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.