The American Jewish world. [volume], August 11, 1922, Image 4

About The American Jewish world. [volume] (Minneapolis ;) 1915-current

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Pagt Four ..-.
Stye American 3lruiisfy Itorlb
Continuing? The Jewish Weekly
Established June 12, 1912, by
DR. 8. N. DE1NARD
Ii. H. FRISCH, Managing Editor
Rabbi Philip Kleinman, Gustavue
Loevinerer, Rabbi C. David Matt
Associate Editors
Jesse B. Calm en s on,
City Editor, St. Paal
Published every Fuiday by The
Jewish World Publishing Co., Min
neapolis and St. Paul. Minneapo
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JEWISH CALENDAR
5682-1921
Bosh Ifialisnah .Monday, Oct.
Yom Kippur Wednesday, Oct. 12
1922
Fast of Tammus Thursday, July 18
Rosh Chodesh Ab Wednesday, July 26
Fast of Ab Thursday, August 8
•Rosh Chodesh Ellul Friday, August 25
Rosh Hashanah 6688 Saturday, Sept. 28
Observed also on preceding day.
EDITORIAL
DAVID FRISCHMAN
Once more has the grim reaper en
tered the ranks of Hebrew and Yid
dish writers and cut down in his
prime one of the most gifted and ver
satile wielders of the pen, David
Frischman, peace to his memory!
Frischman was still comparatively
young, not yet sixty, though he had
been writing for more than forty
years. Poet, critic, translator, pub
licist, satirist, narrator, his was a
versatility that was "at all times re
freshing and entertaining. His style,
whether in Yiddish or Hebrew, was
facile, clear and classic. Especially
in Hebrew was this notable. His dic
tion was almost exclusively Biblical,
flavored occasionally with the terse
idiom of the Talmud. But he avoided
alike the stilted bombast of the writ
ers of half a century ago and the
ultra-modern diction of the extreme
ly neo-Hebraists of our day. His
diction was classic even as his tastes
were. Perhaps that explains his
translation of the Iliad and the Odys
sey, as well as notable works from
the German and the French.
Frischman's satire which is a char
acteristic of his writings could be
sharp, but it was the sharpness of
a rapier-thrust which pierced rather
than mangled, and he was always the
artist. In some of his feuilletons he
depicted scenes of the Jewish life with
masterly touches of humor and pa
thos, where the stylist and the an
alyst blended. Many of his works, es
pecially the Hebrew, will live long for
the combination of style, diction and
thought, which demonstrated that in
the hands of a master the Biblical
idiom can be the vehicle for the
most modern literary production.
THE MANDATE CELEBRATION
Those who witnessed the sponta
neous outpouring of enthusiasm last
Thursday at the celebration of the
Palestine Mandate could have no
doubts as to how the Jewish masses
reacted to the historic event that bids
fair to turn Tisha b'Ab from mourn
ing into rejoicing. The theatre filled
to overflowing, despite the excessive
heat, the long line of automobiles, the
symbolic floats, the blue-and-White-
clad children, the enthusiasm that
marked the parade and the mass
meeting, the spirit in which the ad
dresses were received spoke eloquent
ly of what the Mandate, as the begin
ning of the fulfillment of Jewish
hopes, means to well-informed Jews.
The local celebration was successful
in combining enthusiasm, color and
dignity, a combination not too fre
quent in public celebrations. Al
though there were no appeals made
for funds at the meeting (for a
change the committee of arrange
ments kept its promise), there is no
doubt that Zionist endeavor was given
a mighty impetus at the meeting.
In order to deliver a rousingly
inspiring message, fast for twenty
four hours as preparation. No one
doubts that Rabbi Silber did fast on
Tisha b'Ab, just as no one doubts
that the speech he delivered at the
celebration was probably the most
forceful he ever delivered. When he
called for the "Heydud",—which as
you know is Hebrew for "Hurrah," it
would have done credit to the snap
piest college cheer-leader.
One of the floats in the parade rep
resented Isaiah's prophecy of peace,
when "The wolf shall dwell with the
lamb." Two enthusiastic celebrants
obligingly impersonated the two ani
mals mentioned. It was noticed that
even the masks used by these Jews in
illustrating the Jewish prophet's
forecast were distinctively Jewish.
The committee that drew up the
circular for the mass-meeting de
serves the prize for guessing. Of all
the speakers mentioned, none but Mr.
Raskin spoke and of all who spoke
no one but Raskin was mentioned in
the circular.
The number of automobiles in the
procession gives point to Raskin's
wish that in lieu of campaigns for
the Keren Hayesod each Jewish auto
mobile owner be taxed a nominal sum
annually. (Those who are not auto
mobile-owners are especially enthusi
astic for the plan.)
Now that the ratification of the
Mandate has been duly celebrated
and the transition from words and ap
plause to deeds and sacrifice becomes
so urgent, "Have you paid your Ke
ron Hayesod pledge?" That would be
a fine postscript to the Mandate Cele
bration.
THE RUTTENBERG PLAN
The Ruttenberg Plan is the name
applied to the plan for utilizing the
waters of the Jordan for irrigation
and electrification in Palestine. Con
ceived and worked out in detail by
the eminent engineer Pinchus Rutten
berg, it has been endorsed by leading
engineers, and officially approved by
the British government, which has
given an exclusive concession to Rut
tenberg to build the necessary dams
and works needed to harness the Jor
dan and bring blessing to Palestine.
The project will at once give employ
ment to thousands and will set flow
inga stream of money, bringing pros
perity in many quarters in advance
of the electrification.
Fate has decreed that American
Jewry bear most of the burden (and
privilege) of financing the Rutten
berg Plan, involving some five million
dollars. Of this sum the Palestine De
velopment Council, which it will be
remembered, was created by the Bran
deis-Mack group after the Cleveland
convention, will raise the major part.
Aside from all other considerations,
the Ruttenberg Plan is so important
and will mean so much to the future
of Palestine that we can well under
stand why every Jewish organization
that is able is desirous of taking part,
and is reluctant to be excluded from
the task or relegated to a secondary
position. That is why the Zionist
Organization of America is anxious
to take an active part in helping
finance the Ruttenberg Plan by selling
stock for the project. Probably in
many cities the Zionist Organization
and the Palestine Development Coun
cil, or to speak of them more briefly,
the Z. O. A. and the P. D. C., will
compete in selling shares.
Competition and envy are some
times a means of increased effort
usually they involve bitterness, wast
ed energy, diminished prestige, loss
of funds, to one or to both competitors.
It would be deplorable if even thru
the best of motives there be such
costly competition between the Z. O.
A. and the P. D. C. We do not pre
tend to speak of conditions through
out the land, but at least in the Twin
Cities there should be an agreement
by which the two organizations can
arrange to their mutual satisfaction
the specific work that each is to do.
Important as the Ruttenberg Plan is,
it alone cannot suffice for the upbuild
ing of Palestine. There is still need
for the Keren Hayesod for a numer
ous and responsive Zionist member
ship and for a large host of Shekel
payers. Judging by past perform
ances these activities alone are
enough to keep an efficient Zionist
Organization working overtime. The
Ruttenberg Plan, also, will require
strenuous efforts.
Why not divide these activities be
tween the two organizations? The
more successful the floating of the
shares for the Ruttenberg Plan, the
brighter the future of Palestine. The
larger and more successful the Zion
ist Organization the better able it will
be to avail itself of the electrification
of Palestine and all the development
that will come in its train. There
must be no strife, there must be no
wasteful duplication of energy. There
is work enough for all. Why not ap
portion the work instead of wastefully
competing?
C. David Matt.
CURRENT COMMENT
A case of far-reaching consequences
Will
be tried in the Special Sessions
Court when Samuel Cohen, a Jewish
baker, will be arraigned on the charge
of having violated the Sunday Law
by selling rolls at his store on Sun
day. When brought before the magis
trate, Cohen pleaded that he closed
on Saturday but kept open on Sun
day. In doing this, he said, he felt
he was observing the Sabbath. The
magistrate differed with him, and held
him under $500 bail.
There is more at stake than the fine
Cohen may be made to pay. There is
the principle of the Jewish Sabbath
involved. This should be of tran
scending importance to the various
Sabbath observing leagues. The
magistrate said there was only one
Sabbath in the United States, and that
was Sunday. In saying this, he was
paraphrasing a Supreme Court deci
sion, which has not always been in
voked. Cohen's case may set a new
precedent. It may revitalize that de
cision. If contested, it might lead to
a revision, without entering into the
old question of whether this is or is
not a Christian country.
Apropos of the Baltic states, which
were just accorded official recogni
tion by the Government of the Unit
ed States, it is pertinent to ask
whether, before this recognition was
granted, we on our part saw to it
that the guarantees made by Latvia,
Lithuania and Esthonia to their Jew
ish minorities were being carried out.
American Jews helped to secure those
guarantees. The delegates of the
Jewish Congress at the Peace Con
ference, collaborated with delegates
from other countries, constituting the
Committee of Jewish Delegations in
seeing to it that Jewish rights, civil,
religious and political—were safe
guarded in the new states. Being a
party to these covenants American
Jews might show some curiosity in
their consummation.
Of the three countries, Esthonia
THE AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD
appears to have given no trouble,
Lithuania has, owing to pressure from
all sides, perhaps, as much as to a
genuine desire to play fair, incorpo
rated some of these rights in its con
stitution. But the Latvian Jews con
tinue to complain. Their language
rights are disregarded, their fran
chise flaunted, their demands for rep
resentation ignored. The time to de
mand of Latvia that it strictly ad
here to its plight troth with the Jews,
was when the State Department was
considering its recognition. That de
mand could have come through
America. Had America whispered one
word into the ear of the listening
Latvian representative clamoring for
recognition, the Jewish claims would
have been satisfied. With American
recognition secured, an all-powerful
incentive to Baltic righteousness has
disappeared.
Our Government would doubtless
have whispered that little warning if
the complaints of the Latvian Jews
had been called to its attention. That
American Jewish Congress should
have seen to that.
The case of Latvia should convince
all of us of the necessity of a strong,
alert, watchful American Jewish Con
gress, having the power and the back
ing and the authority to speak for
us in all such cases. As to Latvia, of
course, it's late, but not too late.
Gershon Agronsky.
MR. CAHAN WAKES UP
Mr. Abraham Cahan, editor of The
Forward, the Yiddish socialist daily
of New York, has come out with grave
charges against the Friends of Soviet
Russia, an ostensibly famine relief
organization. According to Mr. Ca
han the money collected from us by
that organization for the starving in
Russia is partly being used to finance
Communist publications in this coun
try.
There is nothing new in this to
those who are familiar with the war
relief work as well as with the un
scrupulous practices of the Commun
ists. These latter, who out-Jesuit the
Jesuits in considering no means un
worthy that will further their ends,
have never hesitated to exploit the
relief work for their own purpose.
We all remember the activities of the
notorious Dr. D. Dubrowsky two years
ago, when he undertook to transmit
money from Americans to their rela
tives in Russia at the rate of 250
Soviet roubles per dollar at a time
when the dollar fetched many times
that number of roubles. These activi
ties, incidentally, had the support of
Mr. Cahan's paper, as well as of cer
tain petty politicians in the Jewish
relief work who were fighting the
Joint Distribution Committee, and
only came to a halt when the Federal
authorities intervened.
We are glad that Mr. Cahan has
awakened but is he not rather late?
Why did he pussyfoot when his own
friends and fellow socialists, Max
Pine and Dr. F. Rosenblatt, exposed
the high-handed methods of Dr. Du
browsky and other benefactors of
the proletariat more than a year ago
Can it be that Mr. Cahan woke up
only when the Communists began to
use relief funds for the support of a
paper that is competing with his
own?—Jewish Tribune.
Paris Jews Acclaim Mandate
Paris (J. C. B.)—Close to 2,000
persons participated in a demonstra
tion celebrating the acceptance of the
Palestine Mandate.
Deputy Bloom who presided, as
serted that the socialists approved
the mandate. Dr. Leo Motzkin vigor
ously scored "Jewish intrigue against
the mandate."
Messages of felicitation were sent
by the meeting to Lord Balfour,
Senator Lodge, former Premier Vi
viani, Dr. Max Nordau and Baron
Edmond de Rothschild.