A merica (eittish Periodical Carter Friday. March ig, 1946 CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, 01110 Page Three DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle 1 4a HISTORY OF JEWS IN MICHIGAN r Glamorous Purim Formula Calls for Extermination of 1 Anti-Semitic Termites Through Self-Respect, Unity, `' By IRVING I. KATZ Faith, Courage and Sacrifice Just as in the Days of Ohl By RABBI LEON SPITZ HE PURIM festival offers a formula to combat anti-Sem- itism. And no wonder, since it was during those Pullin dap, just about twenty-five,, hundred years ago that Jews lived for tho first time in their history in Ga- ARTICLE VII luth. And it was then that Jews Bnai Brith was founded October 13, 1813, by twelve men met the anti-Semite face to face-- III New York who under the leadership of Henry Jones, organized at Sin- and triumphed over him. To the question, how did he do sheimer's Cafe in Essex Street. The first mane chosen was Bundes it? a rereading of the Book of P tirwier which was later changed to In , ' . Order of Bnai Brith. Esther will afford the answer. At the 13th quinquennial convention of the Order in Cincinnati in No, there was no miracle about April, 1930, the name was shortened to Bnai Brith. The first Bnai it at all. Fact is, the Purim festi- val is unique in this respect that Faith lodge was established in New York November 12, 1843. nothing supernatural is mentioned The oldest Jewish organization in Michigan is Detroit's Pisgah in its connection. It is also unique Lodge Bnai Brith No. 34, which is today the largest Bnai Brith lodge in that the name of God does not in the world. It was founded on November 24, 1857, fourteen years occur in the entire story. It pre- after the birth of Bnai Brith, by the men who seven years earlier had sents just this one problem, the problem of anti-Semitism and af- established Congregation Beth El. The founders and officers of one fords a realistic solution, which were the founders and officers of seems to have a substantial the other. The need to augment amount of merit. the congregation by charitable and Holiday of Songs social means became apparent and Michigan's First Bnai. Brith Lodge , ho , Vt nber Too Zone Am- mew one 11 a- the that This Vil- le of the it, if when an opportunity was present- ed to organize a lodge of the Bnai Brith, with its broader principles and wider scope, Pisgah Lodge had its inception. In selecting a name for the lodge the founder chose "Pisgah," which is the mountain Moses climbed to view the promised land as recorded in the Book of Deu- teronomy, Chapter 34, Verse 1, and Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, even MARCUS COHEN Gilead as far as Dan." The pillars of Jewish religion and communal life in Detroit appear the the ask- sw er null I the n on be a 'idth ens- nuh then the bout with all told By cull Col. and 'as petitioners and charter members of Pisgah Lodge. This historic doc- ument, which bears the date of November 24, 1857, lists the following: Jacob Silberman, Marcus Cohen, Louis Benfy, Herman Freedman, Samues Sykes, Simon Heavenrich, Emanuel Schloss, Seligman Schloss, Louis Bresler, S. Schwab, A. Hart, Morris Hirschman, M. C. Fech- heimer. The charter was signed by Rabbi Isaac M. %Vise, founder of Reform Judaism in the United States, as head of District No. 2 of final Brith and countersigned by Julius Bien, one of the greatest names in Bnai Brith history, for the Constitution Grand Lodge. Jacob Silberman, the first president of Congregation Beth El, was elected as the first president of Pisgah Lodge. to flier vas 'ohl- and In common with other Bnai Brith lodges of that period, Pisgah Lodge devoted its revenues exclusively to concrete helpfulness. One- half of the annual dues went to the sick and distressed after deduct- ing the barest administrative expenses; the remaining half to a Wi- dow and Orphan Fund. Initiation of members was conducted with elaborate ceremonies and regalia, comprising of three degrees, and was strictly oathbound to secrecy (today there is but one initiatory degree which is given with open doors and all secrecies have been roinoved). Endowment Insurance and sick benefits were included in membership, a feature which has long been eliminated as have all material benefits. even be- t to here flier t Marcus Cohen succeeded Jacob Silberman in the presidency of Pisgah Lodge in 1858, and during the following year Louis Benfy and Herman Freedman held that ioffiee. s - r - 01:8)-0-0-MX0X8Xt04:8:1-0-00-0-00-00 WE AGAIN DELIVER 1 P.M. to 9 P.M. %Drags • Sundries - Prescriptions Direct Mail Advertising From the Original Idea to the Post Office. BARBAS DRUG CO. HUGH ALLEN, Advertising CA. 5893 710 Farwell Bldg. CH:48:141004:8:100-txt-t8:0-001-001:8)-tm 7'00 W. McNICHOLS ROAD Cor. Santa Barbara UN. 2.3430 Because of the Clothing Shortage Make Your Garments Last Longer With fifila t Cleaning Give your clothes the best care to make them last longer. Be wise ... Vitalize ... because Vi- 14 talize care means double the wear ... gives you that clothes assurance in spite of the clothing shortage. And only Forest Cleaners in Detroit bring you this exclusive cleaning process. Da i ly Pickup and Delhi-1y to Detroit and Subutbs NEW PHONE—TEmple 1-4200 FOREST CLEANERS 533-547 F. FOREST Doss istms n Branch: THE 3rd AVE. J. L. Floor HUDSON CO. Farmer Street Bldg. .r the genuine Hitlerlan touch. Hit- ler, resentful of certain individual `Jews, determined to revenge him- self upon the entire Jewish nation. Likewise Haman, in his day, re- sented Mordecai and sought to massacre all the Jews. But the solution? The Purim formula demands the following elements: Self-re- spect, unity, faith, courage and sacrifice. Self-respect The Megillah is crystal clear on this point. Mor- decai the Jew did not kneel nor did he prostrate. No molter what the price, his Jewish self-respect permitted no compromises. Esther's Counsel Unity! Esther's counsel to Mor- decai was "Go forth and assemble all the Jews of Shushan." Ameri- can Jewry must present a united front in combatting its enemies. This is a first essential prerequis- ite before the ranks can be closed. It is a Must technique which every battle in human ex- And yet it is this holiday about perience prescribes. Jews of every which poets have composed songs religious denomination and of ev- and ditties beginning with the ery sort and manner of theoretical 51111 Shu Shu Shu" so popular in Medieval Shoshanat Yakob to "Ha- grouping, the maximum and the minimum Jews are dutybound to man Was a Wicked Man" and "In keep well in mind Ben Franklin's our American Sunday schools. It revolutionary bonmot, "If we don't is this festival which has evoked hang together we shall each hang not a few of the great master- separately." Jews must relearn to pieces by the master-painters of get along together and to embark Christiandom which are exhibited in the finest national museums on common action, CO" achieve and galleries in many a European their goals and to protect their rights. capital. These Purim paintings Faith! A people must have faith are to be found even among the both in its destiny and in its own priceless objets d'art which ring and his hoodlums have looted power to achieve that destiny. and hidden away, now to be re- "Enlargement and deliverance will discovered one by one by Ameri- arise unto the Jews from another can art experts. Purim launched source," Mordecai challenged Es- the Yiddish Theatre with Esther as ther when she hesitated to make the charming heroine, Mordecai, the supreme sacrifice for her peo- the popular hero, and Haman, the ple. villain par excellence. In the sun- Noblesse Oblige ny climates of Italy and Southern Sacrifice! Yes, there must be France, Purim carnivals were In those who, more alive to the prob- vogue while in German and Hoi- lems of Jewry and placed strate- landish Synagogues Haman was gically where they can held their burnt in effigy and with • unre- people, must be willing to render strained glee. To this very day in the needful service even to the a thousand synagogues his name point of personal sacrifice. No- is hissed and mimicked on Megil- blesse oblige. They who are en- lah night to the accompaniment dowed with wealth, or prestige or of haman klappers and every oth- Influence or talent — with the er variety of festive noisemaker. ammunition that plays a determin- Dealing as it does with the most ing role in a democracy — must serious problem of Jewish life, be induced to make use of their the perennial curse of anti-Semi- ammunition in the protection of tism, the festival has yet become their fellow-Jews. For in the se- the merriest and the gayest in the curity of the entire Family of Is- Jewish calendar. The Order of the rael is assured the peace and the Day includes wine drinking, the security of every individual mem- Purim Seuda or Banquet to top ber of that family. off\ the holiday which has been And lastly, Courage. launthed on Megillah night by the public reading of the Story of Es- The kind of courage that Mor- ther. It by no means neglects the decai and the Jews of Shushan giving of charity to the poor and displayed was to meet the enemy it stresses the practice of Shalach in physical combat. It was the Atones or the Exchange of Pres- kind of courage which the Allied ents among relatives and friends. soldier displayed when he met Every earmark of festivity lends Nazi and Jap in battle. It was the its bit of gaiety to make this the kind of courage the flower of the most glamorous of Jewish holi- Jewish Youth of Palestine exhibits days. And so it goes. in its battle for free entry to But why all this? Palestine. For too many thousands of years The Voice has been The Purim Calls for Fight For the very simple reason that Voice of Jacob and the Hand was the Purim festival spelled to every the Hand of Esau forever raised Jew of every generation the call to fight the good fight with a pretty definite assurance that vic- tory and triumph were just right around the corner. The Purim sto- ry mirrored the precariousness and the uniqueness of Jewish life in exile. Withfil it reemphasizes the story-book formula that all's well that ends well, and every Jew lived happily ever after. In every way Jewish life as lived in the Purim story mirrors Jew- ish life outside of Palestine in every age and epoch of Jewish history. Mordecai and Esther had Persian names, they spoke the language of their adoption, they participated in the life about them, they attained posts of hon- or and of prestige. And simul- taneously they had their own or- ganized Jewish life and they ad- hered to their faith And to their traditions. And then anti-Semitism struck . causes Perennial The causes were the perennial causes: jealousy, race hatred, the Jews were aliens, they were — that g.eatest of unforgiveable crimes—they were DIFFERENT. In the words of the Megillat Es- ther, "Their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king's laws." Haman too alludes to the loot which would be poured into the Royal Treasury by confiscating Jewish property, "I will pay ten thousand talents of sliver to bring it into the king's treasuries." There is too against his brother. Perhaps the time has come when roles should be changed. Let Esau whine and wail and protest to the civilized world, and let Jacob raise his hand to fight the good fight. No Morality, No (7onscieuce For the anti-Semite has no mo- rality, and he has no conscience. He understands but one language, and he must be dealt with on his own level. The Purim Jews stood up for their lives. American Jews too must come to grips with our contemporary anti-Semites. We must fill our jails with anti-Sem- itic gangsters, we must fill our in- sane asylums with anti-Semitic lunatics, we must combat every alien Jew-hater, we must harass and prosecute Jew-baiters to the extreme limits of the laws, we must humble and shame our anti- Semitic hoodlums to such an ex- tent that none will wish to dare to become "fellow-travelers." Purim's call to every Jew — Ex* terminate the anti-Semitic ter- mites. Temple Israel Bazaar Plans Near Completion Preparations for the Temple Is- rael Sisterhood Bazaar, scheduled for Sunday, March 24, at the Lee Plaza Hotel, are near completion. Mrs. Roy Samson and Mrs. Dan- iel Krouse head the arrangement committee. Thru College 13.% C5 . O X-RAY FITTING. Protects Foot Health Correct fit is espe- cially important in children's shoes. Let Leonard's pr ot e c t your child's feet with X-ray fit. Leonard's SHOES 7340 W. McNichols nr. Prairie Closing Campaign Festival and Celebration of 25th Anniversary of Histadrut Sunday Evening, March 17th, 8:00 p.m. CASS HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM Guest Artist RICHARD TUCKER, Jewish Tenor Metropolitan Opera Co. First Detroit Appearance Guest Speaker Professor ALEXANDER H. PEKELIS New School fo•• Social Research Tickets of admission being issued to contributors and organization delegate% HISTADRUT PALESTINE COMMITTEE 9142 LINWOOD TY. 7-8225