THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
44—Friday, December 1$, 1970
Are Jewish Frats ID ying on Campus?
By BEN GALLOB
Knesset Won't Debate
`Pornographic' Play
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Knes-
set voted 35-3 to reject a motion
by the Agudat Israel Party to
debate the presentation of a new
play which the Orthodox consider
pornographic.
The play, "Kfotz," has been ap-
proved by the state censorship
board and will have its premiere
shortly. It is said to be on the style
of the American musical "Hair"
but with more nude scenes.
The matter was referred to com-
mittee after the vote in which the
Agudat Israel was joined by two
splinter factions, Rakach and Har-
lem Hazeh.
Minister of Interior Joseph Burg
of the National Religious Party
called "Kfotz" "a piece of moral
and religious corruption" but said
he had no authority over the cen-
sorship board, although it is part
of his ministry. There was no in-
dication that the objectors had
seen the show.
Birth
Announcements
Dec. 8—To Mr. and Mrs. Julius
A. Goldman (Jill Golding), 2791
Windsor, Troy, a son, David Scott.
o o •
Dec. 7—To Dr. and Mrs. Steven
Schane (Marilyn Wainer), former
Detroiters of Walnut Creek, Calif.,
a daughter, Rebecca Emily.
• • •
Dec. 6—To Mr. and Mrs. An-
thony Deutsch, 4788 Washtenaw,
Ann Arbor, a daughter, Amy Eliza-
beth.
o o •
Dec. 1 — To Mr. and Mrs. Allen
Steinberg (Rochelle Hoffman),
17106 Morrison, Southfield, a
daughter, Jodi Lynn.
o •
Nov. 30—To Mr. and Mrs. Irving
Bradley (Linda Goldberg), 25547
Briar, Oak Park, a daughter, Lisa
Faye.
• • •
Nov. 24 — To Dr. and Mrs. Nor-
man Stuart Levy (Roslyn Fried-
laender), former Detroiters of Chi-
cago, a son, Kenneth Brian.
o o o
Nov. 22—To Mr. and Mrs. Leslie
Azimoo (Barbara G o 1 d), 29433
Marshall, Southfield, a daughter,
Erica Jill.
o o
Nov. 19—To Dr. and Mrs. Loren
S. Daniels (Sharon Safran), 2919
Whittier, Bloomfield Hills, a son,
Robert Eli.
• • •
Nov. 15—To Mr. and Mrs. Her-
schel Maryles (Annie Sauerhaft
of Detroit), of Chicago, a son,
Avrohom Meyer.
RABBI LEO
GOLDMAN
Expert Mohel
Serving Hospitals and Homes
LI 2-4444
LI 1-9769
RABBI SHAIAU.
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(Copyright 1571. JTA, inc.)
The survival of the Jewish col-
lege fraternity may depend on
changes in its original functions so
drastic as to raise the issue of
whether it would still be recogniz-
able as a social fraternity.
the changes were made.
That conclusion emerged clearly
from frank comments made by
presidents of the four local chap-
ters of national Jewish fraterni-
ties at the University of Texas at
Austin. They were invited to dis
cuss the fraternity system and its
future by the "University Jewish
Voice," a publication described on
its masthead as "an independent
journal of information and opinion,
published monthly by and for Jew-
ish students and faculty" at the
university.
The publication editors invited
the four student leaders to discuss
the question. The students were
Steve Ganns of Zeta Beta Tau;
Jack Peitzer, Sigma Alpha Mu;
Ken Schiller, Alpha Epsilon Pi,
and Andy Stone, Tau Delta Phi
The student leaders agreed
that the Greek system probably
was dying out at the university.
Stone said it was becoming "In-
creasingly difficult" for a social
fraternity "to compete with
countless numbers of clubs and
campus organizations." Ganns
remarked that "right now, the
coming trend is not to join a
fraternity." He also expressed
the view that the social frater-
nity "has to get away from the
rah-rah, hell-raising, stereotyped
fraternity man and get into some
things that are more appealing
to the freshman student."
The presidents responded with
differing views to the question:
"How strong is the Jewish identity
in Jewish fraternities" but ap-
peared to be in general agree-
ment that—as Stone put it—"you
have to leave religion up to the
individual member in the frater-
nity." He said his house had one
member who kept kosher. He
added that "we prepare food for
him and work out arrangements
with him but it's his own thing."
Schiller reported that "we, too,
have a couple of boys who keep
kosher and we naturally" pre-
pare kosher food in the house
kitchen. He also reported that
"we occasionally say Kiddush
on Friday night which has been
a tradition - in our fraternity for
years and years."
He said he objected to formal
identification of the house frater-
nities as Jewish or Gentile. He
criticized the university's Inter-
fraternity Council for classifying
his fraternity as Jewish. He ex-
plained that pledging rules "seg-
regate us according to whether
we are Jewish fraternities or Gen-
tile fraternities" and he expressed
strong objections. He contended
that designation of a fraternity as
Jewish "connotes a religious feel
ing. We don't promote any Jewish
identity; it's strictly up to the
individual."
The student presidents proposed
major, even radical changes, in
fraternity functions in discussing
what the social fraternity might
do to assure its viability. Stone
said his house had eliminated the
"typical fraternity party" and re-
placed it with special get-togeth-
ers, adding that "we have done
away with the band and beer
stereotype. For instance, we're hav-
ing a talent show in two weeks."
Ganns suggested that the social
fraternity become "a service orga-
nization.," so that "if a guy says
'what can I get from the frater-
nity?' we can help him fulfill his
interests and ambitions." He sug-
gested aiding pledges interested in
politics and athletics, as examples.
A change which had ironic
historic overtones was described
by two of the presidents. Stone
said Tau Delta Phi "Is only about
35 per cent Jewish on a national
level," although his house had
been "basically a Jewish fra-
ternity, for many years." He
added that there was a shift to
son-J e wish membership and
said be doubted that "we're
going to remain a 'Jewish' ha-
-
.
ternity." He remarked that a
member from Caracas was a
Catholic.
Ganns said Zeta Beta Tau on a
national level was "only about 50
per cent Jewish" and that a mem-
ber's fraternity identity was not
based on religion. "People just
like to pledge a fraternity with
their friends, who coincidentally
are usually Jewish in the case of
Jewish fraternities." He said that
whether his fraternity remained
Jewish would depend on the stn-
dents being "rushed" for mem-
bership on a preferred basis. He
said "preferred rush gets smaller
each year, and if it gets to a point,
we're going to have to look to
Gentiles to keep the fraternity
full."
Observers recalling the fact that
Jewish fraternities were originally
organized in response to rigid ex-
clusion by Gentile fraternities of
Jewish students, might find of spe-
cial interest Peitzer's disclosure
that a number of Gentile fraterni-
ties "are thinking about rushing
Jewish boys because they see that
Jewish fraternities ... are starting
to rush Gentile boys."
Peitzer asked how the Gentile
member was "reacting towards
your use of the Friday night Kid-
dush and other things." Schiller
replied that the Gentile member
"seems to enjoy the uniqueness of
his environment. He feels a part
of the organization. All the things
we were worried about—such as
how he would react to the use of
Yiddish and Jewish humor like
you seem to find in Jewish frater-
nity houses — worked out fine "
Stone reported similar results, say-
ing "we've bad no problems at all
with our non-Jewish members.
They fit in perfectly."
Muskie to Visit Israel;
May Begin Camp - Mn
for Presidency There
KANSAS CITY (JTA)—De-
daring "Next year in Jerusa-
lem," Sen. Edmund S. Muskie of
Maine confirmed that he will
visit Israel next month "to see
for myself what President Tru
man once called the remarkable
progress made by the new state
of Israel, progress which re-
veals the beauty and wisdom of
that dream of redemption, pro-
gress from which America her-
self might learn."
The legislator, the unsuccess-
ful 1968 Democratic vice presi-
dential candidate, spoke to an
audience of 500 at an Israel Bond
Organization dinner where he
was awarded the organization's
Harry S. Truman Commendation
Award. Muskie had been re-
reported planning to kick off his
1972 presidential bid with a visit
to the Jewish state.
"Amidst a constant hazard of
battle," be told the group, "Is-
rael has continued working to
fulfill a dream of redemption."
Muskie is a supporter of Ameri-
can military aid to Israel. A mes-
sage from former President Tru-
man praising Muskie was read at
the ceremonies here.
a
• •
ctivities in Society
The Ruda Family Club will hold a Hanuka party 7 p.m. Dec. 26
at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Wolfe, 19180 Magnolia, South-
field. Lone Jill Rosenthal will be welcomed into the club. Lakes
will be served.
92nd Congress to Include
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The
92nd Congress, which convenes in
January, will include 14 Jews,
five fewer than now.
Of the 100 senators, only incum-
bents Jacob K. Javits, New York
Republican, and Abraham A. Ribi-
coff, Connecticut Democrat, are
identified as Jews. Neither was up
for re-election this year.
Of the 435 congressmen, 12
are Jews—two Republicans, Sey-
mour Halpern of New York and
Sam Steiger of Arizona, and 10
Democrats: Abner J. Mikva and
Sidney R. Yates of Illinois, Jos-
hua Eilberg of Pennsylvania,
and Bella S. Abzug, Emmanuel
Celler, Edward I. Koch, Bert-
ram L. Podell, Benjamin S. Ros-
enthal, James H. Schener and
Lester L. Wolff of New York.
Of the 50 governors, three arc
Jewish: Frank Licht of Rhode
Island, Marvin Mandel of Mary-
land and Milton J. Shapp of Pen-
nsylvania, all Democrats.
There will be a record 116 Cath-
olics in the 92nd Congress, the
journal said, with Methodists sec-
ond with 86.
The only state with all its con-
14 Jews, a Loss of Five
gressman of the same religion is
Utah, with four Mormons (its gov-
ernor also is a Mormon).
Sen. Jackson Says Israel
Needs Arms—Not Troops
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Sen.
Henry M. Jackson said that he did
not foresee the need for American
troops in the Middle East. What
Israel needs, he reiterated on
NBC-TV's "Meet The Press," is
sufficient arms.
"The Israelis can do the job,'
he explained. "They shot down
four Soviet pilots with the greatest
of ease." (This was reported re-
cently by Israeli officials to have
occurred shortly before the August
cease fire).
The Washington State Democrat,
a member of the Armed Services
Committee, predicted that the ad-
ministration's $500,000,000 aid-to-
Israel measure would pass the Sen-
ate as easily as did his amendment
to the Military Procurement Act
providing for such aid. That amend-
ment was approved by 87 to 7.
To get back one's youth, one has
merely to repeat one's follies.
—Oscar Wilde.
We promised to shout it from the house tops
WE'RE GRANDPARENTS
Elaine & Bernie Glazer
Jeanette & Norman Schwartz
Mazel Toy to our children Joanne & Mark Schwartz
on the birth of their daughter Michelle Tracey
Dec. 13, 1970
Having just returned from Israel,
I wish, at this time, to thank everyone
who extended their good wishes on the
joyous occasion of the birth of my
granddaughter, Shira Tzipora.
Emma. S.riww.m..
A Soviet Diplomat
Has Reportedly Tried
to Contact Israel Envoy
COPENHAGEN (ZINS) — Dis-
closure that numerous attempts
by a high-ranking Soviet diplomat
in Copenhagen to make contact
with Shlomo Armon, consul of the
local Israel embassy, as made
by an Israeli correspondent of the
Israel daily Haaretz.
All attempts, writes the cor-
respondent, proved fruitless.
The story, according to the press
report, came directly from a So-
viet diplomat during an interview
on the nature of Israel-Soviet re-
lationships.
The story was not denied by
Armon, but the explanation given
was that Israel's foreign ministry
prohibits any of its representatives
abroad from establishing contacts
with the Soviets.
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