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] “Give me your tired, your poor...” The Southern ? Israelite The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewry 'Since 1925' ‘i U.S. leaders denounce stamp on converts’ I Ds NEW YORK (JTA)—Leaders of Reform and Conservative Juda ism in the United States spoke out strongly last week to denounce the practice by the Orthodox-controlled Ministry of Interior in Israel of printing the word "converted” next to the designation “Jewish” on the identity cards of Jewish converts in Israel. Rabbi Alexander Schindler, president of the Union of Ameri can Hebrew Congregations, the congregational organization of Reform Jews, charged that, “Now the Orthodox establishment in Is rael wants to stamp the equivalent of the yellow star on the identity cards of immigrants to Israel who have been converted to Judaism.” Goren blasts convert designation JERUSALEM (JTA)—The former Ashkenazic chief rabbi of Israel, Shlomo Goren, has elaborated on his sharp criticism of the Interior Ministry’s new regulation that requires the word “converted” to be stamped next to the designation “Jewish" on the identity cards of converts to Judaism in Israel. Goren said on a radio interview that the ruling was totally contrary to halacha, Jewish religious law. According to halacha, one is abso lutely forbidden from putting any stigma on a convert once the conver sion procedures are completed. “He should not be reminded that he is a convert,” Goren declared. The Orthodox rabbi added that the new regulation did injustice to most converts since they observe Judaism more strictly than secular Jews. He stressed that converts are equal to other Jews and even have privileges other Jews do not have. “It is a mitzva to love the convert,” Goren declared. A statement adopted by the ex ecutive council of the Rabbinical Assembly, the association of Con servative rabbis, urged Prime Min- See IDs, page 16. .< _i ‘A mighty woman with a torch’ by Rabbi Bernard S. Raskas Worldwide News Service Four days of celebration are under war throughout the United States to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty, l^ed by Lee lococa, a refurbished Statue of Liberty, gracing New York's har bor. will pay tribute to the millions of immigrants that passed by this symbol of freedom to enter the United States. However, not all are aware that the words written on the base of "the lady with the lamp" were written by a Jewish woman poet, Emma Lazarus. Her story is a fascinating one. Emma Lazarus was born on July 22, 1X49, in New York City, into a Jewish family that traced its ancestry back to Portugal. The Lazarus family considered them selves “Jewish nobility,” superior to the Jews of eastern Europe. Although the Sabbath and the Jew ish holy days were observed, the Lazaruses viewed themselves as thoroughly American and were more interested in the Civil War and American politics than perse cuted Jews. Emma Lazarus was educated at home by private tutors, as was typ ical of affluent families during that era. She was a sensitive spirit and tended to be introverted. She showed interest in music, the Ger man poems of Heine and English literature. Her earliest poems dealt with sorrowfulness and longing and were dedicated to a young man whose name we do not know. In 1X67 her first book entitled “Poems and Translations” was published. She met the foremost poet of that time, Ralph Waldo Emerson, at a gathering and he asked her for a copy of the book. Following that, they became friends and he served as her advisor. Her next work “Admetus,” a mytho logical story, was dedicated to him. Emerson’s correspondence with Emma Lazarus is treasured in the manuscript room of the library of Columbia University. The esteemed Berlin rabbi, Gus tav Gottheil, was called to the pres tigious pulpit of Temple Emanu- El, on Fifth Avenue in New York, in 1X73. As he began his rabbinic career there, he decided to create a new prayer book which would draw upon the richness of the English language. He read Emma Lazarus’ poem entitled “In the Jewish Syn agogue at Newport.” Soon he in vited her to join him in his beloved project. She was evasive and seemed to balk at becoming a “Jewish writer.” But, in the beginning of the 18X0s, a wave of persecutions oc curred in Russia that traumatized Emma Lazarus and turned her into a “Jewish writer.” As a member of Emma Lazarus the Jewish Welfare Committee, she went to Ward’s Island to welcome persecuted Jews. There she saw Jews of all occupations represented: the peddler who spoke Yiddish, the big merchant, the engineer, the tavern keeper, the university pro fessor, the doctor, the lawyer—all Jews. The only possessions they had were wrapped in a small bundle. When she returned home, she could not sleep. She was haunted by people who had nothing mate rial left except what they could gather in a scarf or a kerchief. She responded with a poem, “Songs of a Semite,” which was destined to stir thousands. What she saw on Ward’s Island, the pitiful mass of humanity brought low, the inno cent misery of Jewish refugees, made a new person and poet out of her. Emma Lazarus’ voice rose like a trumpet and her accusations were powerful and direct: When the long roll of Christian guilt Against his sires and kin is known. The flood of tears, the life-blood spilt, The agony of ages shown, What oceans can the stain remove, From Christian law and Chris tian love? But she did not merely accuse, she inspired her fellow Jews to stand up for their brothers and sis ters. She appealed to the memories of Jewish heroics and Jewish cour age. Her moving words were best expressed in a work entitled “The Banner of the Jew.” Let her words speak for her: Wake, Israel, wake! Recall today The glorious Maccabean rage. Say not the mystic flame is spent! Your ancient strength remains unbent. Let but an Ezra rise anew, To lift the Banner of the Jew! Dipping into Jewish history, her poems became polemical and force ful. Emma Lazarus did not merely play the intellectual but agonized and attended mass meetings on behalf of persecuted Russian Jews. To her the Jewish question became the issue of humanity itself. When Jews were defamed in an article in the popular magazine Century, Emma Lazarus answered it point by point with fire and brimstone. She counterthrusted the old nonsense that there were “two kinds of Jews”—good and bad. For her all Jews were one. She thoroughly demolished the anti- Semitism of the original article. Emma Lazarus now emerged from the shy young lady and learned to write with speed, vigor and assur ance. She grew closer to her Jew ish roots, even espousing an early form of Zionism. She wrote a play about the persecution of Jews in medieval Germany. But, in May of 1883 at age 34, her strength began to fail. She tried a trip to Europe, but it soon became clear that her days were limited by cancer. When Emma returned to New York, she found a strange request. She received an appeal from a committee that was planning to set up—on Bedloe Island in New York harbor—a colossal statue, “Liberty Enlightening the World.” Some decades earlier two Frenchmen had conceived the idea of this statue, Laboulaye, the statesman, and Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor. The idea behind this planned gift See Lazarus, page 16. j v A u i i j/vin