With the U.S. Jewish Chaplain and the GIs He Serves
This pictorial story of Jewish chaplains recruited,
ecclesiastically endorsed and served by the-National
Jewish Welfare Board's Commission on Jewish
Barondess-Syrkin-Baker Episode
War Secretary's Lesson is Americanism
By BERNARD G. RICHARDS
The 50th anniversary of the
founding of the Poale Zion or
Labor Zionist Movement for the
rebuilding of Palestine was re-
cently observed with large mass
meetings in New York and other
large cities and the occasion was
further commemorated by the
publication of a two-volume his-
tory of the movement issued in
Yiddish by the Yiddisher Kemfer.
A number of stalwart and pic--•
turesque figures emerge out of
these pages, courageous spokes-
men and daring workers for the
cause of Zion. •
The observances recently held
also brought back many exciting
days before World War I when
one of the pioneers in the strug-
gle, Dr. Nachman Syrkin, dis-
tinguished Yiddish writer, philo-
sopher and advocate of labor,
stirred masses of our peOple
throughout the country to in-
tense enthusiasm with his news-
paper articles and lecturesrespe-
eially when he so • fervently ad-
vocated the objectives of America
and the Allies. Remembered par-
ticularly will be an incident
which was told by himself and
which relates to his voyage to
Paris to attend the Peace Con-
ference of Versailles in 1919 as a
delegate from the American 'Jew-
ish Congress, the organization
that then undertook the task of
championing Jewish rights in
Europe and the restoration , of
Palestine.
Dr. Syrkin, the gentle scholar,
travelled With another delegate
from the 'American Jewish • Con-
gregS- to the Peace` COrite'rence,
The redoubtable Joseph Baron-
dess,' "'an early arrival to the
United State4;was_in fact the pi-
oneer otganizer of labor in the
great - needle' in-
• . New
dustry Of,
York, the • Mari
who rose from
t he submerged
immigrants and
p ulled his ex-
ploited and be-
wildered fellow-
workers out of
the
sweatshOps • into
the daylight of
modern factories
and better work-
i n g conditions.
Barondess
S o phenomenal
was his rise as a leader and so
dramatic the events leading up to
the e a'r lieSt demonstrations,
strikes and triumphs,. that Ed-
ward King, English-born writer,
and a - star Teporter on • the old
New York World, found in them
the theme of a novel, perhaps the
first romance of the East Side
Ghetto published in • the United
States, "Joseph ,Zalmonah", is-
sued' by Lee and Sheppard, Bos-
.- ton, 1893. Zalmonah was none
other than Joseph Barondess and
he and his family and asserciate§
were but thinly disguised by the
Gentile author who, fascinated
by the sights and sounds of an
exotic settlement in the midst of
drab New York, became a fre-
quent visitor to the labor leader's
home and the friend and benefac-
tor of his family: .In. his later ca-
reer as civic leader and worker
1
'
'atigei, • ileV
'
100 full-time and nearly 250 part-time Jewish
chaplains. During 1954, chaplains offered 958,684
opportunities for contact with their men's heritage.
Chaplaincy offers a glimpse of the chaplains in
action around the calendar of Jewish holy days
and festivals. At present, there are approximately
ors came to Barondess and the
late Mayor William J. Gaynor in
1910 appointed him member of
the New York Board of Educa-
tion. (Reappointed by Mayor
John Purroy Mitchell in 1914).
Dr. Syrkin had come here with
a European reputation as publi-
cist, essayist and lecturer, having
matched wits -with. Israel Zang-
will, Dr. Max Nordau, Dr. Chaim
Weizmann, and other spokesmen
of Israel at international Con-
gresses.
* * *
Barondess felt lonesome and
homesick from the moment he
left our shores and to console
himself he dwelt considerably - on
his home, his family and above
all his love of America. Natu-
rally, Dr. Syrkin, who later told
me this story, while we were to-
gether in Paris,' sympathized .with
his friend more acutely than he
confessed, and certainly shared
Barondess' enthusiasm for Amer
ica. The talk repeatedly shifted
to personal feelings and experi-,
ences and the philosopher was
quite ready not' only to sympa-
thize with but to console the-
orator..
The entire trip was one peon of
praise-rtfarOndess, with the finest
devotion and ardor, extolling and
lauding all things American, all
its bounty of physical comforts
and spiritual expansiveness.
At :lunch time, a long line of
:passengers waited to get into the
dining car. Dr. Syrkin. and Mr.
Barondess were finally sh6 -ved to
a . table which they shared with
two other men. One was a short
middle•,aged, greying person -with.
a large head, of - impressive _ap :_
pearance.. The other was a -tall
younger Mari,: typitally
Saxon, less reserved and of a
more friendly manner.
There was no soft-pedaling for
Mr. Barondess especially when
the had something to protest or
to • extoll.
- Mr. Barondess was, of course,
all the time talking to Dr. Skt".
kin, -a- most patient listener, and"
therefore an excellent audience
in himself, but the speaker did
not care who else listened in. The
strangers only shoWed a nodding
interest in the; _tall. but as the
meal proceeded a a few passing
words were exchanged with
them.
"There is one land in the
world", Barondess said with the
orator's apparent relish of - words
resonant voice rising in
crescendo whether he spoke to
three men or three thousand—
"one land where men are really
free and . happy, where there is
friendship, helpfulness, fair •play
and justice, justice for all, rich
and poor, and. a chance_ to work,
to advance to the top and -live in
peace. And that's the grand and
glorious U.S.A. . . . God's own
country. As to 'living in comfort,
the enjoyment of perfect service,
the ease, accommodations and
pleasure's furnished by our tnVerf-
tive genius and mechanical achie-
vements—there is no land like it
in the whole universe."
"Isn't that right, doctor?"
"Certainly, certainly," returned
Dr. Syrkin, somewhat abashed by
this vehement outpouring before
utter strangers.
the two strangers lighted a
cigarette, Mr. Barondess, with
quick, impulsive gesture, pro-
duced a cigar exclaiming en-
thusiastically: "Please let me
give you something to smoke—
an American cigar!" With gra-
cious bow, but consistent sparr-
ing of words, was the offer ac-
cepted.
_
Pleasantries over and accounts
with the waiter having been set-
tled, the diners moved out of the
car and proceeded to their re-
spective compartments. _
The older gentleman walked
ahead, Mr. Barondess behind him
still enlarging upon the virtues
of America. Next came' the tall
Young man and last, Dr. Syrkin.
As the line moved forward, our
modest philosopher mustered suf-
ficient courage to inquire who his
companion was.,
"That gentleman," said the
young man slowlY, "is Newton
D.1 Baker."
"The Secretary of Wax?"
asked Dr. Syrkin, incredibly.
"The same," said the young :
man smilingly and with appar,,
ent enjoyment of the surprise
he produced.
For some little while after. that
Dr. Syrkin sat in his compart-
ment without saying a word, a,
mysterious smile hovering :over
features. Then he suddenly turn=
ed to Barondess sitting opposite
him and asked: "Do you know
who the gentlenian is to whom
you were lecturing on America?"
Baronde§sa was- all curiosity.
When the name was divulged, he
looked incredible and bewildered,
utterly unable - -to. - realize -that
such a thing could happen. Then
he7recalled
.the resemblance of
, -
the man to the printed pictures of
the famous= Reform Mayor of
Clemeland,.,,amil. later President
Wilson's . Secretary of War.
He burst oUt iaughing, loud and
long—as- only Barondess could
laugh.
South African Writer .
Gives Royalties to Israel.
JOHANNESBURG, (JTA),
M r s. Sarah Gertrude Millin,
South African write r, has
donated half of her royalties
from her latest b 0 ok, "The
Measure of My Days," towards
the construction of a hospital at
Askelon, Israel.
The South African Jewish. Ap-
peal announced that the other
half of t h e African royalties
have been donated by Mrs. Mil-
lin to Witwatersrand University.
Mrs. Millin, currently visiting
England, is SOuth Africa's leg:&_
ing : author* and -biographer, hav-
ing written biographies of Field
Marshal Jan Christian Smiits
and Cecil Rhodes and popiflar
novels such as "God's Step--
With Readers Greedy for All the News,
Israeli Press Is Reaching Maturity
By MAYER STIEBEL
(An AJP Feature) .
One morning in 1863 citizens
of Jerusalem were startled by
posters appearing on the walls
of their city. They announced
the publication of Palestine's
first Hebrew newspaper, "Hal-
evanon." Thus, • 85 year's before
the re-establishment of the Jew-
ish state, the modern Hebrew .
press was created.
Several other Hebrew 'news-
papers appeared after "Haleva-.
non" but most were suppressed
by the Turkish authorities after
only a few issues. Halevanon
itself survived but 12 issues.
Eliezer Ben Yehuda deserves
credit for the development of
the present Israeli press. Ben
Yehuda was a pioneer in spread-
ing the use of Hebrew as the
everyday language of Palestine.
Up to this time it had been re-
served for the prayerbook and
synagogue . worship.
Together with his wife, he
founded -several magaiines and
newspapers -to help his crusade
and-was' very active in Palestin-
ian journalism for _33 *years, be-
ginning in 1883.
By the • end of 1914; there
were • two. daily _rieWsPapeis and
several weeklies:. in - Palestine.
Of these early publications, the
Weekly, "HapOel Hatiair," estab-
liShed in 1908`, still exists: It
was with the. arrival of the dailY
"Haaretz" in 1919 that the pres-
ent-day press began to take
shape:
"Davar" was established in
1925 and six more dailies were
founded between 1932 and 1939,
including - two German-language
papers 'and the English "Pales-
tine "Post."
Probably.
the
- •
.
• hardest period
in the history of Israeli jour-
nalism was the years toward
the end of the British mandate
and during the Israel-Arab war:
Censorship, ythe, abundance of
flying bullets, and -Pobr com-
munications were the major
problenis in this period.
The huge* population influx
since the creation of Israel,
whic hhas sen the country More
than double . in ' inhabitants,
tally affects th-e press of the
young •republic: When, the State
-
was established, there were 10
daily papers, including those in
foreign language, while today
there are a total of 24. An even
bigger growth has taken place
in the field of weekly a n d
monthly publications.
Many of the immigrants do
not know Hebrew and turn to
publications in their n a t i v e
tongues. Thus among the : daily
papers are those printed. in Ger-
man (2), Bulgarian (2), Hun-
garian. (1), and French (1), as
well as English (1) and Arabic
Another result of the immi-
gration is that Jews who already
.know Hebrew, and those that
learn it uPon entering the coun-
_ in-g circulations of
try, are boom
the Hebrew newspapers at un-
heard of rates.
Israelis rank - among the most
ravenous newspaper readers in
the world. Every 1.000
people
_ -
purchase 235 copies of daily
papers every day, and most Is-
raelis read two newspapers a
day, both a morning and an
afternoon paper.
Still another reason why so
man _ Y Papers flourish in a nation
of just under two. million • citi-
zens is that most of these papers
are the . voices of Various politi-
cal parties, a situation familiar
to . Many European countres. A
few could not exist were it not
for partf-donatecl subsidies.
Thirteen morning and three
afternoon or evening news-
papers constitute the Hebrew-
language, press. Of these, only
the morning "Haaretz" and the
afternoon "Yediot Acharanot"
and "Maariv" are independently
owned and in business primarily
to make money.
Tel Aviv is the newspaper
capital of the Middle East and
roughly three-fourths of Israel's
newspaper§ and magazines are
published in this city. Jerusa-
lem and Haifa are two other im-
portant cities for printing.
While it's. far too early to
make any final statements con-
cerning the development Of Is-
rael's press, one thing is cer-
tain: Journalism in Israel is
growing and rapidly achieving
maturity.. As the ingathering of
the exiles continues, it will con-
tinue to expand.. •
-
Israel Bonds Finance Copper Mining
715,
-7 777
children."
Her latest book is largely'aUto-
biographical and is a testimonial
to her late husband, Supreme
Court Justice Philip • It
contains much of Jewish interest
including revelations concerning
leading figures in the modern
Zionist movement.
• Witwatersrand University has
awarded -Mrs. Millin an honOr-
ary Doctorate in Literature
When, however, towards the 6—DETROIT JEWISH NPWS,
or ta0.- ilifEari;ife Mit lit
rtra$; Sqiirein Wei 16; i9'5t
Israel Bond proceeds are being utilized to develop the mining of
copper, iron, phosphates and other minerals in the Negev. Here, at
King Solomon's mines near Elat, a "proved reserve" of 100,000
tons of copper has been established, with an added potential of
300,000 tons. A processing plant now :-under construction, and
,Fompillption lag ....1953„4:wil/ kroduee* ST5S. ton", of
metallic, copper annually, for dOrnestirifie atarof Ofpott