10 Friday, September 12, 1975
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
(Continued from Page 2)
The period of 1916-1921 included the bit-
ter campaign that was conducted against
confirmation of Brandeis' appointment to
the Supreme Court and the ZOA split in
Cleveland. The support Brandeis received
from eminent Christians, the opposition
from ultra-conservative lawyers, Brandeis
occasional barbs at opponents — these are in
evidence.
Greater emphasis emerges on the Weiz-
'
P:Ze n g • goA nl l i s • PIVe7ctl • Ai rPi C r
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, 5
mann-Brandeis split. The Urofsky-Levy
marginal notes which explained the reasons
for the division in the ranks are especially
informative and revealing.
To Brandeis, Weizmann was untrus-
tworthy. Brandeis especially disliked Louis
Lipsky, and before the Cleveland convention
Lipsky was discharged from his office post
with ZOA, only to regain full power upon the
defeat of the Brandeis forces in Cleveland.
The Mack-Brandeis forces remained
loyal to the Zionist cause and Brandeis was
Humor Volunteer Max Sosin
Celebrates His 65th Birthday
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Max Sosin has been a liv-
ing legend in the Detroit
Jewish community for
many years. As the volun-
teer master-of-ceremonies
at many communal func-
tions, he frequently pro-
vides the lighter vein needed
at many notable gatherings.
A master of Yiddish,
spontaneous with stories for
all occasions, his appear-
ances through the years in
the programs of many
groups have made him an
attraction to serve many
causes.
His 65th birthday, which
he annually observes on the
second day of Rosh Has-
hana, is an occasion for the
many groups that have ben-
efited from his renditions to
pay him due tribute.
Sosin has been active with
the Jewish National Fund,
Israel Bonds, Landsman-
shaften and Bnai Brith for
many years. He regularly
T8rt1) pibubali
Plane, Bus, Car and Hotel
ReServations
339-7367_.1
337-1.-)L
MAX SOSIN
visits the Jewish Home for
the Aged and entertains the
retarded for the League of
Jewish Women each Ha-
nuka and Passover.
He came to the U.S. from
Russia in 1923 with his
mother and a sister, and
now has his own agency as a
manufacturers' representa-
tive.
"I get more enjoyment
from these functions than
the audience ever does,"
Sosin said. He never works
from a script.
Band leader Hal Gordon
has been his accompanist on
the piano "for about 10
years — ever since Bella
Goldberg left for Israel," So-
sin said. "It's hard to find
somebody at the price,
which is nothing, and who
can work in the afternoons.
as generous after his resignation as he was of an early period in Zionist activity when he
through the years of his official services.
knew Brandeis, Mack, Frankfurter, Hen-
At the Cleveland convention in 1921, this rietta Szokl: when he worked closely with
commentator-reviewer vas a Weizmannist. DeHaas, Weizmann, Lipsky, Emanuel Neu-
The late Rabbi A. M. Hershman and David mann, Abraham Fromenson, Nahum Soko-
W. Simons, who headed the Detroit delega- low, Menahem Ussishkin, Harry Frieden-
tion, were avowed Brandeisists. Many of the wald, Jacoh Fishman, Shmaryahu Levin,
Weizmann supporters later came to believe Prof. Horace M. Kallen, Bernard Rosenblatt,
that Brandeis' views were correct. In any Morris Margulies and others who pass in re-
event, the devotion of the Supreme Court view in the Brandeis correspondence.
justice to the Zionist cause was never inter-
The personalities involved are impor-
rupted.
tant, the interests of the high court just; - •P.
Brandeis' chief lieutenant was Jacob are paramount. He was dealing with a gr€
DeHaas, who also was one of his biographers movement for Jewish national rebirth, ai,
upon whose information regarding the Su- he concerned himself with what might be
preme Court justice many leaned..
viewed as the trivial. Yet the trivial were
Felix Frankfurter was among Brandeis' aimed at elevating a great ideal. He was anx-
closest associates in whom he placed special ious for the success of Young Judaea and
trust. DeHaas and Frankfurter often were pleaded with academicians and students to
the intermediaries between Brandeis and help advance the student youth movement in
the world and American Zionist leadership. universities. was heartened by the fact
In the cast of characters that is paraded that Dr. Harry Friedenwald's son, Dr. Jonas
in the Brandeis story were the most note- Friedenwald — both were eminent opthal-
worthy of that time. There were the non- mologists — had, like his father, taken an
Jewish supporters of the Zionist cause, like interest in Zionism and became president of
Wilson and Balfour, as well as the Jews in the Intercollegiate Zionist Association, of
both the pro- and anti-Zionist ranks.
which this reviewer became a vice president
Figuring prominently in the latter through his IZA affiliation at the University
group was Jacob Schiff. Brandeis did not •of Michigan.
mince words in condemning him and the Re-
Brandbis was accurate, meticulous and
form rabbis who opposed the Jewish na- seriously concerned that facts and figures
tional hopes. Schiff later, after the-Balfour should be correct. Nothing was too menial.
Declaration was issued, began to ease his ve- One of his early notes to the ZOA office com-
hemence against Zionism. In fact, Brandeis mittee indicates how he personally involved
cooperated in finalizing the purchase, with a himself in details to assure accuracy and
$100,000 gift from Schiff, of the Technicum, efficiency. The records he kept were to the
as it was then called — the Haifa Technion penny. Often, in the early years, after giving
— from German Jews.
an account of expenses, -for which he asked
Among the eminent men who had met an office check, he would then issue his per-
with Brandeis was Sir Wyndham Deedes. sonal check to cover the expense.
Few of the non-Jewish friends of justice for
He was always first to pledge and to
the Jew matched this distinguished Bri- pay, and always insisted upOn pledges being
tisher. This commentator-reviewer could honored.
match him with but few of the Philo-Semites
His motto was Members, Money, Dis-
he had ever met. Named to the civil adminis-
cipline,
and he kept emphasizing these
tration in Palestine by the British manda-
tory power, Deedes sought amity between needs for the Zionist cause.
Arabs and Jews and strove for justice to the
He concerned himself with the Yiddish
Jews on the part of his British compatriots. press, and expressed anxiety for the success
Having failed to attain a fair deal for the of the Yiddishe Folk, which was published as
Jews of Palestine, he resigned his post and the ZOA Yiddish organ until 1920, as well as
attempted to influence a favorable attitude for the English publications. The views of
for Zionism in England.
Yiddish editors were of deep interest to him.
Many of the personalities with whom
A great personality emerges from the
Brandeis was in correspondence are part of correspondence he conducted and the role of
the major Who's Who in world Zionist and Louis D. Brandeis once again is portrayed
Jewish history. For this reviewer, those with glowingly in a work that gains eminence
whom he, too. worked closely in Zionism, or thanks to brilliant compilation and editor-
had met casually, it is like a reconstruction ship.
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Federal Vendor Retires
The blind manager of the
magazine and cigar stand in
downtown Detroit's Federal
Building retired this week
after nearly 40 years of
serving customers.
Sam Solomon, 81, has
been operating the stand
under a lease from the
Michigan Services for the
Blind, and has been a famil-
iar figure to senators,
judges, federal employees
and downtown workers for
decades.
Sam has operated the
stand with the help of his
daughter, Mrs. Shirley
Kiernan, but his age and
physical impairments have
confined him to a wheel-
chair, and another blind
person will take over the
concession.
Before losing his sight he
owned the old Picadilly Club
on Cass near Canfield.
Over the years he fought
for several laws to permit
Seeing Eye dogs in public
places. He went through
Federal red tape to permit
his dogs in the Federal.'
Building, and ultimately his
dogs were permitted on the
condition that a dog house
was built at the back of the
newsstand.
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