Rabbi Cahn Denounces Breira As a Danger to Israel’s Security

Rabbi Judah Cahn president of the New York Board of Rabbis, declared here that because Israel lives in “peril,” the question of free speech with respect to Israel must take into account that “free speech does not include the right to cry ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.” Cahn made his remarks in the course of his acceptance speech when he was re-elected president at the Board’s 96th annual meeting here during which he lashed out against Breira which, he claimed, “endangers Israel’s security.”

Cahn was also sharply critical of the Orthodox Church in America which has suspended Archbishop Trifa who has been accused of war crimes but has yet to acknowledge his moral guilt. In another part of his address, he accused the Soviet Union of “flouting” the Helsinki Agreement with respect to its treatment of Jews and the denial of their right to emigrate.

Referring to Breira, which he likened to the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism, Cahn claimed that “some of the leaders of this group have histories of affiliations with groups which were unfriendly, if not hostile, to the State of Israel.” He noted further that among Breira leaders “are directors of the B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundations who, because of their positions, have direct and immediate access to Jewish college students.” Cahn claimed that “B’nai B’rith has been torn by dissension over this question of free speech for its Hillel directors.”

APPEALS TO B’NAI B’RITH

He observed that “The principle of free speech is one with which we are in full accord, but as Justice Holmes pointed out, free speech does not include the right to cry ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.” He said, “We appeal to B’nai B’rith to prevent the Breira members within its Hillel family from speaking as leaders of B’nai B’rith. In these cases, personal opinion and official position cannot be separated,” Cahn said.

He said that in the case of Trifa, the Archbishop was relieved of his duties “but the word ‘suspension’ was not used to describe his status” and in a supplementary statement, “the speaker for the Orthodox Church stated that the action did not imply the Archbishop’s guilt or impugn his record as a clergyman.” Cahn said “It is beyond comprehension that a church body must await a legal decision before establishing moral guilt.”

Cahn said “The flouting of the Helsinki Agreement by the Soviet Union is so outrageous that it places all other questions in shade. I think we can all agree that so long as one Jew remains in the Soviet Union or any other land against his will, we are all prisoners. Our primary objective is to free Jews from those national prisons in which they are being held and where they undergo physical and mental torture. The methods we or they use are secondary to the purpose.”