OBITUARIES
WHY?
Former U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Arthur Goldberg
JTA — Former U.S.
Supreme Court Justice Ar-
thur Goldberg, active in
Jewish issues, died Jan. 19 at
his residence in Washington.
He was 81.
Goldberg also served as
secretary of labor in the Ken-
nedy administration, follow-
ing years of influential work
as a labor lawyer.
His most controversial
career move came in 1965,
when he left a lifetime ap-
pointment to the Supreme
Court after serving for three
years to become U.S. Am-
bassador to the United
Nations.
Although he and many per-
sons said the decision had
probably not been a wise one,
Mr. Goldberg's time at the
U.N. overlapped the momen-
tous period that surrounded
the Six-Day War.
Goldberg was instrumental
in drafting the text of U.N.
Security Council Resolution
242 of November 1967, which
remains the cornerstone of
Middle East peace negotia-
tions to this day.
The resolution calls for a
"just and lasting peace in the
Middle East," including
"withdrawal of Israeli armed
forces from territories of re-
cent conflict" and respect for
the right of "every state in the
area to live in peace within
secure and recognized boun-
daries."
Goldberg later chaired the
U.S. delegation to interna-
tional talks in Belgrade, aim-
ed at monitoring a 35-nation
human rights accord conclud-
ed in Helsinki in 1975. At the
time, he strongly criticized
Soviet bloc nations for their
human rights violations.
His law clerk while on the
bench, Harvard Professor
Alan Dershowitz, said
Goldberg had proposed just
days before his death a
monitoring committee of in-
ternational human rights ex-
perts to assure that the cur-
rent tide of change in Eastern
Europe did not allow ex-
tremist forms of nationalism
and anti-Semitism to
flourish.
Dershowitz also reported
that Goldberg said shortly
before his death that he
would seek a meeting with
Attorney General Dick
Thornburgh to discuss "the
earliest possible parole" for
Jonathan Pollard, whose life
sentence for spying for Israel
Goldberg considered
excessive.
The son of poor Russian
Jewish immigrants, Goldberg
was born in Chicago and
devoted his life to the cause of
workers rights and human
rights all over the world. He
was an ongoing, active
member of synagogues and
Jewish organizations.
He was instrumental in
bringing about the merger in
1955 or the American Federa-
tion of Labor and the Con-
gress of Industrial Organiza-
tions, which became the
AFL-CIO.
Following his U.N. assign-
ment, Goldberg was president
of the American Jewish Com-
mittee from 1968 to 1969. In
1983, he served as chairman
of a commission to study what
the organized American
Jewish community did or fail-
ed to do to save European
Jewry during the Holocaust.
Goldberg established prece-
dent when he urged President
Kennedy to discuss the issue
of Soviet Jewry with Soviet
leaders.
He was a key speaker at the
meeting that organized the
American Jewish organiza-
tions into the National Con-
ference on Soviet Jewry in
April 1964.
Goldberg's friend of 45
years, Hyman Bookbinder,
former Washington represen-
tative to the AJCommittee,
recalled the Supreme Court
justice lovingly Sunday.
He said that "apart from
the Jewish community itself,
there has been no steadier,
firmer supporter of Israel
than the American labor
movement, and Arthur
deserves a great deal of credit
toward that."
Dershowitz called Goldberg
"the pre-eminent Jewish
American of the 20th century,
in terms of his influence both
on American life and Jewish
life.
"I think few Americans
know how significant he was
in his behind-the-scenes ac-
tions on behalf of Israel and
world Jewry," he said.
Dershowitz said former
Israeli Prime Minister Golda
Meir told him that "during
the 1967 war, he prevented
the U.S. from putting undue
presure on Israel," and that
during the 1973 Yom Kippur
War, "he was constantly in-
sisting that the U.S. make ex-
traordinary efforts to circum-
vent European countries' un-
willingness to ship arms to
Israel."
"Golda Meir said, 'God in-
tended for Arthur Goldberg to
be an American rather than
an Israeli, because he did
more to save Israel than vir-
tually any other living
figure,' " Dershowitz
recounted.
Emanuel J. Harris
Emanuel J. Harris, 83, one
of the founders of Michigan
National Bank, of Farm-
ington Hills, died Jan. 21.
Mr. Harris was an attorney
and real estate investor, a
patron of the Detroit Institute
of Arts, a member of the
Economic Club of Detroit, the--,
100 Club of Detroit, past
president of Standard City
Club, Franklin Hills Country
Club and Renaissance Club.
He also was a member of
the Detroit, Michigan and
American Bar Associations, a
former member of the New
York and American Stock Ex-
changes, a member of the
Board of Commerce, City of
Detroit, Metropolitan Detroit
Convention Bureau and
Detroit Real Estate Board
and former Commissioner of
the Detroit Fire Department.
Mr. Harris was a graduate
of the University of Michigan
in 1930 with a BA, LLB and
Juris Doctor. He was a former
director of Michigan National
Bank, a member of the board
of directors of Dayco Corp.
He leaves daughters and
sons-in-law, Jacqueline and
Stanley Gard of Southfield,
Judith and Robert Solomon of
Bloomfield Hills and eight
grandchildren.
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Carl R. Lichtenstein
Carl R. Lichtenstein, 78, of
Southfield died Jan. 19.
Mr. Lichtenstein was an at-
torney and a member of Adat
Shalom Synagogue and past
president of the men's club.
He was also one of the
founders of the Great Lakes
Region of The Federation of
Conservative Men's Clubs
and a past regional president
and was a member of B'nai
B'rith. Mr. Lichenstein leaves
his wife, Nita.
Louis E. Letzer
Louis E. Letzer, 82, of
Southfield, died Jan. 20.
Mr. Letzer was an attorney
who graduated from Detroit
College of Law in 1928 and
received his Masters of Law
Degree in 1932.
He represented Hudson's
and then Dayton Hudson's
from 1930 until his death.
He leaves a son and
daughter-in-law, Norman and
Ruth of West Bloomfield; a
sister, Sadye of Royal Oak;
and two grandsons.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
125