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.) Name Tel. No Address City, State, Zip Clip and return to Americans for Progressive Israel 150 Fifth Avenue Suite 1002 New York, New York 10011 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