Americo 'elvish Periodical eclair
CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, OHIO
September 19, 1941
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and the Legal Chronicle
P urely Commentary ••
On the New Year: Morale Versus
Resolution
Compare the Jewish method of observing Roth
Hashonah with the generally-accepted way of
celebrating the New Year, and you have the
clue to the secret of Jewish survival.
This is not a sermon: it is an attempt to be
realistic in an hour of tribulation.
The New Year celebrations on the First of
every January are marked by hilarity and by
resolutions; often there are hang-ove•s on the
following days, and more often than not the
resolutions are broken.
Jews do not make resolutions on Rosh Ha-
shonah. Instead, they take stock and they make
an accounting—usually to themselves, with the,'
help of prayer—of their past, their error:., the
blunders they committed against themselves and
their people.
Rosh Hashonah could never be synonymous
with hilarity; it, is too steeped in morality. There-
fore, this business of making resolutions is
nothing more than mimicry. What is needed is
understanding of the past, to be able to guide
oneself in the future.
•
Keeping Up Our Morale
On the eve of the year 5702, the one question
every Jew must ask himself is:
What is the most serious danger facing us,
and what is our greatest responsibility?
If, as has been said, "wie es christelt sich so
judelt es sich," ("as the Christians are affected,
so are the Jews"—a statement attributed to
Heinrich Heine), then there is only one answer:
We are in danger of seeing our morale de-
cline, and we are obligated to keep up the courage
of the Jews.
Talk to the average public official, to anyone
close to the President4 to men who should and
do know the existing conditions in our land, and
they will tell you that the one thing they fear
is a slump in our morale.
Government officials, are discussing this prob-
lem today. The heads of our military forces are
kiewing with alarm the rise of a spirit of in-
difference that is motivated by a lack of desire
to make sacrifices for liberty.
The people are not prepared for the sudden
wartime conditions imposed upon the land not by
ourselves but by the horrible situation created
by Hitlerism.
When William Knudsen, director general of the
Office of Production Management, was asked
whether thiS country possesses the spirit to face
the job that must be achieved, he said:
"I don't think we have got it. I think a good
many of us have, but we haven't allgof us got
it. I have been all around, and we haven't quite
waked up." Asked, for the reason, he replied:
"Nobody has dropped any bombs on us yet—you
drop one down on Main Street and you wil see
what will happen."
Ask me about Jewish morale, and I'll give you
the same answer—and the reaction will be the
same. Yes, "wie es christelt sich, so judelt es
•
sich."
Let Us Look at the Record—and at the
Bombs
Our record, examined frankly and realistically,
is a sad one. Too Many Jews are not concerned
over conditions of our time.
The terror of our existence is our indifference.
Too many Jews are uninformed of what is
happening. Too many Jews are thoroughly un-
aware of what is happening under their very
noses.
Conditions, in our land, have not improved. On
the contrary, the activities of the isolationists
have brought about a union of anti-Semitic forces
and have caused an expansion of prejudice. A
defeat of Hitlerism will bring an improvement;
but an aftermath of economic despair and want
may bring even worse trouble for us.
When Coughlinism and Christian Frontism was
rampant, Jews became concerned and spoke of
action. The moment these bombs stopped falling
in outspoken anti-Semitic fashion, Jews failed to
recognize the stench under a different aroma. But
the stench exists nevertheless.
Therefore, the New Year brings with it a new
challenge.
Are Jews to remain complacent and indifferent?
Or will our leadership, whatever three is of it—
recognize the need of preparing the young people
for whatever emergncies may come in the future?
•
Silence Is Criminal
One thing we must recognize: to be silent in
the face of trials and tribulations. to shut our
eyes and ears to semblances of bigotry, is
criminal.
When utilities, public offices, government de-
partments, etc., refuse to employ Jews, their ac-
tion should be -protested.
When Jews are accused and abused, they
should shout their indignation from the house-
tops. ' •
Even though we may be libeled with all sorts
of accusatioas, not even excluding charges of
being war-mongering which come from sources
that have not hesitated to absorb the worst poi-
sons of anti-Semitism, we should be heard.
If resolutions are in order—this ought to be
Resolution Number One on the New Year 5702.
There Is a Job to be Done
There is a job to be completed. In a sense,
the job has only just begun.
The job calls for reconstruction of Jewish
life. It demands responsibility and elimination of
hefker.
Jews must be saved.
And a home must be planned for Jews.
European Jewry must be given the signal from
this country that our morale is not down, that
5
DEUTSCH
we are holding our heads high, that we refuse
to be intimidated, that we insist on saving those
who must be saved, and that we are determined
to build a Homeland for Israel.
And this is not all.
There is a job to be done in this country.
Press Service and to all its affiil-
iated newspapers for giving your
(Continued from Page 4)
own Mr. Deutsch a platforni,
new are a significant part of outlet, soapbox or what have
refugee help in this country.
you. And a Happy New Year
A Happy New Year to the to you!
American Jewish Press Club,
which we hope will concentrate
more on bringing together edit-
There is no class of men so
ors rather than Jewish press difficult to be managed in a
Let Us Learn From Experience
MR. and MRS. A. STEIN
By Philip Slomovitz
state as those whose intentions
Prejudice is prevalent in industries, in the pub- agents.
Finally,—a very Happy Nei ' are honest, but whose con-
lic places, in our schools. Our children's future
is in danger. American morale is in danger, and Year to the Independent Jewish sciences are bewitched.
with it will go down the chances for decent
living of the Jewish citizens. Therefore, we must
have a good share in the fight to eliminate bigot-
ry in the schools and to re-instate the American
ideal of fair play on every American front.
•
Unless we learn from experience, we are
sinking.
Back in 1921, your Commentator had an in-
teresting experience. Henry Ford's Dearborn In-
dependent was then blasting away at the Jews.
American Jews laughed at the reactionary activi-
ties of the automobile manufacturer.
The late Nahum Sokolow was then in Detroit,
and your Commentator took a two-hour stroll
with him on Woodward Avenue. His daughter,
Dr. Celina Sokolow, and the late Jacob Miller,
one-time manager of the Judea Life Insurance
Co. in Palestine, trailed us. We discussed the
anti-Semitic situation.
Your commentator mentioned the Dearborn
Independent. and ventured an opinion that it was
an isolated instance of anti-Semitic poison and
;hat American Jews had little to fear. The vener
able Jewish statesman shook his head and began
to reminisce, in words like these:
"My boy, don't be too confident. Forty years
ago, an obscure anti-Semitic sheet appeared in
Poland. Jews laughed at it. They thought it was
a passing phase in their existence. Within ten
years there were a dozen such anti-Semitic pub-
Stein's
Clover
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p
Oi Northern Michigan
Genial Hospitality
OMENA, MICH.
wish their relatives, friends and patrons
A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR
lications. Today, you know what Poland is like.
There are many dozens of anti-Semitic newspa-
pers. JeWs are not only being discriminated
against in Poland—the vast majority are being
totally declassed. American Jews should learn
the lesson so sadly experienced by Polish Jewry.
Beware!"
This brief sermon ought to stand us in good
stead today. If we do not profit by experience,
we are a weak and a blind people.
• .
Not All Is Lost
Of course, not all is lost. Jews are fighting for
their existence—and they are putting up a good
battle. They are fighting like proud men and wo-
men in Palestine. They are resisting Nazism on
European fronts. They refuse to bend their backs.
Their morale is not down.
This is true on the fronts where bombs have
fallen.
Let us not wait for bombs on our own front.
Let us strengthen our morale and let us give
the signal for increased courage and confidence
to those who already display it on the battle-
fronts.
In this spirit, we shall emerge stronger than
ever.
In this spirit, we may well be able to hearten
one another with the greeting: A HAPPY NEW
YEAR.
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•
Get Together, Gentlemen!
BUICK' S Best Bet
Dr. Leon M. Birkhead, director of Friends of
Democracy, tells us of an interesting experience.
On the morrow after an effort was made by a
group of Coughlinites to break up a meeting he
addressed at Central High School in Detroit, he
approached a salesman of Social Justice and asked
him, "Where is Kilpatrick?" (This Christian
Frontist is well known to New Yorkers as one
of the leading rabble-rousers who have been har-
ranguing street-corner crowds against the Jews.).
Coughlin's salesman informed Birkhead that Kil-
patrick is now working through the America First
Committee, and that he is thus able to {,/ h t to a
larger audience under more effective auspices.
This ought to set pro-democratic groups to
thinking. The pro-Nazis, the anti-Semites, the
Coughlinites, grab at every opportunity to unite
under a single name, or under unified leadership,
in order to make their activities effective and
to acquire the appearance of endorsement from
the Christian community at large. The liberal
forces, on the other hand, are hopelessly split
and have not learned the meaning of unified
effort.
Readers of this column know how strongly this
Commentator opposes uniformity. But this ought
not to proscribe unity of action when a strong
front is necessary to defeat the enemy. One
does not necessarily have to favor one-party
government in order to approve of coalition in
time of war and to endorse the sort of .govern-
ment unity now in force in England. But liberal
ranks in America have not yet learned this sson.
Thus, we have the Council for Democracy, the
Friends of Democracy, the Fight for Freedom
Committee, the'-GounCit Against Intolerance in
America. Imagine how much more powerful 'the
liberal front would be if these got together! At
the moment, the possibility of such a get-together
appears very remote.
The situation is analogous in Jewish ranks.
Instead of a single fact-finding institute to study
post-war problems, we . now have four—those of
American Jewish/4Congress, American Jewish
Committee, Jewish Labor Committee and Agu-
dath Israel of America. Will there be more by
the time this is published?
Get together, gentlemen! For the sake of
security and ultimate peace.
Leon Blum—Symbol of Our Age
The French spirit of revolt against Nazism
manifested itself in the past three weeks in a
(Continued on Page 12)
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