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. Entered as second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Postoffice at Detroit. Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879. General Offices and Publication Building 850 High Street West Cable Address: Telephones Glendale 8326 Chronicle LONDON OFFICE 14 STRATFORD PLACE ,LONDON, W. 1, ENGLAND ' $3.00 Per You Subscription, In Advance To insure publication, all correspondence and news matter must reach this office by Tuesday evening of each week. Contributor RABBI LEO M. FRANKLIN__ .............. _ ...... 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. Spring Suits of Unusual Distinction $39.75 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! FLORENCE WEISBERG. Youthful—and Different! A combination that pleases the woman of every age. Suits of such qualities as these are a great surprise at $39.75, developed in handsome Irish Tweeds Twill Cords Needle Twills Poiret Twills Tricotines Scotch Tweeds A "Lark" Irish Tweed made on the English Box style. A handsome Navy Twill Cord with dozens of tiny ribbon loops. A i'oiret Twill with stunning design in scintillating beads. A Navy Tricotine with the new long pointed panels and unusual sleeve. Just 200 of these suits on sale now at the remarkably low price of $39.75 Heyn's Fifth Floor Shop Sizes Range from 14 rton.44 Hero's Fifth Floor Shop