Friday, Sept. 27, 1963 — THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — 32
60th Anniversary of Hannah Schloss Bldg. Canadian Jewry Submits Brief
(Continued from Page 1)
which she assumed in 1903, the
first Jewish woman in the
country to hold such a profes-
sional post.
The dedication of the Hannah
Schloss Memorial Building took
place on Monday evening, Sept.
28, 1903 and the program par-
ticipants were Rabbi Judah L.
Levin, Miss Grace Gray, Henry
M. Butzel, D. W. Simons, David
D. Duggan, Rabbi Franklin,
Seligman Schloss, Lipman Wal-
ters, Sarah Ewell Krolik, Sarah
Berger and Joseph A. Krolik.
another known as the Jewish
Social Service Bureau and the
third segment, known as the
Jewish Centers Association.
At the dedication exercises,
Seligman Schloss surprised
the large gathering by an-
nouncing that he would pay
for the cost of the entire
building ($12,300), and that
the $5,430 raised by the Jew-
ish community s h o u l d be
placed in a sinking fund, the
income of which was to be
used for UJC activities and
for the purchase of equip-
ment for UJC's manual train-
ing department. Manual train-
ing was not offered in the
public schools at that time
and Seligman Schloss was an
ardent advocate for the estab-
lishment of such a school for
boys at the UJC.
Seligman Schloss was born
in Kleinsteinach, Bavaria, in
of the basement was crowded
every night with boys who at-
tended a m a nu al training
school, the first one in the city
for Jewish boys, under the
guidance of Homer Lane. In the
first report of the program of
work carried on in the building,
we find Louis Vineberg, chair-
man of the house government
committee, listing r e a din g,
arithmetic, art, civics, sewing
classes for girls, physical cul-
ture, dancing, lessons in piano,
stenography, typewriting, and
American history classes.
The pattern of the classes
followed the pioneer work of
people like Mrs. Sarah Ewell
Kr o 1 i k who had organized
classes in domestic arts for
girls. One of the most popular
departments was the bath tub
and shower rooms (bath rooms
in those days were not yet in
common use), where one could
obtain a bath or shower for a
very nominal fee.
In 1908 Bernard Ginsburg,
then president of the UJC,
contributed $14,000 for an
addition to the Schloss Build-
ing, to be built on the two
lots owned by the UJC, as a
memorial to his wife and his
family. The new wing was
dedicated in December, 1908,
and the Schloss Building and
the Ginsburg Wing w ere
termed the Jewish Institute.
Along with the living, found-
ing leaders of the UJC, par-
ticipants in the dedication of
the new building included
the young rabbi of Congrega-
tion Shaarey Zedek Abraham
M. Hershman and Hyman
Buchhalter. The. Institute,
proudly described as "corn-
paring very favorably with
buildings in other cities simi-
larly devoted to Jewish phil-
a nthr op y and education,"
housed a large gymnasium
(equipped in 1909 by Jacob
Siegel), training rooms, audi-
torium, library, and other
facilities for clinic, relief and
Ida E. Ginsburg Day Nursery.
1830. He came to the United
States in 1840 and became a
resident of Detroit in 1851.
Seligman and his b r other
Emanuel first engaged in the
retail trade and in 1853 they
opened a wholesale dry goods
business. Their jobbing trade
was extended into men's cloth-
ing manufacturing for which
the Lake Superior mining coun-
try offered a commanding out-
let in the early days. Seligman
served twice as president of
Pisgah Lodge of Bnai Brith, as
president of Temple Beth El,
and as honorary president of
i'ea '
the United Jewish Charities. He
married Hannah Weichselbaum
and they were the parents of
Albert, Clara (Mrs. Emanuel
Adler), Murray and Jessy.
Seligman Schloss died in 1913.
Hannah Weichselbaum Schloss
was born in Germany in 1843,
as were her parents, Charles
and Car o 1 i n a Weichselbaum.
They came to New York in the
1840s, where Charles became a
merchant, and moved to Detroit
in 1852. According to the 1863
Detroit City Directory, Charles
Weichselbaum was in the hat,
cap and fur business. He served
as vice-president of Temple
Beth El in 1859. He died in
1884 and was buried in Temple
BERNARD GINSBURG
Beth El's section in Woodmere
Cemetery. Hannah was one of
Bernard Ginsburg, son of
the founders of the Hebrew Samuel N. and Rachael Leah
Ladies Sewing Society in 1882 (Hoellfman) Gins b-u r g and
and served as its president from father of Mrs. Julian H. Krolik,
1882 to the time of her untime- was born in Columbus, Ind.,
ly passing in 1898. She _died Aug. 14, 1864. He was educated
July 13, 1898, in a train acci- in the Detroit public schools
dent in Wisconsin. The Hebrew and graduated from the Old
Ladies' Sewing Society became Detroit High School. He was
a constituent organization of married, in 1899, to Ida Esther
the United Jewish Charities Goldlman of Syracuse, N.Y.
when it was organized in 1899.
An outstanding leader of the
In 1905 the UJC made a down Detroit community and a gen-
payment on two lots to the west erous contributor to numerous.
of the Schloss Building. Through Jewish and general causes,
the generosity of Henry A. Ginsburg served as president of
Krolik and a bequest left in the Temple Beth El, United Jewish
will of Simon Heavenrich the Charities, D e t r o it Kehillah,
property became free and clear Hebrew Free Loan Association,
in 1906. Mrs. Henry Krolik fur- Pisgah Lodge, District Grand
nished the Babetta Brown Kro- Lodge No. 6 of Bnai Brith, and
lik Memorial Library in the as vice-president of the National
Schloss Building which existed Conference of Jewish*Charities.
until 1923 when it was replaced He also served as an officer of
by the Bernard Ginsburg Li- the Detroit Board of Commerce,
brary, a branch of the Detroit D e t r o i t Community Union,
Public Library named in honor Council of Social Agencies, De-
of Mr. Ginsburg.
troit Public Library Commis-
The main floor was used as sion, Detroit Public Lighting
g place and a library. Commission, Cleveland Jewish
The large auditoriiin.......72 filled Orphan Home, National Jewish
every evening by Jewish -61 _ T- lospital, National Executive of
ganizations. The upper floor AmerK;dir Jewish Congress, Na-
was used for classrooms, and a tional Executive of tau- -Zionist
baby day nursery. A large part Organization of America, Na
S'3Ta•
tional Farm School, Associated
Charities Association, Provident
Home Society.
Mr. Ginsburg was in the iron
and steel business, manufactur-
ing early auto and truck parts.
He died June 6, 1931.
In 1923, when Detroit num-
bered 40,000 Jews, the first
comprehensive survey of De-
troit's Jewish community,
financed by Henry Wineman,
was conducted by the National
Bureau of Jewish Social Re-
search. The purpose of the sur-
vey was "to bring forth facts
which would make advisable
the elimination or merger of
certain existing organizations
and to point out new fields of
endeavor not yet touched by
the Jewish community." The
survey strengthened a desire,
already felt in many quarters,
for a more efficient organiza-
tion of the community forces
_and a general improvement of
service. For the next three
years the UJC was undergoing
re-organization which resulted
in the establishment of the
Jewish Welfare Federation in
1926.
In 1923, the UJC was the re-
cipient of a $12,500 bequest
from the estate of Sarah Ewell
Krolik and the auditorium in
the Schloss Building was named
the Sarah Ewell Krolik Audi-
torium.
In 1924 Morris Waldman
(who died on Sept. 7) became
the executive director of the
UJC, succeeding Blanche Hart.
Shortly 'after assuming his post
here,'Waldman re-organized the
UJC into three distinct agencies
—one to continue to be known
as the United Jewish Charities,
another known as the Jewish
Social Service Bureau and the
third segment, known as the
Jewish Centers Association.
About 1917 there began a
gradual shifting of the Jewish
population and a gradual aban-
donment of the lower Hastings
Street • district. By 1924 the
Jewish Institute found itself
isolated from the Jewish dis-
tricts and in the fall of that
year it was'detided to turn the
building over to the Recreation
Department of the City. In Oc-
tober, 1924, the Jewish Insti-
tute moved to 579 East Philadel-
phia. The Institute on High
street was the forerunner of
the Jewish Community Center
(opened in 1933 on Woodward
and HolbroOk) which grew out
of . the merger of the Jewish
Centers Association (created in
1926 as the recreational and
educational agency of the UJC
to supplant its original Educa-
tional Departrhent) and the
Young Women's Hebrew As-
sociation (opened in 1920 by
the Detroit Chapter of the Na-
tional Co u n c i l of Jewish
Women). The concept of who is
to be. served by such a center
has changed, as the early In-
stitute had much of the char-
acter of a settlement house for
the underprivileged. To d a y,
Jewish men, women and chil-
dren from every walk of life
derive benefit from the many-
sided cultural and recreational
activities of the Jewish Com-
munity Center, in" its magnifi-
cent building Curtis and
Meyers.
Some years ,ago, an organiza-
tion known as the Hanna h
Schloss Old Timers was found-
ed. It is composed of native
Detroiters, many of whom are
prominent Jewish leaders in
our community, who partici-
pated in their boyhood days in
the educational and recreational
activities conducted in the Han-
nah Schloss Memorial Building
and the Jewish Institute. The
organization has its headquar-
ters at the Jewish Community
Center and in its meeting room
are on display original records,
clipping b o o k s, photographs
and mementos of the activities
of Detroit's first Jewish Com-
munity Service Building.
on Major Issues to Prime Minister
OTTAWA ( JTA)—The Cana-
dian Jewish Congress submitted
to the Dominion's Prime Minis-
ter, Lester B. Pearson, a lengthy
brief dealing with most of the
major issues concerning Cana-
dian Jews, both on the domestic
level and in the international
field.
Included among the issues dis-
cussed in the brief were the
work of the government's Royal
Commission on Biculturalism
and Bilingualism; immigration;
the criminal code; the Bill of
Rights; the Human Rights Corn-
mission; property nationalized
by Poland; heirless property;
the USSR and its treatment of
Jews; and Israel and the Middle
East. •
Premier Pearson received the
Jewish delegation in the pre-
sence of Paul Martin, Secretary
of State for External Affairs;
Maurice Lamontage, president
of the Queen's Privy Council;
and Guy Fabreau, Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration.
On the subject of bilingual
and bicultural relationships, the
brief urged the government to
"take into account the contri-
bution made by other ethnic
groups to Canada's cultural en-
richment." The brief urged the
government "to allow nothing
to denigrate the position, rights
and privileges of Canadians of
non-Anglo-Saxon (Celtic) and
French origin" and to study
amendment of the British North
American Act "to include in-
alienable rights of citizenry un-
der some Bill of Rights provi-
sion as part of the constiution."
Referring to the position of
Jews in Russia and the Soviet
restrictions which "inhibit and
undermine the efforts of Soviet
Jews to maintain and develop
their religious and cultural ac-
tivity," the brief asked the gov-
ernment to use its good offices
to raise these issues "at ap-
propriate times and in an ap-
propriate foruni," expressing the
hope that "the religious and cul-
tural liberties of the Jewish
community of the USSR be re-
stored."
The brief urged that the cri-
minal code take "another look"
at provisions banning "latent
animosities and hatreds"; prohi-
bit spreading of false news pro-
moting disaffection among vari-
ous groups in Canada; and ban
hate materials inciting to vio-
lence against any class of per-
sons. It asked that the govern-
ment consider tightening pro-
tections against violations of the
Bill of Rights; and stressed, the
importance of banning racial dis-
crimination and religious intol-
erance through a United Nations
resolution.
Another brief submitted joint-
ly by the Canadian Jewish Con-
gress and the United Zionist
Council dealt with Middle East-
ern questions as they affect "the
security and the well-being of
Israel and the Middle Eastern
neighborhood as a whole." This
brief sought to eliminate Israeli
Arab border tensions; dealt
with the imbalance of arms be-
ing shipped into the Middle East
region; and called attention to
"the unresolved Arab refugee
problem and its implications for
the future."
Hebrew Corner
Isaac Ben-Zvi
,
"The day that I came to the coun-
try, I went out by foot to Petach
Tikva. It rained, I was completely
wet, but I was very happy to sleep
in a Jewish settlement already the
first evening of mine in the country."
That is what the young pioneer Isaac
Ben-Zvi wrote in his diary. When he
came in the year 5664 (1905) to
Petach-Tikva, he found there another
pioneer that came a year earlier —
David Green, who is David Ben-
Gurion.
From that day on, Isaac Ben-Zvi
participated in every important activ-
ity for the country.
He fought together with his friends
for Jewish labor in the country. lie ,
founded with them the "Shomer" or-
ganization, the General Workers or-
ganization, the "Haggana."
In the time of World War I, the
Turks expatriated him from the coun-
try (together with David Ben-Gurion),
he assisted to set up the Jewish
Regiment in America. This regiment
helped the English conquer the coun-
try from the hands of the Turks.
For a long time Isaac Ben-Zvi stood
at the head of the "Vaal Letuni" —
the "Jewish Government" in the time
of the British mandate.
In the War of. Liberation his sons
went out. to the battle front and his
youngest son fell in the lower Gali-
lee.
For 40 years and more the man
went on a humble and hard road,
and lived to see the setting up of the
State of Israel that arose in the year
of 5708 (1948).
The humble and devoted pioneer
reached the highest position in the
State. In the year of 1952 Isaac Ben-
Zvi was elected, President of the State
and in that capacity he served till
his death.
Translation of Hebrew Column.
(Published by Brith Ivrith Olamith,
Jerusalem).
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