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HBf Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry Established 1925 Vol. XLVII1 Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, June I, 1973 One Section — 12 Pages NO 22 Expert Says Nixon-Breznev Will Talk From Weakness Reform Rabbinic Body to Meet In Atlanta; Will Probe Apathy NfcW YORK, When President Nixon and Leonid Breznev meet in their summit conference, each will be confronting the other from a position of unusual weakness, ac cording to one of America’s most noted experts on foreign affairs. Zbigniew Bre/e/inski, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and director of the Research Institute on Communist Affairs at Columbia University, speaking on the final day of the 67th Annual Meeting of the American Jewish Committee here, predicted that, as a result of this mutual weakness, President Nixon “should be in a position to press for a broadly gauged detente in which there is a linkage between accomodations on political maters, economic matters, and issues pertaining to human rights." “President Nixon will not negotiate from a position of strength, as American policy makers did in the past, because of his domestic political crisis,” Dr. Brzezinski assorted. “Accordingly, he will be under great pressure from Breznev to make key con cessions, both political and economic, if the summit is to be the kind of success that Mr. Nixon now needs.” “However,” he added, "we should not lose sight of the fact that Mr Breznev also confronts great economic problems at home. The national issue in the Soviet Union has become more acute, and the courageous stand of the Jewish community has provided an example for the other non-Russian nations in how to assert their human rights. In addition, Russia still faces the problem of China, and it continues to be an actue one ’ But in the long run. Dr Brezezinski stated, an American- Soviet accommodation is less crucial to the stability of the inter national system than the trilateral relationship that involves the United States, Europe, and Japan. The main emphasis of American foreign policy, he said, “should be on the development of a new framework of American- European-Japanese relations, without which there is the very real danger that monetary, trade, and even political crises will get out of hand " Dr. Brzezinski was the keynote speaker in a symposium on "World Politics and Jewish Security." By: RABBI JOSEPH B. GLASER CCAR Executive Vice President The erosion of ethical and moral values in our nation, dramatized by the Watergate scandal, and how these conditions affect religion in general and the Jewish community in particular, will be deliberated on as part of the 84th Annual Convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, June 18-21, at the Sheraton- Biltmore Hotel, Atlanta. Watergate itself will be raised only through resolutions and dis cussions since the CCAR program was planned months prior to the outbreak of the scandal. However, the larger problem of America’s false values, both as a nation and as a people, which has produced a downgrading of religion, has been the concern for some time of this nation’s major faith groups, in cluding the CCAR. This religious apathy has been evident in the synagogues and has produced numerous problems relating both to the function and program of a congregation and the relationship beween laymen and rabbis. Last year the CCAR released the first in-depth study of Katzir Inaugurated in Festive Rites JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prof. Ephraim Katzir took the oath of office at a festive Knesset ceremony here on May 24 to become Israel’s fourth President. The 57-year-old biophysicist from the Weizmann Institute of Science, kept both of his hands on a Bible as he was sworn in by Knesset Speaker Israel Yeshayahu In his inaugural address he called for “A blend of the knowledge of the sources of Judaism with a modern concept of the world." The entire Knesset was present for the ceremonies and the public and VIP galleries were packed Among the onlookers were Premier Golda Meir and former Premier David Ben Gurion. Israel’s outgoing President, Zalman Shazar, escorted his successor into the Knesset chamber after both reviewed an Fitzgerald Hebrew Congregation to Observe Anniversaries June 10 On Sunday, June 10, at the Fitzgerald Elks Club the Jews of Southwest Georgia will gather to observe the 30th anniversary of the Fitzgerald Hebrew Congregation, the 25th anniversary of the tenure of its spiritual leader Rabbi Na than L Kohen and the 30th anni versary of the B’nai B’rith Lodge *1338 An elaborate banquet and program has been planned for the evening. Congressman W. S. (Bill) Stuckey Jr of the Eighth District will be the main speaker. The evening will conclude with dancing. The schedule includes cocktails at 7:30 and the banquet 1 at 8.00. All friends of the synagogue, the Rabbi and the Lodge are invited to attend RABBI /V. L, KOHEN honor guard outside the Knesset building. As they entered, two Army chaplains and a rabbi blew three long shofar blasts. Shazar spoke briefly, referring to his successor as “Dear brother and blessed of God, chosen of our people.” He prayed that Presi dent Katzir’s term would witness the achievenment of peace that has eluded his three predecessors. Speaker Yeshayahu ended the inauguration ceremony with the words, ‘Long live the president." They were repeated by the throng in the chamber as it rose to sing the national anthem, Hatikva. T he inauguration was broadcast live on television and radio. President Katzir is the second disginguished scientist to be elected Israel’s Chief of State and in his inaugural speech he quoted his mentor, the late Dr. Chaim Weizmann who was Israel's first president, "I worked all my life and strove to make science and research the basis of our national enterprise. Rut I knew full well that there are beyond science sublime values . . . of righteousness and justice, o) brotherhood and peace Prof. Katzir lingered on the importance of science and technology in Israel but also warned of their dangers — pollu tion, ecological damage, tension and noise. He stressed the need Turn to Page 12 RABBI DAVID POLISH the Reford Rabbi ever conducted. The guiding light of this study, CCAR President Rabbi David Polish of Evanston, III., will report on various activities in this area, including the recommendations of a Committee on the Future of the Rabbinate, which he chaired. Additional suggestions will be proposed by Rabbi Robert I. Kahn of Houston, CCAR vice-president, and Rabbi Joseph Glaser, New York City, CCAR executive vice- president. During the Convention the problems regarding congregational-rabbinic relations, religious school aftd adult educa tion, worship, and the economy and population shifts as they affect the future of the synagogue will be discussed. A major debate will center around the CCAR’s position on mixed marriages between Jew and Christian where no conversion has taken place. The findings of a two- year study by the CCAR’s mixed marriage committee will be presented on Tuesday evening, June 19, by the chairman Rabbi Herman E. Schaalman of Chicago. Ample time for discus sion has been scheduled to premit all sides of the question to be heard. In last year’s study by the CCAR on “The Rabbi and Reform Judaism", the section on mixed marriage practices shows that the majority of Reform Rab bis do not officiate at mixed marriages (59%), a few will con duct such a marriage only when special circumstances exist (18%), some only for members (2%), and the remaining number will conduct a mixed marriage without any special circumstances (21%) In the CCAR’s “Rabbi's Manual," published in 1961, the opening paragraphs of the section on mixed marriage state: “Reform Judaism is opposed to mixed marriages — by which is un derstood the marriage of a Jew to a non-Jew — on essentially religious grounds. The very nature of the Jewish marriage ritual implies a positive commitment to Judaism by both bride and groom. This is in dicated by the formula 'Haray At’, “Be thou consecrated unto me as my wife according to the law of God and the faith of Israel.” Another volatile debate will en sue during the discussion between Rabbi Irwin M. Blank, Tenafly, N.J., and Professor Leonard S. Kravitz, Professor of Midrash and Homiletics, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Region, N. Y., on whether or not Jews arc, or should be, turning to the right. Chairman for that ses sion will be Rabbi Maurice Davis, White Plains, N. Y. On Wednesday afternoon, June 20, the Rabbinic delegates will pay a special tribute to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King at special ceremonies at the gravesite. Par ticipating in the ceremony will be Mrs. Coretta King, and Rabbis Polish and Kahn. That evening the Reform Rab bis will honor the 25th Anniver sary of the State of Israel, featur ing the new Israeli Ambassador to this country, Simcha Dinitz, as the speaker. He will be introduced by Rabbi Polish and the session will be chaired by Rabbi Leon Kronish of Miami, Chairman of the CCAR’s Israel. Committee. Looking towards the future of Reform Judaism, a committee of the CCAR and representatives of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the Hebrew Union College — Jewish Institute of Religion have been working on a new set of guiding principles for more than one million members of the movement in the U. S. and Canada The CCAR represents 1100 Reform spiritual leaders in the U.S. and Canada, serving more than one million congregants. Additional Israel Anniver sary Emphasis appears in this issue, as the Jewish State embarks on its 26 th year.