THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
6
This•"Foreword" bears the signature of the President. Not only is
this
tribute
to the worth and power of the Bible couched in that classic
-
Issued Every Friday by the Jewish Chio i nkle Publishing Company. English which is characteristic of Mr. Wilson's style, but it touches so
Geheral . Minager nearly the very heart of truth as to the place the Bible may and should
ANTON. KAUFMAN
play in men's lives, especially in times of supreme crisis, that it is likely
'fo
find an enduring place in our literature. The fact that in times like
Michigan's Only Jewish Publication.
'these the President should pause in his arduous labors to pen this tribute
$1.50 per year ' should serve as a rebuke to those cynics and sceptics, who, utterly ignor-
Subscription in Advance
ant of the spirit as well as the contents of the Bible, are accustomed to
speak lightly of it. Especially should the Jews,' who gave the great
Offices 314 Peter Smith Bldg.
Book of Books to the world, be inspired to take the dust-covered
Phones: Cherry 3381 and 1526
down from the shelf where it has lain long neglected and to turn
Editorial Contributor to, its pages for guidance and inspiration. No man who is ignorant of
RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN,
the Bible can rightfully call himself cultured. To boast that ignorance,
The Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on subjects of inter- as some without shame would do, is the mark of a high degree of boor-
.
est to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorse- ishness. - Perhaps the words of the President will do more to impress
this fact upon them than the words of any preacher.
men&f the views expressed by the writers.
THE JEWISH ,CHRONI , CL . E
.
- -
All correspondence to insure publication must be sent in so as to
reach this office Tuesday morning o 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, AUG. 24, 1917
A Call to Service
An ,initnediate and pressing duty rests upon the Jews of Michigan.
The establishment of a military cantonment at Battle Creek will bring
to that place almost 40,000 men, of whom it is fair to estimate that be-
tween 1600 and 1500 will be of the Jewish faith. Many of these will
be in camp during the high holy days, which are less than a month away.
That their religious needs must be looked after at that time is obvious.
PerhaPS the Jewish Board for Welfare Work in the United States Army
and Navy will be in position to send a rabbi there to conduct services.
HOweVer, this is doubtful, since the board's call for funds for the carrying
on of its, work has not met with a particularly generous response. It is
therefore the bounden duty of the Jews of this State, perhaps in co-
operation' with the National Board, to provide the means of worship for
the Jewish soldiers who shall be stationed at Battle Creek. They are
for the most part Michigan men. Soule will come from the neighboring
state of Wisconsin. }311' f!for the time being they are within our borders
and we must regard them as our legitimate charges. Means must be
supplied to secure the •services'of a rabbi to look after the spiritual needs
of these men. The Battle Creek Jewish community, consisting of a mere
handful of people cannot be expected to do this. It is the work of the
Detroit. , The local Invai
Jews of the State, and especially of the eitY
B'rith Lodge has offered its co-operation iu the work; but the help of
every Jew and of every Jewish organization4!imineOiately imperative. ,
Aside from_ the religious needs of . these young .men, .some.. provision
ihould be made for their wholesome entertainment while in Battle Creek:
perhaps it might be of real service for the . communityto.render.,to engad
d ome well-qualified Social'vVdiker; who; iti CO-opetatiOn'with tbe'V. - M. C.
A. wOrkerS,-•whiLalone,, are recogniied;by...the Government, might liav
pirect charge of the. Jewish young men at the cantonment. At any rate
, Here is
• ve cannot perinit our duty in the matter to be glossed
tangible opportunity for service. Will the Jews, of Detroit and Michigati
Vise to that opportunity as nobly' as they usually do when bin)/ beckon
. ,
them
a
President Wilson on. the Bible
In these 'days,'when the word of 'the President of the' United States1
on any subject 'is eagerly awaited and seriously regarded by people 4,
all creeds and classes,,it,cannot be without interest and inspiration to react
ivhat he has recently,' written about the. Bible and its _power over th8,
Jives of men. • At the invitation of the 5criptureGiff.MissiOn of Philair
Oelphia, the President has written a "Voreword" f or ihe''Bibles that arl
to be presented by that 'Organization 'to thousandS of enlisted men.
• •
.
•'
,
reads in Part as follows!'
"The Bible is theWOrd o f 'Life. I beg that you will read it and find:
snatches Nre,atact there, but long',
this out for yoursetvcs xreead,
_
passages that, will really be theroad to the heart of,it.
"You will find it full of real men and women not only, but also cA
Olings,youhayewonde,redabout and. been_tronblekabout all _your_life Lai,"
Aways.; and the more you reaa the more it will become.
plain to you what things are worth while and what , ,are.nclt;•what. things.
hake iMn happy 7-7loy.alv i:Jight dealings,:speaking the •truth, readiness
to give eirerythiiigl AAA t% * *
•
"When you have read' the Bible, you will know that it is the Word!
heart, your;
of God, because you will have found it the key to your own
;-; t ..,
r
cpwn haPpniesi'alla titit. own duty."
A Virile Pulpit - Demanded
In an address before .a gathering of ministers in Chicago last week
Bishop Nicholson of that city expressed some very strong and stirring
sentiments as to the kind of men who are needed in the modern pulpit.
Among other things he is reported to have said that the "sissy pastor"
is out of date. Good for the Bishop! If ,there is any one thing that
must be more disgusting than another to serious-minded men and that
inevitably must serve to drive them out of the churches it is the senti-
mental drivel that is so frequently made to pass for a pulpit message.
But that sort of preaching, as the Bishop points out, has had its day.
It may here and there satisfy some weak-minded men and some foolish
Nyothen, but it will nowhere serve to deepen the religious consciousness of
earnest persons of either • sex, nor to bring to expression what is best
and noblest in their natures. For this the pulpit message must first of
'all be a virile message. It must not deal in glowing generalities that
sound well but mean nothing, and it must not be couched in language
so florid that its style is more worth while than its content;.
• The pulpit message must touch life at its highest and its deepest.
Nothing that concerns the thoughts and acts of men in their human rela-
tion's can be foreign to.it . The intellectua4 and the spiritual lives of men
and women must be stimulated by the preacher. Ile who fails to accom-
plish this through his pulpit essentially fails altogether.
We believe that this fact has been realized in a very marked degree
by the average Jewish preacher. As a rule his pulpit utterances are Marked
by earnestness, frankness and courage. He does not often •condone
the failure of men and women to live up to the best that is in them.
Many times his denunciations of vice in high places is well-nigh heroic.
In part this fearless attitude is encouraged by the people of the synagogue.
The Jew is not by nature, namby-pamby. I le likes a man to speak
straight out and, as they say, to strike straight out from the shoulder. So
far . as We know, no rabbi has ever lost his position for telling the truth,
no matter how unpleasant, though in every community there are a few
who do not relish the unvarnished truth about themselves. On the
whole the Jewish pulpit is a free platform ; and just for this reason the
rabbi is courageous and his message virile. By the Jews preachers like
Hirsch, Wise, Philipson, Schulman and others like them who do not
mince wordS when high causes are at stake, are held in higher esteem
than those few whose greatest victory is to make the women and children
cry at 'their services. All of which indicates the fortunate fact that in
Judaism the ."sissy pastor" has never been as popular as among some of
our sister churches.
A survey of the names of the young men drafted for army service
in Detroit reveals what at first glance appears like an abnormally large
percentage of Jews. But this is not the case. The fact is that the
Jewish population of Detroit has in recent years grown in full propor-
tion with the non-Jewish community.. This reflects itself in every
phase of local 'Jewish activity.. The constant establishment of new
congregations and the 'growth of existing ones, the increase of all
sorts of educational and philanthropic enterprises, and with all the
intensification' of Jewish social, economic and religious problems all
point to one fact. We have become a great community. Shall we be
able to cope efficiently with the many pressing problems that grow out
of that fact? Only the future can tell.
holy days will soon be at hand. It is a good time for every
Jew who is not now affiliated to join a congregation. Thousands of
Jews in this city, many of them well to do, are without congregational
affiliation. If any of our readers are among them, let them hasten to
remove the 'reproach which non-affiliation implies.
'