Congress bulletin, 1 septembre 1973, Septembre

[" tess bulletin published by Canadian Jewish Congress |CAQ Sanctions Opposed A communication was forwarded to Mitchell Sharp, Secretary of State for External Affairs, requesting that Canada\u2019s representative at the meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization \u201cvigorously oppose sanctions of any kind in the issue of the Lebanese complaint against Israel's interception of an lraq-bound airliner in early August\u201d.The request was placed before the Minister prior to the commencement of the meeting in Rome, August 29.Co-signed by Sol Kanee, CJC President and Saul Hayes, Q.C., CJC Executive Vice-President, and \u201crespectfully submitted on behalf of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Jewish Congress\u201d, the communication continued: We believe implicity in international action combatting interference with international communications and air traffic but regrettably come to the ineluctable conclusion that there has been no even-handed approach when |s- rael commits acts considered deleterious to this basic goal and those of other nations, as witness the silence which followed other interfe- rences including that of France and Libya in intercepting aircraft and forcing landings.We complain of this double standard and did so on the occasion of the Montreal Council Sessions.To start this game with penalties against Israel and to ignore even a simple condemnation of others is deplorable in the forum of international relationships and hardly a just or equitable act.\u201cWe take the liberty of recommending the Canadian position not only be vigorously against sanctions, but that it encourage other nations to work with it to defeat such proposals.The problem is in our view the realisation of goals of freeing the world from acts of aggression and disturbance of commercial aviation rather than to use ICAO as the forum for punitive action against Israel which would be a travesty of fair play.equity and decency.\"We urge your endorsement of our views and would be inordinately gratified to be informed that they will receive the consideration we request and the results we plead for.\u201d (Editor's Note: The ICAO General Council meeting in Rome concluded with a condemnation of Israel's action by a vote of 86-1, with four countries abstaining.) WIC Meeting in Jerusalem The Executive Committee of the World Jewish Congress, the international Jewish organization with communities and affiliates in over sixty-five countries, met in Israel, June 27-July 4, 1973.CJC representatives included: Sol Kanee.President; Monroe Abbey.Q.C.Immediate Past President, Dr.Leon Kronitz, Chairman, National Executive Committee; Oscar Antel, Chairman, Western Region; David Satok.Chairman, Central Region: Murray B.Spiegel.Q.C.Chairman, Eastern Region: and Alan Rose.Associate Executive Director.The agenda of the Conference.work carried out in plenary sessions and through specialized commissions, included: relations between Israel and Diaspora Jewry: reports on the world Jewish situation (including the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, North and South America, Western Europe, South East Asia, the Far East and other areas); the situation of Jews in Arab countries; the place of Jewish youth in the community {with the participation of representatives of Jewish youth): the politi- ACRE oy (R-L) Monroe Abrey, ac: Oscar Antel; Alan Rose.cal situation in the Middle East, problems of minorities in the world.The formal opening session of the World Executive meeting took place in Israel's Knesset, June 27, when Prime Minister Mrs.Golda Meir spoke on behalf of the Government of Israel and Dr.Nahum Goldmann, President of the Congress, delivered the Presidential Address.Additional guest speakers included: Abba Eban, Israel Minister of Foreign Affairs; Natan Peled, Minister of Absorption; Abdul Aziz Zouabi, Deputy Minister of Health; Arieh L.Pincus.Chairman of the Executive, World Zionist Organization; Rabbi M.Kirshblum, Deputy Chairman, Jewish Agency Executive; Ambassador Shmuel Divon; Justice Haim Cohn, Israel Supreme Court; Pierre Juvigny, Conseiller d'Etat, French Member of the U.N.Commission on Human Rights: and Prof.Martin Kilson, Harvard University.N Lib Minister of Education Rabbi Jordon Pearlson presenting CJC brief to the Honorable Thomas Wells, Minister of Education for the Province of Ontario CJC Central Region officials met with the Honorable Thomas Wells, Minister of Education for the Province of Ontario, August 16.Religious education in the public schools was discussed.Congress reiterated its position seeking an end to all religious instruction in Ontario public schools.The CJC delegation was led by David Satok.Chairman, CJC Central Region: Rabbi Jordan Pearl- son, Chairman, Joint Community Relations Committee, Central Region; J.S.Midanik, Q.C., Chairman, Special Committee and former Chairman of Metropolitan Toronto School Board.Aiso present were: Marvin Shore and Dr.Bessie Borwein (London): Louis Sklar (Oshawa); Harry Atrubin (Kitchener); Adele Tomarin (St.Cath- arines); Hart Wintrob (Niagara-on- the-Lake): and Milton Harris (former Schooi Trustee, London, Ontario), Harry Simon, Rabbi E.Schiid, Lou Ronson (Chairman, League for Human Rights of B'nai B'rith), Arthur Gelber, Alderman Ben Nobleman, David Newman, Q.C., Julius Ciechanowsky, Rev.Roland de Corneille, Ben G.Kay- fetz (Executive Director, CJC Central Region), Dr.Edmond Y.Lipsitz (Director of Education, CJC Central Region, and Steven Ain (Toronto).SOCIAL Letter Denounced A statement issued by the Canada-Israel Committee, Central Region, has denounced the recent letter from SOCAL's Board Chair- + main, Otto N.Miller, to the company's 40.000 employees and 200.000 shareholders urging them to understand \u201cthe aspirations of the Arab people\u201d and give \u201cmore positive support of their efforts toward peace in the Middle East\u201d.The CIC is comprised of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Canadian Zionist Federation and B'nai Brith.Welfare Program Following a decision taken by the Board of Directors of the United Jewish Relief Agencies of Canada at a recent meeting, and on recommendation of the UJRA Committee in Israel, a remittance was arranged to the said Committee in the amount of one hundred ten thousand dollars.The remittance of $110,000.is to be used as follows: 1.Support of those in JDC homes for the aged without means of becoming self-supporting at the Malben institutions , $70.000.00 2.Support of needy newcomers in Israel obtaining technical and vocational training at the institutions of the World ORT Union 20,000.00 3.Support of needy handicapped.paraplegics.the blind and those otherwise disabled in Israel at the institutions of OSE 6.500.00 4.Support for higher education through scholarships to needy newcomers in Israel at the institutions of the Alliance Israelite Universelle 7.000.000 5.Integration services for needy immigrants to be effected through HIAS 5,000.00 6.Scholarships in religious schools for higher education via Ozar Hatorah 1,600.00 The UJRA representative in Jerusalem, in consultation with the UJRA Israel Committee and enlisting the support of the JDC Office in Jerusalem together with the above mentioned agencies, will implement this decision and will submit a detailed statement listing the names of people benefiting from the contributions and the amounts involved to the UJRA in Montreal.CIC has accused Standard Oil Company of California of trying to make Israel the scapegoat for the present energy crisis in order to win concessions from oil-produc- ing Arab states and to condition American consumers to accept higher prices for oil.The Standard Oil of California controls CHEVRON and SOCAL in British Columbia and parts of Alberta.CANADIAN JEWISH CONGRESS TRIENNIAL PLENARY ASSEMBLY AN IMPORTANT CALENDAR ENTRY LOCATION: TORONTO PLACE: ROYAL YORK HOTEL DATE: JUNE 15-18, 1974 Organizations and Individuals please note these dates + 2/ CONGRESS BULLETIN Lets Stir » { Things Up In The Synagogue By MILTON HIMMELFARB I am going to treat college students not in their capacity as college students, but rather as representing two separate categories that come together in their persons \u2014 that of intellectuals, and that of Jewish young people.It is not necessarily true, of course, that college students are intellectuals but we can concede that there is a higher proportion of intellectuals in the college-student population than in the population at large.if we are to look upon college students as intellectuals, then there is really no problem about their relation to Judaism or to the Jewish tradition or to the Jewish people or community, insofar as this people or this community is the bearer of a tradition.There is no problem about the relation because there is a classical attitude that intellectuals have not only toward Judaism, and not only toward the Jewish tradition, but toward all religion and toward all tradition.The intellectual class of the Western world is a class defined by the Enlightenment and comes into existence with the Enlightenment: the philosophes, or intellectuals.Our contemporary intellectuals are the heirs of the philosophes and their Enlightenment.The story of the Enlightenment, starting with deism in Voltaire's generation, culminates in atheism.Characteristically.the Enlightenment is atheist and anti-traditional.In the past two hundred years this anti-traditional tradition has itself been compii- cated or enriched.Two hundred years ago the name that above all others typified the Enlightenment was Voltaire; now, to this symbolic name we would have to add Marx and Freud.If we want to be more nearly up to date, whom else shall we have?Jean-Paul Sartre, perhaps.or Camus.This, then, is the Enlightenment.When we say that, we understand immediately that the attitude of intellectuals in this line of descent will be to any religion and any tradition an attitude of hostility.They are convinced to the marrow of their bones that religion and tradition in that sense is not only stupid but downright harmful.That has been the unchanging ideology and conviction of intellectuals in the Western world for at least two hundred years.Of course, there are right-wing intellectuals, as opposed to this main body on the left.However, if we are talking about Jews we do not need to worry about that complication.There are few rightwing Jewish intellectuals to speak of.We have no Jewish counterparts of a T.S.Eliot, for example, who affirms tradition.The Jewish intellectuals are to be found in the main body of the intelligentsia, which is anti-religious and anti-traditional.And what we say about American Jewish intellectuals today could have been said about French Jewish intellectuals seventy years ago, or about Jewish intellectuals at any time and in any place since first there was a Jewish intellectual.(I suspect that the first Jewish intellectual flourished three hundred years ago, and that his name was Spinoza.We know what Spinoza\u2019s attitude was toward traditional.revealed religions.) To the degree that intellectuals can be moved by aesthetic or similar considerations, or by self-questioning about the whole career of atheist humanism in the modern world, they can begin to look with a certain amount of interest upon what traditional or religious people say.Jewish intellectuals can sometimes look to the kind of Jewish tradition that is meaningful to most of us \u2014 and | do not mean the kind of Jewish tradition that a Bellow, say, looks to, which is basically secular-Yiddish.When Jewish intellectuals look to the Jewish tradition.| think they characteristically choose within it a variant not preferred by rabbis.Recently Commentary ran a symposium on the state of Jewish religious belief, to which the contributors were rabbis.In summing up and introducing the symposium, | noted something striking that | had not thought about or had not expected \u2014 that the dominant influence on the non-Orthodox was Franz Rosenzweig.| also noted the apparent absence of Buber as an influence.| asked how this should have come to be, since Buber, after all, has had a huge influence generally, while Franz Rosenzweig's very name is almost unknown.| speculated that this was basically because of Buber's anti-Halachic stand, which made him unusable for people who wanted to affirm the Halachah generally, if not the halachot specifically.Afterward, | got an interesting note from a professor in an Eastern university.He said, in sum: \u2018| find that with my good Jewish students, when they have some kind of interest in something explicitly Jewish, they are attracted to Buber.He means a great deal to them, but Franz Rosenzweig is non-existent for them.\u201d Here we have almost a case of nature imitating art.When Jewish intellectuals do turn their attention to the Jewish tradition, they choose Buber to represent the Jewish tradition to them.They choose a figure whom rabbis as a group turn their backs on.I turn now to the college students as young people.Jewish young people.Whom do | mean?Educated young men and women until they are married, perhaps even until they'have children of school age \u2014 because being a parent means being anchored to a chastening.anti-rationa- list reality.acquiring an education that can only be acquired by living through it.SEPTEMBER KOL NIDRE Kol Nidre \u2014 chant of ages, Chant of Israel, chant of sorrow.Measuring off the throbbing heartbeats Of a people bowed in anguish.Crushed by tyrants, thwarted.broken.Wand'ring ever \u2014 homeless.weary.Generations set your motif Out of trials, hopes and yearnings.Added each its variations To your theme and to your cadence.Diverse lands and diverse periods Poured their soul into your music.When we hearken with our hearts tuned, We can hear the lamentations Through time's corridor resounding: We can see revealed before us Heroes, martyrs, saints and scholars, Loyal.steadfast sons of Israel Sanctifying God.their Father Kol Nidre \u2014 chant of ages, Chant of pain and chant of pathos.Mingled with your notes of sorrow Vibrant measures trill and quiver.Rising to a great crescendo - With the Jew\u2019s undying spirit As he raises \u2018loft his Torah, Symbol of his faith and vigor.Notes of joyous exultation Creptinto your dirgeful music As with fortitude he cherished All his fathers held most sacred.While our hearts beat to your rhythm, Stir us with new consecration To our fathers\u2019 God, to serve Him With our heart and soul and fervor Kol Nidre \u2014 chant of ages.Chant of grief and chant of triumph, Echoing, this night of mem'ries, In the ears and heart of Israel, Once again you draw together All dispersed and all God's faithful To return and humbly seek Him \u2014 Suppliants for His grace and pardon.Faced by grim, appalling forces In these days of woeful living, Do we plead before God's mercy For His strength, His help.His guidance.With your plaintive chant, Kol Nidre, Rise our prayers to heaven ascending, For a surcease of man\u2019s sorrows, For the dawn of peace and freedom, When all hearts are purged of hatred, Passions, lusts that rend asunder Then all men will stand together To acknowledge God, their Father indie ion was pu gn.a sia gs oy esd pis dues an lace ! pe din M qua head gon À manufacture TL - asl etl I dh edhe thi ~o- nbmiiietiwe _ lite de va pred.gmelindo | do no case.But pedis du vasable lo nthe re therea hr ap win his Butfror people get rents?Mot sthool wi ae fratge dents ah a Nathan Judaism, children of that he pi in spi of question isin need form äctualenge Men of où daptismal louredto à Sema Tents and 10 tie bap tention of fit Ife In Re Que of hi Manufact Ying y évenouly Mi.Ay Shey 8 ot forma = SEPTEMBER | entertain no presumption of the a priori rightness of youth.In youth's real or ritual conflict with age or in youth's immemorial criticism of age, | do not assume that right will necessarily be found on the side of youth.Many of the points in the current program of youth as youth are basically antinomian, which religious Jews, as upholders of Halachah, cannot accept.no matter how sugared over those antinomian demands may be with the cant of love -\u2014 very popular \u2014 or of situation ethics, or of whatever else may be modish.The matter of generations, the fact that | am a second- generation American and my children are third-genera- tion at this point becomes important.The dilemma that it seems to me young people face, or the difficulty that young people face \u2014 with the best will in the worid \u2014 when they want to relate positively toward Judaism, Jewish tradition, and the Jewish people as carriers of a tradition, was put sharply by a representative of the older generation.a well-known scholar, who once asked, perhaps whimsically: \u201cHow can | be a religious Jew, or a reli- giously-oriented Jew, despite the obstacles put in my way by the synagogue?\u201d He belonged to a synagogue; he paid his dues.With him the question about the synagogue as an obstacle was probably rhetorical.| think the synagogue he had in mind was not the Synagogue but the synagogue, the actual congregation to which he belonged, and, above all, the people in it \u2014 the prevalence of pants manufacturers, and so on.Well, we known how he could be a Jew in spite of those obstacles.Somewhere along the way he had encountered, he has seen, he had experienced, he had felt, he had touched, he had tasted some kind of model of Jewish authenticity.| do not know what the model was in his particular case.But when he looked at the synagogue to which he paid his dues, and when he saw it in all its naked horror, he was able to tell himself, not wishfully, but factually: \u201cThis isn't the real thing, but only a poor imitation.| know that the real thing exists.For the sake of the real thing | can put up with this.\u201d But from where do third-and fourth-generation young people get a model of Jewish authenticity?From their parents?Not very likely.| know their parents; | went to school with them and grew up with them.Their parents are that generation of Jewish high-school and college students\u2019of the 1920s and \u201830s, of whom the vast majority, as Nathan Glazer notes, quite correctly, in his American Judaism, had broken with the Jewish tradition.For the children of this generation \u2014 our children \u2014 the question that the professor put rhetorically \u2014 \"How can | be a Jew in spite of the obstacles .?\u201d\" \u2014 is no longer a rhetorical question.It is impossible to transcend merely intellectually a need for models of authenticity; it is necessary to have an actual experience.Franz Rosenzweig was one of the great men of our century, but even he was on his way to the baptismal font on that Yom Kippur in 1913 when he detoured to a shtib/ in Berlin.If it had depended on Franz Rosenzweig's actual synagogue, the synagogue of his parents and relatives, he would have completed his journey to the baptismal font.He went to that shtib/ with the intention of emerging from it and going to church to be baptized.It was the experience he had there that changed his life.In Rosenzweig's synagogue.the respectable synagogue of his parents, it was not the vulgarity of the pants manufacturers that repelled him.German Jewry at the beginning of the 20th century was eminently respectable, even cultured.So itis not merely vulgarity that is the enemy.About the same time in France, Henri Bergson had no shtibl experience.When he died he was spiritually, though not formally, a Roman Catholic.Where are our young people going to find their models of Jewish authenticity?The only place is their synagogues, including the Hillel foundations on campus.A parenthetical caveat.One trouble with the synagogue.as everybody has pointed out, is that it is a pediatric institution, a child-serving agency.But you cannot avoid that pitfall by turning the synagogue into a youth-serving agency.It is not fair to expect that any conflict in taste or brow- level between us middle-aged dues-payers and the young people will be decided in favor of the latter.From the point of view of the young people themselves, that robs the synagogue of the authenticity.prevents it from being precisely the broad institution that it should be.Nevertheless.it still seems to me to be true that the synagogue is more of an obstacle than it absolutely has to be.Here the question of brow-level and taste does become important.For instance, when people of our generation see a rabbi wearing academic robes, they think it's very nice \u2014 so balebatish.To have dressed the rabbi in these robes fifty years ago or so was a symbolic statement.It was a way of saying: We American Jews are ac- THE DAYS OF AWE To our ancestors the days at the beginning of each year were \u201cdays of awe.\u201d They pictured God as holding then His heavenly assize, and decreeing the fate of men and nations.To us, too, those days betoken divine judgment, For what they mean to us decides our fate, whether we shall better the world, or it shall make us worse.We cannot enter upon a new year without a slight sinking of the heart.The uncertainty of what the future holds in store for us is enough to move us to prayer.The piyyut of the martyred Rabbi Amnon, recounting the perils that lurk everywhere, sends us trembling for protection under the wings of the Almighty.But our ancient sages taught us also to pray in another mood; The tefillah they would have us send to heaven breathes a different yearning It comes to us with this behest: In well-doing rather than in well-being seek your salvation Leave for a while the narrow sphere of your concerns, and with Israel's ancient seers ascend the mount of vision.Thence behold the millions of your fellow-beings madly struggling for air and light, and a place in the sun, and tearing each other's flesh in the panicky scramble.You will forget your small cares in the woes of the defeated and helpless multitudes.The pang of compassion will grip your heart, a pang that, for aught we know, is the stirring of God within you; And you will plead: \u201cOh that men were united to do Thy will with a perfect heart!\u201d Then descend into the valley where men die struggling; Thither take the vision, the pang and the prayer.and transmute their urge into deeds of love.ypnr NT awn LLYN APT NNNT ND PTR oY MIN CONGRESS BULLETIN /3 culturated people, civilized people: we know how to use a handkerchief.we are a proof that Judaism is not something uncouth and immigrant-like; we know how to do things right.To our parents\u2019 generation and to us, that meant a greatdeal.To young people today it may be nothing more than stuffed-shirtedness.That is to say.what was important at one particular time has become not only an irrelevance but an actual irritant for a new generation.The last thing in the world they want to see is magnificent propriety.The Spanish-Portu- guese silk hat is just not the mode now.It looks phoney anditis boring.Something else: So many of the educational materials, so much of the educational experience, so many of the educators in our institutions are inferior to the young people they are presuming to educate.Again, in part this is another aspect of the cultural lag.When | was a young man, a long time ago, and attending classes at the Seminary College, | remember that, in music, the big thing was' cantatas.| have a tin ear for music, and hardly know the definition of a cantata, but the basic logic was to bring the arts to Judaism, or Judaism to the arts, so that children would not feel that Judaism is aesthetically naked.If the Christians have \u201cThe Messiah.\u201d well, we can have our cantatas too.Clothe Judaism's aesthetic nakedness, feed the emotions, and all the rest of it.Perfectly sound logic.In fact.however, the cantatas that | have heard \u2014 | can\u2019t speak for the music but | do have an opinion about the librettos \u2014 are not quite in the class of \u201cThe Messiah.\u201d When those high-flown, inspirationally intended words are put into our young people's mouths, the kids squirm with embarassment and crack jokes with each other.while simultaneously the music director and the principal are sitting there proud and happy.Their own ambitions have been realized: how modern and how American all this is; And all the while the kids are.as | say.making jokes because they have to cover up their emba- rassment.As a problem of difference in generations, that will never be solved.But in part, also, itis a difference in taste and in sharpness, and 1 think the kids are less third-rate than some of the professionals we employ to Judaize them.Third-rateness is a real problem because it repels; it does not attract.Better no cantata at all than a cantata that makes the kids just laugh, or that just convinces them again of the hypocrisy of the whole thing.We have the kids sing about Shabbat and all those things that we do and that happen to us on Shabbat.Perhaps half of one per cent of the congregation do what this cantata tells the kids we do on Shabbat.They realize it's a fake.There is yet another problem with the synagogue.It is so terribly, so frightfully familial, so cozy.It is a big womb.It's nice to have warmth and comfort, but enough is plenty.The unmarried person has no place in the synagogue, certainly the young unmarried person.For him (or her) the synagogue is too familial, too cozy.and hence provincial, dull, and not at all first-rate.One way to break out of this would be to stir things up alittle.| think, for example \u2014 one of my idees fixes \u2014 that if the synagogue were more receptive to proselytism, this would be most useful.There would be life in the synagogue.There would not be the dull, old cousins over and over again.In some studies of small-town Jewry, it has been pointed out that many young Jews marry out because to marry a Jewish boy or girl would be perceived as almost being incest.What would happen if we diluted the ethnic monopoly that Jews have had of the synagogue?We would have disputes; but they would be serious disputes, not like some we have now, over whether the lobby should have a floor of travertine or of marble.Proselytizing Negroes.as part of the business of proselytizing Gentiles generally.could be enormously useful for the synagogue.It might introduce such spirit, such verve, and such real controversy that a young person would feel he is where something serious is happening.Proselytism might produce an authentic, affirmative Judaism which at the same time looks out on all the world, is worried about all kinds of people \u2014 so worried about them that it says, \u201cCome on in.\u201d That would be furiously controversial.We would have all kinds of trouble, but it would be healthy trouble.It would be the kind of healthy trouble about which young people could feel: \u201cI want in; that looks like a good fight.\u201d A good fight and a fight worth having \u2014 that might help to bring young people back.Remember, | am speaking about young people as young people who are intelligent and educated but not necessarily intellectual.About intellectuals as such, | believe, the anti-traditional tradition is still with us strongly.| do not think itis about to disappear. 4/ CONGRESS BULLETIN SEPTEMBER LEADERSHIP MÉETINGS Alan Rose, CJC Associate Executive Director, toured Western Canada recently.Meetings with Jewish leadership were held in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary.Edmonton and Regina.While in Calgary a meeting of western professionals was held to consider servicing the region.Present were Mr.Gerald Lasensky.CJC Executive Director, Western Region; Mr.Harry Shatz, Executive Director, Calgary Jewish Community Council; Mr.G.Cohen, Program Director, Calgary Jewish Community Council; and Mr.Uriel Rosenzweig, Executive Director.Edmonton Jewish Community gouncil.In Edmonton Mr.Rose addressed the annual general meeting of the Edmonton Jewish Community Council.In Winnipeg Mr.Rose met with the leadership of the Winnipeg Jewish Community Council and the Executive of the CJC Western Region.FOLKLORAMA \u201873 Winnipeg's Folklorama \u201873, the folk festival which began in 1970 as a project of the Manitoba Centennial, took place August 12- August 16.~ Shalom Square was one of the thirty \u201ccountries\u201d visited by thousands of people.Cultural displays were presented.Nightly entertainment was presented by volunteer musicians, singers, and dancers including such popular artists as Judy Dashell, soloist, and Marcia Corrin, soprano, as well as members of the Sara Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble.À popular feature attraction throughout the evenings was the Jewish food specialties available.Co-sponsors of the Jewish Community's pavilion were The Presidents Council, Canadian Jewish Congress.Winnipeg Jewish Community Council and the YMHA Center.Co-ordinator of the project was Freeda Fineman, Honorary Secretary of CJC Western Region and a member of the Board of Directors of the Winnipeg Jewish Community Council.EDUCATION Established by the Winnipeg Jewish Community Council to conduct a study of Winnipeg's Jewish school system in all its aspects, a Task Force on Education met to outline terms of reference for the study.-werstern\u2019region Keynoting the discussion was Charles Zibbell.Mr.Zibbell came to Winnipeg to assist the group in their deliberations at the invitation of the Community Council.As Associate Director of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, Mr.Zibbell has special responsibilities in the areas of community planning, leadership development.Jewish education and college youth.: YIDDISH The Yiddish Cultural Committee (formerly the Winnipeg Congress Council) elected its officers and executive at a recent meeting.Elected President was George Skulsky, widely known in Winnipeg for his interest in Yiddish cultural activities.During the meeting, Mr.Skulsky explained the aims and purposes of the Yiddish Cultural Committee.(The Committee is supported by such organizations as CJC's Standing Committee on Yiddish, the People\u2019s Division, Jewish Public Library, the New Yiddish Vort and the Ghetto Yarzeit Com- 11 GEORGE SKULSKY mittee.) Particular emphasis- was paid to the need for individual support from interested members of the Jewish communities.Other officers elected were: Messrs.W.Litwin, Vice-President; and Harry Gale, Secretary.Committee Chairmen include Harry Gale and W.Litwin, representatives of Congress\u2019 Standing Committee on Yiddish; Phil Waldman, People\u2019s Division; S.Mohr, Jewsh Public Library; M.Bressler, New Yiddish Vort; and S.Leszcs, Ghetto Yarzeit Committee.The Committee will carry on its Winnipeg activities under the aegis of the Winnipeg Jewish Community Council.CONGIEZS central;region: i A] At recent presentation of original manuscript of articles on Toronto and Canada which appear in the Encyclopaedia Judaica.From left to right, the recipient, Toronto Mayor David Crombie; Philip Givens, Q.C.M.P.P., National president of the Canadian Zionist Federation; David Satok, Chairman, CJC Central Region: and Ben Kayfetz, CJC Executive Director Central Region, and author of the article on Toronto.JEWISH BOOK MONTH The annual observance of Jewish Book Month will take place this year November 16-December 16 in Toronto.This cultural event is sponsored by the Toronto Jewish Book Committee which is affiliated with CJC, Central Region.The suggested theme for this year\u2019s observance is Israel: Land of the Book, continuing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the rebirth of the state of Israel.At the same time the observance of Jewish Book Month emphasizes the importance of getting better acquainted with the vast treasure of Jewish thought contained in the Bible and in the post- Biblical and modern literature dealing with the interpretations of Judaism and significant facets of Jewish life.The Toronto Jewish Book Committee, representing central organizations in Toronto, is aiming at a year-round program of promoting books of Jewish content in all three languages (English, Hebrew and Yiddish) in close co-operation with all congregations, organizations and schools in the Jewish community, educational institutions and libraries of the general community and booksellers in the Toronto Metropolitan area.A number of major events directed to the entire community will take place during the forthcoming Jewish Book Month.They will be announced at a later date.AUDIO-VISUAL AIDS The CJC Central Region Department of Education and Culture has formed a sub-committee for Audio-Visual Aids with Norma Rubin as chairman.Following Mrs.Rubin's appointment the following letter was sent out to presidents of synagogues, executive directors and principals of schools in the City of Toronto.\u201cTo answer the need for a central clearing house of information about audio-visual material, the Educational and Cultural Committee of Canadian Jewish Congress propesds to strike a Committee which will implement the following: |.Embark on a research program in the city to list and evaluate the films, slides, tapes, etc.that are available to organizations, synagogues and schools.2.Examine the feasibility of creating a centre with a physical plant of projectors, cassettes, tape- recorders, film equipment, etc.which will be available both at the Centre and outside it in schools and organizations.3.Establish an ongoing program of audio-visual education through seminars, demonstrations and discussion groups available to educators and adult education and/or program chairmen, as well as students of the Midrasha and high schools.4.Provide up-to-date coordinated material on all the above for the \u2018use of educators and program chairmen in and out of Toronto.MEMORIALMEETING On August 12 in Toronto, three hundred persons attended a memorial meeting commemorating the twenty-first anniversary of the execution of the twenty-four Jewish writers and artists on August 12, 1952.The execution of the twenty-four Jewish writers was one of the most horrendous crimes of the post-war Stalin era which witnessed the sentencing and death of some five hundred Yiddish writers, painters, actors and musicians during the period 1948-53.The gathering in Toronto was sponsored by the National Committee for Soviet Jewry, Central Region.Program participants included: \u2014Gershon Jacobson, Editor of New York's Der Allgemeine Journal .the principal speaker: Peretz Miransky and Basya Hunter who read from the works of the executed writers; Rabbi, Richard Marcevitz and RabBt\" Joseph Kelm#n.the former welcoming the assembly and the latter closifig the program; Sydney M.Harris, Q.C., Chairman, National Committee for Soviet Jewry, who reported on the Soviet Jewish question as dealt with at the recent COJO Conference; and J.B.Salsberg, Chairman of the Central Region CJC Committee on Soviet Jewry, who presided.\u2019 Sponsored by the Central Region\u2019s Women for Soviet Jewry, a \u201cSilent Vigil\u201d was held on Women\u2019s Day at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, August 21.Wearing placards with the words \u201cfreedom\u201d and \u201cSoviet Jews\u201d, seventy-five women met at the Princess Margaret Fountain and the proceeded to the Russian Pavilion.- MYER SHARZER CJC Central Region has announced that a memorial scholarship has been established in the name of Myer Sharzer, Executive Director of the Central Region from 1958 to 1972.The Myer Sharzer Award will be presented annually to a deserving student in the journalism course at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto.Mr.Sharzer.before entering communal work, was a journalist with dailies in Vancouver.Saskatoon and Winnipeg (as well as with the Isrealite Press of Winnipeg).A committee headed by Sydney M.Harris, Q.C.has undertaken, with the consent of Mr.Sharzer's family.to establish the Award.Cheques may be made payable to the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and forwarded to the Congress Central Region Office, 150 Beverley Street in Toronto, to the attention of Mr.Harris.Contributors will be furnished with receipts for income tax purposes.es mm + be em ie = = SN ws Ta = = = \u2014 Tm ie le gid?wl façon ad goer nt vancoué ute.FI watt cris Ho d Canad ffs.Treo hs béni ging irdudig! and Jews Soil.(iaton an tauives.The Pa rector act Common as rece dhe Br Teachers School + secured Dr.Ro menof tons Cor gion, 8 in the ip Giv- lrman, of the 3 Hunter [thes Richard Joseph ong clos Hams, Come who re | hous | recent dB Cond 8 | Sout! al fe ep à | Wome stone wt 2).words Jos\u201d at te nad TE 5 a | holar in th cute from paré nul nthe prso onto wilh gto nie net ahem fs | st Car ill SEPTEMBER in action The following is a report covering a wide range of CJC Pacific Region activities.Several Tay Sachs Clinics were held in early and mid-June at the Vancouver Jewish Community Centre.Funding for the tests was allocated by the Vancouver Children's Hospital.The Pacific Region of Canadian Jewish Congress was one of the sponsoring organizations.The office of the Pacific Region has been involved in multicultural planning with a number of groups including the Council of Christians and Jews, the Immigrant Services Society, B.C.Human Rights Association and Government representatives.The Pacific Region Executive Director acting on behalf of the Joint Community Relations Committee has recently addressed meetings of the B'nai B'rith and the Parent- Teachers Association of The Free School where a racist incident occurred.Dr.Roy Waldman, Acting Chairman of the Joint Community Relations Committee of the Pacific Region, and Executive Director LAL (CCT Morris Saltzman, met with the Regional Manager of a national retail chain regarding some advertising that disturbed some members of the community.An increase has been noted in the number of new families in the Vancouver Jewish Community.The JIAS and Congress office of the Pacific Region has serviced newcomers from Australia, South America, Israel, South Africa, and numerous areas of the United States and Canada during recent months.Multiculturalism A Caucus on Multiculturalism, convened by the Federal Progressive Conservative Association, was held in Vancouver.Members of Parliament in attendance were: Committee Chairman Dr.Paul Yewchuk, William Clark, Jake Epp.John Fraser.Otto Jelinek and Stan Schumacher.CJC Pacific Region presented briefs on behalf of the Jewish Community \u2014 spokesmen included Morris Saltzman, CJC Pacific Region Executive Director and Andrew Stark.Mr.Stark's brief zduard «E TE in efs0v $ Bo QF Mende! CLP EY Demonstration commemorating arrests of Soviet Jews in Leningrad School Board Election Three Jewish candidates have been elected members of the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal in the Board's first election following the regrouping of the school boards on the Island of Montreal which maintained a confessional system and established six Catholic and two Protestant School Boards.The candidates elected were Professor Lawrence Bessner, formerly a member of the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal; Professor Dorothy Sirota and Mrs.Mickey Bregman.CJC Eastern Region had urged the Jewish community to partict- pate in the election and to exercise the franchise which had been denied to many Jews since Confederation, while maintaining that Jews vote as individuals and not as a group.The outgoing Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal.which was composed nf local school boards, had five Jewish members named by the Minister of Education on the recommendation of Canadian Jewish Congress.The number of Jews on the outgoing School Board was limited to five out of a total membership of twenty-five.The new Board will have fifteen members, three of which are Jewish.School Council Morton Bessner has been appointed by the Minister of Education of Quebec as member of the School Council of the Island of Montreal.Mr.Bessner was a member of the Provisional Council, which was set up early this year following the regrouping of the school boards in Montreal.CJC Eastern Region.asked by the Minister of Education for rec- dealt with Jewish youth.During the meeting a number of ethno- cultural groups presented submissions and comments.Council Professor S.L.Lipson, Past Chairman, CJC Pacific Region, has been elected unanimously to the presidency of the Vancouver Jewish Community Fund and Council.The new president is head of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia and until recently was President of the Association of Professional Engineers of B.C.Serving as an Executive Member of the Council is Dr.Roy Waldman, National Vice-President of Congress.Morris Saltzman, Executive Director of the Council, stated in his annual report that the Council is the Community's representative organization and is totally concerned with the full spectrum of local affairs which he noted are most often fully interrelated with Canadian Jewish Congress involvement.Mr.Saltzman also serves as Executive Director of Congress's Pacific Region.ommendations, had suggested the reappointment of Mr.Bessner.Mr.Bessner is presently Chairman of CJC Eastern Region's Committee on Position of Jews in the Educational System of Quebec.The Council in consultation with the school boards provides for their financing and development planning.and for the organization of joint services for their benefit.The Council's responsibilities include the establishment of courses of study for persons other than Catholic or Protestant.The Council is also responsible for preparing a general plan of school reorganization for the Island of Montreal and.if expedient, special or intermediate plans for a gradual reorganization.For that purpose, the Council shall make an objective and intensive study of the factors pertinent to an adequate school reorganization plan and shall hold appropriate consultations.SUMMER PROGRAM During the past few years the Youth Committee has tried to add a further dimension to Jewish programming in the summer camps.This year, in an effort to fully co-or- dinate a summer camp program and its related activities, the CJC Department consolidated the efforts of the Youth Committee and the Yiddish Committee in the implementation of the program.In this way it insured that the programs prepared for the camps were of a high caliber, were better prepared, no duplication of effort was incurred, and the camps were approached by one central body.ched by one central body.The camp efforts were co-ordi- nated and supervised by CJC and Brina Wasserman, who was the leader of the group.Its members included: Sharon Chazen, Alan Farkus, Ava Kanner.Eli Kogut, Evelyn Rosenfeld, and Sam Stein.Over 20 trips were made by the group this summer.At some camps specific programs were held for different age groups, CONGRESS BULLETIN /5 bringing the numoer of performances to 43 and the total number of children who participated to almost 3000.The camps to which visits were made included: Wooden Acres, Camp Hiawatha.\u2018\u2019Y\u2019\u2019 Country Camp, Pripsteins, \u201cY\" Urban Camp (and its affiliate branches), Maca- bee.B'nai B'rith, Camp Shomra.Camp Massad, and Camp Pine Valley.Thematic content for this year centered around the transmission of a Jewish Feeling.With the use of a play or skit, as well as the utilization of audience involvement, such themes as Jewish Values, Yiddish, Israel.Soviet Jewry, and the Holocaust, were used to develop the Jewish Experience.Each of these programs was discussed with the camp directors and their staff, prior to the performance, in order that each could be adapted to the specific needs of the camp and the campers, also to insure that suitable programs could be worked in as a follow-up to the presentations.Summer Camp Program Advisory Commission David Kirshenblatt was reappointed by the Minister of Education of Quebec for a third consecutive term as a member of the Private Education Advisory Commission of Quebec, established by the Private Education Act (Bill 56) in 1968.The Commission consists of nine members appointed by the Government, six of whom are appointed after consultation with the groups most representative of the directors, teachers and parents of private education pupils.The reappointment of Mr.Kirshenblatt was recommended unanimously by the Association of Jewish Day Schools of Greater Montreal which works in conjunction with the Canadian Jewish Congress, Eastern Region.Soviet Jewry A demonstration of solidarity commemorating the arrests of Soviet Jews in Leningrad took place in front of the Soviet Consulate in Montreal.The Leningrad arrests which took place in 1970 had resulted in a series of show trials which set the tone for the harassment of Jews taking place in the Soviet Union at present.Some one hundred fifty persons gathered in front of Canadian Jewish Congress and marched to the Soviet Consulate where a short vigil was held.Ten people dressed in prison uniforms and chains led the procession, carrying the names of those prisoners remaining in jail as a result of the Leningrad trials following the 1970 arrests.A statement outlining the current plight of Soviet Jewry was read in English, French and Yiddish in front of the Consulate.Activists A luncheon sponsored by the Montreal Committee for Soviet Jewry was held in Montreal, August 16.Featured as the guest speaker was Greville Janner.Q.C.M.P.of London, England.Mr.Janner described the present plight of Soviet Jewry as well as the extensive efforts carried out by the Jewish community in England on their behalf.Following the luncheon Mrs.Greville (Myra) Jan- ner met with a number of representatives of women\u2019s organizations, discussing programatic ideas.Demonstration The Montreal Committee for Soviet Jewry sponsored a demonstration outside the Soviet Consulate in Montreal, August 24.Demonstrators protested the events at the World University Student Games held in Moscow where Soviet Jewish spectators had Israeli flags torn from their hands and were harassed.beaten and arrested.In addition.Soviet soldiers had insulted the Israeli team during a basketball game.An official statement read before the Soviet Consulate during the demonstration wamed that the 1980 Olympic games projected for the U.S.S.R.could be in jeopardy.\u201cShould this prove to be a dress rehearsal for the Olympics projected for Russia in 1980, the tragedy and shadow of Munich loom once again.\u201d 6/ CONGRESS BULLETIN SEPTEMBER .THE JEWISH COMMUNITY: FUTURE DIRECTIONS The American Jewish Committee Task Force Report entitled THE FUTURE OF THEJEWISH COMMUNITY IN AMERICA is printed in this issue of the CONGRESS BULLETIN since it deals with many Canadian Jewish com munity concerns.In 1969, the American Jewish Committee called together the Task Force on The Future of the Jewish Community in America which proposed to articulate some sense of the current Jewish communal agenda and an indication of future directions.HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE The period we are now entering in Jewish life is marked by several developments: the restoration of the Jewish polity in Israel, the traumatic events which led up to it, and the erosion of the authority of rabbinical law.This demands a whole new set of relationships between Israel and the Diaspora and an analysis of how the Jewish community has coped with the erosion of rabbinical law by the development of denominational groups.secular agencies and movements as a form of reconstruction and replacement.Emancipation was an effort to achieve Jewish liberation from the ghetto, full civil rights and free access to the heritage of enlightened Western culture.The American Jewish community, a successful instance of this historical process, needs to examine its priorities and to reorder them in the light of past achievement and present needs.Programs which look to the quality of Jewish communal and personal life become increasingly important, Without cultivation of values available through commitment to the sources of Jewish tradition, we will see an inevitable drift away from Jewish practices and institutions.The new Jewish agenda demands a more realistic recognition of Jewish ethnic and communal interests.The perspective which views the post-Emancipation denominational pattern of American Jewry as irrelevant to current needs suggests the search for new patterns.The Jewish community is challenged by the current crisis of family patterns, and the need to bolster the Jewish family as a vehicle for Jewish educational and identity.The \u201cmelting pot\u201d concept is obsolete.The new ethnicity offers the opportunity to re-examine enriched rather than watered down ethnic institutional patterns for American Judaism.The Task Force recommended (1) appropriate agencies for ongoing inquiry and analysis of the \u201cposition of Judaism within the contemporary cultural and religious environment,\u201d (2) encouraging the search for innovative educational, liturgical and programmatic patterns.and allowed for continuity.Movement to remote exurban centers challenges Jewish communal planners.What proportion of neighborhood homogeneity and contiguity is required for a vital Jewish community?The Task Force recommends that all community institutions plan with greater research and sensitivity to Jewish demographic trends.Need for guidelines for assertion of general communal concern in local institutional decisions which tend to reinforce the maintenance or to encourage the abandonment of Jewish institutions in changing neighborhoods.The Task Force urged a communal role in planning Jewish facilities in new towns and cities.MIGRATION Jewish migration from the Northeast to Western and Southern regions requires every regional Jewish agency to be sensitive to the emergence of new geographical areas which may require services.Suggestions for action were: (a) development of an institutional mechanism to welcome the newcomer or transient Jewish individual into the community and (b} the determination of programs of regional or network services.INTERMARRIAGE Intermarriage and conversion are two aspects of the most psychologically sensitive issue in Jewish continuity.Demographic data indicate that the rate of intermarriage is highest in areas of smallest Jewish population.Intermarriage can result in conversion to Judaism.Psychological and demographic research, and participation of rabbinical communal leadership will be required to develop a coherent and viable Jewish strategy vis a vis intermarriage and conversion for the 1970's.REGIONAL CENTRALIZATION Regionzl centralization or decentralization is high an Jewish and general agendas.In the past the location of most Jewish institutions \u2014 local and national \u2014 seems to have been established by chance or from population stresses with little planning.Although not all centralized planning has proved successful.it is important that communal reinforcement be derived from fairly large, visible centers of energy and activity.Three strategies can help the Jewish community achieve the recommended concentration: (a) self conscious efforts to undertake regional centers; (b) improve- ir The \u201cmelting pot\u2019 concept is obsolete.The new ethnicity offers the opportunity to re-examine enriched rather than watered down ethnic institutional patterns for American Judaism.DEMOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE The demographic facts have schizophrenic overtones.On one hand, the Jewish population of 6,000,000 makes the American community count for one-half of the world population with a concomitant awareness of responsibility to Jewish communities elsewhere, with enhancement of its own morale and self-image.On the other hand, there seems to be a growing sense of insecurity because of heightened awareness of the smallness of the Jewish minority which declined over the past two decades to less than 3% of the total population.This insecurity has recently been exacerbated by revival of quota systems in some areas of employment and residence, and fear lest Jewish communalities fall below the size thought essential for meaningful Jewish cultural life.The demographic profile of a largely third generation, well educated community of nuclear family units delineated several areas for demographic planning.POPULATION MOVEMENT Population movement from inner city to suburb, from Northeast to other regions in the post-war period substituted synagogal association for neighborhood association ment of currently functioning services network.(c) pooling plans of different agencies in an effort to develop regional centers.\u2018 NEGLECTED CONSTITUENCIES Creating strategies for reaching \u2018the neglected constituencies,\u201d the Jewish poor, the elderly.the geographically remote or unaffiliated Jew necessitate continuous demographic research.The demographic bulge resulting from changes in the age, vocational and generation character of the community is a vital factor in communal planning.Present studies project a very large growth in Jewish elderly and retired.How may this group be utilized in strengthening Jewish communal life and in enriching individual life?SOCIOLOGICALPERSPECTIVE tendencies encouraged by the American environment and a way of life deriving from a more segregated Jewish society.The third generation Jew is more at home in America and less concerned with adaptation of inherited Jewish identity patterns, yet there is evidence of a readiness to accept some particularities of Jewish idiom and tradition as part of American Jewish identity.Recommendation: support of experimental projects which may expand the available ranges of the Jewish community's \u201clife styles.\u201d RELIGIOUS OR ETHNIC SELF-DEFINITION American Jews tended to define themselves in religious terms.Today.the ethnic trend in Jewish identification has resulted in the emergence of new forms of Jewish religious and ethnic self-expression which challenge the community to discern and utilize the potential communal benefits in such diversity.The Task Force considered patterns of Jewish behavior and association.It identified five significant tendencies which have shaped the behavior of the American Jew.A ASSIMILATION SEGREGATION The American-Jewish social adjustment pattern has been marked by continuing tension between assimilative 13 x \u201cRELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT AMERICAN VALUES The compatibility of religious development with American values has given the latter a selective impact in framing Jewish cultural and religious self-definition by retaining traditions which adapted best to American social pat- .terns.Recommendation: the creation of experimental and innovative programs in family and communal revitalization of Jewish traditions through communal service organizations and synagogues with an eye towards integrating such programs into school curricula on many levels.SEPARATION CHURCH AND STATE Jews have always supported an interpretation of religion as a private domain free from governmental coercion and without governmental support.A growing segment of the Jewish community regards this as illusory and blind to Jewish community regards this as illusory and blind to the benefits which Jewish education would gain from government support.Recommendation: An evaluation group to examine this issue in the light of present demographic, educational and legislative realities to reduce internal recrimination.PEOPLEHOOD AND IDENTITY The sense of loyalty to peoplehood and identification with the unity of the Jewish people has been a major asset to the Jewish community.A balance -between monolithic loyalty and healthy non-conformism must be sought through the encouragement of minority experimentation and innovation within the community.THE DIMENSION OF ASSOCIATION The Task Force defined three kind of identification: marginal, by social association; and by affiliation.The effort to reach the marginal group results from the perception that while some have opted for exclusion, others have had it thrust upon them.To awaken latent sentiment about Jewishness and Israel in persons not currently involved by reasons of ignorance, ae, occupation or geography.the community must provide significant approaches and programs.- Patterns of association indicate that the strongest bonds of Jewish identity are based on extra-organiza- tional contacts.Yet, the fact that most Jews who relate socially also belong to organizations, opens the way for communal institutions to effect a continuing influence upon Jews.qu A pot! sb es pe rig ante?a by seal ; pol we gi\u201d pl fang ges ! pe?| i 1 | - * Ello le J a 1 | Le a | J ! p { \u2014 Dees?sel lt ich 38 he been I cent ie pions leis 40H sors ppp hey se iste expr ges.5 pes identity issu gras sou Jemishiden oe Ths requ workers an Fea) fange ofed ml choo shard exp essful pr camps, ad Ia te Rècomr fiation an F Based 9 Fundament \u2018Esponsibi 16m wi Stfoos, hotly Tel Cony bods Schools wj Bolg Welly, Wiking tr [LY eg ral à Phi omy Teg thoy g, Belg A Ib tog Niky ey Mugg JE lang Jey ome in eile egg.om a ma.| ya Ye | In ig).ifs.Jewish Nge he mural Ameri ram: glam: dat nd in: ation ans: rag f rele pren pntol Indto {othe em eis 3nd lon asset jte pught ation ation nié ofr ott tl 1 of La id Lc lle iy for gr Es ES SEPTEMBER CONGRESS BULLETIN /7 Although the largest single affiliation organization for Jews is the synagogue.patterns of association crucially reflect ethnic ties.Yet there is evidence that psychological gratification from such membership is declining.Since membership in any Jewish organization is often motivated by search for identity rather than the specific goals it projects, the Task Force recommends to each Jewish organization the desirability of a program of concern with the full range of Jewish self-expression, so that Jewish leaders will be familiar with all types of Jewish life or experience.PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES There is a growing concern for Jewish identity and patterns of identification although explicit programs for their reinforcement have never been part of the traditional Jewish agenda.Many social and educational functions have been moved trom the traditional locus of Jewish identity (the family) to secondary agencies.and Jewish institutions are faced with an additional challenge.Since little is known about the genesis of Jewish identification, communal support for further research in relevant areas is recommended.FAMILY EDUCATION The Jewish community's concern over transmitting a healthy sense of Jewish identity should seek more immediate expression in significant programs in family agencies.Such agencies should develop as part of their professional skills a greater sensitivity to the Jewish identity issues that arise with Jewish clients.Various programs should be examined in terms of the relevance of Jewish identity for individual growth and self-acceptance.This requires special training in Jewish skills for case workers and psychological skills for Jewish educators.INFORMALEDUCATION | Éspecially crucial to attitude formation is the whole range of educational and cultural activities outside the formal school system, ie.informal education (creating shared experience which is memorable).There are successful programs in this area including nursery schools, camps, adult education programs, work study trips to Israel, etc.Recommends identification, evaluation, communication and replication of best programs.FORMALEDUCATIONALSYSTEM Based on the results, Jewish education is in need of fundamental reform.Clear assertion of Jewish communal responsibility for the development of a Jewish school system will entail basic changes in regard to aid to private schools, communal involvement in denominational schools and allocation of resources.RECOMMENDATIONS The clarification of the goals of Jewish education.Communal bodies, Reform and Conservative school boards examine the merits of cooperative and communal schools with shared facilities.Bolster existing research and experimentation in curriculum, communal support.Within each of the movements in Jewish life and in several areas of the country, good schools with reputations for excellence have been developed.These should be designated as model schools and supported by Jewish educational leadership as a guide to Jewish school boards and community leaders around the country.The growth and stabilization of the Jewish religious day school, one of the surprising educational phenomena of the last few decades.challenges the Jewish community to develop communication with orthodox constituencies in the area of education and to provide adequate funding and support for day schools.Urges development of Jewish non-denominational private schools with high standards of educational excellence and the exploration of founding one such school in every metropolitan center.Jewish education in most cases ends at thirteen.Result: an immature Jewish education.Stress on high school development has major importance in any reform of Jewish education.The introduction of Hebrew language courses and Jewish studies into the general high school curriculum should also be encouraged.The future of Jewish education depends upon the quality of its professional work force: raise the status of the Jewish educator, to attract persons of the highest quality.Requires a work week which offers full time employment, competitive pay scales and communal respect.College programs in Jewish studies constitute an important area for communal concern and support since they give academic legitimacy and status to the subject; and serve as an important resource for the Jewish educational system.Recommend: the consolidation of a network of such programs and the careful delineation of standards for curriculum and courses.CULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE The network of cultural, educational and communal institutions which constitute the cultural infrastructure of the American Jewish community reflect a voluntaristic response to changing needs.For the 1970's, there is a need for central communal agencies to assume responsibility for those \u201cinfrastructure\u201d institutions which have a significant role in Jewish continuity.Major Jewish funding agencies urged to establish guidelines and criteria for the support of accountable religious and cultural institutions which include: \u2014 Institutions of Higher Education such as rabbinical seminaries and Hebrew Teachers\u2019 Colleges.\u2014 Publications for the spread of Jewish culture, including: scholarly publications; communal service publications; Jewish information media; a high caliber national news weekly like The London Jewish Chronicle, individually sponsored intellectual and creative publications under institutional or commercial auspices.\u2014 Other Media, T.V.and Radio \u2014 The Jewish communal agencies should set up a study group to propose specific media projects which would be of communal benefit especially in education.\u2014 Libraries \u2014 The Task Force recommends pilot projects in setting up intercongregational or communal libraries as well as the support and improvement of Jewish library resources.\u2014 Museums offer an arena for significant outreach to the art world as well as for the involvement ot artistic energies in the Jewish world.\u2014 Various independent programs of theater arts in the American Jewish community should coordinate their efforts with a view to creating a functional analogue of a City Center or a School or the Arts.SYNAGOGUE The major instituion of American Jewish affiliation is the Synagogue.Unique in Jewish history it serves a diversity bf functions: a kind of surrogate family; a seryice center for Jewish rites of passage: the Rabbinate forms a major segment of professionally trained Jewish leadership.The Synagogue and the Synagogue movements have replaced the communal and private educational system of the 1930's with a network of congregational schools.There is, however, general dissatisfaction with the oping relationships with Israel will be increasingly important through the 1970's.Stress reciprocal programs which will meet the needs of the Israelis and at the same time fulfill the Jewish identity needs of the American Jew.This mutual quest involves the following.JOINTPROGRAM AREAS Mutual self-study through the continuing examination of the significance of Jewish identity and belief under conditions of modernity both in Israel and America.Support of shared tasks of Jewish scholarship in the re: covery of textual and archaelogical materials, their inter pretation and communication to relevant audiences as weil as joint participation in cultural programs.Joint participation in social science inquiry and publications.MODELS AND PROGRAMS The transmission of the best Israeli programs and models.Israeli Kibbutz model may provide a useful model for young American Jews seeking a sense of community.|s- raeli cultural initiative in Jewish studies, art, etc.have a creative potential for American Jewish life.American Jewish life and its pattern of voluntaristic institutions can provide models for Israelis in many diverse areas including that of religion.Although no consensus, it is clear that religious freedom must permit the legitimacy of non-Orthodox Judaism in Israel.Israel can serve as a personnel resource for the American Jewish community in Jewish communal services especially in education.Cultural exchange and touring should be identified as models for action and resources for Jewish education.The Task Force recommends communal assistance to specific groups interested in American Aliyah, expand the number of Americans having a direct personal involvement with the Israeli experience and its possible reinforcement of Hebraic knowledge, Jewish identity and commitments.DECISION MAKING Jewish communal governance, like affiliation and participation is voluntary.There are few leadership criteria of merit beyond willingness to contribute time or money, organizational ability or demonstrated success in general society.There are significant efforts to require devotion to Judaism in personal life or standards of Jewish knowledge or commitment on the part of Jewish lay leadership.Recommendations: a commitment to a binding acceptance of self-education upon future leaders; organize training programs by Jewish organizations directed toward future leadership.recruitment of leadership from groups usually bypassed because they lack sufficient leisure time or money to serve on Boards.Jewish communal governance, like affiliation and participation is voluntary.There are few leadership criteria of merit beyond willingness to contribute time or money, organizational ability or demonstrated success in general society.There are significant efforts to require devotion to Judaism in personal life or standards of Jewish knowledge or commitment on the part of Jewish lay leadership.achievement of the congregational school and a restructuring of the Jewish educational system with communal participation seems to be required.Other areas for communal synagogal action include: \u2014 The recognition of communal responsibility in the integration of neglected constituencies, especially the poor into the framework of Jewish life lest the poor be priced out of participation.\u2014 Involving the academic or intellectual community.\u2014 The development of alternative or simultaneous service and programs including a variety of experimental or innovative approaches.\u2014 Building upon the tendency toward smallness and the revival of participatory community celebration as an encouragement for family involvement.\u2014Obtaining appropriate media treatment for every major Jewish festival.\u2014 Involving communal leadership in the mechanism for the development and evaluation of diverse models for synagogues, schools, worship.counseling youth services.ISRAEL Israel has become a central area of concern and a focus of identity for American Jews: a crucial factor in Jewish educational and communal efforts on all levels.Devel- A perennial dilemma in keeping an institution responsive is charting the course between Jewish interests and universal ideals.To arrive at coherent policies, communication must be improved so that the shared concern of American Jews becomes part of communal decision making.Crucial to the directions taken by the Jewish community is the allocation of resources available.To discuss current priorities and their possible reordering, we need answers to these questions: What is the present functional distribution of funds raised for Jewish communal purposes?Should the proportional allocations be changed?In what direction should they be changed?The Task Force has stimulated a project of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds to gather such information.A shift in priorities is inevitable and the result of processes long underway.It is projected that there will be a change toward support of Jewish interest more narrowly defined.Within the coalition of interest groups, it is natural that Jewish communal groups will have to assert their role in defense of specifically Jewish interests.Jewish communal responsibility will continue to shift away from service to the individual Jews in trouble toward the development of the institutions concerned with the quality of Jewish cultural and religious life. 8/ CONGRESS BULLETIN SEPTEMBER In Praise of Yiddish An Award Winning Book by Maurice Samuel As Reviewed by SHULAMIS YELIN In his biography Little Did | Know, published in 1963, Maurice Samuel promised to write a book in praise of his beloved mama-loshn Yiddish.As we moun his recent passing, we reflect on the grace which allowed him to fulfill his promise when /n praise of Yiddish appeared in 1971.Maurice Samuel was an author, essayist, translato and interpreter.as well as America\u2019s best-loved po ula lecturer and expounder of Yiddish civilizati cian and scholar in tune with the rus roar of history.he was awarded for The World of Sholem Alaiki Wise Award (1956).On the 1972, he was to have recei dish in Israel.In Praise of Yiddish is s 25 books Samuel has left us Itis not only a witness to h is an attestation to the wil tivity of the Jewish people Although Samuel insi scholar.nor is it intende: book of authentic scholar color, a paean of love.Iti guage which best reflects th the last millenium: a language, sz most secular, cannot divest its gious and messianic fixations,\u201d responds to the singular Jewish\u2019 with an inordinate capacity to mai through laughter, albeit laughter toi lows\" type.3 Yiddish, says Samuel, is a \u201cfull The \"Yiddish group\u201d in Canada constitutes albeit declining sub-population of the Canadi Community.The demographic examination dish group\u201d, therefore, is an important eleme mographic study of Canada\u2019s Jews.The fo graphs present a brief review of the majé gested by the study, Selected Data on the lation Whose Mother Tongue is Yiddish.The topics reviewed concern populati phical distribution, sex composition and should be emphasized that the findings population whose mother tongue is Yi group\u201d).as distinguished from the po guage of the home is Yiddish.Population Si In 1971, the \"Yiddish group\u201d show that for every three persons of the \"Yiddish group\u201d in 1931 only two were recorded in 1951 and only one in 1971.The decrease between 1961 and 1971 has been particularly steep.representing 40% of the 1961 population.This contrasts sharply with the general increase of the Canadian Jewish community.The decline in the size of the \u201cYiddish group\u201d is appreciated more when rates are calculated comparing the \u201cYiddish group\u201d with the total Canadian population.In 1961 there were more than 14 persons of the \u201cYiddish group\u2019 per 1,000 of Canada's total: this figure was about halved by 1951 and continued to dectine to less than 2.5 per 1.000 in 1971.We are able to reflect the determinants of the decline in the past.which constitutes a basis for forecasting future trends.It is seen that as early as 1931 the pyramid of the \u201cYiddish group\u201d indicated that it was not being replenished \u201cfrom the base\u201d.The decline in the number of Yiddish speaking immigrants.on the one hand.and the adoption of English by the Jewish immigrants of previous waves, on the other.explain this trend.At the same time, attrition due to mortality and possibly also due to emigration and loss of the language decreased the size of the older age groups from one census to another.Considering the two largest age groups as an example, it is seen that in i; i numbered close to: 50,000 persons.Comparisons with previous census data which, unless acquired naturally in childhood.must be mastered with the same exertions as one devotes to French.German or Russian\u201d Nor does the, ariety of i ferent areas affe ge.For example, 2.3 persons of the 3 ) persons of all mother ; itoba, 10.4 in the CMA of of Winnipeg.and 24.4 in the tongues, compared 4 Winnipeg 13.1 in the Ci borough of North York.Sex Composition For a population composed mainly of immigrants, the \u201cYiddish group\u201d has been characterized by an amazingly balanced sex structure.For example, the sex ratio in 1931 was 1,016 (males per 1,000 females), compared with the sex ratio of 1,074 recorded for Canada\u2019s total population.Noteworthy is the steep decline between 1961 and 1971.from 1,048 to 958 (the comparable sex ratios for Canada\u2019s total population in 1961 and 1971 are 1,022 and 1,002, respectively).Changes of this magnitude usually reflect excess male mortality generated by \u201caged populations\u2019.the Sonnet.The very chapter headings read like a poem: Character, Strata, Hybrids, Blind Side.(how the Italian Prince Bovo became the Yiddish Bobbe-mayse/, Flavor, At-homeness, - (is that haymishkite?), Malediction and Benediction - (oy, die Yiddishe klolos!) Some examples: Is a Shoyfer (from the Hebrew Shofar) a trumpet?A horn?a Shoyfer is a Shoyfer.Only the Blow is different And how does one define blow?Tr ec a ; correct translation of the He- stion; a kashe, (Hebrew: dif- s the answer of a specia- & À torbe is a beggar's h beggings for others! erse anguished humor azoi der shtarbn vie dos \u201cIt's not the dying but d denigration) that bur- u differentieate between Shabbess far zikh.And if turns a tish into a tishele all the American hybrid het- or that matter.what of a kappa offer the same flavor! own melody.To speak with a en much decried in our Anglo- is there any substitute for the \u2018that even more effective prodder, amuel's /n Praise of Yiddish is a Shabbessdiker Kug! in midvokh.Endorsed by C-J-C The following exerpt was prepared by Mr: J.Yam and is part of a volume devoted to a demographic and socio economic analysis based on bata.From the 1971 census of Canada.71 sex ratio of the \u201cYiddish group\u201d is well nal figure (958 vs.1,002), the differ- \u2018onounced in the regions where most of \"is concentrated.For example, in the the 1971 sex ratios are 951 for the d 962 for the total population.Age Structure \u201cYiddish group\u201d showed a \u201cbulge\u201d in the -34, a typical phenomenon among popu- g large immigration waves.The detailed reveal that 42% of the \"Yiddish group\u201d and 34 years of age, compared with the 33%.The percentage of aged persons and over) was 2.7, less than half the picture had changed completely.The came an \u201caged population\u201d.The prose immigration ages\u201d (15-34) declined ith the national figure of 32%), and sed to 31% (the national level was n of the \u201caging process\u201d is cone.For the \"Yiddish group\u201d it was years in 1971; the national fig- Over the last forty years, the \u201cYiddish group\u201d has received virtually no replenishment of new generations.Consequently the \u201cYiddish group\u201d is aging rapidly, becoming increasingly female-dominant and diminishing in size.Another prominent characteristic of the \u201cYiddish group\u201d is its geographical concentration.The vast majority of this group is concentrated in the three CMA's of Montreal.Toronto and Winnipeg.Due to this concentration, the percentage of the \u201cYiddish group\u201d (relative to the total population) in selected places exceeds the national mean by a factor of 10 (in the North York and St.Laurent for example, more than 2% of the population belong to the \u201cYiddish group\u201d).This, however, is becoming less conspicuous as the size of the \u201cYiddish group\u201d keeps declining.(el | le or | yo! preside || je | amt Tl ihe an + peu d ol) | ion 8 > he World WN mena | | pues \u201crer | | honsir | | IF Tri | gammé ig | hich hav ; bo piste A peste | Mon Sl eg onne | ur Sepia ÿ the same | canbe pro 1 Howey i wiht th 1 Jows.1 | | | | | ution, rec | suciations Oriental Je sential tha {and Orient | tt | Pr The pr taking to ows: lis ll arts o 1 pardim À | emails : stances | Ao education reserve à tance of off.| am | Understan them for People wi | iT; + Spies, i Toma | Sephari i Li nait | | andtosta | HY I van ; | 8 hi | temaing, | |; belo pl More th; 1 LLY | Fons con + Bigg 1 Wal Hilly = = = = oo = = ss = Me In, i My Wily Ur Ve duty Mie, Ta) ing Sag i I Vg beg À other! hum Med Ong bt hat by.betsy ih.Ang f à fiche Ford he ot vorl äkwithà Ur Ang # for the rods Hishisa idioth {4 ) dispat wed N fic and fons | censts \u2014 | isl p df most of ent |} forthe | mite i pov dette group wiht pérsons half the oh.fre pù genet mo [RK vel #08 15 ir si olf hs gas | oh hind no Ad ft ys art gh ' pa pe ur |, gt SEPTEMBER CONGRESS BULLETIN /9 World Sephardic Federation By Dr.Nessim D.Gaon President World Sephardie Federation.Message delivered to National Convention of Canadian Sephardi Communities.| know how very important this National Convention of the Canadian Sephardi Communities is.From its outcome will depend the future of the Canadian Branch of the Worlg Sephardi Federation, with the election of its Presidium and of the members who will represent it within the World Executive of our Federation.And | am very much aware of the importance of the role that the Communities of Canada will be called upon to play in our work for the relief of the needy Sephardi and Oriental populations in Israel and in other parts of the world.World Sephardi Federation The object of this message is to outline briefly the programme and the aims of the World Sephardi Federation of which | have been recently elected President.First of all, | wish to make it clear that | do notintend to preside over a Federation which exists in name only.The World Sephardi Federation, as | see it, has to be reorganized on new solid bases.It must be representative of all our Sephardi people.be a useful tool at their service and at the same time as a powerful organization of which they canbe proud.However, this ideal Federation cannot become reality without the collaboration of all Sephardi and Oriental Jews.It can only become an important world-wide institution, recognized and accepted by the other Jewish Associations and the State of Israel, if all Sephardi and Oriental Jews adhere to it massively.It is, therefore.essential that the greatest possible number of our Sephardi and Oriental brethren join the Federation, thus proving their faithful allegiance to our noble cause.Programme: Aims and Objectives The programme | have in mind for our Federation, taking into consideration its aims and objectives, is as follows: 1)To setup and organize agencies of the Federation in all parts of the world where large congregations of Se- phardim have settled, in order to maintain contact between all Sephardim in the world and to come to their assistance should the need arise.2) To take all useful steps, in collaboration with the educational establishments of Israel and the Diaspora, to preserve the Sephardi entity, that is to say our rich inheritance of centuries of Sephardi traditions, culture and way of life.3) To strive with our Ashkenazi brothers for a better understanding of each other and to work together with them for a rapid and effective unification of all Jewish people within the State of Israel.4) To set up as soon as possible a system of membership fees, independently of any other contribution already normally collected by the Communities.Each and every Sephardi will be asked for a special contribution which will enable the Federation to meet some of its expenses and to start on its ambitious programme.5) To develop informative mediums to be distributed to all the Agencies of the Federation.6) It is the wish of the Presidium that our Federation remain outside politics even though its main objective will be to help our co-religionists by working actively to improve their conditions of living.7) To have a seat or be represented in all the organizations connected with Israel, such as the World Zionist Organization and other similar organizations, and to help with all the means at our disposal and to the best of our ability all existing institutions in favor of Israel.8) To take part in all manifestations in favour of Israel and to defend the Sephardi interests wherever they may be imperilled.9) To make use of all the resources at our disposal to improve the conditions of living of our Sephardi people in Israel and elsewhere in the world.10) To make use of the influence we may have with the Authorities and of any other means at our disposal to ensure that education is made possible for our youth in Israel and elsewhere in the world, whatever their social standing, and to provide dormitories and boarding- schools for all drop-out children of 9 to 14 years of age.11) To extend financial aid to families whose income is lower or equal to 450 Israeli pounds.either by way of a grant or by way of a loan at a low interest rate.12) To act in concert with the various governmental offices and institutions in charge of lodging.education, social welfare and labour to see to it that equal social and cultural rights and an equitable treatment is given to all citizens, without discrimination.Activity In order to enable our Federation to carry out this ambitious programme and to achieve its ends, | have undertaken some actions which have already been crowned with success.First of all | contacted the Jewish Agency and the Government of Israel and | managed to persuade them of the necessity to create a Fund for the relief of our needy brethren.This Fund will enable us to start immediately on our programme of assistance to our underprivileged brothers in Israel.The main points of the draft agreement on the Fund have already been approved by the Government of Israel.According to this agreement, the Government of Israel will, upon signing the agreement, put at the disposal of the Fund the sum of 2 million dollars, which is equivalent to interest at the rate of 8% on 25 million dollars.When our Federation will have been able to raise through its own campaigns a capital sum of 10 million dollars or interest on it in the amount of 800,000 dollars payable annually and guaranteed by pledges from donors, the Government of Israel will pay a further million dollars.The Government will increase its contribution again by 500,000 dollars as soon as our Federation will have raised another 10 million dollars in principal or 800,000 dollars in interest; and a further increase of 500,000 dollars will be consented by the Government when our Federation has once again been able to raise an additional 10 million dollars in principal or 800,000 dollars in interest.Thus, when through its own campaigns our Federation will have raised 30 million dollars in principal or 2.4 million dollars in interest payable annually, the Government of Israel will be paying interest on its full contribution to the Fund, that is to say 4 million dollars payable annually representing interest on the full sum of 50 million dollars.: | made a promise to the Government of Israel, of course, that we would continue to use our best endeavours to match their contribution, that is to say to raise 50 million dollars in principal or 4 million dollars payable annually.: As a next step, | have in mind to ask the Jewish Agency to come to the aid of our offices most in need of it, particularly in areas densely populated by Sephardim, by appointing leaders to help our communities in getting organized and in implementing the programme set up by our newly re-organized Federation.Then | shall also endeavour to obtain from the Jewish Agency and the Government of Israel a subsidy to make up a possible deficit in our budget.This subsidy would of couse only be granted after every effort has been made by our Federation to meet the needs of our budget by all means at our disposal: fund-raising campaigns, membership fees, etc.| have no doubt, though.that the Jewish Agency will prove generous and understanding.This being the programme of the Federation, it is now up to all and everyone of us to collaborate in organizing and carrying it out, starting by introducing the membership fees which will enable our Federation to be financially self-reliant as far as our budget and offices are concerned.| should like once again to emphasize the fact that the World Sephardi Federation of which | am President is very much aware of the importance of our communities in Canada.| also wish to let you know how much we are looking forward to welcoming your chosen representatives within the World Executive of our Federation.| hope and trust that our Sephardi brothers of Canada will make a point of furthering our noble cause by becoming active members of our Federation.The first conference of the Federation Sepharadie du Canada took place in Montreal.June 30 - July 1.Guest speaker was Daniel J.Elazar, Chariman of the Sephardic Federation U.S.A.and Professor of Political Science at Temple University in Philadelphia.Professor Elazar is directing the worldwide comparative study of the struc- \u2018ture of Jewish community organizations now underway or completed in France, England, Belgum, South Africa, Israel, Greece, United States, Canada and most other countries with Jewish communities and free access to researchers.The Canadian portion of this study is financed by Canadian Jewish Congress as part of its own research effort.Elias Malka, elected unanimously President of the newly formed Sephardic Federation of Canada.Sephardic Collection Rabbi Soul I.Aranov, Curator of Hebraica and Judaica at the University of Alberta; Dr.Henry Kreisel, Academic Vice President, University of Alberta.A rare collection of Sephardic and Moroccan Manuscripts and Texts have been acquired by the Harry R.Cohen Memorial, Foundation of Edmonton, Alberta, for the University of Alberta Library.Ariel Ben Sion This collection originally belonged to Ariel Ben Sion ot Montreal, Quebec.The owner emigrated from Bulgaria, in 1933.His family played a prominent role in the life of Bulgarian Jewry prior to, during and after the Second World \u2018War.Ariel Ben Sion resided in Montreal for about five years, until his demise in 1938.Since Ben Sion\u2019s collection was private, his exodus from Europe with this valuable collection before the holocaust may have spelled the difference between their destruction and loss to oblivion, and their preservation for Jewish scholarship.The widow of the owner had this collection in her possession until 1952, at which time she sold it.The collection remained in the purchaser's basement until 1972, when the bookdealer R.A.Davies.of Montreal, made them available for purchase to the University of Alberta.Rabbi Saul I.Aranov of Edmonton\u2019s Beth Israel Synagogue, who is a lecturer in Judaic Studies at the University of Alberta, is researching the material and is preparing a catalogue of the Ben Sion Manuscripts and Texts which will be published by the University of Alberta through the benefaction of the Harry R.Cohen Memorial Foundation which has purchased the collection for the University of Alberta.Collection: Sephardic-Moroccan The collection must be characterized as Sephardic- Moroccan.Many of the works, both manuscripts and texts, belong to the literary contribution of Spanish Jewish scholars before the expulsion in 1492.A major part of the collection contains source material on the Jewish communities of Morocco.While most legal documents are from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, some are dated as early as 1328.A wealth of historical and cultural source material on early Moroccan Jewry is available in this collection.The rabbinic families Sarfati, Serero, Ibn Zur, Berdugo, ibn Danan, Toledano, Edery, Halevi, Ibn Attar, Elbaz, and a host of others are well represented in documents that number in the hundreds.At one time the collection was said to have contained thirty letters written by the famous scientist Albert Einstein.They were presumably sold separately at an earlier date and hopefully repose in some suitable repository.The collection is rich in material in the fields of philosophy, liturgy.poetry.rabbinics, homiletics, mysticism, biblical texts and studies, and a host of miscellaneous subjects.This find is undoubtedly a major contribution to the fields of Sephardic and Moroccan Studies.It demonstrates how Spanish culture was perpetuated and supplemented by the Jewish scholars of Morocco in the 450 years since the expulsion of Jews from Iberia.The links that existed between the Mediterranean Jewish communities, especially with the Holy Land.are manifested in this collection.Since there is a dearth of material available for this period of Jewish history.the material becomes even more significant for research.The Canadian Jewish community can take p.ide in the possession of the Ben Sion Manuscripts and Texts.Jewish Canadiana has become immensely enriched.In the few months since the acquisition, universities all over the world have begun to communicate with the University of Alberta about the Manuscripts and Texts. 10/ CONGRESS BULLETIN SEPTEMBER Israel- Diaspora Relations If you view Israel only as a normal state, there is no meaning in the worlds centrality of Israel.If by a normal state we imply that itis a pluralistic, democratic society, meant only for the Jews living here.then it obviously has no decisive role to play for the Diaspora.Israeli leadership does not accept this concept of normality and therefore the first foundation of my credo is that Israel is a unique state \u2014 unique in the way it was created, in the purpose for which it was created and ir the conditions which will enable it to achieve its aim to ensure the survival of the Jewish people.That survival involves the traditional, prophetic, moral and historical values which are bound up with our past, in addition to the physical survival role embodied in the Law of Return.| may add that this law is absolutely unique in international affairs in that it grants the automatic right to every Jew to return to his historic homeland.Israel's Role It was suggested that the synagogue is the symbol of Jewish survival in contra-distinction to those who claim that Israel is essential to Jewish survival.| do not understand this view as it applied to contemporary Jewish life.If what is meant is that our survival depends upon the definition that our people have a common past and are moving towards a common destiny involving our total historic, social and moral values.then Israel is clearly the embodiment of this total national process.This, of course, transcends the mere trappings of statehood, and even transcends Israel's undoubted capacity to save Jews physically.In fact, Israel, as long as it is faithful to its Zionist origins and values, has a decisive role to play in Jewish survival, and in this regard there is no substitute for Israel's role in modern Jewish Life.The second fundamental fact is that no Jew is or can be indifferent to Israel any more.He can hate what Israel is doing, he can love what Israel is doing but he cannot be indifferent to what [s- rael does or how Israel appears.The world won't let him.But, far more \u2014 for Zionists and non- Zionists alike \u2014 Israel has given him a new option.Let me give you an example from my own experience.As you know, | am responsible for the Aliyah Department, and | speak to young people who have careers awaiting them in America but who come here\u2014 I'm not talking about the religious ones or the Zionist ones, but the growing numbers who say | cannot accept the way of life of America any more \u2014 | thunk Israel offers greater pioneering challanges.or maybe the search for social values is more meaningful here.israel, by creating this option, unrelated to a sophisticated intellectual approach, can leave no jew indifferent.This option exists either consciously or unconsciously in every Jew today.Changed Jewish Immage The third fact is that, as | see it, Israel has changed the self-image of the Diaspora Jew.The anti-semite of yesterday.of the Sturmer, had to paint the miserable, cowardly Shylock- Jew to feed his anti-semitic readers; today the anti-semites have only one cry \u2014 the Zionist Jews.It's quite a different stereotype.Empirically, therefore, while | haven't yet reached the By Louis A.Pincus fundamental question of centrality, when you deal with the facts as they are.Israel leaves a decisive effect on Jewish life in the Diaspora.Now, this is not identical with the centrality of Israel, but it is a corridor towards understanding that phrase.It is the basis for trying to work out a relationship.and | think it makes nonsense of the term \u201cunlimited autonomy of the free Diaspora\u201d, which some like to use.Furthermore, it is meaningless and purposeless to talk of the unlimited autonomy of the Diaspora when by and large Jewish life in the Diaspora Is being eroded.The growth of intermarriage is a symptom of that erosion (and incidentally it is futile to try to gain comfort by endeavoring to prove that we gain and not lose numerically by intermarriage).The growth of intermarriage is a further example of the acculturation of young Jews willing to leave the Jewish camp and therefore the overriding question is: how do we combat this erosion?We are not an autonomous \u2018normal\u2019 Jewish state because such a state could add nothing to this, nor is there an unlimited \u201cautonomous\u201d Diaspora because as we see it today.the Diaspora hasn't got the inner strength to carry on that fight dlorie.But together, with some kind of common outlook as to orientation and direction, we can Rave some kind of hope to deal with that problem.Professor Marie Syrkin sums up the whole position when she says: \u2018The cultural assimilation of American Jewry is almost complete.In a secular society.religious faith, the force which for nearly 2,000 years has been the major cohesive element in the life of Jews, is obviously waning\u201d This, in my opinion, is a gloomy picture, but it is not a prophesy of inevitable doom.We must not and should not ignore the growing number of young people in the free Diaspora who want to undertake some kind of Jewish study.the number of young people who come to this country because of what they believe is our Jewishness.It is that to which our attention should be given and which should give us the impetus to struggle with this problem and not surrender ourselves to it.Despite everything.this is a Diaspora of enormous capacity.maybe not fully in the Jewish sense at the moment, but in sheer intellectual capacity.If you add the second component of the Israel that | am talking about, then | don\u2019t see inevitable doom on the horizon.It compels a change in a lot of our behaviour, but it is precisely here that Israel plays a pivotal and decisive role.Israel will fulfill this role by the mere fact of its existence, by its behaviour and by its social and moral content.Mouthpiece of Jewry It is accepted in the world that Israel has a right to declare itself the mouthpiece for Jewish distress.It did so for Iraq, it did so for the Soviet Jews.it does it whenever the need may arise.Nobody in the whole wide world resented the fact that time and again it was the Knesset in Jerusalem which took a decision in regard to Soviet Jewry; and | make so bold as to note the fact that Mr.Brezhnev in the end acknowledged that the Jews of America have some right to talk about the Jews of the Soviet Union is because he has accepted Israel's right to talk about it, and that it is not only an internal matter for the Soviet Union.The third aspect is that Israel's capacity, actual and potential, to recreate and revive a total Hebrew culture, in the Hebrew language, for itself and for Jews wherever they may be, is the only single factor in Jewry of such power and potential.The Diaspora cannot dothis thing alone.Let me give you a prosaic example: why did the COJO Commission on Jewish Education never get off the ground up to now, and why it is now beginning to show signs of really getting off the ground?It is because now, for the first time in organized form, the capacity of ISRAEL TO MAKE ITS CONTRIBUTION TO Jewish education is being harnessed in practical terms; this is not only a question of teachers but also of the willingness of its educational frameworks, its higher education institutions, its scholars, to make themselves available for this purpose.New Society Israel building a new society on the basis of our own past and our own social values gives quite another dimension to Jewish dignity and to the total Jewish situation wherevema Jew may live.Therefore the quality of Jewish life here in Israel is vital to Israel itself and vital to the Diaspora; as a totality, it is this which can ensure that we can play what | consider to be the decisive role in the sphere of the spiritual survival of the Jewish people.| do not believe that the synagogue alone can do it \u2014 and this had nothing to do with the values that are embodied in the Jewish religion.| think anybody who looks at Jewish society in the Diaspora knows what role the synagogue plays: it can perhaps stem the tide to some extent.butit cannot be the total answer to the problem.| submit that it is wrong in both principle and in practice to believe that the Diaspora is viable as an independent autonomous unit, independent of its umbilical connection with Israel.I hope with all my heart that in the long run \u2014 there being the sort of State of Israel which | am talking about and a Diaspora willing to work together with that State \u2014 that we shall be witness to cross-fertilization and that our social values will develop throughout the whole people; but without Israel \u2014 an Israel that is the very embodiment of a Jewish society \u2014 the Diaspora has no example to follow, and it cannot find sources of strength within itself to carve new paths.Continuation of Golah Let me go back just a little while in history.Ben Gurion, in his famous dialogue with the late Jacob Blaustein, said \u201cany weakening of American Jewry, and disruption of its communal life, and lowering of its sense of security, any diminution of its status, is a definite loss to Jews everywhere and to Israel in particular.Now that was a statement made by a Prime Minister who really had something to do with the founding of this co-called normal state.No Prime Minister of a normal state would make a statement of that kind.And | want to tell you that in recent years, certainly since the Six-Day War, Israel is beginning to live that concept of Ben Gurion\u2019s.There > Wasa w Etude th Jews of they re Btls | tby tated s Avi about y and ny though, becom; À PUrpose Wstog ÿ et fy Jewish, Ong Meng high I \u2018anteny feh gp boy, fe Othe Bag, ag , te Ur he at oly for 1 te 1 and alone hy i Ong: Vitis ng off time LTO duca- Hs of te 5, 1s IS, to ss di ques \u2018and El h if (alto ho Io tua alone th the gion gly n ogee ee epi pk 013 i i in hs gut hich! work p wit i ok.elf asp (find new stofy- o al méfir LL gi Jos hal whe 90 pol hil gas gg here SEPTEMBER IN MEMORIAM was a whole period when Israel took up the attitude that the State was here and, as for the Jews of the Diaspora, either they came here or they remained friends of Israel.But that certainly is not the approach today, when Israel's day by day concern for the Diaspora is demonstrated so effectively and consistently.A vibrant Israel, the Israel that | am talking about, will ensure a continuation of the Golah \u2014 and not the other way around, paradoxical though it may sound.| am saying that Israel is becoming more and more aware of its historical purpose in this respect.On this, Israel as the custodian of Jewish national destiny, cannot be quiet for this is a matter of life and death for the Jewish People.Aliyah One word on aliyah.By aliyah not only do we strengthen Israel, but we create a living bridge which must inevitably strengthen the Jewish content of Life in that Diaspora from which aliyah comes.Therefore, aliyah can be a blessing to both, and if so seen.it enriches the totality.On the other hand a drying up of aliyah from the free Diaspora could bedevil the relationship between israel and the Diaspora.Forums for Discussion Israel is obliged to listen to the Diaspora, and we in Israel are only too ready to listen.But when you exercise the legitimate right to criticize, an enormous responsibility rests upon the Diaspora: as to when it criticizes, as to how it criticizes, as to where it criticizes.An example of what should not be done is found in the unseemly haste with which some Jewish leaders of the Diaspora.both from the pulpit and in writing.ran to condemn israel when the Libyan pla- | first met Arieh (Louis as he was known to his friends) Pincus some twenty years ago in South Africa.He was one of a brilliant constellation of young South African jews who left their mark on the public life of Israel; these included Abba Eban, Arthur Lourie and Michael Comay.Louis was equipped with star qualities \u2014 an acute intelligence, a highly analytical and incisive mind, combined with an extraordinary eloquence which would have ensured his success at the bar had he wished to pursue his profession.He rapidly scaled the heights of the Israel bureaucracy.He was largely responsible for the establishment of Israel's national carrier, El Al.He commenced to play a key role on the world scene in 1966 when he was appointed Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization.Perhaps his greatest contribution was his role in causing a change in direction of Jewish philanthropy in the United States.The Council of Jewish Welfare Funds and Federations, until a decade ago, was a philanthropic organization with little commitment to Israel or the concept of Jewish peoplehood.It was essentially a charitable organization albeit a mighty one ruled by the geverim in the classical style of dispensing funds to the needy.Pincus seized the opportunity of the changing mood of American Jewry.He did much to make the CJWF Jewish in a real sense.He reorganized, against considerable opposition, the Jewish Agency to permit non-Zionists together with Zionists to participate in its counsels.He brought into being the enlarged Agency.an aim which frustrated the leadership of the Zionist movement in the 20's and 30's.It was a remarkable success enabling numbers of influential Jews to participate in the mainstream of Jewish peoplehood.A brand new link between Israel and the diaspora had been forged.He once told me that his most important goal was to make the Agency representative of the Jewish people.When that was accomplished, he would reorganize its groaning and inefficient machinery.No single man could accomplish these tasks simultaneously.It was Weizman who remarked that Arthur Ruppin was a man of things.Louis Pincus was also a man of things.He never lost sight of his goal.In the midst of great changes brought about in the wake of the Six- Day War and the renaissance of Soviet Jewry he maintained his Anglo-Saxon sense of empiricism.It would have been alien to his character to wear his Jewishness on his sleeve, but it dwelt securely in his entire being.He knew the meaning of power and used it \u2014 with resolution.He recognized that in the political morass of Israel, power flows from political influence.This was a fact which no one man could change.To those who were privileged to count him as a friend, he could be a warm and delightful companion.As in the case of many public figures, he was essentially a shy man in his personal relationships, but once established they were deep and abiding.ne was shot down.The fact is that later on an independent committee exonerated Israel.Therefore, while | accept the right to criticism, this example points to the self-imposed obligation to choose very carefully when, how and where you're going to make those criticisms.There is a mutual obligation here \u2014 Israel's obligation to listen and the Diaspora's right to criticize: but the right of the Diaspora to criticize and the duty of Israel to listen also imply the right of Israel to criticize and the obligation of the Diaspora to listen.This reciprocal relationship is essential for the ongoing relationship between Israel and the Diaspora.There is, however, one important aspect of this which | would stress: if we cannot create forums where criticism can be heard, not by chance or once in four years, than this kind of criticism, whether it come from Israel or the Diaspora.isjustbarren talk.Let's try at this stage toseewhat could be done within existing frameworks.You have first of all the World Zionist Organization functioning under the Law of Status: which is a most peculiar law \u2014 one which couldn\u2019t belong to a \u201cnormal\u201d state and which boils down to the concept that the whole idea of the State and its founders was to bring Jews into complete participation in the basic activities of the State as a whole.The Jewish Agency Assembly, as reconstituted, is a second forum.It consists of Zionists, and of community leaders and fund-raisers throughout the world.and it is a representative forum.We in the Agency never meet, officially or informally, without talking about the totality of Jewish life and its problems \u2014 Jewish education in the Diaspora, aliyah from the West, etc.CONGRESS BULLETIN /11 | sat for a few minutes with him in the Hotel du Rhone in Geneva following the COJO meetings in August of this year.He was drained with fatigue, yet he was alight with far-reaching plans for Jewish education.He discussed personal matters for a few minutes.| again remonstrated with him that he was surely taxing himself beyond human endurance.Such strain must result in mortal consequences.He knew no hours, no respite from his labours.He replied with a rueful smile that good soldiers knew not what the \u2018morrow would bring.Two weeks later he died.The influence of Louis Pincus on the Golah, the Zionist Movement and the Jewish Agency is yet to be truly assessed.We do know, however, that his achievements were enormous and were brought about by an unyielding sense of mission at the cost of his life.In Israel his memorial is all around us \u2014 in the Kibbutzim, moshavim, housing centres, ulpanim, but most of all in a new generation of Israelis for whose redemption he devoted his life.By ALAN ROSE ~ SERVICES Memorial Services (Sh'Loshim) for the late Arye Louis Pincus were held in Toronto and Montreal.In Toronto a Memorial Service took place at the Four Seasons Sheraton Hotel, August 26.Participants in the Service included Sydney M.Harris, Q.C., CJC National Vice-President; Philip G.Givens, Q.C., M.P.P., National President, Canadian Zionist Federation; David Blum- berg, International President, B'nai Brith and Vice-Chair- man, COJO; and Cantor G.Danto, Beth Emeth-Bais Yehuda Synagogue.The Memorial Service was sponsored by CJC, Canadian Zionist Federation and B'nai B'rith in collaboration with the Supreme Lodge of B'nai B'rith.In Montreal, a Memorial Service took place at the Congragation Chevra Kadisha-B'nai Jacob, August 27.The eulogy was delivered by Dr.Leon Kronitz, Chairman, CJC Executive Committee and Executive Vice-President of Canadian Zionist Federation.Monroe Abbey, Q.C., CJC Immediate Past President and Chairman of its Board of Governors addressed those present on behalf of Canadian Jewish Congress.The Memorial Services were organized jointly by Canadian Jewish Congress, Canadian Zionist Federation, Allied Jewish Community Services and the United Israel Appeal of Canada.And there are other international bodies, World Jewish Congress, COJO and many others.| am not sure that the large number of international bodies is of necessity a bad thing.But the Jewish world is so complex that | can\u2019t see one body handling everything.| would, however, say on a purely pragmatic basis without an attempt to put this in organisational or institutional terms, that a common basis exists: it implies the acceptance of the centrality of Israel as defined, it implies that the continuity of the Jewish Diaspora is part of our common over-all objective, and from here we must build up a basis on which Israel and the Diaspora can discuss problems in orderly fashion, can criticize each other and come up with joint solutions founded on mutual respect and the constant search for concensus and maximum agreement.Search for Common Premises We have to search for common premises, remembering that the situation is not static.It is very dynamic, maybe not from 1973 to 1974, but on a time-scale not much longer than that.The search for the way to keep the relationship between the Diaspora and Israel on an even keel is a continuous and pressing one, changing and developing from period to period.| believe that if we follow the correct course, we shall find at the end of any given period, that the Jewish people has made a step forward towards ensuring that we are one people.The centrality of Israel enables the State to play itsunique roleinensuring our survival as a people, and our situation in Israel and in the Diaspora demands enormous tact, understanding and wisdom of leadership from all parts of the world.Let us try to use them effectively. a mi te ne me ABRAHAM J.HESCHEL HHASHONAH 5734 %# DES mani ARS RME SES \u2014National Committee on Jewish Education: The final draft of a proposal for a joint operation in Jewish education as between CJC and the Canadian Zionist Federation will be forwarded to CJC regional executive committees for discussion before its adoption.\u2014Canada-Israel Committee: \u2014 B'nai B'rith will be invited to join CJC and Canadian Zionist Federation as a co-equal partner in the Canada-Israel Committee.Following these negotiations, CJC representatives will be appointed to the Committee.\u2014 National Library : \u2014 CJC National Museum will be located on the floor beneath CJC's main auditorium.This will result in the elimination of CJC\u2019s library.The library's books will be distributed to Canadian Jewish public libraries.However.its archival material will be kept at Canadian Jewish Congress.\u2014Research: Jewish Demography: \u2014 Plans approved concerning data on Jewish demography include: Short Term \u2014 completion of Louis Rosenberg's study on vital statistics; Intermediate \u2014 completing a number of studies by December 1973.i.e.unpublished data on vital statistics.immigration statistics, 1961 census material and data from earlier censuses; Long Range \u2014 completion by 1975 of an analysis of all 1971 census pertinent data, and completion prior to this in 1974 of the analytical papers based on the 1971 census data.Highlights of National Executive Meeting in MONTREAL \u2014Publications Committee: \u2014 A Publications Committee will be formed to deal with requests for funds to subvent literary works.\u20140O0ath and Judicial Proceedings: \u2014 The National Religious Affairs Committee will consider the Law Reform Commissioner of Canada\u2019s request for CJC\u2019s views eliminating the oath as a prelude to testimony.\u2014Canadian Union of Jewish Students: \u2014 A lengthy report, submitted on behalf of the National Youth Committee, stressed budgetary considerations, an accountability system to funding agencies while maintaining CUJS\u2019 autonomy, and the institution of an Advisory Board to consist of four representatives from each of the funding agencies together with an undetermined number of CUJS representatives.\u2014 National Committee on Soviet Jewry: \u2014 Programming suggestions discussed at the National Exec- \u2018utive Committee meeting are to be forwarded to the National Committee on Soviet Jewry for further discussion.\u2014World Jewish Congress Executive Meeting: \u2014 Sol Kanee, CJC President, reported on the WJC Executive Committee meeting held in Jerusalem, June 27-July 4.Highlights of the Conference included a re- YA TVIH INR SIN3O ls 0041 SINDIdOIÿ3d S30 1d30 2383N5 Na 3IVNOILYN 3ND3HLOIT9IG ception hosted by Ephraim Katzir, President of Israel: the formal opening session of the WJC Executive meeting which took place in Israel's Knesset when Prime Minister Mrs.Golda Meir spoke on behalf of the Government of Israel and Dr.Nahum Goldmann, President of the Congress, delivered the Presidential Address.A-large Canadian Jewish delegation was present.\u2014United Jewish Welfare Fund of Toronto: Budget Meeting: \u2014 CJC representatives had met with the United Jewish Welfare Fund of Toronto.June 17.and it was reported that budgetary problems were discussed at length.\u2014Plenary Assembly: \u2014 The Canadian Jewish Congress Triennial Plenary Assembly date and location have been changed.The Plenary Assembly will take place at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, June 15-18, 1974.Organizations and individuals are requested to note this date.\u2014Church Matters: \u2014 Matters concerning the Canadian Council of Churches and the United Church of Canada were discussed.\u2014Edmonton and Calgary: \u2014 Edmonton and Calgary requests for services, together with the needs of other smaller western communities, will be investigated.Published monthly except July and August by the Canadian Jewish Congress to report on the activities of Canadian Jewry and matters of interest to them.National President National Executive Vice-President for occasional use, a refuge to resort to now and then.Itis rather like an established residence for the innermost self.All things have a home, the bird has a nest, the fox has a hole, the bee has a hive.À soul without prayer is a soul with- soul, after roaming through a world festered with aimlessness, falsehoods and absurdities, seeks a moment in which to gather up its scattered life, in which to divest itself of enforced pretensions and camouflage.in which to simplify complexities, in which to call for help without being a coward.Such a home is prayer.Continuity, permanence, intimacy, authenticity, earnestness are its attributes.For the soul, home is where prayer is.PRAYER IS NOT A STRATAGEM out a home.Weary, sobbing.the Sol Kanee Saul Hayes.Q.C.Postage-puaid-in-cash of third class rates \u2014 Permit No.10,019.Bulk \u2014 en nombre.Return postage guar- onteed.CONGRESS BULLETIN, 1590 McGregor Street, Montreal 109, Quebec VOL 28 NO.5 cong ress bullet published by Canadian } ewl sh Congress |@ os "]