Daily Digest of Public Opinion

Mr. Efraim Kaplan, writing in the “Jewish Morning Journal” of Nov. 28, devotes considerable space to discussing Mr. Mortimer L. Schiff’s action in donating $25,000 to the cathedral of St. John the Divine. Mr. Kaplan believes that everyone has a right to do as he pleases with his own money, but he holds that it was undignified and improper for the son of the famous Jewish philanthropist, Jacob Schiff, to contribute to a Christian church.

“His father, Jacob Schiff, surely did not deserve such an insult to his memory from his own son. And it cannot be denied that it is an insult, for it is opposed to Jewish honor and self-respect; it smacks too much of “mah-yofess”, or the fawning and currying of favor from the Gentiles. Jacob Schiff was a proud Jew and he expected no doubt that his children would preserve the same sense of Jewish dignity with which he himself was imbued.”

Referring editorially to the trial instituted against the Hebrew daily in Jerusalem, the “Doar Ha’Yom”, by Cardinal Barlassina, the “Jewish World” of Philadelphia, a few days ago remarks:

“The article in the ‘Doar Ha’Yom’, which called forth Cardinal Barlassina’s wrath, was the foolish work of an irresponsible journalist, whose disrespectful allusions to Christianity were regretted by all sensible Jews and the ‘Doar Ha’Yom’ published an editorial expressing its regret for publishing the idiotic article, asserting that it was not meant as an intentional slur to any religion.

“It is therefore just as senseless and irresponsible to utilize the article of a foolish journalist as a weapon against the Jews in Palestine as it was to write such stuff”.