ETROtT EIVISROft0IIICLE ftlouttlytuiyi II EDETROVEWISH aIRON 'CUE Published Weekly by The Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc. JOSEPH J. CUMMINS JACOB H. SCHAKNE S y President and Treasurer Entered as Second-class matter Mare h 3. 1918. at the Postoffice at Detroit, Mich., under the At of March 8. I Oil General Offices and Publication Building 525 Woodward Avenue Telephone: Cadillac 1040 tondos Office: Cable Address: Chronicle 14 Stratford Place, London, W. 1, Eaalaud. $3.00 Per Year Subscription, in Advance To ffisure publication, all correspondence and new. matter mu.t reach this Alms by Tuesday evening of each week. When mailing notices, kindly use one side of the paper only. The Detroit Jewish Chronicle Invites correspondence on subject. of Interest to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorsement of the views eenre..ed by the writers. 9111 December 23, 1927 Kislex 29, 5688 ~Y~s~~ Welcome, Chautauqua. The Reform Jewry Of Detroit will be host next week to the thirty-ninth annual assembly of the Jewish Chautauqua Society. An immensely interesting pro- gram of scholarly papers and discussions, interspersed with feasting and entertainment is in store for the del- egates and all those who are planning to attend the sessions and social events of the assembly. As Dr. Leo M. Franklin points out in his statement published in this issue of the Chronicle: "The Jewish Chautauqua Society, has through the almost two-score years of its existence, been a very potent factor in the spread of Jewish education. Not only through its summer sessions, which have been a great stimulus to the teachers hi the religious schools throughout the land, has it functioned. It has done very telling work in sending speakers to many of the larger universities of this country, thus bringing the message of the Jew and Judaism to thousands of young men and women of all faiths. It has published a num- ber of text books through which the home study of the Bible and other subjects having to do with Jewish cul- ture, has been made possible. It has carried the mess- age of the Jew into villages and hamlets all over the country. Indeed there are few organizations that have 80 much to their credit as has the Jewish Chautauqua Society. It should be generously and willingly support- ed both in a material and moral sense." The rabbis and laymen who are coming here for the assembly are leaders in the field of Jewish educa- tion. What they will have to say is the fruit of many years of experience in that field. Their opinions should be of the utmost interest to all those who have the task of Jewish education at heart and the practical sug- gestions they will make should receive the careful con- sideration of all those who, in our own community, are entrusted with the work of Jewish education. But, if the delegates are bringing much in knowl- edge and experience to Detroit, they will also find much in Detroit by way of compensation. In the Beth El Col- lege of Jewish Studies and in the Temple's School of Religion they will find model institutions of their kind. The work that has been accomplished in these schools by Dr. Leo M. Franklin and Rabbi Leon Fram during a comparatively short time has won recognition all over the country. Many of the methods employed here will be a revelation to those delegates who are not yet fa- miliar with them. These methods will be demonstrated to the delegates. Detroit Jewry is proud of the privilege of wel- coming and entertaining the delegates of the Jewish Chautauqua Society. We hope that their deliberations will redound to the welfare of Jewish education every- where. Self-Determination. Who does not recall that lovely phase, "Self-deter- mination"? Immediately following the Great War, when Woodrow Wilson was at the height of his power both at home and abroad, that phrase had the force of a religious incantation. People thrilled to the sound of it. Whatever Wilson may have meant by the term, we know what it actually came to mean at the peace tables of Europe. The map of Europe was once more re-drawn to resemble a sort of Chinese puzzle. Nation- al boundaries were erased and new boundaries were created. When the eloquence of the inspired peace- makers had died away it soon became apparent that what had actually happened was that the victors had the spoils of battle and the vanquished were reduced to military, political and economic impotence. Among those nations who emerged from the scram- ble with an armful of the loot was Roumania. Her borders were enlarged and her influence in Eastern Europe greatly augmented. For her at least, self de- termination meant something very desirable. Now along with self-determination went another new idea in European politics-minority rights. This idea embodied the startling principle that minority groups possess certain human rights which even the sovereign states must recognize. A minority rights clause was included in the peace treaties and several of the newly self-determined nations ratified those treaties, minority rights and all. One of the signatories to those treaties was Rou- mania. With all the pomp and ceremony of a sover- eign, self-determined state, Roumania pledged herself to respect the rights of her minority groups. Since that day at least one Roumanian minority has been consist- ently discriminated against. So far as the minority rights provisions in the treaties are concerned the lot of the Jew in Roumania has not been altered for the better one single iota. If anything, these rights have been curtailed. It has been one long fight for the Jews of Roumania to gain even the most elementary rights as human beings. They have been subjected to pogroms and insults. Their economic position has been repeat- edly threatened by official and unofficial meddling and even downright persecution. They have been made the victims of prejudice in the schools of the country where the obnoxious numerus clausus has been enforced against them. Jewish students have been assailed by armed mobs of students and many have been injured. Such are the fruits of self-determination in Rouman- ia. Apparently the League of Nations finds itself just i this instance as in the case of Poland and as helpless in Lithuania. As for the newly created Minority Rights Council at the Hague, we hear nothing from that body. Our own government has been appealed to in vain. ;NMI:Mir „ iytzeiymyemiyitmv mtaztyokuiyixtUgu=tgautlaubtivi vyravutk,,4f President Coolidge has been too occupied with the re- duction of taxation and other pressing matters of state to pay any heed to requests that he exert some of his vast influence on behalf of this oppressed minority. To all appearances it is a hopeless situation. From New York City comes news that Hungarian Jews have met in mass-meeting and dispatched resolu- tions of protest to the Roumanian representative in Washington. It appears that the immediate cause of this meeting was the Roumanian government's an- nouncement t hat the situation was beyond its control and that certain reforms which it had contemplated could not be put into effect. This is the last straw. When any nation openly admits before the whole world that it is powerless to enforce justice and order within its own boundaries it is customary for other nations to step in and do something about it. Those Dark Ages. Dr. Julian Morgenstern, speaking on Reform Juda- ism before the Detroit Jewish Open Forum last Sun- day, presented a sketchy outline of the history of the Jews of western Europe. Speaking of the establish- ment of the ghetto in Venice in the early sixteenth cen- tury, Dr. Morgenstern made the assertion that from that time until the nineteenth century a period of about 300 years, the Jews of western Europe passed through a long spiritual and intellectual sleep from which they were finally awakened by the intellectuals of Germany and the Reform movement. Dr. Morgenstern is a scholar of high repute in his special field-Semitic languages and Palestinian (as well as other near-East) antiquities. He may also be presumed to possess a limited, but none the less sub- stantial, acquaintance with history and literature, al- though he has not devoted himself to these departments in any very great degree. At any rate, it happens that when Dr. Morgenstern told his hearers last Sunday that the three hundred years from the sixteenth to the nine- teenth centuries were, so to speak, the dark ages of Western European Jewry, he did not exercise that scientific caution which characterizes his utterances in other fields of Jewish scholarship. It is true, as Dr. Morgenstern pointed out, that the oppressions to which western Jewry was subjected fol- lowing the Inquisition in Spain brought the flourishing intellectual and spiritual life of the period to a stand- still, But, it is necessary to qualify that general state- ment by quite a good deal. For example, it was not alto- gether true of Italy. In that country, which like Hol- land, was a place of refuge for the Jews of Spain, the sixteenth century saw considerable scholarly activity, especially in printing and publication of the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds and other literature. It was in Italy and in the sixteenth century that Joseph ha-Cohen lived as a physician of universal repute in Genoa and translator of Spanish works, notably a work on America (then known as India) and an account of the conquest of Mexico. It was also the period in which lived and worked Simhah Luzzatto famous as the friend of rea- son and, by the same token, the foe of mysticism. It was not until the seventeenth century that Italian Jew- ry struck the shoals of intellectual decay, relieved only slightly in the eighteenth century by the emergence of Moses Hayim Luzzatto, the poet-mystic. Nor should we forget that it was in the seventeenth century that Baruch Spinoza lived, in Holland. In Prague there was David Gans, the mathematician and friend of Keppler and Tycho Brahe and also the famous Rabbi Judah Leow, both in the sixteenth century. Of course one or two scholars here and there do not make an intellectual era and, to a great extent, the assertion of Dr. Morgenstern is quite true-that is, about western European Jewry. But how about east- ern European Jewry during the same period? If Dr.Morgenstern had gone on to complete the pic- ture of European Jewry in the three hundred years be- tween the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries he would have left his hearers with a much more accurate conception of this period of our history. He would have told, for example, of the vigorous intellectual and spir- itual life of Poland during the sixteenth century, of the building of great yeshivahs, of the printing of the Tal- mud at Lublin and Cracow, of Solomon Luria, a great scholar, free from the theological hair-splitting of the time, a reformer in the truest sense of the word and a liberal in thought. Ile would have told of Moses Is- series the philosopher whose thought laid the basis, in large measure, for the religious re-awakening of Ger- many two centuries later; of Mordecai Jaffe and many other scholars in a period rich with scholars both sec- ular and religious. He would have given his hearers some idea of the intellectual activity that centered around the yearly Councils of the Three Lands (Poland, Lithuania and Polish Russia) in Lublin, and the work of Rabbi Meir of that city. And what of Elijah, Gaon of Vilna in the eighteenth century? We would also ask if the codification of the Schulchan Aruk by Joseph Caro in the Palestine of the sixtenth century is not worth at least casual mention. We are sure, of course, that these simple facts of history are familiar to Dr. Morgenstern. That he did not see fit to cite them can be explained perhaps on the assumption that, in his eagerness to impress his hearers with the great significance of the reform movement in Germany in the last century, he subdued the back- ground a little. We might add that it is quite charac- teristic of those who wish to propagate a reform of any kind, to paint the background from which that reform emerged in somewhat darker hues than the facts us- ually warrant. What is a Renaissance without a Dark Age to precede it? Another thought that occurs to us in this connection is the tendency on the part of Reform Jews-teachers and preachers alike-to ignore, or at least to minimize, the achievements of eastern European Jewry-even during the brilliant decades of the last half century. This tendency, be it said, is not as marked at the pres- ent time as it was ten or more years ago, due very large- ly, to the influx of eastern European Jews (with their knowledge of Yiddish) into the Reform rabbinate. But the false impression still obtains among the Reform lay- ity to a great extent. Dr. Morgenstern, we think, should have been particularly careful to make the facts clear. By telling only half of the story he has only helped to perpetuate a myth. ----- 451AS. oi.f.94T5 Lawrence Lipton, Conductor JOSEPH =- It is fortunate for Queen Marie of Roumania that she is not on a visit to this country just at this time. Even her charming smile would not be sufficient to make Amer- icans forget the uncivilized riots that are now taking place in Darkest Roumania. If my memory serves me well, when the Queen was here she took occasion to say that the King and Queen used the Jews of their country. And that the Jews were most kindly treated. A member of the Roumanian party here with the Queen told me that these outbreaks against the Jews were to be compared to minor uprisings in this country when the hoodlum element got beyond control. But the tinalogy does not seem to hold good in pres- ence of the reports coming through now from Roumania. We find police and military standing by watching rioting and assaults without making much effort to stop them. It looks very much as if a platoon of New York policemen could clean up the entire situation. If the Roumanian government says that it is powerless to stop these riots, then it confesses that its policemen and soldiers are made of straw. I don't believe that, but I to believe that in the Roumanian government there are officials who encourage these outbreaks among students. Some kind friend of the Queen's should whisper in her ear that before she starts again on a tour of any country she had better clean up her house a bit. Or she is likely to be met with some very embarrassing questions and some stinging criticisms that may take all the sweetness out of her smiles. In the meantime one wonders when Roumanian students study. They seem to spend all their tinie in gesticulating, deliver- ing speeches and attacking the Jews. The government possibly could have the money wasted on higher education. I have just heard indirectly from "Izzy" Zarakov, the famous ex-Harvard athlete, that he's going to have a camp for Jewish boys in Maine. Well, he surely is enough of a magnet to attract an army of young hero-worshippers of this nation. Zarakov was captain of Harvard baseball team and if the readers of sporting events recall, he won the game for Harvard in the final with Yale, when, with two men out, and the score a tie, he knocked a home run in the ninth inning. Sounds like a real Horatio Alger story. lie was also a member of the Harvard football team. One thing that always commended this young man to me was that during his college career he remained a Jew. His head wasn't turned by the honors that were heaped upon hint and he received more than any other Jewish boy in a generation. Ile even made the famous Dickie fraternity. Ile was also a member of the Jewish fraternity Zet Beta Tau. Iszy Zarakov has the right stuff in hint to make him an ideal leader of boys, from a moral, mental and physical standpoint. I was very much interested in reading the Rev. Joseph Fort Newton's review of Rabbi Ahha Silver's new book. "Messianic Speculations in Israel," which appears in the January McCall's. To begin with, Dr. Newton is one of the foremost Christian ministers in this country and one who is recognized for his liberal views. Dr. Newton pays a deservedly high tribute to Dr. Silver as "one of the most brilliant of the younger Jewish preachers in Amer- ica." To my mind he is not only one of the most brilliant of the "younger" Jewish preachers, but of all. Dr. Newton selects this statement from Dr. Silver's book, that is very well worth many moments of thought by even those who hurriedly read this column: "As we grow older," says Rabbi Silver, "two dangers confront us. The first is that with the gath- ering of years, our habits accumulate and begin to burden us. We halt. The past masters us. The second danger lies in disressardinsr our past, in let- ting the years depart without exacting a blessing from them both. Both are dangers of dire import as we see in pathology in which these perils become maladies. One man is monopolized by memory, an- other has lost his memory entirely. Theodor Fritsch, the German anti-Semitic leader, who was Henry Ford's messenger boy in distributing the book, "International Jew," was sentenced to serve three days' imprisonment as a result of accusations made against him by the Central Union of German Citizens of Jew,sh Faith. Mr. Fritsch was asked by Mr. Ford to discontinue the dis- tribution of the book and Mr. Fritsch said that he would "under certain conditions." Surely the noble-minded Jew- baiter isn't thinking of money! A reader in Philadelphia sends me a letter he received from the Salvation Squad to Rescue the Souls of Jews from Hell. That's not the exact name, but in substance that's what Charles Wiesenberg means when he seeks to bring his "Dear Hebrew Friend" to Christianity. Mr. Wiesenberg is greatly troubled about the Jews. Ile sees the whole structure of Judaism toppling with the Jews buried underneath. So he wants them to come to Jesus. That's the only hope. Unfortunately. up to date, we have had no positive evidence that costing to Jesus really spells salvation. And judging by the attitude of most Christians toward life, they seem to have their doubts too. The other day I mentioned to a Christian minister my belief that if a man tried to live a Christian life he would probably be jailed for being a dangerous crank. In the meantime we shall have to bear patiently with misguided fanatics like brother Wiesenberg. And while he is waiting for the Jews to come to Jesus, he might employ his time to con- vert the Gentiles to Christianity. Chanukah in this country is getting such severe com- petition from an ever increasing commercialization of Christmas that it's a wonder that it has been able to re- tain its vitality. But despite the nation-wide Christmas orgy that holds the interest of Jew as well as Christian, the Festival of Lights, commemorating the Maccabean heroism, is still able to get considerable attention in Jew- ish homes. - - If I were asked to name the future lay-leader of American Jewry I would unhesitatingly select Roger W. Straus, president of the National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods. Ile is the son of the late Oscar Straus and son-in-law of Daniel Guggenheim. I give this family in- formation advisedly because I regret to say that most of our young men so well circumstanced financially and so- cially are not to be found interesting themselves in the religious life of Jewry. They are affiliated with the phi- lanthropic activities, but after all is said and done, unless we nourish our spiritual heritage the rest means very little Jewishly speaking. Mr. Straus is an exceedingly modest young man who is not much of an advertiser, but his influence is far more reaching in a constructive way than those whose names are constantly being spotlighted in the daily and Jewish press. It seems that the Jewish Tribune has made a national canvass to discover which Jew, by reason of his services to American life has done most to deserve a statue and the late Oscar Straus has been chosen. There is no one who deserves this more than the distinguished statesman mentioned. The late Oscar Straus was held in high es- teem by several Presidents because of his character and ability. Ile was the first Jew to be a member of a Presi- dent's cabinet. In every situation, national and interna- tional, in which he was asked to serve by his government he acquitted himself in a most distinguished manner. I trust that I may he forgiven if I register amusement at the attitude assumed by the New York Jewish news- papers in relation to national Jewish life. They seem to think that if they select the hundred most notable Jews that the matter has been definitely settled. If they choose the ten greatest Jews there is no appeal from their de- cision. Even in the matter of the Tribune making • na- tional canvass, it is taking a lot for granted. It is typi- cally New York to feel its own pulse and if its own pulse is right then the pulse of the nation must he right. Not only the press but the leaders of New York Jewry always look upon every community outside of New York as a tail to their kite. That must be what our friend Freud calls the "superiority complex." The East politi- cally speaking is beginning to understand that there is a West_ Some of these days our New York friends will wake up and discover that there are newspapers and leaders outside as powerful and in some instances more powerful than those to be found on the island of Man- hattan. The Merry-Go-Round Dusk and snow have always been favorite themes with poets. In the following poem De Witt ac- complishes a very deft fancy in four lines. GHETTO-SNOW Because I hate the roofs that blot the skies, Because alone I cannot tear them down; Because I cannot hide them from my eyes, I wait for snow to fall upon the town. • • • Eminent Jews. Anti-Semitic Jews. ' "Broad-minded" people who re- sent discrimination against them- selves and their own people but think all other peoples should be "kept in their place." Social visits that consist of 30 minutes of conversation about "business conditions" (for the ton I, the same 130 minutes of try. ing on one another's hats and dis- cussing the latest bargains (for the women) and then to bridge, bunco or what have you-"a good time was had by all"-maybe! . • • The Whole Art of Publicity. While we're erecting monu- ments to eminent American Jews, let us not forget- The humble storekeeper who has made his contribution (and not a small one either) to the charities every year for many years and yet has never sought chairmanships or testimonials. - The lady of the women's auxil- iary who has wrapped up 957,1182 sandwiches, baked 67,549 pies, given away 27 carloads of old clothes (not so very old) and sewed 51,753 dresses and things for the poor, yet has never seen her picture in the paper. Also the Jew who is content to be just a Jew without being "proud of it" into the bargain. • • • Miseries of Human Life. Picking up a cinder in your shoe; then walking bravely in the hope that it will soon relieve you by pul- verizing-Which, God knows, it nev- er does. Another item that could well he included among the Miseries is the publicity story submitted by the "chairman of the publicity commit- tee" when said story contains a long glowing account of the "won. derful work we are doine-BUT fails to supply such superfluous in- formation as the name of the so- ciety and the place and time of the meeting. Also other publicity stns. ies that contain a great many names-all of them mis-spelled. If I may be permitted to turn the Merry-Co-Round into a class in the art of press agentry just once, I would like to suggest that a good publicity story should contain at least tilt SC things-the name of the society, a short account of the meet- ing, an announcement of the next event, the name of the person or persons in charge of the arrange- ments (correctly spelled) and the date and place of the next meeting. And it should be brief, for brevity is not only the soul of wit; it is also the editor's delight. re; 'ASK THE RABBI A Sheaf of Sheilas By RABBI LEON FRAM, Director of Religious Education, Temple Beth El. 1. What is the "Awakening Magyars?" 2. What was the "Black Hun- dred?" 3. What is the numerus clausus? 4. Who has brought the nu- merns clausus before the League of Nations? 6. What American university recently contemplated introducing the numerus clausus? 6. What was the chief study In Harvard University at the time of its founding? 7. What is the Ica? 8. What is the Pica? 9. What is the Ort? 10. What is the Hies? 11. What is the J. D. C.? 12. What is the U. P. A.? 13. What Jews are there on the chief governing body of Soviet Russia? 14. Does Soviet Russia prohibit religious worship? 15. What great Jewish relief organization is receiving co-opera. tion from the Soviet government? 16. Who is Mordecai Kaplan? 17. Who is Solomon Goldman? 18. What is the original mean- ing of the word Iladassah? 19. What great character in the Bible bore the name Hadassah? 20. What is the Hadassah So- ciety? (Answers on last page.) Tells Story of Penny Luncheons In the Schools of Eretz Israel By EYE-WITNESS The day following the opening of the school luncheons at the Lemmel school in Jerusalem was a very busy and active one. The four girls in charge of the kitchen, who were neatly dressed in white cooking aprons and caps, were very anx- ious that the meal they were pre- paring should even exceed the ex- pectations of their cooking instruc- tor, and of the girls who would partake of it. The average Palestinian kitchen is a dismal affair. It is difficult for the housewife to keep it neat and clean, for the "primus," the oil cooking stove that is used, is very smoky. The kitchen at the school, however, presented a delightful contrast. It was spotlessly clean. The center zinc covered table on which the girls had prepared their vege- tables and fruits in the morning, was washed and ready for serving during the meal. The huge pots that held the day's rations were on stand under which there were three and four-burner primuses. These primuses were of polished brass and shown brightly. A little girl was stirring the vegetable pot. The savor and odor that filled the room when she lifted the large cover, really induced my appetite. I glanced toward the window and noticed that I wasn't the only one A little freckle faced, red-headed girl, pressed her nose hard against the window screen in an effort to "get a look" to see what the day's menu would be. It was but half an hour before mealtime. Everything was pre- pared. Because of the efficient man- ner i n which the work was ar- ranged, there was no delay what- soever, and the children would he served at the precise moment that they were scheduled to enter. Two of the girls had accom- panied the cooking instructress on her marketing trip early in the morning. They are taught, she told me, to take best advantage of the vegetables in season, and how to select them. The girls in the three highest grades are given the cooking courses. The younger of these are taught only "what" foods should he used for body growing strong. The older ones are:taught how to prepare a balanced meal that should contain the proper food elements. Three-course luncheons are served. Soup, a vegetable dish, and fruit. Today the soup con- tained beans, kusa (vegetable mar- row), carrots, onions, barley and dumplings made of flour and the white of eggs; a vegetable stew of tomatoes and egg plant; and a fruit dish of tapioca, apples and apri- cots. I was informed that the four girls working in the kitchen were only half of the group in charge of the luncheon for the day. The other fcur were busily engaged proper- ire the dining room; setting the tables. and so on. Before leaving 5555 w5 ew5e55 .0 the kitchen, I glanced at the cup- boards. One contained the pots and kitchen utensils. Those that had been used in the morning in the process of the preparation of the meal were already washed and hung neatly in their customary places in the cupboard. All was immaculately clean. There was an- other cupboard in the other corner of the room that was fitted after the fashion of the American Hoover chests. Here I was surprised to see that the tins or "pachs" in which illuminating oil is sold were put to use that I had not seen be- fore. They had been cut shorter, covers had been prepared for them, and they were being used as con- tainers for all kinds of cereals, bar- ley, beans, rice, etc. They were neatly marked less Hebrew as to their contents. I entered the dining room. The long oilcloth covered tables were set. The plates, cutlery, napkins were arranged properly. The bread (only whole wheat bread is used) was placed on white bread trays and covered with paper napkins. The girls explained to me that there are not any flies, since the windows are screened, which is a rare thing in Palestine, but the bread is covered in order to pro- tect it from dust. The hell rang. I knew it was time for the children to come in to cat, and I stepped aside to where I could see them all as they entered. They came in in a very orderly fashion. Their hands had already been washed, so they took Owl - places immediately. There were blond-haired and blue-eyed little girls; brunettes, and a number of Sephardic and Yemenite children. I wondered how difficult it was for these little girls to learn to eat properly with their table cutlery. Our American children are ReCtl , - toryud it to it from childhood, but some of these youngsters who have never seen forks and knives used must think it quite strange. The cooking instructor invited me to taste the food. I tasted the soup that had been prepared of carrots, potatoes, onions, milk, parsley and egg dumplings. Truly it was just as delicious as it looked. The girls of the cooking class in the Old City are younger than the others, since the school goes up only- to the sixth grade. Because of that I was surprised that things turned out so beautifully, and told the in- structor so. "It doesn't matter a bit that they are younger. They are very reliable, and eager and quick to learn. They wash their hands and nails meticulously with a brush as soon as they come in and would not begin working until 1 say they are clean enough. Before going to classes, they repeat the process." "What do you do with the food that is left?" I asked. "We never have any left," was the answer. ""9'9,-% gc40.104WFAI .1) ,