Congress bulletin, 1 janvier 1961, Janvier

[" Miss E.Rauchschwalb, Jewish Public Library, 4499 Esplanade Ave., Montreal, Que.BULLETIN PUBLISHED BY CANADIAN JEWISH CONGRESS VOLUME 15: No.1 MONTREAL ç JANUARY, 1961 Comment : The 1961 Community Diary A few months ago an eminent Montreal doctor, internationally known, remarked at a dinner table conversation that while he had a vague idea of the work of the Canadian Jewish Congress and had every confidence in it, he wanted to know exactly what does it do?Such a question from an individual who is knowledgeable and interested in Jewish life in its many ramifications is of quite some concern.If such a person has to ask exactly what does Congress do, then it is certain that the public at large has a very dim idea of Congress and its work.Some two years ago in this Bulletin\u2019s column \u201cComment\u201d some ideas were expressed under the title \u201cThe Best Kept Secret in Jewish Life.\u201d Perhaps it is timely to reply to the good doctor's question by picking up the theme of that editorial to give some description of the Congress\u2019 agenda for 1961 which will, at least, partially answer the question\u2014what does Congress do exactly?The answer can be found to some extent by examining the Congress aims and objectives: \u2014to develop the highest standards of citizenship in the Jews of Canada by encouraging, carrying on and participating in activities of a national, patriotic, cultural and humanitarian nature; in the furtherance of the best interests of the country and of the Jewish people; \u2014to act in matters affecting the status, rights and welfare of Canadian Jewry; \u2014to investigate the causes of anti-Semitism and to devise means of abating its influences throughout the world generally and in Canada in particular; and to promote the growth of a spirit of toleration, understanding, and goodwill between all ethnic elements in Canada, and particularly between non-Jewish and Jewish citizens; ~\u2014to carry on and assist in efforts for the improvement of the social and economic and cultural conditions of Jewry, and the mitigation of their sufferings throughout the world and to cooperate with other agencies in rendering assistance and helping to rehabilitate Jewish immigrants and refugees; as the legal instrument in Canada of the Joint Distribution Committee, it collects funds from all Canadian communities to aid and assist overseas Jewry\u2014in Europe, Israel, North Africa\u2014in its work of reconstruction, rehabilitation and organization of community life; -to study problems affecting the foregoing objects; and to conduct researches and encourage studies thereon, and publish period- cals, pamphlets and other literature and information on the work of Canadian Jewish Congress in the furtherance of its objects.Our belief in a true meaning of life, in the self-fulfilment In maintaining a continuity with the past\u2014religiously, or culturally, perhaps for many, adjunctively\u2014will necessitate the large Congress program of education; cultural inspiration; recreation; self-defense; protection.For the Canadian Jewish Congress 1961 will be a vital experience in what we hope will not be an illegitimate pride in accomplishment and in recognition of an era passed and one to begin.For the first time in Canadian Jewish history a national archives and library of Jewish information will be established and a beginning will be made in the creation of a Jewish museum.If the celebrations of the two hundred years of Jewish settlement in Canada taught us anything, it was that what ought to be lasting evidence become ephemeral ones if no one sets about recording and maintaining our links with the past.And so it will be that the plans for a Congress building\u2014reported elsewhere in this issue\u2014are taking form and will soon emerge from the idea to blueprint to structure.But the past is not enough to stimulate or maintain an élan vital.Though Jewish life is built on a creed of remembrance, it is also based on preparation for the future.The new building will be Congress headquarters, where the Congress directors, committee members and staff will be able more efficiently and comfortably to exert their talents and expend their energies on the tasks of maintaining a strong Jewish life for ourselves and hopefully for our children\u2019s children.An honour is to be paid to an outstanding Canadian and acknowledged leader of the Jewish community\u2014Samuel Bronfman.The happy coincidence of the Congress\u2019 plans to satisfy its needs and the significant milestone of Mr.Bronfman\u2019s birthday prompted the Congress Executive Committee to name the Congress Headquarters\u2014The Samuel Bronfman House.Bricks and mortar, stone and cement, design and furnishings do not make an organizational headquarters any more than they make a house.Only a home makes a house and only good works can justify a headquarters.The prestige and dignity and maturity of Canada\u2019s Jewry justify a national headquarters only if it be as much a promise of the future as a recognition of the past.If the good doctor, whose question inspired these comments, chances to read this, I hope he will realize that the Canadian Jewish Congress is an expression of an idea but it is also a practical and lively manifestation of it.It is a thinker but it is also a doer.What exactly is the Canadian Jewish Congress?All the above today, hopefully more tomorrow and all along the way the self-fulfilment of the Canadian Jewish Community.A fau a CJC New HQ) to be Named The Samuel Bronfman House The Canadian Jewish Community through the Canadian Jewish Congress will render tribute to Mr.Samuel Bronfman, National President of Congress, on the occasion of his 70th birthday in recognition of his outstanding career of unselfish service over the past 40 years, the later half of which was devoted in great part to his interest in the local, national and international work of the Canadian Jewish Congress.- \\ ATS PN Rt.ty! 4 vo.\u2014 FA 2.IE 2 Samuel Bronfman, National President, CJC, who celebrates his 70th birthday this coming March, is pictured above with members of his family.Reading from left to right (Back row): Baron Alain de Gunzburg; Mrs.Jean Lambert (daughter); Charles Bronfman; Edgar Bronfman.(Front row): Baroness Alain de Gunzburg (daughter); Samuel Bronfman; Mrs.Samuel Bronfman; Mrs.Edgar Bronfman.The Canadian Jewish Congress National Executive Committee meeting in Toronto on December 18 authorized plans for the erection of a National Congress headquarters to meet the pressing needs facing Congress.The building to be located in central Montreal will also serve as a National Cultural Institute comprising the National Archives, a National Museum under the aegis of Congress, as well as the Congress library.The project calls for naming the building in honour of Mr.Sameul Bronfman.\u2018The dedication of the building as \u2018The Samuel Bronfman House\u2019 will bear permanent testimony to Mr.Bronfman\u2019s unique position in the Canadian Jewish community,\u201d a statement issued by the National Executive Committee announced, \u2018\u2018and would serve as a fitting tribute to mark his 70th birthday thus giving expression to the admiration and appreciation that we all feel for his vigorous and devoted leadership over these many, many years.\u201d At the same meeting of the National Executive it was also decided to hold a National Tribute celebration honoring Mr.Bronfman at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal, on March 5, 1961.Mr.Bronfman, whose philanthropic activities are as well known abroad as in Canada.was first clected to the presidency of the Canadian Jewish Congress in 1938 when a delegation of leading citizens requested him to accept leadership on the emerging problems of those dark years which finally culminated in World War II, Under his able guidance and generous support, the Canadian Jewish Congress has grown during his presidency to a position of respected achievement both in Canada and internationally.Since his election to office, Mr.Bronfman\u2019s interest in Congress affairs has been notable for its unswerving dedication and wisdom.The enormous growth of the Canadian Jewish Community in recent years has been accompanied by expanding Congress activities and services which have profited much from Mr.Bronfman\u2019s direction.The committee in charge of the project nationally to establish The Samuel Bronfman House will comprise the Vice-Presidents of Congress: Lavy M.Becker, Montreal; J.Irving Oelbaum, Toronto; Sol Kanee, Winnipeg and Esmond E.Lando, Vancouver and the Chairman of the National Executive Committee, Monroe Abbey, Q.C., together with the National Executive Vice-President of Congress, Saul Hayes.The composition of regional committees, which have been selected from leaders of Jewish communities of major cities across Canada, will soon be announced. # The present membership list of the Canadian League of Composers includes forty-one names.These names, or at any rate by far the greater number of them, represent a generation which appeared on Canada's musical scene during or after the Second World War.It is a generation which speakes the language of our time; which has mastered the varied compo- sitional techniques of the twentieth century; which has absorbed the various musical styles of the present.It is a generation which has put Canada on the map of musically creative nations, and which, living and working in the geographical and social circumstances typical of Canada, has created an art that is representative of this country.Through their individual and combined efforts these composers have made the public aware of Canada\u2019s creative resources and have reached a position where their voice is heard with growing respect and recognition.The most powerful single force behind all these developments has been the leadership given by one of the most distinguished among contemporary Canadian musicians, John Weinzweig.It was this intelligent, courageous and talented composer who appeared on the drab musical scene of Toronto in the late 1930\u2019s, and opened with his bold compositions the gates to new musical fields.It was the teacher John Weinzweig who in post-war years guided a whole generation of home-grown composers towards the secrets of musical creation.It was again John Weinzweig who in the early 1950's had won the confidence of his fellow-composers, both English and French Canadian, so that they followed his call to unite and organize the Canadian League of Composers.Early Years He was born in Toronto on March 11, 1913.His parents had come from Poland and were married in Canada.Although musical and ceative activities were absent in Weinzweig's early childhood home\u2014his father was in the fur business\u2014there prevailed a high regard for people with creative talents.A frequent guest was John's uncle (on his mother\u2019s side), a much-travelled poet who went from city to city to present readings of his own poems to local Jewish communities.His stories, full of fantasy and the wonders of the world, did not leave young Weinzweig's mind untouched.While these early encounters with poetry and music undoubtedly put the first seeds of creativity into John Wein- zweig's subconscious, it was participation in the student orchestras of Harbord Collegiate Institute and Central High School of Commerce that first aroused in him a serious interest in music.Wein- zweig became an active and eager member of these ensembles, first playing mandolin and then tuba.This experience set the course of his future life.Orchestral sound with its many colours and fascinating energy became an obsession.In 1934 he entered the Faculty of Music of the University of Toronto, where he studied harmony with Leo Smith, counterpoint with Healey Willan, orchestration with Sir Ernest MacMillan, and conducting with Reginald Stewart.Although a diligent and conscientious student of academic subjects, Weinzweig still sought vital musical expression and active participation in music making.Haunted by his obsession for the orchestra, he organized the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra and became its first conductor.His graduation thesis at Toronto was the First String Quartet, a work in late romantic style with some touches of Debussian harmony, he received the degree of Bachelor of Music in 1937.Creative Studies The next year Weinzweig went to the Eastman School of Music.Whereas in Toronto he covered purely academic subjects with no instruction in free composition, in Rochester he could devote all his time to creative studies and orchestration.CONGRESS BULLETIN John Weinzweig By Udo Kasemets™ A series of orchestral pieces, mostly based on poetic or descriptive programs, display the enthusiasm with which Wein- zweig pursues his studies in this year.The symphonic poem The Enchanted Hill, based on a poem by Walter de la Mare, was the thesis composition for his Master of Music degree in 1938.It was performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and this was his first opportunity to be heard in Toronto as an orchestral composer.John Weinzweig (above).His two works Am Yisroel Chai for mixed choir and Dance of the Massadah commissioned by Canadian Jewish Congress are widely performed during Jewish Music Month.In his musical adolescence in Toronto his devotion went to Wagner, Chopin, and especially to Liszt and his tone- poems.In Rochester he heard the tone- poems of Sibelius.But one can imagine Weinzweig's excitement when he encountered a work such as The Rite of Spring.He admits that The Enchanted Hill is greatly influenced by this score.While the hearing of this work by Stravinsky expanded his ideas about orchestral colours and dynamics, Alban Berg's Lyric Suite opened for him a totally new perspective.Linear counterpoint filled with emotional intensity is the characteristic phenomenon of this score, the discovery of which excited Weinzweig to a point where he felt a physical sensation similar to fever.The years between graduation from Rochester in 1938 and the completion of the Violin Sonata of 1941 Weinzweig calls the years of soul-searching.In 1941 the new Violin Sonata was given performances from coast to coast by Harry Adaskin, one of those three brothers who have done such great service to Canadian composers by tirelessly promoting their music.Obviously Weinzweig, in this work, had arrived at a great decision.He had discarded, at least for the time, the grand orchestra in favour of chamber music.He felt that writing for solo instruments was a more satisfactory artistic challenge than painting on a huge canvas with orchestral colours.Also practical reasons of performance opportunities influenced this decision, as he saw the scores and parts of many orchestral works (including his Symphony of 1940, which has never had a performance in its entirety) resting uselessly on the shelf.Individuality Although Weinzweig found his personal style early in his career it would be wrong to assume that the later works show marks of stagnation and routine.Two other trends have filled Wein- zwelg's creative years between 1941 and 1954: his occupation with background music for radio and films, and his ex- cussions into the realm of musical folklore.In approximately one hundred scores which Weinzweig has written since 1941 (mostly in the early nineteen forties) for radio plays and documentaries, for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he has had vast opportunities to exploit the various possibilities offered him by the medium of radio.For Weinzweig radio music was not a commercial art, a job for a sound-effects man, but a new art with which to integrate speech and music.It also provided him with an opportunity to hear every note he wrote and thus critically to develop his art of orchestration and minutely timed concise expression.The special demands of radio composition can also be regarded as a stimulus for Weinzweig's interest in vocal music and folk song.Weinzweig does not \u201carrange\u201d folk songs.He takes a folk tune, studies its basic motifs, intervals and rhythms, and transforms these into an original composition.Weinzweig has a message to mankind in these troubled times of ours.His two symphonic songs for soprano and orchestra entitled Wine of Peace (1957) bear the following inscription: \u201cThis work is dedicated to the United Nations where the dreams of mankind for peace on earth can become a reality.\u201d Based on a text by the Spanish dramatist Pedro Calderon de la Barca and an anonymous Arabian poem, these songs are a deep and powerful expression of Weinzweig's preoccupation with life, death, struggle of mankind, destruction, futility of war, freedom of mind and peace among nations, It is a powerful call to our confused generation JANUARY, 1961 when Weinzweig sings with the words of an ancient bard: \"Save up your soul and taste the beautiful wine of peace, for tomorrow the earth shall answer Dedicated Teacher These traits of deep thought, keen musicianship and humanity characterize Weinzweig as teacher of composition.Since 1939 a member of the Faculty of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and since 1952 Professor of composition at the University of Toronto, he has been instrumental in preparing numerous young composers and general music students for their careers, A glimpse of the list of the names and works of his most outstanding students shows that Weinzweig sees his first responsibility as a teacher in fostering the development of individuality of a potential composer.Each of his past pupils has established (or is on a search for) a personal style quite different from that of his teacher or of his fellow-students.Yet a closer look one can also recognize in each of these composers\u2019 work individual stylistic and technical features which coincide with Weinzweig's own artistic conceptions and ideals, and are the obvious results of a student-teacher relationship.His method of teaching does not follow the established pattern where the training of an aspiring composer starts with feeding him the historical past.Weinzweig leads his students immediately towards melodic thinking free of harmonic or any other regimentation.He has divorced the training of his students from any existing style, be it sixteenth century vocal counterpoint, Bach's fugal art, Schoenberg's expressionism, or any of Stravinsky's many trends.Feeling that writing in any one style inhibits the creative impulses of a student, he has disposed of exercises in traditional counterpoint and harmony, dealing with these subjects only in the form of analysis.He rarely uses his own works as models in class, and avoids guiding students towards a style that is of great use for himself but might be foreign to the pupil\u2019s own musical imagination.His only purpose is to encourage the student to seek a personal way of expression.For a musically young nation still searching for its own identity, a teacher with this open-mindedness and progressive thinking is a great asset.How easily could we have been faced with a narrow \u2018school\u2019 of composers! Instead we have a number of personalities who all speak their own tongues and enrich the Canadian musical scene through their versatility.Respected Leader The picture of John Weinzweig would be incomplete without mentioning his personality.Many of his colleagues, but especially his students have profited by the warm-hearted and personal concern he has brought into their relationship.Although a determined Jeader-personality, Weinzweig acheives his goals through friendly persuasion rather than through dictation.Yet this persuasion is never a sales-talk; his always calmly spoken words ring with a tone of profound conviction which transfers to the listener in an almost magic way.Presiding over the meetings of the Canadian League of Composers he has created a spirit whereby this organization has devoted itself to frictionless constructive work, so unusual with bodies where the membership consists of flamboyant artistic temperaments.Beyond his warm contacts with his students and colleagues and unselfish work as the leader of the League, Weinzweig's sensitive personality is also apparent when he talks about problems of mankind, humanity and the rights of an individual.Any violence, injustice or betrayal of ideals, wherever in the world it may occur, is a personal hurt to him.HS *Udo Kasemets is a composer, conductor and critic, He writes frequently for the Canadian Music Journal and is a music critic on the staff of the Toronto Daily Star.onl?in ful\u201d pf : i I il Ur jo go i I fre ie oni fe ot for i id bo bee fare font PL gui wll fn] Faso (om anh unis fes md Sen ( was à id les seit Aie bh J for his ls W flat went ig ail Eu Um as by Tap by Bi JANUARY, 1961 CONGRESS BULLETIN Backs cu Review FALLS THE SHADOW By Nahum Ravel Vantage Press, New York $3.50 In Nahum Ravel's \u201cFalls the Shadow\u201d we have another contemporary novel about Jewish life in Montreal.It deals with a small, but once exciting, element of the Jewish milieu in Canada\u2019s largest metropolis.Ravel, nee Rubalsky, writes about a group of young people who were teenagers in the summer of 1939 just before war broke out, and members of the Hashomer Hatzair, a left-wing Zionist youth movement.He describes the same neighborhood committed to prose earlier by Mordecai Richler.Ravel does not display the negativism of Richler to things Jewish but neither does he show promise of Richler\u2019s calibre of literary talent.Ravel's main protagonists are drawn from that element which was persuaded in the early years of the war that communism was the real answer to the world's ills-\u2014and to the Jewish problem.These are the people who left the Hashomer Hatzair to join the Young Communist League.Later they become completely disillusioned with communism in the aftermath of the Khrushchev revelations about Stalinism and the disclosures about Soviet anti- Semitism in 1956.(The author, a native of Montreal, was a member of the Hashomer Hat- zair during the period about which he writes.In fact, he never left that movement but chose for himself the path of Aliyah to Israel and settlement in a Kibbutz collective.After 12 years in Israel, Ravel came back to Montreal for two years, He recently returned to his Israeli home at Kibbutz Sasa.) While Ravel mentions in his book that one member of the group actually went to Israel, this is only done in passing.There is no indication of any real conflict between those who chose communism and those who remained Zionists and chose Israel, at least as a personal solution.Ravel takes his characters through a series of events before and during the second world war, from the Zionist clubrooms to the army barracks, from the Montreal streetcars and steambaths to the battlefields of Europe and sex stirs about everywhere in vulgar garb.Despite its fictitious intent, the characters in this novel come very close, perhaps too close, to actual living persons.However, the author has failed to pay sufficient attention to the study and development of his characters with the result that they do not appear to be imbued with truly living qualities, despite all their \u201cearthiness.\u201d Historically the sequence of events as he relates them appears to be correct.But on the whole his writing reads very much like extracts from the diary of a teenager who may have lived through or witnessed some of these experiences.Whatever embellishments he had added appear to be mostly to strengthen the lurid element which has become the hallmark of the modern \u201cearthy\u201d novel.\u2014A.J.Arnold VICTORY THROUGH DARKNESS AND DESPAIR By Norman Lipschutz $2.95 The struggle to achieve nationhood by the Jewish people, as seen through the eyes of a survivor of the Nazi death camps, is the theme of Norman Lip- schutz's book \u201cVictory Through Darkness and Despair.\u201d Noah, the hero, describes his life in the Polish city of Pinsk.He relates the coming of the Nazi hordes from one side and the Communist \u2018liberators\u2019 from the other; and he recounts in detail his escape and struggle for survival as a member of a Russian partisan band.The real heroes of this book, however, are the Jewish people themselves, especially those who won over the forces of Arab feudalism and British colonialism to establish the State of Israel as a homeland for all Jews.Mr.Lipschutz, born in Pinsk, Poland, came to Canada in 1935.He is at present residing in Glace Bay, N.S., where he operates a bookstore.Vantage Press, New York World's Mayors in Tel Aviv Sidney L.Buckwold, Mayor of Saskatoon and President of the Canadian Federation of Mayors and Muni- cipajities, recently headed a delegation of eleven Canadians who attended the 15th Congress of the International Union of Local Authorities held in Tel Aviv, To date, this World Congress of Mayors is the largest international Congress ever to take place in Israel attracting some 517 delegates, wives and observers from 33 countries.It was the first time that the IULA\u2019s biennial conference had been held outside Europe and the selection of Israel proved to be an ideal venue.For the theme of this year\u2019s discussions was the role of local government in under-developed areas and Israel has made tremendous efforts in developing areas previously condemned as unfit for settlement.Also, the growing importance of Africa and Asia in world politics was officially recognized by holding the conference in a country halfway between East and West.The TULA's basic objective is to attain international cooperation and friendship between peoples.Its more specific aims are to promote local autonomy, to contribute towards the improvement of local administration, to study the activities of municipalities and to encourage participation in civic affairs by the general population.Of the many distinguished delegates attending the Congress possibly one of the most outstanding was Mayor Willy Brandt of West Berlin.His presence did not meet with everyone's approval and many protests were made.He replied to these protests in a very courageous speech in which he said he was aware of Sidney L.Saskatoon, Mayor, Mordechai Namir during Buchwold, Mayor of chats with Tel Aviv the Congress of International Union of Local Authorities meeting, which he recently attended in Israel.the terrible burden of the past but, nevertheless, brought greetings from Berlin.He suggested that all responsible people in Germany have tried to learn the lessons of history to enable others to forgive.Delegates were given every opportunity to tour the country and they were greatly impressed with the development and progress Israel has made since its establishment as a State in 1948.Possibly they were most impressed by the spirit of the Israelis and their dedication to the job of creating a modern, democratic state against what almost seems overwhelming odds.Rock of Tradition By H.M.Nahmad* Unless one were looking specifically for the Jewish community in Gibraltar its existence might easily be overlooked on a visit to the Rock.It is a community numbering well under a thousand souls out of a total opulation of some 25,000.In outward appearance, and in the language they speak, the Jews of the Colony differ hardly, if at all, from their fellow Gibraltarians.The connection of the Jews with Gibraltar goes back many centuries.In 1473, almost 200 years before the expulsion by Ferdinand and Isabella of the Jews and Moslems from Granada, the last Moorish stronghold on Spanish soil, Gibraltar became a city of refuge for the Marranos of the Peninsula, and a proposal was at one time made to hand it over to them.A view of the Town of Gibraltar from the top of City Hall which has Gibraltar and the Education Officers of the armed forces.Four Synagogues Spiritual needs are catered for by the four synagogues of the Colony: the Sha\u2019ar Hashamayim\u2014the oldest\u2014was founded before the year 1749 and rebuilt in 1768; the Nefusoth Yehuda, founded in 1788; the Ez Hayyim, in 1759; and the Abudarham synagogue which has been functioning since 1820.Some refer to the ancient Sha\u2019ar Hashamayim as the \u201cCathedral Synagogue.\u201d It is not easy for a stranger to find, and a visitor can pass and re- pass it in the narrow lane without realizing its presence.The quiet courtyard and the synagogue building are concealed by the facade which appears [4 been enlarged and re-decorated since the end of the war during which it was damaged by blast from AA guns.Spanish Jews The history of the modern community, however, goes back no further than the eighteenth century when its foundations were laid by a group of Jewish immigrants from North Africa, for the most part descendants of the original Spanish Jews, who landed shortly after the British annexation of the Rock in 1704.Although no obstacles were put in their way, it was not until the year 1749 that they were granted the legal right to settle in the town of Gibraltar.The Jews prospered in freedom under British rule and built up a strong communal structure.In the early days the community played a considerable part in the growth of trade between Gibraltar and Morocco and between Great Britain and Gibraltar.At one period during the middle of the nineteenth century the Jewish population had risen to just over 2,000.Active Community Like some other small minority communities in other countries, Gibraltar Jewry forms a compact group.It has independent communal institutions and is jealous alike of its traditions, its identity and its recognized place within the broader community.Concern with Jewish matters has not prevented members from playing a part in public affairs.In the small political groupings which have come about in Gibraltar since the war several Jews are active, not in a special Jewish capacity, but rather as citizens of Gibraltar.The Hon.Joshua Abraham Hassan, MVO, CBE, JP, a well-known lawyer and communal worker, has filled the position of Mayor for five terms running and has devoted a great deal of his time and energy in the service both of Gibraltar and of his co-religionists.The President of the Management Board of the Hebrew Community is on the Colony's Board of Education, together with the Catholic Bishop of Gibraltar, the Dean of to be part of the row of buildings in the street.The interior is dignified and decorous with dark panelling on the walls, and laid out in accordance with Sephardi traditional design.Nefusoth Yehuda, in another part of the town, is quite different, both in appearance and architecturally.Set in a cool-look- ing courtyard, rather smaller than that of the older synagogue, the interior is more conventionally Moorish.It had to be rebuilt in 1951 after damage caused by the explosion of an ammunition ship in the harbour.Enthusiasm for Israel Since the creation of Israel the Jews of Gibraltar have been taking an ever- increasing interest in the growth of the new State.Hebrew is taught as a living language and people keep in touch with events in Israel through printed publications and the Ko! Yisrael broadcasts in many languages.Enthusiasm for Israel takes many practical forms and one of the great services rendered by the community in this connection has been its care for the Jews from the Maghreb who pass by way of Gibraltar on their journey to Israel.Unlike their Sephardi brethren of the Balkans and the Near East, the Jews of Gibraltar do not use Ladino as their native tongue.They speak the languages common to this area, the Andalusian dialect of Spanish, as well as English, as do most inhabitants of the Rock.I was told by one member of the community that the first time he had ever heard Ladino spoken was in London during the war when he was one of the large number of Gibral- tarians evacuated to Britain.Although the population of the Rock has increased the Jews have dwindled in number.Some has emigrated while many of those who went to Britain and other countries in wartime never went back to their place of birth.*Reprinted from \"World Jewry\u2019 4 CONGRESS BULLETIN Life in the \u2018Shtetl\u2019 Recaptured by Berel Satt Through the homely and artistic wood sculptings of Berel Satt, the visitor to a recent exhibition of his works in Toronto, came away with a good idea of the mode of life in the \u2018shtetl\u201d For in this collection of over 40 examples of Satt\u2019s art, a culture which flourished for several hundred years in Eastern Europe, before being obliterated during the last war, is lovingly preserved.Berel Satt does more than rescue the Jewish mode of life from oblivion.He recaptures the dignity and nobility of life in the poor Jewish town: the love of - Torah, of learning.We see also spiritual exaltation, the love of man for his fellow man, and the sense of responsibility suffused with a deep spirituality.He has recreated all the types and characters that have shaped the spiritual physiognomy of the Jewish town in the Pale and whose influence extended beyond its confines and enriched nearly every form of Jewish life.Here we see the father who scratches in his pocket to find the last coin for his son to pay his teacher; the mother watching her daughter put a coin into the Tzedaka box before lighting the Sabbath candle; the stranger taken home to dinner from the synagogue.Born in Poland in 1880, Berel Satt now lives in Los Angeles.He emigrated to England in 1901 and seven years later to the United States.His carvings have been exhibited in the Stendhal Gallery in Los Angeles, in the Los Angeles JANUARY, 1961 County Museum and at the National Sculpture Gallery in New York.The exhibition in Toronto was held under the joint sponsorship of the Canadian Jewish Congress and the YM-YWHA of Toronto.{The Rabbi On a Sabbath Afternoon p Guest for the Sabbath b Community Services In the fall of 1959 the Canadian Jewish Congress joined with the Canadian Committee of Council of Jewish Federation & Welfare Funds to establish a Canadian-based field service to provide assistance in developing and extending Canadian Jewish community organization programs.Until this time, 8 Canadian communities, members of the Council of Jewish Federation & Welfare Funds, had been served by regional offices near to them in the United States.However, with the establishment of a Canadian-based field service and the appointment of a Field Director, it was decided not only to service the 8 member communities but other Canadian Jewish communities in need of assistance as well.The core of field service is the direct consultation carried on with lay and professional leaders during visits to commtnities.These discussions on problems of special local concern, fund-raising, budgeting, planning, health and welfare service, community organizations,\" leadership development, etc.help formulate national-scale programs.A certain unity and common goals to Canadian Jewish community life, even though needs and resources vary from community to community is thereby engendered.In short, the aim of the Joint National Committee on Community Services is primarily to achieve a way of communal organizations working voluntarily together in order to attain certain accepted Jewish communal objectives requiring joint planning and action.During the first year of operation, the Field Director visited some 21 communities.The purpose of these visits was to get acquainted with lay leaders and professionals and, at the same time, to bring to communities the best experiences and thinking in community organizations.The structure of various organizations within communities visited was examined and problems inherent to their effective operation discussed and evaluated.In some instances, it was found that the review of agencies assisted communities to reevaluate their present activities and facilitated more adequate functioning.After one year's operation in the field, it would seem that these exchanges of information are proving fruitful and beneficial to all concerned.Dept.of Labour Launches Radio Series The Federal Department of Labour plans a special series of radio broadcasts in its educational program under the Canada Fair Employment Practices Act.The program to be broadcast during the month of February 1961 will consist of the following: A talk entitled \u201cCanadian Legislation and Measures Prohibiting Discrimination in Employment\u201d by Mr.G.R.Carroll, Fair Employment Practices Division, Federal Department of Labour, Ottawa during the week of February 5; dramatized story of prejudice, discrimination and the law entitled \u201cTry, Try Again\u201d during the week of February 12; a play \u201cNo Better and No Worse\u201d about racial and religious tolerance in a Canadian community during the week of February 19; and, \u201cThe Roots and Causes of Prejudice,\u201d a talk by Prof.Marcus Long, Dept.of Philosophy, University of Toronto during the week of February 26.Published monthly except July and August by the Canadian Jewish Congress, 493 Sherbrooke Street, West, Montreal, to report on the activities of Canadian Jewry and matters of interest to them.Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa.National President.Samuel Bronfman National Executive Vice-President.Saul Hayes Press Officer.Jean Sadler As times of broadcast are subject to change without notice, please check with local stations for date and time of broadcast on the \u201cCanada at Work\" series.Prizes Total $600 in Essay Contest YIVO Institute for Jewish Research offers three cash awards of $300, $200 and $100 as first, second and third prizes respectively for the three best studies and essays on subjects related to Jewish life in the United States or Canada.\u201c Papers may be on any topic pertaining to Jewish life in North America, e.g, historical, social, economic, religious, cultural or education.Each entry should be based on valid sources and should reflect the independent research efforts of the contestant.Essays should contain about 5,000 words and two typed copies of the manuscript must be submitted.The closing date for submitting entries is October 15, 1961.For further information, all communications should be addressed to the Commission on Research, YIVO, 1048 Fifth Avenue, New York 28, N.Y.Montreal The first Canadian theatrical group to present plays in Yiddish and English has been formed.The group will be known as Chayele Grober\u2019's Habimah Ensemble.Their first production will be \u2018Mirele Efros\u2019 in Yiddish to be staged in Montreal during February."]