The Canadian English'Jewish Weekly
VOL XU
GARDENVALE. QUEBEC. JULY 17. 1959
Bnai BM Convention, Held In U.S. Jewish Schools Was Composer
Jerusalem, Established World Council To Expand Scope Of Service
Mark Huge Rise Conductor, Author
in Decade
Of Stature
Israel Crisis Over Arms Sale To Germany Points To Huge Export Industry
Enrollment in Jewish schools in the U.S. has increased 181 per cent in the last decade, the Fourth National Conference on Jewish Education, sponsored by the American Association for Jewish Edu-
Premier David Ben-Gurion, of Guggenheim and A. Kroll, West Israel, appealed to members of Berlin lawyer and a leader of Bnai Brith, world Jewish service West Berlin's Jewish community, organization, to link th~W�elve^^whp; attends-the convention as an cation, -was told iiv New- York^A closer to Israel, which he said was observer. It has been estimated study made public at the opening the only force that could unify that between 25,000 and 40,000 session showed that a record total the Jews of the world. The Pre- Jews, mainly elderly, reside in of 654,600 Jewish children and mier repeated his frequently West Germany. young people were enrolled in Jew-that the Jews of-----Dr. MoflheDavifl, provost of tho�i*h weekday afternoon schools,
the United States were in danger of losing their unity and identity through assimilation with the non-Jewish community.
He said that following the destruction of the European Jewish community by Hitler there had been no cultural force to hold the JewB of the world together until the creation of Israel in 1948, reports the New York Times.
"But without strengthening the ties between Israel and the Jews of the United States and the rest of the world, we cannot hope to preserve the unity of the Jewish people," he declared. In turn, he said, the fate of Iai
Mum
ability to survive among her hostile neighbors depend primarily oh promoting this unity.
The Israeli Premier spoke to delegates to Bnai Brith's triennial convention in the Hebrew University's amphitheatre. Mr. Ben-Gurion said he was certain that what had happened to the Jews in Europe would never be repeated in the United States. But American Jews now need to share a "common denominator" with Israel to preserve their identity as Jews, he asserted. This, he went on, must be based on three "pillars:" The messianic hope given to the Jewish people by their- prophets; the teaching of
ytrtrhf Jew* to Israel.to work and study.
Before he spoke the 73-year-old Premier was given the Bnai Brith President's Medal for hu-manitarianism. The award was presented by Philip M. Klutznick, president Nearly 1,300 delegates, the majority of them from the United States, attended the Jewish service organization's convention in Jerusalem.
Bnai Brith reported that it would resume its service activities in West Germany. The decision was officially announced at the
-convention by Dr. Edwin Guggen-
heim, of Zurich, Switzerland, president of Bnai Brith's district ��Tor Continental Europe; �
Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, tola the delegates that historians and educators were "beginning to realize that Jews belong to the present as well as the past."
Dr. Davis announced that he would organize an institute of contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University. The institute will undertake a world-wide study of the social, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual character of Jewish communities. Dr. Davis is scheduled to take a two-year leave of absence from the seminary to organize the institute.
Bnai Brith established an in--ternational council to expand the worldwide scope of its service activities. Delegates to the organization's triennial convention overwhelmingly voted to set up the project after five hours of debate on the issue. The eighteen-member council will seek to "strengthen contact" among Bnai Brith affiliates now organized in thirty-seven nations. It will also serve as a "coalescing factor" among Jewish communities throughout the world.
The delegates elected Label.A. Katz, of New Orleans, as the fourteenth president in the 116-year history of the organization. Mr. Katz, a 40-year-old lawyer and a prominent figure in Jewish affeipcvin the United State* is the voongiai * hold the office. He defeated Herman Fineberg, of Pittsburgh, Pa. Mr. Katz succeeds Philip Klutznick, of Park Forest, III., who held the office for six years.
The newly established council was advocated by Mr. Klutznick as a means of "breaking the bounds of parochialism" that he said tended to separate Jewish communities in different parts of the world, says the New York Times. The council will represent Bnai Brith in international matters and in the organization's liaison activities with the United
Lazare Saminsky, music director emeritus of Temple Emanu-El, in New York, died at Port Chester, N. Y., at United Hospital of a stroke. He was 76 years old. Mr. Saminsky who lived in -Rye, had ..considerable _ stature as a composer of ballet, orchestrair choral and chamber music. He was director for many years of the Three Choirs Festivals in New York, and had conducted in Eu-
one-day Sabbath schools, and- day Jp]^So^th-^flrer^a7^Tid;CaTiadff7 schools last fall. . * J "
The enrollment increase, the study asserted, was double that of the nation's non-Jewish religious schools, says the New York Times. The report declared this indicated that "the general American upsurge of religious sentiment can account for only a minor part of the increase in Jewish schooling." The Jewish enrollment rise, it said, "apparently resulted from a maturation of Jewish attitudes from within."
The 265-page report presented the findings of a seven-year re-- search project eonducted by the Commission for the Study of Jewish Education in the United States. Completed at a cost of more than $250,000, the study involved 20,-000 community leaders, parents and children, educators, and rabbis.
Dr. Alexander M. Dushkin, coauthor of the report with Dr. Uriah Z. Engelman, told the conference that "Jewish education has become generally accepted by children and parents as a 'built-in' phase of the American democratic deistic environment." While noting "remarkable gains" in Jewish ea-
Introducing Russian and American works, including his own.
HiB ballets include "The Vision of Ariel" (1915), "Lament of Rachel" (1920), "The Plague's Gag-liarda" and "Jephtha's Daughter" (1928). He also composed the opera "Julian, the Apostate Caesar" (1939), says the New York Times. Among his best known orchestral pieces are "Of the Rivers," "Of the Summits" and "Of the Seas," numbered as symphonies 1 to 3.
In the orchestral field, Mr. Saminsky also wrote "City of Solomon and Christ," "Ausonia, Italian Pages," "To a New -World"" "Tliree Shadows," "Stilled Pageant" and "Pueblo, a Moon Rhapsody." His chamber music Included the "Litanies of Women" for ten instruments, "Songs of the Three Queens" for soprano and chamber orchestra; and "Chassidic Suite" for violin or 'cello and small orchestra.
Sacred songs of Palestine and other Biblical places were prominent among Mr. Saminsky's choral works. "By the Rivers of $abylon" and "King Saul" were Among-, these.
Dr. Guggenheim said that the first post-war German lodge was being chartered in West Berlin. This marks the reappearance of the 116-year-old organization in Germany after twenty-two years. ^With the return of Bnai Brith to Germany, the movement is now reconstituted in eleven West European countries.
In 1955, Chancellor Adenauer, in a meeting with Philip M. Klutznick, retiring president of the organization, urged Bnai Brith to return to West Germany. Several months ago it was learned in -Washington that the organization's administrative body was reviewing the possibility of resuming operations in West Germany, says the New York Times.
Details for the granting of the charter were worked out by Dr.
Nations, where Bnai Brith has non-governmental status.
The new body will be made up of members from the United States, Canada, Israel, Britain, and Ireland. It will function directly under the organization's board of governors. The delegates approved the establishment of a Bnai Brith commission on adult Jewish education. They voted a three-year budget of $300,000 for a vastly expanded adult education program. A special assessment of 60 cents a member in the United States and Canada to finance the program was voted. Bnai Brith has a membership of more than 400,-000.
The convention called attention to the 'Vital importance" of the study of Hebrew, and urged "all members and their families to make the required effort to learn
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ucation, Dr" Pushkin urged "more V4 B<>2 int 0A?MS?i Mr' Sa,njns�y .mnfca >u "f�bimr the historic .ttudHsf at the Moscow ana St.
". � a cttflfoetor in Moscow at the age
of 31. In 1917 he conducted his "Of the Rivers" symphony at the Imperial Opera House in what was then Petrograd (Leningrad). He fled Russia during the Revolution, and in 1919 started lecturing on music at British universities.
Before coming to the U.S. in 1920r Mr. Saminsky also served as a musical director in; France and England. He made his American debut as a conductor in Detroit in 1921. His first position in New York was as conductor of the Friends of Music in 1922. In 1923 and 1924 he was with the New York Philharmonic Symphony.
Mr. Saminsky~aiso~ wrote extensively on music. "Music of Our Day," "Music of the Ghetto and the Bible", and "Living Music of the Americas," are among his publications. He also contributed to the International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, ana was a founder and director of the League of Composers.
Concerts devoted to Mr. Saminsky's works have been given in New York at the former Times
emphasis on "teaching_the historic literary sources body of Jjpwfcfr 1
the Bible and the Talmud)." Dr. Dushkin is Professor of Education at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Dr. Engelman is director of the association's research department.
Noting that "the holding power" of Jewish schools � three to four years �: was "poor," the study said: "Our problem is no longer that of getting our children to Jewish school, but rather of having them stay in the schools long enough to make that education valuable."
The report listed 3,367 Jewish religious schoolB in the U.S. � 1,760 weekday afternoon schools, 1,393 one-day Sabbath schools, and 214 day schools, says the New-York Times. Of the total enrollment, 47.1 per cent of the pupils attended the weekday afternoon schools, 45.1 per cent the one-day Sabbath schools; and 7.8 per tent the day schools.
It was found that the orientation of Conservative Judaism predominated in the weekday afternoon schools, the Reform in the one-day Sabbath schools, and the Orthodox in the day schools.
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Israel's military industry, whose export business to West Germany caused the political crisis, has grown from an embattled and wildly informal underground operation during the British mandate to a huge industrial complex capable of -producing ^everything from smoke bombs to bazookas. "In fact, Shimon Peress, the Defense Ministry's director general, has described the government-owned -military�industry as "the coun-try's biggest industrial enterprise."
While it took this crisis over the sale of Israeli-made grenade throwers to West Germany to make the world aware of Israel exports munitions, the fact is that Israel exports $5,000,000 worth yearly, says the New York Herald Tribune. Most of the exports are shrouded in secrecy which normally surrounds arms sales everywhere, but it is public information that Israel exports its Ij&cally designed and locally manufactured Uzi submachine gun to several NATO armies.
The Defense Ministry is in--tensely interested in export fox� these reasons: It earns hard currency, helps Israel cement relations with purchasing countries, helps give Israel's military men entree to high commands of other armies, gives Israel's arms purchasing agents a better chance to get what they need from countries which must maintain delicate balance between Israel and Arabs, and keeps the munitions industry busy when local needs are slack.
This last reason is important since it means keeping skilled workmen, who otherwise would have to be dismissed, on the job. Various reasons; motivate those who buy from Israel. Some of its military products^ fefh. the UZr submachine- *g\asy which i* considered among the world's best, are superior in design. Israel also boasts that she manufactures arms and ammunition at costs averaging 15 per cent less than world prices.
Besides the government owned network of arms plants called Taas, some other factories in Israel produce military hardware, says the New York Herald Tribune, The German order for 250,-000 grenade throwers was awarded to a local factory after it was
approved by the Defense Ministry and government. Israeli sources refuse to speculate on the reasons motivating Germany in placing the order there.
"Per Speigel," a German weekly which .broke the story of the-arms contract, reported the cheap but good"~grenade thrower�jras_ designed by a Finnish company, but that Finland could not manufacture arms for Germany be--eauae-of-restrictions In 1 Finnish peace treaty, and the contract - came to Israel as a result of involved business relations between Israeli and Finnish companies. While this story -cannot be confirmed in Israel officials do admit that the grenade thrower was not designed there.
From Israel's viewpoint Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion reportedly felt strongly that cancellation of the German contract would hurt Israel's name abroad, particularly among other countries which might be negotiating for the purchase of Israeli weapons.
-Annthpr nnasihlp raAnrtn fnr the
governments intense interest in the German arms deal was hinted at by Gen. Moshe Day an, former Army Chief, of Staff, in the radio debate on the issue. He said, "It is not so much a question of arming Germany as of arming Israel."
Gen. Dayan asked an opponent of the German contract whether he would accept German weapons for Israel. When the opponent said, 'T would not accept a ceremonial pistol," Gen. Dayan replied: "This is no matter of ceremonial pistols. It could be tanks or submarines or anything else."
While Israelis are clearly divided on the sale of Israeli-made weapons to Germany, they are proud of their munitions industry and its progress, says .the New York Herald Tribune. The first hand grenade made by volunteer underground munitions workers back in the twenties had to be lighted with, a match.
Today, the munitions industry supplies all ammunition needed by the air and ground forces, produces such items as a super bazooka capable of knocking out any
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