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The Southern Israelite Page 3 WHAT OF INTERMARRIAGES? Can Jew and Gentile intermarry successfully? There are those who, on the very principle of the matter, decide in the negative. There are others who prefer to examine the in dividual cases to ascertain the an swer. But that the problem is of paramount importance is evident from the alarming rate of increase in mar ital alliances between Jews and Christians throughout the United | States. Intermarriage is no new phe nomenon in American life, having in | fact started with the very first Jew- I ish settlers in this country who could I find no other mates in life except i Christians. It was thought for a time | that the liberalization of Judaism was accountable for those who stray- | t >d from the fold. But statistics plain ly show that intermarriage is not confined to Reform Jews alone, and, i in fact, is even more numerous, pro portionately, among the children of Orthodox homes. There have been few who have been aide to approach the question impar tially and comprehensively. Certainly in this country the dividing line be- j tween Jews and Christians has been | rigid, and a comparative few have been able to understand the psychol- 1 ogy of both religious groups. The foremost of these is undoubtedly Lud- [ wig Lewishon, who himself married a Christian. But even his views on | whether intermarriage can be succes- fu! have never been fully discussed [ by him except in an indirect and fic tional manner. Even then he has been able to shed no light on the matter that would offer an answer to those who are baffled by the problem. N’o Jew has ever studied the matter from the point of view of science and I psychology, that is to say, whether I Jew and Gentile are congenitally I compatible in so intimate a bond as marriage. There have been numerous I marriages between Jew and Chris- I tian which seem, on the surface, at | least, to have been happy. But wheth- I er these were merely superficial ap- j pearances or actually camouflage can now be more accurately seen for the first time as a result of a novel that has been written by Milton Waldman. It is likely that few American Jews know of Waldman except for the no tices that recently were published in regard to a tragedy in his life. Mil- ton W aldman, an American, is one of the foremost literary figures Ameri can Jewry has produced. He is now Associate Editor of the London Mer cury, and has distinguished himself in the literary world. He is General Edi tor of the Golden Hind series which consists of biographies of explorers oy famous authors. He himself has written one of the volumes in the Ser ies, a life of “Sir Walter Raleigh” vv hich gave evidence of Waldman’s deep scholarship and felicitous style. ^Jhat Waldman should be writing °f Jewish matters has come as a dis- tinct but entirely welcome surprise. e is, incidentally, a son-in—law of a tnember of the famous Guggenheim - miily. His name was recently men- ! one< l t n the press in connection with , ? accidental death of his two young cmidren, who fell from their mother’s urn-s from the parapet of a lofty 'ca lork building. The question sug- itself as to whether this trag A Noted Jewish Writer Discusses The Problem By ROBERT STONE Undoubtedly influenced by the increasing number of intermarriages between Jews and Gentiles, a number of Jewish writers have devoted them selves to the problem., more or less successfully. One of the most successful has been Ludwig Lewishon. Now comes Milton Waldman, Associate Editor of the London Mercury, a son-in-law of one of the members of the famous Guggenheim family, who, in a novel, “The Disinherited,” leaves the impres sion that intermarriage cannot be successful.—The Editor. edy in his private life induced him to write his novel, particularly since the chief figure in his novel is perturbed by a similar situation. The title of Waldman’s novel, which we predict will be even more widely known than Lewishon’s “The Island Within,” is “The Disinherited,” (Longmans), very obviously referr ing to the Jewish people, who wander about the earth disinherited. Waldman is in a position to know those Jewish circles where intermar riage is an everyday occurrence. In fact, his circles are so distinctly far from Jewish matters that the majori ty of them do not consider themselves Jews, even if they do not go to the extent of calling themselves Chris tians. ; . j The central character of Waldman’s novel is Walter Michaelson, three gen erations removed from the peddler grandfather who left a huge depart ment store as his legacy to his chil dren and grandchildren. Walter is married to a Christian, as are his brothers and other relatives. Wald man deals with the crisis in his life when Walter Michaelson suddenly realizes his Jewishness and his sense of distinctness from his wife. Walter Michaelson is the typical American Jew who has intermarried. In giving us the story of Michaelson, Waldman has told us his views on in termarriage. For in the end Michael son leaves his wife—to go to Jeru salem to become more intimately ac quainted with Jewish life, and very probably to marry a Jewish woman. Although “The Disinherited” is a novel, it has a distinct application to American Jewish life, considering its author, it indicates that many inter marriages which have existed for dec ades are not as happy as they seem on the outside; that the cordiality and open affection between husband and wife is the mask for a tension that is never released, and even a hostility that is never expressed, presumably because both man and wife are too well-bred to let this hostility come to the surface. Once a Jew always a Jew! That is the theme of Waldman’s novel. His views are all the more striking and convincing because they come from a man thoroughly unacquainted with Jewish life, who has really touched upon the subject as a result of a criti cal situation in his own life. Wald man’s judgment is more to be respect ed in this matter, which is essentially one of profound psychology, than that of theologians and reformers. Inter marriage of a sensitive Jew with a Christian is devastating to the form er. That is Waldman’s conclusion. Furthermore, a Jew who remains aloof from his Jewish associations, and who has not the courage, when in termarried, to retain his Jewish affil- ations, is dooming himself to spirit ual sterility. As one reads “The Disinherited” one sees how foreign everything Jew ish is to Waldman. It is this very naivete, this simplicity of approach which is bound to make his novel ap peal to thousands of American Jews who are either themselves confronted with Waldman’s problem or who are impersonally interested in the ques tion. “The Disinherited” is a remark able phenomenon in American life, furthermore, because it indicates a new state of affairs in American Jew ry. Heretofore, Jewish writers have sought to steer clear of Jewish sub jects. Now we have a man who has not even been known as a Jew, who has never devoted himself to Jewish themes, who writes a searching analy sis of his faith and future as a Jew. It is therefore interesting to read his conception of what a Jew means. Waldman says: “To be a Jew meant to believe in a great artist who had made the world and who dearly loved His creations. He had conceived it with out flaw, and decreed certain laws (Continued on Page 13) These young rabbis, ordained on Saturday afternoon, June 1st, by the Hebrew Union College at Cincinnati, Ohio, in that institution’s 45th com mencement exercises, are as follows, left to right: Top row: Abraham Z. Freed, New York, N. Y.; Joseph Freedam, Steu benville, Ohio; Ariel L. Goldburg, Cincinnati; Norman M. Goldburg, Quincy, Ill. (the latter two being brothers.) Second row: Jacob Halevi, Los Angeles, Cal.; Melbourne Harris, Oakland, Cal.; Samuel D. Hurwitz, Ft. Wayne, Ind.; Henry Kagan, Washington, Pa. Third row: Levi A. Olan, Rochester, N. Y.; Louis J. Segel, Detroit, Mich.; Edgar E. Siskin, Oil City, Pa; Henry Travel, Cincinnati. Bottom row: Jacob J. Weinstein, Portland, Ore.; Bernard Zeiger, Detroit, Mich.; David L. Zielonka, El Paso, Tex.; Maurice L. Zigmond, Denver, Colo.