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The Canadian Jewish News, Friday, July 8,1977 - Page 5
Taking, interpreting tiie public's pulse is big business for sociologist Goldfarb
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ByTOBAKORENBLUM
TORONTO —
When Martin Goldfarb first began his -career as a consultant in behavior sciences 10 years ago, he and his wife Joan, jostling two infant daughters, set up shop from their kitchen table.
Now the 39-year-old sociologist drives a Rolls Royce, lives in an elegant home on Misty Crescent and heads a firm of 50. His angle on a hot market is research for provincial and federal governments, newspaper chains, broadcast firms and a lucrative list of corporations.
From his cramped offices at the comer of Bathurst and Lawrence, he and his a!ssoci-ates — political scientists, psychologists, econpmists and computer specialists — take the public's pulse, ftx>m voter preferences to liquor tastes.
His activities are diverse. In communications, he handles newspaper chains — Booth in the U.S. and Southam in Canada — The Toronto Star and CHUM Radio, advising on editorial direction and polling.
His political clients include the federal Liberal party. Ontario's Ministry of Education and the B.C. government. And his corporate clients are equally impressive; Ford. Hiram Walker. General Electric, Quaker Oats and Macmilian Bloedel. to name a few.
"I don't wield any power and very little influence." he says right off. "You get to realize that there are no really powerful people. Nobody can act independently, especially in government."
It was Goldfarb who brought to Toronto
-readers an "in-depth survey" on Quebec's mood, carried in The Star. (He's planning an even larger, nationwide study on the same theme, for another client, to be released in the fall.) And it was he who gathered the data predicting an upsurge of interest in Stuart Smith, with a Conservative minority government in Ontario.
Harbord Collegiate and University of Toronto educated, he says there's no mystique to the art of pollstering. While the Gallup and Harris polls are often viewed as gospel, he insists that polls do not have the power to sway opinion, but serve as a useful information tool for the voting public.
With somewhat of an aloofness toward the press, he observes: "Political polls help to keep reporters honest. There's a definite role for polls. It's freedom. It's a piece of information, independent of a third-party evaluation. A writer writes his own perception. The poll reflects how the population is thinking."
In the case of Dr. Smith, Goldfarb, a friend of the Liberal leader, claims reporters downplayed him as a nimble-brained idiot, even though statistical information doubted that assessment.
The media also fell behind public sentiment with regard to Conservative leader Joe Clark, says the pollster, by desperately trying to give the neophyte leader a good chance out of the starting gate, "when the public mistrusted him." To an extent the press is trying to catch up with the public mood and now it's overkill, he adds.
But pollsters, he concedes, are not value-free. "Behavioral science is still a philosophy, not a mathematics. It's dependent on
Sociologist Martin Goldfarb
value judgments, which has an influence on the data you collect." A separatist may have produced different findings on Quebec than he did, althoujgh certain "facts" can never be overlooked, says the consultant.
Holding an MA from U of T in sociology, Goldfarb doesn't resent leaving the academic world for more rewarding pursuits.
~Tor him the marketplace offers an excitement unparalleled in the halls of academia. The weakness of universities is that they're not up to date. Today the source of some technology (statistical tests, for example) has been evolved in the private sector."
He doesn't worry about being branded "pop sociologist". And he holds a high opinion of the public he reads: "The public has a collective consensus....Society is more powerful than the media. I've got to give it credit. It (society) can't be manipulated; it can't be conned."
A casual member of the Canada Israel Committee, Goldfarb says he has tried unsuccessfully to interest the community in a general poll on societal perceptions to Jews and Israel. "It allows you to deal with certain myths," he explains, "before they become crises — in a planned way, as opposed'to an emotional reaaion."
The community, he insists, has to apply modern techniques to understand public behavior and how to respond to it. So far the CIC has turned down his offer, for lack of funds. "The amount of money isn't important." he says, when asked the cost, "if the community leaders felt it was important they would fund it."
Goldfarb spends his out-of-office hours with his family — five children ranging in age from 1to 12. They ski. swim and sail together. The relaxed comfort shows in fine art. sculpture and tropical plants decorating his working quarters.
"I've had a good time," he says, relishing his variety of work assignments and family. "Life's been good to me."
Letters to the Editor
= (Mike Goldberg photo) E
^ A young Israeli soldier stands guard atop Herod's Gate overlooking Old Jerusalem. 3
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an obstacle to peace: FPI
Dear Editor:
While applauding the operation of the democratic process in Israel. Friends of Pioneering Israel views the formation'of the new Likud-dominated coalition government with a deep sense of concern. The recent actions and statements of the new premier have not served to lessen the concern.
As Zionists, we believe unconditionally in the centuries-old dream of the Jewish people to fulfil itself in its homeland. However, we cannot accept certain of the stated policies of Menachem Begin — policies which would lead to the weakening of the Histadrut. the reduction of government support to the kibbutz movement, the denial of the rights of secular. Conservative and Reform Jews, the attempts to legitimize the presently illegal settlements
on the West Bank and, in general, the assumption of an inflexible position vis-avis the Arab countries.
We base our position on two essential principle^First, that the right of any nation to self-deFermination cannot be founded upon the denial of that same right to any other people; and, second, that such institutions as the Histadrtit and the kibbutz movement are the backbone of the Israeli economy and represent those values which are crucial to the continued growth of democracy in Israel.
Accordingly, we call upon both parties to the Mid|dle East conflict, Arab as well as Jew, not to slam the door uncompromisingly in the face of peace, but to keep the paths to peace open. At the same time, while we shall not falter in our support for the state of
Israel, we urge all fair-minded members of the Canadian Jewish community to oppose any policies of the new government which would place additional obstacles in the road to peace, which would undermine the pioneering spirit and forces in Israel, or which would deny to any citizen of Israel full civil rights and religious freedom.
Norman Aoslander, president, Friends of Pioneering Israel, Toronto
Dear Editor:
We were in Israel during the May 17 elections and returned approximately a week later to discover, with dismay, the negative publicity being generated in the U.S. and Canada concerning Israel and Menachem Begin. We felt compelled to
ing Store magnate Nathan Scott
saves energy
S(or>-and Drawing ByLOUSEUGSON
Question: Nathan Scott, Eddie Cantor and Tevye — what have they in common? Answer: A family of daughters.
If you ask Scott what moved him to become one of the most active participants in Montreal's Jewish organizations, he readily replies with a wide, delighted smile
— "My four daughters".
Though they are attractive and vivacious daughters, Scott suddenly turned into a concerned father about 10 years ago and, like Sholom Aleichem's Tevye, began looking for sons-in-law.
Vice-President of Scott-LaSalle Ltd., one of Canada's largest manufacturers and retailers of men's clothing. Scott was heavily involved in the family business until one day he discovered the whole spectrum of community organizations.
"1 got into them all." he says. "One thing leads to another, you know. The same people seem to be doing the work in most of them. But really, 1 got into communal work to meet more and more young fellows. I was looking for husbands."
Occasioiially on some of his 13 trips to Israel he would even buttonhole people like Golda Meir and Ben-Gurion to discuss his' problem.
He likes to tell of the time he cornered Ben-Gurion and BG saying to him. "You came to the wrong man, Nathan. Go see Moshe Dayan. He's got a whole arpy of nice, young Jewish boys for you."
Anyway, Scott is much relaxed these days
— three daughters are happily married and the last is on the way.
His chief organizational interest in recent years has been the Jewish National Fund, of which he is now the national president. "JNFreally stirred me," he says. "When I visited Israel and saw the rows and rows of trees we had planted there it really did something to me. I visualized millions of green trees in Canada-sponsored parlis that will live foreveri"
Scott was bom in a small town near Quebec City in 1917. the youngest in a family of five sons and three daughters.
"My piwents had a small dothmg store and we grew up living upstairs of the business," he recalls. "We came to Montreal we could all get a Jewish education." \
When h'ls parents opened a small factory
in Montreal all the sons became involved and young Nathan left high school to move into the business world. At 21 he was in Halifax managing a factory with 100 employees, which was acquired by the family, and by 1940 he was in army uniform. At war's end he found he liked the uniform so much that he convinced the family to open a service uniform division.
"I was looking for my own niche in the. company," he admits, "and pretty soon we became • one of the biggest in Canada with a $5 million-a-year uniform operation.
Today. Scott-LaSalle Ltd. is a $60 million manufacturer and retailer of men's clothes, whh a string of sorne 100 stores.
Scott remembers the Depression before the war when they set up a series of SO stores to sell suits at $12.50 apiece.
"We made the suits and sold them to ourselves," he Says. "We didn't make much money, of course, but we did a hell of a lot of business. When war broke Dul >ye couldn't get enough material so we sold the istores to the managers." —
Scott married Betty Greenberg in 1945 (while still in uniform) and they produced four daughters — Robin, Susan, Judy and..Barbra. At 59, he is trim and perpetually in motion. Every morning he is up at 7.'30 and keeps moving all day.
' *I walked every morning of my life—usually to the synagogue. But now I simply take long walks and on weekends 1 jog two miles," he says. "
And dancing! The Scotts will go anywhere to trip the light fantastic, swing, truck or disco-. dance. ,
"Betty and 1 simply love to dance," he enthuses. * 'We took every lesson anyone ever gave. We may be slowing down but it stUl is a fantastic relaxation."
Now as national head of JNF, Scott is planning to travel across Canada in a personal mission to visit all of the JNF branches in the country. An enthusiastic visionary, filled with an almost messianic desire to include everybody within the realm of his own plans and spirit, Scott manages to draw similar enthusiasms from those he meets and works with.
Despite the piessuresof business, organiziational meetings, social events, the jogging and the dancing and the constant detnands on his spare time, Scott will be heavily involved in Montreal activity,   'f " ' "
"it's a fact," he says, "that the ones who are dedicated are the ones who always seem to have the time for everything."
write this letter to convey to the Jewish community the opinions of a few Israelis, with whom we discussed this very situation: taxi drivers, waiters, hotel staff, kibbutz-niks. moshavniks. businessmen and young people presently serving in the armed forces.
Without exception, and regardless of their personal political affiliations, they consider Begin to be one of the most respected and honest politicians in Israel, and they want him now as leader because he has said he would take a strong stand in negotiations with the Arab countries.
They wanted the Labor government defeated because of political corruption, and because they have given so many concessions, and received nothing in return. Israel is still the same threatened state that she has been since 1948, only today she is threatened, not just by the Arab milhary. but by the Arab oil.
When we asked about the Palestinian refugee problem, they quickly pointed out that it is a problem in the Arab countries, but not in Israel.
We saw with our ow n eyes what they were referring to when we visited the Gaza strip. The Arab "refugees" living in Gaza and the West Bank travel freely throughout Israel and work at the same wage level as the Israelis, which is far above what they could get in any of the Arab countries.
The tremendous amount of building in Gaza, both residential and industrial, is astonishing, and without political fear of Arab retaliation, they would have to admit freely that thefy are far better off under Israeli administration than they ever were, or could be, under Arab rule.
Many of them for the first time own their own small businesses or the land which they arc cultivating, where at one time they worked almost in serfdom to a handful of land owners who owned and controlled the entire area.
We visited the Lebanese border and the Good Fence at Doviv, which is one of three border points. We crossed through the Good Fence to the Lebanese side where a medical clinicis operating with a Lebanese nurse working with an Israeli doctor. There were approximately two dozen Lebanese, including children, primarily Qiristian. who were waiting in turn for medical aid.
In closing, we want to point out that besides our money and time, the lip-ser\'ice we can give is very important public relations they count on. because they have very few friends. Speak up for them, for they literally give their blood, sweat and tears.
. Barbara&AbbyGoldblatt, Hamilton
applied for exit visas.
C) The article mentions that no Soviet citizen has ever been permitted foreign coimsel. We would like to point out that while this is, in fact, true, in the past attorneys from the United States and Great Britain have been permitted entry to the U.S.S.R. and visitation rights with prisoners. The most noteworthy case in point being that of Victor Polsky in October. 1974.
President Jimmy Carter has adamantly denied publicly that Anatoly Scharansky has ever committed espionage for the United States against the Soviet Union.
In view of the fact that Mr. Scharansky's only crime was requesting permission to be re-united with his wife in their homeland. Israel, we are hopeful that Soviet authorir ties will not press these false charges against Anatoly thereby preventing yet another show trial. We shall continue to speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Miriam Gar\is, Montreal Women-s Campaign For Soviet Jewrj-, Groap of 35
Breira
Dear Editor:
We have noted, with interest, the article about Anatoly Scharansky that appeared on Page 1 of your June 10 edition. Ho*ever, we feel it necessary to point out certain facts:
A) To date. Mr. Scharansky has not been officially charged with treason under Art'cle 64 of the RSFSR Criminal Code, but he is being detained pending investigation of his case. Mr. Scharansky's mother was informed that he would likely be charged accordingly.
B) Anatoly Scharansky is not a Soviet dissident. He is a Russian Jewish Activist/ Refusenik. Anatoly served on Yuri Orlov's Helsinki monitoring group as a Jew reporting on violations of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe by the Soviet Union with oegards to the Jewish Refiiseniks who have
Dear Editor:
In its editorial of June 24. The CJN staunchly defends the right of Breira to express its "moral perception of Israel's diplomacy". It concludes that Breira's position on Israel is not iniriiical to the Jewish state and that Breira is not working against Israel's vital interests.
The line of reasoning adopted by The CJN is quite interesting. It attacks excesses of criticism with excesses of its own. It self-righteously lectures on the virtues of free speech and reasoned debate uhile indiscriminately charging JBreira's critics with hysterical over-reaction, polemicism, vilification, witch-hunting. McCarthyism. totalitarianism, etc. At no time does The CJN present or deal with the facts.
Why does The GJN not publish and refute, if possible, the damning facts presented by Mrs. Isaac in her factually documented booklet or by Joseph Shattan in the April and June issues of Commentary.
Does not a reasoned debate require publication and discussion of the fact that many of Breira's founders came to it from organizations with a history- of hostility to Israel (much as The CJN deems it noteworthy that Mrs. Isaac is a supportef of Gush Emuriim); that prior to the formation of Breira,. four of its leading spokesmen , publicly opposed emergency military aid to Israel during the height of the Yom Kippur War; that none of these founders or spokesmen have repudiated in any way their former views; that by its own admission Breira is composed of non-Zion^ ists, pro-Zionists and anti-Zionists; that Breira has publicly accepted the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people and has supported Arafat's appear-"^nce at the UN; that Breira has issued many press releases denouncing Israeirforeign policy; that Breira has in testimony before the U.S. Congress called ort Israel to negotiate unconditionally with the PLO "on all future relationships between their two states".
What of the fact that Breira has held seminars for inembers of Congress to re-educate them on the. Palestinian question; that a columnist for Breira's monthly review has called on the U.S. government to coerce Israel into establishing a West Bank Palestinian state; that Breira in its publications has consistently criticized Israel for its intransigence while attributing to the Arabs and the PLO an abiding desire
for peace; or that such prominent supporters of the Breira platform as Rabbi Joachim Prinz, Rabbi Ira Eisentein, Nathan Glaz-ner, Trude Weiss-Rosmarin and Jacob Neusner have left the organization due to the tactics used to implement that platform.
The documentation is extensive and the facts go beyond what has been set but above.
While the validity of the platform adopted by Breira can be the subject of legitimate debate within the Jewish community, the evidence is strong that in implementing that platform. Breira and its leading spokesmen have acted in a manner detrimental to the vital interests of Israel.
The CJN itself has stated that "Jews have no right to instruct Israel on how to carry out its policies". By making both formal and informal representation to the American government and people requesting them to act contrary to Israel's self-perceived needs. Breira has attempted not only to instruct Israel but to force her to bend to Breira's view.
The organization has not expressed a breira; it has actively sought to impose on Israel its particular brand of ein breira.
By failing to deal with the facts. The CJN has done a disservice to the Jewish community that subsidizes its publication. In the interests of consistency, I now anxiously await a staunch defence of Gush Emunim and Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose positions on Israel have been much maligned in your publication in the recent . past.
P. Alter, Toronto
CPPMEtrip
Dear Editor:
In a recent issue of The Canadian Jewish News, you have published an interview with Prof. Yolande Cohen. Yolande Cohen had just returned from Israel after having participated iii a fact finding mission headed by myself on behalf of the Canadian Professors for Peace in the Middle East (CPPME).
Prof. Cohen is certainly entitled to express her views on the Middle East question. But she is not a member of CPPME and you, as an editor, should not have given your readers the impression that the views expressed by Yolande Cohen coincided with those of CPPME. I object strongly to that procedure.
1 also would like to point out that the views expressed by Yolande Cohen do not even represent a consensus of opinion among those who participated in the trip to Israel.
JeanOndlette, Montreal
Dear Editor:
Your correspondent Beatrice 'Magder who writes about Georgian Jews suffers from the simplistic practice of dividing all Jews into two categories: Ashkenazim and Sephardim. She refers, erroneously in my view, to the indigenous Georgian Jews as "'Sephardim" — which they are not.
They were settled there in the Caucasus centuries before the Spanish Inquisition and Georgia was definitely not an area where Jews fled after Queen Isabella's decree. The non-Ashkenazic Jews of Georgia are simply called "Georgian Jews".
Gcnhbn Albeit, TuoBto
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