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DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
14
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN
By MARTIN SILVER
The National Council of Jewish
Women, which will hold its 17th
triennial convention and observe
its 50th anniversary at the Drake
Hotel, in Chicago, Nov. 7 to 11,
is the oldest organized Jewish
women's group in America, and
it includes all phases of Jewish
belief. The Council grew out of
the Congress of Jewish Women,
which was part of the Parliament
of Religions held in connection
with the World's Fair in Chicago,
in 1893. A Women's Committee
representing every religion and
denomination thereof formed a
separate unit in the general com-
mittee of the Parliament, and
each women on that committee
was the chairman for her par-
ticular religious group.
Mrs. Hannah Greenebaum Solo-
man, a young woman already
known for her participation in
Chicago civic affairs, was ap-
pointed to this Women's Commit-
tee Jan. 1, 1892. The Jewish
Women's Religious Congress con-
vened in the Memorial Art Pal-
ace in Chicago during the week
of Sept. 3, 1893, and took part
in the Parliament of Religions,
Sept. 21 to 26. The 95 women
at the Congress approved Mrs.
Solomon's plan for a permanent
organization, and the National
Council of Jewish Women was
established, dedicating itself to
"Faith and Humanity" through
religious education and philan-
thropy.
A significant program was in-
troduced in 1894 with the ap-
pointment of a junior section
committee, to parallel and carry
on the work of the senior Coun-
cil members. In 1919 the juniors
met and became established as
the National Council of Jewish
Juniors. When the Senior Coun-
cil convenes in Chicago in Novem-
ber, the Jewish Juniors will hold
a biennial convention, their 13th,
at the same time and place as
the parent organization. Mrs.
Maurice L. Goldman, president of
the National Council, and Miss
Marian Schuman, president of
Jewish Juniors, will give their
messages at the opening meeting,
Sunday evening, Nov. 7.
Thousands of Jewish women
did volunteer work in the early
years, with the dual purpose of
furthering the aims of Judaism
Zedakah Club To Hold
Victory Luncheon Nov. 9
On Monday evening, Dec. 1,
the Zedakah Club will hold a
meeting at the home of Mrs.
Joshia Karbel, 3301 Webb.
MRS. MORRIS DAVIS
An evening of entertainment
is planned for members and
guests, at which time announce-
ment will be made of the artists
who will perform at the victory
luncheon to be held at the Stat-
ler Hotel on Wednesday, Nov. 9.
Mrs. Morris Davis, president,
will entertain the members of
Zedakah Club on the eve of the
luncheon at her home on Webb
Ave.
sale
and of representing Jewish wom-
en worthily in all causes that
affect mankind. By the end of
the first decade, 14 Sabbath
Schools were doing important
work in religious education. Pio-
neer work had been done in or-
ganizing settlement houses, in
work with juvenile and other
courts, and in cooperation with
state and national associations
with social programs. Council
sections supported a great variety
of philanthropic endeavors, such
as industrial schools, day nur-
series, and Religious Mission
Schools among the poor.
In 1903, the Government of
the United States requested the
Council's assistance in solving
serious problems created by the
greatly increasing immigration to
America. The Lexow Committee,
appointed by the Government to
investigate conditions at the ports
of entry, had brought to light
tragic stories of exploitation,
white slavery, and sweat-shop
labor. Organization of Council's
Port and Dock Department was
its quick response to this shame-
ful situation. Relatives were lo-
cated, details of immigration ad-
justed, and families and individ-
ual women and children assisted
on their way to join their own
national groups. Council workers
went on to investigate labor con-
ditions and to cooperate in a
campaign for better living and
working conditions. In 1907 a
permanent station for immigrant
aid was established by the Coun-
cil at Ellis Island.
In 1908 Council participated
in the White House Conference
on Child Welfare, called by
President Taft, and Council's
program for social legislation
was formally established in 1911.
The elimination of child labor,
provision of adequate housing,
slum clearance, wage and hour
laws for women, enactment of
anti-lynching legislation, and all
legislation for protection of wom-
and children became the concern
of the Council thereafter.
When the war broke in 1914
the Council was actively cooper-
ating with the World Peace
Foundation. Between 1914 and
1918 the National Council of
Jewish Women was a member
of the Council of National De-
fense and cooperated with various
other committees and associa-
tions.
When Mrs. Carrie Chapman
Catt called a conference of eight
women's organizations, in 1925,
to found a National Committee
on the Cause and Cure of War,
the National Council of Jewish
Women was among the original
groups represented. This was fol-
lowing out the stand taken by
the Council as early as 1898,
before the Spanish American
War.
The Reconstruction program
included the work of two units
of social service experts whq
studied postwar conditions in
London, Paris, and other large
European cities and visited in-
ternment and refugees camps.
Between 1920 and 1923, more
than 65,000 individuals were
given aid at the great port cities
and helped to become naturalized
American citizens.
The Council endorsed the en-
trance of the United States into
the International Labor Organi-
zation and the League of Nations
and consistently supported social
aspects of the League. At that
time, Councils had been formed
in Australia, Greece and Turkey,
and the Council was active in
England, Holland, France, Italy
and other European countries.
With the deepening of the de-
pression, social and welfare serv-
ices were greatly increased. The
Council's program included crea-
tion of employment, financial re-
lief, emergency training courses,
special free classes for the unem-
ployed, participation in stay-in-
school campaign and in the feed-
ing of undernourished children.
The Council joined the Nation-
al Peace Conference and gave its
Prescriptions by
SCHETTLER
— Stores at —
David Whitney Bldg.
9306 Twelfth St.
Fisher Bldg.
15324 E. Jefferson Ave.
100 S. Woodward, Birmingham
17453 E. Jefferson Ave.
746 W. McNichols Rd.
9801 Lnwood Ave.
19184 Grand River Ave.
19186 Livernois Ave.
Herzl Bnai Brith Auxiliary
Dinner Party on Nov. 7
October 29, 1943
Frank O'Brien Seeks
Election as Councilman
The Theodore Herzl of B'nai
Having been endorsed by nu-
B'rith Ladies Auxiliary invite merous
Jewish civic and social
their friends to their annual din- organizations because of his en-
ner party on Sunday, Nov. 7 at lightened and progressive policies,
Frank O'Brien, successful nom-
inee, for Council, urged his many
Jewish friends to vote on Nov. 2,
at the general election.
Firmly asserting his opposition
to intolerance and bigotry and of
preserving inviolate the inalien-
able constitutional rights of the
people, O'Brien pointed to his rec-
ord with the city election commis-
sion, wherein as administrator in
charge of 7,000 election board
workers he was highly compliment-
ed by Oakley E. Distin, director
of elections, for his fine qualities
and leadership.
Frank O'Brien was born and
educated in Detroit and is a ne-
phew of Hon. John J. Maher,
iudge of Recorder's Court. Mr.
O'Brien, in a recent address,
stated emphatically that he would
represent all the people to the
best of his ability and would fa-
vor no particular group or clique.
MRS. SYLVIA WOLPIN
6:30 p. m. Mrs. Sylvia Wo1pin,
chairman of this affair, announces
that every effort is made by the
organization to make this affair
an outstanding affair. For reser-
vation, call Wyandotte 2167-J or
Atlantic 2224. Anyone joining
the organization on this day will
be a personal guest of the presi-
dent, Mrs. Tony Lebovitz, at a
party to be held at the River
Rouge Jewish Club, 41 Oak St.,
River Rouge. Admission $1.00.
support to trade agreements to
ease economic tension and fa-
vored the embargo on war mate-
rials to aggressors. The Council
petitioned President Roosevelt to
take a firm stand on the Japa-
nese question, to impose sanction
on Italy, and to aid the Spanish
Loyalists.
During the early days of Hit-
ler's regime, the Council's Port
and Dock workers helped about
2,000 refugees annually through
their first difficult hours in a
strange land. This number had
increased to 16,225 by 1939.
When America was again in-
volved in world war, the Coun-
cil's president, Mrs. Maurice L.
Goldman, issued an appeal to
American Jewish women to carry
on Council's fivefold program
while bending all energies to
win the war. The social welfare
program was expanded to in-
clude war activities. The Coun-
cil is now represented on the ad-
visory committee of the Office
of Civilian Defense, the Treas-
ury, the Office of Price Admin-
istration, the Women's Interests
Section of the War Department,
and other governmental agencies.
The fight still goes on for legis-
lation for social security, better
housing, health, wage-and-hour
legislation, and against lynching,
the poll tax, and any infringe-
ment of civil liberties. The Coun-
cil is among the leaders of a
campaign for American partici-
pation in a postwar world order
that will settle international
problems without recourse to
war.
Through the aid of Port and
Dock workers, many refugees
and stateless families have been
able to find relatives or friends
in this country. During the year
ending July, 1942, between ten
and eleven thousand Jewish im-
migrants were admitted to the
United States.
More and more emphasis is be-
ing placed on the naturalization
and Americanization of aliens al-
ready in the United States. The
Council has responded to the re-
quest of the Government in ex-
tending its naturalization service
to many communities never
reached before.
Perhaps the most interesting
feature of the service to the for-
eign born is the gigantic master
file at the Council's headquarters.
This file contains information
from the 48 states and from all
corners of the earth relating to
families disrupted by war and
Nazi persecution. The file was
begun years ago when Council
undertook the task of locating
relatives of Jewish families scat-
terede from their native villages
in pogroms and other persecu-
tions. With sections in every part
of the United States, the Council
is able to gather information
from even remote villages. Un-
questionably, this master file will
be of inestimable value in the
postwar period, when a united
effort will be made to locate and
bring together the victims of con-
centration and labor camps.
Jewish Education Assoc.
Conference To Be
Held in Columbus, 0.
The next conference of the East-
ern Central States Region of the
American Association for Jewish
Education will be held this year
the latter part of November in
Columbus, Ohio. Lay leaders and
educators from the middlewest will
gather to discuss problems per-
taining to Jewish education.
The conference will open with
an Oneg Shabbath on Friday
night, Nov. 24th. Saturday night
a symposium will be conducted
in which leading laymen of the
region will participate in a dis-
cussion on the topic "What Shall
We Teach Our Children?" Sun-
day morning reports from repre-
sentatives of various communities
will be submitted on the subject:
"An Inventory of Jewish Educa-
tion in Our Cities During the
Years 1941-43." There will also
be a luncheon meeting on Sunday,
Nov. 26th, with Professor Horace
M. Kallen as the principal speaker.
His subject 4s "The American
Jewish Community and the Jew-
ish Education of the American
Jew." The listeners will partici-
pate afterwards in a discussion
on this subject. The Sunday eve-
ning session will be devoted to the
subject: "Future Plans and Pro-
grams in Our Community."
Several members of the staff
of the United Hebrew Schools, as
well as members of the Board,
are planning to attend the Mid-
west Conference.
Dvora Rothbard of
Pioneer Women's Org.
Visiting in Detroit
Dvora Rothbard, national sec-
retary of the Pioneer Women's
Organization, will spend a few
days in Detroit. She will arrive
here on Nov. 4, at which time
she will visit the different groups
for organizational purposes.
Arrangements are being com-
pleted for their annual donor
luncheon, which will take place
on Jan. 18, 1944, at the Masonic
Temple. Those desiring to take
part will please get in touch
with Mrs. M. Michlin or any
member.
Membership Meeting
Of Yeshivath Beth
Yehudah on Nov. 2
Rabbi Max J. Wohlgelernter,
president of Yeshivath Beth Ye-
hudah, announces that the Semi-
Annual Membership Meeting will
be held on Sunday afternoon, Nov.
21, at the Mogen Abraham Syna-
gogue auditorium in the Yeshivah
building, Dexter and Cortland.
Complete education and financial
reports will be presented, and all
contributors are invited to attend.
Major Max A. Braude, a gradu-
ate of the Hebrew Theological
College of Chicago, now serving as
registrar of the School of Chap-
lains, Harvard University, will
address the meeting. Rabbi Braude
recently appeared on a national
hook-up for a Yom Kippur broad-
cast sponsored by the Jewish
\Velfare Board. He has also ap-
peared before national conven-
tions of B'nai B'rith and other
national organizations.
Deborah Auxiliary of
Bnai Brith To Hold
Membership Affair
The Deborah Auxiliary, Young
Women of Bnai Brith, is sponsor-
ing its first membership affair of
the season in the conference room
of the Jewish Community Center
on Sunday, Oct. 31, at 2 o'clock
in the afternoon.
The guest speaker is to be Mrs.
S. S. Aaron, past president of
the Women's Pisgah Auxiliary,
Bnai Brith.
A well rounded program is
planned by the membership chair-
man, Miss Dorothy Frank, Tyler
4-5062, and her committee, Miss
Sylvia Berstein, Miss Beatrice
Handelman, Miss Esther Karbel
and Miss Ruth Mirvis.
Prospective members and their
friends are cordially invited to
attend.
ELECT
FRANK J.
O'BRIEN
COUNCILMAN
Qualified by Experience
Flint Mosaic 8 Terrazzo, Inc.
G-3490
S. Saginaw St.
Phone 3-3551
FLINT, MICH.
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QuaNy. Value. Craftsmanship .
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$79 to $2500
Opening
doily, 9:45 a.m. Cosily) hours, Monday,
9 p
m.; Tuesday through Saturday, 5:45 p.m.
Library at East Grand River