Newspaper Page Text
ySOUTHERN ISRAELITE
A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry
mum.
Established 1925
\ PER
VOL. LI
One Section, 32 Pages
Atlanta, Georgia Friday, November 28, 1975
25c A Copy
NO. 48
3,000 U.S. Leaders Hear
Challenges at Miami Assemblage
by VIDA GOLDGAR
"•OTTt
MIAMI — Reflecting to a
degree the pall caused by the
United Nations Resolution
equating Zionism with racisrjn
and the sad news on Friday of
yet another terrorist attack in
Israel, 3,000 Jewish leaders from
throughout North America
sought inspiration and guidance
during five days of deliberations
in Miami.
The 44th annual general
assembly of the Council of
Jewish Federations and Welfare
Funds, largest ever, heard a call
for streamlining of Jewish
organizational structures; a plea
for “a new quality of integration
and services” for Jewish educa
tion; and an urging for the end of
the “melting pot” phase of
American ethnicity.
It was Raymond Epstein of
Chicago, retiring president of
the CJFWF, who opened the
sessions Wednesday night say
ing, “I am calling for a
streamlining of our present
structure. But I am not
suggesting a central voice for
American Jewry. I am proposing
a responsible involvement and
accountability so that the right
voice is heard at the right time
on the right subjects."
In his appeal for greater and
more effective and more coor
dinated leadership, Mr. Epstein
said:
1. We must consider -gur
overlapping structures so as to
yet thinys accomplished most
economically.
2. We must improve Israel-
Diaspora communications for
both national and local
Savannahans — Jews and Non-Jewish -
Rally Affirms Zionism as Religious
SAVANNAH — Savannah
Jewry, which for more than two
and a quarter centuries has en
joyed remarkable relations with
the citizens of the broader com
munity, met with non-Jewish
friends Sunday, November 16
for a giant rally and forum in
voked by the U.N. Anti-Zionist
Resolution and crowded the
Jewish Educational Alliance to
overflow capacity.
Sponsor was the Savannah
Jewish Council, with Ehud
Lador, Consul General of Israel
for the Southwest, making the
main talk, according to Murray
Bono, SJC president.
The following is the resolution
adopted that evening.
"We the assembled Jewish com
munity of Savannah, Georgia,
together with other concerned
citizens of our City, hereby express
ourselves with respect to that por
tion of the United Nations Resolu
tion of November It), 1975 which
characterized Zionism as racism;
''We condemn that portion of the
Resolution as false, malicious and
itself an expression of racism and
antisemitism.
"We affirm our support for the
State of Israel and its people, and for
the principles of democratic self
determination which are enjoyed
equally by all of its citizens without
regard to race, creed or religion.
“We affirm Zionism as a bahw
religious principle, exfiressing the
.ov-uno*
Bicentennial
Emphasis
In This Issue .
BENJAMIN NONES <1757-
1826). From a miniature at
tributed to John Ramage (c.
1748-1802), owned by Miss
Miriam Goldbaum, New
Orlen. From Hannah R. Lon
don, Miniatures of Early
Americans.
Raphael
Moses ...
.. Page U
Colu m bin
Jewry ■
. . Page III
Benjamin
Nones - ■ ■
Page n
unity of the Jewish />eople and their
right to a national homeland in
Israel, a right acquired by Holy
Covenant more than 5,000 years ago.
“We affirm that Zionism, as an in
tegral part of Judaism, is fundamen
tally opposed to any form of racial
discrimination.
We commend the position taken
by our own country and the other
nations which associated with us in
strongly opposing the U.N. Resolu
tion. In /Hirticular, we commend
President Ford and Ambassador
Moynihan for their courage and
honesty in speaking out against the
immorality of the resolution.
“We commend the congress for its
speedy and forthright condemnation
of the U.N. Resolution. In particular,
we commend imr own Congressman,
Bo Ginn, and Georgia's Senators
Herman Talmadge and Sam Nunn
for their participation in the action
taken by Congress.
“We note, as much in sorrow as in
condemnation, that the United
Nations, which was conceived as a
force for morality and humanity m
the world, has been subverted and
reduced to a ixilitical playground.
The ashes of World War II, out of
ichich the United Nations was
created, included those of 6 million
Jewish martyrs who were
slaughtered by the worst expression
of racism in the history of the world
It is unthinkable that the United
Nations, born anil chartered to
guarantee that such malignant
racism would nei<er again stride the
earth, should now become the iwry
instrument of that malignancy's
I'ebirth. In 191,H. in one of its most
moral and humane acts, the United
Nations recreated the State of Israel
and thereby provided a home for a
Jewish community decimated by
Hitler's tyranny. Thus was Zion, as a
haveti against racism, given a new
- Pack JE A;
Principle
birth by the very organization which
last week sough t to characterize it as
racist This action slanders the
United Nations more than it harms
Israel It also slanders and demeans
the memory of those millions of men
and women who fought and diet! so
that a world organization for peiwe
and brotherhood might be establish
ed.
“We support the re-appraisal by
our country of its relationship icith
the United Nations in the light of
that organization's apparent aban
donment' of the principles upon
which it was founded.
'We seek the support of all
people in sustaining Israel as an ally
of our country and a strong force for
democracy in a troubled Middle
Fast.
“We humbly pray that the mis
guided action taken by the United
Nations last week represents only a
temporary eclipse of those enduring
principles of humanity upon which
that organization was founded and
which are so sorely needed in the
world today. ”
organizations.
3. We must develop more
effective national planning for
the Council mol its member
Federations with synagogal
bodies and with other national
and overseas Jewish agencies.
5. We must explore improve
ment in the delivery of national
sendees to our communities in
the field of Jewish education and
culture — essential ingredients
in our search for greater Jewish
identity, greater Jewish commit
ment, for the preservation and
sunival of our children as Jews.
Making an unscheduled
emergency appearance before
the assembly, Israel’s Am
bassador to the United States
Simcha Dinitz told the group of
that morning’s raid on a border
kibbutz, where three Israeli's
were killed. The Ambassador
noted that the terrorists, like
others before them, had been
' armed with hand grenades and
axes . . . axes “in order to cut off
the heads of their victims as
proof’ of their kill.
Dinitz also indicated his
government had no criticism of
Sadat’s coming to visit “our best
friend the U.S. We would rather
he came here than to Moscow or
Peking.” But noting the rate at
which the Soviet Union and
other countries are- supplying
arms to Israel’s enemies, he add
ed, “We find ourselves surround
ed by a growing military might.
We expected Sadat to ask for
tractors, not tanks, irrigation
systems, not missiles.”
One of the most urgently
needed concerns, according to
the Ambassador, is increased
American visitation to Israel. He
suggested that “this summer be
a summer of pilgrimage of the
youth of America to Israel.” A
goal of one million Jews going to
Israel from every corner of the
United States was suggested by
Dinitz, who added, “Just ^s we
will be fortified by you, you will
be fortified by us.”
In a dramatic crescendo,
Dinitz insisted, “The defense of
- TURN TO PAGE 27
1 Silent Sam ” Rothberg
Slips Away at 89
Samuel (Silent Sam) Rothberg
died Wednesday, Nov. 19 at the
age of 89.
He was an extraordinary per
sonage and a leader in many
communal, civic and realty
fields, a close friend and a
former member of The Southern
Israelite advisory board.
He often rose at Jewish oc
casions and introduced himself
as "Silent Sam” Rothberg. Ex
actly how he acquired this
anomolous nickname, or when,
is not precisely clear.
He was anything but silent at
public meetings and did n« *.
hesitate to rise and express
himself, sometimes with rare
enthusiasm and endorsement of
the movements for which the
- TURN r<) PAGE 28
