Newspaper Page Text
Page Six
Southern Israelite
Friday, October 2,1936
The
Southern Israelite
Published weekly by the Southern Ncwapaper Enterprise*. Inc M. ^Tlnton
tor; Orin lion-ten. Aaoocinte Kditor, M. St.-ph.-n Srhiffer Publlsh.-r. Nathan
Btiaineaa Manmrer. Executive office*. 101 Marietta St. BuildlnK, 8uite 518-14. At
lanta, Ga.
ADDRESS AIX COMMUNICATIONS TO MAIN OFFICE IN ATLANTA, GA.
Entered a* second claw, matter at the l'o*t Office at Atlanta. Ga.. under the Art
of March 8, 1879. Yearly aubscriptlon one dollar. Single eopiea. five cent*. Canada
and foreiicn »ub*criptiona, one dollar per year.
The Southern Israelite Invite* correapondence on subject* of 'ntereet to the
Jewish people and literary contribution*, but the editor Is not to be
•harinir the views expr.a*ed by the writer*, except those enunciated in the editorial
column*.
SOUTHERN OBSERVATIONS
WAR
Answering Red Charges
The reaction to the editorial, “The Red Myth” (see South
ern Israelite, September 25) bears out our contention that lies
of the Nazi propaganda machine, however ridiculous and un
founded in fact they may appear to be on the surface, must
be counteracted by truths. Prom all sides, we have been com
mended for challenging the “Jewish-Bolshevist” myth. Most
important, however, is the knowledge that these facts were
welcomed by Jews and non-Jews alike as weapons of truth
against the libelous charges that Jews are the founders and
chief proponents of Communism.
This is a far cry from the attitude unwisely expressed by
many groups at the beginning of the National Socialist’s
rise to power in Germany—an attitude which counseled sil
ence as the most effective measure against propaganda, and
which left unanswered falsehoods that should have long ago
been disproved to the world.
It was this policy of silence that created the wide belief
that the German Jews were destroying Germany with their
Communistic actions. We have only to look at statistics to see
the fallacy of the charge. In 1932, with 600,000 Jews in Ger
many, and with less than half of them voting, the German
Communist vote was 5,000,000. The Reichstag in July of 1932
had a membership of eighty-nine Communists, none of them
Jews; in November of the same year, there were one hundred
Communist members in the Reichstag, all non-Jewish. This
let us remember, was before the Hitler Regime.
Of all aspects of the “Red Myth”, the most fantastic, and
ironically enough the most dangerous, is that which suggests
that Judaism advocates the principles of Marxism.
This falsehood conceived in the twisted brain of Julius I
Streicher, the Nazi propaganda chief, is as contradictory as
the one which charges Jewry of being in possession of all
the wealth of the world, and at the same time of being the
proponent of a movement which seeks to destroy capital.
Nothing could be further from the truth than the charge
that Judaism advocates the Communist credo. The most im
portant task of the cultural revolution, affecting the wide
masses, the Communist platform charges, is “the task of
systematically and unswervingly combatting religion.”
The whole history, the tradition, the very laws of Israel are
at once at odds with such a credo which would deprive Jewry
of the religious freedom for which it has fought and died
throughout the ages. Is it logical that we who have kept the
flame of Judaism burning these thousands of centuries would
support a movement that would rob our past of all purpose
and our present of all meaning?
The truth, then, is that Jews cannot be Communists. The
insignificant proportion of our people who belong to the Com
munist Party have forfeited their Jewish rights by support
ing a movement that has as one of its aims the destruction
of all religion.
This is the answer to the libelous charges of Nazi Germany.
The controversy
which attended the
war exemption reso
lution of the Central Conference of
American Rabbis has bobbed up
again, provided the 1topic for many
sermons during the High Holy
<Ja ?n Atlanta, as part of a stirring
Yom Kippur address, Dr. David
Marx last week declared himsell at
odds with his colleagues on the
matter of war exemption denied
that pacifism was the highest in
terpretation of Judaism.
Heated as the Schwarz-Marcuson
controversy over the issue is the
verbal tiff between Rabbi Joseph
Gitin, of Butte, Montana, and
Rabbi Julius Leibert, of the C. C.
at Vancouver, Washington.
Says Rabbi Gitin in answer to
his colleague's statement that it is
the duty of the Jew to defend his
country: . . ...
“The Jew has a perfect right,
like the Quakers, to refuse partici
pation in any war on religious
grounds. More so, since war has
been proved to be mass murder,
cruel, vicious, useless.”
the Adath Israel Si ®J e jJ? 0 i itor i B l
,tSVth“New r YoA mmll, tfll.
white-haired James G. McDonald »
white-haired _ —
to 'eod his
profound understanding
Pope Pius Hits Nazi
War On Catholics
With organizations
McDonald resuming activities
in Atlanta, officers
this week discussed prospects of
bringing to the city notable figures
in Jewish life for lecture appear
ances, reported that an effort will
be made to satisfy the demands, of
the community for speakers during
the fall and winter.
Requests for another visit to the
city of James G. McDonald, lead
the list of speakers' names drawn
up by organizations, give promise
that the former High Commander
can be persuaded to speak here
again following his scheduled ap
pearance in Louisville, Ky. this
winter under the sponsorship of
of the
Seman^ituatTon to new problems.
Brought to Atlanta early this year
bv Harold Hirsch, hisaddressdrew
a' record-breaking throng to the
Temple, played an important part
in the success of the Atlanta Jew
ish Welfare Fund Campaign.
A glowing tribute
SERMON to a man who com
manded national at
tention by his efforts in the cause
of religious tolerance was paid in
Chattanooga, Tenn, last week by
Rabbi Israel Gerstein, was part of
an inspiring sermon on Jewry s Day
of Atonement. . n
Of the Chattanooga minister, Or.
Thomas McCallie, said Rabbi Ger-
i st6in*.
“His life presents such an unsur
passed record of
service and devotion to his fellow-
men thpt we might well ask our
selves is mortal man kneaded ot
clay of the earth, capable of rising
to such heights? There is only one
answer. Dr. McCallie had develop
ed the divinity within him and thus
was capable of writing such a glor
ious chapter of service and good
will among men. Many of us are
grateful that he lived in our midst
and helped make Chattanooga
better place in which to live.
Another example of the desire of
Chattanooga Jewry to lend full
support to the growing movement
of interdenominational unity was
seen last week in the invitation of
the Julius and Bertha Ochs Mem
orial Temple to non-Jews in the
city to attend Yom Kippur serv
ices.
I Rome (WNS)—Although the
press is emphasizing Pope Pius’
attack on Communism in hi?
speech to a group of Spanish re
fugees, that speech also contains
a vigorous if implied denuncia
tion of Nazi persecutions of
Catholicism. Without mentioning
Germany by name the Pope said:
“The Catholic press is persist
ently suspected and increasingly
hampered while every freedom
and favor, or at least toleration,
is shown to that press whose
mission and purpose, it would
seem, is to spread confusion
among ideas, to mislead by fal
sifying facts, to bring the
church into suspicion and to dis
credit ecclesiastical persons and
things, Catholic teachings and
institutions. It is a press that
does not hesitate to proclaim a
new Christianity and a religion
of a new coinage.”
Einstein Was Absent
From Harvard Fete
Are We Worth Saving?
By A1 Segal
constantly being made
aware that 1 am a Jew. Every once
in awhile I get a pain; then I know
I am a Jew. I am not like other
people who do not suffer on ac
count of their racial identity.
Sometimes I think about myself
apart from anti-Semites. What will
become of me, the Jew after there
are no more enemies to inflict pain
on me and to remind me that I am
Jewish? For I like to believe that
a time of justice must come and I
will be let alone.
What will I have to live for then,
as a Jew? At preseht I am a liv
ing Jew merely because I despise
to die at the hands of these con
temptible enemies. This looks like
negative, empty living. Is there
nothing positive for which to keep
on living as a Jew?
I am trying to save myself from
my enemies, but for what? To
1* •« "A
Footnotes To Headlines
By Robert Stone
NORTH AMERICA
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHERS REJECT BID TO CONFERENCE IN
GERMAN\ . . . Feeling, no doubt, that any attempt to inject wisdom, into the
Nazis would be hopeless.
CHRISTIAN GIVES SITE FOR JEWISH CENTER IN HP-STATE
NEW YORK . . . How many Jews can equal that?
EUROPEAN FOLK TALES OF JEWISH ORIGIN, GINSBERG TELLS
HARVARD . . . Before you know it Hitler will be banning fairy tales from the
nursery.
REFORM RABBIS URGE SOCIALIZED DEMOCRACY TO AVOID FAS
CISM AND COMMUNISM . . . The idea sounds excellent, but the difficulties
are not to be sneezed at.
EUROPE
WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS PROTESTS AGAINST NUREMBERG
SPEECHES ... IT hich no doubt caused Hitler a sleepless night. ,
ITALIAN PRESS WARNS JEWS MUST PROVE LOYALTY TO FAS
CISM ... Is Mussolini doing anything to discourage anti-Semitism among
Fascists?
FASCISTS PERSECUTE MARRANO JEWS IN PORTUGAL . . . What
else could one expect?
PALESTINE
ARABS DEFY GREAT BRITAIN, DEMAND COMPLETE INDEPEND
ENCE . . . Let them first prove that t\ey are a civilized people.
FIRST TWO DEATH SENTENCES METED OUT TO ARABS IN RIOTS
. . . And it's about time the emergency regulations were taken seriously.
Copyright 1936 for the Southern Israelite
what purpose should I, the Jew
survive? Is there nothing in being
a Jew except this pain? Is it worth
while surviving merely to be pre
served from one Hitler to the next ?
It really doesn’t seem worth
while to keep on living for that, to
have nothing to live by except pain,
to have nothing to live for except
to wring my hands in despair and
to shake my fist against enemies
Since (at present) I am so eager
for my life as a Jew, ought I not
have a very good excuse for liv
ing? I look at my anxious friends
who are so troubled about the de
struction that seems to hang over
their heads like a low cloud. In
my optimism I believe they are
going to be saved (since it can’t
He knows his story. It has to do
with the pageant that runs back to
Sinai.
As an old sufferer he does not
make himself ridiculous by crying
out his pain, as if the pain of the
Jews was the only pain in the
world. He has studied his pain and
has found it has to do with the
pain of the world and is not apart
from it.
He has come to the mind that if
his pain is to be less, the pain of
the world must be made less; that
there is no justice for him separ
ate from justice for all men. He
(as one to whom has been handed
down a body of social ideals) must
go bravely with men who march
toward a world more just and love
ly. He must march in front with
the banners.
He walks with a high head, sure
that he has something to live for.
He is not the afflicted, timid Jew
whom the blows of enemies keep
reminded that he is a Jew. He
seems a fellow worth saving.
The B’nai B’rith, in all its
lodges has taken up a project of
adult education by which to make
Jews feel Jewish without the aid
of pain. By a plan which is to ex
tend to the most remote lodges, In
stitutes of Jewish Studies are being
established to teach Jews about
themselves: That they may know
who they are, whence they came,
what they have, to what end they
live, by what they may make them
selves deserving to live.
Long ago B’nai B’rith took up
the survival of Jewish youth in col-
Cambridge, Mass. (WNS)—Pro
fessor Albert Einstein was not
able to participate in the gathering
of the world’s greatest minds,
which was one of the features of
Harvard’s tercenternary exercises,
because of the illness of Mrs. Ein
stein, he has informed the Harvard
authorities. Dr. Einstein had
agreed to attend the exercises when
arrangements were made to hold
a special Rosh Hashanalf services at
Cambridge on September 18th, the
last day of the tercentenary and
the second day of the Jewish New
Year.
TEMPLE AUCTIONS PEWS
New York (WNS)—Pew rights
for 13 seats in Temple Emanu-El
netted as high as $689 when sold at
auction here. The auction is held
annually when pew assessments are
in arrearage. Some of the arrear
ages dated back ten years. The
number of seats sold at auction
this year was half that in 1935.
The synagogue officials did not
make public either the names of
the former or present owners of
the pew seats. The total revenue
from the sale of the 13 seats came
to $2,800.
Perlman Named Judge
New York (WNS)—Nathan
Perlman, who was appointed a city
magistrate in 1935 by Mayor La
Guardia, was promoted to the court
of general sessions by the Mayor.
Judge Perlman, a former member
of Congress, is chairman of the ad
ministrative committee of the
American Jewish Congress.
Hertz Suicide
London (WNS)—The suicide of
Dr. Daniel Hertz, brilliant 26-year-
old son of Chief Rabbi Joseph
Hertz, has created a stir here.
Young Hertz killed himself by tak
ing poison. No reason for his act
is known but it is reported that he
feared he was suffering from an
incurable malady.
Lithuania Abandons
Fascism After Trial
happen here); hut when they are leges through the Hillel Founda-
saved, what will have been saved?
They will be a lot of dead Jews
with nothing in their hearts (not
even any more pain) to give them
life as Jews.
Are they worth saving? What
for?
■ So, it seems to me, the B’nai
B’rith is on the right track to make
living Jews out of us who are
worth saving. What is a living
Jew? I should say he is one who
doesn’t need pain to make him feel
Jewish.
He knows to what purpose he is
a Jew. He is aware of the body of
ideals which is Judaism. He is con
scious of being a son of Prophets.
He thinks of himself as an actor
on a great stage of history and,
as a veteran trouper, feels duty-
bound to make a good showing.
tion; now it turns also to us, the
adult Jews who have the will to
live but should also have some
thing to live for.
The work of the B’nai B’rith’s
Institute of Jewish Studies is un
der the direction of Rabbi Paul
Richman. It seems to me he is on
a worth while job.
Copyright 1936 for The Southern Israelite
Akiba Biography
New York—The first biography
of Akiba has been written by Louis
Finkelstein, professor of Philosophy
and Hebraic Literature at the Jew
ish Theological Seminary, under
the title of “Akiba: Scholar, Saint
and Martyr.” It will be published
on October 6th by Covici, Friede.
Kovno (WNS)—Lithuania bade
good-bye to Fascism after a year s
trial of authoritarian government
when its newly elected parliament
was formally opened by President
Anatas Smetona. A Fascist re ^ 1 .?} e
was established a year ago. Lith
uania is the second Baltic country
to abandon Fascism this year, the
first having been Esthonia.
A Prayer For German
Jewry
God the Almighty, God the Merci
ful,
With all our hearts, to Thee we
pray; . ^ ,
Ease Thou our grievous burden,
Grant peace to troubled souls this
day.
Turn Hitler’s power to ashes,
Thy strength and glory lend
To Israel, sorely troubled,
And thus, our burdens end.
In sackcloth and in ashes,
In sorrow and in shame,
Our brethren cross the ocean,
Still praise Thy holy name.
And, oh, our Heavenly Father,
Give us thy grace divine,
Lift up our broken spirits, _
Let Thy radiance on us shine.
MRS. COLUMBUS SMITH