THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

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THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

Issued Every Friday by the Jewish Chronicle Publishing Company.
- xGeneral Manager
— ANTON' KAUFMAN

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RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN,

Editorial Contributor

The Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on subjects of inter-
est to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorse-
ment of the views expressed by the writers.

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

That such ignorance and misrepresentation may not continue to
go unchallenged two things are necessary. In the first place the Jew
himself must be educated to an understanding of his own dogmas.
I le must be given a more adequate knowledge of his history, his
philosophy and literature. I Ie must be prepared to reply intelligently
to those who speak of the Jew out of their ignorance and out of their
malevolence.
And then the non-Jew must be educated as to the beliefs and
teachings of Judaism. This may be accomplished by popular lectures,
by magazine and newspaper articles, but especially by the wide dis-
tribution of tracts on Judaism such as have in a limited way been
distributed in recent years by the Central Conference of American
Rabbis and by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
Until we take pains to spread a more adequate knowledge of the
facts about Jews and Judaism among the general community we shall
have , to be content to be thought of as a people different from all
others and by that token incapable of entering into the spirit of the
life of which we are a part. The responsibility for the general mis-
understanding rests •for the most part upon the Jew himself. It is
for him therefore to do what he may to remove it.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 7, 1917

Jewish Welfare Work at Battle Creek.

A Great Community Loss

Seldom have the hearts of Detroit Jews been stirred to such
depths of sorrow and but rarely have so many persons felt a sense of
personal bereavement comparable to that occasioned by the sudden
and tragic death of Jacob G. Brown. There was scarcely a phase of
social service in which he was not an interested, intelligent and
unselfish helper. With perhaps one exception he gave more of him-
self than anyone else to the United Jewish Charities. When the Amer-
icanization movement was started in Detroit he was one of its most
ardent sponSors. Whatever cause made for the uplift and betterment
of men had in him a friend and supporter. He gave not only of his
means in measure that might well inspire older and better circum-
stanced men, but his time, his energies, his life, was at the command
af. those in need.
We believe that it is no unmerited tribute to Jacob G. Brown to
say that no individual Jew at the age of 32 has done so much for the
community, or gave promise of greater service in the future than he.
He loved to serve. He had the vision to see that happiness must be
counted not in the terms of what men got out of life, but rather of
what they put into life. Moreover he had a genius for friendship and
he won the whole-hearted esteem of men in all walks of life. Hun-
dreds of our poorer co-religionists were accustomed to turn to him as
their counsellor and friend, and if they were worthy they never left
him without a heightened courage in facing their problems. Yet his
friendship was not of a kind to be bought and sold. He never trailed
upon his friendships. He only rejoiced in them.
In his business life he was successful in the best sense. He was
elevated to the Presidency of the Leaders' Club of the Fidelity Mutual
Insurance Company recently in recognition of his splendid service to
the company he served. But this was characteristic of the man.
Whatever he did he did worthily and with the enthusiasm of loyalty.
But he worked hard in his chosen field not merely for the material
rewards which success bring, but that he might have at hand the
means of helping others. Material wealth was to him a trust and a
responsibility. How well he understood this may be read in the rec-
ords of the United Jewish Charities, the War Relief Fund, the Free
1.oan Society and dozens of worthy institutions.
Mr. Brown was a man of positive convictions. As such it was
inevitable that there should be those who could not understand or
wholly sympathize with his ideas and methods. But few are the men
who have enjoyed the esteem and the whole-souled respect of so many
or who deserved it so well. —2

,N

.....

At a meeting of representative Jews from most of the cities of
Michigan, held at Battle Creek last Sunday, it was decided to take up
aggressively the matter of attending to the social and religious needs
of the Jewish soldiers at Camp Custer. In the first place, religious
services will be held on the high holydays and if possible on Sabbaths.
Arrangements have already been made for all Jews encamped at Camp
Custer to obtain a furlough on Rosh Hashono and Yom Kippur. A
social worker, to be permanently situated at the Camp, will be en-
gaged. It is hoped that sonic amicable working arrangement may be
made by which all organizations interested in this work •shall co-operate
fully and efficiently with the Jewish Board of Welfare Work, formed
through the co-operation of the Central Conference of American
Rabbis, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations, the Council of Y. M. H. and Kindred
Associations, the Jewish Publication Society and the United Syna-
gogue of America.
It would be eminently unfortunate, if because this work is under-
taken by two or more distinct bodies, there should be duplication of work
and undue expenditure of energy and money. Moreover, whether the
Brith organization is as well equipped to carry on the religious
work at the camp as the Jewish Board for Welfare Work in the
United States Army and Navy is, to say the least, open to question.
Nonetheless we have the assurance that every phase of the work will
be efficiently and painstakingly carried out and there is no small guar-
antee that this will. be the case, in the selection for general chairman
of the committee having the work in charge, of Mr. Samuel Folz of
Kalamazoo, than whom no man in Michigan is more earnest, more
interested or more intelligent in work of this character. However,
no organization can work without ample funds and it is absolutely
necessary that the Jews of Detroit and of the entire state should re-
spond liberally to the call that shall soon be made upon them for the
necessary means to carry out the program of the Welfare League.
The Y. M. C. A. is spending millions of dollars for similar work among
the young men of his constituency. Surely the Jews of Detroit and
Michigan will realize their duty to the Jewish boys who are offering
their lives upon their country's altar and in whose behalf we are each
asked`to do our part.

Rabbi Mayerberg Takes Up His Work in
Detroit.

1. pu t,

As Others See Us

In the course of an address on Comparative Religion delivered
by an eminent Christian theologian in one of the churches of Detroit
recently, the speaker sought to make his points clear by putting into
the hands of his auditors a printed sheet, on which in statistical form
were set down what he conceived to be the points of differentiation
among the leading religions of the world. Much of his theory in
regard to his own religious creed would, we believe, scarcely pass
muster at the hands of Christian scholars, but we are particularly
interested in his analysis of Judaism. Among other nonsense such as
the statement that the sacrifices of the Jews include the "eating of
passover cakes" and that we regard sin only as an "act' s and not as a
"state," he goes on with this remarkable statement : "The Orthodox
regard the Talmud as more sacred than the Old Testament and preach
Zionism." The diagnosis is interesting only as it tends to show what
silly and insipid stuff is taught about the Jews from Christian pulpits
and by men whose words are supposed by their auditors to carry with
them the authority of scholarship.

774.4.1'

tRabbi Samuel Spier Mayerberg who assumes his duties as Assist
ant Rabbi of Temple Beth El this week, comes at a time when his ener-
gies and abilities will be put to a supreme test. For the time being
at least his work will center largely in the Religious School and in
the direction of the work of the Jewish young men and women. No
responsibility could be greater for the young preacher and yet no
task rightly pursued could be more fruitful of results. Hundreds of
Jewish young men and women in Detroit today need the stimulus of
specialized leadership such as Mr. Mayerberg will give them. Prop-
erly directed, many of them who have fallen away from their ancestral
faith will be brought back to Judaism and the synagog. As Assistant
Rabbi of Temple Beth El Rabbi Mayerberg comes to a Congregation
with a proud record of achievement in the past and with yet higher
purposes for the future. Ile will find here willing helpers, loyal sup-
porters and conditions ready at hand to make his work a telling one.
Not only the members of Congregation Beth El but the Jewry of
Detroit bid him welcome and God speed in his chosen field.

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