HE JEWISH NEWS
t
$3 000 000 Loan Authori
By
Allied Campaign to Aid Is.
'Shikker I z a
Goy, Nichter I z
a Yid':
On the
Question of
Alcohol and
the Jews'
Commentary,
Page 2
Historic Link
Between Israel
and the
United States
A Weekly Review
'
of Jewish Events
Story and
Editorial on
Pages 4 and 40
\nide
Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper—Incorporating The Detroit Jewi'
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VOLUME XXXI I I — No. 9 loo
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- 'ear; Single _Copy 15c
17100 W. 7 Mile Rd.—VE 8-9364--Detroit 35, May 2, 1
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An impressive demonstration of organized generosity accompanied by social action authorizing a $3,000,000 bank loan to speed Detroit
support of constructive humanitarian and economic developments in Israel brought a thrilling formal close to the 1958 Allied Jewish Campaign
Wednesday night at the Statler, with $4,800,000 assured in pledges and a unanimous rededication to continued effort to send the final figure
over the $5,000,000 mark.
Max . M. Fisher, chairman for the.second year of the community's No. 1 instrument for aid to major domestic and overseas causes, told
an overflow audience in the Statler Ballroom that only in the 1948-1949 period, when the war for Israeli independence was being waged and
in the 1956-57 period of tension and the Sinai fighting, did the final figure for the campaign exceed the amount already reported by the local,
drive. In lauding the campaign army for its excellent performance in a year of economic decline he described the 1958 achievement as the
fifth best in 33 years of campaigning since the Jewish Welfare Federation and the Allied Jewish Campaign were established in 1926.
Fisher paid tribute to his major associates, Irwin I. Cohn and L ednard N. Simons, co-chairmen; - Paul Zuckerman, pre-campaign chair-
man; Louis C. Blumberg and Hy Safran, campaign vice-chairmen; Abe Green and Abe Shiffman, pre-campaign co-chairmen; Charles H. Gersh-
enson, vice-chairman of pre-campaign; Jack 0. Lefton, chairman of trades and professions, and Mrs. Lewis E. Daniels, chairman of the Women's
Division.
Dr. Joseph J. Schwartz, executive vice-chairman of Bonds for Israel and for-.
mer head of the United Jewish Appeal and Joint Distribution Committee, made
Israel s Use of Aqaba Upheld
an impassioned plea for "reconsecrated dedication to the unfinished task of Ameri-
can Jewish commitment to partnership with the people of Israel." Drawing on his
at Geneva Maritime Parley
own personal experience of two decades of devoted executive leadership, Dr.
Schwartz reviewed the promises that American Jewry had made to liberate the
GENEVA, (JTA) — The 87-nation international maritime
DP camps, to rescue the trapped victims of European oppression, to rehabilitate
conference concluded its conference following the
fr re-establish them in free homes and
and resettle more than a million Jews a
a free society, notably in the re-born Jewish State.
a regulation which upheld, in effect, Israel's right to use the
Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba which gave its port of
A highlight of the meeting was the planned interruption in the - Cefethony
of celebration to convene special meetings of the board of governors of the Jew-
Elath access to the Red Sea.
ish Welfare Federation, under the :..liairmanship of Federal Judge Theodore Levin,
. By a vote of 62 to 1, with the Arab states abstaining and
its president, and of the United Jewish Charities, with President Abe Srere presid-
Haifa apparently voting against the regulation by mistake,
ing. After a recital by Max J. Zivian, chairman of the finance committee,
the conference permitted innocent passage of shipping through
local indications of pledge collection experience_ and of the cash problem of the
straits connecting the high seas with national or international
Jewish Agency for Israel, the resolution was proposed expressing confidence in
waters. The regulation was worded in general terms and did
the Detroit contributors and their sense of responsibility and empowering the
not mention the Aqaba situation.
board of Federation -to negotiate a $3, 000,000 loan so that funds could be ex-
pedited' for life-saving programs in anticipation of regular collections. A hush
Immediately after the vote an Israeli spokesman called
reflecting the seriousness of the action and the maturity of the organized com-
"clearcut
decision"
affecting
access
to
Elath.
On
the
other
it a
munity hung over the meeting as the roll of the board membership was called and
hand, an Arab spokesman, Ahmed Shukairy of Saudi Arabia,
a spontaneous wave of applause broke out when the concluded vote showed a
said that the Arab state would not recognize the legality of
the rule which he charged had been "tailored" by Britain and
unanimous decision to arrange for the loan — the greatest of its kind in the
the United States to fit a specific case.
history of the community. It was in effect a colorful presentation to the people
of Israel on her tenth anniversary.
The conference adjourned without having taken any action
on the breadth of the territorial sea, a measure which might
Another high spot in the evening's proceedings was Judge Levin's tribute
have affected Israel's rights to fish in rich coastal waters in
to the board members of Federation and its agencies who - served in 1938 at the
the Mediterranean Sea. The Arabs have also attempted to force
time the United Jewish Appeal was being organized. Seated throughout the hall
„•
recognition of a 12-mile limit of the territorial sea and thus
bar the entire narrow Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli-bound shipping.
.
(Continued on Page 3)
Detroit Orthodox Leaders Join National Delegation in
Opposing Bill Affecting Shehita at Senatorial Hearing
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News)
WASHINGTON, D. C.—Testifying before the
Senate • Committee on Agriculture and Forestry
Tuesday on the proposed humane slaughter bill,
Rabbi Solomon J. Sharfman, president of the
Rabbinical Council of America, and Moses I. Feurer-
stein, president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish
Congregations of America, said that "this bill is
bound not merely to fail in its proclaimed purpose
but will actually promote inhumane slaughter. Our
conscience will not permit us to underwrite in any
manner the treatment of animals which violates ,
the principle of our religion requiring the humane
slaughter of animals."
The Orthodox Jewish rabbinic and lay leaders,
representing, respectively, the country's largest
rabbinic body of 700 members, and the central body
for the country's 3,000 orthodox Jewish congrega-
tions, presented a joint statement to the hearings
offering detailed objections to the proposed bill.
(The Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Detroit
was invited to participate in the delegation that
went to Washington Tuesday to act on the Shehita
question. A day of prayer was called in Detroit
synagogues Mon ay. A delegation consisting of
Rabbis Samuel H. Prero and S. P. Wohlgelernter
and Samuel Platt joined in the national emergency
meeting in Washington. They conferred with Sena-
tors McNamara and Potter and advised them on the
urgency of the situation as it is affected by the
humane slaughtering bill now pending in the U. S.
Senate. A report on developments in this issue will
be given at a meeting at the Young Israel Center
this Saturday night by the members of the Detroit
delegation. All who are interested in the Shehita
problem are urged to attend the meeting).
The orthodox representatives' statement said:
"Several methods of slaughter approved as
`humane' in the bill are deemed inhumane and
injurious by the U. S. Department of Agriculture
and by leading scientific experts. A notorious ex-.
ample is the method of 'stunning with a single
blow' — the very first listed as humane in the
bill. Any observer can see that stunning with 'a
single blow' is a terrible illusion — rarely if ever is
the animal stunned with the first blow; in reality,
blow after blow must be struck upon the suffering
animal, often as many as 20 blows being required.
Likewise, gunshot, electrical and chemical methods
have all been found questionable or worse by
qualified experts."
The testimony presented laid stress on the
view that while the bill would be a disservice to
humanitarians it offers parallels with legislation
in other countries directed against Shehita, the
method oC animal slaughter required by the laws
of the Jewish religion.
"Legislation in foreign lands under the cloak
of 'humane slaughter' has been accompanied by
vicious anti-Shehita agitation, disclosing beyond
doubt the real purpose of such measures. While
the immediate sponsors of the bill before this
committee are surely free of any such motivation,
we have reason to believe that there are those who
would strive for the ultimate in that respect.
Americans must not permit themselves to allow
this specious bill to open the door to the under-
mining of American religious freedom."
Noting that the bill cites Shehita, the method
of animal slaughter required by the laws of the
Jewish religion, as humane, Feuerstein and Rabbi
Sharfman said that this was in accord with the
findings of more . than 800 recognized authorities,
mostly - - on-Jewish, in the field of physiology.
pathology and anatomy, who have testified that
Shehita is the "most humane." Their statement
declared, however, that the bill's provision for
Shehita is "illusory," because of other provisions
which could restrict or prevent its exercise.
They said: "Should this bill be enacted, an
agency of the Government will be responsible for
the supervision of religious practices. Certainly,
such legislation flouts the fundamental American
tradition prohibiting the Government from inter-
ference with the religious practices of any faith."
The Jewish spokesmen also pointed out that
the bill falls far short of its intended humane
purpose by omitting any reference to the "mis-
treatment of animals that is common in all seg-
meats of our country." They added: "We refer to
such things as branding, castrating, de-horning of
cattle, docking of lambs, hunting, etc. These also
present serious violations of human principle and
should certainly be included in the overall effort
to establish standards for the treatment of animals,"