41,
THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951
Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. -18075.
Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing offices. Subscription :t10 a year.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
DREW LIEBERWITZ
Advertising Manager
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
Alan Hitsky, News Editor . . . Heidi Press, Assistant NeN% s Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 27th day of Adar 1, 5736, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuch& portion, Exodus 35:1-38:20; Numbers 19:1-22. Prophetical portion, Ezekiel 36:16 38.
Tuesday and Wednesday, Rosh Hodesh Adar II, Numbers 28:1 15.
-
-
Candle lighting, Friday, Feb. 27, 6:02 p.m.
VOL. LXVIII, No. 25
Page Four
Friday, February 27, 1976
American Traditions Unsullied
American traditions for justice and in de-
fense of the oppressed were strengthened in the
process of Jewish efforts to assure fair play for
Russian Jews who have indicated a desire to set-
tle in Israel, and in support of the Jewish state's
defensive role in the embattled Middle East.
The Brussels Conference on Soviet Jewry
provided the opportunity for American public
opinion to be heard in the serious matter involv-
ing the right of people to emigrate and to seek
freedom amidst kinsmen.
At that very identical period, the U.S.
House of Representatives asserted its determi-
nation not to abandon Israel and to guarantee
the availability of military supplies to the Jew-
ish state in its struggle for life in a crucial pe-
riod of constant threat from neighbors striving
for an end to Israel's. sovereignty.
U.S. Senator Frank Church's uncompromis-
ing position in behalf of the Soviet Jewish appli-
cants for visas to reconstruct their lives else-
where was intermingled with the call for
unhesitant and uninterrupted assistance to Is-
rael. He voiced an established American ideal
not to abandon the weak and the suppressed.
The very next day, an important congres-
sional committee set the pace for action by the
U.S. House of Representatives to legislate the fi-
nancial aid needed to provide the military assist-
ance Israel needs for security in the war-threat-
ened Middle East. Thanks to the leadership of
Rep. William Broomfield, the vitally needed in-
crease in military and economic aid for Israel
gained approval and the action taken, while it
included a provision for military hardware, was
a contribution to the striving for peace. The ac-
knowledged fact is that a weak Israel is a des-
tructible Israel, that if Israel were indefensible
the danger of war would be greatest. It is when
Israel can avoid the danger of destruction and
can resist attack that the road to peace becomes
more secure.
Thus, on two fronts, American friendship
Enriching Historical Work
was reasserted last week. President Ford's mes-
sage to the Brussels Conference contributed to a
sense of comfort when Jewish spokesmen from
worldwide Jewish communities met in Belgium
for action in behalf of Russian Jewry and Con-
gressional action to uphold the hands of the Is-
raeli battlers for life and security marked con-
An enriching work on Zionist history, which was one of the lead-
tinuity in the struggle for justice for Israel.
ers on the subject published last year, has just been reissued as a
On both scores the government and the peo- paperback by Doubleday and Anchor Press.
ple of the United States earned the gratitude of
A noted historian, professor of history at Virginia Common-
the Jewish people. The American legislators wealth
University in Richmond, Dr. Melvin Urofsky is co-editor with
gave new strength to American traditions for Prof. David W. Levy of the University of Oklahoma of "The Letters of
justice to the oppressed and fair play for liber- Louis D. Brandeis," of which four volumes have already been pub-
tarians who are in a war for life. Contrary to the lished by the State University of New York Press.
frightened positions assumed by the many so-
Dr. Urofsky's "Zionism from Herzl to the Holocaust" shows that
called democratic countries which have yielded Zionism had limited support in the early years of the American move-
to threats from the Kremlin and from the oil ment. The Yiddish-speaking elements were the pioneer supporters of
magnates, there is a fearlessness in America the libertarian movement.
that lends pride to all lovers of freedom. The
The support in leadership that developed with Louis D. Brandeis,
American ideal continues to defy bigotry. What Judge Julian W. Mack and others contributed immensely towards the
a wonderful feeling in this Bicentennial Year of eventual transformations and the growth of the Zionist idea that came
American Freedom!
during and after World War II upon the realization of the immense
Urofsky's 'Zionism from Herzl
to Holocaust' in Paperback
Enrolling All Jews in Jewry's Defense
Total unanimity on any issue, in support of
any cause, is inconceivable. There is always a
dissenter, an abstainer, an unconcerned.
Even in the matter of Israel's security and
of the insults that have been hurled at the Jew-
ish people in the international forum of the UN,
there are lone voices that are comforting to the
enemies of justice. The striving for nearness to
unanimity is nevertheless an aspiration in these
trying times, especially in the process of secur-
ing the necessary means of support for Israel
and the continuity of efforts in Jewish ranks.
Therefore the repetition of a question re-
garding the enrollment of members of the com-
munity in the major philanthropic solicitations,
in behalf of the United Jewish Appeal and a
score of other overseas, national and local
causes, all represented in the Allied Jewish
Campaign.
The new concern, occasioned by the ap-
proaching drive for the major Jewish fund-rais-
ing cause that is always so well supported by
Greater Detroit Jewry, is over the number of
enlisted contributors. Every year this question
arises because there is always the feeling that
some thousands of the community's constitu-
ents do not respond to the call for action to up-
'hold the hands of Israel's battlers for life and in
support of the most important of the city's Jew-
ish. causes. Last year there was a drop in the
number of donors and the campaigners have a
responsibility to assure contacts with every po-
tential giver. A listing of the numbers of contri-
butors since 1948 will clarify the concern. Here
are the official facts regarding the donors in the
past 28 years:
Year Pledges
Year Pledges
1962-21,764
1948-30,734
1963-23,588
1949-28,923
1964-23,512
1950-28,003
1965-23,524
1951-28,533
1966-23,449
1952-28,625
1967-23,605
1953-28,401
1968-24,264
1954-26,795
1969-24,424
1955-26,583
1970-24,632
1956-25,319
1971-24,692
1957-25,960
1972-24,603
1958-24,525
1973-24,566
1959-25,031
1974-24,087
1960-24,072
1975-23,000
1961-23,678
It is possible that the drop is due to a reduc-
tion in the Greater Detroit Jewish population, or
is it indifference, callousness, unconcern? Is it
possible that some thousands are unapproacha-
ble in the quest for Jewry's solidarity in the bat-
tle against common enemies?
The Allied Jewish Campaign's major aim of
enrolling every man, woman and child — chil-
dren, too, are potential givers — as participants
in the Allied Jewish Campaign becomes a more
serious duty than ever before in the drive about
to commence. A much larger figure of donors to
the Allied Jewish Campaign in 1976 will be the
most vital confirmation of Jewish concern and
of a determined will by all never to permit jus-
tice to be abused, the sovereignty of Israel to be
harmed and the honor of the Jewish people ever
to be besmirched.
needs to end homelessness for the masses of the oppressed.
Therefore the Urofsky history of the movement assumes special
significance in the elaboration upon a leadership that included spokes-
men for the masses as well as the classes.
There was a determination on the part of men who were viewed
as assimilated but who assumed prominent roles in efforts of the
great needs for relief from anti-Semitism and for havens for the help-
less. Tragic events as well as high ideals motivated adherence to the
Herzlian program and the legacies for national rebirth.
Discussing the role of the press, the initial impacts made by peri-
odicals like Dos Yiddishe Vort, the Maccabaean, the traditional press,
Dr. Urofsky also deals extensively with the rise of youth and women's
movements, of Young Judea and Hadassah as emerging forces in be-
half of Zionism.
The Federation of American Zionists, which was later re-named
the Zionist Organization of America, is the primary movement under
review, and the related forces are discussed.
The Chaim Weizmann-Louis D. Brandeis conflict at the 1920
Cleveland convention rates important consideration, and the roles of
David Ben-Gurion and other leaders enter into consideration.
Dr. Urofsky points out: "Thanks to the genius of Louis Brandeis,
the essential contradictions between Herzlian Zionism and loyalty to
the United States had not only been resolved, but the synthesis had
helped make Zionism a legitimate part not only of the Jewish experi-
ence in America, but also of that general humanitarian impulse that
marked progressive and liberal reform in this century.
"The Brandeisian argum- ent that by becoming Zionists Americin
Jews would be both better Jews and better Americans indelibly
molded the Zionist movement here in the activist, efficient, and practi-
cal image that has marked so much of American life.
The new American Zionist history is a positive contribution not
only to the evaluation of the Zionist ideal; it also enriches the re-
searched studies that are continually conducted in gathering facts
about America and American Jewry.
"American Zionism from Herzl to the Holocaust" is a superb
work and ranks as must reading by all American Jews. It merits a
place as a textbook on Zionism in schools of higher learning and is a
tribute to an accomplished student of Jewish history.