COMMUNITY VIEWS
Remembering Detroit's Dean
Of American Jewish Social Workers
JUDY, DEBBIE
AND SUSAN SOBELOFF
Special To The Jewish. News
0
ur grandfather, Isidore
Sobeloff, known to many
affectionately as Soby, died
this past year on Thanksgiv-
ing Day at the age of 99.
Though Soby finished his career in
Los Angeles, he had special ties to
Detroit, where he was executive direc-
tor of the Jewish Welfare Federation
from 1937 to 1964.
We want to share some background
and personal reflections of our grand-
father, the man known during his hey-
day in Detroit as "the dean of Ameri-
can Jewish social workers."
Soby was born in Baltimore and
worked as reporter and editor at the
Cumberland Daily News before becom-
ing director of the Jewish Community
Center in Jersey City. From there, he
worked for several organizations in
New York City, including the Jewish
Federation, Welfare Council, Federa-
tion of Jewish Philanthropies and
Traveler's Aid Society.
He was on the board of many
national Jewish organizations as well
— among them the Council of Jewish
Federations and Welfare Funds, Joint
Distribution Committee, National
Jewish Welfare Board, Jewish Tele-
graphic Agency and National Founda-
tion for Jewish Culture.
Judy Sobeloff is a resident of Ann
Arbor. Debbie lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Susan is a Seattle, Wash., resident.
He served as president of the
National Council of Jewish Social
Welfare.
He retained his early love of jour-
nalism during his years in Jewish com-
munal service, acting as editor of the
social work publications Jewish Social
Service Quarterly and Better Times.
Soby was our history book, our
memory. You could ask Soby about
any topic and the stories would come,
complete with the exact year, which
always amazed us because we had so
many fewer years to keep track of
Memory is a slippery ani-
mal. Soby taught us that mem-
ory is not about conflicts that
happen, but about how you
take these experiences into
yourself, how they feed and
transform you, how you turn
them into stories to share with
the people you love and so
learn from them.
A visit to Soby meant
catching up on current events
as well as events from the past, reading
aloud articles to him from the various
newspapers to which he subscribed, or
listening to political commentary on
TV or the radio with the sound
turned up loud.
He would talk to us in his chair
late into the night, dispensing advice
and great stories and correcting our
grammar, smoking his pipe (until he
quit in 1996). The lesson we take
from his quitting smoking after 80
years is: If you're on a path and get a
result that's unsatisfactory, don't worry
0
0
0
0
Above: Max Fisher honors Isidore Sobeloff in 1963 for his 25 years of ser-
vice to the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
Left: Isidore Sobeloff in 1976
about it, just readjust, cor-
rect course and continue.
As a former reporter and editor,
Soby loved language, one of his great-
est gifts to us. He loved being present-
ed with difficult situations and helping
us to puzzle out possible solutions; he
had a rare ability to help people see
simple answers, and he did so with
humor.
As our family motto, created by
Soby and our father Jonathan, says,
Quod non scimus fabulamus (What we
don't know, we make up).
Soby's death on Thanksgiving Day
posed our family the kind of challenge
with which he had enjoyed grappling —
finding meaning in a difficult situation
— and it forced us to confront issues
central to Soby and to Jews all over,
issues of continuity and community.
In addition to the keen narrative
grasp our grandfather had over his
own life, telling stories in his chair late
into the night, he always thought
about people in a larger context as
well. As a child, he used to go with his
father on Shabbat to hear Jewish
statesmen talking in Yiddish and Eng-
lish about the Jewish freedom move-
ment.
DEAN on page 31 L'\
Shelli Dorfman, your editorial
assistant, is to be commended for the
excellent job she did in recapturing
the ceremony in a sensitive and
meaningful manner. I greatly appreci-
ate the time she took and the numer-
ous telephone calls to ensure that the
information was accurate and com-
plete.
Elan Village is pleased to be able
to continue to honor the memory of
Rabbi Abraham Gardin by rededicat-
ing our chapel in his name. The
chapel is just one of the many ser-
vices we offer in maintaining a Jewish
environment. We look forward to
continue working with the Jewish
agencies to better serve our Jewish
elderly.
Marcia Mittelman
Executive director, Elan Village
Southfield
Call For Caution
On Jordan King
LETTERS
types of cancer.
Hadassah hospitals and clinics
throughout Israel employ and treat all
the peoples of Israel and often those of
other Middle Eastern countries. The
late Prime Minister Rabin called
Hadassah the peacemakers of the Mid-
dle East.
Beverly W. Apel
President, Greater Detroit Hadassah
West Bloomfield
and writing — and the end result was
a lovely mix of past, present and phi-
losophy.
For Keri's time and talent, for Gail
Zimmerman's excellent editing and for
the lovely spread and photos, sincerest
thanks.
Elaine Heumann Gurian
Acting director
Cranbrook Institute of Science
Bloomfield Hills
Profile Article
-Well Received
Rededication
Of Chapel
I'm writing to express my appreciation
for Keri Cohen's article ("Museums
On The Move" Jan. 29).
Keri obviously spent a great deal of
time with me, speaking to colleagues
I am writing to thank The Jewish News
for "One In A Million," published
Jan. 29, on the rededication of the
Elan Village chapel in memory of
Rabbi Abraham Gardin.
2/19
1999
28 Detroit Jewish News
Despite glowing reviews of King Hus-
sein bin Talal's reign ("Friendship
With American Jewry" Feb. 12), Jews
should be especially cautious.
Jews should remember that Jordan,
the creation of the British Empire in
1922, is the eastern side of Palestine.
Its true name is "transJordan" and is
the missing part to a complete Israel.
However, since most everyone talks of
Jordan, no one seems to know its
name is fake, its boundaries are fraud-
ulent and that Israel is truncated.
Although having "always peaceful
intentions" when questioned about
Israel, Jordan looked at its neighbor,
filled with Jewish infidels, with cov-
etous eyes.