Lounge in Hadassah' Medical Center Orthopedic
Wing Honors Dora Ehrlich on Her 85th Birthday
Mrs. Joseph H. — Dora — Ehrlich will mark her 85th birthday on Feb. 1, and on that occasion honors are being extended
to her by Jewish spokesmen throughout the land, and especially by Hadassah leadership.
To mark the occasion, a group of Detroiters, under the leadership of Leonard N. Simons, have raised the sum of $50,000
to create the Dora Ehrlich Lounge in the Orthopedic Wing of the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Mrs. Ehrlich's lifelong leadership in Hadassah, in the Detroit Jewish community, in Zionist ranks, have earned for
her the esteem of Detroit Jewry and the affections of spokesmen for many national movements.
Detailed Story, Page 5
Continuing
Community
Responsibilities
Editorial, Page 4
Commentary, Page 2
Leonard N. Simons' Praise, Page 5
Bitter Debate
Over Resistance
JEWISH NE
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Renewed Hope
for End to
Arab Hostility
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A Weekly Review
Editorials
Page 4
Interdating
Realistically
Surveyed
NA cHIGgNI
I Jewish Events
Commentary
Page 2
Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper — Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle
Vol. XVIII, No. 23
Printed in a
100% Union Stop
17100 W. 7 Mile Rd.—VE 8-9364—Detroit 48235---Jan. 28, 1966
$6.00 Per Year; This Issue 20c
Pleas for Peace Become Major
item on Religious Units' Agenda
_Impression of
Historic Occasion
_
Truman Event Links
Jerusalem and Peace
In Aura of Politics
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
INDEPENDENCE, Mo.—There is • cause for re-
flection on the aftermath of an event that was truly
historic. The dedication of the Harry S. Truman
Center for the Advancement of Peace—in Jerusalem
—as a serious effort at the Hebrew University—
emphasizes man's desire for amity, for an end to
war. Harry. S. Truman was the ideal man to be
honored with such a program of activity, and he had
the desire to have his name linked with a peace
effort—partly, we assume, out of a sincere wish to
be linked with peace rather than with Hiroshima,
Nagasaki and Korea, and in the main out of an
earnest dedication to peace.
It is no wonder that President Johnson was
impelled to be present at the dedication on Jan. 20;
that the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme
Court came to deliver a message of admiration for
the former President.
With a past President and the Incumbent in at-
tendance, it is no wonder that the occasion attract-
.- ed worldwide attention—that the White House press
corps, all television and radio stations were in
attendance.
But in the shuffle, Jerusalem and Hebrew Uni-
versity were nearly forgotten. There is not a sin-
gle reference either to Israel, Jews, Jerusalem or
Hebrew University in either Truman's prepared
text—a portion of which was read for him by
David Noyes, who presided—or in the much-pub-
licized address by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
One must hope that this not a subconscious
State Department line that developes out of an un-
justified fear of "how will the Arabs react."
Because it was not to be delivered or read in
its totality, President Truman's prepared text was
distributed among the less than 120 specially in-
vited guests at the historic ceremony—including
the Founders of the Truman Peace Center—who
contributed $100,000 each—and their wives. In the
opening paragraph — addressing the Founders —
Truman said:
"By your acts, and by your presence, you who
came here from near and far have made this
a day of new hope—a day of new promise that
the way to peace in our time will yet shine forth
from the Promised Land."
Israel itself, Jerusalem, the Holy City's great
Hebrew University where the Truman Center will
function, were not mentioned. And while there was
an aura of politics about President Johnson's speech,
these terms, relating to the location of the Truman
Center and its link with the City of Peace—Jerusa-
lem—were non-existent.
The occasion was a natural for a discussion of
peace in Far Asia, for an expose by the President
of aggression and his condemnation of it. (How
well it applies to Arab threats to Israel's existence!)
President Johnson took occasion, at the same time,
to expand on his welfare program and to present
Continued on Page 7
Appeals for efforts to end the Far Asian conflict through serious peace efforts have become the major
consideration of the Jewish religious groups in this country. Pursuing the plea to President Johnson
to resist pressures for the escalation of the war in Vietnam, issued last week by the Synagogue Council
of America, the Rabbinical Council of America—the organization of Orthodox rabbis—heard an address,
at its convention in Lakewood, N.J., Monday, by its president, Rabbi Israel Miller, who urged religious
leaders of all faiths to mobilize opinion in support of President Johnson's quest for a Vietnamese peace.
At the same time, however, the ultra-Orthodox Agudath Israel of America issued a statement
condemning the Synagogue Council's statement.
In his "call to peace," Rabbi Miller stated:
"Let us mobilize all available resources to escalate the peace efforts so that we may be united be-
hind the President's leadership. Religious leaders have a moral obligation to respond to this challenge
by activating the whole weight of their spiritually powerful religious forces behind these endeavors of
the President of the United States. In order to heed this call, it is imperative that the religious leaders
exert their influence at the utmost to move Hanoi from the jungle battlefield to the negotiating table."
The Agudath Israel statement declared: "We deplore the intervention by the Synagogue Council
in the current controversy over American policy in Vietnam, because it creates a false image of the
position taken by the Jewish citizens of our country in this delicate and complex area. By joining the
chorus of ill-informed advisers seeking to bind the hands of the President in the Vietnam conflict, the
Synagogue Council may unwittingly strengthen the intransigent posture of the adversaries of the United
States, and thus harm the cause of peace."
The statement stressed that "the Synagogue Council cannot speak in behalf of the Orthodox Jews in
the United States, as the majority of the American Orthodox rabbinic organizations have rejected mem-
bership in this agency on religious principles."
Related Story, Page 8
Report of Rabbinical Council Convention on Page 8
Rejection of Appeasement Saves America's Honor:
Cruise Ship Now Includes Haifa Stop by Way of Suez
By MILTON FRIEDMAN
(Copyright, 1966, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
WASHINGTON—A determined challenge of the Arab boycott, instead of timid pleas and faint-hearted protests,
is the way to defeat Arab tactics, according to lessons learned in the case of the S.S. President Roosevelt.
The American cruise ship is now at sea on a world tour that includes a stop at Haifa, Israel, via Egypt's Suez
Canal. But had the company continued its initial appeasement of the Arab boycott office in Alexandria, the Haifa visit
would have remained canceled.
Haifa was stricken from the ship's itinerary when the owners, the American President Lines, feared Suez passage
would be denied. In its first reaction, the company concluded that there was no alternative but to bow to Arab bias.
Some reports indicated that the original advice of the State Department was for appeasement of Egypt.
Then came the explosion. Passengers canceled bookings in protest. Exporters were annoyed by the surrender.
They told American President Lines they might ship goods to Pacific ports by other lines.
Members of Congress erupted in protest to the departments of State and Commerce. Why had the Administration
failed to implement the anti-boycott provisions of the Export Control Act?
The State Department was already under fire for exploiting the Congressional recess to renew aid to Egypt without
consulting interested Congressmen. Diplomats in Cairo and Washington sensed that the S.S. President Roosevelt incident
might undermine the resumption of aid. Egyptian authorities cleverly backed down. The State Department then denied
Egypt had ever threatened the ship.
Had Administration officials, upon first hearing of the affair, militantly protested to Cairo and urged the U. S.
company to reject Arab pressure, it would not have been necessary for all the flak to fly.
The fact is that in 1965, many tourist ships called at both Israeli and Arab ports. Among them were vessels flying
the flags of Norway, Spain, Greece, Portugal, England, West Germany, Italy and the United States. The dollar-hungry Arab
tourist industry reflected the realities of international economics. Practical considerations forced moderation of the so-
called "boycott regulations."
Cargo ships were barred from entering Israeli and Arab ports during the same voyage. But cruise liners were
given conventional access.
Last year the San Francisco-based American President Lines announced the maiden world tour of the President
Roosevelt, Haifa and Arab ports were listed in the advertised itinerary. But the line made one mistake. A request for
approval was registered with the Arab boycott office in Alexandria. The Arabs promptly denied the request. Although
no cargo was destined for either Arab or Israeli ports, the Arabs claimed that the ship carried cargo as well as passengers.
Had the American company disobeyed the illegal Arab boycott, the worst that would have happened would have
been denial of clocking rights at Alexandria or Beirut.
But President Lines officials, inexperienced and irresolute in dealing with Arab blackmail, feared Suez passage
might be denied. U. S. travel agents, familiar with the Near East sought to explain to company officials the "paper
tiger" of the Arab boycott. But fear of the Arabs prevailed and the Haifa stop was temporarily canceled.
The scandal emerged publicly. Cairo, sensing the impact of American wrath on pending aid, quickly reclassified
the ship as a purely "tourist," non-cargo ship entitled to visit Israel.