ttfi TEM: PAGE FOUR 01140•40.1 parents of the children. Parents must see the wisdom of sim- 4 :104:14X14904904000101:1 0•004.1110 0 0 0 plifying the celebration of the day in every possible way. Dress and entertainment especially must be made matters of second- ary consideration in connection with the confirmation. And MICHIGAN'S JEWISH HOME PUBLICATION perhaps most important of all is that fathers and mothers Published Weekly by The Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc. should co-operate with the rabbis in frowning upon making aixtrilt aixtrasixxxiixt Joseph J. Cumming, President. fi i occasion added to the already far SUICIDE AS A SOLUTION OF ton another too long a list of such ocQasions for the giving and receivng THE PROBLEM petered as second class matter March 3, 1916 at the Postoflice at Detroit, of presents. Let the child" be made to feel that confirmation Mich, under the Act of March 3, 1S79. (The Jewish Ledger.) is a consecration; that it is a time for the acceptance of new Life is a precious thing. The life General Offices and Publication Building responsibilities that are high and holy ; that it marks the be- of every individual is sacred. Death fills one with sadness. A man who ginning of the period of spiritual adolescence. Above all, let 850 High Street West Cable Address: parents co-operate with the preacher in making the confirma- . makes no effort to preserve and pro- Telephones: long his life when his health and Chronicle Don not the end but in some sense the beginning of the serious strength are impaired is severely cen- Glendale 8326 religious education of the child. Too much stress cannot be sured, and suicide is considered • LONDON OFFICE laid upon the fact that confirmation is not synonymous with , crime. No less precious is the life 14 STRATFORD PLACE a race, a nation, or a people that LONDON, W. L ENGLAND graduation from the religious school. Where it is that, it de- of is cemented by the ties of a common Per Teat feats its own purpose. It should in very truth be the time when past and banded together for a com- 13.0o Subscription. In Advance religious teaching in its more serious aspects should begin. As mon purpose. Here, in fact, our reach this already stated, the rabbis are beginning to understand this. standards of judgment are even To insure publication, all correspondence and news matter must than those applied to indi- 'face by Tuesday evening of each week. But will they succeed in bringing this fact home also to the stricter vidual life. The death of a race or a nation, from any cause, be it senile Editorial Contributor fathers and the mothers of the confirmants? RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN ME *Triton, JEWISH etRox - - MO Our Cantrutpararira The Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on subjects of interest to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorsement of th e vi ew expressed by the writers. - • Why a Holiday? lbcP-1A GiAS. •• ■ ••",, Rabbi Wise isn't such • conservative, either. lie doesn't tare much what Tom, Dick or Harry have to say about what he alsys, or • dynamic for-, or more properly speaking • stick of pulpit dynamite. And I can easily picture the feelings of the officers of the Free Synagogu e who have troubled dreams and sleepless nights, fearing what the day may bring forth in the way of something unusual on the part of their leader. It must take real courage to be an officer of the Free Syna. gogue. For this I will say about Stephen Wise: He is fearless and you either play the way he wants to play or he will play alone with whom heanociates or what he does. He is Wide publicity has been given in the public press to the fact that the so-called "Jewish Organizations of Detroit" have lyar 12, 5681. arranged May 20, 1921. for a general holiday in this city on May 26th on the occasion of the visit here of Professors Weitzmann and Ein- tein. According to these reports, Jews are to abstain from The Union Meeting at Buffalo. • t heir usual avocations on that day, which is to be devoted to The meeting of the Union of American Hebrew Congrega- n arades, mass meetings and other forms of celebration in honor tions at Buffalo next week comes at a crucial time in the life : f the visitors. of the American Jew. Its deliberations will therefore be We have no word of criticism for those who feel that such watched with the keenest interest by all classes of Jews in this ( lemonstrations are either effective or in good taste. After country and, for that matter, throughout the world. Made up a each group must follow its own standards. But we do of delegates representing both the pulpit and the pew, the dis- maintain that those of us who do not believe in these methods cussions of the assembly are likely to represent every possible have a right to make it clear to as large a portion of the com- viewpoint that is presently held upon matters of vital import- munity as we can that the so-called "Jewish Organizations of ance to world Jewry. The Union may in a sense be regarded Detroit" do not by any means represent all Jews, or all Jewish as the most representative of the national organizations of a ocieties, religious, social or philanthropic, in the city. Appear- Reform Jewry. It is builded upon the congregation as the unit i ng before the public under such an all-inclusive title, it is only of representation. This is logical and correct. For, leaving f air that they should indicate which of the Jewish organiza- aside all possible racial and nationalistic interpretatons of Jew- t ions in our city they actually stand and speak for. ish life, all are agreed that Jewry represents a people bound This has no bearing whatsoever upon our attitude toward together by the tie of religion. Of the religion of the Jew, the t he nationalistic theories of Drs. Weitzmann and Einstein and congregation is the embodied expression. This wag clear in of their program of putting those theories into practice. To the mind of that great organizing genius—Isaac M. Wise—who these men, as has been stated before in these columns, we pinrco abrLam b . The gjeaw sPisi r „to hbel e „.11 e %cwt. called the Union into existence. would give our most enthusiastic greetings did they come here sists not alone of the difficulties that The problems coming before the Buffalo meeting will un- as representatives of that scientific scholarship which they have confront zo f o etho othee, Jew, , b but t d a s e evenmore o ar et the i ffi c ulties that doubtedly be many and varied in scope. Doubtless some so greatly honored. But even under such circumstances we s sugbges ntth rtmtahre ea sispmaloon thought will be given to the prevailing campaign of Anti- would hardly declare a holiday. It is therefore with much ear- e jen w r so nitveJu;:ia Semitism in this country, though the hope may well be ex- nestness that we suggest the appropriateness of making it gen- riage, which means a deliberate and pressed that no radical action will be taken' in the matter. erally known that the so-called "Jewish Organizations of De- sure surrender of Judaism, is there- Already the movement is showing signs of is own weakness troit" speak only for a limited number of our co religionists %, for tanta mount to saying that the to escape a heada che is tale and it is obviously wearing itself out. This is not to be won- and that there are many of us who do not follow them nor en a ne to los • f , t h e dered at, for it is but a repetition of history. Movements that dorse their methods. only way one can prevent a boat are grounded in unrighteousness, in untruth, in bigotry, in from capsizing is to plunge into the deep ocean. malice, cannot live long. Undoubtedly while the Union will No, indeed! The Jew is not ready uphold the dignity and the self-respect of the Jew, it will at to commit racial or religious suicide. the same time not dignify the present Anti-Semitic crusade by The Jewish people are as full of vim giving it overmuch attention. and vigor today as they ever were. The Jew is as truly actuated by the There are far more pressing problems for the assembly to will to live as he ever was. More- discuss, problems constructive in character, like the building over, the world needs the Jew and up to ever greater efficiency of the Hebrew Union College, Judaism today as much as it ever like the extension of the synagogal movement into the smaller needed them. The eternal verities of GABRILOWITSCH i the Jewish religion, making for jus-, communities of this country; like the enlarging of the Student tice ncl a i r ht g eousness among men Congregation idea; like the establishment of a national organ By ELSIE K. SULZBERGER. LETTER- BOX and peace and harmony among nit.' for Reform Judaism; like the publication of more adequate ties, are still indispensable to the (From The Club Woman.) text books for our religious schools; like the wider distribution TRANSLATED TOLSTOI ESSAY march of human progress and civiliz- I see him now, Magician of the Wand, ation. And the Jew, who has amidst of tracts for the education of Jew and non-Jew in regard to IN 1909. With noble grace charm rosewood, , misery, hatred and persecution borne the things for which Jews and Judaism stand; and other mat- reed and man, witness to these verities, will continue Editor Jewish Chronicle: The Till myriad marble silences respond his living testimony to God's truth, ters of equal and pressing importance. We have little doubt that the Buffalo meeting will attack story "What Is a Jew?" written by To him who is Pygmalion and Pan. iterating and reiterating the psalm- Leo Tolstoi, translated by A gesture—terse, impelling and so- ist's words: "I will not die, I shall problems such as these here suggested with wisdom and with Count Rabbi Raphael Goldenstein and pub norous trombones rage, courage. There are those who have felt that the Union has lished in the Chronicle of May 8, is The oboe wails complaining while live and proclaim the works of God." not always measured up to its highest possibilities. But nega- prefaced parenthetically with the fol- the sweet-souled strings as- NAPOLEON BONAPARTE words: "The remarkable es- suage. tive criticism of this kind is always easy. Certain it is that, lowing (Toledo Israelite.) say which follows was published by Pray, are you priest or poet? For on the whole, the Union has been a constructive force in Israel. Tolstoi in 1891. Only recently has On Thursday, May 5, 100 years you weave a wondrous art elapsed since the death of Napoleon But its possibilities for usefulness have by no means as yet this English version of it appeared." While preaching vital sermons to Bonaparte on the isle of St. Ilelena. been reached. The Union requires and deserves the whole- Your humble servant craves the in- the rapture-ridden heart. As students of history, we lament the of you and your Chronicle hearted and loyal backing of every Reform Jew in America. dulgence sad prostitution of his gifted powers. to inform you that he had translated medium—this orchestra of men, This brilliant self-made man and mili- To bring this fact home to our people should be one of the Tolstoi's Jew some 12 years ago. It His And thro' their transcendental eyes tary genius, perhaps the greatest sol- central points of emphasis at the Buffalo gathering. As a was published in the Camden Post he sees, of the nineteenth century, waded result of the meeting, we confidently look forward to a rejuven- Telegram in its daily edition of Wed- As Milton, blind, wrote with his dier through a sea of blood for the purely nesday, May 12, 1909, and repub- daughter's pen, ation of Jewish life in this country. selfish aim of possessing world power. lished in the Pittsburgh Jewish Cri- Or deaf Beethoven heard his sym- - - ;" - A Courageous Bishop. A century later William Hohenzollern had a similar dream, and is likewise in exile. As Jews, we owe little or nothing to Napoleon.' True, he convened a Sanhedrin in 1807, but no construc- tive gain resulted from it. The or- ganization lived for almost 100 years and was chiefly concerned with strengthening the position of Jews in France and aiding Jews in the army. The scandal of the Dreyfus case RELIEF MONEYS PREVENT proves the weakness of the Sanhed- rin. Legend has made Naploeon the JEWISH SCHOOL CLOSING liberator of the Jews in France, but historic proof is lacking. Napoleon DA NZIG.—A Warsaw dispatch was born in Corsica, where no Jews states that the 20 million marks lived, and we doubt if ever he took recently received from the Jewish any special interestin them. People's Relief Committee in America, has made possible the con- tinuance of work in the Jewish schools of Poland. terion in its weekly edition of Fri- phonies. day, July 2, 1909. Ecclesiastes was Gabrilowitsch! Prometheus, who has right, indeed, nothing new under the dared Olympic flight, sun. How oft your fist, defiant, you have clenched toward heaven's NACHMAN HELLER, height. Rabbit Hebrew Congregation, Is it forbidden fire you would wrestle from the sky, Patachogue, L. I. Or gift of deathless Music to trans- figure us who die? It is altogether likely that some of our readers will not at all agree with Bishop Charles D. Williams of the Diocese of Michigan in many of his social and economic theories. He is frankly a radical in his position. Ile has without mincing words espoused the cause of labor as against the capitalistic group whose greed he holds to be responsible for many of the eco- CALL FOR POGROM nomic ills by which we are presently beset. ON POLISH JEWRY But however one may disagree with the Bishop's theories, he must honor him for the manly stand that he took at the recent Episcopal convention at Ann Arbor. Without ambiguity, DANZIG.— The anti-Semitic "Rozwoy" issued a procla- he stated his position. He declared that he understood very society, mation in Warsaw calling upon the clearly that his stand on economic questions might cost him Poles to massacre Jews whom it ac- the friendship and his church the support of many powerful cuses of using their powerful politi- men. Indeed, of such possibility he stated he had been re- cal connections to the detriment of interests in Upper Silesia, peatedly warned. In view of that fact, Bishop Williams said Polish thus undermining I'oland's future. that he was ready to place his resignation as Bishop in the hands of the convention. But convictions that were sacred to his soul he could not and he would not give up at any price. • • TI410051 1 A51411.51 -1..'51,AIIIDAIITIIWIel #0 Bishop Williams has long been recognized as a virile man, as a thoughtful student of social conditions and as a fearless advocate of economic reforms. Those who have followed his public utterances have felt for a long time that eventually a clash must come between him and those interests that he felt it necessary to antagonize. A weaker man would under such A score of champion sports in fierce array; circumstances have remained silent; but the Bishop could not For each a kingdom under lordly sway, do so. We honor him for the brave stand that he has taken. By which to conquer "Sam" that very day, And it is a consistent stand. One who is in the pulpit or who And on their hoary heads his laurels lay. in any capacity holds the responsibility for the guidance of But "Sammy" of the Chosen Race, the church must recognize that to the church he has certain He chose to lead a panting pace. definite obligations. Its welfare and progress must be his first He altered each victorious face. concern. Hence when there comes a time when the interests To what you'd call a weak grimace. of the church seem to be endangered by the expression of his own convictions, he must make a choice between continuing Grey heads and bald ones; large and knotted hands; in his position or being a traitor to himself. Americans, and some from foreign lands, The Bishop has made the manly choice. It is to the credit With Kings and Queens and bold maurauding bands, of his people that they seem to have endorsed him in his posi- Attempt to vanquish "Sammy" where he stands. tion and whether or not they agree with his economic theories, But "Sammy's" dreamy eyes just flare they have set themselves on record as believing in the freedom With some strange hidden genius there. of the pulpit to speak out its convictions upon topics that vitally • And when the war-smoke clears in air, affect the welfare of social groups and of the nation itself. Astonished eyes conceal a glare. "antutti at Or Tliraa-Vaarb Preparing for Confirmation. Only a few weeks shall elapse before the time when many hundreds of our Jewish boys and girls in every part of the country will stand before the altar to pledge allegiance to the faith of their fathers. It is therefore not too early for rabbis and the parents of the children to think seriously of the signifi- cance in the life of the child of the confirmation ceremony and how best to make that ceremony as telling as it may possibly be. It is too late in the day, we hope, to make it necessary to stress the fact that the confirmation, unless it is to fail utterly in its purpose, must be essentially a religious ceremonial. To turn it into an elocutionary contest or into a style show or into an occasion for display and present giving is to degrade the ceremony and to rob it of all spiritual significance that is po- tential in it. Fortunately most of the rabbis understand this. And while they attempt to make the ceremonial as beautiful and as im- pressive as they may, they at the same time are doing their utmost to strip it of everything that tends to minimize its re- ligious and spiritual appeal. But that their efforts may suc- ceed, they must have the whole-hearted co-operation of the OPERATIONS BEGUN FOR KEREN HAYESOD NEW YORK.—The polemic and initiatory period for the Keren Hayesood appears to have come to an end and the actual work of the collection of funds has commenced, according to a report from the new Keren Hayesood office in this city. It is stated that thousands of in- I dividuals have already proffered their SI , contributions and numerous organi- zations in New York and elsewhere have pledged unusually large sums of money towards the Palestine Fund. Herman Conheim has been elected treasurer and a committee of L I i 100, which will include Jewish I notables of all shades and opinion, I is in the process of formaton. The Keren Hayesood office reports that I. Neiditch, a member of the Keren Ilayesood corporation, has left Sgt England for this country together with Mr. and Mrs. Peter Schweitzer of New York City who recently spent several months in Palestine sur- veying the situation there. Mr. Schweitzer, in a cable to the Ameri- can Zionist leaders, bespoke his en- thusiasm for the Keren Ilayesood and urged that every assistance be given it. N 1 ri se The World's sad war a vast arena had, Where bloody scenes were wrought and men went mad Where devastation wrote its story sad, And rung the bitter knell of all things glad. And "Sammy's" game was also war, Devoid of grim and ghastly gore. And Kings went down and Men before, With Genius, "Sammy's" God of War. His little hands; his head of silken hair, In strange contrast with all the people there, Who came to witness what the boy would dare, Or merely curious at a sight so rare. But "Sammy," unconcerned and mild, Regardless of the homage piled, Not once his little spirit riled, Proved through it all the "Wonder Child." ENOCH MEBS. ICTOSEPH------- Rabbi Stephen Wise is • brave man. He has the temerit y to in- clude the Rev. Dr. John Jayne Holmes as one of the faculty of the Free Synagogue Theological Seminary. Dr. Holme s is a free, oat• spoken minister who doesn't mind being barred and disbarred from speaking in • great many places. He is what I should call a real Christian Radical or a Radical Christian. If heretics were still being burnt at the stake I have no doubt that our good friend Dr. Holme s would be one of the first to fuel for the fanatic fire. weakness or the will to die, calls forth pity and censure rather than sorrow and sympathy. The Jew can- not, therefore, but regard the ad- visors who tell our people to commit suicide by intermarrying as arrogant and highly offensive. The popular magazine writers and the platform lecturers who urge our people to intermarry and hold out this form of suicide as a solution of the Jewish problem betray a lament. able ignorance of the Jew and Ju- daism. They probably do not even realize the absurdity of their advice. If the Jew wanted to escape difficulty and disability by committing suicide, he would hardly have waited this long to solve the problem. The dark and dreary days of medieval misery and persecution were certainly a far more propitious period for Jewish suicide than are the days of modern enlightnment. And, if the Jew mani- fested an invincible will to live during the past centuries, he will surely not consent to dig his own grave today. As to solving the Jewish problem by intermarriage, the advice is as un- s e ci f ■ Ii i g s g e ea as hos ua . T s e wh o such n cou r se e r e apparently ' IffVr,$ - • •••- ■ "Whom do you consider the greatest poet th•tever lived" I the question naked Louis Unterrneyer, the poet, at the close of a lec. ture in Chicago the other day. And I ask you who, in your opinion, is the greatest poet? For fear you will guess wrong, I will tell you Untermeyer's answer—King Solomon; second greatest, David of the Psalms, and the third our Heinrich Heine. Iam quite sure there will be a division of opinion regarding the third, but then you know Untermeyer is a poet and is entitled to • little poetic license in such matters. Did you ever hear Rabbi Hirsh Masliansky sneak or preach or lec- ture? I thoueht of him in connection with • dinner tndered to him in New York the other day prior to his going to Palestine for • si x months' trip. Masliansky is one of the most dramatic speakers in the country. He can make you laugh or cry even if you don't understand Yiddish. His gestures are so expressive that they almost talk in any language. I am sure that when he gets to 'Pale•tine, if the Moslems and the Christians only give him • chance to be heard, he will hav e them converted to Judaism before he return., and convince the m absolutely that the Jews have • right to own Palestine. If I were salted who are in a measure responsible for the severe immigration laws now being passed, restricting to an undue degre e the coming of Jews to this country, I would name the bootlegger s , the half-baked radic•ls, the professional 'failures," the undue propor- tion of unethical Jews in the professions. You may not like to read this or to hear it, but is it not nearly so uncomfortable to read about these things as to know that we have a miserable lot of Jews who have no conscience, no consideration for themselves or their people, and who have so abused the hospitality of America that they have helped make it impossible for their own friends and relatives to come over. •-•• ■ •-•-- The man who wrote anarticle in the Nation the other day and s•id that he wasn't proud of his long nose, or of his racial conscious. ness, or of his ancient ancestry, but that whatever he had reason to be proud of would be brought about by his own efforts is a pretty sensible chap. I haven't patience when I listen to Jews who are not all they should be, finding the keenest satisfaction in hearing about the wonderful records made by their ancestors. Instead of wasting so much time claiming the prophets of Israel, I am sure the prophets if they were Mire would be far more inter- ested, and it would be a source of far greater satisfaction to them, if these proud descendants would practice what they taught. Reminds me too much of the church folk who make the most noise in pray- ing but don't know half the time what they are actually saying. The glories of yesterday will not Mane for the shortcoming. of today. The Jews have contributed a great deal to civilization but let as prove ourselves worthy of those who gave so much to humanity. Strange how the wheels of destiny do turn. Today Russia, with the exception of England and this country, offers the Jew greatest freedom. He has more opportunity and is given more humane and liberal treatment; more rights and privileges than ever in all the history of Ccardom. And I don't believe for • minute this is due to the fact that there are many Jews Bolshevists, but I believe it is due to the more real spirit of democracy that is now coming to the sur- face in that country. After all, while one regrets the excesses of a new revolution, who will say that the Russian people are •ny worse off today than they were under the Romanoffs. The world will never become stabilised until Russia becomes stabilised •nd history will one Russia some day will show the world day certify this statement. the way to democracy. And it will be long after Lenine and Trotsky have been forgotten; but it will genl• one day as sure as there is a sun in the heavens. I have it from Pipp's Weekly that Ford is sending over II men to Europe to hobnob with the scum of the old world in order to gather every bit of trash and all the evil things that can be obtained about the Jews. This is being done because Ford has failed to prove any- thing in relation to an international conspiracy in this country and now is sending his crew to poke among the refuse for his high minded paper. Someone asked me the other day if the Dearborn Independent was no longer being published, and I said that if it is no one hears ay more about it. It is probably • secret publication now, secret between Ford and Liebold and Cameron, but because the public are no longer interested, it is dead. Let it rest in peace. I always said that William Jennings Bryan, the Peerless One, should have been a minister instead of being in politics. The other day in Detroit he made the statement that the day would come when professors would not be tolerated in universities who did not believe literally in the Bible stories. No, he wasn't joking. Another man who has the same type of mind is former Secretary of the Navy Daniels. Don't be surprised if some day Bryan and Daniels will hold • revival meeting in your city. They are strong for the good old reliable, asbestos-proof, brimstone Hell, and don't forget it for • minute. Gladstone was another politician who thought he was an e xpert on theology until Huxley pricked him under the skin. If I em n ot mistaken, Macaulay also took, the vernacular of the day, • "fall" out of him. He was • literalist and swallowed all the stories, including Jonah, without even winking an eyelash, but when he started to prove All of which things then of course he became hcpelessly involved. proves that • man may be an authority in one field of thought and know very little •bout another. This is meant, too, for those who believe Sir Oliver Lodge, because he is a scientist, knows everything about what is happening in the other world. e Einstein is • scientific Zionist or a Zionistic scientist. Anyway h is sawing wood: attending to his little job of relativity and letting Weisman and Mack and Lipsky burn up perfectly good, expensive , whitews ne print paper with hot and angry words that have caused • lot of trouble among the Zionists of this country. But Einstein. He should worry. All he wants is that conditions should not get 50 bad and feeling run so high that he won't be able to raise money for that Hebrew University. I think that Einstein has • lot of good com- mon, everyday, bread••nd•butter sense. Down or up (it all depends where you live) in Philadelphia there is a quiet, modest, mouse-like sort of • man by the name of Maurice Fels who does • lot of good things in his quiet way. Twenty-five years •go he opened • Manual Training School for Jewish children in that city, and had it placed ended B'nai Brith auspices. It has done splen- did work. And Mr. Fels isn't satisfied with just that one thins; he has done lots of others equally as important. His brother, Joseph Feb, in his life time was • depely earnest and sincere worker for the publicwelfare. Now his widow, Mrs. Joseph Fels, is giving of her family time and money to the Zionist and other climes. The Fels are made of the right material. Everybody speaks well of the Fels. WAKE Up !! IT'S TIME TO BUILD Ouild Pr the a,sles with — lrarrWil supplies " 1-LJEL BUILDINIU SUPPLI ES & 4.•0A1. C).