Newspaper Page Text
ment with religion.” The Court
ruled 5
aiHl^^^^^iW^wittconstl-
tutional, except for the provis
ion limiting religious-use res
trictions to 20 years. That pro
vision allowed for public aid
for construction of facilities at
lem. The paper said he left Is
rael on the night of Jdne 18-19
and newsmen «t the airport
that i was seen—OTT
The spokesman for Torah
Umesorah, the National Society
the newspaper Yediot Achronot
he was met at the airport hy
odox organization, called the
ruling “a keen disappointment to
everyone who has been strug
gling to achieve equal educa
tional choice for all citizens.”
He said he hoped New York
The Soother*' Israel
A Weekly Newspaper for S
Vol. XLVI
Atlanta, Georgia, Fride- v|y.
1
Does Newsman’s Visit M c
Israel-Red Diplomatic mj
.*
ry - Established 1925
Two Sections—12 Pages
No. 27
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The
Jewish Teiegraphic Agency
learned from reliable sources
that the recent visit to Israel of
Victor Louis, a Russian jour
nalist known to carry out mis
sions for Soviet authorities, was
for the purpose of probing Is
rael’s willingness to remove its
relations with Moscow from the
deep freeze in which they have
languished since the June, 1967
Six-Day War.
Despite emphatic denials by
the Foreign Ministry that any
such contacts have occurred,
the JTA learned that a request
by Louis for an audience with
Premier Golda Meir was the
subject of deliberations by the
Cabinet’s defense committee.
Its decision was to let Louis
see Mrs. Meir’s political adviser,
Simcha Dinitz, a close confi
dant of the Premier in whom
she has unlimited trust.
The committee’s reason for
rejecting a direct meeting was
unclear but sources said it was
because the ministers feared a
“leak” to the news media which
might be “misinterpreted,” the
JTA learned. There were no
details available of Louis’ talk
with Dinitz.
Louis, 47, is Moscow corres
pondent of the London Daily
Mail. He arrived at Lydda Air
port from Helsinki via Cyprus
on June 13 bearing a Soviet
service passport, the kind issued
only to persons travelling on
official business.
The Foreign Ministry dv
the whole affair until when it
issued a long statement asserting
that Louis applied for and was
granted a visa to come to Israel
for health reasons. The Ministry
statement said he remained in
the country for one week in
June during which time he met
with several acquaintances who
had served at the Israeli Em
bassy in Moscow before diplo
matic relations were broken.
The Ministry statement admitt
ed that Dinitz was one of the
people Louis met but insisted
that Louis had “no official
standing whatsoever nor did he
claim to have any.”
The Ministry statement add
ed that “consequently the con
versations with him did not
bear the character of negotia
tions and the reports alleging
that negotiations between the
Israel government and the So
viet government have taken
place or are taking place are
without foundation."
Observers here were quick to
point out that the Ministry was
denying something nobody
claimed, namely that negotia
tions were going on between
Israel and Russia or that Louis
was here in a governmental or
any other capacity. According
to Yediot Achronot, Louis check
ed into the Samuel Hotel in Tel
Aviv under his 'own name and
made several visits to Jerusa
lem. The
Million Loss to Day Schools
Seen in High Court Ban
NEW YORK (JTA) — The
unanimous U. S. Supreme Court
ruling against almost all forms
of government aid to non-pub
lic schools poses the prospect of
an annual loss in such aid to
Jewish day schools, in one area
alone, totalling at least $30 mil
lion, according to a preliminary
and informal estimate by a
spokesman for a national agency
for such schools. In the 9 to 0
decision on cases from Rhode
Island and Pennsylvania, initi
ated and argued by the Amer
ican Jewish Congress, the Su
preme Court declared that such
aid would foster “an excessive
government entanglement with
religion” The Rhode Island cases
involved a 15 percent wage sup
plement to teachers of secular
subjects in parochial schools. In
the Pennsylvania cases, the High
Court reversed a lower court
ruling which had upheld the
constitutionality of the state’s
purchases-of-services formulas.
The High Court also held that
public aid to private schools
would have “divisive potential,”
a view repeatedly advanced by
the AJCongress in its fight
against such government aid,
and reiterated by the organi
zation’s legal counsel in com
menting on the Supreme Court
decision.
NJCRAC Draws Fix on Issues
Facing US Jewish Communities
By ADOLPH ROSENBERG
Observer for tbs American Jewish Press Association at the June
23-27 sessions of the NJCRAC. Mr. Rosenberg, editor and publisher
of The Southern Israelite, Atlanta, is former president of the AJPA
and a current vice president
Several hundred leaders from
a hundred Jewish communities
and national organizations Sun
day concluded a four-day con
ference on where American
Jews stand today on current is
sues.
These included a gamut of
such topics as traditional as
Jewish youth, Jewish education
and Israel to timely topics like
publication of classified U.S.
documents and Soviet Jewry.
Decisions reached at the Ple
nary Sessions of the National
Jewish Community Relations
Advisory Council will serve as
guidelines when problems arise
for action in the communities
where there are organized
groups who tackle some sort of
solution.
Men and women who consti
tute community relations bodies
in the various cities do not have
a contractual agreement to ac
cept the premises whacked out
at the Atlanta sessions but these
indicate the joint thinking of
what the attitudes ought to be
in the best interest of Jewish
people. In a way, the NJCRAC
is a kind of an adrenal set-uj)
for Jewish communities. It
sends out warning signals—even
sometimes in advance.
Through the accumulated ex
perience of groups and leader
ship, the agency has created a
storehouse of rationale and facts
and figure* on what the Jewish
stance is—or might be.
Individual community bodies
may accept, reject or adapt the
accepted opinions as they deem
wise and expedient.
The Council has provided “a
priori” material to alert and
permit local communities to
get immediately into action in
an arena of sensitivity as un
charted and tenuous as the en
tire field of public relations, and
public opinion itself.
Because of the divergence of
opinion existing within the
organized Jewish community of
the nation, the guidelines are not
always as contemporary as some
delegates would wish.
In Atlanta, after attempts in
Press Palaver
Overheard ip Press Room at
recent NJCRAC Plenary—
PS of NYT: Do you suppose
that in the year 2,000, if the
NJCRAC is around that Isaiah
Minkoff will still be the execu
tive director?
BS of BB*b NJM: Naw, by
then everything will be compu
terized.
PS: You mean Isaiah will be
replaced by a computer?
BS: You’re right, you’re right,
Isaiah can never be defeated by
a computer.
(Minkoff is the jovial, peren-
niel executive vice president
who created the NJCRAC for
the CJFWF in 1943 and has
guided it ever since.)
previous years, action was fin
ally taken on the matter of con
cluding the Indochina War.
Although, to this observer, the
adopted guidelines smack of
“me too-ism” and “beating a
dead horse” compromise since
the issue does not seem to have
currency, delegates issued this
directive:
“The constituent organizations
of the NJCRAC differ among
themselves on various aspects of
the War in Indochina. They are
united, however, in the convic
tion that the welfare of the U.S.
requires:
“1. The complete withdrawal
of American Forces at the ear
liest possible date and pending
that time immediate steps by
our government to indicate a
cease fire and to insure free
elections in South Viet Nam.
“2. The lessening of military
influence over foreign policy
and the enforcement of greater
control by civil authorities over
the military establishment.
“3. Avoidance of isolationism
and the continuing exercise of
responsible U.S. involvement
and leadership in international
affairs.
“4. The reordering of national
priorities so that in the alloca
tion of resources priority will be
given to the elimination of pov
erty and discrimination, the re
habilitation of our cities, and the
education and health of our peo
ple.”
Guidelines usually spell out
“why” c er t a i n positions are
taken, as for instance the pro
visional stand on publication of
classified documents. Delegates
could not Wait until after the
on an everage of $350 to $400
as other forms of state aid to
in “purchaae-ofHservicfe’*' ‘ finan
cial aid by states, multiplied by
some 75,000 in Jewish day
schools in the United States. He
also indicated than an initial
evaluation of the Supreme Court
ruling indicated the possibility
that much, if not most, of the
federal aid provided under a
variety of programs might be
imperiled by the ruling, as well
other forms of state aid to
non-public schools
In the Rhode Island cases, the
Supreme Court ruled that
teachers—unlike textbooks for
which such aid was permitted
in the 1968 Allen cases—would
not be inspected and kept under
strict control The Court said it
could not assume that such
teachers could segregate their
religious beliefs from their se
cular teachings and that “a po
tential for impermissible fos
tering of religion is present.” In
the Pennsylvania cases, the
High Court held that three tests
must be applied to public aid
to private schools: the legisla
tion must be totally secular in
purpose; must have neither
“primary nor principal” effect
in advancing or inhibiting re
ligion; and must not foster
“excessive government entangle-
vision allowed for
for construction of
church-related colleges if the
facilities were not used for re
ligious purposes for 20 years.
Comment from Jewish spokes
men followed the split which
has divided Orthodox and non-
Orthodox-liberal Jewish opinion
on the issue. Julius Berman,
president of the National Com
mission on Law and Public Af
fairs (OOLPA) and Nathan
Lewin, COLPA vice president,
told the JTA in a joint state
ment that “The American Jew
ish Congress and its counsel,
Leo Pfeffer, instituted these
cases and are largely responsi
ble for this result. They now
have the obligation to make
sure the Jewish community can
take care of its own schools. At
least they ought now to turn
around and support the day
schools,” most of which are
under Orthodox auspice*. They
expressed the view that the
ruling meant that “only narrow
areas will be permissible, re
quiring an in-depth analysis of
present legislation in New York
and Maryland” on such aid. The
other cases considered by the
Court involved school aid pro
grams in New Jersey and South
Carolina The Court ordered
those states to consider its
rulings.
The decision* were called
“tragic” by Rabbi Bernard Gol-
denberg, Torah Umesorah direc
tor of school organization, who
called on the Jewish Federations
and welfare funds which “fought
so vigorously against federal
and state aid” to “apply the
same sort of vigor and the -same
intensive energy to make sure
to obtain support for the He
brew day schools.” Noting that
such schools were “caugbt ip
a.tremendous financial bind,” he
said “fighting against aid is neg
ative Guaranteeing the schools
future and the educational qual
ity of the Jewish community is
positive. Unless the community
acts,” he warned, “Hebrew day
schools
number and
state’s school aid program, with
its “better facets,” would not
be effected. He said Agudath
Israel would “reach new areas
of legislation” that would not
“contravene” the Court’s decis
ions.
The president of the AJCon
gress, Rabbi Arthur J. Lely-
veld, said the Court’s decision
“re-emphasizes the responsibility
of the Jewish community to
maintain its system of educa
tion” and that the AJCongress
“calls on Jewish Federations
and welfare funds, as we have
called in the past, to increase
their financial support of Jew
ish education of every kind and
that, with the Court’s decision,
at every level.”
-*Sp
Continued on page 8
*rr