OUR. KIDDIES'
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11
By Uncle David
Dear Boys and Girls:
Today we celebrate Lincoln's
Birthday.
Did you know t•at our Bible
had a great influence upon the
life of the President whom we
love as the Great EmanCipator?
Let us devote ourselves today
to a discussion of President Lin-
coln.
Moses and Lincoln
The Jewish Welfare Board,
through its department of Jew-
ish extension education, some
time ago issued an interesting
booklet devoted to the celebra-
tkai of Abrahan- Lincoln's birth-
day. In this program was re-
printed an article, "Moses and
Lincoln," by Milton Feist. His
"Moses and Lincoln" is so inter-
esting that reprint it e for
my readers:
"The comparison of the two
liberators, Lincoln and Moses, is
voiced by Jewish thinkers so
often that it often fails to carry
conviction because of its fre-
quency. Unlike most stock
phrases, 1iowever, it is a valid
comparison, and American Jewry
can approach Lincoln's birthday,
grateful that it has been able to
provide inspiration to one of
America's greatest men at the
time of his greatest achievement.
"It is no idle, chauvinistic
boast to assert that Lincoln's
entire outlook on the abolition
question was colored by the He-
brew Bible and especially by the
thundering "Let my people go"
of the Book of Exodus. Lincoln,
though not a follower of organ-
ized Christianity, was a lover of
ti_e Bible, and like many unaffil-
iated Gentiles, seems to have
been more impressed by the
Old Testament insistence of so-
cial justice than the New Testa-
ment emphasis on personal sal-
vation. Perhaps his first interest
in the great story of the Y'tziath
Mizraim was awakened by the
frequent plaint of the negroes
themselves that they were "in
bondage in Egypt." But, however
that interest was aroused, it is
apparent from the tone of many
of Lincoln's utterances that the
liberation of Israel came to
stand before him as a great
shining example, pointing the
road to his duty in the salvation
that divided his own nation.
"Strange that his opponents
claimed a Jewish basis for their
views and supported slavery
with quotations from the Torah.
Unfortunately the word
"eyed" was translated "slave" in
their Bibles. For the modern
equivalent of the ancient Jewish
"slavery" is "identure" or "ap-
prenticeship," an entirely dif-
ferent institution. Lincoln's out-
look, derived from the spirit of
Israel's history, was certainly
more Jewish than theirs which
was derived from a misconcep-
tion of that spirit.
"And that is why, when Lin-
coln's birthday is celebrated
each year, we, the Jews of Amer-
ica, join in grateful memory of
him who strove to serve his
maker by being, too, one who
setteth the captive free."
*
*. *
A Warning to the Girls
The Jewish Welfare Board's
program contained the following
humorous recitation, to be re-
cited by a boy, which is appro-
priate for the observance of Lin-
coln's birthday:
"Say girls, I want to tell you
something. You are quite in-
clined to give your sweetest
smiles to the nice-looking boys
who tog up in swell clothes and
act as if they owned a good
share of the town. Oh yes, you
are, and you can't deny it. As
long as a boy dresses like a fash-
ion plate and acts like a book of
polite manners, you girls think
he is just too cute for, anything.
But if one of us is sort of homely
and awkward, with a long nose
and big ears, and doesn't know
what to do with his hands and
feet, you girls just love to poke
I fun at us, and make us feel un-
comfortable. Now girls, don't you
know it is risky for you to slight
the lanky, ungainly awkward
boys. When you turn a cold
shoulder to one of them, how do
you know but what you are
missing a chance to be nice to a
future Abraham Lincoln? Now
who would have thought when
Abe was 16 he would become the
greatest man the United States
has yet produced? Say, don't
you suppose some of the young
ladies who used to giggle at him
because he was homely and
poorly dressed and awkward, felt
pretty bad about it when he got
: to living in the White House?
I "Being as this is the time of
!the year when we devote some
special notice to the memory of
Lincoln, I hope you girls will
think seriously about what a
splendid patriotic hero he was,
and then remember that when-
ever you turn up your nose at a
loose-jointed, lop-sided, knock-
kneed, pigeon-toed homely boy,
you may be missing a chance to
boss the White house some day."
* * *
Dear Boys and Girls:
The mysterious "Fay R" who
has been writing Talmudic sto-
ries for you in past weeks, sends
me additional stories. This time
she writes about King Solomon.
"I believe," she writes, "the sto-
ries will prove interesting to
grown-ups as well as the young-
er readers." So — here are her
latest stories:
The aged Solomon—an Allegory
from the Talmud
Luxury, riches and ambition
perverted the manhood of Solo-
mon. He forgot wisdom, the bride
of his youth and his heart be-
came lost in wasteful frivolity
and wicked folly.
Once, as he was walking in his
splendid gardens, he heard the
conversation of the manifold
creatures around him; for he
understood the language of beast
and of bird, of tree, stone and
shrub. He turned and listened:
"Behold," said the lily, "there
goes the King; he passes me in
his pride, whilst I, in my humili-
ty, am more splendidly robed
than he."
The p al m tree waved its
boughs and said "there he goes,
the oppressor of his country; and
yet his vile flatterers, in their
fulsome songs, presume to com-
pare him to me. But where are
his boughs? Where the fruit
with which he gladdens the
hearts of men?"
He heard the nightingale sing
to her beloved: "As we love each
other, Solomon loveth not. Oh,
not one of his Sultans holds him
dear as I do thee, my dearest!"
And the turtle-dove cooed to
her mate: "Not one of his sons
and wives would grieve for his
loss, as I would for thine, my
only-beloved!"
The enraged monarch hasten-
ed his pace and came to the
nest where the stork was teach-
ing her young to launch forth
on the adventurous flight:
"What I do for you," said the
stork to its brood, "King Solo-
mon does not do for his son
Rehoboam. He does not teach
and exhort him; therefore the
young prince . will not thrive.
Strangers will lord it over his
father's domains."
The King withdrew to his se-
cret closet and sat there in
silent grief. As he sat, sunk in
painful reflections, the bride of
his youth, wisdom, stood invisi-
ble before him and touched his
eyelids.
He fell into a deep sleep and
had a mournful vision. He saw
the deputation of the tribes as
they stood before his haughty
I
American Council for Judaism
School Established in Indianapolis
Israel Boasts 369
New Settlements
TEL AVIV (JTA)—A total
of 369 agricultural settle-
ments have been established
in Israel since the state was
established nearly six years
ago, the Agriculture Ministry
reported.
Of this total, 203 were
smallholders settlements for
new immigrants and 93 col-
lective settlements. The re-
port added that during the
past year 129.000 d u n a m s
(32,250 acres) of land were
irrigated. N e w settlements
now possess some 20,000 head
of cattle, the report said.
'; son. He saw his empire divided
through the silly answer of the
foolish boy.
He saw ten of the tribes he
had oppressed rebel, and place a
stranger on their throne. He saw
his palaces in ruins; his garden
rooted up; the city destroyed;
the Temple of the Lord in ashes.
• Suddenly he awoke from his
sleep and terror seized on his
tremulous mind.
When lo! Once more the bride
of his youth, the guardian of his
early career, stood visibly before
him. Tears flowed from her
' eyes. She spoke "thou hast seen
what hereafter will happen. Thou
alone art the first cause of all
these calamities.
"But it is not in thy power
to recall them or alter the past;
for thou canst not bid the river
flow back to its spring, nor the
years of thy youth to return.
"Thy soul is wearied, thy
heart is exhausted, and I, the
foresaken of thy youth can no
More be thy companion in the
land of terrestrial life."
With pity in her looks, she
vanished. Solomon, who had
crowned his youthful days with
roses, wrote, in his old age, a
book on the vanity of all human
affairs:
"How much better is wisdom
than gold!" These words are full
of meaning coming from the lips
of a king who was one of the
richest of rulers.
Wisdom, once yours, is always
yours. Gold, today mine, tomor-
row yours, the next day some-
one else's. And wisdom in this
world of values is one of the
few things that is worth more
than it costs.
With it the world is yours and
no matter where you go, be it
England, Spain, Australia or
even the Sahara Desert, a warm
and affectionate welcome in the
hearts of men and women will
always be yours.
Without it you are lost. You
are a slave unto the will of an-
other; first blown this way and
then that way. Now serving one
master and now another, but
never your own ruler.
And we are told in the Bible
when God said to Solomon "Ask
what I shall give thee," King
Solomon answered "I am but a
little child, I know not how to go
out or come in; this is a great
people which cannot be num-
bered or counted for multitude.
Give thy servant an under-
standing heart to judge thy peo-
ple, that I may discern between
good and bad. Would that all the
rulers were blessed with under-
standing hearts.
INDIANAPOLIS, (JTA) — The circular sent parents of prospec-
Jewish Educational Association tive students, "the child will be
board, after a stormy, five-hour ' taught Judaism free of 'Jewish
session, has granted permission ' nationalism' and with proper
for the use of its facilities by regard for all his fellowmen and
the "School for Reform Juda- ! fellow Jews wherever they may
ism"—a new institute with a ` be—whether in America, Israel
curriculum based on the pro- ' or elsewhere."
gram of the American Council
for Judaism.
Rosenberg Re-Elected
Permission was granted. on the
Weizman
Society Head
condition that the JEA would
have the right to supervise the
L ouis Rosenberg was re-
school, that the school's educa- elected for a second year as
tional program would include i president of the V?""
nothing "offensive to the rest ' Chaim WeizmanA4
of the Jewish community or-
segments thereof," and that the i Society.
Re - elected
leasing of the facilities is not
to be considered as "accept- with him were
ance, approval or endorsement Mrs Jack Sher--;
of the organization."
man, vice-pres
Much of the debate on the
grant of the school facilities dent;
centered on the program and Beitman, trea-
policies of the Council for surer;
L ouis
Judaism and several speakers Katz, recording Rosenberg
bitterly assailed its campaign secretary; Louis H. Bogrow, fi-
against Israel. According to a nancial secretary; members of
the board, Mrs. Sam Brown,
Harry Glaser, Louis Kozak, Sam
Abandoos 1! Cohen, Meyer Sherman and Joe
Beiner.
Mrs.
Yearbook Plans
Lel-
Newark
Committees: Mrs. Eva Weston.
Peter Beitman, Fannie Better, H.
chock, Saul Luks and A. Turner, has.
pitalers; membership, Joshua Joy rich;
goodwill, Jack Sherman; inner-watch, Ja-
cob Fingeroot; refreshments. Mrs. Saul
Luks. Fannie Better, Fay Bogrow; educa-
tional, Louis Rosenberg, Joshua Joyrich
and Leon Risher.
After deciding to publish a
yearbook containing the names
of all contributors to the United
Jewish Appeal, the Newark, N.
J., Jewish Community Council
reversed itself and decided to DETROIT JEWISH NEWS-21
abandon the idea.
Friday, February 12, 1954
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