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- •
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
22 October 11, 1980
Bnai Brith-Landsmanshaften Forerunner
were composed of individu- order's constitution did a lodge in Germany in 1882,
not provide for mutual- Bnai Brith became an in-
Yiddish and German dic- als who hailed from the aid, a fact signifying the ternational Jewish order
same
towns
or
cities.
tionaries define "landsman"
The earliest "landsman- high economic status of with lodges in many parts of
as fellow-countryman or
the world, including Israel.
shaft,"
Bnai Brith, origi- its members.
compatriot, and "landshaft"
Instead, it declared:
The Order Brith Ab-
nally
known
as
the
Inde-
as region, province or dis-
"Bnai Brith has taken upon raham was founded by Ail-
pendent
Order
Bnai
Brith,
trict. Thus the early Ameri-
itself the mission of uniting strian Jews, though it also
can "landsmanshaften" was founded by a group of Israelites in the work of
included some German
were associations of people German Jews, headed by promoting their highest
Jews
of a lower economic
Henry
Jones,
on
Oct.
13,
who came from the same
interests and those of hu- level. Not surprisingly, its
1843.
region or country, and were
A principal factor that manity; of developing and program provided for self-
the forerunners of the
brought
about its estab- elevating the mental and aid, sick benefits and finan-
"landsmanshaften" that
lishment was the discontent moral character of the cial assistance for needy
and resentment of German people of our faith; of incul- members.
ARRY FREEDMAN Jews
Unlike the biblical,
at the dominance of cating the purest principles
Spanish, Portuguese and of philanthropy, honor and talmudic and historical
rchestra and Entertainment
Dutch Jews in the Ameri- patriotism; of supporting names of the Bnai Brith
science and art; alleviating lodges, those of Brith Ab-
can Jewish community.
Characteristically, the the wants of the poor and raham bore names like
needy, visiting and attend- Kaiser Franz Joseph,
ing the sick; coming to re- Kaiser Friederich and
scue the victims of persecu- Prinz Rudolph. But De-
tion; providing for, protect- troit's lodge, according to
ing, and assisting the widow the "Detroit Jewish Di-
and orphan on the broadest rectory of 1907" pub-
• We Sell Diamonds Only
principle of humanity."
lished in Yiddish, was
• By Appointment Only
At the time of the Bnai named Michigan 111. Its
Brith founding, the Jewish officers were Abraham
Call Jerry Turken at
population of the United Louis, president; Jay
The New York
States counted less than Borenstein, vice
Diamond Cutting
50,000 and that of New president; R. Thorner,
Company
York no more than 10,000. recording secretary; and
Bnai Brith, it should be L. Goldsmith, treasurer.
"The Diamond Cutters"
The Order Brith Ab-
3000 Town Center,
noted, shortly after its es-
Southfield, Michigan:: .
tablishment, grew pheno- raham, mainly for financial
menally both in prestige difficulties, was dissolved in
355-2300
and affiliates, better known 1927.
as lodges. Its first lodgemas
The Independent Order
"
•ert. !•! z
established in New York on Brith Abraham, an offshoot
Nov. 12, 1843. The lodges of Brith Abraham, was
bore names, such as Jordan, founded by Hungarian Jews
Akivah, Hebron, Hanania, with a small admixture of
Now Yo w.
C
Hillel and Maccabee. De- German Jews on Feb. 13,
troit's first lodge, Pisgah, 1887. Its constitution pro-
was organized on Nov. 24, vided for financial aid, med-
1857.
ical assistance and care for
Incidentally, Deuter- impoverished members,
NEW COMPUTERIZED
onomy 34:1-5 records that burying the order's dead
Moses viewed the Prom- members and helping
SECURITY EQUIPMENT
ised land from the top of members become American
(mount) Pisgah and died citizens.
there.
Soon after its forma-
The earliest members of tion, the order opened its
Bnai Brith, according to doors to East European
The Universal Jewish Jews, who within a short
Encyclopedia, included time became the domin-
1 NC
Isaac Dittenhoefer, later a ant ethnic group; and its
delegate to the Republican lodges began bearing
Central Station Monitoring
National Convention that Yiddish names of the
nominated Abraham Lin- members native towns
Thousands of satisfied customers
coln for president; Leo and cities, such as "Pol-
Merzbacher, first rabbi of taver," "Vilner," "Stanis-
CALL THE
New York's Temple laver" and "Slonimer."
Emanu-El; and Joseph
This new historical occur-
Ochs, ancestor of Adolph S.
MARTY
17534 W. 7 MILE, DETROIT
rence, it is well to re-
Ochs,
publisher
of
the
New
CY -
LICENSED BY
member, was a major factor
York Times.
SHEL
MICH. DEPT. OF STATE POLICE
With the establishment of contributing to the
emergence of "landsman-
shaften" as we know them
at present.
By ALLEN A. WARSEN
647-2367
SAVE UP TO 60% ON
DIAMONDS
D■ arnoml Cult
BURGLAR ALARMS
ALLSTATE
ALARM
SYSTEMS
ROTT BROS
•
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NEW 1980
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$4495
LANCIA
Arson Suspected
in Destruction
of Bronx Temple
AL STEINBERG
FIAT
ART MORAN PONTIAC
SALES and EXPERT SERVICE
29300 TELEGRAPH
JUST NOt-i 1H OF TEL-TWELVE MALL
353-9000
NEW YORK (JTA) —
Police reported clear evi-
dence of arson in a fire that
destroyed Temple Em-
manual in the Parkchester
section of The Bronx Mon-
day night. They believe it
was set by the same vandals
who daubed anti-Semitic
graffiti and swastikas on
the walls recently.
The fire broke out shortly
before 8 p.m . in the base-
ment and spread rapidly.
Firemen found the front
door of the two-story brick
building had been forced
open and suspect that the
blaze was set with gasoline.
Firefighters rescued the two
Torah scrolls • and there
were no casualties.
Schmidt Re-Election, Israel
Stand Worries German Jews
BONN (JTA) — The elec-
toral victory last week of
Chancellor Helmut
Schmidt's Social Demo-
cratic Party (SDP) and his
Free Democratic Party
(FDP) coalition partner
headed by Foreign Minister
Hans-Dietrich Genscher
has revived anxiety in West
Germany's smallJewish
community over the Bonn
government's openly pro-
Arab policies in the Middle
East and Schmidt's own
attitude toward Israel.
The 30,000 Jews living in
the Federal Republic and
West Berlin have long had
doubts. Schmidt was invited
to visit Israel as long ago as
1975 and the invitation still
stands. But he has never
acted on it.
More recently, 10 days
elapsed before an official
spokesman found it neces-
sary to deny a report in Der
Spiegel that Schmidt had
denounced Israeli Premier
Menahem Begin in very
shai-p terms, describing him
as a "danger for world
peace."
The denial was issued
only after persistent
questions by the press, an
open letter from a West
German organization of
Jewish Holocaust sur-
vivors protesting the al-
remarks by
leged
Schmidt as an "insult to
the whole Jewish
people," and an official
request for clarification
from the Israeli Embassy.
Even then, a government
spokesman at first did not
deny Schmidt's reported
remarks'in thei entirety. He
said they were not directed
against Begin personally
but at his settlement
policies in the occupied ter-
ritories. Eventually, under
continued questioning by
the press, a firm denial was
obtained.
Until recently, the
Jewish community has kept
HELMUT SCHMIDT
a low profile. Its leader:
rarely spoke out on the issue
of Bonn's eroding support -
for Israel and its increasing
tendency to woo the oil pro-
ducing Arab states.
But after the Venice
summit meeting of the
European Economic Com-
munity (EEC) leaders
where a declaration was is-
sued urging that the Pales-
tine Liberation Organiza-
tion be associated with the
Middle East peace process,
the central organization of
German Jews issued a
strong protest. Bonn wields
considerable influence in
the councils of the EEC.
The Arab-Israeli con-
flict was hardly touched
upon during the recent
election campaign. But in
its closing stages, the op-
position candidate for
Chancellor, Franz-Josef
Strauss, leader of the
Christian Democratic
Union (CDU) became an
outspoken critic of the
government's Mideast
policies.
As far as the well-being of
Jews in West Germany is
concerned, there are no dif-
ferences between the SDP-
led coalition and the CDU
opposition. Both are com-
mitted to the principle of
helping to renew Jewish life
in this country and are
generous in offering public
and financial support
toward that end.
Paper Confirms Allegations
of Iron Guard in Michigan
The Detroit Free Press
this week confirmed allega-
tions that have been made
for nearly 30 years: a
number of members of the
Romanian Iron Guard are
living in Michigan and sev-
eral have positions with Ar-
chbishop Valerian Trifa's
Roman Orthodox archdio-
cese.
The fascist Iron Guard
revolted against their coali-
tion government in 1941
and Jews were subject of
numerous attacks during
the revolt. Hundreds were
killed.
In his Free Press article,
Stephen Franklin quoted
U.S. intelligence reports
and conducted interviews
with Romanians in Michi-
gan'. He wrote that their
anti-Semitic ideas have not
changed.
Among those he spoke
with were Nicholas
Smarandescu, deputy
minister in Romania's
Department of Agricul-
ture and an Iron. Guard
leader, and Stelian
Stanicel, who was chief of
police in Bucharest.
Franklin's report said
federal attorneys are inves-
tigating 25 Romanians
throughout the U.S. as
possible war criminals.
Romanian and Jewish
groups say there are at least
30 Iron Guard members in
the U.S., including one who
is a priest in the Romani
Orthodox Church.
`Zionist Strength'
Is AZF Theme
NEW YORK — "Zionist
Strength: A Shared Com-
mitment" is the theme for
the American Zionist Fed-
eration's biennial conven-
tion, Nov. 9-11, at Gros-
singer's in New York.
Ephraim Evron, Israel's
ambassador to the United
States will deliver the open-
ing address.
Don't. be too sure of your-
•
self till the day you die.