jimbernonjEmsntARomict. ?, &V.tt. !. PLttgftrOMtra : 'I' 4 4 ''.51,11Attut. Utglag&MUMUMMIZZO ) The workings of the quota law are best illustrated by figures issued by the state department. No amount How the Jews in of argument is quite as convincing as the naked figures: ■ ■ Belgium Live Published Weekly by The Jewish Chronicle Paisiishing Ce., inc. total quota for Germany for year 1926-27, 51,227, visas President granted from June 30 to Oct. 31, 19,972; Great Britain JOSEPH J. CUMMINS A LETTER FROM ANTWERP ARTICLE III. Editor and Northern Ireland quota 1926-27, 34,007, visas JACOB MARGOLIS --- granted from June 30 to Oct. 31, 17,724. How for- General Manager JACOB H. SCHAKNE By REUBEN BRAININ, By Joel Fos. tunate to be a Nordic for Hungary's quota for 1926-27 Dean of Hebrew Writer.. tIg I'ostoflIce at Detroit. Entered as Seeondscai sji,..m.ant,ti e. rr thi Se ar;,hrt 3,,,f 111 rffchats is 473 and visas granted from June 30 to Oct. 31, 163. 7 (Copyright, 1926, Jewish Telegraphic (Copyright, 1926, by Seven Arts Feature, Syndicate.) Latvia quota 142, visas 96. Lithuania quota 344, visas, Agency.) --- General Offices and Publication Building this article on the new Jewish life in New 123; Poland quota 5,982, visas 2,319. The whole list tEditor's Note :—In 525 Woodward Avenue The Jewish community of Belgium Russia, Reuben I.3rainin, dean of Hebrew writers, depicts life in a tells the story of the triumph of Nordicism. We do not is the youngest in Europe. Eighty Cable Address: Chronicle Telephone: Cadillac 1040 typical agricultural colony in the Kherson region. What he has to London Office: believe this would have been possible at a time when years ago there were only nine Jew- say of his experiences in this community goes fur the majority of 14 Stratford Place, London, W. 1, England. the new settlements in the great back-to-the-land movement now men did not think in terms of split allegiance, chauvin- ish fatuities in the whole of Belgium. Jewish immigration began at the end $3.00 Per Year sweeping Russia. This article is in the form of notes from Mr. Subscription, in Advance ism and exclusion. of the nineteenth century. The immi- Brainin's travel diary.) To insure publication, all correspondence and news matter must reach this There is no doubt in our minds that eventually the grants were mostly German and Duty office by Tuesday evening of ench week. When mailing notices, books; (others had a few more pictures who founded the Jewish commun- immigration restrictionists would have succeeded in Jews For over a day I have been travel- kindly use one side of the paper only. of prominent Jews on the walls. It was ities of Antwerp and Brussels. At the passing a law to restrict immigration to this country beginning of the twentieth century, ing through the Jewish colonies of the evident that some of these colonists The Detroit Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on subjects of interest Kherson district, in company with Pro- to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an Indorsement of the Polish and Galician Jews, too, began to even tried to write after their working • based on some selective standards, but it would have fessor Chafkin of Paris. viers expressed by the writers. in Antwerp and Brussels, in hours. At one house they told nit. that taken a very much longer time and there never would settle Dusk is falling. great numbers. Unable to adapt them- this was the gathering place of a min- Tebeth 19, 5686 December 24, 1926 Since early morning we have been pan every Saturday, where 50 men have been such drastic reductions. The extremist na- selves to the customs of the more or reformed Western Jews, the East- tossed about in an automobile driving came to worship. tionalists had to swallow one unpleasant pill for the its In one of the homes I visited, I run through the area of the Jewish col- Someone Blundered. e ern Jews founded their own conununi- el- large number admitted from Germany, but in order to ties. In Antwerp there are today two onies supported, directed irected and devor- across a medical student of Kiev Uni- (Russian The Dearborn Independent story of Henry Ford on put over the theory of the superiority of Western Euro- Jewish communities side by side—the aped by the Agro versity, who had come to see his par- ents for a few days. He told me that community "Shomrei Ha gan itation of the American Joint Dis- the International Jew, which purported to be an answer peans they were compelled to take the good with the principle he had been excluded from the Uni- dath," consisting of Dutch and Polish tri'.buti on Committee.) to the charge of Nathan Straus, bids fair to be a boom- bad. The same stubborn attitude that characterized Jews, which has the only Reform Syn- versity for a time because his father We enter a house in which four was a Nepman. Ile was later reinstat- agogue with an organ in Antwerp, and families live. The colony, the bone drys is found among the hardened immigra- erang. Jewish lish Je " consisting ex- ed. He planned to establish himself in "Machz ikei Hadath Trotzkya, is only 14 months old, and For years Mr. Ford has spoken loosely and ir- tion restrictions. To them any modification is unthink- the ws , I n B russe l s Trotzyka after his graduation, in One elusively o f po this house was erected only three responsibly about the Jew. Ile was never taken to able even though the amendment is consistent with or- the two communities were joined only months ago. The home is not yet al- year. He was also planning to estab- lish a hospital in co-operation with a few days ago. together completed, but on the wall task in any forum where he could be made to substan- dinary decency and humanity. some of the neighboring colonies. I Jewish communities are to be found N. d Gaon, hung a painting of theinn tiate the accusations made. Not satisfied with unflat- In the forthcoming session, the modificationists are also in the prov a i cial towns, where is found this medical student a Zionist, a reproduction of a Bible illustration, few Jewish families. who knew Hebrew as well as Yiddish. tering generalizations which condemned a whole peo- satisfied with most modest changes. Congressman there All t are only and some family photos. he communities together elect out Although he was (opposed to the com- While the males of the house receive ple, he must needs drag in the whole financial structure Pearlman merely wishes to include a larger number of their number Jewish consistory munists, he favored the Soviet govern- us, the two women, wives of the coi- of the American republic. Aside from the gratuitous among non quota immigrants. It appears that Secre- in the French fashion. The consistory onists, do not interrupt their work of ment. llis final conviction was that insult offered the leaders of American life when he tary of Labor Davis, Commissioner Hull and Assistant l= its headquarters in Brussels and is washing. We are soon surrounded by the establishment of colonies such as led by the famous Jewish philanthro- was merely instrumental in pre- charged that they had not the courage to sit in judge- Secretary Husband are in favor of the proposed amend- pist, M. Franz Phillipson, the presi- dozens of colonists, and those who can- these paring Russian Jews for migrating not get inside look in through the win- ment upon the Jews, he made the specific charge that ments. The proposals are such that one could scarcely dent of the Ica. to Palestine. lows; it seems as though the entire The leading Jews in public life in During a conversation with a group the International Jew is in direct control of all financial imagine opposition to them. male population of Trotzkya has turn- Brussels are the native Belgian Jews of the colonists in Trotzkya, one of cal out. centers of government including the United States Fed- Congressman Perlman wants the parents of citi- who were under the leadership of Dr. them happened to mention the fact taglol ; ttrhaedy- that there was room in the commun- eral Reserve system. In our last issue we asked for zens; children of citizens between the ages of 18 and Bloch, the late chief rabbi of Belgium. ersAall itithtelseenti.orloentihs atsn ‘aveyr(ea s r na He, an opponent of Zionism, was ity for a general store. But no colon- proof of this allegation, inasmuch as we were unwilling 21 ; husbands of citizens, minor children and wives of among well known protest rabbiner led a precarious existence under im- ists would undertake to run the place. possible, nay inhuman, housing-condi- to take the unsupported word of Mr. Ford. All of them spoke with the utmost dis- those aliens admitted before July 1, 1924, and declared signing the famous rabbiner against lions, in some small town. Fifteen This is really a grave charge. All of Europe rocked their intentions of becoming citizens, included among Ilerzl. When a new chief rabbi was months ago, the spot which now holds gust of trading life. They sharply to be appointed two years ago, the Bel- criticized the members of the old col- when a less serious charge was made that the German the non-quota immigrants. In view of the hardships, gian Zionists made an effort to secure Trotzkya was nothing but an empty, onies in the Kherson region, some of Krupps were subsidizing French newspapers to stir up the lawlessness and misery which these separations the appointment of a rabbi who was in dead steppe; no human being lived whom had gone back to petty trading here. with the movement. When in the colonies. the war spirit in that country. This charge is infinitely cause, it is hardly conceivable that there should be any sympathy Now, splendid•wheat fields meet the the present chief rabbi, Dr. Ginsburg- "Innately our natures are opposed to more serious. The International Jew must of necessity argument, but yet the restrictionists flushed with vic- er, was appointed, his electoral ser- eye. Strange miracle. These Jewish small trailing," these new colonists as- small trailers of yesterday, these city mon contained a declaration favor- sured nie. include the Jews of Germany, France, England and tory will be adamant. It will take a long time and in- people have worked their fields more to Zionism. Friction is develop- Russia, not to mention those of the smaller countries of finite patience and energy to wipe out the evils of this able effectively than their Russian neigh- ing now as Zionists charge that he has burs, the peasants of many genera- Europe. These people are plotting together with HONOR AND DISGRACE not acted in accordance with his dee- hasty, prejudiced legislation. tions. American Jews belonging to the international war mak- We are in favor of this amendment and would like location. These newly-made colonists look Although Brussels is the capital of The fact that thousands of Jewish ing gang to involve us in a world conflict. to see modifications which would remove the discrim- Bel ium the center of Jewish public o happy. They thank G d that they are boys and girls in New York City and If this is so, non-Jewish America is really entitled inatory features which are a shameful reflection upon life is Antwerp, where 90 percent of able to produce their daily bread. An elsewhere in America are the bene- extraordinarily contagious, physically the resident Jews are engaged in the to know the facts.. To this end Representative Bloom our democratic beliefs. ficiaries annually of Christian gener- healthy atmosphere emanates from diamond trade. It is a well known fact osity is to me a painful exposure of (Democrat) of New York introduced a resolution in the that the diamond industry flourishes these people. the failure of Jews generally to square I visualize a "Nap" family I knew in Belgium only because of the initia- House to inquire into the sources of Mr. Ford's infor- with the requirements of Jewish duty. during my stay in Vitebsk (White tive of the Eastern Jews. When the Costly houses of worship which are mation and to discover the truth of the allegations. Will Yiddish Die? Russia) the father, a man of 38 years, Belgium government wanted to revive only used adequately twice a year the a wife and two children of eight and the diamond industry after the war, it Committees of the House and Senate have been appoint- Jews will build but they let the young This is the title of an article in The Jewish Tribune was compelled to send delegations to three. In pre-soviet days, the man ed to investigate matters of less import, and it is, there- manhood and womanhood of their de- was the proprietor of a prosperous to- of New York by Dr. A. A. Roback and is an answer to the Jewish refugees in Holland and nomination of the community wait or fore proper, that this matter should receive a thorough- bacco business. When I met him he England in order to get them back in- the pessimistic prediction of Alter Brody in a recent is- be compelled to accept inferior or was acting as manager of a govern- going airing. Mr. Ford holds a conspicuous and respon- to Belgium. inadequate accommodation for social ment retail tobacco shop, with a salary sue of the Nation and reprinted in full in The Detroit The Antwerp Jews are. therefore, sible place in American life. He is looked upon by and cultural purposes. The son or of 35 rubles (about $17 per month.) an important factor in the economic daughter of rich Jewish parents in An intelligent man, with a university many as possessing Messianic attributes. By millions Jewish Chronicle. life of Belgium. The diamond indus- New York City can easily find what education, this existence had made of In the words of Alter Brody : try has for the last 30 years contribu- he is considered infallible because of his enormous suc- they really do not surely need in in- hint and embittered cynic, a hopeless, ted large sums of money to the Belgian cess in the automotive world. Millions of others lend stitutional accommodation. But the desperate being, who has lost faith in Exchequer. In no other trade do the A language is (lying intestate and without issue. At the multitudes of Jews and Jewesses of and fate. people, God, workers obtain such high wages as in credence to his fulminations because they believe that height of its power and affluence, in the fullest possession moderate means and deficient homes The family lives in one room. No the diamond industry. The Belgian of its faculties, with a literature, a theater, a press of its he has access to facts beyond the sphere of ordinary accept an elementary provision or beds or =tresses are visible. Tie government also derives a considerable own that would do honor to many a landed tongue, Yiddish flock to the hospitality of Christian children are huddled in a corner of the income front the track. in uncut dia- mortals. in America is facing a slow but inevitable dissolution,— dy- generosity. I wish that Jews would windowless room, like a heap of bones monds and as the diamonds usually If the International Jew is actually in direct control ing with no one to will all these accumulated riches to. But stop for a time the erecting of luxuri- and lifeless skeletons. The boy of 5 change hands ninny times before they it will be a painless end, a death in easy installments, reg- of all financial centers, including the Federal Reserve ous costly churches which are more who should be attending s(=01, does are bought by the diamond manufac- ulated by the 2 per cent ratio of the immigration act, that for display than for devotion and not leave this room because he is un- system, then indeed are we in a precarious way. Even turers, the Exchequer is continually cordon sanitaire which our Nordically minded Congress has apply their money to winsome social presentable. drawing taxes on the sale of uncut dia- though the American membes of the International ring drawn around the ghetto. The mother, once very beautiful, an and cultural accommodation for the monds. may not wish to do anything to damage the country or old woman at the age of 30 sits mo- numbers of their com- Yet most of the Jews in Belgium To this somber picture, Dr. Roback objects, We are still aliens, because the naturaliza- tionless and watches the children preponderant mercial employes of modest incomes precipitate a war, what reason could the European would be happy to agree with Dr. Roback, but despite agonize. In this dark, narrow cave- who are overlooked and remain a tion law of Belgium demands that each members have for avoiding such a contingency, surely room, this family of four lives an in- standing, reproach of that Jewishness his sanguine hopes we are afraid that he is mistaken as alien desiring to become naturalized describable existence — a mausoleum, Europe has no great and enduring affection for us. If which like its Christian counterpart put an application before Parlia- to Brody's unawareness of facts as well as to the actual must haunted by feverish-eyed ghosts whose prates about ideals and duty and al- ment and the Senate. An exception is the press comments of Europe are any criterion we are laughter is terrifying. lows pretence to serve for practice. made in the case of those aliens who forces of dissolution which face Yiddish. What a relief to breathe the fresh anathema over there. I want to see every Jewish young are born in Belgium and who become When he says Mr. Brody is unaware of the fact that air and look at these healthy Jews on man and woman of moderate means The whole affair has now reached a state where Mr. Belgian citizens without difficulty the prairie here, who only yesterday in the big cities of America provided nearly 1,000,000 books in Yiddish were printed in 1925. when they attain their majority. Ford must either substantiate his charges or be branded lived the life of starving Nepman in with such institutional accommoda- Under the Belgian laws, the alien as a maker of malicious fictions—a loose and irrespon- or that he does not appreciate that 10,000,000 peo- enjoys the same rights as the Belgian various towns. tion for pastime and uplift as will A boy of 12 with quick, optimistic parallel the best furnished by Chris- sible talker—a victim of anti-Semitic delusions, or if ple speak Yiddish, he is grossly in error, for Brody spe- citizen, except that he is not allowed eyes listens to our conversation. His tians to their beneficiaries. Till that to vote or to become a civil servant. they are true, as the greatest friend of America and the cifically writes that Yiddish is dying intestate and with- energetic, confident countenance inter- The Jewish communities and schools time Jewish society will condignly out issue. Not during a period of decline, but at the receive subsidies front the government. ests me. I inquire: suffer the disgrace of adolescent de- true prophet of peace. "What do you do nil day?" linquency which is to a great extent Representative Bloom has rendered a valuable height of its power and affluence, in the fullest posses- The 17 rabbis of Belgium are thus in "During the day. I help in the field; receipt of regular salaries from the the product of weakened Jewish ideal- service by bringing the whole controversy before the sion of its faculties with a literature, a press and a thea- government. On the whole the gov- evenings, I read books." ism in a materialistic non-Jewish en- "What books interest you?" vironment. forum where it properly belongs. We are certain that ter, Alter Brody apparently has as panoramic a view of ernment treats the Jews in a very "I adore travel books." friendly manner and the (occasional I am honored by the invitation of the language as has Dr. Roback, but he is persuaded Mr. Ford cannot prove his accusations against the Jews, "What do you want to be, when you anti-alien agitations have no real anti- Christians to advise them how to and he will not avail himself of the chance to do so. In that the iron ring of exclusion will topple Yiddish from Semitic basis. grow up?" handle more effectively their Jewish "A fernier—but also an explorer. I Reports of MISS deportations of for- wards. I am disgraced by the failure any event, it will be an excellent thing for the country, its present high estate. want to work on the soil by day, and of competent Jews to do their full It would be most surprising if Yiddish were not a eigners from Belgium were current re- to for we really have problems of importance which should fly all over the world by night." eently in the Jewish press, but the gen- duty in the case.---The Supplement. "But, my boy, are you proud to be receive our attention. ThiS keeping the people in a con- robust and colorful language in America today, in view oral secretary of the Society for As- a J ew ?" sisting the Jews of Antwerp, M. Van stant turmoil is bad for our national morale. The House of the fact that millions speak and read it. "Sure, I am a Jew, because my par- QUESTIONABLE Horst, has issued an authoritative But what will happen 20 years from now, is the der ents are Jewish, but I have no reason of Representatives is a good jury before which this case statement that the government does he more proud than a Gentile boy. can be properly tried. The Jews of America will not question raised by Alter Brody, and any blaring account not contemplate mass deportations. to There is a movement, organized All nations are equal and should help and unorganized, among American of its present virility and sweep can hardly surpass the It is only applying more strictly the each exercise one peremptory challenge. other. Then there'll be no more law regulating immigration into Bel- Jews to secure a five-day week to the tribute paid by Alter Brody. wars." gium; no immigrant will he allowed to end of allowing their brethren to ob- Fervently, with enthusiasm, he ex- Even were we to agree with Dr. Roback that Yid- enter the country unless he is in pos. pounded serve the traditional Day of Rest. to me his naive scheme to Amending the Immigration Law. session of a permit. Those aliens who What I would like to find out is what dish would continue to be spoken by the large masses prevent wars. This youngster is per- enter the country with a temporary assurance have these religious eco- A session of Congress without a number of immigra- of Jews in Russia and Poland, we cannot see how this meated with humanitarian principles, visa are required to leave on the expir- nomic reformers that the Sabbath tion bills is about as inconceivable as one without num- fact can possibly affect Yiddish in America, if these which he has not learned by rote, but at= of the term of their visa. will be (observed if there is opportun- worked out for himself. A fine human berless bills to amend or abrogate the prohibition law. people are excluded from this country. The strict application of the immi- ity. My observation is pretty long specimen. graton law has come about because of and broad and I discovered long ago Both of these laws represent the triumph of hysteria at As I went through the various The question of Yiddish does not differ radically the action of the immigrants them- that multitudes Jews in American houses in the colony, I noticed that no selves, who on several occasions trans- a time when dispassionate judgment was taboo. We do from that of German, Russian, Swedish or Italian. For life, whose number is steadily grow- matter what the outward poverty of grassed the regulations in a flagrant not mean that powerful influences were not at work to purposes of comparison, German offers the best basis. ing, do not observe the Sabbath at the particular but or cottage, there manner. Another and perhaps more present, although it is perfectly con- make the country dry and to limit immigration, but it was everywhere an attempt to heauti- important reason is the anxiety gener- The migration of Germans to America started in venient to do so. What is needed in Some colonists boasted fy things. is safe to say that the passage of these drastic measures 1848 and continued to the opening of the century. The ally given expression in governing cir- American Israel is not a five-day Iles that otherwise the country might but a reawakening (of Jews to a sense was far beyond the most sanguine hopes of the protag- high mark was reached during the 80's. According to a with immi g rants from East- be floo, led w and acceptance of their religious onists of aridity and restriction. cabee, and a very strong Zionist or- ern Europe who are now unable to em. duty. survey made by the Interpreter, there were more than I am ashamed and disgusted ganization, headed by the well known Under the guise of an economic expedient, the coun- 800 German newspapers, magazines and periodicals at igrate to America. at the vast number of American Jews Zionist, M. Jean Fischer. All other Jewish immigration into Belgium in try was propagandized to the point where it accepted the peak point, while in 1925 there were a little over the last three years has increased the Jewish parties have groups in Ant- who pay their rabbis to proclaim "Re- member the Sabbath to keep it holy" werp. There is a non-partisan Yiddish anything proposed by those who were in authority. 200. This means approximately a decrease of 75 per Jewish population threefold. The new while they themselves only observe it weekly, Di Yiddishe Presse, appearing Jewish immigrants have in addition to When wheatless, meatless and lightless days were ac- cent, in but a generation after the large immigration in- with holes, on the gulf links. Golf in Antwerp, and there is the fortnight- the diamond trade in Antwerp and is not bad except as played by some cepted as a matter of course, who would be so unpa- ly Zionist paper, llatikvah published leather trade in Brussels taken up flux stopped. people, but to spell God G-o-l-f is in French. triotic as to oppose the reduction of alcohol which branches of industry. They have poor orthoepy, questionable Ameri- In the light of this dissolution of German in'a gen- other Because of the severity of the nat- formed Jewish communities in the coal meant a saving of cereals. The prohibition fanatics saw eration, who will really have the temerity to say that a canism and dangerous Judaism.—The uralization law, there are only very of Limburg, Charleroi and in Supplement. few Jewish civil servants in Belgium. their opportunity and succeeded in passing a law so different fate awaits Yiddish. Surely the fact that there districts the industrial district of Liege where It has however a number of Jews oc- stringent that its enforcement has become at once the is a German land with a definite culture and recognized the Jews are employed as workers. cupying very hign positions in the There are nut yet any statistics CHRISTIAN HUMILITY farce and tragedy of American life. Once committed state. The Minister of Justice, for language which needs no apologies, makes the case for available to show the number of Jews instance, who by the way, also controls to the drastic action and crystallized in a constitutional This is chiefly because The attitude of some Christians to German as good as that of Yiddish, and yet the lack of in Belgium. the immigration into the country, is e do antoi keep records of amendment, the proponents of the dry regime refuse to the Jews reminds me of the two church a Jew—the famous statesman, M. new Germans has had this effect upon the language. the aliens. Th e members of whom I have heard who deviate from their course one iota. Their theory is no Paul Hymans. Another Jew holding number of Jews in Belgium is estimat- It is true that Germans stopped coming here from choice a hot dispute in a religious con- receding, no whittling, no modification with the result and Jews speaking Yiddish are excluded, but the result t'd to be somewhere about 100.000. a high position in the state is the Bel- had troversy when one of them hosing his gian representative in the Internation- Antwerp has about 50,000 Jews, Brus- that no question bulks larger today in political America patience said to the other who want- al Labor (office at Geneva, M. Gots- must inevitably be the same if they do not come here. sets, 75,000, and the remainder are in ed to know who he was; "Who I am? chalk ; there is also General Bernheim, than prohibition. In the recent senatorial and guberna- the provinces. In Antwerp the whole To those born in America, Yiddish must of necessity I am a humble Christian, you damned a few deputies and senators and a torial elections all sorts of claims were made by the become an acquired language, spoken not every day Jew ish tpoMe at toon . is cir°cunndtrtheedra :11 large number of University profes- old heathen!" It is the same Chris- wets and drys, but despite all claims it is apparent that tian humility that obtains in aup- sors. but only when occasion requires. It-Ls safe to predict way prta i ' )ion and ° the diamond ex: posed followers of Jesus who damn In recent years, the number of Jews the whole electorate is tremendously agitated by the various Jewish social Of the Jewish brethren.—The Supple- that the same fate awaits Italian, Russian and Polish in Fhange.. gerei tyl s in the Belgian army has been steadily his t t ir 1 7. itze ment. question. increasing. They are treated very well America if the restrictive immigration laws continue. and a new type of Belgian Jew is being Another piece of legislation put over in a fashion The folk language of all these people will be English, which is the split up into 17 different de: A loyal Belgian citizen and far transcending anything hoped for by the restriction- notwithstanding their affection for the Yiddish, Italian, partments consisting of all branches evolved. )3 That is not life, that's only a car- at the same time a faithful Jew and a of charitable activity, there is also in nival. ists is the discriminatory immigration laws which favor loyal member of the Jewish people. Ma- Jewish Sports Club, a Antwerp Russian or Polish. so-called Nordics. II-E VETROITJEWISII &RON 1CLE Tifl ONLY AW1.14 fin ki 111111•7 .0 41.111.•M Truth About the Jews of Russia of 144VAVAMMIA-44,14.