Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1959-09-11

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COLUMBUS EDITION
I   COLUMBUS .      EDITION
VoL 37, No. 37
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER  II,  1959
39
0*v«f«d to Am«r?can •nd Jawfih   ld««li
UN-ARABS HAVE CONFLICT ABOUT ISRAai CARGO BAN
UNITED NATIONS, (AJP) — The position of the United Arab Republic In barring Israeli ships and cargoes from the Suez Canal is not in accord with the United Nations, This was the final ad¬ mission of Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold on the eve of the 14th General Assembly opening here on Tuesday, Sept. 16. The UN head flew back to New York from Latin America during the weekend due to the Laos Crisis.
Answering questions put to him by a Brazilian correspondent dur¬ ing a press conference at Rio de .Janeiro. Hammarskjold Indicated that his personal negotiations with Nasser and others concerned in the course of the year had reached a dead end and that the issue will now probably come up before the General Assembly "cer¬ tainly by diplomatic means and perhaps publicly."
Revealing for the first Ume that "a conflict" Is developing be¬ tween the United Nations and .(Contlnaed on pace 4i
FIRM STAND NEEDED ON ARAB VIOLATION IN SUEZ CANAL BAN
WASHINGTON, (JTA) — A member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee charged In a debate in the House of Represen¬ tatives this week that "nothing affirmatively has been done by the Pre-sideot or tite .Stata De--. partment" to open the Suez Canal to Israel shipping and cargo.
THB MEMBER, Rep. Leonard
Farbsteln, New York Democrat, warned that "unless the President shows that we will take strong measures to stop this piracy, a further conflagration might erupt." He called on the White House to act in support of the President's 1957 pledge on Suez that "any renewed violation by Egypt should be dealt with firm¬ ly by the society of natjons."
Rep, Charles A Boyle, Illinois Democrat, told the House that the World Bank should withhold a loan to the United Arab Republic for widening of the canal until "the saber-rattling Colonel Nas¬ ser" respects international agree¬ ments on canal transit.
Rep. Roman Puclnskl, Illinois Democrat, asked the House: "What sort of international socie¬ ty do we live in when the dicta¬ tor of Egypt can approach the World Bank and ask for addi¬ tional funds on one hand, when on the other, he Is denying the (Contlnaed on paffe 4)
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No Problem, No Meeting - Soviets
BY   MILTON   FRIEDMAN
(Copyright, 19Sg, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.) WASHINGTON (JTA)—Hopes for a meeting of Jewish groups with Soviet Premier Niklta Khrushchev dimmed this week when Soviet sources here intimated that the Soviet Government had de¬ cided to reject the premise of the Jewish groups that there Is a Jewish problem In the Soviet Union. SEVERAL American  Jewish
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organizations are seeking a meet¬ ing with the Soviet Premier dur¬ ing his stay In the United States this month. The same Soviet sources also pointed out that the Soviet leader had a crowded schedule awaiting him In this country.
It was stressed that many or¬ ganizations and Interests are seek¬ ing meetings with him on topics , that the Soviets consider more acceptable.
Attention was called at the same   time   to   a   Moscow   radio
Something Big
Here It Is — that something BIO we told you about The Ohio Jewish Chronicle In conjunction with the Richard Lewis Travel Service Is spon¬ soring several exciting trips beginning with an excursion fo glittering Los Vegas. In this pic¬ ture a bolt of lightning from a rare desert thun¬
derstorm rivals the neon brilliance ot Las Vegas' Fremont St., the "Gay White Way of the West" Here are located the gay clubs and casinos as well as shops and stores featuring Western ap¬ parel and souvenirs. There's more on pages 14 and 16.
Sam Stellman Named Center Assistant Executive Director
Sam Stellman, the Center's popular physical education direc¬ tor since September 1950, has been appointed assistant execu¬ tive  director of the Center.
Stellman arrived in Columbus from Syracuse, New York where he was program director of the Jewish Community (^nter in that' city. Previous to that he was physical education director at the Y. M. H. A. In Toronto, Canada, his native town.
HE IS A graduate In health and physical education of the Uni¬ versity of Toronto In 1943, and In June 1958 he received his Master of social work at the Ohio State University, where he completed his studies while conducting the Center's extensive physical edu¬ cation program.
Stellman holds many national positions among his professional colleagues   In   the   Jewish   (Com¬
munity Center field. He Is at pres¬ ent national president of health and physical education of the National Association of Jewish Center Workers,
He waa elected to this new post, recently created by the pro¬ fessional workers, and Is the first president of this organization which represents over 200 physi¬ cal educators  In  Jewish  Centers.
He is president of the east cen¬ tral chapter of the National As soclatlon of Jewish Center Work¬ ers. This chapter encompasses all the cities in Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and eastern Pennsyl¬ vania
IN ADDITION he was elected to the National Executive Com¬ mittee of N. A, J, C, W. Stellman also acts in the capacity of con¬ sultant to the National Jewish Welfare Board's Midwest Health and Physical Education Commlt- (contlnaed on pace 4)
EFFORT TO HALT RELIGIOUS PROGRAM IN SCHOOLS MADE
MIAMI BEACH, (JTA) — The American Jewish (Congress here announced that a new legal ef¬ fort to halt the Introduction of religious programs In public schools will be made in Dade (County, which Includes Greater Miami.
Bernard Mandler, chairman of the Commission on Law and So¬ cial Action of the South Florida Councll of the American Jewish Congress, said that the new law¬ suit Is similar to that filed sev¬ eral weeks ago by Harlow Cham¬ berlain. The plaintiffs In the sec¬ ond lawsuit are all affiliated with churches or synagogues.
Mandler said that the suits con¬ tend that the presence of religious activities in the public schools— including prayers, (Chanukah and (Christmas presentations, Easter and Passover programs, readings from the Bible and other similar practices—all violate the Consti¬ tutions of the United States and the State  of Florida.
The chairman said both suits are an innovation in the field of separation of Church and State litigation because they do not concentrate on a single sectarian practice but seek to end a varie¬ ty of such actions. The Dade (County School Board has asked the court to dismiss the Cham¬ berlain suit and presumably will respond similarly to the second lawsuit.
broadcast beamed In English to North America. It aald that any talk of discrimination against Jews in the Soviet Union Is noth¬ ing but falsehood. "Jews are equal members of our society and they are very useful talented mem¬ bers," the broadcast stated.
THE BROAIKIAST waa prompt¬ ed by a question Moscow said had been raised In New York. The broadcast reported that some ele¬ ments In New York are anxious for a discussion with Premier Khrushchev of "recent charges in the American press that Jews, notably writers and people of culture, have been and are being purged in the U.S.S.R." To this the Moscow radio replied that Moscow, Odessa, Lvov and many other Soviet cities have syna¬ gogues and that State stores stock Jewish  foods.
Among prominent Soviet Jews, the broadcast named Mikhail Botvinnlk, world chess champion, and Yuri Faier, condudtor of the Bolshoi Ballet Orchestra.
Jewish Religious Life In Russia Is Almost Dead
BY DAVID MILLER
(Copyright, 1959, JTA, Inc.)
MOSCOW (JTA)—Religious life among Jews of the Soviet Union Is practically dead.
Despite claims by the Soviet authorities of the existence of religious freedom, the fact remains that circumcisions are rare, if performed at all; religious ceremonies at marriages are virtually unknown; religious ceremonies at funerals are abrupt and only occasionally observed. Bar Mitzvahs have disappeared completely. No Russian Jewish youth has ever seen phylacteries.
NO RELIGIOUS Instruction on an organized basis Is offered any¬ where In the Soviet Union to Jewish youth. The number of synagogues has steadily decreased sine? the end of World War H, despite official claims that the number has doubled since the Revolution. No new construction for religious purposes la permit¬ ted, a restriction felt by other denominations as well.
The synagogues still In use— especially the ones in areas usual¬ ly visited by tourists—are In good repair and prominently display the Star of David. However, Soviet Jews have long suffered from a lack of prayer books, prayer   shawls,    religious    calen¬
dars, candle holders and other symbols of Jewish religious life. But these shortages alone do not account for the decreasing participation In religious activi¬ ties. Among the most Important factors Is the lack of any organi¬ zation of any type for any seg¬ ment of the Jewish population.
IN THE SOVIET Union today there are no Jewish community councils, no relief groups, no synagogue sisterhoods, no young people's clubs—nothing that can be Identified aa Jewish. All ener^ gles are channelled Into state- approved activities. Jews are al¬ leged to be a distinct national group but do not have the right to
organize themselves In any way.
In the Soviet Union no one can speak for the Jews as a group. Where there Is a rabbl or a syna¬ gogue, there is some kind of a rallying point. But that interest must be strictly religious — not social or community.
Aa such, the Jews have little Information about other Jews not only In the Soviet Union but else¬ where In the world. No newspaper or magazine serves Jewish Inter¬ ests. The only Information avail¬ able comes from official sources like Pravda or Its regional edi¬ tions or. In a much more limited manner, from tourists or from letters abroad.
THB ELIMINATION of strictly Jewish organizations haa also re¬ sulted In a steady decrease in the continuity of Jewish traditions and customs. A young Jew, In¬ fluenced In his early years by Communist youth groupa In the schools, can learn only from his parents something of his cultural heritage. It Is Impossible to es¬ timate how much home instruc¬ tions remain. No one talks about
it.
That second factor—the absence of young people In the synagogue —la serious and could effect the whole future of Soviet Jewry. Young Soviet Jews have only the vaguest ideas of thielr religion or of the age-old customs of their people. Few speak Yiddish and almost none know Hebrew or the ritual of prayer.
"I am a Jew, yes," an 18-year- old engineering student admitted on Gorky Street, "but I'm not sure what that means, I feel something In my heart but don't speak to me In Yiddish because I don't know more than a dozen words." He was working hard to perfect his English. He refused an offer to join this reporter at Sab¬ bath services the following day,
"I'M NOT SDRE where the synagogue is," he said. "I doubt If any of my friends know either. But I'll be glad to show you around Moscow." At 18, he could not remember ever having been In a synagogue. Yet he said both parents were "pretty religious Jews"  who tried to talk to  him
occasionally about what it meant to be a Jew.
At the same time, his Identity card removed any doubt as to the official Soviet view of his na¬ tionality. No matter what he thought or how much It Ul-fltted him, the card reads "Jew." The only ones who manage to attend synagogue services these days are the  old people.
Soviet Jews are still afraid that they may be forced to move from various parts of the USSR to Birobidjan, the so-called Jewish autonomous Republic In Siberia. Soviet Jews talk little about Blr- bodljan, but they study carefully the speeches of Communist Party leaders. The Jews keep watching for a shift In policy—a shift they hope win never come. They, prefer not to discuss the matter at all and to dismiss rumors of Jewish removal to Birobidjan as fabrica¬ tions but the rumors persist.
TWICE THB size of New Jer¬ sey, Birobidjan, Is the only place In the Soviet Union today where Yiddish  can  be found  on  street (Contlnaed oq pace 4)
Ira Hirschmann
IRA HIRSCHMANN TO BE GUEST SPEAKER AT BOND DINNER
Ira Hirschmann, noted finan¬ cier, businessman, and diplomat will join James A. Rhodes, audi¬ tor of State, Tuesday evening, Sept. 22 when the former mayor of (Columbus holds his Dinner at Winding Hollow on behalf of the Israel  Bond  campaign.
Harold Schottenstein, chairman of the (Columbus committee, said, "our profound appreciation and affection goes to this distinguish¬ ed public servant who visited Is¬ rael, and came home Imbued with the spirit he found there."
Hirschmann, a dynamic and moving speaker, was recently made chairman of the Board of Pennsylvania Exchange Bank of New York. He Is a former vice president of Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue.
During the war years President Roosevelt sent Hirschmann to Turkey as a apecial attache, ex¬ periences In the Balkans formed the substance of his book "Life Line to a Promised Land."
CHANGE
The Rhodes-HirBOlunann din¬ ner will take plaoe at the Wind¬ ing HoUow Coimtry Olub. In the Invitation, it was listed m the AtUetlo Club. This was an error. '