THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Boris Smolar's
'Between You
... and Me'
Editor-in-Chief
Emeritus, JTA
(Copyright 1975, JTA, Inc.)
THE RETIREMENT PROBLEM: Little by little the
Jewish community apparatus is losing its top executives.
They reach the retirement age and are honored for their
',any years of creative and dedicated service by being
.►ifted to honorary positions with no real influence. •
They are, of course, being replaced by able successors.
However, their valuable experiences as community builders
and innovators are lost to a great extent.
In the course of the last years, the Jewish community
lost from its front ranks — through retirement — such
leading and actively creative executive personalities as Dr.
John Slawson, Dr. Maurice Hexter, Joe Willen, Isidore So-
beloff and a number of others, not to speak of Dr. Joseph J.
Schwartz who died recently. Now. we have witnessed in the
course of one week the retirement of three more important
top executives in communal work. They are: Henry L.
Zucker, Sidney Z. Vencent and Isaiah Minkoff — all known
nationally for their enviable records of activity. Retiring
also is Abe L. Sudran, the top executive of the Jewish Com-
munity Council of Essex County, a major community.
The replacements coming now are mainly through one
organization taking away the top executive from another
organization. Some Jewish leaders are, therefore, ponder-
ing over the practice of retiring executive personnel when
their usefullness has not diminished but only for the reason
that they have reached a certain age.
* * *
POST-RETIREMENT SERVICE: Most of the retired
executives are perfectly able to serve in an advisory capacity
with the useful background of their experiences of many
years. Dr. John Slawson, for instance, who rebuilt the
American Jewish Committee from a small group of individ-
uals into a vibrant mass organization with branches in
many cities — and who is deeply interested in strengthen-
ing Jewish identity among college youth, as well as in Jew-
ish education in general — has been invited by the Council
of Jewish Federations to take a special interest in its college
youth program. In fact, he helped to start this program. He
is also interested in the American Association for Jewish
Education. To him. Jewish education is largely the basis of
Jewish continuity in this country.
Henry Zucker, even after his retirement from his posi-
tion as active vice president of the Jewish Community Fed-
eration of Cleveland, will continue to be the guiding spirit
of community endowmerit programs in his own community
and throughout the country. He is known, among other
things. as "the father" of the endowment programs of the
Jewish communities.
The Joint Distribution Committee has invited Zucker
to direct a world-wide study of its activities. Jack D. Weiler,
the new JDC chairman, attaches great importance to this
"soul-searching" study. One of the co-workers whom Zucker
invited to join his team is Sidney Vincent, his retiring Cleve-
land colleague.
'
*
*
*
FORCED RETIREMENT: The greatest loss to the Jew-
ish community this year was Dr. Joseph J. Schwartz who
distinguished himself in holding the very top executive posi-
tions in the Joint Distribution Committee in Europe during
the tragic years of World War II, then in the national
United Jewish Appeal in this country, and later in the Is-
rael Bond Organization.
His retirement from his last position as executive vice-
president of the Israel Bond Organization was considered
by many as an example of how retirements of meritorious
Jewish social workers should not be enforced. He was a per-
sonality whose wide knowledge of Jewish affairs was
unique. He was an executive par excellence. His name was
_Practically a legend among Jews in this country, in Israel
and all over the world.
He was re-invited to the JDC, provided with an office
there, warmly welcomed by the leadership and the execu-
tive staff, and made to feel as a favored son returning home.
The presence of Dr. Schwartz at the JDC executive
meetings, where he was in a position to give his opinion on
important matters, was a gain for JDC. It has proven that
reaching the retirement age is not necessarily a justified
reason to he put in the category of a "has been."
Seminary Gets Jewish Collection
NEW YORK — The
Stroock-Lieberman library,
a collection of more than
10,000 volumes of Jewish
works, has been presented
to the Jewish Theological
Seminary of America.
The books were pur-
chased over many years by
Prof. Saul Lieberman, a
noted Talmudist and rector
of the seminary's rabbinical
school.
Participating in the gift
was Alan M. Stroock, presi-
dent of the Seminary Corpo-
ration, who helped acquire
the collection in honor of his
late father, Sol M. Stroock,
chairman of the seminary's
hoard at his death in 1941.
Friday, July 11, 1975 13
Recruitment Office For Skilled Labor Opens in Israel
SAVE $100
or more on
NEW YORK (JTA) —
"ACTS for Israel" (Amer-
ican and Canadian Trade
Skills for Israel) opened
their offices here last week.
malcy through these ef-
forts."
ACTS is in the process of
setting up regional offices
The organization has been
formed for the express pur-
pose of recruiting skilled
labor to work in a civilian
capacity in Israel during a
crisis. It is only during
times of mobilization that
volunteers will act as back
up specialists.
342-7800
399-8333
BET WE'VE GOT THE
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ACTS is now ready to
seek volunteers from all
over the United States and
Canada. This includes heavy
equipment operators, truck
drivers, electricians, auto-
mobile mechanics and
technicians in many other
fields.
Al Bazel, executive di-
rector of ACTS said: "We
are confident that in the
event of a crisis the econ-
omy of Israel could have
some semblance of nor-
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