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24—THE JEWISH NEWS
Panic
Migrations
to
Israel
Dr. Siskin Opens
Centennial Series Create Huge Relief Problem
At Temple Beth El
Friday, November 18, 1949
Continued from Page 1
. Friday evening, Nov. 18, Tem-
ple Beth El will inaugurate the
first in a series of centennial
leCtures. The lectures will be
given throughout the winter by
DR. EDGAR SISKIN
rabbis and lecturers of national
prominence; at the Sabbath eve
services, in commemoration of
the 100th anniversary year of
the Temple.
The first speaker will be Dr.
Edgar E. Siskin of Glencoe, Ill.
Dr. Siskin, one of the prominent
younger Reform rabbis, occupied
the pulpit of Temple Mishkan
Israel in New Haven, Conn., and,
since 1948, has been spiritual
leader of North Shore Congre-
gation Israel in Glencoe. While
in New Haven, Dr. Siskin served
as professor of anthropology at
Yale University, from which he
holds a Ph.D. degree.
During World War II, Rabbi
Siskin served as chaplain with
the First Marine Division and
took part in the Peleliu and
Okinawa campaigns.
Reveai Beth Aaron
Merger Plan to Form
New Synagogue
-
Three hundred persons attend-
ing the installation of officers
of Cong. Beth Aaron and Beth
Aaron Men's Club heard an an-
noun.cement that negotiations
are now underway for the mer-
ger of Beth Aaron and a second
congregation for construction of
a new synagogue in the north-
west section, on property owned
by Beth Aaron.
Further details are promised
for the near future.
Louis Barden installed the fol-
lowing congregation officers : Dr.
Marvin Last, president; Sam
Freedman, Harold Haas, vice
presidents; Alex Margulies, hon-
orary president; Morris Katz,
secretary, and Louis Levine,
treasurer.
New Men's Club leaders are:
Dr. Adolph Winkler, president;
Paul Carpenter, Milton Morris,
vice presidents; • Sidney Wein-
berg, secretary: Sidney Shmar-
ak, financial secretary; - Meyer
Pomerantz, -treasurer; Jack Rai-
sin, sergeant-at-arms, and, Mac
Silverman, chaplain.
nation by air," Dr, Schwartz
stated,
"The need for the transporta-
tion of 40,000 Yemenite Jews has
burdened us with an expense of
$40,000,000 which was not in our
budget."
Having brought them to Is-
rael, we now place them in the
hands of the Jewish state where
they must be housed in tents,
hospitalized, nursed back to life.
These are responsibilities that
must be met by funds of the
United Jewish Appeal. We are
staggered by the needs."
Dr. Schwartz spoke of another
type of immigration --,of the
20,000 Jews who will be per-
mitted to leave Poland, of the
several thousand who now will
be able to leave Hungary.
"If we don't take these peo-
ple out before September, 1950,
their chance of immigrating will
be lost," he said. "We are now
getting down to the hard core of
facilitating the final solution to
the problem of the oppressed.
Everything—except care for the
aged, the tubercular, the de-
pendents who never will be able
to work in countries like Hun-
gary—has been cut out, and our
major task is to provide means
of immigration for these who
are in flight.
"Only those who represent the
the last heritage of the war and
the Nazi persecutions are pro-
vided for. The rest of our
program is directly represented
in the Israel venture."
Life Or Death
Dr. Schwartz pointed out that
the emigration of North African
Jews is a matter of life or death,
that Jews are leaving Egypt for
Italy and France and from these
points are taken to Israel by the
JDC.
He spoke of the serious prob-
lem in Iraq and said if 50,000
can be taken from there in the
, coming year, to avert pogroms, it
will be necessary to facilitate
their immigration.
"If it becomes necessary to
settle 150,000 or more in Is-
rael in 1950, it will have to
be done, because there is no
other way out for these people
in the present emergency," he
stated.
The Morocco Story
This is one side of the coin.
The other side is descriptive of
efforts in Morocco and other ar-
eas where Jewish youths are be-
ing trained for a better life in
the hope that their eventual
settlement in Israel will find
them prepared for a wholesome
outlook on Jewish matters and
on Israel's efforts.
The Moroccan story was re-
lated to me at the JDC Paris
headquarters by Morris Laub,
another brilliant JDC official
whose work in Cyprus was of
greatest value in the resettle-
ment of the tens of thousands
who languished on that island
under British rule before the
rise of the Jewish state, and
whose activities in Morocco have
made him an outstanding auth-
Civic Leaders Applaud Rabbi Fram's
Service As Pension Committee Chairman
,
•
Detroit civic leaders haVe en-
thusiastically praised the ef-
forts of Rabbi Leon Fram
chairman of the Committee of
Pensions of the Mayor's Charter
Revision Commission.
Rabbi Frarn.'s committee
drafted the charter amendments
on pensions Which appeared on
the Nov. 8 ballot. He •has re..
oeived the thanks of the Com-
mon Council, as well as approval
from the conservative 'business-
men and city workers for his
efforts. The amendments, which
were passed by a vote' of two to
one, were the result of two years
of study of the city pension
system.
Among. the comment's on
Rabbi Fram's work was that of
George , Stutz, ,Detroit attorney
and founder and past persident
of Temple Israel, who stated:
"I heartily applaud Rabbi Fram's
service, which I believe is to
the credit of our total Jewish
community in Detroit."
Commission Assails
Refugee Act of 1 948
.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9. (JTA)
—The Displaced Persons Com-
mission today condemned the
DP Act of 1948 in a report to
President Truman. The Com-
mission complained that that
Act is "overly complicated, un-
just, unfair, and discriminatory."
The earliest possible enactment
of the ,Celler Bill was urged.
ority on the history of North
African Jewry.
Laub, who currently is in
charge of the emigration prog-
ram to Israel, told this corres-
pondent , that distorted views
exist regarding the civilized
status and health of North Afri-
can Jewry. He denied that Mor-
occan Jews are "black;" point-
ed out they are far above the
Arabs in cultural attainments,
and stated that the diseases
DR. JOSEPH SCHWARTZ
rampant among them are cur-
able.
Work Among Children
The JDC program in this field
is tremendous and emphasis is
placed upon work among chil-
dren in order to guide them to-
ward proper integration into
Israel's life.
The dissolution of the JDC of-
fice in Poland shiftsresponsi-
bility for the projected emigrar
MORRIS LAUB
tion of 25,000 Polish Jews to Is-
rael in the coming 10 months to
the Israeli Consulate in Poland.
One thing is clear: Unless a
great effort is made to exceed
last year's UJA gifts, Israel, and
those who are planning to go
there, will be given so severe a
blow that it may be difficult for
the Jewish state to stand the
strains. of 'creating a sound eco-
nomy and of assuring security
for its settlers.
. 'Hard Core' Problem
Herman D. Stein, director of
the welfare program of JDC's
overseas , operations, described
the "Hard Core" problem of the
JDC as dealing with persons
who cannot be expected to be-
come economically independent.
Under the "Hard Core" head-
ing, JDC deals with those who
need medical care (TB-afflict-
ed, mentally ill, those suffering
heart ailments and feeble-mind-
ed children).. the aged, with a
variety of illnesses, and widows
with small children.
• The "hard core" issue orig-
inated with the IRO, when it
dealt with people who could
not emigrate for medical, soc-
ial and economic reasons. Is-
rael alone began to accept
many in this group.
Less than a third of those
cared for by JDC, in this cate-
gory, require temporary help.
The largest number are unable
to care for themselves and will
continue to need JDC's support.
The projected termination of
IRO places several thousand'
Jews in France and Belgium in
JDC's care. The grants of the
local governments to such needs
are so small (the minimum per
month being 100 francs — 27
cents—and the maximum 3,500
francs—$10) that the burdens
of JDC become self-evident.
Those who desire to leave Ger-
many or Austria are not influ-
enced in any fashion and are
enabled to go to Israel or to any
other country of their choice.
In order to facilitate the im-
migration of many who are ill,
Israel • is planning to establish
a colony for tuberculars, with
the aid of JDC and IRO, and
plans already have been made
for an Israel TB village. The IRO
appropriation of $2,500,000 is a
drop in the bucket of existing
needs.
Total Exceeds 11,000
The number of European
"hard core" relief clients ex-
ceeds 11,000 most of them in
France. This number does not
include rabbis and persons ac-
tually in transit. A third of
those cared for are older than
55, and 65 percent of them are
women.
The vast network of activities
of the . JDC in France operates
under the direction of Laura
Margolis, able supervisor whose
heroic work in China during the
war has made her world famous.
Under Miss Margolis' supervis-
ion, 2,500 children—orphans and
half-orphans—are cared for. In
addition, there are 1,300 orphans
who are cared for in JDC—sup-
ported Youth Aliyah homes.
Only 10 per cent of these chil-
dren are French, the orest corn-
ing from North Africa. All are
trained for settlement in Israel.
5,000 in Transit
Miss Margolis directs the work
of providing aid for 5,000 needy
old in the many JDC installa-
tions. There are 5,000 people in
transit, many destined for settle-
ment in Israel. There are 1,700
rabbis and yeshivah bachurim
who live in seven yeshivoth
groups.
In addition to providing med-
ical care and culture activities
for the needy who are cared for
by JDC, Miss Margolis' depart-
ment assists in preparing the
thousands in the • Marseilles
camps to be shipped to Israel.
An important branch of her
work is the supervision of the
Hachsharot—the training camps
for Halutzim in Israel. Approx-
imately 1,000 are trained for
practical work as settlers in Is-
rael, under supervision of Shli-
chim from the Jewish state.
Every six months, there,-is a
complete turnover of - these
trainees, so that nearly 2,000 in
the age group of 18 to 25 are
sent to Israel yearly from the
Hachsharot. Leonard Seidemann
is the JDC worker in charge of
this department.
Charles Malamuth, formerly
a UP correspondent, one-time
head of the Russian department
at Cornell University, is in
charge of JDC's public relations
department.
Truman Asks End
Of Discrimination
In NCCJ Speech
WASHINGTON, Nov. 11, (JTA)
— President Truman demanded
legislation "to reduce discrimi-
nation based on prejudice" in
an address before the National
Conference of Christians and
Jews. The conference. met here
to map plans for BrotherhoOd
Week, to be held in February,
1950.
President Truman said he
asked the federal government to
participate-actively in efforts to
achieve greater justice for mi-
nority groups. He stated:
"I do not see how we can do
otherwise than adopt such legis-
lation. If we look at ourselves
in the true spirit of brotherhood,
we must acknowledge that in the
United States there are in-
stances of discrimination and in-
justice because of difference in
color, religion, or national origin.
"The first step of every enemy
of this country always has been
to separate the different strands
of faith and belief out of which
this nation has been woven. Our
enemies have tried to get group
against group, faith against
faith—to create prejudice and
distrust among our people. • All
the faiths represented here
claim as a common heritage the
great thoughts of the Hebrew
Prophets. The Prophets were
among the first of men who saw
that the concept of the Father-
hood of God required men to do
justice to one another.
"With the help of your
organization and others like it,
we have been able to play an
important part in the United
Nations in developing such his-
toric international documents as
the Declaration of Human
Rights and the Convention on
Genocide."
The Conference re-elected its
national. officers and approved
a drive for $3,500,000 to finance
the expanded program planned
for 1950.
Mrs. Welt to Address
Combined Women's
ORT Groups' Luncheon
Mrs. Joseph Welt, recently re-
turned from an extensive trip
through Europe and Palestine,
will address a combined meeting
of the local groups of Womens
American ORT, at 1 p.m. Mon-
day, Nov/ 21.
Beginning with
'a dessert lunch-
eon, the meeting
will be held at
the home of
Mrs. Arthur Col-
ten, 1630'Welles-
ley Drive. Mrs.
Clarence E n g-
gass, Mrs. Louis
Landsberg and
Mrs. Harold
Kukes, p r e s i- Mrs. Welt
dents of their respective groups,
are in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Arthur Bloom, local pres-
ident, will preside at the meet-
ing.
Queen Elizabeth Receives
Israel Envoy to Britain
LONDON—(JTA)—Dr. Morde-
cai Eliash, Israel Minister to the
United Kingdom, was received by
Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham
Palace in a 15-minute interview.
Young Israel Midwest Convention
Elere Nov. 24; Rabbi Weiss to Speak
Jerome W. Kelman, chairman
of the 19th midwestern conven-
tion of Young Israel, announces
that Rabbi Samson R. Weiss,
national director of Young
Israel, just returned from Israel
where he negotiated for land in
Tel Aviv, for a
Young Israel
Center, will de-
liver the main
address of t h e
convention at 8
p. in. Friday,
Nov. 25, at the
Youth Center,
12521 Dexter.
The conven-
Rabbi Weiss t ion begins
Thursday evening, Nov. 24, at
the Barlum Hotel, with a
Thanksgiving dinner, Represent-
atives from Chicago, Cleveland,
Cincinnati, St. Louis, Syracuse,
Scranton and Buffalo, and the
national council in New York,
will attend.
The convention closes with a
public banquet Sunday evening,
Nov. 27, at the Barium Hotel.
Elijah Stein, president of the
national council, who accom-
panied R; IDi13i. Weiss on. his Israel
mission, '11 also speak.
Jewish Education Center
Opened in Buenos Aires
BUENOS AIRES— (JTA) —A
national education center has
been opened here under the au-
spices of the Jewish Agency, in
cooperation with several local
schools and educational groups.