The Texas Jewish Herald (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 39, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 3, 1929 Page: 4 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Jewish Herald /Jewish Herald /Jewish Herald-Voice and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
A - A,
>1
(e- '
I1
The,
Texas Jewish Herald
I’uli’UJied Weekly By
The Herald Printing Co.
• EDGAR GOtFDtJERG, Editor and Publj her
l*hon« I’ri,''(<)n 3087-2MO
'.Lw.-i-’ ' per Yyar
■ ■____ . . $3.50 fief Year
409 U Ik Fgnnin SJtrei t
Subscription,— ,4
ForF iga ^
All rfc,inniiriir0*l<irv ' -r
t'.nn sp'i :M f
My Vi •• ' •.
I til lal'-r
K r. * n d
rwTT.'
tl‘Vif M
!'•
ill 11 • >n' ■ in, Ti
RA H I l. LAN ID <,<;!.
Kdi
i-.l O.i.•
■ f ii
1 .
Random Thoughts
By CHAS. JOSEPH'
• i
J
I »<* t \\ 4
(aI <1111 *
i I lunched with John Mulhollami,
I one** ofr America’* outstanding magi-
j rjitns recently, and we were diacun*-
ing fortune telling. Mr. Mulholland
!mji priced me by saying that u large
j number .of Jew* visit fortune tellers
* • -<|iiit«* out of line from a percentage
f t iadpoint with other racial groups.
He hiro.Hi If, holds'the saiiic attituide
toward fortune Udlcrn ujnd fortune
< I Brig a . HoinJim did toward spirit-
ual, m. IN’ doesn’t condemn thf*m, he
merely duplicates ij 11 ktheir tricks,
v.hu h is a much more effective way
• I di/posing of lie challenges
in»y one of them to “tell a fortune”
that he can’t* expose-, .and he confer-
'• In a loni hinent at the number
of highly i .hu nted .men and women
for- mjch eharlaianisin.
u|» they are the heavier
1 they tail Hi1 is very anxiourt to.find
•Vnt ■ fi.fitn historical records j-ust whuj
] inflto ».< - then* ha• 4»* en m ihejlU/c
I oI tin Jew‘to make a# many of them
1. » much iiftete ted in this prtcudo-
| ijriiov l/erhaps some ileljrow ttcho-
J Inr linn lAih'gh on him. Mr. Mulhol-
k>ml \va a former instructor in the
Horace Matin School for Hoys--1-one
.‘n'kiTii-* Gojjege groups of
you your-
Now which
| J v.h‘> "fiiU’
• j :j inr iiicii
THi: JEV/-ANDTHE YULETlDE SEA-SON.
>hl I 1,
.,••11 I) 1 n'.v-t iunt pr«i]i4li-t •of nld llli't'i' AV.-IV Vllis fUH.latilHI-
.jvin i' T)i. iiric 1 \. .i • aformerly ivHgimi.-' man, am) of the '1 .•.,4<rh'. rk*
he th.'i'V'|'uiv [' -);in| n„ fit. ami rimalm.n lofluiilaif. >ll«» is a- ' ‘*V‘ias.ty. lie h.u wi'.tten
ni iin m nm * " , J , . . , ■ . ♦ v< jal important hooks on magfc,
the sol.- hi.-.ah - “1 al\ at i<hi. II..1- |/i.>|»rt<■ t. *'ii tli^1 ‘ '•’’■net a.111‘I. , jh-iS |^<*turi*.! 2*.*rt- iminy learned
Was ji humanly , P'lp’iou-i ni.i i), i;. i la llvt- tun*- il.is.i -.1«•. 1 that ] bqijitH and eajf fool' the educated'as
aalvali.in lie- - t: ?}i4- |>a t h «.f huiiiWu vffufl a! ‘ ritfliffamsnms. To [Vay a- 1 h»\ vay
the jiriifrtt Tiod was wi-ti • w lm- of a-(h-fai-h**.! ijoiiitf; havililj t ie
courageous enough a
self would have il . }
would you have? You can’t fall
•on both sides of the fence at the
same time. * -
"Why find fault with the Fidel-
ity and CuBUalty Company, which
I am making <>" effort to defend.
Why not- commence at home first,
■lo t present a printed blank to tf
hundred Jews to fill out requiring
answers' tol Nationality, Religion
und Race and not less than '..0 out
of the hundred will fill in Jcwb4i-
ufler thcse qu ions. If you doubt
it then investi "Me the blanks that
are' required-io be filled out by
parints.when first registering their
children in echo o.i. Ur go to any
eliiplo-yment :oVn«y where, office
entplpyos regi t r for positions and
.you wjll be ,'i-lounded in lookhtg
iiver the applic itii,;.’ cards to find
lliiii most or 'h'- Jews will answer
‘‘Jew” after Kiinonafity and again
after' "Faith,”. The non-Jew will
answer “Antei < un” to "Nation-
•ality" -and Pr< c tant or d'othofic
to the ciuesti, "t faith. Whose
fault is it? . Wi, fieed a litllc'edu-
c.'iliug on the lilies. Why bjame
t he fidelity v - 01, really the fault
is more ours t ism , theirs.”
heavens us hi |)frttliur iifmdf, ;ttnl cuthtiiin .low.li t<> s'iU't It- only
tilt litre 1 't■;: on, ajji) Jjiou ii'ii 111 I''t m, <>Ffn11 r:s<•,. but unit
via the She kl> in ah < e p ta ii'afimi), and imruing down ixtl i‘> .-very
lilact*-, hul Jo tie 1 •^ieehtlly-erected sanctums. T>, 1ht» |>f<»ptit-t.
On the olh. t liafiU:-, < Od \\ it - f'V. i'V wlti'iv iitt-d in fvei-.vlHinjf,;
“thf wh'dr eitH)i is. fiiILfti IliK Klnry’'. find, "in every jdace,
where I eati.se rny riivlfie V'i.-.jie Tiienfinneit. I w ill rente tinO thee
anil Frless thee.-', *
Finally, the- f.trmtfla'of Hi nrie.k hml h«) Hiret F 'fgoy
dill II,.I ....... 1 i I tl ilfel;. t d , I; e I tie 1 ! iea e y ' Mm-
man eflt I en t i’ll' -Ofi.i;;'*'1 ! i'.‘t'.- lire shy1 P( tie .ot llje ill i 1 e |e 1) I iv 1 m
rtipl enndiiimt-of i'mimni- nafuie i- I \ j i|al<.itl l.\ jipriest ly, and-so
is lileelogi. ill tsi*tI,i<• nt 1‘ in fllal' tint tniie.Uiie 'lived' for vicarious
atonement .-I f ffuilr i our natural stale, t imn wr iimiiot render
Olir>e I Ve- g; i 1111 •' ' liV’" our oW II ej 1 <1 l*t. unless \Ve At, fe iiidi-ctl
Ktipernatiirnl iieiiigs. We ran • only hi; !i'jt,doJ£'’d. atoned l oi.
vicarionsl.y, that is. 1 hnnfj'it.1 he j*r;«‘e el' fife sutlering ol one
one whose natural stale is not y-11 i i t. wim is not a it u in an I h • i j i ;
at all. That is the logic of the priestly religion, and of Christi-
anity, whiclt is the heir to the priestly religion. And if Jews had
at thp time rejected that logic, it was onl^ becailse Jew.*, at the
time, had. definitely determined to follow the human religion
of the prophet, instead of thtjj^pfmaJ'religion of the priest.
Wf have no prii sts iind ;nT*|d)ets today. *in t he am ifnl
sense of the. w'l’i d; imt \ve have wdtli us their embodiments and
persoml icatmim. in tin* f,t*t Fiortlox ;ind idiei'id id evtri lace
gait ereeci, or, as we migiU luftter desiffuafe them, in the theolo-
gically ininviiTphoph- ahd those who are just imrijauly relif'ioits.^
To tiie theologian of to.dav, like to the priest ol yesterday, it
in at ill t he'fop 1 I’m tii that founts most, tin- method ol attainment,
but, not so ini'iVh the attuinr.uent itself, w iiereas to the orifer, to
tin- hurniUtly. religious person, it is the n 11 ;i»i 1 i t> 1.-rit th;i.t counts.
For example : fira-htihK- that- tiie. pre-ehtf ehefution, is- toUowing
a hig'Fily aereptiilde eoui o' 1 t e-oiul Citizenship ami good tallow--
whip, tHat eatdifiml every one is animated by it keen sense ol
duty toward ein'ran-ate etj’.-rj,p;>i- ap'd -'.a-hil justice, and .that
each afui ever1. • one 1, ir fired hv i'e« liipf oi I • 11 bio for the
. other. ’|t'llid ,X\ e .,j41; t.,■ ,. „ 1 i.;: 1 > ' ;j: -.j |ei■•vphe.i-iejj. IldllellfUtp i; , we
the niiist illiterate,
can rtail yuiir mini! with amazing
accuracy arid tin Ihoke things shut we 1
io-*, 'aceusiutnetj In cunaitleT" ItrytTIi(f
tJie natural ptiVvttflt' of man.
•>. in the. first place, rny criticism
uf ffeputy (in., ,'ihaum was. not . so
iiiueli that he i.ielosfeii Uiscriiitipa-
tjoh iigaiftSt.thi Jew as llic inaoner in
.wiwrii lie (lid , I accused limy ol'.
liSSmg'-'Chhyewf ..Miy tarjlesa- and un-
diplomatic aifd- ucfthg in such a
v.ay ..-.hart- inste. . of easing tile bur-
den i,f 1 Ir,- Jie,- hi l’olniid lie was
likely io. inert e it.' I agi'Pe with
my t'orVespond il: I fat the; lilanie;
largely our ov. u in making po.ssihlc,
t.|ie apiuaranc, VP such 'blanks as
those of the I'.ilHity., Many Jews
1 ■ ■. ft ml (.li-at v. 1e.i1 .-eparalr race
■ mi ii . .„w „„e , thjvr •! 'i •''i'.oate uali.....aud uiuuiiuac.
1 !n mandate bf Ureal Bill- rmitely Jew, , as religionists I
• havr rv|>oateai ■ K$ tor a clar.i-
1 an Tin* tinjr staliiJi-ent
ri }*aifli(J^ ’(Iv* aiH.T* of th« auc-
i<Mj 11 .i l.»f.Mio of Kurland *hy. the
I’l'ij.it* <>f Wale iii.t'Ii- hy George
\V. Hir<!, a lawyer of.J'Jaififielcl, N.
j.! Mr. Hir*l,.w« an- loir], is a Hapc
j ti. t ah'] a i’li<]< til of '/iorrirl affairs.
“InrisiiHH h a.; t'alVstilo-
Uil'.leM
a ri’,” Him] ^airl t mlay, ”1 h.e- ASSUDip
':' f I ■ of (he title K IHtf I >ry‘ th<*
Hi lin e of ft’,1 li • '. Wt.iU It] heiU' out
the fourth and fifth ver <■ of the
Hurtl rliapter *i i 1fo i a,, written
”2,TOO years -«
; ofii t kin j .li t . of t Io-. S«a'lpt uie
-wj- read:.
" I " r 1 >e i lij'i r - *. *•■! I 'rnel hall
aliide inarry days without a kin#
a/jd witkinH a pno« e,;au«l wittodH
fi ^ r iI ire, and wiUiMut ,.n intake,
and without and aphod, ami ,wiHo
out lerpaliijn' Afterward . liall the
• liil.dr' li ol f rai l I e uni Find : eek
tin- la rd ’]n it‘*(io'J and f|avid their'
kin# .and hull 1eur the Hol'd ami
• Hi . »odne. m the latter day's.’
"An# Hie ninth verne of
"Hie fTiii t ierh ehjipier of Jeriniah,
wiitten 2/»0t» years fc.T#ir, we tilao"
i f*aii
’’ HLut- they shall serve the Lord'
thyir <*i*vl ;md lhkvicl their kin#,
whom J wdl raise* up unt.o -them’.”
,'i he Hi hie is the one hook in the
world that FonPuin paj;sa#e{i‘ which
may b»* .n^< rpreiiCft ir* t liou.; and .arid
mil Wiivff Which' iv proiml»l.y one
nj'-. tmo ii.any rca ous why h<>nr:V,
vi;eh.-fiii-,Tiiiii:.' non iliffer sp niucli
BERLIN NEWS LETTER
By ffiicha*l Wurmbrand.
Is Granovsky and hia Moscow Yid-
J dish State Theatre going to Ameri-
ca or isn’t it? Will the Soviet Gov-
ernment give it permission for the
tour, or will it order it to, return to
Moscow? It is this question that
the nownpape^s here are so busy
about. The troupe stirred up tre-
mendous fnterest wherever it went
so far as the ‘artistic side is con-
cerned, hut financially it suffered
shipwreck, * An’American tour seem-
ed to he the only way. in which it
could retrieve its fortunes and get
out of its difficulties. What then
makes the Government in Moscow so
•nrdy about #ivii)g it permission to
go* to Ainericu and why does Mr.
Lunatcharsky leave his troupe for
the Granovsky Theatre is one of the
Moscow Stale The;itres— financially
stranded high, am] dry on the rocks?
As the stpry is told here, it goes*like
t i,! .
Lunatchai: ky ordered Granovsky
to return to Mdscow and (*ranovsky
wouldn't go. (JranoVfiky had made up
his .mind to explore the roads of
Amerii ^ T lie Moscow Government
Imd other ideas on the subject and
sent over to Berlin a trusted man,
Mr. I'olotnik, with instruet,ions to
put tlu* affairs of the Theatre, in or-
der. And now that is finished at
last, Moscow has decidec) to permit
the American tour.
America.. olv couffce, will help the
thealre out, of its' dif fit ulties, al-
RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP
THE KIND THE WORLD IS
CALLING FOR TODAY
Excarpt of on Addre.. by Dr. Stan-
ton Colt, Leader of ^he Ethical
• Movement, London, Eng.
-a.tt‘1 Jjip.lcbvt.riri. ....<! Mr^ I’lilrit ;43-0111),Ami tjiis is.-so:.but tiu- nat.
..... 11 "’■*" ........... ‘ 1 son the Jew should remain true to his
11 is
M'H.I
couhl iiwagi.if, . mi i. I
Tli.J.pJ JlV' f V . lb.'. Wbl'llb
Thj'ph'i'j'lf-b'i'flv iJif’ii'Hi b ; < r
* VY «x lift'. I ' ' i '1 , 111 f>
i.blc ib. ,c > .'.S', tlu • 1,
Wfil.bl ' be pj-j M U -{• • <!,
rnit.b-.hcl.iu1b i ..;i-i.<I '<
futna-hlc I li ruiK'h_ b is.j, v. i. .Ti •; !l< >» I ” j
bit'ill In l
■U'
i ' I'bil ;v itil l I i‘.
iti
;!. ‘ I;bb .'g,.
■ J , j .AV.lt;
m, IT., j
1 h;i~' • ab j.il ,T;
I
\i.t jci i 11C
..iv. UlAt .,
imp'll1' ,i)c
iit.tj VWM p.
'I-I
■ p I,
I I VJ. '■
idi"' -il
>• ii
I'pritii.ii <>t th' i -ui-.s-* by some
:mlhi.riJativc p.1.)«-»c|litilling all
-. Iciuc.iil.. in J i-iy, ImH' tf.cy seem
,di-af to . a appeals, hither
they.don’t knoa i Ih-im. i-Ivc.s whftt its
nil about or ti.i-c fear- that a dis-
cC: on ^vould ic,com plisli nothittg.
Another slate’ll.enl calls for atlvn-'
lion. I never i - etv that Jewish pu-
re ills are required' to piac-e , "Jew-
ish” after "Na; duality! in a blank
used lor registering cliildreii in the
■public schools. Ami. until' I see such
a . blank filled nut.,ip that fashion
I cannot: accej the statement, As
for the caftls ic. Kniployinent Agen-
cies,, I know -}t cat .Jews are asked
io iik litify then. ,1. Ivc:, jn, such a fitsh-
ion^iliat- the,re i an be-.fro mistake
about them. Tti'i.-i is due tik the fact
Ural then- is definite discrimination
against Jewish help on the part of
employment.ag iieies, duV- not, so
'much to 'lie o-.-.tiers of the uge-ndies
as In I lie; demands of Jiieir clients
who insist that, they do not Want
Jew
Ih.iiugli . Api’erii-a has not been enn-
Stilfcii about itT tro^bin- asked wheth-
er Amci-K-h wants the 'llu-alre.
Urn- wonders what Moscow’s game
ii in thi:; eat, and mouse play with
p Yiddish State Theatre. The ap-
poiHfnn-nt of May I’oloynlk. who is
riot a theatre Mian, (is-djre-lor, of the
lllcatri', with ,(iranovsky kep on
only a I In- producer, furnishes-fn
el'll-, bmeans that the’Theatre was
tint . consiircred suffieiently enntmun
Throughout every great nation and
in every great religious organization
in t^ie world today, we are witness-
ing a spiritual and moral crisis un-
precedented ,in the' history of man-
kind. It is without precedent not-
only hy virtue of its universal ex-
tent hut because of the unique and
profound natur^of the change that
is-taking place. The nature of the
crisis,- whether it be in Judaism,
Moiiammedism, Christianity or any
of the Eastern cults, like Confuxciun-
ism or Shintoism, is one and the
same. Tin- world' over devout man-
kind is divided between what we may
for brevity’s), sake describe as fundn-
metlalisjn and modernism. From the
beginning of -history until today, re-
ligious organizations have been cbm-
iiifltcd to a closed ami obsolete theory
of life, to'u system of thought, which
Was counted inviolably holjn and
which preachers and priests were
mnintiiim d in order to preserve tin
i hanged.
il behooves "all serious • lovers of
mankind today to face tiie fiicty Vp
■.-(inly i s nature and to find out its
cause and cure. KspeciaUy is the
neyes it-y urgent that every modern-
ist cm) legation, like the Free Syna-
gog’We of New Vnrk City, should dis-
cover- wlint special contribution it can
render Inwards the. right solution of
the w mld-proldepi. It is my own
personal conviction, that a solution
of- tin- modern problem in religion
can In- discovered, triufhl and intro-,
dm ■ ,1 more effectively hy religious
group, of free anil liuinanitarian
Jcv |Iran. by any -other religious
biidiys ip-the world. The unique nn-
ture of'Hie wm Id crisis caljs to thq
uniqtte nature of _evolving Judaism,
i lime recently lieunl that I>y the fiat
of tin- rest .of inankitui and by their
own inward urge,‘Jews, are different
in their point*of view and mentality
front Hu- members of other historic
ened revolution are not composed of
small bands of inteliectual| nor.of
temDorsry political leaders nke those
of France in I7B0 or Russis-in 1920.
The new Revolutionary Army con-
sists of the growing multitude of
moderately educated men und wo-
men who find increasing difficulty
in reconciling not only the facts but
the spirit of evolutionary science and
modern social ethics with superna-
tural religion as we have known it."
The personal authority even of the
reputed Saviour o'f the world and of
the intelligent Creator of tho uni-
verse has ceased to exist not because
men do not believe in an intelligent
Creator ahd in u prophet or Saviour
hut because they- do not believe in •
accepting anything; even truth and
salvation, ott anyone else’s authority.
With respect for ail authority a$
such has tended To go respect for any
doctrine or teaching or practice which'
has hitherto been received, on the
sanction of per sop al authority. 1,
for one, regard that any practice
ol- teaching should lose its hold upon
%
(■
modern man simply because it has re-
ceived 4lie Sanction of age-long tra-
dition. Not everything .that has been
. I
' .1.1.1 •
a>
............. . t hriitiplt tile piijd-riialu;
ra’I fi'P'YI-VNo.rld lonU.ula.M iti«'li alone h;t.< t he judeib y id rpclemp-
I joh. 'lly tlVgixd')- in 1 ,X i;t: his 'own iienilifU’ I'fKic. lip..AYffb.M L»i'
tlrivPM to .assert I hut l ive prejonl condit ion ol liljs-v and virtuo
is merely a salaiiic dmi ptioii, calvululed Io <mi 1 i*;ij> people io-in
tho illiyss ol pi'rildnm. and ultimato[y>pi'ay I'op the people that
they miglil tie delivered front iefnptation. . . .
It is not a hypothetical mind that we are opening helore our
readers, hut: a thoroughly authentic one. In a ( hristmas sermon,
iii one of the largest* cathedrals of New' York, an eminent.
Christian divine regretted the fact that the Y uletide season,
formerly a deeply religious .anil mystical season, is fast “de-
generating” into purely a„good-vvill period, an occasion for
exchanging gifts and having good times, but minus the strict
theological implication of the holiday, lie warned his listeners
that there is danger lurking behind the colorful decorations of
the Christmas tree, behind the lights, which ah' kindled in
Menorah fashion in the houses of Christians as a symbol of
cheer and good-will, behind the giUs that are so abundantly
distributed, and even behind the charities generously contri-
buted—in fact, danger in the very motto of “PeaceOn earth,
good-will toward men”, if the sentiment of Christmas is secu-
larized.- “In the secularization of the holy season there lays
the danger.” ,
As Jews, we cannot, formally participate in the Christmas
celebrations of o.ur Gentile neighbors. Hut've share the general
spirit of the-season informally and appreciate its significance
for the Christian fully. To the Gentile the advent of JeSTis lib-
erally marks th# first revelation.he has had of the God of Israel
and of the Torah and the Prophets. Nothfiig, in tho long run,
has so altered Gentile outlook and character as that first revel-
ation, and he should celebrate the event solemnly and joyfully.
It is diffrent, very obviously, with us. That revelation <tf God
which has come to the Gentile through the advent of Jesus we
had received long before. We had at the time already passed a
history as long as Christianity is now old, ijnd our Torah was
already written, our prophets had already prophecied, and al-
ready had we spelled every conceivable formula, down to the
Chriatmas formula, sa hew-* to the Gentile and so old. to us:
“Peace on earth, good-will toward men”. It is obvious that we
could not then ana we cannot now single out as new that which
has been with a» of old. '
But wa ahare in the Yuletide season informally and, without
meaning to diapleaae the eminent New Yoi*k divine, we are
glad that Chriatmaa, which is so legitimately celebrated by the
Christians, is assuming a human expression, rather than a theo-
logical, for in that we*eee evidence that the Christian, too, is
“™ “’ * - - - —o ,I“i“n. We Jews remem-
a season Christmas
l t ',#]♦>!L .1 1 » ' 111
L v.» * I * whit'ji jfilu-y#
•fCir.t * iti t lie liv.iM*
r-’A«*. aiv asked to
ill • pil i «i \Y«*<1 <1
.1,‘Mrii m . tieh a
• 111 •«r. ij''
})i ifituifV
*. s'-, iit»i, #i catfv
• i ^ il !• t\ t liv«Mt#h
m m'I «>i I n ) i sins a Go]
G i hr L.r.'.r iV,..'.t it utioti
'h i f«e . o cinl'llie a
f'f(T)k . Wit4l il ( '»llc#r^’
irf'i< e ... In other Words,
it we -Tt j't«•»'irrei it correctly it.hohls
exactly tlir aftic« ei’littion to Ortho*
do.N .h vvi h life, in this country as
.1 G.rl hnlir ' t'ollr#!* Iroltis (iV;
h« In* .of course, ; there is this
dit I erioire, *iot nil <ittholie- univer-
itiei 11 atw for th|* priesthood, hut
there at’1* tviiiiH* that combine a the-
olo#it;ll with a trainiti# in the arts
and Ai n rp ea, und it is all done ufxler
exclusively Catholic auspices und di-
rection Instead of the Orthodox
Jew who desires t«» enter the Rabbin-
ate faking a course first in a uni-
versity like* Columbia or Yale and
later pmsuin# this theological studies
in a rabbinical seminary., he is able .
col- j
N'.r.v -\vi are geltjn# -o?i'm;w1h re in
Uoum;mi;i ii the rprie yce #et ar#
ilVar .the I’.lHj. I?i vrofiort’ihl nfies,-
srii-e of * Alfr.i I ry Hf (’(piiine-ree
Io 4m .-lie - .ly, o.t’ the i#i; toy of
s vvu.i-nin# 'wf:s, con-
^ i ific<.*d .
pi ;;m in#
G ni ii.• • t:'-«■
tftmed:
“Tin* * vi rnment has
* orne of i fund.' i*y
til1.- id ic ,r‘ the .cnVt ion. m. , *u-
4<• nt. hofrp It iri.i dbi'*' tlii...■ wn^y.
t-or. tho*,. Yvho iiTiend jo . 'id.*1,
Ihfi. ihM. i•'* anarchists aMio 1T1 i i’4
rupG i fo ’• lures mid beat their.
CoiU-iigu* • All pi*o\o(nii-uis.' will,
* inrmodiatv'iy W expelled froin Hie
colleges- ami drafted into tin*
army.”
Them* -we have sOnletfling that
means ,-otm Hiing>f it nio^ns what it
says. Ru-fGaas^who attack their Jew-
ish epUguguc.'S desiring to obtain an
edui'ation slmll be expelled ami draft-
ed. i*o‘r atmy service.. That’s where
they belong. The army will give
them full opportunity to express
themselves in as vigorous a physical
manner fi. :beir pugnacious natures
denmnd. If all the governments* of
Kuiope, whit have the constant prob-
lem of anti Jewish riots in their uni-
versities will adopt this drastic solu-
tion we shall soon see an end to this
high-brow hooliganism.
nik is ifiere as Tiie -guhr'dian^ of its
Soul Pi iiy in restore it to commun-
ist (JrthfMioXy. Granovsky’s fault is
that hb plenum* fripivdly with the
WestVnu rs. In Viennii, Ip ohedi-
enec to the -protvst of Jewish pp.b-
liC' opinion, he eVen called off a per-
formance which had been fixed for
Kol Njdre night. That is nothing
less than a conimutiisl “Gliilul-IIa-
shein.” Gan Moscow trust a troui»
which dues such things to go to Amc-
ica?-Mr. Polbtnik is therefuK* to he
the watclifuj Hhephi'rd, who is to
keep his sheep from straying.
- Tairov calls his Russian Theatre
here “The Gncha’ijicd Theatre.” One
might well vail Granovsky’s Theatry
“The Hoc ha i nod Theatre.” Hut i{ is
not only Mr. I’olotnik who has put
the Thfatre into uhains, The Moa*
Cow 'Jhcatre Js in chains not only
politically, hut also artistically. '
Which i>i*111Lap us to another ques-
tion: What lfrtiie synthesis of the
Moscow Yiddish Acadomic 'nieatie?-
Why have most of the leading Euro-
pean theatrical critics gone into
ci'Kiacios about the theatre, while
the play-going public,, including the
•Jew's, have held ajooff indnferont
and, distrustful?' *
The reason is. the gui-f hetwt;trv the
ac\ors,'who have come from a Jew-
ish' < ov; Moment, and the: producer,
MY <ir.iiiovsky, who is: entirely for*
i-1;mi. to. .Ii v.ish life,, (iranovsky was
Lraiiusl in t.hv scTibol .of StHfiisIaw-
: ky, Heinjlririit ami .l ahov. He has,
no knowledge oi- .Jewi.sh life niui Jew-
i ;!\ literature.' Htvd he knows very lit*
He m 'Yid'd&hj .theatrical . trndltuiriB.
4i.|e ,< *nie in-lo tip* Yiddish theatre
from tl* outride. He elwt 1 ificied it,
hut lie did not put new life, into it.
lie created ‘a Void, fantastic form,
hul he did not bf'eiithc av.^)Ul into
il.
Some, people will psk why wart
WacIdangm/, who wasn’t >l,Jc»w,
able to put so much life, into the He-
brew* Thcutiw - Habjmuh, .which ho
created. '1'he answer is that to
genius nothing is foreign, and Wach-
tangov was a genius. Granovsky has
provc<l himself a master, hut he is
no genius.
historic group,, is because that group
can still render, a service which no
other^'cah peiTorm.
f irst, let us consider the university
of the* modern crisis in religion and
<*.hies. ' Some inay , doubt that the*
world is calling for ;i new. kind of I c’
ligiouH Icmlcrship; hut no one, no(
even tiie most inattentive observer of
current-.eVeita, can deny that the
world is crying out against the old-
fashioned kind of leadershi|vand will
have lip more or it. What has hap-
pened in -Russia in a terrible* an«l
tragic way is happening bvs^ sensa-
tionally throughout the Hast and
West. In Russia, - with violence arid
by political force and,even .bloodshed
and-assassination the old leaders and
Jhir uhl organisations hail been sup-
prerved or swept out <)f existeuee.
In the pla(*4*,oJs the old ltussian Pope
now sits ;i mnn. who is called the
Archbishop of Atheism/ His great,
alarm, I am told is that the people of
Russia,- especially the young, now
that they have given up the old san-
ction* fight conduct,, have found
no new incentive* for behaving them-
selves in the intoj’csts of -society, of
t’hoir own mental and physical wyl-
'fare-and lor the good of the.unborn.
In Ivngland. there is fi crisis more
•.1'iiti* thaii a-iiy which lias occurred
Ii: in liJ
tnri.- l.Fii- tTitfiix rif IlpriVy V'tl I Und 1 toachiiiKK
t'.iizaticlk'. As you know, twice- of i 'I’Horo - ace, however, three other
I,Hr, tie- Hour,- of tkiimnoii*; has 'rwrtoachlriKH of Christian
• 10, anythinjf which can fairly .he.
called the Church fcnglnifd will
have ceuNCd to exist.
to take oil his studies. in' one
leife under Jewish control, and di
rection.” Which Teems to- me to he I 1 hear front a
the first Jewish University in this| sou-rse that Julius ...... rr.-.. ,, , - ■
- e - . in th,. Hoover cabinet, but in viowTsion that the dead are dancm*.
reliaVle
It is characteristic of Granovsky prophesy that if the history of the
that lw always plays the old Yiddish last 10 years is continued for another
theatre— -Goldfaden, Shalom Aleich-
cm, Peretz and Mendele ns parodies
and that he never dares to produce
the myd.crn Yiddish dramatic ' liter-
ature. lie plays the old Yiddish the-
atre as a parody of life, as it was
fits its beginnings, hut he makes it
guilop along at a devilish pact. It is
not. only in his production<vf Pcretz’s
"NiJrht»Tin the Old Market Place”
Inning to tho prophetic tide of ^religion. We Jews remem-
to as. *m w
Country. 1 am not familiar enough
with >h<- situation to tie able to in-
telligently express an opinion tis to
the value of the course iu lifts and
•Sciences in the Yc-sjiiya as compared
with those institumons which have
outstanding teachers. I imagine that
it.-would he rather difficult to staff
such a college, with professors on a
par with those to he found in the
great univeY-sitjcs of the land. There
is another point which is not 'clear
to me and that is whether it is obliga-
tory for a Jew to take a Rabbinical
course? Or whether he is obligated
to dedicate himself for a period of
time nt least to professional work
in the orthodox field either as teach-
er or rabbL
I am in receip.t of the following
letter:
"How can you reconcil the Fidel-
ity and Casualty article with that
of Isaac Gruenbaum, In your col-
umn appearing December 7th?
In the former you find fault with
those Jews who refute to raise
their voices whan an injury is done
and in the same breath you take
to account Gruenbaum, deputy- in
the Polish Parliament for becom- ,
ing indignant and resentful against
Polish officials who are neglect-
ful of their duties. or being
pretty __ _
Rosenwahi will I tlyjj. Granovsky conveys the impres-
And
«r, in the peat, in some countries,
on Gentile windows ss symbols of
-here there were no exchanges of
....Ilgl-H ...
is in reality
of the fact that Mr. Hoover is just
about as talkative as Mr. Coolidge
nothing. definite"will he.known until
the eleventh hour. If Mr. Rosen-
wnld Should be appointed I would
not for a moment consider it pri-
marily a sop to-Jewish sentiment.
Mr. Roscnwald and Mr. Hoover have
been close friends for many years;
they worked together during the
war; they developed a genuine re-
gard fdr each other. Besides all this
Kosenwald proved himself a good
friend and-ut. valuable political asset
to Hoover during the .campaign. He
was a liberal contfibutor to the cam-
paign fund. Add to all- this the
outstanding ability of Mr. iRosen-
wald, the high position he enjoyB
in the world of commerce and his
standing as a citizen and a philan-
thropist and you have s<v it seoms to
me ideal Cabinet timber for the new
President. There has been some men-
tion of Nathan Frank of St. Louis,
but I prefer Roaenwald’s chances.
Of course there is always the ques-
tion of whether he wants to assume
the burden of the office though from
my reading of history I have never,
read of cabinet officers who die from
it Is this that the pqople who know
Jewish life admire in him.
Hearings on to the stage fo,rms pf
Jewish life which are already- far
gone in the process of decay, und
wili soon be lost in -oblivion. His the-
atre is a museum of vanishing Jew-
ish forms. It is also a museum of
the "old" Yiddish theatre. This
thought forces itself' upon one’s mind
when one sees his production of
.Shalom Alelchem’s “Two Hundred
Thousand.” One of the actors recites
the Yiddish. He is asked: "Who has
died?” The answer is that the old
Yiddish Theatre has.died. The scene
is intended to be symbolical of the
birth of the new Yiddish Theatre
through Granovsky, but it only sym-
bolizes that Granovsky has unwittinr
ly built a museum for the old Yi
dish Theatre, which is indeed dea
He has provided a.living museum for
it. There is one play in which the
museum, becomes a live theatre, “The
Travels of Benjamin III,” after the
story by Mendele Mother~&epharim.
In this play, the actora, who are satu-
rated with Jewish life, have broken
the chains in which their producer
fettered them. And a the result,
overwork"“ which*portfolio would he against the will of the'producer. is
receive? I don't knSw, but it would • Pj«ce of real Jewish life,
seam- that the logical post would be ,0f course, the modem Yiddish,
that of Commerce. Theatre is able to learn a peat deal
from Granovsky. It can take from
him forma in order to give th
But it must guard against f
In hia footsteps, for than "
has until recently remained a hare and barren theological for-
iu-u smut mi ne thrown to
the scrap-heap. ’
This brings me to tho question as
to the cause of the spiritual crisis-
due to life uvurthrow, of authority.
In their escape from the dictation of
the past, people have taken refuge
in individual liberty. As there is (
no authority,to toil me what to think
in- do, 1 will think ns 1 please and do
as I like! Hut this is a false and fatal
step in the wrong direction. The
true arteriiutive to thinking and do-
ing ,as-others toil you is to think as
tiie facts of your owii experience
.Compel you and to do what the Social-
and personal situation in which you
find yourself re-veals to .you as the
only right and decent thing, to do.
To think its one pleases is a mark
of ‘imbecility, if not of insanity.
When you give yip authority* facts
confront'yoq and compel, you to con-
form your thoughts to them. So with
the aesthetic and moral judgment;,
I cannot help myself if a face or a
sunset or a landscape presents itself
to me as beautiful or ugly. So with'
the de.tul ; attfl the charm-tors with
which I come in contact. 1 cannot
arbitrarily admire or condemn them.
The kind of leadership for which
the world is calling today will be
one which, rejects in- toto the prin-
ciple of personal authority; hut it.
will equally reject‘the principle of
individual lihcrtf of thought and uc-
tioti and It Will set up instead as’ul-
timate and supreme reality the facts
and values ol' life which confront the
unbiased- senses, reason and judg-
ment of every sane individual. It
will leach the divinity of tbe facts of
experience insofar as they are facts
find the sanctity of the supreme val-
ucs%f life, of beauty and justice and
lovi* - The new leadership will teach
that these '.are God and that in the
presence of supernal beauty, of uni-
versal truth and of absolute good-
ness, ope is J'ace to face with God.
There are five doctrines which
Christian fundamentalism accept on
authority which will not stand the
test of unbiased judgment concerning
'(he facts and duties of life. These
are the infallibility of the Bible, the
Virgin birth of Jesus, the Substitu-
tion of Ghrrtit’s death for the punish-
ment of (An-- sins, and tli.e .Second
coming of Jesus. Fortunately row
the world Judaism has never been
Conimllte.tJ to, any of these fantastic
Chrjstiau Theology.
Vr
- a
'1
■ ►.
ogy
the
ji i-t<-<! the-JI years ot httiorious | which cannot meet the tests of spirit-
schohu hip on t he port ol I lie Bishops uni experience: the belief in a' per-
il n u 1 Creator of the universe, in
tin- immorality of every human soul
after death and tpe Leaching-thnt tail-,
ration comes only by. belief .in the
J-'oundcr of Christianity. Modern
Judaism, lias, it scents to me, a spe-
cial mission in proclaiming tiie Gos-..
pel that righteousness. of iifc-.ia not
dependent inherently upon apy or
in the ,.-,evi:don of the -Hook'uf Com-
rn.oti IVaycr which is The recognized
ethical, manual of the British people.
Not <inly , has the Clergy of the es-
t a I) ti lied church lost' the fcspect; of
the Nation tit large but it is so rapid-
ly dwindling in numbers.that the cry
of alarm today is due to “tho empty,
pulpit,” There are (1,000 fewer
preachers in tlu- Church 'of England
than there, were 10 years ngo, The
hightist authority in regard to church
statistics*.—Crockford’s Clerical Di-
rectory—says that the backbone of
the church is being slowly broken by
the fact that then to do the work are
not forthcoming. And it goes on to
Ip America, for the first time kinee
the constitution of the United States
was adopted, religion has come to the
forefront in polities and in the mind
of the masses. Ando’ Siegfried, in
his masterly book entitled “America
Comes of Age," demotes its first few
chapters to the question, "Wjll Amer-
ica Remain Protestant?” Until re-
cently'an outcry against the Cath-
olics was raised by the ' Ku ,Klux
iKIan. Today pit equally loud note
of alarm is sounded by all lovers of
religious liberty against Fundamen-
talism of a Puritah type! .
In India, Gandhi sounded the denth
knell of the hid Hindu cults and did
not need Miss Mayo’s “Mother In-
dia” to intensify and magnify 'his
protest.')
The whole of- China is undergoing
not only political and economic but
also spiritual revolution. One .needs
only to read the writings of Dr. Sun
Yat Sen and Dr. Hu Shih in order
to realize vividly that the ttunilo upon
Chirfa which haB arrested her de-
velopment for eenturiesr is her tra-
ditional ancestor-worship and her
maintenance of the leaders who have
transmitted it through the ages.
The nature of the crisis, is the
same everywhere. It is due' to the
fact in the first place that personal
authority is everywhere and forever
overthrown, the authority of parents,
teachers, priests, preachers, books,
churches, states and even public opin-
ion and the public preas. Because
somebody of importance says so is
no reason todaylfor anyone’s be-
lieving or doing ft. On this over-
throwing of personal authority, Pro-
fessor Montague has trenchantly said
"A period is ROW rapidly approach
ing in which for th
history, religion will be
not by a palace revolution,
nm minion
as IrCnchin
I th^fiM*
hr, religion will be cotJ
By a palace revolution, rl
one prophet by another, b
diraete^“ egainit
^ill of these teachings, blit only upon
its own inherent worth and its na-
tural consequences.
In closing, it must*be pointed out •
that throughout the Christian world-
no career is open to any man or wo-
man who stands for the kind of re-
ligious leadership for which the world
is calling. The ymrld’s need is for
such men and wotrfch; but they can-
not be leaders of the nb\v order if
they cannot live; and they cannot
live unless they have the wherewithal
for daily sustenance. The chll there-
fore of the modern world is not only
for leaders blit for the. wages which
such leaders would need. Orthodoxy,
Fundamentalism of every soft, finds
its coffers full to ovcrflouqpg. Tho
cement which binds the ^Orthodox
so powerfully together; is their gold
more than their God. The only sol-
ution to the world crisis in religion
today is th# endowment pf Modern-
ism— Modbrriism, Chinese, Japanese,
l.ndian, Turkish. Jewish—'Christian.
All believers of whatever dolor who
replace authority by tho facts and
values of life are one in spirit,, one in
visipn and one by inward spiritual
urge. V
JAMES SPEYER DECORATED BY
HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT
WITH ORDER OF MERIT.
1
HNcw York, (JTA)—-Count Yaszlo
Bzechnenyi, Hungarian Minister to
the United States, decorated James
Speyer, head of the banking firm
Speyer and Company, with the Hun- I
garian Order of Merit. The ceremony |
took place on Thursday at 12:S0 at]
|Mr. Speyer’s office.
HThe Older of Merit, second class,
[with star, was awarded Mr. Speyer
lin recognition of tis work for tho -
economic and cultural welfare of
Hungary Mr. Speyer was described
as “one of the flret to open the way
for the realization by American fi- ■
naneiers that the Hungarian govern-
ment is a good investments n -
ftpondinf , Mr. Speyer said he i
ed the decoration only on be]
Ihls partners and companv. Je‘
nell Prince, American 1
Jugoslavia, and George de. *
Hr.
lb,,
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Goldberg, Edgar. The Texas Jewish Herald (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 39, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 3, 1929, newspaper, January 3, 1929; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1054808/m1/4/: accessed June 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .