PAGE. SIX THE DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE THE DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE MICHIGAN'S JEWISH HOME PUBLICATION Published Weekly by The Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc!? JOSEPH J. CUMMINS - NATHAN J. GOULD - - President Secretary-Treasurer Entered as second-class matter March 3, 1916, at .the Postoftice at Detroit, Mich., under the Act of MarCh 3, 1879. Offices, 1334 Book Building Telephone Cherry 3381 Subscription, In Advance $5.00 per year To insure publication, all.correspondence and news matter must reach this office by Tuesday evening of each week. ' RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN - - Editorial Contributor The Jewish Chronicle invites correspondince on subjects of interest to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorsement of the views expressed by the writers. Friday, February 27, 1920 Adar 8, 5680 Jewish Courts of Law According to an item going the rounds of the public press, a plan is about to be tried out in New York City, according to which a Jewish court of arbitration is to be established in that city and before which will come civil cases in which Jews are the litigants. The proposed court, which is said to hate the full approval of the District Attorney and of the Chief Justice of the, Municipal Court, is to lie composed of one rabbi, one business man, and one lawyer as judge. Under the afrangement as proposed, awards or decisions would have all the force and effect legally that a similar decision by a city or municipal court judge would have. It might, however, be reviewed on appeal by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court if either of the litigants should be dissatisfied. The proposal that differences between - Jews should be settled by Jews has nothing of novelty in it. Such Jew;ish arbitration courts have long been in vogue, not only in European countries but as well in some cities in our own co'untry. The existence of such arbitration boards unquestionably serves to reduce, the number of actions brought before the judges of the lower courts, for it is a noteworthy fact that there is a tendency among certain classes of our co-religionists to enter upon lawsuits upon the slightest provo- cation. Indeed, there are certain fairly unscrupulous attorneys, who are known to play upon this weakness of these pcilde and to encour- age them to go to law when the cases at issue might very much more easily be settled out of court.. On the other hand, there seems to us to be a very decided objec- tion against tying up with the judicial system of any community, an arbitration board having to do exclusively with any one religious or social group in the community. Indeed, we regard it as a rather dangerous proceeding. In the first place, by segregating the Jew in matters where legal rights arc involved, there is no small possibility of putting him at a disadvantage when he has a case worthy of being tried by the regularly constituted tribunals, Again, the estab- lishment of these Jewish arbitration boards as a part of the regularly constituted judicial system of a community,' might lend itself to misinterpretation and lead to the belief that Jews are flagrant and frequent law - breakers. So long as such boards of arbitration are matters within our own household and in no sense tied vit With the municipal system of justice, they are to be rather heartily commended. Frequently, a wise word from a conscientious rabbi, or business man, or lawyer, to one or the other of the litigants will settle a matter which other- wise might be carried to court. But the moment these boards take on a semi-public character, they not only are undesirable, they are likely to represent a real menace to the Jew. Far-Away Converts • It is an old story that men seldom learn by experience. The old blunders repeat themselves day after day, .amd year after year, and men seem to grow no wiser. Accordingly, we should not be too greatly surprised that some of our .friends in the local-ministry were again willing to lend their names'and their support to the recent conference held its this city for the purpose of 'evangelization of the Jews. Again the same ridiculous arguments were hashed up before them in the same old way, anti,vain they and • their constituents paid the price, though not a Jew was touched by the various messages that art- re delivered by the missionaries. But this really is no, concern of ours. So long as our friends of the Christian churches are willing to pay for being fooled, they are welcome to indulge themselves. There is only one phase of the whole' situation that interests its at all, and that is, that converts of.whom these missionaries boast, are always far away. If the meeting happens to be in New. Nork, the vast number of converts brought from the Thora to the Cross are in Denver, or San Francisco, in' TitribliCtan, If, on the other hand, the meeting takes place in San Francisco, those who have been saved by the missionary agents, invariabley live in the far East. Somehow, they are never present lb be brought forward as exhibits. Thus. in Detroit, where we are told a mission to the Jews has been working full time for the past seven months,-We have heard neither the names nor the addresses of any of the converts gained here. Strange, too, that this should be the case, for Detroit, with its large immigrant population, with its abnormal number csd floaters, with its undue proportion of men without family ties. ought to be of all the cities in America. one of the most fertile fields. Still, we have not seen a directory of the souls garnereil by the eminent gentleman who is consecrating his life to save the souls of the Jews of Detroit. N1'here are those who have been brought to salvation? Like all the rest, they seem to be far away. % \\'e do not intimate at all that there are none who, failing to find the spiritual solace that they seek in Judaisiii, believe that they have found it in the faith of the daughter church.• Indeed, we may point to One man—an intelligent and scholarly man, too—who believes that Christianity has a nearer message kr him than had the faith in which he was born. But let it be said to his credit, that unlike our missionary friends, he has neve'r capitalized his apostacy. More- over, in his public addresses and in his writings—for he is a well- known author—he invariably goes out of his way to do the Jew a good turn. There may be a fair suspicion that even today he is a better Jew than he knows. We have known other converts, too. \Ve remember, for instance, the Marannos in Spain, driven by petsecution outwardly to adopt Christianity but continuing to practice with ever renewed zeal thc customs of Israel in their darkened cellars. We know that political ostracism and the impossibility of gaining professional recognition drove many Jews in Germany to the point where they permitted themselves to be sprinkled with the baptismal water. We know of some men in this country who outwardly have accepted the Christian faith. ( Inc are know who was adjudged to be insane. .\ outlier has a criminal record, and still another was a wife deserter. And as far as we know, not one of the three made good "after lie had seen the light." There is one man of our acquaintance who informed us that while in England, his facial features were such as to permit him t o go to nine different missionaries and to be converted by each in turn at a considerable profit in every case, for Jewish souls are paid for in some parts of the world. Sc we do not at all question the veracity of the good missionaries who garner the shekels of believing and tntlrusiastic Christians fovAc he purjCse of carrying on the noble and holy work of evangelizati(li among the Jews. t Mr one wonder is that the converts gainwl are always so far away. Won't someone please give us a list of names and addresses of the benighted Jews here in Detroit who have been brought to see the light? The Pay of Social Workers In New York City, a special fund is being raised through which the pay of Jewish social workers connected with the various institu- tions in that city may be increased to something like a scale befitting the dignity and the importance of their work. So many of the best social workers in New York City, and in other parts of the country as well, have found -it necessary to leave their chosen fields and to enter upon a business career, that the very future of social service institutions has been seriously threatened. It must be borne in mind that the supervision of activities of a social service character has taken on professional standing in the past few years. Those giving themselves to the work require a period of training often extending over several years. Moreover, the task to which they set themselves is diflinult and frequently ungrateful. It is too much to ask that people giving themselves to work of this character should lie denied at least the ordinary com- forts which are the portion of those who do less responsible -work, for which neither expert knowledge nor long training is necessary. The time ought not he far off when some attempt at standardiza- tion of remuneration for social workers should he made. \Ve are told that here in Detroit,the Community Union is about to set on foot some investigation through which just such standardization as aVe speak of may result. If this is the case, it will be another reason why the people of Detroit should feel themselves under obligations to the Community Union and the Patriotic Fund with which it is so closely associated. Purim SNAPPY PRODUCTION OF "LET 'ER FLICKER" DELIGHTS AUDIENCE Eno ebs SAYS- (Continued From Paige 1.) been arrested on the spot. and sundry other adventures and misadventures, a reconciliation takes place in time Copy lghted, tti2o, 1:yg Jewish Chrotth le for the final curtain. Jublish Goldstick and Rynek Comic Hits. Dr. Milliard \V. Goldstick, with his deep bass voice, lugubriously melan- choly, put over the inevitable dark- skinned gen'tnan with consummate humor, aided and abetted by his Jol- sonesque confrere Mr. Pete Emitter- man, of Cleveland. Jerome 1). Rynek sleuthed it to perfection, at times threatening to take upon himself the whole burden of the comic relief. Ir- vine G. Levy, Maurice Steingold and \Villiam M. Schwartz, hnwer er, :tided in frustrating Mr. Rynek's designs. Berman T. Buch as A. Footer Fillum, niovie director, was generally present to serve as the connecting link to the series of song and dance skits, strid- ently calling the ladies and gentlmen back to the business of getting on with the action whenever it threatened to go too far afield. The two acts were laid before the grounds of the Star Picture studios and in the studio proper. The second set adapted itself as easily to the throne room of a dusky potentate with an Oriental Lupercalia in full swing as to the interior of the out saw mill where Dolores was about to be quarter-sawed in the interests of the drammer. If any one of Seymour Simons con- tributions scored more heavily than another in Act 1, it was "Keep 'Em (Messing," put over by liessye liar nett, Edward Greenthal, Saul Jacob and the chorus. "That's 1A'hat the Cards Tell Me," by Rae Barnett and Edward followed a close second. Other hits of the act were, "\Vhen Cupid Flies ..•\ way," "If You Should Tell Me," and Goldstick's inimitable, "The Blues Ain't Nothin,." Co. GERMS. Whod ever think, WhaCer we drink, Whafer we pans With cup or glass, Whafer we eat— Pigs meat or feet, Ivy piece or 'min .:A, 1 Prom gold or brass, At the smallest munch, We swallow it bunch Of the dearest. Of the queerest, Of the leanest, Ott the meanest Little creatures,— That the tallest, Still are smallest of all creatures. They can thrill us, They can kill us, With diseases that they 511 us, For which doctors gaily btil us, If they thus can torture man, Then tell me how they can, By the millions, nay, By the billions, say, Pass through a needles eye with ease, Wtthout the aid of Axle grease? 'fhe age-old story of Diogenes look. leg for an honest man Is just as ap- plicable to-day as it was when think- ing men went about impressing social truths by crudv, glaring, erratic man- berisms and nme*hods. • • The whole fabric of human life Is Second Act Rich in Color. Not until the opening number of interminably interwoven with false- Act 11, perhaps. did the audience be- gin to sit up and take note of the gorgeous costuming, although it was felt to be wholly adequate throughout the previous act. Along with the se- ductive, "Burundi' number, however, there went shimmering arms, twink- ling toes, silks, satins, spangles and more spangle, a rainbow riot of color, a kaleidoscopic dementia praecox. Saul Jacob discovered a commend- able baritone for his "Consolation Song," but it was Jerome Rynek's parody, "1Vhen It's Onion Time in liertutida," that will prove a snicker source for Some time to come. Once more Goldstick scored with "Ebenee- zer and Emmerman put across "The Advertising Girl" and "Play Me a Southern Melody" in the style that keeps "State Street l'ete" still in Ann Arbor's memory. Bell Livingston and omnipresent Edward received round after round of applause for their dance number, "It's Jazz That Makes the NVorld Go Round." Fas- cinating little Rae, in her tuneful ad- mission that "Love Has Been Born to Me," and the four lovers' equally unblushing statement that "I Love You" quite carried their hearers away. Purim, the Festival of Lots, will recur in annual cycle during the coming week. While in no sense a holy day, since even the historicity of the festival may legitimately be questioned, the Biblical story upon which it is based does offer many suggestions that may with profit be brought home to the people of our time. But among all the lessons contained in the Book of Esther, there is tunic more directly applicable to the conditions of our own time than that which is wrapped up in the words which Mordecai addresses to Queen Esther. Says lie: "Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape Chorus Has Sprightly Leader. in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether Diminutive Gertrude Bornstein, who boldest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise tripped on and off at the head of the to the Jews from another place. but thou and thy father's house will chorus line, is so many inches and ounces of concentrated pep, smiles perish ; and who knoweth whether thou art not come to royal estate and graceful movement. She set an example for the following: Edith Al' for such a time as this?" Pert, Libbie Goldsmith, Sylvia Albert, Many there are in our own tittle and country' who, having gained Yetta Goldsmith, Eva Alkon, Henriet- power and position, would hold themselves aloof from their co- ta I lertzberg, Rose Babcock, Rae Horowitz, Gertrude liorenstein, Bet- religionists, thinking that no matter what may befall the masses of ty Lind, Mildred Brickman, Mildred the Jews, they, because of their wealth and position, will escape the Lind, Shirley Brickman, Belle Silver- man, Helen Esser, Ethel Silverman, general fate. No reasoning could be more faulty than this. Any- Lillian Freedman, Esther Seinberg, one who reads the story of the Jew with understanding must be Betty Friedman, Nitta \\;einberg. Gentlemen of the chorus included: impressed with the fact that in the eyes of the world, a Jew is a Jew, 1)avid Feerer, Benjamin Koploy, 3,1an- no matter whether he wear the princely purple or the rags of the ford Ferrer, Edwin Oppenheim, \Vil- Goldstein, Harold Oppenheim, pauper peddler. Our enemies are not accustomed to make tine dis- liatn Nathan Goldstone, Royal ()ppenheitn, tinctions. Only too often is it brought home to its that for the sin Milton Gordon, David Shiffman. Should the Young People's Auxil- of the individual Jew, all Jewry is made to suffer. It is only when iary of Shaarey Zedek decide to take great accomplishments are to be credited to the Jew, that his relig- their show for a short road trip in ious identity is not particularly stressed. Thus, for instance, in accordance with tenttitible plans, a hearty reception is already as speaking of the marvelous discovery with which he has astounded for their more than creditable produc- tion. the whole scientific world recently, the newspapers do not refer to Albert Einstein, the Jew, but to Albert Einstein. the Swiss. It MEN'S TEMPLE CLUB behooves Jews who have gained prominence and position and power FURNISHES MEMBERS to bear all this in mind and to use their influence, not for their self- ENJOYABLE EVENING ish ends, but for the alleviation and the help of those of their The meeting of the !den's Temple brethren who have been less fortunate than they themselves. Perhaps it is as the hero of the Purim story says to the heroine: Club held at Temple Beth El. Friday evening, February 20, proved to be "Who knoweth whether thou art not come to royal estate for such one of the most successful get-to- a time as this?" The Jew who holds himself aloof from his brethren gethers as yet held by time organiza- tion. is unworthy of the proud title that he bears. Let the reading of the Following a short prayer by Rabbi Esther story in the synagog on Purim next week serve to press home Leo M. Franklin, Walter S. Heaven- rich, president of the club, extended this fact above all others. a welcome to new members. Fred hoods and deception. • • The impressions we desire to create on our neighbors are launched and fathered by every conceivable devise of truthlessness and sham. Women dress to outdo their sisters. Alen flaunt their wealth to eutd3 their butthers. Opinions are sent broad- cast that are not one whit true of the deeper Minitel 1011s of the expresser. • • . Lim In the broadest sense, eman- ate from the lips and appear In the ac- tions of men with more ease and un- ctuousnes1 than the simplest truths. • . • The plow which upturns the evil and brings It into the light of critic- ism, perfc,rms a twofold function, In that It tends to rectify or destroy the object of attack. Fearless recognition of faults Is the highest expression of optimism and the shortest road to progre s sion. HEBREW AID SOCIETY ACQUIRES $700,000 OLD ASTOR LIBRARY BLDG. (Continued From Page 1.) the railroad stations from which they i e mt l o d; take trains to other cities; An Ellis Island liureau taking care of immigrants detained at Ellis a ls r An Employment Bureau; An Oriental Bureau, which takes care of the Snaniola Jews coming from Turkey and Greece. A Naturalization Bureau to aid im- migrants to become American citi- zens; A Bureau for the activities at vari- ous ports in the United States (with the exception of New York), where the Society has branches; A reading and writing room for im- migrants; An auditorium for lectures, citizen- ship classes; A library containing books on im- migration and allied subjects; A synagogue; Ainieeting place for Jewish organ- izations; rooms for immigrants and for wayfarers with separate floors for men and women; Dining rooms for immigrants; Two separate Kosher kitchens; Food store-room, refrigeration rooms, etc. Everything sanitary and kosher, and arranged in the very best possible way. In the building will also be the of- fice of the Immigration Bulletin. In its new home, the Hebrew Shel- tering and Immigrant Aid Society of M. Butzel followed with a short ad- America will have sufficient place not dress dealing with the significance only for the immediate needs, but and itnportance of the Father and also for future demands.. Son movement. Isadore Edwards gave a short talk. Singing by the audience, a violin solo by David Craeoff and "sketches" by "Cozzy" Gottsdanker completed the program. EQL1111 SUNSHINE U.F&S.E--- -- - 3 4- COAL "'- REG u. S. PAT. 00.. HARD COAL BEST QUALITY — PROMPT DELIVERY FAIR PRICES — ANY QUANTITY THE OLD RELIABLE "PITTSTON" COAL ORDER IT NOW WI FUEL bi3UPPLY O. Free Press Building Cherry 3860 BICUR CHOLEM GIVES SERIES OF PROGRAMS OF UNUSUAL QUALITY Bicur Cholera Juniors held open house, Thursday evening, Feb. 19, at Shaarey Zedek. Nearly 500 persons participated. Consideration of appli- cations to membership was followed by a short musical program on which was featured Rose Zwieback, a tal- ented vocalist, little Rose Stanchef - skY, and a trio from the musical comedy. "Let 'Er Flicker." Dancing and refreshments followed. The next regular meeting will be held Thursday evening, March 4, at 8:30 p. m., at Shaarey Zedek. An unusual message is to he delivered by Dr. Edward J. Bernstein, special- ist in eye, ear and throat diseases. Bessie R nnppow, elocutionist will give a short series of dramatic read - ings. Dancing will conclude the evening. Heliopolis, one of the oldest and most sacred cities of Egypt, has just organized two Zionist societies, who are encouraging the speaking of He- brew.