Tt E*TROrlIEWliSfi C RONICLE
andIME_LEGAL CHRONICLE
this country's representatives in
ThEVErRonjEwun ARON1CLE fends
Germany for the manner in which they
interpreted the law. Dispassionate and
and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE
calm consideration of the Einstein incident
Plaidtolrecl Weekly by The Jovial, Chronicle PublIsilna Co. lac
will emphasize the humor of the episode I
Motored tea Second-alas matter March I, 1915, at the Post.
and will also bring out boldly the fact that
Mitre at Detroit, Mich., under the Mt of March 9, 1979.
all immigrants are subjected to the quiz to
General Offices and Publication Building
which Professor Einstein objected. It is
525 Woodward Avenue
r.t.pheee, Cadillac 1040 Cable Address. Chronicle only because a man of the genius of Dr.
London Office:
Einstein was involved that the world took
14 Stratford Place, London, W. 1, England
notice. But less fortunate men and women
Ihibocription, in Advance
$3.00 Per Year suffer, not as much from the stupid inter-
r. inure publication, allcorrespondence and now. motto, pretation of the law, as from the stupid
ant reach Oils office by Tuesday evening of each week.
When mailing notices, kindly use one slil• of the yap. sooty.
law itself. That a law should proclaim it
to the world that America fears the polit-
Th. Detroit Jewish Chronicle In•itescorrespondence on sob-
knee of Interest tc the Jewish people, but disclaims regional.
ical beliefs of the handful coming to what
Way for an indorsement of the •Iews •spremed by the writer.
is traditionally known as the land of the
Sabbath Readings of the Law
free and the home of the brave," to a coun-
Pentateuchal portion—Gen. 33:4-36:43
try priding itself on the principle of free
Prophetical portion—Hos, 12:13-14:10; or
11:7-12:12; or Obad. 1:1.21
speech, is ridiculous enough.
There is no sense in fooling ourselves.
Kislev 17, 5693
Dkcember 16, 1932
At fault is the law, not its interpreter. Cor-
rect the law, and you avoid episodes of the
Three Million in a Death Trap.
type which presented this country in such
Aside from establishing the fact that an a silly light.
organized group of anti-SCmites is deter-
mined to make life miserable for the Jews
Spinoza the Anti Jew.
in Poland, the pogroms of the past two
Too much, perhaps, has already been
weeks emphasize the horror of the situa-
tion. The organized attacks on helpless written about Benedict Spinoza and his
and defenseless Jews in numerous Polish relations to Jews and Judaism. But in
communities are proof that our people in view of the criticisms that are leveled
against Orthodox Jews for rejecting Spin-
Poland is in a death trap.
oza, and because of the sentiments ex-
Once again, the brutalities of the Middle pressed by Dr. Bernard Drachman of New
Ages are being re-enacted in the free York that "Spinoza was a Jew neither in
Poland which was a slave people only a the religious nor national aspect and he
little over a decade ago. Stores are pil- was out of sympathy with the Jews as a
laged, old and young are victims of the people," it is in order to add a few words
Polish brutalities, and from Lwow, for- on the subject,
merly Lemberg, it is reported that "two
Dr. Drachman admonished that "it is
hundred sticks with razor blade points
were confiscated from rioters following the lacking in self-respect to arrange celebra-
arrival of the chief of the Department of tions in honor of one utterly devoid of sym-
pathy with his ancestral faith and people
Public Security."
and whom his brethren felt compelled to
The horrible events in Poland call to
disuvoW and thrust from their midst. It is
mind the famous poem, "The City of
time that Jews had sufficient pride not to
Slaughter," by Chaim Nachman Bialik.
claim as their own those connected with
Describing the aftermath of a pogrom, in
them only by the accident of birth, but who
this poem, Bialik wrote:
stand outside of the camp of Israel and in
whose hearts there is nothing of faith, love
Of steel and iron cold and hard and dumb,
Now forge thyself ' a heart, 0 man! and come
and loyalty to Judaism."
And walk the town of slaughter. Thou shalt
Now comes a non-Jew and endorses this
see
extreme Orthodox viewpoint. Writing in
With walking eyes; and touch with conscious
hands,
the current issue of the Mogern Thinker,
On fences, posts, and doors,
Dr. Dagobert D. Runes declares that Spin-
On paving in the street, on wooden floors,
oza was excommunicated by the Jewish
The black, dried blood, comingled here and
there
community because he persistently and
With brains and splintered bone.
maliciously sought to undermine the pres-
And thou shalt wander in and out of ruins
tige of his people. To prove his point he
Of broken walls, doors wrenched from off their
hinges,
quotes the following excerpts from Spin-
Stoves overturned, dilapidated hearths,
oza's writings:
And singed beams laid bare, and half-burnt
-
bricks,
Where axe and flame and iron yesternight
Danced a wild dance and led the bloody revel.
Then, creep to attics, clamber over roofs,
Peep in where all the black and yawning holes
Appear like ragged wounds that neither wait
Nor hope for healing more in all this world.
Outside, the sultry air Is thick with feathers,
And thou shalt think to wade as in a river,
A flow of human sweat, the sweat of anguish.
Thou stumblest over heaps of goods and chat-
tels—
They're just whole lives of men, whole lives of
men,
Like broken potsherds, past all mending ever—
Thou walkest, runnest, fallest in the wreckage,
In cushions, tinsel, linings, silk and satin,
All dragged and rent and torn to bits and
trampled—
They're holidays and Sabbaths, joy of feast-
days—
And scarfs and prayer-books, parchments,
scraps of Torah,
The white and holy wrappings of thy soul.
Look, look! they fold themselves about thy
feet,
They kiss the very footmarks in the dust ...
Thou finest! whither? back to light and air?
Run, run! the sky will laugh thee, man, to
scorn!
The sun will blind thee with his glowing spears,
Acacias hung with tassels white and green
Will poison thee with smells of blood and
flowers,
And blossoms and feathers fall on thee in
showers.
A thoUsand, thousand shivered bits of glass
Shall twinkle in thy • dazzled eyes—behold !
For now is given thee a wondrous thing,
A twofold gift, a slaughter and a spring!
Jewry must begin to think in terms of
; the present pogrom's aftermath. What
about the future of the three million Jews
in Poland? What about the mass of these
helpless people who, as a resut of a crim-
inally cruel war, now find themselves in
a death trap?
This question is the concern not of the
sufferers alone, but of the entire Jewish
people. Several years ago, Deputy Gruen-
baum warned that the only solution for
this problem is in the mass emigration of
the Jews from Poland. It is evident that,
with all doors closed for Jews and with
the immigration possibilities in Palestine
extremely limited, this is an impossible
remedy at the present time. Some other
cure must be found. And it must be found
quickly.
The Law Is at Fault.
The incident which preceded the issuing
. of a visa to Dr. and Frau Albert Einstein
by the American Consulate in Berlin placed
this country in such a ridiculous light in
the eyes of the world that many demands
have since been made for the removal of
the Consul General of the United States at
the German capitol, Mr. George S. Messer-
. smith. The Detroit News editorially de-
manded that "a head should fall." Under
the leadership of Mrs. Gerard Swope, a
group of leading New York women made a
similar demand, and others have joined in
this chorus.
While editorial writers condemned the
"stupid interpretation of the law" by
American officials in Berlin, it was gener-
ally overlooked that at fault is not the
interpretation of the law, but the law itself.
Secretary of State Stimson justifiably de-
"The whole Mosaic law is nothing more
than a body of rules for the attainment o(
material benefit."
"The Old Testament contains regulations be-
fitting the narrow spirit of the Jewish people;
it has no concern with the inner character of
man."
"Hate alone sustains the Jews. Concede to
the Jews positions of honor comparable to
those held by the Christians, and they would
soon be assimilated among other peoples,"
"Jewish love of the fatherland is not love,
but a kind of piety bound up with hatred of
non-Jews."
At a time when so much is being written
about the great philosopher, it is only right
that both sides of this question be known
and understood. Dr. Runes believes that
the Jews have no reason to celebrate the
tercentenary of the birth of one whom he
refers to as "one of their most atrocious
renegades and implacable foes." Dr. Runes
adds much weight to the contentions of
the Orthodox leaders.
Adult Education.
A New Expulsion from Spain
Our Film Folk
---
3,000 Jewish Refugees Came to Spain in the Period
Following Revolution; Greater Part Suffer-
ing Distress and Hunger.
A LETTER FROM BARCELONA
By DR. A. BRACHFELD
(Copyrisht,
MT J. T. A.!
The truly liberal view of the
gling closer to each other, with-
religious question in Republican
out hope, without a morrow.
Spain has made it possible to rea-
Among the Ashkenazim there
lize the old Jewish wish to re-
are many who have established
new Jewish religious life in the
themselves and are quite wealthy,
Iberian peninsula.
but the greatest number lives
from hand to mouth faced with
During the last years of the
the constant anxiety of tomor-
Spanish monarchy, the Jewish
row's livelihood. They live with-
communities were merely toler-
out contact with the life of the
ated. Bet now the dominance of
community, lonely and in despair.
the Catholic church is at an end,
and all denominations are sub-
They receive neither material
nor spiritual sustenance, and
jected to the some restrictions
none of them has either the time
and enjoy the same liberties.
or the means of attending to the
There is no longer any need
Jewish education of the children,
for the Jews in Spain to live as
in whom, indeed, no one appears
hidden Jews—men abroad and
to be interested.
Jews at home—but openly living
their Judaism they can live on a STUDIES SITUATION
par with their fellow citizens.
Latterly a number of Ashken-
As is known, a small Jewish
azim have begun to realize that
community was founded in Bar-
such a situation cannot continue,
celona in 1917. Of the original
and that there must be created a
17 founders, some have died and
strong Ashkenazi community
some have emigrated, leaving
which should concern itself not
only with the spiritual life of its
only two who are actively en-
gaged in its work. Among the
members, but should also co-oper-
founders were both Sephardim
ate in easing the lot of the poor
and Ashkenazim, and the com-
amongst them. With these ob-
munity itself followed the Sep-
jects in view they have invited
hardic customs while retaining
young Rabbi B. N. Friedman to
the services of an Ashkenazi cha-
study the situation on the spot.
zan who used the Ashkenazi melo- , Friedman, who is a native of
dies with the Sephardic pronun-
Hungary, had for the past few
ciation. A number of the Port-
years conducted the affairs of the
Liberal community in Holland.
ugese worshippers were dissatis-
fied with this arrangement
Rabbi Friedman spent several
weeks in Barcelona and made an
and left to form a community of
their own under the name of
attempt to organize Jewish relig-
ious life in Spain. Ile investigated
"Agudat Achim"—Band of Broth-
the position in Spain exhaustive-
ers—which adhered closely to
their own customs and liturgical
ly, came into touch with influen-
tunes; their synagogue was well
tial statesmen and submitted to
the government.a report regard-
attended during the recent High
Holidays,
ing the actual situation. First
of all he tried to set up a large
3,000 NEW IMMIGRANTS
Gemeinde, regardless of the dif-
But neither of the communities
fering customs, in order that the
has succeeded in attracting the
various forces might not be split
up. If he should not succeed in
greater number of local Jews who
this, he has in mind the creation
have immigrated during the last
of a separate organization of
few years. These new immigrants
Ashkenazim which should devote
number some 3,000 souls. They
itself primarily to raising the
are all, without exception, Ash-
standard of the religious and cul-
tural life of the immigrants.
kenazim, and the Sephardic cus-
toms are wholly alien to them; BURDENS TO CONSULATES
One of the most important and
they are two distinct worlds
most painful problems engaging
which it is difficult to unite or
the attention of Rabbi Friedman,
fuse together. The older commun-
is that of the poverty of the Jews.
ity has only 120 members, while
There have come into the country
the immigrants held services of
people without capital and with-
their own during the High holy
out any knowledge of the Spanish
Days. Most of the new arrivals
language. They swept in with-
come from Germany, Poland,
out any prospects whatever;
Hungary and Austria, but little
they came solely because they
Jewish life is to be witnessed
were admitted. And the outcome
amongst them; the education of
is indeed tragic. For in the pres-
the children is much neglected
ent Spanish economic situation,
and there is as much Hebrew
such
people have nothing to do.
teaching as will go on the "edge
The result is that they have be-
of a knife." In the field of wel-
come
burdens on their particular
fare work hardly anything is
consulates, and as the consulates
done, although there are among
can
do
little for them, they are
the immigrants many in need of
eventually deported and suffer
help that might put them on their
anew
a
modern "Spanish Expul-
feet. Despite the efforts of cer-
sion."
tain social workers to create re-
lief institutions in order to as-
Rabbi Friedman believes that
sist the needy to establish them-
if the community life should de-
selves, success has not attended
velop well, it would help to estab-
their efforts. There are a number
lish a number of these unhappy
of Jews who see no future for
wanderers., With unity and co-
themselves in Spain and would
operation an effort could then be
return to their own countries, but
made to raise the fallen, as is the
there is no institution that might
case in other lands.
provide them with the means.
The best among the Ashken-
Large numbers of Jews spend
azim pray with every fiber of
their time on the Hotel Plaza
their being that Rabbi Friedman
Catalonia—the euphemism ap-
may prosper in his work. His
plied to the seats ranged under
enthusiasm and devotion to the
the open sky along the most beau-
cause of organising Spanish
tiful part of the city. On cold
Jewry gives every reason for the
winter nights one may see them
hope that his advent in Spain
shivering on these seats, snug-
will produce good results.
■
By HELEN ZIGMOND
HOLLYWOOD.—Noel Madison
(Moscovitch, to the mishpoche"),
who usually plays the gangster
menace in the screemies, was once
a chorus boy.
• • •
Louis B. Mayer is celebrating
his twenty-fifth year in the movie
business . . . A quarter century
ago in Ilaverhill, Massachusetts,
he opened a defunct theater
which becam e the foundation of a
successful chain.
• • •
Tidbits and News
By-the-Way
By DAVID SCHWARTZ
(Copyright. 1532, Jewhh Telegraphic Agency.
Inel
EINSTEIN'S VISA
One doesn't know whether to be more amazed at the stupidity
of the law itself or at the consular official executing it, in the recent
incident of the visa of Prof. Einstein.
On the whole, I should think, the prize for assininity goes to the
consul, for there are some laws, which, it is supposed, that everyone
will take with allowances for modifying conditions.
There are laws, for instance, on the statute books of a number
of the eastern states today—blue laws which no one expects to be
enforced, but which now and then are invoked for some particular
purpose, generally for the political embarrassment of some faction.
•
•
•
COMMUNISM AND CHRISTIANITY
In the case of Einstein, any effort to exclude him on the ground
that he is a supporter of Communism is absurd, for the very simple
reason that Einstein Is not a Communist.
But suppose he were—have we a right to exclude him?
Consul Messersinith, I presume, is a Christian. As such, he must
have sonic degree of confidence in the New Testament. I wonder
what lie would do if sonic of those early Christians to whom the New
Testament refers were to wake up from their sleep of death and seek
admission to the United States.
If the Consul will turn to his New Testament, to the Acts of
the Apostles in particular, he will read some very plain statements
about some of these early Christians following a Communistic life.
And if the Consul is not a Christian, but just an infidel American,
I suggest that he turn to the writings of Thomas Jefferson. The
latter said, respecting the Alien and Sedition Law in their way to
repress liberty of thought, that though Congress passed them, "they
should no more be obeyed than if Congress had ordered the people
to worship graven images."
•
•
•
That Jolson flicker is a head-
ache to the printers . . . it's been HEALTH AND DEPRESSION
Surveying
the
state
of
the
nation
for
his message to Congress,
variously labelled "The New
Yorker," "Happy-Go-Lucky," Hal- the President, seeking to strike some happy note, dwells on the
figures
of
the
Surgeon
General,
purporting
to show an improved
lelujah, I'm a Bum," and now,
"The Optimist." Talk about state of health.
I am glad to see Walter Lippman in his column challenging that.
schlemieleons . I beg your par-
The idea that economic depression, bringing with It malnutrition for
don . . . chameleons
thousands, can be anything but disastrous in its ultimate effects is too
• • •
plain to need any figures to support it.
Alene Carol! (tagged Alene
It may take a little time to show, but the undernourishment is
Nathan in the original) youthful
b ound to bring its toll, in the end, in its weakening of body resistance
actress at Uni I, is flashing
—an invitation to tuberculosis and a host of other maladies that prey
• sparkler on the rine anger.
on the undernourished frame.
Andy Devine, also of the U. lot,
My, my ... the stories, short
and long, pro and con, anent
Jewel-Talmadge romance are
innumerable ... here's blackout.
Scene: A Chicago depot. George
Jesse! bidding goodbye to Norma
and Mama Talmadge as their
westbound train pulls out. He
dashes to catch hi. eastbound
rattler ... Slumps into his seat
. . . then suddenly sits up very
straight. Across the aisle he
recognizes the sole occupant of
the berth . . it's Norma's ■ b-
sentee, but still legal, husband,
Joseph Schenck. Fade-out.
• • •
is the man.
* • •
As a part of a huge economy
drive to keep their company in
business, the Warner brothers,
Harry, Abe and Jack, have agreed
to draw no salaries for themselves.
A fine example that some other
big-wigs ought to follow . . . be-
cause things look pretty sad with
certain film factories on the Gold
Coast.
•
• •
Wonder why the Spanish-
language fan mags constantly
feature Ricardo Cortez on their
cover page ... they must think
he is Spanish down in those
South American countries, and
no one has taken the trouble to
disillusion them about the Jew-
ish boy from Brooklyn.
• • •
Miriam Jordan was the dinner
guest at the home of a Jewish
writer the other evening, and, as
you can imagine, everything of
the best graced the table. Yet,
when asked how she enjoyed it,
she said, "I expected kashe and
tzimes and other Jewish dishes, so
I must admit I was disappointed."
• • •
Correction: About Sari Maritza
as a Wampus Baby Star . . . She
was nominated, but didn't get
through in the final elections.
Another of our "maedels" did,
however ... little Patricia (Left-
wich) Ellis was one of 15 chosen
from among the dozens of junior
players. The Baby Stars are
selected as the most promising
material for stardom and are
given free publicity build-up by
the Wampas organization.
• • •
THE NURSES OF NEW YORK
The President's statement, too, is apparently not borne out by
the experience of the Ilenry Street Settlement, of which the dis-
tinguished Lillian Wald is the head.
Mrs. Stella Koenig, the' secretary of that organization, tells me
that their work has grown.
Of course, it is just possible, as Mrs. Koenig says, that much of
the increased demands on the Visiting Nurse Service of the Henry
Street Settlement is due to the fact that many of those who formerly
called in paid nurses now seek the aid of charity nurses,
This may explain it in part but, I believe, only in part.
•
•
•
A JOURNALISM STUDENT
A very interesting young woman is this Mrs. Koenig. Eleven
years ago, a young girl in her teens, she was a student at the Pulitzer
School of Columbia studying journalism,
She secured some part time work at the Ilenry Street Settlement
while going to school, and today she is in charge of the fund-raising
of the Lillian Wald organization, and the organization is the largest
of its kind in the country.
Her husband is a nephew of the Republican chief of New York,
Sam Koenig.
•
e
e
THE STORY OF LILLIAN WALD
Someone ought to write the story of Lillian Wald—the ramifi-
cations of her life are wide—and it would have some very interesting
human interest angles.
It was at the Ilenry Street Settlement, for instance, that two
young men, a young Irishman and a young Jew—Al Smith and Herbert
Lehman, first met. Lehman had just graduated from William College
and came to the Ilenry Street Settlement asking Miss Wald to put
him to work. Ile was given charge of one of the clubs. At the
some time, "Al," then a political fledgling, was in the habit of drop-
ping in at the Henry Street Settlement House. Little, perhaps, did
they think at the time that ultimately both of them would be gov-
ernors of New York.
e
•
•
CHEMISTRY A JEWISH SCIENCE
Phil Baker writes a "new story" in the New York Journal prov-
ing that chemistry is a Jewish science. The proof is as follows,
"The chief elements are Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen and Nitrogen."
The initials of all these elements combined spell C-0-11-N.
If Phil will look in the old files of the old compilations of Jewish
humor, published say 40 or 50 year, ago, he will find them, too.
•
•
•
HEMINGWAY IS SORE
Ernest Hemingway, who, you remember, wrote so enthusiasticaly
about the Jewish matador, Sidney Franklin, in "Death in the After-
noon," is said to be at odds with his hero now. And it's all because
the Jewish bull fighter has jumped the harness. Hemingway, it
seems, had written of Franklin in "Death in the Afternoon" only as
a preliminary to a subsequent elaboration. He proposed later to do
The only fellow in Ilollywood a whole work about the Jewish bull fighter. But Franklin saw bigger
who dares strike a star or send money for himself by interesting one of the movie producers in a
an exec to the mat for the count story of his life, and the material which Hemingway had proposed
to use for the new book is to be spilled in Hollywood insted.
•
•
s
(Turn to Next Page)
For a long time Sylvia Sidney
received more fan mail than any
other star on the Paramount lot,
has nosed out ahead, and Sylvia
falls back to second place.
• • •
PALESTINE SUNSHINE AND TEETH
RANDOM THOUGHTS 1. by Charles
Jewish education.Lor lack of Jewsh edu-
H. Joseph
cation—has for more than a decade been
•
spoken of in this country as a major Jewish OBSERVING THE NEW YEAR much shocked as she was. How- I small, the temporary absence of
problem and as one of the most important
I am in receipt of a letter from ever, I would not "nominate Al a few can be handled without spe-
a reader who wants me to settle Jolson for obscurity" on account cial employment, particularly in
needs challenging American Jewry for an
argument. He Bays that last of that. If we are to search into view of the fact that sales volume
solution. Figures are constantly being year a number of members of his the private lives of most people is often smaller due to religious
synagogue decided to celebrate we would likely find things we observance. But a number of
quoted to prove that less than 20 per cent New Year's Eve (civil year) and do not approve of. I feel certain New York stores report that about
that if this paragraph meets the 50 per cent of their employes are
of the Jewish youth receive any sort of it proved a success. Some protest- eye
of Al Jolson he will likely ad- Jewish and that special Gentile
ed against it on the ground that
Jewish training, the inference naturally— it was a Christian celebration. It vise Ruby to leave the religious employes must be hired for the
symbol in her dressing room be. more important holidays. The
seems
that
in
addition
to
the
en-
and rightfully—being that the very future joyment created by the celebra- fore she goes on the movie lot. most important are the Ncw Year
of the Jewish people in this country is at tion funds were added to the con- And that, I think, will end the and Day of Atonement. This year
treasury. So the cor- incident. If the lady who is sur- the former occurred on Saturday
stake so long as such a condition prevails. gregational
respondent seems worried whether prised at this had as much infor- and Sunday, Oct. 1 and 2, and the
mation as I have in my possession latter on Monday, Oct. 10. To
In spite of the accuracy of these figures it is proper to obtain money by concerning
Jewish picture .pro- have some 50 per cent of the work-
celebrating a Christian holiday
with regard to Jewish education among within the synagogue. Is Thanks- ! ducers, directors, actors and ac- ing force absent at the beginning
tresses,
she
would
never go to the of the heavy fall season and on
children, there is in evidence a new trend giving a Christian or an American movies!
the two best days of the week
holiday? A Roman was the first
has forced stores not only to hire
of thought among adults and a new era is to make the first of January the
temporary Gentile help but also
WORKING
FORCE
ON
first
of
a
new
year.
Everybody
I in evidence in educational activities.
We changed it until a Pope brought :JEWISH HOLIDAYS
to consider the advisability of
maintaining
such a large propor-
need not go further than our own Jewish it back to the first of January A reader sends me a "tear
again. My friend and his group sheet" from the Journal of Re- tion of Jews on the force. There
scene in Detroit to prove that Jews and need not worry about celebrating tailing published by the New York is no doubt that Jews are admir-
fitted for the retail business.
Jewesses in this community are evincing a a New Year because, so far as I University School of Retailing. It ably
am concerned, it belongs to all of carries an articles on "Maintain- In fact, in recent lay-offs probably
deep interest in Jewish studies, and that a us, regardless of how many cal- ing the Working Force on Jewish a larger proportion of Gentiles
than Jews were dispensed with.
cultural revival appears to be dawning endar workers were involved in Holidays." As the article in ques- As a result the holiday problem
its creation. Go ahead and have tion seems to be an exceedingly
upon the Jewish horizon.
a good time and don't bother ! fair one I am passing it along to may have b een more difficult than
something that doesn't exist. my readers, indicating as it does before."
The proof appears to be very convincing. about
It may be interesting to know that the Jewish holidays threaten,
Temple Beth El first inaugurated a move- that the Christian fathers abol- in view of the present condition PRISON CENSUS
ment for adult classes in Jewish subjects ished its veneration as a religious of employment, to place another Those interested in criminology
festival because of its PAGAN : obstacle in the way of Jews ob- will be interested in the state-
by establishing the Beth El College of Jew- association.
This is the first time taining positions. I would be in- ments of Father McCaffrey, Catho-
ish Studies. Last year, adult classes were I ever heard of our co-religionists terested to receive comments on lic Chaplain at Sing Sing. He
states that the Catholic prisoners
inaugurated at the United Hebrew Schools in this country who hesitated to this article which follows:
into the spirit of the cele-
"Jewish holidays, falling upon at Sing Sing outnumber the com-
under the joint auspices of the schools and enter
bration of a New Year. Whoever week days, have always created bined Protestant and Jewish popu-
of Young Israel of Detroit. Last year, also, made the first of January the first ! I • personnel problem for stores. lation of the prison. But he ex-
Congregation Shaarey Zedek sponsored a of the year fixed all the other But so long as the percentage of plains that the religious census
dates, which does not make our Jews to Gentiles is relatively of a prison follows the population
number of adult classes, and additional calendar
a REL IGIOUS one!
of the area that feeds the prison.
groups were formed by this congregation
In other words, Sing Sing, being
The
Traveling
Philosopher.
in New York where exists • large
this year. Congregation B'nai Moshe and JOLSON AND RUBY KEELER
of Catholics, the Catho-
I really cannot get excited over Rabbi Akiba, while journeying population
other synagogues are similarly sponsoring
lics show a larger percents Here
a strange protest brought to me from
his native place to the capitol
courses for adults.
from a reader in Chicago. Now city! met an eminent man known are the figures:
Catholics
855
This attitude toward Jewish cultural I do not want my correspondent j as "The Traveling Philosopher."
Protestants
518
to feel that I am unmindful of Always anxious to learn something
needs, which are spreading from one con- the
Jews
offense to her Jewish sensi-
he addressed the learned man,
Christian Scientists ..._. 20
gregation to another, is evidence of a re- bilities or that I do not respect new,
praying for instruction. "I am
Buddhists
1
her
indignation, but I think we pressed for time," said the phil-
vived interest in Jewish educational activi-
Mohammedans
2
should not make an issue of every- osopher, "but here is a thought for
No religion
8
ties which must in the end also react favor- thing. Al Jolson married Ruby you to meditate upon. A stringed
Father
McCaffery
then
contin-
ably in increasing an interest in the train- Keeler. In a moving picture Ruby instrument of a certain tension be- ues in this vein:
ing of the children as well. But as a move- Keeler is shown in a scene with gins to vibrate spontaneously when "One can say, as a general thing,
Jolson and Ruby is wearing •
is set up in another simi- that most of the men in prison
ment in itself, the organization of adult cross very conspicuously on a pen- vibration
lar instrument near it. It is the gave up the active practice of
classes is of very vital importance, deserv- dant suspended from her neck. same thing with the mind of man; their
faith before they faced the
ing to be hailed as a happy occurrence in According to my correspondent reading beautiful thoughts gener- judge for sentence. A good Cath-
• number of Jewish folk sitting ates more beautiful thoughts within
Jewish life.
(Turn to Next Page)
near her in the audience were as him."—Talmud Babli.
The discovery just published by Prof. McCollum and Dr. Agnew
that phosphorus and Vitamin D arrest decay in teeth perhaps
explains a phenomenon that reveals itself in Palestine and has offered
much food for speculation.
One of the facts noted by the Jewish physicians in Palestine
is that the Arabs and the old-time Jewish settlers in Palestine had
comparatively few teeth defects.
If Vitamin D, whose equivalent is found in sunshine, is a prin-
cipal factor in preserving teeth, as these doctors now say, then the
reason is plain. For Palestine's sunshine has long been a matter
of comment.
The strength of the sunshine, by the way, explains the fact why
Americans taking pictures in Palestine generally make such a poor
job of it. The reason is that the light is so bright that the exposure
must be considerably shortened, or the picture will bd blurred.
Americans, not aware of this, follow the exposure period used in
Occidental countries, with the unhappy results that you have seen.
JEWISH LIFE IN RUSSIA
A Soviet Survey of White Russia Before the Revolu-
tion and Now.
By J. T. A. MOSCOW CORRESPONDENT
As part of the celebration of
the fifteenth anniversary of the
Soviet Revolution the "Isvestia"
has started publication of a num-
ber of surveys to show how the
various Soviet Republics, autono-
mous regions and districts have
grown and developed.
The first of these surveys, as
it happens, is devoted to the
White Russian Republic, and
more than two entire pages of
the "Investia" are devoted to a
description of the Jewish towns
and townships of White Russia
now and before the Revolution.
According to the latest census
taken in 19243, the Jewish popu-
lation in White Russia is 8.2
per cent, of the total population;
40.2 per cent of the entire urban
perin some towns
tliaona and
more
80
cent.
White Russia. under the Czar,
says the writer, was a backward
country, engaged in agriculture,
artisan and semi-artisan indus-
try, ignorant and illiterate, op-
pressed by the yoke of the Czarist
autocracy and of the landowners,.
White Russia under the Czar, he
goes an, was a prison for all its
inhabitants. One of the divisions
of thin prison, which stretched
f or 380 kilometre, from west to
east, and 520 kilometres from
north to south, he says, was
known as the Tcherta, the Pale
of Settlement. This meaning is
obvious. Hundreds of towns. con-
grated, bursting with population
unable to get outside, hundreds
of thousands of people suspended
between heaven and earth, a
whole people constantly strug-
gling between life and death,
driven and herded together from
all over the country into one nar-
row confined corner, oppressed
by the whole force of the severity
of the Czarist Empire, degraded
to terrible poverty. In these Jew-
ish towns and townships life
glimmered fitfully, semi-corpses
forbidden to engage in the pro-
fessions. not allowed to serve in
government institutions, barred
from agriculture, refused permis-
sion to breathe, to live.
GRAVEDIGGERS BUSY
If we were writing a history
of the White Rutsian towns and
townships, he 'proceeds, it would
be a history of shops which had
nothing to sell and no one to sell
to, of tailors and shoemakers who
had no materials and no tools, a
history of graveyards. filled with
the victims of the Czarist regime.
The graveyard diggers were the
only ones who always had plenty
to do .
The names of the towns were
apt—Moghiliev (Mogila in Rus-
sian means • grave); Kitchev
which comes from the word
"Kink," which means to shriek;
Chlusk, which comes from the
word "Chlucho"--forlorn
Then the writer comes to the
days of the civil war, and de-
scribes the horrible scenes that
too k place in these Jewish towns
at the time. One hundred eighty
towns and townships in White
Russia were gutted during the
war and the civil war, burnt
down to the last house. Thous-
ands of people were killed and
tortured, women and g i rls viola-
ted. Here is • typical case. It
was in July 1920, during the war
between Poland and Soviet Rus-