•

3000500 Attend Israel's Largest Independence Day Parade in Its H i story

JERUSALEM (JTA) —
More tha 300,000 people
lined a 41/2-mile route of
march in 90 degree weather
Monday morning to watch a
display of Israel's military
might in the longest, largest
and most spectacular Inde-
pendence Day parade in the
nation's 25-year history.
The parade began at 10
a.m., but the 55,000 grand-
stand ticket holders were in
their seats hours before, and
tens of thousands of others,
many of them up before
dawn, sought vantage points

along the route that began in
East Jerusalem and ended
in a West Jerusalem suburb.
Hundreds of thousands of
other Israelis and tourists
watched the parade on tele-
vision. Thousands more
chose to ignore it and cele-
brated Independence Day
picnicking in the mountains
and beaches.
Security was strict. Grand-
stand ticket-holders were
searched by police before
taking their seats, and once
seated were told not to
leave. The only mishap of

Michigan's Oldest Jewish Cemetery

By IRVING I. KATZ

Executive Secretary,
Temple Beth El

Temple Beth El, Michi-
gan's oldest Jewish congre-
gation, was founded Sept. 22,
1850, by 12 German-Jewish
immigrants, when the city
had a population of 21,019.
A few months later, on Jan.
1, 1851, the congregation pur-
chased from Thomas Hawley
and his wife half an acre of
land on Champlain now La-
fayette) S t r e e t, adjoining
Elmwood Cemetery, in Ham-
tramck Township. The pur-
chase price of the cemetery
(now known as the Lafayette
Street Cemetery) was $150.
Half of the price, $75 was
paid in cash. Two interest
bearing promissory notes
were executed for the bal-
ance, payable in six and 12
months respectively, and as
security a mortgage was is-
sued on the cemetery. The
warranty deed and the mort-
gage were signed, on behalf
of the congregation, by Jacob
Silberman, president, Solo-
mon Bendit, treasurer, Jo-
seph Freedman, secretary,
and Sigmund Springer, trus-
tee.
The first interment in this
cemetery was that of Sarah
Silberman, on Sept. 3, 1851.
The first rabbi of Temple
Beth El, Samuel Marcus,
who died in 1854 during the
cholera epidemic in Detroit,
is interred in this oldest
Jewish cemetery in Michigan
which is still owned and
maintained by the congrega-
tion. A bronze plaque marks
his grave, with the inscrip-
tion: "This tablet is erected
by Congregation Beth El in
grateful memory of Rabbi
Samuel Marcus, its first
Rabbi, 1850-1854." On the
bottom of the tablet are the
first letters of three Hebrew
words which stand for "The

Memory of the Righteous is
for a Blessing."
Also interred in this ceme-
tery is Marcus Cohen (died
in 1880), who was the lay-
rabbi of Temple Beth El for
a few months in 1850, prior to
Rabbi Marcus.
Although the cemetery was
opened in 1851, it was not
until 1861 that it was for-
mally recognized by the
Common Council. A resolu-
tion was introduced to the
Council by Alderman J. S.
Farrand of the Fifth Ward,
July 16, 1861, approved July
18, 1861, stating: "Resolved,
that the Hebrew burying
ground or cemetery be, and
it is hereby recognized as
one of the regularly author-
ized cemeteries of the city,
entitled to all the privileges
and subject to all the rules
and provisions of the ordi-
nance relating to ceme-
teries."
4 , The Lafayette Street Ceme-
tery contains the graves of a
number of veterans of the
Jewish faith who served in
the Spanish-American War
and World War I.
The Michigan Historical
Commission has designated
the Lafayette Street Ceme-
tery as a State Historical
Site. One of the highlights of
the convention of the Amer-
ican Jewish Historical So-
ciety, to be held in Detroit
May 18-20, will be the dedi-
cation of a State Historical
Marker at the Lafayette
Street Cemetery, 1:30 p.m.,
May 18, to be attended by
the delegates and state and
city officials.
Participants in the dedica-
tion will be Rabbi Richard C.
Hertz, Robert N. Canvasser,
president of Beth El, and
Arthur L. Goulson, chairman
of the cemetery board of
Beth El.

Southfield Arts Festival Set

Southfield Festival 73, of-
fering music, dance and thea-
ter, will take place May 18-
20 on the Civic Center
grounds.
Among the theater-music
groups performing will be
the St. Bede's Players, who
will present Gilbert and Sul-
livan's "Yeomen of the
Guard" in concert version.
Other theater groups ap-
pearing will be the Lathrup
Children's Theater and the
Southfield Community Play-
ers in a "Festival of One-
Acts."
Continuous entertainment
will open with the Southfield
Lathrup High School Concert
Band playing at the opening
festivities 6 p.m. May 18.
Other music groups are "The
Pros" with the big band
sound of the '40s and two
rock groups. Choral music
will be furnished, along with
a special Saturday night cab-
aret concert given by the

Southfield Junior Symphony.
"Dancers Hungaria," the
Ukrainian Dance Troupe, and
the Polish Dancers from
Hamtramck will be present.
along with Oriental, Israeli
and. Scandinavian dancers.
The work of 85 artists and
craftsmen will be featured
in the sports arent, and there
will be eight portrait paint-
ers working in different me-
dia.
Ethnic foods and interna-
tional items will be sold on
the decorated pool terrace.
Local industry and educa-
tion and service organiza-
tions will exhibit their work.
Hours are 6-11 p.m. Fri-
day; and noon-11 Saturday
and Sunday. Tickets will be
sold at the fair.
The festival will benefit
the Southfield Arts Council,
which has committed half of
the proceeds toward the build-
ing of an amphitheater on
the Civic Center grounds.

the day occurred when a
security helicopter made a
forced landing near the Au-
gusta Victoria Hospital on
Mt. Scopus, injuring nine
crew members, none serious.
ly.
In another untoward inci-
dent a tank went slightly
off course and hit a soldier
along the parade route in
downtown Jerusalem. An
army spokesman said his in-
juries were minor. No one
else was hurt.
President Zalman Shazar,
Premier Golda Meir and
former Premier David Ben-
Gurion watched the parade
from the official reviewing
stand facing police head-
quarters in the Sheikh Jarrah
quarter of East Jerusalem.
Mrs. Meir wore a white
handkerchief around h e r
head to shield her eyes from
the blazing sun. They sat in
the stand for 90 minutes
while the three main ele-
ments of the parade passed
in review—the air force, the
armored corps and the in-
fantry.
Observers noted the pre-
ponderance of American-
made weaponry both in the
air and on the ground. The
display of Israel's air power
was led by supersonic Phan-
tom jets which roared over-
head in low-level squadrons
of three at 500 mph.
American Skyhawk attack
planes and huge Strato-
cruiser transports were part
of the air show along with
French Mirages, American
and French combat heli-
copters and an Israeli-made
jet trainer adapted from the
French Fouga Magister de-
sign.
Israelis took special pride
in the giant Patton (Ameri-
can) and Centurion (British
tanks that rumbled by, many
of them rebuilt and re-en-
gineered by Israeli tech-
nicians to improve their
speed and fire power. Also
totally rebuilt and virtually
new were the Soviet-made
T-55 and T-54 tanks captured
in the Six-Day War and 240
mm. Russian made Katyusha
rocket launchers.
Israel's armament industry
was represented by self-
propelled heavy mortars
mounted on Sherman tank
chassis and self-propelled 155
mm. cannon of Israeli de-
sign.
Three types of American
artillery passed in review
along with units of 70 and
22 mm. anti-aircraft guns
and American-made Hawk
surface-to-air missiles.
About 2,000 infantrymen
marched in the parade along
with paratroopers and com-
bat engineers. The parade,
the first Independence Day
military display since 1968,
cost Israel IL 20,000,000 and
was three months in prepara-
tion.
Jerusalem p o 1 i c e, aug-
mented by security person-
nel had the mammoth task
of organizing security and
maintaining .a smooth flow
of traffic in and around
Jerusalem before and after
the parade. They noted with
pride that everything work-
ed according to plan. The
city was closed off to all
traffic except buses and
taxis Sunday night. When the
parade ended, tens of thou-
sands of spectators boarded
buses which left Jerusalem
by specially designated exit
routes. After the initial rush,

traffic moved smoothly and
Jerusalem weather sud-
no traffic jams were re- denly changed drastically
ported.
late Monday afternoon. A
sharp dust storm enveloped
A police spokesman dis- the capital in swirling grit
closed that there had been while temperatures dropped.
one bomb scare. An unidenti- By then, however, the parade
fied person telephoned the was long over and most out-
Hadera police station at of-towners on their way
noon to say that a bomb home.
would go off at the parade.
Falling trees killed a 3-
The parade route was serch-
ed but no bomb was found. 26—Friday, May 11, 1973

year-old girl near the Sea ol
Galilee and injured 10 other
people around the country.
One tree fell across a chil-
dren's procession, injuring
three, the state radio re-
ported.
Raising clouds of dust and
sand, the storm tore down
telephone lines and power
cables.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

WE•RE

FIRST

IN MICHIGAN

AND PROUD OF IT!!

KEEP ALL YOUR FRIENDS,
RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS
AS INFORMED AS YOU

SEND

■

MICHIGAN'S ONLY ENGLISH-JEWISH NEWSPAPER

THE JEWISH1 TEWS

as a gift today

•• ■ •• ■ •• ■

•

=Niel

To: The Jewish News

17515 W. 9 Mile Rd., Suite 865
Southfield, Mich. 48075

Please send a year's gift subscription to:

NAME

ADDRESS

CITY

STATE

OCCASION:

FROM

❑

.01,1WI.

$8.00 enclosed (foreign - $9.00)

ZIP