Sephardim Concerned by Arson Attempt in Synagogue in Spain Need for General Knowledge in Jewish Schools HE JEWISH NE r=. -T-- i=z c) -r J A Weekly Review Editorial Page 4 Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper Yoi. L, No. 6 LONDON (JTA)—World Sephardi Federation officials expressed concern over the fact that three men who set fire to a synagogue in Barcelona, Spain, in August had still not been found by Spanish police. Reports from Barcelona indicated that there was little likelihood of apprehending them. The synagogue, which suffered damage to its doors and windows, houses both the Sephardi and Ashkenazi congregations of Barcelona. Gasoline-soaked copies of the London Times were used to fire the synagogue. The Sephardi Federation wrote to the President of the Barcelona Jewish Community, expressing "deep regret that those responsible for this outrage had not yet been caught." The letter noted that the arson attack was "the first attempt of its kind in Spain since re-establishment of Jewish communities." September 30, 1966 Panic in Our Senate: Majority Worried About the Right to Pray Nei c 1-11 i TheDe ofJewsh Even Events — I ncorporating 17100 W. 7 Mile Rd.—Detroit 48235—VE 8-9364 Jewish Chronicle Commentary Page 2 - ($6.00 Per Year; This Issue 20c 'Soviet Jewry Week' Protests Create New Conflict With USSR Arab League UN Members Boycott Lindsay's Social (Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News) NEW YORK—Twelve of the 13 Arab nations rep- resented at the United Nations decided Monday to boycott Mayor John V. Lindsay's dinner-dance for chiefs of missions attending the 21st UN General Assembly because the mayor canceled a city reception and dinner for King Faisal of Saudi Arabia last June. The social affair which will be held Monday at the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center will honor the 118 UN members in a bid to create closer friendship between the diplomats and the staff of the UN and the City of New York. Dr. Burhan Hanunad, secretary of the Arab group, said only Pakistan and Tunisia had not joined in the boycott. A spokesman for the administration reacted with dismay and expressed the hope that the boycotting dele- gations would reconsider. Some city officials said they (Continued on Page 6) JERUSALEM (JTA)—A number of personalities in the government were reported to be pressing the World Jewish Congress to postpone its "Soviet Jewry Week" program, in which rallies were scheduled for November to protest the plight of Soviet Jewry. The pressure on the WJC stems from the belief that one of the main factors that prompted the Soviet government to cancel the scheduled tour in Russia of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was the planning of the "Soviet Jewry Week" protests by the Congress. Informing Israel of the can- cellation of the orchestra tour, the Soviet government complained about Israel's alleged "anti-Soviet campaign." Israeli government personalities hope that, by canceling the event, certain improvements in Israel's relations with the soviet Union could be achieved, although the Philharmonic cancellation seems to be final. Observers here believe that the cancellation of the Philharmonic tour was caused by Moscow's desire to intimidate Soviet Jews and prevent any tendency toward a national awakening or con- tact with Israel and Israelis. The observers feel, however, that Israel would best serve the cause of USSR cow ties. Jews by avoiding any possible provocation or pretext for further worsening Jerusalem-Mos- Zvi Haftel, manager of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, who personally signed the contract with the Russians, said the orchestra has thus far received no notice of any cancellation from Gus— the official Soviet cultural impresario—and the orchestra, therefore, still regards itself as bound by (Continued on Page 6) Fragmentation in Jewish Schools Waste and Shortage of Personnel Revealed in Educational Study NEW YORK (JTA)—More effective central communal planning of Jewish educational services in the American Jewish community is urgently needed, the American Association for Jewish Education reports in a review of trends and developments. Isadore Breslau, president of the AAJE, said the absence of Such planning "intensifies the continuing problems faced by schools and educators alike." Among the problems he said only central community planning could overcome were the dearth of competent teachers, "wasteful use" of personnel, continued existence of "frag- mented and unviable schools," inadequate supervision and "the failure to create central secondary schools to retain pupils beyond the Bar Mitzva." His report was based on findings of 10 community studies of Jewish education conducted by the AAJE at the request of federa- tions and welfare funds during 1965. He said Jewish communities were making intensive reviews of local Jewish education, a develop- ment he called consistent with the effort of the Council of Jewish `eder,ations and Welfare Funds to explore the role of federations - relation to central planning for Jewish education. (Mandell Ber- man of Detroit heads the CJFWF study committee.) An almost universal condition was the proliferation of small unviable schools with 30, 40 or 50 pupils, Breslau said. Such schools, he said, result often from institutional competition and an un- willingness to offend sponsors of the schools by consolidations. The result is fragmentation and waste of energies, funds, leader- ship and teaching personnel, he said, adding that several of the studies proposed creation of local coordinating councils to minimize artificial differences and- traditional separatism. The studies indicated that the explosion of Jewish education of the past 10 years has subsided. Some 600,000 children attend Jewish schools on a year-around basis, with 300,000 in afternoon schools, 250,000 in one-day-week schools, and 55.000 in all-day schools. A survey in 1959 showed that only 7.7 per cent of children in elementary Jewish schools continued on into Jewish high schools. Breslau said the community studies indicate the proportion may have risen by 1 or 2 per cent. The studies found deep concern over the problems of increasing such attendance, with the goal of providing a Jewish education matching the ability of older Jewish youth "to grasp Judaism at an intellectually meaningful level." "The teacher crisis has attained threatening proportions in many of the communities," he said. Only a small fraction of teaching staffs in week-day schools were found to be professionally certified, and the teacher situation in Sunday schools is even worse. The quality of supervisory services is also becoming a matter of concern, he reported. Some of the surveys found that Jewish education was not getting adequate communal financial support. The studies also found that parents of Jewish day school pupils continued to assume the smallest share of pupil cost of all types of formal Jewish schooling. In 1965-66, the average fee per pupil in such schools was around $207, con- trasted with an actual cost per day school pupil of three to four times that much. Communal Progress Over 40-Year Span Reviewed by Federation: Garvett Honored Forty years of communal endeavor, the roles played in the development of local educational and social service agencies during the past four decades and the aims for continuing cultural and philanthropic work were reviewed at the 40th anniversary dinner-meeting of the Jewish Welfare Federation, at the Jewish Center, Tuesday night. Morris Garvett was honored with the 1966 Fred M. Butzel Award, and the labors of past presidents of Federation were recalled in the historical analyses. Max M. Fisher, himself a Butzel Award winner, made the presentation of this year's award to Garvett. Hyman Safran, Federation president, was the chairman of the evening. He submitted his annual report, and an address also was delivered by William Avrunin, Federation executive director. Judge Theodore Levin presented the report of the nominating committee and the following elected members of . the board of governors: Walter L. Field, Milton J. Miller, Mrs. Harold were A. Robinson, Nathan Silverman, Paul Broder, Martin Citrin, David Safran, Mrs. Max Stollman and Paul Zuckerman. In lieu of an invocation, the motzi was recited by Phillip Stollman. In his report, Safran stated that the $2,500,000 allocation to the United Jewish Appeal in 1965 was increased to $2,900.000 this year. He said that Federation and its affiliated agencies in the past year found themselves "deeply involved in major events—the Vatican Declaration, the future of Soviet Jewry, the civil rights struggle, the war against poverty." (Continued on Page 5) Morris Garvett is shown receiving the Butzel Award from Max Fisher (left). Hyman Safran and Judge Theodore Levin are on the right.