4

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

A Few Barbs for the Jewish Banquet Circuit

By VICTOR BIENSTOCK

Not so many years ago, a
foreign correspondent, or
even a columnist, needed
only a trenchcoat (prefera-
bly a Burberry) and a slouch
hat. Today, a dinner jacket
is essential and a smile for
the camera as necessary as
a scowl to intimidate a re-
luctant news source.
There have been changes
in journalism but not in the
Jewish community; its cus-
toms and practices remain
unchanged. Its operations
still revolve around
dinners, usually to raise
funds, and the system
hasn't changed over the de-
cades since the city editor of
the old New York World
used to assign me to Jewish
organizational dinners
three or four nights a week
in the belief (correct) that I
might otherwise starve to
death on my salary as a cub
reporter.
I still remember,:years la-
ter, the anguished news-
man who staggered out of
one big function in a lush
New York hotel exclaimed:
"That caterer will kill more
Jews than Hitler! •
The routine is still the
same after all these years.
You set up a dinner to
raise funds for a worthy
cause, say a hospital or
an Israeli institution. You
must have a guest of
honor, a well-heeled
luminary of the commu-
nity who can be counted
on to express his
gratitude for the honor
with a substantial con-
tribution to the cause and
whose friends and busi-
ness associates must do
him honor by acting simi-
larly.The guest of honor
is presented with an
award — a plaque, a
scroll, an Israeli ar-
cheological memento
(they go big now) — and
gets to make a short
speech of thanks follow-
ing a long presentation
speech in which the
worthiness of the cause is
fully described.
But there has to be a spe-
cial attraction. You can't
sell anything without a
gimmick. The old-time pro-

*

.

fessional fund-raisers called
them fan-dancers. Maybe
they still do. These, for the
most part, are the glamor
boys of press and television,
authors of best-sellers and
others transiently in the
public eye and enjoying a
burst of popularity.
For a time, retired Israeli
generals, ex-Cabinet mem-
bers and former ambas-
sadors were in high demand
but only a handful of them
are considered top attrac-
tions today. There is still a
big market for lesser Israeli
lights for the overwhelming
number of functions every
week in Jewish com-
munities throughout the
land.
The demand today,
however, is for the big
names in television,
commentating and
foreign reporting — the
men and women we see
on the Six O'Clock News
or whose byline is in the
big papers.
The Jewish market is sec-
ond only to the college cir-
cuit as a goldmine for those"
newsmen who have tuxedo
and will travel. Gordon
Liddy, it is said, pulls down
about $75,000 a year on the
collegiate circuit but there
are at least a half-dozen TV
and press personalities who
can and are doing almost as
well or better on the Jewish
banquet circuit.
Of course, a Henry Kis-
singer or former President
Ford command higher fees
than any of the media at-
tractions and more than one
Jewish organization has
found the good doctor's
five-figure fee acceptable.
If you do have Kissinger
or Ford, the evening routine
is changed somewhat; you
give them the award al-
though I have-yet to under-
stand why anyone, least of
all the Jewish community,
should pay Henry Kissinger
to accept an award.
Financially, it prob-
ably makes sense; an
awful lot of people who
should know better will
jump at the chance to sit
in the same room with Dr.
Kissinger, listen to him
speak and, perhaps, get a

chance_to shake hands
with him. But why honor
him in the bargain?
There's one odd thing
about these dinners. One
would assume that the
celebrity is brought in to
share the knowledge and in-
formation he has gathered
and to enlighten the com-
munity, but his revolution-
ary words are never pub-
lished. No one ever reports
what he told the gathering.
Kissinger, of course, has a
rule against being quoted.
That's so he won't have to
rewrite his speech for every
function and, with updat-
ing, he can get a 30-day run
on a single speech.
You don't get the speech,
but you get the celebrity, his
"photo shot from every con-
ceivable angle. Here in one
issue is the anchorman-
guest beaming at the cam-
era from between the hon-
oree and his ecstatic wife.
Here he is again with the
chairman of the function,
still beaming. Here he is
again, this time the smile a
trifle strained, posed in the
midst of the organization
leadership.
In smaller com-
munities, the city editor
of the local daily may
consider the visit of a na-
tional celebrity news-
worthy and send a re
porter to interview him.
If the organization is
lucky or if its PR man is
on his toes, the organiza-
tion may get a puff in the
published interview.
So many TV and news-
paper stars are making hay
in the Jewish field that if I
were running a journalism
school, I'd add special
courses to cover this new
journalistic activity al-
though the current prac-
titioners- seem to be doing
quite well.
The State Department's
Foreign _Service Institute
has officially recognized
Yiddish but knowledge of
the language is not a re-
quirement for the Jewish
lecture circuit. I have, how-
ever, heard Gentile speak-
ers bring down_ the house
with an appropriate Yid-
dish phrase. And every-

body, Jew or gentile, knows
enough Yiddish for that.

Named Director

JERUSALEM — Moshe
D. Shechter has been ap-
pointed Israel Aliya Center
director for North America.

Population, when un-
checked, increases in a
geometrical ratio. Subsis-
tence only increases in an
arithmetical ratio.
—Thomas Malthus

•

Friday, May 1, 1982 33

Low Key Rallies for May Day

TEL AVIV (JTA) — May
Day celebrations through-
out Israel were in a lower
key than usual this year,
because of the Sabbath.
The largest demonstra-
tion and workers' rally was
in Tel Aviv last Saturday,
where some 35,000 mem-
bers of Socialist Zionist
youth movements marched
along Ibn Gabirol Street,
virtually cutting the city
into two for several hours.
Slogans carried by the mar-
chers denounced settle-
ments in Arab areas of the

West Bank and the Gaza
Strip.

Anti-Semitism
Center at H.U.

JERUSALEM (JTA) —
The Hebrew University has
set up a "Center of the Study
of Anti-Smemitism."
The center which will be
chaired by Holocaust
scholar Prof. Yehuda Bauer
will be directed by Shmuel
Almog, longtime director
general of the Israel Broad-
casting Authority.

A PESACH MESSAGE

•

. From Friends and Members of

Americans for Progressive Israel

This is the season of the EXODUS, the beginning of the Jewish dream of
FREEDOM and JUSTICE for us and for all people.

The history of the Zionist movement is a repetition of the Pesach story. It
includes persecution, exile and, finally, redemption. The Jewish state was
built by men and women who relived this story and whose sacrifices and
dream are recorded in the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
We believe that these principles are being violated by the Begin and
Sharon government—the government of . unwise and repressive policies in
the occupied territories, the government that neglects the Galil in favor of
West Bank settlements, the government that exploits intergroup tensions
within Israel while ignoring the housing, educational and employment
needs of the majority of those who put it into power.
There are progressive forces within Israel struggling for peace; social,
political and economic democracy; religious pluralism; and equality
between men and women, Jews and non-Jews, Sephardim and Askenazim.
One way in which progressive American Jews can help thee forces and, at
the same time, influence the policies of the Begin/Sharon government is by
having a strong voice in the World Zionist Congress, to be held in Jerusalem
in December 1982. The Congress, which indirectly controls a budget of
hundreds of millions of dollars, is of great importance because it will be
instrumental in shaping Israeli policies for the next four years.
You can Vote for delegates to the World Zionist Congress if you are a
member of a Zionist organization. Americans for Progressive Israel stands
for democratic socialist principles, for the unity of the Jewish people and
for their safety and survival whether it be in Israel or any otherplace in - the
Diaspora. A.P.I. also stands for mutual recognition of the right to self-deter-
mination by all national groups in the Middle East.
If you share these concerns and if you believe that the voice of American
Progressive Israel must be heard at the next World Zionist Congress
election, join us now and have a voice and a vote.

El Yes, I share your concerns and hopes for the future, and want a voice in the WZO
elections. Please enroll me as a member and send me the address of a chapter in
my area. (All memberships include a one year subscription to Israel Horizons, the
API magazine, as well as Progressive Israel, the newsletter of our sister organiza-
tion in Israel, Mapam.)

Please accept this (tax deductible) donation to help pay for this advertisement
. (All donations of $25.00 or more will get you a copy of the
Kibbutz Artzi Haggadah.)

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Clip and return to Americans for Progressive Israel
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THE COUNCIL OF ORTHODOX RABBIS OF GREATER DETROIT
ANNOUNCES THAT
THE FOLLOWING KOSHER BUTCHERS ARE UNDER ITS SUPERVISION

All meat sold in the following 6 stores has already been
"KASHERED" (soaked and salted) under the supervision of the
COUNCIL OF ORTHODOX RABBIS, and is ready to cook.

DEXTER DAVISON KOSHER MEAT MARKET
19835 W. 12 Mi. Rd., Sfld. 557-7677
DUBEN & ADLER FARMER JACK MARKET
6565 Orchard Lake Rd.
W. Bim.
851-4175
*LINCOLN-KOSHER MEAT MARKET (GLATT KOSHER)
26020 Greenfield Rd.
Oak Park
968-7450
NORTHGATE KOSHER MEAT MARKET
25254 Greenfield Rd.
Oak Park
967-3907
STRICTLY -KOSHER MEAT CENTER
13831 W. 9 Mile Rd.
Oak Park
543-7092
*SUPERIOR KOSHER MEAT MKT. (GLATT KOSHER)
23057 Coolidge Rd.
Oak Park
547-3900

Meat sold in the following stores must first be "KASHERED"

(soaked and salted) by Consumer.

(At special request of customer, these stores will be pleased to

SUPERVISOR
RABBI G. FRANKEL

arrange for soaking and salting of meat at NO EXTRA CHARGE,

REV. I. SARNOFF

under supervision of the MASHGIACH, in which case proper

RABBI C. FINE

RABBI C. FINE

RABBI G. FRANKEL

RABBI D. SIMCHA

*All meat in this establishment is kashered prior to 72 hours from shchitah.

certification will be attached.)

COHEN & SON KOSHER MEAT MARKET
26035 Coolidge Rd.
Oak Park
547-4121
DEXTER DAVISON KOSHER MEAT MARKET
24770 Coolidge Road
Oak Park
548-6800
FRANKLIN KOSHER MEAT MARKET
32930 Middlebelt Rd.
Farmington 855-1020
HARVARD ROW KOSHER MEAT MARKET
21780 W. 11 Mile Rd.
Southfield
356-5110

SUPERVISOR
RABBI G. FRANKEL

RABBI G. FRANKEL

RABBI C. BERGSTEIN

RABBI G. FRANKEL