Compiled by San Diego Jewish World staff
Report From Israel
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Pages 1, 4.
By Albert A. Hutler
Executive Director of United Jewish Fund of San Diego
TIRAH, Israel – This is a sleepy little Arab village. Down its cobbled, twisting, narrow lanes go camels, donkeys, berobed men, women balancing water jugs on their heads. But in the midst of this ancient village there is a shiny new building – a 22-room medical health center serving 15,000 people in six Arab villages.
This magnificent new health center is the product of the cooperation of the Arab villagers and the Ministry of Health of the State of Israel. The operating expenses will be shared by these two partners. The staff is entirely Arab and consists of men and women trained in special courses arranged by the government.
This center is a symbol – one of many such symbols – of what is happening among the Arabs of Israel. The world, its attention riveted on the dispute between Israel and the Arab States, sometimes forgets that Israel’s citizens include 192,000 Arabs and Druze. And, like the other citizens of Israel, they are marching forward on the road to a bright future.
You may well ask why I, as an Executive Director of a Community campaign which is affiliated to the nationwide United Jewish Appeal and raises funds for Jewish charities and institutions at home in America and for the relief and resettlement of Jewish refugees abroad, should be interested in what is happening to Arabs in Israel. The answer is simple – we Americans, with our democratic heritage and our stake in the future of the free world, have a vital concern in the development of democracy in the Middle East. The development of the republic of Israel and the steady improvement in the condition of Israel’s Arab minority is of deep importance to all of us.
I have had the opportunity to speak freely to many Jews and Arabs alike in Israel, and I have learned the history of the Arabs since 1948. When seven Arab states declared war on new-born Israel in that year, there was upheaval and the great majority of the Arabs in Israeli territory fled. The economy and the life of those who remained behind were, naturally, in a state of collapse. Israel’s first step in carrying out its minority policy was to try to put the Arab economy and social organism back together again.
Only ten Arab doctors remained behind after the Arab flight, but today there are 28 free clinics serving the Arab population. Scores of Arab school teachers fled, but Israel’s Ministry of Education trained 300 new teachers, boosted the number of schools from 50 in 1949 to 111 in 1954, and today there are 32,000 Arabs, in government and private schools as against 10,000 in 1949. Millions of pounds were poured into grants to farmers and public works for urban laborers to revive the Arab economy.
Today, as you travel through Israel, you can see that the Arabs live in peace and normalcy. Nazareth is a bustling, all Arab town, busy with tourism, manufacturing, commerce. In Beersheba, capital of the desert Negev, I saw the robed sheiks of the desert, the nomadic Bedouin, purchasing the products of modern civilization. In the ancient hills of Galilee, I saw Arab farmers tending their flocks and caring for their age-old olive trees.
But Israel has not been content simply to bring the Arab economy and life back to a pre-war situation. The drive everywhere in Israel is forward, and the Arabs are no exception.
There are many examples. The percentage of Arab women who have their children in hospitals has risen from less than five percent in 1949 to 22 percent this year. The government’s campaign for modernity has resulted in an increase in the proportion of girls among Arab students, from 2 percent in 1949-50 to 33 percent inb 1954, and it is still rising.
Tractor stations have been opened to serve the Arab farmers. Cotton, Israel’s newest crop, has been introduced among the Arab farmers, as well as the Jewish farmers. Arab teen-agers go to government agricultural schools. New roads have been built to link Arab villages with their markets. The Hebrew University and the Haifa Technical College include among their students several dozen Arabs.
Perhaps the evidence is most striking among the 13,000 bedouin. They still live in tents, even as their ancestors did thousands of years ago. But this year, for the first time in history, they have harvested their wheat and their barley with modern combines and as a result their yields went up by one-third. Mobile medical units serve the far-flung bedouin tribes, and as a result the eye diseases which once plagued the tribes and brought blindness to many a man now have been wiped out. There are five schools serving the sons of the desert.
Te fact that the Arab states are still officially at war with Israel and that there is considerable border unrest as well as the threat of all-out war – all this has forced Israel to maintain certain rules of military government in frontier regions where many Arab citizens reside. However, it is amazing that, only eight years after the war between Arab and Jew, the Arab citizens enjoy such a real degree of freedom. To name a few examples:
Proceedings in Parliament are translated simultaneously into Arabic for the Arab members of the Parliament. Coins, banknotes and stamps have Arabic inscriptions. The government radio devotes six hours a day to Arabic broadcasts. There are Arab civil servants, Arab judges, Arab policemen and even Arab soldiers in the Army of Israel.
To me, this means that the future of the Middle East is not necessarily black. Even as Arab and Jew live in peace in Israel, so Israel and the Arab States can live in peace, for the mutual benefit of all the peoples of this area where civilization was born.
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U.S.O.-J.W.B. and Community Join To Provide High Holy Day Services
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 1
“All Jewish service personnel and their families in the area will enjoy the High Holy Days season as guests of the Jewish Community of San Diego,” it was announced today by Morris W. Douglas, Chairman of the San Diego USO-JWB Armed Services Committee. “Servicemen will attend religious services at the Temple or Synagogue of their choice,” he continued.
An extensive program for Home Hospitality for the holiday season is being developed by Mrs. Sidney Newman, Chairman of the Home Hospitality Committee. Assisting in the hospitality arrangements is a coordinating group representing the Sisterhoods of Temple Beth Israel, Congregation Tifereth Israel and Congregation Beth Jacob.
Services aboard the U.S. Naval Training Center will be conducted by Commander Elihu H. Rickel, Assistant District Chaplain, 11th Naval District, for Rosh Hashanah, with parallel services at Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, conducted by Chaplain Stanley Schachter. Recruits in all branches of the military will be granted special liberty to attend these religious services.
Following the final Shofar of Yom Kippur a “Break-the-Fast” Dinner-Dance will be held on Saturdya, September 15th, at 8:00 p.m. at the Tifereth Israel Synagogue Center, 30th and Howard streets. “Program plan currently being developed includes a five-man combo for dinner dancing and a series of variety skits and talent,” according to Mrs. Joseph Kaplan, Chairman of the JR. Hostess Committee.
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Last Date Set For Care Pkgs. For Israel
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 1
Last date for accepting orders for CARE food packages to be delivered in Israel by Rosh Hashana, Jewish New Year, is August 24, P.S. Leighton, local CARE Chairman of the relief organization, announced today.
CARE is the only agency sending Kosher food packages for the high holidays, according to the CARE director, and they enter ration and duty free and with a guarantee of delivery.
Available are $10 parcels with more than six pounds of meat, sugar, shortening, chocolate, fruits and jam. CARE also has larger $18.25 packages.
Orders or contributions in any amount may be sent to CARE, 323 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, or to your local CARE chairman, 1190 Kettner Blvd., San Diego.
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Women of the Year Honored by Council
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 1
San Diego “Women of the Year” from 1951-1955 will be honored guests at the September 4 luncheon meeting of National Council of Jewish Women, top be held at the Lafayette Hotel. They are Belle Benchley, Judge Madge Bradley, Clara Breed, Marie Herney and U.S. Comm. Betty Reardon, each of whom represents one of the “Many Lives of Modern women.” This is the title of a book-length analysis of “what makes Mother run” by Sidonie Greenberg and Hilda Roberta Rigely and Mildred Krech, which will be reviewed by MacArthur of San Diego Magazine.
Also on the program is a sketch “Modern Women’s Dilemna” to be performed by Mmes Irving Coleman, Irving DeSure, Harry Goodwin and Ben Lemson. Director and narrator is Mrs. Milton Roberts.
Council will welcome over 60 new members to the first meeting of the year, and extends a cordial invitation to other prospective members and guests to attend. Reservations may be made by calling Mrs. Nat Colker, BR 7-3417.
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San Diego To Host Pioneer Women West Coast Conference
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 1
San Diego has been selected by the Pioneer Women’s Organization as the host city for its West Coast Regional Conference. Tentative plans call for a four-day conference starting Friday, Nov. 9th through Nov. 12th, with the San Diego Hotel as its headquarters. Prominent speakers from the national office are expected, according to Regional Director Anne Lebow and Conference Chairmen Rosse Brooker and Mrs. Leo Ross.
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Cantor Hurwitz to Sing at Hebrew Home
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 1
High Holy Day services will be conducted at the Hebrew Home for the Aged by Cantor Arie Hurwitz, formerly of Vancouver, B.C., it was announced by Mrs. Al Newman, president of the home. The Cantor will be assisted by M.S. Levinson.
The services of Cantor Hurwitz were obtained by Mrs. Sam Waldman, religious chairman of the Auxiliary. This will be the first Rosh Hashono services conducted at the new Home by a professional Cantor. Provision has been made to accommodate several hundred persons at the service and friends and relations of the guests of the home are invited to attend
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Manon Haas Weds Aaron H. Kolkey
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 2
On August 12 at Temple Beth Israel, Manon Ruth Haas, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Haas, and Aaron H. Kolkey, son of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin B. Kolkey, were wed. Rabbi Morton J. Cohn and Rabbi Baruch Stern officiated. John Powell sang the traditional songs.
The bride wore a full length gown of French lace, with a chapel train and lace tiara. On her wrist shje wore a diamond bracelet, a family heirloom given to her by her grandmother. She carried a bouquet of white orchids and lily of the valley.
The maid of honor was Geri-Ann Elilassen; bridesmaids were Eava Berg, Barbara Haas, Patsy Miller and Darlene Bregante. They wore gowns of blue lace and carried heart shaped bouquets of pink, sweetheart roses. Ushers were Rolf Haas, Bob Kolkey, Art Grant, Tom Vetter, Bob Shapiro and Peter Haas.
Over 400 guests attended the ceremony and reception that followed at the Mission Valley Country Club.
After their honeymoon at Lake Tahoe, the young couople will reside at 4451 ½ Winona Ave. in San Diego.
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Personals
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 2
It was Mrs. Dan Smith who was reunited with her friend, Mrs. J. Peiser. (Whose Ben?)
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When Mrs. Pearl Markowitz returned from her long vacation she brought back her 14 year old grandson, Larry Markowtiz, for a visit to San Diego. In addition ot visiting her children and their families in Colorado and Michigan, she toured Washington D.C. and New York City.
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On August 26 the Jolly-16 Club will celebrate the 35th Wedding Anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Steinman, at a cocktail and dinner party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Saul Chenkin.
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A miscellaneous shower was tended Carol Steuer on August 16, in honor of her forthcomiong marriage to Howard Esterson. Hostesses at the new Mission Valley Inn were Sarah Horrow, Lynn Subkrow and Ann Lascoe.
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We welcome former New Yorkers Mr. and Mrs. Israel Marder to our community. After 35 years with Goldsmith Bros. in New York, Mr. Marder has opened his own stationery and office supply store in Lemon Grove. The Marders have three married daughters and one son.
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Travel Notes
Bertha and Dave Friedman have returned from a vacation that took them into Canada and a tour of Alaska.
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Youngstown, Ohio; Detroit, Mich.; and Sharon, Penn., are on Julia Abraham’s itinerary for her three weeks vacation. She will visit friends and relatives in those cities.
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Mrs. Leonard Leon, of Oakland, Calif., is in San Diego to spend some time with her family. She is the daughter of Mrs. A.L. Bolck and sister of David Block.
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Off to Chicago and Waukegan are Mr. and Mrs. B. W. Nathan, who will spend three weeks visiting relatives and friends.
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Ten-year-old Judy Karp, referred to by the Jr. Golf Magazine as “the phenomenal mashie-wielder” will defend her title today in the annual teefest for tiny tots to be held at Presidio Hills.
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Mr. and Mrs Joseph Alweis are now residing at 4527 54th St. in San Diego.
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Mrs. Niel Himmel, at present in Sharp Memorial Hospital, thanks her friends for their good wishes.
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Yvonne Recht Weds Donald Jay Solomon in Candlelight Ceremony
Southwestern Jewish Press, August 24, 1956, Page 2
In a candlelight ceremony, Roberta Yvonne Recht, daughter of Mr. and MRs. H. M. Recht, became the bride of Donald Jay Solomon, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Solomon. The wedding was performed at 4 o’clock on Sunday, August 19, by Rabbi Monroe Levens, assisted by Cantor Joseph Cysner, in Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Music for the service was provided by a vocalist, pianist and violinist.
The radiant bride wore a gown of imported silk organdy with appliquéd details and a short train. Her short veil was arranged from a Juliet cap and she carried miniature white orchids and sprays of lily-of-the-valley.
Miss Barbara Stein was the maid of honor; Mrs. Herbert J. Solomon, matron of honor; Mrs. Arthur Levenson, Mrs. Alan Geist, Miss Jackie Smithwick, and Miss Lois Leven, bridesmaids. They were similarly gowned in cocktail length gowns of ice blue chiffon with halos of small blue flowers. They carried cascades of blue delphinium and small pink rosebuds.
Herbert Solomon was the best man and ushers were James Recht, George Rosenberger, Mark Solomon, Joe Winicki and Noel Fishman.
In the wedding party were grandparents of the yoing couple: Mrs. Ethel Solomon, Mrs. Norma Gallub, Mrs. Nathan Korenberg, Mr. and Mrs. Leven and Mr. Max Recht.
Following the ceremony a dinner was held in the Cotillion Room at the El Cortez for over 300 guests. Additional guests attended a reception with dancing and buffet in the same room. The bride’s mother received in a dress of champagne colored satin; the bridegroom’s mother chose a gown of champagne lace and net.
The bridal couple left for a honeymoon in Carmel but were surprised en route by the groom’s parents with tickets for Hawaii. They will reside in San Francisco where Donald will attend Hastings School of Law.
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Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” is sponsored by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg. Our “Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” series will be a regular feature until we run out of history. To find stories on specific individuals or organizations, type their names in our search box, located just above the masthead on the right hand side of the screen.