PA Two THE JEWISH TRANSCRIPT, SEATTf,E OCTOBER 28,
Thought Of The Week
qOne of the heaviest obligations which the present state of the world and of Judaism, in particular, places on us is the preservation
and advancement of our faith. The Jewish education of our children, our attendance at synagogue worship, and the support of the in-
stitutions of higher Jewish learning, always of primary significance, are of especial importance at this time. The part of our Synagogues,
scholars and teachers should be to spread among our congregations, young and old, the knowledge of God, obedience to His Laws, ob-
servance of the high moral teachings of our Holy Scriptures and of our rabbis, to the end that every Jew should lead a just and upright
life. We can only combat hatred in so many countries if we ourselves are without reproach."
-DR. CYRUS ADLER, scholar and teacher of rabbis.
00twish Transtript
Combined with THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
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Vol. XV Friday, October 28, 1938 No. 35
THE VOICE OF DEMOCRACY
A UNITED American Jewry, bacled by large segments of the
rest of the American people through their duly elected
legislative representatives, has protested in no uncertain
terms against the threatened abrogation of the Balfour Declara-
tion. The spiritual leadership of this country as well as repre-
sentatives of our intellectual world have pleaded for a just and
fair solution of the present Palestine dilemma.
Even in the phlegmatic ears of British statesmanship the
American outcry against any curtailment of Jewish rights in
Palestine must have had a ring of authentic indignation which
the British Government cannot ignore if it values American
friendship.
The statement of Secretary of State Hull on the Palestine
question was couched in cautious, diplomatic language which
promises nothing, yet does express genuine concern for American
interests in Palestine.
It is of course idle to speculate to what lengths the American
Government would be prepared to go to change the viewpoint
of the British Government as regards a drastic change in its
Palestine policy.
Yet the impression is gaining ground that Washington will
do everything within its legitimate diplomatic rights to argue
this point with the British Government.
It goes without saying that from the British viewpoint the
Palestine issue transcends the Jewish question, being intimately
related to the new post-Munich orientation.
Much, therefore, depends on the reception the Woodhead
Report receives in the House of Commons.
It would surprise close observers if, in the event that the
division in Parliament is close, Mr. Chamberlain were to insist
on the acceptance of that report.
Even if American public opinion has done nothing more
than to impress upon the British Parliament and upon the
British people that the American people would lose much of
their pro-British sentiment if Mr. Chamberlain were to railroad
through another "peace with honor" on the Mediterranean
front--even if American public opinion has achieved nothing
more than this, it has rendered a great service to the cause of
democracy.
In any case, America has spoken in the ringing voice of true
democracy.
WHERE CATHOLICS STAND
o one doubts that Catholics are "quite as strongly opposed
to Naziism as are Jews, but because Catholics rarely'voice
this opposition in the form of mass demonstrations or pro-
test meetings, the uninformed might feel that they are not as
actively anti-Nazi as they should be.
The vigorous pronouncements of the Pope have of course
been widely discussed, but the attitude of the rank and file of
Catholics is not as well known as it should be.
The fact is, however, that Catholics see the menace of
Naziism clearly. Only last week on three widely scattered fronts
individual Catholics gave dramatic expression to their anti-Nazi
sentiments.
In the Hungarian town of Sobron a group of Catholic girls,
incensed at the action of Nazi vandals who smeared the local
synagogue building with tar and smashed its windows, went in
a body to the rabbi and offered to help clean the synagogue.
In Ottawa, Canada, a delegate of Jewish origin attending
the first Catholic Youth Congress, received a tremendous ova-
tion from the 15,000 people present while a German delegate was
greeted with hoots and catcalls as the congress endorsed a state-
ment that "Catholics do not approve of racial boundaries."
In New York, Dock Commissioner John McKenzie, a
Catholic, notified German Ambassador Hans Dieckhoff that, as
a Catholic, he would have no further social relations with Ger-
mans "until the Reich returns to the path of civilization in re-
ligious freedom."
These incidents could be greatly multiplied, but they are
sufficient to reveal the tenor of Catholic public opinion.
Under the leadership of Pope Plus, world Catholicism has
come to understand that Naziism is anti-Christian as well as
anti-Semitic.
MAIMONIDES ON LUXURIES
OSES MAIMONIDES, greatest of all Jewish philosophers, who
lived in the twelfth century, was a strict believer in the
simple life. The essentials of food and clothing which man
requires, can be attained without excessive exertion, he declared.
"All the difficulties and troubles we meet in this respect are due
to the desire for superfluous things. For the more of them we
desire, the harder our task becomes; our strength and possessions
are spent in unnecessary things, and are wanting when required
for that which is needed.
"Observe how Nature proves the truth of the matter. The
more necessary a thing is for life, the more easily it is found and
the cheaper it is. Air is the most necessary, for if man is without
air even for a short time he dies; while he can be without water
a day or two.
"And air is undoubtedly the more easily found and the
cheaper of the two.
"Water is more necessary than food; for some people can
live four or five days without food, if they have water. And in
every country water is more plentiful and cheaper than food.
"The same relation can be observed in the different kinds
of food; that which is more necessary in a certain place exists
there in larger quantities and is cheaper than that which is less
necessary.
"This shows the kindness of God to His creatures."
An Editor Answers
Has Anti.Semitism
To
• ?
America.
By RUSSELL W. DAVENPORT
Managing Editor of Fortune
Magazine
The question of the Jews in Am-
erica is one to which 1 and my asso-
ciates (in ]"ortune have devoted con-
siderable thought.
It is a question, we believe, which
goes directly to the root of many of
the world's most serious economic
and political troubles; whi,:h, indeed,
cannot be discussed without refer-
enee to those troubles and without
taking sides concerning the solution
(if them.
In other words, it is our feeling
that what has 1)een called anti-
Semitism--a phrase which i shall
presently define--is not an isolated
prohlenl, but is rather symlltomatic
of even l)rofounder l)rolllems which
must lie solved if our civiliz.tion is
any longer to survive.
By this I do not liieaii that the
survival (if civilization hiuges upon
the sohition to anti-Seniitisni. That
would lie a gross exaggeration.
I mean, rather, that anti-Semitism
arises fi'mn, and is cause(l by, the
very forces whieh are unsettling the
politics, and now esl/ecially the
economics oJ the modern world.
Anti-Semitism is an inevitable by-
liroduct of the action of these forces;
just as prohibitive tariffs are an in-
evitahle by-product, and trade quot-
as, and extended armies, and threats
of war.
To make my meaning clear it will
tie necessary to begin where Fortune's
article on Jews in America began:
that is, with a definition of anti-
Semitism.
Here it is necessary to proceed very
carefully. In one sense, anti-Semit-
ism has always existed, because latent
prejudice against the Jews, as Rabbi
Joel Blau has said, "dates back to
the beginnings of the Jewish people."
tiara in America this lu'ejudice has
made it difficult or impossible for
Jews to enter certain clubs and cer-
tain social circles.
Pre!udice like that is deplorable;
but in America, at any rate, it has
been almost entirely social (in the
narrow sense of the word society)
and I am sure that that is not what
is in your mind when you speak bf
anti-Semitism today.
I am sure that you have in mind
something at once more specific and
more general.
What we mean when we talk about
anti-Semitism today is--to quote
Fortune--"a deliberately incited,
affirmative, racial phobia."
It is the emotion or state of mind
of being against the Jews, and of
actively expressing one's antagon-
ism in personal speech aim propa-
ganda, or by outright persecution.
Anti-Semitism in this sense is the
crystallized thought or action of a
majority group against a minority
group.
It is therefore capable of gathering
unto itself a mass of opinion and
dogma which was not (Iriginally a
part of it.
Beginning with that small, half-
hidden prejudice which the Christian
worl(1 has always had against the
Jews, it assumes economic and l)atri-
otic aspects, which could not have
been duduced from the original prem-
ises by any process of logic or reason.
In Germany today anti-Semitism
is performing political and patriotic
functions which, if they were not so
tragic, could be described its ridicu-
lous.
onle. (if tlS feel that "inti-Semit-
ism, in the sense just (lefine(l, exists
JEWISH CALENDAR
5699 - 1938
Marehesvan ........... Wed., Oct. 26
Kislev .............. Thurs., Nov. 24
Chanukah ............. Sun., Dec. 18
Tebeth ................. Fri., Dec. 23
Fast of Tebeth .......... Sun., Jan. 1
Nothing could be more timely
than this article.
It is a Christian's slant on a
problem that plagues Jews. It is
a brilliant editor's views on an
urgent question that you hear
discussed, almost inevitably,
whenever Jews meet.
It is written by the man who
directed the now-famous Fortune
survey of Jews in America, when
the $1-a-copy magazine sent its
in the United States, either aetu.flly
or potentially.
To those who believe that it actu-
ally exists, I can only say that I do
not agree, and that their belief seems
to me alarmist and unwarranted by
the facts.
/ndeed, l wouhl say t() these
people: "If you believe 'mti-Semit-
ism actually exists iu the United
States today, you have missed the
definition (if, you have utterly uuder-
rated 'nti-Scmitism. You have ntis-
taken something superficial (the
agc-ohl prejudiee against the Jews)
for something profound."
But there are others who, on much
sounder grounds, believe that anti-
Semi((sin lie(ant(ally exists in the
United States.
And 1 cannot help but agree with
theni.
I think we have all observed evi-
dences, or at least had suggestions
(if it.
A member of our staff the other
day, wishing to get out of town for
a swim, called up an inn on the
Cmmecticut shore to make a reser-
vation for dinner.
He was unknown at the inn--
which calls itself a club, though it
caters more or less to the general
public--and was asked whether or
not lie was what the mantiger called
a Hebrew.
Admitting that lie was not, tie was
then asked whether his companion
would be a IIebrew; at which point,
I am glad to report, lie flung down
the telephone.
Another member of our staff found
a small poster a few inches square
on a telegraph pole in Connecticut,
reading "Help save America. Don't
buy from JewsI"
And I think we have all heard
similar disquieting stories from other
parts of the country.
I must urge you, however, not to
take these reports too seriously.
Indeed, if you were to ask me
whether or not anti-Semitism exists
potentially in the U. S., my answer
would not be based upon such stories
as these at all. They do not prove
anything whatever.
The answer to whether anti-Semit-
ism exists potentially or not lies in
the state of mind of the people of
the United States concerning, not
the Jews, but the people of the United
States themselves.
In brief, i shouhl like to give you
this paradox: that the Jewish prHb-
lem, if there is a Jewish problem, is
not a Jewish lu.oblem at all.
i can make my meaning a little
clearer to you 1)y pointing out the
historical fact that, by and large,
democracy has a better record with
regar(t to the Jewish people than any
other governmental form.
]'tie reasou for this is obvious.
In a democratic' political-economy
each individual has the same fulida-
mental rights as every other indi-
vidual, regardless of race, color, or
creed.
So long as the people as a whole
cling to this concept, they will not
--they dare not--l)ermit the growth
of pressure-gr(iups that 'ire too power-
ful to l)c controlled.
But if ever for any reason the eon-
eel)t of democracy (:eases to grip
them, then it is altogether inevitable
that pressure groups should arise.
They arise for economic reasons,
for geographic r(,asolis, or for purely
trained investigators into the
ar ena to dig up the cold facts on
what part Jews play in leading
American industries.
In another column, The Trans-
cript brings you the unrevealed,
exclusive story of the Nazi not-
work in America. This article
tells you what to do about that
menace. It explains how Hitler-
crusading groups can get a foot-
hold.--The Editor.
emotional reasons. And their effect
is two-fold.
On the one hand they unify groups
of people, who, presumably, are
afraid of something, though they may
not know what; and on the other
hand, until ()tie big pressure group
wins out in th(7 end (as, for instance,
in the case of prohibition) they
I)reak up the political economy into
warring elenients which have their
own welfare more at heart thao the
welfare of the syste, m its it whole.
Now we have had pressure-groups
in the United States in the l)ast, but
tl l) to now, at any rate, they have not
been entirely on( (if control
There was, for example, the l(u
I(lux Klan.
There was prohibition, which got
out (if control for It while.
The American Legion has--haplii-
Iy--confined most of its pressure to
bonuses and pensions.
Nevertheless, I think it is clear
that pressure groups are more num-
erous and more insistent now than
they used to be.
"Fortune" recently published an
article by Dr. Raymond Leslie Buell
called Death by Tariff, in which the
existence of economic pressure
groups in the United States was
shown.
These groups are erecting internal
tariffs, one against the other, and are
thus threatening the fundamental
premise of the democratic political
economy.
Certain capitalist organizations
seem to me to possess the character
of pressure groups; and certain labor
organizations, too.
, , •
Now anti-Semitism is a pressure-
group phenomenon. It is nothing
else.
Groups of persons here and there
become afraid. They do not know
what they are afraid of, but some of
them might have had some unpleas-
ant experiences with Jews (or it
might have been Catholics, mr Japan-
ese, or Eskimos).
They erect an emotional thesis and
they present this to otber persons and
groups who are afraid.
All these persons, mid you, must
have abandoned hope for the demo-
cratic political economy, must have
relinquishe(l that ideal.
If they have not yet relinquished
it they will resist the pressure.
If they have, then they will fall
for it, and the anti-Scmitic pressure
group will grow until it becomes it
majority pressure group against a
helpless minority.
That would lie anti-Semitism.
Consequently, when asked whether
anti-Semitism potentially exists, I
look to the state of affairs in the po-
]itical economy; and in the light of
Dr. Buell's article (which never once
mentimied Jews) and of some of my
owu observations, my feeling is that
the American people today are in
danger of loosening their grip upon
l, hc political and economie principles
which they inherited from the past.
I say in danger, because I don't
think they really have, and I don't
think they really will.
I think they just have a ease (if in-
digestion, having had too many
theories thrust at them--and not
enough work.
But I do think that for the time
being they are very susceptible to
pressure-grollp emotionalisn -- or
shall we cMl il psychosis.
Come
Assuming, then, that: there
danger in the rise of pressure
what is aa intelligent and
Jew t(i tie?
Is he to lie down "rod (aloe it?
has too much self-respect for that
Is lie, ()it the other hand, to
ganizc ant)thor pressure gr0,P
coral)at the pressure group?
seems clear that such a course
lie suicidal.
A pressure group to fight
Semitism not only excites
troul)le, but it strikes a blow at
one and only i)olitical systen
has decently protected the
this world; tit the democratic
tam, under which pressure
the kiud we are talldng about
possibly "(rise.
I realize that tile teln
combat anti-Senfitism with
groups is ahnost over-powering
I cannot urge too strongly the
ity, to say nothing (if the danger
The re,(son it is futile is beC
you are not here dealing with
but with emotions.
In my opinion, the greatest
I)ution made by Fortune's article
Jews in America was its cleat" de
strut(on (if the myth that the
control America.
Running down the entire
American imhtstry and
Fortune disposes oJ the myth
the Jews run America:
found that they dominate the
ment industries; and it found
that the Jews contribute thetJ
share of the talent and abilit
country.
But the point I wish to
that, confronted with an
pressure-group, indisputable
like these are of no avail.
The counter-pressure group
cites them--equally emotionally
haps--can only store ut I
and give direction to the
ing fear upon which
always found.
What, then, is the Jew to do?
The answer, it seems to me is per"
fectly clear.
Si nee the democratic political'
omy has received him more
mindedly and has offered hina
opportunity than any
since this form of political eeOl
contains within itself,
functioning well, the only
safeguard against the rise of
nous pressure groups; since
things are so, it would secm
that the Jew should concern
always and every day with
fense, the preserwition, and
thor development" (if that p0
economic system. ti'
The Jew's answer to potential
Semitism is good citizenship, e.v
Ite should make of himself a0,0,
• . . gr0 ur
pone(t, not prnnarlly of his 0tl
not primarily of any other grotP,.
of those ideals ah'ea(ly mcnti°°e:£0"
IIe should make himself an eXVhi ,
ant of them attd lie should make "ro
self a student of ways and mea0S'
enacting them. v0,
We have in the city of NcV l
as .00.Teed sea?ely tell you, 00ev¢
erican, e¢#"
That is the type of life--not r0d
sarily public, not necessarily D.i#
--wtiich I urge the Jews of h e
to adopt.
I urge upon them a c iti€
which will make all other
proud of their citizenship, ad
And I submit that if the four -e to
half milliou Jews in America ei i0
affect othe, r Americau citizee
this way, an anti-Semitic raovew
couhi never actually arise.
(Copyright, 1938).
Thorah (Hebrew for the L,)o, i
the name (if a township in oilta'
