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Egyptian Jewish Population Is Reported Reduced to 2,500
The ancient and once flourish- psychologically by these ex-
ing Jewish community in Egypt, pulsions and decided to leave, still
which today numbers about 2,500, others had planned to leave for
is being further diminished under some time but only recently were
the effects of a new harassment able to acquire shipping space,
technique, according to a report always in short supply over the
to the foreign affairs department summer months. Of those who left,
of the American Jewish Commit- about 100 have come through
Fiance.
tee by its European office.
Of the 2,500 Jews remaining
During the past three months,
the report states on the basis of in Egypt — 1,800 in Cairo, the
balance in Alexandria — the
interviews with recent arrivals
in Paris as well as with relief majority are either stateless or
of foreign nationality and so
agency officials, about 150 Jews
require residence cards. The new
left Egypt. Some were expelled,
technique of the Egyptian gov-
others apparently were affected
eminent involves the expulsion
of those Jews who are both state-
less and have properties under
sequestration. As a stateless per-
son seeks renewal of his resid-
ence permit, the expulsion order
follows.
Papers given to expelled Jews
under the new technique have dif-
fered from those usually carried
by Jews who decide to leave Egypt.
Expellees' papers are now carry-
ing a stamp reading. "Must leave
Egypt by . . ." with a reference
to a specific date.
At first some of the persons ex-
!FIFA and Xerox Join in Transmitting the News
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Xerox of Canada combined forces in a demonstration last
week of electronic methods of transmitting and distributing news.
The JTA-Xerox News Center was set up on the main mezzanine of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel
in Montreal equipped with a 100-words-per-minute teletype and a Xerox automatic copying machine.
News was transmitted hourly from JTA headquarters in New York to the Montreal center where the
copy was taken off the teletype, put into the Xerox and duplicated in quantities. Within minutes, copies
of the JTA news dispatches were in the hands of delegates attending the General Assembly of the
Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds in session at the hotel.
Use of the combined Xerox-Bell System facilities thus permitted JTA to keep the 2,000 men and
women attending the session fully informed of world news developments of special concern to them, some
of which had a bearing on their deliberations. While JTA news is transmitted to Canadian newspaper
subscribers, this was the first time that the JTA itself had printed and distributed news bulletins in
the Dominion.
Dr. Roth Enthus iastic on Encycl
Judaica
English edition. But the Nazis
put an end to that encyclopae-
dia; the few sets that still exist
are collector's items.
"The new Encyclopaedia Ju-
daica," Dr. Roth said, "will be
the fulfillment of that youthful
dream of Dr. Goldmann; my own
humble efforts to pay a debt to
the scholars who preceded me. We
have assembled a magnificent
group of about 500 scholars as
editors and contributors; as chair-
men of our editorial boards, we
have Professor Benzion Dinur of
the - Hebrew University in Jerusa-
lem and Professor Alexander Alt-
mann of Brandeis University in the
United States. Heading our Edito-
rial Council is one of the world's
greatest archaeologists, Prof. Wil-
liam F. Albright of Johns Hop-
kins University. As honorary
chairman of our international com-
mittee we have Ambassador Ar-
thur J. Goldberg, Permanent U.S.
representative to the United Na-
tions, and as president of our
Encyclopaedia Judaica Research
Foundation, the sponsor of the
new encyclopaedia, we have Jim
Novy, friend and intimate of Presi-
dent Lyndon B. Johnson."
Pointing to the old Funk and
Wagnalls set in his book-lined
study, he remarked: "When that
was published, we had had no
Jewish Prime Minister any-
where. No professing Jew had
occupied a really high political
place in any country. Since then
there have been many."
Dr. Roth added: "We have a new
scene today--David Ben-Gurion,
Levi Eshkol, the statesman and
scientist that was Chaim Weiz-
mann . . . the old encyclopaedia
was centered on Central European
Jewry and one thinks of how Jews
the world over, particularly in
your America, have contributed to
civilization since 1900."
By SHIMON BEN HALEVI
JERUSALEM—"It will be from
'A' to 13,' from aleph to tav, the
most comprehensive work of Jew-
ish scholarship ever produced in
our more than five thousand year
history."
Dr. Cecil Roth, distinguished
scholar, Oxford Don, one of the
world's most
noted Jewish his-
torians, thus re-
ferred to the new
Encyclopaedia Ju-
daica, of which
he is chief ed-
itor. He stated:
"The man be-
hind the Encyclo-
paedia is Dr. Na-
hum Goldmann,
the president of
both the World
Zionist Organiza
tion and the :,..
World Jewish R .'
Congress, one of
the greatest Jew-.
ish activists of
our time, but a Dr. Roth
man of culture and scholarship, a
man who, too, was nurtured on an
encyclopaedia, an encyclopaedia
destroyed by Hitler."
Dr. Roth explained that Dr.
Goldmann, during 1926 to 1933,
was editorial director of an en-
cyclopaedia prepared in the
German language under the ed-
itorship of the renowned his-
torian and philosopher, Dr. Ja-
kob Klatzkin. Ten volumes were
published in German; two in
Hebrew; progress had been
made in the preparation of an
"And -then: Think of Pissarro,
the impressionist, w o n d e r f u l
painter. He deserves his place in
art history. And is it known that
he was a Jew, born in the West
Indies? He is only one of the many
great Jews who has emerged on
the world scene in . our century.
"The Jewish artists . . . Chagall
and Jacob Epstein, Modigliani and
Zorach, Lipchitz and Mane-Katz,
Soutine and Ben Shahn, will give
us some of our finest, certainly
the most beautiful, pages of our
new Encyclopaedia. The museums
of the world, the great private
collections, are making available
to us the right to reproduce the
work of these great artists; and
color photography and the tech-
nical skill of modern printing,
will enable us to produce four
color plates that will make every
owner of the encyclopaedia an
owner of a great treasure of Jewish
art."
"Our Encyclopaedia will sum
up the cultural life of a generation
—a tremendous generation. It will
meet a great need if successful
and"—his eyes glistened through
spectacles as he stood on the
ten-ace of his Jerusalem apartment
overlooking the Judean hills, and
modestly, almost wistfully, said
—"I am confident that it will be
successful."
pelled were placed under house
arrest and escorted to the pier
because they would not get book-
ing prior to the deadline imposed
for departure. With the easing of
the shipping shortage, this is no
longer necessary.
In some cases the expulsion
orders have come as a relief, as
in the case of Jews who wanted
to leave but whom Egyptian
sequestration officials had refused
to allow out. With the issuance
of expulsion orders, the Ministry
of Interior seems to have over-
ruled the sequestration officials.
Recent arrivals from Egypt
have confirmed to AJC officials
in Paris that known patterns of
Egyptian attitudes toward Jews
are continuing. According to
these arrivals, there is no pop-
ular feeling against Jews despite
diatribes against Israel both by
the government and the Arab
League.
Nor, the report continues, have
Jewish community properties in
Egypt been affected in recent
years. In Alexandria, for example,
when the Jewish -community sold
its hospital to the government
several years ago for nearly a
quarter-million dollars, this sum
was turned over to the Jewish com-
munal authorities.
The Alexandria community con-
tinues to own apartment buildings
and other real estate. It maintains
a Jewish old-age home with 50
places that are generally filled; a
refuge with 30 rooms for those
without the means to rent lodg-
ings; and title is retained to
modern school buildings, built
originally to accommodate 2,000
students, as well as to synagogues
and grounds.
The number of synagogues is too
large today for the size of the
Jewish community but daily serv-
ices are held in them, in rotation,
so that no question of abandon-
ment should arise. Only 37 Jew-
ish children attend school in the
buildings, along with 600 Moslem
children, with teachers and a
director furnished by the Ministry
of Education, with only one Jewish
religious teacher in attendance.
But the community is willing to
meet a deficit of several thousand
dollars a year, in order to assure
retaining title to the school, which
abuts the ground of the main
synagogue.
"The pressure on Jews is as in-
dividuals," the AJC report points
out. In addition to expulsion, other
harassments e xis t: government
bodies and many nationalized in-
dustries will not hire Jews while
private employers are afraid to;
Jewish businessmen live in con-
stant fear that their businesses will
be sequestered; businessmen hav-
ing to deal with the authorities —
and all do — must use an Arab
intermediary.
The older Jews, the report con-
tinues, seem to wish to live out
their lives in the land and sur-
roundings to which they are accus-
tomed. But while there is no
discrimination reported against
Jews in schools and universities,
and Jews can apply for business
licenses and gain entry into the
liberal professions, the feeling
among Jewish youth is that there
is no future for them in Egypt.
A person wishing to leave Egypt,
the report explains, must give up
his citizenship, should he still be
an Egyptian national, and become
stateless.
In principle; the report states,
based on conversations with recent
arrivals in France, the Egyptian
Government does not confiscate
the assets of those who leave the
country but rather sequesters or
"freezes" them. However, refugees
consider the distinction theoretical,
and doubt that they will ever be
allowed to regain control of these
assets.
The saint who works no cures
has few pilgrims at his shrine. —
French proverb.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
38—Friday, December 3, 1965
-•AMPIEREMPEIREMMORIMPINIMINEMIERWINIP71
B-G, Eban Write
Introductions for
New Book on Art
Harry N. Abrams announces a
major new title for publication in
1966. "Art Treasures of Israel" by
Jacob Baal-Teshuva will join
Abrams' impressive series of books
on the great art of Europe,
America and the Orient.
The richly illustrated book on
Israel will contain 60 colorplates
and 200 black-and-white photo-
graphs of treasures from the an-
cient archaeological world; from
Jewish folk art and ceremonial ob-
jects; and from the extensive col-
lection of great painting and sculp-
ture now housed in modern Israel's
37 museums.
The book will be divided into
three main divisions: Archaeology
and historical sites, Jewish cere-
monial art and modern Israel as
a repository of world art.
The author, Jacob Baal-Teshuva,
is known for his book "Art Trea-
sures of the United Nations" and
the documentary "Mission of
Israel." He is a native-born Israeli
and has acquired two special in-
troductions to his forthcoming book
on Israel art—one by former
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion
and Abba Eban, Israel's Deputy
Premier.
Dame Myra Hess,
Renowned Pianist
LONDON (JTA) — Dame Myra
Hess, the world-famous Jewish
pianist, died here last weekend at
age 75.
Generally regarded as the finest
woman pianist of her time, she
was a brilliant virtuoso and an
interpretive musician. She helped
many young composers by playing
their previously unknown composi-
tions.
Born in London, she was the
youngest of four children of the
late Frederick Hess, an Orthodox
Jew who had taught Myra and
his other children Hebrew and
Jewish tradition.
Dame Myra made her debut at
17 in London's Queen's Hall in
1907. Her success was imme-
diate. Critics could not say
enough in praise of her sensi-
tive, gentle technique. Making
her United States debut in 1922,
she received consistent critical
acclaim and returned more than
30 times until rheumatism in her
hands forced her to retire in
1961.
In 1939 Dame Myra turned down
a U.S. tour to stay in London and
organize the now famous series
of noontime concerts held at the
National Gallery throughout the
blitz and until the war ended. Two
years later she was made a Dame
Commander of the British Empire.
Bridge Champ H. Harkavy
SAN FRANSICSO — Well-
known U. S. bridge instructor and
tournament player Harold J. Hark-
avy of Miami Beach died Monday
at age 50 while competing in the
Winter National Bridge cham-
pionship.
In 1963, Mr. Harkavy won both
major national team champion-
ships, the Vanderbilt and Spin-
gold. He held many other titles.
Shrinks Hemorrhoids
Without Surgery
Stops Itch—Relieves Pain
For the first time science has found
a new healing substance with the as-
tonishing ability to shrink hemor-
rhoids and to relieve pain — without
surgery. In case after case, while
gently relieving pain, actual reducr
tion (shrinkage) took place. Most
amazing of all — results were so thor-
ough that sufferers made astonishing
statements like "Piles have ceased to
be a problem!" The secret is a new
healing substance (Bio-Dyne@)— dis-
covery of a world-famous research
institute. This substance is now avail-
able in suppository or ointment form.
called Preparation H®. At all drug
counters.