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February 22, 1929the 3«wRandom thoughtsBy CHARLES E. JOSEPHQueer folks we are. I am referring, ■of course, to all humans. The other night I was thinking of the enormous sums that are contributed to public causes because of the pressure of public opinion. Frequently we give to philanthropies that we know little ofand which ordinarily we would never dream of giving a copper. Yet when the stage is set, and public sentiment which scimol imes hikes the form of social or business pressure, is applied we contribute freely. We help educate the child in Russia or Timbuctoo, but when a child ot one of our poor relation requires assistance for school or college wc just can’t see the situation. We give thousands to help ■everybody else and sometimes dollars or even dimes to help our own. A year ago I wrote in a similar strain and a conscious-stricken reader who is a liberal giver to every worthy cause, discovered that lie had forgotten some of his family obligations to everything and everybody else under the sun, so he sent a check for a thousand dollars to a needy relative. If one of our nephews needed five to see him through school we would probably raise a bigger howl than if we were asked to raise five thousand dollars to the cause of Jewish education.Yes, we are a queer lot. And I can’t help thinking of the forward-looking mothers who are so interested in theleaving their own children to get along without their guidance and intelligent help, which seems so valuable to everybody else.I was puzzling my brain the other ■day trying to recall a diplomatic appointment which was rejected because of the fact that the appointee was a Jew. Mr. Harry Schneiderman has tried to help me out by sending me a statement from Oscar Strauss’s ‘•Under four Administrations.” This may be the incident I had in mind but yet it just doen’t seem to satisfy me. 1 think that the man I referred to was named Max. And for the life of me I can’t recall his other name. It may be my imagination, but I think that he was from St. Louis. At any rate I am grateful to Mr. Schneiderman for the story of the following incident which will be of interest to my readers.Mr. Strauss is speaking of his appointment as Minister to Turkey and he continues:To the press of the country my appointment was of added interest because of the Keiley incident of two years before. A. N. Keiley of Virginia was nominated by Cleveland as Minister to Austria-Hungary, but objected to by that country because Mrs. Keiley, being of Jewish parentage, was persona non grata. As a matter of fact this excuse for the rejectionof Keiley was supposedly made cause the Austro-Hungarian govern-reason lay much deeper. Keiley had •earlier been nominated as minister to Italy. The Italian government through its representatives at Washington, made known to our Department of State that Keiley would be personanon grata as it was remembered that in 1870 he had made a public speech in Richmond, violently denouncing King Vioror Emmanuel for his treatment of the Pope. The nomination was therefore withdrawn And when, a few months later, ICei-ley was appointed minister to Austria-Hungary, that country, being a member with Italy, in the Triple Alliance, did not want to run the risk of displeasing Italy by accepting a representative not satisfactory to her; but not wishing to admit this, based it excuse on the religious grounds.”liam Sultan, a plain every-day business man, of remarkable judgment, worker in a hundred causes, giving of his time and his effort to every worthy cause. Yet you won’t hear of Sultan because he is a man who works, does not advertise and has no one to toot his horn for him. His services to Chicago Jewry are equal to that of Rosenwald or any of the so-called “leaders” and even greater than any, even if you find him in the SI00 class of subscribers to a fund where Rosenwald and others contribute thousands.Then there is Ben Samuels, a lawyer and a layman of great ability, tremendous energy, infinite capacity, working day and night for his people active in every campaign, always answering “Hineni” when called.*Down in East St. Louis, there William Bensinger, a great Jew, fine gentleman, a leader for entire Southern Illinois, always at the head of some drive or some cause, a man whose word rules, and it is a most beneficent rule among 40,000 Jews o his section. Whoever heard of Bensinger except when the big boys in N. Y. need a man to head one of their drives.Then there is Hiram D. Frankel, whom a quarter of a million Jews in the entire middle west call “Dave” because he is the most beloved Jewish leader in 15 states.. A great orator, a great thinker, a keen, analytic student of Jewish affairs, who can occupied 200 pulpits and preaches and works every day of the year for our people. There is no man better posted on world affairs, no man with a finer knowledge of things in general, no man • more alert and wholesome Jewish contacts, no greater servant of Israel in the entire West and idle West than “Dave,” yet who knows it, for Dave has given himself to his people and has no funds to give, hence he never reaches the columns where “Leadership” is announced.I could name 25 more great leaders right here in the West and Middle West and you won’t even know who they are because their publicity departments have never been organized nor can a single one of them head a subscription column with “real” figures. Yet their work for a constructive Judaism, their self-sacrificing efforts merit genuine leadership worthy to be followed. They do the work and do it well. They are res-St Paul, Minn., with clippings enclosed of an article which appeared in one of the dailies of that city. The article in question is an attack on Einstein’s theories. It is made by aa plagiarist and that the world shouldiy don’t you start a movement to have a real meritorious service to American Judaism rewarded by a recognition of their leadership with some publicity. Then you won’t have any difficulty in finding New Names for Leaders.—Fair Play.I have received two letters fromLet’s give both sides; and if there are throe sides we shall give all three. A Pittsburgh physician writes:Dear Mr. Joseph: .“You have recently tried to justify our (Pittsburgh) University’s exclusion of students from the medical school because they are Jewish. You have; ignored a paramount considera-tion-that the public is entitled to physicians of the very highest professional skill. To give consideration to a prospective matriculant s race or religion, will vitiate this desideratum. Therefore, it is a crime against public interest—in the important matter of literal life alu* death.Oh, I don’t believe it’s so serious as all that, doctorlThen from Atlanta, Georgia, comes this comment from an attorney.“I agree with you whole-heartedly that while there is discrimination, there is also a tendency to blame all the sins and shortcomings to this ground (Jewish) and the probability * that if all of us would determine to•face the facts as they are, including the added element ofv.™____ discriminationwhic^ is “meriy a 'weight that must be carried, instead of using this weight as an excuse for falling by the wayside, all of us would get along much better.”All right brother, I am going to publish vour letter in full because I agree with you that we should give a little advertising to a lot of worthy souls in Jewry who are hiding their light under a bushel. Here it is, direct from Chicago.Dear Brother Joseph:“In last week’s Chicago “Sentinal you have a very splendid article on Jewish leadership. You inquire, “But where are the new names” and I would like to answer this for you.You will find plenty of new names if you will not take the word of tlm average Jew for “Who is a loader. The tendency is to consider one a “leader” if he contributes of his wealth to some Jewish cause. And by wealth, I mean simply money.There are men in Chicago and the Middle West who by reason of their sacrifice and effort, by their potentialities are great leaders but whose namos never come to the surface because editors and laymen and rabbis never mention them.In Chicago we have men like Wil-Ed. Oliver411 PIKE STREET 907 SECOND AVENUEThe Spring Hats Are HereStetson and KnoxThe reason the readers sent me these articles is undoubtedly because Einstein is a Jew and therefore they apparently feel personal resentment when such an outstanding Jew is attacked, even though it be his attainment rather than nimself. I cannot share this sensitiveness so long as the criticisms of this type adhere strictly to the merits of the issues involved. But when Ford was indulging in his campaign Einstein was criticised in' his paper at the time and there an attempt was made to blame whatever Einstein possessed on his Jewishness. But in the Reuterdahl case I find nothing of this kind. The St. Paul scientist may be all right or the world of science would acclaim The St. Paul scientist may be all wrong and he surely can’t ve all right or the world of science would acclaim him instead of Einstein.It may be of interest to those who have written me to know that in Germany there has been at various times a definite attempt to “belittle” as our friend Skippy would say, Einstein because he is a Jew. The anti-Semites are galled beyond endurance because this Jew has achieved such eminence and they have shown their resentment in many rather nasty ways. In fact, Germany should feel quite ashamed of itself for the shabby way in which it has permitted such a distinguished scientist to be insulted. However, so far as the St. Paul incident is concerned, the name of Einstein will probably live long after the name of Reuterdahl. The only Reuterdahl I ever heard of and I presume most others have ever known was a famous painter of naval pictures. But wo mustn’t become excited every time the work of a Jew is :il lacked.Not long ago when Fred Stone, the actor, was so seriously hurt, a well-known dramatic critic, I think it was Percy Hammond, was nasty enough to mention the names of two or three Jewish actors and to say that it was a pity such types should escape and a man like Fred Stone should be the victim. I don’t believe that the writer singled these out because they were Jews, but felt that they represented the undesirable group in the world of the theatre.PerpetuatingJewish LifeACE OIL BURNERPrice $265CompleteE 3700 University WayC Telephone MEIrose 6355At Your ServiceTwenty-four hours a dayYellow Cab Co.MAin 6500iiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiMiimiimiiiiBiiiimiiiiiBiiiiiiiiiii(6asr«f^fPASTEURIZEDlU MILKin theCream-Top BottleCompletely separated by using free separator spoon.(Continued from Page 4)ism will find their higher and nobler expressions and growth, whether it be in the form of preliminary education, social life or religious worship.Then will the young people of a Jewish community willingly assume their communal as well as congregational duties—to interest themselves in problems of Jewish education, to train themselves for leadership in Jewish work, to revitalize the Jewish spirit of habitually attending and becoming an important part of the synagogue and Jewish institutions as a matter of conviction and not of compulsion. Thereby will they help to keep the synagogue as it should be: an institution which suggests the elimination of all things mercenary and material, which emphasizes the supremacy of the spiritual life, symbolical of the perpetuation of Judaism in America and its application to our modern needs.GERMAN PAPER PRAISESCOLONIZATION WORKBerlin (J. T. A.)—The agreement concluded with the Soviet Government by the American Society for Jewish Farm Settlements in Russia, Inc., a subsidiary of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, for the extension of Jewish colonization work in Soviet Russia, was praised today by the “Koelnische Zeitung.”The agreement is a model document, the paper says, adding that it is of cardinal importance. The paper suggests that the German organizations interested in aiding Germans in Russia to settle on the land to follow its example.TOWN WHICH HAD NO“POOR JEWS” NOW BARS JEWISH ACTORS TROUPEWarsaw (J. T. A.)—The town of Bidgocz, which claimed it had no poor Jews when a legacy was loft to aid the needy Jewish population in the town, has now barred a Jewish actors troupe.The local Jewish artisans society arranged a performance of the Warsaw Yiddish troupe. On the eve of the performance, after all preparations had been made and tickets sold, word was sent by the township authorities that the play could not be put on.GREEK GOVERNMENT CANNOT AID JEWS FORCED FROM HOMES BY CITY PLANNINGSalonica (J. T. A.)—A delegation of the Jewish community went to Athens to present to Premier Veneze-los the deplorable condition of a large number of poor Jewish fumilies. Many of them are living in cellars and the unhygienic ruins of old barracks. Even these aro now Doing taken from them, as they are being demolished. The result will be that many Jewish inhabitants will be forced on the streets without any habitations.The delegation asked the intervention of the government to find a solution to this grave problem, because the resources of the Jewish community are entirely exhausted and they are unable to afford assistance.The Prime Minister expressed his regret, declaring that the government is over burdened with the heavy tasks of the settlement of refugees and cannot grant assistance in this direction.
Newspaper Details
Seattle Jewish Transcript
Seattle, Washington, US
Fri, Feb 22, 1929
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 02 May 2024
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