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April 11, 1930 - Image 13

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish Chronicle, 1930-04-11

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

America ,fewish Pedalled Colter

CUPTON ATINU1 • CINCINNATI 30, OHIO

I- FEbETROIT LWISH HRONIGL E

-

e3logotto1aonourr
to Ettergoite

the eTaBon

of

THE ONLY ANGLO-JEWISH NEWSPAPER PRINTED IN MICHIGAN
DETROIT, MICHIGAN, FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 1930

MATZOTH

PROJECT WORK IN NEW YORK SCHOOLS

Cowboy Chalutz

A Passover Story

A Reminiscence
of '21 in
Frets Israel.

By JULIAN L AVI-SIGLA

By NINA KAYE

9

Seated at his table, alone be- Jewish family had settled in Wil- how much we need for the fantil}.
cause dinner was at six and his ton. They, beginning with a mod- Eight days, we cut matzoth, you
daughter Genevieve had not yet est store, such a one as he had es. know. I'm sorry, Mr. Mills."
John Mills rose dizzily from the
comae in from a drive, John Mills, tablished in the early days, did not
leading citizen of Wilton. raised attract attention. A large family, chair. "Yes, Mr. Sussman. I
they
kept
to
themselves,
gretting
quite
understand." Ile made fur
his hand to stay the maid as she
moved noiselessly about drawing their fellow townsmen with friend- the door.
ly
enough
smiles,
albeit
tinged
with
the curtains. lie dreaded to shut
Slowly he dragged his feet
himself in the tremendous, solemn reservation and a proud aloofness. down the path and in at his gate.
Icnee to which he had not yet
And now, just after the death On the porch he sank into a chair
roma accustomed, missing the of his wife, the only one who knew and shielded his eyes. As he sat
,,,ice of his wife, sharp, incisive in he was a Jew, the Sussmans had there an old story came to him, a
her lifetime, already in one short chosen his window before which story he must have heard his father
month rounded into mellow notes to make their Passover prepara- tell.
tions. With an angry gesture, he
by memory.
There was a Jew, a s•hnorrer.
The curtains stood apart and swept the roll from the table. No, Tinto came fur the Passover pre-
his eyes, as if to escape the fast- he would nut eat bread! He had parations. And that meant the
ness of the lonely room, wandered not wholly forgotten he was a making of matzoth. The rich
across the lawn, blue in the spring Jew. At least to himself he was man's matzoth was baked, the
lush. A square patch of light still a Jew.
poor man's. Everyone's but
from the window of his new neigh-
John Mills sprang from the Schmeul, the schnorrer. Each day
bors, the Sussmans. Getting on table. hatless, the sharp air of us Passover drew nearer, Schmeul's
the Sussmans, even as he had got- the spring evening pinging against wife bes(oeched hint: "Schmeul,
ten on. This thought he put away his temples, he hurried clown the we will have no matzoth. Schmeul,
from him with an impatient shrug. flagstone path to his gate and up where is the flour to bake mat-
Boldly, with eyes, he entered the steps of the Sussman porch. zoth?" And Schmeul did not an-
the Sussman dining room, seeking Ile rang the bell and Aaron Suss- swer. Instead, he brought home
a vicarious companionship. Stout man himself came to the door. a jug of wine, a pot of goose
Mrs. Sussman bustled shout, try- Embarrassment was written on his grease, chickens. And his wife,
ing to bear with dignity the man- face as he showed John Mills into who should have welcomed such
tle of success. Her daughter, about the living room and sat down, ten- food for the Passover, complained I
Genevieve's age, laid out the silver tatively on a chair. The air was only, "But we will have no mat.
on the gleaming white cloth. On heavy with the odor of food. zoth!"
the corner of the buffet which he Through the door he could hear
It was the night of the first
could see, three candles flickered, the whispered command of Mrs. Seder. And in Schnteul's house
repeated themselves in a mirror Sussman and her daughter's and there was no matzoth! His wife
and threw elongated shadows on sons' hushed tones. Aaron Suss- and children wailed and moaned,
the wall. Pulling. Mrs. Sussman man turned to his guest.
but Schmeul was unmoved. At
brought pillows and patted them
"It's good of you, Mr. Mills. to last he donned his coat and pre-
into the chairs.
call on us, your neighbors, so pared to go out.
With a start he withdrew his soon."
"Where are you going?" his I
eyes, Ile, John Mills. did not be-
"I do owe you a call," John wife demanded.
long in that room where they were Mills nodded. I used to leave all
"To get matzoth," he replied.
preparing for the Passover. Ile that to—"
"I will step outside and shout,
turned to his own table, where
"Yes, of course, we know of 'People, it is Passover and we
the maid had set toasted rolls with your loss. A fine woman, Mrs.
have no matzoth!' There will not
his consomme. Ile reached for a Mills. She did a lot of charity be one who will not come running,
roll, broke it, but did not convey it
the factory workers."
with
bringing us matzoth. If I would
to his lips. A great longing
John Mills let the statement go should, 'People, I have no wMe'
surged through him. a yearning for without comment.
Ile had not or 'I have no chickens,' no one
his own people. For, though no come for this. "You're having a
living person but himself knew, holiday tonight, aren't you. Mr. would come. But who would
leave a Jew without matzoth on
John Mills was a Jew.
Sussman?" he asked, affecting a the Passover?"
Coming to Wilton in the days casualness which belied the beat-
John Mills brushed his hand
when three stores huddled to. ing desire in his breast.
across his eves. Had he been
gether at a crossroads formed the
eagerly. dreaming? But who would leave
answered
Sussman
nucleus of what was to become a "Yes, yes, it is the Psssover
a Jew without matzoth on the
thriving cotton center, Jacob Me}'- we are iust about ready for the Passover. What did he care for
ors, fearing the cold glances and Seder. You know what the Seder his wealth, his position in the com-
tight lips of the farmers, had said is, Mr. Mills? Even here, where munity. He would be the next
his name was .John Mills. Estab- we are the only Jews, wee ould not mayor, sonic had said. Nothing
lished as the country's leading mer- he without our Seder and our mattered now. He was a Jew,
chant and owner of vast cotton matzoth. Every year I order it without matzoth.
fields, he had taken a trip and sent from New York."
Quickly, he retraced his steps
brought back a wife. Ilelen Mills
"Yes, the matzoth. I know. I and once more stood before. the
was a shrewd woman. John's sug- don't want to keep you from your Sussmans' door. When Aaron
ofodion that now he publicly with- Seder. I just ran over to ask if Sussman again answered his ring,
draw his lie met with scoffs from you could let me have some of he said simply, "Mr. Sussman, I am
tc r. Did he propose with one your matzoth? I like it." He a Jew'. Will you It me go without
stroke to destroy the prestige he could not believe he could put the matzoth?"
had attained by so many years of question so calmly, while within
A look of surprise followed by
labor? Ile was ridiculous. She him the imperative need cried out. understanding spread over Aaron
wouldn't hear of such a thing. Hav-
The embarrassment on Suss- Sussman's face. With a com-
ing learned that for him success man's face deepened. Ile cleared radely gesture he reached up and
lay along the road of least resist- his throat, sat forward on his chair, took John Mills' arm. "Mama."
ance, he agreed. Jacob Meyers settled back again, "I would like lie shouted, "another chair. We
was John Mills to everyone, even to, Mr. Mills, but I can't. You will have a guest at the Seder to-
to himself, for 20 years.
see, we are so far from New York night!"
(coeyrisht, 1530. J. T. A I
Until the Sussmans came, no and each year I order only just

home--a
Ile Win: an anomaly, perhaps, Palestine experiment. "There is that he had built: it wee a
entity which had
but certainly not in misfit. 'Ile had nut enough land in Palestine," he living, pulsating
its
own,
because
he had
a
soul
of
come to Palestine from the cow said, "to swing a g ood-sized

country of East Montana, and he
wanted, very much wanted, to be
back there. His presence in Erotz
Israel was due to a tie--his young
lady, whom he had followed from
the States and whom he had mar-
ried here. She was 100 per cent
Zionist, while his percentage of
Zionism was nil, or at the best, a
little over nil.
Ills name was Boris 0—. I
remember him as clearly now as
though it were yesterday, and yet
over eight years have passed since
we first met, this East Montana
ranches and I. It is futile to
describe hires. 'fall and broadly-
set, of rugged features and open-
air look. His keen, weathered eyes
sparkling over a jutting nose and
a still more jutting chin. Ile had
traveled 5,1 0 )0 miles front to States
to Rumania to see the old folks,
and thence to l'alestine. Physi-
cally he was here; spiritually he
was yearning for the blutis and
bottoms of Montana, and the spa-
ciousness of the prairie.
The year 1921 was the time of
the small Second Aliynh. The Pal-
estinian government had douched
an enthusiastic Zionist world with
its promunciamento against immi-
gration; the Churchill White Toper
hall just been issued. It was, in
truth, a year of despondency for
all of as in Palestine. The noun-
date's ramification, a year later,
had yet to come.
Boris was scornful of the whole

coyote in. We could pocket this
little place in East Montana and
have enough room and space left
over for a couple of hundred fair-
sized alfalfa ranches, Besides
this isn't soil; it's honest-to-good-
ness useless, sandy ruble. Cactus;
yes, I grant you, you can grow
cactus here, and breed camels, and
p'rhaps raise a flock of donkeys,
but all it's good for is to die in.
Conn, to a he-man's country for
work."
The bond of his Zionist wife,
however proved stronger than the'
appeal of old Montana, of Custer
and Rosebud counties. They de-
cided—I still remember the taking
of the decision—to settle. Iledera
was chosen, and here he build their
home.
To many accustomed to the
comforts of civilization, to steam-
heated houses, to the well-built
homesteads of northwestern ranch-
ing life, the little one-room bunga-
low at Ilelera would have seemed
incongruous. But in their eyes,
and in mine, it was second to none.
Boris himself had constructed the
concrete foundation; alone and Un-
aided he had mixed and set the
cement; he had built the walls, of
strong wood, made the window-
frames, and had acted as his own
glazier. The roof had been the
greatest difficulty, and I recall,
with clarity, their jubilation when
the roof was on. This was no lit-
tle, one-roomed wooden bungalow

cz)

Fortune brings you friends;
Where the sages bid us beware
for the sake of (outward appear misfortune is far better as a test of
ances, they mean us to regard even friendship.—The Talmud.
our inner-most chamber as a mar-
ket place—The Talmud.
A judge that takes a bribe be-

comes the slaves of his conscience.
Blessing the farms through all thy Ile
will suffer its persecution to
vast domain.
the end of his days.—The Talmud.

11

oil Passover Message

■■■•■■■■■ 1 11.

(Turn to Page Three).

Passover Greetings

444

These pictures show results of experimentation in the prole t
method of teaching Jewish history in schools supervised by the New
York Committee for School Extension, of the Union of American
Ilebrew congregations. The Nov York committee includes Messrs.
Ilenry M. To•h, chairman; Irving Lehman, vice-chairman; Ludwig
Yogelstein, who is chairman of the executive board of the union,
treasurer; David M. Bressler, Daniel B. Freedman, David E. Goldfarb,
l'hilip J. Goodhart, Frederick L. Guggenheimer, Nathaniel H. Levi,
Adolph Lewisohn, Samuel 51. Newberger, Max L. Schanck, Meier
Steinbrink and Arthur Hays Sulzberger. Rabbi Jacob B. Pollak is
assistant director. The project work is under supervision of Dr. !tarry
L. Comins, who holds a Union fellowship at Teachers' College, Colum-
bia University.

put heart and soul into it.
Boris was never a man to do
things by halves. His cow-sheds
and stables were structures to be
admired. They, too, had been put
up by himself. His small herd of
14 soon grew, by natural increase
and acquisition to 30. His object
was in time, I suppose, to branch
out from dairying to citrus-grow-
ing, though it was a strange field
to a Montana cow-man. He was
proud of his home, proud of his
cow-sheds, proud of his herd. and
proud of his wife; I never knew
hint to be proud of himself, and
that was his beat trait, for cer-
tainly he had every right to feel
conceited.
I shall never forget his modesty
at my exclamations of apprecia-
tion. "Say, this is nothing," he
said, casually and off-handedly,
and quite unaffectedly, "this is
nothing to what some of the boys
can do out in Montana."
"Well," I said fervently, "I
should like a few of those Montana
boys to come help build Palestine."
lie had always a helping hand
for his neighbors. A. nearby
fernier, a Liverpool Jew, who had
come from England a few months
before, came in one night while I
was staying there, to announce a
piece of good news: "I'll want you
to be present at the birth tonight,
Mn, 0. Iler pains are with heir

444

14Zr &oft
' P 'a coo ifteole
Let Us Explain
Our Perfect
isnl a i 444
Protection Policies
444
CD ‘

-"• a .4

C013

CCI

DeWiTT E. CARPENTER

Attractive Commimbions
Offered Live Agent.

CECIL H. CARPENTER

Carpenter Insurance Agency

Randolph 9516-4577

502 Hofman Building

11.1010 ■■■■■■■ 1,7

■■■ •

■■Il ■ I WWI 100 • 1 10 111. ■■ .11. ■■■■ 111.110

Ilropir of limit
a iljappg Ilaogourr

T

HE practice of tolerance and good
will to one another by all racial
groups which make up the great
American people has helped to create
that unity which has built for the pros-
perity and happiness of this nation.

The continuation of this inner amity
and good will guarantees the happiness
of the nation. To this end American
idealism is dedicated.

Rochester Sand
II Brick Co.

Slitppers

Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Two Retail Department Stores

Builders, Payers,
Founders Supplies

Manufactcrers of

Sandlime Brick

STORE HOURS

9 A. M. to 5 P. M.

Saturdays, 9:30 A. M. to 9 P. M.

-



West Side Store

East Side Store

Grand River at Oakman Blvd.

Gratiot at Van Dyke Ave.

Telephone Number, Hogarth 3300

Telephone Number, Whittier 0700

Capacity: Fifty Million per Annum

Phone Hogarth 1247

SPECIFY ROCHESTER BRICK—There's a Difference

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