Community

MASTERS OF THE HEALING ARTS

Hard At Work

AUGUST von WASSERMANN
(1866-1925)

BELA SCHICK
(1877-1967)

.

SAMUEL LEVINE
(1891-1966)

Since ancient times, religious practice was almost inseparable from medical '
practice. The healing ministrations of God were the domain of our early priests
and then of rabbi-physicians during the long Talmudic period. It was written in
Hebrew texts that "The skill of a physician shall lift up his head, and he shall stand
before nobles." Through the ages, doctoring was a spiritual endowment and
profession of respect among Jews whose other vocational opportunities were
lamentably limited. But with increased freedom and improved fortune, Jews in
medical research and teaching have turned a legacy into a life saving and life
enhancing gift for millions of people throughout the world.
While in popular use, the famed 1906 blood-serum test that bore the
bacteriologist's name was the most advanced diagnostic weapon of the day against
' the rampant scourge of syphilis. Born in Bamberg, Germany, August von
Wassermann had worked at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin from 1890 to
1913. Here, and later at the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute, he conducted and published
important experimental studies of blood cells and proteins, as well as of
chemotherapeutic therapies. Recognized as one the founders of the science of
immunology, Wassermann also developed inoculations against tetanus, typhoid
and cholera, antitoxins against diphtheria, and produced a diagnostic test for
I tuberculosis.
Diphtheria was a dreaded disease of infancy, made less so by the test he I
developed that determined susceptibility and the need for preventive vaccinations.
A pediatrician by training, Bela Schick left his Hungarian homeland for Vienna,
Austria, where he practiced medicine until his 1923 immigration to America. He
had earlier perfected the safe and accurate Schick Test which revealed
susceptibility if reddening developed at a skin site injected with a drop of
diphtheria toxin. The high-spirited physician and professor was principally
associated with Columbia University and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City,
and wrote copiously on childhood diseases, infectious ailments, allergies and
nutrition.
Polish-born Samuel Levine settled with his parents in the U.S. at age ,
three, and in twenty years graduated with a medical degree from Harvard, the
school with which he affiliated for a lifetime. During these years, the clinical
professor of cardiology became the first in his field to recognize and precisely
define coronary heart disease, then properly establish its diagnosis and treatment.
His early work in interpreting symptoms and prescribing care appeared in
Coronary Thrombosis (1929), a landmark book educating the profession on
managing our nation's principal health threat. No single authority in medicine has
achieved more in saving and prolonging the lives of cardiovascular disease victims-
-numbering hundreds of thousands of new patients every year in the U.S. alone--
wherever else his teachings have reached.
-Saul Stadtmauer

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Charlotte Dubin is an early riser who
made a habit of getting to work
around 7 a.m. She will usually "chew
the fat" with Mark Davidoff,
Federation's chief operating officer,
who gets there around the
same time.
After a cup of coffee, she picks up
stories from the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency wire every morning to make
sure she's up on the latest news.
Then the calls start coming, and the
small fires need to be extinguished,
she said. Usually there are some
remarks to write for someone.
She's not a public relations man-
ager, but there are special stories she
will work on.
"Lots of things happen quickly,"
she said, but her 10 years at the
Jewish News helped her. "I learned
what a deadline was — when you
have to respond quickly."
Looking back on 24 years at
Federation, she thinks of her office
in the Fred M. Butzel Memorial
Building in downtown Detroit. That
office today would overlook the
Detroit Tigers' Comerica Park.
"It was such a wonderful building,
but the best thing to do was to move,"
she said. "The infusion of new blood
of involved people was just remark-
able" after the move to Bloomfield
Township in 1991. "It was wonderful
to see the Federation grow in every
respect — the outreach, the volun-
teers, the fundraisng."
She also witnessed the Federation's
evolution after its move closer to the
Detroit area's core Jewish population.
"The complexity of what we do is
so much greater — the programming
and the different agencies. We work
much closer now with them than we
ever did because of our proximity."
She relishes the high points of her
career, as she watched Federation
become a trailblazer.
She went on the first two
Michigan Miracle Missions, in 1993
and 1995. "I still get emotional
about it. There was never a mission
like that first one — such hard work,
but such great fun."
She also remembers Operation
Exodus, the 1990-94 fund-raising
campaign for Soviet Jewry. "This was
another of Detroit's proudest
moments, when our community
came together to raise nearly $30
million in two Federation cam-
paigns," she said.
The Federation's centennial cele-
bration in 1999 also was big on her

list. "Helping with the
Federation/United Jewish
Foundation Centennial exhibit, I
gained an appreciation of what
Detroit has achieved over the past
century — and continues to
achieve," she said.

What Now?

Dubin looks forward to spending
more time with her husband, travel-
ing, writing and taking pictures.
They have no children, but plenty of
nieces and nephews to visit.
"I would like to take a train trip
through the Rockies and the national
parks," she said. She'd also like to
research her roots in England, where
her father, Lewis Hyams, editor of
the old Strathmoor Leader in north-
west Detroit, was born.
Her first lay position at Federation
will be as a member of the archives
committee. "I always wanted to grow
up to be a lay person," she quipped.
Federation staff members got a
taste of her sense of humor during
her retirement party on Dec. 13.
They gave her a menorah made by
an Israeli artist.
She produced a bagful of gag gifts
for the various departments she
worked so hard for. They included a
gift for Federation's Alliance for
Jewish Education (FAJE) "who works
with AJE and JEFF, and works on
programs called 52K and JEEP," she
told a roomful of staff members. "I
give you a box of building blocks
specially designed with only the let-
ters J, E, F, P and K."
Speaking at her party, Federation
Chief Executive Officer Robert
Aronson summed up what Dubin's
career has meant to Federation.
"Charlotte, in a way, represents
the collective memory and the soul
of this community. We need to be
able to speak clearly and enunciate
who we are," he said. "The person
who has been the keeper of that lan-
guage has been Charlotte.
"Charlotte's leaving represents a
real loss to Federation and, while we
are happy for you and delighted for
you, we all need to understand what
you represent will not be easy to
replace. We wish you all the luck in
the world."

❑

art, former copy
•
h News, is taking
ins role as
,associate director of
toinmunications.

