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E JEWISH NEWS
The Shylock Issue:
Troubles on
Many Fronts
Commentary
Flashback:
The Saga of
Anti-Zionist
Sir Ronald Storrs
Page 2
A Weekly Review
of Jewish Events
Arabs, Anti-West
Attitudes Exposed
in Their Own
Statements
Editorial, Page 4
Michigan's Only English - Jewish Newspaper — Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle
VOLUME 28—No. 10.
c4SPOD 27
17100 W. 7 Mile Rd.—VE. 8-9364—Detroit 35, November 11, 1955
$4.00 Per Year; Single Copy 15c
Kaganovich and Molotov Antagonistic to Jewish State
Russia Defends Arms Sales While
U S. Abstains From Aiding Israel
Two Michigan Synagogues Plagued
By Question of Mixed Seating
Is Michigan to be a battleground in a growing nation-wide controversy over
the perpetuation of Orthodox traditions?
This question was being asked in many circles this week as the problem of
mixed seating in Orthodox synagogues threatened a breach in the ranks of at
least two state congregations.
Since the High Holy Days, the Mt. Clemens Synagogue has been under a
restraining order by the court to prevent mixed seating. Although a majority of
its members had expressed their desire for mixed seating, three members of the
minority group, upon signing a bill of complaint, stated they would have no
place to conduct worship as they wished, should the ruling be allowed.
Now, here in Detroit, Cong. Beth. Abraham, which only recently completed
its new building on W. 7 Mile -Rd, is faced with a similar problem.
Having voted for an article by article change in the constitution, one of the
provisions of which would allow mixed seating, members have yet to take a
vote on the constitution as a package; •
Meanwhile, meetings and negotiations are taking place which aim to satisfy
both elements of the congregation—the progressive majority seeking • to allow
mixed pews and the equally steadfast minority which wishes no change.
Pressure from outside sources is being brought to bear on Beth Abraham
members from several Orthodox groups, and earlier this month the Detroit Coun-'
cil of Orthodox Rabbis received telegrams from Chief. Rabbi Itzhak Helevy Her-
zog, of Israel and Rabbi- Israel Rosenberg, president of the Union of Orthodox
Rabbis; asking their intervention.
The cable from Rabbi Herzog said that he was "greatly distressed" at the
report and hoped that the congregation would refrain from making a move "which
is against Jewish law and sacred practice." Mixed seating would be a "communal
tragedy," wrote Rabbi Rosenberg.
A spokesman for Beth Abraham said that the synagogue is not a member
of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, the national body of Orthodox
synagogues.
The spokesman also pointed out that since the establishment of Reform
Judaism in Europe over 110 years ago, there have been changes in Orthodox, tra-
dition. Several members of the UOJC, he added, now have mixed seating, although
they are fully-accredited members. As a matter of record, he said, there is no
progressive Othodox synagogue in Detroit without mixed seating.
The restraining order placed on the Mt. Clemmons Synagogue is in effect until
settlement of a court case which now confronts it. The case has been postponed
several times.
The judge who issued the order, tem-
porarily preventing mixed seating, based
his decision on a case tried by the North
Carolina Supreme Court last year, in which
a Baptist Church, wishing to modernize its
The continuing rise. in
ritual
was refrained from so doing because
production costs necessi-
in such a matter the court felt that a minor-
tates an increase in The
ity could not be deprived of a place of wor-
Jewish News' subscrip-
ship. The decision took into account the
tion rate. As of Dec. 2,
building of the church by its founding
the annual mail ,subscrip-t
fathers aid went so far as to take into con-
sideration the wishes of the deceased
tion rate will be $5.
members.
Subscription Rate
Goes Up on Dec. 2
Direct JTA Teletype Wires to The Jewish News
MOSCOW—Soviet First Deputy Premier Lazar Kaganovich is reported
to have been sharply critical of Israel's foreign policy at a dinner Monday
night with Israel Ambassador Joseph Avidar.. Kaganovich is the only
Jewish member of the presidium of the Central Committee of the Russian
Communist Party.
Molotov's 'Blunt Rejection' of Dulles' Intercession'
WASHINGTON—Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov bluntly rejected
Secretary of State Dulles' appeal for his intercession to halt the flow of
Communist arms to Egypt, according to U. S. Government sources. These
sources indicated Tuesday that Molotov„ in word and tone, expressed
anger at Dulles' suggestion and referred Dulles' attention to American
arms shipments to Iraq and other countries.
Molotov reportedly emphasized that Soviet bloc shipments would
be cpntinued. He was described as taking the position that it was "a
commercial transaction" and an "internal affair" of Czechoslovakia and
Egypt in which the United States had no right to interfere. It Was also
reported that he told British Foreign Secretary MacMillan to recall British
munitions shipments to Egypt and ,other Middle Eastern states..
U. S. State Department Denies Reports, of Arms Aid to Israel
An official State Department spokesman announced Tuesday that
"the United States has reached no decision with respect to the sale of
arms to Israel. Authoritative State Department sources denied reports
that Israel might receive "considerable" quantities of American arms,
because the Department wishes to avoid an arms race. These sources said
"a trickle" of defensive munitions might be sold to Israel under an exist-
ing reimbursible arrangement.
State Department Press' Spokesman Lincoln White pointed out that
the United States has such a reimbursible agreement with Israel "as it
has with other countries," and said "the United States has stressed repeat-
edly that it will consider the sale of arms for legitimate self-defense but
will not participate in an arms race." He said, "That has been our tradi-
tional policy and there has been no change."
White expressed the view that the United States could sell Israel
"small quantities" of arms without becoming involved in an arms race.
In any event, it was made clear from what White and other sources
had to say that Israel could not realistically expect early shipments of
"significant" quantities of American arms.
It was learned that the United States is now consulting with the
French and British governments to determine what arms those countries
have provided or plan to send to the Near East under the Tripartite
Declaration of 1950. It was said that the Department will carefully
scrutinize French shipments to Israel before a decision on approving items
on the Israel list is expected, but has not yet been submitted to the
Department.
Asked if the State Department considered Israel's -arms request in
the category of "self-defense," or "arms race," White said he could not
answer in the absence of a specific Israel list.
Egypt's application for U. S. arms is now "dormant," White said.
He indicated no U. S. arms shipments are contemplated at this time
for Syria or Saudi Arabia. He said Iraq represented a "different situation"
in which - arms are granted free under a military defense assistance
Continued on Page 3
Rabbi Adler, Samuel Rhodes Expose Iraqi's 'Distortions'
S4muel J. Rhodes and Rabbi Morris Adler, presi-
dent and vice-president, respectively, of the Jewish
Community Council, in addresses over Station WJR,
Monday evening, refuted the "distortions" of truth in
the address delivered over the same station and the
same hour the previous Monday by Mohammed Fadhal
Jamali, Iraqi diplomat.
Jamali's address was a transcription of an address
he had delivered before the Economic Club on Oct.
31. The Zionist and Community Councils are pursuing
their efforts to secure equal time for a reply before the
Economic Club itself to Jamali's speech which is con-
sidered the most violent anti-Jewish and anti-Ameri-
can address ever delivered before a detroit audience.
Jamali's speech is reminiscent of another anti-
Israeli speech delivered before the Economic Club by
George Weller, American correspondent in Rome who
visited here several years ago.
In his radio address last Monday, Rabbi Adler
charged that Jamali misinterpreted facts and "drew a
distorted picture" of the Middle East. He declared:
"As a diplomat he should have known, had he not
been blinded by prejudice, that one does not tell the
citizens of another country what to do in their domestic
life."
Condemning the sale of arms by Communist coun-
tries to Egypt, Rabbi Adler reviewed the history of
Israel's rebirth and accused Jamali of having failed to
tell his audience here that )he Arabs not only opposed
the partition of Palestine but even refused to recognize
the entity of Israel. He charged the Arabs with having
consorted with the Nazis and with the enemies of the
West during the last war and accused Jamali of mis-
representing facts in his avowal of love for America.
Drawing upon his personal observations in Israel,
Rabbi Adler called attention 'to the injustice of the
Arab position, to the fact that Israel has only 8,000
square miles of land compared with vast Arab terri-
tories 200 times that size. Recalling the tragedy suf-
fered by the Jews under Hitler, Rabbi Adler said: "Not
even a sigh escapes Mr. Jamali's great heart at the most
cruel and infamous butchery suffered by any people in
all history:"
Rabbi Adler declared that Jatnali insults the in-
telligence of Americans and does them a grave injustice
when he says that American policy is determined by
"the Zionist manipulations of the Jewish vote." He ac-
cused the Arab spokesman of implying "that the con-
science of the Arabs is up for sale and will go to the
highest bidder" in his 'approval of Arab arms pur-
chases from the Communists.
The Arabs fear "higher standards of living . . .
democracy . . the dissolution of privilege . . . the
lifting of the burden of poverty," Rabbi Adler said. He
declared that "the American people will not be fooled
by your distortions."
Mr. Rhodes, who shared with Rabbi Adler the time
allotted by WJR for the reply to Jamali, quoted from
General Nasser's threats that Israel "must disappear"
and that "the Arabs intend to annihilate Israel," and,
referring to assurances of friendship for Jewry by
King Feisal in the days of the Balfour Declaration, said
he wondered who speaks for the real Arab world,
-He challenged the Arabs to prove that they are
really freedom-loving, as they profess. He warned that
"an augmented supply of dangerous weapons in the
hands of dictators" represents a threat to the peace of
the world."
Declaring that the United States cannot sacrifice
the isolated outpost of democracy represented by Israel,
Mr. Rhodes said that "of all the states in the mid-East,
Israel, surrounded by autocracies and feudalisms, has
shown a capacity for self-government and embodies
the aspirations of America and the free world."
Exposing the Arab threats to Israel, Mr. Rhodes con-
trasted them with the political stability of Israel.
Charging that the latest Communist-Arab alliance is
an attempt for a squeeze play on the United States and
an attempt by Egypt to blackmail this. country, Mr.
Rhodes said that the United States must try to dissuade
the Soviet bloc from fostering an arms race in the
Middle East; that this country should lose no time in
giving arms to Israel and in signing a defense pact
with Israel, the only democratic ally the U.St has in the
Middle East.
Hundreds of Jewish organizations in Detroit par-
ticipated this week in an appeal to Michigan's members
of both Houses of Congress to urge our Government
to implement immediately, through official channels,
"its offer of mutual guarantees of borders"; to strive
for an immediate peace treaty instead of the present '
armistice, and to correct the "grotesque imbalance"
created by the armaments deal between Cairo and
Moscow.