New Marcus Book:

Diary Portrait of Early U.S. Jews

EARLY AMERICAN JEWRY. By Jacob ill still keep yourself our of trouble
R. Marcus. Philadelphia, Pa., Jewish and be an honest man.
"Ingenuity will shine in a man even if
Publication Society of America. 329 pages
he is carrying a lot of wood. therefore
and 15 illustrations. 33.50.
let the man you are with find out your
ingenuity by merit and not by them
A Review
horn buttons you have brought with
you. and which are not worth five pence.
by Charles Reznikoff
and you have exposed. me with them.
Author of
both here and there, if it had been in
your power . . .•'
"The Jews of Charleston"

This volume is about the Jews
Of New York, New England and
Canada, from 1649 to 1794. It
is the first of two volumes about
early American Jewish life, and
is based on letters in the printed
proceedings of learned societies
or still among unpublished man-
uscripts.
book is not only
learned but de-
lightful, for it
has the very
speech and life
of a time long
ago. It is also a
significant book.
Like all good
histories, the
Dr. Marcus
subject - matter
is of yesterday but also of to-
day. That we may fully under-
stand the letters, Dr. Marcus ex-
plains them to us and tells us
who wrote them: the characters
speak to us from his pages about
their problems and, at times, we
find Ahem like our neighbor's
or our own. It is a new kind
of history: every quoted word
authentic and yet a history not
Unlike a novel or a play.
For example, when Phila
Franks in 1742 eloped with Oli-
ver DeLancey, of "a noted (Gen-
tile) family and really very
fancy;" her mother wrote the son
in London:
. Good God. wath a shock it was

When ihe
y acquainted me she had left
the house and had bin married six
months. I can hardly hold my pen whilst
II am writting it. la's wath I never
could have imagined, especialy affter
wath I heard her soe often say, that noe
Consideration in life should ever induce
her to disoblige such good parents . • .
"My spirits was for some time so
depre.st that it was a pain for me to
speak or see any one. I have over come
it soe far as not to make my concern soe
conspicuous but I shall never have
that serenity nor peace within I have
soe happyly had hittherto. My house
has bin my prison ever since. I had not
heart enough to goe near the street
door .. . I wish it was in my power
to leave this part of the world . . ."

•

Although Abigail Franks in
that same letter says of Oliver
DeLancey that he was " a man
of worth and character," trying
no doubt to make the best of it,
seven years later Oliver and
some of his friends with black-
ened faces smashed the windows
and burst open the door of a
poor Dutch Jewish immigrant
in New York; they "pulled and
tore everything to pieces . -. and
used very indecent language." A
nice son-in-law for Jacob Franks,
president of Shearith Israel!
When Aaron Hart in 1786 sent
his eighteen-year-old son, Moses
from Three Rivers on the • St.
Lawrence to New York, Moses'
mother added a postcript to her
husband's letter: " .. When you
arrive you will on my account
say every think affectionate to
my d'r Mammy and rest of my
family . . . You will go to Mr.
Eleazar Levy and to Mr. Solom'n
Myers Cohen and Mrs. Cohen
and family, Mr. Hyam and fami-
ly . . ."
Aaron Hart had gone to Can-
ada with the British troops
during the French and Indian
War, probably as a sutler, and
had settled in Three Rivers to
become the richest Jew in Can-
ada. For one thing, he had
learnt to hold his tongue, and
the last letter to his son reads:
"You will say as lettle as posse-
ble about your business to any
of the Jues in New York nor
to your Unkils to (too). You
must remain Pesah in a Jues
house. Pray take care of your-
self and God bless you."
Some of the best - letters in
the book are by Samuel Jacobs
who probably did not learn to
hold his tongue. Like Hart, he
had gone to Canada with the
British troops and was in Que-
bec ,at the 1u test a month after
its capture (1759). In 1761, he
discharged one of his agents as
follows:
`'Mr. Aaron, Sir: It is my desire on the

Tec'pt of this letter to me and of no
Service, therefore you ill try if you can
be of any to yourself, and prepare to
Montreal where you ill let each of our
(Jewish) brethren take an equal. trouble
with you as I have done. For had you
staid much longer in (New) York. you
would tire out your friends there. which
was but a few.
"Let my advice still be to you. not to
aim at merchandize to raise yourself, at
the present, but go into some honest
house and work for your victuals, and
fiX: you get nothing to atorehand, you

142 Jewish Manuscripts in UN Condemns Slaying
Frieder Literary Contest Of Israel Fishermen

t.
•

Mt At ,

The specialist in American
Jewish history for that matter,
will be very pleased by the book,
for he will find in it the answer
to many a question as to a name
or date, the details. of a career,
or the reason for a local regula-
as
tion. The general reader of his-
tory will see a current in human
affairs that began its course
long ago and far away traced
to his own country. Any col-
lection of books about Jews, no Alexander Frieder, member of
matter how small the collection the Executive Board of the
is, must have this book, of course. ; Union - of American Hebrew
And every American Jew who ' Congregations, and Rabbi Mau-
has a shelf for the Bible, a rice N. Eisendrath, president of
prayer-book and a general his- the Union, look over a few of
tory of the Jews, will want this the 142 manuscripts entered in
beside it for a profound, ac- the Frieder Literary Award
curate, and delightful study of contest for the best novel or
how the Eurropean Jew became biography on a Jewish theme.
an American.
Established by Mr. Frieder in
memory of his late wife, the
contest is sponsored by the
UAHC, parent body of Reform
Judaism in the United States,
"What is man that Thou art as part of a tercentenary cele-
bration commemo rating the
Pnindful of him?"—Psalm 8:5.
landing of the first Jewish set-
By NOAH E. ARONSTAM
An empty chair; I sit and gaze tler in America in 1654. Rine-
As dreams arise in flow and ebb, hart and Co. will publish the
While looking through a gosso- winning manuscript.
mer haze
That holds me captive in its Anti-Zionists Publish Text
web:
Devoid of Israel Mention

What Is Man?

Of hours and days and yester-
years,
That fled beyond recall and
trace,
Enchanted moments which no
fears
Could e'er efface nor take their
place
Of others less in worth and
depth.
The visions fled. I vainly cried:
"Oh moment linger"; but it swept
Beyond all ebb and past all tide.

NEW YORK, (AJP) — Anti-
Zionist units throughout the na-
tion are scheduled to be alerted
shortly to push for the accept-
ance in Sunday. Schools of a new
textbook totally devoid of any
mention of Israel, Zionism or
national aspirations of the Jew-
ish people throughout the ages.
The textbook, authored by
Rabbi Allen Tarshis h, of
Charleston, S. C., and approved
by the American Council for
Judaism, is presently being test-
A dulcet voice spoke to me:
ed in several communities as a
"What art thou I shall favor reader for Jewish youth.
thee?
Prepared in consultation with
Thou hast enjoyed both bliss Rabbi Elmer Berger, executive
and peace,
director of the Council, the text-
In Hope and Faith thou'lt find book is being circulated in mim-
surcease.
eograph form.

As Another Jew Dies

TEL AVIV. (JTA)—A Jewish
member of Kibbutz Dan, in
northern Israel, was shot and
killed by Arab infiltrees while
seeking to recover a herd of
cows stolen from the settle-
ment's barns. A military spokes-
man announced that a protest
had been lodged with the Israel-
Syrian Mixed Armistice Com-
mission on the incident.
The Jew was shot when a
party of settlers tracked the in-
filtrees but were ambushed by
them. The body of the mur-
dered man was turned over to
Israel authorities the next
morning by Syrian officers.
The Mixed Armistice Commis- •
sion condemned as "a grave
breach" of the general armis-
tice agreement the slaying of
two Israeli fishermen on Lake
Kinneret by Syrian troops. The
American chairman of the corn-
Imission, Col. Samuel Taxis,
voted with the Israeli members
to condemn the slayings.

John Roy Carlson
To Address Zionists

Author of "Under Cover,"
"The Plotters," and "Cairo to
Damascus," John Roy Carl-
son will appear as the speak-
er for the Detroit Zionist. Dis-
trict at the Shaarey Zedek,
Wednesday evening, Jan. 30.
The public will be invited.
The speaker will be intro-
duced by Albert Elazar, chair-
man of the program commit-
tee.

THE JEWISH NEWS-9

Friday, January 11, 1952

Ruby Cleaners
& Tailors

All Types of Alterations
Remodeling
All Work Guaranteed

We Call for and Deliver --

2167 Ewald Circle

TO. 8-0458

Our Want Ads Get Results.

NOW ACCEPTING REGISTRATION FOR THE

WORKMEN'S CIRCLE SCHOOL

•

Kindergarten and All-Day Nursery — Ages 3 to 5

KINDERGARTEN
9 a.m. to 12-1 to 4 p.m.

•

ALL-DAY NURSERY
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Elementary Classes — Ages 6 to 14— from 3 :30 p.m.

TRANSPORTATION TO AND FROM SCHOOL PROVIDED

11529 LINWOOD

TO. 8-5368

Insured
SAVINGS
ACCOUNTS

"your neighborhood

current

rah

savings institution"

merican Savi ngs

AND LOAN ASSOCIATION

12246 DEXTER at Cortland 439 WOODWARD of Lamed 6060 W. FORT at Military
VI 3 - 7600
WO 2-7603
TO 9-6611

Agents For Sale of United States Savings Bonds and State of Israel Bonds

Harry Solomon Slashes Prices

* Original price tags remain on
every garment . . see for yourself
how much you actually save. And
remember . . . we've only been in
business just 3 months so you know
everything is NEW • . this season's
smartest styles and patterns. No re-
strictions ... everything cut in price.

SUITS • TOPCOATS • OTOATS

SPORTSWEAR • FURNISHINGS

19472 Li ve•nois

011414g

Every

Night

(Unita

9 P.M.

3 BLOCKS NORTH

OF 7 MILE ROAD

