!Beth
1 Celebrates Centennial
Noted Civic, Religious
Leaders Will Speak at
Events On March 24,25
Two noteworthy events have been arranged to mark the
100th anniversary of Temple Beth El, Nate S. Shapero,
president of the Temple, announced this week.
The anniversary service will be held at 8:15 p. m. Fri-
day, March 24, with the following speakers:
-
Dr. Jacob R. Marcus, president of the Central Conference of
American Rabbis ; Dr. Jonah B. Wise, rabbi of Central Synagogue,
New York, son of Dr. Isaac M. Wise, founder of the Reform Jewish
movement in America ; Dr. B. Benedict Glazer, rabbi of Temple
Beth El ; Rabbi Leon Fram, of Temple Israel, and Rabbi Morris
Adler of Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
On Saturday, March 25, at 11 a.m., the children of the Temple
Beth El religious school will present the 100th anniversary pageant.
The 100th anniversary banquet of the Temple will be held at
6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 25, at the Book Cadillac Hotel. Speakers
at the banquet will be:
Dr. Nelson Glueck, president, Hebrew Union College-Jew-
ish Institute of Religion; Dr. Maurice N. Eisendrath, president,
Union of American Hebraw Congregations; Dr. Solomon F. -Free-
hof, rabbi, Temple Rodef Shalom, Pittsburgh, a past president of
Central Conference of American Rabbis; Dr. B. Benedict Glazer;
Rabbi Sidney Akselrad; Governor G. Mennen Williams; Mayor
Albert E. Cobo; the Rt. Rev. Richard S. Emrich, Bishop of the
Eposcopal Diocese of Michigan; the Rev. Chester A. McPheters,
President of the Detroit Council of Churches; Dr. David Henry,
president, Wayne University; Nate S. Shapero, president, Temple
Beth El; Honorable Judge Charles C. Simons, chairman of the
Centennial Anniversary Committee who will act as toastmaster.
The musical program will be rendered by the Little Symphony
of Detroit under the direction of Valter Poole.
When Temple Beth El was organized, in 1850, at the initiative
of Isaac and Sarah Cozens, who had just come here from New York
and took up residence on the corner of Congress and St. Antoine,
Detroit had a population of 21,019. Joseph Newman was temporary
chairman of the Beth El Society which was organized officially on
Sept. 22, 1850. The first officers were : Jacob Silberman, president ;
Solomon Bendit, vice-president and treasurer; Joseph Freedman,
secretary.
- Until the assumption of the Beth El pulpit by the late Rabbi
e o M. Franklin in 1898, the rabbis were : Rabbi Samuel Marcus,
Dr. Liebman Adler, Rabbi Abraham Laser, Dr, Isidore Kalisch,
Rabbi Elias Eppstein, Dr., Kaufman Kohler, Rabbi M. Greenblatt,
Rabbi Emmanuel Gerechter, Dr. Leopold Wintner, Dr. Henry Zirn-
dorf and Dr. Louis Grossmann.
Originally an orthodox congregation, Beth El's first rabbi, the
Rev. Marcus, served as teacher, cantor, shochet and mohel. Modi-
fications in the ritual began with the ministry of Dr. Liebman
Adler, who was the first rabbi to preach sermons in German in
Detroit.
During the first decade the Congregation met at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. Couzens, private homes of members, a rented room
above the store of Silberman & Hersch on Jefferson Avenue, and
a rented hall over a drug store on Michigan Grand avenue (now
Cadillac Square). In 1861 the congregation purchased the French
M. E. Church on Rivard Street for $3,500 and on Aug. 30, 1861,
the Rivard Street Synagogue, Detroit's first Jewish house of wor-
ship, was dedicated by Dr. Isaac M. Wise, who preached the first
English sermon at Beth El. The use of organ music and a mixed
choir at the dedication of the Rivard Street Synagogue created a
schism in the Congregation, resulting in the withdrawal of 17 mem-
bers who established the Orthodox Congregation Shaarey Zedek
which is today one of the largest Conservative congregations in the
country. This move on the part of the more Orthodox members
Continued on Page 24
THE JEWISH NEWS
A WeekIN Review
VOL. 17—No. 1
of Jewish Events
708 David Stott Bldg., Detoit
March 17, 1950 .C+7%. 7
Religious Conflict
Settled in Israel
Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News
JERUSALEM—The crisis which threatened the break up of the Israel Cabi-
net over the issue of religious education in the immigrant camps was resolved
Tuesday when an agreement was reached between the Mapai and the orthodox
bloc. No details of the agreement were announced. However, it was emphasized
that all misunderstandings with regard to the question of religious education
have been cleared up.
TEL AVIV—El Al Airlines Tuesday denied a Cairo report that an Israel
plane with 25 passengers crashed into the Red Sea Monday. - "All scheduled
airplanes safely reached the Lydda airport Monday," the announcement said.
King Abdullah of Transjordan Tuesday lashed out in open defiance of the
Arab League for hampering his negotiati ons with Israel which may lead to the re-
sumption of a normal life for Arabs affected by the war.
Reminding the Arab League of its promise two years ago "to massacre all
the Jews of Palestine," the Transjordan radio sarcastically pointed out that not
only was the Arab League unable to carry out this "promise," but that in fact,
the League was unable to prevent the emergence of the State of Israel.
PVT' Buy-a-Brick Day
Is Set for March 26
The Detroit City Council
has proclaimed S u n d a y,
March 26, as Buy-a-Brick
Day for the Jewish War Vet-
erans Memorial Building. So-
licitation will be conducted
that day, • from the hours of
11 a.m. to 3 p.m., for this
memorial, in tribute to the
Jewish heroes who died in
action in World War II,
Story on Page 2
Editorial; Page 4
Dr, Harris J. Levine Elected
To Head JewishNationalFund
Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News
NEW YORK—Dr. Harris J. Levine, Zionist lead-
er, on Tuesday was unanimously elected president
of the Jewish National Fund of America at the
annual meeting of the JNF held at the Waldorf
Astoria Hotel. He succeeds Judge Morris Rothen-
berg who resigned to assume the national chair-
manship of the United Palestine Appeal.
In a report reviewing his six years' incumbency,
Judge Rothenberg, who presided at the annual
meeting, declared that more than $108;000,000 had
been received by the JNF of America of which
.$93,000,000 represents income from the United
Palestine Appeal through the United Jewish Ap-
peal, and $15,000,000 mobilized from small collec-
tions contributed by the Jews of the United States
through the traditional collections of the JNF.
Allied Jewish Campaign Goal
To be Tolci at Rally onMonday
The goal for the 1950 Allied Jewish Campaign, which includes 55 local, na-
tional and overseas causes, will be announced at the first rally of the drive, Mon-
day, March 20, 8:15 p.m., at Temple Beth El.
Reports on the services rendered b y the campaign, the major beneficiary of
which is the United Jewish Appeal, will be given at this rally by Dr. Nahum
Goldmann, chairman of the American s ection of the Jewish Agency; Edward M.
M. Warburg, chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee ; Julian H. Krolik,
president of the Jewish Wdlfare Federation, and Dr. B. Benedict Glazer, rabbi
of Temple Beth El.
Dr. Goldmann returned from an official visit in Israel three weeks ago and
has an important message for Detroit Jewry. Mr. Warburg recently made num-
erous inspections of JDC projects in Europe and North Africa.
Speakers At Beth El's Anniversary Service and Banquet
Nate S. Shapero
Dr: B. Benedict Glazer
Mayor A. E. Cobo
Gov. G. M. Williams
Dr. Nelson Glueck
Dr. S. B. Freehof
•
Judge C. C. Simons
Dr. J. R. Marcus
Dr. £ B. Wise
Dr. M, N. Eisendrath
Rabbi Leon Frain
Rabbi Morris Adler