fiublin's Jewish Lord Mayor Will Open
1957 Allied Jewish Campaign, March 28
Reuven Dafni, Consul of Israel,
Also to Speak at Shaarey Zedek
With the formal opening of
the 1957 Allied Jewish Cam-
paign Tess than two weeks
away, campaign gifts are ap-
proaching the $3,000;000 mark
and all divisions are working to
bring the figure well beyond
that by March 28.
At meetings on three suc-
cessive . evenings, Zvi Kolitz,
producer of the award win-
ning. Israeli film, "Hill 24
Doesn't Answer," pointed out
to members of the food, me-
chanical trades and apparel
trades sections of the mercan-
tile division, that Israel could
buy peace with the Arabs at
any moment by closing her
doors to further immigration.
"I sr a e 1, a nation of immi-
grants, can not, and will not,
accept peace on . those terms,"
Kolitz said.
Kolitz called for giving in a
"Grand Manner" to the 1lied
Jewish Campaign to e ble
Jews who need freedom as es-
sentially as they need air to
breathe," to be brought to Is-
rael.
ROBERT BRISCOE
The campaign opens formally
at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 28,
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
Robert Briscoe, Dublin's Jew-
ism. Eamon DeValera has said
Dafni, Israeli Consul in New
York, will be featured speakers.
Briscoe has combined a life
of Irish nationalism with Zion-
ism. Emmon DeValera has said
that in a nation of patriots,
Briscoe's devotion to Ireland
has been outstanding. This be-
comes all the more remarkable
because during all the years he
worked for Irish - independence,
Briscoe's devotion to Jewish
causes and Judaism remained
as constant as his devotion to
Ireland.
This will not be Ma y or
Briscoe's first trip to the Uni-
ted States. As a staunch Zion-
ist, he led a delegation to this
country in 1939 which sought
international s u p p or t for
Jewish immigration to Pales-
tine. As a member of the
Sinn Fein, the nationalist par-
ty that brought success to
the 700-year-old struggle for
Irish freedom, he undertook
several secret missions to the
U. S. to raise funds and col-
lect arms for the rebel cause.
. The Mayor became a found-
ing member of the Fianna Fail
Party in 1926 when Eamon De
Valera, a lifelong friend and as-
sociate, established it. Mr. Bris-
coe was elected the following
year to the Parliament from
south Dublin and has held the
seat ever since.
Mayor Briscoe will be ac-
companied by his wife, who is
also a native of Dublin, and
their eldest son Bill, who is a
pilot for the Dutch airline, •
KLM and will captain the
plane bringing his parents to
the U.S. The Briscoes are the
parents of three other sons
and three daughters.
Mr. Briscoe launched a suc-
cessful business career first as
an electrical engineer. More re-
cently, he has become associa-
ted with several firms, includ-
ing textile and pharmaceutical
companies. He is an observant
Jew and was instrumental in
introducing Kashrut laws in his
country.
Dafni, Consul of Israel in
New.York, has been a British
paratroop officer, a member
and K co-founder of the first
Jewish settlement on the eas-
tern side of Lake Galilee, a
Haganah fighter and a mem-
ber of the mixed Israel-Arab
Armistice Commission.
Admission to the f o r m al
opening is free, and doors open
at 7:30 p.m.
The real estate and building
division will hold its first major
fund-raising meeting at 5:30
p.m,. Wednesday, at the Shera-
ton-Cadillac Hotel. The real es-
tate and building division led
all other divisions with over
$1,000,000 in 1956 and while
they intend to change the fig;
ure upwards, this year, Abe
Green and Irving Rose, division
chairmen, announce that they
see no reason for being any-
thing but first again in 1956.
The pharmacicts' section will
hold its annual dinner meeting
at the same time" the realtors
and builders are meeting. The
pharmacists will meet at Sid-
ney Hill Northwest. Club, 13333
West. Eight Mile Road at 6 p.m.,
Wednesday.
Ford Foundation Grants
Israel $171,000 for Research
-
A grant by the Ford Founda-
tion of $171,000 to Israel Foun-
dations Trustees for scientific
research was announced this
week. The gift was part of a
total grant of $27,700,000 for in-
ternational programs of the
Foundation during 1956.
Leaders Commend Woinen's Division
Robert Briscoe,
the Jewish Lord
Mayor of Dublin
By BEN GALLOB
(Copyright, 1957,- JTA, Inc.)
A Kinsman's View of Mayor Briscoe:
`Faithfully Jewish, Fiercely Irish'
Considerable • enthusiasm is
being shown this week in the
Jewish community over the
arrival here on March 28 of
Robert Briscoe, Lord Mayor of
Dublin, Ireland.
Mayor Briscoe will come to
Detroit to address the opening
meeting of the Allied Jewish
Campaign that evening, at
Cong. Shaarey Zedek.
But, the distinguished visitor
also is coming here to speak
at a meeting of Detroit's Irish
Fellowship Club, a social club
which has been headed by Luke
Leonard for 40 years.
The only way Robert Bris-
coe, the first Jewish, Lord
Mayor ever elected by Dublin's
95 per cent Irish Catholic pop-
ulation, could have accepted all
the invitations showered on
him by American Irishmen and
American Jews would have
been to make his current visit
an indefinite one.
As it is, the colorful .Ortho-
dox Jewish Zionist and Irish
nationalist will have to double
up on his appearances in some
Leonard, in speaking of Dub-
cities to fulfill demands for his lin's first Jewish Lord Mayor,
appearance.
describes him as . "faithfully
In the hectic seven weeks he Jewish and fiercely Irish,"
will be in the United States,
Mr. Briscoe is scheduled to
make 80 appearances in 40
communities, which works out
to better than 10 per week.
According to Irving Rock-
more of New York, the
Mayor's American repre-
sentative, Mr. Br i s c o e is
diplomatically parceling out
his time between his two
loyalties on a 50-50 basis.
His tour is under auspices of
the United Jewish Appeal
and the Irish Societies of
America.
The Irish and the Jews will
mingle in mutual interest in
Mr. Briscoe in some cities
where a joint affair was the
only way for the Lord Mayor
to address both groups.
•
The Mayor will cover a lot
of American territory not only
geographically but also organ-
izationally. In advancing Jew-
ish • causes, he will speak not
only for the UJA but also for
Israel Bonds, and Hebrew Uni-
versity. He will speak at for-
urns, synagogues and halls of
Ancient Hibernian societies.
Mr. Briscoe naturally would.
like to be at a majority of
St. Patrick's Day parades but
not even the ingenuity of his
booking agent and the mir-
acles of modern transporta-
tion will enable him to re-
view more than two of Vile
parades, those in New York
and Boston. In the case of
Boston, an urban c e n t e r
hardly less Irish-oriented
than Gotham, the parade was
postponed for two days to
make it possible for Mayor
Briscoe to attend.
`Giant' Pre-G-Day
Meetings Set by
Women's Division
Six giant pre-G-Day meet-
ings will replace the 60 neigh-
borhood briefing meetings • for-
merly held by the Women's
Division of the Allied Jewish
Campaign. Invitations announc-
ing the time and place of meet-
ings are on their way to women
who have registered as workers.
Mrs. Stanley B. Friedman and
Mrs. Alexander Sanders, Wo-
men's Division workers' train-
ing chairmen, have provided
something different in instruc-
tions -to workers in the Allied
Jewish Campaign, with the help
of program co-ordinators, Mrs.
S. S. Willis and Mrs. Arthur
Rice.
Short playlets will dramatize
the best methods of soliciting,
and a trophy called a "wimmy"
is to be awarded the division
having the largest number of
workers present at each of the
six meetings. More than 2,000
women, who will be workers
in the campaign, will make
their own pledges at the meet-
ings and then will go out to
solicit others in 'behalf of the
United Jewish Appeal and the
55 other local, national and
overseas causes the Allied Jew-
ish Campaign helps support.
encomia referring to his deep
attachment both to Jewish and
Irish independence.
In connection with his strong
feeling for Irish-Jewish ties,
Leonard says that when he
lived in Grand Rapids and was
president of the American Or-
der of Hibernians in 1912, the
youngest man ever to hold the
post, his St. Patrick's Day or-
ation was written by Clarence
Weil, a Jewish townsman and.
staunch member of Bnai Brith.
Only a few years ago, Leon-
ard was instrumental in arrang-
ing a breakfast here honoring
David A. Brown on his 75th
birthday. His personal friend-
ship for Brown, a local and
national Jewish leader, has
flourished over 40 years, Leon-
ard says.
In 1920, Brown, speaking and
working in behalf of Irish in-
dependence, raised millions of
dollars throughout America for
the Irish Fellowship Club.
Mayor Briscoe's appearance
here, Leonard says, will serve
to re-emphasie old ties be-
tween the Irish and the Jews.
Briscoe, a leader in Ireland's
fight - for freedom and a long-
time Zionist, will arrive in the
United States at the invitation
of New York's Mayor Robert
Wagner to participate in the St,
Patrick's •Day parade.
He will spend seven weeks in
this country, dividing his time
evenly between Irish-American
clubs and the United Jewish
Appeal. His itinerary calls for
stops in 40 U. S. cities before he
returns to Dublin.
Briscoe Re-Elected
to Eire Parliament
DUBLIN -(JTA) — Robert
Briscoe, Lord Mayor - of Dublin
and its first Jewish municipal
head, was reelected March 7 to
the Eire Parliament. Mr. Bris-
coe has served Dublin constitu-
ents in Parliament continuously
since 1927.
Mr. Briscoe was scheduled to
arrive in New York March 14
for a seven-week tour of the
United States on behalf of the
United Jewish Appeal and the
Irish Societies of America.
.
Women Leaders- Inspect a `Wimmy'
The Mayor brings with him
two chains of office, a heavy
gold one for important formal
gatherings and a small one he
wears daily.
While the current tour is Mr.
Briscoe's first as Dublin Mayor,
he is no stranger to the United
States. Born and educated in
Dublin, he - came to the United
States as a youth to enter an
export-import business in New
Jersey:
After the Irish rebellion in
1916, he returned to his native
country to join the Irish Re-
publican army, entering Irish
politics in 1926. He has been a
member of the Dail, the Irish
Parliament, since 1927.
Mrs. Harry L. Jones, , Women's Division Allied Jewish
Campaign chairman, and Mrs. Lewis B. Daniels, Division pres-
ident, congratulate Mesdames Benjamin Jones, Lewis H.
Manning and Philip R. Marcuse on the decor at the Women's
Division special gifts meeting. Life preservers symbolized the
the rescuing of Jews, and big increases over last year's giving
were the order of the day.
American Jews interested in
the dubious issue of dual loyal-
ties, could find much to think
about in the Mayor's career. As
an Irish citizen, he undertook
several secret missions to the
United States to raise fundS and
arms for the Irish rebels. As a
follower of Vladimir Jabotin-
sky, founder of the Revisionist
Zionist movement, Mr. Briscoe
struggled with equal vigor for
the establishment of the Jewish
State. .
Also See Commentary
Item on Briscoe, Page 2
Mrs. Stanley B. Friedman, workers' training co-chairman
in the Women's Division of the Allied Jewish Campaign (left),
and Mrs. Lewis B. Daniels, Women's Division president, inspect
a "wimmy." "Wimmys" are rewards that will be given to the
women's general solicitation divisions with the largest number
of workers present at pre-G-Day meetings to be held April
1, 2, 3.