Page 9 - HaShofar 5709 1948

Chairman, Maurice Aberman, were well-planned
and executed. The constant readiness of Chairman
Aberman to cooperate in fullest .measure · at all
times comprised a most valuable asset for Hapoel
Hamizrachi. Master calendar planning, calling for
full coqperation from the groups, has already been
accepted as a matter of course and group affairs
have been effectively cleared through the office.
Our synagogue, as usual, functioned well this
year. As in former years when Mr. Louis Brody
was president, the leadership of the synagogue,
under Samuel Shulman, was vigorous and sus-
tained, and the Shul as a whole made excellent
progrees. If there is one constructive suggestion
that must be offered, it is that we must not he
content with the fact ·that our synagogue decorum
is better than that of other synagogues, but rather
must we be determined· to make whatever improve-
ments still must be made to bring this decorum
to. a completely satisfactory level. As usual, Rabbi
Rapoport's valuable services constituted a tower
of strength that should by fully appraised and ap·
preciated. . Secondly, we are. constantly beirig .invited to
The Children's Sabbath MO:rning Service, also,
has been ill).proved in certain directions lately, and ver before welcome. In the past year alone your
continues .to make available the service of Sabbath
morning spiritual supervision for youngsters of
pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and primary grade
age. ·
A favorable word must be said, irrespective of
space limitations, about the work of our Overseas
Relief .Committee. It is inadvisable to attempt to
list the names of the very many people who helped
so diligently, day and night, in this work, for
fear of omitting one, and each one is truly im;
· portant. It would, however, be nothing short of
sinful to omit mention of the indescribable zeal
and conscientiousnes put into this work by Co-
Chairman Tobv Green Fried and Louis Schatz.
and the Vice-Chairman, Mrs. Kurt Stern. Such. de:
votion and application to the tasks has been
shown by these people and others is so rare that
it can hardly be found anywhere. There are many
others who also worked many days and nights of
each week on our Oyerseas Relief work, which was
more extensive than that of any other local group,
but departure from the procedure of mentiqning.
any• names. other than the Chairman may prove
inadvisable. These people, however, know who
they are, as do most others, and our .profound
thank;; are expressed to them. ,
Very much in the category of conscientiousness,
also, is the work of the Chairman of the Sabbath
Voice Department, Molly Schatz. As has been em-
phasized in previous reports, nobody can possibly
realize, unless he has tried it himself, what stores
of time and· energy go into the making up of a
single edition of our weekly bulletin, and despite
very trying moments, Mrs. Schatz has never fal-
tered in her determination to give us as good a
Sabbath Voice as possible each week: To her,
also, our sincerest thanks and appreciation.
. OCTOBER, t948
The Jewish National Fund Department of Ha-
poel Hamizrachi, under the capable and devoted
chairmanship of Rabbi Saul Amster, shone forth
with brilliant results, in which· very many Chave-
rim, particularly of Ben Zion, North Shore and
Eva Aronson groups, participated. We had the
best Jewish National Fund record in years, were
second in the city amongst all the organizations,
and were the only organization that reached its
elevated Jewish National Fund quota. Considering
that this took place during our Torah Va Avodah
Campaign, these results are nothing short of re-
markable.
A few words about the outlook for the future.
Hapoel Hamizrachi is going to occupy more and
more a position of importance in the coming years.
First, theestablishment of Israel brings into pro:
minence our accomplishments. Hapoel Hamizra-
chi in l_srael is very much to be reckoned with,
and. as more and more visitors go to visit Israel the
true place of Hapoel Hamizrachi will be observed
and recognized~ ·
bring our message into circles where we were ne-
director has spoken, by invitation, to certain
groups at Northwestern University, University of
Chicago, Roosevelt College, University of Minne-
sota, and a number of bther similar places where
the message and opinions ·of Hapoel Hamizrachi
were. not sought after .in earlier years. Political
Zionist circles which were .either hostile or indiffer-
ent to us in the past now reckon with our exist-
ence, our activities, and our opinions. H we have
not been accorded independent representation in ·
_Chicago Zionist Emergency Council, it is not due
to absence of recognition of our important role but
rather to our awkward relationship with Mizrachi
that must soon be rectified on a world-wide basis
for the benefit of both Mizrachi and ourselves.
We have finally begun this past year to give
more intensive attention to the need ·of enlarged
membership rolls. Fdr years Hapoel Hamizrachi
has gone along with a membership strong in qua-
lity and intensity but not great enough in number.
Today_ our membership is sufficiently imbued with
our ideals for us not to have to fear dilution of
standards, and we may unhesitatingly add num-
b_ers, with a view toward more and more support
for Hapoel Hamizrachi and its principles and in-
stitutions. The impression that outsiders are not
welcome is a .false one, ·and the rumors that Ha-
poel Hamizrachi is a "closed organization'' must
be openly beaten down. Our doors are wide open
for all good people to join us in our efforts. Mem-
bership Chairman Mrs. Herzl Rosenson should be
given full support by the Chaverim in all her
efforts in the months to come. ·
No report on Hapoel Hamizrachi activities dur-
ing the year just passed can be complete without
at least mention of certain key individuals who
were heads of departments (it is to be observed
7