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TREDLTROIKAIWI ( RM ICUS

January 10, 193G

and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE

iitEDEFIt011jEWISH &RON 1CL£ I N w e Anti-Immigration Scare

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Lights from

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I The self-imposed exile of the Lind-
and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE
berghs had the peculiar effect not of
Published Weekly by The Jewish Chronicle Publiehing Co, Inc.
By LOUIS PEKARSKY
arousing public opinion against corruption
Entered m Second•class matter March 11, 1916, at the Poets
omen •t Detroit, MWh., under the Art of March 8, 1879.
and for the strengthening of the police ,Tel:,,...,d,v10., in part or whsle forbid-
and judicial systems of this country, but 1 A 1:1 1 : f) 7 :1LI:". .' 87,:"Sl=, ' Colyrtihg7WeStesveo7
General Offices and Publication Building
rather of re-awakening the enemies of im-
525 Woodward Avenue
vo,,,Iglit. 1936. 8 A F 8 )
Telephone: Cadillac 1040 Cable Address: Chronicle
migrants in this country in a new crusade SYLVIA SIDNEY
London Ofticv
tiosylvic aSidney, Paramount mo-
14 Stratford Place, London, W. I, England
against the foreign elements.
on p re
re star and one of the
Not only did Senators Coolidge and leading i ctu celebrities
$3.00 Per Year
Subscription, in Advance
of the Jewish
Davis jump into the limelight with dec . faith in Hollywood, is a prodct
u'
To Insure publication, all correspondence and news matter
of
the
"sidewalks
of
New York."
must reach this omen by Tuesday evening of each week.
!orations that the y will introduce new She was born in a Bronx
When mailing notices, kindly use one side of the paper only.
lint, the
anti-immigration bills in the present sea- daughter of a Russian mother and
The Detroit Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on sub-
a n f ather.
Jetts of interest to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsi-
sion of Congress, but Representative Mar- Roumani
bility for an indorsement of the view. .pressed by the writers
Early i n her childhood she felt
tin Dies of Texas once more made the the urge to become an actress.
Sabbath Readings of the Torah
she was only 12 at the time,
threat that he will press for the adoption hSei race ambition
Pentateuchal portion—Gen. 47;28-50:26
naturally encoun.
Prophetical portion-1 Kings 2:1-12.
r etel , parental o 1%11 oyn so.
of his measure. The Dies bill is perhaps tee ne
overcame.
Tebeth 15,-5696 the most vicious piece of legislation that this difficulty, and she started to
January 10, 1936
was ever introduced in Congress. It calls work towards her career by taking
acourse of private instruction in
not only for the complete shutting of the dramatic
art. A few months later
The Late Lord Reading
doors of this country to newcomers—af- the child performer received her
ba ptism of ap plause ds. a series of
A great son is lost to Israel in the death fecting relatives of those already in this Li ttle Theatre
retarin
of Lord Reading. In spite of everything country—but it aims to deport all un-
Not long after that Miss Sidney
that may be said with regard to his aloof- naturalized Americans. The latter provis- I was invited to matriculate in the
Guild school. Out of
ness from his people during his lifetime, ion would have the ridiculous effect of class of 105 students, she was a
se
e
selected
one year later to play the
Lord Reading's great interest in Pales- demanding the deportation of millions of h ties
ea
ion
d i ng
pay role in the school's gradu-
tine's reconstruction, his numerous inter- people, some estimate that it would run
HER FIRST ENGAGEMENT
cessions III behalf of persecuted Jews, the into about 20,000,000.
The warmth of the reception
-
Part he played in the issuing of the Bal-
dedt
s her epe.
Instead of facilitating the naturaliza- C .T's is
Instead
y
perf
o rmance f eonrctourg
a ac
F urther fortified by
four Declaration, and his more recent con-
of non-citizens, rabid reactionaries self-confidence,
l f-ConfidenCe she looked for war
demnations of Nazi atrocities prove that aim to make the lot of the unnaturalized 1Two months fitter she found it in
, the form of an engagement for
interest in Jewry was not altogether dead all the harder. All the agitation against
Challenge of Youth." The
immigrants and foreign-born is carried on play only ran a week.
in his breast.
.
important
roles in the stage pro-
His resignation in 1933 from the Anglo- in spite of the established fact that crime
German Association as a protest against Is not the inherited boon of foreigners but !.Ì s ' ii7.1;s2`.",-,1 :1h r:nu'rl t , ; o ' l' in: i ri YDe t;. ;
Nazi atrocities is proof of more than pass- that predominating criminals are native Chickens" followed.
Then Miss Sidney deserted N.
ing devotion to the cause of justice for his
Y.'s Broadway for Denver, Colo-
own people. On other occasions, too, he Americans.
rfoado, where she played in stock
Several months ago we had occasion to
spoke his mind against bigotry. Several
years ago C. J. C. Street published a comment on the so-called Dies bill, At
Ailt.i erwtehei k sst . .oxagement she went
biography of Lord Reading in which he that time we pointed out that the enemies to Hollywood to make her debut
pointed out that during the early career of of immigration are peculiarly linked with gh l r(Tus g h one f. rt ehnet fie.)x nonneer
Rufus Isaacs a heckler Insisted
In
on shout-
the early talkies. She)e S C'ould not
ing repeatedly "Down with the Jews I" fascism, and we warned that the moment "feel" the part,
art, however, for, e as
For a time he ignored him, but soon he fascist roots are permitted to grow every she herself te ll s us "the
from stage to screen'
too sua
dk-
sud-
digressed from his subject and launched vestige of justice and fairness will be den"
So she r t
into a passionate defense of his people. doomed in America. We derived com- IN *STOCK Ae Turned to Broadway.
As Mr. Street wrote:
fort then, as we do now, from an editorial ROCHESTER, N. Y.
nteTnht entchai me. another stock enga ge. '
in the Progressive of Madison, Wis., the
his
religion
and
his
race,
of
: the daitreeltitfohnesotferdeoNew
Ile spoke
of his ancestry, of its sufferings and it trium-
organ of the LaFollettes, in which the Dies York, uncles
te
kor, who is now one of !lolly-
phant survival throughout ages of persecution
bill was condemned under the heading Cur, greatest directors and also
and tribulation. Ile spoke of England, of
English ideals of justice and fair play, of
"The Problem of Our Foreign Born." The one of our own. Readers of the
Jewish Ledger in Rochester will
Englishmen who had fought for religious
LaFollette weekly stated in part::
readily recall Miss Sidney's fine
and civil freedom, regardless of caste or creed

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or race. And he sat down amid the thunderous
applause of the audience. Later, on occasions,
he was to arouse again the bitterness, the
anger, the blind Jealousies of anti-Semitism.
But he was to find, at the same time, that the
England which had granted him his pathway
to success, because of the man he was, cared
for none of these things. There was no need
for him to defend his race or religion. Ilia
friends and his fellow-countrymen answered
for both.

p

J

p

a

But perhaps the greatest tribute to the
late Lord Reading's contributions to his
people is the interest that is being taken
in Jewish affairs by his son and heir to his
title, Viscount Erleigh, who, together with
Lady Erleigh are now recognized by world
Jewry as leaders in Jewry.
Jewry mounts the death of a great son.

1

1

President on Religious Freedom

In a recent address, President Roose-
velt took as his keynote the religious lib-
erty paragraph in the Virginia Declara-
tion of Rights, and stated that

"there can be no true national line either
within a nation itself or between that nation
and other nations unless there be the specific
acknowledgement of and the support of or-
ganised law to the rights of man ... In the
conflicts of policies and of political systems
which the world witnesses today, the United
States has held forth for its own guidance and
for the guidance of other nations if they will
accept it, this great torch of liberty, of human
thought, liberty of conscience. We will never
lower it. We will never permit it, if we can
help it, the light to grow dim. Rather through
every means legitamtely within our power and
our office we will !seek to increase that light
that its rays may extend the further; that
its glory may be seen even from afar. Every
indication of the sanctity of these rights at
home, every prayer that other nations may
accept them, is an indication of how virile,
how living they are in the heart of every true
American."

This is one of the numerous declarations
made in recent months by the President,
offering assurance that this government
will "never lower" the traditional torch
of American liberty.
Here is an assertion which should hear-
ten every lover of liberty, and which
should reassure those who may have
feared that the oppressions of backward
countries are encroaching upon us.
In his message to Congress on Jan, 3
President Roosevelt was even more em-
phatic in condemnation of religious per-
secutions and in defense of free Ameri-
can institutions.
As long as the chief executive of our
government continues to speak in terms
such as we have just quoted from Presi-
dent Roosevelt's address, we have reason
to feel secure in the guarantees given the
American people by the constitution.

Revisionism's Bed-Fellow

Czechoslovakia's existing Jewish Party,
which is pro - Zionist in sentiment, is
henceforth to have as its opponent a "new
people's party." which is the combination
of the Zionist Revisionists and the extreme
Jewish assimilationists.
The correspondent who cabled this re-
port from Prague called it a combination
of "strange bud fellows" made by the pe-
culiar twist of rolitics. Evidently anything
still goes that helps to harm Palestine:
and Revisionists instead of remaining
lryal to their early Zionist ideals are fall-
ing prey to hatred of the parent Zionist
orranization. Aside from its being Jewry's
loss. such a combination adds to the dis-
grace of the Revisionists.

Representative Martin Dies of Texas is
the author of a bill before the present session
of Congress which professes to cure the un-
employment problem in the United States by
deporting several million unnaturalized for-
eign born persons who live within our borders.
It is easy to drum up resentment by ex-
plaiting a situation where millions of American
citizens are out of work' while many aliens
in this country have managed to hang onto
jobs. Bat we wonder if this scheme pro- I
pounded by Rep. Dies really offers any hope
as a solution of the problem of the jobless.
Unemployment statistics show that the
proportion of jobless among the unnatural-
ized foreign-born Is as high or higher than
among native-born Americans. The unnatur•
sliced have had to suffer the distress brought
by the depression with the naturalized and
native born.
Looking at this proposition from a view-
point of economic logic, what would happen
if five or six million people were suddenly to
be deported out of this country, as contem-
plated in the Dies bill?
A vast consumers' market would be taken
away, production would have to be further
curtailed, and unemployment would be in-
creased. It is an old maxim that one man's
expenses are another man's income.
Such wholesale deporting would result in
innumerable cruelties. Families would be
split. People would be sent back to countries
whose governments would very likely subject
them to hardships and herd them in concentra-
tion camps. There would be countless cases
where no greater inhumanity could be in-
flicted.
There was a time when America was
- looked up by all the world as a haven of
refuge for the politically oppressed. The back-
bone of this nation, the historians tell us, was
built up from the stock of immigrants who
came to these shores to escape the tyranny at
home. Go back only a few generations in the
family history of our best citizens and you
will And their forbears were immigrants to
America.
Times and conditions have changed and
it has been felt necessary to drastically re-
strict immigration. Today stringent quotas
are enforced. But if the United States can-
not continue the spirit of welcome it once
extended to the oppressed of other lands,
shouldn't it seek to extend that spirit to those
who are already here?
There is reason to believe that this sud-
den drive against the foreign-born residents
of this country is part of the fascist-like drive
being carried on by reactionary forces in this
country. Strangely enough, big business and
industrial interests once favored unrestricted
immigration in order to maintain a supply of
cheap labor. Today they want to deport
those they once welcomed to this country.
There is, however, an important alien
problem in this country today. There are
thousands of foreign-born who entered the
United States illegally and in violation of law.
These persons have no standing here and are
entitled to little consideration. Another phase
of this problem is the fact that many of our
foreign-born who entered the country legally
and have lived here for years without evidenc-
ing any desire to return to their homelands
have failed to take out naturalization papers.
It would seem tnat an enlightened gov-
ernment such as ours, instead of contemplat-
ing the wholesale deportation of these people,
most of whom have American-born children
and have established families, would encour-
age them to become citizens.
The problem of our foreign-born popula.
lion is one that is subject to much misinter-
pretation. It has a very real place in social
planning for the future. But it is difficult
to see how measures such as that set forth
in the Dies bill can bring about a constructive
solution.

It is unfortunate that the immigration
issue must again be added to our numer-
our problems, thus making it all the hard-
er for Jews to arrive at a solution of their'
many complicated issues which oppress
millions of our kinsmen throughout the
world. But the fight against the reaction-
aries who seek to make the lot of the im-
migrant harder than ever must not be
stopped even for a single moment. And as
long as we have the support of liberals
like the LaFollettes we should feel en-
couraged in our struggle for justice to the
"strangers" in our midst.

performances in plays at the L
ceum and the Temple
re Yi f:
memory serves meple Theatre,
how she quickly became the Y' toast
,
• of F
the wi
Kodak City's
ex.
that rich
ex-
perience, Miss Sidney appeared on
Broadway again in four plays,
"Nice Woman," "The Old.Fash-
ioned G i r I," "Crossroads" and
Many" a Slip."
Thus ended five years of profes-
sional trng which had prepared
I Miss Sidney for stardom. And
a
G
cair.
in
cam This was her last
stage play. During its sensational
run B. P. Schulberg, who then was
managing director of production
for Paramount Pictures, envisioned
her as a great potential screen star
and persuaded her to forsake the
footlights.
That happened late in 1930. In
January, 1931, she began—or
rather re-began her film career,
appearing with Gary Cooper in
"City Streets." Mr. Schulberg's
prediction turned out to be true
and since then she has been fea-
tured in about 15 or more films
including "An American Tragedy,"
and among her most recent ones,
Samuel Raphaelson's "Accent on
Youth."

KNOWLEDGE

The old tree brooded in sorrow:
"I know not whence I come nor
why,
I know not why I live nor why
d ie,
And life in bitter cold and burn-
ing drought is hard."
From the leaves there burst a
flood of golden sound;
!A hidden bird poured out his soul
I In joy unspeakable to Him Who
knows.
R. L. in the Issue.

Strictly
Confidential

Grandfather of Yiddish Literature

Tidbits from Everywhere

On Mendele Mocher S'forim, Founder of a Culture

By PHINEAS J. BIRON

%Copyright, 1936, 91 A. P.1, I

By ABRAHAM GOLDBERG

S
,, C
I‘JOO
tetPeaS

111:el.e,Byarrie's famous play,
Woman Knows,"
was inspired by the late Marquess
orate on Jan. 13, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mendele Mocher S'forim, recog-
of Reading's first wife, who had
a great deal to do with her hus-
nised as the first writer to elevate Yiddish to the plane of • literary language. Abra•
band's phenomenal career ... The
ham Goldberg, noted Zionist orator and writer, here gives • critical estimate of Men-
next High Commissioner for Ger-
dele's contribution to the literature which he is acknowledged to have founded.
man Refugees will probably be
selected from among Lord Lytton,
Lord Lothian and Sir Arthur Sal-
ht, 1935, Se,en Art.. 1'enturA 9r rid,. ate
ter, all Englishmen . , Jewish
leaders are opposed to having a
Jew as Commissioner . . . That's
It was a benign fate which brought to the
stature all at once. As a matter of fact we may
why Sir Herbert Samuel •on't get
cradle of infant Yiddish literature three great
well say that there are three Mendeles. To begin
the job ... There'll be a new An-
giants—Mendele Mocher S'forim, J. L. Peretz and
with there was Mendele the Maskil, burdened
glo-Jewish weekly in New York
Sholem Aleichem. The three represented not
shortly ... It'll be called The Star
with all the faults of that historically most im-
. . • Incidentally, James G. Mc-
only three different types of literature but also
portant type. The Maskil's point of view was
Donald, the ex-high Commissioner,
three important sections of Jewry; Mendele the
too utilitarian to enable hint to be a great ar-
was presented with a silver service
I.ithuanian Jews, Peretz the Polish and Sholem
tist. fie also cherished so many prejudices ' , by the executive committee of the
Aleichem the Ukrainian Jews. The influence of
against the common people that for Mendele, I Joint Distribution Committee at a
reception in the home of Felix M.
these three on modern Yiddish literature is in-
had he not succeeded in overcoming them, they
Warburg ... Angelica Balabarniti,
calculable, but of them all Mendele has exerted
would have constituted a serious obstacle to his
an aged Russian Jewess, who is
the greatest influence, for he left his mark not
normal development. Before he could become
supposed to have given Mussolini
his Socialistic education in the days
only on the generations which have followed
our great classic writer Mendele had to fight
when II Duce was a left winger,
but also on Peretz and Sholem Aleichem, who
against the Maskil in his soul; and while on the
is now in this country ... A cer-
were almost his contemporaries.
whole the artist emerged victorious, Maskilic
tain immigration inspector in the
Sholem Aleichem it was who gave Mendele
traces still remained perceptible in him.
New York area may lose his job
because he has been asking Ger-
his title of "Seide" (grandfather) of Yiddish
He Grew Epigrammatic
man Jewish immigrants whether
literature. Indeed, Sholem Aleichem himself
After leaving the fold of the Maskilim
they are racially German or lie-
called Mendele "Seide," and regarded himself
Mendele went to the other extreme, and tried
brew . • . Though since the U. S.
as his spiritual grandson. And while Mendele
immigration code lists the Hebrew
to become one of the masses. He wanted to
was incluined to frown on the light touch which
race
as a distinct nationality this
dedicate himself to the common people, to be-
seems somewhat illogical ...
Sholem Aleichem used in his writing, and to dis-
come their servant so to speak, rather than to
THE BACK ROOM
trust his facility, he recognized the relationship
depict them as an artist standing somewhat
Governor Hoffman of New Jer-
none the less and was genuinely fond of his fos-
sey doesn't know it yet, but his
aside. Fortunately for Yiddish literature, how-
ter-grandson.
political
enemies are responsible
ever, he did not reach his goal.
for a malicious whispering cam-
Realist of Yiddish Literature
Only in his third phase did he become Men-
paign in which the Governor is
In the case of Peretz the relationship was
dele whose artistry served the masses. It was
falsely accused of being in cahoots
quite different. Peretz, indeed, refused to sub-
with anti-Semites . Representa-
then that his style became so clear and lucid,
live Florence Prag Kahn of Cali-
mit to the influence of Mendele. With the re-
that he achieved that true realism which is sym-
fornia is the only Jewish member
sult that we can trace the "Seide"' influence in
bolical and allegorical and illustrative. A scene
of Congress backing the Townsend
his work in both the positive and the negative
depicted in this style becomes representative of
Plan ... James Marshall, son of
sense—that is, we can see Mendele's direct in-
the late Louis Marshall, may be
many others, for it is a part of—not apart from
e
president of New . Y
York
fluence, and also his indirect influence, the lat-
—life. It is as a bough growing on a tree, not
City
the a Board
rd of Education .
For-
ter betrayed in the instances where Peretz made
the same bough cut off front the tree. The es-
mer Senator Bernard Gettelman
conscious efforts to escape the influence of
sential quality of this style is lucid simplicity
of Milwaukee and Julius Cohn of
Mendele. In any event, it is Mendele who taught
Cleveland are credited with giving
capable of standing alone, without a supporting
Senator Borah's presidential boom
Peretz to express the spirit of the Jewish masses
framework.
its greatest impetus ... If Gover-
in his writing, and it is that spirit, permeating
From his Maskilic period Mendele always
nor Herbert Lehman cannot be pre-
so many of his works, which has made Peretz one
vailed
upon to seek re-election next
retained his tendency to grow epigrammatic,
of the great clasics of Yiddish literature.
November Henry Morgenthau, Jr.,
though this draws the reader's attention away
may resign as Secretary of Treas-
Mendele Mocher S'forim—the pseudonym
from the main theme and into a field which no
ury to run for lieutenant governor
means Mendele the book-peddler; the author's, longer is art. Another relic of his first period
of New York ... The Democrats
real name was Shalom Jacob Abramovitch—be-
want a Jew on the state ticket ...
was his inclination to generalize. One city which
Jerome rharnl, et ru
came the first great realist of Yiddish literature
ic -me,
-
he describes is inhabited by wise men only, an
tru s t
t(i e ) fc otmk e
not only through his inherent character but
other by people who are stupid and indolent
a partner in a big New York law
through conscious effort. In this he followed the
Later, however, he broke away from this method,
firm ... Justice Cardoso, a Hoover
guidance of some prominent Russian critics. For
appointee to the Supreme Court,
and gave us cities in which lived, on the same
Mendele good literature meant the portrayal of
has upheld the New Deal more
soil, individuals of totally different character-
often than any other member of
life as it was, wihout embellishment or toning
istics.
the Court .
down. From the very beginning he knew that
Restoring Him to Rightful Place
THIRD REICH
the best literature is true to life. In those days
The leader of the underground
From his second period he carried over into
little distinction was drawn between photographic
anti-Nazi movement in Germany,
the third a deep love for the common people,
reality and that artistic realism which stresses
who is now in this country, informs
a love clearly perceptible between the lines of
us that the organized opposition to
only the important and characteristic elements.
his writings. The paradoxical truth of the mat-
Hitler in the Reich is pitifully
Bat Mendele instinctively grasped this distinction
weak and small All sensational
ter, however, is that Mendele, while he really
and realized the importance of selecting the ele-
rumors to the contrary notwith-
loved the Jewish people, cherished little love
standing, the underground organi-
ments to be portrayed in detail.
for individual Jews, Thus Israelik, the Jew
zation has less than 3,000 members,
Three Types in One
who suffers, does not arouse his genuine sym-
thanks to the ferocious effeciency
of the secret police ... Nazi guide-
It was his aim to create characters that
pathy until, losing his individuality, he becomes
books to Germany describe a cer-
lived and breathed. He did not always succeed.
typical of the entire Jewish people. Ile sees the
tain section of the Rhineland as
At times he succumbed to the tendency, pre-
Jewish failings too clearly to love individual
follows: "Ilere stands the impos-
dominant in his time, to create mere types, ab-
ing, legend-haunted Lorelei, theme
Jews. He sees all the faults of the individual;
stract personalities. But he was successful of-
of many poems, the first words of
yet when it comes to describing an individual
one which are 'Ich weiss nicht was
ten enough to leave as a large gallery of actual
he creates not an evil character, as we might
soli bedeuten" . . . Which, in
individuals, characters who were real people.
have expected from what he has said pre•ously,
case you don't know, are the first
Critics have often compared Mendele to
words of Heinrich Ileine's famous
but a human being possessed of good qualities
poem "Die Lorelei" . . Julius
Charles Dickens. And in the main the com-
also, with a heart capable of suffering and sor-
Stretcher's friends believe the high
parison is apt. The writings of both are highly
row. A human being, a wretched creature in a
priest of Nazi anti-Semitism has
imaginative, so that events do not follow one
huge and inimical world.
some sinister hold on llitler . . .
another with any real inner necessity. Coinci-
In our age of seething confusion we have
Otherwise he wouldn't be publicly
dence plays a large part. Some occurrences are
boasting that as long as Hitler re-
not the repose necessary for a true appreciation
mains Streicher's power will be
so clearly brought in merely because they fit into
and understanding of Mendele. But these are
unimpaired ...
the pattern of the story that the author seems
abnormal times. In a more normal age Men-
SPORTING DEPARTMENT
a romanticist rather than a realist. Yet the
dele will be restored to the supreme place that
The American Olympic Commit-
descriptions themselves are highly realistic , and
is rightfully his.
tee expects American athletes to
the characters possess true individuality. Men-
be
beaten up by Nazi sports fans
But even today we can appreciate the
during the Olympic Games . .
dele paints his scenes with light and masterly
greatest of Mendele's achievements: Ile it was
That's the interpretation being
strokes, exaggerating nothing, guiding his brush
who raised Yiddish to the plane of a literary
placed on a document drawn up for
with sure hand. His hand follows his eye, and,
language. He cleared the path for Yiddish liter-
the Committee leaving it free of
most important of all, his eye sees clearly and
financial responsibilty for athletes
ature. And it was he who demonstrated that
who
suffer major accidents during
without distortion, so that he has the proper
it was possible to write for the people in the
the
games .. • Heywood Broun is
perspective.
Hebrew language also. These achievements will
circulating a private petition
When we speak of Mendele we must not for
keep his memory alive among those who love
among leading sports writers and
a moment forget that he did not attain his full
athletes, asking American with-
both these languages.
( PLEASE TURN Tel NEXT PACE 1

EDITOR'S NOTE: World Jewry and particularly its Yiddish-speaking section, will commem•

Communism Alien to Religion

, the Jewish Press
to

THE JEW OF ROME

A

Review by Dr. Henry Smith

Labelling of Religious Groups as "Reds" Denounced byl
Leiner
Rabbi Goldstein; Deplores Attack on
T II E J E W .. c
M E
By Lion
Progressives
F.,. ht•A»c• ■
The
Vi4,ng Press.

By MENTOR

I

as k ed

an acquaintance
9
,
intance who cannot boast of a single journal
edits one of our better known Jew- of the standing of The Christian
ish weeklies whether he was going Century and the Churchman, of
When I think of an histori- to run an editorial on the Lind- I Protestants, and
The Commeri-
cal novel, I am reminded of bergh affair. Ile seemed to think weal and Americo,
of the Catholics,
that my inquiry was something in equally active and effective in this
the story of the little boy who, the nature of a joke, as though cau se.
It i s not as t hough social
hearing a lecture on anatomy,
to say • it had nothing at all to do
justice were something
us extraneo
asked his mother, "Is a skele- with the Jewish problem. Of course, to the Jewish religion,
for it is an
I ton the bones with the gentle- ° n this particular pout
e was , important part of Judaism and we
wrong,
fur
a
section
of
our
press
must
iv
man scraped off?"
. e credit to our rabbis for
Most of ha uLlaed the ff
- I
emp
*sizing it on all occa sions.
history comes to us in skeleton newed anti-alien and red-baitingl It is all
the. more lamentable that
form, the gentleman being campaign and such efforts are of such issues
should be considered
scraped off, as it were! If the concern to Jews because they often outside of the realm of the Jewish
history in question is ancient end up in anti-Jewish campaigns. press.
So my contemporary was really ;
The Jewish weeklies have their
enough, only imagination can
wrong and I was right. And this place in Our communal affairs, to
put the gentleman back on the leads to a far deeper and more be sure. and insofar as
they are
bones.
important problem, which is wheth- ' designed to reflect the activities
er the Jewish press is playing an • of local Jewish life
I have no fault
That somewhat homely phrase
adequate part in the prevention of ' to find
with them. Our greatest
aptly describes what Fetich- anti-Semitism. To my mind it is need, perhaps,
is for a national
wanger does for the period not, and this arises out of the con- , Jewish weekly on the order of TO',
viction that the prevention of , ChristianC
roughly lying between 60 A. D.
which, amon
among
prejudice consists of something other thing:, would discuss current
and 80 A. D. As an historical more
than an exposure ofanti-' soc
. i al • mi itical and economic events
novelist, he has already achiev- Semitic organizations and an erne-'
from the Jewish point of view.
nal apology for the existence of
ed a place in the sun and his
Thr Jewish Viewpoint
Jewry.
preceding work dealt with the
That there is a Jewish, point ■ f
Causes of Asti•Srmitislo.
I view, no one will deny. It is prclit-
same great character who is the
By this time we ought to be ably identical with the Christian
hero of "The Jew of Rome," pawaruee tohaat anti-Semitism ias nse
thse i po nt of view on all larger issues
number
root c
If Jews and Christians were united
—Flavius Josephus, the general
who later became himself a One of the most important of these in their demands for social justice,
is economic. As long as we have for peace and other major iS5110,
writer of history.
economic insecurity we will have confronting the world, we should
With a very slender !skeleton that explosive condition which is getsom
pr ewhere
e m ,. in the solution of
the breeding ground for intoler. t h ese pr oblems.
of known facts, the author has ance. It would appear. therefore,
The pusillanimous will assert
managed to contrive • twin- tha
t one of the most important at once tha
C f i oor Jewish press
sting story which one feels to functions of the Jewish press might , engages in an aggressive
campaign

, 5: 7.1,1

By DR. ISRAEL GOLDSTEIN

Rabbi of Congregation B'nsi Jeshurun, New York

N

J

News

SerNI

The name "red" has been used tical method of achieving the goal.
to denounce a multitude of heter- Whereas socialism denotes the at-
odoxies. Is a Y.M.C.A. guilty of taMment of its objectives by the
speaking frankly to the youth on' method, namely, the hal-
' sex problems? Then it is spreading I let. communism, skeptical that
" communism". Is a group of Meth- , three in position of wealth and
odist Church leaders proclaiming • power will give them up peaceably.
war resistance as a Christian pal- advocates the use of force for over.
icy . Then they are reds. Is a throwing the present capitalistic
Rabbinical Conference excoriating system. Russia is an example in
I the iniquities of our economic sys- our day of the method which has
tent? Then they are a lot of "bol- ken used, in order to abolish capi-
sheviks." talism.
The advantage of calling names
Progressive s Not Communists
is that it does not put one to the
these be the criteria of our
trouble of meeting an issue on its definition, it will he found that
merits, with rational argument. It most of the groups who are being
is a cheap appeal to the lowest called "red." "bolshesik." "com-
level, the level of prejudice.
monist," etc., are in fact opposed to
Defining Communism
one or both of the salient features
a Iteed
wou
.. sit h e wte
s na
ll to..ieleedfineassa. dhatthies 1 of fee
t
m
ismduonui5bm
tful if even one per
term "communist" are used inter- • cent of the progressive groups and
changeably. The communistic dog. leaders in our country who are of-
trine has two salient features, one ten labelled "red" by the reaction-
in its ideology and one in its prac- aries in the press and on the plat-
tie.] program. It espouses the abo- form, would approve of the use of
lition of our present economic sys- I force for the overthrow of our
teen known as capitalism, and its capitalistic system. It is doubtful
replacement by a system of social- ' if 10 per rent of them would ad-
ism, in which production must be %Irate, without reservation. the so-
for use and not for profit, and in cialistic, communistic program of
which distribution must he so man. production and distribution. Itch-
aged that they who work with g'.ous groups, within the progres-
brain and hand shall have • just sive category, may e ven be p re_
be characterized by a very high
t work ceaselessly for the , for social justice we will be
share in the wealth of a society. sumed to be antagonistic to tom.
ac-
mes-oration of • more equitable , cused of being radicals, even of
degree of probability. In the
From e • c h according to his monism because of the latter 's an-
economicc o:
wh
hie d
ear I bein g red rad is.
strength, to each according to his tagnnisin to religion. Although hos-
cal But
days of the early Christians, a of povmertyrder
in
ou ld
will be remove the from l be p ointed
ne , — that is the goal in the . Way to religion Is not • rme qua
out that o or
it pro
sh f es -
tremendous struggle took place the ordinary man.
theory of communism as well as ' sow in communistic ideology, it has
sional patriot§ and o ur re baiting
This,
with
at
least
three
major
the
far-
in effect been one of its thief char-
is one of newspapers already l ook with deep
uforb.
f the Chris
in The tdhiffeTenoc
e°
of socialism, comma- i acteristics, motivated by the charge
suspicion
t h them
e Christian
tors involved—the Romans, the tan religious press, and it ought I churches
and upon
regard
as hot-
nism and socialism is in the prac- 1 tPLEASE TERN TO NEXT PAGE)
(PLEASE TERN TO NEXT PAGEI
to be to our discomfort that

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