Friday, October- 1, 1943

THE JEW!SH NEWS

Page Thirly-three

Advance On All Fronts

onstrated our desire to
concrete action through
ity of the United Jewish
sees, Overseas Needs and
her agencies and services.
osevelt himself has said,
e United Jewish Appeal
e "determination of free
ution, homelessness and
tion shall be banished
c_4ive help that has been
the United Jewish Ap-
a great physical a n d
k for many victims of

ids Refugees

d salvage efforts go for=
refugees in allied and
in many parts of the
d by the Joint Distribu-
This agency provides for
n of thousands of refU.-
adults from Europe to
om; furnishes help to
, Switzerland and Portu-
liberated by American
rth Africa, assists refu-
ussia and provides for
of thousands of emigres

alestine Appeal supports
ent of refugees in Pal-
reconstruction of t h e
. It provides funds for
f Palestine's war effort,
tion of immigration and
ms to provide homes for
of refugees, including
hildren from war-totn
dustrial and agricultural
aid the United Nations
dle East.

Refugee Service carries
rogram of assistance and
vcomers in the United
ey- extends financial aid
; fits emigres into vital
ins Many for industries
personnel; places men
ofessional abilities, • and
s for both resettlement
o the American way of

ome Front

ar all along the home
ng every one of us. Our
is faced with many ills
Eicult to cope with in
hich have doubled in
our entry into the war.
w has said that the im-
m" of every soldier is
,—"I want to go home."
leaving the home front
, cannot be here to join
ocial responsibilities of
aking care of his neigh-
viding recreational and
ities for children; serv-
t aged; caring for the
handicapped. He has
ponsibility to those who
fighting the battle on
— building moral e,

strengthening democratic life — working
for the development of a better commun-
ity. Our home services must continue to
function. Most of these services now have
war-related problems with which to deal
—many of these are more complicated
patterns of peacetime problems.

Families Bear Brunt

Families bear the brunt of war —
families of men in the armed services;
families of men swept into the maelstorm
of intensive war industries. Induction into
the armed forces has brought about hasty
marriages, taken breadwinners from
homes, and placed unusual burdens upon
wives and mothers. Character develop-
ment and the general welfare of children
are seriously affected by the war. The
movement of mothers and other family
members, formerly relied upon for guid-
ance, into essential war work, has left
many children insecure -and exposed to
delinquency.

Social agencies on the home front have,
among their tasks, the responsibility for
keeping up morale, preventing the dis-
ruption of family life, and guarding
against child neglect. All of these tasks
are now war-related and are coped with
by the Jewish community through such
agencies as the Jewish Social Service
Bureau and the Jewish Children's Bureau.

Youth In War Time

Group work activities such as those
provided by the Jewish Community
Center, give children outlets for whole-
some; constructive work and play, which
is even more important in wartime. Chil-
dren need the solid backing of a well-
guided group, where able leadership and
wholesome companions help guide their
abundant energies, their patriotic fervor,
into significant war tasks which will not
unfit them for the peace.

In the realm of Jewish- education, war
has also brought many problems and has
motivated adjustments and change s.
There seems to be a more definite interest
in Jewish education. The United Hebrew
Schools and the Yiddish schools report
moderate increases in enrollment and a
better response from parents.

The war manpower shortage has cen-
tered the concern of the Jewish Vocational
Service in the selective recruitment, guid-
ance, training and placement of suitable
workers in war and civilian industry.
War-time conditions are also attracting
into the labor market persons formerly
considered unemployable, and young peo-
ple, still in school, who are confused about
plans for a stable and useful work career.
These individuals need the guidance and
counselling of an agency such as the
Jewish Vocational Service.

Serving the Sick and Aged

The war has put a strain upon health
facilities in the community. There are
fewer doctors and nurses for the civilian

population, and those who remain are so
overworked that they are unable to re-
spond to many calls for home visits. North
End Clinic has found itself faced by a
markedly depleted medical staff, loss of
other personnel; and a shortage of critical
medical materialslthough the number
of patients requiring services has decreas-
ed, the decline is by no means propor-
tionate to the reduction in medical staff.
But, despite all these difficulties, the
Clinic - is continuing to function and to-
provide service to those who need it.

Increasing Responsibility

Care of the aged and chronic-ill is
becoming an increasing responsibility of
the community. A larger. proportion of
applicants for admission to the Jewish
Home for Aged are from the higher in-
come brackets. Persons financially able and
willing to provide for their parents find
themselves unable to do so, because they
cannot get help or housing accommoda-
tions. Because of the difficulty in getting
nursing replacements, the Home has been
obliged (temporarily) to reverse its ad-•
mission policy. While chronic-ill appli-
cants continue to be accepted for admis-
sion, in accordance with the usual policy,
they cannot be admitted into the Home
until the ratio of patients to nurses
reaches a reasonable level. Able-bodied
applicants, who do not require nursing
care, are in the meantime being admitted.

The War Chest

All these agencies operating at home
and abroad, need funds to carry. on their
activities. The Jewish community con-
tinues to give generously of its means and
of its time, in border to make available-
to all ageFieies and services the financial
assistance they require—whether through
its own fund-raising agency—the Allied
Jewish Campaign—or, . as more recently,
through a general community effort —
the War Chest. In the fall of 1942 the
Allied Jewish Campaign became a partner
in the War Chest of Metropolitan Detroit,
thus obviating the need for independent
Jewish fund-raising. It is the general at-
titude of the Jewish community that it
was patriotic, expedient and wise to join
the War Chest, because it has helped to
strengthen general community unity and
understanding, and to conserve manpower
and other resources, so essential in war-
time.

Under Single Banner

Under a single banner and in a single
campaign, the War Chest of Metropolitan
Detroit unites the fund-raising activities
of the entire community. It is Detroit's

HERMAN M. PEKARSKY

Acting Executive Director, Jewish Welfare
Federation of Detroit

evidence of American unity of purpose in
the humanitarian aspects of the war
effort.

In a few weeks from now the War Chest
will open its campaign for the 1944 needs
of seventeen national agencies, serving
our armed forces, and helping the civilian
population of the war-torn lands of our
Allies; the Detroit Community Fund,
serving eighty Jewish, Catholic, Protest-
ant and non-sectarian agencies in the
fields of family service, child care ; health,
recreation and care of the aged; and the
Allied Jewish Campaign, which in itself
embraces fifty-five local s national and
overseas causes.

Born of war, and linked to the peace
by effective association with local home .
agencies for health, welfare and . recrea-
tion,. the War Chest is a philanthropic
federatiOn with three:simple aims;—first,
to determine the nature and the extent
of existing needs; second, to see that
everybody has a chance to contribute to
the funds required; and third, to channel
the 'funds raised for its member agencieS,
wherever help is currently needed —
enough and on time.

The record of our participation in the
humanitarian efforts at home and abroad
is evidence of the inner soundness and
of unbroken solidarity of the Jewish com-
munity. We are resolved to increase our
efforts in order to sustain Jewish life, and
help rebuild it as our special contribution
to the building of a better world conse-
crated to peace and freedom.

etropolitan Detroit Campaign for $8,250,000

BLUMBERG

of Industrial

HENRY MEYERS
Major,- Advance Gifts Unit

ISRAEL HIMELHOCH
'Major,- Advance GiftS Unit

NATE S. SHAPERO
Chairman, Campaign Program
Committee

MELVILLE • S. WELT
Member, Campaign Steering •
Committee