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The Southern Israelite Page 9 I I Comprehensive Review of a Year of Jewish History THE JEWISH YEAR 5689 By JOSEPH SALMARK Every Jew interested in the fate of his people takes the oppor tunity at the time of the New Year to review the outstanding events affecting the Jewish people during the year that has passed. W hat does the Jew, standing on the threshold of the new year, 5960, behold? what is the status of the Jews in Russia, in Pales tine? What hare the Jews in the United States during the past year accomplished? What do you consider the most important single event that took place during 5689? In this article, comprehensive and authoritative, Mr. Joseph Salmark summarizes a year of Jew ish history and gives the reader an essential bird's eye view for an understanding of what is happening in Jewish life to-day. —The Editor. INTRODUCTION The year 5689 will go down in Jew- •sh history as one of the most epochal , n modern times. The event which distinguishes the year and which gives it importance has been discussed for i) many years and has been on the verKe of realization so many times that it may be forgotten that its ac tual consummation took place only a 'r\v short months ago—on August 11, j.rjp, to be exact. In reviewing Jew- 41 history embraced between the pe riods of the New Year in 1928 and • hat being observed this year it would k- sufficient to cover only the Jewish Agency and one would have surveyed the most tangible and the most vital occurrences of the year. Only students of social psychology .an comprehend the vast importance f the establishment of the Jewish Agency. One needs to remember the vindictiveness which marked the ex change of opinions between Zionists and non-Zionists. One needs to vis ualize the dramatic scenes which transpired in Washington in 1922 when the Congressional Committee was holding its hearings prior to the passing of the Lodge-Fish resolution. One needs to recall the social and eco nomic distinctions which the very doc trine of Zionism seemed to establish in order to understand and appreci ate the subtle and far-reaching changes that have taken place in the Jewish people. The most obvious results of the benefits of the Jewish Agency will naturally be found in the United States, but the other countries who have joined in the purposes for which the Agency was established are also being transformed, particularly Eng land and Germany, where the dual doctrine of liberal Judaism and anti- Zionism seemed more firmly entrench ed than anyw’here else. The year 5689 will be of permanent interest to the historian because it marks the opening of a new era in Jewish life; certainly it is as ramified in its effects as 1815, which is often regarded as the date of the birth of Reform Judaism. It is idle to predict what the Jewish Agency will achieve —either in Palestine or in the coun tries from which its members will be recruited. The important fact, at the present moment, is that the prejudices °f decades have been obliterated and that unity, a goal which seemed im- ; sible of realization among the Mattered remnants of Israel, has been achieved in a substantial way. The past twelve months, except for -he events of the Jewish Agency, have ’<'cn practically uneventful for the in- ^rnational Jewish community. Jewish m.lanthropy, which has become so pr .minent a factor in the social wel- °f the United States, has been extended. Anti-Jewish discrimination ••‘Last Luropean countries has sub- '•'•'d. By this is meant that the ex- are gradually becoming stronger, so that proper attention is C j a e< * t0 every untoward incident. • sh work in Palestine made enor- strides during the past year. ,, “' ting rumors have come from • a in regard to the situation of , igious Ju daism there. In other - . / es has S°ne on jn a placid THE UNITED STATES A census taken during the past year indicated that there are approximate ly four and a half million Jews in the United States. Of these less than half are enrolled in some synagogue. De spite this fact the rabbinical repre sentatives of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism announced in categoric fashion at their last annual conferences that each of their brands of faith was progressing more than the others. This might perhaps be indicated by the enormous growth in synagogue buildings, whose constant increase is annually enlarging Jewish religious wealth in this country by millions of dollars. On the other hand it is obvious that many religious leaders are somewhat doubtful about the progress of religious Judaism. This was indicated to a certain ex tent by the action of Rabbi Abba Hillei Silver of Cleveland, who has discontinued the Center connected with his Temple because it did not promote the religious progress of the community. Despite the fact that more people came within the influ ence of the Temple area it was ob vious, he said, that the contact was meaningless. Since it is difficult to determine or define religious progress it is im possible to record the status of Juda ism in America. There are those who place great faith in the fact that two more States, in the South, passed kosher bills during the past year. In a manner their passage certainly in dicates the existence of a lively, ac tive group interested in securing the enactment into law of its views on the dietary laws. Whether or not the Sabbath is generally observed prac tically all Jewish organizations imme diately protested before the Congress Committee on the contemplated re forms in the calendar. This would indicate religious sentiment, if not faith. The expansion of one institution is one of the most healthy signs Juda ism in America has displayed for some years. That is the Hillei Foundation, which is carried on under the aus pices of the B’nai Brith. Where the Menorah and similar organizations have failed the Hillei Foundation has gone into many colleges and brought many of its Jewish young men and women to an interest in some phase of Jewish life. It is probable that the success of the Hillei Foundation is due to the type of men who have been enlisted to carry on the work. Most of them are rather young, at least in their ideas, and have been able to command the respect and in terest of the students. The fact that the Hillei Foundation has been able to place men in charge of the work right at the Universities is also an impor tant item. Of extreme importance for the com munal self-respect of American Jew ry was the realization, expressed in various ways, of the double-edged character of the good-will movement between Jews and Christians. The exchange of letters between Louis Marshall and Mr. Anthony on this sub ject is likely to be of historic impor tance. In his statements Mr. Mar shall not only outlined the position of American Jewry but digested the his toric attitude of the Jews to good will movements. Frank courage and unequivocal honesty marked Mr. Mar shall’s correspondence. Whatever the future of good-will in this country, there will be no further evasions on the part of Christians as to the ulti mate meaning of good-will from their view. Mr. Marshall’s attitude was taken up by the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose members had made possible the growth of the good-will movement, and a warning was sounded against the casual toler ance meetings which may have many evil results as well as good. The Massena incident is of interest only as an isolated phenomenon and not as a symptom. It will be remem bered that a few days previous to Yom Kippur of last year a young girl disappeared in Massena, N. Y., and the Icoal rabbi was charged with spir iting her away for ritual purposes. The incident created national Jewish alarm. Even the liberal general world was startled by this exhibition of me dieval ignorance in the United States. An unfortunate aspect of the outcome was the diversity of protests which emanated from Jewish organizations. At least five people took it upon themselves to represent the Jewiph people in this matter; the result was confusion and even a tinge of ridicu lousness. At any rate, the matter was disposed of in a satisfactory man ner when it was found that the little girl had merely been lost. One phenomenon that deserves ex tended comment is the growth of Jewish arbitration courts in this coun try. They have, furthermore, been functioning in a satisfactory manner. For many years clashes between con gregations and between individual members of the Jewish community on matters of purely Jewish interest were the scandal of Jewish life. The matters were aired in press and court in such a manner as to reflect ad versely on the entire community. The civil courts usually had no under standing of the matters involved. This would complicate the issues and ex tend the litigation. It must be stated that such litigation was most often initiated among the Orthodox mem bers of the community. However, Jewish leaders have come to realize the communal effect of such disgrace ful episodes and have succeeded in es tablishing courts of arbitration, usual ly supervised by a rabbi, a lawyer and a business man. Two of the most successful of such courts have been functioning in New York and Philadel phia. Other cities, too, are gradually introducing these courts with salutary effect. A good augur for the future of the Jewish community is the approaching co-operation between the American Jewish Committee and the American Jewish Congress. These two organiza tions, the one headed by Louis Mar shall and the other by Bernard (Continued on Page 23) SCHOOL HOUSE IN PALESTINE The Zionist funds that are raised throughout the world for re construction work in Palestine include appropriations for educational development. This photograph shows one of the Zionist schools in Hedera. where the most modern pedagogic principles are used, and $ thoroughly modern curriculum is provided for the children. (