18 Friday, March 30, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Tribute to Phil Slomovitz BY BORIS SMOLAR Editor-in-chief emeritus, JTA OFFER EXTENDED *I WEEK INITIATION Shape up for Summer now. Join Southfield's finest Athletic and Social Club at 75% off initiation. Our ..... expertly trained staff can help you slim down and shape up with free aerobics, Nautilus and Universal equipment, indoor and outdoor tracks, tennis, pools, saunas, restaurant and much more. Don't settle for less...you can have it all...at Hamilton Place...at 75% off. .... ........... Athletic & Social Club = 30333 Southfield Rd. (between 12 & 13 Mile Rds.) CALL NOW 646-8990 Hall presented by. HALL REAL ESTATE GROUP The change of ownership of The Detroit Jewish News, the weekly newspaper which enjoys the well- deserved reputation of being one of the very best in the field of English-Jewish journalism in this country — which had been owned and edited excellently for more than 40 years by Philip Slomovitz, the noted and highly respected editor — is a major event in American Jewish com- munal life. The paper was acquired by a Baltimore- based group which pub- lishes the Baltimore Jewish Times. The Jewish community of Detroit has been very proud of its paper ever since it was founded by Slomovitz in 1942 as a private venture. There was justification for this pride. Slomovitz — af- fectionately called "Phil" by Jewish leaders and by col- leagues in the profession — has made that paper practi- cally a national institution. It is esteemed not only loc- ally but also by leaders of national Jewish organiza- tions. It is kept on file by various leading national organizations. It is also highly regarded by top leaders in Israel, where Slomovitz is greatly respected as a journalist de- eply devoted to Israel even before the country was pro- claimed a Jewish state. A Philip Slomovitz Chair was established recently at Haifa Technion. The Bar- Ilan -University conferred on him him the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. A newspaperman for more than 70 years, Slomovitz, who is now 87, is looked up to by colleagues in American Jewish jour- nalism. The impact of his paper on the Detroit Jewish community, and the respect he gained in other corn : munities, is due to his great journalistic ability and the high standard he set, as well as to his personality. Local and national advertisers also noticed the exceptional influence and popularity of his paper. Throughout all the years of his editorship, he distin- guished himself by using good judgment in selecting the material which reached him for publication. He stood on guard for Jewish interests and encouraged everything that is creative in Jewish life. His editorials and comments were thought-provoking, ana- lytical, informative and written against a solid background of knowledge. Some of them were selected and published in two vol- umes by the Wayne State University Press. It can be said that with his high standard of jour- nalism, Slomovitz stimu- lated other Jewish weeklies to follow his path. Some of the editors of these publica- tions consider him as their mentor. ,He was a pillar of the American Jewish Press Philip Slomovitz Association and served with distinction for 12 years as president of this central body of more than 80 English-Jewish newspapers in the U.S. and Canda. In 1981, the association pre- sented him its Golda Meir Award. His role in inspiring high standards in American Jewish journalism was also recognized by the Council of Jewish Federations. Slomovitz was the first reci- pient of the annual Award for Excellence in North American Jewish Jour- nalism, established by the CJF in 1971 "to stimulate and recognize outstanding Jewish journalism each year" — an award consid- ered in its importance and prestige as the Pulitzer Prize. The award, for the best in journalism of the year in the English-Jewish press was presented to Slomovitz at an impressive dinner of the CJF General Assembly attended by more than 1,000 Jewish commu- nity leaders from all parts of the United States and Canada. Slomovitz is also the–reci- pient of awards from other leading national Jewish groups and institutions in recognition of his devoted service to Jewish jour- nalism and to the Jewish people. They include the American Association for Jewish Education, B'nai B'rith, Jewish War Vete- rans and others. He also re- ceived the American Jewish Tercentenary Award. What makes Phil so out- standing in the American Jewish community as an editor? Himself a modest person, he can boast of many qualities he pos- sesses, but he doesn't. • He has a solid knowl- edge of Jewish history of all times: the ancient; the Mid- dle Ages with their rich cul- tural contributions; Euro- pean Jewish history in modern times; contempor- ary history of the pre-war year's; history of the Holocaust, and the annihi- lation of many Jewish communities; current his- tory during the post-war years which brought about the re-birth of the state of Israel and the restoration of Jewish communities in Europe that had been de- stroyed by the Nazis. • He knows Hebrew and Yiddish and their litera- ture. He also knows • Aramaic, the language spo- ken by JeArs for several cen- turies in Middle East coun- tries, including Babylonia and Palestine where many Jews did not speak or understand Hebrew. • Slomovitz pays utmost attention to Jewish cultural developments and values, and gives special treatment to books in English on Jewish subjects and to liter- ary works in Hebrew and Yiddish. In The Detroit Jeivish News they are not book review material but part and parcel of all the pages, including the edito- rial page. They are a most important part of the paper. • He enjoys confidence of Jewish leaders in policy- making matters. This is most important for editors. He never betrays his confi- dence. • He considers it his re- sponsibility to the Jewish people to impose upon him- self self-censorship on news which, ill, his judgment, harm Jewish interests when published. • He not only interprets developments affecting Jews but also actively par- ticipates in programs of local Jewish organizations. He served as president of the American Jewish Con- gress chapter in Detroit, of the Zionist Organization of America in Detroit, and of the Jewish National Fund in Detroit. He is a vice president of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and on the boards of several organ- izations. More and more qualities which place him in a special category of editors can be enumerated. Slomovitz will continue to write his popu- lar "Purely Commentary" column in The Jewish News in his new capacity as Editor Emeritus. His son Carmi, who served as busi- ness manager of the paper for 28 years, will continue to hold this position. The new editor of The Jewish News is Gary Rosenblatt who edits very successfully the Baltimore Jewish Times. He is one of the younger crop of able editors in the English- Jewish field and a five-time winner of the CJF's Award for Excellence in North American Jewish Jour- nalism. He will commute between Baltimore and De- troit to edit both papers. Charles A. Buerger, the publisher of the two news- papers, is also a publisher of Who's Who in World Jewry. He is a leader in the Balti- more Jewish community and'a member of the Cam- paign Cabinet of the Asso- ciated Jewish Charities and Welfare Funds, the or- ganized Jewish community there which raises funds for local and domestic Jewish needs, for Israel and the United Jewish Appeal, and for Jewish communities overseas which receive aid through the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Copyright 1984, JTA, Inc.