People Make News
Boris Smolar's
'Between You
.. and Me'
(Copyright 1967, JTA Inc.)
JTA AT FIFTY: When I joined the Jewish Telegraphic Agency some
45 years ago, it still carried its original name Jewish Correspondence
Bureau, which was dropped later . . . Directing the operations in New
York was Jacob Landau, who founded the Jewish Correspondence
Bureau in Holland . . . Directing the operations in Europe and in
Palestine was Heir Grossman, noted journalist and Zionist leader,
who together with Landau founded the JTA in London . .. Grossman
was in charge of the overseas service to New York which he coordinated
in the London office ... He could not, at that time, send to New York
more than 400 words by cable daily , . . These 400 words had to
cover the Jewish news of that day from Russia, Poland, Romania,
Hungary, Germany, England, France, Palestine and other countries
. . . On a day when he had to exceed the 400-word quota — especially
when there were anti-Semitic outbreaks in some East European coun-
tries, or when there was a heated debate on Palestine in the British
Parliament — Grossman had to "compensate" for the exceeded word-
age by cabling less than 400 words the next day . .. The same was
true also with regard to the service from Palestine where Gershon
Agronsky — who Hebraized his name to Agron after the establish-
ment of Israel and became the mayor of Jerusalem — was JTA cor-
respondent for many years . . . Agronsky's quota for cabling news
to JTA office in London — for relay to New York and to other coun-
tries where the JTA maintained offices — was 30 words a day . . .
If he cabled more than 30 words on one day, he had to cable less than
30 words the next day . . . At any rate, he was not to exceed 1,000
words a month under any circumstances ... The JTA could not afford
at that time to carry more than 400 words a day by cable from London
to New York . . However, Grossman used a trick in stretching the
400 words to perhaps double that amount . . . He not only used
"Cablese" which permitted the combining of certain words into one
— especially prefixes and suffixes — but he sent all the cables to
New York in German instead of English . . Why in German? . . .
Because the German language enables the combination of two and
three words into one ... In the New York office, we all knew German
and it was no problem for us to decipher the cables and translate them
into proper English . . . Finally, the cable companies caught up with
us and forced us to receive our press rate cables from London in
English only.
•
•
•
MARCH OF TIME: Today, the JTA receives thousands of words by
cable and wireless daily, although Jewish life has shrunk in European
countries since World War II . . . And there is no longer a limit on
the wordage received by the JTA from its correspondents in Israel
. . . Gone are the days when the use of "cablese" was strictly enforced
in the JTA service . . . Gone, too, are the days when the first names
and titles of persons in the news were eliminated from the cables,
for the sake of economy, and had to be remembered by the editorial
staff in New York, or looked up in reference books . . . Today JTA
corrspondents use punctuation in their cables for the sake of clarity
... Wordage is no longer counted as in the old days, and correspondents
are no longer reprimanded for failing to save a word here and there
in their dispatches . . . Progress in communications has revolutionized
the entire system of press cabling, permitting transmission of thousands
of words at the cost of hundreds a few years ago . . . Today, JTA
operates a wireless system which permits the transmission and receipt
of thousands of words daily to London, and to the JTA offices in
Israel, Johannesburg, Buenos Aires and other Latin American coun-
tries . The JTA daily life of news by wireless is not a per word basis
but on a leased time arrangement . . . During the 50 years of its
existence, JTA has become a telegraphic agency comparable in its
operations to any of the general news agencies . . . Not to speak of
the fact that, in coverage of news concerning Jews, JTA today is con-
sidered the most authoritative source of information.
ONLY YESTERDAY: When I joined the JTA, about five years after
it was founded, we were not the only Jewish news agency in the United
States . . . At that time there were at least three Jewish agencies and
two Jewish feature agencies . . . Not to speak of the fact that some
of the Jewish daily newspapers — like the Forward and Morning
Journal — carried cables from their own correspondents . . . It did
not take long, however, for the competing news agencies to disappear.
One of them still exists today but only as a foreign-language advertis-
ing agency . . . In the course of the 50 years of the JTA's existence
there were also other efforts made — one by the Jewish Agency and
the other by the World Jewish Congress — to establish world news
services . . . All these attempts failed simply because, after a short
time, the new ventures proved not only expensive but useless . . .
Because of the partiality they showed in their news — and they could
not do otherwise — they only strengthened the JTA position as an
impartial news agency serving all elements of world Jewry . . . In
the course of its existence, the JTA has established for itself a reputa-
tion of being "the eyes and the ears" of the Jewish people and of
serving the Jewish communities in their most critical times . . . This
place is too short to list events in Jewish life in which the JTA played
a central — and often a decisive — role . . If the history of the
JTA will ever be written, it will become clear that the JTA not only
recorded Jewish history but also made Jewish history and played no
small role in influencing situations from which Jews in various coun-
tries benefited.
Kibutz Established on Golan Heights
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
JERUSALEM — A new agri-
cultural settlement was officially
established- Wednesday on the
slopes of Tel Azzaziat in the Golan
Heights, once the site of Syrian
gun emplacements that for years
harassed this Israeli border re-
gion.
The settlement, Eshet, which
lies west of the international de-
Moscow Chief Rabbi
Thanks Canadian Jews
for Festival Needs
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
28—Friday, October 27, 1967
marcation line between Israel and
Syria and hence on what was al-
ways Israeli soil, was set up by
Nahal, paramilitary pioneer youth
organization, and Hashomer Hat-
zair, whose members will populate
the new kibutz. Inaugural cere-
monies, attended by military com-
manders and Hashomer Hatzair
leaders, came after two weeks of
preparatory work by an advance
group of settlers.
Dr. JULES BACKMAN and
EARL MORSE, who last year led
the major reorganization of the Re-
form Jewish Appeal which result-
ed in a record-shattering campaign,
have been selected to head the
organization again for 1967-68. The
appointment was announced by
Irvin Fane, chairman of the board
of the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations, and S. L. Kopald,
Jr., chairman of the board of gov-
ernors of Hebrew Union College-
Jewish Institute of Religion.
• • •
The appointment of JOSEPH
RAZIEL as regional director of a
newly established branch of the
Israel Aliyah Center in Phila-
delphia was announced by Rabbi
Mordecai Kirshblum, chairman of
the Israel Aliyah Center.
• • •
Avner Manor, president of
the American-Israeli Shipping Co.,
Inc., U.S. representatives of the
Zim Israel Navigation Co. Ltd. of
Haifa, Israel, announced the ap-
pointment of ERICH W. MAMSON
to the post of U.S. passenger traf-
fic representative with basis at the
line's head office at 42 Broadway,
New York.
• • •
At the convention of Yeshiva
University Rabbinic Alumni at
Lakewood, N.J., Nov. 6-9, RABBI
HAYIM DONIN of Cong. Bnai Da-
vid will chair the session devoted
to the nominations of new officers
and the introduction of new reso-
lutions. The convention will ex-
plore inter-Orthodox group rela-
tions.
• • •
B. V. FLEMING of Huntington
Woods, president of the Lapeer
Parents Association for Retarded
Children, is one of the 1,000 dele-
gates attending the 18th annual
convention in Portland, Ore., of
the National Association for Re-
tarded Children, a voluntary or-
ganization devoted to the welfare
of the mentally retarded of all ages.
• • •
Drs. GEORGE V. LEIB and
STUART PERNICK have been
named chairmen of two exhibits
committees of the 26th annual
Dental Review, sponsored by the
Detroit District Dental Society. The
scientific meeting, which is held
annually to review the latest inno-
vations and techniques in the field
of dentistry, will be held Nov. 19-21
at the Statler-Hilton Hotel.
• • •
Secretary-General U Thant gave
a farewell luncheon last weekend
for Ambassador GIDEON RA-
FAEL, the Israeli permanent rep-
resentative, who has been appoint -
ed director general of the Israel
Foreign Ministry, in Jerusalem.
Attending the luncheon were repre-
sentatives of the United States,
Britain, France, Holland, Mexico,
Dahomey, Philippines and senior
members of the secretariat headed
by Dr. Ralph J. Bunche and C. V.
Narissaman. No representative of
the Eastern bloc was present.
Rafael will remain at the UN for
the duration of the discussion on
the Middle East crisis.
• • •
A cable congratulating the SHAH
OF PERSIA on his coronation was
sent by Dr. Nahum Goldmann, pre-
sident of the World Jewish Con-
gress. In the message, Dr. Gold-
mann extended to the Persian
ruler the WJC's "heartfelt wishes
for the peace and prosperity of
the Persion people which is demon-
strated in abiding friendship for
the Jewish people since the time
of Cyrus the Great."
• • •
JOSHUA LEBERBAUM, since
1955 head of the Israeli Treasury's
budget division and, since 1962,
holding a similar post in the Jew-
ish Agency headquarters in Jeru-
salem, has been appointed United
States representative of the age!)
cy's treasury here. The announce-
ment of his naming was made by
Mrs. Rose L. Halprin, chairman of
the Jewish Agency-American Sec-
tion.
MONTREAL (JTA) — The Chief
Rabbi of Moscow, J. L. Levin, has
acknowledged by letter the receipt
of a , gift of etrogim and lulavim
(citrons and palm branches) sent
to Russian Jewry by the Canadian
Jewish Congress for the celebra-
tion of Sukkot.
In the letter addressed to Mich-
ael Garber, president of the Cana-
dian Jewish Congress, and written
in Hebrew, Rabbi Levin said: "I
am now in position to advise you
that with the help of God I have
received the etrogim in good order
and now we hope to observe the
festival of joy in its entirety with
7 Model Young Ladies
the blessing over the lulay. With
greetings and thanks."
Raise $1 for Torch Fund
The Canadian Jewish Congress
Wendie Farkus, daughter of Mr. announced it had received word
and Mrs. Donald Farkus, 19810 from Canadian authorities that the
Fenmore, hosted a Miss Fenmore gift was delivered in Moscow.
Pageant in her backyard last week
end, and with seven other girls on
ROMANTIC AFFAIRS
BEGIN WITH
the block raised $1 for the Torch
Fund.
In a letter to John Fisher, asso-
AND HER GYPSIES
ciate director of the United Foun-
Weddings,Parties,Dances
dation, which was published in the
474-7638
newspapers, Wendie described the
pageant. The seven girls, age 8-12
modeled dresses and slacks and
For Unique Tasteful
then held a talent show. Admission
Entertainment
was 5 cents.
President Eduardo Frei re
ceived ITZHAK HARKABI, specia
envoy of President Zalman Shazar
of Israel, and discussed with him
Israel's desire for a permanent
peace settlement in the Middle
East. Ambassador Harkabi visited
Santiago on a lightning tour cf
Latin American capitals and was
to proceed from here to Uruguary,
Paraguay and Mexico. He was also
received here by Foreign Secretary
Gabriel Valdes. Harkabi arrived
from Lima where he had been
JOCELYN
Boy Scouts Recruited
Boy Scout Troop 135 sponsored
by the Men's Club of Cong. Bnai
David has started fall recruiting.
The troop meets 7:30 p.m. Wed-
nesdays at the synagogue.
A weekend campout at the D-A
Scout Ranch in Metamora will be
held Nov. 3-5.
JOE ODDO
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