2
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Fr iday, May 11, 1962 —
Purely Commentary
Wanted: Realistic
Approach to Center
Synagogue Debate
By Philip
SIOMOVaZ
Goldwater, British
Cabinet Member to
Send Kids to Israel
•
This immediately marks an exit from ideological discussion
Conservative Rabbis' Challenge to the Centers
A serious charge has been made, mainly by Conservative on the very vital Center issue. We must commence the search
PHOENIX, Ariz., (JTA)-
Peggy Goldwater, 17-year-old
rabbis, that the Jewish Centers in this country have outlived for a solution to this vital problem by securing a general agree_
thoroughly
Jewish
in
daughter of United States
their usefulness and that while the term "Jewish" still is ap- ment that Jewish Center programs must be
Senator Barry Goldwater,
pended to it, the Center has become a non-religious institution content. It is subject to question whether it can be turned into
its
Jewish
members
for
non-Jewish
a
religious
agency.
If
that
becomes
our
aim,
then
we
shall
have
confirmed reports she hoped
that tends to "ghettoize"
to reckon with the secularist element in Jewry—and that group,
to go to Israel and live on a
activities.
The new evaluation of the Centers' programs contains a while it may have diminished in numbers, has not vanished
kibbutz after she finishes
completely. The fact is that in our own Center there functions
junior college. She is com-
most disturbing accusation. The demand that it either change an educational group that substitutes an activity of its own for
pleting high school require-
its approach or give way entirely to the Synagogue will un-
ments at the exclusive Jud-
doubtedly be studied more carefully now, and the numerous the Hebrew and Sunday schools. It provides a minimum of
elements who make up the American Jewish communities may Jewish knowledge to its children, but it persists in its secularist
`son school here.
now become involved in a debate that already is marked by ideas. Would we eliminate such a group from Jewish life by
''Her father, the leading
should be discussed demanding that it should accept the four- or five-day Jewish
conservative in the Republi-
some bitterness. It is essential that the issue
school, thereby driving them out entirely from communal parti ---can party, is present head
dispassionately, with one aim in view—that of improving corn-
of the Goldwater family. The
munal programming, of advancing our cultural activities, of cipation?
On the basis of Rabbi Halpern's appeal, what are we to say ' Goldwaters have been prom-
retaining our spiritual high standards.
i to Jews who desire to support the Center in its present form of
inent merchants in the west-
A major portion of the current issue of the periodical
ern United States for three
Conservative Judaism, published by the Rabbinical Assembly of sponsoring minimalized Jewish programming and who "tolerate"
the priorities given to the overall educational system which
generations. The family is
America, is devoted to the Center issue, and the participating
receives allocations even larger than those made to the Center?
Jewish, but Goldwater was
rabbis seem to be unanimous in their views that the Center as
What are we to say to the group—small as it may be--that is
raised as an Episcopalian.
• • *
it functions today must change its approach, that its former still antagonistic to Israel and Israei institutions, but which con-
Americanization and immigrant integration programs are no
longer valid today, but that, in the main, it is the lack of curs in gifts to Israel in order that their own hobbies that are
LONDON, (JTA) — Hom-
ing Minister Charles Hill has
included in the Allied Campaigns should be cared for?
Jewish content that makes the Center program, in its present
decided to serti his 16-year-
Are we prepared for a complete revamping of our com-
form, negative in its Jewish approach.
old soy Sohn, to live on as
munal structure and a total revision of fund-raising procedures
While the criticisms come from the Conservative quarters, so
Israeli kibbutz for six
that
each
contributor
may
be
free
to
select
the
cause
he
favors
it must be noted that the opening argument in the attacks on
months, it was announced
while he rejects what he disapproves? Doesn't that threaten
the Center's program, in the series of essays in Conservative
here.
the shattering of the existing all-inclusive campaign machinery
Judaism, is contained in a critical statement by Rabbi Bernard
Announcing the plans for
Ducoff, executive director of the Bureau of Jewish Education which has existed for more than 30 years?
her son, Mrs. Marion Bill
A good beginning has been made through current- discus-
of San Francisco, based on a unanimous stand taken by 50
said: "We toured Israel last
Orthodox, Conservative and Reform members of the Board of sions and studies to make the Jewish Centers genuinely Jewish,
October and saw what life is
Rabbis of Northern California, who, conducting a study of a to encourages Jewish content in programming, to strive for a
a kibbutz was hire. We were
report of the Jewish Welfare Federation of their community revitalized spiritual Jewish existence. But in doing so let us
very impressed." She said
on Jewish Center needs, challenged the present Center status. also keep in view the truth that synagogues, too, are also
the boy would go to Israel,
guilty of transgressing in sponsoring programs that often fail
"A radical rethinking of Center philosophy" is called for
this year, before entering
by Rabbi Ducoff, whose statement compares, in parallel to reach the high standards we must always aim for. A local
Cambridge University.
synagogue group only recently conducted a fund-raising event
columns, the conclusions in the Welfare Board study con-
that was marked by low level entertainment.
ducted by the Federation with the analyses made by the rabbis.
The Synagogue, too, must look to its laurels. Its traditional
He charges that the Center has become a membership organiza-
tion that is competing with the synagogues; he poses the status as a Beth Tefilah and Beth Medrash—as a house of study Mapai Heeds Eshkol's
and
as a house of learning—has diminished. Some synagogues
question whether the Center serves the best interests of the
have difficulty enrolling daily minyanim, and in studying im- Warning, Gives OK to
community by operating its own youth activities "independent-
provements in our Jewish contents we must consider the needs Compulsory Loan
ly of the congregations"; he asks "whether, in fact, this leads
of all institutions, the Synagogue as well as the Center.
not only to duplication but to the establishing of groups which
TEL AVIV, (JTA) — The
are socially or athletically oriented rather than being rooted
This is said only for the sake of indicating that even the
Mapai Party Secretariat and Eco7
in the religio-cultural approach to Jewish life that tilt modern
synagogue can offer?"
religiously-oriented elements in our community are not
guiltless in their programming.
Rabbi Ducoff also asks: "Would not the Center be realizing
the greater service by providing professional help to the syna-
gogues in developing their own youth activities programs which
can meet spiritual and educational as well as social needs?"
This is a mild criticism compared with the other charges
in the symposium. One of the participants, Rabbi Mordecai S.
Halpern of our own community, who reviews the recent Detroit
Jewish Center Sabbath programming issue, goes much farther.
He joins his confreres in stating that the Center programs are
not Jewish in content, that his warnings about an applicant for
a Center staff position whom he accused of being antagonistic
toward religion. and Judaism were ignored, that Center activities
are sport and recreational and the smattering of courses with
Jewish content is a mere "cultural bone" thrown to the Jewish
community's "committed constituency." His demand is that the
Center should commit itself officially "to the advancement of
Judaism in the widest sense," requiring "of all its personnel
as high a level of knowledge and commitment to Judaism as it
now does to social work."
Dr. Max Arzt, Vice-Chancellor of the Jewish Theological
Seminary of America, who participates in the symposium,
wants Center staffs "religiously committed." Rabbi Harold
Schulweis of Oakland, Calif., challenges the Center's right to
financial priorities and calls upon synagogues to challenge the
Center's role in acquiring economic priority from Federation
allocations. Even Carl Urbont, director of the N.Y. 92nd 'St.
YMCA, the only lay participant in the debate, warns against
the negative effects upon the Jewish personality resulting
from the C'enters' emphasis on fun and socials. Urbont would
like to see the Center workers become more like Jewish
teachers steeped in the noblest Jewish traditions. He charges
Therefore we must be realistic. The major claim, in the
Conservative Judaism discussion, is that the Center has outlived
its usefulness, that it is merely a fun-providing agency, that
it functions to make available sport and sociability facilities,
and that it is otherwise un-Jewish in spirit and in content.
Therefore, what are we to do? Close up the Centers and tell
those who use its facilities to go to the Synagogue? It is ad-
mitted that most people already are affiliated with the Syna-
gogue. Are we, therefore, to tell those who seek sociability and
fun and sports to go to the YMCA? Or, will the Synagogue
install gymnasiums and swimming pools to fill the need? We
have just spent more than $3,000,000 for the functioning Detroit
Jewish Center. Should we put it up on the auction bloc and
say we have washed our hands with the Center Idea in
Jewish life?
,
the present-day Center workers often with "being hostile to
programs that are characteristically Jewish." He labels this
their "inadequacy."
Much as one would like to uphold the Jewish Center's status,
it is inevitable that the opinions expressed in the Conservative
Judaism symposium will be met with an approving response.
The arguments in criticism of the Centers are too emphatic to
remain without notice or to go unheeded.
Yet, the issue is far from being clarified, and may not even
be immediately solvable. It may be charged that the rabbis
would like to displace the Center staffs who are accused of
getting special privileges as a result of the large Federation
allocations for the upkeep of expensive Centers. But when Rabbi
Ducoff suggests that the Centers should provide professional
help to supervise youth activities in synagogues, he is merely
asking for a change of venue. What is being.demanded in the
main is the Judaizing of the Center programs. But if the battle
is for priority between the Centers and the synagogues, then
there may emerge another puzzle: whether this is merely a
battle between vested interests.
'The issue must he discussed dispassionately, based on com-
munity needs. The viewpoints of the rabbis and the layman
participating in the symposium certainly are well taken. One
wonders, however, whether we can go very far with assertions
such as the following by Rabbi Halpern of Oak Park:
"There is immediate need for a new look at priorities in
the Jewish community . . . and obviously in Federation alloca-
tions.... It is about time that the Synagogue speak in either/or
terms. If the Jewish Center wishes to keep the name 'Jewish'
on its doors and letter-heads—and every Jew is forced , through
Allied or Federation Campaigns to pay for it—then we have a
right to demand at least three things: Warmly Jewish motivated
personnel, . . . Programming that deserves the name Jewish
before it. . . . A new set of proceedings for the election of
representative 'Jewish' leadership. . . ."
-
That would hardly be reasonable. No community is pre-
pared to abandon its Center or Centers and to transfer every-
thing in the established community gathering place to the
Synagogues. Therefore, admitting that in searching for faults
we have found them, the solution lies in cures, in making
the available facilities effectively Jewish, while at the same
time retaining their traditional American links, so that the
existing social-recreational agency will be a source of pride
for Jewry. of exchange, will
norms Committee decided to
back Finance Minister Levi Esh-
kol's proposal, calling for a com-
pulsory savings loan to absorb
the excess currency expected to
become available next July when
cost-of-living allowances will be
increased as a result of the de-
valuation of the Israeli pound last
February.
Eshkol had warned the com-
mittee that failure to approve the
plan would result in general eco-
nomic chaos in Israel.
According to the plan, details
of which will be worked out later,
wage earners will have to save
three or four per cent of their
salaries, beginning in July. The
savings will total an estimated
60,000,000 pounds ($20,000,000.)
It was announced in Jerusalem
that the time limit for liquida-
tion of dollar-linked mortgages,
at the lower pre-devaluation rate
be extended to
June 7. The extension also ap-
plies to those mortgagees wish-
ing to convert their debts to obli-
gations linked with the cost-of-
living index rather than the
dollar.
After June 7, those who have
not acted on either option will
automatically have their debts
Criticism is good for the soul. Now let us utilize it for the
perfecting of our communal spiritual structures. It would be
sheer folly to try to make of the Center a scapegoat that would
in the end result in a complete split in whatever communal
unity exists in American Jewry. Make' the Center more Jewish
and let it be utilized for the highest ideals in Jewish life
Perhaps it is possible, even in the midst of a struggle between
Synagogue and Center, to perfect so cooperative a spirit be-
tween the two that it will effectuate the noblest aspirations of
a culturally productive communal program.
increased by 67 per cent.
.
Seek Nazis Who Massacred 42,000 on 'Harvest' Day
To the Nazis in charge of the
labor camps in the Lublin dis-
trict of Poland, Nov. 3 and 4,
1943, were the Harvest Holiday
(Erntefest). To 42,000 Jews in
those camps, Nov. 3 and 4, 1943,
were the final horrible hour. At
least eight members of the Lub-
lin Gestapo have been arrested
by the West German police and,
together with others, charged
with participation in the murder
of the Jews in the district of
Lublin in general and the Har-
vest Holiday massacre, in par-
ticular.
Hundreds of other Nazi camp
officers are sought in connec-
tion with the murder of the
Jews in the Lublin district (the
counties of Biala Podliaska,
Chelm, Radzyn, Zamosc, Krasny-
staw, Bilgaraj, Hrubieszow, Jan-
ow-Lubelski, Pulawy).
The German Public Prosecu-
tors in Wiesbaden and Hannov-
er have asked the World Jewish
Congress in New York for help
in finding witnesses to testify
against 11 Nazis now held, and
to provide information that
might lead to the apprehension
of others, the whereabouts of
many of whom are unknown.
The Wiesbaden authorities
have completed the first stage
of investigation into the activi-
ties of the following eight men:
and district and SS-Hauptsturm-
fuelirer Walter Hess.
The Public Prosecutor of
Hannover who is investigating
the murders in the county of
Hrubieszow is seeking evidence,
in particular, against the follow-
ing three Nazis:
SS:Hauptsturmfuehrer Helmut
w The
auther
Altmann;
The SS-Untersturmfuebrer Adolf
. -Untersturmfuehrer Max
SS-Hauptsturrnfuehrer Georg Lo- St T
oeVS5
iser
thar Hoffmann — criminal commis-
These men are accused of hav-
sioner and chief of the Jewish Sec-
ing shot, gassed or otherwise
tion of the Gestapo;
SS-Oberstunnfuehrer Hermann Jo- killed, or participated in the
sef Worthoff—criminal commission-
er and Jewish Referent of the Ges- murder of tens of thousands of
tapo;
Jews, Poles, and Russian pris-
SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer Fritz Stoec-
ker, Chief of Section III of the Lub- oners of war from October 1941
lin Office of the Commissioner of to July 1944. The Harvest Holi-
the Security Police;
SS-Untersturrnfuehrer Dr. Harry day massacre involved 42,000
Georg Sturm, staff member of the Jews in Trawniki, Poniatowa,
Lublin Security Police Commander;
SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer Ewald Hein- Majdanek and other camps.
rich Blegelmeyer—Chief of Section
Anyone who has any knowl-
III of the Office of the Lublin Se- edge about these and other Lub-
curity Police Commander;
Criminal Commissioner in Lublin lin district criminals should con-
district and SS-Hauptsturmfuebrer tact Dr. Nehemiah Robinson, di-
Gotthard Schubert;
Police Commissioner for Zamosc rector, Institute of Jewish Af-
and district, SS-Obersturrnfuehrer fairs, World Jewish Congress, 15
Bruno Wilhelm Meiert;
Criminal Commissioner for Chelm E. 84th St., New York 28.