PAGE SIX
lif61)entorrjailsn
RONICLE
We know that there are those who will not share in this opinion.
They will claim that the pulpit as an opinion-forming agency should
be heard upon the political issues of the hour. They will claim that
the preacher as a thinking man and as a. patriotic citizen has not
only the right but the duty to voice his convictions upon the political
problems that divide the people. Nor do we deny this. As an in-
dividual, he certainly has the right and obligation to raise his voice
in behalf of the party platform in which he believes. But the
preacher cannot be disassociated from his office. And when the
time comes when he feels the necessity of becoming the spokesman
of one political party as against another, it is reasonable to expect
that he will step down and out of the pulpit and devote himself to
politics, which also is a profession of no mean character.
Just because the pulpit has a tremendous power, men must be
careful how they use it. The first purpose of the pulpit is to deepen
the religious consciousness of the people. It is questionable whether
that object is accomplished when it is made to serve the purposes
for which primarily the public platform is established.
that Jews are as they were and that
they were as they are, that Jesus of
Nazareth was of them and with them
and for them, that every calumny
MICHIGAN'S JEWISH HOME PUBUCATION
against the brothers and sisters of
Jesus
the Jew reviles hint. God pity
Published Weekly by The Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc.
and forgive Henry Ford. God save
Joseph J. Cummins, President.
America and keep America true to
the American hope of good-will and
Entered as second•class matter March 3, 1916, at the Posto1fice at Detroit,
brotherhood among men."
Mich., under the Art of March 3, 1879.
•
BROOKLYN, N. Y.—The sermon
preached by the eloquett Brooklyn
rabbi, Dr. Alexander Lyons, of the
Telephones:
Cable Addreae:
Eighth Avenue Temple, at Garfield
place, at the services commemorating
the Day of Atonement, has created
considerable comment, not only
Subscription, in Advance
33.00 Per Year
among Jews of South l9rooklyn, but
To insure publication, all correspondence and news matter must reach this
all over the borough.
office by Tuesday evening of each week.
Dr. Lyons's congregation is among
the most influential in de whole city,
RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN
Editorial Contributor
and the fame. of this Brooklyn clergy-
man has spread to all parts of the
The Laymen's Back-to-the-Synagog Movement
The Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on subjects of interest to
country.
the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorsement of the views
His Day of Atonement sennon was
The
so-called
"Flying
Squadron"
of
the
Union
of
America
He-
expressed by the writers.
devoted pricipally to a discussion
brew Congregations is about to tour the country during the month of what he believes to be an unrea-
October 15, 1920.
Heshvan 5, 5681 of November to rouse the people of our various communities to the soning recrudescence of antipathy to
significant part that is being played in the life of the Jew by the the Jew throughout the world.
"Even in American life, where tot-
synagog. The movement is essentially one of laymen—if we may
erance is a boast," he says, "there are
The Coming Community Fund Drive.
borrow a term not entirely Jewish—in contradistinction to the instances of it." Then he cites what
During the month of November, the annual Community Fund rabbis. In practically all the communities of this country where he regards as the most "impudent and
Drive for the support of national and local institutions of philan- Jews in considerable numbers live, addresses will be delivered by venomous" attack—that reported to
thropy and education will take place. Workers for the drive are prominent laymen dealing with the importance of building up the have been made in a publication is
sued by Henry Ford.
now being called for and the plan of campaign is being mapped out. congregational life and of supporting the organizations that are
"This,antagonism," according to Dr.
Never with greater earnestness than now, have we appealed to our affiliated with the synagog.
Lyons, /"must be combatted by the
If,
as
we
believe,
the
Jew
is
a
Jew
by
religion
only,
then
it
follows
Jews."
He then proceeds to tell his
people for their whole-hearted and generous support of the Fund.
Upon the success of the drive this year will depend the permanence logically that the synagog is the one legitimate unit of his represen- hearers how this newly aroused an-
to the race may be defeated
of the organization. It is the crucial test to which the plan of fed- tation. To be a Jew and not to be religious is an anomaly. As has tipathy
by following the example of Plato,
erated giving shall be put. If the drive fails this year, it can never been pointed out many times, other so-called Jewish institutions who said, "I shall so live that none
be tried again in Detroit: And its failure or success will depend may do good and telling work, but they are all in the last analysis, will believe my critics."
Scores Race Prejudice.
upon the willingness of the workers and the generosity of the givers. the fruitage of synagogal planting. Neither the Jewish club nor
Here is how Dr. Lyons treats the
We know that the task will not be an easy one. When the Com- the Jewish lodge nor even the Jewish philanthropies would be
subject of prejudice against his race:
munity Fuhd—first organized as the Patriotic Fund—was estab- effective agencies in upbuilding the Jewish life of a community
"The great war has tossed to the
lished, the war was at its height and under the impetus of our were it not for the inspiration that they receive at the hands of the surface of humanity some of its un-
aroused sympathies, we gave freely of our time and our energies. synagog. The tremendous forward strides that have been taken in seemly elements, just as when the
But once the war was over, our morale was lowered, our sym- the realm of Jewish philanthrophy in these years may well serve to ocean is made turbulent by the angry
fury of the wind it throws up its ac-
pathies apparently had become dulled; and our response to the illustrate this fact. It is the pulpit that above all has inspired the cumulated debris of many years.
appeal of suffering was not as ready as it had been. This was clearly workers to their sacred and important tasks. When the hold of the Along with much good accomplished
indicated during last year's drive. Though a much smaller sum was synagog upon the life of the Jew is strong, we may be sure that by the war in its promotion of some
then asked for than had been required the previous year, it required all phases of his life distinctly Jewish will go forward as they should. of the world's ideal purposes, much
evil has also found
much greater effort on the part of the workers to gather it. With But let the synagog as a great inspiring force lose its influence over a counter-balancing
place that may be only temporary,
the memory of their difficulties of last year still in mind, many of the Jew and in all the best things for which he stands, he will be but whose length of endurance It to
those who worked at that time are reticent to be enrolling them- indifferent and retrogressive.
impossible just now to prophesy.
"There is no question, however,
For this reason the movement inauguarted by the Union of Am-
selves this year among the active campaigners for the Community
that
as a result of denominational
Fund. And it is to them especially that we make our appeal. We erican Hebrew Congregations and which is intended to bring back
activity of various kinds in the war,
need them this year more than we did last. If they fail us now, the Jew to his synagog, and to put him into closer accord with the either national, racial or religious.
we shall have to go back to the old method of the individual gather- message of the synagog is one of highest importance. It is hoped separative differences have been em-
ing of funds by the various philanthropic organizations of the city ; that this movement will inert with the enthusiastic support of the phasized and in many instances yawn-
ing chasms of antagonism have been
the old duplication of effort will come into vogue again; the over- people in every part of the country.
allowed to come into being.
head expense of collection and distribution will be infinitely in-
"As illustrative of this may be cited
creased; donors will be appealed to not once in the season but a
The Wonder of History
the increased animosity everywhere
rampant today, is the attitude of so
dozen or a hundred times; the esprit de corps created by the Fund
Under this title, the Rev. Dr. Samuel W. Purvis, of Philadelphia, many, to the Jewish people. The Jew
among the various philanthropic agencies of the city will be broken
always been more or less perse-
down, and all the old evils against which social workers have been recently delivered a remarkable sermon in which he paid to the has
Jew
a very unusual tribute. Indeed, so remarkable was the address cuted in so-called Christian history,
protesting during these many years will be revived.
but rarely has the criticism and, in
,Surely in the face of these facts, none will refuse to do his or her of this eminent Christian divine that his sermon originally published some parts of the world, the perse-
share to make the Community Drive of 1920 so splendid a success in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin was reprinted in its entirety cution been so bitter or even fiendish.
The .f(ej-jqq. 44.,the Jews jn
that there will be no question as to its permanency and its efficiency. in a number of secular papers throughout the country and from them oust
neighboring countries as a result
Let us all, then, put our shoulders to the wheel. The Community copied into quite a few of our Jewish periodicals.
of the persistence of warfare beggars
Dr. Purvis is apparently a keen student of Jewish 1,Story and description.
Ftlnd is non-sectarian in the strictest sense of the term. Every citi-
"With a difference of expression,
zen of Detroit of high or low degree is its beneficiary. Should the character. He understands as one does who has.liv.o/ii the Jew not
Fund fail, it would indicate that the progressive spirit of Detroit has merely superficially, but who has stmleu' la psychology, what per- because of a difference of environ-
ment,
something of the same spirit
been but a vain boast. But it will not fail if each will contribute manent contributions he liar made and is still making to human exists even in American life, where
his share of time and work and money to a cause that stands justified culture and civilizalA .. lie knows, however, not only the strength tolerance is a boast, that, in this in-
but also Ale wdkness of the Jew ; his vices as well as his virtues. stance, certainly is more boastful
in the eyes of all forward looking men and women.
l;,;..,Teognizes in the Jew a human being, one who cannot be than real. In no direction of Ameri-
judged with a blanket judgment but must be dealt with as an in- can life today can one escape a sense
inimical attitude, sometimes ill-
Scolding in the Pulpit.
dividual. Perhaps the greatest difficulay against which the Jew of
concealed, at other times impudently
has had to contend, is the fact that those who have spoken and and venomously expressed, as in a
, One of the greatest weaknesses of many preachers • ;, that they
written about him have persistently refused to deal with hint as series of articles circulated not long
make their pulpits a means of constant rebuke. ;1:hs custom cannot
they do with other individuals, judging each man upon his own since under the fostering care of
be too strongly condemned, especially gfie -n it takes the form as it
merits. They have insisted upon making every Jew a duplicate of Henry Ford, who has done a great
thing on the material side of civiliza-
so frequently does, of finding fault with those who come to the
every other Jew. That Dr. Purvis escapes this danger point is in-
church or the synagogue, forJ,ke sins of those who do not come to dicated in the very closing sentence of his remarkable address. In tion, but on the moral, through his
propagation of prejudice has dis-
hear the pulpit message, •
answer to those who may say that he has not sufficiently stressed gracefully discredited his entire ac-
And yet, we cannot at all agree with one of our worthy col- the foibles of the Jew in his sermon, he says: "I know the Jew's tivity. The treatment of the Jewish
people, permitted in his publication,
leagues who, aciitding to a report in the public press, said recently:
faults—I know his virtues. They are both surprisingly like the Chris-
"A minister addresses mature, enfranchised men and women who tian's—and when I weigh them in the balance, I am glad to extend is as uncouth, to say the least, as his
self-exposure was ludicrously uncul-
do their daily tasks in business and professions in independent my hand to my intensely human neighbor, the Jew."
tured when a short time ago he was
smpt•and what the community approves, the minister cannot reject
We arc grateful to Dr. Purvis for his fair-minded and generous subject to a critical court examina-
tTr condemn."
estimate of Jewish character and achievements. In a time when no tion.
"Jews Must Combat It,"
If this statement embodies the truth, then nothing remains for many hostile forces are directed against the Jew, a word of just
"This antagonism to the Jew, we
the pulpit but to shut up shop. If the pulpit is to hold that what- praise where praise is merited, is all the nmre appreciated.
Jews must combat; not on the ground
ever the community approves is right, then its own power as an
that we are Jews, but because of its
opinion-forming and life-directing agency is by that token forever
injustice. We must likewise cry out
lost. If the pulpit can look upon the abounding laxity in morals to
to the nobler Christendom against
that caricature of Christianity so ram-
which even the least observant of modern men and women have
pant in the world today, which per
their eyes open; if the pulpit can see the prevailing materialism, the
mits the spiritual relatives of Jesus,
selfishness, the low social standards, the tendency to profiteering
and the repositories of his religion,
and all the rest, which because of their widespread character may
to be so diabolically victimized in
this country by the propagandism of
be said to have the approval of the community, then in heaven s
a
prejudice that is as pernicious as it
name what is the pulpit here for?
is preposterous.
Can one imagine a prophet in Israel in the ages past stifling his
"What shall we Jew's do about It
word of rebuke at the degradation, the unselfishness, and the im-
to the extent that it is our problem?
For it is the problem of a selt-re-
morality of the times? Can one think of an Amos sitting in silence
specting Christianity and American-
(Contirded From Page 1)
or giving passive assent td the treading down of the poor or the
ism also. From the standpoint of
ruthless exercise of power on the part of a few over the many? Or, by his name and withal rejeo hint free to have the power which Henry casualty a variety of elements enter
indeed, can one imagine the great outstanding preachers of our mod- indeed.
Ford is exercising for evil. No man, into the procreation of that anti-Jew-
though as rich as Ford or Croesus, ish prejudice which makes the Jew
ern days, men like the sainted Isaac M. \Vise or Samuel Hirsch, or
"Challenge Is False."
J. Leonard Levy, not to speak of men fortunately still among the
"Ford challenges in the t o ms 'The ought to be suffered to libel a whole uncomfortable and degrades the
people
in a land the well-being of
living, who would have belittled their high office by refusing to Jew believes that the worleis his by which depends upon the spirit of un- source from which it comes.
"The Jew is disliked partly for
own,
rebuke wrong doing just because it happened to meet the approval right; he wants to collet, hit
derstanding
and of conciliation, of commercial reasons, which generate
and the speediest way of doing so is
of the majority?
the destruction of order by revolu- tolerance and of good-will.Ford de- the jealously of success, and partly
As we re-read the words reported to have been spoken by our tion.' This is utterly and abomin- clared that the authorship of the pro- for personal reasons, which present
tocol, basic to his own challenge, is some Jews as very offensive to others,
colleague, we arc forced to believe that they must rpresent a mis- ably false. The Jew does not be- Imputed
by Jews to a criminal or a who, in many cases, are not more at-
quotation. We can hardly believe that one who claims to be a leader lieve that the worlds his by right. madman. The reply of one Jew to tractive than those they criticise.
I reply to Ford's chatenge, 'The Jew
of his people could seriously hold to an opinion that would make believes that right must hole the Henry Ford is that his work 'The
"Illogic is a prolific parent of the
World's Greatest Problem: The In- prejudice of which we justly com-
the pulpit so weak a thing as is implied in the quotation given.
world.'
ternational
Jew'
is
the
work
of
a
plain, because it operates to generate
y t a G keen t h e se form
s r e c h aa e
.T 'h' roer d' we
killed criminal or a madman. And I do not hatred as the result of an excessive
believe, despite certain significant in- generalization of inadequate informa-
The Pulpit and Politics.
re are Jews ry
inthe
or
by Gentiles as sergeaart
timations, that Henry Ford is a mad- tion. Too commonly in the minds
That the pulpit message should touch the living issues of the world—it n was
of critics of the Jew, a few or even
trill, one million Jews man.
Israel.' I
Ford is seeking to introduce one Jew is taken to be representative
day at every point, there can be no doubt. This follows from the and m
sa.t k
h ilo l i e fi d u,,n b ,ad y rreds
wa 0 f
g r e t h h am been
more
fact that religion which finds its spokesmen in the pulpit must be throw
r ho t n r into Americanlife a tendency that is of allJewry. These several causes
divisive, disruptive and morally fate- are contributed to swelling the noi-
co-extensive with life itself. There is, therefore, no phase of econ- the last s ,
jeswv.sre irneti snliateinly inmothree ful. The American people will have some and loathsome streams of preju-
),Jew
omic, social, or political conditions which may not legitmately to thousandstimf ,
none of him and of his ways. When dice, but they, in turn, are fed more
Russian r
some extent be the concern of the preacher. Certainly this is true l oya l to •ussia than the Romanoffs. once the American people, lovers of fundamentally by a theological origin.
"Since the adoption of Chrisianity
SO far as in politics, in industry, or in the social order as a whole, One h • dred thousand Jews have fair play and of justice, understand
as the State religion of ancient Rome,
the moral element is involved. To hamper the pulpit in its free been ochcred by the Fords of the that Henry Ford is seeking to intro- the Jew has been persistently hounded
duce the spirit of or that makes for
expression of opinion in regard to human relationships is to min- Ukrae within two years. Ford is pogromism into America, they will by the determination of the bigoted
dastaolY enough to point out that
imize if riot altogether to destroy its influence.
saw sews could have died in battle abhor and renounce him. Henry followers of the kindly Jesus, to
And yet, there are phases of the moving conditions of a period, i n Ay army, for only crosses are to Ford needs to be reminded that either baptize his spiritual descen-
dents, to banish or burn them. So
the discussion of which seems to be out of place in the pulpit. Little beaten in the war. cemeteries of Eu- America is not a matter of cheap en- fierce was the antagonism of the
gines but of a precious sipirit. Henry
doubt there can be of the impropriety for instance of the preacher r oe and this defamation of our hon- Ford shall not be suffered to cheapen Christian emperors because of the un-
ied, hallowed dead in every war
becoming the spokesman in or out of his pulpit for partisan politics emetery comes with poor grace in- the spirit of America: he shall not
To be sure, if one political party stands the unquestioned represen ked from the abetting father of the be suffered to vulgarize and corrupt
America's soul.
tame of a high moral principle, while its opponent is the embodi. skulking Ethel.
ment of a scheme of government that is vicious or opposed to tit, " Ford's challenge assumes: 'Jews
"Not Enough Christianity."
today are the only people whose spe-
best interests of civilization, there can be no reasonable doubt
The challenge reads that we are
cial and extraordinary privileges are
attempting
to destroy Christianity.
to what the duty of the preacher should be. Upon him rests /ie written into the world's treaty of
One Jew replied: Far from that, the
obligation to cry out against injustice and unrighteousness w e - peace.'
Special and extraordinary
evil is that there is not enough
Because the
soever it may appear. But such a condition as is here descri is privileges forsooth)
Christianity in the world. If there
unthinkable. No one in his sane senses will claim for any c r our democracies of the world set out to were, Henry Ford, his incendiary
recognize the rights of minority peo-
present day political parties a degree of perfection that put/Them ples in Eastern Europe, Jews includ- word, his criminally inciting purpose
beyond criticism. But on the other hand, none will hold pat the
th ed! And these special and extraor- would not he tolerated for an hour:
moral implication in the attitude of one is so superior to th4 of the dinary privileges are being honored Henry Ford challenges in the terms
that 'Jews are said to come and meet
other as to define the choice between the one and the ether dis - in the breach altogether by Poland and go in every capital of Europe
and other East European lands,
tinctly as a moral issue.
which will find support of all their with a nameless program." Not a pro-
And even if that be the case, then let our preachers rase their injustice to the Jew in the Ford words gram. It is not a Jewish program,
but Christian pogroms that bring us
voices in behalf of morality in politics, pointing out the isle that and works.
together. Henry Ford calls himself
is at stake. But let them refrain from using their pulpits f o.the dis-
"Uses Power for Evil"
a Christian. No Ukrainian hooligan,
cussion of purely partisan issues. We can conceive of ne^ing that
"Though, because of the limitations slayer of women and children, was
will more quickly disrupt .the congregational life or th will more of time, I must postpone the discus- ever more truly guilty of the spin%
surely vitiate the religious influence of the pulpit tha, e partici- lion of what Jews think of non-Jews of the pogrom than is Henry Ford.
in answer to the cchallenge of Ford,
"And if Henry Ford be right and
pation of the preacher in the political campaign of oriPartY or the I will tell what one Jew thinks of
his challenge be valid, then let it be
other.
one non-Jew. No man ought to be remembered by them that understand
ET-RO/TAWISH ORONICLE
Offices, 1334 Book Building
Clary 3381.2689
Chronicle, U. S. A.
•
In the Land of Our Fathers
Blue are skies in the land of our f athers-
A blue of the beauteous sheen;
Through the clear of the air on the farthest horizon
The mountains of Judah are seen.
•
Blue are the dales in the land of our fathers,
Sweet with the fragrance of flowers;
Fair-smelling groves where the almond-trees murmur—
Vistas of grape-girded bowers.
High are the hills in the land of our fathers
To reach to the vaulting sky;
Israelites, sturdily tilling And reaping,
Are chanting their carols nearby.
Bright gleams the moon in the land of our fathers,
Aglint on the evening dew—
Through myriad stars the queen of the even
Sails on the sea of blue.
Fair are the babes in the land of our fathers,
Comely the gladsome and gay;
Godly the words of the songs they are singing—
Sailing the ocean of blue.
—K. L. SILLMAN.
w'llingness of the Jews to stultify
their reason and accept Jesus, that
they looked upon the marriage or a
Christian to a Jew as a sin.
"What's to be done? Let us sepa-
rate ourselves, say some Jews, and
in self-isolation have little or nothing
to do with others. This is a social
suicide that is impossible, and would
be undesirable, if it were practicable,
From the standpoint of our duty, as
determined by our religion and by
our history, we must fight the wrong
and not flee it.
"Otners again counsel another ex-
treme in meeting prejudice, and ad-
vise self-surrender. The price is not
worth the penalty, say these. It is
more pleasant and more profitable to
abandon one's Jewishness and as-
similate into the general environment.
"What, then, remains to be done?
We Jews must not isolate or surren-
der ourselves, but we must practice
self-assertion, not, however, in the
Sense of self-centredness or forward-
ness—there is too much of such
among those Jews who Jewish only
in name or claims, fail to exemplify
the finer aspects of their denomina-
tion. The self-assertion I would coun-
sel, and have, is that warranted by
the fact that we are fundamentally
divinely and wonderfully endowed
with a priceless spiritual and moral
potency. The heavy and oftentimes
cruel hand of history has heaped
upon us the soil of its mishandling.
In consequence we have, at times,
appeared to be different to what we
really are.
"Ours must be the mission to be the
pioneers, the prophets, the promoters
of those spiritual and ethical convic-
tions which, coming first to our peo-
ple of old, must have their first and
finest exemplification among us for
the enrichment of all humanity. Not
only must we do this, but we must see
to it, to the extent of our ability and
our opportunity, that every Jew guide
himself with the consciousness and
conviction of the same duty and des-
tiny. We must bear in mind that it is
truer of us than of any others that
we Jews stand or fall together.
''We must also be unintermitting in
our demand of the world, especially
of the Christian world, who are more
nearly our brothers, that the dire
cruelty of persecution of the Jews
across the water must cease, and the
perfidious and pernicious propaganda
of prejudice in American life must
come to an end, as incompatible with
both the ideals of Jesus and the creed
of the true American.
WARSAW.—"The Rabotnik" (The
Laborer) the official organ of the So-
cialists, reports that Bernson, the
Secretary of the Polish Embassy in
Washington, has tendered his resigna-
tion because of his inability to co-
operate with the Ambassador, Prince
Lubomirski.
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