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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
A Magazine Perpetuating Jewish Ideals
Volume 5
December, 1930
Number 22
Isaac Alfred Isaacs
The appointment of Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs as Governor-General
of Australiti is an event of great political importance and of especial
significance to world Jewry. The honor bestowed on this native son
Nommonwealth of Australia will reverberate throughout the
s a s : gnal distinction to the Jewish race as a whole. That in
countrv with no more Jews than the City of Minneapolis, and
where Jews from less than one-half of one per cent of the total popu
lation. a Jew has been selected as the most worthy citizen to assume
the highest executive office is no mean compliment to the ability and
character of the Jewish people. Sir Isaac is the son of humble parents
—his father having been a poor tailor—and whatever his brilliant
public record it is entirely due to his own achievements. Sir Isaac is
a self-made man in the best sense of the word. He has attained his
lofty position without at any time compromising with his convictions
on fundamental issues. This septuagenarian reaches the pinnacle of
his career at an age when other public figures vanish from the spot
light and withdraw to the fireside. Justice Louis D. Brandcis in the
United States. Rufus Isaacs Lord Reading in England, and Sir Isaac
Alfred Isaacs in Australia are the most distinguished illustrations of
the utmost fitness of the Jew for selfless public service.
in Palestine from those of the Arabs, ugly eruptions will occur in the
Holy Land." Zionists will not like this statement. It sounds too much
like the program of the Brith Shalom, the pacifist wing of the Zionists,
headed by Dr. Judah Leib Magnes. But coming from such a distin
guished non-Jcwish friend of both Moslems and Jews it deserves
serious consideration. Tagore knows the temper of Arabia and Pales
tine as well as he knows India. He respects both the Arab and the
Jewish nationalism and believes that a Palestine Commonwealth in
which the Jews will be able to establish a homeland can be achieved
if Jews and Arabs merge their political interests. The Zionist leader
ship should ponder over these words by the great sage of India. To
move the Zionist political headquarters from London to Jerusalem
might be the solution of the Palestine problem.
Einstein Is Here
Professor Albert Einstein, en route for Pasadena. Calif., docked in
New York. This is the great scientist’s second visit to the United
States. No wonder that this country is all agog with the event. The
father of the theory of relativity—who is definitely the world’s best-
known man—has made it an iron-bound rule of his conduct to lend
the prestige of his name to whatever human cause he believes in. Thus
he has never hesitated to emphasize his interest in the Jewish Palestine,
and more than once has stressed his deep concern about our brethren
in Eastern Europe. When asked, on the eve of his departure, to send
a message to American Jewry, the world’s outstanding genius con
demned in unmistakable terms the Palestine policy of the Mandatory
Power 7 here are Jewish celebrities who have devised a convenient
modus Vivendi—i.e., that of being Jewish
when coming in contact with the Jewish
world and forgetting their Jewish affilia
tions when meeting the Christian world.
Einstein, however, regardless of his sur
roundings, speaks as a Jew who knows
and feels the misfortunes of his co
religionists and is eager to identify him-
with them.
Einstein's Public Appearance
It is highly gratifying that one of two only public engagements
which the world’s greatest scientist accepted for his three days’ stay at
New York was to appear at a Chanukah celebration sponsored by New
York Zionists. No man. with the single exception of Lindbergh, has
aroused as much interest and enthusiasm in New York as the father of
the theory of relativity. For the few days that the S. S. Belgenland, on
which he crossed the Atlantic, touched the Manhattan pier Einstein was
bombarded with offers and pressure was brought to bear on him to
accept at least one public engagement. But the great Jewish scholar
remained adamant until he was asked to grace the Zionist Madison
Square Garden demonstration with his presence. T hen he capitulated.
And despite the great physical strain his appearance would entail Ein
stein unhesitatingly agreed to help the Zionist cause with his presence.
Jerusalem Instead of London
Rabindranath Tagore, the famous
Poet and philosopher of India, in an ex-
dusivo interview which is in this issue,
the following significant statement:
Palestine problem cannot be solved
ndon by any negotiations between
itish Government and the Zionist
I he success of Zionism depends
upon Arab-Jewish co-operation,
can be obtained in Palestine only
ans of a direct understanding be-
the Arabs and the Jews. If the
leadership will insist upon separat-
■ ish political and economic interests
CONTENTS
Thus Spake Rabindranath Tagore
By JOSEPH BRAININ'
The South Commemorates Judah P. Ben jamin
By WALTER HART BLUMENTHAL
“If I Were a Jew"
By HR. JOHN HAYNES HOLMES
entir
Th„
by ■
twee
Zior
ing '
• ii
12
Enormities of Anti-Semitism
By HENRI BARBUSSE
A Royal Foe of Anti-Semitism
By LOUIS RITTENBERG
Out of the Inkwell
By MEYER F. STEINGLASS
England and Palestine
By OR. ALEXANDER LYONS
Religious Freedom As a Legal Right
By HON. IRVING LEHMAN
Reform Judaism and Zionism
By RABBI MOSES P. JACOBSON 16
A Spiritual Awakening Throughout the
World
By ADOLPH S. OCHS 17
Highlights and Sidelights
" By MARTIN GOLDE
A New Immortal
The name of Dr. Karl Landsteiner will have to be added to the
list of the immortals of science. By being awarded the 19AO Nobel
Prize for medicine he becomes the second American Jew to have won
a Nobel Prize, the other being Professor A. A. Michclson, who received
the physics award in 1907. The Stockholm Medical Faculty bestowed
the distinction upon the American Jewish
scientist (who was born at Vienna), in
recognition of his outstanding work in the
realm of bacteriological and pathological
research. Among his fellow workers Dr.
Landsteiner is known as a modest, reticent
individual, The Nobel award has merely
served to hake him known to a larger audi
ence: in scientific circles he has for quite
some time been acknowledged the greatest
living immunologist. Michelson, Einstein,
Hertz, Koch, Ehrlich, Meyerhoff and now
Landsteiner are among the great Jewish
torchbearers of science whom the Nobel
Prize Commission has singled out during
the last quarter of a century as having con
tributed revolutionary discoveries to the
advancement of human knowledge.
13
- 18
One Million
One million Jews have been lost in
Eastern Europe during the past ten years,
according to an estimate made by Dr. M.
Kreinin, director of the Emigdirect, now
on a visit to this country.
~ t}.. A c t of March 3rd, 1879. Published monthly by The Southern Newspaper Enterprises, Inc. Subscription Rates:
13 Cc TT as „ second dass matter at the Postofifce at Atlanta, Ua correspondence and literary contributions, but the Edit* is not to be considered as sharin* the views expressed by
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- tn D f each month.—This is the Hanocukah Edition.