I~ IF Ihalttlfl: JEWIS1101KOM ictz
PAGE SIX
— _
-
sufferers from these carnivals of hate and unbridled
passion.
Anti-Semitism, however. is a very different thing,
EB
for it is based upon something substantial, and reveals
Published Wmkly by The Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., loc.
a condition in Jewry that is dangerous, unhealthy and
Joseph J. Cummins, President and Editor
unsound. It is not an accident, and cannot be explained
By D. LEONARD COHEN
Jacob H. Sambas, Business Manager
by charging anti-Semites with only malignant, unrea-
matter harsh I. 1918, at the Poetoflice at Detroit,
red as Sec
soning hate, jealousy and vindictiveness.
Ilich., under the Ad of liar. IL
109.
—
, l astrul.:isire .l d
___--
'
disL7,1,,,stni,dzoonn the
Humanity the world over reacts very much the same Plan to Establish Autonomous Jew- "WHEN I WAS THIRTEEN" Gt
a stand.
eral
Offices
and
Publication
Building
Gen
—
way.
The
emotions
of
love,
fear
and
anger
are
the
com-
with great ardor, as if 1 wished to
ish State in Crimea Arouses Great
850 High Street West
Cable Address: Chronicle
drown the whining of the wind which
The Story of a Boy' ■ Struggle With
mon property of all mankind, and unless the anger
I ee t in New York—Enthusiasts
0phoso: Glondale 9300 Lend. Office:
His Conscience.
entered through the women's quarter.
and fear stimuli are present to produce these emotional
Favor Project, While the Skeptical
The door opened and, with a Ian-
--
14 Stratford Place, London, W. 1, England
Probe Deep for Evidence of Soviet
By Yehoash.
tern in hand, our neighbor, Leibe,
reactions,
they
will
not
be
present
and
manifest.
Year
$3.00 Per
entered.
Ile shook the snow off his
_—___
—
Subscription, in Advance
Machinations.
The non-Jewish portion of the population of Detroit
en h at . te z J ust mach this does not hate or fear the Jewish portion of the popula-
When I was 13 years old I WaS con-
garments, placed the lantern near the
traodnlyen.cve ,,,ainnd. nor L
insure publIcationo,f,
wash-stand, and coming towards me,
sidered in my home town a prodigy.
(Copyright, 1924, J. T. A.)
tion and consequently there is a remarkable absence
The old rabbi professed that I would
said, speaking in a broken voice:
Detroit Jewish Chronicle Invites correspondence on subjects of interest
for anIndorsement of
. the Jewish people, but dieclalms respy the writers.
"Good evening, Reh Shloime."
grow up to be a great Hebrew scholar,
of
anti-Semitism in Detroit. This, however, prompts the
of
"Good evening, Reb Leila.," I an-
b
expressed
and when I walked along the narrow
question, Why do they neither hate nor fear the Jewish
BRAIIAM BRAGIN'S plan for an
swered, "why so late? "
lane that led from our house to the
Ads
II,
1,
5684
Fir a little while he did not en-
autonomous Jewish state at the
people of Detroit? That is the crux of the whole mat-
Beth Ilamedrush, the woman would
larch 7, 1924
saver, and when he finally spoke, it
northern end of the Crimean Penin-
fold their hands under their aprons
ter, and the answer is both simple and obvious.
was a disjointed stammering: "You
sula-1 call it Bragin's plan because
and wish their children were like me.
The Jews of Detroit are an integral, necessary and it was he who formally presented the
The Modern Cheder.
k now.. . . I'm a plain num . . .
I gradually came to look upon my-
you are a scholar. Maybe you can
To the vast majority of American Jews of the gen- useful part of the population. They are not parasitical, scheme to the Soviet government in self as an adult, although I was small and
teach me . . . show me the right
a memorandum submitted last No-
for my age. I had no companions
ration who went to Cheder in the closing years of the delinquent, criminal. They have the proper proportion vember--catches the imagination and among children of any own age, but path." His head drooped and he
as though he were confessing
ineteenth century, Hebrew is a language found in the of useful, productive workers, professional men, artists,
holds it vise-like. There is a lure to
associated with the sedate youths of
locked
a murder that weighed on his con-
the thing conjures up new fancies.
the town, some of good families who,
ve books of the Pantateuch and the Sidder. It is for scholars, religious and secular teachers. They contrib- it;
science. !Lis lips trembled. I became
Or perhaps the fancies aren't so new
like myself, studied at the Beth Haut-
he most part meaningless, and many cannot even read ute their quota in money, intelligence, civic duty and
frightened. Leibe looked furtively in
but rather old ones reawakened.
edresh. I was irritated when people
the direction of the Oren Koidesch, as
Clothed in new raiment, to be sure,
persisted in calling me by the diminu-
t. They were taught (for want of a better word, we responsibility'.
if he did not want the Safer Torahs to
but
old,
very
old,
with
that
mythical
tive "Shliomke."
All this indicates a normal, healthy state of affairs
.
ay taught) by Melamdim, men of good intentions, but
overhear him—"You know, I do not
old age which is ever young-bodied
It was therefore always a great joy
to scholarship, in smelly dark, overcrowded rooms, all in the social body' and consequently no anti-Semitism and stalwart, clear-eyed and stern- to me when our neighbor, Leibe the know anything except the pslams.. .
houting in unison a sing song droning chant. (This exists. On the other hand, what are the conditions that visaged, the fire of its youth rekin- shoemaker, used to meet me in the My father never taught me anything.
One has to work a whole day at the
dled by the fervent hopes and pray-
court of the synagogue, early in the
create anti-Semitism and keep it alive?
s the picture of the cheder we were taught in.) They
bench; and when tine works, all sorts
ers of each succeeding generation.
morning—he returning from the first
Dr.
A.
Singalovsky,
who
spoke
in
Detroit
recently,
of thoughts come into his head. But
The Soviet government, according
accepted it as part of the torture which youth must
minyan and I on my way to the second
cabled dispatches, is ready to ac-
—and greet me with a "Good morning, of late—" he stopped abruptly, and
sutler, and as soon as the clay of emancipation was at told his audience in no unmistakable langauge that to
cept the plan and the highest authori-
after a short pause, resumed: " —
Itch Shloime." A wave of joyous
iinti-Semitism was not something that could be charged
hand, threw off the shackles of their enforced study and
ties in Proletarian Russia have given
of late all sorts of evil thoughts come
pride would surge up within me when-
against the Gentiles as much as it must be charged approval to the scheme which, ac- ever I was thus addressed, especially into my head. I sometimes think of
proceeded to forget all that had been crammed down
cording to the first draft of the pro-
myself, 'What is a man and what is
when he used the respectful "you in-
against the Jews themselves.
their throats.
posal, would give to the suggested re-
a beast; I think about the order of
of the familiar "thou."
Some may be shocked and chagrined by the fore- gion an autonomous government by stead
Today, however, things are different. The Hebrew
the world, and then my thoughts be -
I naturally was very fond of him.
1927 with Jews occupying the high
come all mixed up and I don't know
school is no longer a chamber of horrors, with a ma- going statement of Dr. Singalovsky, but this man
lle was a man of about 50, tall and
places. Ryckoff, successor to Lenin
where I ant. My limbs begin to trem-
is a realist. lie has lived for many years in Russia. lie as president of the Councli of Com- strong, with a broad beard e co
lignant ogre, strap in hand ready to rain blows upon
ble—maybe—maybe there is no . .."
of tobacco, and bushy eyebrows over
your head if you do not know your lesson. The school knows the situation there as intimately perhaps as any missars, and the only slightly lesser his sad eyes.
I grew pale. I understand him
well enough even before he finished.
person living, and he says that in Russia, Latvia and dignitaries such as Trotzky, Tchiche-
lie was notorious in our town for
has all the equipment of the best public schools, with
tin and Kemenelf, have given tacit
Leibe's eyes became moist. "Reb
his
utter
ignorance,
and
Chaim,
the
competent scholarly teachers, who know both Hebrew Lithuania, the more enlightened and intelligent the a ssent. T word has gone forth scribe, related many
he anecdotes about
Shloime," he sobbed, "you know
and English. non-Jewish population becomes, the more anti-Semitic that the official decree will be forth- him. When Chaim gave a vivid de- everything, you studied all the sacred
coining within a few days; it may
books. What shall I do? I have no
seription of Leibe conducting the
The United Hebrew Schools of Detroit, better it becomes. This sounds like a hopeless situation, for
have already been pronounced by the
faith—" His voice and face express e d
or of his reciting Kidish, yes-
known as the Talmud Torah, have made of the Hebrew we have too often been led to believe that ignorance is time this is published. It seems a Seder,
the humility of one condemned to die
plc used to split their ribs laughing.
language a living tongue, and as witness to this fact, the mother of anti-Semitism, and is dissipated by the "o."
g
and pleading for clemency. Ile
Such jibes at Leibe used to irritate
—.
aroused my deepest sympathy. I could
me. I wished he were a respected
gave a concert in Hebrew, and speeches were delivered, light of intelligence. But when we examine the matter
see his sufferings. I was aware that
member
of
the
community.
I
always
New York Interested.
a little closer, and especially in the light of our own
which were understood by the boys and girls who at-
he came to me for comfort and felt
defended him, pointing out his hon-
in
experience
here.
and
with
a
knowledge
of
the
facts
N
New
York
an
extraordinary
that I was the only one to whom he
esty, which surpassed even his igno-
tend this modern center of Hebrew culture—the Tal-
I
terest has been evinced in the pro-
could turn and that I must help the
there,
we
shall
then
realize
the
profound,
though
on-
ranee.
mud Torah.
poor man. I began to talk to him,
During the winter months, after
jest. One might be cynical and give
One need not go to Palestine to hear Hebrew pleasant, truth of Dr. Singalovsky's statement.
inahriv, when the ',Lamle hod all grad-
passionately and with conviction. I
as the reason for interest here the
Russian Jewish life, he tells us, has suffered hide- fact that New Yorkers will be called sally departed from the Beth Hanle- told hits that every man must, at ova'
spoken, for thousands of boys and girls of the present
on
shortly
to
contribute
largely
to
or another, go throug his ex-
dresh
and
I
opened
my
Gemara
and
generation speak it with the fluency of their mother scribably since 1914. At that time, before the great the financing of the scheme after it began to chant, Leibe would conic time
perience of doubt; that it was only
tongue. madness overtook the world, 53 per cent of the Jews of has been worked out in more coin
Satan's
endeavor to had hint astray,
co- -
over
to
me
and
say:
"Good
night
to
over
detail. But I doubt that this is
and therefore he must believe firmly
We state without hesitation that this generation Russia were classified among useful, productive work-
ou , R e b Shloime."
im-
an
true. For myself I prefer to believe
that the evil thoughts will vanish like
At such times I would have
cannot possibly grow to manhood and womanhood as ens. All this has changed, due to those devastating con- that New York Jews are so very much y pulse
to kiss him on his bearded
abysmally ignorant of Hebrew as are their parents. ditions of the war and post-war period. Instead of 53 interested for a more altruistic rea- cheek, and after his departure I would a mist.
As I was thus talking to him, words
With such a generation Judaism is well buttressed and ner cent we have now a negligible part of the Jews of son. It is more comforting to awn be s dy ltthth grir tetruizrea sk fiullittnhg t hee of contfort that I never thought 0
it an age-old desire to see a suffer-
•
e;
before came into my mind. I rennin
an
te
dtuusky
Russia
classed
among
the
useful.
productive
workers.
can stand many strains and stresses, for it is well nigh
utahr
thuldhuttm
that the
Money- ing Jewry freed from the yoke of
drawn-out chants of the Gemara'
c u with
impossible for these children to miss the beauties of The old callings of Ghetto days before 1860 of
From every corner I seemed to hear strafed
canar ies
7slo o
mind
and
ld
out
a
God
,
without
a
hereafter;
rice:
"Good
night,
Reb
,
Judaism when they drink constantly of the fountain lending, speculation, small shop keeping, smuggling, airs
been so many schemes and plans and
world in which there iis, no punish
o me.
have returned. Instead of a sound, healthy, productive i
ili w
ttlim
a r, d
of living Hebrew.
h
al FI t;,,
meat and no rewar . Leib e steno
About that time I be came aware
-
l
crim
t
i
population, the Jews have b ecome a parasica .
,ich have orne such sick k v
which
of evil thoughts, of corroding doubts, and absorbed every word I uttered
the e
are
erme:
fruit,
or
no
fruit
at
all,
Jews
: (1)ttnttLbrtaoin,i., roluti11 remem-
al, delinquent population. Why
s should not the Gentile
Hi eyes grew brighter and brighte
mat
"Numerus Clausus."
amining the Crimean scheme with a n
until his broad face became suffuse.
this? Why sh ou lit he not despise the Jew? We
minuteness, pulling it to
pernicious
p er
with as happiness of one who had jus
how
th
h Y these
'
her
er distinctly
We learn with no little surprise. we may almost say are not saying the Jew is to blame. But this is the condi - exaggerated
pieces, tearing it to shreds, in a fran-
doubts would often keep me awake
regained his life.
amazement, that the Jewish students in the Universi-
tic—almost frenzied—effort to find
It was 11 o'clock when we were r(
u;sri ugugulLtlittruTi gu hg
nutig httrs a. inTlhile,ey aWn'OUJ 0W
- Semitism, and shall continue to
lion,
and
it
breeds
anti
uitr,
some
good
in
it.
They
are
fearful
tahres.stoisim
e
ties of Cracow, Lemberg, Warsaw and Posen, in Po- do so. And
uael ttohgeetuhk yruT
-
tsuzii nduirdhcatm
i t lest we forget, when we fall upon such un
e n a ,out uh e t h r a f ti i I uhruey,
prayers
and
studies,
and
cause
me
y
land are 24 per cent of the whole student body. If the happy days in Detroit, we too shall know what anti - :f ed a rihrf or"setlili's" , a
of
us
spoke.
The
deserted
stre(
great anguish. I tried to banish the
"numerus clausus," or percentage norm, were strictly
probe so deeply into all the circum-
echoed the sound of Leibe's heavy ate
unholy thoughts by studying with
is.
stances which surround the Bragin
applied, they would be entitled to no more than 15 per Semitism
added fervor, and sometimes I sac-
on tne
the irozen snow.
The "Oct" is doing everything possible to remedy
plan
Near my door he sold: "Gm'
ceeded,
but
no
sooner
did
I
close
the
cent, for that is the percentage of Jews in Poland.
May G i
and is working zealously and
ussia, an
book than the snake would once
more
R
this
condition
in
It is a source of no mean pleasure and gratification
raise its head. Very often, during night,
Reb you
Shloime.
ngthen
it you have strenge
ssi
strengthen
condit
patiently
to
bring
about
'
Shmone Essray, while reciting the
to find that so many of our co-religionists are attending conditions which exist here in Detroit.
ened me!"
In this
under
ions in Rua
similar
to -
And strange! His blessing wi
prayer: "Praised be the Lord Wh o
the institutions of higher learning in Poland, but we taking of the "Oct" too much assistance and encourage- T
resurrects the dead,'' I would feel a
fulfilled for a long time. When
fear that the cry of Wolf ! Wolf! may have anything ment cannot be given, for it is following the soundest,
shudder pass through my entire body, awoke the following morning, I heal
the words of conviction and faith th
and would have to support myself on
but a salutary effect upon those who are so frequently
surest road to the elimination of anti - Semitism ; the cre -
I had spoken to Leibe as though thi
something, in order not to fall. "Ma y-
called upon to help to drive the wolf away.
r
d
came
from someone else. My mu
be
there
is
no
resurrection,"
I
heard
One thing is quite certain, The Jews of Poland scion of a healthy economically sound Jewry.
became like the sky after a storm, al
the diabolic whisper.
My
doubts
revolved
particularly
there
was peace in my heart.
cannot be so very destitute if such a large number are
The snake of doubt gave use a lot
Bernard A. Bergman, writing, in an, of course, hu-
around "resurrection" and "the here-
able to pay for the privilege of higher education, and
endedmany
after." "Man is devoured by worms
respite, which
end' many • years lab
' v' - -
•
the discriminations and anti-Semitism cannot be very morous vein in the Jewish Tribune announces that Mr.
and there is no trace left of him;
Frank Munsey will buy the Jewish Tribune and the
there is no hereafter; there is no
FAMOUS JEWISH MEN AN
pronounced and serious.
God. . ." These were the thoughts
It is doubtful whether the percentage of Jewish Dearborn Independent, and combine the two papers
WOMEN
that
tormented
sic.
I
often
thought
_—
students in American universities is as high as that of under the direction of the present editors of both pub-
of my mother who had died shortly
Moses Mendelsohn, Jewish Philos
before this period. I would occasion-
Poland, and to describe conditions in America, com- lications. Mr. BergMan writes further, that we regret
pher.
ally dream of her, and this for a time
pared with conditions alleged to exist in Poland, would to announce" the report is "slightly exaggerated." To
relieved me of the harrowing doubts.
any'
rational
human
being
the
combination
of
these
two
be both thankless and superfluous. And yet we find
Many a time I thought of confessing
Moses Mendelsohn's title to a ph
Jewish men
everything to our rabbi, RR) Zisse.
.
the .foren m
such an unexpected state of affairs in Poland. We can papers would be impossible. But that would not be an
Ile was very fond of me and I hoped
amon.g
learning is
impossibility
with
Mr.
Ford.
Any
man
who
can
call
grant
explain it On the theory that the Jews in Poland are so
he would help me rid myself of the
m
in
l 7(2's9 and t
I
bor
jumpy, suspicious and bedeviled, that the mere threat the Jews knaves. rascals, degenerates. lecherous, wan-
tormenting doubts. That it was im-
ped c untmt.tuariel of
early age developed
ton,
libidinous,
and
what
not,
and
then
turn
right
perative to rid myself of them was
spine. His father, Mendel Dess
of enforcing the numerus clausus makes it an accom-
beyond any question. But every time
LS a' poor scribe Who tog ether m
plished fact. When people have endured and suffered around and give an interview to the American daily
I was about to visit the rabbi I shrank
the local rabbi, David Frankel, ea
as have the Jews of Poland they are perhaps permitted newspapers wherein he insists that he is not an anti-
a tthe thought of the effect it would
for the education of little Mo!
have on him. I could vividly picture
Later Rabbi Frankel received a ■
to exaggerate and color, but we hope that they shall Semite, that sort of a fellow could even combine the
him staring at me with his red eyes
to Berlin, and thither Moses folio ,
soon return to normal. We really get no joy out of the two papers mentioned above.
masses."
Describing
the
economic
recitals of misery and horrors as do some pathologic
Jewish
The first Jewish Grand Opera Company played in prevalence of unproductive
types of whom we have heard. We really want to be
Detroit in Orchestra Hall last Monday and Wednesday
spared all this unhappiness if it is really unfounded.
nights. It was pitiful to behold how few Jews were in-
Bal Tfilah began:
terested in this Jewish art. Even if it were a poor per- ap g ro rb iclu el m tural colonization of Russian the
I had a strong impulse to run away,
considered the great liberator of
No Anti-Semitism Here.
Jews as the solution of the Jewish
formance
we
should
manifest
a
deeper
interest,
because
feeling
that I had no right to partici-
German mind. The great ati wr
Samuel Goldsmith, the director of the Jewish Re-
. his
realizoi
found
ideal and the
it
is
the
first
Jewish
Grand
Opera
company
that
has
pate
in
a
minyan.
—
search Bureau, made a partial report on the survey con-
his dream in Mendelsohn, for he w
I WAS finally saved, for some time
ever appeared here. But, on the other hand, the per-
ea to prove that a Jew can be poss
at least, by a mere coincidence. It
Other Regions Included.
ducted in Detroit in the year 1923.
happened at about 10 in the evening.
ed of nobility of character. They
"Detroit is more free from discrimination and anti- formance was excellent. Still very few were present.
proposes the alloca•
came brothers in intellectual and
The snow-storm outside raged around
It is no credit to Detroit Jewry's standard of values M R. BRAGIN
ncitizeiuniing.
Semitism than any city in the United States, and we
ssiitah ti f o joner,,toihf:hapfuacrrpemroetsare:no:nddciostlaroiu
Ritu.
tistic cameraderi. At one time Mer
the frail houses and the church at the
sohn wrote an attack on the nati
end of the market place. The Beth
have made surveys from Los Angeles to New York," when such artists as Morris Dubin and Rose Westgate
cannot draw sufficiently here to pay their railroad ex-
neglect of native philosophers ir
Hamedresh was deserted and dark,
said Mr. Goldsmith.
tural laborers. Northern Crimea,
Leasing published without the autl
except that corner near the Oren
gather with the adjoining part of the
This statement will no doubt come as a surprise to penses to the next city.
Koidesh where I sat studying. A par-
knowledge.
Ukra i n e, includn ig
Besides devoting his talents to .
affin candle, stuck on my stand
many Detroiters who have at some time or other had
suit-
as a along
the Black Sea, is ndicated
i the cities
It
might
interest
the
lithographers
of
the
United
some experience which they construed as discriminat-
(Turn to last page.)
able district for such mass agricul-
Cherson and Nikolaieff
must
be fur-
in- one side, the green Poroches could be
It is
J
settlement of ews.
ory and anti-Semitic. Many more will hardly be able States that Henry Ford is really an internationalist as rural
ther pointed out that such predomi- threw a halo of light around me. On
•
he
claims
to
be.
Henry
has
his
lithographing
done
by
to accept the statement and reconcile iLs preconceived
neatly Jewish centers as Odessa,
notions based upon the fact that the arch anti-Semite Rolph-Stone-Clarke, Toronto, Canada. Or perhaps
of America is a Detroiter, and publishes his malicious we're mistaken about his internationalism. Ile might be eluded in the frontiers of the pro-
sending his work to Canada because he has it done posed autonomous community.
weekly newspaper in our very midst.
A face more vivid than he dreamed who drew
To us, however, this is not in the natur of a rev- cheaper over there.
Distrust Soviets.
Thy portrait in that thrilling tale of old)
elation, for we have ever conceived anti-Se iitism as a
ITiI many of the skeptics and
Dr. Cronbach, the author of the Jewish Pacifist
Dead queen, we see thee still, thy beauty cold
result of very' definite causes. and differs in no wise
the opinions which they have
As beautiful; thy dauntless heart which knew
from any other social manifestation indi alive of an Pledge, writes that his pledge is meant for idealists in set forth there is expressed a certain
Jewry. Ile's right. Only the idealist will turn in an distrust of the Soviet government,
No fear—not even of a king who slew
unhealthy state of affairs in the body polit c.
may or may not be warranted,
At pleasure; maiden heart which was not sold,
The pogrom may be. and no doubt often is, an emo- honest ii.come tax report, even if it means discomfort which
depending entirely on one's belief or
Though all the maiden flesh the king's red gold
tional orgy not unlike our own indefensible and dis- to his family."
disbelief in the sincerity of the So-
viets. The Crimean project somehow
Did buy! The loyal daughter of the Jew,
graceful lynchings. A people suffering from real or im-
rings
true.
In
the
main
it
seems
Emanuel Shinwell, son of a Jewish East End tailor,
No hour saw thee forget his misery;
agined wrongs are aroused and vvhippc i into a frenzy
feasible, although many of its details
Thou wert not queen until thy race went free;
by unscrupulous. designing demagogues or fanatics is a member of MacDonald's new Labor Cabinet. Mac- may be awry. It would seem the
part of judgment to wait until
who wish to gain some advantage. or hide some Donald is now certain that whether or not he has a better
Yet thoughtful hearts, that ponder slow and deep
Soviet decree creating the au-
place to hang his coat, he will always have a hanger the
Find doubtful reverence at last for thee;
dishonest, disgraceful act. It is a simple thing to
tonomous state has been announced
and the details of the plan which are
Thou heldest thy race too dear, thyself too cheap;
pick out the servient minority group in the com- on it.
being worked out by a commission
Honor no second place for truth can keep.
munity, place the blame for the misfortune upon
been set forth before condemn-
Did you ever stop to think what a good joke it have
them and let the outraged dominant majority groups
ing it harshly on the one hand or
would
be
on
the
K.
K.
K.
if
the
unknown
soldier
buried
accepting it with too great a show
HELEN HUNT JACKSON.
enjoy their orgy of blood and lust. In the European
of enthusiasm on the other.
scene, the Jews and Armenians have been the principal at Arlington Cemetery in Washington is a Jewish boy!
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