•
Russia Prevents Listing of Jews
in 'Who's Who' in World Jewry
By JEFFREY HART
(Copyright, 1965, JTA, Inc.)
•
•
There are 11,000 Jews from 70
countries of the world listed in the
new 1965 edition of "Who's Who
in World Jewry" just published by
the David McKay Co., but none
are from Russia and the majority
of other satellite countries. The
Iron Curtain was drawn tightly
and the editors of the new "Who's
Who" were denied the opportun-
ity of including distinguished Rus-
sion Jews in what is otherwise the
most comprehensive listing of
world Jewry ever compiled.
The editors, Harry Schneiderman
and I. J. Carmin Karpman, express
their regret "that the Union of
Soviet Socialistic Republics and
associated countries, with the ex-
ception of Yugoslavia and Hungary,
are not represented by biogra-
phies." But they did try. Letters
were written to outstanding per-
sonalities in several of the Iron
Curtain countries, but to no avail,
and when former Premier Nikita
Khrushchev was in this country an
attempt was made to contact him,
but again to no avail.
Almost 8,000 Americans are in-
Moscow Chief Rabbi
Greets Canada Jews
Ir
MONTREAL (JTA) — Chief
Rabbi Yehudah Leib Levin of
Moscow has sent a message to the
Canadian Jewish Congress, con-•
veying Passover greetings to the
"entire Jewish community of Can-
ada."
Michael Garber, president of the
CJC, had writen to the chief rabbi,
sending Passover greetings on be-
half of Canadian Jewry. In the
reply, 'in Hebrew, Rabbi Lein
cited the Talmudic interpretation
of the concluding portion of the
vision of the Prophet Malachi, the
traditional prophetic reading for
the Sabbath preceding 'Passover.
He declared also that the holiday
required all Jews to keep "all
ancient customs and observances
in their minutest details as they
have been handed down -from gen-
eration to generation."
* * *
•
Israelis Told to Place
Empty Chair at Seder
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
. to The Jewish News)
JERUSALEM—The Maoz Society
urged Tuesday that all Israeli
Jews set aside one empty chair
at the seder this year to symbol-
ize the oppression of Russian
Jewry. A similar proposal was
made last week in Zurich by the
-chief rabbi there, Dr. Zvi Taubes.
The Maoz Society earlier this
year collected 100,000 signatures
for a "Let My People Go" peti-
tion submitted to Israel's parlia-
ment for transmission to Soviet
authorities. The society also has
distributed 40,000 copies of the
-"Marranos" painting by Maimon,
urging that a copy be placed on the
empty seder chair.
* * *
Issue Raised of Envoy's
Try to Aid SoSriet Jew
e.
I
JERUSALEM—A charge by the
Soviet government newspaper
Izvestia that two Israeli embassy
officials in Moscow engaged in
anti-Soviet activities among Soviet
Jews was understood to have been
raised by Mrs. Golda Meir, Israel's
foreign minister, when she received
Monday Soviet AmbassadOr Di-
mitri Chuvakhin.
According to Izvestia, Meir Biran
and Yosef Govrin visited a syna-
gogue in Odessa and sought to
donate matzo to a synagogue there
in the belief that matzo baking
was banned by authorities in that
city.
Izvestia, which called the Israelis
"uninvited guests," reported that
members of the synagogue told the
visitors that the reports were not
true and that "We have a special
bakery at the synagogue willing
to take orders for matzo."
Mrs. Meir also conveyed to the
Soviet envoy Israel's position on
the Viet.Nam situation. • .
eluded in the new "Who's Who,"
and there..are 1,600 Israelis. There
are biographies - of a thousand Euro-
peans, 300 from England. The
Latin Americans and the Can-
adians number 200 each, and there
is representation from such coun-
tries as Congo, Iran, Japan, Hong
Kong and India.
As you scan its pages, and note
what seems to be an omission here
and there, you generally find the
explanation in that the person in
question didn't want to be identi-
fied as a JeW, or wouldn't supply
the biographical material request-
ed. In accordance with a digni-
fied policy adopted by its editorial
board, no one was included in the
pages of this new "Who's Who"
who didn't want to be included.
On. the question of who was a
Jew, the editors adopted the policy
"that neither Jewish birth nor the'
willingness to be included in a
roster of • Jews should by itself
make an individual eligible for in-
clusion. It was agreed that self
identification as a - Jew would be
a basic requirement for the inclus-
ion of a person's biography."
Thus, no converts from Judaism
are included in the new "Who's
Who," even though both their par-
ents may have been full fledged
practicing Jews. This policy is
different from that adopted some
25 years ago by an earlier "Who's
Who in American Jewry," publish-
ed under other auspices, that in-
cluded the Nobel Prize winner in
medicine, Dr. Karl Landsteiner,
who was born in Austria of Jewish
parentage but had been converted.
In that earlier work, his biography
was included, with the final nota-
tion "m ember Roman Catholic
Church."
In that era of Hitlerism and
Coughlinism, Dr. Lands t einer
sought damages in court on the
ground he was libeled by being
listed as a Jew, when he wasn't.
But the courts, even- then, didn't
agree with this contention.
The growing trend towards a
native born American Jewry is in-
dicated in that of the 8,000 4meri-
cans listed, 5,000 are native born,
with the remaining 3,000 coming
mainly from Central and Eastern
Europe. Perhaps the Kremlin would
be amazed by the many talented
American Jews who list their birth-
place as Russia, Poland, Romania
and others of the Iron Curtain
countries. It can be truly said:
their loss was America's gain.
The new "Who's Who" has a
larger number of women listed
than was to be found in the earlier
edition ten years ago. In the pres-
ent edition, about 3,000 of the
11,000 biographies, almost 23 per
cent are women.
An introductory article by Dr.
Harry Cohen, honorary president
of the project, calls attention to the
losses suffered by Jewry, and the
entire world, during the past dec-
ade. He writes: "The man, who
more than anyone else is responsi-
ble for the atomic era, Albert
Einstein, is gone. So, too, are many
other notable figures in Jewish
life and letters, among them the
distinguished Nobel prize winner
in medicine, Dr. Otto Loewi. The
United States has lost its most re-
nowned 20th 'century Jew, the
Anierican statesman and philan-
thropist, Herbert H. Lehman. The
State of Israel has suffered the
loss of its second president, Izhak
Ben-Ziv, Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog
and Dr. - Giora - Josephthal. Gone,
too, are such Zionist leaders as Dr.
Abba Hillel Silver, Louis Lipsky
and Rabbi Barnett R. Brickner."
Scholarship is the loser for the
deaths of great spiritual leaders.
A number of noted Jewish civil
servants are also among the de-
parted.
The arts—literature, painting and
music—sustained great losses.
The most obvious difference be-
tween the earlier 19.55 edition, and
the present edition is - the increase
in the number of Israelis included.
This volume is most assuredly an
additional new bridge of under-
standing between the people of
Israel and the United States.
' Lines Dispute
Lan
With Spain Ends
Happily for Israel
They Say Shalom to Shalom
•
••:M.
'"
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
JERUSALEM — An official of
the Zim Israel Lines said Wednes-
day that agreement had been
reached with Spanish officials to
provide full rights for Zim ships
at Spanish ports, ending a month
long controversy.
Israeli ships were barred last
month from all but two Spanish
ports in what Israeli sources called
a Spanish bid for Arab favor, a
charge denied by Spain.
The agreement provides for
other Israeli maritime companies
to obtain similar rights.
Two prominent members of the Johnson administration boarded
the Zim Line's luxury cruise liner Shalom at St. Thomas, Virgin
Islands, on this surprise visit, in recognition of the increased tourist
business the big Israeli liner is bringing to the Caribbean resort.
Shown left to right are Captain Avner W. Freudenberg, master of
the Shalom; Secretary of Interior Stewart Udall; Secretary of Agri-
culture Orville Freeman; Governor General Ralph M. • Paiewonsky of
the Virgin Islands; and Alfred Z. Kis, vice president for passenger
traffic of the Zim Lines.
Passover 5725:
Re-Dedication
By MAX M. FISHER
General Chairman of the
United Jewish Appeal-
We in America can rejoice in
the special meaning that Passover
has for us in the present era.
First, we live in a nation based
on the ideal of equality and lib-
erty for all its citizens.
Second, we have helped extend
freedom to those overseas who are
less fortunately situated.
American Jews, through their
support of the United Jewish Ap-
peal, have continued in the past
year to aid scores of thousands of
Jews abroad to move from lands
of fear and hopelessness to Israel
and other free lands where they
may start new lives.
Thus, as we mark the ancient
Exodus of our people from bond-
age, we can be joyful and proud
that we have aided the modern
Exodus which in the 27 years since
the founding of the WA has re-
settled more than 1,335,000 uproot-
ed Jews in Israel, and another 350,-
000 in other havens.
We are a "chosen generation."
In our time we saw the lowest
point in Jewish history in twenty
centuries. In our time we saw the
destruction of one Jew out of every
three in this world. But in our time
we also saw 'the greatest revival of
the Jewish people in history. We
helped make that revival possible.
But the battle we began two de-
cades ago—the battle to change the
world for homeless or harassed
Jews—is not over. Let each one of
us continue in our work with
steadfast heart and greatest vigor:
Let this Passover 5725 be an oc-
casion both for celebration and re-
dedication.
Labor Israel Points
New Way in Divided
World, Agus States
"While the world is still tragic-
ally divided between 'The Free'
and 'The Socialist', the social
structures in both camps are rap-
idly changing," and in this world
Israel's labor society is pointing
a new way toward the realization
of prophetic ideals, according to
Rabbi Jacob B. Agus of Baltimore.
He asserts this view in an essay,
"Jewish Ehics and Labor Israel,"
published by the American His-
tadrut Cultural Exchange Insti-
tute.
"The halutz (pioneer) has also
become a technician and an or-
ganizer," Rabbi Agus writes,
"but of all the forces that molded
him, the impact of Jewish history
was by far the most significant."
Asserting that in all camps that
divide the world today, "the ideo-
logists are limping lamely behind
the events," Rabbi Agus lists His-
tadrut's pragmatism as its great-
est strength.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, April 16, 1965-25
According to the latest available
figures, 11,992 Michigan persons
died of cancer in a year's time.
Why not make birthday time
checkup time? Take the advice of
the Michigan Cancer Foundation
—call your doctor today.
Says -Aiabs Attempted
to Buy Secrets on Israel
LONDON (JTA) — A British
Army Department staff sergeant
who was arrested for selling top-
secret documents to staff members
of the Iraqi and Egyptian embas-
sies here, admitted Monday that
he 'was asked by the Arab officials
to furnish them with documents
relating to Israel.
He said that, since there was
little chance of obtaining material
on Israel, he had furnished them
with "other documents."
Sgt. Percy Sidney Allen, 33, who
said that he was desperate for
money because his wife was hos-
pitalized', confessed that he sold
the top-secret documents, which
were not identified, to Maj. Abdul
Hafidh Khazal, assistant military
attache at the Iraqi embassy, and
Mustapha Hassan el Kabani, of the
Egyptian embassy.
He said that the Iraqi diplomat
had asked him particularly for
documents on Israel, but that_ he
furnished the "other" material
and had received 75 pounds ster-
ling ($210).
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