Book Pays Tribute to Justice Felix Frankfurter

that the Massachusetts Sunday
Judge Calvert Magruder, in the
right." He goes on at length, out- lated. Years later B r a n d e i s
(Continued from Page 1)
Closing Law had a primary reli-
majority opinion, had found that
ear, and was quoted in the Pure- lining the arrangements. Who is stated that Wolfson's fervor and
gious purpose. This Socratic pro-
the statute had a primary pur-
' Commentary Column of The to speak, who is to attend. "And eloquence were the start of a
cess of testing legal assumptions
pose to establish Sunday as a
Detroit Jewish News, June 26, I want you," he says, "to see to it series of experiences which
had characterized his teaching
Christian
sabbath
and
also
that
964. An excerpt from that col- that none of my instructions are kindled within him an interest
in the law school and followed
its
categories
of
exceptions
were
Linn follows: violated." He gives me a commis- in Jewish affairs leading event-
him to the bench. As a teacher-
so arbitrary as to be a denial of
At the invitation of Wallace sion to execute in New York with nally to his historic espousal of
justice, Felix was pre-eminent.
equal protection of the laws.
4endelson, professor of govern- regard to the musical part of the Zionism, in which Felix joined
It is remarkable, however, that
Among the latter, he cited that
bent at the University of Texas, I services. I promise a report. Fi- him . . ."
his popularity survived his
the
act
prohibited
dredging
for
After the Sacco - Vanzetti case,
hi distinguished personalities nally he names the last of the
roughing up of the talk and
oysters as an industry. In re-
Ehrmann,
who
had
just
in
1929,
rote evaluations of the life work speakers.
thought of lawyers during their
ply, I commented that in Mas-
To you know why I want him?" returned from a six-week stay in
great moment before the United
Felix Frankfurter. The volume
sachusetts
clams
constituted
one
Scotland and England, received a
7'elix Frankfurter: A Tribute," he asks.
States Supreme Court. Equally
of the biggest food industries in
message that Frankfurter wanted
"No."
surprising is the durability of
published by Reynal & Co. and
the
Commonwealth,
whereupon
"Because he is my only close to see him. Ehrmann relates in his
his popularity as a person among
distributed by William Morrow &
Felix interjected one of his mis-
his many friends who accepted
'Co. (425 Park. S., NY16), is much friend who is also a practicing essay:
chievous questions. "Is there,
the false notion that the judicial
ore than a collection of essays Orthodox Jew. He knows Hebrew "Felix opened our talk with a
more
Mr. Ehrmann." he asked in
In honor of the eminent jurist. It perfectly and will know exactly question: 'Brute, can you go to
restraint he imposed upon his
feigned seriousness, "any relig-
the Middle East for a few months?'
decisions indicated that he had
S. in fact, an evaluative study of what to say."
ious difference between a clam
a "conservative." In an
Remembering Marion's earlier When I protested that I had just
become
he United States Supreme Court,
and an oyster?"
earlier period, when the Con-
review of the comparative ideas account, I am astounded. Have I landed, he added, "I mean, on
When the laugh subsided, I
n legislative matters as they are misunderstood? I asked, "Do you business,' to which I replied,
gress and the states were pass-
answered with the same ostens-
ing radical social legislation, this
"That's different."
eing judged by the high court, mean a prayer of some sort?"
ible gravity, "Not for Orthodox
reluctance to interfere would
"Indeed it was. The British
'Well, of course, you nut, what
nd it has most interesting bio-
Jews, Mr. Justice Frankfurter."
Government had just appointed a
have stamped him as a "liberal."
else would he say in Hebrew?"
graphical data.
The entire courtroom , includ-
Felix was able to separate his
"Then you do mean the Kad- High Commission to investigate
As editor of this volume, Prof.
ing the nine justices, exploded
personal views of life from his
the massacres of Jews by the
Mendelson's introduction is a dish?"
with such a roar that neither
concept of judicial responsibili-
He waves me off impatiently. Arabs in Palestine and to report
warm tribute to "F. F.'s capacity
Chief Justice Warren nor any
ties
. . .
for friendship and the impact of "Oh, I don't know, and neither do its findings. Under the Balfour
court officer called for order. The
h i s personality." He endorses you, but he'll know and he'll do Declaration in 1918, Britain had
The Frankfurter-B randei S-
next morning the New York
Reinhold Niebuhr's view that F. F. it beautifully. Let me explain. I bound itself to favor a national
Times featured the episode and ' Holmes friendships are interesting-
is "the most vital and creative per- came into the world a Jew and al- home for the Jewish people in
solemnly explained to its read- ly delineated in this volume. Frank-
son I have ever known." He is in though I did not live my life en- Palestine. The spirit of the Dec-
ers that the eating of all shell furter's influence over his students
accord with Archibald MacLeish tirely as a Jew. I think it is fitting laration had been incorporated in
fish was forbidden to Jews who at Harvard, the high esteem in
who said: 'Posterity may or may that I should leave as a Jew. I the Treaty of San Remo, under
observed the dietary laws of which he was held, his devotion
to his public duties — these are
not take our word for it that Fe- don't want to be one of these pre- which Britain held the Parliament-
kashruth.
lix Frankfurter had more influ- tenders and turn my back on a ary Commission should not rec-
When Felix posed the case of among the many factors that make
ence on more lives than any man great and noble heritage. I don't ommend any impairment of the
Clams vs. Oysters, he was not be- the Mendelson-edited book note-
in his generation." . . . want to — how do they say it? Treaty obligation. Looking back-
ing entirely frivolous. He was ap- worthy.
(Related Story, Page '7)
The first reference to Frank- — pass! Like that thoroughly ward today through the Nazi mias-
parently probing thhe contention
furter's Zionism is made by Sir reprehensible — well, never mind. ma , we now know that this was
Isaiah Berlin, the eminent British That's why. So there's going to not merely important, it was cru-
cial. To assure an impartial invest-
scholar and Zionist. "He was," be the Hebrew."
Special interest attaches to the igation. Felix stated first it was
writes Sir Isaiah, "a stout-hearted
Zionist, and his conversations in essay by the late Herbert B. Ehr- advisable that the different in-
Oxford on this topic with the late mann, who was president of the terests should be represented by
Reginald Coupland — the princi- American Jewish Committee. As counsel. He and Brandeis felt
pal author of the Royal Commis- president of the Harvard Menorah that the Jewish side could be more
sion's report, which to this day is Society, he arranged, in 1911, for effectively presented by counsel
the best acount of the Palestine is- Judge Julian W. Mack to be the not identified with the Zionist
sue of its time—are still unrecord- speaker at the annual dinner. Be- cause, one of whom should be an
ed. Coupland frequently remarked cause of his wife's illness, Judge English conservative and the other
Extracts from "The Graphic History
that Frankfurter had taught him Mack couldn't come, and Max Low- an American lawyer. They wanted
of the Jewish Heritage." Edited by
more on this subject than the offi- enthal (who also contributed to to recommend my brother-in-law,
cials instructed to brief him and the Frankfurter volume), who is Sir Reginald Mitchell Banks, as
P. Wollman–Tsamir. Published by
had doubtless made enemies by described by Ehrmann as "then senior counsel and me as his ju-
Shengold Publishers and Foundation
nior.
Was
Sir
Reginald
available?
the courage and candor of his one of the demigods attending the
"A cable to London brought an
views." Harvard Law School," sugested Fe-
For A Graphic History of Jewish
Others in this symposium refer lix Frankfurter. Already in that affirmative response, and Felix
Literature.
to Frankfurter's adherence to the early period Lowenthal told Ehr- promptly sent our names to Lord
A Seven Arts Feature.
Zionist idea, and many speak of mann that Frankfurter is the Melchett. Word came back immed-
iately that he had just engaged
the courage with which F. F. acted greatest man in the world."
Ehrmann's essay comments on the services of a K. C. high in
BERESHIT NItrikrIZ
in defense of Sacco and Vanzetti.
Garson Kanin, the playwrite, in the Lowenthal judgment of Frank- British conservative politics as
senior and the young son of a
his essay "Trips to Felix." tells of furter:
The primeval world, coy.
"At the moment, I thought this prominent English lawyer as ju-
conversations he had with Frank-
ered with water, swathed
furter and his wife, Marion, and a slight exaggeration. Today I am nior.
in darkness. And God
"The
Passfield
White
Paper
that
he relates the following which an- not so sure that his appraisal went
said, "Let there be light."
resulted
from
the
report
of
the
swers many questions relating to beyond the fact. Max went on to
Parliamentary
Commission
began
Frankfurter's deep Jewish loyal- say that Felix was then Law Offi-
"And God said: 'Let
cer of the Bureau of Insular Af- the eclipse of Jewish immigration
ties:
there be light'. . and
into
Palestine.
This
was
later
fol-
fairs
in
Washington
and
a
power-
Marion spoke of her concern
God divided the light
lowed
by
a
second
White
Paper,
about "F. F.'s newest preoccupa- ful influence in the set govern-
from
the darkness" (Gen.
which
produced
a
complete
black-
tion — making arrangements for ing the capital. Chiefly I recall
1.3-4).
his funeral." She told Kanin: "One that he pictured Felix as hobnob- out of such immigration just at
of the things that seem to worry bing with titled Englishmen, even the time when Palestine would
him is the religious aspect. He is rooming with some of them, and have offered to the Jews of
afraid that somehow there will be as riding horses in Rock Creek Europe the only escape from be-
prayers or words spoken by a rab- Park with noble young women. ing murdered."
world in six days. On the first day
It is quite clear that Frankfur- Bereshit—God created the
bi. He says he wants no such Years later I came to know that
it "day"; the darkness He
meaningless hypocrisy; that right kind hearts meant more to Felix ter's role in Zionist efforts was He created the light and called
or wrong, for better or worse, he than coronets, and also that those great and that he was frequently called "night". On the second day He created the expanse
left the synagogue when he was 15 in high-sounding positions not only called upon to assist in tasks
On the third day the waters were assembled
and has never returned. He recalls left him unimpresed, but that he aimed at assuring justice for the of the heavens.
into oceans and dry land was seen. This was called "earth".
that he sat there one morning, was more severely critical of their Jewish cause in Palestine.
Ehrmann's account of his friend- Next, vegetation flourished. On the fourth day the luminaries
looked about him, and realized behavior than of those in humbler
ship with Frankfurter also in-
that the ritual and the prayers ranks."
d in the sky. On the fifth day, fish, reptiles, and fowl
This interesting account is given eludes an anecdote about a case were fi xe
meant a great deal to the others
and man
and nothing to him. And he felt by Ehrmann of the planned 1911 before the high court in which he were created. On the sixth day, the beasts, animals,
appeared
as
an
attorney.
Ehrmann
God
rested
from
all His
he was desecrating the temple by Menorah dinner:
were created. On the seventh day,
"We did not have Felix as our wrote:
his presence. So he left and has
In one of the cases, Crown labors. Therefore He blessed the seventh day and sanctified.
speaker at the dinner because I
not returned. He wants the service
Kosher
Supermarket vs. Galla- it. Man was created alone; afterward, God took a rib from
wanted
to
try
first
at
securing
held here in the apartment, and
gher,
I
lost
by a margin of two Adam's side and fashioned a wife for him; Adam called her
Louis
D.
Brandeis,
then
the
he wants the list of people invited
Justices, but with an assist from
Tribune of the People practicing
to be limited, and he knows exact-
Eve, meaning "the mother of all living things." At first Adam
Felix, I managed to win what is
law in Boston. I did not then
ly the sort of ceremony he wants,
probably the biggest laugh in Su- and Eve lived happily in the Garden of Eden; but they ate
know Brandeis, but I had hopes
and above all, no prayers."
preme Court history. The case the fruit of the forbidden tree of knowledge and were driven
because
we
both
came
from
And then Kanin gives this ac-
involved the constitutionality of
Louisville, Kentucky, and I had
count of his conversation on the
the Massachusetts Sunday Clos- out of Paradise. The sons of man multiplied and progressed.
subject with Frankfurter him- been a close friend of his uncle,
ing Law. I represented not only However, their ways were evil and God decided to erase all
Louis Dembitz, some sixty years
self:
the
kosher market, but also Or- men from the face of the earth. Only Noah found favor in
my
senior.
When it is time to leave today,
thodox Jewish organizations. It
"I do not know whether Fe-
F. F. points at me and says, 'I
was the first Sunday law case to the eyes of God.
lix would have come on one
want to see you privately for two
receive a plenary hearing by the
Editor's Note: This is the beginning of a new feature. The Graphic
day's
notice
because
Brandeis
minutes before you go. In the
Supreme
Court
on
First
and
surprised
all
of
us
by
accepting
study." The two minutes turn into
the Jew=ish Heritage is a survey in depth of Jewish litera-
Fourteenth Amendment grounds. History of
the invitation. His talk was in-
twenty. The subject — his funeral.
its
development. What makes it unique is its presentation
The courtroom was crowded with ture and
spiring, but the evening ac-
He says, "When the time comes
of
history
on
a panoramic level. The brief summaries of the weekly
lawyers
from
all
over
the
coun-
that we must, as Holmes used to quired memorable importance
try.
I
had
tried
the
case
in
the
for
another
reason.
Harry
Wolf-
portions
of
the
Bible contain only primary and central ideas. Further
say, 'bow to the inevitable,' I want
United States District Court,
son
(later
Professor
Wolfson)
re-
details will follow in supplementary synopses which contain charts,
to be certain that what happens is
and the three-judge court had
cited an original Hebrew poem,
?naps, lineage, royal successions, laws, commandments and other
found the Massachusetts Sunday
and I read an English version,
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
pertinent information.
Law unconstitutional. Chief
which I had laboriously trans-
A_Critirtie rahrlirtry
96. 1_9_65

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