PIEVerRorrikwun 01 RON ICLE
PAGE FOUR
certify to application made by Jews for wine for sacramental use,
is not In accordance _with the requirements of Jewish religious law.
"Leading conaery'h
tive Rabbinical authorities are in agreement
TIFEVLTROIT EWISII gRONICLE
Published Weekly by The Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc.
Joseph J. Cummins, President.
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The Jewish Chronicle Invites correspondence on subjects of interest to
the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorsement of the
view expressed by the writers.
February 10, 1922
Shebat 12, 5682
A Timely Suggestion.
One of our contemporaries in its current issue suggests that
a plan be devised by the Union of American Hebrew Congre-
gations, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and other
similar organizations by which an exact record of the career of
our rabbis may be kept in roder that congregations instead of
subjecting prospective candidates for their pulpits to the hu-
miliation of preaching a trial sermon, may apply to some central
bureau for recommendations as to a minister fitted to fill their
special needs.
The suggestion is by no means a new one. Certainly any
plan that will do away once and forever with the obnoxious
trial sermon is to be commended. A trial sermon is of all meth-
ods that can possibly be devised, the most unsatisfactory for
the selection of a minister. In the first place, no man unless he
is driven to it by dire necessity, who respects the dignity of his
office will consent to preach a trial sermon, putting himself up
as it were, for public inspection. Now and then, a young man
without experience may be persuaded to do so. But even in
the case of the youngest graduates, this should not be necessary.
The authorities of the institution from which he graduates
should be appealed to by the officers of the congregation seek-
ing his services and their word as to his ability and character
Should be far more convincing than any fleeting impression that
may be made by him through the preaching of one or more
sample sermons. What assurance is there that an unscrupulous
man, knowing that his selection depends upon the single ser-
mon which he is about to preach, may not "borrow" the work
of another for the occasion? Or if he be a thoroughly honest
man, what is to prevent him from using that "one great sermon
("his musterwerk") in which a standard is set which he must
strive in vain to reach again? Besides, is the ability to preach
a scholarly sermon the one and final test of the fitness for a man
to occupy a pulpit and become the leader of the congregation?
Should not considerations of personal character and of right
ideals play a much more important part than his mere ability
to speak well?
The record which a man has made at his college and in the
communities which he has served ought to be the one logical
test to be put by congregations. Fortunately, we believe that
this is coming more and more to be the case. The day of the
trial sermon, at least in the larger congregations of the land,
is rapidly passing. When it shall have altogether become a
thing of the past, a new dignity shall have been given to the
ministry and a higher sense of self-respect shall have come to
the congregations.
In the meantime, some such suggestion as made by our
contemporary might be tried out. Whether it can be effec-
tively accomplished is, however, open to considerable question.
Practically at the same time, the Rabbinical Assembly of
the Theological Seminary passed a resolution of similar pur-
port. This simultaneous and practically identical action is
noteworthy from many standpoints. But most important it
is, that American Jewry in putting its case before the Com-
missioner of Internal Revenue, presents its case as a united
body. It is a pity that such union of forces was not possible
two years ago. We are firm in our conviction that had self-
respecting Jews of all shades of religious opinion made their
case clear at the very beginning of the Prohibition legislation,
much scandal that has attached itself to the Jewish cause
through the unscrupulous activities of some who without war-
rant have called themselves rabbis, would have been avoided.
The fact of the matter is that the Central Conference of
American Rabbis would long ago have been persuaded to take
very drastic action in this matter but for the fear that their
attitude might be misunderstood by some of their conservative
and orthodox co-religionists. Now, however, that they have
the endorsement of many of the most representative among the
orthodox rabbis of the country, there should be and there can
be no further hesitation. It is definitely established that un-
fermented wine may be used for all ritual purposes under the
Jewish law. There is absolutely no excuse for any Jew selling
or purchasing wine for so-called ritual purposes. To encour-
age such sale or purchase is to put one's self under justifiable
suspicion of trying to evade or disobey the law fo the land.
We may or may not be in sympathy with the provisions of
the Volstead Act. We may or may not believe that prohibition
has thus far been a wholesome influence upon the moral life
of America. We may or may not believe that a generation
physically and mentally and spiritually better than their
fathers is likely to be born because the law has put its ban
upon fermented liquor. But whatever our opinion in regard to
these matters may be, we must be unanimous in upholding the
law while it remains upon the statute books of our country.
Long ago, the rabbis laid down the maxim, "The law of the
land is law." There has never been any change in attitude in
regard to this matter on the part of Jews. Let us hope that
there never will be. If a law is wrong and its provisions un-
wholesome, steps may be taken looking to its revocation. But
so long as it is law, it cannot be disregarded. Disregard for
one law brings all law into disrepute.
As law abiding citizens, the Jews must use their every effort,
therefore, whether they like the specific law in question or not,
to aid in its enforcement. The agreement that has been reached
between the two great parties in American Jewry upon this
question will go far to accomplish this end.
A Warless World.
"
Rabbi Levinger's Book.
One of the really valuable bits of literature coming out of
the war, was published in Berlin in the year 1918 by the Jew-
ish chaplain, Dr. Galomonski, under the title "Juedische Seel-
sorge an der Westfront."
In this book the author tells of the splendid work that was
accomplished by some of the German Jewish chaplains in lift-
ing the morale of the soldiers to whom they ministered. The
book is spiritual in tone and indicates on the part of the Ger-
man chaplains a fine understanding of the important and dif-
ficult task that was theirs.
That book has now found what may be regarded as a com-
panion volume in the splendid work by Rabbi Lee J. Levinger,
recently brought out by the McMillan Company under the title
"A Jewish Chaplain in France." This work is very much more
comprehensive than the German book and is written objec-
tively by one who has keenly sensed the tremendous impor-
tance of the part that a religious leader must play in holding
up the hands of the men who every hour stand face to face
with death, ready to make the supreme sacrifice that the cause
that is dear to them may go on.
The volume is informative as well as inspirational. The
general public, as Rabbi Levinger points out, has little con-
ception of the function which the chaplain assumes in the army
and how, with methods that are not military, he does quite as
much as any fighting man to bring about the ultimate victory
for which the military leaders hope. Personality he stresses,
by the way, as perhaps the most important characteristic of
the chaplain's equipment.
The book tells in some detail of the experiences not only
of the author in his personal dealings with the soldiers and of
the spirit in which his ministrations wree met by them, but he
never fails to give full credit to others who like him were en-
gaged in upholding the morale of the soldiers in the Great
War. Incidentally, he has a very telling word to say in regard
to the work of the Jewish Welfare Board.
It is interesting to know that Rabbi Levinger was one of
140 out of the less than 400 English-speaking rabbis in Amer-
ica who volunteered their services as army chaplains. The
men who were accepted for this service, as Rabbi Levinger
points out, did not in any sense confine their ministrations to
the boys of their own faith, but wherever there was a heart
that hungered for consolation, or wherever there was a hand
outstretched for help, the Jewish chaplain was at hand to
speak the word or do the deed that would bring the greatest
amount of cheer and help.
All Jewry is greatly indebted to Rabbi Levinger for the
splendid piece of work that he has done in writing and pub-
lishing this book. It deserves the very widest circulation.
Certainly no library in a Jewish home should be without it.
An Approach Toward Unity.
It is a happy augury that at last the conservative and the
liberal leaders in American Jewry have come to what is a
practical agreement upon the subject of so-called sacramental
wine so far as its use by Jews is concerned. At a special meet-
ing -of the executive committee of the Central Conference of
American Rabbis, it was decided in a very strong resolution
to ask for the revocation of the regulation under which rabbis
are permitted to issue permits for the purchase of sacramental
wine. The resolution as adopted reads as follows:
"The Central Conference of American Rabbis, through its execu-
tive committee, in special session assembled, declares that the inter-
. pretation placed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue upon that
section of the Volstead Act under which Rabbis are permitted to
Mil Mar
(gantempararirs
with the Conference that, according to traditional Jewiah law, un-
fermented wine is permissible for all Jewish ritualistic purposes.
"The Central Conference of American Rabbis, therefore, respect-
fully petitions the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to revoke that
regulation predicated upon the interpretation herein referred to."
MICHIGAN'S JEWISH HOME PUBLICATION
-
The Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America by
action of its executive committee has adopted what it calls a
"Declaration of Ideals andPolicy Looking Toward a Wireless
World." The ideals which are embodied in ten credal declara-
tions are such as might gain the ready assent of all religious
men and women, if only the frequent use of the adjective
"Christian" had been omitted.
We find no fault with the use of this word by the Federal
Council which is avowedly and aggressively a Christian de-
nmoinational organization. But it does seem to us that in an
effort to unite all right thinking men in a movement to educate
the public opinion as to the inefficiency as well as to the im-
morality of war and bloodshed, even a sectarian organization
might better serve its purpose by so phrasing its declarations
as to make it possible for Jew and Christian to unite without
any condition upon a common platform. The frequent use of
such terms as "Christian brotherliness" and "Christian patriot-
ism" in the declaration and the insistence that it was the
"Prince of Peace himself" who set before men the ideal of a
warless world, make it impossible for Jews, however they may
subscribe to the end which the Federal Council has in view,
to accept this declaration as their own.
Do not gentlemen who framed this declaration remember
that it was the great prophet Isaiah who lived and taught more
than five centuries before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth who
visioned forth the glad day "when swords should be beaten
into plow-shares and spears into pruning hooksq and "when
stations should learn war no more?"
We share definitely and unqualifiedly in the hope that is
voiced by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in
America for the coming of the day of better understanding
among men and nations. And we shall stand shoulder to
shoulder with that great organization in bringing about the
conditions—which are moral as well as political—that shlal
make for a warless wrold. But we may be justified in express-
ing our regret that the council has not made co-operation be-
tween Jews and Christians a bit easier. If we do not break
down the barriers that loom between groups whose ends and
aims are the same, how shall we hope to accomplish the end
of misunderstanding and hate and unbrotherliness out of which
pltimately all war comes to birth?
"Samson and Delilah" in Hebrew.
On the evening of Sunday, March 5, at Orchestra Hall, 100
children of the United Hebrew Schools of Detroit will present
the operetta of "Samson and Delilah" in the Hebrew language.
Special music has been composed by Cantor Minkowsky and
the general supervision of the production is in charge of Mr.
Isaacs, head of the United Hebrew Schools.
Because of the uniqueness of this performance, it should
call forth the interest and the support not only of those who
are eager to make the Hebrew again a living tongue but as
well among all classes of the Jews of our city. It may be said
incidentally that the United Hebrew Schools of this city under
the superintendency of Mr. Isaacs are doing a very, commend-
able work. These schools are in no sense comparable to the
old Chedar but they have introduced modern pedagogic meth-
ods and are accomplishing very gratifying results.
It will be interesting, to say the least, to hear the produc-
tion of "Samson and Delilah" in the Hebrew tongue by a great
group of children, most of whom were born in America.
coisocloos si
OUR WASHINGTON SOLONS
(Copyright, 1921. By Judith Ish.Kishor.)
A YOUNG FOLKS' PAGE CONDUCTED BY JUDITH ISII.KISHOR.
BEHIND THE STOVE
It was hitter cold outside, and be-
fore the little general store of New
Salem the great snowdrifts lay white
and undisturbed. For no one unless
forced away from his comfortable fire-
ide, dared to brave one of the severest
storms that had swept southern Illi-
nois for many winters.
The proprietor of the little store
did not expect to be disturbed. Draw-
ing his splint-bottom chair behind the
stove, he stretched out his legs, open-
ed his book, and began to read. The
oil lamp upon the counter showed him
to the y,ung, with kindly, homely fea-
tures. There was nothing attractive
about him except his eyes, deep, steady
and very sad. '
A sound at the door, caused the
storekeeper to put down his heavy
volume. Ile slid back the bolts and
put out a helping hand to the man
who half stumbled over the thresh-
old.
"May I come in?" asked the strang-
er, with a marked foreign accent. "I
ant almost frozen."
"Of course." The young man spoke
heartily. "Anti let me take your
pack from your shoulders and brush
you off. You look like a walking
snowbank."
"I thought I might reach New
Salem by dark, but the storm over-
took me and I lost my way. Thank
you." And the traveler seated him-
self behind the stove, and held his
hands to the flame. "Ah!" smiling a
little as he glanced over the contents
of the crowded shelves, "I see that
even in the darkness I found my way
to the right place. I meant to seek
you tomorrow."
"Yes," asked the storekeeper, draw-
ing up a cracker-box as his chair.
"I'm a peddler, and I was told in
the next village that there was a store
here, where I might sell some of my
threads and buttons."
"You must to Jake, the Peddler,"
said the other. "I am very glad to
see you. I have often wanted to meet
you—and talk to you."
"Why?" asked the peddler curious.
ly. Ile sat there behind the stove, a
stooped little figure of a man, hardly
middle-aged, and yet no longer young.
The heavy dark beard that fell upon
his breast was streaked with grey. He
had slipped off his heavy cloak and
fur cap and his suit showed worn and
shiny. Upon the hack of his head he
had placed a little skull cap. His
face, although unwrinkled, was worn
with care; his eyes, strangely like
those of the young man beside him,
deep, steady and very sad. "Why did
you want to see me?" he asked and
smiled a little.
The storekeeper leaned towards
him, his great, bony hands elapsed
loosely on his knee. "They told me
you were a Jew," he answered, "and I
have never known a Jew—except
here," and he tapped the book he had
been reading before the stranger's ar-
rival.
The Jew leaned over and smiled
again. "The Bible," he said slowly.
"Yes, it tells a great deal of my peo-
ple."
"Whenever I read of them—Jona-
than, and Moses and David—" the
young man told him, "I would like to
be a Hebrew. What splendid fighters
they were. And David was only a
shepherd boy, yet he grew to rule
over a great people," he ended
thoughtfully.
"But that was long ago," the Jew-
ish peddler reminded him. "Now the
glory has departed from Israel." His
head sank lower upon his breast, his
sad eyes grew larger with pain. Once
we were kings and prophets and
priests, but now!—Ah, young man, I
who came from Europe to forget what
I saw there, the wretched slavery of
my people, the massacre that robbed
use of my wife and children—" Ile
was silent for a little while. "Over
there it is hard to be a son of Moses
and David, for we pay for the honor
with our lives," he said hopelessly.
The young man seemed about to
speak. Then, a great compassion in
his homely face, he leaned over and
laid his head on the other's shaking
shoulders.
"But now you are in America," he
said at last.
The Jew raised his head. "Now I
am in America," he siad, and he spoke
as proudly as a king "I am poor, for
I lost all I had. But I can work for
my living, and here no man hates me
because I am a Jew. It is a wonder-
ful land, where all men may he free."
"When I was a very young man,"
said the storekeeper, as though talk-
ing to himself, "I went down to New
Orleans, and saw sonic negro slaves
sold at public auction. I saw mothers
torn from their children, and other
dreadful things that I would like to
forget, as you would like to forget the
horrors you have known. But I can-
not forget, either, and some day
America will remember and wipe out
this horror. When I read this book
I always think of the words of your
prophet, 'Freedom for all the peoples
of the earth.'
"It has become that for me nad my
people," murmured Jake. "It is a
good land, this America," and his
voice had the sound of a prayer.
"The storekeeper arose and went to
the counter. "Forgive me," he said
with his grave politeness that fitted
so oddly with his rude clothes and
shaggy hair. "I was so eager to talk
with you that I forgot you might be
hungry. It is almost time for my
midnight supper, too. Let us have
sonic crackers and cheese and a hot
drink together." Ile stopped to put
the Bible back upon the shelf. "When
we learn to obey the laws of your
people, which they have served even
at the cost of their lives, we will he a
great country," he said. "For then
there will he no slave among us, Jew
or Gentile, black or white."
They ate and drank together and
talked far into the night. Then, as
the storm was still raging, the young
man spread blankets before the stove
and the two lay down together.
"You are very good to me;' said the
peddler as he prepared for the night.
And we do not know each other at
all. I its not know even your name."
Ilis host, who stood near the shelf
lowering the lamp, turned and smiled
down upon him.
"My name is Abraham Lincoln," he
answered.—By Elma Ehrlich Lev-
inger.
(Reprinted from the Union Home
Study Magazine).
This week we have a double holiday
to celebrate, Lincoln's Birthday and
Chamisho Osor B'Shevat. You know
what the first is, but I wonder how
many of you know the meaning of
the second? Chamisho Osor B'Shevat
is, in other words, "the fifteenth day
of the Hebrew month of Shevat. At
that time, spring begins in Palestine.
When the snow is still thick on the
ground here, and while the cold winds
are blowing and making us shiver, in
Palestine the trees are all budding
and blossoming. So it's very funny
to have two such holidays at once,
isn't it You see, in the stroy about
Abraham Lincoln, a description of a
heavy snowstorm; and the poem that
I am going to give you now, is all
about spring! For while, in our home
here, it is still cold, in the old Pal-
estinian home, it is already warns and
flowery. And by the time we in Amer-
ica have full spring, in Palestine they
will be reaping the first harvest!
CHAMISHO OSOR B'SHEVAT
-
By Saul J. Cohen.
Sing, children sing
And dance in a ring;
In dear Palestine,
Today it is spring.
No bleak winds do glow;
No winters bring snow;
In dear Palestine
The sweet flowers grow;
(The Jewish Tribune)
And some of our law-makers in
Washington have gathered together in
secret session for the holy purpos e of
inventing new unjust laws against
immigration.
And they made a brew in ace , ■ rd-
ance with she Nlolstead law, by which
their new laws contain not even one-
half of one per cent of justice and
Americanism.
And they proclaimed a new defini-
tion of Americanism.
And in so many words they , aid:
Americanism should not include ha.
mane feelings for suffering humanity
as we had it basalt's) down to us sine;
the time of Washington, but it should
moan strict egotism.
Let us who are already in t his
country eat and drink Volstead',
coctions, let us enjoy all benefits
which our country affords us, 10 110
stranger take part in our prosperity,
let us close our portals against suf-
fering humanity, let us clean our
hearts of any humane feelings, let us
stop our ears against the heartrending
wails of oppressed humanity, It us
deprive our citizens of the privilege
of becoming united with their suffer-
ing aged parents, oppressed brothers
and sisters, unfortunate wives and
children, let us have America for the
Americans, let us live for ourselves.
These are their thoughts.
They wish not the American citi-
zen to know of the harsh sentence they
pronounce against their helpless close
relatives, who are driven by indescrib-
able oppression to seek unjust with
their American kin, hence the secrecy
of their session—another un-Ameri-
can trait.
The many bills presented for con-
sideration show how the human mind
1st-conies distorted when the body lacks
a human heart.
"And Mordecai commanded to an.
swer Esther, think not with thyself
that thou shalt escape in the king's
house, more than all the Jews; for if
thou altogether boldest silent at this
time, then shall enlargement and de-
liverance arise to the Jews from an-
other place. . ."
This is what we read in hte book of
Esther (IV:13-14).
Our law-makers in Washington, the
capital of our country (the king's
house) will not escape the blame of
American citizens of the present and
the future, nor the censure of human-
ity in all parts of the world. The fu-
ture historian will record their names
with the names of other heartless his-
torical individuals.
Our blessed country's annals will
have another blotch upon its records.
As to suffering humanity, "enlarge-
ment and deliverance will arise from
another place."
From a place where the law-makers
are humane, whose hearts are filled
with human kindness and whose con.
science condemns selfishness and
dooms egotism.
This place will gain an excellent ele-
ment for their citizenship, a people
which will look and strive for the wel-
fare of the country of their adoption,
just such a useful element which our
country will lose through the ill-ad-
vice of our heartless law-makers.
RATS USED FOR FOOD
IN PARTS OF EUROPE
And stirred by Site breeze,
The tender young trees,
In dear Palestine
Put out their green leaves.
One day there will be
A grand forestry
In dear Palestine
From the hills to the sea;
Old Israel again
Will sow in the plain,
In dear Palestine,
And reap golden grain;
Sing, children, sing,
And dance in a ring;
In dear Palenstine
Today it is spring!
RIDDLE BOX
There were a good many answers
to Mildred Cohen's Bible questions,
and many of them were good ones.
The best set of all, though, was done
by Morris Jacobs, 1626 Locust ave-
nue, Pittsburgh, Pa. Ile answers
them this way:
1. "Moses" means to bring out of
the water.
2. God put a mark on Cain's fore-
head to show that he had committed
murder and had sinned against God.
It was also there for people to recog.
nine him and not to harm him, as He
was to punish Cain Himself.
3. God changed the speech of the
people in order that they might not
reach heaven.
4. God saved Noah and his family
from the flood because they were very
religious and believed in God, while
the others had turned from God's
(Turn to Page Ten)
CHICAGO.—"Rats are being used
for food in some parts of Eastern
Europe, and on one occasion a rat
stew was all we had to eat," declared
I.ieut. James H. Becker of the Jew-
ish War Relief Committee. Lieuten-
ant Becker recently returned from a
term of service as director of the
Joint Distribution Committee's work
in Eastern Poland, the Ukraine and
other war-ravaged districts.
"Much of this territory is a land
without dogs or birds, for these—like
the rats—have been eaten, when they
could be caught by the famine suf-
ferers. And in many cases all the
food we could find was a broth made
of roots and herbs which had been
dug up. Horse meat—without bread
or any vegetables—it a luxury. This
condition, mind you, is not in the
Russian famine section along the
Volga. It is in other sections where
civil strife and economic disruption
have played havoc with the normal
course of life."
It is to furnish the essential fonds
which will sustain life, to provide
clothing and ohetrwise enable 1,000,-
000 or more Jewish sufferers to fight
the ravages of disease in a land where
a doctor is almost an unknown being,
that the Jews of America are raising
a relief fund of $14,000,000 by
March 1.
The drive for funds is now 00 in
earnest in the Middle West. Ten
central states are Trouped in Zone
7, uncle rthe chairmanship of Charles
Rubens, with headquarters at 76
West Monroe street, Chicago. The
headquarterd of Zone 8 is at 217'x
North Tenth street, St. Louis. Nathan
Frank is zone chairman.
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Nishmas
The breath of ev'ry living thing,
0 Lord, shall bless Thy name;
The spirit of all flesh on earth
Thy glory shall proclaim.
For Thou are God for evermoore,
Beside Thee we have none;
No king, nor saviour who redeems,
Save Thou! Almighty One!
Thou wettest free, and bring'st us aid
In times of grief or woe;
With mercies great and manifold;
No king but Thee we know!
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