PIEDETRIOITJEWISII O RO N ICLIF, leeimmeas statelme '" PEI9LTR011;JEWISII efRON Published Weekly by The Jewielt Chronicle Publishing Co, Ina. Catered a• Second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Post- ottIce at Detroit, Minh.. under the At of March 6, 1879. General Offices and Publication Building 525 Woodward Avenue Telephone: Cadillac 1040 Cable Address: Chronicle Lontlon Office: 14 Stratford Place, London, W. 1, England Subscription, in Advance $3.00 Per Year To Insure publication, alleorreepondence and new. matter must reach this office by Tue4day evening of each week. When mailing notices, kindly use one side of the paper only. principles of all religious faiths—the right to worship freely and undisturbed, the right to one's convictions as holiest men see them, The Nazis of Germany have had their counterparts among non-Jews who attacked not only the Old Testament but the New as well, for the only reason that Jesus and his disciples were Jews. The creed of the Nazis and the Fascists of Ger- many is one of hate, anti the action of the Catholic bishops is to help condemn such hate. The Detroit Jewish Chronicle Invite.correepondence on pub- foots of Int eeee t tc the Jewish people, but diaclaime reeponal- MIR, for an indorsemtnt of the view. eap eeeee d by the writer. Sabbath Readings of the Law. Pentateuchal portion—Ex. 27:20-30:10. Prophetical portion—I Samuel I 5:2-34. Fut of Esther Readings of the Law, Monday, March 2. Pentateuchal portion—Ex. 32 :11-14 :34 ; 1:10. Prophetical portion—Is, 55:6-50:8. Portion of the Law for Purim, Tuesday, March 3 Ex. 17:8.16. February 27, 1931 Adar 10, 5691 Rejoicing on Purim. Again we celebrate Purim. and again we rejoice that Israel has survived all per- secutions and calamities, and our enemies have perished with their deeds. Purim is an occasion for recounting the trials and tribulations of the Jew, and to make merry over the fact that he has tri- umphed in spite of all the obstacles. Tor- quemada and Pobedonostzev have been rel- egated to the position of 'Taman in the story of Purim, and our modern Hamans and op- pressors are on this day subjected to the scorn of the people, and they are reminded that Jewry is undying and its oppressors doomed in the eyes of history. To the long list of the Hamans in Jew- ish history we add this year some dis- tinguished names. Lord Passfield heads the list of these notables, and on the Purim gallows we hang in effigy his deeds togeth- er with the hate-inspiring activities of Prof. Alexander Cuza, Adolf Hitler, the Nazis of Germany and the anti-Semites of all the world. In the spiritual sense, the spirit of Purim was best expressed in a Purim hymn writ- ten by the great Hebrew poet Yehudi Ha- levi. With the permission of the New York Jewish Tribune, we reproduce here the ex- cellent translation of this poem by Milton Feist : All that hated us rejoiced When the longed-for day of slaughter neared. Had not the Rock in whom we trusted Delivered us from them wo feared, We had been with Sodom's brimstone-rain With Gomorrah'a fire charred and seared. But when the Thorn pricked Israel's side The son of Jair in his might Arose to save the Bore oppressed, A radiant orb in darkest night. For this we sing unto Thy name— May our song be pleasing in Thy sight. For the brightest of eters is a righteous man. His might gave strength to our right hand. The Nettle's sting didst Thou remove, The myrtle raised in Sharon's land. And all that has raged at Israel His glory came to understand. Lord, hearken to my bitter cry! Turn to my sackcloth long. Cause the star of Thy righteous ones In the (lark to gleam with a radiance strong. Speed the day when our longings are answered. Again we'll fill our mouths with song. A Much-Needed Project. A bureau to aid Palestinian institutions and to help the general Jewish public in ascertaining the authenticity of these in- stitutions is being formed by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of Amer- ica, according to an announcement by Dr. P. Churgin, chairman of the Union's com- mitteee on Palestine. The announcement states that "This committee will be in close contact with Palestinian central institutions, such as, the Chief Rabbinate, the Jewish Agency, the Agudas Israel and the Miz- rachi Central Bureau, in order to keep its affiliated synagogues informed of the situ- ation of charitable, educational and relig- ious institutions of Palestine. The Union will urge its affiliates to increase their ac- tivities of fund raising for the institutions in Palestine." We doubt whether there is a Jewish com- munity of importance in this country that will not appreciate the formation of such a bureau. One of our worst evils is the large number of pleas for funds by "mesh- ulochim" and rabbis who claim to repre- sent a multitude of institutions in Palestine and Eastern Europe. If only the authen- ticity of many of these claims could be as- certained, as Dr. Churgin's committee aims to do, it might be possible to pool the var- ious appeals and eventually to eliminate duplication of effort and expense. The ef- fort is certainly a commendable one and well worth trying. Catholic Defense of Old Testament. sr -4 A Jewish Telegraphic Agency cable from Berlin brings the following interest- ing information: "Because Adolf Hitler's National Social- ists (Fascists) do not recognize the Ten Commandments and the Old Testament. the conference of all eight Catholic bishops of Bavaria issued a ruling prohibiting Ba- varian Catholics from joining or belonging to the Hitlerite party. Bavaria is a strong- hold of the Hitlerites." This action by the Catholic bishops should receive the commendation not only of Jews but of Protestants as well. It is, after all, a defense of the fundamental By DAVID SCHWARTZ IS SHE COMMUNIST OR ALTRUIST? is the daughter of a man, now dead, who in his day was one of the Titan figures of American Jewry. As a scholar, combining ancient Jewish lore and modern scientific erudition, he has never had his equal in America. I think I have said enough about hint to identify him to those who have any knowledge of the inner circles of Jewry. Well' I'll say more--and this will make it a complete give- away—he was for many years the president of a great rabbinical seminary in New York, X is his daughter—and some ac- quaintance of hers was talking to me about her the other day, "X, you know, is a Communist," "Yes, so I have heard." "Her father," her friend con- tinued, "left her many valuable antiques, but as a Communist, she has given them away." "That's not Communism," re- torted I, "that's altruism, or at best, that's only 50 per cent Com- munism. For a Communist be- lieves not only what is mine in thine, but what is thine is mine. Therefore, if X is sincere in her principles, she should not only give away her antiques, but should steal somebody else's. "I respect X's altruism, but as a Communist, she has not proved her sincerity," I concluded. And there are a lot of people who say they are Communists, when they are only altruists. But maybe, I am too much of a Babbit to understand. —.— A "TREIFENEH BEIN" Carbon Copy or Stencil? This Jewishness is something that worries us. Writers like Lewisohn delve into it. I do not believe that, unless provoked by outside compulsion, it becomes an issue with the young. We can view the world only with our own eyes, much as we would like to look at the spectacle through the eyes of others—of the young, let us say. Intellectually I am a cos- mopolitan. Creed, race mean nothing to me. We are human beings—this is my creed. But there is that deathless quality in Jewish racial- ism—perhaps that is why we are surviving— that pulls and gnaws at me. It is something I cannot control by reason. But it is much weaker in me than it was in my parents. We are perhaps the last carbon copy of that Jew- ishness. Rituals, ceremonials, dogmas have no hold on us. I was reared in a milieu where going against the wishes and concepts of par- ents was the greatest crime children could commit. This was not due to rigid rules or discipline. It was in me. Only gradually I liberated myself of this oppression. The ra- cial affiliation with its invisible taboos, invisi- ble and intellectually unjustified, remained. To me intermarriage would have meant--emo- tionally, of course—plunging into an abyss. My parents, a whole line of invisible ancestors, were clutching at my freedom. But if I had a (laughter, how would she regard it? She would know that she would not meet with any objec- tion on my part—intellectually I have none. She, my daughter, would be so pale a carbon copy, Jewishly speaking, the impression would be so weak that she would be unconscious of any taboos. To her the writings of a Lewisohn would appear artificial, forced. Don't misun- derstand me. I recognize the lasting value that lies in the Jewish—let us say—creed. I respect Lewisohn and his contemporary search- ers. Yet I realize that they speak for a gen- eration that is confused about its Jewishness, that is trying to reconcile, through some for- mula, humanity with sectarianism. That gen- eration is going. I call it the last carbon copy of a sturdy original. To our parents the se- quence was: first Jew, then man. To us, the last carbon copies it is: first man, then Jew. To those who follow us it will be—what? I don't know. I hope that there will be nothing beside humanity—that is, humanity, will be all-embracing. Hilda Kassel], the sprightly J. T. A. scribe, who is now in London, cheerios me the following anec- dote relative to a debate in Par- liament at one time between Sir Isaac Isaacs, the present gover- nor-general of Australia, and the late Sir George Reid. It appears that Reid had made some statement which Isaacs bit- terly resented, Sir Isaac's fea- tures in the course of his reply took on such a devouring counte- nance that Sir George arose, and interrupted. "The honorable member looks as if he would eat me." "My religion forbids," replied Sir Isaac. That's not so bad, Hilda, and, by the way, will you do me a favor? Years ago, when I was a young man of three or four, I used to play with a lot of other people of the same age, and we used to sing a song which ran "London bridge is falling down." Now, I had my doubts then about the song, for I couldn't believe that if London bridge was actually falling down, that in the face of such a catastro- phe we would romp about the fact. So what I want to know is—is it or is it not true? Let me know about that bridge, will you? If this were true, the Jewish people would long ago have been dead. The pres- ent is not the first crisis in our history. Time and again, following periods of eman- cipation and of prosperity, the Jewish youth was known to forget its people, only to return when adversity struck them. And if the generation immediately struck did not come to show loyalty to the Jewish camp, the second or third generation did. German Jewry, turned nationalist, as a re- sult of post-war anti-Semitism, is witness to this fact. In the fourth chapter of "The Sayings of the Fathers" (Pirke Abot), Elisha ben Abuyah, a notorious Talmudic character, is quoted, "If one learns as a child, what is it like? Like ink written on clean paper. If one learns as an old man, what is it like? Like ink written on used paper." Mean- ing that what one learns in youth one re- tains, the opposite being true of old age. And elsewhere the Rabbis liken learning in youth to engraving upon a stone, and learning in old age to writing on the sand. Fannie Hurst tells us of having liberated herself from the "oppression" of dogmas and ceremonials, but we have no way of knowing from her statement whether she had liberated herself from an inculcated Jewish culture which might have taken root and might have produced a Jewess championing her people's traditions. While it is true that the present genera- tion of Jews is acting like a last carbon copy and like a poor specimen of a group that has been called "the people of the book" and "a nation of priests and a holy people," to us the Jewish people remains a stencil which can be used again and again, like an indestructible vessel. The present generation is a copy from this sten- cil which has not been inked, which, in the words of Elisha ben Abuyah, has not re- ceived a Jewish education in its youth and therefore had nothing to retain. But let this stencil be inked once again, and the next generation will again be a tower of strength and a symbol of the undying peo- ple Israel. Even though we are experiencing a cris- is, spiritually as well as economically, we have faith that the Jewish people survives on the strength of its inexhaustible store- house of culture values. Let the stencil be inked with these values, and the next gen- eration will usher in another golden period in our history. THIS AND THAT John Haynes Holmes is said to be writing biography of Nathan Straus.—That "chosen" of Her- man Bernstein's daughter is the son of the Rumanian attache to Al- bania. — Eve Kohn, former Washington Star scribe and Pulit- zer graduate, has been translated from newspapering to domesticity, her spouse being a Stamford engi- neer.—Gilbert Swann, who col- umns far and wide for the N. E. A. feature service, is really Gene Cohen.—Jewish Tribune $2,000 novel prize won by Elma Ehrlich Levinger. — Miss Brody of New York Public Library Jewish di- vision all smiles the other day. 'What's the matter," we quizzed. 'Frances Oppenheimer, author, just came in, and writing novel, and asked me to translate for fic- Mita! purposes Yiddish expression, A gesunt in dein pupick a-rein.' Ho, ha, ha—it is funny." How would you translate it," we said. "Hail to the navy.' Ha! ha! ha." —Arthur Goodman has written Clay on Abraham Lincoln.—It's a secret, but Sidney Wallach and Bernard Postal are at work on an 'pus dealing with a certain de ightful phase of newspapering. —Strange how the Talmud ranslation by Rodkinson sells at Stacy's, although scholars gener. lly think translation feh-feh.— Another prominent figure who has een angel for several years at everal leading Jewish organize. ions now pressed against the wall —won't be seen by anybody and hysical shadow of his former elf. Four months ago we talked • him and he was all optimistic. Really too bad, for he was one of he decentest fellows.—Look out for George Z. Medalie, the new Inited Slates district attorney of New York—he's not only an 'izzer," but a corner, unless our ape is all wrong. BETTY ROSS AND JOHN DEWEY When Betty Ross came bac ram Russia, we suggested as th tie of her book "Rushing Abou n Russia," or else "Romance i he Red Realms." Instead sh arced is "Bread and Love." An d ow she is lecturing on love and ife in Russia. Now that wa !together wrong. It should hay een "Love and Life in Latvia." But nevertheless, atisa Rosa flows how to get a scoop and 'hen she tells about them. it ion' iffirult to keep interested. Thus, when nobody in Moscow ould get John Dewey, then on a uaaian visit, to talk, Betty scored "I can't give you this inter- iew," said Dewey to her in Mos- ow. "You know, I really have my enough material for the series f articles I have contracted to do, nd it wouldn't be fair to myself • give away any of this scanty aterial." "I'll give you a sporting propos tion." said Miss Ross. "What is it?" queried Dewey. "If I think of some phase of the The recent report that Leon Trotsky has turned Zionist has not yet been denied. If true, this conversion from extreme radical- ism to Jewish nationalism will be neither the first nor the last occurrence of its kind. Anti-Semitism has long ago wrought simi- lar miracles. Wrsre rSraP a Cr • . f,ri\:"1'4 (Ton to r RI Next Page) . o (r- Charles H. Joseph A READER from Philadelphia sends along this suggestion: It is being rumored that Zionism's most astute diplomat, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, may refuse re-election to the presidency of the Zionist Organization of the World. If this is true the Zionists may as well start working out a new all-star Zionist team. Here's mine: Ussishkin for president-50 years of Zionist leadership behind him; in my opinion, the most practical of Zionists. Brandeis fur vice-president—most respected Zionist in the United States, Zionism's most important stronghold. Lord Rothschild for treasurer—representa- tive of Jewry's most distinguished financial Sokolow for secretary—foremost historian of Zionist movement. Weizmann for ambassador extraordinary— has been referred to by Lloyd George as one of the world's greatest statesmen. Einstein for minister of education—univer- sal idol of educators. Miss Szold for minister of health—has done more to make Palestine a healthy place to live in than any other living person. Ruppin for minister of agriculture—Pales- tine's foremost agricultural expert; idol of Chalutzim. Ruttenberg for minister of industries—his massive Palestine electrification project will make Palestine a great industrial country. Jabotinsky for minister of Jewish National Fund—most dynamic figure in Zionist move- ment—has power to inspire followers. tih ietih hed 7;in hlhi-oa-. I AM SORRY that I the space to publish the address of Rabbi p S. Bernstein of Rochester, N. Y., dealing his impressions of the Passion Play which witnessed Oberammer- gau last summer. It was delivered before the City Club of Rochester and was discussed by some of the ministers of that city the following Sunday. I feel sure that the Jewish press would find it inter- esting, material for its readers and undoubtedly copies could be procured from Dr. Bernstein. One statement attracted me, which confirms my long- held opinion that the play must be prejudicial to the Jew. Dr. Bernstein met Guido Mayer, who is s t eh ye ebest actor and who plays the part of Judas. He Following the performance I met the actor and haul a long talk with him. He explained to me his conception of the character Judos. Then after having told him nip profession I asked him to tell me frankly if he believed that Judas typified the Jewish people. For a while he hesi- tated because he was a gentleman and did not wish to offend me. Finally he admitted in essence that Judas is the eternal Jewish type; that Judas typified the crafty, greedy, murder- ous Christ-killers, Christ-rejecting Jewish peo- ple. Isn't that horrible? Isn't it dreadful to learn that the half million people who saw the Passion Play last summer were given such an impression of the Jewish people? Isn't it ter- rible to learn that not only Judas of the play, but all the villagers of Oberammergau and probably all of the 340 million members of their religious faith, have been taught to asso- ciate this horrible person with the Jewish people? By RABBI LEON SPITZ Is:mows MITE:—The rapid distil, - martin, of the onee popular Purim cos- Nilo raises the pertinent question of • h ether Purim is disappearing. While deploring the desntitie into which the jolly Purim practices have fallen, Hahhi Spitz offers • umber n of practical sug- gestions for rev iving them in the spirit or modernity). American Jewry should now celebrate the Jurist festival more than ever before. As Dr. Cyrus Adler recently said, "The world is closing upon us," and to with- stand this attack on all fronts, Jewry can muster no army and no navy. But the weapon that always availed as was an irresist- ible optimism and of this l'urim, the Cinderella of Jewish festivals, has been the symbol for the past 25 centuries or more. It is significant that the very holiday was born out of the tribulations of the first Jewish Galuth, a product of its first ghetto. When times were sad and the horizon was clouded, the Jewish masses found a measure of com- fort in this tragic-comedy holiday and simply let themselves go in its revelry. In showering curses upon the head of the hapless !lam a n, they vented their scorn of the contemporary Hamans. It was particularly in the :Mid- dle Ages, when Jewish ghetto life spelled darkest, that Purim was surrounded with the most hilari- ous and spectacular performances —even publicly and on the open street. Thus in the sunnier cli- mates of Italy and Southern France, Purim street-parades were in vogue, which usually terminated with the hanging of a wax figure of Haman or with his effigy being burnt at a bonfire. In more modern times in the German communities, even in such orthodox kehillahs as, for exam- ple, Frankfort-on-Main, Purim shows were staged in the public theaters for mixed audiences of Jews and Gentiles, and while Chris- tian clergy set the gendarmerie against these performances, some very worthy rabbis even per- mitted the yeshivah students to portray roles on the stage. Is Purim Losing Popularity? It is a pity that even Purim is losing its popularity in American Jewry. The custom of Shalach Mones, or the exchanging of pres- THE White Paper most look blue to Lord Pass- field since Ramsay MacDonald has "interpreted" it. Probably only more interesting and contradic- tory than interpreting a state paper is interpreting a passage in the Bible. I imagine that Einstein's theory of relativity must be directly applicable to such a situation. It depends where we stem!, and when we stand, and near whom we stand that we are able to interpret a public document such as the British White Paper or the American Wicker. sham Report. It seems that Dr. Weizmann simply read the wrong meaning into Passfield's document. The Jews are to he given all that was promised them in the Balfour Declaration. Immigration is to be continued along the same lines and acquiring of land is on a different basis than indicated in the White Paper. So the Zionists are again feeling happy while the Arabs are correspondingly unhappy. By the very nature of things when the Jew in Pales- tine feels that he is getting something the Arab feels that somebody is taking something away from him that is his; and when the Arab seems to be get- ting an advantage then the Jew complains. T HERE seems to be a lot of discussion and con- siderable unnecessary advertising of a certain book called "The American Rich." The executive director of the American Jewish Congress has taken the author to task for his alleged anti- Semitic attitude. The author attempts to give in his book the reason for friction existing between Jew and Christian. Any man in the world who can give THE reason for such a condition is no ordi- nary mortal. All through the ages Jews and Chris- tians have attempted, and to my mind unsuccess- fully, to give a reason for anti-Semitism. There are any number of reasons, but no ONE reason. The trouble with those who essay the task is that they attempt to discover the cause through the eyes of present conditions, when in truth, friction has existed long before there were large stores owned by Jews, before there were Bolshevists, before there were moving picture theaters owned by Jews. Even before Jesus ever lived. Some day maybe a group of our best minds when they have the leisur e may set themselves to the job of trying to make a sur- vey of the whole history of anti-Semitism and per- haps evolve som e theory that may give us some intelligent understanding of the cause. Even well- informed Jews when they discuss anti-Semitism are as hopelessly bogged as their neighbors. Dr. Cad- man the other (lay tried to give an answer to a Jewish inquirer, but the best that could be said of it, he answered the question but it wasn't much of an answer. H ERE • • is a significant criticism of the lack of or- ganization in American Jewry which is con- tained in a casual statement made by that clever news magazine, Time. It is discussing the us e of the radio by religious groups: Jews got on the chained air very early. Rabbis and laymen gave talks, which were not, strictly speaking, sermons. They used 15 Na- tional Broadcasting stations. But their inter- est was irregular. Jews lack a strong co-oper- ating representative organization in the United States. That lack is the presumptive explana- tion of Jewry's abandonment since last Sep- tember of broadcasting nationally. Time is right. The Jews of the United States cannot be compared either to the Catholic or the Protestant group for solidarity of action. About the only time there is a semblance of an organized front is when there has been a particularly flagrant evidence of anti-semitism. But even then not one but 50 organization s clamor to b e recognized as our spokesmen. r • • • • .:IS 1- 5. 4 sls Ss+ :se: -3 .3 .1 ;1; (Turn to Next Page.) ;1+ -3 Wisdom and Idealism of Noted Scientist and Zionist Embodied in Two Collections of His Addresses and Opinions. By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ ▪ ABOUT ZIONISM. Hy Albert Einstein. Published by The Macmillan Company, New York and Chicago (61.161. COS M IC RELIGION. Its Albert Ein- stein. Published by Covici-Friede, art Fourth avenue. New York 1811.150). World Jewry has learned to love and admire its greatest living son, Albert Einstein, who, in spite of the world-wide recognition of his scientific achievements, has not forgotten his Jewish people. On every occasion, in the past decade, he has demonstrated his loyalty to his people and his readiness to serve them when called upon. On his present tour of this country, he hiss stated again and again that among the few causes which he would permit to capitalize on his name, Zionism occupies the fore- most position. The two small volumes under review are a combination of proof that Jews have not showered ad- miration and affection on an unde- serving man. On the contrary, they contain expressions from the mouth and pen of Professor Ein- stein which will help to increase admiration for the great man and to inspire even greater affection. His Philosophy of Zionism. Both volumes contain interest. ing quotations from the great scientist's speeches and writings on Zionism, although the Macmillan volume is exclusively a work deal- ing with Professor Einstein's Zion- ist philosophy and the Covici- Friede collection is primarily de- voted to his views on religion and science. Of the two, the Macmil- lan book is of considerably greater interest to Jews not alone because its contents are entirely Jewish, but also for the fine introductory essay on Zionism by Leon Simon, who edited and translated the speeches and letters of Einstein. Mr. Simon has succeeded in cramming into less than a hundred pages not only his own essay on Zionism and an excellent select bibliography on Jewish national- ism, but has included in them Dr. Einstein's exceedingly interesting views on Zionism and assimilation, the Jewish effort in Palestine and the conflict between Jew and Arab. Einstein's Jewishness. In his discussion of assimilation and nationalism, Dr. Einstein se- verely attacks the unfaithful to Jewry and expressos his own pride in being a Jew. Speaking of the conditions of German Jewry he states that anti-Semitism helps "to preserve Jewish separateness." De- scribing his own experiences in Switzerland and in Germany, he tells how he came to the aid of the persecuted Eastern European Jewish university students in Ger- many, and in this connection acts down the following as his creed as a Jew: am • national Jew in the 'en• , that I demand the p eeeeeeeeeeee of the Jewi•h nationality •• • fart. and I think that every Jr. ought to COMO in definite conclusions on Je Jewish nuestions on the heti. his fact. I regard the growth of J• s o.h self. eeeee tint, a. being in the intere•t• of non-Jewit •• well at of Jew,. That was the min moti, of my joining the 7.ionist movement. For me. Zionism not merely a oue•tion of ...Ann Ration. The Jewish nation is a living thine, and the !sentiment of Jewish nationalkm must he developed both in Palestine and everywhere else. To deny the na- tionality in the Dia•pora is. indeed. de- plorable. If one adopt. the point of view of mmfining Jewish ethnic national. mrn to Pmes tine. then to .II intent• and porpo•e• one denies the e•istenre of • Jew'. Jewish people. In that ease one should hal, the courage to ettrry ••• Rj.j111 t ion •• quickly and •• completely ae prISPillif. • Tel e.I ' LT L -IY ents, seems to have somehow bee I relegated to Chanukah, in a probability as a reaction again.: the Christmas custom which chronologically usually parallel. it. The spirit of charity whits could actually be felt in the Ea.' European townlets as the pauper-. lined the gates of the synagogis or wended their way all day lona from home to home—is now van- inshed. We hardly ever hear nowa- days of Purim presents or of Purim charity. Even the Houten- tashen, Jewish bakers complain, are not as much in demand as they used to be. The l'urim "Seudah," or banquet, is a rare thing compared with the still quite general seder. In the synagogue the congregational officials have the feeling that it is not proper for the children to make too much noise with their klappers when the Stegillah is read. So what has re- inained to give vitality to this gayest of Jewish festivals? The answer is Sunday school plays, and just that. The fact of the matter is that there are even very few Sunday school plays that really express the inherent jollity of the Purim spirit, not half a dozen, all told. There is too much of the goody- goody spirit, and too little of the burlesque and fun, and of pranks, and of mischief in those quasi lit- erary outputs. Why not have someone write a play for older children on say, "The Trial of Ilia- limn," or a genuine little l'urim comedy, invent l'urim games, cha- rades, write some Purim verses that will not prattle of self-sacri- fice and all that, but that would rather voice the genuine Purim tomfoolery in simple and childish lines. More and more happier Purim songs ought to be written, like "A Wicked, Wicked Man," or "Shu Shu Shushan." Suggests Popularity Contests. A New York Yiddish daily has for several years been arranging for a l'urim beauty contest with the coronation of Esther as the feature, this, undoubtedly,-in imi- tation of the Palestinian event originated in Tel Aviv. But, whereas, there the custom has spread to Jerusalem and to the Jewish colonies, in America not a EINSTEINIANA A READER sends me a clipping from the "Drug- gists' Circular," and unconsciously recalls to me my boyhood acquaintance with John Uri Lloyd's famous volume, "Stringtown on the Pike." Pro- fessor Lloyd was an author and a druggist. Now at 82 years he has just issued a new book called "Felix Moses, the Beloved Jew." Moses was an actual character who figured in an earlier book of Lloyd's. lie was an immigrant, huckster and Con- federate soldier. After the war he returned to Kentucky, penniless, and his old neighbors thought so much of him that they set him up in business again. Professor Lloyd, as a boy, knew and ad- mired Moses and years after the death of the huck- ster the younger stun gathered facts about his life and has put them in a most interesting story. The book is published by Caxton Press of Cincinnati. 1 1 IS PURIM DISAPPEARING? • jt•! Tidbits and News of Jew- ish Personalities. 'Fannie Hurst was being interviewed. She was questioned on intermarriage and Jewish tradition on the occasion of the pub- lication of her "Back Street" and she ex- pressed an opinion which strikes at the very root of Jewish existence and which is a challenge to the present generation of Jews. Stating the belief that the present generation may be the last carbon copy of a sturdy Jewry, the noted authoress told her interviewer: RI:1W .lit.*17.3FWAV.78:t.iT.:.:477.71.41..7:66 .C. P7 rtgor: 6 , BY•THE-WAY :: Staunch Zionist. Space does not permit quotation of or reference to all his interest. ing expressions on Zionism, but a perusal of this volume leaves no doubt that Dr. Einstein is a very staunch Zionist indeed, So em- phatic is he in his advocacy of spiritual Zionism that he may safely be called the outstanding world leader in this branch of Jew- ish nationalism. But even though he is primarily a spiritual Zionist, he emphasizes every time occasion permits that "the rebuilding of Palestine is for us Jews not a mere matter of charity or emigration; it is problem of paramount im- portance for the Jewish people." And in this connection he hurls defiance at those who speak of dual nationalism when he states: "The German Jew who works for the Jewish people and for the Jewish home in Palatine no more c eeeee to be a Certain than the Jew who become. baptiaed and changes his name c eeeee to be a Jew.. The two utachments are grounded in realities of different kinds. The antithesis is not be. tween Jew and German, but be- tween honesty and lack of chasm. ter. He who remains true to his origin, race and tradition will also remain loyal to the state of which he is • subject. He who is faith. less to the one will be faithless to the other." The chapter on "Jew and Arab" in the MacMillan volume expressed Dr. Einstein's well known views in which he advocates co-operation and friendship between the two peoples in Palestine. It includes the famous letter to the Manches- ter Guardian of Oct. 12, 1929, fol- lowing the riots, and the appeal for friendship and reason con- tained in his letter to the Pales- tine Arab paper Falastin, written Jan. 29, 1930. "Cosmic Religion." The Covici-Frierle volume, "Cos- mic Religion," is an excellent complementary volume to "About Zionism" because of the additional interesting material it contains about Einstein's views on Zionism and the Jewish problem, and be- cause of the inclusion in it of the noted scientist's views on religion and pacifism. Also of less than a hundred pages, "Cosmic Religion" con- tains a biographical note which offers an explanation of the scien- tist's theories and tells how he has risen to his present position of world leadership. It contains George Bernard Shaw's address of appreciation of Professor Einstein at the important Ort-Oze dinner in London on Oct. 27, 1930, as well as Dr. Einstein's great address at that dinner. Other chapters in this volume in- clude Dr. Einstein's article on "Cosmic Religion," reprinted from the New York Times; his views on militant pacifism and disarmament, on the Jews, Zionism and the Jewish homeland; opinions and aphorisms on the radio and science, and miscellaneous interesting paragraphs. The two volumes form an excel- lent set which will give the reader, especially the Jewish one, a great collection of philosophic views on important problems of the day. We do not hesitate in recommend- ing that both books be included in every Jewish libtary, public as well as private. ;4+ P-3 .1. .;5S : 3.