THE JEWISH ,CHRONICLE

to be corrected. Some there are who imagine that thrOugh the fact
that equal rights have been accorded to the Jews of Russia, since the
Issued Every Friday by the Jewish Chronicle Publishing Company.
recent revolution there, their need of material help has also been met.
ANTON KAUFMAN•-
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General Manager But this is far from the truth. Never in the history of the Jew have so
many millions of our people faced death from cold and starvation as
Michigan's Only Jewish Publication.
is presently the case. It is said that not less than three million Jew-
Subscription in Advance
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$1.50 per year ish men, women and children are in this plight, and that nothing short
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of ten million dollars will even measurably meet their most pressing
Phones: Cherry 3381 and 1526
needs. Of this huge amount of money, Mr. Julius Rosenwald has
RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN,
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Editorial Contributor given one-tenth. Surely, the Jews of the whole country will quickly
and gladly give the other nine-tenths.
The Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on subjects of inter-
In the city of Detroit an active campaign for funds under the
est to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorse- splendid leadership of Mr. David A. Brown, will be inaugurated
ment of the views expressed by the writers.
shortly. It is proposed that for one week a large number of workers
All correspondence and society notes to insure publication must consecrated to their task, will give themselves to the work of solicita-
tion and collection. Those who enter upon this task will be in the
be sent in so as to reach this office Tuesday morning of each week.
truest sense of the term soldiers of mercy, and their appeal will un-
Entered as second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Post Office at Detroit,
doubtedly
be responded to with that same generous and eager spirit
Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879
that marked the campaign of last year when the need was infinitely
less than it is today. It should be borne in mind, as President Wilson
FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 1917
wired recently to Mr. Rosenwald in congratulating him upon his mu-
nificent gift to the Jewish War Relief Fund, that every cent given to
The Need of Thrift
this cause serves not only the Jews, but serves as well the cause of
We are living in an age that is notorious for its extravagance. democracy and of humanity. Will Detroit again stand in the front
Seldom in the history of the world has there been an equal record of
ranks of the cities of the country in this high and consecrated service
wasteful indulgence alike of food, of dress, of household arrangements
of humanity? We who know the Jews of Detroit feel that we shall
and of pleasure. This tendency is perhaps the less blameworthy in
not be disappointed in expecting them to set up a standard that other
view of the great material prosperity of our times, and of the fact that
cities shall follow.
vast fortunes have been quickly and easily accumulated in late years.
Certainly there has never been a time when such vast resources have
The Jewish Congress Postponed
been at the disposal of so many men as in the present time. And un-
At the last meeting of the Administrative Council it was decided
fortunately these set the pace of self-indulgence and extravagance. to postpone the meeting of the proposed Jewish Congress from May
They seem to shape the tendencies of the time so that the multitudes until September. This action was to be looked for in the light of
with less right to self-indulgence, follow their example of extravagant recent events. The granting of equal rights to the Jews in Russia
living. It is a fact that admits of no dispute that the majority of really solves the biggest problem which it was the purpose of the
American families live beyond their means today. They indulge in all Congress to bring to solution: Indeed, there are those among the
sorts of luxuries, not so much for their own sakes, as to put up a sponsors of the Congress movement who are convinced that the basic
brave front in the eyes of their neighbors. The failures and the heart- reasons for calling the Congress into being no longer exist, now that
aches that frequently follow such a course are sufficiently familiar to the Russian Jew has found equality and freedom. Be that as it may,
require no comment.
the time is certainly inopportune, now that America has entered as
But the time - has come when the men and women of this country
an active participant in the war, to especially press the claims of the
should be made to halt in their mad careers of extravagance. So long Jew for recognition. More potent than any appeal that may be made
as there is an abundance of supplies of all kinds at hand, it is perhaps to the concerted powers by any organization of Jewish people, will
the right of the individual to decide as to how far he may indulge be the argument of loyalty and devotion which the Jew shall put for-
himself. But now that we have entered as participants in the great ward•by his service in his country's cause in this time of crisis. That
world conflict—and there are those who warn us that there is a great he will serve side by side with his fellow American, wherever service
possibility of a shortage in the food supply and in other necessities of is called for, with unflinching devotion, there can be no room to doubt,
life—it becomes positively immoral for anyone to be guilty of waste- and that when the war shall have ended and a congress on terms of
fulness and of undue extravagance. In times like these. self-control settlement shall be called, that the representatives of the American
should be a dominant virtue, and the willingness to give up some of government will see to it that in appreciation of the Jew's devotion,
the things that really add nothing to the fulness of life, ought to be a his rights will be safeguarded throughout the world, there can equally
mark of that self-control.
be no doubt. It may be then, that•the Jewish Congress, wisely post-
And in these matters the Jews might well set an example to their poned now from May to September, will in due time be further post-
fellow Americans. The Jews are characteristically good livers. The poned by the Administrative Council. Indeed, it is to be hoped by all
Jewish householder believes that there is nothing too good in the way friends of the Jewish cause that affairs will so shape themselves that
of food, of clothes, of home, of pleasure for his wife and children. the wisdom of this course will be self-evident. For our part, we have
Under the goad of the thoroughly praiseworthy impulse to give his sufficient 'faith in the sense of justice of this American people and its
dear ones the very best that money can buy, he has set up a standard representatives to believe that when the time for talking peace terms
of living that, as a general rule, is considerably above that of the non- shall have come, the Jew and the rights of the Jew in every country
Jew in the same financial circumstances. We believe that this is a of the world will not be forgotten or neglected.
good time to change our course. We do not ask that our people who
are well-circumstanced, should become penurious or miserly, or that
Honorable Simon Bamberger, governor of Utah ; Morris Levy,
they should give up any of the things that really make life happy, but of Omaha, Nebraska, and Ben Selling, of Portland, Oregon—perhaps
we contend that the greater part of the money spent today by many under the inspiration of Mr. Rosenwald's splendid example—have
of our people adds nothing to the meaning of life for themselves or offered to give to the Relief Fund for Jewish Sufferers from the War,
for others, but at best adds a little to their vanity and to their sense from their personal means, an amount equal to ten per cent of what
of superiority above their neighbors. Our only plea is for a saner all the Jews in their respective localities shall contribute to this fund.
interpretation of our human needs from day to day. We may well Accompanying his gift, Gov. Bamberger telegraphed the chairman of
sum up our thoughts iri the question of the Prophet, "Why will ye the Committee that it is his conviction that by feeding and saving:
spend money for that which is not bread, why will ye labor for what three million starving Jews, we are helping the cause of ,democracy in
cannot satisfy?"
Russia and throughout the world, as well as aiding his own people.
This is the expression of a true American patriot as well as of a Froad-
minded Jew. Who will be the man in Michigan to follow the high
A Campaign of Mercy
example of these noble Jews ?,
On Sunday of this Week there will be held in the city of New
York a meeting of representative Jews from all parts of the country
The death at Rome of Sir Moses Ezekiel represents a great loss
to work out a plan of concerted action by which the campaign for the to the world of art. Sir Moses Ezekiel, an American and a Jew, took
raising of ten million dollars to relieve the wants of our brethren in a foremost rank among the sculptors of our time, and his works are
the zones of war, may be most effectively carried out. The importance found in the leading galleries of America and Europe. One of his
of the work that will here be outlined can scarcely be overestimated. best known pieces is his 'statue of religious liberty erected ' - by the
So often has the tale of agonizing want and woe among our co-relig- Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.
ionists been retold, that it would seem,well nigh superfluous to repeat
again the story of their misery. And yet those who are in position to
know, tell us that not one-half the truth has been told—indeed, that
the wretchedness is so great as to utterly defy description. Moreover,
there are certain misapprehensions as to existing conditions that need

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

