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TfIEVEFROITIEIVIS/I0RONICLE

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Sabbath Readings of the Law.

Pentateuchal portion-37 :I-40 :23.
Prophetical portion—Amos 2:6-3:0.

Chanukah (Feast of Dedication) Readings of the
Law.

Monday, Num. 7:1-17; Tuesday, Num. 7:1H-29;
Wednesday, Num, 7:24-35; Thursday, Num. 7:31)-
41; Friday, Num. 7:36-47.

December 12, 1930

Kislev 22, 5691

Invoking the Maccabean Spirit.

Chanukah is one of the most joyous holi-
days on the Jewish calendar. Its lesson is
one of triumph. It teaches the ,Jew not to
despair but be confident that the Mecca-
bean spirit will rule and that Israel is an
undying and unconquerable race. And, in
fact, throughout the ages, this confidence-
inspiring holiday has kept the Jews from
despair and helped them to be patient in
their sufferings and hopeful for the future.
But time has wrought many changes.
Conditions are changing, even though hu-
man nature has remained stationary. The
discriminations of the twentieth century
are unlike those of the second century be-
fore the present era. Instead of Hellenic
influences, which threatened Jewish unity
and the existence of the Jewish people, in
the days of the Maccabeans, there are a
thousand alluring and ensnaring conditions
beckoning to the Jew away from Judaism.
Will our people be able again to invoke the
Maccabean spirit to survive the obstacles
and temptations which threaten Jewry?
In more than one sense the dangers be-
setting Jewry are more serious today than
they were in the days of Hellenic-Hebraic
struggle twenty-one centuries ago. Dis-
crimination in society and in industry is cre-
ating a new type of Marren() who is either
compelled or of his own choosing keeps his
Judaism secret. Jewish boys and girls have
learned as a means of a self-defense to pose
as Christians when applying for jobs which
they feared would otherwise be closed to
them. Jews in search of social position are
sneering at tradition and custom for the
sake of finding places in non-Jewish society.
Added to the social and industrial difficul-
ties are economic troubie6 which are send-
ing Jews in search after strange gods,
Will the Jewish people survive the new
dangers? The answer, of course, is in the
affirmative. The recurrence of Chanukah,
which we celebrate with such joy, helps to
create that spirit of confidence and a de-
termination that Israel must not die. But
conditions nevertheless revive fears similar
to the first despair of Mattathias the Priest,
when "the Sanctuary was delivered into the
hands of the stranger," and demand an ac-
counting from the Jewish people. in order
to live the people must have vision and the
will to survive, and if the Chanukah festi-
val will continue to teach the lessons of
courage and triumph then Israel must re-
main unconquerable,

Passfield's Retreat.

Britain has backed clown on the White
Paper and the discrimination against the
Jewish settlers in Palestine.
The statement in the House of Lords by
Lord Passfield, in which was declared that
the government does not intend to prohibit
purchase of land by Jews and the employ-
ment of Jewish labor on land held as the
inalienable property of the entire Jewish
people, is a triumph which comes as a di-
rect result of Jewish protests throughout
the world.
It is a triumph also to the determination
of the Jewish people to build a new social
brdsr in the Holy Land. Already, Palestine
.‘prosp4ing• as a result of Jewish effort.
Judge Julian W. Mack of the U. S. District
• Court, who recently returned from a visit
in Palestine, is authority for the statement
that "Palestine is the most prosperous place
in the world outside of France. There is
less unemployment evident in Palestine
than anywhere else. There isn't the black
and blue and yellow feeling prevalent
throughout the world. There is that amaz-
ing forward spirit that thrills every visitor,
Jew or non-Jew,"
Passfield's retreat conies in the face of a
prophetic realization, in the Jewish colon-
ies in Emek Jezreel and other portions of
the Jewishly redeemed Palestine:
"And the earth shall answer with corn,
and with wine, and with oil, and they shall
answer Jezreel." (Hosea. 2 :2.1).
But the reversals in Passfieldian policies
are, at this stage of the game, mere moral
victories for the Jew. Because the original
White Paper still stands, with verbal modi-
fications, and the Jewish people cannot con-
tinue to co-operate with the British Govern-
ment, with this paper as a basis for negotia-
tions. For the sake of peace in Zion and
the future of the Jewish homeland, the
White Paper must be revoked. Nothing
less can possibly be accepted by Jews.

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The Late David Robinson

The tragic death of David Robinson, pio-
neer Orthodox Jewish leader of Detroit, is
cause for deep mourning on the part of a
community which knows how to value the
services of an unselfish and devoted com-
munal worker.
Mr. Robinson has endeared himself for
his energetic efforts in behalf of everything
Jewish. In congregational activities, as a
Zionist and especially in behalf of the Unit-
ed Hebrew Schools, which he has served
with such devotion for a number of years
as treasurer, Mr. Robinson was a force to be
reckoned with.
Those who heard the departed leader
appeal to the congregation in the Tuxedo
and Ilolmur Talmud Torah, on Rush Ha-
shonah, in behalf of the membership cam-
paign of the United Hebrew Schools, will
best be able to evaluate his services. In that
appeal he eloquently described the educa-
tional needs of the community and opened
up his heart to his audience revealing a
deep-rooted devotion and a firmly im-
planted idealism.
Mr. Robinson's death is one of the most
serious losses this community has suffered
in many years.

An Arab's Appreciation

There are Moslems who oppose Jewish
aspirations in Palestine, and Arabs have
even been brazen enough to defend the out-
rages of August 1929. But there were as
many friendly utterances, and manifesta-
tions of amity, on the part of Moslems. An
interesting instance of appreciation of Jew-
ish effort is reported by the American Ad-
visory Committee of the Hebrew Univer-
sity in I'alestine.
Ahmet Zaki Pasha, learned Arab scholar
from Cairo, made use of the Arabic section
of the Hebrew University Library in pre-
paring his report on the Wailing Wall to
the commission of the League of Nations
which conducted its hearings in Jerusalem
three months ago. In gratitude for the per-
mission granted him to use valuable manu-
scripts, the university received this Arab
scholar's latest book, a history of one of the
companions of Mohamet, Selman El-Farisi,
with the following dedication:
"I dedicate this book to the Library of
the Hebrew University of Jerusalem re-
membering the co-operation which the li-
brary gave to me, in order to find the sourc-
es for proving the rights of Islam with re-
gard to the Holy Aqsa Mosque."
Not all Arabs are ungrateful, neither are
they brutal. And if anyone would tell yep
that peace between Arab and Jew is im-
possible, do not believe him.

Reasoning Away Prejudice.

Is it possible for man to reason himself
away from his prejudices?
The Kalends, monthly publication of the
Williams and Wilkins Co. of Baltimore,
asked this question, in a recent issue, in the
following form:

A well known rabbi of Washington has said
that the religious leaders of all sects should
unite in the endeavor to combat religious and
racial prejudices. He asserted that the press-
ing need of the world is to remove all preju-
dices from the minds of men. That's quite a
large order, to say the least., A man may tem-
porarily set aside his prejudices in making a
particular decision, bat can he reason himself
away from his prejudices? In fact, is not all
of our reasoning power used simply to support
our prejudices?

Two Kalends readers, both incidentally
from Detroit, responded, and their opinions
are interesting enough to deserve being
quoted here:

If prejudices are the products of either
inability to distinguish between facts and fic-
tions, or are beliefs based upon blind faith
alone, then indeed, the important question
arises whether the prejudiced mind is at all
capable of logical reasoning.
The fool, the paranoiac, the stubbornite,
alike never change their minds, but rather
apply their inadequate or abnormal powers of
reasoning in nurturing their prejudices. How-
ever, real thinkers frequently change their
minds, are least dogmatic, and show many
other evidences of utilizing their powers of
reasoning to overcome, rather than to support
their prejudices. But how many of as are real
thinkers?—C. S., Detroit, Michigan.
That ideas impel to actions of the most de-
vastating force has been proved repeatedly
down the years, and creeds, as represented by
beliefs, never proved, have developed "re-
ligious" wars, erased kings and changed boun-
daries, among other things. When do beliefs
become prejudices? Prejudices set things in
motion and are great stimulators of action.
They have motivated wars, all struggles for
advancement, even. The gentle rabbi who can
philosophically hope for the disappearance of
pr•judices was probably addressing a racial
group upon which mankind has vented the most
cruel and maddening of prejudices—still the
rave has survived! Prejudices can never be
removed from the minds of men for we are,
after all, a most inhuman race!—Ad Man, De-
troit, Michigan.

The discouraging element in this discus-
sion. as well as all other recent debates, on
prejudice is the general agreement that ha-
tred is the disgusting symbol of a corrupt
and "most inhuman" race. Sonia go a step
further and call it an incurable corruption.
It is difficult to believe that the condition
has a more optimistic outlook. When stu-
dents in leading universities in Europe are
the leaders of gangs in brutal attacks on
Jews and men of culture and university pro-
fessors are the instigators and virtual lead-
ers of pogrom propaganda, how can we pos-
sibly believe that prejudice can be reasoned
away?
Besides, tolerance does not at all depend
on learning. although it is almost always
t rue that when human judgment is weak,
prejudice becomes stronger and more dan-
gerous.

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BY-THE-WAY

Charles H. Joseph

Tidbits and News of Jew-
ish Personalities.

By DAVID SCHWARTZ

.0

KRESEL AND HIS KEY

If you will hark back to the
memories of your school days, you
will recall the story that teacher
used to tell about Sir Walter Scott
—how, as a child, he found it im-
possible to recite unless he was
permitted to play with his waist
button.
I presume that it is for some
similar reason that Will Rogers
chews gum in his stage appear-
ances, while leaving the mastica-
tory pulp severely alone off the
stage.
And I had supposed similarly
that the same elusive processes of
the psyche would explain the habit
of lsidor J. Kresel of twirling a
key in his hand as he cross-exam-
ines his witnesses.
- •--

for all of these first page stories
about the New York police racket,
and it was Kresel, incidentally,
who did much of the investigation
work in the insurance investiga-
tions which first brought Ilughes
into prominence.
But why does he dangle his key
in the eyes of the witnesses? As
I have said, I surmised it was part
of his own nervousness. But such
is not the case. Many lawyers of
late have been watching Kresel in
action—and their conclusion is
that the key acts in quite another
way. It has a mesmeric, hypnotic
action on the witness—and when
one is mesmerized, the artificiali-
ties of the conscious are sup-
pressed. The unconscious takes
control. In other words, the more
you can hypnotize your witness,
the more likely he is to tell the
truth.
Around the court house, where
Kresel is making the racketeers
come "clean" with their shocking
confessions, they are calling Kre-
sel's key "The Magic Key."

COVERS LITTLE AREA

This man Kresel, by the way,
deserves some interest for other
reasons than his "magic key." In
a crowd you would never notice
him. In physical dimensions, he
is just about as big as that other
Jewish lawyer who, you will recall,
was ordered by the judge to stand
up when he addresses the court.
"Your honor, I am already
standing," was the reply.
No, this did not happen to Kre-
sel, but it might have, for he is
scarcely more than five feet from
north to south. And he weighs
just about 100 pounds.
Yet for all that, the last couple
of decades have not revealed any-
one who could make a witness
"fess up" as he can.
These little people have just got
to be a little better than others.
They have got to make up for na-
ture's parsimony in inches by
other compensations. And very
often they do.

NOT A SECRET VICE

Bernard G. Richards, executive
secretary of the American Jewish
Congress, doesn't like Sanka, Cof-
fee Hag, Posture or anything else
that lets you sleep. I would not
go so far as to say that this is due
to the fact that he lives in Yonk-
ers, where the peace and quietude
is such that one has no difficulties
of sleeping, even if one lives on
coffee solely.
The point I want to make here
is that Richard likes his coffee
strong. And every morning be-
fore he boards the New York Cen-
tral for downtown New York he
takes his cup of java religiously.
As he alights at the Grand Cen-
tral, Richards supplements the first
cup with its twin.
One day a friend caught him
indulging in the second.
"Listen, does your wife know
about this second cup?"
Richards' eyes beamed: "I'll tell
you. Once in an unguarded mo-
ment, I told her all."

WANTED TO BE JEWISH

Far be it from nie to turn into
one of those Jewish pollyannas
and deny the existence of anti-
Semitism. But I think that it's
time somebody revealed that there
is quite a little of the opposite
article as well, Philo-Semitism, I
call it. Love for the Jew or un-
usual respect for the Jew.
I wish someone would ask me
to write an article about it. I
think I could make up a pretty
strong case for it.
It is brought to my mind just
now by the death of a noted engi-
neer in New York—Louis I..
Tribus.
Tribus, as far as he knew, was
not a Jew, and yet strangely
enough, he loved to think that
there was Jewish strain in him.
Ilk wife, who adored him, was
even more obsessed with this idea.
She was not an infrequent visi-
tor at the New York Public Li-
brary, where she was wont to drop
in for a chat with Dr. Joshua
Bloch, chief of the Jewish division.
She would point to the name
Tribes, in her conversations with
Bloch and argue that there must
he something of Jewish signifi-
cance and of Jewish heritage in
such a name. It was a bona fide
feeling on her part. She felt there
was a glory in being Jewish,
strange, as we Jews with our in-
feriority complexes, may regard
such an attitude.

This man Einstein is teaching a
number of things besides relativity.
He is teaching, among other
things, that one may be frankly
Jewish and suffer no diminution of
the general respect. Not a few of
our brethren. upon reaching some
mediocre pinnacle of eminence
shiver at the thought of saying
aught about Jewish matters lest.
char vachalila, as they say in
French, they may be taken for
Jews. Not so Einstein. No man
comes nut more frequently in the
public prints on matters of Jewish

(Turn to Page Oppcialte Editorial)

By CHAIM COHEN

•
•
Elite'.
o
Note:—The •Inry of Chanukah
hat been told toscores of generations of
Jewdvh children but it •Irv•ys bears r
filling. 7'M+ Chanukah its repitition
rarticularly appropriate •d Mr. Cohen's
narrative uf this great J ewivh fentival
ununarises electively the events and
story of the Mace•bean epic.

suggestion conies to me from a reader in
T HE Pittsburgh
regarding those "Religious Forums"

which have been held with considerable frequency
during the present winter. Ile believes that the
proceeds of such a forum should be devoted to some
worthy non-sectarian charity, possibly to a fund
for the unemployed. This would ,rob these affairs
of the extreme commercialism with which they are
tainted. If, however, it be; necessary to have a
man like Clarence Darrow take part he should be
paid, but the remaining speakers usually are talent
local to the community in which these forums are
held and therefore the major part of the proceeds
could be devoted to charity instead of being turned
over to an exploiter. The idea is a good one.

Some Jewish children in America
have been found to believe that
Chanukah is a sort of "Jewish
Thanksgiving," because a great
deal of food is eaten during the
holiday. Others assert it is a "Jew-
ish Christmas," because presents
are exchanged, and little candles
are lighted. Many know that it is
the celebration of the Maccabees,
who were Jewish heroes in war.
Thanksgiving or Christmas, Chanu-
kah is a great holiday, combining in
its popular character many of the
"advantages" of both.

I

FEEL, that the following letter should find a
place in this column because I agree fully with
the writer as to the outstanding value of the Ile-
brew Immigrant Aid Society, generally known as
IIIAS:

iT HYPNOTIZES THEM
It is Kresel who is responsible

ANOTHER LITTLE LESSON

Maccabean Spirit Still Lives

w14- 0

I

Charles II. Joseph in "Random Thoughts"
referred to rumors that 40,000 Jews are about
to emigrate to Mexico and is calling upon IIIAS
to give its attention to the problem. We may
point out that IIIAS is always on guard in
every matter that concerns immigration and
immigrants throughout the world. Unfortu-
nately this rumor has proven false. IIIAS,
however, is exerting and continuously exerts
every effort to make possible for those who
must migrate, to find a safe haven. Had 111AS
been placed financially in a position to render
the services it wishes to perform the emigra-
tion and immigration possibilities in this coun-
try and other countries would be greatly en-
hanced. American Jewry has yet to awaken
to the importance of the IIIAS, and afford it
the means to carry on its vital services to
Jewry.
CIIICAGO BRANCH OF IIIAS,
Adolphe Copeland, President.

AM IN receipt of a letter from Miss Effie M.
Hurt, 5837 Iowa street, Chicago, asking me to
please advise the readers of this column that she
has in her possession some 300 copies of the book
of her late brother, Walter Ilurt, "Truth About the
Jews," which she is very anxious to dispose of in
order to obtain sufficient funds to finance a book of
poems of her brother's which she is bringing out,
because she feels that these poems are too beautiful
to be lost to the world. This book of Walter
Hurt's, "Truth About the Jews," is unquestionably
the best that has come from the pen of a Gentile
and I commend it to the attention of my readers
in the hope that they will appreciate what this man
did for our people by responding to his sister's ap-
peal. I am not aware of the price of the book but
it may be easily ascertained by writing to the ad-
dress noted, 5837 Iowa street, Chicago.

A READER of the Pittsburgh Press writes to the

editor:

The Ukrainian people in the United States,
acting on the reports from Berlin, Germany,
are conducting a series of "protest meetings"
in the large communities in this country against
the alleged persecution of their countrymen in
Galicia, Poland. . • . These protest meetings
remind nie of similar charges made by Jewish
• people against the Polish authorities immedi-
ately after the World War but during the
I'olish-Bolsheviki struggle. The Jewish peo-
ple, however, acting on advice, sent a commis-
sion to Poland to verify these charges. The
commission found that they were false.

WHILE it is true that a commission was sent to
Poland as the writer mentions, the fact remains
that unfortunately a member of the commission was
a Jew, the Hon. Henry Morgenthau. I say "unfor-
tunately" belause Mr. Morgenthau felt that because
he is a Jew he must bend backwards in order that
the commission's report should not bear the slight-
est suggestion of prejudice because he was on the
commission. That was why, in our judgment, that
the Polish government was merely slapped politi•
cally on the wrist.. But from ascertainable facts I
an convinced that the great body of Jews in this
country were fully justified in believing that the
Poles treated the Jews at that time in a most abom-
inable fashion.
•
OF COURSE, I don't want to harbor ill-feeling
against that old political war horse, the Hon.
James A. Reed of Missouri, but I couldn't help smil-
ing when I noted that he is to be the prinlipal
speaker at the annual conclave of the Jewish fra-
ternity, the Zeta Beta Tau, to he held in St. Louis
the last week of this month. I can't help remem-
bering the Honorable "Jim's" part in the historic
trial of Aaron Sapiro against Henry Ford. Of
course the senator looked upon it as just another
law suit and just another fee. But I have always
felt that Reed paid a high price for that fee, losing
as he did, the good will of thousands of people all
over the country through the manner in which he
conducted the trial. Ile came out of the ordeal with
his feathers singed and drooping, while Sapiro
showed himself to be the smarter of the two.
Maybe our Z. B. T. friends in St. Louis may be
ale to find some interest in getting him to talk
about the Ford trial.

C ONSIDERABLE

discussion has arisen here and
abroad concerning the mission of Rabbi Jerome
Marks of Selma, Ala., to Melbourne, Australia,
where. representing the World Union for Progres-
sive Judaism, he is seeking to establish Reform
Judaism in that Orthodox community. The Aus-
tralian rabbis are up in arms, while even in this
country among his own colleagues of the Reform
wing he is being criticized for attempting to con-
vert Orthodox Jews to Reform Judaism. is it right
or is it wrong? A most interesting question has
been aroused. Rabbi Freehof of Chicago, for exam-
ple, says that it is as mischievous a performance as
would be the attempt to convert Jews to Christian-
ity. Ile believes that if Reform Judaism is right
Orthodox Jews will Coma to see the light them-
selves, or at least they will modify their own forms
of worship. Frankly, I have never heard of an
organized effort being made in any community to
make converts of Orthodox Jews. From my own
observation it seems that Orthodox or Conservative
Jews themselves take the initiative ande are making
possible the large and frequently unwielilly mem-
berships in our Reform congregations. So it would
seem the wart of wisdom not to interfere with the
Orthodox group. If there is a demand for an
organized expression of Liberal Judaism in Aus-
tralia, of course there surely cannot be any harm
in a rabbi going
there in response to such an appeal.
But to go there in the guise of a mis.sionary, no
to speak, in an effort to convert Orthodox Jews to
Reform Judaism, is another story.

Historically, it commemorates a
brief but proud era in the life of
the Jews as a nation. The best ac-
count of the origin of Chanukah is
to be found right in the hook of the
Maccabees, which is included among
the apocryphal books of the Bible.
The first two books of the Macca-
bees are conceded by scholars to he
among the most accurate, from an
historic point of view, of all the
Biblical works.

The struggle of the Maccabees
was to keep the Jews from becom-
ing like Greeks.

The Greek influence began to
make itself strongly felt in Jewish
life when Alexander the Great
came down from Macedonia to reign
over Syria and Persia. All the sur-
rounding peoples, including the
Jews, began to ape the habits of
the successful Greeks. Greek past-
times, from wrestling to philosophy,
became popular. The Greek tongue
became the fashionable. foreign
tongue, and Jews prided themselves
upon their accomplishments in
Greek, just as aristocratic Russians
were wont to adopt the French
tongue in place of their own "bar-
baric" speech.

There Arose Antiochus.

With the death of Alexander the
Great, his possessions were divid-
ed up among his generals. Then
arose Antiochus. "a wicked root,"
with plans to reign over Egypt, and
Palestine, and Syria, and perhaps
over Persia. Ile was successful in
Egypt. He entered Palestine.
The aristocratic Jews, already
having adopted Greek manners, had
prepared the way for him. An ath-
letic field had been set up in the pre-
cincts of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Children were taught the disputes
of the Greek pholosophers instead
of the words of the Jewish proph-
ets. Many Jews neglected to •ir-
cumcize their sons. Discus-throw-
ing was a favorite sport.
Antiochus marched into Jerusa-
lem, invaded the holy precincts of
the temple, took away the golden
altar, the censers of gold, the can-
dlesticks. and all the holy imple-
ments of Jewish observance. The
temple was polluted, filled with
images of ribald gods, and in the
end turned into a fort, where
drunken soldiers sported.
Agents of Antiochus were sent
into all the Jewish settlements to
command the Jews to worship on
profane altars, to pay taxes for
the support of Greek institutions
and culture and government.
Then there arose tales of heroic
Jews, who refused to submit. The
tale of the remarkable woman Han-
nah, who saw all of her seven sons
tortured and cut to bits before she
would consent to let them renounce
Judaism, is of that period. And of
old Eleazer, who had his tongue
burned out of his head....

First Resistance in Modin.

The first resistance to the agents
of Antiochus came in the village. of
Modin. There, a sturdy, aged
priest named Mattathias refused to
comply with the king's orders to
perform pagan sacrifice on a Jew-
ish altar.
The officers came to him and said,
"You are a ruler, and an honorable
man in this city, therefore be the
first to fulfil the king's command."
This was spoken, we may imag-
ine, in the central place of Modin.
The whole population of the city
had assembled. They were before
the altar.
Mattathias raised his voice loud
and spoke, "Though all the nations
that are under the king's dominion
obey him, and fall away every one
from the religion of their fathers,
yet will I and my sons and breth-
ren walk in the covenant of our
fathers. We will not hearken to
the king's words, or go from our
religion, either on the right hand
or on the left."
Rut as he spoke, a ulna', anxious

That was the beginning of the
wars of the Maccabees.
The priest Mattathias had five
grown suns: Johanan, Simon, Ju-
das, Eleazer, and Jonathan. They
were the first to follow their father,
who unfurled a banner urging all
those who would resist the heathens
to follow him.

Bands of Jews flocked to the ban-
ner of Mattathias. They organized
roving companies. In many towns,
they overthrew heathen altars.
They stacked the "foreignized"
Jews, they forced Jews to return
to their ways, in many instances
they are said to have circumcized
Jews who had neglected to perform
that essential rite.

Judas "The M•ccabee."

Mattathias wets FM Obi man, and
ill fatted to continue as head of a
band of raiders. He called his five
sons together. They appointed Ju-
das as their leader. Mattathias
died, and was buried in Modin.

-1

Judas was called "the Maccabee,"
some say because the name means,
"The Hammer." Each of his broth-
ers in turn proved himself worthy
of the nanie. The history of the
family is an amazing story of the
succession of one brother after an-
other to leadership in the Jews un-
equal battle fur freedom. As each
brother dropped in the long series
of battles, another was ready to
take his place. And when the last
brother was killed, his s o n arose to
curry the
on struggle of the Macca-
bees.
Antiochus did nut care to
remain to fight the Maccabees. Ile
thought to win spoil in Persia. Si
he departed on a campaign in that
direction, leaving his general Ly-
sius to stamp out the..lewish rebel-
lion. Lysius sent 40,000 soldiers,
and 7,000 horsemen against the
Jews. The terrifying Nicanor, and
the mighty Gorgias were the gener-
als in charge of the forces against
Judas. An entire camp of mer-
chants followed the armies of
Gorging, with ready gold and sil-
ver, for buying as slaves the Jews
who would lie captured.
Judas, with his army of 3,000,
fooled the merchants as well as the
armies of Gorgias. Expecting a
surprise attack, Judas slipped away
from his position. Gorgias made
the surprise attack to discover only
an empty camp, and himself suf-
fered a surprise attack in return.
The Jews were victorious.

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413

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Oil Burned for Eight Days.

The following year I.ysius went
even more determinedly to take the
Mac•alwans and came after them,
we are told, with an army of 60,000
footmen and 5,000 horsemen. Ju-
das, with 10,000 followers, scattered
the army of Lysius.
Then, while Lysius went in
search of another army, Judas
went up to Jerusalem. They found
the sanctuary desolate and the al-
tar profaned, the gates burned up,
and "shrubs growing in the court
as in a forest."
The energetic Maccabean, who
might in modern war reporting be
called "the moldier son of a fighting
priest", set to work to cleanse the
temple. His men threw out all of
the heathen idols. They found new
stones, and built clean altars. Then,
the story goes, the sought for untie-
filed oil. They found only one small
sealed jar of holy oil, that °refiner-
ily would have served to burn fur
a single night.
But they lighted the oil, and it
burned for eight days.
Then Judas and his brethren or-
dered that the day of the twenty-
fifth of Kislev, and the eight fol-
lowing days, should he kept by all
the Jews of succeeding generations
as a holiday of thanksgiving, of
feasting, and of merriment.
The Maccalwans set up a fort in
Jerusalem. They organized their
armies throughout the country. The
Jews were
to act as a nation.
But the struggle was
as long be -
fore
King Antiochus died. ibis sue•
cessor came with an army against
the Jews. Great elephants fought
in the king's army. For every ele -
phant there were a thousand heav-
ily a rmored soldiers, and 500 horse -
men. Upon the beasts there were
strong towers of wood, and in then
were two and thirty strong me!,
that fought upon them."

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4 ,53:

For • Time There Was Peace.

III the battle, the first of the five
brothers fell. Eleazer thought lo

(Turn to Next Page.)

On the Feast of Lights

By PHILIP M. RASKIN

Flicker, candle. flicker.
Spin your threads of gold.
While the mist grows thicker,
And the earth is cold.

Wintry winds and showers
Leave my sky- unstarred,
Blinded all my towers,
All my highways—barred.

Cleave the clouds asunder
With your wonder-light
Thousand years I wander
And no dawn in sight.

S OMETIMES we wonder how certain individuals

can be elevated to reponsible public positions.
Take as a typical example, that strange mayor
of Montreal. If we are to believe the press reports
he announced at a public meeting in Quebec that if
the Jews "won't meet your demands they can go
to their own country, Palestine." The name of
this remarkable mayor is Howie. Someone cried
in the audience, "To hell with the Jews!" and the
mayor is reported to have replied, "Well siid!" If
he said that he ought to he removed from office.
No self-respecting constituency can tolerate such a
prejudiced man as its chief executive. I don't know
to what extent the Jews of Canada are prepared to
take such insults from a public official. I know
that in this country if the mayor of a large city
were to utter such a sentiment the non-Jewish de-
ments in the community, to say nothing of the Jews,
would make his resignation inevitable. I would like
to hear from the Jewish press of Canada whether
the reports are accurate, and if they are what they
intend to do about it.

for the king's promised research.,
came up to the altar to make a
heathen sacrifice.. The priest, en-
raged, seized a knife and slew that
Jew upon the altar. Then, turn-
ing, he slew the king's officer.

Every stone—a grave-stone
Every tree—a ghost;
Every sigh—a slave's groan
In a desert lost.

1•

• I;

Dimmer, ever dimmer
Earth and heaven seem;
Once a year you glimmer,
lighting up a dream.

• 17

, 7

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While the mist groin's thicker
And the dawn is far,
Flicker, candle, flicker,
Be my guiding star.

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