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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE A Magazine Perpetuating Jewish Ideals lume 6 MARCH 21, 1931 Number 25 B’nai B’rith Luncheon Club The B’nai B’rith has finally come to the front to perpetuate the necessary enthusiasm that is so vital in any successful organization v forming a weekly luncheon club. Its purposes are outlined in a letter sent to each member, part of which reads as follows: To know and understand each other better. To foster true spirit of brotherly love, benevolence, and harmony, thus exemplifying the teachings of our order. To develop closer and friendlier relations among our members along lines of good-fellowship. To be ready at all times to support every good Jewish cause in this community. The above outlined “purposes” are worthy ones, always to be remembered. The success of this B’nai B’rith luncheon club depends on each member’s sincerity, to see that all efforts are made to be present at every luncheon. A great deal of good can come from a luncheon club, as has been proved by others throughout the country, why not a successful B’nai B’rith luncheon club that fosters the finest ideals toward the betterment of ALL JEWS? In Darkest Europe If the classification of the various kinds of anti-Semitism in Europe made by Dr. Joseph Tenenbaum, chairman of the Executive Committee of the American Jewish Congress, is only one-half accu rate—and we believe it to be more than that—then it seems that a new era of Jewish misery is beginning. “Economic discrimination and physical brutality in Rumania,” says Docotr Tenenbaum. Oppressive legislation in Poland, social isolation in Germany, intellectual anti-Semitism in Soviet Russia, and minority oppression in Lithuania . . . .” It seems that the advance of civilization serves only to create new varieties of anti-Semitism. Where brutality was simple and direct in centuries gone by, and could therefore be recog nized and fought, it has become refined into a thousand less accessi ble forms. The social structure is now so complicated, and political alliances so tangled, that one need not even be anti-Semitic” in order to make life intolerable for the Jews. One need only pass laws which “apply to every one — the understanding being that these laws happen to affect Jews vitally and others hardly at all. One can make ducational rulings which do not men tion the word Jew, but which are clearly ntended to deprive Jews of their spir al liberty. One can plead liberty of te and help create a fashionable dis- te for Jewish intellectuals. Seldom s a century proved such a disappoint- ent to a people as this one has to the vs - Those who remember the begin- £ the Twentieth Century, with its iant promise of a new social order, a interpretation of justice, will easily •ade themselves that at the turn of ntury the tide of time turned sud- backward, and, leaping over the ations, landed the Jewish people in idst of the medieval era. ;e* CONTENTS Down to the Sea—And Up Again By Meyer F. Steinglass - Why I am a Jew By Albert Einstein "A Sagacious Crevice" “A sagacious crevice” is high-brow for smart crack, and in speaking of Alexander Wollcott we must be high-brow at all costs. Here is what Mr. Woollcott has to say about a well-known writer’s Jewish self-consciousness: “Today, in Paris, there lives one of the most gifted writers in the English language. His concern over Jew ish and Zionist problems obtrudes through all his novels. He has been foremost in defending Jews from anti-Semitism, and has become one of the most ardent Zionists in our time because of his resentment of the treatment he received while he was living in the United States and teaching at one of our colleges. But that man mistook a natural antipathy for halitosis as a sign of anti-Semitism.” For all its appeaarnce of psychological insight this explanation of Mr. Woolcott’s is nothing but a wise-crack. What Mr. Woolcott seems to imply, indirectly, is that this writer’s unpleasant person ality was responsible for his lack of advancement; hence his recoil to Judaism. Curiously enough, we have heard little about the unpleasant personality of the writer in question. Is there a better- known phenomenon than the fearful difficulty that Jews have in getting academic recognition? And is “halitosis”—in the general sense which Mr. Woollcott intends—to be accepted as the cause? As a matter of fact, if we look closer into this curious explanation of Mr. Woolcott’s we should either have to admit that he is right or assume that, instinctively and unintentionally, he has permitted himself a cheap anti-Semitic remark. This “one of the most gifted writers in the English language” is only one of a type; thousands of others more or less gifted have received the same kind of treat ment. It is disconcerting to find that Mr. Woolcott can think of no better reason for their fate. Adding to the Gaiety of Life Outside of Palestine, where they are a genuine nuisance, the Revisionists are merely comical. On the arrival of Judah Leib Magnes, Chancellor of the Hebrew University, in the country the New York Revisionists staged a mock trial, convicted Doctor Magnes of being unfaithful to his office and requested his resignation. The comi cality of the situation lies in the fact that they could only “request”. What is a Revisionist who “requests”, anyhow? It is the right of the Jews, as of all other peoples, to have their megaloma niacs; but it is a right with which we would rather dispense. Highlights and Sidelights By Martin Golds - - - Cyrus Adler Welcomes Einstein Society National News In the Limelight Southern Notes National News 10 li 12 13 15 In Bad Taste—At Least From time to time there crop up among the news items stories of Jews who have permitted themselves to accept decorations at the hands of anti-Semitic governments—usually for having helped “to create a better understanding”. We have heard a good deal about Jewish financiers whose money has been loaned to anti-Semitic governments (though there have been notable exceptions). But, then, capital is supposed to be im personal and international. Is vanity also impersonal and international? ered as second class matter at the Postoffice at Atlanta, Ga., under the Act of March 3rd, 1*7*. Published monthly by The Southern Newspaper Enterprises, Inc. Subscription Rates i ■f Sinyie Copy, $1.50 per year m advance. The Southern Israelite invites correspondence and literary contributions, but the Editor Is not to be considered as sharing the views expressed by Ler * except those enunciated in the Editorial columns. Established 1*25. M. Stephen Scbiffer, Manx*in* Editor. All communications for publication should reach this office not later than d ISth of each month.