56 Friday, September 17, 1976 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS President's Rosh Hashana Message 'Between You . . . And Me' THE Wlf ITE I- 1()t Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, JTA (Copyright 1976, JTA, Inc.) By BORIS SMOLAR W.V-;HING -I ON On the occasion of the High Holy Days, Mrs. Ford and I want to express special greetings to our fellow Americans of the Jewish Faith. The celebration of our nation's Bicentennial has evoked in all Americans a deeper appreciation of our rich and varied ances- tral legacy. We have been reminded in a special way that our national character has been shaped by the accumulated wisdom and experience of many nations and individuals. It is only fitting that we express our pride in the indelible stamp of Jewish wisdom and experience on our way of life. This influence was strong and vital from the moment the American continent became a promised land of hope and oppor- tunity. Our early settlers closely identified with the teach- ings of the Prophets and dedicated themselves in this spirit to building a land that would make the vision of the Prophets a reality. This was the spirit that sparked our independence and sus-_ tairied us through many difficult struggles on the way to be- coming a nation. It is also the spirit that has sustained the Jewish people and brought about the creation of the modern state of Israel. It is the same spirit that marks the special friendship of the American and Israeli people and guides us in our commitment to preserve the independence and security of both our lands. American Jews can take satisfaction in their unsurpassed record of humanitarian concern, civic responsibility and devo- tion to justice. As individuals and through their organizations, they have worked tirelessly and unselfishly to live up to the Faith of their fathers and the aspirations of the Founding Fathers of our country. With this in mind, Mrs. Ford and I extend our best wishes for a prosperous, satisfying and happy New Year. CRISIS AND EFFECT: The crisis of American cities is being studied by leading Jewish organizations to establish the extent to which it affects the Jewish future in communities with a large Jewish population. The plight of New York City is especially occupying the attention of the American Jewish Committee, inasmuch as New York is the center of Ameri- can Jewry, its institutional life and political influence. Substantial cuts have already been made by the New York municipality in subsidies to Jewish welfare institutions. Some of them will have to drastically reduce their budgets. Others may have to merge. The very existence of some of the Jewish social agencies is threatened. Similarly is the situation in the entire northeast. The crisis in the larger cities also has important fallouts on suburbs where many Jews live. Shock waves are now being felt by suburban Jews who have been relatively secure in the past. The new economic uncertainty is having widespread impact on family life. Family -breakups have reached record proportions. Middle class professionals — both in the cities and suburbs — are c. fronting serious economic problems. Many of them are affected by un- - employment or fear of unemployment — with the attendant family, social and economic trauma. Many uproot themselves and leave for the south, southwest and west where federal favoritism has contributed importantly to the extraordinary economic growth there and where it is easier to find a job. Many leave their families behind them in difficult conditions. Young Jews coming out of universities no longer have the job security once guaranteed by the growth of metropolitan areas. Aged Jews face a sharp curtailment of necessary services. The increased competiton for jobs is creating- a new wave of inter-ethnic tensions. JEWISH EFFORTS: The American Jewish Committee is now seeking to establish in what coalitions the organization might be part in ef- forts to relieve the present crisis in cities with a large Jewish_ population. The AJCommittee is especially studying how it might appropriately involve itself in trying to reduce the decline of Jewish neighborhoods, and the impact of the crisis on the Jewish aged, the Jewish youth and the Jewish unemployed. While all northeastern centers of Jewish population have been hit hard by the current BORIS SMOLAR malaise, New York City — the national center of Jewish life — has been hit hardest. The shift of the Jewish population from New York to the sun-belt states in search for better economic opportunities'is growing. Jewish aged move there too. Most of them live on meager savings and income from Social Security. It is estimated that in the last years New York City has lost more than 600,000 jobs and has now more than one million people on welfare. Jewish poor are officially estimated to make up about 15 percent of New York's population which totals about two million people and constitutes more than a third of the entire Jewish population in the United States. Not all Jews classified as poor are aged. One finds among them a sub- stantial proportion of men and women who have not reached as yet the age entitling them to Social Security. JEWISH VIEWS: It is the prevailing opinion among Jewish leaders that civic bodies — Jewish and non-Jewish — could be very helpful in the amelio- ration of the crisis by demanding federalization of the funds of welfare, reapportionment of federal expenditures and other total programs. This opinion is based on claims by experts that the crisis is caused primarily in maldistribution of federal funds and benefits among states and cities to the detriment of New York and the entire northeast. Perhaps the most interesting argument in the claim against Washington is data showing that New York state has been receiving in federal aid and benefits only 39 percent of the federal taxes paid, while politically favored states receive 156 percent or more of taxes paid in. Jewish Athletes, Like Christian Counterparts, Should Form Union By HASKELL COHEN (Copyright 1976, JTA, Inc.) We note with great in- - terest the fact that two of the outstanding col- legiate basketball players last year, both of whom were considered for the United States Olympic team and were All- American caliber players, who were drafted by the Boston Celtics and Seat- tle Supersonics respec- tively, have refused luc- rative contracts in order to travel with a team known as Athletes in Ac- tion, a Christian oriented group of athletes. The players involved are Forrest Bayard of Grand Canyon College and Ralph Drollinger from UCLA. Both boys are religiously inclined and are active in the Fel- lowship of Christian Athletes, a group of non- Jewish athletes, obvi- ously, who are serious about leading strong moral and religious lives. In times past we have pointed out the fact that a famous former NBA Jewish player ap- proached the writer, who at that time was the pub- lic relations director of the NBA, to form' a fel- lowship of Jewish athletes. I pointed out to the player that the idea was fine, but he didn't seem to understand that the fellowship was based on a religious. -motif — that the non-Jewish athletes formed in a group to have meetings during the off season at which time they have seminars where promi- nent authorities in the Christian doctrine and theology address them. Also, they have religious prayer meetings. When the Jewish player from the NBA heard this de- scription of what was in- volved in such a move- ment, he backed away quickly and that was the end of the attempt to start a fellowship of Jewish athletes. So far as Jewish athletes are concerned, over the years they have shown lit- tle inclination to band to- gether to discuss their tradition, cultural and re- HANK GREENBERG ligious backgrounds and just have been content to let it be known that they are members of the JeWish faith. A concession has been made by many baseball players, for example, not to play in the World Series slated for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. At one time when Hank Greenberg was with the Detroit Tigers and they got into the World Series, there was a big fuss made as to whether or not he should play on Rosh Hashana. As I recall it, the matter was taken be- fore a Reform rabbi who indicated that for a vari- ety of reasons it was per- missible for Hank to play. Other than this par- ticular instance, I can't recall any matters per- taining to participation in sports by Jewish athletes where the rabbinate and or Halakha was involved, although we have had a humorous situation where Ron Blumberg of the New York Yankees tried to date his future wife and she refused to go out with him because she felt he was not of the faith. In order to prove to her he was Jewish, Ron re- cited to her the Hebrew blessing over wine. This particular demonstration "koshered" the whole situation, and eventually the pair were married. Ken Holtzman of the New York Yankees' pitching staff is free to state that his wife keeps a kosher home. Basically, however, Jewish athletes never band together, . they merely lend encourage- ment to amateur Jewish athletes and certainly have never offered any financial help to prog- rams such as the Mac- cabia Games where some 250 athletes, every four years, are sent over from the United States to par- ticipate in the so-called Jewish Olympics. As a matter of fact, Jewish owners — and they are numerous in baseball, football and basketball — have been approach contribute and to my lection, not one has sent in a $10 bill to aid in financing the cost of transporting amateur Jewish athletes to Israel for these games. One would have to come to the conclusion that as "active_ Jews" 99.9 per- cent of our athletes are far off the mark. If is not our posture to criticize or suggest that they do any- thing to change their thinking or actions, but the fact does remain that our athletes make a poor R showing when it comes to a display of Yiddishkeit.