The late Dr. Norbert Wiener,
who died in Stockholm March 18
at the age of 69, was known as
the "Father of Automation." He
was a child prodigy and was ad-
mitted to college at 11, receiv-
ing his bachelor's degree at 14.
He was for 42 years professor
of mathematics at Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology.
The son of a Russian-born Jew-
the 90th anniversary of the about election to its pulpit.
birth of a great American Jew,
At the time Wise was serv-
Stephen Samuel Wise. Rabbi, ing a congregation in Port-
orator, Zionist spokesman, land, Ore. He was interested
Seminary f o u n d e r-president, in returning to New York,
Stephen S. Wise was by any but wanted assurances that
standard one of the most color- his pulpit "is not to be
ful, most dynamic, most dis- muzzled." He was told, how-
tinguished religious leaders ever, that "the pulpit should
America has ever known. He always be subject to and un-
was among the formost build- der the control of the board
ers of American Judaism, and of trustees . . . The logical
the seminary that he established consequence of a conflict of
at New York in 1922 — the irreconcilable views between
Jewish Institute of Religion— the rabbi and the board of
is today the New York School trustees is that one or the
of the Hebrew Union College- other must give way. Natural-
ly, it must be the rabbi."
Jewish Institute of Religion.
Everything that Wise did is Wise responded by telling
memorable, but nothing that he the New York congregation
accomplished in the 75 years flatly that "no self-respecting
minister of religion ...
of his earthly span was more
memorable or more important could consider a call" to such
than a letter he published in a pulpit.
Not content with merely re-
1906 "on the freedom of the
jecting the preferred pulpit,
Jewish pulpit."
Wise was already one of Wise went on to write a lengthy
Rockwell Stirs Twin Cities Anger
MINNEAPOLIS, (JTA) — "A
backwash of hatred and dissen-
sion" continued to swirl among
non-Jews and Jews alike in the
DR. NORBERT WIENER
Twin Cities of St. Paul and Min-
-
ish peddler, he rose to become , neapolis, the result of an ad-
the first professor of Slavonic I dress delivered at the Univer-
'languages at Harvard—serving sity of Minnesota by George Lin-
on the faculty for 42 years and coln Rockwell, leader of the
retiring as full professor in I American Nazi Party, the Amer-
1960. Born in Columbia, Mo., ican Jewish World, local weekly
the son of Leo and Bertha Kahn newspaper, reported.
Wiener, he entered Tufts Col-
Rockwell spoke on the Univer-
lege at the age of 11. He obtain- sity of Minnesota Campus March
ed the degree of doctor of phi- 13, when 1,500 students and
losophy from Harvard at 19. guests, many of them defiantly
Last January, President Johnson wearing the Star of David,
awarded to Dr. Wiener one of
crowded a campus auditorium,
the five National Medals of Sci-
while about 2,500 others listened
ence for his contributions to the
to his anti-Semitic diatribes over
nation. His citation called him
loud speakers. The Stars of Da-
"one of the world's greatest
vid, made available by the Stu-
mathematicians and one of
dent Zionist Organization, was
MIT's most distinguished pro-
worn by non-Jews as well as
fessors." Dr. Wiener was best
known for his book in 1948 on by Jews.
Rockwell received wide press,
cybernetics. Cybernetics is de-
scribed by scientists as the anal- radio and television coverage
ysis of electronic and mechan- during his visit here. Jewish
ical controls in industry and in leaders, including Rabbi Louis
daily life, forming the basis of Milgrom, director of the Bnai
modern automation and the use Brith Hillel Foundation, had
of today's giant, electronic com- urged university officials to ban
puters. He was a prolific writer, Rockwell. Some Jewish students,
not only in scientific fields but however, according to the Amer-
ican Jewish World, identifying
also in philosophy.
themselves as members of Hil-
said they disagreed with
`Shalom' Sets Up TV- , lel,
Rabbi Milgrom.
Passengers to Perform
Samuel L. Scheiner, executive
Passengers aboard the Zim
director
of the Jewish Commun-
Lines' new 24,500 gross - ton
flagship, SS Shalom, won't ity Relations Council of Minne-
have to sing for their supper sota, declaring he believed that
but they can perform on tele- some members of his own board
vision if they want to, for the of directors may disagree with
benefit of a captive audience him, expressed his "regret" over
the invitation to Rockwell to
of fellow passengers.
The $20 - million Israeli speak on the campus. He
luxury liner, now undergoing charged that six Jewish members
sea trials off St. Nazaire, of the Young Democratic Farm-
France, is equipped with a er-Labor Party on the campus
closed-circuit TV system that had backed the Rockwell invi-
can also pick up shore-base tation.
All newspapers here agreed
telecasts within a 60-mile ra-
dius. But during most of the that, while most of Rockwell's
time at sea, TV entertain- audience booed and jeered him,
ment will rely on kinescope order had been maintained
material and on live shows throughout the Nazi's visit. The
originating aboard ship.
American Jewish World noted
The latter will consist of in- editorially, however, that "thou-
terviews, panel discussions, quiz
shows, dances, concerts, deck BRITISH-GERMAN TALKS ON
sport tournaments and an ama- COMPENSATION OF NAZI
teur hour in which passengers VICTIMS COMPLICATED
will be invited to participate.
LONDON (JTA) — Foreign
There • also will be regular news
and weather bulletins and an- Secretary R. A. Butler declared
nouncements of general interest in the House of Commons that
by the captain and other offi- negotiations between Britain
cers. The ship's entertainment and West Germany for com-
officer will be in charge of pro- pensation of Nazi victims now
living in Britain were proceed-
gramming.
The Shalom will have nine ing as quickly as possible but
23-inch-screen sets in lounges that they were "inevitably com-
and eight more in deluxe suites. plicated." Included are a num-
There are sufficient connections ber of Jews. The Foreign Secre-
for 87 sets aboard the liner and tary said the talks were "con-
that many may eventually he fidential negotiations between
installed. Crew members will governments." He declined to
be permitted to plug in their "make a more detailed state-
ment at this stage."
own sets.
sands paid this unspeakable pa-
riah their tribute of personal
attention." The newspaper sug-
gested that the time may have
come when a national association
of universities "formulate cri-
teria for appropriate and useful
utilization of the college plat-
form, to help determine what
cause and what type of person-
ality deserve hearings."
r 111
•1111.1101111,0
Nothing, Wise declared, was
a greater disservice to religion
than "that attitude of the pulpit
which never provokes dissent
because it is cautious rather
than courageous, peace-loving
rather than prophetic, time-
serving rather than right-serv-
ing."
What was the rabbi's proper
role? Wise asked. Was he to
speak for or to the congrega-
tion? To Wise, the answer was
clear: "The chief office of the
minister . . . is not to represent
the views of the congregation,
but to proclaim the truth as he
sees it." The rabbi, Wise in-
sisted, is "not the message-
bearer of the congregation, but
the bearer of a message to the
congregation." That the rabbi
might "sometimes stumble into
error" was no argument against
the freedom of the pulpit, since
"his views are not supposed to
have a binding force upon the
stitute a creed or dogma to
which a congregation must in
whole or in part subscribe."
The rabbi had to be free,
Wise asserted—free to quicken
"the minds of his hearers by
the vitality and independence
of his utterances . . . A free
pulpit, worthily filled, must
command respect and influ-
ence; a pulpit that is not free,
howsoever filled, is sure to be
without potency and honor"
and "can never powerfully
plead for truth and righteous-
ness."
The letter is only one of
many Stephen Wise memora-
bilia at the American Jewish
Archives on the Cincinnati
campus of the Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Re-
ligion. The director of the
Archives is Rabbi Jacob Rader
Marcus, Adolph S. Ochs Profes-
sor of American Jewish History
at the College-Institute.
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13 - THE D ETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, March 27, 1964
Automation Ace, Dr. Marcus Acclaims Stephen S. Wise's Letter on Freedom of Pulpit
March, 1964, notes the direc- America's outstanding young exposition of his views. It was congregation." On the contrary,
Norbert Wiener
tor of the American Jewish rabbis in December, 1905, published at Portland, in 1906, "the Jewish minister . . . does
an eminent New York as "An Open Letter . . . on the not speak ex cathedra." His
Had Degree at 14 Archives in Cincinnati,- marks when
congregation approached him Freedom of the Jewish Pulpit." convictions "do not . . . con-