Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 August 1963 — Page 5

Friday, August 1963

The National Jewish POST and OPINION

Jewish Immigration And JFK's Proposal

NEW YORK IP-O) — How will President Kennedy’s proposal to abolish the quota system in immigration, if passed in substance by Congress, affect Jewish immigration to the United States? Will it allow for a mass exodus for North African and Eastern European Jewish refugees as rumored? In actuality, the President’s bill would not alter the total number of immigrants who enter the country each year radically. What it would change is who those im- __ migrants would be. Currently, 156,700 immigrants are allowed entry under the quta system, which is based on the national origins of the United • States population of 1920. President Kennedy’s bill would allow eventual immigration from all countries to about 165,000 people. It would allow immigration without regard to country of origin and do away with the requirement the immigrants who seek entry because of special skills they possess first be assured of definite employment in this country. However, the President’s bill would substitute a priority system Jor national quotas which would give first preference to people of useful skills or, as the Chief Executive put it, ‘‘with the greatest ability to add to the national welfare.” This would include doctors, teachers, engineers and scientists. This priority system is viewed by immigration observers as affecting Jewish immigration in two ways. First, there are many skilled Jewish professionals in Eastern European countries who are either on the interminably long backlog list or who have not even registered at all. Those in the latter category figured that under the quota system, they would have little chance of coming into the United States as all the rolls were jammed. Countries principally af-

fected include Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary and Rumania. Under the President’s proposed system, they would qualify ahead of many unskilled workers whose names many have been on the list far longer. It is interesting to note that many of these people could probably have affected their emigration to Israel, but did not — and thereby hangs a second aspect of how the new proposal might affect Jewish immigration. Although no one will officially say so, Israel is glutted with more skilled professionals than it can find work for — with the exception of scientists, engineers and technicians. Thus, doctors, lawyers and professors in Eastern European countries were reluctant to come to Israel where the possibility existed of beginning life on a lower level than they were accustomed to in their own countries. Following this line of reasoning through, there is some speculation that many such professionals who did go to Israel and were disappointed in not maintaining their previous positions of wealth and prestige might want to move again to the United States. There is no way to determine if this number will be substantial or not Working against the possibility of increased economic and social status in this country is, of course, the desire to remain and enrich the Jewish homeland which welcomed them after the war when no other country would. President Kennedy’s bill provides a second priority of persons whose immigration would reunite a family. Again, while comparative figures are not accessible, it is believed that Jews would rank proportionately high in this area. There had been speculation that many Jews who fled Algeria to France would be readily eligible under the President’s system.

Israel's Products to be Shown At Display Center in New York

NEW YORK - The first display center for Israeli products in the United States will oe opened late next month by the Government of Israel Trade Com-

mission in New York.

Modern showroom facilities will serve as a means for Israeli manufacturers to show their products to better advantage, according to Dr. Max Leron, trade commissioner. The center was created because of the joint wish of Israel manufacturers to have a means of displaying their wares to the United States professional buying community and because of the desire on the part of United States merchants for a place to see Is-

raeli products on display.

The Israel government will cov-

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er the entire nudget for the center, which will be at 850 Third Ave. Exporters will be given equal opportunities to have their goods shown. Mrs. Michael Hyams will direct and coordinate the center. Dr. Leron indicated that the growing export trade from Israel to the United States was a major need for the center’s coming into existence. Israeli exports to the United States reached a new high of $42 million in 1962 and should surpass $50 million this year, Dr. Leron said. Israel Gets Four Tons ^eavy Water' From US for Atom Research WASHINGTON, DC - The United States has agreed to give Israel tour tons of “heavy water,” a mixture to be used in the peaceful development of atomic energy between the two countries. The “heavy water” will be used in a research project at the Technion in Haifa, and periodic safeguard inspections will be conducted to assure that it is not diverted to non-peaceful uses.

According to a knowledgable immigration source, this would not be the case. Many of the Jews who came to France as Algeria won its independence, particularly those who might qualify under the priority system, are French nationals and not Algerians. As the Kennedy bill calls for a relaxation of the quota system over five years, and as any passage of the bill is seen no sooner than the 1964 session, there would be no immediate effect on the French Algerian refugee problem through this bill in time for it to be meaningful.

One-Third of Immigrants Said On Israeli Social Welfare Rolls

Ministry has increased by 50 per

cent.

The main aim in social welfare work in Israel now is to make the recipients self-sustain-ing as quickly and as solidly as possible rather than to make them rely on the inadequate relief hand-

outs.

Christians in Isi^qi There were 50,543 Christk'^ living in Israel in 1961, repressing 2.3 per cent of the population, according to recently released census figures. Israel Bond Purchase 6/ Georgia Bank The Fulton National Bank of Atlanta, Ga., has purchased $25,000 in State of Israel Bonds.

JERUSALEM — One-third of the present wave of immigrants to Israel are social welfare cases, according to the Minister of Welfare, Dr. Yosef Burg, speaking in the Knesset in a debate on the budget of his ministry. In addition to the burden of the present immigrants on the limited funds available for public relief, the effects of the previous waves of immigration are still being felt, he said. Ninety per cent of the welfare cases now on relief have arrived in Israel in the

past 15 years.

The present budget for the Ministry has been increased 20 per cent in the past year but the actual need exceeds this by far. In the provisions for retarded children, to quote but one example, the number of cases cared for by the

Grenade Thrower Now Lubavitcher Camp Instructor Reuven Helman, 36, has taken over the duties of athletic instructor at the Lubavitchers’ Swan Lake, NY, camp, Camp Gan Israel. Helman was an Israeli soldier during the War of Independence, known for his grenade throwing, and is the Israeli weightiifting champion. A New Kind of Lubavitcher: He Can Hoist 330 Pounds

SWAN LAKE, NY — What is your mental picture of a Lubavitcher? Is it one generaily associated with all observant ultra-orthodox Jews, that of a thin, aestheticlooking, perhaps slightly stooped elderly man always dressed in black gabardine? If it is, Reuven Helman will do much to upset that notion. Helman is a muscular 200-pounder with a full black beard who is the athletic instructor at the Lubavitcher summer camp, Camp Gan Israel, here. He is also Israel’s weight-lifting champion, capable of hoisting 330 pounds above his head with ease, and was a solider renowned for his grenade throwing ability during the War of Independence, The Jewish News, Newark, NJ, reported. Helman, a native sabra born in Tel Aviv, took to athletics and body-building when only a youngster. His long years of training were to make him one of Israel’s premier athletes after the State was established. But when only 21, while Israel was still fighting to mamtain its recently won independence agamst the Arabs, he put his athletic prowess to a more important use. Having trained as a shot putter and javelin thrower, Helman had a tremendous range when

given something to throw. During the war, what he threw were grenades. When a grenade thrower extraordinaire was called for, Helman was often transported in a taxi to the front lines — army vehicles were often in short supply — where he could hurl grenades at enemy positions at distances upward of 75 meters (about 246 feet). Throwing grenades was not the extent of Helman’s activities during the war. He was also among the Israelis who fought Egypt’s feared Fedayeen, the night infiltrators who terrorized the countryside. Once Israel gained its independence, however, Helman found other means of using his great strength. Besides weight-lifting, he is one of his country’s top Decathalon athletes and came in second m the International Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv in 1957. During the 1950’s, he was first a policeman and later a sports instructor at the vocational schools. After his stay at Swan Lake this summer, Helman will return to Israel to join his wife, Leah, and their three daughters, Noava, 7; Aryela, 4; and Hedvah, 1. They live in the Lubavitcher village in Israel.