At one of the early-season dinners a young writer entertained us all by depicting how an old-fashioned grandmother (“do they still exist?” asked one of the guests) tells a modern, sophisticated grandchild a fairy story. It was the story of the Magician and the Prince, well known to every lover of the Arabian Nights.
“The Magician,” said the Grandmother, “brought the Prince to the edge of the lake where a magic ship was stationed that could fly through the air.”
“Oh, you mean a sea-plane,” corrected the little boy. “I’ve flown in one in Florida.”
“When they arrived at the castle,” the Grandmother, a little disconcerted, continued, “the Magician brought the Prince into a tower-room and there he could hear what his treacherous ministers were saying, though they were far away at the other end of the world.”
“He must have had a short-wave radio set built in,” remarked the grandchild.
“And then,” faltered the Grandmother, “he made the Prince see the lovely Princess who sorrowed for him — –”
“That was with a television machine,” interrupted the child. “Uncle Lawrence has one in his house.”
* * *
Well, it was all very funny, but in addition it was also all very true. The fairy tale marvels of bygone times have indeed become the commonplaces of everyday experience, and we lead today lives that would have seemed most luxurious and most wonderful to even Princes and Croesuses who existed in an earlier century. The question is only: Are we happier than our ancestors? Do we accomplish more with the help of the technical perfection modern science has created.
Consider the woman of today of even modest means, the mistress of an absolutely middle class household and compare her with a woman of the same station living but a hundred years ago. You will immediately see how the modern woman has shed the burden of physical labor that was necessary for the woman of a former age, how she has gained freedom and leisure, how the drudgery that once sapped youth and beauty is now gone forever. But having this freedom and leisure, what is the modern woman doing with it? Is she frittering it away in a thousand nothings that leave her bored and exhausted or does she employ her leisure in a constructive way that will bring her lasting satisfaction? If every woman should ask herself these questions than doubly so should the Jewish woman. For whatever her personal position may be, she knows that her people all over the world are facing a time of stress and unhappiness and danger, and she must feel a deep sense of responsibility toward those unfortunates whom blind hatred and intolerance have uprooted and made homeless.
“The hours,” said an Italian poet, “are like pearls. Drop them into the sea of time and they are gone forever, but string them together on the silken thread of a noble purpose and they will remain a precious possession to you.” If the Jewish woman will string her leisure hours on the thread of a noble purpose, the freedom which the technical achievements of science have made possible for her will indeed be a thing of value and beauty, otherwise it will be merely tinsel and trumpery, not worth possessing.
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.
