As the Editor
Views the News .. .
The Light That Must Not Fail
The Shetzer Forest
. Detroit Jewry is paying a belated debt to
two eminent leaders through the project
launched by leading community organiza-
tions to sponsor the planting of the Isaac
and Simon Shetzer Forest in Israel.
Isaac and Simon Shetzer were the most
respected Father-Son Team in the history
of Jewish communal activities in Detroit.
There was hardly an effort which called for
labor and contributions that did not count
them as supporters.
They did not limit their activities to the
Zionist movement to which they were so
loyally devoted. They were active in the re-
ligious affairs of Detroit Jewry, Isaac Shet-
zer having served as president of Shaarey
Zedek for several terms. Simon was the first
president of the Jewish Community Council.
Both participated actively in civic affairs
and in Community Fund drives.
It is most encouraging, therefore, to
know that Congregation Shaarey Zedek,
Hadassah, the Zionist Organization of De-
troit and the Jewish Comunity Council have
given their blessings to the project to honor
their memories and to co-sponsor it by urg-
ino- Detroit Jews to plant trees in Israel in
6 proposed Shetzer Memorial Forest. It is
the
appropriate that a memorial in tribute to
these two leaders should finance a Jewish
National Fund undertaking for the reforest-
ation of Israel's hillsides. A prompt reply to
the call for aid to the project will give fur-
ther indication that this community has not
forgotten the labors in behalf of our numer-
ous causes by Isaac and Simon Shetzer.
Israel Swings Right
Histadrut: World's Most
Successful Trade Union
By VICTOR G. REUTHER
Director, Iducation Department, UAW•CIO
In the spring I spent 10 days in Israel. When
I arrived there at the Lydda Airport, I was but
23 flight hours from my desk at the UAW-CIO
Education Department in Detroit. Yet, despite
the fact that in one sense I nad flown backwards
through time into a Biblical setting, after seeing
at first hand this young and vigorous new na-
tion in the building, and especially after talking
to the men and women of Histadrut (Israel's
trade union), I was overwhelmed by the illusion
of having at last come home to the future. At
the end of my visit I felt as though I were leav-
ing a new-found homeland and returning to an
older era.
As I organized and analyzed my - notes on the
visit, I came to the conclusipn that Israel today,
more nearly than any country I know of, is
realizing the aspirations of the democratic trade
union movement, as well as the moral and ethi-
cal principles of applied Christianity.
I found in Histadrut that a great many of
these half-promises, halfWishes, - were being
seriously tackled and were in many respects in
the process of being fulfilled.
UJC's 50th Anniversary
Observance of the 50th anniversary of the United Jewish
Charities, the organization that preceded the Jewish Welfare
Federation as the Jewish community's social service organi-
zation, at the dinner next Tuesday evening, will serve as an
appropriate occasion for a review of Detroit Jewry's history.
Organized in 1899; the United Jewish Charities perform-
ed a significant function in the early stages of Detroit Jew-
ry's history. When Jewish immigrants were arriving here
penniless, without knowledge of the language of our land,
the difficult task of preparing them for a new life had to be
handled by this organization, in cooperation with the numer-
ous aid societies that sprung up during the early years of
this century.
A more coordinated organization was formed when the
Jewish Welfare Federation was organized in 1926. Jewish
communal social service, recreational and educational activi-
ties were centralized in the Federation set-up as we know
it today.
The swing to the right is in evidence
throughout the world. It happened in Aus-
tralia. It took place in this country on Nov.
7, when the Republican party regained a lot
of strength. Israel is not an exception to the
rule. Resentment fanned against rationing
was chiefly responsible for loss of votes by
Mapai and the swing of many voters towards
the General Zionist party which hitherto was
among the weakest political groups in the
New movements have arisen since the organization of
Jewish state.
the Federation. The Jewish Community Council came into
While the results of the municipal elec- being as a civic-protective agency and has, in turn, expanded
tions in Israel indicate a normal reaction to its efforts in other fields. The experiences of the past 50
economic conditions, it is doubtful whether years since the formation of the United Jewish Charities,
they will affect the country's national status. should be utilized in current community planning, in efforts
The head of the General Zionists, Dr. Perez that are being made to unify Detroit Jewry's organizational
Bernstein, had demanded new elections to structures, in effecting economies and eliminating overlap-
the Knesset on previous occasions. The crisis ping of activities.
that developed, with the resignation of the
The UJC anniversary dinner on Tuesday will have an
Cabinet headed by David Ben-Gurion, proved ideal spokesman in the person of Judge Charles C. Simons,
that the challenge to the present Israel gov- who, as the son of the foundino . president of UJC, is well
ernment was of minor importance compared acquainted with the Detroit Jewish community structure.
with the religious and economic issues that
Our sincere congratulations go forth to the officers and
plague the Jewish state.
directors of the UJC on the occasion of the organization's
Mr. Ben-Gurion was returned to power 50th anniversary. They have done their work well and the
because he is the strongest man in Israel and community honors them for it.
the person in whom a large segment of
Israel's population has implicit faith. He is
pursuing a policy of encouraging private in-
vestments and of protectino. them. His new
Minister of Trade and Industry, Yaakov
When the Detroit Israel Histadrut Campaign opens here
Geri, while being non-partisan, has a Gen- next Thursday evening, with an event arranged to celebrate
eral Zionist background and is an advocate the 30th anniversary of the Israel labor movement, the ques-
of capitalist free enterprise ideas.
tion may be posed whether, as a result of the gains made
last
week in the Israel municipal elections by the General
The General Zionists should play an im-
Zionists, the laborites may not be weakened. What are the
portant role in the Israel government and facts
?
should be given a place in the Cabinet. They
could act as leavening influences between
Histadrut embraces the vast majority of workers in
the Mapai and the other parties, especially Israel. If all members of the Knesset—the Israel Parliament
the religious bloc. The gains they have made —who belong to Histadrut were to vote as a unit, they would
in the Nov. 14 election should encourage form the vast majority of the governing body of the Jewish
their acceptance of a share in the Israel state. But they do not vote that way. Many Histadrut mem-
government. If this could be achieved, Israel bers are politically affiliated with Mapam and there are many
could point to a wholesome result from the General Zionists who belong to Histadrut, enjoy the bene-
municipal elections.
fits of this movement's health service—Kupat Holim—and
endorse the efforts of the organized Israel Federation of
Labor
Histadrut's Future in Israel
THE JEWISH NEWS
The organized workers of Israel are, of
course, politically -minded and labor-party-
minded, but despite the fact that more than
half the members of the Knesset (Israel's par-
liament) are also members of Histadrut, a rec-
ord no other free trade union in the world can
match, there is no evidence that Histadrut be-
lieves all its problems can be resolved by the
adoption of new legislation.
It is significant, I believe, that the trade
union movement of Israel has organized its own
resources in manpower and organiza -,ional un-
derstanding, in intelligence and imagination, and
has set about providing for people through vol-
untary and democratic activities many services
which are usually sought through State action.
In other words, the union has assumed a
direct responsibility for virtually the entire
range of social and economic activities which
by political evolution have become in most
countries the exclusive domain of the State.
The result of this has been, I believe, a tapping
of tremendous reserves of democratic partici-
pation by the people in the solution of their
common problems.
It is not possible to spend an hour in Israel
today without being surrounded by activities
which bear the mark of Histadrut—that is, with-
out coming upon people working on a Histadrut
project which is essential to the entire commun-
ity. The factory you see may very well be one
cooperatively owned and operated by Histadrut.
The buses that provide transportation are man-
ufactured in the Argaz factory at Tel Aviv.
In the rapidly expanding industrial city of
Haifa, more than half the homes now under con-
struction, the quality of which, incidentally, has
set a new high, are being constructed by Hista-
drut's cooperative construction agency.
Over half the hospitals and health facilities
in Israel are Histadrut centers.
A worker's dues in Histadrut provide him with
a pension when he becomes too old to work; they
provide him and his family with a complete med-
ical care program in union medical centers or
hospitals when he is ill, and during his illness
he receives sick pay from his union.
In contrast to the lower . standards of living
and the wages of workers in neighboring coun-
tries in the Middle East, the members of Hista-
drut, especially those in industry, enjoy a wage
scale and standard of living even higher than
in most of Europe.
The free trade union movement of Israel has
demonstrated its ability to deal with economic
and social problems as effectively, if not more
so, than either government or private institu-
tions. The result is that in Israel today there is
developing another practical economic pattern
for a free society, one in which power is suffi-
ciently diffused among democratic agencies so
that people can work effectively for their welfare
without losing their free movement and privacy.
Because of Histadrut's work to strengthen and
broaden the democratic process, it is little won-
der that Israel stands today as the great bulwark
of democracy against the threat of communism
in the Middle East.
Alone
The fund-raising efforts in behalf of the Israel labor
By NOAH E. ARONSTAM, M.D.
group ought not to suffer from the results of the municipal
elections. Here are important facts to. remember:
"Blessed is the man . . . who sitteth not in
Histadrut has seriously influenced the pro-Israel sup- the seat of the scornful."—Psalm 1.1.
Entered as second class mattes Ang. 6, 1942 . at Post Office.
Detroit. Mich.. under Act of March 11. 1879.
port of labor groups throughout the world. It has attracted
I belong to the league of forgotten men
In the odyssey of life:
the attention of important personalities everywhere and has
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor
I belong to the host of disillusioned souls
SIDNEY SHMARAK, Advertising Manager
won devoted support in many ranks for its interesting pro-
In fruitlessly breasting the strife.
Vol. XVIII--No. 11 Page 4 November 24, 1950 grams which embrace many fields of activities:----social serv-
I gave them the gems of my verses inspired
ice, health, vocational guidance, employment and industrial
As a gift to the scornful world;
development.
Member: American Association of English-Jewish News.
papers. Michigan Press Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish New s Publishing
Co. 708-10 David Stott Bldg., Detroit 26. Mich .;
WO. 6-1166.
Subscription S8 a year; foreign $4.
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
The Histadrut drive locally deserves the encouragement
This Sabbath, the sixteenth day of Kislev, of all elements in our population. The strong case made for
5711, the following Scriptural selections will be Histadrut in the special article by Victor Reuther, appearing
read in our synagogues:
elsewhere on this page, is a powerful argument in support of
the labor element in Israel.
Pentateuchal portion—Gen. 32:4-36:43.
Histadrut remains the backbone of Israel's reconstruc-
Prophetical portion—Hos. 12:13-14:10 or 11.7-
tion
efforts. As such it has earned all the help that will come
12:12 or Obadiah 1:1-21.
its way in Detroit during the coming campaign weeks.
They tore them in shreds and tossed them aside
In the morass of dust they were hurl'd.
I gave them the pulsing throbs of my heart,
They dubbed me eccentric and leered;
"Ideals don't count, you dreamer of dreams;"
They turned aside and they sneered.
I live now alone in an oasis of thought,
In a desert of sand, barren, bereft;
Yet, I challenge your scorn with utter disdain:
My muse is still with me—she never • has left.