Page 4 UNIVERSITY NEWS December, 1949
FOUNDERS DAY GUESTS TO VIEW PRICELESS WORKS
n., c:-/.„/.-/.„.•-, ~_ / LS i . i 11 ;/\tri o /o n u//vj
Dr. Greenberg Senc/
fi/ess/'ngs /or Event
From New York via mail and in
the person of Max Firestein, Found-ers
Day Committee Chairman who
recently visited there, came greetings
and blessings for the success of the
Founders Day Dinner from Dr. Louis
Finkelstein, President of the Jewish
Theological Seminary of America,
and Dr. Simon Greenberg, Seminary
Provost and Director of the Univer-sity
of Judaism.
Expressing the hope that their
duties in New York at present would
permit them to attend the December
4 Dinner in Los Angeles, Dr. Finkel-stein
and Dr. Greenberg paid high
tribute to Professor Mordecai Kaplan
and to the Board of Overseers of the
University of Judaism for choosing
the celebrated exponent of dynamic
Judaism as speaker at the Dinner.
It was noted by both Dr. Finkel-stein
and Dr. Greenberg that the
•lAernal Light script to be broadcast
from the Dinner was especially ap-propriate
in that it relays thp in-spired
story of Dr. Solomon Schecht-er,
one of the great leaders of the
Seminary, and a teacher and col-league
of Professor Kaplan.
From
Strength to Strength
Sere Msimcmdes Book //ere
For Display at Dinner
Regarded as possibly the most
highly treasured book of Jewish in-terest
ever viewed on the West Coast,
a complete manuscript of all 14 parts
of the Maimonides' Code, Mishne
Torah, will be exhibited at the
Founders Day Dinner December 4 at
the Ambassador Hotel on loan from
the New York Library of the Jewish
Theological Seminary of America.
A recent presentation to the Lib-rary
by Louis Rabinowitz, New York
philanthropist who provided funds for
the purchase of the University of
Judaism building at 612 So. Ardmore
Avenue, the huge wood and leather
bound book was written on parch-ment
on over 550 leaves in Germany
during the 14th Century.
Rich in colorful illustrations, es-pecially
of the Menorah and the
Temple, the prized manuscript at one
time belonged to Josef Sumbel, son
of Samuel Sumbel, 18th Century
Prime Minister to the King of Mor-occo.
Many of the marginal notes
were made by the younger Sumbel
in French.
Another rare work, also on special
loan from the Seminary Library for
di&play at the Diiiiiei along with
colorful Museum objects, is the con-trastingly
minute prayer book writ-ten
in Italy on 250 pages of thin
parchment by Jacob ben Matitya in
the year 1533.
Senator Lehman
Greets Friends
Despite the great demands in time
and energy of his victorious cam-paign
for the Senate, Herbert H.
Lehman expressed his great interest
in the Founders Day Dinner and gen-eral
welfare of the University of Ju-daism
in letters sent to members of
the Board of Overseers and others on
the West Coast active in Jewish life.
Writing as Chairman of the Board
of Overseers of the Jewish Theologi-cal
Seminary of America, Senator
Lehman wrote, in part, as follows:
"With the first annual commemor-ation
approaching for the University
of Judaism, sponsored on the West
Coast by the Seminary, I would like
to extend my personal greetings in
recognition of your interest, past,
present and future, in this institution
and its good works.
"In presenting Jewish yontb and
adults with the opportunity for study
in the language, literature, traditions
and culture of our people, the Uni-versity
serves an important need in
your community. Its continued suc-cess
will be a credit to your .com-munity
and to all Americans who
value the preservation of a living
Judaism."
SEN. HERBERT LEHMAN
UNIVERSITY OF JUDAISM
612 So. Ardmore Avenue
Los Angeles 5, Calif.
Sec. 34.66, P. L. Cr R.
U. S. POSTAGE
P A I D
Los Angeles, Calif.
Permit No. 14759
Mr. Arthur H* "Ehlxin
12029 Xredell Street
Studio City, California
INIVE
UNIVERSITY OF JUDAISM West Coast Branch JEWISH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF AMERICA
Volume 1, No. 2 December, 1949
Professor Mordecai Kaplan to Be
Honored at Founders Day Dinner
With the announcement that Professor Mordecai Kaplan would be the
principal speaker and guest of honor at the first Founders Day Dinner of the
University of Judaism in the Embassy Room of the Ambassador Hotel on
Sunday night, December 4, Founders Day Committee Chairman Max Fire-stein
revealed a great acceleration of
the current campaign for $100,000
on behalf of the University and its
related educational and 'Cultural pro-jects.
MORDECAI KAPLAN
"It is more than appropriate that
of all the distinguished men avail-able
for the occasion, Professor Mor-decai
Kaplan was able to accept the
:"'"f"fion to speak at the Founders
inner," Mr. Firestein said.
"Professor Kaplan does not appear
in the usual role of a speaker, for he
is truly the founding spirit of the
University of Judaism and, as such,
deserves every tribute that can be
extended to him by the University,
its Board of Overseers, Faculty and
Administration staff, students and
all those who have interested them-selves
in the success and growth of
the University."
Sponsored by the Seminary and
immediately winning the support of
the Los Angeles Bureau of Jewish
Education and a great cross-section
of West Coast Jewry, the University
of Judaism first took form in spirit
and on paper three years ago, largely
through the wholehearted application
of time, energy and material aid by
a group of community leaders,
headed by Dore Schary, Charles
Brown, Ben Platt, Benjamin H.
Swig, Theodore Strimling, Peter M.
Kahn, Sr., Max Firestein and Harry
Maizlish.
In laying plans 1'or the first Foun-ders
Day Dinner, the Board of Over-seers
of the University dedicated the
event to the goal set by Professor
Kaplan, when he said "A University
of Judaism dedicated to the training
of leadership in the content of Jewish
knowledge, in the art of Jewish liv-ing,
and in the organization and up-building
of Jewish life with a curri-culum
embracing everything that
touches Jews and Judaism."
Eternal Light Script Will
Be Broadcast trom Dinner
An additionally great attraction for
those attending the Founders Day
Dinner, at which Professor Mordecai
Kaplan will be the speaker, is the
presentation of "Between Two Eter-nities,"
an original Eternal Light
script by Morton Wishengrad based
on the life of the illustrious scholar
and teacher, Dr. Solomon Schechter,
late President of the Jewish Theo-logical
Seminary of America and one
of the leading Jewish thinkers of
modern times.
Through the enthusiastic coopera-tion
of the National Broadcasting
Company, free time has been made
available for a network broadcast of
the script from the Dinner, being
heard over KFI at 9:30 Sunday night,
December 4.
Plans call for two outstanding film
stars to portray the roles of Dr.
Schechter and his wife, Matilda.
Fall Student Body
Taxes Capacity
Of University
Reporting at a meeting of the
Youth and Adult Education Commit-tee
of the Board of Governors, Rabbi
Jacob Pressman, Registrar for the
University of Judaism, cited the
•overflow in attendance and the eager
acceptance of several recently added
classes.
Attending the
meeting in the
University build-ing
on Nov. 10,
were Committee
C h a i rman Dr.
Philip L. Seman,
Dr. Samuel Din-in,
Rabbi Press-man,
Mrs. Harry
M a i z l i s h , Dr.
R u t h Ginsberg,
Henry Ruby and
Mrs. Albert Marks.
The official report by Rabbi Press-man,
addressed to Peter M. Kahn,
Sr., as Chairman of the Board of
Governors, noted a registration of
377 students in the Extension De-partment
alone, covering an aggre-gate
of 684 pupil-sessions.
Thirty-three classes are being held,
including courses in Hebrew, Yiddish,
Arts & Crafts, Bible, Current Events,
Dance, Dramatics, History, Leader-ship,
Literature, Music, Religion and
Sociology.
Rabbi Pressman also announced a
new course in the Dance, to be
taught by Benjamin Zemach on Sun-day
evenings.
•"®p*^
*.-. liht.
RABBI PRESSMAN
MEN AND WOMEN OF ALL AGES SEEKING JEWISH EDUCATION
Page 2 UNIVERSITY NEWS December, 1949
Scholarship Presented by Mrs. Bertram AHenberg
Award in Name of
Joseph Polstein,
Her Late Father
JOSEPH H. POLSTEIN
Mrs. Bertram AHenberg, member
of the Board of Overseers and Chair-man
of the Museum Committee, will
present a scholarship for $5000 to the
University of Judaism in the name of
her late father, Joseph H. Polstein,
it was announced this week by Dore
Schary, Chairman of the Board of
Overseers.
Identified with the United Jewish
Welfare Fund for the past three years
as Chairman of the Women's Divi-sion,
Mrs. AHenberg has found time
and interest for many other philan-thropic
and educational projects.
In presenting the scholarship to be
used for full time study by deserving
students, starting in 1950, Mrs. Allen-berg
said, "I know that this scholar-ship
would please my father, for he
spent his whole life building in behalf
—OT • Jewisn euucacion. His constant
battle cry was 'Our young people
must have a thorough Jewish learn-ing'."
Mr. Polstein, who was born in
Vilna, Poland, and passed away in
New York during 1938 at the age of
72, was a president of Kehilath
Jeshurun Congregation in New York
City and nationally known for his
charitable contributions to religious
institutions and other worthy causes.
QUOTING MAX FIRESTEIX
"As December ifth approaches,
our campaign is rounding nicely
into shape. But it is the attendance
of yourself and your friends at the
Founders Day Dinner which will
assure the success of the driv?
and the continued growth of our
University of Judaism. For an
evening long to be remembered for
its beauty and interest, don't for-get
Sunday night, December li, in
the Embassy Room of the Ambas-sador
Hotel."
Museum Objects on Loan to Valley
Center and Jewish Book Month
Community-wide recognition of the great cultural worth of the Museum
in the University of Judaism has been accepted by all those connected with
the University as a great compliment and has kept the most colorful objects
in rapid rotation between Jewish Book V
Month,dedications of new synagogues /]/-/ V/hll'lH Paid Glowing
and other worthy projects.
The 2,000 Valley residents and
friends who witnessed the impressive
dedication ceremonies of the Valley
Jewish Community Center are de-scribed
by Rabbi Aaron M. Wise as
having found the exhibit on loan
from the University one of the most
inspiring facets of the program.
This is indeed a tribute to the re-ligious
art objects, in view of the
generally inspiring note of the cere-monies,
as reported by the English-
Jewish and daily newspapers.
Now on display at the Public Li-brary,
USC and UCLA Libraries, as
part of Jewish Book Month, which is
headed by Dr. Philip L. Seman, are
many of the prized Torah scrolls and
Megillath Esther from the University
collection.
Though every organization borrow-ing
these rare pieces has been ex-tremely
careful to return them un-damaged,
University officials respon-sible
to the Jewish Museum in New
York and to its Curator, Dr. Stephen
Kayser, for their safekeeping, utter
an audible sigh of relief after each
return to their cases in the Univer-sity
building.
Tribute by Valley News
Arthur N. Whizin, whose particular
function on behalf of the University
of Judaism and its campaign is as
liaison officer to the United Syna
gogue congregations, makes a point
at times of stating that he is "no
Talmud chochem" and carries no de-grees
after his name.
But there are few individuals, re-gardless
of religious or educational
degree, who will ever receive a tri-bute
to surpass the words used by
Sam Brand, Associate Editor of the
Valley Jewish News, reporting on Art
Whizin's role in launching the new
Valley Jewish Community Center at
its recent dedication.
"Art Whizin taught me about
love," Brand writes. "Holding the
key to the building, Art touched the
heart strings when he said that the
Key was created out of Love, the
combined Love of all who worked
for 12 years to make the memorable
day possible.
"Film maker Nate Blumberg prob-ably
never witnessed a more dramat-ic
scene than when Art waxed elo-quent
on Love. Whizin was wonder-ful!"
A MUSEUM FAVORITE IS COLORFUL HANUKKAH EXHIBIT
December, 1949 UNIVERSITY NEWS Page 3
Field Director Spurs Local Campaign in Visit
Board Lays Final
Plans for Dec. 4
Founders Dinner
Meeting in a. final scheduled ses-sion
prior to the Founders Day Din-ner,
the combined Executive Com-mittee
of the Board of Overseers and
Board of Governors, and the Found-ers
Day Dinner Committee ^convened
in the University building on Novem-ber
15, to complete final plans for
the December 4 event.
Highlights of the meeting were the
report on a recent visit to New York
and the Jewish Theological Seminary
of America, by Max Firestein, Din-ner
Committee Chairman, and the
talk by Dr. Max Arzt, Director of
Field Service and Activities for the
Seminary.
Relating the visit by him and Mrs.
Firestein to the Seminary and the
Jewish Museum, Mr. Firestein paid
tribute to the inspiring example of
the parent body for the University
of Judaism in historic achievement
and physical facilities.
In speaking to the group present,
Dr. Arzt commended the progress
made in the past year since his last
visit, as to the organizational stature
of the University of Judaism, the
growth of the school and its prestige
on the West Coast and throughout
the country.
Regarding the campaign, Dr. Arzt
said: "The receptivity of your com-munity
to our program places it on
the verge of success, but that is all
the more reason to redouble our ef-forts
in behalf of our overall pro-gram
and the Founders Day Dinner."
Present at the meeting were Saul
H. Curtis, Max Firestein, Aaron Gor-don,
Peter M. Kahn, Sr., Harry Maiz-lish,
Louis Silver, Theodore Strim-ling,
Dr. Philip L. Seman, Ben Tu-feld,
Arthur N. Whizin, Dr. Samuel
Dinin, Dr. Jacob Kohn, Rabbi Press-man,
Dr. Max Arzt, J. Pintel, (a
guest of Dr. Arzt), Max Zimmer and
Victor Garvey.
Rabbi Pressman Assigned Full
Time Post for the Campaign
Rabbi Jacob Pressman was relieved
of his duties as Registrar at the
University of Judaism and given a
leave of absence from all activities
at Sinai Temple as of November 15
through December 4, in order to con-centrate
his efforts on the campaign
and Founders Day Dinner in associa-tion
with Victor Garvey, Executive
Secretary of the University of Jud-aism.
Serving in a general executive
capacity on his temporary post,
Rabbi Pressman will place special
emphasis on the coordination of cam-paign
efforts by all rabbis and cong-regations
within the United Syna-gogue
of this region. Named to fill in
at the University as Registrar was
Rabbi Max Vorspan, a member of its
Faculty and spiritual leader of the
Pasadena Jewish Community Center.
DR. MAX ARZT
New Friends for
University Won
By Dr. Anf
The term, "human dynamo," may
be much abused, but it has never
received such exercise as during the
recent visit to Los Angeles of Dr.
Max Arzt, Director of Field Service
and Activities for the Jewish Theo-logical
Seminary of America.
"Why, the man is tireless" became
a byword in the Los Angeles office
and at the meetings Dr. Arzt attend-ed
morning, noon and night. And the
effect of his remarks to groups and
individuals interested and potentially
interested in the University may be
gauged by the impetus given the
campaign and the Founders Day Din-ner
during Dr. Arzt's stay in Los
Angeles.
Coming from a highly successful
meeting with community leaders and
friends of the University in Reno,
Dr. Arzt made a great number of
promising new contacts in Los An-geles
following his arrival.
Among the important meetings at
which he spoke were the reception
given by Charles Brown, Chairman
of the Executive Committee of the
University, on November 9, a dinner
arranged on November 8 by Ben
Platt, Co-chairman of the Founders
Day Dinner, and receptions by Max
Zimmer on November 7 and by Theo-dore
Strimling and Ely Elias on Nov-ember
10.
Dr. Arzt was also guest of honor
at the new home of Mr. and Mrs.
Arthur N. Whizin in the Valley on
November 14 and on another day of
his crowded schedule conferred with
Col. Irving Salomon in Escondido.
Indian Jewess to
Speak at Women's
League Luncheon
An unusual event is in store for
sisterhoods and guests of the Na-tional
Women's League of the United
Synagogue on January 10, when the
annual Torah Fund Luncheon is held
at the Biltmore Bowl, with Esther
Gershone, Indian Jewess from Kar-achi,
Pakistan, as principal speaker.
Now busily engaged in supporting
the current drive in behalf of the
University of Judaism, Mrs. Jack
Beresow, president of the Southern
California Region of the National
Women's League, and her fellow of-ficers
and members have held a num-ber
of meetings pertinent to the
Founders Day Dinner.
The January 10 event, the Torah
Fund luncheon, is the most import-ant
function of the year for the
League, in that proceeds go to schol-arship
research at the Jewish Theo-logical
Seminary of America and at
the University of Judaism.
In Miss Gershone, it is the ^feeling
of Mrs. Beresow, Torah Fund Chair-man
Mrs. Jack G r a f m a n and
Luncheon Chairman Mrs. George
Familian, that they have secured the
most interesting attraction ever of-fered
at an event of this nature. The
young woman, whose family has
lived in India for 2,000 years since
the expulsion from Jerusalem by the
Romans, is presently attending the
Teachers Institute of the Seminary in
New York, and will fly out here espe-cially
for the Torah Fund luncheon.
Miss Gershone, who was "discov-ered"
by a Jewish chaplain during
the war and helped him place Jewish
boys in homes of the Jewish colony
in Karachi after Friday services,
plans to return to her native land to
train Hebrew teachers among her
people.
Co-chairmen with Mrs. Grafman
for the Torah Fund Campaign are
Mrs. Herman Babitch, Mrs. George
Chais and Mrs. Ben Stein.
San Diego Pledges Substantial
Support and Large Delegation
Hearty support was assured the
University of Judaism campaign by
San Diego and a large delegation to
the Founders Day Dinner was in-dicated
following a breakfast at the
home of Isadore Jacobson, President
of Tefereth Israel Congregation, in
that city.
Guests at the affair were Dr. Max
Arzt and Victor Garvey, who met
with community leaders and dis-cussed
plans for the Dinner. Enthusi-astic
response was elicited by Dr.
Arzt's talk on the program for the
coming year, as provided by the
University of Judaism, the parent
Jewish Theological Seminary of
America and its affiliated projects,
including the Eternal Light radio
program, the Jewish Museum and the
Institute for Religious and Social
Studies.
