THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, June 11, 1982 27
Kansas City's Jewish History Is Profiled in a New Volume
A national trend for the
publication of the histories
of major Jewish com-
munities finds great
encouragement in "Mid-
America's Promise: A Pro-
file of Kansas City Jewry"
(University of Missouri
Press).
Edited by Dr. Joseph P.
Schultz, Oppenstein
Brothers Distinguished
Professor of Judaic Studies
and director of the Danciger
Judaic Studies Program at
the University of Missouri,
Kansas City, this volume is
so excellently compiled that
) it serves as a justification
for the efforts pursued by
the community in encourag-
ing it. It serves as a model
for historians. _
The reason for this corn-
mendation is that a similar
task is planned for the De-
troit Jewish community.
Therefore the need for the
model, and "Mid-America's
Promise" provides it. If a
Detroit-planned Jewish his-
tory can secure a proper
compiler and editor, the un-
dertaking should be
encouraged.
The Kansas City story
is replete with local de-
tails of unusual interest
and there are items
which have an interest
for the entire American
Jewish community.
If it were only for the de-
tails about the activities of
Jacob Billikopf, this volume
would already assume great
significance. The genera-
tion that remembers Bil-
likopf wished for a long time
that a biography of the
overwhelming personality
had been written. The Kan-
sas City Jewish history
could well serve as an intro-
duction to his much-
awaited biography.
Billikopf is described as
having "professionalized
Jewish social work." Corn-
ing here as an immigrant in
1897, his mastery of Yid-
dish helped him to work
closely with immigrants
who gained a place in
American society thanks to
his efforts. Billie, as he be-
came known nationally,
started his career in 1907 at
an annual salary of $1,800.
He was credited with "revo-
lutionizing the entire sys-
tem of social welfare in the
Jewish community and in
the city."
There-were obstacles but
Billikopf succeeded in his
progressive methods thanks
to the encouragement of the
president of the Kansas
City Federation, Alfred
Benjamin, who must have
been a replica of Fred Butzel
of Detroit. The Benjamin
record for dedicated service
is among the notable per-
sonality achievements in
this book.
The Kansas City vol-
ume owes much of its im-
pressiveness to Judith
Firestone, the wife of Mil-
ton Firestone, editor of
the Kansas City Jewish
Chronicle, a contributor
to the book.
Added interest is pro-
vided in the tributes in this
volume to Rabbi Samuel
Mayerberg. He was assis-
.
JACOB BILLIKOPF
tant in Detroit at Temple
Beth El to Dr. Leo M.
Franklin before going to
Kansas City in 1928. He
had an unusual role in the
community, and a capsule of
his services and achieve-
ments is provided in this ex-
cerpt from "Mid-America's
Promise":
"The commitment to civic
virtues and the belief in so-
cial justice as a mandate of
Jewish tradition (which
happily coincided with a
major tenet of American
Civil Religion) reached its
apex in the Bnai Jehudah
rabbinate during the tenure
of Rabbi Samuel S. Mayer-
berg which began in 1928.
"A courtly, charming and
dynamic man, Mayerberg
played a role in lifting the
level of public morality in
Kansas City that caused
Albert Vorspan to rank him
with Louis Brandeis,
Stephen S. Wise and David
Dubinsky. For many years
he was in the forefront of
every local crusade.
"He called for and suc-
ceeded in getting the res-
ignation of the president
of ,the University of
Missouri-Columbia over
the issue of academic
freedom. He unsuc-
cessfully sought to pre-
vent the lynching of a
black man in Maryville,
Missouri, by getting the
governor to dispatch the
National Guard to the
scene. He tried, also un-
successfully, to save the
life of a Jewish youth, the
victim of unequal justice.
"All this was but a pre-
lude to Mayerberg's attack
on the Pendergast 'machine'
in May 1932, and in the
municipal election of 1934,
referred to in chapter 4.
What remains to be pointed
out is that the fierce opposi-
tion Rabbi Mayerberg
encountered in his congre-
gation, which forced him to
give up his civic crusade,
clearly established the out-
ermost limits of the consen-
sus of 'civil Judaism' with
regard to its first principle.
"In theory this principle
coincided with a major arti-
cle of faith in American
Civil Religion. But in prac-
tice Kansas City Jews
began to feel that what may
be good for Kansas City
(and by extension for
America) may not be good
for the Jews. The commit-
ment to social justice and its
concretization in the com-
munity at large ccould not
be made at the expense of
Kansas City Jewry's anx-
iety over its status and se-
curity.
"The pain and humilia-
tion Mayerberg suffered
forced him to abandon the
civil arena for the congrega-
tional vineyard. But despite
his commitment to the
Temple board in 1933, the
zealot for social reform re-
turned again and again to
his controversial involve-
ment in civic affairs, cul-
minating in the final cam-
paign of 1940 that saw the
end of boss rule in
City.
"Though some mem-
bers of Bnai Jehudah
threatened to resign,
Mayerberg returned
once more to the arena
and finally received the
plaudits he so richly de-
served."
Mention must-be made of
another extra-special Kan-
sas City Jewish personality,
Eddie Jacobson, who was
Harry Truman's haber-
dashery partner, who had
much to do with the ar-
rangements for the meeting
between President Truman
and Chaim Weizmann just
before the emergence of the
state of Israel and during
the trying days of Israel's
struggles for sovereignty.
Added interest for De-
troiters is the record of the
activities of Rabbi Simon
Glazer, father of Dr. B. Be-
nedict Glazer, who preceded
Dr. Richard Hertz as rabbi
of Detroit's Temple Beth El.
At the outset, reviewing
the Glazer record, the Kan-
sas City story relates:
"Another bridge-
builder from the Or-
thodox side was Rabbi
Simon Glazer, who had
come to head the United
Synagogues of Kansas
City in 1920. Rabbi Glazer
was known for his coop-
eration with non-
Orthodox Jews in the
areas of Zionism, the
YMHA and in public is-
sues involving the entire
Jewish community."
It is especially interesting
to note that Rabbi Glazer, in
the process of organizing
the community's Orthodox
functions, wanted women to
serve on the board of the
United Jewish Charities.
He was especially known
for his Zionist activities.
Rabbi Glazer played a lead-
ing role in the Congres-
sional support for Zionism.
Rabbi Glazer met with
President Warren G. Hard-
ing and induced him to meet
with Arthur James Balfour
to discuss the Zionist aims
with him, when the British
leader has a notable role in
the introduction of the reso-
lution endorsing Zionist
aims proposed in the U.S.
Senate by Henry Cabot
Lodge and adopted unanim-
ously.
and historically valuable
work.
—P.S.
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Bialystok History
Book Printed
NEW YORK — The his-
tory and importance of
Jewish life in Bialystok, the
Polish city which was the
birthplace and home of
Jewish leaders, are traced
in "The Bialystoker Memo-
rial Book" (Ruder, Finn and
Rotman).
With essays written by
past residents, the book
provides a history of this
city from its inception,
when it was still a part of
Russia, through the
Holocaust. The publication
of the volume marks the
50th anniversary of the
Bialystoker Center in New
York.
The Detroit-Kansas City
connections will continue,
as "Mid-America's Prom-
ise" tells briefly of the re-
cent appointment of former
Detroiter Rabbi Marc B.
Fitzerman as spiritual
leader of Cong. Ohev
Sholom.
These are just a few of the
facts that make this work so
valuable for Jewry. The
achievement is a notable
one and not only Kansas
City Jewry but the Jewish
community of America owes
a debt of gratitude to Prof.
Schultz for this impressive
(ex -4144)
_ts.164.
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