Legislature - Adopts Strengthened Kos er Food Law Stiffer enforcement of Michigan's kosher food laws is provittT,I in a bill that has passed both houses of the legislature and been sent to Gov. Ron2:9.sy for his approval. Terms of the bill regulate advertisement of kosher foods. A•y restaurant, grocery or food processor which advertised kosher food discovered to Maude nonkosher in- gredients would be subject to fraud charges. By the same token, the failure to advertise the non-kosh(T ingredients would be presumed a? an intent to defraud, a misdemeanor. The bill originally called for a state commission on kosher food to police kosher food dealers and restaurants which sell kosher foods. It was altered because of church-state complications, one sponsor said. Provisions are designed to strengthen the state laws already in existence requiring ..,te special preparation and packaging of foods under regulations of traditional Jewish kosher foods, the Jewish Conununity Council convened a meeting last June of all interested community groups including the Council of Orthodox Rabbis as well as industry and union representatives. Working cooperatively with these groups and with the assistance of State Representative Jack Faxon, a number of recommenda- tions were developed and presented to the House Agriculture Committee last March. These recommendations were eventually incorporated in the new bill. The bill expands coverage to include not only meat preparations, but all food products prepared for human consumption. In addition, the bill provides for more effective enforcement procedures. Sidlow noted that although the law has a direct bearing on certain religious observances, its effect should strengthen the broad area of consumer protection legislation since these fraudulent practices exploit the general consumer market. In describing the communal process and cooperative efforts of the various groups and individuals who served on the Council committee which developed the new proposals, Sidlol,v acknowledged the assistance of Representatives Jack Faxon, Daniel Cooper, Victor Steeh and Senator Coleman Young, all of whom served as sponsors of the bill and assisted in its passage. In a letter to Gov. Romney, Dr. Samuel Krohn, Community Council president, urged approval of this measure in the interest of "protecting the right of those con- sumers in the general market to assume that the 'kosher' label on any food products they purchase is indeed an accurate designation." , Hubert J. S'idlow, chairman of the Jewish Community Council internal relations committee, explained that for many years Michigan has had a law on the statute books defining "kosher" and characterizing certain acts of mislabeling and false ad- Vertising as illegal and a misdemeanor under the act. However, the act had proven to be ineffective in preventing widespread deception due to the lack of proper enforce- ment procedures. In addition, the old law referred only to meat preparations and left Unprotected the great variety of kosher food products sold in Michigan. Responding to complaints of deceptive practices regarding false advertising of The Jews Again: A Catholic Embarrassment Editorial Page 4 HE JEWISH C~ ET ROIT NA I A Weely Review • Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper Vol. XLIX, No. 15 Coughlin's Sins The Agnostics: Static U.S. Jewry Ni Jerusalem Mayor's Visit of Jewish Events — Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle June 3, 1966--17100 W. 7 Mile Rd.—Detroit 48235—VE 8-9364 Commentary Page 2 $6.00 Per Year; This Issue 20c rd Enters Israel Auto Field ith ruck and Tractor lent First Marranos Adopt Judaism: 28 Chuettas Immigrate to Israel (Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News) JERUSALEM — Twenty-eight Spanish "Marranos," Spanish Jews who secretly maintained some ties with Judaism, and the first since the Spanish Inquisition to emigrate to Israel and formally readopt the Jewish faith, arrived Tuesday in Haifa. The four Chuetta families, Jews forcibly converted to Christianity during the Inquisition, came from Palma de Majorca in the Balearic Islands. They are part of a group of 40 other similar families awaiting transportation to Israel. The emigration was organized by the Association for Righteous Con- verts to Judaism in cooperation with the Jewish Agency. The 28 left Haifa immediately after arrival for new housing units set aside for them in Nes Ziona. Sixteen members of the group were circumcised this week in rejoining the Jewish religion from which their families and ancestors had been separated for more than 500 years. Francisco Milac, 43, leader of the group, told the JTA that, "for generations, my family knew we were Jews, though we had no religious offices and we did not observe any Jewish holidays. In fact," he added, "until a few weeks ago we did not even know of the existence of Yom Kippur, but in spite of this we felt like Jews and are proud to be so." The first time the group ever visited a synagogue was in Marseilles, prior to embarking for Israel. At that moment, Milac said, "we already felt we have achieved our purpose." He said that the awakening of Jewish consciousness among the Marranos stemmed partly from television films about Israel which they saw on Spanish television. The decision to settle in Israel developed fram (Continued on Page 3) Ford Motor Co. disclosed Tuesday that it is negotiating to authorize truck and trac- tor assembly in Israel by one of the country's principal automotive dealers. If agreement is reached, Palestine Automobile Corp., Ltd., will build U.S. and British Ford products in a new assembly plant which will be placed in operation within about 12 months. The location in Israel has not been determined. Ford has extended a letter of intent to Dr. Shaul Lipschitz, a director of the Israel dealership, confirming the plans subject to completion of financial arrangements in the Middle East country. Ford Motor Co, will be the first major American manufacturer to authorize truck and tractor assembly in the booming Israel automotive market, which has virtually doubled in volume since 1960. About 25,000 new vehicles annually are now sold in Israel, with demand rising sharply. - Palestine Automobile Corp. at present imports a variety of• built-up American English and German Ford vehicles for sale through outlets in 11 Israeli cities. The assembly agreement will be limited for the time being to commercial vehicles and tractors, and the Ford distributor will continue to import assembled Ford passenger cars as in the past. The new Israeli assembly agreement follows the pattern established in several other developing nations where automotive markets have evolved from the import stage to permit local build-up of vehicles in relatively small volumes. The parts are shipped from major U.S., British and German Ford manufacturing centers to be assembled in plants owned by Ford dealers and operating under rigid Ford quality control standards. Similar Ford dealer assembly operations are established in Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey, Thai- land and the Philipines. As the world automotive market continues its spectacular growth, other countries are expected to be added to the list. Palestine Automobile Corp. has been a distributor of Ford products for 30 years. It is one of Israel's largest automobile dealerships, with headquarters in Tel Aviv, branches in Haifa, Jerusalem, Jaffa and Beersheba, and dealers in Ramat Gan, Hadera, Natanya, Nazareth, Tiberias and Ramleh. S mai • Hospital Starts $11,500,000 Expansion Drive rfr os • Architectural rendition of proposed extension of Sinai Hospital facilities. Sinai Hospital of Detroit is seeking to raise $11,500,000 to finance Major expansion programs over the next five years, Board of Trustees President Nate- S. Shapero announced this week. "Because : -of other major national and community solicitations, we have reserved public announcement of our Challenge Fund Drive until now," Shapero said. "Through efforts of the campaign chairmen, Louis Berry and Leonard N. Simons, and the generosity of our board and the families of its members, we are approaching the community at large with close to $1,400,000 already in. hand," Shapero continued. "Actually, the $1,500,00. 0 allotment to Sinai from the United Foundation Capital Fund Division puts us even further along. "The major phase of our goal will be spent on a new 150-bed patient care wing and surgical pavilion which we hope to have ready for use by 1970. This would give us a total capacity of almost 550 beds. "In addition to the acute medical and surgical beds and the new operating suite, the new wing will also include an all-faiths chapel and the ancillary facilities necessary to complement. the three new patient care floors. We are hopeful that this community will eagerly follow the example of our board members and assist the achievement of our goal. Presently included in our .consideratiOns, if we approximate the total financial need, are an expansion of the division of pediatrics, a 180-bed extended care facility to help_ meet the demands of Medicare, expan- sion of psychiatric facilities and services and a new Women's Guild work and service area."