Purely Commentary

Bnai Brith. Aids
Tornado Victims

Community Workshop Makes Its Mark
As Service to Aid in Rehabilitation

T h e Community Workshop, fatigue aggravated an old health
the non-profit sheltered work- condition. Because of his poor
'e Are a Restless People . .
shop established a year ago by a health and inability to practice
dentistry in this country with-
Population Reference Bureau, in its discussion of • population
out many years of additional
changes in this country from 1940 to 1950, makes the comment
study, he was unable to find
that—
employment. When the Corn-
"We are a restless people, moving about from place to place,.
munity Workshop was establish-
from- state to state, and from coast to coast in our quest for
ed, his physician limited his em-
better jobs, better climate; better living. During the past decade
ployment to 4 hours per day.
the migratory movement Within the nation was greater than ever
But Mr. C. found work the fin-
before."
est medicine prescribed for him.
This study show that Americans are "mobile, moving about
His health began to improve
continually in search of better opportunities"; that "we are in-
markedly, and gradually his
creasingly becoming a nation of city and suburb dwellers."
physician increased his hours of
Apply these facts to the Jewish communities,' and MI estab-
work from 4 to 5, then to 6, and
lish the truth that we are in no sense different from Americans
finally, to a full day. Mr. C,
of other - faiths. We, too, are "mobile," city-dwelling, moving abbut
after demonstrating his ability
in quest for better opportunities.
to work a full day was subse-
But the Jewish community is affected by such Mobility more
quently placed in private em-
seriously because of our building programs. Non-Jews retain their John Isaacs Re-Elected
ployment with a large adver-
churches in old neighborhoOds; they are not cOnfronted with the
tising service, doing work well
need for community centers and daily afternoon religious schools; Knoltwood President
within his physical capacity.
they can travel with greater ease from their new residences to
The Community Workshop de-
John Isaacs was re-elected
the old church locations. .
pends on sub-contract work . to
president
of
Knollwood
Country
SAMUEL S. GREENBERG
Our own. experiences are that after every decade our congre-
provide its service. Operations
gations and schools must make new real estate deals beCause of Club at recent meeting of the
board of directors. Prior to his committee appointed by the such as sub-assembly, packag-
of
their
memberships.
Their
synagogues
are
sold
to
the mobility •
first term as president of Knoll-
and welfare division of ; ing, wrapping, mailing, envelope
newcomers in the abandoned - neighborhoods at great sacrifices wood, Isaacs had served as vice- health
the
Jewish
Welfare Federation stuffing, sewing, etc., are per-
and we are constantly campaigning for funds for new synagogue
president
and
as
a
member
of
the
to
provide
work
rehabilitation formed by the Workshop on a
buildings as well as new centers, new schools and other communal
board of service and employment to de-1 siib-contract basis. Other than
structures.
directors for five pendent refugees, now reports professional services, the income
Since the restlessness of people and their mobility is a natural
years.
that after operating quietly its derived from contracts pays for
phenomenon, not necessarily ascribable to any particular group,
He is a mem- work has progressed and has all .other operating expenses.
the endless building programs are inevitable, But their costliness
ber of the board
Among the firms who have
, grown steadily.
is so prohibitive .that some way ought to be found to avoid the
of directors of
used the Community Workshop
It
is
reported
expenSive structures which are being erected while the established
the Jewish Com-
that Commun- are Theodore Bargman Boat
—not-so-old--buildings are being sacrificed to newcomers. What's
munity Center
ity
Work shop and Trailer Parts, Bulldog Elec.-
the.solution to this problem, which unavoidably affects relief and
and the Jewish
now is able to tric Products Corporation, Frank
Israel reconstruction prograins by the diversion of funds for the
Welfare Federa-
make itself Paper Products Corporation,
construction of new buildings?
tion.
known and to Schwab & Frank, Inc., Wolf-
Perhaps the solution lies in applying the mobility of people
Isaacs is a past
take its place Detroit Envelope Company, to
Isaacs
national presi-
to the possible mobility of buildings. Why not erect centers and
with other com- mention just a few.
schools on the cottage plan, with the aim in view of moving the dent of the Linen Supply Asso-
munity services.
During the early phases of the
cottages piecemeal to new neighborhoods whenever the group ciation of America and is a
The commit- program, a group of volunteer
Bargma,n
tee
served in these 'buildingS establishes itself in a new area? •
member of the board and past
-is headed by members of the National Coun-
Such mobility can not, of course, be applied to synagogues, president of the Michigan Lin- Samuel S. Greenberg as chair- cil of Jewish Women provided
man and Theodore Bargman as invaluable service as assistants
whose structures are larger, usually immovable. • But even in this en Supply Board of Trade.
Other Knollwood officers elec- associate chairman.
respect there should be a way out of excessive construction—by be-
working in the shop. Led by Mrs.
ted to serve with him are Dr.
ing more modest in the planning of mammoth structures.
Daniel Carpenter and Mrs. Mor-
Working
with
other
agencies,
Synagogues can do more than that: they can render a great Ralphael Altman, re-elected as especially the Jewish Social ton Netzorg, this gioup is now
service by turning the houses of worship into service buildings, vice president; Joseph Gendel- Service Bureau and the Jewish assisting in the contract pro-
making their facilities available for schools and centers, thus ob- man, re-elected treasurer; Sam- Vocational Service, which is re- curement program.
viating the need for the overlapping which has been the rule uel Kane, assistant treasurer; sponsible for the selection and
Members of the Community,
Louis Berry, secretary, and Louis
rather than the exception in our communities.
processing of clients in need of Workshop Committee are Clar-
These suggestions may fall on deaf ears, but we offer them Schostak, assistant secretary.
service, the Community Work- ence L. Ascher, Mrs. Daniel Car-
for what they are worth—for the communal benefits they can
shop has employed, since its in- penter, Albert Cohen, Eugene J.
bring to all of us.
AJ Committee Rebuked ception, 31 persons, refugees and Epstein, William H. Frank, Sam-
*
*
*
non-refugees. Of this number uel N. Gershenson, Mrs. Joseph
For Velde Invitation
nine have since found their way Geschelin, Benjamin Gray, Wal-
The Abortive Zionist Confederation
into private industry, either ter Herz, Harry L. Jones, Jacob
An American Zionist Assembly is a desirable instrument for
The president of the Syna- through their own or the efforts Kellman, Nathan Kolb, Ben
good—provided it is a realistic and practical effort for the ad-
vancement of Zionist ideas as aids to Israel. But when such an gogue Council of America took of the Jewish Vocational Service Kramer, Morris Lewis, Milton
The Community Workshop is Lucow, Ben M. Mandelkorn, Mrs.
Assembly fails—as the first one indeed has failed—to establish a to task the American Jewish
real confederation of all Zionists (eliminating parties and party Committee for its "irreverence, the stepping stone to economic Morton .Netzorg, Eva Ravnitsky,
strife) , then the convening of delegates from the entire country
Fred E. Schwab, Irwin Shaw,
self-inflation, and bad man- independence. Through work Harold Silver, Ira I. Sonnenblick,
for gab-fests was an abortive project.
habits learned on the job,
A decision to create more councils, to set up new offices, to ners" in assuming the "self-ap- through increased confidence and George M. Stutz.
create another set of directors, is so unrealistic that we are shock- pointed" role of religious spokes- and strength, the people are
The director of the Commun-
ed by the organizational aborticide. The existing machineries in
helped to seek employment suc- ity Workshop is Albert S. Leven-
Zionist ranks are sufficient to provide the necessary manpower man for the Jews of - America cessfully- in private industry. son, who was granted leave by
it accepted the Velde
to carry on educational and political work. Both must be pur- when
Typical of the many cases the JewiSh Vocational Service to
sued. The tragedy of our time is that there is a lack of inertia, House Un-American Activities served by the Workshop is the direct the project.
Committee
invitation
to
cooper-
that there is a slackening of energy in the direction of genuine
composite case of N. C., age 66.
Contract work is always need-
Zionist efforts. A Zionist Assembly should have been planned to ate in the investigation of al-
Mr. C., a prominent German ed. For information on how to
leged
Communist
inflitration
be able to increase enthusiasm by reducing party differences. That
fled to Shanghai help the Commimity Workshop
the Assembly failed to do. Therefore it was a complete failure among America's religious bodies oral surgeon,
Dr. Norman Salit, president of in 1938, at the height of the perform its service, call Mr.
and its decisions are a mockery of the real needs.
the Synagogue Council, charged Hitler pogroms. For 12 years, he Levenson, WO. 5-3939.
*
*
that the Velde congressional struggled to " maintain himself
The Myth of Birobidjan in List of Subversives
committee should have known there. After arriving in Detroit
The myth of Birobidjan has been considered a forgotten bit that the American Jewish Com- in 1950,, the cumulative effect 2—DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, December 18, 1953
of political banter until last week, when the Detroit Better Busi- mittee was not the official re- of inadequate diet and over-
ness Bureau included in the U. S. Attorney General's List of Dis- ligious spokesman of America's
loyal or Subversive Organizations the "American Committee for Jews, "particularly when it pre-
the Settlement of -Jews in Birobidjan," designating it as a new sumes to do investigative work
organization.
within a field allied with reli-
This listing is contrary to facts. The Birobidjan movement, gious activity." He added that
which ' was inaugurated to encourage the settlement of Russian "the fact that the Velde com-
By BORIS SMOLAR
Jews in the Siberian territory, was a total flop. The Jews of Rus- mittee did not know that the
(Copyright, 1953, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
sia refused to go there and as far as we know the Jewish popu- over-all representative body of
lation of Birobidjan has declined from some 27,000 to less than American Jewry as a religious Fund-Raising Trends
8,000.
community is the Synagogue
Jewish fund-raising campaigns declined about three percent
The Birobidjan effort met with repudiation among most Council of America, so regarded in 1953, the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds
American Jews and only a handful of people—the leftist-inclined by not only American Jewry estimates now, as the year reaches its end ... The decline has been
element whose numbers may run to about 5,000 among all of the but also by leading non-Jewish sharpest in the "big gifts" brackets, which include contributors of
nearly 5,000,000 American Jews—endorsed the drive and sought agencies, including this country's $5,000 or more ... These gifts, although small in number, continue
funds for the rejected task.
Department of State, is indica- to provide one-third of the total funds ...In recent years, the
The committee as listed certainly is not new, and we doubt tive of its grasp of fundamental number of givers to Jewish welfare funds also declined ...How-
Whether anything is left of it.
facts in the field of its planned
the decline in the number of givers has been more gradual
Three other Jewish groups are listed in the Better Business work—is indicative, perhaps, of ever,
than the decline in the amounts raised ... Since 1948, the number
Bureau's bulletin. We believe that the three names actually repre- its fitness to carry on this of contributors has decreased approximately 15 percent
An an-
sent one small group. The impression of "many" in the three is work."
of reports from 85 welfare funds shows that about 32 per-
alysis
deplorable. It is sad enough that we must repudiate subversive-
cent of all receipts were contributed by three-tenths of one per-
ness even in one very small group.
cent of the "big gift" givers ...These gifts declined last year by
30,000 Jews Registered -
50 percent from the amount contributed in 1948 by the same
For HIAS Immigration
bracket ... A decline of about 35 percent is also established in the
Another Threat from Calendar Changes
NEW YORK, (JTA) — There bracket of $100-$5,000 ... The crucial importance of gifts in the
A number of years ago, traditional Judaism was endangered
by a worldwide effort to change the calendar into even months, are 30,000 prospective immi- above categories is emphasized when we note that last year, about
thus throwing the traditional Sabbath out of its present orbit grants currently registered with 90 percent of all monies raised were from gifts of $100 or more,
into an alternating status, so that, from year to year, the present the . Hebrew Immigrant Aid 'So- from 19 percent of the givers ... Study of the fact revealed above,
their
Sabbath day would fall on a different day in the week under the ciety in various parts of . the poses serious problems for the communities as they begin What
world, an increase of about planning for 1954 campaigns ...One of these problems is:
new calendar scheme.
This threat again faces Jewry, with the request by India that 5,000 over last year, it was re- can be done to reverse the declining trends in the "big gifts" cate-
Some
the United Nations. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) con- ported by Dr. Arthur T.' JaCobs, gory, since this category - is the heart of every campaign? ...
community
leaders
feel
that
there
should
be
fewer
mass
meetings
sider the possibility of shifting the calendar into a new worldwide executive director of BIAS, who
system, with the encouragement of the UN. The ranks which have has just returned from a one- and more concentration on smaller groups and on personal solici-
hitherto battled against this threat to the fixity • of the Sabbath month tour of • HIAS installa- tation ... Also that there should be less reliance on glamorous
day are thus faced with a renewed challenge—perhaps a more tions in Europe and Israel. He speakers and more attention to local leaders who can tell the
husbands
serious one, since it involves the UN. Leaders in efforts to retain added that BIAS expects to be campaign story effectively ...Some also recommend that
than holding
the fixity of the Sabbath would do well to start planning their able to move about 5,000 of these and wives be invited to special gifts dinners -rather-
separate functions for them.
people „during .l954.
Offensive at once. .

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

NEW ORLEANS—Within
a few hours after the devast-
ing tornado struck Vicksburg,
Miss., Lable Katz, of this city,
president of Bnai Brith Dis-
trict Seven, mobilized local
and district leaders to provide
maximum aid to tornado
victims.
The first action taken was
arrangements for the admit-
tance of two aged sisters,
85 and 74, to the Bnai
Brith Home and hospital in
Memphis. Before the sisters
could be moved, however, the
elder died from the injuries
she received.

f.'

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Between You

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and Me

