Solution of Soviet Jewry Problem Rests Solely with Soviet Government

The solution to the problem of Soviet Jewry rests squarely with the Soviet government. Rabbi Israel Miller, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told 700 communal leaders from the U.S., Canada and abroad attending the biennial convention of the National Jewish Welfare Board here this weekend. The solution “cannot be found in the United States, in Israel, in the concern of humanitarians the world over, in the protests of the Jewish community and even in the courageous voice of Soviet Jews demanding their rights,” Rabbi Miller said.

American Jewry’s efforts, he stated, must be toward exercising “whatever pressures can be brought to bear upon the Russian decision makers to ease their policy of restricting emigration.” This is the reason for “our unswerving support” of the Jackson Mills Vanik amendments and of the initiatives of President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger in their conversations with the Soviet leaders. Rabbi Miller said.

“We await a response from the Kremlin,” he declared. “We favor improved relationships with the Soviet Union, but detente is a two-way street and the traffic must be discernible in both directions. No act of the Russians will go unnoticed–either positively or negatively. We are still awaiting a positive response.” Rabbi Miller, president of the American Zionist Federation, is a national vice-president of the JWB.

VOW UNWAVERING SUPPORT FOR J/M-V

In a resolution on Soviet Jewry adopted by the delegates yesterday at the conclusion of the convention, the JWB reiterated its own “unwavering support” of the enactment of the J/M-V Amendments by the Congress and vowed to intensify efforts on behalf of Soviet Jewry in communities throughout the country.

In another resolution, the JWB called on the U.S. Olympic Committee not to hold the 1980 Olympics in Moscow because of the “hoots and jeers and anti-Semitic epithets hurled at Israel athletes” at the World University Games which were held in Moscow last year. The resolution urged that the Olympic Games only be held “in a country that is willing and able to assure security and freedom from harassment of athletes and spectators alike.”

Regarding Israel, the JWB called upon the Administration and Congress “to view Israel’s needs sympathetically in its fiscal 1975 foreign aid program” because of the Yom Kippur War which consumed the equivalent of Israel’s entire 1973 gross national product and because Israel will need more assistance to relieve her overburdened economy.

With respect to Jewish life in North America, delegates were urged to develop a heightened sense of search for Jewish identity and for an authentic Jewish community. The flexible, informal, creative Jewish programming characteristic of Jewish community centers has been largely responsible for this increased Jewish feeling, the delegates were told. Young communal leaders played a major role at the convention this year. More than 60 of them received Young Leadership Recognition Awards for “effective service on a Jewish community board or committee” from outgoing JWB president Morton L. Mandel. Cleveland industrialist who was named honorary JWB president.

DANIEL ROSE NEW JWB PRESIDENT

Mandel, who completed four years of service was honored by six prominent Jewish communal leaders and received the JWB’s 1974 Frank L. Well Award for his “distinguished contribution to the Jewish community center field.”

Daniel Rose, prominent New York real estate developer and communal leader, was elected JWB president. He is director of the Foreign Policy Association and has been designated an “expert advisor” to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and an “expert consultant” to the Commissioner of Education, Department of Health. Education and Welfare. In New York, Rose is treasurer of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council and a member of the board of overseers of the Center for the Study of New York City Affairs. He is also assistant treasurer of the Police Athletic League and chairman of its Manhattan Advisory Board.