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Vatican
Communique
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Annual Jew sh Book Fair
Detailed Story
on Page 11
THE JEWISH NEWS
DE TROIT
A Weekly Review
Commentary
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VOL. XLIV, No. 12
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17100 W. 7 Mile Rd. — VE 8-9364—Detroit 35, November 15, 1963—$6.00 Per Year; This Issue 20c
All Faiths Commend Catholic
Declaration on Crucifixion,
Placing Blame on All Mankind
Spokemen for all factions in Jewish life • and all the rabbinical
associations as well as heads of congregational movements, and non-
Catholic as well as Catholic leaders spoke enthusiastically in praise of
the Vatican Communique on the Jews which, in essence, declares that
Jews as a people cannot be blamed for the death of Jesus.
The full text of the communique issued last Friday by the Ecumen-
ical Council Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, which is headed
by Augustin Cardinal Bea, follows:
This morning there was distributed to the Fathers of Vatican
Council II a draft on "The Attitude of Catholics Toward Non-Christ-
ians, Particularly Toward the Jews"—"De Catholicorum habitudine ad
non-Christianos et maxime ad Iudaeos." This draft was prepared over
a period of two years by the Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian
Unity, of which His Eminence Augustin Cardinal Bea is president. It
is to form the fourth chapter of the schema on ecumenism, the first
three chapters of which has already been submitted to the bishops.
The document is entirely religious in its content and spiritual in
its purpose. It is out of an ever-growing appreciation of the church's
sacred heritage that the Council pays attention to the Jews, not as a
race or a nation, but as the chosen people of the Old Testament. The
clear and unequivocal language of the text gives the secretariat confi-
dence that no other motive will be read into it than that of the all-
embracing love of the late Pope John, who himself had wished that the
theme be prepared for the Council Fathers.
The draft deals first with the deep bond that ties the church to
the chosen people of the Old Testament. According to God's merciful
design, the church has its roots in the covenant made by God with
Abraham and his descendants. This plan of salvation for all mankind
finds its culmination in the coming of Jesus Christ, son of David and
descendant of Abraham according to the flesh. Through Him the divine
call first given to the chosen people of old is extended through His
church to the entire world.
A second point the draft makes is that the responsibility for
Christ's death falls upon sinful mankind. It was to atone for the sins
of every man that the Son of God willingly offered Himself on the
cross. The part the Jewish leaders of Christ's day played in bringing
about the crucifixion does not exclude the guilt of all mankind. But
the personal guilt of these leaders cannot be charged to the whole
Jewish people either of His time or today. It is therefore unjust to
call this people "deicide" or to consider it "cursed" by God. St. Paul,
in his letter to the Romans, assures us that God has not rejected the
people whom He has chosen.
The document presented goes on to affirm that the church can
never forget that it was from Abraham's stock that Christ, his Blessed
Mother and the apostles were born.
Continued on Page 38
Dr. Goldman. Describes New
Nobel Prize Winner's Role
Jewish Scientist Chosen for Nobel Prize in Physics
STOCKHOLM, (JTA)
Prof. Eugene Paul Wigner, an American Jewish nuclear
physicist, of Princeton University, was named one of three physicists to share the
Nobel Prize in Physics for 1963. Another winner is Dr. Maria Goeuuert Mayer of the
University of California. Prof. Wigner, 61, was born in Germany, came to Princeton
in 1930 and became an American citizen seven years later. Dr. Mayer was born in
Katowice, Poland and became an American citizen in 1933. She is married to Dr. Jo-
seph Mayer, professor of chemical physics at the University of California. The two Am-
ericans will share the $51,000 prize with Prof. Hans D. Jensen, of the University of
Heidelberg, Germany.
(Dr. Eugene P. Wigner (right in the photo), is shown as he received an honorary
degree from Yeshiva University last June. With Dr. Wigner are (left) the Detroit physi-
cist, Dr. J. E. Goldman, director of Ford Motor Company's scientific laboratory, also a
recipient of an honorary degree from Yeshiva University, and Dr. Samuel B elki n,
president of the university.)
Dr. Jacob E. Goldman, prominent Detroit physicist
who has befriended and worked with the new Nobel Prize
winner, Dr. Eugene P. Wigner, this week outlined the
new laureate's accomplishments for The Jewish News.
Dr. Goldman stated:
"Dr. Eugene P. Wigner, who last week was desig-
nated as co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics for
1963, is one of the few remaining physicists cut in the
image of the older generation of Einsteins and Bohrs —
scientists who knew all of physics and contributed to the
many specialities into which the science is now compart-
mentalized. Although the Nobel Prize was designated
for his major contributions to furthering the under-
standing of the structure of the nucleus, Dr. Wigner's
contributions have been pioneering ones in many fields.
In 1933, in a celebrated paper. in collaboration with
Frederick Seitz, he essentially founded the field of
solid state physics which two decades later gave rise
to the transistor and modern developments in electronics
and computers. During the war and in the period there-
after as Director of Research at the Atomic Laboratory
at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, he played a major role in
advancing nuclear reactor technology, and is even today
considered one of the foremost experts on reactors.
"Each of these contributions have been pioneering
ones and have earned for Dr. Wigner many honorary
degrees and awards. It is characteristic of much of Wig-
ner's work that it involves hard mathematical analysis
built on simple physical assumptions. He brought much of
the theory of atomic, molecular and nuclear structure
into consonance with the theory of relativity and funda-
mental mathematics of group theory. The subjects of his
researches run the gamut from elementary particles,
through radioactive decay, magnetism, theory of metallic
structure, to the design of nuclear reactors. Now Professor
of Mathematical Physics at Princeton University, he was
educated at the Technische Hockschule in Berlin and
has received numerous honorary degrees, the most recent
one from Yeshiva University in June, 1963. He has been
the recipient of both the Atoms-for-Peace prize and the
Enrico Fermi Award, the latter — the highest honor
that can be granted by the Atomic Energy Commission.
He has served on the General Advisory Committee of the
Atomic Energy Commission and the President's Science
Advisory Committee.
"Dr. Wigner is a modest, quiet unassuming individual.
Anecdotes about his modesty and courtesy are legion.
Among his colleagues and associates, the highest mark
Continued on Page 3