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Outstanding Literary Achievements *
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nine-tails; and then they be-
, ailing omnivorously, as they
ining in Germany today.
,| the thought of what Nazis
done to promote Jewish his-
research properly introduces
M,u\iti IiOwenthal’s “The Jews
n f ( <nnany” (Jewish Publication
>r! ,iv and Harper and Pros.),
\\ hit'll* may modestly be called one
u f |lie major necessities of an in-
t( .indent American Jew’s library.
I! .,! gift of disarmingly persuasive
u riling which has always distin-
gujslied Ixnventhal is strengthened
the iron of facts to swing
the door of time, thus re
vealing the symbolic story of Ger
man .Jewry. “It Can’t Happen
lb re" is a phrase that has become
as monotonous as a popular song
since Sinclair Lewis wrote his novel.
Jews in America are perhaps the
must vociferous intoners of that
self reassurance. That is why they
probably will not want to read
"The Jews of Germany,” for it lays
bare the processes whereby the
alleged gains made by Jews during
periods of economic stability are
>wiftly annulled in more restless
times.
“The Jew of Rome” is, of course,
a fictional counterpart of the same
theme. Lion Feuchtwanger’s novel
of the life of Josephus (Viking
I'ress) poses the problem which is
as pressing today as it was in
Home during the time of Titus.
•Josephus could never make up
his mind as to whether he was in
escapably a Jew or whether he
might pass for a classic Roman.
1 he torture of his mind far out
weighed the fame and fortune that
came to him because of his literary
gitt>. If a Jew read no other Jewish
hooks during the year he would be
well repaid in a spiritual purgative
to absorb these books by Lowenthal
and Feuchtwanger.
Hut there were other books pub
lished during the year which de
serve a place in the Jewish library.
I lu v are cited not in the order of
their importance or merit, but
with the accidental haphazardness
of memory.
Aot t lie least of these books is
‘(birth, a volume edited by
h\ig Lewisohn (Harper and
Considering the part that
1‘destine has come to play in the
of a majority of the Jews on
:. u> , ar fh, in their dreams at least,
' i ot in their concrete existence,
v ‘. s il great, deal of illumination
C found on the background and
mis of the Zionist movement in
careful selection of Zionist
ixt ‘ r ; s and writers. The volume
iticularly appropriate at this
"hen even among Jews there
11 extraordinary amount of con-
' l an( l an even greater amount
p d-depreciation with regard to
. 'bne. There are a number of
‘ d Jews who are ready to shed
A, 1 ' . r ev ery Chinaman and
'plan, every sharecropper and
and, but who cannot find room
SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
in their capacious hearts for a few
Jews who seek nothing more satiat
ing than a little of the peace and
security which the world finds it
possible to deny them. Some of the
wnteis m Rebirth, as progres
sive economically, politically and
socially as any of those who ques
tion the justice of the Jewish
renaissance in Palestine, set down
the keynotes which run through
the Jewish enterprise of rehabilita
tion.
Hut for a view of the wealth
of Jewish stories there is nothing
comparable to “The Jewish Cara
van” (Farrar and Rinehart), edited
by Leo W. Schwarz. The hook is
good reading, but it also provides
a revelation of Jewish character.
There is nothing propagandist ic
about the volume, for if character
is revealed it is visible in all its
variations. Schwarz has done a
job that must have been extremely
rewarding to his sense of pride,
even though it probably did little
in the way of financial recompensa
tion. Jewish families that will
buy a score of puny and trivial
books recommended by one of the
book clubs will probably stay far
away from this volume with an
oh, so Jewish title. Hut it is still
a fascinating collection.
For a vision of Jewish character
and the environmental factors which
produce that character one can
always rely upon Shalom Ascii.
His “Mottke the Thief” (G. T.
Putnam’s), long a classic in Yid
dish, has been made available in
English, in a translation that cap
tures almost intact the spirit of
the original. “Mottke” is a Jewish
picaresque novel, but it rings truer
than most of the others, because
it has no fake romantics and ad-
venturings. Reading “Mottke the
Thief” is certainly more rewarding
than plowing through “Anthony
Adverse.” fine can shout it from
the housetops. Hut the books’
jackets still accumulate dust. What
is it one needs for these books: a
Jeremiah to lament the self-satis
faction of a people or an Amos
to pronounce their inevitable doom?
“The Romance of Hasidism”
(Macmillan Co.) by Jacob S. Min
kin, who is also responsible for
“Herod,” and “Miracle Men” by
J. L. Mecklcr (Covici-Friede) are
two other books that claim a high
place in a decent Jewish library.
Hut, then, who collects such libra
ries except for the Semitics Divi
sions of metropolitan book-dispen
saries? “Unquiet” (Dodd, Mead
and Co.) by Joseph Gollomb might
be called an American version of
“Alottke,” except, of course, that
the American environment never
produces such distortions of char
acter as were inevitable in Poland.
Its picture of Jewish life on the
East Side is strong with Gollomb s
nostalgia and evokes scenes that
leave a deep mark on the memory.
Despite this observer’s lament on
(Please turn to page 1^6)
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