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"We [at the IN] have had a share in the
building of the prospering community
that has welcomed hundreds of thousands
of dispossessed and stateless fellow Jews."
-JN founder Philip Slomovitz
oppressed Jewish masses in lands of slavery and bigotry; and
to that end, we pledge ourselves to do everything possible to
enlighten our people on the various needs making claims
upon us — be they in the fields of relief, of Palestine's recon-
struction or the defense of our rights everywhere:'
In the same issue, a reprinted letter from Michigan Gov.
Murray D. Van Wagoner lauded Slomovitz on his ambitious
endeavor and challenged him to "Make us see that the whis-
pered word of bigotry is a lie, and that the lie spreads and
undermines the security of the whole nation and all that
is good in American democracy. Hitler sowed racial hatred
and reaped the hatred of every people he conquered. You, by
effectively sowing friendliness and understanding, can reap
friendliness and understanding for the Jews, and can help us
preserve our democratic tradition."
A glance at the Jewish News' sterling list of founding
board and advisory members underscores the thought that
Slomovitz put into selecting support leadership in pursuit
of his pledge to readers to serve "the most sacred causes
having your interest and concern:' In addition to Slomovitz,
the board consisted of top Detroit Jewry leaders Maurice
Aronsson, Fred Butzel, Theodore Levin, Maurice Schwartz,
Isidore Sobeloff, Abraham Srere and Henry Wineman. The
initial, 56-member advisory committee boasted rabbis, judg-
es and stalwarts of business and communal life. Well-known
names included Rabbi Morris Adler, Dr. Leo Franklin, Rabbi
Leon Fram, Morris Garvett, Rabbi B. Benedict Glazer, Walter
tributing editor of the Jewish News. Associate Editor
Alan Hitsky served as interim editor until Jackie
Headapohl became managing editor later that year.
Horwitz became Jewish News publisher in 1994.
In 1999, he partnered with New York hedge fund
mogul and philanthropist Michael Steinhardt to cre-
ate Jewish Renaissance Media. In February 2000,
JRM acquired the Detroit Jewish News as well as
the Atlanta Jewish Times from the Buerger family
(Charles had died in 1996). JRM sold the Atlanta
Jewish Times in 2009.
Today, Horwitz is publisher and executive edi-
tor of the Jewish News and president of JRM. There
are about 65,000 Jews in Metro Detroit, down from
96,000 in 1989.
Field, Lawrence Michelson, Max Osnos, Herman Radner,
Morris Schaver, Nate Shapero, Leonard Simons, Rabbi Joshua
Sperka, Rabbi Isaac Stollman and Rabbi Max Wohlgelernter.
Slomovitz received a key endorsement in the first issue
of the Jewish News from Dr. Stephen Wise. The revered
American rabbi broke from the Reform movement's
Pittsburgh Platform of 1885 (much as Rabbi Fram would do
in 1941 to found Temple Israel in Detroit) to become an early
Zionist supporter and a devotee to political Zionism.
Russian Roots
Slomovitz was born in 1896 in czarist Russia, in modern-day
Belarus, one year before the First Zionist Congress led by
Theodor Herzl took place in Basel, Switzerland. Slomovitz
came to America at age 13 in 1910.
World War II didn't ignite his Zionist longing. That took
root during World War I while Slomovitz was a student at the
University of Michigan. It was there he honed his passions
for journalism and Jewish activism. He was night editor of
the Michigan Daily student newspaper and was student
leader of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association (akin to
today's Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life).
After graduation, Slomovitz began his newspaper career
as a reporter at the Detroit News, working his way up to city
editor. In 1922, he was named editor of the Jewish Chronicle.
During the 1920s, he organized the local chapters of both
Young Judea (a Zionist advocate) and the Jewish National
'Joint' Reflects On
A Giant Of Zionism
Native Detroiter Penny Blumenstein is international
president of the American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee (the Joint). One of its fundamental and
founding principles in 1914 was
to help the people most needy in
what would become Israel. "We
also recognize that our involve-
ment in Israel's future is the future
for us as Jews," Blumenstein told
the JN. "As we continue to iden-
tify the key problems and gaps in
Penny
Israeli society, we are helping to
THE 1/01/R-5.30 P, ItEVIVEllit!
aro NOVEMBER 29, 1947
:;,-;1;-.7.:-.S:onic
-
Dec. 5, 1947, cover
shows "Judea" was
an early choice for
the name of what
became Israel.
listoric Dot.
fLeoding to Revitol
of the Jettich Nanon
Fund (JNF). He also
helped organize the
American Christian
Palestine Committee,
made up of Christian
clergy in favor of a Zionist
state.
Soon after, the rise of the
Third Reich in Germany
fanned the flames of anti-
Semitism worldwide and
Detroit was no exception,
finding in its midst two fierce anti-Semites: automaker
Henry Ford, whose descendants fought courageously to erase
his bigotry, and Father Charles Coughlin, a Royal Oak radio
priest with a national following before the Vatican had the
will to silence him.
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Shifting Opportunity
Shortly after Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Slomovitz
began to look for a newspaper job that paid better and
through which he could share his dreams for Jewish life in
America and a Jewish state in Palestine. Statehood wasn't a
Chronicle priority. His job was on the ropes anyway given the
Chronicle ownership wanted to move a family member up
the staff rung.
Four months later, with the help of backers providing the
capital, Slomovitz, then a veteran 46-year-old journalist and
an impassioned Zionist, launched the Jewish News. Through
his weekly "Purely Commentary" column, a mix of histori-
cal information and edgy insight, he was a champion for the
Jewish people and an ambassador for their right to return to
Zion. Jews have had a presence in Jerusalem for nearly 2,000
years and have been the majority there since the 1840s.
At the end of World War II in 1945, Slomovitz earned
journalist accreditation to the United Nations. He visited
New York City regularly to cover peace efforts and lobby for
Jewish statehood. Meanwhile, he befriended U.S. Sen. Arthur
Vandenberg of Michigan and got him to help build support
Love For Zion on page 46
solve them through world-class research and devel-
opment of programs. "
JN founder Philip Slomovitz, Blumenstein said,
"fought hard 70 years ago to create the Jewish
News as a vehicle to send the message of Klal Israel
[Nation of Israel] because he understood that Israel
was the important connection for American Jews to
recognize their responsibility to the global Jewish
community."
She added, "The importance of Israel for the dias-
pora has not diminished in all of these years. We
must continue to help strengthen Israel and main-
tain our relationship to our Jewish state that gives
us our identity." E
—Robert Sklar, contributing editor
Blumenstein
June 14 ® 2012 45