Page Four

Friday, April 26, 1946

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chrome:

Detroit Jewish Chronicle

and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE

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

Book Review

By LEON SAUNDERS

•

"Candles in the Night"

Joseph L. Baron hit on the novel idea of publishing a collection
SUBSCRIPTION: 53.00 PER YEAk SINGLE COPIES 10c• FOREIGN S5.01 PER YEAR
of stories written by non-Jews in which the Jews are pictured not a.
rtered as Second-class matte' March 3, 1916, el the Postc ,
f.ce af Detroit, WM., under the Act of March 3, 1879 Shylocks but in a sympathetic vein. It is unfortunate that sympathetic
stories by authors who are not familiar with the subject are just as
fditor-in-Chiel, LOUIS W. ENFIELD
Publisher, CY AARON
Managing Editor, NATHAN J. KAUFMAN had as those who write about Jews prompted by hatred and ignor-
ance. The authors derive their knowledge of Jews from vatidevilh
Vol. 48, No. 17
FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1946 (NISAN 25, 5706)
Detroit 26, Michigan
stage or cheap melodramas. Their imagination and their facts are fed
by accepted characterizations. A Russian is a big man in a booth
vodka and dancing a "kasatska." A Frenchman is a slight
The presentation to the public of its drinking
man with a thin moustache, running after women. A Jew is a second
leaders is still another, albeit a minor. hand store keeper. The idea of a foreigner is as exotic as that of a
function. Jews should know who is serv- gypsy. The "sympathy" to the Jew is mostly an insult to the pride
There is a specter that haunts the ing them and what manner of people and dignity of a nation with the oldest civilization among all nations.
There are 23 stories in the collection and the volume is entitle,:
Jewish people at home and abroad. It they are. Such a presentation also serves
"Candles in the Night." The title was derived from 11 Esdras, 14:2.i,
is the specter of anti-Semitism. It is pres- as a stimulus to others to go and do like- "I shall light a candle of understanding in thy heart, which shall nut
ent everywhere, it is a menace. at all wise. Through such a presentation, the be put out." The stories are written by famous authors of various.
times. Six million innocent lives were reader also acquires a more intimate nationalities. Some are good, some indifferent, some bad. Among the
we definitely place Chekhov's "Rothschild's Fiddle." How the
snuffed out in Europe in tribute to this knowledge of the kind of work that is latter
story where a drunken Russian is the hero and the Jew RothschC,I
specter. Its haunting evil was evidenced constantly being done.
cuts a humiliating and ridiculous figure could serve as a "candle in
night" is beyond our comprehension. It could be explained only
in the poll which established the fact
In no other place than in the Anglo- the
by the carelessness of the compiler who considered the name more
that there are in this country two anti- Jewish newspaper can the Jew get the important
than the substance of the story. With all our respect for
Semites for every man, woman and child well rounded picture, constantly up to Chekhov's genius, he belonged to the class of Russian intellectuals,
Tolstoy, who knew nothing about Jews or Judaism, and we
of the Jewish faith.
date, of the things that are vital to his including suspect
that Chekhov used the magic name of Rothschild
No matter what the Jew does, no mat- existence. In no other place can he learn strongly
to attract attention to the story.
ter where he goes, he must be constantly of his strengths and his weaknesses. In
Only Maxim Gorky and Vladimir Korolenko wrote stories about
aware of this threat to his existence. He no other place can he discover the line Jews with sympathy and understanding. Gorky did not know Jews and
never saw one until he came in contact with the best representatives
must be constantly on the alert, his wea- and the extent of the newest attack on among
them. Korolenko was born among them and knew them, and
pons must be at hand, he must be uni- his safety, the latest threat to his exist- besides he was the embodiment of and was even called "the conscience
fied. He faces constant attack and he ence and his happiness. Only a fool will of the Russian people." Wherever there was injustice impending
any minority group or class, he was up in arms in defense of
must be able to turn in any direction cover his eyes and refuse to recognize against
the oppressed. He would never portray a Rothschild as Chekhov did.
with his strength marshalled for ' any the existence of the constant threat of . Chekhov's story pales and appears trivial next to the story of
emergency.
anti-Semitism. It is cruel, it is hard, it is Villiers de L'Isle Adam, "The Torture of Hope," a real psychological
The Jew cannot escape this specter. sad that such a thing exists. But exist it story.
Italy is represented by Boccacio's parable of the three rings which
The world will not let him. At the same does. Through the Anglo-Jewish newspa- became
famous for its tolerant preaching through Lessing's "Nathan
time, the defense he has to offer is the per in his community, the Jew girds his the Wise."
There is no more tender or more powerful story on tolerance than
foundation of his greatest contribution to loins and prepares to do battle.
the one by the Danish writer, Carl Ewald, "My Little Boy." His little
America.
Because of the nature of its news, such boy, like all the gentile chidren, only knows and does what everybody
The Jew can only exist in peace
a paper must depend for its existence on around him does. He attacks a Jewish boy. His father talks to hint
where there is democracy, progres-
the aid and support of the community. about Jews, tolerance, justice and understanding. The last lines of the
story are worthy of Anatole France. The little boy falls asleep.
sive, liberal democracy. Therefore
Its appeal is almost entirely limited to "He is a little feverish," says his mother.
his constant attack on all the forces
the Jewish community and therefore the
"That is not surprising," says the father. "Today I have vaccinat-
of Fascism, imperialism, special pri-
community must give it sustenance. The ed him against the meanest of all mean and vulgar .diseases."
perusing the stories of the collection I tried to detect What com-
vilege and the like is not only a de-
business men of the community must mon In trend
or idea inspired the authors. They all assume the fact of e
fense of his own status but is a def-
place in it their advertising. The Jewish nation being downtrodden, oppressed, but seek to express their nega-
inite part in the establishment of the
population must to a man be its subscrib- tive attitude towards this injustice by showing individual types either
as martyrs or as semi-angels, as in Maurus Jokay's story, "How I Be-
Era of the Common Man which is
ers. To the extent that the community came
a Friend of the Jews." A Jew he had mistreated comes Co him
the only kind of regime under which
backs up the Anglo-Jewish newspaper, to asking forgiveness for being beaten and for putting the aggressor in
the Jew can prosper and be happy.
that extent only can the paper be of ser- an uncomfortable position.
"With all my sympathy for Jews, I do not know such Jews and
In union there is strength. The
vice, to that extent only can the paper do neither
do I want to know one like him."
its job.
Jew needs every bit of strength he
Any gentile author writing about Jews should feel shame and dis-
can muster if he is to survive. And
By making the Anglo-Jewish newspa- comfort by portraying such types of non-Jews. They feel guilty for the
the Jew knows this. Anti-Semitism is
per strong, the community aids itself. It incongruity and contradiction in the gentiles' mental processes who
hate a people who gave them their God and their religion and they
not anything new. The Jew has
strengthens internal unity, it stimulates should
at least wonder at the mystery of this attitude. They ought to
fought it more or less successfully
its will for continued, useful, enriched say that Jews cannot cease to be Jews as long as others do not cease
for more than two thousand years.
existence. It bequeaths on itself a voice, to be Christians. In Shaw's "The Doctor's Dilemma," Shutzmach,
says: "I must say, you gentiles are very hard to please. You say we
I{ voice which can persuade, which can
The sign that the fight has been suc-
Jews are no gentlemen when we lend you the money and when we
cessful is that the Jew still survives.
answer, which can demand.
refuse you say the same."
Prejudice, like jealousy, is a disease and prejudices are inherited
The symbol of his survival is his cul-
It is to be hoped that the time will
go on for centuries for many and various reasons. It is lie who is
ture, enriched and vital throughout
come when the Anglo-Jewish newspaper and
prejudiced that should be cured and not the one who is prejudiced
the centuries, a culture which has of-
may change its function from one of against.
fered and still offers to the world a
The Jews survived Torquemada and the Inquisition, Pope Innocent
warning against danger to one of preser-
code of ethics, a way of life, a phil-
vation and enrichment of our culture. the 3rd and John Capistrano, the Franciscan monk. They survived Hit-
They are patient and they can wait. John Haynes Holes in his
osophy of kindliness and gentleness
But that dine, sadly enough, is not fore- ler.
"Palestine Today and Tomorrow" relates "Look at the mountains," I
toward which the world has been
seeable in the immediate future. Until said to my Jewish companion, pointing to a barren range of hills.
groping almost since the history of
that time comes, we still remain the "There is nothing you can do with those."
"Those hills," he replied, "were once beautiful with figs and olives.
mankind.
watchman, alert and viligant.
We shall terrace them. The soil is there and we shall cultivate every
inch of it."
To preserve himself, therefore, the Jew
"You can't do that," I cried, "not in a hundred years:"
must keep informed. He must keep in-
Then came the bravest words heard in Palestine, "%Vhat is a hun-
formed as to how affairs go with his peo-
Selfish interests have once more exer- dred years to a Jew?"

The Why of the Anglo-Jewish
Newspaper

Keep Price Controls

ple at home and abroad. He must have a
constant record in his small and in his
large community of the nature and the
progress of the strength and the weak-
ness of these communities.
It is the purpose of a newspaper to in-
form the public. On the basis of this in-
formation a newspaper is able to teach
and to guide. It is all important in creat-
ing, arousing and maintainng public
opinion. Because of the nature of its be-
ing, this is the specialized concern of the
Anglo-Jewish newspaper.
The Anglo-Jewish newspaper is the
watchman of the community. It is
the voice of the community. Through
it every organization expresses its
opinion, states its function, sounds
its call. The sum total of the organ-
izations of the Jewish community
constitutes that community.
There are other minor functions of the
Anglo-Jewish newspaper. It is the only
place where recognition may be given to
the host of little people who make it their
business to help their neighbors in one
way or another. There are thousands of
Jews and Jewesses constantly engaged
in works of charity, in spreading Jewish
culture, in fostering education. In the
community newspaper, they can get that
little pat on the back which is so neces-
sary when the sledding is rough and the
spare time task seems so colossal.

cised their sinister influence and as a re-
sult, an unthinking Congress has taken
the first steps to wipe away all controls
over runaway inflation. If the Senate lis-
tens to the same advice, price controls
will be a thing of the past.
' The resultant chaos of this sort of
senseless legislation is unthinkable. Now
more than at any time since the war has
ended must people plan carefully their
economic goals. With OPA regulations
gone, the vicious spiral of prices going
up followed by a demand for increased
wages resulting in strikes will throw our
complete economic equilibrium off its
base.
There is no happiness in contem-
plating what this will lead to. It
may result in a complete upheaval of
our economic system. Better, better by
far, that we continue price controls with
all their inconveniences, than to suffer
runaway inflation.
Write your senators, Homer Ferguson
and Arthur Vandenberg, at the Senate
Building in Washington. Urge them to
uphold price controls. Write your Con-
gressmen to do the same if the measure
is bought back in the House. The Con-
gressme'n in Detroit are: Sadowski, first
district; O'Brien, 13th district; Rabaut,
14th district; Dingel, 15th district; Le-
sinski, 16th district, and Dondero, 17th
district.

Hebrew, English and Jewish books available at the Zion Book Store,
9008 12th Street, near Clairmount.

S'atiiping Comp:in:on For The Next 90 Da3.,

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