A mericart ,fervisk Periodical Carter

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5

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE end the Legal Chronicle

December 13, 1940

I

Purely Commentary •

A Golden Text for All

Even in Germany, under the Nazis, there w.
a time when Jews were able tonpeak their minds
—through fables or by quoig Scripture. But
conditions grew worse by degrees, and as time
went on all semblances of liberty disappeared.
Then began a systematic attempt to force the
same sort of suppression upon the rest of the
world.
The thrillingly interestin g sideline on the
first years of Nazism is that Jewish life went on
even though freedom was curtailed and Jews
were deprived of the right to earn a livelihood.
It was almost two years after Hitler assumed
supreme power over the German people that the
Rundschau, the organ of the Zioni s t
Juedische
Federation of Germany which also became the
organ for German Jewry as a whole, published
a significant and touching article which, by sug-
gestion, pleaded eloquently the cause of the
Jews. It was on Dec. 27, 1934, that the special
Supplement of the Juedische Rundschau carried
the following:

In the town of Neutra in Hungary, the seat
of a bishopric of the Roman Catholic Church,
early a century ago a prelate who
there lived n
ounted
as one of the noblest bishops of his
was c
time. This was Bishop Emmerich of Palagyay.
erely look after the spiritual
He did not m
welfare of the people of his diocese, but made
it his business to assuage distress and to sup-
port the poor as far as lay in his power.
Especially during the days preceding the
festivals of his faith he regarded it as his
first duty to get into touch with the needy,
by his canon and the
and s o, accompanied
mayor of the town, he would walk through the
quarters where the poorest dwelt, so that by
gifts bestowed personally he might make the
coming festival as joyous as possible to these
un fortunate ones.
It was on a dismal winter e vening that the
bishop accompanied by the above-named digni-
tepped out into the street after one
taries, s
co rner
of his errands in a poor dwelling. At the
of the street there was a gloomy alley, and the
bishop's c ompanions hastily pulled him in a
different direction. In surprise he turned to the
mayor and asked him why he was avoiding
this street, as no doubt there too must be
people eager for gifts.
The mayor cast a significant glance upwards,
where a thin wire could be seen stretched from
the bay of the one house to that of the next.
It was the "Erub" of the Jews' alley, the wire
which s ymbolized the ghetto wall of c former
arrying
centuries and which facilitated the
the
Sabbath.
The
canon
whis-
of objects o n
pered to his lord, making use of the scholarly
Latin, so that those present might not under-
stand:
"Your Eminence, this is the Jewish quarter!"
The bishop cast a glance into the darkness
c ompanions
of the alley, then looked at his
and said quietly a nd earnestly:
"Indeed—the Jewish quarter!" And after a
c ould
scarcely perceptible pause, but one which
be felt, he added: "And are there no poor
children in it?"
The mayor looked at him, disconcerted. Cer-
hildren, and
tainly there were plenty of poor c
poor parents, too, in those small dark houses,
but how could one trouble the lord bishop
aited for no a nswer,
about them? The bishop w ddressing
the others,
a
but turned back w ithout
until they stood in the center of the town,
where the lofty cathedral loomed in the dark-
ness.
From the portal of the church shone forth
in mighty golden letters the text:
"A solis ortu ad occasum laudabile nomen

By Philip Slomdvitz

News about a big American

Hamlin to Speak
Here on Thursday

Jewish action in aid of Britain

will break soon.

Preparations Being Made for
were accepted, and the headmaster was the
Annual Gewerkshaften
canon who had accompanied the bishop on
Campaign
that walk round the town.
At that time there was among the pupils a
Isaac Hamlin, national secre-
boy of great talents and diligence, the child tary of the Gewerkshaften cam-
of simple Jewish parents. The parents had paign, will appear as guest speak-
great difficulty in paying the school fees, and er at an important meeting, to
when the father died, there was no doubt that
the boy would have to lease the school.
The matter came up for discussion before
the committee, for the school had several schol-
arships endowed by the bishop, and one of
these had just become vacant. The canon pro-
posed that the name of the Jewish boy be
mentioned for the free place; but his colleagues
had their misgivings, for the bishop had never
yet granted a s cholarship to a Jew. When the
mayor, who was also on the committee, ex-
pressed himself in favor, the two gentlemen
were instructed to frame a suitable petition
to the bishop. Now this petition, for no apparent
reason, began with the verse from the Psalms:
"From the rising of the sun unto the going
down thereof the Lord's name . . . even when
we promote and encourage righteous conduct
and talents to be used in the service of god

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The bishop's reply took up the allusion:

"From the rising of the sun until the going
down thereof, all human beings are in like
need of the Lord's gifts. Therefore we grant
tt
The Jewish boy received the scholarship. He
became one of the most celebrated doctors and
benefactors, equally honored and loved in all
classes of the population. Especially was he
esteemed by Palagyay, who later became car-
dinal and bishop of princely rank.

Call

TYLER
5-8400

ISAAC HAMLIN

be held Thursday evening, Dec.
19, at Lachar's Restaurant on
12th St.
best-
Mr. Hamlin is one of the best-
informed and dynamic personali-
ties in the labor Zionist move-
The information that he
brings is of the utmost import-
to all interested on what is
happening in Palestine today.
The Detroit delegation to the
16th annual convention of the
Gewerkshaften campaign, which
was recently held in New York,

Read in terms of conditions prevailing today,
almost six years after this article was written
and published, we begin to realize how daring
German
German Jews were in days of tyrannical control
by the Gestapo. But this article is on record as
evidence
evidence of fearlessness and a passionate quest
for good will. It was an attempt to retain what-
ever remained of friendship among the Christian
neighbors of the Jews. It sounded passionate
plea for justice.
In most parts of the world, and even among
some groups in this country, the lesson of this
golden text is applicable today. Let it be taught.
will submit its report at the
meeting.
Arrangements have been made
It is the best answer to tyranny and intolerance.
It is the safest way of retaining the American for the annual conference of the
way of life. Gewerkshaften campaign in De-
troit, which will be held all day
•
How Catholics Helped Jewish Refugees Sunday, Jan. 5, at the Statler
a a Hotel.
Commonweal, the Catholic weekly mgzine,
It is expected that this year's
publishes an interesting letter which Dr. Davi
Sola Pool, rabbi of the Spanish-Portuguese Syna- conference, which also marks the
gogue Shearith Israel of New York, received 20th anniversary of the Histad-
from a correspondent who was a prominent leader ruth, will be the outstanding one
of the Paris Sephardic Jewish community before in the history of the Gewerk-
the German invasion. The letter follows in trans- shaften campaign in Detroit.

domini."

The bishop stood before the portal, with
his arms folded, taking evident pleasure in the
impressive architecture, and at last turned to
the mayor, saying:
hance re
"Sir Burgomaster, do you by any c
chool days to
s
member e nough Latin from your
be able to translate this text for me?"
The mayor looked up in surprise.
"Certainly, your Eminence! It means: 'From
the rising of the sun unto the going down
to be praised.'"
thereof the Lord's name i s
ome from?" the
And where does this text c
bishop continued to ask.
"From the Psalms!" was the reply.
"Very good," a ssented the bishop, pleased,
and went on, until they stood once more at the
entrance to the Jewish street. This time he
walked on under the "Erub" wire, and after
passing a few houses, stopped in front n eigh-
of a
simple building, distinguishable from the
boring houses only in that it stood a little
way back, and he gazed up at an inscription in
Hebrew characters. The inscription ran!

"Mimisrach shemesh ad mehao mehullal
shem Adonai!"

After a short silence the bishop turned to
the canon:
"Reverendissime, you are a good Oriental
scholar! What does the text up there mean?"
Th e canon looked at him in amazement, for
he knew that the bishop himself was quite at
home in Oriental languages.., However, he re-
plied:
have on tvir
"It is the same text which we
cathedral, the same verse from the Psalms, in
the original Hebrew text, and it means: 'From
the rising of the sun unto the going down
thereof the Lord's name is to be praised.'
The bishop looked firmly at the canon and
then at the mayor, and said, more to himself:
"It is curious! Up on high the same is
written for all, but down below they cannot see
what is written above?" Then he turned back
and did not speak another word all the way
home.

*

In Neutra there was a High School which
cam e under the bishop's jurisdiction, for he
was the temporal as well as the spiritual head
of the bishopric. Children of all denominations

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lation:

"After three months of wandering, Dr.
and I are here at Toulouse. We left
X
Paris on Thursday, June 13, at night, just
as the Germans were entering the capital,
and we were able to leave because a car
from the American Embassy drove us to the
suburban station of Robinson where we found
a train leaving for Orleans. But the train
took two days and two nights to go half way
to Orleans and then it stopped for good.
We walked the ,rest of the way for a day
and night and were bombed all the way by
German planes. We reached Orleans (about
60 miles from Paris), Sunday the 16th and
we thought we were safe, but the first Ger-
a s we did
man m otorcycles r eached there population
and Orleans was surrounded. Its
had fled, several districts were in flames. No
hotel, no water, no bread, and the streets
empty. There was only the sadness of a dead
city. When our despair was complete, we saw
a priest on the steps of a c hurch. Dr. X
approached him. 'This is my name, he said,
'and I am one of the Sephardic Jewish com-
munity of Paris.' The priest r eplied simply,
'Follow me.' We followed and he led us
through the deserted, dark streets to the Cath-
lic college of S. We received a hot
meal, a bed, and we passed the night in
the bed and in the cellar, for bombing, or
rather French artillery fire from across the
Loire was heavy. The following day we were
advised to return to Paris, on foot, of course,
since there was no possibility of proceeding
further into central France. But in Gam-
betta Square, German officers explained that
if we tried to go toward Paris we would
probably be killed, for there was heavy fight-
ing on all s ides of the city. We returned to
the college. The following Thursday, after
whole s ections of the city had been burned
out, n otably the Rue Royale and the rue
Bannier, the fire reached our college. We did
what w e could but in a few hours there was
nothing left to do. Another Catholic school
took us in. Is it really necessary for me to
tell you that the hospitality offered us for
days by these•Catholic priests and sisters
70
was most c ordial and friendly? I will never
forget these days of my life."

—

We reproduce this letter as an exhibit of the
existence of genuine good will among inter-faith
groups in European countries. Catholics, allow-
ing for ,unfortunate exceptions, have a long,
favorable record for co-operation with other faiths.
They have come to the aid of Jews in times of
need. They have condemned bigotry and have
created havens for persecuted Jews in their sanc-
tuaries.
When individual Catholics, priests or laymen,

resort to bigotry, their acts should be viewed in
the light of what the Catholic Church as a whole
has done throughout the centuries. The good
deeds exceeded by far the evil acts of individ-
uals. The example we have just quoted is the best
available proof of brotherhood and good will
in our own time.

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