2 Friday, April 8, 1977
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Detroit's Zionist Pioneers: Hadassah Anniversary
Creates Interest in Leadership in Women's as Well
as General Ranks in Tasks for National Redemption
By Philip
Slomovitz
National and Local Hadassah Birthdays... Henrietta Szold and the Local Leaders
National Haddash now observes its 65th birthday and De-
troit's record of services dates back 60 years. The pioneers
in these ranks once again attract attention. The founder of
the movement merits first consideration.
Henrietta Szold was an exceptionally interesting person-
ality. There may not be too many, even in the ranks of Na-
tional Hadassah who remember the great lady. This Corn-
mentator may be the exception. As a participant in
Young Judea activities in New Jersey, with contacts with
national leaders in New York, it was this reporter's privi-
lege to work closely with Emanuel Neumann who at the
time was a staff member of the education department of
the then Zionist Federation of America, now the Zionist
Organization of America. Miss Szold then headed the Zi-
onist Education Department and Neumann was her clos-
est associate. That's when this writer's meetings with
Miss Szold materialized.
The problem's of the day helped create the women's Zi-
onist organization. It came into being because of the great
need for aid to the sufferers from trachoma in the Middle
East, and Hadassah provided the cures for Arabs as well
as Jews.
There was need to battle against missionaries who were
luring Jewish children in Palestine, and Miss Szold was a
great defender of the faith as a pious Jewess.
Major, of course, was the need to protect the health of
the Yishuv, the Palestinian Jewish settlement, and Miss
Szold created the foundation for the chain of health cen-
ters which developed into the Hadassah Hospitals, and into
many related services. She began by forming visiting
nurses' groups to provide for Jewish needs in Eretz Yis-
rael, and_ the results are a matter of record.
The Szold story has been told in a number of biogra-.
phies. Her name lives indelibly in Jewish history not only
as the founder of the women's Zionist movement but also
as an educator and as an editor. She was editor of the Jew-
ish Publication Society of America for 23 years before she
turned to Zionism and to a dedication to the tasks for na-
tional Jewish redemption.
On the occasion of. her 80th birthday, The Detroit Jewish
News, on July 16, 1943
' co-published, with Esquire and Coro-
net, an article under the title "She prevented 9,000 Mur-
ders." An explanatory note read:
One of our century's foremost careerists, Henrietta
Szold is mother to 9,000 refugees and the first lady of
modern Palestine.
The following introductory paragraphs from this article
by William F. McDermott are eminently worth quoting:
The chances are at least 20 to 1 that you have never
even heard the name of Henrietta Szold. Yet she is
one of the superwomen of the world today, accom-
plishing at 82 years of age incredible. things ,in saving
the lives of the war orphans of Europe. Her disciples
credit her with having prevented the slaughter of at
least nine thousand homeless Jewish waifs.
Take Miss Szold's latest "stunt," When she heard
early in the winter that nearly a thousand Polish refu-
gee children were stranded at a port in the • Caspian
Sea after a hegira of three years during which, accord-
ing to official reports, they often "slept in the woods,
half-naked, exposed to disease, eaten up by vermin,"
she immediately asked for their charge.
She negotiated with the Iran government for four
months before she got their release. Finally she se-
cured permission, only to have the Iraq (Arabian) gov-
ernment refuse them transit across its borders. The
sole alternative was to send them on another treacher- •
ous journey through the Persian Gulf,. and up the Red
Sea to Suez, where special trains carried them to the
new Promised Land.
This convoy of waifs from the charnel house of Eu-
rope was only one of the migrant bands whom the
DR. AND MRS. A. M. HERSHMAN
Thus the women, like the men, were the pioneers in Zion-
ism and they created the force that aided in the rebirth of
the state of Israel.
The Dora Ehrlich story gains added significance thanks
to the historically-minded Leonard N. Simons. He has just
reconstructed a chapter of Detroit Jewish history by recall-
ing the honor that was accorded to Dora Ehrlich exactly
30 years ago. He was chairman of a committee that raised
more than $75,000 for the establishment of the Dora Ehrl-
ich Wing at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.
He had as associates some very distinguished Detroiters-
Fred M. Butzel, Abraham Cooper, Frank Wetsman, Isrp4,1
Davisdon and many others of their contemporaries
- It is good that the creative spirits in Jewry are not fol=
gotten and that a Leonard Simons helps to keep the record
alive.
This is how the Hadassah story developed and how the
early Zionists established a foundation for a great move-
ment. When Hadassah was formed here there may have
been just a handful of adherents to the movement. Now
there are more than 6,500 members in the ranks of the
women's General Zionist organization. The growth is a re-
cord for Detroit Jewry to be proud of.
HENRIETTA SZOLD
aged woman has helped—her life since she was 60
years of age has been a romance of rescue. Backed
by the Hadassah societies of America, which she or-
ganized and which have grown to 135 thousand strong,
she has been able to accomplish miraculous things. In
the last seven yeais these women of high and low es-
tate—professors, clerks, housewives, stenographers
and machine workers have poured three million dol-
lars into the coffers of Miss Szold's Palestinian ven-
tures.
Hadassah had remarkable growth since its founding 65
years ago. In 1917 it numbered but 4,500 members; today
it is above the 400,000 mark.
Henrietta Szold's creative labors inspired American Jew-
iSh women. When the movement gained ground in Detroit,
exactly 60 years ago, the first president was Miriam Hersh-
man, the wife of Shaarey Zedek's Rabbi Abraham M.
Hershman. She was a Lewin-Epstein, and she memorably
followed in the footsteps of her father who was an associ-
ate of Theodor Herzl and a pioneer builder of the Palesti-
nian Jewish settlement. Her successor, Sarah Aronstam,
was the wife of Dr. Noah E. Aronstam, a prominent physi-
cian, organizer of the Philosophical Society, an able poet,
novelist and linguist.
The Hadassah story here would be incomplete without a
link with such notables as Dora Ehrlich, Jeanette Stein-
berg, Sally Wetsman Davidson, Anna Landau, Clara Frank
and the list of the already-published presidents and their
constituents who have served the Zionist movement so
well.
Jeanette Steinberg was not a president but she led in
many other ways, inspiring leadership, working diligently
for the movement.
Vital to the discussion are the family factors in Zionist
"leaderships in this community. Mrs. Hershman was the
first president of Detroit Hadassah; her husband, Dr. A.
IM. Hershman, was the first president of the Zionist Dis-
trict (of the Zionist Federation of America) of Detroit,-the
Zionist. Organization of Detroit.
Mrs. Aronstam was the second Detroit Hadassah presi-
dent; her husband, Dr. Noah E. Aronstam, was the second
,president, sucessor to Rabbi Hershman, of the Detroit Zion-
ist District.
Similarly, Dora Ehrlich was the guiding spirit of Hadas-
sah; her husband, Joseph H. Ehrlich, was a Detroiv Zionist
Organization president.
DR. AND MRS. NOAH E. ARONSTAM
The Communal Experience:
Allied Jewish Campaign
Gains Youth Identification
Jewish experience in the 60 years that have
elapsed since the emergence of Hadassah as the
voice of the women's Zionist movement in Amer-
ica has made the greatest gains in the campaigns
for Israel. Nationally, the United Jewish Appeal
has replaced the major Zionist organizational
drives and the United Palestine Appeal of a half-
century ago, as well as the United Israel Appeal.
The great hope is for enrollment of the young-
er generation, for youth participation. The Allied
Jewish Campaign, which provides the major funds
for the United Jewish Appeal and therefore is the
chief provider of aid for the Jewish Agency activi-
ties, has achieved the hoped-for youth identi-
fication.
The Campaign opener was marked by impres-
sive reports of a continuing generosity by the par-
ticipating contributors. But the especially heart-
ening development here is the role played by the
Allied Jewish Campaign Junior Division. Its ranks
have swollen, its gifts have increased, and the en-
thusiasm of its leaders should inspire the elders.
There is hope for a community when its youth
adds to the hemshekh, to the vitality needed for
continuity in devotions to Jewish needs and obliga-
tions.
The ranks of the elders also provide encour-
agement. The Campaign chairman, Daniel Honig-
man; is a young man with enthusiasm. He is pro-
viding the spirit so urgently needed for successful
community achievements.
There is cause for deep satisfaction in the at-
tainments to date in the philanthropic drive now
being conducted by the Allied Jewish Campaign.
It symbolizes retention of devotion, without which
a community can not function.
MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH H. EHRLICH