THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 8oris Smolar's `Between You . . . and Me' Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, JTA (Copyright 1983, JTA, Inc.) THE COMMUNAL WORKER: Jewish social work- ers are considered today "the Jewish civil service" of the American Jewish community. They serve in all fields of communal endeavor. Their central body, the Conference of Jewish Conimunal Service, has more than 1,200 members attending annual meetings. No census has ever been taken on the professional Jewish civil servants. But one estimate puts their present number, exclusive of rabbis, at 12,000 men and women. They are an immense force in American Jewish communal life, and yet a great majority of them lack Jewish education and have no Jewish knowledge. This point was emphasized by Ralph I. Goldman, president of the International Con- ference of Jewish Communal Service, who is the executive vice president of the JDC. In an address delivered at the annual meeting of the Conference of Jewish Communal Service, in Minneapolis, he stressed that while real advances have been made in the professional ability of the social workers who serve the American Jewish community — and in whom the welfare of the Jewish community is entrusted — many of them have no Jewish knowledge. "A Jewish professional," he said, "can rightfully claim expertise only if his professional ta- lents and commitments are grounded in Jewish knowl- edge." HIS ATTITUDE YESTERDAY: Way back in 1928, Dr. John Slawson, now executive vice president emeritus of the American Jewish Committee — in those years secre- tary of the Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit — one of the most prominent professional leaders in Jewish social work who served as president of the National Conference of Jewish Communal Service, read a paper at the NCJCS annual meeting which remains a classic even today. He was highly critical of the fact that a very great number of professionals in all fields of Jewish social service lack Jewish education and are ignorant on matters of Jewish culture.- He was very outspoken on this subject. He emphasized that it may be necessary for the entire Jewish social work profession "to go to school" to become more Jewishly edu- cated, more Jewishly committed, \ and to understand the importance of Jewish ethnic identity. , Dr. Slawson, who has been strongly advocating the strengthening of Jewish identity ever since he entered the field of social work, told the assembled' Jewish communal workers that the Jewish federations are no longer federa- tions for philanthropy but federations of ethnic Jewish expression. He defined the goal of Jewish social work as an organized expression of Jewish community life and not as a transitory corrective mechanism. Published in the Journal of Jewish Communal Serv- ices as- part of the proceedings of the 1928 meeting, the address was reprinted. The reprints are still being studied by students seeking to enter the field-ofJewish social work. However, most of those who attended the 1928 conclave hardly grasped the ideas which Dr. Slawson expressed. They were just professionals; they were not Jewishly com- mitted-. The CJF PROGRAM: The Council of Jewish Federa- tions has been, from its earliest years, sensitive to the need for high quality of professionals with a good Jewish back- ground. It established a Federation Executive Recruitment and Education Program to recruit and educate young men and women for future professional leadership in executive and sub-executive positions. The program involved profes- sional knowledge and skills in university graduate schools, Jewish studies, and field training in the Federations and in their agencies. In 1977, the CJF intensified this effort by embarking on a'large-scale continuing education program for current staff members of Federations and their agencies. Profes- sionals from 31 communities participated last summer in the CJF Continuing Professional Education Program. CJF president Martin E. Citrin of Detroit considers this pro- gram as "a milestone in the development of Jewish life." Soviet Missiles in Syria Are Threat to Israel: Blum UNITED NATIONS (JTA) — Israel charged Monday that Syria's new Soviet missiles pose a seri= ous threat to Israel's secu- rity. In a letter to the UN Se- curity Council, Yehuda Blum, Israel's Ambassador, said that the newly intro-, duced long-range Soviet missiles are capable of penetrating deep into Is- rael's airspace and other neighboring countries. Is- rael, for its part, cannot be expected to ignore the seri- ous threat to its security inherent in these recent Sy- rian activities." , Friday, January 28; 1983 11 Mexican Jewry Reported OK HOMEOWNER'S INSURANCE aganda during and after the war in Lebanon and the pos- sibility that Jews would be scapegoated for the coun- try's severe economic crisis. Very competitive rates. For no obligation quote Call Cindy Papo at City Suburban NEW YORK (JTA) — A fact finding mission of 21 American Jewish commu- nity leaders has returned from Mexico reassured about the situation of Mexi- can Jewry. The mission spent five days in Mexico investigat- ing two concerns of the Jewish community there a - barrage of anti-Zionist and , anti-Semitic prop- Illegal Building Drops. in Galilee JERUSALEM (JNI) — While illegal Arab building in the Galilee has declined by about 95 percent ,in re- cent years, Jews are leaving the area at an annual rate of 7,000( Only natural in- crease and immigration keep the absolute number of Jews in the region from plummeting, Afula Mayor Ovadia Eli stated during last week's Knesset debate on Galilee development. The Interior Ministry at- tributed the sharp drop in illegal construction to close supervision as well as the allocation of further land for building inside existing Arab- villages. A ministry spokesman said that 52 of 76 Arab villages in the north have housing plans to meet the needs of the local population for the next '20 years. 553-2280 WHAT TO DO THE DAY YOUR ALL-SAVER OR C.D. 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