9ETROtTIEWisif 01110/41C1Z PAGE FOUR EWISII WIfl w. MOIrlaa WIMP AP= •■ ••• ■ •• Published Weekly by The Jewiek Chronicle PubLaded C•, Inc. Joseph J. Cummins, President and Editor Jacob H. Schakne, General Manager bership in the Klan. What is our attitude? Should we now feel pleased that we are in the circle of the elect? Should we expand with pride because the Nordic superiors have extended such a privilege to us? As for us, we are just as unqualifiedly opposed to the Klan as we have ever been. This sop has not lessened our antagonism toward this organization which purposes to keep alive prejudice and bigotry, which is making every effort to pit one religion against another and to embitter race against race, nation against nation. We have learned from bitter and numerous experi- ences that as long as any individual or group is dis- criminated against, or as long as discrimination and prejudices exist against the most humble and insignifi- cant, there is an ever present danger that the discrimin- ation, prejudice, bigotry and tyranny may be extended AS WE GO ALONG with the precise manner in which the present generation of Jews acquits itself during the penitential period Lamiumpa, that precedes and immediately fol- DOES the non-existence of a uni- intensity and composure which con- lows the New Year need be highly startlingly with the often bois. General Offices and Publication Building k pleased. Indeed, not a few discern in vernal language constitute the 850 High Street West the apparent rejuvenation of the re- Cable Addreas: Chronicle chief obstacle to world peace? Would p e or t e most part approach t Telephone: Glendale 9300 ligious spirit of the Jew a most un- concerns of the spirit. The month of London Offices a language which all peoples of the welcome commentary on the extraor- 14 Stratford Place, London. W. 1, England Ellul, which ushers in a season of re- dinary weakness of mankind as it world could employ with equal fa. flection and inner-reckoning, sees a ploughs through the scene of its tragi- Subscription, in Advance. ....... ........... ............. — ..... $3.00 Per Year cility effectively remove the barriers re-assertion of a state of mind which, comedy year in and year out. omedy yea if persisted in, can have naught but that stand between peace and con. MI correspondence and new• matter must neck thto 7e insure pubikallon, It probably would be unreasonable office by Tuesday •rening of each week. beneficent influence on Jewish condi- flirt? To neither question can an af. to expect that Jew's who yield to the tions. But the question arises why Ti. Detroit Jewish Chronicle in•e correspondence onsubjects of Interest firmative reply be given. for so Indorsmemat of ths call of the high holy days should pur- this annual spiritual splurge is only t disclaim. to the Jewish people, but to others. ters, th• Diverse languages hardly are the r sue throughout the year a mode of esie mewed Should the Klan by any chance actually permit all conduct strongly in keeping with the Ellul 13, 5684 Jews to membership we would still oppose it with all difficulty that unimaginative and dog- manner in which they approach their September 12, 1924 matic people think. It is not differ- Maker on Rosh Hashonah and Yom our vigor and influence, as long as it propounded doc- ence in language that provokes dis- Kippur. But there is ground for in- trines which in their very nature were subversive of cord but conflict in purpose. The ra- sisting that a measure of consistency pacity which urges the lion to devour is the mark of the moral man and the democratic creed. It is not customary nor in the approved manner to that a decisive return, on the morrow the lamb cannot be tamed except by By this time all our co-religionists should know the of the Day of Atonement, to the look a gift horse in the mouth but there are times when a long process of adjustment which fundamentals of the democratic creed in matters of dubious indulgences of the recurring the customary must be overlooked and good manners enables it to come face to face with years renders the religious flare in race and religion, but it will scarcely be amiss to re- the lamb without fiercely jumping forgotten. The case we have in mind is the generous, the autumn of the year a singularly upon it forthwith. The language of iterate it. The people of the United States are guar- irritating spectacle. If we owe even magnanimous, offer of President-elect Calles of war may be spoken in the harsh gut- obedience to God on Rosh ilashonah anteed by the Constitution the right to worship God turals of the Teuton, in the softly Mexico. Moved by the noblest and finest impulses and Yom Kippur, we owe Him obedi- fluent syllables of the Latin tongue, as they choose. They are assured by the same instru- President Calles has offered a refuge to the thousands ence on every day of the year. If we or in the halting speech of a primi- ment that there will be no discrimination by reason of search our hearts during the ten (lays of Jews stranded in the European ports by reason of tive people. We cannot discern the of the penitential season, we must race, color or creed. These rights and privileges are virtue of a universial tongue. The the closing of America. do likewise on every day thereafter. universal language which possesses not for the majority alone but are to be enjoyed by We realize to the utmost the precarious and Man's conscience is not a commodity any sort of merit is the language of the most inconspicuous individual and the least influ- that may be deposited in a vault for wretched condition of our stranded brothers; they are the heart and the mind, particularly 355 (lays in the year only to be taken ential group. And as long as any organization seeks of the mind. The selfishness and par- literally between the devil and the deep sea. They out and carefully fondled for a brief tisanship and nationalistic passion to nullify this in the least particular we are unalterably week and a half. Is it religion that cannot proceed to their destination, the Christian na- which are pointed to as the begetters we practice on the high holy days opposed to that organization. of war will not be rooted out with tions on whose soil they are sojourning are not at all or is it the child in u.s that asserts it- the adoption of a world language The democratic creed of individual liberty in mat- pleased with these tourists and the countries which self, the fear of doom and destruc- code. The beginnings of a universal ters of conscience and belief cannot be stressed or re- tion that troubles us? they left do not welcome them, nor do they care to re- language for peace would be realized • One must be led to the conclusion turn for the reasons which prompted them to leave. peated too often. The harking back to fundamentals is if, for example, the governments sub- that the immanence of God is felt mitting to the jurisdiction of the The picture of downright misery and suspense needs always so necessary if we are to correctly understand but feebly by the consciousness of League of Nations would agree to the community and of the individual. little imagination or artistry to draw. In short, it and evaluate these phenomena which arise, educate their nationals to the truth The God who neither slumbereth nor Only when the Klan becomes an American organiz- with reference to the "glory and strikes us that their plight is so desperate that almost sleeps in the cause of righteousness honor and godliness" of war and the any plan of escape seems feasible as well as acceptable, ation will we approve it and not before. Their flirting and of justice, neither elumbereth nor "meanness and depravity" of the sleeps in His reckoning with the daily but yet, despite all this and with the magnanimous offer does not take us in. We want none of them as long world at peace. performances of men and of nations. If we were a Filene or a Bok or of Mexico held before our eyes, we still say that the as they draw lines of racial and religious demarkation While the religious genius of the Jew a Herman and possessed of abundant gift horse should be examined. There are times when among our citizenry. has evolved the lofty conception of means, we would find better ways to an appointed season for the assem- make use of our money than to stage even beggars should be choosers, for the gift may work bling of the Court on Iligh, it frowns contests for plans for peace. The greater injury than the refusal to accept it, upon the suggestion that religious in- simpler our thought with reference tensity is to be lavished upon a mere President Calles purposes that these men and peace, the more likely we shall be Wednesday morning, Sept. 10, Judge John R. Cav- to season of 10 days, that the peniten- to see in it the boon that the, world's women form a colony upon land which will be alloted erly handed down his decision that Richard Loeb and tial period is for the soul and the con- best minds for ages have agreed it in to them. The colony is to be financed to the extent of science of the Jew and the Jewish Nathan Leopold, Jr., be confined to prison for the term community what the annual fair is $2,000,000 to insure seed, houses, farm implements Guarantee. of their natural lives. for the merchant, farmer and artisan. no one who is familiar y and all things necessary for the maintenance of life. Metered aa itecond•chms matter March IL DIA at the Postale. et Detroit. under the Art of Berth k, 1373. The month preceding the high holy days is marked among Jews by an Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth. Loeb-Leopold Decision. On the face of it the terms and conditions are fair and reasonable, but on further examination the whole thing strikes us as a mad venture, another Children's Cru- sade. We cannot see anything but disaster ahead for these men, women and children, should all parties agree to the undertaking. There is current a curious romantic conception about the beauties of agriculture and the redeeming quality of going back to the land. It should be under- stood once and for all that western civilization is no longer based upon agrarian culture and the days of colonization belong to past centuries. Those who have been hardest bitten by the industrial and commercial culture of the twentieth century are the children of Israel. They are not agriculturists and they are not colonists, and an attempt to settle thousands of them upon the land would be a piece of monumental folly Some days before the decision was handed down the daily press printed items to the effect that the bet- ting was three to one that the boys would not be sen- tenced to be hanged. This betting was a sort of straw in the wind indicative of public sentiment. Apparently the time between the end of the trial and sentence served as a cooling peiiod for those who had become Europe Crowns Yiddish Artists By HENRY D. TRAUM unsurpassed in our day. Starting with these insurmountable difficulties you are met with difficulties no less serious in the fact that these stranded ones have no cohesion among them- selves, no common understandings, because they are gathered from all parts of Europe. The only things in common are their religious beliefs and similar lan- guage. Add to all the previously enumerated difficul- ties a climate entirely dissimilar to the accustomed climate and a native population with customs, lan- guages and habits totally strange to them. The pic- ture drawn is not at all exaggerated, for there are special personal idiosyncrasies which can not be taken into account in the broad outlines sketched. The whole plan meets with our unqualified disapproval, for it has not the remotest possibility of success and is pregnant with indescribable woe for our already unhappy people. It is a simple matter to be destructive and tear a thing to pieces, but we have a plan which at least is consistent with present migration methods. Inasmuch, as Mexico has not closed its doors to European immi- gration we would recommend that the $2,000,000, or part of it, be given to the II ifte or some such organiza- tion with expert knowledge in the handling of immi- grants and that headquarters be opened in Vera Cruz and Mexico City. The organization in charge will then made it simple to place an in dividual treat the immigrants as individuals and will distribute them in industry, trade or farming, as the case may be. pigeon-hole. But humanity breaks the cast in which This proceeding will merely be the continuation of the some would seal it and it was discovered that manly work carried on by the Bias in the United States be- are mentally sick who cannot come within the legal definition of insanity. Clarence Darrow recognized this fore the doors were closed. President Calles should be thanked for his generous and preferred to plead the cause, not before a friendly T e t estimony offer, but just the same, it should be refused. opened its doors to Jews who have fought in the Ameri- can army. What special virtue is found in this neces- sary service which transmutes one of the lesser breeds into one of the superior breeds? Does the Jew become a Protestant because he has slept in a filthy trench or bayoneted a German? Does he become a Christian by the mere act of joining the American Expeditionary Forces? The reason of these Klan leaders is egregious and baffling, to say the least. Since the test of the lesser breeds is military service in the late unpleasant- ness, why are Catholics and negroes excluded from the holy and righteous organization? We think the Catho- lic and negro surely have a more sound claim to recog- nition than the Jews, for Catholics and negroes accept Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah while the Jews do not. Is this concession made to Jewish soldiers based upon any valid or substantial ground? We think not. The structure of the Klan is built upon racial and re- ligious animosity which cannot swallow Catholicism or black skin, and we cannot understand how it can pos- sibly admit Jews.ander any circumstances and be con- sistent. But consistency is not stressed by any group which thrives upon prejudice and hatred, so we do not expect consistency from it. But let us assume that the report is correct and Jews who fought in the war are now admitted to mem- The case merely reveals the need for a more care- ful study of our youth in the schools and colleges. It means that we must exert ourselves to developing a social consciousness and a finer recognition of the rights of others. Before that Bedouin tribe is permitted to return to Judaism. they should be furnished with Ford's "Inter- national Je•," the works of Chamberlain, Stoddard and a few other choice selections of neo-Nordic wisdom. For Louis Marshall to proceed to Russia to inves- tigate the colonization project in Crimea, as was sug- gested by a New York newspaper, would run counter the accepted graces. What will the official investi- gators do if a mere layman. such as Mr. Marshall, is deputized to inquire into a scheme involving large num- bers of people? The swearing in of new citizens in a court presided over by a judge whose father was an immigrant, is as telling an answer as may be imagined to the charge that the alien cannot be assimilated. Those who persist in decrying the alien may just as well deny that the Lord "raiseth up out of the dust the poor" and "lifteth up the needy from the dunghill." Vh."1 ■. ..*P. —1116. • 'My _ ./A 11k, 461 . impersonated. Of this mixture of observation and desire for expression the new acting was born. Felix Sal- ten, the famous author and critic of the Vienna Neue Freie Presse, seems to have felt the spirit of vital youth that emanates front this ensemble when he writes: "From the stand- point of acting, such a uniformity of ensemble was not experienced here for a long time. Memory must reach hack very far—Stanislaysky, the first en- semble of Dose, the period of Laube. Garde at the Burgtheater." In the present low state of the European theater, this group of American actors came like a meteor in a dark night. Jazz, which is kept here well within its natural hounds, has infested every branch of public It could not he said of this group entertainment in Europe. The re- of players that their imaginative real- ception accorded to the Yiddish play- ism is entirely of their own making. ers was beyond the measure of ordi- Having come from Russia, with its nary appreciation. The gracious act rich theatrical tradition yet their re- of Miss MacDonald in bringing flow- production of life is of a somewhat ers for every actor at every perfor- different nature; it is more intense, mance speaks for itself. The enthu- more alive, perhaps the result of their siasm of the I,ondon critics finds twat contact with the soil of their adopted expression in an article by James land. The Stanislaysky tradition Agate in The Sunday Times. lie seems only to have prepared the sub- writes: conscious mind for an independent "I want my readers of The Sunday development. In fact, the actors of Times to take me at my word when the Yiddish stage and the theater it- I say deliberately, and weighing every self are for the greatest part an syllable, that the performance of 'The American product. Seven Who Were Hanged,' by these Yiddish players, contains more great There is, for example, the case of acting than I have ever seen on any the director, Maurice Swartz, who stage in any piece," lie continues: came here from England as a small "The leavetaking scene in the prison boy. The creator of the Yiddish has a purely human quality of pathos, theater, the poet Abraham Goldfaden, and as it is played at the Scala is al- came to America in the early days of most beyond bearing." And then his theater, expecting greater possi- further: "It remains in my mind like bilities here for his creation than in music." "There was no flamboyance. the land of its birth, Russia. In Rus- But not Duse could have launched sia the Yiddish theater was illegal in you upon seas of diviner pity, nor those days, for fear of revolutionary Bernhardt have moved you to a great- propaganda in a language which the er quickening of the spirit." "I do not very beneficiaries of parental deco- petty official who served as censor propose to forget anything which hap- could not understand. America was lion. The fact that the American lad pens in this play." at that time the only country where wag not to be prepared for the cab- On this tour those Yiddish players a play in Yiddish could be produced binate was sufficient reason for al- not only succeeded in filling their without any restrictions. Favorable an lowing him to remain a boor led houses at the time when all other economic conditions were also of no and the ignoramus. Often is recalled theaters were struggling for exis- small influence. t eta:r est. v t do. the lLtircyh tence, being in a way repaid for the Si: it happened that, although r dotin g successes of Europeans here, but also America was hardly a center for Jew- inc competed artistically with the best. ish literature previous to the war, the In Vienna Reinhardt felt their pres- Yiddish theater flourished here. ence considerably, and there they also Dramatists of the old world were scion succeeded in attracting and actually by favorable prospects for luring away a great Reinhardt star the enrichment of the theater and its in tne person 01 011911 Din none., growth. The actors, however, were his son. came here to play in the Yiddish Art mostly recruited from the ranks of The ignorance of a great portion of Theater. A few years ago Lia Rosen the factories of the garment trades. the second generation of Jews of was discovered by Alfred Kerr, the Among these there were always to he eastern European extraction is ap- Berlin critic. When barely a child of found students who were compeikd to palling. Their Judaism, if Judaism 1G she War engaged by the Vienna leave their studies abroad on account it may be called, is as distinct as a Burgtheater, where she played leading of restrictions by' the government, in- gray.colored object in a I.ondon fog. parts in plays ranging from "Anti- Their devotion to Jewish causes is as tellectuals of that peculiar auto- gone" to Strindberg's "Christine." keen as the interest of a photo film didactical type horn under the Rus- Subsequently she played for Rein- magazine reader in Plato's "Repub- sian oppression in the small towns hardt in many of his productions. Af- lic." For all practical purposes, the of the Pale. These formed the in- ter a retirement of five years she was offspring of eastern European immi- tellectual backbone of the acting body. engaged by Reinhardt for a produc- grants represent a lost battalion, an Later that" ranks were augumented tion of "The Dibbuk," a play produced unknown quantity sharply setting off by proselytes from other stages. The here by the Yiddish Art Theater, the immigrant Jew who was riveted elder Schildkraut and Morris Morri- which Stanislaysky is to produce for to the synagogue as a result of the son, now dead, belonged to a period Reinhardt during the latter's sojourn momentum of ancestral devotion of of the Yiddish stage which resembled in these states. Miss Rosen is now centuries-long standing from the the late classical period and the early to open in the same play here. clear-cut, intelligent and positive- lbsenite of the German theater. To minded young American Jews who this period also belonged the great ac- seem to be edging their way toward The official opening of the technical tors produced by the Yiddish theater, the center of American Jewish life. institute in Haifa, Palestine, has been David Kessler and Jacob Adler. The Jewish layman who is at once fixed for October. The board of gov- The Yiddish theater of today, as a man of the world in his daily in- ernors has delegated Arthur Blok of represented by the Yiddish Art terests and a fervent Jew in the realm London to superintend the inaugura- Theater, has preserved very little of of religion, Jewish knowledge and na- tion arrangements and to take over the tradition of that time. The new tional causes was sorely needed in the the direction of the institute for the Russians preferred to begin where early decades of American Jewish ev. first year. Mr. Blok is on the per- the Russians from Moscow seemed to perience, but he war denied exist- manent staff of the Board of Trade, show dangerous symptoms of indura- ence. Fathers now wring their hands which has granted him leave of ab- tion. It was not a distinctly inten- in despair and feel the flush of shame sence to enable him to undertake this tional choice of art philosophy, but a burning their cheeks. They can do mission. He has had large experi- subconscious adjustment to the things nothing. For what they neglected to ence on both the scientific and the imbibed from the surroundings and and by do, their sons, strange to say administrative sides of technical edu- an application of these principles to an involuntary impulse, as it were, cation. the types that were waiting to be may compensate. ,X415- The tour upon which the repertoire players of the Yiddish Art Theater were taken by their director, Maurice Swartz, at the end of last season turned into a vertible triumph for American acting and producing, al- though it was rendered in a language which can hardly be called American, for its use never outlasts that short period preceding Americanization of the immigrant. It speaks quite well for a group which, even in the transi- tory period, does not neglect its cul- tural heritage, and by its serious as- pect of values and no little amount of self-sacrificing idealism helps to en- rich the sum total of American achievements in the field of the theater. 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