The Canadian English-Jewish Weekly
VOL XXXIV
MONTREAL, JANUARY 18, 1952
HY. Rabbis Oppose Dally Prayer h Schools
The New York Board of Rabbis, representing Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jewish congregations fcv New York State, unanimously adopted a resolution against the proposal of the Board ox Regents that a prayer be offered daily in public schools.
The complete text of the statement follows:
"The New York Board of Rabbis, representing all branches of Judaism, is concerned over the widespread materialism which has permeated contemporary life. We regard this development with the utmost seriousness because all Jewish history confirms that religious training is indispensable to a complete educational experience and, without it, life is indeed devoid of meaning or worth. We, therefore; applaud the motives of the New York State Board of Regents in seeking to develop the meral and spiritual fiber of our children but we of the New York Board of Rabbis cannot approve the recommendation that there be daily prayer in the public schools.
"We believe that the adoption of this program in our schools would do violence to our religious liberties. In Jewish religious law amd practice, prayer is an essential daily experience. In . consonance
Stfe our traditions, prayer is to recited at the beginning of the child's day in the home or in the before he leaves for Asmh% Tttdrtioaal Jews .ejbeJaU exclusively of �txta; aa4 bo$i are re-
Gives $200,000 N.Y. Home To Labor Unit As Center
Frank Z. Atran, textile manufacturer and a refugee from the Nazi regime, who last year gave $1,000,000 to Mount Sinai Hospital, donated last / week a five-story building at Seventy-eighth Street and Madison Avenue to the Jewish Labor Committee, an organization representing 500,000 Jewish trade unionists in the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
The building was bought for $200,000 by the Frank Z. Atran Foundation last December and is now occupied by the Walt Whitman School. Adolph Held, national chairman of the. Labor Committee, which is devoted to combating discrimination and strengthening democratic institutions, announced it would be used as "a nerve center for the continued fight against all forms of racial and religious -bigotry wherever and whenever it arises."
To be named the Atran Jewish Cultural House, the building "will be the focal point for democratic Jewish cultural activity in the United States/' Mr. Held said.
"It will be the center to which will gravitate the victims of Nazi and Communist persecution, whose literary activities have been burned or banned by totalitarian) nations, who have faced physical torture," he added.
Mr. Atran, who was bom in Russia and fled to America tea yeafs ago, heads the America* Vafftea, Inc., in the U. 8. att ' "e concerns in France and Bei> the donation etV
Pawnbroker Was Famous As Police Aid
Harry Weisenberger, the New York pawnbroker who helped apprehend some 1,500 criminals and was instrumental in the recovery of more than $1,000,000 in stolen property during the last thirty-five years, died in New York in the Medical Arts Center Hospital of a heart attack suffered the same day. He was 51 years old. Mr. Weisenberger was striken in his pawnshop at 781 Eighth Avenue. His home was at the Essex House, 160 Central Park South.
His exploits in capturing thieves and on occasion murderers, received wide coverage in newspapers and national magazines. Nevertheless, for a reason that the pawnbroker himself could not ex plain, his establishment continued to be visited by a steady stream of felons who had loot to pawn.
A stocky, dark-complexioned man with a slow maimer of speech, he would question suspicious-acting patrons' in a seemingly guileless' manner. When his suspicions were confirmed, Mr. Weisenberger would glance casually toward the outdoors and remark, "It looks like rain.','
Thi* was a signal for his clerks to- bolt- the street door. A moment later, pistol in hand, the pawnbroker would advise tne suspect to remain quiet until the police arrived. It was his boast that he had never made a mistake.
An excellent pistol shot, Mr. Weisenberger practiced frequently on the ranges at Police Headquarters. He would apprise the lawbreakers of |his f�ct in such convincing, maflfcer that be never had
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and from a succession of New York Police Commissioners. He was a friend to high police officials, among them Chief Inspector Conrad H. Rothengust, says the New York Times.
Or learning of the pawnbroker's death, Inspector Kothengast extolled him as "a first-class citizen who had established a splendid rec- . ord for good citizenship in cooper-' aling with law enforcement officials." It was Mr. Rothen^ast's custom to phone Mr. Weisenberger after each capture and promote him, ex-officio. Recently, Mr. Weisenberger earned the accolade of "f-'rst-grade detective."
Mr. Weinsenberger delighted in reminiscing about his exploits. One of his favorite stories concerned a man in a naval officer's uniform who came into his establishment dunrig, the second World War to pawn an article. The pawnbroker questioned him about his branch of service.______
When he received a vague answer, Mr. Weisenberger became suspicious and asked the man to return later. In the meantime, he phoned the shore patrol and informed them of the circumstances While awaiting the arrival of the shore patrol, Mr. Weisenberger was visited by another man in naval uniform. He told this individual of his earlier client, informing him that the man had said he was in naval intelligence.
"Too bad I wasn't here," the latter "officer" replied. 'I would have settled it in a minute. He should have been carrying credentials like these."
Mr. Weisenberger examined the "credentials," which didn't "look right" to him. A moment later, Mr. Weisenberger was on the phone calling the police. Ultimately, both men were arrested on charges of impersonation. '
In January, 1947, Mr. Weisenberger captured three jewel thieves in six days, two of them on successive days. Several months ago he helped bring about the arrest of a youth who had murdered an out-of-town law officer. His most recent exploit was the capture of John D. Rockfeller, no relative of the oil family, who entered the shop on December 1 to nawn stolen silverware.
He was a member of the New York Count Grand Jurors Association. Mr. Weisenberger entered the pawnbroking business thirty-five years ago in a shop owned by his father, Isidore, who survives him. Other survivors are a brother, Arthur, and a sister, Mrs. Helen W. Trotiky, all of New York.
A funeral service was held in the Riverside Memorial Chapel, 9*ve�tv-sixtli Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
Asks Fresh U.N. Start For Peace With Arabs
Israel proposed the dissolution of the Palestine Conciliation Commission and the creation of new good offices that would be available, when conditions improve, to mediate the political differences between Israel and the Arab states.
Abba S. Eban, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, told the Special Political Committee of the United Nations General Assembly in Paris that a new organ woud be able to start afresh under different auspices. He cited the commission's record of failure and of ^unfulfilled resolutions^
Arab members of the United Nations have sought to re-emphasize earlier Assembly resolutions on* the internationalization of Jerusalem and the repatriation of nearly 1,000,000 Arab refugees driven from Palestine during the fighting there. The Israeli attitude is that such repatriation is impracticable.
Mr. Eban said that Israel was now willing to discuss the refugee problem Independently of other issues�a departure from the commission, proposal that there be an overtoil solution' of the Arab-Israeli problems. Israel has said she was willing to pay a lump sum as compensation to the displaced Arabs en the condition that this was recognized as the final payment.
The Special Political Committee also received a Soviet proposal that would abolish the Conciliation Commission without creation of amy substitute organ. The three members of the commission�France, Turkey, and the United Slates�phis Britain, introduced a resolution that would silftwl
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New York and then go teto a reserved status.
The Israeli delegate noted that the Arab nation*, in refusing to recognize the existence of Israel as a legal state, also refused to negotiate with her. He termed this attitude as chiefly responsible for the failure to achieve any settlement, reports the New York Times.
Ahmad el-Shukairi, assistant secretary general of the Arab League, proposed in Paris that three mixed committees be formed to settle the three chief issues between Israel and the Arab states � refugees, Jerusalem and the delineation1 of borders.
Until now, the Arab states, who do not recognize the legality of the Tel Aviv government, have refused to take part in direct negotiations with Israel on these questions, while the suggestion of Mr. el-Shukairi � was a departure from this attitude, his proposed terms of reference for such talks were immediately declared unacceptable by Israel.
The Arab proposal was made after Abba S. Eban, Israeli ambassador to the United States accused the Arabs of blocking any settlement by their refusal to sit at a conference table with an Israeli delegation.
Mr. el-Shukairi, a member of the Syrian delegation as well as being deputy chief^of the Arab League, told a prefix conference that the refugee question should be discussed on the basis of repatriation to Israel of those Arab refugees who wished to return. He proposed that Jerusalem, now partly ruled by Israel and partly by Jordan, be placed under a United Nations governor general to be named by Pope Pius.
The disputed areas around the borders of Palestine should likewise be allocated w> the light of the Lausanne Protocol, he said. The latter recorded the territorial claims of both sides, but Tel Aviv-asserts that the Arab claims were "spectacular" whereas Israel's claims were "drab."
While Mr. el-Shukairi said that he was not speaking for * Arab League members of the United Nations, it was considered unlikely that he would present such a plaii on his own initiative.
The Palestine Conciliation Commission's package plan presented to both sides last fall would have sent back to Israel only those of almost 1,000,000 Arab refugees who could be absorbed. When neither side was willing to accent this plan, the commission reported that it had failed because of the intransigence of both parties because of "changes which have occurred in Palestine during the past three years" made it impossible for the> commission to carry out its mandate.
Israel To Make Direct To Germans On Reoar
The Israeli Parliament overruled opposition attempts to prevent direct negotiations with Germany on reparations. At the same time it put brakes on the Gov. ernment's plans to begin negotiations. A cordon of 800 policemen reinforced by several thousand workers who had been mobilized by the national trade union* organization, Histadrut, stood guard around the Knesset (Parliament) to prevent resumption of riots.
The Knesset voted 61 to 50, with five abstentions, "to determine the final line of action in accordance with the circumstances and conditions." By the same vote it rejected the opposition motion against any contact with the Germans, which was backed by the extreme right wing Herat party, by the Communists, the nro-Soviet Mapam party and the General Zionist*.
Israel, in a note to the four oc-cupving powers in Germany last March had asked *1,660,000,000 renaratioma and asked the occupy-in^ powers to act as mediators. While the Soviet Union has not replied, the three festers powers said they 'could wet act lev Israel and suggested disslt nefestfetisM, savs the New Y#tk Tiraes. fte Government decided tn favor of direct negotiations but in view of the Israeli stttfcg fee&ajs eft the subject decided to &se**s it in Parliament . > .
Pinhas Rosen] former Minister of Justice who comes from Berlin1, said the purpose was to favor with Israel u i force in international affairs to atone for German wioaae. Opponents questioned the sincerity' of Dr. Adjuster's offer s^jpslftV his purpose/"- - "---�Lli~
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