THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS -- Friday, September 12, 1958-6

Jo Davidson, Great American Jewish Sculptor, and
Prophet Jeremiah Featured in New Covenant Books

Jo Davidson
and
Dr. Chaim
Weizmann,
photographed
in Israel in
1951

The literary efforts of the
current year were greatly en-
hanced by a new joint project
undertaken by the Jewish Pub-
lication Society, American Jew-
ry's major non - profit book-
producing movement, and the
publishing house of Farrar,
Straus and Cudahy. It is the
production of a series of chil-
dren's Covenant Books, four of
which have already been issued.
"Silversmith of Old New
York: Myer Myers", by William
Wise, and "Border Hawk: Au-
gust Bondi," by Lloyd Alexan-
der, the first two volumes in
this series, already have been
reviewed in The Jewish News.
It is heartening to see the
Covenant Books project prosper,
with the appearance this week
of two more titles—"The World
of Jo Davidson," by Lois Harris
Kuhn, and "Jubal and the Pro-
phet," by Frieda Clark Hyman.
Covenant Books, aimed for
young people 11 to 15, take the
young readers on adventurous
expeditions through history, by
way of biography. The first
three volumes deal with Ameri-
can Jewish personalities. The
fourth volume takes the reader
back to Biblical times—to the
Prophet Jeremiah.
Four more titles are in prepa-
ration—three of them to be de-
voted to American personalities
(Major Alfred Mordecai, Emma
Lazarus and Isaac Aboab, the
first American rabbi), and one
to a great world Jewish literary
figure, Isaac Leib Peretz.
This excellent start assures
the creation of a young people's
Jewish library that will serve a
great purpose on providing a
better Jewish education for our
young people.
* * *
The two newest Covenant
books—the Jo Davidson and the
Jubal - Jeremiah stories, justify
the faith of the sponsors in
these books.
Mrs. Kuhn made a real con-
tribution to Jewish biographical
literature with "The World of
Jo Davidson." It is a well writ-
ten story in which she traces the
background of the great sculp-
tor.
Born in New York, in 1883,

son of a religious Russian Jew-
ish immigrant, Jo (he objected
to his mother calling him Joey
when he was a little boy, and
he had his way: his name re-
mained Jo) early in life took a
liking to drawing. His mother
wanted him to be a doctor and
he actually studied medicine.
But in the Art School at Yale
he came across a barrel of gray-
green clay. He took a wad and
began to mold it. Before he
knew it, he was forming figures.
That's how his interest began
in sculpture. He went from art-
ist to artist, studied hard, strug-
gled to support himself, en-
countered many difficulties, un-
til he finally won' worldwide
recognition for his great art.
* * *
Mrs. Kuhn takes her readers
to all the cities and countries to
which Davidson traveled. She
retraces his steps in Paris,
where he labored hard, barely
eking out a living, but contin-
ually improving his craftsman-
ship.
He began by making the mag-
nificent statue of David. Then
the tempo of his craftsmanship
increased having met many of
the great men in the world, he
reproduced their likenessness in
clay.
* * *
Indeed, he learned the hard
way after giving up medicine.
Much as his mother wanted him
to be a doctor, she took pride
in his work and he especially
had the encouragement of his
sister Rachie.

Davidson's experiences in
Paris, his marriage to Yvonne,
his travels to and from Europe
and the United States, his meet-
ings with great diplomats and
writers—all are recounted in
this well-told story.
He made busts of Woodrow
Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Albert
Einstein, George Bernard Shaw,
Chaim Weizmann, Israel Zang-
will, Rabintranath Tagore, Lord
Northcliffe, Anatole. France,
Gertrude Stein, John D. Rocke-
feller, Robert LaFollette, Char-
lie Chaplin and scores of others.
His experiences with some of
these people are retold in Mrs.

Kuhn's story. She relates the
frank reactions to the bullying
methods of Benito Mussolini.
"He's nothing but a bluff," Jo
Davidson had said about Mus-
solini.
* * *
A year before his death Jo
Davidson went to Israel, met
with Weizmann, took a deep in-
terest in the Jewish State and
had planned to go back there in
1952 with Helen Keller, who
also was one of his sculptured
subjects. But he died that year,
leaving behind him a great heri-
tage.
He made the statues of Walt
Whitman, the first of which was
placed in Bear Mountain Park
in New York at the suggestion
of Averell Harriman and the
second was placed posthumously
on the Pennsylvania-New Jersey
"Walt Whitman" Bridge.
Mrs. Kuhn did justice to the
name of Jo Davidson, which will
remain part of the genius of
America, in her biographical
work.
* *
Mrs. Hyman's "Jubal and the
Prophet" takes the young read-
ers to another sphere—to the
Land of Israel and the days of
the destruction of the Temple
in Jerusalem by the Babylon-
ians.
Jubal is the son of the High
Priest who favored an alliance
with Egypt in order to save the
Land of Israel from Babylonian
captivity. But the Prophet, Jere-
miah, counsels yielding to Ba-
bylon in order to rescue the
land from destruction. He has
no faith in Egypt, and even
when the Babylonians had with-
drawn temporarily, he warned
that they would return—as they
did.
Several times in this narra-
tive, Jeremiah condemns some
of the Israel's dependence on
Egypt. "When was Egypt our
friend?" he asks. "Pharoh is
a broken reed," he said on an-
other occasion, in his warning
against an alliance with Egypt
in the battle with Babylon.
Jeremiah is tortured and is
called a traitor. But Jubal soon
learns the truth of Jeremiah's
predictions. He becomes his fol-
lower, against the wishes of his
father.
The Prophets' pleadings are
for the observance of God's
commandments, the honoring of
the Sabbath, abandonment of
slavery. Observance of God's
commandments, Jeremiah
preached, would save the peo-
ple. But the extremists and
militarists rejected him and his
views, and only the efforts of
Jubal and the King Zedekiah
saved him from death.
* *
Unto the very last, Jeremiah
admonished his people to sub-
mit in order to be saved from
humiliation b e c a u s e: "Our
strength is not of the flesh. We

live by the Word, by the spirit."
But even as Babylon is about to
take control of his country,
Jeremiah shows faith in the
eventual redemption of Israel
by purchasing land in the cap-
tured area of Anatoth. It is at
this point that Jeremiah de-
clares that "houses and fields
and vineyards shall yet again be
bought in this land," uttering
his famous words:
"For thus declares God:
as I have brought all this
evil upon this people, so will
I bring upon them all the
good that I have promised
them. And fields shall be
bought in this land whereof
you say it is desolate, it
is given into the hands of
Babylon. Men shall buy
fields for money, and sub-
scribe the deeds and seal
them and call witnesses in
the land of Benjamin, and
in the places about Jerusa-
lem, and the cities of
Judah, for I will cause their
captivity to return."
Thus, Jeremiah emerges not
as a prophet of doom but as a
man of faith in the ultimate
emergence of a freed Israel.
* * *
Later, confronted by the con-
quering Babylonians, Jeremiah
admonishes one of- their sharp-
tongued commanders:
"Fool, Israel - shall live when
your nation shall not be a
whisper."
And when he is confronted
with the challenge that, "Israel
is defeated, is this the way your
Gad keeps His covenant?", Jere-
miah replies:- "Does a father

destroy his son when he pun-
ishes him?"
* * *
Jubal has an important role
in this story, as the boy des-
tined for the Priesthood to carry
on Israel's spiritual duties. But
it is Jeremiah who is the im-
portant factor in this story. Mrs.
Hyman portrays him proclaim-
ing "how does the city sit soli-
tary" (from Lamentations), and
while there is the reference to
Judaea with "none to comfort
her", there is the assurance of
rebuilding and return.
Thus, we have a most power-
ful story of Judaea's destruction
and of the promise of redemp-
tion; of the powerful personali-
ties who played their roles in
the days of the destruction of
the First Temple.
Mrs. Hyman tells her story
well. For children, it may be a
bit difficult to catch the spirit
of this powerful tale in the first
chapter or two. But the momen-
tum the story gathers, the
strength of the narrative, the
accuracy with which the author
has captured the idea of a great
Biblical story, are certain to
keep the readers glued to
the pages of "Jubal and the
Prophet."
* * *
The values of Covenant Books
lie in the fact that they will be
enjoyed as much by older read-
ers as by the young people for
whom they are intended.
Covenant Books are an educa-
tional series, and as such they
will serve a very important pur-
pose for people of all ages.
—P.S.

Bond Dollars Build Chemical Plant

Israel Bond funds are being utilized to increase Israel's
industrial capacity. One of the enterprises, constructed recent-
ly with Israel Bond dollars, is Frutarom Electro-Chemical
Industries at Acre, which manufactures chlorine, sodium
hydroxide and other chemicals for industrial and home use.
Shown here is the chemical enterprise's high water tower,
the tallest of its kind in Israel, framed by cable-bearing walks.
The structure to the right of the tower houses the plant's
cooling system.

Eighteenth century shofar, from Dieburg (Hesse), made in Ger-

many, bearing the inscription of the donor. From the collection of the

Jewish Museum of the Jewish Theological Seminary.

