10 Friday, November 4, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Russian Immigration and Links to South
By JOSEPH COHEN
NEW ORLEANS — Now,
a century after it began, the
mass exodus of Jews from
Russia, with the emigration
of the majority of them to
the United States, has as-
sumed the proportions of a
saga, intermingling stories
of courage and despair, de-
feat and heroism, against a
background of endurance
and survival, backed by the
determination to "make it"
in America.
The saga is a love story
basically, the love affair be-
tween the Jew and the
"Golden Land" of opportu-
nity.
Like the Book of Exodus,
history, revelation, miracle,
chronicle, legend and myth
have come together again to
give us a panorama of a
human event so rich in its
diversity that we never tire
of hearing yet another story
about life anew in an hos-
pitable but strange and be-
wildering'country.
As early as 1905,
Charles B. Bern-
heimer's "The Russian
Jew in the United States"
was being widely read
and discussed, and from
that time forward to the
present day when "Fid-
dler on the Roof" is again
playing to record crowds
all over the country, the
interest in the lives of
East European immig-
rants has held us in its
grip.
For that reason, readers
of "The East European
Jewish Experience in
America" (American
Jewish Archives, with dis-
tribution by Ktav), edited
by Uri D. Herscher, will find
the eight accounts of the
immigrant and settlement
experiences not merely an
absorbing excursion into
American Jewish history,
but in many instances it
will, as such books now do,
become a launching pad for
a quest into their own ori-
gins.
The book is subtitled "A
Century of Memories,
1882-1982."
The accounts rival one
another in the simple retel-
ling of personal experiences
by immigrants themselves
or by their children,
selected from the rich repos-
itory of the American
Jewish Archives in Cincin-
nati. Among the best ac-
counts are those by Alexan-
der Harkavy who became
well known to the immig-
rant community through
his self-help books designed
to turn "greenhorns" into
American citizens, and by
Isaac Don Levine, who, like
Harkavy, became a widely-
read American journalist
and author.
With the reading of the
narratives, I was myself
transported back to my own
early years when several of
my grandparents and a
whole host of great uncles,
whiskered and portly, and
great aunts, poured into
wardrobes of petticoats,
were still familiar figures —
I can to this day hear each of
their old world accents —
sitting on front porches
especially in the Tennessee
and Kentucky summers of
the 1930s, reminiscing
about life in their eastern
European towns and
shtetls.
In his declining years my
father did not think it im-
portant to dwell much on his
earlier years — he was too
much absorbed in the
present = but some records
have survived and some ac-
counts of him figure in the
reminiscences of others so
that I know some of the tales
he never told me. Among
them is the one of how he
came to marry my mother.
He was 15 years old in
1906 when he came to
America from Druskeniki, a
spa and resort town near the
Polish-Lithuanian border,
where his parents owned a
grocery. Two older brothers
preceded him to America,
Balfour Concert Anniversary
Cheered Locally, Nationally
Messages congratulating
the Zionist Organization of
Detroit on the 50th an-
niversary of the Balfour
Concert, made known at the
annual event Sunday eve-
ning at Ford Auditorium,
provided national as well as
local interest in the Zionist
accomplishments here.
In his address to the
capacity audience, Dr. Les-
ter Zeff, co-chairman of the
event, announced that
greetings were received
from President Ronald Re-
agan, members of Congress,
national Jewish leaders as
well as local associates in
the movement.
Combining his cantorial
and operatic skills, Paul
Cuomo Calls for Bi-Partisan
U.S. Policy in Middle East
NEW YORK (JTA) —
Governor Mario Cuomo of
New York, in an address to
800 Israel Bond leaders last
week, called on the Reagan
Administration to convene
a meeting of top Republican
and Democratic leaders of
the Senate and the House to
formulate a bi-partisan pol-
icy for the Middle East.
Pointing out that he pro-
posed the meeting in letters
sent to Senators Daniel
Moynihan (D-N.Y.), How-
ard Baker (R-Tenn.) and
Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) as
well as other Congressional
leaders, the Governor as-
serted that there is serious
confusion about what the
United States should do
next, following the tragic
loss of lives of American
Marines in Lebanon.
"The President should
consider immediately con-
vening a bi-partisan Middle
East Task Force," he stated.
"Such a body would gather
all of our foremost elected
leaders, as well as policy
makers responsible for the
region, around the same
table to seek a solution that
can be adopted by both our
major parties. Such an ap-
proach' is paramount when
we are dealing with issues
of life and death."
Gov. Cuomo made his re-
marks at an Israel Bond tes-
timonial luncheon honoring
real estate developer Larry
Silverstein at the Pierre
Hotel.
Zim, who has gained a large
following as a folksinger,
highlighted the evening's
program.
Zim's interpretations of
the traditional prayers,
his introduction of the
latest Israeli songs, in-
cluding "Am Yisrael
Chai" which he co-
composed, kept the audi-
ence until the end of a
long program which did
not conclude until the
hour of 11.
With him on the program
was the Israeli pianist-
composer Amiram Rigai,
who played some of his own
compositions, and Fay
Nicoll, popular singer who
presented a group of Yid-
dish and Hebrew selections.
Also on the program were
the Winged Victory Sin-
gers. Mack Pitt conducted
the participating orchestra.
Max Sosin, who co-
chaired the concert commit-
tee with Dr. Zeff, was the
evening's master of cere-
monies. The gathering also
was welcomed in greetings
by Lillian (Mrs. Ira) Kauf-
man, who headed the
women's committee for the
concert, and ZOD President
Leonard Herman.
and as they had settled in
western Kentucky, he
joined them there.
For several years they
peddled together or sepa-
rately, suffering the usual
privations, living out on the
road on crackers and cheese,
sometimes sleeping in
barns, enduring cold
weather and hot, rain and
snow, slowly putting money
aside against the day they
could acquire a store of their
own.
Indeed, my father's oldest
brother, my late Uncle Alec,
and my father seemed al-
ways to be in competition
with one another. But as
times were hard, they
pooled their resources and
opened a store together in
Greenville, Ky. in August
1909, buying and selling
hides, furs, and junk. They
had each accumulated over
$100. The business pros-
pered and in 1910 they ac-
quired a larger building.
At the time, my father,
though he was still young,
was courting my Aunt Jet-
tie. On one occasion, he
made the mistake of taking
Uncle Alec with him to
Guthrie, Ky. where Aunt
Jettie lived. Uncle Alec
forthwith fell in love with
Aunt Jettie. When the two
brothers got back to Green-
ville, they opened their
store for business on Mon-
day morning bat were too
busy arguing over who was
to court Aunt Jettie to con-
centrate on work.
After two days, their pa-
tience growing thin, they
locked the store, went be-
hind it and settled their dif-
ferences in a manner asso-
ciated more with American
roughnecks than well-
trained Talmud students.
That haS always seemed a
wonder to me because both
of them had been reared in a
proper Jewish home where
fighting was forbidden.
Moreover, they were both
gentle people.
In any case, Uncle Alec
won. That broke up the
business. Shortly thereaf-
ter, my father opened his
own store- buying and sell-
ing hides, wool, ginseng and
junk. When Uncle Alec
married Aunt Jettie, my
father was best man. My
mother came to the wedding
as two of her sisters were
bridesmaids.
It was not too long after-
wards that my parents be-
came engaged, and, in due
course they were married. It
never bothered me that my
father lost the fight. After
all, if he had won it I
wouldn't be here to write
about it.
Experience is more force-
ful than logic.
—Abravanel
Zedakah Founder Dies at 92
Ann M. Weinbeck, a
founder of the Zedakah
Club, died Oct. 23 at age 92.
A Detroiter for more than
50 years, Mrs. Weinbeck
moved to Florida prior to
World War II.
While in Detroit, she was
a past worthy matron of the
Purity Chapter, Order of
the Eastern Star; a founder
of the Ann Weinbeck Chap-
ter of the Rainbow Girls and
was active in Women's
Bicur Cholem, Zedakah
Club and in other Jewish
and civic causes.
She is survived by a
brother, Abraham Moss of
Southfield; and two nieces,
ANN WEINBECK
Dody Schlesinger of
Franklin and Mildred Crys-
tle of Miami Shores, Fla.
Lebanon Factions Irwin Tamler
JERUSALEM (ZINS) —
According to Beirut's Al
Amal newspaper, there are
one million Shiite Moslems
in Lebanon, 600,000 Sunni
Moslems, 600,000 Maronite
Christians, 500,000 Pales-
tinians, 400,000 Greek Or-
thodox, 300,000 Druze,
250,000 Melchites, 250,000
Armenians, and 100,000
Protestants and other
minorities.
Samir Kalaf, a professor
of sociology at Beirut's
American University,
stated, "Even if we liberate
the whole country, even if
we rehabilitate it, there re-
mains the basic question of
how you put together
groups who perhaps don't
want to be interacting and
living together."
Personal Debt
JERUSALEM (ZINS) —
A poll conducted by the Pub-
lic Opinion Research Insti-
tute shows that 49.3 percent
of all Israelis spend more
each month than they earn.
Israeli banks allow Israelis
to overdraw on their ac-
counts, but charge as much
as 150 percent annual
interest.
Reform to Meet
HOUSTON — More than
3,000 delegates from Re-
form synagogues across the
United States and Canada
will gather Nov. 10-15 in
Houston for the 57th gen-
eral assembly of the Union
of American Hebrew Con-
gregations.
Irwin Tamler, a manufac-
turer's representative, died
Oct. 30 at age 83.
Born in Romania, Mr.
Tamler lived 63 years in the
U.S. and 55 in Detroit. He
was a past president of
Cong. Bnai Moshe and a
member of the Hebrew Be-
nevolent Society. •
He was the oldest repre-
sentative for men's apparel
in the state of Michigan.
He was active in the Al-
lied Jewish Campaign
and Jewish National
Fund and a forest is
named for him and his
wife in Israel.
Mr. Tamler also was a
member of Bnai Brith Pis-
gah Lodge and Knights of
Pythias.
He is survived by his wife,
Dorothy; a son, Allen M.; a
daughter, Mrs. Ethel Rosen;
a brother, Sam of Florida;
four sisters, Mrs. Norman
(Beatrice) Weider, Mrs.
Louis (Mary) Wolinsky and
Mrs. Harold (Charlotte)
Katz, all of Cleveland, Ohio,
and Mrs. Fred (Sylvia) Lef-
kowitz of Jerusalem, Israel;
and two grandchildren.
Neil Rosenthal
Neil Rosenthal, a partner
in the National Lumber Co.
for 25 years, died Oct. 27 at
age 46.
A native Detroiter, Mr.
Rosenthal was a member of
'Tam-O-Shanter Country
Club.
He leaves his wife, Carol;
three sons, Lester, Steven
and Alan; and his mother,
Mrs. Raphael (Anne)
Altman.
The Family of the Late
SARA R. YOLKUT
Acknowledges with grateful apprecia-
tion the many kind expressions of sympathy
extended by relatives and friends during the
family's recent bereavement.
"Over 65 years of traditional service in the Jewish community with dignity and understanding."
HEBREW MEMORIAL CHAPEL
543.1622
SERVING ALL CEMETERIES
26640 GREENFIELD ROAD
OAK PARK, MICHIGAN 48237
Alan H. Dorfman
Funeral Director & Mgr.