Orthodox Rabbinical Council at Conference Attacks American Jewish. Committee for Pressuring Vatican Council on Statement FALLSBURG, N.Y.—The Amer- ican Jewish Committee, along with other secular Jewish organizations, was attacked by the Rabbinical Council of America for pressuring Vatican Ecumenical Council lead- ers for passage of a statement on Catholic church-Jewish relations. The Orthodox rabbis attending the annual meeting here, followed a criticism raised by the Reform rabbinate at its annual conclave. Rabbi Abraham N. Avrutick, president of the Rabbinical Coun- cil, charged that representations to the Ecumenical Council were made by secular organizations "completely unaware of the prin- ciples and implications of their suggestions." IJ 7 He said the Vatican declaration was formulated within the frame- work of Christian theology, and thus, Jewish organizations who have approached Pope Paul VI in the name of all Jews have done a disservice to the Jewish people as a religious entity, At the same time, he said, the rabbinate was in favor of coopera- tion between Christians and Jews on a "sound sociological basis." Incoming president Rabbi Israel Miller of New York leveled his attack against Morris B. Abram, presdent of the AJC, who recently had an audience with the Pope. The statement on Christian-Jew- ish relations is "purely a Christian matter," Rabbi Miller said, and Jews should not be involved in securing its passage by the council fathers. Rabbi Miller also said the papal audience with Abram was granted on a Saturday, and the Jewish delegates were photo gr aphed not wearing skullcaps. Criticism against those who pre- dict a decline in American Jewish life was voiced by Rabbi Avrutick. "The recent prophets of gloom regarding the survival of Judaism have committed great blunders and errors in failing to assess the inner resources of the Jewish com- munity in the United States," Rabbi Avrutick said in his presi- dential address at the convention. "If anything, American Judaism is undergoing a most spectacular renaissance in revitalizing funda- mental institutions of education, social welfare and scholarly re- search of all types and descrip- tions." "Over 300 all-day schools have been created by Orthodox Jews in recent years hi every major city in the United States, and their current budgetary outlays for the total Jewish education is approximately at the $50,000,000 mark annually," he said. "There is no justification to fear the contraction or decline of current Jewish collective living in the United States in the near or dis- tant future." The Rabbinical Council presi- dent also urged that interreligious cooperation between Christians and Jews in the United States be conducted on the basis of sound sociological doctrine rather than the complicated arena of theology. "The Ecumenical Council," he said, "is proceeding along intelligible lines in attempting to formulate an interfaith platform and philosophy which reflects a mutual concern for the problems which confront all religious bodies in this world." Rabbi Meir Felman, chairman of the convention, appealed to the Convention platform committees and nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties to "commit themselves unequivocally and irre- vocably to the preservation of the territorial integrity and sovereign inviolability of the state of Israel against all the Arab nations who are pledged to Israel's destruc- tion." RELIGION ON CAMPUS In other actions, Jewish leaders as well as university educators were THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, June 26, 1964 13L called upon "to restore the reli- gious and the moral standards of the university campus." Rabbi Harold P. Smith of Chi- cago, past president of the orga- nization, said "There has been a breakdown in the whole ethical structure which has typified the college community of the past." "This serious campus situation is not attributable to students who come from impoverished and de- pressed environments; the insti- gators of the recent collegiate riots are representative of economically favored and culturally advantaged homes." Rabbi Smith said that "parents are committing a great injustice and moral wrong by encouraging their children to enroll in out-of- state schools of fashionable vogue and glamorous reputation. `By living away from home, these offspring tend to obliterate the in- fluences of religion and social morality in their scale of personal values. Parents should not be swayed by the current ideas of so- ciologists and educators relating to the desirability of sending their children to far-off centers of higher learning. "It is unfortunate that several American professors and high school instructors have recently ad- vacated and condemned sharp breaks from conventional moral standards," he said. Dr. Samuel Belkin, president of Yeshiva University, speaking at the convention, warned the American Jewish community that its survival in a pluralistic and materialistic society "is in jeopardy unless the Jews stress the primacy of religious values in their daily routines of living." He further warned that "religion should not retreat into an ivory tower by allowing theory to replace action and philosophy to displace practice." Religious institutions and leaders should "cope with the varied problems which challenge modern living," he urged. Dr. Bernard Lander, director of the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University, maintained that freedom is not a threat to the survival of the American Jewish community. "If anything, liberty should unleash a new golden era of Jewish spiritual creativity in our democratic society which is engaged in a struggle against the evil forces of totalitarianism," he said. "The challenges confronting American Jewry are related to the ways and means of strengthening and kinship with the non-Jewish world," he stated. Catholic Bishops Warned Against Public School Prayer Amendment WASHINGTON — The flood of suggested amendments to permit public school prayers has caused some concern in the legal depart- ment of the National Catholic Welfare Conference. U. S. Roman Catholic bishops have been ad- vised to observe extreme caution toward them. In its first public statement on the controversy, the Conference called the existing clauses of the First Amendment "of incalculable benefit to religion. The conference position comes close to being an official policy statement by the U. S. Roman Catholic hierarchy. Although a di- rect stand is being avoided, the I. Rosenhaus Dies; Edited Yiddish Daily in Russia LONDON (JTA) — I. Rosenhaus, veteran Soviet revolutionary, has died in Minsk, it was reported here. For many years, Rosenhaus served as editor of the "Shtern," a Yiddish daily newspaper pub- lished in Charkov in the years be- fore World War H, and now de- funct. Rosenhaus, who was in his 70s, was active in the Communist party and administration in White Russia. fact that the conference serves in an advisory capacity to the bishops adds to the siginificance of the statement. During the House Judiciary Committee's recent hearing, most major denominations opposed any amendment, but the Roman Catho- lic church took no official position. N.Y. Rabbi Publishes New Torah Translation Brooklyn rabbi Dr. Charles Kahane has published a new trans- lation of the five books of Moses, using interpretations from the commentaries of Jewish scholars over many centuries. The two-volume work, begun by Dr. Kahane in 1959, has the He- brew and "American English" on adjoining pages. He said he un- dertook the project to make the torah more meaningful to Amer- icans. The interpretations come from the Talmud, Midrash and such commentators as Maimonides, Ibn Ezra, Jonathan Ben Uziel and Rashi. Solomon Rabinowitz Book Con- cern contributed toward the print- ing of the work. Dr. Kahane calls it "Torah Yeshara," the second word being an acronym of his own Hebrew name, Yehezkel Sheraga Hakohen. • 0 1964 P. Loritterd C0.) The Manifold Lives of Cyrus Adler Cyrus Adler was one of those rare people who, from time to time, come along to astonish the world with the vast variety of their activities. At the age of 20, he received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and promptly enrolled in the graduate school of Johns Hopkins.There he became the first student to attain a Ph. D. in Semitics in an American university. Shortly after his graduation Adler be- came an Associate Professor in Semitics. He found the time to become Assistant Curator of the U.S. National Museum. In 1892, Adler was named Librarian of the Smithsonian Institution, whose Assistant Secretary he became seven years later. One would think he had made his mark, but his career was just beginning. While still at the Smithsonian, Adler had a hand in establishing the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Jewish Pub- lication Society. He was a founder of the American Jewish Historical Society and an editor of the Jewish Encyclopedia. In 1908, he left the Smithsonian to take the post of President of Dropsie College. Adler's unflagging energy saw him head a project to furnish a new authoritative translation of the Bible; he helped create the American Jewish Committee; and he became President of the Jewish Theologi- cal Seminary. When Adler died in 1940, this tribute to his accomplishments was paid by Presi- dent Franklin D. Roosevelt: "Scholar, P. LORILLARD COMPANY ESTABLISHED 1760 patriot, humanitarian and religious leader an earnest worker in the cause of peace First with the Finest Filter Cigarettes and advocate of good will among men." through Lorillard research .