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THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
Issued Every Friday by the Jewish Chronicle Publishing Company.
ANTON KAUFMAN
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General Manager
Michigan's Only Jewish Publication.
SAMUEL J. RHODES,
Subscription in Advance
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Editor
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Offices 314 Peter Smith Bldg.
Phone Cherry 3381
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est to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorse-
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be sent in so as to reach this office Tuesday morning of each week.
Entered as second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Post Office at Detroit, Mich., under the Act of
March 3, 1879
FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 1916.
The Soul of a Jew .
In these days of the high cost of living, when every commodity
has advanced to almost unthinkable prices, the soul of the Jew still
retains its place of supremacy as the most valuable of all precious
things to be striven for. At least such is the unchanging belief of a
very considerable portion of the constituency of our Christian com-
munities if we may fairly judge by the eagerness with which they vie
with each other for the privilege of saving the benighted Jew from
eternal damnation. No other goal is so dear to them. Even their
own fellow-Christians may languish in the foulest moral filth—but the
Jew must be saved. Christians who fall from the heights of righteous
living may perish in their sins—but heaven forefend that the Jew
should die uncleansed of the foul influence of his Judaism.
This is the only logical conclusion that can be reached from an
unprejudiced study of the frantic efforts that the missionary agents
to the Jews put forth in season and out of season. These agents are
frequently those who have themselves emerged from "the darkness of
Judaism to the light of Christ's salvation". That "having seen the
light" they have not paid back the moneys they embezzled, or made
good to the wife and child they deserted, or done an honest day's work
that they failed to do while still "walking in darkness" makes no whit
of difference to those who use them to bring back the scattered sheep
of the house of Israel. That anyone with half an eye can see that the
majority of these fellows are in the business for revenue only makes
no impression upon the good Christian clergymen, to whom the sal-
vation of a Jewish soul is . better than a month's salary. They have
not read the hook recently published by the Rev. Samuel Freuder, for
two decades a missionary to the Jews, but whose soul at length re-
volted against the whole disgusting- business and whose little remain-
ing manhood made it impossible for him to (lie the arrant hypocrite
that he had been for over twenty years. In his book he exposes the
methods, manners and morals (!) of the "converted" rabbis and sons
of rabbis ( ?) who feed upon the gullible and unsuspecting Christian
public.
We commend the reading of this book to the Rev. H. Wray Boyle,
of the Woodward Avenue. Presbyterian Church ; the Rev. II. Lester
Smith, of the Central M. E. Church, and the other reverend brethren
who with them constitute the Advisory Council of the local branch
of the "Friends of Israel" Society that has opened "a mission to the
Jews" in the heart of the Hastings Street district, where Jews of all
grades of manners and morals may, by a simple confession of faith, be
transformed into "good Christians" in the shortest possible time.
Moreover, if the usual precedent is to be followed, their conversion
will not be without material advantage—and . who knows ?—even the
least worthy of them all may himself, in a few months or even weeks,
if luck be with him, be a "missionary to the Jews" with a pretty com-
fortable salary paid by the "Friends of Israel" in addition to good
pickings at the meetings and such "gifts" as friends of the cause may
be inspired to contribute to the great and holy work.
Verily this is a great day for the Jews of Detroit. Now that a
Mission has been established in the very heart of the loc-al Ghetto,
with such eminent clergymen as those above mentioned to sponsor it,
and under the eminent leadership of the gifted and Christ-inspired Rev.
S. K. Braun, "son of an Orthodox Jewish rabbi," what may not the
Jews of this community hope for? Those who have had no means of
livelihood will be given food to surfeit. Those who have had to
dodge the police will be safe in Christ's protection. Deserting; hus-
bands will be forgiven, not by their wives, but by Christ. And so we
will all be washed clean. We will, moreover, not have to worry about
getting lunches ready for our children. The mission will surely give
them all sorts of sweetmeats. They always do. It makes the road
to Christ so much sweeter and easier. Therefore, rejoice, ye Jews of
Detroit.
But in the meantime what of our good Christian friends? Must
they all die neglected in their sins? For if we are to believe the daily
reports of the newspapers there are still Christians who are steeped in
vice and brutality; Christians who steal, and murder and violate every
law of decency. There are Christian homes that are dens of immor-
ality and cruelty and crime. There are Christian men and women,
church members, too, whose business morality is not above reproach
and whose personal lives will not bear the scrutiny of careful investi-
gation. Must these all be neglected and forgotten for the sake of
saving the Jew? Alack and alas, so it seems. Even the Rev. Billy
Sunday promises to aid the Christ-inspired Rev. S. K. Braun in the
holy work. And that proves its importance beyond a doubt, for Sun-
day does not waste his time on insignificant sinners. Therefore, God
speed the Godly work. Jews, come forward. The "Friends of Israel"
will pay the bill. They never stop at expenses. Rev. Boyle, Rev.
Smith and their colleagues will see to it that their people drop an
extra penny in the collection plate next Sunday.
The Union Prayer Book
At the recent session of the Central Conference of American Rabbis
it was, reported that the Union Prayer Book, of which the Conference
is the publisher, is in use in 318 of the most representative Congrega-
tions in America, and is used besides by 23 institutions. This is no
small source of merit to the Conference. The Prayer Book has been a
distinct unifying force in American Israel, and though not without its
somewhat serious defects, its adoption by so many congregations is
positive evidence that it is the most satisfactory ritual that has yet been
made available for American Jews. A Committee is now at work upon
the revision of the book, and it is promised that when their labors are
completed the Union Prayer Book will be a master-piece of devotional
literature, and that it will be couched in classic English. The new edi-
tion will ill all likelihood be ready in about two years.
In these days any city should be ashamed to admit that it has no
poor,•Jews within its borders. If there are none, some should be
imported from the congested East Side of New York and given an
opportunity to re-habilitate themselves in new and better sur-
roundings.
What They Are Saying
Wichita, Kan., according to the Eagle, of that city, is scared into
fifty-seven varieties of fits, because "millions of Russian Jews will
emigrate to the United States after the war."
Think of it—millions!
"Can we afford to do so?" the editor solemnly inquires of his read-
ers, and evidently still waiting for a reply, he adds that the recent
gain in hours and wages for labor in this country "would be jeopar-
dized by the entrance of those millions of Jews, with their lower
standard of living, their hunger for work at any price."
But why select the Jewish immigrant for this uncalled for attack?
Why not the Greek Catholic, the Roman Catholic, the Protestant, and
men of other faiths?
The statement about the Jews' "hunger for work at any price"
would be positively funny were it not so harmful. Employers of labor
know that there are no greater sticklers for unionism than Jewish
workmen, always struggling for shorter hours and higher wages.
Lower standard of living?
Jews are known the world over, the moment they can afford to
do so, to buy the best of everything at any cost. By this we do not
mean to confine ourselves to the grocer, the butcher and the baker.
Ask the landlord, the managers of theaters, the heads of colleges,
owners of book stores, the hotelkeepers.
The heading of the Eagle editorial is, "What Shall We Do ?"
We'll tell you what to do. Keep your mouth shut and stop talk-
ing nonsense.
Then the Eagle may go on screaming as soon as it knows just
what to scream about.