THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
6
THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
Issued Every Friday by the Jewish Chronicle Publishing Company.
General Manager
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ANTON KAUFMAN
Michigan's Only Jewish Publication.
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Subscription in Advance
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RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN,
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Editorial Contributor
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est to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorse-
ment of the views expressed by the writers.
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Entered as second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Post Office at Detroit,
Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879
FRIDAY, AUG. 3, 1917
Patriotism and the Synagog
In these days when, among other agencies for the stimulation of
the patriotic sentiment, the church and the synagog are constantly
appealed to, it is worth while noticing that patriotism has had a lead-
ing place at all times in the liturgical literature of Judaism. The
familiar phrase, "Dino d'Malchutho Dino"—"the law of the land is
law," is only one of numberless principles laid down in the Rabbinic
Law bearing, upon this point. "Were it not for the welfare of the
government men would swallow one another alive," is a well-known
maxim of the Rabbis. The old Prayer Book invariably included a
prayer for the guidance of those in authority which has been para-
phrased in the Union Prayer Book as follows : "Fervently we invoke
Thy benediction for this, our country, and our nation. Guard them 0
God, from calamity and injury; may their adversaries not triumph
over them, but the glories of a just, righteous and God-fearing nation
increase from age to age. Enlighten and sustain with Thy power
those whom the people have set in authority ; the President and his
counsellors and advisors, the judges, law-givers and executives, and
all those who are entrusted with our safety and with the guardianship
. of our rights and liberties. May peace and good will obtain amongst
all the citizens of our land ; may religion spread its blessings among
us and exalt our nation in righteousness."
Similarly the prayer for peace was a part of the usual ritual in the
passage well known to every Jew and beginning "Sim Sholom." This
the Union Prayer Book renders in part as follows : "Grant us peace,
Thy most precious gift, 0 Thou eternal source of peace, and enable
Israel to be a messenger of peace unto the peoples of the earth. Bless
our country 'that it may ever be a stronghold of peace and its advocate
in' the councils of nations," etc.
Thus it is apparent that so far as the Jew is concerned it has
required no great national calamity like the war to awaken in him a
sense of patriotic duty. Indeed, his fine response to every appeal that
America has addressed to its citizenry during these trying times may
in no small measure be explained by the teachings of his religion,
whiCh make the service of country a paramount duty. The Jew who
will be a slacker or a shirker would at once win the disdain of his fel-
low Jews. Jews may differ among themselves, as do all classes of
Americans. as to certain phases of the war in which we are engaged,
but no good Jew would hesitate to give his all, if by his sacrifice his
country might the more surely realize its highest purposes. It is
because a , love of country is so thoroughly ingrained in the Jew's
nature by centuries of synagogal teaching, that an emotional appeal
to him at this time seems superfluous. He may be depended upon to
do his patriotic duty. .
The Fresh Air Camp
Sunday of this week has been set aside by the Governing Board
of the Jewish Fresh Air Camp as visiting day. It is sincerely hoped
that many of our Detroit Jews who have never visited this institution
will take this opportunity of doing so. They would see there a sight
not soon to be forgotten. A hundred kiddies saved for at least a
couple of weeks from the heat and the filth of the crowded sections,
breathing, many of them for the first time in their lives, the free air
of the country, and all of them happy beyond words in their temporary
experience of freedom, will greet the visitor. It is safe to say that the
Camp during the years of its existence has actually kept alive many
children who without it must have succumbed to the conditions amid
which they would have had to spend the heated season without relief.
The Camp, like all our philanthropic institutions, is noi acctoni
plishing a maxim of good simply because it is hampered fo fun ds.
People who spend many hundreds on themselves and their : .; un iiies
for a few weeks' outing in the mountains or at the seashore :ire fre-
quently too niggardly to give even a few paltry dollars for th e camp
that furnishes the only outing possible to the waifs of ou r Over-
crowded sections. But if they once saw the Camp "in action" h
would not dismiss- it from their minds so readily. In fact, this applies
to all of our philanthropic institutions. If our people could only get
first hand knowledge of what they are doing not only for their im-
mediate beneficiaries, but indirectly though not
certainly,
certain , for the
o
vrtheir
nlaFiirle
entire community, the necessary funds fien.
tesiilla,1\%: \_\:tiii()1
surely be more readily and generously given. The
(z( i) in,
through its visiting day, offers this opportunity, Let it not lie neg-
lected by those who have never seen the Camp at work.
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A Loss to Jewish Journalism
The death at Cleveland of Mr. Maurice Weidenthal, editor and
publisher of the Jewish Independent, is a real loss to the ciiuse of
Jewish journalism in America. Mr. Weidenthal had an ideal t, which
he lived up courageously and conscientiously. Ile felt it his duty
through the columns of his paper to fight down the monster of anti-
semitism whenever it ventured to lift its head. At times he may have
been a bit too aggressive in his pursuit of the monster and been mis-
led by his enthusiasm to mistake for anti-semitic propaganda what
was not intended as such. None the less he rendered most valuable
service, and it may be said without injustice to other agencies engaged
in similar work, that Mr. Weidenthal through his paper did at least
as much as any or all others in ridding the stage of the disgusting
caricature of the Jew, without which, until recent times, no vaudevill e
program was complete. Had he, as editor of a Jewish paper, accom-
plished only this, he would have put the Jews of America under an
enduring debt of gratitude to him.
An Unjustified Criticism
The criticism launched by the associate editor of the Reform
Advocate against the appointment of Dr.•Krauskopf on the I loover
Food Conservation Committee, is hardly to be justified, though we
feel sure that it was made with the best of intentions. Dr. Levy's con-
tention that the matter of food conservation is a national problem,
and that therefore the Jews as Jews should have no special represen-
tation on the committee, is on the surface entirely correct. \\'e agree
with him that a Jewish regiment in the army or any other form of
Jewish organization under the government would not be tolerable.
But the case in point is not comparable to these. Here is a situation
to be met in the quickest and most efficient manner possible. It is
entirely apart from politics. Food must be conserved, and the people
must be educated to the necessity. Now, Mr. Hoover rightly con-
ceives that in such an educational campaign the churches can play a
very important part. •Hence he appoints leading men from the three
great church bodies of America to bring the matter in as forcible a
way as possible to the attention of their various constituencies. It s i
not at all a case of the Jew or the church in politics. If it were such
we should be among the first to fight the movement with all the force
at our command. But we do not care to set up a straw man just for
the fun of throwing it down.
The custom introduced by the Jews of Detroit of adding to the
eath notice of a dear one the request that instead of flowers mentorial
contributions should be sent to the charities, has attracted collider-
able notice and has created much favorable comment. W e 11, qice
this week that the idea has been copied by non-Jews who, adopting the
very words customarily used by our co-religionists, ask that flowers
be omitted and that instead memorial gifts be sent to the Red Cross
..Society. The custom should become, more and more general. It is
nothing but vanity and desire for empty show that prevents its uni-
versal adoption. So far as the Jews are concerned, it represents, of
course, merely a return to the beautiful simplicity that for generations
was characteristic of all their funeral customs.
The American Israelite calls attention to the change in spirit that
has come to the University of Michigan since the day when an , Ini-
nent professor was refuse -d an appointment on the faculty becati-e he
was a member of the . Unitarian Church. That must have been wally
years ago. Today there is no institutions of learning anywhere \\ here
a more thoroughly liberal spirit prevails. The religion of the student
plays no part in his preferment. His manhood and his ability are the
counting factors. There, as everywhere else, a man is respected who
respects himself. Accordingly, only the Jew who would hide or deny
his Judaism is looked upon with suspicion. And this is as it should he.