18

Friday, March 30, 1984

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Tribute to Phil Slomovitz

BY BORIS SMOLAR
Editor-in-chief emeritus, JTA

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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.

