OPINION
Jewish Journalism And History
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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor Emeritus
A
n entire vista of
American Jewish
historical experiences
unfurled with the an-
nouncement that one of the
leading English-Jewish
newspapers is now under
new publishing ownership.
Acquisition of the 88-year-
old Boston Jewish Advocate
by Ira Korff, a lawyer and
businessman who is also an
ordained rabbi, serves to
reconstruct important
historiography.
Such distinguished names
as Supreme Court Justice
Louis D. Brandeis and Jacob
de Haas are interlinked here
with the Brin family.
It is no exaggeration to
state that Louis Brandeis, at
least a decade before he was
named to the United States
Supreme Court by President
Woodrow Wilson, became in-
terested and later deeply in-
volved in the Zionist cause
by way of the Boston Jewish
Advocate in 1911.
Jacob de Haa's, who
became a leader in Zionism
for many years, was the first
publisher and editor of the
Advocate, and he introduced
Mr. Brandeis to Jewish
communal activities, pop-
ularizing him in the Ad-
vocate.
Before coming to the
United States in 1902, Jacob
de Haas, in his career as a
journalist and in Zionist
communal activities in Lon-
don, was the strongest
backer of Theodor Herzl in
the formation of the World
Zionist Organization and the
World Zionist Congress. He
considered himself as Mr.
Herzl's honorary secretary
and it was widely accepted
in acclaiming him as such.
In the five-volume Diaries of
Herzl there are numerous
references by Mr. Herzl to
"my faithful de Hass."
Alexander Brin, who
became the editor of the Ad-
vocate and its publisher in
1917, added to the news-
paper's fame because of the
great role he played in
creating an interest in the
Leo Frank case. It was as
one of the correspondents
from Boston at the Atlanta
trial of the victimized Jew-
ish sufferer in one of the
Variety Of Views
most tragic American anti-
Semitic occurrences that he
helped compile the basic
facts about horrors that led
to the murder of a young Jew
by an intoxicated mob.
Dr. Alex Brin attained
statewide Massachusetts
honors, including honorary
degrees, as an educator. His
numerous titles in
Massachusetts educational
ranks included that of dean
of the Massachusetts Board
of Education.
Dr. Joseph Brin, younger
brother of Alex, shared the
editorship of the Advocate.
He also held a professorship
in journalism at Boston
University. Their nephew,
Joseph Weisberg, Harvard
educated, abandoned law for
the Advocate editorship. Mr.
Weisberg was one of the ear-
ly presidents of the Ameri-
can Association of English-
Jewish Newspapers, which
later became the American
Jewish Press Association, of
which he and his uncle
Joseph Brin were co-
founders.
Such is the remarkable
story of a great newspaper in
an important era of Ameri-
can Jewish experiences.
❑
LETTERS
Another Episode
For 'Sixty Minutes'
It is once again time that
we American Jews speak out
against the villainous way in
which Israel is being por-
trayed by one of the top-rated
news programs on television.
On Dec. 2, "60 Minutes"
gave the American public its
version of the Temple Mount
incident. It was so-slanted, so
well staged and cast, that
Yassir Arafat could not have
done a better job had he pro-
duced and directed it himself.
In the story, Mike Wallace
interviewed a rabbi, present
at the time of the incident,
Letters
The Jewish News en-
courageS our readers to ex-
press their opinions in the
newspaper. Letters to the
editor must be typewrit-
ten, double-spaced. Shorter
letters will be given
preference.
We regret that we cannot
publish or respond to every
letter that is submitted,
but every opinion is impor-
tant to us and to our
readers.
who told how he heard Mos-
que loud speakers broad-
casting calls for Arabs to rise
up and stone the Jews pray-
ing at the Wailing Wall. Mr.
Wallace then moved on to
claim that he had been
presented with a tape by an
unidentified Arab, made at
the time of the Temple Mount
incident, that demonstrated
just the opposite and instead
contained recordings of broad-
casts asking the Arabs not to
throw stones.
This tape, which was so
garbled and difficult to
understand that Mr. Wallace
could not play it on the air,
was used as evidence that the
rabbi had lied. The young
Palestinian who was inter-
viewed on camera for the
story, was cast in the role of
the foil. He spoke perfect
English and looked as if he
had just walked off a
Hollywood lot.
The story also contained an
interview with Mayor Teddy
Kollek which was inter-
spersed throughout the seg-
ment. Clips from this inter-
view were very cleverly cut
in to show Mayor Kollek ap-
parently agreeing with Mr.
Wallace's interpretation of
the Temple Mount incident.
So cleverly in fact, that one
week later, "60 Minutes" was
forced to broadcast a retrac-
tion from Mayor Kollek
stating that he was quoted
out of context for the story
and felt that he had been us-
ed by "60 Minutes."
Why the focus on Israel
now? Did it serve as a means
to distract the eyes of
America from Iraq's rape of
Kuwait? With all the
mindless killing and devasta-
tion taking place in the
world, why did "60 Minutes"
chose Israel and why now?
Why hasn't "60 Minutes" pro-
duced a single segment on the
torture and massive destruc-
tion that Saddam Hussein
has inflicted on Kuwaiti peo-
ple, or the Syrian takeover of
Lebanon and the slaughter of
its citizens .. .
Unfortunately, the Temple
Mount segment is but only
one of several seriously im-
balanced pieces "60 Minutes"-
has broadcast on Israel this
past year alone. Why haven't
any of our own organizations
raised their voices to protest?
Bert Kreichman
Farmington Hills
With today's edition, The Jewish News has expanded its
opinion and comment section. The new format allows for
additional input from the Jewish community and we expect
it to be a positive force for discussion of issues affecting
Jews in Detroit, the nation, in Israel and the world.
Major columns will be solicited from voices throughout
the community, as well as writers of letters to the editor
and our own staff. We are delighted that Editor Emeritus
Philip Slomovitz leads off our new Opinion. Page today and
plans to submit occasional columns.
With the expanded Opinion Page, we have shifted our
Contents to Page 5 and our popular Up Front section to
Page 11. These changes, we believe, make The Jewish
News easier to read and a livelier newspaper.
Arthur Horwitz
Associate Publisher
Sinai Hospital:
More Than Business
=IV
SHAIALL ZACHARIASH
I
n recent weeks the local
community has become
aware that Sinai Hospital
of Detroit is at a point where
its board of directors are
seriously considering merg-
ing with another medical in-
stitution or closing the
hospital.
The principal cause leading
to this critical situation ap-
pears to be the declining
number of patients using the
hospital. It has reached a
point where the expenses are
greater than the income.
Running any business is a
complicated matter. Certain-
ly, running a hospital that
The community
would be hard-
pressed to replace
the Jewish
component of
Sinai Hospital.
employs 2,500 people is even
more complex. However, I feel
that the board may have
reached their conculsions bas-
ed on erroneous assumptions.
Sinai Hospital is a major in-
stitution in the community
and therefore the members of
the board need to focus more
on its goals and purposes and
thereby be able to see that a
solution to the problem can be
reached by maintaining the
present facility, independent
and viable.
Why a Jewish hospital? At
the time of the founding of
Sinai and other Jewish
hospitals across the country,
Rabbi Shaiall Zachariash is
spiritual leader of
Congregation Shomrey
Emunah in Southfield.
Jewish residents and doctors
were denied entry to the
other hospitals. For that
reason alone, people worked
to establish Jewish hospitals.
Today, fortunately, other
hospitals are admitting Jews.
However, with the
establishment of Sinai
Hospital, many other benefits
developed. Sinai Hospital
began to respond to Jewish
medical ethics. All the
hospitals talk about medical
ethics, but those ethics do not
necessarily conform to the
rules of Jewish medical
ethics. A simple illustration is
the question of when one may
"pull the plug." Sinai
Hospital is sensitive to the
halachic (Jewish law)
definitions.
Jewish medical ethics are
given great importance as
displayed by the hospital's at-
titude in accepting all, pa-
tients and how to treat them.
There is concern for the new-
ly arrived Russians, who are
offered free screenings for any
medical need and follow-up
treatment. Consideration is
given them in the bris pro-
grain. They are a "Jewish"
ear that listens and responds
to the needs of the
community.
Many of these programs are
offered without compensation
to Sinai. If the hospital were
to close, the community
would be hard-pressed to
duplicate and fund these
services.
I strongly feel that the
Jewish medical ethics compo-
nent should be stressed and
publicized and that the
Jewish community should
reconsider its priorities and
utilize the facilities of this
great hospital, enabling it to
continue as an active, viable
and independent force in our
community.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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