November 15, 1940
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and the Legal Chronicle
Detroit
Jewish Chronicle
and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE
Published Weekly by The Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc.
President
JACOB H. SCHAKIsIE
ttntered as Second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Post.
office at Detroit, Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879.
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Telephone: Cadillac 1040
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Sabbath Scriptural Selections
Pentateuchal portion—Gen. 18:1-22:24.
Prophetical portion—II Kings 4:1-37.
CHESHVAN 14, 5701
NOVEMBER 15, 1940
The Temple's 90th Anniversary
Temple Beth El's 90th anniversary, to
be observed next week, represents not
merely the celebration of the founding
of a synagogue, but is in reality the birth-
day of the Jewish communtiy of Detroit.
While the record shows that there were
Jewish residents in Michigan as . early as
1763, Jews began to settle in Detroit in
1850. The founding of the Jewish com-
munity of Detroit then commenced with
the formation of Congregation Beth El,
and Temple Beth El's history traces the
history of Detroit Jewry.
The completion of 90 years of active
service to the community, in the course of
which the Temple's members made lasting
contributions towards the upbuilding of
this city and this state, as well as to the
Jewish people, is an occasion for celebra-
tion and rejoicing. The past 90 years
were marked by noteworthy accomplish-
ments in literature, in science, in the arts,
and in the realm of the spirit. Temple
Beth El made its contributions toward the
enrichment of the spiritual life of the
community. Its members and rabbis work-
ed for the achievement of good will and
true brotherhood among Christians and
Jews. They aided in the advancement of
good government.
Temple Beth El's rabbis and lay mem-
bers are not alone in conducting this cele-
bration. The entire community celebrates
with them and extends to them whole-
hearted congratulations. We join in ex-
tending greetings to Dr. Leo M. Franklin,
to Rabbi Leon Fram, to the officers and
members of Temple Beth El, on this oc-
casion.
Is Democracy "All Done?"
Two responsible newspapermen inter-
viewed Joseph P. Kennedy, Ambassador
to England, and reported that he said
that democracy is "all done in England."
Immediately upon publication of this ar-
ticle Mr. Kennedy denied the statements,
said he spoke "off the record," and main-
tained that his remarks were misinter-
preted.
In the meantime, the damage had been
done and people began to wonder wheth-
er we are on the verge of a worldwide
reaction that may engulf this country.
Fortunately, on Armistice Day—the day
of the interview with Ambassador Ken-
nedy — President Roosevelt reasserted
faith in democracy. In his address at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier the Presi-
dent said:
"1, for one, do not believe that
force will be successful in sterilizing
the seeds which had taken such firm
root as a harbinger of better lives for
mankind. 1, for one, do not believe
that the world‘will revert either to a
modern form of ancient slavery or
to controls vested in modern feudal-
ism or modern emperors or modern
dictators or oligarchies in these days.
The very people under their iron
heels will themselves rebel."
Writing a few days ago in the Christian
Science Monitor, J. B. Priestly, one of the
leading authors and dramatists in Eng-
land, admitted that the battle between
fascism and democracy still goes on in
Great Britain and stated:
"I may claim to be in touch through
my radiocasting and newspaper ar-
ticles with a very large cross section
of the British people and I do not
hesitate to declare that I find that
deep mental and spiritual unrest, that
growing sense of frustration, in these
people today. They are ready to
break Herr Hitler, but they are also
ready to break any imitation Hitlers
nearer home. They are ripe for new
opportunities and responsibilities, for
sudden enlargements of democratic
principle."
Admitting that there is ground for un-
limited pessimism, we are inclined to ac-
cept the viewpoints of Roosevelt and
Priestly. In fact, even if Ambassador Ken-
nedy was mild in his pessimism and was
unfairly dealt with by his interviewers,
he did not render service to the demo-
cratic cause. One of democracy's strong-
est elements is faith—the faith expressed
by President Roosevelt that the very peo-
ple under the iron heels of dictators "will
themselves rebel." Unless we have faith we
are doomed. We do not gain confidence
and strength in our democratic idealism
by hearing pessimistic views that democ-
racy is already done for and that it is
approaching its end in this country. We
deny this, we repudiate such a viewpoint
and we adhere to established principles
of our traditions and faith—as Jews and
as Americans—that force will not rule
forever and that "better lives for man-
kind" will soon be assured for all peoples.
No one has a right to destroy faith. We
are confident that democracy and the
faith that carries it to success will survive
all obstacles and will carry on until it
bears fruitful and wholesome results for
all mankind.
Thanksgiving
In America, we observe Thanskgiving.
In America, we have reason for giving
thanks.
Next Thursday may well be considered
a day of glory and true happiness.
We shall be celebrating, Jews and
Catholics and Protestants, men and wom-
en of all faiths, and all racial origins.
On that day we shall express gratitude
that we are Americans. On that day there
will be occasion for resolving that every
day in our lives be called a day of thanks-
giving for the blessings we enjoy in this
great land.
In America there is freedom and equal-
ity and security. In this land we had an
election and we voted as we pleased. On
the day when we made a choice for the
Presidency, our vote was as important as
that of any man or woman. In this land
we are masters of our destiny, and we
rate high as human beings. Here, we en-
joy the freedom of the air and the com-
fort of our homes, in contrast to the de-
struction and horror that rules over 80
per cent of mankind.
Next Thursday 130,000,000 Americans
will give thanks for their freedom. In
doing this, there will be resolution that
this freedom be protected and that the
hatreds of Europe and Asia should never
cross these shores.
CONFIDENTIAL •
• STRICTLY
Tidbits from Everywhere
By PHINEAS J. BIRON
• IVEEKLY GIGGLE
• LONDON BRIGADES
A foreign correspondent is cred-
ited with the story that Hitler
took the statue of Moses from
the Louvre in Paris and set it
up in his garden at Berchtesgaden
. . . His entourage then was
amazed to observe that every day
the Fuehrer knelt before the sta-
tue for a solid hour . . . Cur-
iosity finally became too much for
his aides, and during Adolf's de-
votions a member of his staff
one day tiptoed up behind him to
hear what he was saying to the
statue . . . And Hitler was plead-
ing with the image of the great
Jewish lawgiver: "Tell me, Moses
—How did you ever get your hosts
across that body of water?" . . .
Another correspondent reports
that the inhabitants of much of
Europe call the Nazi armies of
occupation the "Salvation Army"
. . . This not so much because the
Heil-ing legions claim to have sav-
ed many lands from a fate worse
than death, but chiefly because
the German name for the Salva-
tion Army is "Heilsarmee" . . .
And a domestic idea we'd like to
pass on to you reached us via
a rear bumper sign we observed
along the Hendrik Hudson High-
way . . It read: "Don't Hit
Me—Hit Hitler!"
The percentage of Jews in the
volunteer fire brigades of London
is very high, you should know. . .
And these brigades are perform-
ing one of the most dangerous
tasks in England today, for they
are called out to action in the
midst of bombardments, as fires
can't be permitted to spread just
because a few bombs are dropped
down from the sky . . . English
military leaders, we hear, have
been so deeply impressed with the
bravery of the Jews in these fire-
fighting squads that they are urg-
ing the government to permit the
formation of larger Jewish mili-
tary units in Palestine.
• ECHOES OF THE WAR
It's rats that have brought on
the greatest catastrophes in the
history of Europe, says Broad-
way, referring specifically to the
Bubonic and Teutonic plagues.
So hated is Hitler in England
today that people don't mention
his name any more, but refer to
him as "that man" . . . to which
the Jews add the potent curse
"Yimach shmo v'sichro."
You may have thought that Ber-
lin's C h a m b e r l a instrasse was
named after Neville, in recogni-
tion of his appeasement policy, but
the fact is that it was named
after the late Houston Stewart
Chamberlain, an Englishman who
became a German-language anti-
Semitic writer.
• WE MOURN A LOSS
The late Lillian Freiman, 0. B.
E., wife of Ottawa's A. J. Frei-
man, was probably the outstand-
ing Jewish woman on the North
American continent . . . Her re-
cent death saddened not only all
Canadian Zionists, one of whose
honored leaders she was, but all
Canadian Jewry too . . . Some
day her biography will be written,
and people will then learn the
amazing range of her humani-
tarian interests . . . In Canadian
non-Jewish circles she was re-
garded as the most charitable wo-
man in the land.
• THE SHOW WORLD.
Charlie Chaplin's "The Great
Dictator," which the New York
critics weren't so crazy about but
which the public seems to like,
may never reach the movie-goers
of South America . . . At least,
not if Axis diplomats have their
way . . , They're bending every
effort and pulling every string to
have governmental bans put on
the picture in the Latin American
countries, lest our good neighbors
get a glimpse of Charlie's opinion
of Adolf and Benito.
Ben Hecht is worried about the
fate of his new film, "Comrade
X", in which he has dealt some-
what unkindly with Soviet Rus-
sia . . . His fear is that po-
litical developments now brewing
may soon make it rather impolitic
to show an anti-Russia film.
Warning to concert-goers:
are now threatened by a joint
tour of those two famed musi-
cians Oscar Levant and Ilarpo
Marx—who, as you should know,
play, respectively, the piano and
the harp.
• REFUGEE REPORT
Jane Manner, whose School of
Speech had quite a student body
even in normal times, is finding
herself busier and busier as Hit-
ler continues his march through
Europe . . . Genevieve Tabouis,
the famous French journalist and
lecturer, is one of the latest new-
comers to Miss Manner's classes.
A very recent arrival in this
country is Oskar Karlweis, broth-
er of the widow of the late novel-
ist Jakob Wassermann . . . Karl-
weis, whom Vienna in other years
celebrated as its own Charles
Boyer, is nilriv en route to Holly-
wood after a brief stay in Ellis
Island.
The day after Thanksgiving
will be the date of Elisazeth Berg-
ner's air debut . . , This former
German actress, who for a time
played on Broadway before re-
turning to the London stage and
films, is about to make a big
comeback now.
IF THE ROPE BREAKS
Forces of Tolerance at Work
In the midst of destruction, there is a
small still voice that never fails to plead
for tolerance. Often, the possessors of
this voice fight for human kindness and
better relationships among men against
great odds.
In Jugoslavia, students with progres-
sive aspirations fought a group of anti-
Semites and conducted a demonstration
against bigotry.
Clergymen in Holland announced from
their pulpits that they would oppose the
anti-Jewish decrees of the Nazi regime,
with the result that the Nazis threatened
them with punishment unless they
stopped their protests.
In Belgrade, the headquarters of the
country's leading Fascist movement, Zbor,
were raided, papers belonging to the anti-
S e m i tic leader Dmitri Lyotitch were
seized and the anti-Semites' headquarters
were closed and sealed by government
order.
French Socialist leaders, meeting in
seer et session in un-occupied France,
pledged opposition to the anti-Semitic
statutes proclaimed by the puppet regime
of Marshal Petain.
Thus, the forces for good continue to
function and refuse to permit their voices
to be silenced.
There are omens for good everywhere,
all indicating that a better day is dawn-
ing for mankind.
Courtesy of The Synagept. U.A. H C.
Bernard Segal
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