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Sabbath Readings of the Torah.
Pentateuchal portion—Deut. 1:1-3:22.
Prophetical portion--Is. 1:1-27.
Readings of the Torah for Tisha b'Ab, Sunday,
August 3.
Pentateuchal portions—Morning, Deut. 4:25-40;
afternoon, Ex. 32:11-14; 34:1-10.
l'rophetical portions — Morning, Jer. 8:13-9:23;
afternoon, Is. 55:6-511:8.

August 1, 1930

Ab 7, 5690

"Hefker I"

There is a very pungent Hebrew word,
hardly translatable in English, which de-
scribes a peculiar situation in the American
Jewish community. It is the term "lief-
ker," which may best be explained as irre-
sponsibility, and which we choose to apply
to the liberties that are being taken by some
Jews to exaggerate in the name of all Jews.
A Warsaw rabbi t'isited Detroit in the
interests of a Yeshivah. Whoever advised
him in seeking publicity evidently was
aware that every adjective in the English
language had already been exhausted by
Jews in introducing to the American com-
munity the flock of "great men" who in-
vaded America in the past years. There-
fore this rabbi was presented to Detroit as
the Chief Rabbi of Warsaw ! The next
great man who comes here will have to be
introduced as God Almighty Himself in or-
der to be assured of a hearing.
To brand such a state of affairs as "Hef-
ker" and irresponsible is to be mild. Be-
cause by exaggerating the standing of
many of the visiting rabbis, meshulochim,
collectors and other professional Jews, we
are not only misrepresented before the non-
Jewish community, but also to ourselves.
For, the non-Jews must begin to wonder,
when they see comparatively midgety
Jews presented as intellectual giants,
whether we really possess anything greater.
And Jews who do not take the trouble to
check up on the truth must be troubled by
doubts and mistrusts when they are ap-
proached for funds by people of exagger-
ated importance.
The word should go out to the Jewish
community to stop exaggerating. Worthy
causes and winning personalities will win
on their own merits, without resorting to
ugly exaggerations which must border on
untruths,

The Ninth of Ab.

On Saturday night and Sunday, 2,516
years after the First Destruction of the
Temple at Jerusalem and 1,860 years after
the Second Destruction, Jews the world
over will once again read the Book of La-
mentations and fast and mourn over Israel's
Exile. Because "the city that was full of
people is become like a widow!" Because
"she that was so great among the nations
weepeth sorely in the night ... for the Lord
bath caused her to grieve because of the
multitude of her transgressions; her babes
are gone into captivity before the adver-
sary; her princes are become like harts that
have found no pasture and flee without
strength before the pursuer."
For a time these lamentations were min-
gled with joy of the redemption, and there
were men and women in Jewry who fav-
ored transforming this (lay of mourning in-
to one of gladness and rejoicing, because
the nations of the world recognized the
rights of a long-suffering people to their
cradle-land. Because these recognitions
have been threatened with the fate of dip-
lomatic scraps of paper, Jews are now in
doubt and are sorrowing as of old over Is-
rael's lot.
But in spite of the doubts and the uncer-
tainties that threaten Zion's hours of re-
demption, the reciting of the Lamentations
of Jeremiah is this year as ever to be con-
cluded with a declaration of faith and with
an undying hope that Israel's apsirations
for a rebuilt Eretz Israel must triumph in
the end. "Cause us to return, 0 Lord, unto
Thee, and we will return; renew our days
as of old," congregations will proclaim.
Because the people has never lost hope, Is-
rael's cause must win. Confidence of ulti-
mate deliverance from exile has helped the
Jew in his struggle for existence.

Are There Too Many Synagogues?

new, large synagogues. We have forgotten
that the Jewish name was not made by
towers and pyramids. We therefore call
upon American Jewish communities to re-
frain from building enterprises for a period
of five years. Let us turn to building Jew-
ish consciousness here and a homeland in
Palestine."

We consider this the most practical mess-
age that has come from all the rabbinical
conferences held during the past month.
We are told by Dr. C. Luther Fry, in his
volume The United States Looks at Its
Churches," which he compiled for the In-
stitute of Social and Religious Research,
that there was a ;100 per cent increase in
the value of synagogue structures in the
period from 1916 to 1926; that the increase
during the period of 190G to 1926 was •00
per cent, and that the actual figures for
synagogue values in the years 1906, 1916
and 1926 were $23,198,925, $31,012,576
and $97,401,688 respectfully.

These figures, however, mean little with-
out the additional explanations made by
I)r. Fry, who points out in his study that
the average synagogue costs $86,000, a fig-
ure larger than the cost of a church of any
other large denomination in the country.
We are also informed by this investigator
that Jewish congregations in urban areas
function at the smallest expenditure per
adult member in American churches, name-
ly $6.52, but expenditure per congregation
is highest, at $12,500 as compared with a
national average of $3,800.

To ignore these figures is to be blind to
a very serious albeit interesting situation.
A study of American Jewish communities
must reveal that there are too many con-
gregations. American Jewry has not as yet
succeeded in removing factional differen-
tiations, with the result that groups coming
from Poland, Russia, Germany and Hun-
gary, Occidental as well as Oriental congre-
gations, build synagogues which are intend-
ed to cater to elements coming from the
same lands. Thus the tendency is not only
to factionalize, but to overbuild and over-
tax, and to expend money that should be
used for educational purposes and for the
reconstruction of impoverished Jewish com-
munities for the building of synagogues
which, for the most part, remain empty
throughout the year, except on a half doz-
en holiday occasions.

The figures quoted above evaluate
synagogue buildings in existence in 1926
at $97,401,688. This is a staggering figure,
and a sad commentary upon the ease with
which American Jews expend large funds
in a largely unnecessary building program.
But this sad situation becomes more heart-
breaking when we take into consideration
the nomadic status of our people in most of
the large communities, causing so-called
sections to change with a swiftness and ra-
pidity which results in tremendous decreas-
es in value of synagogue property, making
for criminal waste in communal buildings.

We agree that there nould be a stop to
the synagogue building program. Let our
synagogues follow the spirit of the age and
merge for the good of the community at
large. Better a few well attended congre-
gations than many empty ones. And let
the funds that have heretofore gone for an
excessive building program be used for ed-
ucational and reconstruction purposes.

Gifts From Non-Jews.

In the recent controversy over the ques-
tion as to whether Jews ought or ought not
to solicit gifts from non-Jews in campaigns
for charitable funds, we expressed the opin-
ion that voluntary gifts from Gentiles
should be accepted, perhaps even encour-
aged. in view of the generosity of Jews to
non-Jewish causes. But we held to the
view that there should be no direct solicita-
tion of funds from Gentiles.

Interesting news of a voluntary non-Jew-
ish gift conies from Belgrade, Serbia. The
Jewish Kehillah of Belgrade was be-
queathed $5,500 in the will of a Christian
who explained his bequest in the following
words:

"I amassed a fortune in business due
to the help rendered me by my Jewish
friends, It is only just and right that the
Jewish community should receive a part of
my wealth,"
This statement is unique in that such ad-
missions are seldom, if ever, heard. Be-
cause it is an exception its liberality is no-
bler; and because the gift was a voluntary
one it belongs to the category of true char-
ity.

Fenner Brockway. Labor member of the
British Parliament, who in the opinion of
Zionists misinterpreted the Arab-Jewish
issue in Palestine in addresses he delivered
while on a visit in this country, was sus-
pended from the House of Commons. This
may be retribution of a new sort.

The cry that there is extravagant ex-
penditure in the building of synagogues has
reached the Rabbinical Association of Rab-
bi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
The association's president, Rabbi Nach-
The Jewish citizens of Borscha, in Ru-
man 11. Ebin, addressing his colleagues at mania, whose homes were put on fire early
the annual convention in New York, urged this month by anti-Semites, were notified to
a five-year economy plan in the construction evacuate the city if they valued their lives.
of synagogues, in the following appeal to An Orthodox priest led a mob
of 300 farm-
American Jewish communities:
ers who entered the village to give this
"Since the financial crash communities warning to the Jews. Thus hate displaceth
have been overtaxed by the building of love under the cloak of priesthood.

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issts‘ sussets=$flsiStsi's intd..4:1,0te

Scanning the
Horizon

Charles II: Joseph

ONE of the most interesting and intelligent dis-
cussions of "Sonte• Social Imprications of the
Machine Age" comes to me in a pamphlet written
by Rabbi Edward L Israel of liar Sinai Temple,
Baltimore. But I am disappointed after rending his
splendid article to find a statement such as this:

By DAVID SCHWARTZ

--)
THE ART OF DIPPING
NOW, that all but toiling colum-
nists are lolling about green mead-
ows and taking their morning dins
in what I believe poets call the
"briny blue," it is interesting to
recall at least one of the many in-
teresting reminiscences by Re-
hecca Kohut dealing with the late
Abraham S. Freidus, for three
years chief of the Jewish division
of the New York Public Library.
A visit to the beach was a source
of immense joy to Freidus, but
even there Freidus had a We \' of
his own. Freidus made it a point
never to stay in for any length of
time, but was continually running
in and out of the ocean. .
His reason was this: "When you
stay in the ocean for any length of
time, it grows stale on you, but
when you run out and in again and
again, you are always getting the
joy of a fresh adventure,"

BOOKS AND BROWN EYES
Freidus amply merited the vol-
to his memory in which some
of the renowned scholars of the
Jewish and general world have
joined in producing.
Perhaps the best chem.—ism.
tins of him was that of Stein-
sc'sneitler. regarded as the fore-
most of bibliographers. "Freidus
was as deep as he was wide."
It could not have been said bet-
ter. Ile had scholarshin -im-
mense quantities of it, therefore
he was deep. And he was wide—
for the physical breadth of the
man was symbolic of that lusty
relish of his for color and the sen-
sory things of life.
Ile was no ascetic. He dearly
loved to eat—as fondly as he loved
to pore over some philosophical
tome of the middle ages.
He had another obsession—he
went mad about brown-eyed girls.
When, several years before his
death, some of the book lovers of
New York planned a dinner for
him, they were puzzled how to get
the guest of honor to come to it.
They quickly solved the problem
by telling hint that there would be
several brown-eyed girls present,
And sure enough Freidus was on
time.
Once he explained his obsession:
"I was in love with a blue-eyed
girl and she failed to reciprocate."
Store than that, he would not say.
After that experience he re-
served all of his affection for the
brown-eyed.

Nevertheless, for all their background of
idealism, the modern Jews, along with other
groups, have shown the taint of the machine
age with its god, "I'rosperity." Just one casual
example. A friend of mine, a rabbi of a
wealthy Reform Jewish congregation was repri-
manded by his board for "too much visiting of
the poor." These newly-rich did not want too
close an identification with their immigrant
brethren. The exclusive economic standards
of our machine age led them to take drastic
action in direct defiance of all the traditions
of Jewish group loyalties.

incident that Dr. Israel recites probably took
T HE place
but it is so exceptional, so isolated, so

unique that it scarcely deserves to be noticed.
Usually, boards do not know what their rabbis are
doing from one minute until the next. The board
guilty of such stupid action as referred to should
have been advertised to a Jewish world and thus
punished by publicity. Of course I understand
quite well that such internal affairs most be
screened from public view and that the rabbi has to
grin and bear it. Though I can easily appreciate
what would happen to such a biters' if there was a
Stephen Wise or a Samuel Goldenson involved.
The splinters would fly. But it seems to me that
to mention this incident is likely to give too many
readers of Dr. Israel's pamphlet a wrong impression
as to the character of our Temple trustees, Usu-
ally they are a bit heavy but, generally speaking,
they are not a bad sort. About the only place I
can think of where one would find such a board as
I)r. Israel describes would be in New York. There
the "Madness of Much Money" makes many a
rabbi's life quite an uncomfortable one.

1101e

MACKAY STORY CONFIRMED
Readers will recall the story re-
lated in this department anent the
father of Clarence Mackay, un-
reconciled father-in-law to Irving
Berlin. The mails bring me a most
. interesting confirmation of the eni-
sode from a member of the family
concerned, Mrs. G. George Fox,
the wife of the well known Chi-
cago rabbi. Writes Mrs. Fox:
"Your story is authentic. Mr.
Mackay and my great uncle. Ike
Heidenheimer, who until his death
was a resident of Galveston,
Texas, were close friends. I re-
member hearing as a very, very
small child the story of Mr. Mac-
kay and Uncle Ike's gold rush
stake.
"An evidence of this friendship is
shown in the fact that Mr. Ileiden-
heimer's youngest son is named
Mackay Heidenheimer. This son is
still alive and resides in Colo-
rado."

LET'S TALK ABOUT SOME-
THING ELSE
In a talk the other day, the well
known New York banker and com-
munal leader deplored to me the
personalities that are so injected
in the organizational life of Ameri-
can Jewry.
"Too much cliques—too many
factions—too much egotism." said
Mr. Ieichtman. It reminds me of
a story they used to tell about a
great Jewish actor who was at the
same time an insufferable egotist.
"One day for three hours steady,
he kept haranguing a group about
his great abilities.
Then he subsided with: "Well,
that's enough talking about my-
self. Let's talk about something
else. How do you like me in my
new play?"

THE RABBI AND HIS WIFE
Rabbi Felix Mendelsohn of Chi-
cago is New Yorking it for a bit,
and he tells me he has Lern at
work for some time on a hook of
Jewish humor. Is already about
half through with it.
We spent several hours with him
and in return for all the •ossip
which he brought—we will tell him
one about a rabbi which has re-
cently come to our ears. I think it
will make a good story for page
183. Or page 184, for that mat-
ter. Really, it doesn't matter
what page—very little matters
anyway. But for the story:
A very idealistic rabbi in one of
the small towns of the west re-
ceived a call, at a much higher
emolument. from a congregation in
the east. He was highly beloved
by his congregation, which was a
poor one financially, and seas not
able to even approach the attrac-
tive salary offered by the eastern
pulpit.
One day one of the membsra of
the congregation asked therabbi's
youngster if his father had come
to any decision.
"Well, I don't know," he said.
"Father is upstairs praying for
guidance and mother is downstairs
packing the trunks."

HECHT TO EDIT PAPER
A new journal of comment is
soon to make its appearance, with
Ben Hecht, author ;4 "The Front
Page," "Erik Dorn," etc., as edi-
tor. Gene Fowler, formerly of the
New York American, will be asso-
ciated with Hecht in its editorship.
It will be called The Bugle. An
I understand it, the purpose is to
do • lot of razzing.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Harold (Jewish Trihunet De-
brest tells one that harks back to

(Turn to Next Patset

Tisha b'Ab, The Yahrzeit of
Every Jew

4.

T

HE Grand Old Treasurer of Wisconsin, "Sol"
I.evitan, is certainly a faithful reader of this
column. I received a letter from him the other
day in which he mentions that he found an old copy
of "Random Thoughts" which appeared on Slay 22,
1925! And he quotes a statement I made at that
time which applies with equal force today. Every-
body wants to be a member of the "white collar"
brigade. A lot of folks with wrong ideas and ideals
would rather be a well-dressed flunkey than an
honest-to-goodness working man. Mr. Levitan re-
minds me of what Elbert Hubbard once said to me:
"The great trouble in this country is that every-
body wants to do white collar work so fellows like
myself has to do the common, hard-working jobs—
dirty work, so to speak."

SO I TOLD the story at that time which bears
repeating. When Sol Levitan first went to Wis-
consin he peddled, and it is all the more to his
credit that today he is one of the outstanding figures
of the state. Ile has been elected state treasurer
two or three times by the largest majorities ever
given to an office holster (running even ahead of the
late "Bob" La Follette), Mr. Levitan said that in
his early life "when I went to a farm house and
received a hospitable invitation to spend the night,
I always paid for the hospitality and gave all the
assistance I could in carrying wood and water, or
helping in the barn with the chores. I slid it gladly.
My word was my bond. I always made it right if
there was any complaint and I always took the
shorter end." Today the word of Sol Levitan con-
tinues to be as good as his bond. But the point I
want to stress is that so many young men are seek-
ing "gentlemanly".careers. The result is that there
aren't enough left to do the hard work! Without a
profession, one is beginning to believe that one is
declasses!! One thing we must agree about Russia
is that it has glorified labor. Over there the white
collar is a badge of the outcast. Maybe when we
squeeze some of the snobbery out of our social sys-
tem everybody will be living on a more normal
basis. Napoleon said that England was a nation of
shop keepers. This country threatens to become a
nation of snobs.

HEBREW in the public schools. What do I think
of it? What do YOU think of it? St. Louis
has already approved of such a course giving credits
on par with Latin. In Pittsburgh the effort is now
being made to introduce the study of Hebrew
merely as an ancient language such as Greek or
Latin. I understand that there is not to be the
slightest suggestion of a religious tieup. In talking
with a professor at n Ilebrew institute I was sur-
prised to learn that there is a real demand for such
a course in the public schools: that is, a demand on
the part of many of the Jewish pupils. Is it to be
encourages'? I confess that I just can't make up
my mind at the moment. Maybe some of my read-
ers have opinions on the subject that may be worth-
while, and they may help me to make up my mind.
I would like to hear from them.

A

JEW writing to the Boston Post attempts to
point out that "In the interest of religious secur-
ity we should fight prohibition." And he continues:
"Did it ever occur to you that to tamper with the
intent of the Eighteenth Amendment will set un a
powerful precedent for tampering with other
amendments to the constitution?" He is worried
that if the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment is
brought about so may the First, the Thirteenth and
the Fourteenth. The Eighteenth interferes with
the personal habits of the individual and therefore
it touches him on the "raw." That's why it is so
unpopular and so contrary to public sentiment. I
cannot agree with him that the endeavor to repeal
the Eighteenth will encourage efforts to repeal oth-
ers. He is worried that the Klan will hire debaters
to cover the south and west and urge repeal of the
First Amendment. No danger because the First
Amendment doesn't guarantee as much as it seems
to. This has been proven by the discrimination
against the Jews over a long period of years by the
various states, when his religion disqualified him
for public office.

other day I had occasion to comment on a
T HE statement
made to me by a reader whose daugh-

ter had attended a Christian serviceand who reported
that the clergyman had spoken harshly of the Jews.
I could not believe such a thing possible and chal-
lenged the statement, feeling that his words must
have been misunderstood or misinterpreted. I am
now in receipt of a letter from the clergyman,
written to his critics, and what he says makes me
stranger than ever in my belief that he has been
unfairly criticized. Ile outlines the sermon he de-
livered and declares most emphatically that neither
directly nor indirectly did he allude in an uncompli-
mentary manner to the Jews. And he closes with
this statement: "Children are not to be taken too
seriously as they try to interpret another's lan-
guage." I want to add that in all my experience I
have never known a Christian clergyman to speak
from his pulpit in an uncomplimentary manner of
the Jews unless he were a Klan clergyman. And
before we make such an accusation we should be
absolutely sure that the clergyman has offended.
--•-ses—ss---

J

EWISII music has an appeal for at least one
Gentile. His name is Harvey Gaul and he is the
musical and dramatic critic of the Pittsburgh Post-
Casette. Mr. Gaul told me the other day that he
will soon be on his way to Palestine, where he in-
tends to spend several months to study the sources
of Jewish music. And to gather all the informa-
tion he can of the Palestinian folkmusic of the
Jew. Mr. Gaul organized and is the director of
the choral society of the Young Men's and Young
Women's Hebrew Associations of Pittsburgh. It is
interesting to know that the choral has already
given before ■ non-Jewish audience a program of
Jewish folksongs and, according to the newspapers,
it was enthusiastically received.

By RABBI LEON SPITZ

Entroirs

NOTE:—For centuries the
Jews have bewailed their hots of inde-
pendence and their national tragedies.
This wail becomes o dirge on Tisha
The W•iling Wall over which • dispute
room between Moslems and Jews is the
scene Of greet mourning on 'Tisha ll'Ah.
The story of 'fish& WAh ie • moving

ever voiced by a poet, the song a
last rises to a note of exultation
inspiring and sublime.
The romance of his death, too, is
linked with the Wall of Tears. His
passing is shrouded in a veil of
mystery. An aged and broken man
he braved the stormy billows of (
the Great Sea to make a pilgrim
age to Zion. Ile trod the streets
of Jerusalem, asce n ded the seven
hill, and lay down at the Wall to
kiss its cold and mossy stones
Thereupon a silo Saracen pierced
his heart with his scimitar. Was -
the prayer of Halevi's heart thus
fulfilled?
" Could
I but kiss thy (lust, SO
would I fain expire."
It was this Haley' of whom Hein.
rich Heine sang in his Hebrew owl-
(sties, that God fell in Inv, with the
beauteous soul of the tint and
kissed it at its birth, and that kiss
of God then reverberated through-
out all his song. It is interesting
to learn that Gentile as well as
Jewish poets have translated Hil-
levi and the Tisha b'Ab dirges into
the modern languages.
Tisha b'Ab Legend.
Jews, it is said, have often been
charged with being a demonstrta-
ive, excitable people, impelled to
ever protest and complain, as many
a preacher hits interpreted to this
effect the Bible phrase, "The voice
is the voice of Jacob but the hands
are the hands of Esau." Yet, it
must be admitted that, at least, we
wept with pearly tears and moaned
in melodious strains.
It will he remembered that the
7
August riots in Palestine during
the last year centered about the
procession of the Tel Aviv Chalut-
zim at the Wall arcsnd Tisha WA!,
time; and it was then and there
. 7
that the League of Defenders of the
Kotel (Wall) was founded under
.4 1
the leadership of the venerable but
impetuous Dr. Joseph Klausner,
professor of Ilebrew Literature at
the Ilebrew University in Jerusa-
lem. A special commission just ap-
pointed by the League of Nations ti
to examine the conflicting claims of
Jews and Moslems to the Shall just .;
concluded its labors. The Jewish
contention Was that it is the sacred
remnant of the Western Wall of
the Temple that Solomon built, and
which had, well nigh miraculously,
withstood the ravages of warfare
and of all manner of weather,
throughout the centuries; yet some
modern historians and antiquarians
hold that it is not the Temple Wall
but a fragment of the ancient City .
Wall. Even thus it is a great his-
toric relic, fully 2,000 years old.
The Moslems had at no time any
use for it. They even threw offal
at its foot to provoke the Jews at
prayer. But it has now developed
that, for purposes of political ex-
pediency, the present Grand-Mufti
discovered that El Koran (the
Moslem Bible) tells somewhere that
Mahomer's horse, the El Barak,
was tied to the Wall on the night , s
when the Moslem prophet is alleged
to have ascended to the heavens
from Jerusalem's heights; and thus,
the Moslem Supreme Council, af-
ter 1,000 years of indifference, sod-
denly clothed the Wall with a new-
ly acquired sanctity.
It is interesting to delve a hit
into that web of legend which has
clustered about Tisha ti Ah. The
Talmud says: "On Tisha b'Ab the
Messiah was born," and, for that
reason, the Turkish False-Messiah,
Sabbatai Zevi, abolished the fast as
ss-
soon as he had proclaimed his own
mission. Artists too from differ-
ent lands and ages, were attackd
by the appeal of Tisha b'Ah, its
poetry, its symbolism, its Oriental
observance, the prostrations, the
gestures of intense grief, the
abandonment to despair. Numer-
ous paintings and wood carvings
depicting the several phases of
Tisha WA!: have appeared in var-
ious books. The Jewish Encyclo-
pedia has reprinted a number of
typical studies by celebrated mas-
mas-
ib ters.
ttee: np. ro
our own time Tisha It'Ab has
-.Is
seized upon by the Zionists for
.'
paganda value. Mass meet-
logs are frequently held in the
synagogues after Kinot, and col.
lections are made for the benefit
of the Jewish National Fund, to
redeem the soil of Eretz Yisroel.
In this manner the Yahrzeit of
every Jew is made to serve the in-
terests Of Palestine's redemption.
Perchance it Was just that, that
the rabbis meant when they said
some 1,500 and more years ago that
the Messiah would be born on Tisha

Sad to say, the Yahrzeit of ev-
ery-Jew is fading away from the
memory of the average Jew in
America. Very few amongst us
still fast on it or still honor the
traditional taboos; not to work,
nor to bathe, nor to wear shoes on
that day. Young people know
naught of it, and are quite likely
to be shocked, when Tisha b'Ab
chances to interfere with a wedding
date.
Reform congregations evince lit-
tle interest in it, since some 50
years ago, their spokesman, Rabbi
David Einhorn of anti-slavery
fame, declared that the destruction
of the Jewish State, released Jew-
ry for the performance of its "miss
slim" among the nations of the
earth, in the Diaspora. Conserva-
tive congregations, more often than
not, are closed down for the sum-
mer, and make but little fuss about
Tisha D'Ab services.
And yet, there will still be found
hundreds of - orthodox synagogues
even in America, where on that
fateful August 3 night this year,
patriarchal Jews will sit down in
their stockinged feet on low stools
or altar steps, and will chant in
moaning sing song the dirges of
the (lay's liturgy. In Jerusalem, the
Sephardim or Turkish -Spanish
Jews, put their lights out in the
synagogue during the services, and
both the altar and Torah are draped
in black, while the worshippers
have their heads strewn with ashes.
It is interesting to observe that this
custom was also kept by the Amend.
can Jewish pioneer congregations
at Newport and elsewhere, as we
learn from the Literary Diary of
Ezra Stiles, Yale president, who
attended the Newport Synagogue on
Tisha b'Ah, some 170 years ago.
All this symbolizes the Great Black
Fast. In the afternoon, the Jeru-
salemite Jews visit the Wailing
Wall.
Four Tragic Events.
Now, Tisha b'Ab is, according to
tradition, the anniversary of the
four most tragic events in Jewish
history: of the destruction of Jer-
usalem and the Temple by the
liabylonians; and then, coincident-
ly, by the Romans, just about 1,850
years ago; of the Fall of 'tether,
Bar Kochba's last stronghold; and,
lastly, of the Expulsion from Spain
in 1492. The Eicho and the Kinot,
the two collections of the dirges,
which comprise the special service
for the occasion, are concerned pri-
marily with the sad reminiscences
of the Fall of Jerusalem. But, in
a sense, they symbolized for the
devout Jews the epitome of all
Jewish woes throughout the ages.
The "Eicho" is actually one of
the little books of the Bible, and its
authorship is credited to Jeremiah,
the prophet, who lived some 2,500
years ago. As a matter of fact,
its usual English title is the Book
of Lamentations. Jeremiah lived
during the last slays of Judea, and
witnessed the destruction of the
city and the conflagration of the
Temple on Mount Zion by the
Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar,
in the year 5851 B. C. He had fore-
warned of the approaching doom
and had counselled peace and sub-
mission to Babylonia. But, relying
on pledged alliance of Egypt, the
King of Judah chose war. Jere-
miah wished to remain at the ruins
but was dragged away, against his
will, by the Jewish refugees, to
Egypt, where he died, an exile in
a foreign land. While his major
prophesies are recorded in The Book
of Jeremiah, it was in this little
Megillah or Scroll of five short
chapters, that he poured out his
soul in an inimitable dirge of grief
and lament.
Jebudah's Halevi's Dirges.
While the "Eicho" is presumed to
be the work of an individual, the
"Kinot" is a collection, which is the
product of generations of religious
poets or Paytanim, and it seems to
allude more directly to the event
of the Roman catastrophe. It is
generally conceded that the choicest
of the dirges is the last, which goes
under the name of Ali Tziyoin,
"Odeto Zion," and is from th e
golden pen of Jehudah Halevi, the
master-poet of Hebrew Arabic song
in Spain. It was Ilalevi's SWIM-
song. It is a lament of infinite ten-
derness in which there breaks out
Al) in all, it is a grandoise gpec-
the poet's passionate longing to "l
tread the soil made sacred by the tacle that is revealed to the world
on
Tisha b'Ab of a people mourn-
air wherein perchance there still
ing for 2,500 years the loss of its
lingers the breath of God's word;
indepyndence,
and drawing out of
to weep upon the ruins of the holy
place where once the Shekinah that very grief renewed strength
dwelt; to seek out the breaches in to battle once again at all odds for
edempticn. There is no .:f•
the walls of Judea's cities and to
mend them with the fragments of other spectacle in history that car
i t'
arallel
slri t .
his heart. From the deepest sorrow p

(Cop/bight. 1530. J. T. Al

VIEWS OF LEADING JEWS

JACOB DE HAAS: "As a detached observer, I would say Ameri
can Jewry must, in the face of economic change, make a serious re-
,
adjustment
action may, but American volative life, with its tendency to mass
three months hence, have produced a 'boom" which shall
have banished all the 'glooms.' I doubt it, but American life has taught
me
that
'impossible'
has so far gained no permanent place in its vocabu-
lary."
•
•
•

DR. JOSEPH STOLZ: "The rabbi's personality is not merely that
of any and every Jew. Much has been entrusted to our keeping 89
rabbis. The synagogue with its Torah has made as what we are and
what we have, what we do and what we enjoy. T - e synagogue
glees
us our congregation to work with, and our audience to smells to. And
in all gratitude, in all honor, in all honesty, in all d. rerey, we should
shape our conduct, watch our step, guard our tongue, beware of our
teaching, lest we do or say, or think anything that may detract from
the good name, honor and glory of Israel, the efficiency of the rabbinate,
the usefulness of Jewry, or the truth of Judaism."
•
•
•

ss:

■ 1 7

EMANUEL NEUMANN: "There is a new administration in the
Zionist Organization. It will recognize no groups, no divisions, no
former condition of servitude. There will be henceforth in the admin-
istration of the committee of 18, one goal and one purpose. We have
had • peace without victory. Out of this meeting will come a message
of peace, amity and unanimity."

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