A Police Chief With Humor and Tact

Boris Smolar's

'Between You
... and Me

Rocky Pomerance Keeps Miami Beach Safe

By JOSEPH POLAKOFF
Chief. JTA Waritiakaion Bureau

(Copyright. 1972. JTA Inc I

His job is to protect the right of
dissent as well as to preserve
the peace."
Rocky used humor, diplomacy,

If Chief of Police Rocky Primer -
Editor-in-Chief Faneritus, JTA
ance of Miami Beach is not yet the theatricalism when suitable. In
world's best known policeman, he speeches before the political con-
(Copyright 1972, JTA Inc.i
h tried to blunt the at-
• t .
soon will be This item will try to tit”de of inevitable confron t a ti ons,
DAYS OF AWE: Of all the Jewish communities throughout the ' tell yoo why. Rocky is Ow t in
Left-
- Rocky has surprised New Left-
world there is one in the United States which will feel the significance size afiohle in manner, and i: n
dowed with what the old folks call ists who think cops must be red-
of the "Days of Awe." It is the Jewish community of Wilkes-Barre. dowed
necks, in the South anyway. Ac-
Y'ddish kop that never stops cording to reports, when college-
•
Pa., devastated by the Agnes flood.
workin g to keen the peace in bred peace marchers visited him
Miami Beach. In a still predom-
Little did the 1.600 Jewish families in Wilkes-Barre foresee last
in 1963 — his first year as
feared hack
chief—Rocky just happened to be
Yom Kippur, when they recited in their synagogues the "Unsaneh inantiv Jewish town that
ele-
militant
anti-Vietnam
War
Tokef"—the prayer-poem which describes heavenly procedure on the
looking at the book "Anti-Intel-
might wreck community lectualism in American Life."
merits
Day of Judgment—what their fate would be this Rosh Hashana and
Yom Kippur. Little did any of them suspect that they would be vic- hospitality to both the Republican
"Do you recognize that man's
and Democratic conventions in one
tims of "Me Ba'mayim"—destruction by water—which the prayer
picture over there on the wall? '
summer. all these qualities help,
enumerates as one of the destinies inscribed in heaven on Rosh Has-
asked
the JTA reporter. Pres-
especially since so many of these
hana and sealed on Vim Kippur for people on the earth.
idents Truman and Johnson,
anti-establishment youth are Jew-
Vice President Humphrey and
ish themselves.
This year, the uprooted Jewish population of Wilkes-Barre will
Sammy Davis were there and.
not even have its synagogues on the High Holy Days. The buildings
What's more, the "convention
sure enough, an autographed
of the houses of worship, as well as of other Jewish communal in- hotel" for the hippies. yippies et al
glossy from "D. Ben-Gurion."
stitutions, have been demolished by the flood. They need to be rebuilt.
Seth
was in Flamin"o Park in ttir
Then Rocky told about how he
It will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore the Temple
Beach area which is home to many
and Hope, while visiting Israel,
Israel. Temple Bnai Brith, Ohav 7edek Synagogue, the Jewish Com- thousands of Jews without money.
went to the Western Wall.
munity Center and the United Hebrew Institute. Des roye or
However, "Jewishness has never
Neither Hope nor I are par-
ly damaged also are Jewish factories and hundreds of other business
arisen between me and the Jewish ticularly devout." Rocky said. "We
enterprises. Hundreds of Jewish homes were swept off their foun-
co' nter-culture people." Rocky and all our family were married
dations and carried away by the flood.
told the Jewish Telegraphic Aeen- by Rabbi (Irving) Lehrman who
cv. Because his watch was fast. is president of the United Syna-
The great majority of the affected Jewish families have been,
JTA's Washington man arrived 18 segue of America and he is a good
evacuated. Many of them are still scattered today as refugees in
minutes early at police headquar- friend of ours. We don't go often
neighboring townships, or they are living with relatives and friends
ters to see the chief st 8 a.m. to temple (Conservative Emanu-
in the area - Some 300 families have found temporary shelter in Scran-
Rocky has been a subject El) but I found a deep emotional
ton. Only about 100 of the evacuated 1.300 families are now back in
for news and comment long be- impact which I didn't expect. I
Wilkes-Barre. Many children are still separated from their parents.
fore this particular morning just thought I'd have an intellectual
•
•
•
before the Republicans opened appreciation. Hope had tears run-
MONTHS OF WORRY: The new year thus starts for the Jews in
their convention. Prominent writ- ning down her cheeks. I can't ex-
Wilkes-Barre with the problem of how to get back to normal life.
ing and voice specialists have plain it."
When Rocky, born in the Bronx
been interviewing him since the
The Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds lost no time
previous Republican convention in 1927, was 5 years old, his
in organizing assistance fur the victims. Max M. Fisher, CJFWF presi-
in Miami Beach in 1968. In one mother was widowed. He and his
dent, and Philip Bernstein, the executive vice president, proceeded to
offer brother went with her in
week three major newspapers
Wilkes-Barre soon after the catastrophe to evaluate the needs of the
carried articles on him. The fact 1943 to the Miami area where their
community. As a result, Jewish Federations from all over the country
his very attractive wife, sister and her husband had an
that
—including Detroit's—are now providing 52,000,000 in emergency aid.
Hope, is a television producer orange grove. Too young for mili-
Ten Federations had provided more than $500,000 even before the
herself undoubtedly helps him tary service, he joined the Mer-
CJFWF issued the call for relief and rehabilitation.
understand the media, but Rocky chant Marine and later went into
has so much natural stuff he the Army. Afterwards, he became
The primary responsibility for aid rests, naturally, with the fed-
would be a top man in anything
eral ar,d state governments. The CJFWF is requesting special assist-
he liked. Rocky Aloes things right Hebrew Column
ance. Special assistance is being provided also for Protestants and
—straight
talk, no bragging, up
Catholic victims by their religious bodies.
with the news, a sharp memory
Impressive is the fact that the Wilkes-Barre Jewish community,
for facts pertinent to him, a
despite its devastation, is determined to do everything possible with-
patter well spiced with humor
in its own resources and actions to help its people and to reconstruct
that is reenenizable as often
the community. The Wilkes-Barre Federation has borrowed $1,000,000
The well-appointed dining hall of
used but which does no harm.
from a kcal bank for this purpose. Based on the first week's exper-
the Ulpan Akiva in Natanya. Ta-
Being 6 feet tall and what
ience. it was authorized to borrow a second million dollars from other
bles
tastefully laid. The place looks
looks like a yard wide at shoulders
local banks. Small businessmen whose needs cannot be met by govern-
well cared fOr. During lunch I was
and slightly more at the hips in
ment aid are provided by the Federations with loans up to $25,000.
street clothes , Rocky cuts an awe- introduced to a blonde young lady,
some figure. At 46, Rocky scales who had an ever-present engaging
It is expected that the Jewish institutions, including the syna-
260 pounds-60 more than his snide. I was astonished to hear
gogues, will receive 30-year loans from the Small Business Adminis-
fighting weight while boxing in that this lady was . .. a professor
tration to repair their buildings. However, with the improvement of
of physical education.
many of their members• they would need help to handle the repayment the army.
Yes, in the U.S. physical educa-
in the first years. The bank loan of $1,000,000 was given to the Fed-
Other interviewers asked tion is studied at a high level—
eration with an interest charge of 6 per cent. The Federation is now
the standard questions—possibil- even at university. The lady's name
anticipating assistance from other communities to help meet the
ities of violence by the counter- was Marjorie Selan. She hailed
bank's interest costs in part for the first two years.
culture against the GOP conven-

a postman in Miami Beach but
in 1948, when he was 21, be joined
police force
the Miami Beach
which, by the way, has only a few
present
comple-
Jews among its
ment of 250 members. Rocky is
really Rocky's name. lie was born
Arnold Pomerance, but when he
ran for constable in Miami Beach
in 1556 he changed it legally to
Rocky. Nickname are prohibited
on the ballot and nobody knew
Arnold Pomerance, only Rocky
Pomerance. Now do you know why
Rocky.

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Wisconsin Prof.—
Ulpan Student

For small business loans of up to $5,600, the Federation is waiv-
ing interest for one year, and the principal repayment will not be
due for a year. For loans of $5,000 to 525.000, interest would be free
deferment of payment of principal for
for six months, with similar
six months. Meanwhile there are still several hundred families in
need of special individual aid not met by government and by the
initial Red Cross assistance, now largely ended.
•
•
•

YEAR OF COUNSELING: The worst destruction caused by the
flood disaster was in the Jewish business and residential areas. Coun-
seling assistance to the Jewish victims will be needed for at least
another year.

A team composed of James Young of the CJFWF staff, Herbert
Katzki of the Joint Distribution Committee, Max Pearlman of the
Chicago Jewish Federation and Mollie Spector of the Philadelphia
Jewish Family Service has been helping to organize and supervise
the assistance programs, and to reconstruct the Jewish community
and its institutional services. Albert Butler, associate director of the
Chicago Jewish Welfare Board and a member of the JDC staff, is now
in Wilkes-Barre helping the Jewish community to coordinate its emer-
gency aid program and is expecte(' to remain there for a period of

three months.
The response of the Federations comes at a time when the Jewish
communities throughout the United States are preparing to meet the
.Jewish New Year. The disaster which befell the Jewish community
in Wilkes Barre--a community which always distinguished itself by
generous giving for Jewish causes, and was never in. need of assist-
ance -will he very much on the nincis of the Jews in the U.S. during
their reciting the "Unsaneh Tokef" r from the Mahzor this year
For the Jews in Wilkes-Barre this highly emotional prayer vv ill re-
main a reminder of their present tra,:xtly for many years.

48—Friday, Sept. 1, 1972

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

tion; how the police would meet
troubles: the conflict between con-
stitutional guarantees of free

speech and assembly and commu-
nity defense against violence and

interference with normal existence.
Rocky explained how his men had
been instructed at the University
of Florida in constitutional law,
the tradition of dissent, the theory
for the Bill of Rights. The police
were taught to know themselves,
too, especially to keep their cool.

Rocky doesn't have it all his
own way. Al a pre-cenvention
meeting of the City Council,
heated opposition arose to the
use of Flamingo Park as a
"hotel" for the militants. The
six-member all-Jewish
council
split right down the middle.
Robert Goodman, Jerome Greene
and Leonard Haber voted for
its use. Councilmen Herbert

Mag,nes, Harold Rosen and Leon-
ard Weinstein opposed the idea.

Protestant Mayor Chuck Hall,
whose only headgear is said to
be a yarmulka that k , wears
often, cast the deriding sob- in
Rocky's favor. Rocky's position
was that since the young peo-
ple would
ome to the Reach
they had to sleep somewhere.

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from Madison, the capital of Wis-
consin in the middle of the U.S.
.1teln?
Wisconsin is a fertile country with
forests and lakes, mountains and n;'x; rrrrl pe?
caves. The beauty of the country
takes one's breath away. The but- rutin Kr! .nr1 7inizn n;i47p7.
ter and cheese of Wisconsin are
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famous in every state.
At present Miss Selan is at the
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tilpan in order to acquire a knowl-
edge of Hebrew. It did not take - 1,?Fpx pi irti '1y131 Hann
long for Miss Selan to speak He-
brew. "In my childhood I learned Tart mrp .9131 rilnp'7 (717)
Hebrew and even liked studying
it," says Miss Selan.
nine 117 HT??? 14'1.3
Miss Selan appears to be a wom-
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an in lore with her work. She re-
gards her work with a sense of
mission for herself and the word rrlyn nix
as well. In her view physical educa-
I•ep3 71 74 17
tion is not only a means of devel-
oping the body. The development
Tiro'?
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of the body is only a way of de-
veloping spiritual forces. the pow-
er of creativity and personality.
The physical exercises are not an • (nn`ninD)
end in themselves but a means of
developing the person in the right
"1"?'72 71 1 .7171 3n7 na
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direction. The teacher is obliged
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to present the student with a
problem fn the field of movement.
And the student is required to
solve this problem on his
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Tran,lation of Hebrew column pub-
lished by Brit Ivrit