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THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
and the fact that he bears a Jewish name, having sprung from Jewish the responsive readings, a dispute ofene
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ANTON KAUFMAN
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RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN,
arose as to whether the part of the
parents, though his Misdoing may reflect dishonor upon every Jew
reader should be marked "hazan" or
in the community, does not in the best sense of the term make him "minister." The hazans wanted the
a Jew. Ile is a Jew who has heard and heeded the connuand, "Ye former, while the rabbis, opposed to
shall be holy as I, the Lord your God, am holy."
Nonetheless just because in the eyes of the world each Jew is
. typical of all Jews, we have a particular interest in seeing male-
factors who bear Jewish names punished as severely as the law
Editorial Contributor
permits. In the case of the ars o nists arrested its this city we sin-
All correspondence to insure publication must be sent In so as to reach this
Ace Tuesday evening of each week.
cerely trust if, after a fair trial they have been found guilty of the
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.
them, but that they will be put out of harm's way for just as long a
charge of which they stan4 accused, that no leniency will 1w shown
period as the law allows.
Entered as second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Postoffice at Detroit,
Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879.
In saying this we believe that we reflect the attitude of every
right-minded Jew in the community. Time was when some Jews.
thinking to save the fair name of Judaism front besmiri•im•nt, would
The Drive Is On
always rise to the defense ((f some fellow-Jew who chanced to be a
law-breaker. The time has passed definitely fur any such interven-
The brief but epoch-making seven-day drive for th e s av in g of tion On such grounds, If a Jew is to intervene at all in cases like
humanity and civilization is on in Detroit,. Thousands of splendid these, then it should he to ask that those charged with authority to
men and noble women, fired with an enthusiasm such as no other mete out punishment for crime, shou l d g I iv e the
aarsaes. t
possib
I l e
th harshes
great cause has ever been able to awaken, are giving themselves this sentence to these J ews who have not only disgraced themselves lost
week with all their heart and soul and might to the gathering of
v lin have also dishonored the name of every Jew.
the seven millions of dollars which represents Detroit's minimum
We wish that this sentiment might be spread broadcast so that
quota toward the great work of salvation that needs ti./ he accom- Jews and non-Jews alike might know where self-respecting Jews
plished.
stand upon this matter. It would go far to set us all aright in . the
The heart of all Detroit has been touched to the quick by the eyes of our neighbors.
the official recognition of the hazan,
insisted on the latter, and they i•on,
whereupon a hazan remarked with a
clever pun on the German adage:
"Vide Ilunde sind des Maser Tod,"
many rabbis are the hazeit's finish.
The conflict between rabbi and
hazan, while emphasized by modern
conditions, is not of yesterday. The
Talmud, as already observed, does
not call the leader in the service
- ham)." but uses the latter word as
the title of the congregational officer
who was at the same time overseer
of the poor, school superintendent
and treasurer. Rabbi Judah Ilanasi,1
the head of the Jewish community at
the end of the second and in the be-
ginning of the third century, is re-
quested by the congregation of Si-
monia to send them a man who
shall be preacher overseer (Hazan)
teacher of the young, and shall attend
to all congregational affairs. The
church copying the organization of
the synagog called its director "epis-
kopos," which is the translation of
Hazan (overseer).
appeal that has been addressed to it and purse-strings have been
opened as never before. Money has lost its meaning to many except
What After Confirmation?
insofar as it affords them an opportunity to lend a hand in the
wrenching of civilization from the power of the devouring monster
that would consume it.
Yet not only the powerful rich, but perhaps to an even snore
The great Confirmation day has come and gone. Children, dedi-
cated to the faith of ,Israel, have pledged their loyalty to Judaism
remarkable degree, the wage-earners in Detroit and the nuns and
and have assumed the high and holy responsibility of living their
lives on that highs moral plane which shall befit them as Jews and
women of small income, are responding to the appeal of patriotism Jewesses.
and of mercy in a way that exalts their love of country and dignities
To what degree they will be loyal to their vow, of course, remains
their humanity. To be sure, here and there one finds some crusty, to be seen. However, if previous experience may be taken as a
crabid, self-centered individual who has not sensed the situation and
whose soul does not respond to the nobler emotions that touch men.
sufficient guide, we feel justified in believing that by far the great
majority of our children here and throughout the land who have
Men of this type are still willing to go on in their riotous self-
consecrated themselves to the service of Israel will remain staunch
seeking, gratifying their desires, altogether unmoved by the pitiful and loyal, and only the smallest minority will fall by' the wayside.
plea of suffering such as the world has never known before, and
lowever, two things need to be emphasized, if the influences of
untouched by the calamity that has threatened to uproot the very
foundations of civilization.
the confirmation catimmy arc to endure for good. Its the first place,
it must be definitely understood that Confirmation is not the climax
Brutes rather than men, Huns its spirit rather than Americans, of the child's religious education, but only, in a very real sense, its
they will go on nursing their treasures fo•the moment, but destined
beginning. The child should continue as a regular attendant at the
by every law of God and man to become the outcasts of civilization
religious school, not only for a year or two. but until the time of its
hereafter, to be ostracised from the companionship of decent men maturity, at least, as a pupil in the religious school of the con-
and to be marked for all time as the slackers and the shirkers that gregation
they are.
But in glorious contrast to those who, after all, are few, stands
In the second place, it should be borne in mind that parents, as
well as Rabbis and Sabbath School teachers, should build upon the
that v:1)4 army of spiritually awakened Men and women who under-
foundations that have been laid during the course of the child's
stand the implications of this tremendous hour in human history, praparation for its confirmation. The home must back the Syna
and who, in a spirit of genuine consecration arc laying their all upon gogue and the religious school, snit the parent must reinforce and
the altar of service.
There are thousands of men and women today in our midst who
validate the teacher's guiding word. If of these two things the
teacher may be assured, then in turn may he, without the slightest
are not only giving to the great Patriotic Fund what they can afford,
hesitancy or doubt, give to the parent the reassurance that con-
but much more than they can afford, because they understand that firmation will exert a lasting influence user the child's living and
until they have those that, there is no sacrificial character to their
thinking.
giving.
The years pass quickly and the continuant; of today \VIII he the
So far as the Jews of Detroit are concerned, we have reason to congregational and community leaders of tomorrow. If the future
believe that most of them are bearing their fair proportion of the of Israel is dear to us, We will bear these facts well in mind in deal-
community burden. Exceptions there are, of course, to this rule. ing with our children.
But we sound the word of warning to our co-religionists as arc
laggard in their patriotic and humanitarian duty at this time that
The Sunday Parade
their sin will titid them out and that they will be pointed out from
the high places in disdain and derision. While they live they will
have the contempt of their fellows, and when they die, they will go
Hazan in Middle Ages.
"LET US FIGURE"
DECORATING
PAINTING
PAPERHANGING
Apartment
Owners
'8
Our continual service con.
tracts will Interest you.
Let us take care of the de-
In the middle ages the Ilazan was
corating in your flats.
the real minister. An author who
wrote in Italy in the ninth century
records the custom that the Ilazan
blessed the bride, just as the family
blessed Rebecca when she left her
parental home, a custom which is
still practiced in many European
520 Book Bldg.
countries by the rabbi and is called
Cherry 2011
"Bedecken," because the face of the
bride is veiled, as Rebecca veiled her
face when she saw Isaac before be-
Shelomo Oy Solomon
Lipschnetz,
coming his wife. The same author
Offenbach, 1718, Re.ah
rules that two such shall stand by the
title, taken from the sacrificial law,
side of the Hazan during the ser-
evidently intended to convey the idea
vices just as Moses was assisted by
that the Ilazan is the mediator be-
Aaron and Hur. This practice is also
tween God and the congregation, as
still observed in many synagogs dur-
is Said expressly in the beautiful
ing the reading of the Torah.
prayer, commended highly by Abra-
The love of brainy is inherent in
ham ilm Ezra, the merciless critic of
human nature, and people loved the
the Piyyutim, by Joel ben Eliezer of
singer at all times. Singing and
Leipa, Fuerth, 1724, and "Mekor"
dancing was a worship, as we see in
Baruch, by Baruch Naumburg, liazan
numerous biblical passages, and the
in \N'ittelshofen, a defense of the
singer, as in the cases of Moses and
Ilazan against the usual charges, still
Deborah, was a leader of the people.
in manuscript in the famous Bodleyan
As music is an art which cannot be
Library of Oxford.
acquired, unless there is a native
The rabbinical scholars, however,
talent, and it is even then rare, the
continued to look upon the hazan
people pardoned in the artist short-
with hostility and contempt. Jacob
comings which as a rule arc not and
Emden (1696-1776), who made the
certainly ought not to be overlooked
persecution of heresy the aint of his
in a religious leader. .The Talmud
life, disposes of the testimony of one
reports, not later than the fourth cen-
Daniel Israel, who spoke well of the
tury, the warning against unworthy
Messianic pretender, Shabbetai Zebi,
hazans, selected for their good voices,
by saying that Israel was not a man of
and applies to them the rebuke of
learning, but a hazan sit Smyrna. Still
Jeremiah: "My heritage is become
stronger is the condemnation of the
unto me as a lion in the 'forest, she
hazan by the anonymous author of
bath uttered her voice against me;
the biography of the founder of the
therefore, I have hated her," which in
Hasidic sect, Israel Besht (1695-
a modern form of expression means:
1760). This man makes his readers
The song of an unworthy flz, zan is
shiver by the assurance that lieslit
before God like the howl of a wild
told his followers that a hazan who
beast.
was looking for applause created a
The complaint against bad char-
demon (Lezanim) by every one of his
acters in the world of Ilazans extends
It is interesting n, .d,ser,
notes.
through the whole rabbinic literature,
that the hitter opponent of I lasidi-m,
from the earliest beginnings down to
Rabbi Ezekiel Landau of Prague
our days. Rabbi Heir of Rothenburg
0713-1793) has no more love for the
Id. 1293), in his days the most promi-
hazans who, as he claims ruin &vo-
nent German rabbi, speaks in a clever
mit) on a biblical passage of the gen- lion of the worshippers be their end-
1 less dragging out of the ',I-vice. His
eral run of hazans as ignorant. .
d son,
the same time, they were impartant view is shared by
his gran
Nloses I, otherwise q quite differ, lit in
enough for Dukes to reserve to them-
Judaism (188-1834 and
selves the right of their confirmation, his views on
and in a document of King Frederick by the favorite disciple of Landau's,
Detroit Decorating
Service Corporation
■
.\s might have been expected, the religious fanatic was in evi-
dence in connection With the great Sunday afternoon patriotic
parade. But, fortunately, he was not dignified by much notice and
their resting places monuments of stone and bronze, the cost of
III of Sicily, dated 1363, a "Presbyter afterwards his successor in the rab-
there was a pretty general agreement among the people of Detroit, seu
Chaser Judaeus" is mentioned. Innate of l'rague. Eleazer Fleckeles
which may run into thousands of dollars, but there will be no living
both the church•d and the unchurched, that perhaps never in the Rothenburg's disciple, R. Asher ben (1754-1826), once contemptuously re-
monument in a single human heart. Because they hoarded. the
who emigrated from Germany marks that no one ought to pay any
history. of Detroit was a Sunday afternoon spent to better advantage
1327, attention to the practices based on
he died
petty spoils of their selfish careers their children will wait anxiously
s pa i n,
Far
than its its dedication to the great patriotic parade that was given to
speaks like his teacher of the hazans the authority of a hazan.
'for their passing away so that they may divide and perhaps squander
here last Sundae.
as coming from the lowest strata of stronger in his condemnation is the
the gold upon which their whole hearts' affection had been Set.
most prominent representative of the
The exhibition of twentv-live thousatid loyal men and women society, because all that is demanded
rabbinical school following Ezekiel
And—who knows—at the end these same children may besmirch
- of them is a good voice.
Landau, Moses Soler (1762-1839), tin.
Marching in the cause of freedom and mercy was a higher =Mies
by
bitter
contests
one
with
the
other
as
to
The condemilatimi can nad have
the parents' DICTUM)"
real creator of modern orthodoxy of
MMus of the true religious spirit than could possibly have been
,
been
so
generally
deserved,
for
in
In two
whirls shall garner the greater share of the estate.
the uncompromising type.
slum]) in any series of church services that might have been devise " . 1395, not so long after R. Asher's cases he deals with the question of
We hold these things up to the eyes of men that they *may better
The spectacle was not only magnificent from an artistic standpoint, time. a scribe who wrote an illumi- removal from office of an unworthy
visualize the true conditions ere it be too late. Those Mio have not
nated prayerbook drew the picture of hazan. 'The second cask.. addressed
but it w as trulv inspiring in that it brought the people of this city a Hann which betrays a desire to
yet given should not hide behind the fact that they have not been
to R. Shalom Ullmannol Lackenbach
despite the best organization in the world some men face to nice with the unexampled spirit of loyalty and of devotion show respect to the office. Similarly, (born in Fuerth c. 1710, ,lied in
solicited, for
R. Moses Nfiuz, of Bamberg, who Lalsenbach, 1825), is especially signifi-
stirs the hearts of our people.
will escape the solicitor. I.e them come forward of their oven accond to our nation's cause that
lived in the fifteenth century, draws
cant. The hazan about whom R
Indeed, we believe . that the Patriotic build drive will do much
and lay their gift as a free-will oliering upon their country's and to deepen the religious sentiments in the hearts of the people. It up a list of rules for the conduct of Ullman complains was an Minion('
the Hazan in worship which, while character convicted of theft ,lo'
hunianity's altar. Those who have given lint in niggardly fashion
will bring into nearer touch with each other Christian and Jew', evidently directed against sonic adultery, but the congregation a.'
should
re-apprise
themselves
and
add
to
their
gifts
in
such
amount
abuses such as affected gesticulation,
•
mired his voice and would not co ,
Protestant and Catholic, and it will emphasize to each the common
do not betray the conviction of the sent to his discharge. R. Soler, sa
as will be Nvorthy of them. Rich and pour, young and old, men and
humanity of the other.
hopelessness of reforming the hazan the law in this case is clearly detim
women, should all share in the great privilege and the splendid
The croaking of the bigot. therefore, may be ignored. There are which we shall meet in the works of and the man has forfeited his offio
opportunity that is now theirs to have a hand in the struggle for
always enough great-souled and big-minded men its the community later authorities. More than one but from the Point of policyltie a , '
hundred years afterwards Mordecai vises moderation, for if this man..wer
the rights of men, for liberty and fur justice.
to put his influence at naught.
Jafeh, rabbi of Prague, Posen and dismissed, the chances are that hi
When this paper shall reach our readers but a day or twAi of the
Lublin (1530-1613), finds fault with successor would not be better, and a-
Drive shall remain. There is therefore no time to delay. I leaven
the mysticism of the hazan. He criti-
long as he will fascinate Isis hearer-
cizes them for addressing the angels by his pleasant voice, they will
flirefend that at the end of the "Fill the Flag" \ yea. any man or
down to dishonored graves. Friends and family may erect over
woman or child who has the means of giving should stand degraded
in his own eyes because self has loomed so big to him as to exclude
, the thought of humanity. The appeal comes to each individual to
do his part. As Jews and as Americans let none say that we have
Rabbi and Hazan
failed in this hour of our country's tremendous need.
Punish the Arsonists
Every Jew in the city of Detroit must have hung his head in
hitter shame when last week it was discovered that a branch of a
great national gang of fire-bugs had been operating in Detroit, and
that all those arrested for the crime were Jews by birth. We say
"Jews by birth" advisedly. because we do not concede that the man
who breaks every law of God and man is a Jew despite the fact that
his parents may have called themselves by that proud title.
They are Jews who live Jewish lives and who believe in the moral
principles enunciated by Israel's great teachers and conform their
lives to them. The outlaw who has no religious affiliation with the
synagogue or other Jewish institutions, and who has no interest
either in the past or in the future of his people, is simply a heathen,
BY DR. GOTH ARD DEUTSCH.
T
Written for The Jewish Chronicle.
H E recent press notice that
Joseph Rosenblatt, the most
famous Hazan of America, and
perhaps the Jewish world, was
offered the princely honorarium of
$1,000 per evening if he were to sing
in an opera, and that he declined it,
yielding to the delicate feelings of his
congregation, although he was as-
sured that his religious duties and
proprieties would be respected, sug-
gests a historic survey of the position
of the Hazan in the congregation as
a functionary of religious life. His
former title, "Sheliah Zibbur," com-
missioner of the congregation, ex-
presses already the idea that he was
not to be a mere performer, but a
minister who should quality by re-
ligious conduct and information. In
the old synagog, the rabbi was not
the leader in the service, but while
occasionally preaching, his activity
as leader of the congregation was
outside of the synagog as judge,
teacher and supervisor of congrega-
tional life. The modern synagog, in
which the sermon forms an integral
and even the most important part of
the service, created a jealousy be-
tween hazan and rabbi which can
best be illustrated by a historic anec-
dote. In years gone by, a committee
of rabbis and hazans in New York
discussed the revision of the prayer
book. In marking the rubrics for
in their prayers, which is against the
fundamental Jewish dogma of divine
unity. A somewhat younger contem-
porary, Joseph Hahn, of Frankfort-
on-the-Main (d. 1636), may have had
something similar in mind, when he
warned the hazans against introduc-
ing new practices, exhorting them to
abide by those of their saintly prede-
cessors, among whom he mentions
Herz Treves, but, just at that time,
the minutes of the Portuguese con-
gregation of llamburg contain a
reprimand given to the hazan for in-
dulging too much in the good things
served at weddings. (1662).
Unworthy Members of Profession.
The Hazans felt, on their own part,
that it was their duty to protect their
office against the injury done to it by
unworthy members of the profession,
and in various works, written partly
for practical purposes and partly for
ethical objects, emphasized the moral
requirements of their station. A few
of these works, all dating from the
eighteenth century, are: Te-udat
to him. He exhibits a similar
ency its the case of another Ha...,!
Sinthah• Reuben Kobel' of 1>eue...
Kreuz, who was charged with
oui laxity, and whose case he II ,
misses with a mild rebuke. This m.
is a historic character, for he beca, ,
the father of the illustrious comp,- ,
Carl Goldmark, and the grandiail-
of Mrs. Felix Adler and Mrs. 1,-
Brandeis.
Liberal School.
The liberal school of modern II
braists in every respect the antipoii ,
of Moses Soler, was united with hill ,
in their antipathy to the hazan Abra
ham ltiappu (1808-1867) the Mona ,
of Hebrew fiction, complains bitterly
in his masterpiece, "The Itypocriti -
of the hazans who, by their melodies
utterly out of place in a house of wor-
ship, make us the laughing stock of
the non-Jewish world.
"The voice of the people is th..
voice of God" is an adage found ill
the literature of proverbs of all as
tions, although expressed in solm -