THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
6
THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
Issued Every Friday by the Jewish Chronicle Publishing Company.
General Manager
-
ANTON KAUFMAN
Michigan's Only Jewish Publication.
Editor
SAMUEL J. RHODES,
Subscription in Advance
-
$1.50 per year
The same applies to advertisements in the daily press, in which in-
sinuations against the character of the Jew may be made. Very often
more lasting good can be accomplished in a quiet way by influential
citizens of the city in which the offense takes place than by referring
a matter of this kind to a national organization. It is only when local
efforts fail that the co-operation of the Anti-Defamation League should
be asked.
The Jewish Sabbath School Teacher
Offices 314 Peter Smith Bldg.
The Teachers' Institute has been holding a week's session in
Cleveland, which will be followed by a similar session in Chicago.
The Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on subjects of inter-
est to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorse- According to all reports the Cleveland gathering has been a most
successful one, and many Sabbath School teachers from various cities
ment of views expressed by the writers.
- have taken advantage of the instruction there given.
- -
The problem of securing efficient teachers for our religious schools
All correspondence and society notes to insure publication must
has
for
years been a most perplexing - one. While the science of ped-
be sent in so as to reach this office Tuesday morning of each week.
agogy has satisfactorily progressed' in the light of discoveries made
Entered u second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Post Office at 'Detroit, Mich., under the Act of
by experts in child psychology, the religious school has been content
March 3, 1879
to struggle along with the standards and the methods that were in
vogue two decades ago. The teaching staff, especially in the smaller
FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 1916.
communities, was made up for the most part of well-meaning, but
thoroughly inefficient and poorly prepared young men and women.
Accordingly, they brought no inspiration to the pupil who sat at their
Removal Notice
feet, with the natural result that the religious school not only took a
The offices of The Jewish Chronicle have been moved to secondary place to the secular school in the thought of pupils and
parents, but it even became to them an object of ridicule and contempt.
314 Peter Smith Building.
It is no exaggeration to say that much of the indifference that pres- •
ently prevails toward the synagogue is to be directly traced to the
The Central Conference of American Rabbis inefficiency of the religious school of the last two generations.
During recent times, however, great changes have taken place.
During the coming week the eyes of American Jewry will be The leaders of our religious life have awakened to the fact that if
centered on the little seaport town of Wildwood, N. J., where the they are to hid the loyalty of our people, the seeds of interest and
sessions of the Twenty-seventh Annual Conveution of the Central enthusiasm and pride in our religion must be planted during the period
Conference of American Rabbis will be held.
of childhood and youth. Accordingly, many efforts have been made
This organization, which with many another, stands as a monu- to give the teachers of the Sabbath School more ample preparation
ment to the organizing genius of Isaac M. Wise, is the largest and
for their tasks. No inconsiderable credit in this matter must be given
perhaps the most influential rabbinical body in the world. Composed to the Jewish Chautauqua Society, which, through its Correspondence
of the leaders of the Reform movement in this country, it has through
School and its annual convention for Sabbath School teachers, has
the years of its existence wielded a tremendous influence in shaping been, through many years, a factor for great good. ; Another source
'the policies and destinies of American Israel. Through its publication of help has come from the state and interstate religious school teachers
of the Union Prayer Book and more recently of the Union Hymnal, associations, that in recent years have sprung up in various sections
it has. served to unify in spirit the hundreds of Reform congregations of our country, and last, but not least, the Teachers' Institutes, estab-
throughout the land represented by their rabbis in the Conference. lished by Mr. Schiff in connection with both the Hebrew Union Col-
By the publication of numerous tracts dealing with moot questions lege of Cincinnati and the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York,
affecting Jews and Judaism, it has spread a knowledge of the history have been doing excellent work in meeting this important problem.
aM the ideals of the Jew into countries where before they had been All of these institutions deserve the unstinted support of those who are
grossly misunderstood and accordingly repudiated and maligned. In interested in the furtherance of the Jewish cause. •
co-operation with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the
work of this Tract Commission is to be very largely extended by the
Conference.. The Year Books of the Conference contain not only an
Professor Deutsch Honored
account of the business . sessiorrs held each year, but, giving the full
text of the scholarly papers read at the various sessions, represent a
The completion of twenty-five years of continuous service as
contribution to Jewish literature, the value of which can be scarcely Professor of History at the Hebrew Union College by Dr. Gotthard
oyeregimated : It is interesting to note that the first meeting of the Deutsch is an event that was deservedly marked recently by the
Conference was held in the city of Detroit, and the state of Michigan college authorities as well as by the students and alumni of the insti-
haS the : .honor of having entertained this body more frequently than tution. Dr. Deutsch presents a unique figure in American Israel.
any other state in the "Union; • •
Repeatedly called "the living encyclopedia" he is an authority upon
The program for this year's meeting at Wildwood is varied and Jewish history second perhaps to no Jewish scholar who has ever lived.
ftal.of interest. A number of teChnical matters of especial significance Through the quarter of a century of his residence in this country, he
to the_rabbis will be discussed, and problems of vital interest to the has been a voluminous contributor to the Jewish press, and his writ-
of America and of the world will also be presented. The pro- ings are the more readable because always spiced with bits of humor.
J ewry
,.
ceedings will no doubt be closely followed by those who are inter- By his pupils, Professor Deutsch is greatly beloved, for he has always
ested in matters Jewish.
stood to them much in the relation of father or big brother. We join
the hosts of his admirers in offering our hearty felicitations at this
auspicious time, and in the hope that he may be spared to continue his
The Anti-Defamation League
good work through very many years to come.,
At the recent meeting of the local B'nai B'rith, at which was pres-
ent the Grand President of the District, considerable emphasis was laid
Better a single kindly word spoken to the hearing ear than the
by various speakers upon the work of the Anti-Defamation League. most eloquent eulogy pronounced upon the (lead.
The importance of that work in driving the caricature of the Jew from
the stage, is unquestionably of the highest importance and too much
Religious services will be held this summer in hundreds of re-
credit cannot be given to the officers of the B'nai B'rith and of the
sorts where Jews are accustomed to assemble. It is to be hoped that
Leaguerfor what they have accomplished. Their hands should be up-
all Jews present at such places will participate in these services for
held by every earnest Jew.
However, there is some work along these lines that can be done their own uplift and for the maintenance of respect in their own eyes
locally in each city more effectively than by a national organization. and that of their neighbors.
It should be the part of some society•in every city of considerable size
Intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews may in nine cases out
to watch the theater programs as they are presented from day to day,
especially in the .vaudeville houses and in the "movie" theaters. Fre- of ten be traced back to homes in which religion was a theme for-
quently a mere word of' suggestion to the manager of a local house gotten or where it represented an empty form rather than an ideal to
will be ample to remove from the stage any objectionable character. live up to.
.