THE JEWISH NEWS

Page Shtfeen

Friday, Marc

It 1943

ew Pattern for Community Action

President's Report to Jewish Welfare Federation at Annual Meeting

By ABRAHAM SRERE

As the years go by, the style and program

of the annual meetings of our Jewish Welfare

Federation have assumed a new pattern. In the
late 'twenties, when the number of con-
tributors to the Allied Jewish Campaign was
at the 4,000 mark, the meetings were used to
present to a comparatively uninformed and dis-
interested public the story of our routine de-
velopments of the year gone by.
Today these elementary details are common
knowledge. Events far beyond the - borders of
Detroit have brought home to all of us the im-
portance of our interests, both at home and
abroad.

Year's Highlights

A comprehensive review of the year's high-
lights will appear in the Anglo-Jewish and the
Yiddish press, along with the treasurer's state-
ment and an audited account of our income
and expenditures, so that it will not be neces-
sary for me to present such data at this time.
Copies of the published statements will be
available to all of you and you are welcome
to ask any questions that may come to your
mind after reviewing the published material.
Before proceeding to other matters, I would
like to call your attention to the present efforts
of a movement, which, without minimizing
other agencies and services, has been properly
described as the greatest humanitarian organ-
ization which the world has ever seen. I refer to
the American Red Cross, which is now con-
ducting a campaign for $3,000,000 in Detroit.
Its world-wide services on every fighting front
are so well-known that I need only quote the
words of William J. Norton: "Here is a patriotic
campaign of the utmost signifigance, which
every American is asked to support hand-
somely," said Mr. Norton. "I am sure. that every
Jew in Detroit will contribute in his usual
generous measure."

Endorses Sentiments

'I endorse these sentiments heartily and
commend the Red Cross Campaign to your
favorable attention.
Seventeen years have passed since the Jewish
Welfare Federation was organized in Detroit
in 1926. A great war, involving us deeply, both
as Americans and as Jews, is being fought. All
of• us are playing our part to 'help determine
favorably the fate of civilization for years to
come.
It would be unnecessary, therefore, at this
time to discuss in detail the elements of our
program, which continue to be our concern in
time of war, as in time of peace. Our Jewish
agencies in the Community Fund, such as the
Jewish Children's Bureau, North End Clinic,
Hebrew Free Loan Association, Fresh Air

Society, Jewish Community Center and Jewish
Social Service Bureau, continue ministering to
local needs, making war-time adjustments as
required.

Salute Community Fund

Our happy relationship with the Detroit
Community Fund is being maintained and
strengthened and once more we salute the
Fund as one of the great, voluntary institutions
of democratic America.
Our Allied Jewish Campaign agencies on the
local scene, such as the United Hebrew Schools,
the Jewish Community Council, the House of
Shelter, the Jewish Vocational Service, the Re-
settlement Service and the Jewish Home for
Aged, also are adapting themselves to the
changes of the day, streamlining their peace-
time programs in order that the community
may be free to concentrate on emerging sit-
uations, while at the same time unsolved prob-
lems of the past are not neglected.
Community organization in war-time is
undergoing important changes. New influences,
some temporary and others with long-time
effects extending into the years ahead, will
change the scope of certain services and alter
the very structure of some of our agencies. For
these developments we are prepared. We stand
ready, with the cooperation of an interested
community, to study the changing scene and
to furnish philanthropic, cultural, educational
and other communal services that will keep
pace with social needs.

Building Strong Community

We stand ready to maintain the point of
contact between the Jews of Detroit and their
brethren in other communities throughout the
world. Through our centralized instrument for
community organization and planning and
from the raising and distribution of funds, we
shall build a strong community at home and
preserve and strengthen the line of commun-
ication between our free community in Amer-
ica and our people in other lands, wherever
they may be in need.
LastRMay we conducted our 1942 Allied Jew-
ish Campaign with a realization that in to-
day's global war, neglect of any sector may
prove fatal to the entire war effort. We raised
$895,000, a new high in local response, and en-
rolled 23,500 contributors, also a record in the
number of supporters. In the fall, motivated by
the same recognition that the future of all of
us is inter-related, we joined the War Chest
of Metropolitan :. Detroit, along with the Com-
munity Fund, the U. S. 0. and other war-
related agencies.

Dramatic Development
This was a dramatic development for Detroit
and we brought into this new form of organ-
ization our manpower, our goodwill and our

generosity. Side by side, working with our
neighbors, we established the fact that the
well-being of all victims of Nazism is of com-
mon concern and that there alSo can be a
successful partnership in promoting the pos-
itive program of communal well-being at home.

The War Chest movement is gaining momen-
tum throughout the country. Allied Jewish
Campaign affiliation in Detroit and other cities
has shown that this association is operating to
the mutual advantage of all concerned. What
changes may be required after the war is im-
possible to determine at this time, but based
on our experience to date, we are happy to be
a part of this great War Chest movement.

Certainly, we have a responsibility to our-
selves to make certain that the interest of the
Jewish group in our own general welfare is
kept alive. Appropriate measures are being
taken, through the printed and spoken word,
through information and education, to perform
this necessary task. If I limit myself in this
report to some general observations, please be
assured that throughout the year we shall use
every opportune occasion to advise the publie
of important developments.

Aid Millions of Victims

Meanwhile, within the War Chest and
through our own channels of communications,
we shall man the vital sectors of Jewish sur-
vival. Through the United Jewish Appeal we
shall give heed to the millions of victims of
war and hate throughout the world—and shall
uphold the mighty hand of the Joint Distribu-
tion 'Committee.
Through the United Palestine Appeal we
shall sustain the hundreds of thousands in the
Jewish homeland in Palestine fighting valiantly
for democracy. We shall encourage the National
Refugee Service to help the newcomers to
America, whose one thought is to do their ut-
most in our common struggle.
All this we shall do, to the end that we re-
main a thriving, alert and free community at
home, in a world where our substance and our
freedom may be shared by our brethren every-
where.
Finally I want to take this opportunity of
commending and thanking the Jews of De-
troit for the splendid support and cooperation
they have given our Federation. Detroit is
recognized today as one of the leading Jewish
communities of America from a philanthropic
point of view. This wasn't the case a few
years ago. National leaders could well take
a lesson from our community on the submer-
ging of personal idealogies and interests for
the good of the whole. .I cannot emphasize
too strongly that this is in no small measure
due to our very able Executive Director. Mr.
Isidore Sobeloff, and his competent staff.

What's Happening in Detroit

PURIM celebrations are the order of the day. One
ex of the most joyous festivals on our calendar, the
observance of Purim, which this year occurs on Sun ,
day, March 21, will be the occasion for numerous con-
gregational, organizational, Jewish Center and school
parties and special programs.
A special event will take place at the Jewish Center
on March 21.
.. The Feast of Purim will be celebrated in all the
branches of the United Hebrew Schools, with the read-
ing of the Book of Esther, by staging playlets, Purim
pagentry, Purim parties and other Purim features.
Shalach-Mones, or the exchange of gifts among the
pupils, is one of the features of the celebration.

JNF Youth Sponsor Carnival

• The Jewish National Fund Youth Committee is
sponsoring a 'Purim carnival Saturday night, March 27,
at the Bnai Moshe, Dexter and Lawrence.
The Queen Esther contest will feature the event.
Two dunams of land to be redeemed in Palestine have
been donated as prizes by Walter Field, Lawrence
Crohn and William Hordes.
Candidates selected for the contest are: Chanah
Agranoff, representing Migdal; Barbara LaMed, Ha-
bonim; Esther Cornblit, Hashomer Hatzair; Leah Da-

Twenty Years Ago This Week

Compiled From the Records of the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency •

MUNICH — Adolf Hitler's National Socialist
party, at a meeting here, unanimously adopted a
resolution urging that all Jews in Germany be in-
terned. Those not voluntarily reporting for intern-
ment should be shot, the resolution demanded.
NEW YORK—At a luncheon in Dr. Weizmann's
honor here in connection with the Keren Hayesod
campaign, Senator Sheldon Spencer of Missouri pre-
sented the pen with which President Harding signed
the Joint Congressional Resolution approving a Jew-
ish Homeland in Palestine, to Dr. Weizmann.

vidson, Little Women of Hadassah. Other organizations
?re asked to choose their representatives immediately.
Activities continue for the planting of the Forest for
Freedom in Palestine. Trees may be planted by calling
Thelma Jaffin, 1711 Clairmount, TR. 1-3991.

Hebrew Schools Hold Public Exams

Public examinations are being held each Sunday
morning in the United Hebrew Schools. These exami-
nations are instituted for the purpose of acquainting
the parents with the progress made by their children.
While members of the Board of Education and officers
of the school are invited, this is principally a parent-
pupil project.
So far examinations were held in the Philadelphia-
Byron School, the David W. Simons School and the
Rose Sittig Cohen Branch. Teachers who arranged the
examinations are: Abraham Schachter, Louis Panush,
Abram Twersky, M. Gordon, Miss Leah Pike, A. Pa-
rush, I. Soref and Mrs. A. Roberg. Examinations are
planned in the classes of Joseph Haggai, J. Cashdan,
Miss Mary Gold, Miss Faye Shuldman and David
Schakney
The principals who arranged the examinations are
S. Kasdan, of the David W. Simons Branch, Morris
Lachover, of the Philadelphia-Byron Branch, and A. J.
Lachover of the Rose Sittig Cohen School.

Meyers Presides at USO Meeting

. Henry Meyers, president of the USO of Metropolitan
Detroit, presided at a meeting of USO committees at
the USO Downtown Club on Wednesday. Mrs. Maurice
T. Moore, a national USO vice-chairman, was the guest
speaker.
A certificate of recognition of Detroit's excellent
USO activities was presented to the local organization
by Alexander E. McIntosh, national USO director of
the volunteer activities department.

Businessmen to Honor Heroes

The Win the War Council, in cooperation with the
Twelfth Street Businessmen's Association, launched a
drive to purchase a plane in memory of Colin Kelly,
Meyer Levin and Rubin 'den,- at a memorial meeting
on Wednesday at the Hutchins Intermediate School Au-
ditorium. Adinissio.a ~ was by War Stamps and Bonds.

Graubart to Leave Detroit Post

After serving for the past year as executive director
of the Federation for Polish Jews, Benjamin Graubart
is leaving Detroit this week.
Mr. Graubart, a refugee from Poland, has been in
this country two years. He was a leader in ORT, Keren
Hayesod and other causes in Europe. During the siege
of Warsaw he was one of the closest co-workers of the
late head of the Warsaw Jewish community; Adam
Czerniakow.
In Detroit, several successful campaigns were con-
ducted uader his supervision, including a drive fOr
clothing and shoes for Jewish refugees in Russia, re-
sulting in the collection of over 25,000 pounds; a cam-
paign for $2,500 to finance the shipment of the cloth-
ing; a campaign for Jewish war prisoners in German
ca mps.
A fareWell gathering was tendered Mr. Graubart by
the Federation and Ezra Women's Division on Thurs-
day at Lachar's Hall.

Coining Events

March 15—Annual meeting and election of officers
of Women's Auxiliary of Jewish Home for Aged, at
11501 Petoskey, at 1:30 p. in. Speaker, Mrs. 'Morris
Adler. .

March 15—Bnai Brith Bond rally at Jewish Center.

March 17—Annual donor event of Ladies' Auxil-
iary of Jewish National Fund, at Masonic Temple.

March 21—Purim festival at Jewish CoMmunity
Center, at 3:30 P. M., featuring young artists.

March 25—Music festival of Zionist Organization
of Detroit, at the Shaarey Zedek.

March 25—Presentation of flag and recruiting of
WAACS by Michigan Department of Ladies' Auxil-
iary of Jewish War Veterans, at Bnai Moshe.

