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THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
In the previous bond issues, as in every other phase of patriotic
Issued limy Friday by The Jewish Chronicle Publishing Company
ANTON KAUFMAN
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President service, the Jews of America have done their loyal share, and in pro-
portion to their numbers have contributed generously and willingly to
the common cause. But as the days pass and the conflict with our foes
MICHIGAN'S JEWISH HOME PUBLICATION
becomes more and more necessary on every man's part. Substance and
service must be laid upon our country's altar in ever larger amounts
Offices 314 Peter Smith Bldg.
Phone: Cherry 3381.
RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN,
How Do Your
Sacrifices Compare
With These?
11.50 per year becomes sterner, the needs of our government increase. Sacrifice
Subscription in Advance
Editorial Contributor
and with increasing willingness. To shirk our duty now is to acknowl-
edge ourselves unworthy of the dignity that is ours as. Americans and
as Jews.
All correspondence to insure publication must be sent In so as to reach this
To fear, then, that the Jews in America will not at this crucial time
respond as they have in the past with full generosity to their country's
)(nice Tuesday evening of each week.
The Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on subjects of nterest to the
Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorsement of the views
expressed by the writers.
call for help world seem gratuitous, Even if luxuries and comforts
must be put aside for the time being, every man and every woman, if
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possible, should buy a Liberty Bond of this third issue. It is but a
Entered as second-class matter March 3, MS, at the Postoffice at Detroit,
Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879.
among us.
Rabbi Freund at Camp Custer.
A Bill That Should Be Defeated.
During the absence from Camp Custer of Mr. Edgar J. Drachmae,
Certain parties in 'Michigan, whose leaders arc apparently for pru- the representative of the Jewish Welfare Board in the United States
dential reasons concealing their identity, arc making a very vigorous Army and Navy. his place will be taken by Rabbi Charles J. Freund of
effort to secure signatures to a petition which shall force consideration Grand Rapids, his congregation having generously released him for the
of a bill according to which all children in the State of Michigan, up to
He severs home ties; gives up home comforts;
leaves behind parents, friends, wife or sweetheart.
He faces the probability of being obliged to
take up life anew when he returns; of losing all
the advantages which years of hard work have
won for him.
period of a month that he might render this patriotic service to his
a given age, would be compelled to attend the public schools.
county and his faith.
Innocent and innocuous as on the surface such ;an attempt may
Mr. Drachman, the efficiency of whose work is well known, will
appear, the bill would be vicious in its effects, and should the petition spend a month in visiting other camps and cantonments, and incidentally
receive sufficient signatures to compel its consideration, it should be in recuperating after a long season of hard and uninterrupted work.
killed by an overwhelming vote.
Personally, we stand pledged in our allegiance to the public school.
He faces the possibility of comirg back in-
capacitated for earning a living, and of being
dependent upon his friends or upon charity.
The men at Custer are fortunate that in his absence Rabbi Freund Will
We believe that it is the safeguard of our democracy. We want chil-
supervise the work. Rabbi Freund, too, is fortunate in being able to
undertake this work. To serve in the manner that is thus made possible
dren of all social classes and from every environment to brush shoulders
to hint is a privilege which any leader in the civic and religious life of
with each other. We believe that contact of this sort is healthful and
his community may well covet.
He faces the possibility of never coming
home at all.
morally stimulating. But there are those who have other ideas in regard
to the education of their children, and their opinion is worthy of at
Facing these things, he goes to France to
fight for us who remain safely at home — and
when the moment comes for him to go over
the top—he GOES!
least equal respect with ours and those who hold with us.
There are those who prefer to send their children to private schools
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that, with certain disadvantages, undoubtedly also offer certain distinct
benefits to some children. There are large classes of loyal American
citizens who, for reasons sufficient to themselves, believe in the parochial
school system. None has the right to deny diem the privilege of send-
ing their children to such schools. Some believe in the home education
of children under the governess or tutor system. By what right shall
any one insist that these children be taken out of their homes and sent
to the public schools for their instruction?
Were the proposed bill enacted into law, it would tend to a clear
violation of the rights of the individual. Mille unquestionably aimed
at a certain religious group who favor the parochial school system, the
law would not only touch the inherent rights of this group, but as well
of every American parent and child. All tile arguments that may be
brought in its defense arc specious, They will n o t hold water. The
plea that only in the public schools can children be firmly grounded in
the principles of Americanism is not absolutely true, as is proved by
the fact that thousands of patriotic American citizens whose loyalty
cannot be questioned have received their education in private and paro-
chial schools.
The plea that the public school must be attended by all children lest
religion come to play too great a part in the educational region is stupid,
since an attempt to restrain parents who wish to educate their children
in church schools is, in itself, an interference on the loom of the State
with the inalienable rights of the American citizen to practice his reli-
gion according to the dictates of his conscience. It is just because we
wish church and state to be forever separate that We oppose this bill
from this standpoint.
It is to be sincerely looped that this vicious and short-sighted bill will
never con i c so far as to be put to a vote, but if 'it is, let it be defeated
by such an overwhelming majority that its sponsors will not attempt to
resurrect it in this or any other State.
An Unwise Precedent.
In the light of our previous editorial, our stand on the relation of
THE FIRST SEDER AT THE FRONT
(Continued From Page 1.)
prayer book would come in handy for
Passover, but as for the phylacteries,
he simply envied his friend, for if he
is killed he will be buried like a Jew.
And he, Rachmiel, was supplied with
everything—clothes, underwear, high
boots, but not that. 011, he would just
love to own to pair of phylacteries
like Leib's!
Leib's wan face pales still more and
his wide open eyes become still larg-
er. and he is asking his experienced
older comrade:
"W-what does it mean to be buried
like a Jew?"
And his older, more experienced
chum explains to him that in war
hundreds of dead soldiers are buried
in a common grave with their uni-
forms on, and if a Jew has his phylac-
teries on him it means that he is
buried like a Jew.
Leib gazes at his older, more ex-
perienced friend and wonders at the
composure with which he talks about
death! Leib, a plain, peasant artisan,
does not understand his chum Rach-
med, who so calmly goes to war.
Rachmiel tries to reason it out with
him, but Ile cannot make it out. There
is one thing he is absolutely unable
to grasp. If you tell me it is a
man's duty," says Leib, to him, "1
understand you, but why be so hap.
war and after death all are equal.
Death does not discriminate between
Jew and Gentile. All arc men before
God" . . .
What will he think, how will he
feel, if we complain because we
are asked to make a few sacri-
fices for him — sacrifices so insig-
nificant when compared with his?
"You lie," repeats the pimple-faced
soldier. "I've heard someone read
from a book that when Antichrist
comes all true believers will be res-
urrected, and you, Jews, will rot away
like so many dogs."
Show him that to invest in Liberty
Bonds is not a SACRIFICE
but a PRIVILEGE—an appre-
ciation of his sacrifice!
"Blockhead! Idiot!" shouts Rach-
miel angrily. "Do you know what
you are talking shout?"
The soldier with the unclean face
clenches his fist, but the crowd takes
the Jew's part. Rachmiel would not
quiet down. Ile talks and talks un-
til beads of perspiration appear on
his brow.
And When You Buy—Buy!
"An ignorant pig like you talking!
He does not know, this ragged fool,
that all men are equal before God;
that both of us, he and I, arc going
to fight the stone enemy; that the
bullet knows no favorites)"
Rachmiel from Pereshchepena de-
livers his impassioned tirade with ar-
dor, with fire, for the whole crowd is
imbued with respect for this Jew, fills
in love with Rachmiel for his wise
talk, and for his sake they treat de-
cently his chum I.eih, whom them do
not like because of the scared look
in his eyes, which reminds one of a
PS'?"
"Boob!" exclaims Rachmiel, and at- hare. For Rachmiel's sake they al-
tempts to explain to him that this low both to sit under the lamp, to
fact alone made him happy, that he, pray and to chant to their hearts'
the Jew Rachmiel, was like every- content.
"Why are the Jews swaying like
body else, that he, the Jew Rachmiel,
is given a chance to prove his loyalty that?" one soldier asks another.
This Space Paid For and Contributed By
Peninsular Smelting & Refining Co.
r
-
It's a small thing to ask
it's a big thing to do!
Small to ask, because you'll never miss a
quarter now and then for a Thrift Stamp.
church and state, especially as concerns the public schools, ought to be before the whole world. Let them,
"Let them sway," answers the oth-
very plain. None will therefore challenge the sincerity of our motives the Jew-liaiters, sec that a Jew can er; "they are having a holiday to-
serve honestly and faithfully, that a
when we question the propriety of closing the public schools on Good Jew, too, is willing to sacrifice his
Friday, as was (lone in this city last week.
life for his country.
Leib looks at his chum with wide
Here is an instance of concession to a single religious group that is
scarcely in consonance with the idea of the complete separation of open eyes and thinks: "Funny people
these t•krainian Jews are."
day."
"Shabbas?"
"No, not Sabbath, joist a holiday."
"What kind of holiday?"
A big thing to do because every quarter
that you and your neighbor loan to Uncle
Sam brings the end of the war just that much
closer,
"Sh, let us ask Rachmiel himself.
Rachmiel!"
church and state. Moreover such concession brings into relief what
And the other soldiers also shoot
"Leave them alone," chorus the rest
may possibly be construed as an injustice to another religious group. glances at the Jews, wondering what
of the soldiers. "The Jews are pray-
None would be so foolish as to ask or even remotely to desire that the funny, unintelligible language they ing; let them pray."
speak.
public schools should be closed down, for• instance, on such an all-im-
One of the Jew ish soldiers turns
The Gentile soldiers in the car call
portant Holy Day as is the Day of Atonement to the Jew. Still on that them "our Jews," but are on good cantor (as a rule it is Rachmiel), and
day scores of Jewish teachers in the public schools and thousands of
Jewish children are compelled by the dictates of their conscience to
absent themselves from attendance. On such occasion the teachers arc
deprived of their salaries amounting, we believe, to about one-twentieth
of their monthly income, not even being granted the difference in amount
regularly paid them and the lesser amount which must lie paid to the
substitute whom they furnish. The Jewish children, too, on such ca-
sions, lose their record for attendance on that day.
Why shall the religious Holy Day of one group in the community
be occasion for closing down the school system, while on a day of at
re
least equal religious significance to another group, the schools shall go
on as usual, to the unquestioned disadvantage of the teachers and the
pupils affiliated with that group?
Moreover, attention may be called to the fact that on all the church
41
festivals of the Christian church, the schools are closed down. Christ-
mas is always a vacation period, and so is Easter, with which, as a rule,
the Spring vacation is made to coincide. No legitimate objection can
be urged to this procedure, but care should be exercised by those in
authority that concessions to one religious group do not spell discrimi-
nation against another.
The closing of the schools on Good Friday is, as we have said, a
rather unwise precedent. Occurrences of this kind are likely to lead
to unpleasant misunderstandings on the part of many. They ought to
be avoided whenever possible.
The Third Liberty Loan.
On the day that this paper reaches our readers, the third Liberty
Loan will have been launched by the United States government. On
April Gth the campaign for the sale of bonds will have begun.
What the successful distribution of these bonds is likely to mean to
the cause of this government and our Allies needs not lucre to be stated
Every dollar that is put into a Liberty Bond at this time will make surer
the victory of democracy and humanity's cause.
terms with them just the same. !'hey
all sleep together, cat together, and
smoke cigarettes together, like true
comrades.
Perhaps the comradeship is a re-
sult of the fact that there is only
one "educated guy" in the car who
can read.
And that one is Rachmiel.
Rachmiel has an old newspaper
with him. He reads it to the crowd.
The paper is soiled and crumpled
with constant use. It would make
fine cigarettes, but it is a pity to tear
it up. for Rachmiel reads from it
such "interesting" things, such beauti-
ful stories about Russian soldiers of
the olden daysl He reads to them of
a hill known as l'Idalakhov's Mound,"
a hill where tens of thousands of slain
Russian soldiers were buried in a
common grave. "All together, one
on top of the other," Rachmiel inter-
poses his explanation—"all together;
sergeants and corporals and pri-
vates!"
"And Jews?" asks Leib, with a
frightened look in his eves.
"And Jews, too. All together," says
Rachmiel firmly, like one who knows
everything.
"You lie," interrupted a pimple-
faced soldier.
"No, that is so!" a few soldiers take
Rachmiel's part and ask him to con-
tinue reading.
"Go ahead, brother."
But Rachmiel is enraged. The Jew
in him clamors and would not let go
of the pimple-faced soldier. "You
noor situp, you!" he sacs to him.
•flame with indignation. "You do not
know what you are talking about! In
Will YOU Buy
winds up in a coloratura voice: "And
the mother will rejoice with her prod-
igal sons." And both Rachmiel and
Leib soar away in their thoughts far,
far from the front—one to Holonesh-
ti, to the parents, sisters and brothers,
and to his betrothed, a girl with a
dark braid, and rosy cheeks and white
teeth, and the other—to Maloperesh-
chepena, to his wife and little ones.
"In Holoneshti," thinks Leib, "they
are also celebrating the Passover, but
they are all sitting at a table and on
the table there are matzohs, beakers
full of grape juice or Passover honey,
wine, and rnoror and charoses, and
they are going to serve fresh, pep-
pered fish. How delicious!" Leib's
nostrils dilate.
Rachmiel's thoughts also wander
far, far to his home in Pereshchepena,
to his young, pretty Feiga, who must
he sitting now at her parents' Pass-
over table; they are talking to her,
are trying to console her; they are
telling her that though Rachmiel is
now far, far from them, he will soon
come back (if God wills). Let only
peace come. And they arc trying to
convince her that peace is being ru-
mored, but his Feiga would not lis-
ten! She would.not be consoled! And
he thinks about his children, and es-
pecially about little Isaac—who, when
asked: "Little Isaac, where is papa?"
points with his little finger in "Rath-
mid's" direction and babbles, "Pa,
there, there."
And Rachmiel, the hero from
Pereshchepena, bends down to blow
his nose and stealthily, lest his chum
from Holoneshti notice, wipes away
a tear.—American Hebrew.
HE American boy who goes to war
gives up the position which means
so much to his future, pr the little
business which has just begun to show
promise of success.
small part of the patriot's duty. Let us be sure that there are no slackers
Thrift Stamps
Regularly?
JEWISH CALENDAR
5678-1918
1918
5678
Nisan
1 Rosh Chodesh—New Moon
10 Shabbath Hagodol
" 15-22 Pesach—Passover
30 Rosh Chodesh—First Day of New Moon
"
"
Iyar
"
Sivan
"
1 Rosh Chodesh—Second Day of New Moon
18 Lag b'Omer
1 Rosh Chodesh—New Moon
6-7 Shovuoth—Feast of Weeks
19 Decoration Day
30 Rosh Chodesh—First Day of New Moon
Tamuz
1
Rosh Chodesh—Second Day of New Moon
17 Shivoh Osor b'Tamuz
Oa
Ab
Ellul
24 Independence Day
I
Rosh Chodesh—Ncw Moon
Mar. 14
Mar. 23
Mar. 28-Apr. 4
April 12
April 13
April 30
May 12
May 17-18
May 30
June 10
June
June
uu::
July 4
July 10
10 Tish'ah b'Ab—Destruction of Jerusalem
July 18
30 Rosh Chodesh—First Day of New Moon
Aug. 8
1 Rosh Chodesh—Second Day of New Moon
Aug. 9
5679
Tishri
1-2 Rosh Hash-shanah—New Year
Sept. 7-8