours. ,
Israelis then believe they can hold the present
borders until Arab rulers are inclined to talk pace.
They are probably right.
Copyright, 1969, JTA
AMERICAN NEWS REPOR ....by Ben Galiob
Jewish Prison Inmates Faithfully
Attend Sabbath Services
A rabbi serving as a prison
chaplain at a federal penetent-
iary has reported that all of the
Jewish inmates usually attend
the weekly Sabbath Services he
conducts in contrast to a survey
finding that very few of them at
tended services even once a year
before their incarceration.
The psychology and Jewish be
havior of such inmates was de
scribed by Rabbi Bernard M.
Cohen of Terre Haute, Indiana,
in a recent issue of the Bulletin
of the Chicago Board of Rabbis.
Rabbi Cohen did not identify the
penal institution but it was as
sumed to be the federal pen-
etentiary at Terre Haute. Rabbi
Cohen reported that the number
of such inmates is usually small
and that such Jews usually are
involved in crimes categorized as
“white collar,” involving fraud
“and other areas of manipula
tion, usually on paper,” rather
than crimes of violence.
Efforts to plan religious and
other pastoral services, Rabbi
Cohen noted, must deal with the
fact that Jewish inmates are
JEWISH CALENDAR
♦ROSH IIASHANA
Sept. 13-14
Saturday-Sunday
*YOM KIPPIJR
Sept. 22, Monday
‘SUKKOT v,
Sept. 27, 28 r
Saturday-Sunday
•SIIEMINI ATZERET
Oct. 4, Saturday
•SIMIIAT TORAH
Oct. 5, Sunday
•HANITKA
Dec. 5-12
•HOLIDAY BEGINS
SUNDOWN PREVIOUS DAY
often persons with college degre
es and with social contacts “in
the highest circles.” Such prison
ers, unlike “the usual inmate
who denies his guilt,” admit their
guilt.
Rabbi Cohen said that the cen
tral aspect of his program was
the regular weekly Sabbath ser
vices, adding that the regularity
of these services was essential
because “the habit-forming qual
ity” of attendance “becomes a
central pivot-point for the men
and the program.” Rabbi Cohen,
who is a Reform rabbi, said the
sectarian religious approach in
his program was insignificant,
explaining that “the mere fact
that Hebrew is an integral part
of the service and that the Torah
is read, serves for a spiritual,
prayerful kinship.”
He reported that the skullcap
and the prayershawl also were
essential for the function of sep
arating, for the prisoners, “the
mundane from the holy.” He add
ed that this was attested to by the
fact that it was not unusual for
25 inmates ot come to a service
“insisting upon wearing the skull
cap and the prayershawl so as to
feel the special quality of the
s e r v i ce.” He described as
“another intersting statistic” the
fact that “a large number of the
men, after departing from the
penal institution, do maintain
congregational affiliations as
well as some regularity in at
tending religious services.”
Another phase of the religious
program is the holiday table.
Rabbi Cohen stressed it was not
so much the nature of the holi
day foods for the occasion which
mattered as the fact that the in
mates assembled “as a com
munity, as a family.” He said that
the table also represented to the
Jewish inmate “a link in the
chain which binds him together
with the ‘outside’ society.” The
cooperation of the recognized
Jewish organizations which help
to provide the foods, such as the
Chicago Board or Rabbis, “re
presents an additional dimension
and transfer of values for the
inmate who returns home. He
now has the opportunity of part
icipating and assisting ‘the fam
ily’ by contributing through the
agency, so that holidays and
other programs are maintained
at the institution" from which
he has been discharged.
He described as “the third and
most appreciated” program for
the Jewish inmates “a quarterly
retreat which draws a large at
tendance from the general in
stitution. The usual program
consists of a film of Jewish con
tent, followed by discussion, a
speaker on a current Jewish
topic, a box luncheon and a book
review on a theme of Jewish in
terest.” The five hour programs
represent “a new kind of cul
tural and social experience
which these men never shared
before in the routing of their
‘civilian’ life,” Rabbi Cohen
declared.
Special facilities include a
Jewish library and literature
rack provided through govern
ment funds and Jewish agencies
which are consistently used by
Jewish inmates who show a
strong desire to know about
Jewish activities. Because of
this interest, Rabbi Cohen re
ported, he saves and makes
available to the rack his weekly
Temple Bulletins, the monthly
magazines from Jewish organ
izations and “any other publica
tions and material which I re
ceive.” He cited specifically as
among such material which the
Jewish inmates read the daily
news reports of the Jewish Tel
egraphic Agency.
One special problem Rabbi
Continued on page 5