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THE JEW.1514-NEWS,

The Jew in Our - Day'

Waldo Fta,fik's- Book
EspouseS Israel Mission.

Dr. Niebuhr Takes • Issue With Author's -Statement of. the

Jewish "Problem of Existing as a People"; .
Volume a High Call for Self-Analysis
Review by LAWRENCE W. CRoHN

JEW IN OUR OWN DAY. By Waldo Frank. With an introduction by
Reinhold Niebuhr. Duell, Sloane & Pearce, New York.

. The

world-Jewish tragedy has brought in its wake a

revival of interest in the Jewish question f m quarters

which formerly were sealed: tight to any - consideration of
Jewish values. Not all theSe new adherents are as modest
as Waldo Frank. For it is apparent that he has thought deeply
before giving expression to his views. And yet he realizes his

.

inadequate preparation and
equipment for this task. . .
Says he: "I was not brought all human behavior higher than
tip as a Jew.. At 21, I .could read the visceral, make the reality of
in five languages:. Hebrew and Man. The Jews, therefore,- in
Yiddish were not among them. their unity of these two dynamic
At 30, I knew the .scriptures of elements, through their history,
India and Greece and medieval their ethics, even their rnysti-
Europe much better than I knew cism—may be said to have re-
the Bible; I had attended serv- vealed a remarkable genius for
ices in scores of churches and reality. Their culture has been
cathedrals- and never set foot in based on the principle of what,
a synagogue. For Myself, I dis, man really is. No wonder they
covered the jeWish Word; or have survived many another
rather, in a profound crisis: of more brilliant culture. No won-
my life, ,that Word came to me, der the maniacal forces of Fas-;
straight as an answer, palpable cism, which is essentially anti-
as the flesh of my body. It is not human, • suicidal, single out the
too much, therefore, to . say that Jew for suppression. And. no
I am a convert to Judaism; and doubt the Jews—if they hold to
as such, I huinbly claim the. in- their health, which is the prin-
ciple of realty--7will be the
dulgence of my betters."
mate victor in the present bat-
His Great Tradition
tle."
His book "The Jew in Our
. True, Essence of Judaism
Day" is an exposition of the
Waldo Frank, the fine thinker,
truth that the Jews are differ-
ent, and that this difference is thus discovers for himself the
not a mere superficial otherness, true essence of Judaism. Like
limited to external customs, or Moses and Isaiah, Maimonides
racial traits. The distinction of and Karo, aye, even Jesus and
the Jew is in - his' Great Tradition, paul, this Jew also knows that
which separates us from ,other the effort for the good life is
Americans, and yet, because of nothing more than the need to
it, makes .of us better Ameri- interpret • the Divine in terms
cans. In a series of lectures. that are understandable to men
which make up his book, Mr: and women: ThiS Jewish genius,
Frank brilliantly espouses says Frank, is sorely needed
Israel's mission to be the pro- within the American scene. We
phetic voice within a humanity h are,. with our fellow citizens,
which is seeking and groping for heirs of a great American tradi-
ton, a noble pattern of living.
a better way of life.
The present struggle of Ameri-
Waldo Frank is fully aware of
the unpreparedness of American can democracy to overcome the
Jewry for this high calling. For strident and disuniting forces
he deeply believes that Jiidaikm . that have been generated out of
is the carrier of true democraCY crassness and ignorance is our
with its emphasis on the central- American counterpart of all the
ity of the individual human be- world's struggles for spiritual vi-
ing. He would have American tality and truth. In this struggle,
- Jews be the leaders in ,the strug- Mr. Frank would have the Jew
gle to attain ultimate democraticplay a prominent role. He ad-
perfection. But, he laments That monishes his fellow-Jews to es-
"the bitterest irony of the situa- pause social justice and to shun
tion . is that there. are Jews ahem= those who exploit the common
selves who deny their own pe- people: In this way, also, we
culiar value in a world strug- fight anti-Semitism. The Jew
gling for democracy, and thereby may acquire riches, position and
play straight into the hands of power, but they will avail him
the arch enemy of -America, of little if the forces of exploitation
democracy and of the Jewish which have made these riches
possible will gain permanent
people."
control. In the eventual de-
Medicine for America
marche, we will again suffer, not
Mr. Frank believes that the only for our sins, but for those
Jewish Tradition is good medi- of all the world.
cine for America.
The Better American
Also, he insists that our differ-
Therefore, the Jew who fights
ences are unique, unlike those injustice is the better American
that set apart Polish-Americans, and he . serves the highest in
Italian - Americans and others Judaism as well.
from their neighbors. What
Of those who would emphasize
makes the Jew distinctive is his their specific and • immediate
culture. To Frank, the core of Jewish problems, Waldo Frank
Jewish philosophy and history is has admiration but little true
in the millenial search for the understanding. Thus, he realizes
proper synthesis of "bread" and the vital hold of Eretz Israel
the transcendent: "Man lives upon the Jewish masses. "Be-
within nature as a natural body, cause it articulates the mass
- and yet aspires dynamically to- yearnings of millions of Jews.
ward values and a truth beyond Zionism is respectable. Because
natural dimensions. These two of the beauty of the humble
elements, indissolubly merged in chalutzim, it is lovable." But he

.

.

A VOTE FOR

John R. Dethrners

Republican Candidate

For Attorney General

Is a Vote for Honest Goternment

FORMER CHIEF ASSISTANT
ATTORNEY GENERAL

Able and Experienced

151(

John R. Dethmers

For Attorney General
November 7.. Vote Reptiblican

regrets' the • total claims of Zion-:
ism. He writes: "Even when the.
hc4neland is rewon for that:nu-
cleus of Israel whieh 'Wants to
liVe in it and to make it ..into a
new womb for Jewish' creation,
the justification of Israel for all
Israel will continue to be his
timeliness as a spirittial People."
What Waldo Frank preaches is
another "mission of Israel" con-
cept: "It is the Jews' sacred duty
never to. forget that his suffering
today is the suffering of all men;
never to fail so to speak of the
sorrowing of his people that all
men may knoW his awareness
that hurrianity is suffering." Yet
it is this very role that Zionists
have rejected. Not, indeed, that
the lovers of Zion have fore-
sworn the ageless Jewish pre-
occupation with the problems of
all humanity; but because they
See fit to work out, in their own
homeland, the prophetic mode of
life. We have indeed suffered, for
too long because of our espousal
Of universal liberty at the ex-
pense. of Jewish survival.
Misses Main Point
Waldo Frank looks upon Jew-
ish nationalism as a • restrictive
idea. He misses, the main point,
that ,the 'Jewish life - principle
which he so heartily commends is
actually the working policy of.
Palestine; What has been ac-
complished there, in co-operative
living and in the invigoration of
Jewish cultural values, could
never be duplicated anywhere
else in the Galuth. We who live
in the diaspora can benefit great-
ly by participation in this great
Jewish adventure. It seems to
this reviewer that Waldo Frank's
thinking is immature in. this re-
gard. Charity begins at home,
and it is • high time we start
thinking of our own problem be-
fore essaying the role of world-'
Messiah again.
In his introduction to the book,
Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr, the great
Christian theologian, takes issue
with Mr: Frank's statement of the
Jewish problem as a call to their
prophetic heritage , without due
attention to their "purely mun-
dane problem of existing as a
people." He rejects the necessity
for the Jews to destroy their con,
porate entity in order that they
might emphasize the spiritual
quality of their tradition. "An
American or Frenchman does not
have to destroy his people as a
people in order to serve God or
the total human community."
Common Necessities
One readily understands this
over-emphasis by Mr: Frank,
who has, stood aloof from his
people for so long, secure in his
1Ofty eminence and removed from .
close and.. intimate contact with
the common necessities •of Jewish
liVing .in a . hostile. world. Dr. Nie-
buhr proves to be more objective
when he pleads for theJew "who
suffers not because he is a
prophet but because he is a Jew."
And further, "I do not see how it
is possible' to develop the high
religion_ the Jewish community
fully if nation does not have

,

•

41t

,

41464it

.4.;RayttetthidiKatz - Ait:Eittibit:I'
pens. at Center on $iiridii6?

,

Mrs. DaVid B. Werbe,
chair-
.
man of the art committee Of • the
Jewish Community Center, an-
nounces the opening of an art
exhibit of the work of A. Ray-
mond Katz, on Sunday afternoon,
Nov. 5, at the Center.
A. Raymond Katz was born in
Kassa, Hungary. He studied
abroad and at the Art Institute
of Chicago.
He has painted in many places
in America and in Europe. The
variety in locale of his paintings
and sketches is matched by the
variety in techniques and media
in which the . artist has • worked.,
His work has been.. shown in
many - important' museums and
galleries, including the Art .Insti7
tute of Chicago, Carnegie Insti-
tute, Pennylvania - Academy,
Coreoran Gallery,. Brooklyn Mu-;
seum, Cincinnati Museum, Rive
r-
side Museum, Milwaukee "Art In:-
stittite, Golden Gate Exposition,
Ferargil Galleries, Evansville
Museum, Little Rock Museum,
University of Arkansas, Missis-
sippi . Art Ass'n., where he won
first price in national exhibition
of oils, Springfield Art Museuni.
He is well known as a ni.ural
painter; among the murals and
frescoes he has executed are
murals for the General Exhibits
Building and Hall of Religion at
the Century of Progress; frescoes
of the Ten Commandments in
the Loop Synagogue, (which at-
tracted world wide recognition)';
murals on the "Life of Will Ro-
gers"; "The assimilation of the
Immigrant", at Madison, Ill., a
Post Office TreaSury DepartMent
project; and numerous murals,
frescoes,. and stained glass 'win-
dows in Denver, Cleveland, Ce-
dar . Rapids, Elizabeth, Houston,
etc. Many of them are -.in
churches and institutions.
He has experimented over a
period of 15 years with a theory

a higher degree of socio-political
security."
Mr. Frank has looked into the
distant horizon, but he has riot
sufficiently interested himself in
the startling draina of Jewishlre-
birth in our own time. Neither in
Palestine where the seeds Of re-
vival have germinated, or even in
Ameriea where such a movement
as ReConstructiOriism has taken
root,' or in the growth of Hebrew
culture has Mr. Frank attempted
to participate actively.
Nevertheless, "The Jew in Our
Day," despite its lopsided treat-
ment of the Jewish question, is a
high call for self-analysis to all
Israel. Like other Jews, Justice
Brandeis, Albert Einstein, Max
Nordau and Theodor Herzl, Wal-
do Frank discovered, in his own
words, that "to see beauty is but
to see wholly. If a man knows
himself he will know God: and
he will dwell in beauty."

46/4114,44

iiiiiiiiiii

Ie.

Dommicrafs Gird Republican

SELECT A JUDGE ON THE BASIS
OF HIS CNARACTER AND ABILITY

4

Vole To Retain .
CIRCUIT JUDGE WILLIAM

RIEDMAN

On the Separate Non-Partisan Judicial Ballot

Endorsed by:

* AU three Detroit Da* Newepapers.
* By Civic Seamhlight (publication of Detroit Mims%
League).
* Rh all breaches of organised labor lux
UAW-
AF of L and Railway Brotherhood Unions.
* By induntey and libianagenient.
* The Detroit Bar Association Ohio Ammiation com-
prised of all attorneys, voted for Judge Friedman
nearly 7 to 1 over his opponent).
* By the voters of Wayne County at the primary
election giving Judge Friedman a tremendous ma-
jority over his nearest opponent.

Life-Long Resident et M4chlgrt! Teacher! Lawyer! Welfare
Worker' Rol:Ise of eorieciabn Connnisslener Yeiara VVithout. Pay
THIS ARVERTISBIlifiNT PAID FOR BY LOYAL CITIZENS
WHO KNOW JI_Ii/GrE FRIEBIKAN'S QUALIFICFITIONS ::

.?
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ai&A;aA&Sillailgalla242aiai&RAELV41804,1t*

of design based on the Hebrew
Alphabet, the object of which is
to furnish the Jewish religion
with an art based on its own
motifs. This will be the subject
of his lecture at the Center,
Monday evening, Nov. 13, at
8:30 , p. m., to which the public is
invited.

He is, at- present, teaching at
the North Shore Art League, at
Winnetka; at the Art Center in
Evanston; as well as at Great
Lakes Naval Hospital, where he
gives instruction in art to con-
valescent - sailors,' marines and.
'Waves.

Kvutzah Ivrith Holds
Lecture on Kaznelson;
Halevi Guest Speaker

The public is invited to attend,
'a lecture on the late Palestinian.
leAder, Berl kaznelson, arranged
by Kvutzah Ivrith, Hebrew Cul-.
;tzar Group, Saturday evening,
in the auditorium of the Rose
Sittig Cohen Bldg., Tyler and
Lawton.
Mordecai Halevi ,educator, lec-
turer and director of the Hebrew
schools in Cincinnati, will be
guest speaker. Joseph Haggai,
head of the cultural committee of
the Kvutzah, will act as chair-
man.
Berl Kaznelson was editor of
the Palestinian Hebrew Daily
"Davar." He also was head of the
publications of several Hebrew
books, published by the Am
Oved.
The lecture will be delivered
in Hebrew, and is open to the
public.

McLEOD GETS
ENDORSEMENTS

Rabbi From Commends
Him for Proposed Reso-
lution; Rabbi Sperka
Among Supporters
Prominent Detroit cit-
izens, many of • them out-

standing Jewish leaders,-
have issued • statements
commending Hon. Clar-
ence J. McLeod for his
stand favoring adoption
of legislation to outlaw
anti-Semitism.
Rabbi Leon Pram, 'upon
reading former Congressman
McLeod's statement, wrote to
him:
"Dear Friend:

"I was delighted to receive

the copy of the proposed
McLeod Resolution. If would
certainly be' a wonderful thing

for all mankind to 'have such
a resolution passed.
"VVith all good wishes, I am,
"Sincerely yours,
"RABBI LEON FRAM"

Among the proininent De-

troiters who have endorsed

the re-election of Congress-
man McLeod to Congress, on
the Republican ticket, • in the
13th District, are: Rabbi J. S.
Sperka, A. C. Lappin, Sidney
Alexander, Aaron Droock,
Joe Jones, Harry Madison,
Samuel J. -. Rhodes, Harry J.
Schaeffer, Leonard Smith.
Mr. Lappin delivered a
stirring radio appeal on the
Altman Jewish Hour Sunday,
urging Mr: McLeod's election.

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