New Method of Absorbing Immigrant Families Tested in Israel
By VICTOR M. BIENSTOCK
tion in Hebrew identified with the
Vice President and Editor of JTA ulpan method with an orientation
(Copyright 1970, .TA, Inc.)
program designed to prepare all
JERUSALEM — You have to the members of the immigrant
forget all your preconceived no- family for a speedy and relatively
tions about immigrant absorption painless integration into the main-
centers when you visit Katamon stream of Israeli life.
Tet. This is a center for young
Katamon Tet is one of a dozen
professionals and their families, such centers stressing this new
combining the intensive instruc- comprehensive approach to the ab-
sorption problem, treating the fam-
il as a unit and making its orien-
MUSIC TO PLEASE
tation a joint, cooperative effort of
all the members of the family. The
center is maintained by the Jew-
ish
Agency and the Keren Haye-
and his Orchestra
sod-United Israel A pp e a I, the
342-9424 Agency's financial arm. It is a spe-
cial project—Project 147—of the
United Israel Appeal of Canada.
Katamon Tet is not a barracks
or a camp but a complex of five
apartment houses in the Katamon
Quarter of Jerusalem. Unlike the
traditional immigration center, it
has no dormitories and no mess-
halls. Each family has its own
apartment—small but complete to
refrigerator and gas-stove and ade-
quz.tely furnished even if by
spartan standards. Each family
li•es by itself under conditions de-
signed to approximate as closely
as possible those under which it
would live "outside."
Thus each family can partici-
pate in the extensive program
of communal activities essential
to its eventual absorption wtih-
out loss of the family's privacy
and cohesiveness.
Mrs. Clara Scheck, the "house
mother" of Katamon Tet, directs
a staff, of 33, including seven
teachers, responsible for maintain-
ing the center and providing the
services required. She is accessi-
ble to the center residents at all
times for consultation, advice and
guidance. She streEses the impor-
tance of integrating the entire
family as a unit and of giving
each family adequate preparation
to deal with t'se conditions it will
find in Israel and to face the
Flexible leather shoes for boys
many problems involved in a new
and girls. Ideal for "dress up" A life here.
1 as well as for everyday wear.
The heart of the Katamon Tet
program is the six classroom
Expert fitting
school for adult; which functions
under the watchful eye of Shmuel
Segal, director of pedagogy. This
is the school for the parents where
COOLIDGE AT
MILE ROAD
the study of the Hebrew language
Tots through Teens
is combined with discussions (in
OAK PARK SHOPPING PLAZA
Hebrew) of the problems and dif-
LI 1 - 1108
ficulties the new settlers will run
Caen Thursday until 9 P.M.
into. For the adults, too, there is
a comprehensive social and cultu-
1
T
HY HERMAN
T
4
Martin - s Shoes il
4
SERVING ONLY
PRIME AND
CHOICE MEATS
Kosher Meat Dealers Assoc.
SINGER'S
KosherMeals v
& Poultry MkL
JACK ATTIS PHIL SWARIN
13721 W. 9 MILE at RIDGEDALE
LI 7-8111
WE DELIVER
Brenda -s
Beauty Salon.
OPEN SUNDAYS
NOW AT BRENDA'S
BARBARA IS BACK
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Open Evenings
Permanents $7.50 and up
Tint $7.50 (Set Included) Sets $3.50
EXCELLENT SERVICE—NO WAITING
24691
COOLIDGE
(south of 10 Mile)
Phone LI 7-2552
EXPERT STYLISTS
or LI 4-9637
STYLING TO PLEASE
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, August 21, 1970-25
FOR THE BEST IN
ral program in the central recre- close to capacity with families of
MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT
ation hall with much of the pro- immigrants from the United States,
gram being arranged by the resi- Canada, Latin America, Australia
dents themselves. There is also a and European countries forming a
And His Orchestra
small synagogue where they can miniscule melting pot with the
Hebrew they are all learning as
and do hold religious services.
358-0938
There is no mess-hall and no the leavening factor.
central commissary. Each family
goes out and does its own shopping
and the experience is not the least
important element in the reeduca-
tion of the mother. She can prob-
G&G Total Discount Drugs — Now in !
ably learn more in a half hour in
the vegetable market than she can • Oak Park's Northgate Shopping Center, ;
from poring over books telling her
25258 Greenfield, near 10 Mile Road—
what life is like in Israel.
The school sessions are from 8
Come in and save money — See really
a.m. to 12:30 p.m., after which
the parents are free for the rest • low total discount prices — Large fully mi
of the day. Some of them use the
time in further professional study • stocked shelves of merchandise — A
or in part-time jobs. Some go
total discount super drugstore—That's
sightseeing; some visit old friends
and relations in other parts of
us! G&G Total Discount Drugs. Open for
the city.
While they are attending their
your convenience 9 to 9 daily Sunday it
classes, the babies—there were 17
/0 to 6.
there on the day of a recent visit yi
—are cared for in a beautifully
maintained nursery by profession-
ally trained staff. The older tots-
27 of them, including a tiny flaxen-
haired blue-eyed girl from Hol-
land—are cared for in a kinder-
garten and playground and seem
to understand the teachers who
speak to them in Hebrew. The
older children—those of school age
—are bussed to local Genools. The
entire family is reunited for lunch
in the apartment. In the afternoon,
there are special programs for the
children who seem to adapt to the
language and to Israel much more
rapidly than their parents, accord-
ing to Mrs. Scheck.
Increasingly, as their stay in
Katamon Tet lengthens, the
families find more and more
interests outside the complex,
gradually fitting themselves into
the life of the city so that when
the final transition comes, it will
be the final step in a gradual
process rather than an abrupt
break.
The residents of Katamon Tet
remain, on the average, for about
six months. During that time, they
are expected to learn Hebrew, to
familiarize themselves with Israeli
customs and ways, to find jobs and
to locate apartments. The center's
program is designed to help them
on all these counts. Trained per-
sonnel of the Jewish Agency help
those who need help to find suit-
able jobs and assist the profes-
sionals in getting set up. Immi-
grants have top priority in hous-
ing, a condition which has created
considerable amounts of dissatis-
faction among Israelis having
housing difficulties. Jewish Agency
staff help the immigrants find
apartments and the Agency ad-
vances long term loans to enable
them to buy their apartments.
Up to last December, the Jew-
ish Agency extended financial aid
to the new immigrants giving them
a cash allowance as well as free
housing in Katamon Tet. The
cash allowances were discontin-
ued at the beginning of this year
but the immigrants are not charged
for their apartments in Katamon
Tet nor for the services rendered.
The cost per person staying at Ka-
tamon Tet has been estimated at
200 pounds ($58) a month, half
of which is covered by the Jewish
Agency.
Katamon Tet has a capacity of
86 families. It usually operates
SAM EA1MER
maiuNOT/CE.Finammi
■
II
a
t
•
•
CALL LI 7-3300
•
*•**•**1***•1111111M11•11*Mili "
Old Boston Center Sold
BOSTON (JTA) — The "(7.tiHA-
Hecht House, Boston's oldest and
largest Jewish community center,
will be sold this fall to the Lena
Park Housing Development Corp.,
a nonprofit organization composed
of Dorchester area residents, it was
announced by the Associated Jew-
ish Community Centers and the
Combined Jewish Philanthropies.
A kosher kitchen and several
golden age clubs will be maintain-
ed in the Hecht House, which will
now be known as the Lena Park
Neighborhood Service Center.
Browse through our beautiful room settings and our
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Our Professional interior designers will gladly assist
you in the planning and execution of a single room or
your entire home . . . or even a single accessory. Our
service includes recommendations on correct color co-
ordination, room layouts, selection of drapery, wall-
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OUR NEW PHONE
354-9060