Two thousand Chicagoans paid tribute to Rabbi Stephen S. Wise at his sixtieth birthday anniversary dinner held last night at the Stevens Hotel. A storm delayed the train on which Rabbi Wise was traveling and he did not arrive in the city until late in the evening. The celebration was under the auspices of the Chicago section of the American Jewish Congress. Sigmund W. David was toastmaster.
Dr. Wise received a tremendous ovation when he rose to respond to the tribute paid him by Chicago Jewish and non-Jewish leaders. A huge lighted birthday cake six feet high was presented to him.
He began his speech with reference to a humorous story about himself in the columns of the Jewish Daily Bulletin in which he was pictured as having gone to heaven and immediately suggested a complete reorganization, only to have God declare that He would refuse to accept the vice-presidency of the new organization.
LIFE DEVOTED TO JEWS
“My life consists of service to the Jewish cause and to the Jewish people,” Dr. Wise declared. “My cause has been the cause of Jewish self-respect and self-reverence and at times self-defense in both the moral and spiritual sense. We are here to do what we know is right regardless of Hitler, Goebbels and their cohorts.
“I would rather see Israel dead tonight than be governed by fear of Hitler because I believe in Jewish self-respect. Whatever stands in the way of social justice must go, whether it is the present order or anything else. Not all the Dr. Wirts, the Rands, the Hitlers and the Alfred Rosenbergs in the world can avert the passing of a social order under which justice only can be a vision and a dream.
“Every time I speak for civic justice some Jewish shyster lawyer tells me that I am hurting the Jewish people. I will never cease protesting the sellout of Jewish life for decent government in order that some petty politician may obtain a petty office. We owe too much to America to allow indecent, corrupt Jews to remain in public office with our help. Christians listen to me because they know that I never compromise or equivocate. I speak the truth.
“I am going to continue the conflict against Hitlerism. Three things are necessary to defeat the Nazis: the boycott against German made goods, Jewish unity, and the voice of American. It will speak out through the voice of President Roosevelt,” Dr. Wise said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
