Rabbi Morris Adler: Unites The City
vas included in a list of
Detroit's 10 Most Influential
Women.
Wolfgang left a record of
hard-hitting speeches on similar themes:
"[We] should fight to have an econ-
omy that's free from hunger and priva-
tion that affords freedom from want
and need in a society that promises
every man and women equal pay for
equal work."
She also said, "Any attempt to break
a black-labor-liberal alliance will do
harm to the majority of blacks. ... It is
the trade union movement, whose leg-
islative program runs parallel to the
needs of the black communiry, with
whom the blacks must unite."
After she died in 1976, the
Michigan State Senate approved a
memorial tribute to Wolfgang, calling
her "one of unionism's greatest pio-
neers and crusaders."
The Detroit Free Press said, "Myra
Kamaroff Wolfgang was a woman who
made things happen .... she created a
presence, especially in this town." ❑
Myra
Kamaroff
Wolfgang,
circa 1975.
Detroit Mayor Jerome Cavanagh, along with Michigan Gov. George Romney,
declared the day of Morris Adler's funeral on March 11, 1966, an official day of
mourning for the entire city and state. During his too-short lifetime, Rabbi Adler of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek made a memorable impact on Detroit and America as
well as a profound difference in Jewish life.
A friend of black and white religious leaders of all faiths, Adler was a prime propo-
nent of the ecumenical spirit in Detroit. Called upon to urge calm during the violent
Detroit race riot of 1943, he became one of the city's most active leaders in interracial
activities.
For his outstanding contributions to mutual understanding in race relations during
the 1950s, he was honored by St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church as well as by the
Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.
Chairman of the UAW Public Review Board
since its inception in 1957 until his death in
1966, Adler worked earnestly to bring about
labor management peace and sound relations
between industry and trade unions. He was one
of the founders and a board member of the then-
Detroit Round Table of Christians and Jews, and
worked closely with Wayne University and the
University of Detroit, receiving honorary doctor-
ates from both institutions.
1)uring World War II, Rabbi Adler served in
the Philippine Islands, reading final prayers of the
three mayor faiths beside dying soldiers. He was the first Michigan Gov. George
Jewis chaplainland in Japan. In speaking of his visit Romney and Rabbi
to
Hiroshima, I felt a sense
Monis Adler.
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Max Fisher: Dean of American Jewry'
played "a remarkable, if quiet, role in
the history of both countries ... [and]
a central role in making the White
House a friend of Israel."
Indeed, he has been an advisor to
four Republican presidents since
President Eisenhower. But America's
premier Jewish leader, nationally and
internationally recognized, maintains
a deep and abiding concern for his
city of Detroit.
His 13 honorary degrees and some
49 awards range from organizations,
such as the United Way of America to
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit. As chairman of the board of
the United Foundation Torch Drive,
Fisher had spoken of "our most pre-
cious commodity: unity."
He referred to Detroit unity, but
much of his life has been dedicated to
Jewish unity as well. His mediation in
Jewish disputes, such as the 1959-60
crisis over Saturday opening of the
Jewish Community Center, or his awe-
some fund-raising abilities during the
Six-Day War in 1967, testify to that.
Answering The Call
As the city still seethed in the after-
math of the Detroit upheaval of the
summer of 1967, Fisher answered the
call to join the New Detroit
Committee, the nation's first urban
coalition. J.L. Hudson Jr., committee
chair, recalled that Fisher "poured
himself in" and, after the first year, he
succeeded Hudson and brought with
him his "fervent vision of something
better."
New Detroit evolved into Detroit
Renaissance as Fisher cajoled and col-
lected a group of the city's leading
and wealthiest businessmen to "put
something back" into the city that
had served them well. Fighting the
racial and social morass that mired
the inner city of Detroit proved a
monumental task.
Yet Fisher's determination to bring
unity and community to Detroit
shone through as he combined his
positive mental attitude with a now-
rious resoluteness in fund raising.
One could not imagine a stauncher
Detroit patriot.
Nor a stronger Jewish advocate.
When his partner, Leon Kay, prompt-
ed "a previously unaffiliated and rela-
tively uninformed" Fisher into philan-
thropic involvement in Jewish affairs,
he became dedicated to
Israel and, through it, to
Jewish causes in Detroit and
elsewhere.
The United Jewish
Appeal's invitation to travel
on its first mission to Israel
in 1954 became a decisive
turning point in his life. He
returned full of passion and
pride in Jewish accomplish-
ment and his public Jewish
identity took form in the
crucible of that mission.
Fisher has brought that
extraordinary Jewish con-
sciousness into the rest of his
public life, combining it
with his civic awareness. His
dedication to the revitaliza-
tion of urban Detroit remains cele-
brated.
Most recently, he has led the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra's $90
million campaign for the creation of
the Max M. Fisher Center for the
Performing Arts. It will be a fitting
tribute to the man who believed in
the harmony of Jewish and non-
Jewish life in Detroit. ❑
Max Fisher at the
Michigan
Republican
Leadership Awards
Dinner he spon-
sored in 2000.
.