0 4Averiate

6

*risk Perkidk

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

Jewish subjects. Yet today, 400,000 Jewish soldiers are fighting in
Issued Every Friday by the Jewish Chronicle Publishing Company.' the Russian army. Finally, not the least reason for the remarkable
economic and military efficiency of Germany has been the splendid
Michigan's Only Jewish Publication,
devotion and bravery of her Jews, both on the battlefield and at
home.
- t
Samuel J. Rhodes,
Editor
This is as it should he. It is well that the Jew should be a
Anton Kaufman,
Manager patriot of the land of his birth or adoption. It is well that he should
Subscription in Advance
$1.50 per year be more of a patriot than the rest of its people—for, alas, tliat is
expected of the Jew. But it is not expected of the Jew that lie should
Offices 701 Penobscot Bldg.
sacrifice his self-respect for his patriotism. And his loyalty is not
Telephone Cadillac 2588.
worth having, if it is to be bought at the price of his dignity and
honor.
The Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on subjects of inter-
,
It was with mingled feelings of surprise and disgust that we
est to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorse-
ment of views expressed by the writers.
read of the public - announcement recently made by Mr. Harry J.
• -----
111ontefiore, in which he says that "Britishers of Jewish birth hav6
All correspondence and society notes to insure publication must not the slightest inclination to he bracketed with the swarms belong-
be sent in so as to reach this office Wednesday morning of each week. ing to the central European states." Mr. Montefiore is not content
-
-
• FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 1910,
with this,- but goes on to state that he would feel "a keen enjoyment
in sticking a bayonet into a German who was a Jew, as into a
Prussian Junker. There is not a pin to choose between the two.1/4
Purim 5676
What makes these words more astounding and painful is that
Never in history have the troubled conditions from which the they were uttered by a descendant of Moses Montefiore. What a
festival of Purim commemorates the escape of the Jews, been so shame and pity, indeed, that the bearer of a name which has come to
completely duplicated as this year. Again enemies threaten the typify Jewish benevolence and open-heartedness, should have sunk
Jews on every side. Again death and destruction stare them in the to such depths of barbarity and narrowness.
face. Though scattered into every corner of the world, as they were
The blood you shed and the souls von destroy are the least of , thy
not when, under the machinations of thewicked Haman, their harm, 0 War!
destruction had been decreed, their safety is no more assured now
than it was then. Victims always of prejudice, due to ignorance
An Old Rabbinic Maxim Newly Applied
and misunderstanding; targets always for the poisoned shafts of
in the Ethics of the fathers (Pirke Aboth ), that treasure
house
of
bigotry and persecution and fanaticism, the Jews today find them- homiletic truth, there is set down the maxim, "Be ye not like
ser-
selves in a more abject and hopeless position than ever before.
In the zone of war there are none whose sufferings can even , cants who work for the sake of receiving - a r,!ward, but be ye rather
remotely compare with theirs. Outcasts and pariahs even in the like servants who work with no thought of reward and let the fear
best of times, in this darkened period of war, they are looked upon of heaven be upon von."
In these days it'is well to remind those who are (ngaged in
as the legitimate prey of lust and rapine ; and the rivers in every
carry -
ing forward the social,
land where the battle rages, run red with their blood, unavenged.
the educational, and the religious \cork of our
It is only to this beloved land of liberty which, under the grace of various communities, of this splendid word of the sages. While
there has never been a time when so many hearts were
God, has been protected from the horrors of war, that they can look with sympathy for
pulsating
the
poor
and
the
suffering,
or
when
there
were so
with any degree of assurance for the coming of some heroic Mordecai.
many willing hands given to the work of social betterment, it is yet
or some noble Esther, bearing salvation to them. It is then, to the true that many of those engaged in the work of philanthropy and
American Jew that Purim must bring the most telling message at education are all too eager for personal recognition for the part they
are
this time.
playing in the work. This is true alike of individuals and of or-
We in this land are enjoying a period of unprecedented pros- ganizations. Too many men and women there are who are jealous
more correctly perhaps, lest they themselves do not receive the
perity and progress, while in every other land where Jews live, or,
full meed of appreciation at the hands of
the public, or sufficient
hunger and privation and suffering in every conceivable form stalk praise in the reports of ex
t
ecn.ive
Dithers. and committees. This
abroad. Our gratitude for our happier condition must then express frailty on the part of human nature limy, however, he easily indulged,
a little tact on the part of those at th e h ea d o f
itself, not chiefly in word of prayer or in song, but in our eager
a ffa i rs may serve
to keep the \corkers in good humor.
desire to give of our plenty to those who have not the wherewithal
The problem is•a more serious one 1111C11
even to sustain their lives. Purim has been traditionally the time
this tendency to look
for credit manifests, itself on the part
for giving gifts to the poor. Never before has there been a time
of organizations rather than of
individuals. For this tendOicy leads to misunderstandings that fre-
when there was call for such generous giving as today. Let every quently have
far-reaching results, that not only affect
the efficiency
Jew in this great land be filled with the spirit of a Mordecai. Let of the work that needs to be done, but often lead to costly
duplica-
every Jewess in this country feel herself an Esther, consecrated to tion Of activities. It. is gratifying, therefore, to note that there seems
the high task of saving her people from the bitter fate that impends. to he a complete understanding between the various national organi-
zations
that are presently engaged in the work of directing the
Let it be remembered by the American Jew, what is written in the
gathering
of funds for the relief of Jewish war sufferers. The fine
book of Esther, "Think not that thou shalt escape in the king's
co-operation that is manifest among them and the unselfish support
house, more than all the Jews. If thou altogether holdest thy peace on the part of each of the organizations that care
for credit
at this time, then shall there arise enlargement and deliverence to and appreciation, but very much for the character nothing-
of the work ac-
the Jews from some other place, but thou and thy father's house complished, augurs well for the success of the splendid cause in
shall be destroyed. Who knoweth but that thou are conic to the which they are mutually interested.
kingdom for such a time as this? These words, spoken to Queen
Esther, might well be spoken to American Israel. Who knows butit may give pause to thos e of our co -
religionists who hold to the
that for such a time as this we have been blessed with prosperity distorted is notion that. affiliatin
o with
the
synagogue even in this
country
a hindrance to the
and peace?
ir social and political preferment, to
remember that Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, who has gained high,
laurels for his service to his country during these troubled times, is
Jewish Self-Respect and the War
president of the synagogue in New York with which he is affiliated.
A fact which men have long recognized, but which this war
The appointmen
made indisputable, is the unswerving loyalty and devotion of thebinical
Literatur e int of Professor A. S. Yalitula to the chair of Rab-
Jew to the land in which he dwells. England's Jews have contri- .
Aladrid University, recalls the fact that it was
buted far more than their proportion of volunteers. Jewish blood in Spain that the Jews enjoyed their golden age of literature:
it was that produced sonic of the foremost poets
and the
philosophers
has been shed freely in the cause of Austria, and in the shell-ridden who have graced Israel's history. May it be hoped that
appo
int-
trenches of France and Flanders, there beats more than one brave ment of Professor Yahuda in some Way
betokens
the
resuscitation
of
Jew's o literary activities in the land which holds
Jewish heart. Russia has done little to deserve the loyalty of her memories
for him mingled
m
f high achievement and hitter suffering.

-