Friday, October 26, 1945

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle

Page Four

G rAior

Detroit Jewish Chronicle

By AL SEGAL

and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE

Weekly by Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co, Inc., 525 Woodward Ave., Detroit 26, Mich., Tel. CAdillac 1040

My Christian friend, the Rev.
Mr. Thirkettle, has offered to
SUBSCRIPTION: $3.00 PER YEAR, SINGLE COPIES, 10c: FOREIGN, $5.00 PER YEAR
preach my funeral sermon. (His
Act of March 3, 1879
Entered as Second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Postoffice at Detroit, Mich., under the
name isn't really Thirkettle, but
Managing Editor, NATHAN J. KAUFMAN Thirkettle has a lovely sound
Publisher, CY AARON
Editor-in-Chief, LOUIS W. ENFIELD
quite fitting to such a lovely gen-
Vol. 47, No. 43 tleman.)
FRIDAY,
OCTOBER
26,
1945
(CHESVAN
19,
5706)
Detroit 26, Michigan
Mr. Thirkettle is in no hurry
to preach a funeral sermon over
violate all decency and basic American- me and, in fact, hopes it will be
A Kick in the Pocket
ism.
a long, long time before he has
Jews of this city and throughout the
If it were not so tragic, the situation to conic to this painful duty.
country can rejoice at the successful ter- would be actually funny. In one breath,
Recently he read in this col-
mination of the O'Donnell affair as out- the Klan maintains they were striving for umn my meditations on the ques-
lined on page one of this paper. They can unity in the fight to preserve democracy tion: Would I care to be buried
rejoice especially at one aspect which is and in the next breath, they set forth their by a Presbyterian minister? The
plans for destroying that very democracy. matter came up on account of
of extreme significance.
some Jewish people I know being
It was not Jewish money or Jewish in-
The Klan has been in existence for a married by a Presbyterian min-
fluence that accomplished the real result. hundred years. During that time, they ister in the absence of rabbis. By
It was Gentile money, Gentile influence, have besmirched all decency. They have the ministrations of the Presbyte-
Gentile pressure that made O'Donnell eat made their name a symbol of intolerance rian minister, a broad-minded
his nefarious words. The importance of and evil. Like a hideous disease, they gentleman, the wedding ceremony
this cannot be underestimated.
have spread their loathsome contagion on turned out to be as Jewish as if
When Gentiles begin to see that anti- American society. Any patriotic American it were given by a rabbi.
Well, after due meditation, I
Semitism is not a Jewish matter at all, the contemplates their existence with nausea
came to the conclusion that I
cause of liberalism is advanced immeasur- and abomination.
wouldn't mind being buried by
ably. Anti-Semitism is the forerunner of
Worse than their foul policy, more any clergyman of good will. I
Fascism. The first group to be attacked is frightening than their vicious action, more suggested the pleasant idea of be-
always the Jewish group. But following evil than the threat of their uniting the ing buried by a rabbi, a Protest-
that is the Negro, then small religious lunatic fringe in support of their devilish ant minister and a priest, bless-
minorities, then labor and so on up until program is their choice of the symbol of ing me simultaneously.
a whole country is in slavery as was the their organization. They use a cross of
Now, the Rev. Mr. Thirkettle
flame and burn it in the hills in the night. was quite pleased by this ex-
case in Germany.
When liberal, progressive groups un- Under the friendly cloak of darkness, they pression of brotherhood. The
derstand this, the battle against Fascism plot their evil and the cowardly way in more he thought about it, the
more he realized what a fine ges-
is half won. There can be no half mea- which they will carry it out.
ture of brotherhood it would be
sures. The slur against the Jew is only
The cross is a symbol of something if my corpse were accompanied

Published

step number one. If step number one is
scotched at once, therei can never be step
number two. What the vast majority, of
right thinking people want, they can have.
There is yet another phase of this
affair which is of extreme importance.
The lunatic fringe of the vermin press in
this country is not to be disregarded. It
must be watched carefully lest it grow
strong enough to do real damage. But the
real danger lies elsewhere.
There is a section of the wealthy ones
in our population who can think of only
one way to preserve their power and pres-
tige. They are followers of the Fascist
line, embryonic Hitlers and Mussolinis.
They fight progressive government and
liberal legislation.
They are wealthy and they are power-
ful. They control newspapers with large
circulation and they pour their poison
daily into many unsuspecting minds. They
understand neither decency nor honor.
They are bound by neither truth nor pa-
triotism.
The O'Donnell affair has shown clear-
ly low they must be handled. There is
one 'thing they do understand and that is
a kick in the pocketbook. . When their in-
come is attacked and they feel the strain
in their moneybags, they are ready to
squeal and cry uncle.
The threat of boycott is not one to be
used lightly. It is fraught with danger and
may be turned against good as well as
bad causes. But it is a definite threat and
when used by an enlightened public can
go a long way to rid us of many of the
evils which hang over our democracy to-
day.
Advertisers are in a strong position to
help the cause of Americanism and de-
mocracy. And the people who buy can de-
termine whether advertisers are to help
support the good or the bad. This is a
weapon that needs a little more using. We
look forward to the time when its potent
use will be the greatest social weapon of
the day.

The Cross Must Not Burn

The fiery cross has started to burn
again. In the state of Georgia, the Ku
Klux Klan, long dormant, has reared its
ugly head once more. In a statement, the
leaders of the Klan announced, "We did
not use the Cross during the war because
it was necessary to have complete unity to
win the war. However, now that the war
is over, it is time for us to get into action
opce more."
To get' into action for them means to
foment hatred against Catholic, Negro
and Jew. To get into action for them
means...to trample on liberty and democ-
racy. To get into action for them means to

else. It is a symbol of a great religion
whose aim is brotherly love and whose
avowed purpose is a good way of living.
The use of the cross by the Klan is a de-
bauchery of something that millions of
people consider sacred.
Before the defeat of the Nazis, there
was another symbol of hate and vicious
intolerance. That was the swastika. Now
that the war is over, the swastika can go
back as a sign of something it was years
before, a sign placed before houses of ill
repute in China.
Can the cross be used as a symbol for
both good and evil? Will Christians con-
tinue to allow their most sacred sign to
be fouled by a group who deny in their
actions every concept of decency.
It is up to the honest Christians of this
country to rise in protest. Let them come
out of their apathy and see what is being
done under the sign of Christianity. If the
word Christian is to have the meaning
they want it to have, let them not tolerate
this any more. Let them wipe the Klan
from the face of the earth.

An Important Anniversary

to the grave by a rabbi, a Pro-
testant and a priest.
He thought he himself would
like to have part in the obse-
quies. He had always been a cler-
gyman who was sure that God
made no distinction between men
praying to Him. When the prayer
of a Jew, a Catholic and a Pro-
testant ascended to Him, He did
not know the difference.
Not that Mr. Thirkettle is any
the less sure of his own faith to
which he ministers. He believes
in the deity of Christ but he
knows very well that God isn't
down on people who don't be-
lieve that way. God, he has al-
ways said, is no bigot. Whoever
comes to Him with a sincere
heart is accepted and He doesn't
bother about the churchly label
a man wears.
So, when Mr. Thirkettle read
that I should like to be buried
under the auspices of a variety
of clergymen — Jewish, Protest-
ant, Catholic — Mr. Thirkettle
felt I was a man after his own
heart.
He thought it would be a pri-
vilege to bury me. He thought
awhile us to whether it would be
proper to offer himself for this
service. Ministers are not sup-
posed to be hearse-chasers. He
came finally to the conclusion
that it would be all right with me
and wrote the following letter of
application:
(Continued on Page 13)

S RI cr or eoll

EN IA

By PHINEAS J. BIRON

SCOOPS .

The long lived feud between
the Hebrew Union College of Cin-
cinnati and Dr. Stephen S. Wise's
Jewish Institute of Religion be-
longs to the past. . . . We are re-
liably informed that Dr. Wise will
be the recipient of an honorary
degree by the Cincinnati College
before the year is over. . . • Does
this gesture presage an amalga-
tion between these two Jewish
institutions of higher learning?
. Dr. Chaim Weizmann will
be the guest of honor at a mon-
ster banquet which will be ten-
dered to him next month in the
Waldorf Astoria Hotel, in New
York.. . . His numerous friends
will present him with a check for
$1,000,000 for his chemical re-
search laboratory in Palestine... .
Investigators in the know do not
agree with columnist Victor Rie-
sel that the end of Father Cough-
lin's saga has been written. . • .
How would Riesel explain the
fact that strenuous efforts are

The celebration of the seventieth an-
niversary of the founding of the Hebrew
Union College serves to call attention to
an institution which has been one of the
greatest moulding influences of American
Jewish life.
The Hebrew Union College was found-
ed by Dr. Isaac M. Wise, and succeeding
him in the chair of that institution came
the great Jewish scholar, Dr. Kaufmann
Kohler. Today, the institution in Dr. Ju-
lian Morgenstern, has its first native born
president.
Great as has been the service of the
college in the past, it is probable that un-
der Dr. Morgenstern, the opportunity is
offered it to reach out even to a wider
field, for today the center of gravity of
Jewish life has turned to America. In that'
respect, America has only one rival now—
Palestine.
The old bitternesses between the va-
rious cleavages in Judaism have largely
disappeared now. Time has healed the
wounds. The conservative groups have
adopted some of the reforms urged by Re-
form Judaism and there has been also a
tendency in Reform toward rapproche-
ment with the more conservative groups.
American Israel today is still far from
that unity we might desire and which we
must have if we are to exert our full
strength in the world task which Destiny
seemingly 'has assigned us. The celebra-
tion of the 70th anniversary of the He-
brew Union College is therefore a particu-
larly fitting time to promote this unity.

being made by Coughlin's friends
to get him back on the radio?
ABOUT PERSONS .. .
Cameraman E. Elisofon is just
back from an exciting trip thru
Europe. . . . He is finishing a
book that will contain food re-
cipes . . . in other words a cook
book. . . . Is it true that the for-
mer Chief Rabbi of Rome Zoli,
now a Catholic holding a job in
the Vatican, is considering a lec-
ture tour in America? ... Pierre
Van Patissen will soon be honor-
ed with the title of Doctor of
Divinity for his great services to
the cause of true Christianity.
. Leslie Hore-Belisha, Britain's
ex-Minister of War, is in this
country studying the newspaper
and radio fields.. . . There are
rumors that Charlie Chaplin will
soon begin the production of an
important movie dealing with the
need for a just and secure peace.
YOU SHOULD KNOW . . •
There is renewed talk about a
(Continued on Page 13)

PULLING IN ANOTHER NOTCH

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