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November 19, 1937 - Image 4

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Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish Chronicle and the Legal Chronicle, 1937-11-19

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PEI) erRorr, Awn entomali

November 19, 1937

cal THE LEGAL CHRONICLE

riifiPEFROrri /Menai ORM ICii

Criminal-Hunting in Palestine

On the day on which W. K. Kelsey,
and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE
brilliant commentator of the Detroit News,
!Wished Weakly hy Th• Jewish Chreakie Puldisktag C., Irmo
wrote his piece on "Hunting by Airplane,"
which is an excellent satire on the failure
Watered .. Beeond-clue matter Yank II, DM at the Poet-
elle. at Detroit. WWI. stades the A.t .f Wank 1. 1171.
of the Palestine police to catch up with any
of the criminals responsible for the coun-
' General Offices and Publication Building
try's terrorism, we also received a cable
525 Woodward Avenue
from Jerusalem, through the Palcor Agen-
Tetepbeae: Cadillac 1040 Cable Address, Chronicle
cy, dealing with the same subject. The
Landes Omni
14 Stretford Piece, London, W. 1, England
two items are worth comparing:

Subscription, In Advance.

33.00 Per Year

To ineutv publication, all •orreepondenee ad news matter
nest meth this omen by Towle. evaded of melt week.
When welling noels.., kindly nee one Ws ef the paper vols.

The Detroit Jewish Chronicle lusltes eorrespoadenee on •als.
Smits of Intermt to the Jewish people, bet dieclaims moons'.
► ility for e. Indorsement of the •iews expreseed by the writers

Sabbath Scriptural Portions

Pentateuchal portion—Gen. 32:4-36:43
Prophetical portion—Hos. 12:13-14:10, or 11:7-
12:12, or Obad. 1:1-21

November 19, 1937

Kislev 15, 5698

Welcome, Junior Hadassah

National Junior Hadassah's convention,
which will be held in Detroit for a period
of four days beginning on Thanksgiving
Day, comes so close upon the heels of the
important convention of its parent organ-
ization—Senior Hadassah—that it appears
like a continuation of a determined effort
to bring to the attention of the Jews of
this country the significance of the move-
ment for the reconstruction of Palestine
for Jews everywhere.
Junior Hadassah has proven an excel-
lent pupil and is following nobly in the
footsteps of its senior body whose achieve-
ments have earned for it the position of
priority in American Jewish life. Junior
Hadassah's distinctive projects—the spe-
cific colony, the nurses' school, the farm
for girls, as well as its educational efforts
among the members In this country—have
met with such marked triumphs that the
young ladies comprising the organization
have just reason to be proud of their ef-
forts.
Other youth movements have much to
learn from Junior Hadassah. Instead of
being negative in its approach to Jewish
issues and wasting its efforts for the dis-
cussion of anti-Semitism, Junior Hadassah
is ever on the job doing constructive work,
building institutions that aspire to make
more wholesome the life of Jewish settlers
in Palestine, and devoting its energies for
positive rather than negative educational
work in America.
Because Junior Hadassah is so whole-
some a movement, it is a privilege for De.
troit to be host to its convention, and we
join with all friends of this splendid move-
ment in welcoming its delegates to this
city.

MR. KELSEY'S
COMMENT

THE PALCOR CABLE
If a real-life Philo
They've invented a Vance were to step out
of a S. S. Van Dine
new variation for hunt- thriller and come to
ing criminals in Pales- Palestine to practice his
sleuthing on a grand
tine.
are airplane
put on scale,
he would find his
their Dogs
trail; and
efforts,
if successful,
watches the dogs. When well rewarded. Amounts
the dogs stop and howl, ranging in the neighbor-
hood as of rewards
$500,000,
of-
the airplane notifies the fered
for in-

nearest' police station, formation leading to the
and officers go to the arrest of murderers
designated spot and since the disturbances
began in April. 1936,
make the arrest.
until a few days ago,
That may give the have yet to be claimed.
boys a new idea for fox These rewards are from
$2,600 to $5,000 for
hunting.
Why
ride
to each murder of an Arab
hounds? Just
turn
them
or a Jew in the past 18
loose and follow them month. So for not one
by plane. It should be reward has been paid.
(This does not include
equipped, of c our s e, the $50,000 offered for
with a loud - speaker, the conviction of the
through which one could murderer of Lewis An-
shout "Yoicks" and drews.).
But the keen sleuth
"Tally ho" at the pro-
would find the reason
per moments. why Palestine is called
a ''country of unsolved
murders," in which
some 160 people have
been assassinated since
April last year without
the subsequent convic-
tion of their attackers.
The reason is the reluc-
tance of eye witnesses
and others to come for-
ward to give evidence
in their possession as
to the perpetrators or
circumstances of the
crimes. Such witnesses
are either actuated by
racial patriotism, refus-
ing to testify against a
member of their own
community, or—in the
majority of cases—by
fear that they would be
"bumped off" t h e m•
selves if they were
known to have inform-
ed the authorities.

But what about the British authorities?
how is the inactivity of the police to be
explained in the face of repeated outrages
and the uninterrupted manufacturing of
bombs, many of which have killed the
Arabs handling them? If British sleuths
were as inactive in London as they are in
Jerusalem, a whole nation would rise up
in arms.
Additional comment on the quoted items
is unnecessary. They present subtle but
emphatic condemnation of the policies of
the British administration which continue
to run along lines of a "divide and rule"
policy. Instead of firmness in dealing with
murderers, the authorities continue to
Dr. Margoshes' Penalty
play one side against the other. Although
it has been established that in every in-
Samuel
Margoshes'
star
has
disap-
Dr.
stance of a new outbreak in Palestine the
peared from the Jewish horizon. Because police knew in advance that trouble was
he became involved in . a nasty political brewing, the culprits continue to ride a
situation, he was apparently compelled to path of non-interference. "In that nook-
resign as editor of the Jewish Daily Day shotten isle of Albion," perfidy continues
and from all committees of the American to rule the day.
Jewish Congress.
The concensus of opinion is that Dr.
Margoshes was wrong in the stand he took
The Boycott Violators' Case
against Mayor LaGuardia and in his per-
Charged by the Joint Boycott Council
sonal attacks upon Dr. Stephen S. Wise.
As an individual, and as an editor, Dr. of the American Jewish Congress and the
Margoshes was justified in following the Jewish Labor Committee with violating
dictates of his conscience in backing the the boycott of Nazi Germany, three fur-
candidacy of Jeremiah T. Mahoney. But riers have been fined $75,000. It is an un-
he had neither the right to condemn La precedented decision, but carries with it
Guardia as being a pro-Nazi, simply be- the force of public opinion which brands
cause the liberal chief executive of the as self-humiliating and - self-hating those
great metropolis felt he was obligated to who will deal with the enemy in order to
extend to the Nazis the right of free as- save a few pennies of profit in their busi-
sembly when he permitted them to conduct ness dealings.
a parade in Yorkville; nor was he justi-
Five men comprised the board of arbi-
fied in charging Rabbi Wise with having trators: Emil Schlesinger, legal advisor of
a personal axe to grind in urging the may- the International Ladies Garment Workers
or's re-election.
Union, and J. Winogradsky, assistant
Thus, Dr. Margoshes was due for a manager of the Furriers Joint Council,
penalty. When the acceptance of his resig- were chosen to represent the Jewish Boy-
nation from the committees of the Amer- cott Council; I. Edwin Goldwasser, vice-
ican Jewish Congress was made public, we chairman of the American Jewish Joint
felt that he had been given deserved pun- Distribution Committee, and Samuel D.
ishment. Then came the announcement of Leidesdorf, former president of the New
the acceptance of his resignation from the York Federation of Jewish Charities, were
editorship of the Day, and the severe blow named arbitrators by the respondents, and
appeared to us to be a bit too harsh for a these four men selected as their impartial
man who had rendered great service to chairman a lawyer with a nationwide repu-
the Jewish cause for many years.
tation—David L. Podell, treasurer of the
Dr. Margoshes' resignation from the edi- Trade and Commerce Bar Association and
torship of the Day may be interpreted in chairman of the commerce committee of
several ways. It may be assumed that he the New York County Yawyers' Associa-
is the goat in a situation in which his pub- tion, Mr. Podell voted with the first two
lisher, David Shapiro, was as guilty as Dr. named 'against the arbitrators selected by
Margoshes himself. Even if there is a sec- the three guilty furriers—thus revealing
ret understanding between the two, as a that the division of opinion on the boycott
result of which Dr. Margoshes may be pro- question which existed during the first
vided for by his former employer, the pen- days of the Nazi regime still influences
alty is a hard one for another reason, in the differing groups in the Jewish popu-
that it may be interpreted as implying that lation. But it is nevertheless significant
an editor stands the chance of being de- that the five judges in this case agreed
prived of means of a livelihood for expres- on the following statement on the ques-
sing an opinion. Mr. Shapiro is escaping tion of dealing with Nazi Germany:
from punishment, and Dr. l‘largoshes is
"The Board of Arbitrators are unani-
bearing the brunt of responsibility—and mous, however, in feeling that they desire
this makes his removal from public life a the practice to be stopped in the trade. If
blow that is too severe.
it possibly can be effective at all in stamp-
But there is another angle in this con- ing it out, it desires to de everything in
troversy which makes the present situa- its power to do so."
tion very unpleasant. It has turned out
The fine is to be used by the arbitrators
to be a battle between the Forward and for charitable purposes. Perhaps it should
the Day, and the exchange of epithets have been stipulated in advance that a
reached such meanness that is may dis- portion of it will be used for propaganda
credit the Jewish community unless it is purposes to educate the masses of our peo-
stopped instantly. If the Forward con- ple with regard to the necessity for prose-
tinues to seek capital for itself out of this cuting the boycott to the very end. But in
political battle, it will harm rather than reality the stigma placed on the three
help in the aspiration to elevate Jewish guilty furriers and the penalty imposed
dignity. The Day has been discredited upon them will do more to warn others
sufficiently with the resignation of the man against similar practice than all the
who served as a "front" in the nasty politi- schools in the world could accomplish
cal issue in New York. That ought to be under the ablest tutelage. 'There is noth-
sufficient punishment. An end should be ing like a bit of force to make people
11149d to Ow Forward-Day controversy at think and act in accordance with the dic-
tates of self-respect and conscience.

Lights front
Shadowland

By LOUIS PEKARSKY

(Copyright. 1137. S. A. P. ti

HELLINGER TO MAKE FILMS
Signing of Marx Bellinger, fa-
mous Broadway columnist and
writer, as a production executive
has been announced by Warner
Bros. studios. Ile will come to
Hollywood late in November. Be-
fore this famous newspaperman
leaves New York, he will be tend-
ered a testimonial dinner at which
Jimmy Walker will preside and
Mayor Fiorella La Guardia and
other notables will speak. Belling-
er's career in the newspaper pro-
fession dates back 14 years. He
saw service on the New York
Daily New and Chicago Tribune
for seven years before affiliating
with the New York Daily Mirror
and King Features Syndicate, Ile
authored three books, "I 5feet a
Lot of People," "The Ten Million"
and "Moon Over Broadway;" two
stage shows, "Ziegfield Follies of
1931" and "Hot Cha;" and two
original moving pictures, "Night
Court" and Broadway Bill."
COLUMBUS OF THE AIR
Mark Larkin, Hollywood pub-
licity writer, who handled the
press notices for Eddie Cantor An-
niversary Week, suggests that
Cantor ought to be named the "Co-
lumbus of the Air" because of his
many discoveries of great talent
on the radio. Cantor)tut such big
figures as David Rubinoff, George
Burns and Gracie Allen, James
Wallington, Bobby Breen, Harry
Einstein (Parkyakarkus), Deanna
Durbin and George Olson's band
on the first steps to success, fame,
and riches as radio entertainers.
Cantor delivered a series of lec-
tures at Harvard University on
comedy lass, winter, and is much in
demand for similar talks at other
institutions.

KING FOR A NIGHT

Strictly
Confidential

The Jew Who Once Ruled Poland

Tidbits from Everywhere

By MAX WOLLENSTEINER

By PHINEAS J. BIRON

Prince

EDITOR'S NOTE: Polish arlotorrary le agog because
Michael Redolent, scion of one of the most blueblooded
noel families, hoe married a Jewess. Polish Jewry
jive, la daily terror of pogrom*. Hut once another
Mace Rodalutil had a Jew elected tang of Poland.
This farninating narrative by a direct descendant of
Saul Wald who was king of Poland fur one night,
tells the **hole story of this AM111111( and lung-foe-
gotten chopter of Jewloh hiotory,

Prince Radziwill, one of the ranking nobles of
16th century Poland, was notorious for his way-
ward and wanton mode of living. His escapades
finally became so scandalous that the Polish clergy
prevailed upon him to undertake a pilgrimage to
Rome to seek pardon for his sins from the Pope.
Absolution was granted Radziwill on condition that
he do penance by making the return journey from
Rome to Brest-Litovsk on foot. When Radziwill
reached Padua, footsore and exhausted, he paused
for rest on a bench in front of the house of Rabbi
Samuel Judah Katzenellenbogen, the rabbi of the
town. The wind blew against his hairy, thread-
bare coat, but Rabbi Samuel, examining the strang-
er from a window, saw the tired traveller wore
under his shabby coat a jacket embroidered with
precious jewels.
Taking it for granted that he was some dis-
tinguished personage, Rabbi Samuel sent his ser-
vant to invite the stranger into the house. Radzi-
will accepted with alacrity and was soon telling
his story to his Jewish host. Before speeding his
guest on his way, Rabbi Samuel provided the prince
with funds and new clothing. His one request of
Radziwill was that upon reaching Poland he should
take care of the rabbi's son, Saul, who had been
sent by his father to the famous Talmudical aca-
demy in Brest-Litovsk.
Radziwill kept his word. He sought out Saul
and made him his hofjude or court Jew.
Under the patronage of his princely sponsor Saul
rose quickly in the esteem pf his fellow-Jews. His
wealth also increased. He became one of the
merchant princes of the Duchy of Lithuania. Ap-
pointed royal servant by King Sigismund III in
appreciation of favors to the royal house, Saul
was authorized to wear a golden chain. A coat
of arms bestowed upon him represented a lion
crowning himself and an eagle. His chief occupa-
tion was overseeing leases of state revenues, duties
and bridge tolls. When salt boiling houses were
opened in Lithuania and in 1678 Saul leased the
entire business from the king. He also supervised
collections of revenue for the government at Brest
and was entrusted with the operation of the fish-
The Jewish Publication Society ery, mills and alcohol and beer monopolies.
of America announces that the
Edwin Wolf Prize Novel Contest Becomes Saul Wahl—King for a Night
These extensive business activities brought Saul
Award of $2,600 has been won
by Beatrice Bisno of New York into intimate contact with the royal court. King
City, for her first novel, "Tomor- Stephen Batory (1570-1587) held him in high
row's Bread." This manuscript esteem, while the Jews thought enough of him to
was selected from 160 novels sub- elect him president of the Jewish community of
mitted from practically every Brest-Litovsk. Saul's highly-placed friends also
country of the world, and the earned him the envy and enmity of many. Once
judges of the contest were Mrs. his enemies tried to revenge themselves on him
Dorothy Canfield Fisher and !digs through his daughter, Hannah, a striking beauty
Fannie Hurst, internationally of great intelligence. When the king's wife died,
known authors, and Edwin Wolf, those who sought to undermine Saul induced some
2nd, bibliographer, of the A. S. influential noblemen to call the monarch's atten-
tion to Saul's daughter. The king found Hannah
W. Rosenbach Company.
gvotthwaitn d l i eel.; l at re esdelt,oe mheave 1,1 c. e r s Jtilldsutec t ehde.
This $2,500 prize was given o ut k-aaucltie
to the Jewish Publication Society
by Morris Wolf and Mrs. Isidore ran to his friend, Samuel Schoor, the chief rabbi
Kohn of Philadelphia, the chil- of Brest-Litovsk, then a man past 70 and a wid-
dren of the late Edwin Wolf, a ower. Of him he asked that he make Hannah his
former president of the society, wife. And the marriage took place immediately.
Shortly after, on Aug. 15, 1587, King Stephen
for the best novel of Jewish in-
died. Under the Polish constitution a new king
terest in English.
was
to be chosen by vote of the country's noble-
Beatrice Bisno was born in
Chicago, and received her edu- meq. And when Prince Radziwill journeyed to
cation at Lewis Institute. As a Warsaw for the royal election he took Saul with
child, she grew up hearing labor him. It soon became evident that no agreement
problems discussed, for her home could be reached on a candidate at the first meet-
was a sort of open house forum ing of the noblemen. But the constitution pro-
in which Sidney Hillman, then a vided that the country must not remain without a
resident of that city, Joseph king over night.
It was at this point that Radziwill said he had
Schlossberg and Jacob S. Potof-
sky ventilated their economic a candidate who should be named until agreement
theories, many of which have was reached. And to the astonishment of the
since become incorporated in the Polish bluebloods, Radziwill put in the nomination
body politic. Her late fater, once the name of Saul. Ile argued that Saul was politic-
a prominent labor leader. acted ally harmless and that it was perfectly safe to
as guide and counsellor for these permit him to be king for a night. Strange to
younger men, who have since be- relate, the assembled noblemen accepted Radzi-
will's proposal and elected Saul, the son and grand-
come prominent labor leaders.
Beatrice Bisno continued her son of rabbis, as king of Poland for one night.
education in New York City. at The German word for election "wahl" was added
Columbia and New York Univer- to his name and he became King Saul Wahl.
Invokes Privilege in Jewry's Behalf
sities. For eight years, she was
Sidney Hillman's "Girl Friday,"
The story of Saul who was king for a night may
also acting as personnel and of- be apocryphal but it is well established in Jewish
fice manager of the Amalgamated history. There are documents extant proving that
Clothing Workers of America, of Saul was an important factor in Polish royal cir-
which Sidney Hillman is presi- cles in the 16th century. Few of Poland's Chris-
dent. She resigned her position tian historians mention the episode. First to re-
and spent three years writing "To- cord the story of Saul's fleeting kingship was his
morrow's Bread." In 1925, she great-great-grandson, Moses Katzenellenbogen, who
went abroad to make first-hand related it in a manuscript that is still preserved in
studies of labor conditions. In the library of Oxford University. As recently as
Great Britain, she studied the 1854 another work on the subject was written by
operation of the dole; in Russia Hirsch Edelman of London on order of Dennis M.
the new experiments in their Samuel, one of Saul's wealthy descendants. Jewish
planned economy. To see the historians refer to Saul's election very briefly.
King Saul had six eons and five daughters, all
real life of the French people,
she cycled through the back roads of whom were blessed with numerous progeny.
of France, and did the same in Which explains why so many Jewish families in
Poland and Germany boast of descent from their
England.
As travel editor of Success Mag- regal ancestor. King Saul. Among those who claim
azine, she recorded her impres- kinship with him are the author, who has written
sions of these countries, contribut- a history of the Katzenellenbogen family, from
ing numerous articles as well to which stem, among others, Moses Mendelssohn,
World Traveler and the New Gabriel Riesser, champion of the emancipation
York World. Lake many other of the German Jews, Karl Marx and many other
young women, Beatrice Bisno did intellectual giants.
As strange as was his life so was his end. It
not know what kind of career
best suited her talents. For a is known that Saul died in 1617 but where ne is
(MACAWS TRIM TO WIRT PA0111
buried no one knows.

Her 1st Novel Wins
International Prize

t

WHOLLY PALESTINE
The Berliner Illustrierte Zei-
tune, Nazi picture weekly which
was once the property of the Ull-
steins, is publishing pictorial re-
p o r t s of Palestine captioned
"Arabs fight for their country"
Curiously enough, all the cap-
tions are friendly to our fellow-
Semites, the Arabs One cover
page showed a Nazi reporter in
his car with an Arab who waved
the swastika . , . The title: "The
safest way for a European to
travel in Palestine and avoid being
attacked is to be accompanied by
an Arab and to show the flag of
his country" . . This picture
series is being adertised in the
Juedische Rundschau.
In the Belgian Congo there is a
movement under way to send a
commission of experts to Palestine
to get pointers for improving col-
onization methods ... One of the
two synagogues of German Jews
in Palestine holds its services in
the Centre de Culture Francaise
at Jerusalem.
When and if Palestine is tri-
partitioned three different kinds
of postage stamps will be issued
One stamp will bear the words
Eretz Israel, and the crossed tri-
angles of the Magen David, for
the Jewish State Another will
have the portrait of the Emir or
Arab king, and the words South-
ern Syria, for the Arab State ...
And the stamp for the British
mandated area will have the name
Palestine on it, and the head of
King George VI.
Heirs of the late Sir Patrick
Geddes, noted friend of Zionism,
are offering to sell the Zionists
Scots College at Montpellier,
France, as a training center for
chalutzim ... It was built between
1924 and 1928 as a residence hall
for American and European stu-
dents studying at Montpellier Uni-
versity The Zionists are being
given first choice because the cli-
mate and vegetation are akin to
those of Palestine.
WE'RE TELLING YOU
The Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi
League is again on the hunt for
an executive secretary T h e
most recent incumbent, Ertlinger,
lasted hardly long enough to learn
the names of the people in the of-
flee,
Seeking to dissipate the feeling
that he is pro-Nazi. Charles E. Be-
deux, friend of the Duke of Wind-
sor, is taking pains to explain
that before Hitler came topower
the manager of the Bedaux
branch in Germany was a full-
blooded Jew.
Anti-Nazi Germans in this coun-
try are learning to think twice be-
fore chumming up with a newcom-
er who claims to be a refugee ...
The Pacific Coast anti-Nazis are
still shocked at the disclosure that
one self-styled refugee who said
he had escaped from a concentra-
tion camp was actually a Gestapo
spy provided with faked docu-
ments to give him entree to anti-
Nazi circles.
Officials of St. Francis Hospital,
at Wilmington, must be hot anti-
Nazis . When they received a
human skeleton from Germany
they immediately had it shipped
back, though they had ordered it
some years ago.
Members of the German-Ameri-
can Bund are being asked to save
scrap metal and turn it over to
any Bund branch for shipment to
Germany.
The Jooss European Ballet, now
touring this country, is the Ger-
man emigres' answer to Hitler-
ism ... Few stage events are as
impressive a denunciation of dic-
tatorial war and its folly as the
dance they call The Green Table
. This group is in self-exile from
Germany because they refuse to
ditch their non-Aryan music direc-
tor and cast-members.
SHORT WAVE FLASHES
Max Ausnitz, multimillionaire
Rumanian Jew who embraced Ro-
man Catholicism when he took the
daughter of a general as his sec-
ond wife, has given 100,000 lei to
Porcuna Vremi, Rumanian coun-
terpart of Stretcher's Stuermer
. . In exchange Porunca Vremi
agreed to lay off Ausnitz.
The Jewish community of Kov-
no, Lithuania, is sponsoring a
drive to discourage, the use of the
Russian language, 'holding that it
inspires anti-Semitism among the
Lithuanians to hear Jews employ
I a foreign tongue,

Is the Duke of
Glamor and Mystery of Feast
Windsor Sponsoring
of Maccabees Depicted in New Economic Fascism?
Volume of Publication Society

By RABBI EDWARD L ISRAEL

Outstanding American Jewish Scholars Collaborate in
Preparation of Book Under the Editorship
of Miss Emily Solis-Cohen

The Jewish Publication Society
of America announces the publica-
tion of "Hanukkah: The Feast of
Lights," on Nov. 22. In publishing
this book on Hanukkah, the so-
ciety attempts to right a wrong.
Two years ago, the holiday passed
its 2100th birthday, but in the
pressure of other affairs, few
seem to have taken note of this
anniversary. Yet so important
and enjoyable has this holiday
been throughout the centuries, as
meaningful for all of western
civilization has been its message
of religious liberty and of opposi-
tion to tyranny, that the society
considers the present time an ex-
cellent occasion to bring Hanuk-
kah once more to the attention of
the public.
This is not a one-sided book.
The various types of readers as
well as the various phases of the
holiday, are taken into considera-
tion. The compiler and editor of
the volume is Miss Emily Solis-
Cohen, widely known for her con-
tributions to American Jewish lit-
erature. She divides her book Into
three parts.
The first is a series of essays
on the phases of Hanukkah,—its

history, its music, its methods of
celebration. The second is a large
and excellent compilation of lit-
erary material selected to instruct
and inspire. It contains excerpts
in prose and in poetry from the
best writings of ancient and mod-
ern times, dealing with the holi-
day and its spirit. The third sec-
tion of the book bears upon the
celebration of the holiday: the
service in synagogue and home,
and the commemoration of it in
club and school. Thus the book is
certain to appeal to adults as well
as to children, to those who want
to learn about the holiday's origin
and history, as well as to those
who seek material to aid in the
organization of • program for the
school.
Eminent Contributors
The contributors to this volume
are well known to the Jewish com-
munity, Rabbi Milton Steinberg,
author of "The Making of the
Modern Jew," contributes an ar-
ticle on "Judaism and Hellenism."
Dr. Solomon Grayzel of Gratz
College, contributes an article on
the "History of Hanukkah." Prof.
A. W. Binder of the Jewish Insti-

To us Hollywood-nurtured
sentimental American a, the
Duke of Windsor, erstwhile
King Edward VIII, has become
the exquisite symbol of high-
minded romance, par excel-
lence. Some of us—this column-
ist included—were as stirred
by King Edward's "Something
must be done about this" as
he gazed on the squalid plight
of the Welsh miners, that we
began to see wicked conserva-
tive plots in his ousting. Recent
events tend to make us rather
fearful as to the sort of "some-
thing" Edward had in mh:Land
as to the sound liberal quality
of his judgment on economic
and social matters.
My friends of the Baltimore
Federation of Labor turned the
spotlight of the world on them-
selves when, quite casually. they
passed a resolution which even-
tually terminated, for the pres-
ent, the American visit of the
Duke and Dnchess of Windsor.
Quite interesting, isn't It, that
out of Baltimore, the home of
Wallis Warfield, should come

PURELY COMMENTARY

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

The Positive vs. the Negative
Approach to Jewish Issues

A streamer headline in a recent Issue of Center
News of the Jewish Community Center of De-
troit, announcing: "Sub-Seniors Discuss Anti-Semi-
tism," caused a fellow newsman to pose the ques-
tion: Is it necessary for young people to be so
burdened with the fears that hound the older gen-
eration, that they must feature anti-Semitism as
the major issue confronting them in life as Jews?
Which reminded us of the late Milford Stern
whom we admired as one of the most intelligent
leaders Detroit Jewry ever had. Mr. Stern used
to tell us that he and his family never left the
dinner table without devoting a half hour or an
hour, sometimes as much as two hours, for the dis-
cussion of current news. He used the now ex-
tinct Jewish Daily Bulletin as the textbook and
it was his method first to go over the important
Jewish news of the day and then discuss the
events as they affect American Jewry. Invariably,
he and his family would study the work of func-
tioning Jewish movements and the contributions
they make to Jewry and the world at large; the
contributions that are being made by Jews to
civilization and the wholesome cultural tendencies
in Jewish life, Mr. Stern related these discus-
sions to us with pride because, as he put it, a
thorough discussion of Jewish occurrences helped
him and his family to acquire an optimistic view-
point rather than harp continuously on the nega-
tive sides of Jewish life,
What the late Mr. Stern did with his family
provides an answer to the questions posed above.
Our fellow-newsman is right: the young people
tend to emphasize the negative, not the positive
in Jewish life. They forget, if they ever knew
it, that there is a Jewish culture; that Jews con-
tinue to create even in the present period of great
distress and tragedy; that Jews today are creat-
ing - a new life in Palestine; that their people have
not abandoned their spiritual existence for a sole
aim of fighting anti-Semitism. It is the old, age-
worn answer: if only our young people knew
But it is not the young people who are not to
blame. It is the parent who is to blame. If the
average Jewish father were to emulate the example
so admirably set by the late Milford Stern, and
if he were to discuss Jewish issues, both the nega-
tive and the positive, with his children, he as well
as the children would soon learn that it is pos-
sible and far more important to approach Jewish
issues from the positive rather than the negative
viewpoints.


Do Advocates of Building Program
Send Their Children to Hebrew Schools?

The need for a new Hebrew school building is
evidently generally recognized, else its advocacy
Would have been questioned by those who will
be asked to provide the necessary sums. It will
be interesting to observe how promptly some of
our wealthier Jews will respond to this important
need with voluntary offerings for such a building
program. There would be ground for greater
optimism in the instance of the Hebrew schools
if the advocates of a new building in the north-
west Detroit section were to send their own chil-
dren to these schools. They would then have a
greater personal share in the building of an ade-
quate school system and would not be motivated
by desires merely "to help the poor children."
But so many of the leaders, and those who possess
the necessary financial means, fail to send their
own children to the Hebrew schools that this very
act is the most discouraging explanation of the
community's failure to build a school in a section
where hundreds of our boys and girls are threat-
ened with the danger of going through life without
a Jewish education. If we knew that the "lead-
ers" and the "rich" would take our advice, we
would urge them to begin to practice their leader.
ship and benevolence by sending their children to
the Hebrew schools. They will gain by it—and
so will the community.



Need for Adult Education

Which leads us to make brief comment on the
question of adult education. Editors assembled
in annual convention at Ann Arbor strongly urged
adult educational programs for American com-
munities. Progressive bodies have king ago recog-
nized the need for educational work among par-
ents. The Reform Jewish congregations have
made some progress in this direction. Our Ortho-
dox Jewish groups—including the Conservatives—
have thus far failed in this field. Some of them
have managed to pack s c hoot buildings
once a week for Sunday School classes but during
the entire balance of the week their vacant class-
rooms point an accusing finger at the community
because they are kept unused and are mere orna-
ments in structures that are vainly guarded for
use one day in the week. Where the desire for
an adult education is lacking, the leaders as well
as the parents stand accused as yielding to ignor-
ance where knowledge is required.


Anti-Semitism for the Youth

Arch-anti-Semite Julius Streicher's propaganda
of hate has no boundary lines. As long as Jews
can be hurt, everything is right, and all means are
justified in the name of the "holy cause of Nazism
and Jew-baiting."
Stretcher's latest maneouver is to poison the
minds of children and to inject in them deep-
rooted hate against the Jews. His Stuermer has
announced the publication of a book "The Jewish
Question in the Classroom" for the purpose of
teaching the boys and girls "about the Jews and
their crimes." Herr Streicher, who has written
the foreword to this book, can be repended on
make the injection so poisonous that it will take
generations to eradicate the hate with which the
children are being raised in Nazi-ruled Germany.

Uncle Sam's Housebuilder

A Portrait of Nathan Straus

By BERNARD POSTAL

EDITOR'S NOTE: Nathan Steam, ens, of the met philanthropist of that name,
has been used edministrator of the new United States Homing Author-
ity. In this timely sketch, Mr. Pastel Introolures on to Strong, the philan-
throplot, chic leader and Jewish communal figure, who Is treading the
farollhr paths of Ida sire.

When President Roosevelt ap-
pointed Nathan Straus administra-
tor of the new United States
Housing Authority, an agency set
up by the last session of Congress
to carry a long-range of slum
clearance and low cost housing,
and entrusted him with the ex-
penditure of $526,000,000 for this
purpose, he made him virtually
Uncle Sam's number one house-
builder. Government bureaus have
engaged in construction work be-
fore, but the task assigned to
Straus is one of far-reaching so-
cial implications, for it is intended
to provide decent homes for a
minimum of 1,000,000 families in
the lowest Income brackets. His
will be the job of directing a great
assault on city slums aimed at
eradicating this blot on our civili-
zation by employing government
funds to bridge the gap between
what the slum dweller can afford
to pay and what private builders
would have to charge.
Few men are better equipped by
background, temperament, social
outlook and experience for what is
probably the toughest job Presi-
dent Roosevelt has had to offer

than Nathan Straus. Bearing
name that has become the symbol
of compassion and human under-
standing, Straus refused to be
shadowed by the repute of his
father and won his own spurs in
public life not by trading on the
traditions of his famous sire but
by his own efforts and achieve-
ments.
Educated in Germany
The elder Straus was at the
peak of his career as the peer of
philanthropists when Nathan, Jr.,
was born 48 years ago. Educated
at Heidelberg and Munich, young
Straus was introduced to the in-
tricacies of public welfare by his
father, As a matter of fact the
first money he earned was when
a newpaper man visiting the
Straus home urged Straus, Sr., to
write an article on "My Principles
of Giving." As an inducement, he
offered to give $25 to any charity
Straus would name. But Straus
declined, having neither the time
nor the interest, Junior was stand-
ing at his aide and asked "All
not let me do it?" And he did. He
was 14 years old when he got that
$25. While studying at Heidelberg,
young Straus helped his father in

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