Page Two
JEWISH WESTERN BULLETIN
Frickiy, January 23, 1.959
Editorial topics
A special letter irom tlie Jewish agency
THE Jewish Agency has sent a letter to the editors of all Jewish newspapers drawing attention to the rapid changes in Israel's immigration prospects which make it appear that the Jewish state will now face a wave of 80,000 newcomers in the coming year.
In his recent budget speech to the Knesset, the. Minister of Finance, Levi Eshkol, announced that the main concern of the Israel government during the coming year will be that of immigration and absorption. And Moshe Rivlin, the Jewish Agency information director who has written to us, properly points out that these problems must also be a principal concern of Jewish people outside Israel. ^
The main increase in immigration is now coming from Romania. Some are also still coming from Poland, and the numbers coming from that country may grow larger once again.
It is pointed out by the Jewish Agency that "there is a material difference between the immigrants from Poland and those from Romania. The Polish government enabled Jews who left the country to bring their possessions with them, and placed almost no limitations in that respect . . . The Romanian immigrant cannot bring his property with him; the luggage he is allowed to take does not exceed 30 kilos. This "means that many thousands of immigrants now arriving in Israel, come almost destitute ..."
Further aspects of Israel's immigration problem will be discussed in the Bulletin in the coming weeks.
In the meantime it is sufficient to point out that the decision pf the United Jewish Appeal in Vancouver to hold, its campaign earlier than ever this year is certainly fully justified.
At B^nai B'rith installation
Dr. Friesen tells difference between 'gemeinshaft' and 'gezelshaft'
Dr. John Friesen defined a community as "an association of peaceful beings united in the pursuit of the things they cherish" in his address to the Vancouver Lodge B'riai B'rith installation meeting this week.
The head of the Extension Department at UBC also described the community as "you and .1 combined in oneness with the things we have in common."
To work together in this way people must get to know each other, he added. That's why we need "gemein-shaft", the gathering of people around a table, as part of the "gezelshaft"
the development of society at large.
"We have to meet the challenge of community in times of peace as we have done in times of war," Dr. Friesen declared.
He called for the encouragement of all avenues of discussion incliiding forum groups, letters to the editors, etc.
Among the big projects that have been handled successfully on a community basis. Dr. Friesen cited the Centennial celebrations, the Vancouver international Festival and the Community Chest mental health program.
But the trend towards bigness, he
warned, is responsibile for the fact that some problems are not properly solved. As a result he said we face such things as "armed delinquency, streetwalking oldsters and ethnic animosities, as well as polluted beaches." He also criticised in particular the "unbelievable apathy" which produces "absenteeism from the ballot box and government by default."
Dr. Friesen commended the B'nai B'rith program as contributing much towards the furtherance of community goals.
AWARDS AND CERTIFICATES
Retiring president Nathan Singer,
(Continued on page 11)
Community Structure TV
Four different changes made
plans for structure in Cahn study report
Vsiited the
Jewish Appeal cmd centre eampciigii
THE new Centre Board, under the leadership of Alvin J. Narod is to be commended for its decision to postpone the building campaign for the New Centre to the new target date of August 25.
This move is not simply a concession to the UJA. We have fel all along that the proposed date of May 1, was too soon to allow sufficient time for proper planning of such a large-scale building campaign as the new centre will entail. .
The new campaign date for the Centre will make it possible for the more thorough development of plans for all* phases. This applies not only to the building and campaign aspects of the new centre project, but also to the question of program planning. We want to know not only what the centre is going to contain and what it will cost but also the kind of program it will conduct.
Mr. Narod has called upon all active workers for the new centre, to give their full support to thp United Jewish Appeal which will open in March. We may also express the confident hope that leaders of the UJA and of all major organizations will take proper measures to keep the fall months clear for the Centre Building campaign and give it their wholehearted support. .
The last iiistallmeiit
APPEARING on this page is the last article in the series reviewing the report by Sidney Cahn on the Study of Community Organization Practices and Patterns in the Vancouver Jewish community.
While we would wish to see the establishment of the proposed committee on community organization structure, and function to consider possible ways of changing and improving the community fund-raising and planning structure, this does not mean that the Cahn Report has our unqualified ehdorsation. We merely consider that it should be the basis for discussion on what to do to improve our communal situation. We hope that these discussions will be properly undertaken and carried forward • to an eventual positive conclusion.
At the same time we must recognize that things do not happen of their own accord and we cannot simply sit back and, wait for a change. We must continue to support to our utmost, all communal undertakings on behalf of Israel and overseas as well as vital local needs through the same channels by which they are now being conducted, meanwhile waiting. and hoping for a change for the better.—A J. A,
"Four possible avenues which the community can take" towards changing the central organization al structure are outlined in the Study of Community Organization Practices and Patterns in the Vancouver Jewish community, prepared by Sidney Cahn, West-em States Regional Director o' the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds.
The first plan calls for changing the present United Jewish Appea into a "classical welfare .fund". The second plan calls for reorganizing the Jpwish Community Council into local fedei'ation, responsible for the budgeting, planning and financing of its agencies." This plan also assumes that a welfare fund would be.established and that the new federation would be directly affiliated with the welfare fund.
The third possible plan is in the event that it would not become possible to change the present United Jewish Appeal into a welfare fund. In this case, it is proposed that the Jewish Community Council should stai reorganize itself into a local federation, *ut that it should "take direct responsibility for its own financing or in other words, "campaign on behalf of its local constituents through an annual campaign." This third plan is called "the least • satisfactory of the possible approaches, but would still be superior to the present program in Vancouver".
The fourth alternative proposed in the Cahn Report is a combination of plans I and II on the basis of which he welfare fund and the federation would be joined together "into a single unified agency which would have authority to raise funds for all responsibilities". This latter plan is reported to be "now current in nearly all United States communities".
Communitv comments
By Naomi Pellih
Tu B'shvat means that
Spring is here!
WE have hardly recovered from the celebration of Chanuka, a holiday associated with the freezing temperatures of winter, and now, for the Jewish community in every part of the world, spring is here. Spring comes to us in the form of a holiday called Tu b'Shvat—Tu in Hebrew being the letters signifying 15. Tomorrow is the fifteenth of the Hebrew month Shvat.
In Vancouver it is not very difficult to project oneself forward to spring, especially this January when temperatures are comparatively high. But throughout the 2,000 years of Jewish wanderings, spring in Israel was remembered by observing ±e custoni of eating Israeli fruit. Thus, spring in Israel brought the feeling of nature's rejuvenation to Jews wherever they lived.
Here we are able to celebrate Tu b'Shvat by the planting of trees. Those who were in Stanley Park last Sunday might have seen the Habonim youth
groups doing just that, bringing the spirit of spring in Israel close to home.
A flower which blossoins during the month of Shevat in Israel, and which is greatly loved by children is the cyclamen. When placed in the mouth the cyclamen looks like a pipe and children suck the juice from the stalks of "the shepherd's pipe". Anemones are also greatly loved, and among these are found the adonis. The legend associated with the adonis is that it sprouts wherever the blood of the Maccabees spilled in their struggle to defend the land.
Children, flowers, trees—symbols of the birth of a new land graphically portray the present miracles of Israel developmeilt, and bring hope for the future to the human spirit. Tu b'Shvat, the New Year of the Trees can have a beneficial psychological effect on all of us, bringing a new sense of dedication to our efforts for Israel and for humanitarian causes at home.
INCLUDE ALL CAUSES
. It is suggested that the welfare fund proposed in Plan I should include both the national and overseas causes represented by Canadian Jew ish Congress and the Zionist Organization and the local causes represented by the agencies within the Community Council as well as the Talmud Torah, the Peretz School and the Home for the Aged. It is also suggested that other organizations now raising their own funds might be included if general agreement can be reached on division of funds and some other pertinent factors.
The proposal for reorganizing the Community Council into a federation envisions the idea that the federation would "negotiate for not only its ad ministrative cost, but also for the deficit budgets of the constituent members as worked out through rigorous budgeting process".
EACH AGENCY INCORPORATED
Both in the case of. the welfare fund and. the federation, as well as in the case of one combined institu tion, proposals are made as to how a Board of Directors for each could be established. In the case of the federation it is proposed that "all the constituent members of the federation would be incorporated, with their own boards of directors, officers and executive directors". This would mean that under such a set-up agencies such as the Jewish Family Welfare Bureau and the Community Centre would be each incorporated separately, but affiliated with the federation.
CAPITAL FUND NEEDS
The Report points out further that many communities which have a combined welfare fund and federation structure "have not only proved to be effective in meeting recurring needs through the annual campaigns, but also working out methods for meeting the community's capital fund needs."
It is also pointed out that "95 per cent of communities on the North American continent (exclusive of Latin America) employ a single unl-ied approach to their coimmunity organizational problems".
The concluding section of this Report makes some recommendations on procedure towards the ^nsider-ation of the proposals for changing the community structure. It points out first that "any system of communal organizaion, no matter what its effectiveness may be, develops strong vested interests in the status quo and therefore resistance, to change ... old methods may not be the best (but) change breeds insecurities."
CALL FOR KEY COMMTITEE
It is suggested that what is needed is the establishment of the "key committee involving the varied interests of the community, particularly a leadership group who, after the decisions are made can speak with authority, in instituting the necessary changes". It is proposed further that the composition of such a "committee of community organization and function"
should meet "with the approval of all .the parties concerned, namely the Zionist Council, the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Jewish Community Council". It is also suggested that some other important independent organizations and perhaps "key contributors, who may not have strong affiliations" but might be important to the success of a new communal organization could be included.
With the committee established, it is then suggested that it should engage in a study process to determine the best communal structure. After agreement is reached on the basic form of the new organizational setup the committee could then negotiate with "the present leadership of the United Jewish Appeal, the Community Council and outstandingly important organizations like the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Zionist Council".
16
SIDNEY K.
COLE, CLU
Branch Manager
CMADIM PHSMIER LIF£ mSUHMCE GOMPAM
779 W. Broodway EX. .2924
JEWISH CALENDAR	
5719	
Tu B'shvat _____________	.......Jan. 24
	March 24
	.April 23-30
Log B'omer ............	May 26
Shavuos —...............	.......June 12
Ail Holidays begin oa th*	
preceding evening	
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