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FOUR

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

Judaism's history. Whether we like to admit it or nut, the breach

issued Every Friday by The Jewish Chronicle Publishing Company

ANTON KAUFMAN

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between the two camps in the household

RowWent

MICHIGAN'S JEWISH HOME PUBLICATION

of form and cerennuffal, of ritual practice, of Nlinhag. of custom that
really touched nothing vital in the life of the Jew. and which
in times
of crisis could be easily forgotten, were, as a general rule, the only
obstacles that rose in the path of a complete understanding among

Offices 307-308 Peter Smith Building,

Phone:

Cherry 3381.

RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN,

Editorial Contributor

All correspondence to insure publication must be sent in so as to reach this
"Ince Tuesday evening of each week.

the Jews of the country.

Today, however, the situation seems different. It is no longer

merely a non-essential formal difference that divides us, but a deep-
$2.00 per year
seated difference in interpretation of Judaism's history and destiny
The Jewish Chronicle Invites correspondence on subjects of nterest to the that puts some of us in one
camp and others in another.
For our
Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorsement of the views part, we h ave fa i t h t h
at siinw h iitv et en t h e „ differences
expressed by the writers.
\v: 11, eventu-
ally be overcome and the brotherhood ideal in Israel will
re - assert
Entered as second-class matter March 3, 1915, at the I'ostoftlee at Detroit,
itself perhaps more stonigly than ever.
Mich., under the At of March 3. 1879.
That this may be the case, however, the leaders in American

Subscription in Advance

A Test of Citizenship

Israel must be men of conscienc e and of character who will sub-

In these days when there are so many patriotic calls to test the

ordinate their personal, petty interests to the cause of the larger
welfare of Israel. They must be men willl
of harping for-
ever upon the differences that divide us shall sound a clear note

loyalty of men, it is not unlikely that in the desire to meet Ivhat

bearing upon the fundamental unities. bit they must be men who

seems to be our highest obligations, some of its are overbooking the

understanding the history of our people, sense the fact that what
makes Jew brother to every other Jew is the psychological influence
of a coinmon past, of a COM 111011 stderillg, of a commo n achieve-

nearer duties that are of no less importance. Because of this ten-

dency too much stress cannot be laid at this time upon the duty

which rests upon every citizen of Detroit to go to the polls on lune

ment, and of a common aspiration.

To be sure they intist be men who have the courage of their con-
victions; 1V110 Will neither deal in mere platitudes that loran
nothing
For years Detroit has been the wonder-city of America, even Of
nor yet who, for the sake of peace, will be willing to compromise
the world, because of its material prosperity, its industrial enterprise
convictions which their conscience and their reason uphold. But

2:ith, to cast his ballot in favor of the new Charter.

and its commercial supremacy. Like a tale from a fairy hook is the

story of its rapid rise from a village-like community to one of the

most metropolitan centers in the modern world. But with its rapid

growth have come inevitable the dangers that are associated with

quick development. It is not to overstate the situation, we believ e,

to say that practically all of the great city problems which have

been the point of attack at the hands of social reformers during

recent years are to be found brie. And not least of them is the

inefficiency of administration of our municipal affairs.

Mr. James Bryce, in his hook that remains a classic, "The Ameri-

can Commonwealth," said many }'ears ago that the greatest stain

upon American history is the mis-rule of our cities. ( Me needs not

THE JEW AS ORATOR AND STATESMAN

Israel is wider than it
has ever been before. In former times the things that divided Jew
from Jew were for the most part outward and unessential. AlatterS

I/1

at the same tittle they must be Melt W110 shall feel that
the puliiit
is a sacred opportunity to sound Israel's message of brotherhood.
tirst to Jews, and then to the world.

We believe that most of the Rabbis realize the seriousness of the

tasks that is theirs and that their very earnestness sometimes makes

them seem unduly impatient with their brothers whose views do not
accord with their own. What seelll, to be needed in the pulpit is a

little More forbearance and kindliness and
patience toward those who

choose to cider from us in views and interpretations ))1 Judaism that
we hold to be correct.

Let its hope that the young men just ordained to the Rabbinate

(Continued From Page One .)

speak an hour before the Cortes.
\\lien he addressed this body in later
life the chamber was al \vays crowded,
and cards of admission commanded
an exorbitant mice. His genius was
so pronounced that all parties delight-
ed to honor him. His oration on the
candidacy of Amadeus for the king-
ship of Spain is the most gorgeous
production in oratorical literature. It
is a perfect "field of cloth of gold" in
metaphor and imagery. As a states-
man, like Gambetta, Castelar was a
stalwart republican: and, after 20
year, of brilliant oratorical advo-
cacy, succeeded in overturning an
ancient and in eterate monarchy
and in erecting upon its ruins
the fleeting' yet splendid fabric
of a I:viler:II Spanish Republic. Cas-
telar was chief magistrate awl ir-
tual dictator of this 'Cenobite from
September, 1874, to January, 1875.
littt he was doomed to see the hopes
of a lifetime blighted and blasted in
a Year. The Spanish nation was not
then and is not now adapted by tradi-
tion or temperament to life tinder r•-
publican go \- erninent. His country-
men shooed Menisci es incapable of
rising practically to his grand ideal,
and the ne \\ -born Republic fell broken
and shattered at the feet of hint by
whose genius it had been created.
Castelar admitted the failure of re-
publican experiment in Spain and re-
fused to perse \ ere in the maintenance
of principles that threatened the glory
and safety of his country. Ile was
charged with \ acillation and incon-
sistency by his former political il ■ Ni
Oak,. Ills s u p er b patriotism and sub-
lime disinterestednes• Were sho\cn by
the following reply:
char g e 1111. will] ill. , nisistelicy. If you

Nor A1'011111 WC intimate that all of our public offi-

The Meeting at Pittsburg

cials arc inefficient. It would be utterly inconceivable that a city

that in many senses has taken the lead among American municipali-

ties should have accomplished what it has without a considerable

measure of wise and discreet leadership.

„\nd yet it is no secret that in many instances men, for political

considerations, have been put in positions of honor and power whose'

liming the coming week the eyes of Jewry, not only of America,

but of the world, will be centered upon the city of Pittsburg, where

the largest and most important gathering of Zionists that has ever

been held will take place.

training and whose native abilities did not fit them for such places.

The past year has brought to our Zionistic brethren a new hope

\Ve know, too, that while a number of good men have served in that

and a new ideal. In the Balfour declaration they see the first stets

body, our Iloard of Mermen has been made up in large part of men

toward the practical realization of I Ierzl's dream of a restored Jewish

who had no large vision of the needs of the city as a whole but

state. IVlictlicr the hope is to fulfill itself or not none dare with

who felt their whole duty to center around the service that they certainty foretell. \VItether the realization of a Jewish political state
tV0111(1 be a happy ending for the age - long tragedy of Jewish history,
might render to their immediate ward constituents.
who shall say ?
Besides, the Common Council is Si large a body as to be utterly
hir Zionistic brethren hold that %vitli the Jew in Palestineal!
unwieldly. There is no possibility under our present system of gov-

ernment of fixing responsibility, and of saying to men charged with

certain duties to the community that if those ditties remain ordure,

they, and nu one else, are to he held responsible. l'idess, therefore,

a radical change in our municipal administration is brought about,

his problems and perplexities would be solved, and all his miseries

would be cast from hint as a garment that is outworn. Those of

us who interpret Jew ish history as the outworking of a religious des-
tiny caning he sti Sanguine of this result and our skepticism is it nt

Judah P. Benjamin, Americas.

udah

lessenNI when we realize that some of the most rabid anti-Seinit

are quite as enthusiastic about the Zionistic scheme as are the Zion - • 111 '

That such shall not lie the case, it is absolutely essential that the

day of the coming week. The document as it now stands is perhaps

far from ideal, but it is a tremendous improvement upon anything

the earth.
Abraham, anion.:
archs; Moses, among lawgitc:-
mon and David, among kings PH
3, 1aimonides, Spinoza, and
Mead , I.
solin, anmng philosophers: Ilersthel,
Sylvester, Jacobi, and Kron e ,•h er ,
among matheinatictims and astrono-
mers; Nlendelssolm, \ 1 eyerheer, i itli ti .
back, Goldmark, Joachim. Rubinstein,
and Strauss, among musician, : ;,1 11 .

nenthal, l'ossart,

'Cached, and Bern-
hardt, among actors and actress,—•
11:11). \ i and Hein•, among poets:
Karl
\lar and Samuel Confiners, ng
the labor lea tau dud political
illistS, the I ■ oth•chili•. Bleiehrorder s.

'chills,

Baron II ir,ch. among philanthropist,.
Nlauy fla), might lie spent ',w.f.,-

ing the wonderful triumph. of the
,Iews in religion ;old philosopli). to

science and in art, but the purpos e of
this address ha. Leer

hl call men-
tion only to those form, of Jett

genius and acid, I ctn.:Mt that ilati•
do with citizenship and patriotism,
and to remind the le \vS of this coun-
try and this generation th a t if they
are ev ell remotely disloyal on
unpatri-
otic in the great world strug,gnliethin
()al Chronic! e ,
which our country is no \I• engaged.
they are Unwortlit of the splendid
records of their ancestor, as •otio.,,

cititem, patriots, orators. aml

Men.

Jewish Sympathies With Allies.

The natural al.',

F..lward La,ker. once leader If the Mies of the Jews of :ill the farth
Liberal Party in the liernian Reich- should he and most he with the \ the.
stag, \vas the only man whom Bis- in this colossal struggle for th, pres-
marck Ceti' feared in parliamentary ervation of the liberties and the II 1 . 1-
debate. lie was born in Pose., Ger- iZatilIll Ili mankind.
many, ()ctoher 14, 1829, and flied in
The Je‘v has been the child of revo-
New York City January 5, 1884. tier- lution and the friend of freedom in
many is the land of scholars and every age and every land. The
thinkers, but has produce(' few' famous I1losaic common \vealth Was theocratic
orators. It is probable that Bismarck in origin and character hut democratic
and Lasleer \\ ere the greatest of all
function
and effect. .111 the mth-
.
the Imrinan orators. Lasker was an tots Ill kr a • l ‘vurn le"rle" rhanglions
enthusiastic patriot and )11together " i huma n r igid' l'" 1 " 11 ,did Icrcmiah
;dime reproach.
In general outline \yen) the first great revolutioni•ts
he closely resembled the late Carl earth.
Nut
t i tri
ge:_i) Nr
ii.n,,(1,:),114.1),n,
(Iiifa cv se eti.":e aJv
1e
i , :o
f
nt friends
s f and
t ie
lofty ideals. At first he \vas an ar- of freedom in (Ivry age: the friends
loyal t
of
"Iron Chancellor."
But when 'its- and Nliral'ean• l runtwcll and Nric -
inarek championed a bill designed to ania )% 1'; ""nr and N 1,17, i"i. and W , i`h -
limit freedom of speech in Parlia- ington have been friends of the Je w s.
mem, Lask)r refused to follow hint,
Jewish union with the calls). of inl-
and a lifetime alienation bet \yeti) the Perialisill and absolutism in this
in
two great statesmen follmved.
Iv Guilt be a coast
aloft, rims

Detroit, that stands the foremost of the cities of the land in indus-

new Charter shall be adopted by an overwhelming majority on Mon-

the very best and bravest ill, n and

WOIllell of all land, and all ,

The crisis that now confrovis ff,.0,-
kind is the most ill fill find stup e nd ous
in the whole history of our race. .\11
that is dear and sacred to freemen
it . 1111/01 . ,1
l•N Or.
Lill It.
rare I. I have lived long enough: but eI ery II here is immediately and flan-
let not the Itepublle perish by no' generously invidl,•)1. The victory of
Iveakness. and, above all. let till one tierniany in this
war would be the
nay that Simla has pert shed In our
defeat of democracy and the triurtmli
This patriotic outburst was high of absolutism throughout the a "rid.

trial energy, will take a back scat among the well-governed munici-

palities of our country..

the iina(ination with a multitude of

phase. I will hot dere.' myssIt. Ilase
I the right to pr•fer u s 1 . 1•1111l.1 I loll If
the saf ety
or Illy 14111 IIII•y? 1.41 Inv
lull
perish. Let posterity promoomi•
Its ataath•ina agalast one. I
111 \ 4,11-

may take up their sacred tasks in the right spirit and with the single
to enter at length upon the details of the local situation to realize
end in view of healing the breach in m o dern Israel ;mil of bringing
that Detroit hears ample testimony to the justice of Nit-. Bryce's
nearer the day of a true and an enduring . brotherhood.
kolllall in its loltine,, and Courage.
statement. We WOUNI nut accuse the Merl W110 hank been in power
Edward Lasker, German.
in our city of graft, though there have been some •110 haVe 110t linen

above suspicion.

Jewish Intellectuals.

To call the roll of Hebrew great
names is to crowd the intellect and

the
was
thi r st
r„-r born in

e ` t e r " III. "' k l' here . tie was it

I \Vest Indian hy birth (1811), and
' died iu Paris in 1884. He was very
Still these arc trot times to impede or to make light of arty move- great as an orator, statesman, and
The late Charles Sumner
meat that seems to have in it the power to awaken in a large lady o n f lawyer.
once declared that Judah P. lienjathin
our people even a momentary enthusiasm for Judaism as ;1 living was ill)• 111051 brilliant orator in the
faith. if derogatory words are to be spoken, they must lie against United States in his day. The force of

ists themselves.

1, s , ,,n,) in, I

alliance, and ;1 base betrayal and re-
re-
1foliation of- he best and most d e mo-

tradit,..m

lan,ls.

israet

loam'

Conduct of Jew in This Crisis.

I am deeply interested in the atti-
tude and conduct of the 1, w in thi:
world crisis. Prone early childhood

have delighted to the lesIm ∎

and

lit, rature of his race. .‘t least 40I

per cent of the people in my district

are Jews They' are annum . the 1,•.1
that we have so far had. It is the result of the lust thought of a hypocrisy on the one hand and hysteria on the other. They must be ii )
and bravest of our citizens. They bile
against
leadership
that
is
selfish
and
sordid
and
narrow,
and
that
number of men the character of tvhose citizenship cannot be qu•s-
and the age in which it was paid. always been may friends. and I shall
tioned. It represents a step in the direction of democracy in that it for the sake of self - serving is willing to sacrifice the larger interests Sumner was himself a magnificent always sho \v a friendly inter, -I in
orator. and the eulogy of Benjamin them and their affairs. I shall • ❑•
of Israel. They must be against that
puts squarely up to all the people the election of their representa-
sickly emotionalism that is was made at it time when \•elister, sifter it Illy
•
carried a ■ vay by a romantic idea the pi issibility of wInise realization ('lay, Calhoun, Benton, and others
tives. It substitutes for the big and unwieldly aldermanic body a
the future as I hale 1111,1.
is denied by every practical consideration. and over - indulgence ill rendered glorious the annals of the the past Ithettex I r I I .,
small group of citizens to lie charged with the administration of the
ICepuldic.
The political career of
E\ ery Civilized nation on lilt,
\\ditch is likely to blur the vision of m e n t o fa ct s as th ey ;ire,
public business and upon whom responsibility can be fixed for the
Itenjamin was comprised. in Public i$ under it heavy debt
gratuud, .•
\Vith
on
all
these
things
in
mind
we
shall
-watch
the
Pittsburg
c
s service, within the offices of United the Jests for their mart (don, cono
proper supervising of our municipal affairs. It includes the Initia-
,
States Senator from Louisiana, and of bution ,
to the uplift I•i mankind
tive, Referendum and Recall, an innovation, we know, that is not ference with the utmost interest and with the prayer in hair hear t s
Attorney General. Secretary of War, to the citalization of the earth
without its element of danger and yet one that tends to a letter that its deliberations may be fur the good of world-Isra•l.
and Secretary of State, successively (Ida can be partially paid by f.,
of the Confederate States of America.
state of municipal government.
treaty guaranties tt h, if this fitgliti:!'
James Sehooler, in his "History of
oval. is over and the r, i" ,
There is no citizen of America today worthy of the name NV110
the Hided Status," remarks:
these civilized nations •
w ou ld willingly fail in his patriotic duty toward his country, but
contemporaries haft said at the out- in international coons
set that l'oottilis 14 115 fill• brain of the
• ontederacy, but that title, as events ten-nine the fate .ff Germane .1 ,
after all the country is only the sum total of its towns and cities.
IleveIopelI, bvIonge•11 hither to .\ ttorne) penalty
that she roust pay
Beginning Friday evening, June ?stli. the Twenty-ninth .\ nnual (tenerai Benjamin, the ablest,
and these, in turn, are but the expression of the conscience of their
most
l'Pl•+41 t Iv.
and 1111110 1 , 111S11.1 !It of all framers of the treaty of peace
individual citizens. It is, therefore, a high patriotic duty on the Convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis will be
who acti.it as shall Conellide !Ili, tsar •11 ■■ 111 , 1 n „ t aryl
of war after Walker's re- %tall not
part of the citizens of Detroit to do their share, now that the oppo r- held in the city of Chicago. Papers both academic and practical Secretary
forget the jilt,.
tirement ill September, and was them
tunity is afforded them, of creating - a better city government so that bearing: upon the situation in modern Jewry will be presented by by the following :ilitreb. Install•d Sec- as free citizens in ev ery land s! ,
retary of Slate, to remain iireinb•r be and \\ ill
be adequately sategw.,1.: •.
1111111 the bitter •nd. sanguine and se-
our Detroit, leader as she has been on so many occasions in these eminent leaders in Israel and reports of work dime and of new work retie
III bearing. through all mutations and protected. 'The infamous con.le.
last years, may also point the way to her sister cities throughout the to lie undertaken will he discussed. The tentative program as pub- of fortune amt. misfortune.
of Roumania in I iolating her pledgi•-
Disraeli. (lamberts, Castelar, Lasker, under the Berlin treaty of 1878 should
land in the matter of clean and responsible municipal government. lished suggests a meeting that will be of ital importance not only
and Benjamin were bright particular he made Mmossible of repetition be
To this end let every man cast his vote on Alonday next week for to the participating 1:ald)is, but 1)) Jewry as a whole.
stars in the constellation of Jewish any nation signatory to the treaty.
the new Charter. Its adoption will mark the dawn of a IleW era
The Central Conference of .1 merican I:abbis, founded b y the statesmanship, but they were types \\• hen the time comes I shall do Int -
rather than exceptions, for Jewi•li minc,st, in my humble 11ay, to halo.'
in Detroit.
organizing genius i)f American Jewry, Dr. Isaac NI. \Vise, is today
genius has been in all ages peculiarly this protection extended to the Jew,
not only the largest, but beyond a doubt, the most influential rab- adapted to grand achievements in law w hose sole security for their
binical body in the world. \\line for the most part its members and government.
in an effective appeal to the 5 . o , -
This brief address has done poor science and to the enlightened pfd
represent the ideals of Reform Judaism, there are those on its roster
justice to the Jew as a soldier, citizen meat of mankind.
of membership who are decidedly conservative in their v iews, an d patriot, orator, and statesman, but I
Within the past ten days twenty-five young men have graduated it is fair to say that practically every shade of religious opinion and must close
WORLD LABOR ASKED TO CON-
The wonderful intellectual and
from the two great theological schi)ols of America with the degree of every possible interpretation of the problems affecting
modern spiritual achievements of your race
DEMN POGROMS.
Rabbi, twelve from the Hebrew Union College at Cincinnati, and
Judaism are represented in its membership.
have been by no means limited to the
thirteen from the Jewish Theological Seminary at New York.
topics and subdivisions of this discus-
The executive committee of the
The Conference is not a synod in the sense that it is a legislative
sion. They are really the minor Jewish National Labor Council of
Though the rule is by no means absolute it is likely that the assembly. It is
purely what its name implies, a conference, ()tiering phases of the triumphs of a many- Great Britain has issued an appeal to
graduates of the Cincinnati school will be called upon to serve
to its members a platform for an interchange of views upon problems sided genius that has enriched and labor parties and leaders all over the
Reform congregations, while those who have had their scluaffing in
glorified the literature and history of world asking then) to help in putting
vital to Israel. The meeting in Chicago will no doubt attract wide
mankind. Every art and every science an end to the anti-Jewish massacre:
the Nine York Seminary will enter the nrthodox rabbinate. That
;Menthol for though as stated, the Conference claims for itself no has been grandly adorned and bril- in Poland and Galicia, be Plaid!'
they will obtain positions before the coming fall Ilolydays there can
legislative authority. its decisions in regard to matters Jewish arc liantly illuminated by the Ifehrew in- condemning them. The resolution as-
be no doubt for despite the oft-repeated cry - that indifference is rife
tellect and spirit. Nfonotheism, the serts that the censors of Austria and
looked upon as practically authoritative by thousands of Jews
world's noblest religion, has been the Germany have been at great pains to
to religious interests among the Jews in America. it yet remains true
throughout the land.
great contribution of your people to suppress the news of many progroms
that for a number of years there have been more pulpits than could
the civilization of the earth; but no which have occurred recently in Po-
be supplied by our two rabbinical schools,
standard of principle, no mode of land and Galicia. Nevertheless. the
thought, no form of philosophy has National Labor Council is in posses-
The young men just graduating into the ministry assume their
been omitted or neglected in the grand sion of facts concerning excesses in
life work at a critical time, not only in the world's history, but in
march of Jewish achievements through many towns in the territory now oc-
the centuries.
cupied by the Austro-German armies.

The

Rabbinical

Conference

Leadership in Israel

4