PURELY COMMENTARY
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Federation At Age 60: Triumphs, Challenges And The Light Ahead
As long as the past illuminates the
present and guides the concerned toward
hopefully-improved, hopefully constantly
more glorified future, historiography be-
comes an obligation to be concerned with.
Every item in people's memories that re-
lates to the history of Detroit and Michi-
gan Jewries therefore assumes impor-
tance in elaborating upon the important
anniversary now in the planning stages
for the observance of the 60th year of the
Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit.
Celebrants of the important anniver-
sary will surely acknowledge that for a
full appreciation of the occasion the back-
grounds provide as much fascination in
record tracing as the very current experi-
ences.
How can anyone possibly fully elabo-
rate on the JWFederation story without
giving account of a predecessor agency,
the United Jewish Charities?
How can you glorify the Butzels and
forget David W. Simons and his contem-
poraries?
Fortunately, there are documents and
mementos that may have been preserved
by grandchildren and children of the
pioneers and when they make them avail-
able an anniversary celebration will be
enriched.
One such document has just been re-
deemed from possible loss. It was in the
hands of a descendant of Rabbi Leo M.
Franklin. It is fortunate that Leonard N.
Simons is dedicated to the tasks ahead
and he makes that document available for
appreciation of the United Jewish
Charities factor in our current story. It is
the program of the dedication of the Han-
nah Schloss Memorial Building on Hast-
ings and High Streets on Sept. 28, 1903.
It was made available to us by Mar-
was among the Orthodox Jewish leaders
here and served as president of Cong.
Shaarey Zedek which then was Orthodox
in every degree. Rabbi Judah L. Levin,
who was the spiritual leader of Shaarey
Zedek before the arrival here of Rabbi A.
M. Hershman and who shared the S. Z.
pulpit with him, was called Chief Rabbi
David W. Simons was the highly-
respected personality who in 1918 was
elected a member of the Detroit Nine-Man
Council upon the scrapping of the large
and cumbersome city council that lost the
respect of the citizens of Detroit.
Bearded D. W. Simons gained election
with the support of all Detroit newspap-
ers: Free Press, News, Journal, Times. He
knocked on doors to talk to the citizens
and gained their support.
Hannah Schloss Building
garet Fleischaker, with Leonard Simons
as its transmitter.
The reason the full text of the pro-
gram is given here is because the names of
the participants, 80 years ago, are ineras-
able from our history.
A long chapter is yet to be written
about Hannah Schloss and the memorial
building which served as the chief rally-
ing area for youth in the community and
their elders for a quarter of a century.
Much will yet be said about the lead-
ership incorporated in this story revival
by the reproduced accompanying program
of dedication.
David W. Simons is a name
exemplary in the story accounted for. He
At the same time, in the early 1920s,
D.W. Simons became an active leader in
the local Zionist Organization. He had a
close association with Rabbi Hershman,
and both were Brandeisists — supporters
of Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Bran-
deis in opposition to World Zionist leader
Chaim Weizmann. I was among the ac-
tivists in the movement with them and I
was a Weizmannist, yet all of us were the
closest of friends. I was associated with
D.W. in many tasks, including those in
which his wife showed a deep interest, and
in association also with his prominent son,
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Justice
Charles C. Simons. As a matter of fact,
Judge Simons always responded when I
invited him as editor then of the Detroit
Jewish Chronicle to write special articles
for me.
David W. Simons
OFFICERS, 1902-3.
President — David W. Simons
Vice Presidents — Bernard Ginsburg
Henry M. Butzel
Secretary — A. Benjamin
Treasurer — E.H. Van Baalen
Miss Blanche Hart, Superintendent.
BUILDING COMMITTEE.
Henry M. Butzel, Chairman
B. Ginsburg
Rabbi Leo M. Franklin
D.W. Simons
Mrs. Leopold Wineman
Seligman SChloss
Mrs. Sarah E. Krolik
Albert Kahn
Mrs. Sarah Berger
Here is that sensational program de-
dicating the Hannah Schloss Building:
The Kamza, Bar-Kamza Lesson
Escalation of violence stemming
from extreme Orthodox feelings that
conflicted with the reactions of an un-
reasonable secularism shocked world
Jewry as well as the Israeli community
that suffered the most from it.
Extremisms from both ends are not
new. Fanaticism is not responsive to
common sense and the result is a grow-
ing hatred that harms the entire nation
whose very security is affected by such
disruptive tactics.
The distress that enveloped Jews
everywhere as a result of the outrageous
tactics of extremists was sharpened by
the notoriety given the occurrence in the
media everywhere.
Hopefully, efforts to resolve the con-
flicts reasonably will receive similar at-
tention.
The quieting of the shocking turmoil
may be ascribable to the concern in
Jewish ranks, especially in the U.S.,
with emphasis on the Orthodox who
have stepped into the fray in an effort to
resolve it.
Credit is due especially to the
American Jewish Committee for the ef-
fort to consolidate Jewish efforts to end
the conflicts and to restore sanity where
it entered to harm an entire nation and
hurt the sentiments of their compatriots
everywhere.
Due appreciation must be given to
an important Orthodox element in
American Jewry for joining in the
sanity-restoring tasks. The National
Council of Young Israel has organized a
task force to study the root causes of the
shocking experiences which have caused
the strife between militant groups in
secularism and Orthodoxy in Israel.
Hopefully, there will be solutions
and the horrors that resulted from the
violence resorted to by the extremists
will not recur.
The mere fact that the major ele-
ments in Jewish life, Young Israel acting
specifically for Orthodoxy, and the
representative Jewish groups convened
by the American Jewish Committee —
Conservative, Reform and Reconstruc-
tionist leaders — will lead to a coopera-
tive solution to the horrifying. The fact
that spokespeople for Yeshiva Univer-
sity, the Rabbinical Council of America,
the Jewish Theological Seminary, the
Rabbinical Assembly, Hebrew Union
College — Jewish Institute of Religion,
the Union of American Hebrew Congre-
gations and the Central Conference of
American Rabbis are included in these
projected discussions add to the
encouragement that a solution may be at
hand.
There msut always be the serious
striving to avoid and prevent divisive-
ness in Jewish life. According to an in-
erasable legend, Jerusalem was de-
stroyed because of personal antagonisms
and the hatred that developed between
two families, Kazma and Bar-Kazma.
The legend, often accredited to fact, is
especially related in the Encyclopedia
Judaica where it is thus recorded:
Kamza and Bar-Kamza were
figures in one of the aggadot deal-
ing with the events which led to
the destruction of the Second
Temple (Git. 55b-56a; cf. Lam.
R.4:2 no. 3). the passage opens
with the statement, "Because of
Kamza and Bar-Kamza,
Jerusalem was destroyed," and
states that a certain man in-
structed his servant to invite his
friend Kamza to a feast. By mis-
take the servant extended the in-
vitation to a certain Bar-Kamza,
his master's personal enemy.
Bar-Kamza was ordered to leave,
but offered increasing sums of
money to be allowed to stay and
avoid the humiliation of being
thrown out. His host remained
obdurate.
Bar-Kamza was compelled to
leave. Furious with the rabbis
who witnessed the scene and did
not speak up on his behalf, Bar-
Kamza went to the emperor and
informed him that the Jews were
planning a revolt, the proof
being that they would refuse to
accept his sacrifice. The emperor
sent a sacrifice through Bar-
Kamza, who inflicted a blemish
on it which would disqualify it
according to Jewish law but not
according to Roman law. The
sages were inclined to overlook
this blemish and offer up the sac-
rifice so as not to offend the Ro-
mans. A certain Zechariah b.
Avkilus, however, objected
strongly on the grounds that
"people will think that blemished
animals may be offered for sac-
rifice." To a proposal that Bar
Continued on Page 38
ARCHITECT
Albert Kahn
The Officers of the
United Jewish Charities
invite you to be present at
the Dedication of
The Hannah Schloss Memorial Building,
239 and 241 East High Street,
Monday Evening, September Twenty-
Eighth.
Nineteen Hundred and Three,
Detroit, Mich.
ORDER OF EXERCISES
1. Invocation
Rabbi J. Levin
2. Suprano Solo
Miss Grace Gray
3. Presentation of the key
Mr. Henry M. Butzel
Cnoirmon Building Committee
4. Acceptance of the key
Mr. D.W. Simons
Prest. U.J.C.
5.
6.
7.
8.
-
9.
10.
11.
12.
Tenor Solo ...Mr. David D. Duggan
Address
Rabbi Leo M. Franklin
Address
Mr. Seligman Schloss
Violin Solo
Mr. Lipman Walters
"Self Help Work"
Mrs. Sarah Ewell Krolik
"Sewing Society Work"
Mrs. Sarah Berger
Bass Solo
Mr. Joseph A. Krolik
Benediction.
Appreciatively, this and a volumin-
ous collection of documents have been re-
Continued on Page 38
2
Friday, August 8, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS