YOUNG ADULTS:

Their Organizational Set-Up Promises
future Leadership for Detroit Jewry

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By RUTH MIRIAM LEVINE

Detroit Jewry's highly-organized, alert young adult
community will shortly swing its fall and winter pro-
gram into high gear. And when it does, the older heads
of the community may well nod with approval.
For this age group, ranging- from 18 to 35, tempers
the fervor of youth with the wisdom of maturity, mak-
ing its activities of unending interest and wide appeal,
is well as of purposeful education and service. The
year 5709 should see a high polish applied to the many
facets of the young adult program. Last year, the young
adults achieved the high strata of organization—a group
for every -phase of interest, a program to suit every
ideal, an over-all council to unite them— which has
not been seen here since before World War II.
The last time the young adult community hit such
a peak was in the spring of 1942, when the Junior Service
Group and the League of Detroit Jewish Youth were
leaders in a constant round of young adult activities. The
Service Group is a good example of one of the most
important functions of young adult organizations— that
of selecting and training the future leaders of the com-

`Unity Without Uniformity'

The National Scene

Young adult organizations have banded to-
gether for their mutual benefit far beyond the
local council level. Under the sponsorship of the
National Jewish Welfare Board, a National Jewish
Youth Planning Commission was set up two years
ago.
Last month,/ at a week-long institute at Nar-
rowsburg, N. Y., the Commission was given per-
manent standing by expansion into a National
Jewish Youth Conference, to be composed of del-
egates of local and regional youth wand young adult
councils, on a geographically proportioned basis,
and of national Jewish youth organizations.
That Conference was organized because the
150 young people there, coming from 23 states,
recognized that one of the keys to Jewish survival
is an atmosphere of "unity without uniformity" in
Jewish life, with room for and mutual respect of
all phases of religious, political and cultural belief
and practice.
Imbued with a deep love of Judaism, intense
interest in the welfare of the Jewish people and an
extensive knowledge of past and current Jewish
problems, those young men and women, each of
whoim is a top leader in his home community, were
determined to take steps that would strengthen the
existing youth organizations, serve as a medium of
cooperation among Jewish youth throughout the
world and instill in a much larger number of
young Jews the desire for positive association with
Judaism.
Detroiters at the national conference were Mr.
and Mrs. Yehudah Rosenman, Helen Alpert, Na-
talie Gaines, Lenora. Gaines and Ruth Miriam Le-
vine.

'Jerome Kelman, Harold Plotnisky,
Hillel Abrams and Joseph Weinman
among the organizers. Pre-war con-
gregational young people's clubs were
revitalizedeand several new ones form-
munity and of guiding the majority of the young people
ed; Bnai David, Bnai Moshe, Temple
onto paths of community responsibility.
Beth El, Shaarey Zedek, Northwest
Organized in 1937, the Junior Service Group raised
Hebrew Congregation, Temple Israel,
$10,000 in its first year of participation in the Allied
Cong. Beth Moses are among them.
Jewish Campaign. By • 1938 it had 3,000 members—a
These organizations have as their main
figure which even today's active JSG has not equaled—
purpose to establish a close tie between
and had won the right to ,conduct a major division
the youths and the synagogue through
- of the drive.
a program of worship, education and
Serve on Agency Boards
social functions.
Hillel
Abrams
Detroit's young adult community is
With great enthusiasm, the Junior Service Group
augmented by the Jewish organizations at Wayne Un-
inaugurated a program aimed at developing future
iversity. IZFA and the Wayne Hillel Foundation are
leaders, people who would be thoroughly grounded in
important educational and cultural groups for the col-
the ideals of community life. Part of this progi*am was
lege students: In addition, Wayne has two Jewish sor-
the acceptance of junior members on the boards of
orities, Iota Alpha Pi, national, and Sigma Theta Delta,
several community agencies. Abandoned during the war
local;
and four Jewish fraternities, Phi Alpha, Alpha
period, the program was reinstituted this year, with
Epsilon
Pi and Sigma Alpha Mu (Pi Tau Sigma) na-
delegates from the current JSG membership attending
tional, and Gamma Kappa Chi, local. There are also two
all agency board meetings. The Jewish Community
Center last spring amended its constitution to provide • Jewish medical fraternities at Wayne and a Jewish
dental fraternity at the University of Detroit.
for two junior directors and elected Leonard Baruch,
president of the Young Adult Council, and Lawrence
Most community groups have some social activities
Fleischman,. new JSG president, to those positions.
on their 'schedules, but a few groups are organized solely
for purposes of sociability. Included here are the Tall
Another policy which the revitalized Service. Group
Towers and Social Inc.
has renewed is that of encouraging its membership to
serve as volunteer aides in the community. Young men
-BBYO Combines Many Functions
and women learn the work of service agencies by lead-
Combining
a variety \of community functions is the
_ ing children's groups at the Jewish Center, by helping
Bnai Brith Youth Organization which, on the young
to care for the elderly residents of the Jewish Home for
adult level includes. Bnai Brith Young Men. and Young
the Aged, and in other capacities. The Juniors have
Women. A rapidly-growing institution, BBYO, under
always recognized the necessity of serving the com-
the
auspices of the adult fraternal organization, con-
munity as a whole, and have taken a large share of re-
ducts a full program of service, philanthropic, cultural
sponsibility in the Community Chest Red Feather drive.
and social activities. Although the Detroit groups are
While social service is of great importance, it is
fairly,young—BBYW has been here for 10 years, BBYM
not, by any means, the sole function of the young adult
for only two—they already wield strong influence in
community. The young men and women of Detroit have
national channels. Both organizations convened here in
formed a wide range of organizations, including re-
July and Charlotte Waterstone became the first na-
ligious, cultural, fraternal, social and, of course, Zionist
tional BBYW officer from Detroit. Harry Mirvis heads
, groups.
the regional unit of BBYM.
Zionists Foster Youth Activity
Bnai Brith is another group which places strong
emphasis on leadership training. The complexity of the
In the latter category, the young adults have align --
ed themselves with every phase of the Zionist move-, overall Btiai Brith structure insures close contact be-
tween the younger and adult - sections, making for a
ment. The Labor Zionist Organization of America and
continuity of membership and the almost automatic lead-
the Pioneer Women's Organization encourage the par-
ership of BBYO-trained men and women in the older
ticipation of young adults, while Habonigi is the desig-
groups. •
nated youth movement of labor Zionism. Mizrachi, the
A large segment of the young adult community,
religious Zionist group, has a special
700 strong, comes together at the Jewish Community
chapter for young women.
Center, where, under the supervision of Yehudah Rosen-
The general Zionists foster youth
activity through the Zionist Youth man, young adult director, a varity of clubs and interest
groups are available: The Young Adult Lounge, for
Commission, a national council subsi-
example, is 'open every evening for dancing, games,
dized by the Zionist Organization of
films,
lectures or musical programs. Weekly parties
America and Hadassah. Joined together
are
sponsored by the Saturday Nite Dance Committee
•in this commission are Young Judaea
and monthly dances by the Holiday Hop Committee.
and Little Women of Hadassah, on the
A dramatics workshop, a Jewish cooking class, ball-
teen-age level, and Junior Hadassah,
room and modern dance groups and athletic teams are
Masada and the Intercollegiate Zion-
among the clubs.
ist Federation of America for young
One of the most interesting of the Center-sponsored
adults. In Detroit, these groups are par-
organizations is the Shearith Hapleita, the "remnant of
ticularly active. Detroit's chapter of
our people", a group of refugees who conduct a choir, a
Masada, under the presidency of Dr.
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Samuel Krohn, recently becathe co-ed,
, and has attained the largest Masada
membership in the country. A number
Dr. Sam Krohnof leaders of Detroit Jr. Hadassah and
IZFA have been elected to regional offices. Youth divi-
sion. of the Zionist Organization of Detroit is the very
active Chapter One.
Other Zionist youth groups include Hashomer
Hatzair, the "Youth Guard;" Hechalutz, through which
young American Zionists are trained for pioneer life
in Palestine, and Betar, the young Revisionist group.

Junior Service Group workers check prospect slips
during their highly-successful 1948 Allied Jewish Cam-
paign solicitation.

Religious Groups Expand

During the war, co-ed youth groups were almost
non-existent in the community. When the young men
began to return, however, membership in these organ-
izations took a sharp turn upward. One type of group
that began to achieve greater prominence was the re-
ligious interest organization. In every shade of Jew-
ish religious practice, the young people renewed their
interest in synagogue activities.
Returning veterans were the nucleus of the Young
Adults of Young Israel, with young Orthodox leaders

8

Young men and women of Detroit Bnai Brith found
that being host to two simultaneous national conventions
this summer involved plenty of paper work.

dramatic group, a soccer team and hold discussions mi.
contemporary problems. These young people, each o f
whom has a tragic personal history, have thrown them
selves into community life with vigor, successfully

THE JEWISH NEWS

—

Friday, Oct. 1, 1948

...Al,. •

, 14 ,411,711.'

completing their • own projects and energetically par-
ticipating in the American life of which they have be-
come a part.

The Need for Unity

With this immense variety of organizations, it was
evident that some unifying force was needed to serve
as a voice for the entire young adult community, and to
avoid the conflicts that threatened to arise in a duplica-
tion of functions. The League of Detroit Jewish Youth
bad been formed in the 1930's for such a purpose, but,
still young
when the war
came, it died in
1942, leaving a
void in the com-
munity struc-
ture.
In the spring
of 1947, repre-
sentatives of 30
youth groups
attended a
week-end con-
ference on Pal-
estine. Fr o m
that delegation,
there emerged
the' first tenta-
tive plans for
an organiza-
tion which
would unite all
SOL SCHWARTZ (right) and YEHU-
segments of the DAH ROSENMAN (left) listen T as
young adult
communi ty, LEONARD BARUCH reads the con-
s t r engthening stitution of the Detroit Jewish Young
each organiza- Adult Council.
tion and help-
ing to train the future leaders of Detroit Jewry. Ii or a
period of six months, a small committee, led by Leonard
Baruch and Sol J. Schwartz, both well-versed in com-
munity leadership, worked on plans for such an organ-
ization. In November, 1947, the Detroit Jewish Young
Adult Council was born.
After a day-long constitutional convention, attended
by representatives of 22 organizations, which became its
charter members, the 'Council elected its first officers
and proceeded to implement, by committee appointments,
its constitutionally-outlined functions. Baruch became
the first Council president. Other charter officers
were Natalie Gaines and Cornell Janeway (since re-ii
signed), vice-presidents; Ruth M. Le-
vine and Miriam Schwartz, secretaries;
Jerome Kelman, treasurer, and Rabbi
Irwin Gordon, Lawrence Fleischman,
Helen Karabenick, Harry Mirvis, Sol
Schwartz and Esty Carson, board mem-
bers.
Twenty-five organizations are now
affiliated with thel Council, represented
on it by one to three delegates, in ac-
cordance with the size of their member-
ship, who meet monthly as a body and
1 •
frequently as committee workers.
L. Fleischman
First major function of the Young Adult Council
was the Model Seder, held April 23 of this year, which
attracted more than 300 mel-nbers of the constituent or-
ganizations. With the service led by members of Young
Israel, and symbolic foods served by Temple Beth
El YPS, the Seder was a unique blending of varying
views of Jewish ritual which met with delighted re-
sponse. by those present.
In June, the Council sponsored a week-end con-
ference at Fresh Air Camp where close to 100 young
men and women studied their positions as young Amer-
ican Jews, the Detroit Jewish community and the role
of the Young Adult Council.

.

Resource Project-Underway

In addition to these major events; the Council has
a continuous program of activity Sunder the auspice's of
its several committees. The resources committee ,for
example, is completing ari extensive project whereby
each council organization will have access to a com-
plete file of program materials, entertainment, meeting
places. speakers, etc., to facilitate its programming. The
program. committee, in the spring, began a series of
meetings at which representatives of each member or-
ganization were invited to discuss the work and pur-
pose of their groups, the first time that any group has
had the ear of the majority of the young adult corn-
munity for such a purpose.
One of the most important of the Council's func-
tions is that of date clearance. Here, an effective setup
has been outlined, whereby a young adult group may
reserve a time for its activities and, should date con-
flict with any other group arise, have the difficulty
arbitrated by an impartial committee appointed by the
Council. In addition to avoiding duplication of activities,
this process allows for greater publicity for any event,
since each date that has been cleared through the
Council is entered upon the weekly young adult cal-
endar, available at all times at the Jewish Center and
published in this paper.

Member groups of the Council are Alpha Epsilon Pi - fratern-
ity, Bnai Brith Hillel Foundation, BBYM Rex 11, BBYW Louis
Marshall, BBYW Naomi, BBYW Helen Penfil, Habonim, HaSho-
mer Hatzair, Hechalutz, Iota Alpha Pi, Iota Alpha Pi Alumnae,
IZFA, Junior Hadassah, Junior Service Group, Masada, Tall
Towers, Northwest Hebrew Cong. YPS, Shaarey Zedek YPS,
Sigma Theta Delta, Sigma Theta Delta Alumnae, Temple Beth
El YPS, Young Israel and ZOD Chapter One.

Good Year Seen' in 5709

From these beginnings, the Young Adult Council is
expected to construct, this year, a program which will
merit the most serious observation and strong sup-
port of the adult community. Its member organizations
list more than 4,000 young people' on their rosters.
From among these young men and women will come
the leaders of tomorrow. Well-equipped with organ-
izational experience, their full acceptance by the adult
community will be of inestimable value to the local
national and international organizations with which they —
will become affiliated.
Entering upon a. new year, Detroit's young Jew-
ish adults are faced with a multitude of problems—
political upheaval, the draft, the need for aid to world
Jewry. But they have expert leaders—only a few have
been listed here—and a wealth of organizational activ-
ities available to help them find their proper niche in
the community. By building upon this fine foundation,
they may well inscribe themselves, in the annals of

Detroit Jewry, for a good year.

.`43.

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