56 Friday, Juiy 9, 1976

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

A Bicentennial Feature

Jacob Mazer — Detroies Basketball Pioneer

The recent induction cere-
monies for Michigan's
Sports Hall of Fame have
stirred recollections of one
of Michigan's pioneer bas-
ketball players, Jacob Ma-
zer, who was enshrined into
the Michigan Sports Hall of
Fame in 1967, nearly, 10
years after his death.
Mazer came to Detroit
from Pennsylvania during
the 1890s, and was primar-
ily interested in cycling.
According to his son, Wil-
liam, Mazer held all the
Pennsylvania records from
hill climbing to 25 miles in
bicycle races as a teenager.
He made a practice of rid-
ing a bicycle on a round-trip
to Pontiac on Sundays over
the dirt roads of the day.
But Mazer gained na-
tional attention in basket-

JAKE MAZER
in playing days

ball, both as a player and a
coach. His Detroit Athletic
Club teams faced "top col-

lege and amateur clubs for
20 years" in the early
1900s, according to his
Hall of Fame plaque which
hangs in Cobo Hall, and
"in one 10-year span of
30-games a year, the DAC
lost only seven times."

Mazer was the first bas-
ketball player selected to
the Michigan Sports Hall of
Fame, more than 60 years
after he first started play-
ing basketball in the Detroit
area.

Mazer played his final
game at the age of 45,
against Ohio State Univer-
sity.

William Mazer said his
father was a great believer
in conditioning and ran
five miles every day to stay
in shape. Jake Mazei cele-
brated his 50th birthday in
1927 by shooting 50 consec-
utive free throiss.

He was the playirig man-
ager and captain of a bas-
ketball team whose make-
up rarely varied, even
though the name changed at
times. Mazer was known for
his superb play at guard and
as team foul shooter in an
era when one player would
shoot all his team's fouls,
and the score often totalled
less than 20 points per team.

Mazer's cousin, Joseph
Garvett, now of Miami
Beach, recalls that once
Mazer admitted to shooting
100 consecutive foul shots
and Garvett challenged
Mazer to do it again.

A Bicentennial Feature

Isaac Hayes—Revolutionary Financier

BY MORRIS SCHAPPES

Editor, Jewish Currents

As the head of probably
the largest Jewish colonial
mercantile house during the
Revolution, Isaac Moses ren-
dered valuable patriotic
services to what he later
called "the Sacred Cause of
America" (no "sacred"
Kings for him!).

ISAAC MOSES

When the American ar-
mies were heading for Can-
ada to try to bring the 14th
colony into the anti-imperi-
alist coalition, and hard cur-
rency was a decisive need
for Washington's army,
Isaac Moses and Co. turned
over $20,000 in species and
accepted in return the Con-
tinental dollars that later
became a byword for
worthlessness.
The Company included
two young partners, Samuel
and Moses Myers.
In 1776 Moses joined the
majority of the New York
Cong. Shearith Israel in
the decision to close the
synagogue and leave the
city rather than stay and
collaborate with the Bri-
tish and Hessian occupa-
tion.
In Philadelphia, as a mer-
chant shipper, he engaged in
the revolutionary privateer-
ing that tried to break the
British blockade and cap-
tured about 700 British ves-
sels for an estimated value
of $18 million. Among the
six Philadelphia Jews in-

volved in this privateering
(Bernard and Michael
Gratz, Abraham Sasportas,
Moses Cohen and Samuel
Judah), Isaac Moses was the
most prominent.
Between July 30, 1779 and
March 28, 1782, Moses out-
fitted eight schooners, brigs
and sloops, each carrying
from four to 16 guns. His
partners in these ventures
included Robert Morris,
who in 1781 became head of
the office of finance of the
Continental Congress, and
Matthew Clarkson, later
mayor of Philadelphia.
Isaac Moses, born in Gies-
sen in Germany, arrived in
New York in 1764 and was
naturalized April 25, 1771.
By 1767 he had attained the
"Sublime Degree of Master
Mason." Aug. 8, 1770 he
married Reyna Levy. Be-
tween 1771 and 1792, she
bore him seven sons and
three daughters.

while in Philadelphia he
was president in 1782 of
Cong. Mikveh Israel.

In 1780 he was the weal-
thiest Jew in Philadelphia,
his property appraised in
the tax lists at 115,200
Pounds. That year he en-
rolled as a private in the
militia.
In July, 1780, when an
emergency fund of 260,000
Pounds was being raised for
the troops, he gave 3,000 "in
Pennsylvania Currency pay-
able in gold or silver."
Yet such were the ups and
downs of merchandising
that in 1785, Isaac Moses
and Co. had to stop pay-
ments to their creditors,
whom they owed more than
150,000 Pounds; to pay half
the debt the partners sold
their surplus furniture and
silver plate.
Yet•by about 1816, he was
owning New York real es-
•tate valued as high as
He bacame active in $160,000, based on Tory es-
Cong. Shearith Israel, tates he had purchased. In
serving as president in 1790, he freed his slave Bill,
aged 30.
1775, 1789, 1790 and 1792;

"He was then past 50
years of age and his eye-
sight was not as good as it
used to be. He threw the
first ball at the basket and
hit the front of the rim. He
said to me, 'Where did the
ball hit?' and I told him the
front of the rim, and I
wanted to know why he
asked. He said he couldn't
see the basket too well, and
then he shot 100 straight
fouls without a miss —
everyone clean, - right
through the basket."
Garvett recalls that Ma-
zer was well known
throughout the city as a
modest, philanthropic man.
He once paid for Michigan
athletes who had qualified
to attend the Olympic
tryouts in Chicago after it
was discovered there were
no travel funds available. HE
also sponsored an annual
track meet to benefit the
Police Benevolent Fund.

Joseph
Garvett's
brother Morris, had a
close relationship with
Mazer, and there was a
family pride in the emi-
nent sportsman's achieve-
ments.
Morris, a noted attorney,
was president of Sinai Hos-
pital and of the Jewish Com-
munity Center, and held
several other important
posts in the Jewish commu-
nity. His sister, Mrs. Sol
(Tillie) Kesler, was also
prominent in Detroit.
Mazer's son William is
prominent in University of
Michigan alumni activities
and in _Detroit area indus-
try. William's brother, Rob-
ert, directs the cerebral
palsy organization in San
Antonio, Tex.
There were two major
squabbles in Mazer's career.
The first began when the
team, which had played for
the YMCA switched to The
Detroit Athletic Club.
Years later, after his
playing days, prejudice at
the Detroit Athletic Club re-
sulted in both Mazer and ar-

chitect Albert Kahn, direc-
tors of the club, resigning,
and spelled an end to the
great DAC basketball tradi-
tion that was built by Ma-
zer.
Active in athletics
throughout his life, Mazer
was instrumental in be-
ginning basketball in the
Detroit Public Schools
with a league he formed at
old Eastern, Central and
Western High Schools. He
was strongly interested in
the Amateur Athletic
Union, was president of
the Michigan AAU in
and active with thr
tional U.S. Olympic _-
mittee.
The Mazer family was in
the cigar business for many
years, and Jake was active
with the Detroit Board of
Commerce. In 1939 he
formed the Detroit Eagles
professional basketball
team which won the profes-
sional championship but
lost money at the gate, and
folded after its first year.
Mazer was long active as a
player and observer of ath-
letics, and son William said
one of his father's fondest
memories was playing
against an Indian team in
1906 in the territory of
Oklahoma. The team in-
cluded the great Jim
Thorpe.,
Legendary Detroit sports-
writer E. A. Batchelor once
recalled that "Jake was the
greatest foul shooter that
ever lived. He could make 95
out of a 100 with ease.
"Basketball was really
a physical contact game in
those days, good and
rough, but Jake knew how
to avoid getting hurt. He
was magnificent, tricky
and slippery."
Jacob Mazer is one of four
Jews enshrined in the Mich-
igan Sports Hall of Fame.,
The others are Benny Fried-
man, University of Michi-
gan quarterback; Hank
Greenberg of the Detroit
Tigers; and basketvall
teacher Philip "Cincy"
Sachs.

`Mother of Kvu,tzot' Explains Kibutz Life

By ALLEN A. WARSEN

The history of the Palesti-
nian Jewish agricultural
settlements goes back to the
period of the First Aliya
(1882-1903); and the history
of the kibutz movement
dates back to 1910. On Octo-
ber of that year, Degania,
the "Mother of the Kvutzot;"
was founded.
A kvutza is an agricul-
tural community. consisting
of an intimate group of peo-
ple and occupying a small
area of land. A kibutz, on
the other hand, evolved from
the kvutza. It occupies a
large area, combines agri-
culture with industry; its
membership is less selec-
tive, and is composed of in-
dividuals who came from all
walks of life.

Some joined the kibutz
because they wanted to
practice Socialism on their

ancestral land, others
sought security, still others
were refugees "and had no
other place to go."
"The Kibbutz Experi-
ence," subtitled "Dialogue
in Kfar Blum" by Yosef
Criden and Saadia Gelb
(Schocken Books) is the
story of kibutz Kfar (village)
Blum, named after the
French statesman Leon
Blum.
Kfar Blum is situated in
Galil Haelyon between
Syria and Lebanon and on
both sides of the Jordan
River. Almost all kibutzim
were similarly situated.
They "were never in the ur-
ban areas, but out on the
frontier."
Kfar Blum manufac-
tures plastic household
articles. In addition, all
the kibutzim are among
the world's foremost prod-

ucers of agricultural prod-
ucts.
The members of the ki-
butzim receive no salaries.
They are provided with the
necessities of life, including
vacations and travel expen-
ses. Their children receive
elementary and secondary
school education. Some are
sent at kibutz expense to
universities and technical
schools to continue their
studies. •
"Free love," common-law
marriages and civil mar-
riages are non-existent in
the kitutzim. Since the es-
tablishment of the state of
Israel, marriages must be
solemnized by a rabbi.
The kibutz has no consti-
tution or by-laws. Like a
New England town, it is a
pure democracy. Its govern-
ing body is the general
membership meeting. How-
ever, the daily functions are

entrusted to five officers:
the "bakeah" is the trea-
surer; the "merakez
meshek" is the coordinator;
the "sidur avodah" prepares
the daily work schedules;
the purchasing agent is like
a buyer in a department
store; the "mazkir" is the
secretary, presiding over
membership meetings and
is chief of protocol.
The kibutz is founded on
the principles "that there
must be no exploitation of
one person by another,"
that all are equal and
work for the common
good.
"The Kibutz Experience"
portrays objectively and co-
gently kibutz life and is an
important historical docu-
ment.
Author Yosef Criden is
Kfar Blum's engineer and
author Saadia Gelb is its
mazkir.

JAKE MAZER

