The Southern Jewish weekly. [volume], September 02, 1955, Image 1

About The Southern Jewish weekly. [volume] (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1939-1992

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AN INDEPENDENT WEEKLY SERVING AMERICAN CITIZENS OF JEWISH FAITH
THE OLDEST AND MOST WIDELY CIRCULATED JEWISH PUBLICATION IN THIS TERRITORY
VOL. 32 No. 33
PLAIN TALK
BY ALFRED SEGAL
\
' I TELL MIKE
Mike was saying: 'Mr. Segal. I
want to become a Jew by religion.
I well know that, as some argue,
there are other elements than re*
ligion in being a Jew—historic
implications, tradition and maybe
race, though some people aren't
too sure of that; and, of course,
the land of Israel. I myself shall
be satisfied to be a Jew by reli*
gion. I'm practically that now,
though not by rabbinical conver
sion. Will you help me, Mr.
Segal?"
“Are you thinking of marrying
a Jewish girl, perhaps?” I asked
him.
"Oh, no, nothing like that," he
replied.
I knew very well that Mike’s
desire to be Jewish was no mere
emotional disturbance of his. I
had known him a long time: A
young man out of a university, a
Phi Beta Kappa. He occupies a
responsible job, respected man in
the industry he serves as engi
neer.
"Why. then, Mike, do you want
to be a Jew?"
“I am in search of a rational
religion,” he said, “and after
studying them all I have found
that Judaism is closest to my idea
of being rational. It is without
mythology, it knows only one God
and, as I understand Him, the God
of the Jews is the Father con
cerned with His children behaving
as they should. That’s all the
glorification He cares about, as I
see Him.
"As I know the Jewish religion,
a man is religious enough if he
is a decent man who cares about
all kinds of other people in the
world. That way he serves God.
By so doing he is the authentic
child of God—ra good brother in
the family of man. Tell me, have
I the right idea of the way to be
a Jew?"
I replied: “Mike, you and I
seem to be of the same religion
already. Your idea of Judaism is
the same as mine. I h av e fre
quently said in my column that
it’s being Jew enough if a man
knows his duty as a human being
and acts on this knowledge, if he
is a good brother among his
neighbors. As I understand, God
is happy enough with such a Jew
ish son of His, or, for that matter,
a Christian son of His who is that
way.”
So Mike said: "What you tell
me convinces me I could really be
an adequate Jew. Still, I must
confess that what you say is but
something out of the heart and
mind of one who is only a lay
man. The question is, what would
the rabbis think of your idea of
how to be a Jew? They are theo
logians and may have different
ideas. They may tell me I am not
exactly an adequate Jew."
Then I said: “Sure, I’m no theo
logian, that is to say a man sup
posed to have a scholarly ac
quaintance with God. What I
know of God is the knowledge
gathered by me who has lived on
(Continued on Page 4)
Atlanta Jewish Council
Joins N.C.R.A.C.
The Atlanta Jewish Commu
nity has become the 34th commu
nity agency member of the Na
tional Community Relations Ad
visory Council, it was announced
by Bernare H. Trager, NCRAC
chairman.
In Atlanta, Barney Medintz,
president of the Jewish Commu
nity Council, said: “We are glad
to join the 33 other local commu
nities and the six national agen
cies associated in this cooperative
endeavor to promote good com
munity relations. Ours is the joint
task, along with others, of helping
to strengthen the forces for de
mocracy in our land. We must
help build understanding among
all groups and work together for
the fulfillment of our free way
of life.”
Rioting Spurs Demand
For Evacuation of Jews
From North Africa
An intensified campaign for ac
tion to transfer the Jews of North
Africa to Israel followed last
week on the heels of savage Arab
nationalist rioting in Morocco,
Algeria and Tunisia which took
a 101 l of more than a thousand
lives including an undeterminable
number of Jews, many more cas
ualties, and extensive property
destruction including the almost
complete devastation of all Jew
ish homes and shops in the town
of Mazagan.
Although the riots were pri
marily directed against the
French regime, in Mazagan, an
Arab mob, led by screaming,
veiled women, turned its chief at
tention to the Jewish quarter and
put it to the torch. More than a
thousand Jews were left homeless
there. A total of 2,000 fled to
shelter in a stadium outside the
(Continued on Page 4)
Southern Democrats to Fight Sobeloff
BY MILTON FRIEDMAN
(Copyright, 1955, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
- * * * * s=
; r
aggaagsp . *. •ssg&l
judge. The nomination was sabotaged by Southern
Senators and died with Senate adjournment.
Southern Democrats, including some politically
friendly to President Eisenhower, have made
known they will continue to fight Sobeloff if he
is renominated next January. Sen. Strom Thur
mond, South Carolina Democrat who supported
Mr. Eisenhower in 1952, already has served notice
he will oppose Sobeloff if the White House re
news the nomination. Thurmond opposed confir-
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1955
—WASHINGTON
A story of deep interest to
Jews and Negroes unfolded
here, when an eminent Jewish
judge who successfully argued
the school segregation cases be
fore the Supreme Court was
blocked from a Federal judge
ship. He is U. S. Solicitor Gen
eral Simon E. Sobeloff.
Sobeloff was nominated by
President Eisenhower as a Fed
[ eral Circuit Court of Appeals
Southeast Region of
Men's Clubs Meets
Here September 3-5
The inaugural Convention of
the Southeastern Region, Na
tional Federation of Jewish
Men's Clubs, will be held in
Jacksonville over Labor Day
weekend, September 3. 4, and
51h.
Special guests for this con
vention will include Albert H.
Jacobson of Chicago, Honorary
President and former Presi
dent of the National Organiza
tion, and A1 Kaufman of Phil
alelphia, the National Presi
dent.
An interesting program has
been arranged for the conven
tion. announced Alvin P.
Rubin, Jacksonville Chapter
President. Discussions on the
Purpose of the Men's Club,
Program and Project Planning,
the Relationship of the Men's
Club to the Synagogue and the
Community, and a plenary ses
sion will occupy the time of
the registrants.
The social program for the
convention will include a
Cocktail Party and Reception
on Saturday Night at 8 p. m.,
sponsored by the members of
the local board. There will be
luncheons on Sunday and
Monday at 12:30 p. m., a ban
quet on Sunday Night at 6:30
p. m. and a breakfast on Mon
day Morning at 9 a. m. All of
these affairs are open to both
members and their wives.
"It is sincerely hoped that
many will avail themselves of
the opportunity of meeting
with other interested Men's
Club workers from the entire
Southeast and joining in mu
tual discussions relative to big
ger and stronger Men's Clubs
in Jacksonville and the South
east," declared Rubin.
mation on grounds that Sobeloff “has been a
strong advocate of integration of races in public
school^.”
Senators James O. Eastland of Mississippi, and
Olin D. Johnston, of South Carolina, undermined
the appointment. Their tactics were reminiscent of
those of a Wisconsin Republican who stands con
demned by the Senate. At the request of Eastland
and Johnston, Chairman John L. McClellan of a
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, postponed a hear
ing on the Sobeloff nomination.
The postponement was ostensibly ordered to
give Eastland and Johnston time to investigate
the appointee’s connection with the recent Peters
case and other aspects of his public record and
utterances.” They referred to the case of Dr. John
Peters, a Yale professor dismissed as a public
health consultant after a civil service loyalty re
view board found a “reasonable doubt” of his
loyalty. Dr. Peters appealed successfully, the Su
preme Court ruling that the review board had
no right to intervene. As Solicitor General Sobel
off might have hanlled the case against Dr. Peters
before the Supreme Court. But he neither signed
the Government’s brief nor argued the case.
(Continued on Page 5)
ARAB LEAGUE
SCORNS PEACE
BY SAUL CARSON
(Copyright. 1955, Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Inc.)
* * * * 4c
—UNITED NATIONS. N. Y.
The Arab League this week scorned the United States' bold plan
for peace in the Middle East and one Arab leader said angrily that
Secretary of Slate Dulles was offering Arabs "30 pieces of silver to
sell Palestine to the Jews" as a vote-catcher in the 1956 presidential
election.
Dulles said in a New York
speech last week that the United
States would join in international
action to establish and guarantee
new Israeli-Arab borders, would
subscribe to an international loan
to compensate 900,000 Arabs dis
placed in the mid-East strife and
would aid in water development
projects in the area.
"The Arab League stands for
peaceful settlement of all disputes
whenever possible."
That’s what the script says—in
black and white. The statement
may surprise a lot of people in
Israel and among Zionist circles
in the U. S. A. Egypt, mainspring
of the Arab League, has not been
notoriously in favor of settlement
of “all” disputes favorably. For
proof, one need only look at what
has happened to date in the ef
forts to ease Israel-Egypt tensions
along the Gaza strip, through the
abortive ‘pacification” talks initi
ated by a Security Council reso
lution. One might, in fact, recall
that it is almost a year since
Egypt seized the Israeli freighter
Bat Galim, violating an older
Security Council resolution call
ing for freedom of passage for all
shipping through the Suez Canal.
Bui the statement affirming the
Arab League's enthusiasm for
"peaceful" settlements had not
been intended as a reference to
the Israel situation. The sentence
was part of a high-sounding
manisfesto issued here by the
Arab League, "deploring" the
riots in Morocco and calling upon
the French Government "to take
a more sympathetic attitude to
ward the legitimate aspirations of
the peoples of North Africa."
However, inadvertently, the Arab
League has managed to put its
clumsy, anti-Israel foot into its
liberal mouth. For the statement
about the League's enthusiasm
for peace was immediately spot
ted by diplomats here—and filed
for notice when the occasion
should arise.
True, all concede, the Arab
bloc is genuinely interested in a
peaceful outcome of the North
African imbroglio. But in going
all-out on behalf of Moroccan —
as well as Algerian—independ
ence, the Arabs here have more
than overplayed ♦heir hand. Their
asservation about the peaceful
settlement of “all” disputes is not
their only diplomatic error. They
made another, more serious mis
take. They have got themselves
outvoted in the now well-cement
ed Asian-African Bloc, a caucus
organized as an aftermath to last
April’s Bandung conference of 29
nations from the two countries.
It was the Arab League that
was hottest for creation of a Uni
ted Nations bloc out of those dele
gates here who represent Ban
dung conferees. Willy-nilly, India,
Burma and the Philippines be
came members of that bloc. All
three of these countries have been
shamefaced about their failure to
keep anti-Israel resolutions from
the floor of the Bandung Confer
ence. Furthermore, India and
Burma had fought inside pre-
Bandung meetings to get Israel
into that conference—giving up
the fight, finally, only because the
Arab countries threatened to
blow up Bandung amity before it
got under way by slaying away
in droves if Israel should get a
bid.
With India and Burma in the
Asian-African bloc here, and with
the Philippines on the record as
friendly to Israel, the Jewish
State had three members in the
bloc who would not like, openly
at least, to vote any anti-Israel
action. And it is well known here
that one of the Arab League’s
main reasons for wanting forma
tion of the bloc was a possible
pressure group against Israel in
the forthcoming 1955 sessions of
the General Assembly.
But events marched even far
ther ahead. India wanted Turkey
in the Asian-African bloc. Turkey
was invited. Turkey accepted "in
principle," At the last big meeting
of the bloc—where Morocco took
up the entire agenda—all ap
plauded when, at last, Turkey's
- (Continued on Page 5)
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