A meriaut Apish periodical eater
CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, OHIO
•
October I, 1943
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
3
Our Life Is An Open Boole
.3
By DR. SOLOMON GRAYZEL
Editor, The Jewish Publication Society of America
A consciousness of crisis pre-
vails in the thoughts and actions
of Ow Jews today. We shall not
stop to consider here how great a
world upheaval was needed to
stir so many of our contempora-
ries out of their lethargy. It is
more important to ask what will
result from this increased con-
cern with the Jewish fate and
future. Some Jews, no doubt, will
yield to panic and others to
paralyzing fear. But there will be
a great many in whom the situa-
SEASON'S GREETINGS
MOTOR CITY
SPRING CO.
1821 TROMBLEY AVE.
Madison 5250
L'Shono Tovo Tikosevu!
DEXTER ART STUDIO
DAVID SCHOLNICK
11645 DEXTER BLVD.
HOGARTH 4607
lion will call forth active plan-
ning to strengthen the founda-
tions of American Israel. Such
people, we hope, will want to re-
evaluate the institutions now
functioning in American Jewish
life. They will want to consider'
whether such institutions help
carry on the basic values of our
people's past and fortify its ram-
parts for the future. There is no
room for mere inertia under pres-
ent conditions in Jewish life.
The more clearly the implica-
tions of the present state of Jew-
ish life are realized, the greater
the recognition which will be ac-
corded to the usefulness of The
Jewish Publication Society of
America. It came into being in
order to meet a problem during a
critical period in the history of
the American Jewish community;
it has responded continuously to
the community's needs; it is even
now adjusting itself to the de-
mands made by the new condi-
tions.
The Jewish Publication Society
was founded fifty-five years ago,
in 1888. No one .could have fore-
seen at that time that the com-
paratively small American Jewish
population of several hundred
thousand would, within less than
the span of a single lifetime, be-
come the largest aggregation of
Jews in the world. Russian - Pol-
ish Jewry was then the largest
in numbers and the most devot-
ed to the traditional values. The
Jews of Germany were vigorous
Le Shovo Tovo Tikosevu
NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS!
Hannan Real Estate
LASALLE TOOL
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Exchange, Inc.
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in the production of works of
Jewish scholarship as well as in
the quest for an adjustment be-
tween ` the Jewish cultural herit-
ege and the admired civilization
of Western Europe. The Jewish
communities of England, France
and Italy, though numerically
smaller than the Jewish popula-
w—
tion of the United States, were
far ahead of us in Jewish cultur-
al productivity. America's Jew-
ish population was scattered over
a broad land. It lacked organiza-
tion. It was developing serious
religious cleavages. It had fe ,.v
effective plans for Jewish educa-
tion. The very Jews who, through
their economic and social stand-
ing, were coming in contact with
Christians had the vaguest ideas
of the' meaning of their Jewish-
ness. They could not justify their
continuance as a minority either
to themselves or to their neigh-
bors. Further confusion was add-
ed by the arrival of a new popu-
lation from Eastern Europe who
could not make themselves or
their traditions understood. Such
was the situation when a small
group of thoughtful Jews met to
organize The Jewish Publication
Society. Among them were Judge
Mayer Sulzberger, Rabbi Joseph
Krauskopf, Dr. Cyrus Adler and
Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen.
What motivated these men to
organize The Society? Theirs was
actually the third attempt to form
an organization for the publica-
tion in the United States of Jew-
ish books in the English langu-
age. The two previous efforts had
failed, primarily because the
American Jew had been content
to live on intellectual food bor-
rowed from the older communi-
ties across the sea. He did not
see the need for a mind of his
own and did not realize that a
physical transplantation of Jews
necessitated a transplantation of
Jewish values also. These few
men, however, realized it. They
saw the imperative need of ex-
plaining the Jew to himself ; they
recogni7ed the danger of ignor-
ance. Their first motives were.
therefore, a sense of shame and
a desire to educate. They were
R. BLISS WOLFE, Pres.
Rosh Hashonah Greetings!
D. SULLIVAN
COAL CO.
Fred Riddell, 0. D.
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SEASON'S GREETINGS
THE STATE LIFE
INSURANCE COMPANY
OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
Opt ical Depart ments
Montgomery Ward t1 Co.
RECAPPING
of
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HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
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Season's Greetings!
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ENGINEERING
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NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS
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SEASON'S GREETINGS
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Detroit, Mich.
Lc Shono Tovo Tikosevu
EDWARD C. LEVY CO.
CONTRACTORS
VINEWOOD 2-0771
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SEASON'S GREETINGS!
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
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Best Wishes for a Joyous Holiday
Jos. P. Carnaghi
GREETINGS *. . .
206 E. GRAND RIVER AVE.
C. N. McCLURE, MICHIGAN MANAGER
MARY S. COHAN, Cashier
2402 EATON TOWER — DETROIT
NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS!
See BOOK—Page 6
EXPERT
Window Cleaning
Co., Inc.
Call
PETE WISE
Coal and Coke
under the Society's
imprint.
books of history and literature,
books for adults and books for
children—. all of them calculated
to give information and courage
Happy New Year To All!
SEASON'S GREETINGS!
Greetings of the Season!
ashamed that a large and well
situated number of Jews knew so
little about their religion, their
past and their people's contribu-
tion to civilization.
There is nothing petty about
a sense of shame. It is, on the
contrary, a very powerful force
for good. In this case it laid the
foundations for a cultural re-
vival which helped save the dig-
nity and the spiritual unity of
American Israel. This is evident
from the earliest publications of
the Society. Graetz's "History of
the Jews" in English translation
proved to be not merely an in-
teresting work; it was rather
a tool with which another link
was forged in the chain of Jew-
ish history. It showed the Ameri-
can Jew that he was the heir
to a great cultural heritage. The
publication of Israel Zangwill's
stories, which also came within
the first decade of the Society's
existence, was not only an at-
tempt to produce entertaining
literature. It was a means of
bringing to the English-reading
public a recognition of the spiri-
tual values of the new East Eu-
ropean population and an appre-
ciation of the poignant process of
their adjustment to the Anglo-
Saxon environment. These were
but two projects of the young
Society. Along with Graetz and
. Zangwill there came off the press,
NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS!
Sincerest Holiday Greetings to All
Our Jewish Friends and Customers
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HOLIDAY GREETINGS
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REAMER CO.
422 N. LIVERNOIS
VINEWOOD 1-2300