Purely Commentary
Touching Reunion . . . Israel's
Deplorable Crisis . . . Many
Personalities in the News
Israeli Defector Sentenced
to 6 Years' Imprisonment
By Philip
Slomovitz
on the way to Isr-sel. he said "Give my personal regards to President
The Big Problem: High Intermarriage Rates
Shazar. Israel's doing well. Tell Israel's President I'm for Israel—always
There is a rising tide of intermarriage, reports from many lands
have been. -
have indicated in recent weeks.
It wasn't the first time I shook hands with HST but I never knew
Based on a study conducted by the eminent Canadian Jewish Con- he had such a strong grip: he demonstrated it for me.
director,
Louis
Rosenberg,
the
intermarriage
ratio
My wife shared mints with him and Mrs. Truman and reminded the
gress research
among Canadian Jews has risen from 3.8 per cent in 1931 to 16.5 per gracious lady that she had served her cookies in the White House.
cent in 1962. and the figure rose still higher in 1963—to 18.5 per cent.
We spoke about the Bible and American history—and the President
Another interesting fact revealed by Mr. Rosenberg is that while explained he had mastered both because poor eyesight prevented him
marriages increased generally among all Canadians, they declined by from playing football.
6.6 per cent from 1941 to 1963 among Canadian Jews.
I asked if he remembered Louis Lipsky and when he said he cer-
The larger Jewish communities will find a measure of comfort in tainly did I told him Louis' son David secured the theater tickets for
Mr. Rosenberg's figures which show that in areas with larger Jewish me. "My son-in-law, New York Times Managing Editor Clifton Daniel,
populations the rate of intermarriage has declined, but has gone up got ours for us," Mr. Truman said.
where there are fewer Jews.
The Daniells were right there with them and shared in tremendous
Another area that reported a staggering rise in intermarriage is ovations given HST before the show, after it when the orchestra played
West Atistralia where mixed marriages are the highest of any member a special selection for him and outside the theater where "there was a
of the British Commonwealth.
demonstration of love for the great President.
Seldom was a report on mixed marriages accompanied by as dis-
It was a most delightful evening.
turbing a statement as the one that came from the West Australian
Jewish Board of Deputies, which predicted that Australian Jewry could
disappear as a result of the rising rate of intermarriage, coupled with
the decline in immigration.
Other vital facts have just been made public in England. The
Jewish Gazette of Manchester, reporting a dramatic fall in Jewish
marriage ceremonies. and expressing shock over the latest intermar-
riage rate, presented the following facts:
BONN (JTAl—A spokesman for guarantee for the safety of any
The number of Jewish marriage ceremonies has dropped dra-
the West German Interior MM- returning scientists.
In a related development, a neo-
matically in Britain since the beginning of the century. And this is istry declared that the fedral gov-
believed to be largely due to intermarriage. A shocking report pre- ernment could not guarantee the Nazi Munich newspaper, the
sented to the Provincial Councils' conference in Leeds on Sunday safety of German scientists if they Deutsche National Und Soldaten
revealed that the rate has declined from ten marriages per thousand
quit their work in Egypt and re- Zeitung. violently assailed A.
Rosenberg. chairman of the West
in 1904 to 3.6 per thousand in 1962. The only plain exception to this turned home.
trend is in Lancashire where the figure has remained at five per
The issue was posed by Dr. German Federation of Tr a d e
thousand. Yorkshire shows the most serious drop of all—from seven
Wolfgang Pilz, a leader of the Unions, for his advocacy of legal
per thousand to two per thousand.
German scientists and technicians measures to control the activities
In London and the Home Counties. the figures are now four per
working in Egypt on advanced of the scientists.
thousand compared with 12 per thousand in 1904, The figures were
The newspaper accused "the
taken from statistics of the register general. and the report was pre- weapons systems. In an interview German Jew - of playing with fire
in a West German newspaper. Dr.
sented to the conference by Dr. S. J. Prais, who said "The conclusion
Pilz demanded such guarantees.
is inevitable. There has been a large rise in register office mar-
The spokesman said that the
riages—some between Jewish partners—but a large loss must be
German police who would have
Boris Smolor's
attributed to intermarriage." A breakdown of the figures from the
the responsibility of safeguarding
turn of the century is as follows:
the
scientists
would
be
those
under
Per 1,000
Population
Marriages
Date
control of the individual state gov-
10
187,000
1.815
1904
ernments and not of Bonn.
8
229,000
HAIFA (JTA)—Zeev Bigeleisen,
an Israeli citizen who defected to
Egypt last year, was sentenced
Monday to six years in prison by
the District Court here. He was
convicted of having crossed into
Egypt illegally and having given
security information to the enemy.
Although his offenses were pun-
ishable by life imprisonment, he
was .shown leniency by the court
because of his mental condition
and his voluntary return to Israel
from Belgium where he had been
sent by the Egyptians. According
to the court, Gigeleisen had co-
operated with the Israeli security
authorities who had questioned
him.
Bonn Refuses to Guarantee Safety
of German Scientists Leaving Egypt
1.760
1909
8
235,000
1,973
1914
240,000
1.861
1919
7
280,000
1.972
1924
7
280,000
2,088
1929
300,000
2,233
1934
4.3
435,000
1,876
1952
3.9
435,000
1.713
1957
3.6
435,000
1.549
1962
Dayan I. Golditch, of Manchester Beth Din, said: "I just do not
believe these figures give a true picture. The figures are based on
circumstances which have been constantly changing."
In an editorial, "Road to Nowhere," the Manchester Gazette ex-
pressed this view:
"Hitler did his evil best to wipe out the Jewish people. It seems
that if we don't look out we will finish the job for him. The Provin-
cial Councils conference in Leeds was called to discuss the question:
'Whither Jewry?' The answer is Nowhere ... unless we all wake up."
Thus, from Manchester and from Melbourne come panicky admoni-
tions—the Nowhere reply to Whither and the fear of Jewish disap-
pearance.
While the menace of intermarriage exists everywhere, the situation
certainly is not as serious here and in other of the larger American
Jewish communities. Yet, there is need for caution everywhere—and
the instrument for caution is the proper training of our youth in accord-
ance with the highest traditional principles.
Stephen Wise's Name Still Towers
Twin 20-story apartment houses, with adjoining playgrounds, beau-
tifully landscaped, were dedicated in New York last week. They are
to be known as The Stephen Wise Towers, and they win accommodate
1,250 persons in 399 apartments.
What a marvelous tribute thiS is to the
man who. during an active lifetime,' had
propagated high standards for the under-
privileged!
The numerous features that make the
Stephen Wise Towers stand out are marks of
tribute to a great rabbi who battled for more
than half a century for social jusice, for fair
play for labor. for proper rights for Jews and
for the Zionist cause and redeemed Jewish
nationhood.
It is heartening to know that the eminent
rabbi's name is not being forgotten.
Dr. Wise
Truman Sends a Message to Shazar
NEW YORK—Harry S. Truman has asked me to bring a personal
message from him to President Shazar of Israel. His request was made
under very pleasant circumstances.
To be certain of making proper overseas connections it was advis-
able to leave a day earlier for New York. The good fortune of a long-
established friendship with the Lipsky Family enabled us to get seats
for "Hello. Dolly" (having missed seeing it in Detroit). As we entered
the St. James Theater we heard a demonstration. and my comment was:
"There is a celebrity here." It was confirmed when we reached our
seats: Mine was shoulder to shoulder with HST.
During the nearly three hours together we chatted about many
things. President Truman remembered my having presented him, in
February of 1949, with the first copy of the first English-Jewish news-
paper published in this country—"It's in my library—come and see it,"
he told me.
President Truman told me he remembered my column in which I
likened him to Cyrus. "Cyrus is one of my favorite historical char-
acters," he added.
- Thew est/zit – the con versation about Israel. When he learned we were
and asked, in a banner headline:
1 "Is Rosenberg Betraying German
Interests?"
The trade union leader has main-
tained that West Germany has a
duty to see to it that Germans did
not help other countries prepare
for war. He has said that no one
has demanded that the government
bring back the scientists with "a
lasso" and that means could be
found to achieve that goal if the
will was present to do so.
'Between You
Dr. Pilz set three conditions
for a possible return to West
Germany of the scientists. One
was an expression of public "re-
gret" from Israel for alleged
attacks on German scientists by
Israeli "agents."
Another was a life pension for
Dr. Pilz' former secretary who lost
her sight when a parcel addressed
to Dr. Pilz explored in Cairo a
few years ago. The third was the
Eban Urges West Join
Russia to Guarantee
Borders of Israel
NEW YORK (JTA) — Israel's
deputy prime minister, Abba Eban,
bracketed the Soviet Union with
the Big Three Western Powers in
calling upon the leading members
of the United Nations to join in
guaranteeing the territorial integ-
rity of all Middle Eastern states.
including Israel.
Addressing 100 representatives
of newspapers. radio and televi-
sion at the Overseas Press Club
here. Eban deplored the renewed
calls for •
g . t I 1 voiced
by the Arab states. and said: "It
would he salutary if the United
States. the USSR. Britain and
France would reconfirm the ter-
ritorial integrity of all the states
in the Middle East. Such a re-
affirmation could play a decisive
role in ending the tensions in that
region of the world."
Asked to comment on a state-
ment made in the House of Com-
mons by Britain's premier, Harold
Wilson, who had stated that Bri-
tain would like to see an agree-
► ent that would make the Middle
East a nuclear free zone. Eban
replied:
"That attitude on the part of
Great Britain is new to me. I
heard nothing like that in my re-
cent conference with the secretary
for foreign affairs, Patrick Gordon
Walker. Denuclearization of the
Middle East would, of course, be
welcome. But the immediate prob-
lem in our region is not denuclear-
ization, since there are no nuclear
arms in the Middle East. The im-
mediate problem is, rather, the
stabilization of the balance of arms
and the avoidance of the escala-
tion of conventional arms in the
region."
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
2—Friday, January 1, 1965
. . . and Me'
I
(Copyrgiht, 1965, Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
1965 Communal Scene
A wide variety of services to the Jewish communities throughoUt
the country will be provided in 1965 by the Council of Jewish Federa-
tions and Welfare Funds . . . They will include guidance and aid in
fund-raising endowment programs. budgetary research, tax proposals
affecting philanthropy, and uniform accounting . . . They will also
include consultations on services to Jewish aged. health services. com-
munity planning. leadership development. personnel problems. admin-
istration problems, and problems faced especially by small communities
. . One of the prime goals of the CJFWF in 1965 will be to help
Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds .to overcome the major gaps
between them, with some cities raising five dollars for every dollar
raised by others for essentially the same needs . . . Assistance will also
be intensified in 1965 in the field of securing endowments; there are
striking contrasts among federations in this field — while some cities
are making substantial gains, others have remained dormant . . . In
this connection, it is interesting to note that a single legacy in one city
has been as much as one-half of the entire annual campaign total. and
one foundation grant to a Federation for endowment was as much as
one-third of the entire annual campaign results . . . The CJFWF will
also put into operation in 1965 a new public relations program that
will built greater acceptance of primacy of united, federated Jewish
campaigns in Jewish philanthropy . . . It will also give priority as-
sistance to communities to upgrade their cash collection results, and
it will intensify its service on tax proposals of interest to Federations
and Welfare Funds . . . Involved are such beneficial changes as lifting
the ceiling on individual income tax deductions for contributions from
20 per cent to 30 per cent for federated campaigns . . . . Also enabling
individuals to carry over tax deductibility beyond 30 per cent over
several years.
*
•
*
Communal Responsibilities
Since one-half of the sums raised by community Federations and
Welfare Funds are allocated for overseas needs, CJFWF intends in
1965 to develop its overseas department . . More attention will be
needed in 1965 to help provide expert American personnel and experi-
ence, as well as funds, for overseas needs ... CJFWF will help to carry
out in 1965 recommendations on voluntary fund-raising in Jewish
communities in Europe now being projected . . On the local front,
CJFWF will extend its special services to communities on the aged
and will carry on a national study of mental impairment of the aged
which is financed by a three-year grant of S225,000 by the federal
government . . . It will increase its attention to community health
planning, since a major local cost of large communities is for health
services ... It will arrange an inter-city conference to discuss problems
of mental health which are becoming growing concerns of communities,
involving their hospitals, family services, child care and vocational
services . . . In the field of education, CJFWF will concentrate on
bringing out the role of Federations in financing changing programs,
on their relationships to synagogues, and responsibilities toward com-
munity schools and community centers . . . It will also deal with
problems concerning the American Jewish youth . . . It will provide
direct assistance to the 60 Federations and Welfare Funds conducting
systematic programs to recruit, train and place young men and women
in community service as young leaders . . . It will also provide assist-
ance to communities in developing the programs of their women's
divisions and will send national staff members to cities where con-
sultation on women's divisions service to Federations is requested .
One of the major tasks of CJFWF in 1965 will also be the implementa-
tion of a design for national Jewish population research, made possible
with special financing . . . A manual to guide Jewish communities in
their local population studies is being planned by CJFWF headquarters.