Digest of Public Opinion on Jewish Matters

[The purpose of the Digest is informative: Preference is given to papers not generally accessible to our readers. Quotation Joes not indicate approval — Editor.]

The recent controversy over the question of the renunciation of their minority rights by the Turkish Jews has found a new echo in the form of a letter forwareded to the Constantinople representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency by Bejerano, son of the Chief Rabbi of Turkey, with the request that Mr. Marshall’s attention be called to the missive. Bejerano expresses resentment at Mr. Marshall’s criticism of the Turkish Jewish notables and puts some questions to him.

“Since the minority rights were established,” Bejerano writes, “what has been done by the competent authorities each time these rights were ignored in the different countries? And what has the League of Nations done to force Hungary to abolish the numerus clausus?

“Putting these questions,” Bejerano explains, “is only a matter of form, as I am convinced that Marshall has also asked himself these same questions.”

Bejerano further voices objection to the terms employed by Mr. Marshall in criticizing the Turkish Chief Rabbi. He speaks of the Grand Rabbi, his father, as “a man known for his great moral worth and unwavering devotion to the Jewish cause,” who, he says, has deserved to be spoken of with greater consideration.

WHAT WEIZMANN WANTS

The message of peace and unity brought by Dr. Weizmann to American Jewry, enunciated in his New York address, and his reference as to the question of the extension of the Jewish Agency, are the subject of an editorial in “The Day” (Nov. 10).

“What Weizmann made reference to has been no secret for a long time,” the paper states. “Those were brief words with a deep meaning. It is the old question regarding the Jewish Agency which is to include the American non-Zionists. True, things have been somewhat altered during the last year and have shown in another light those persons who come under consideration when we speak of the Jewish Agency. We find them today further removed from Palestine work than they were when the question was first brought up. At that time they were ‘unemployed’ — in the sense of Jewish communal work; now they are occupied. But the man grows with his work. And the occupation over there will not hinder them from accepting the invitation here. Not by bread alone can a man live who has an understanding of national historical responsibilities. And such an understanding, it seems, these men have exhibited on more than one occasion. Their innermost Jewish conscience needs the work over there in Palestine just as Palestine needs — why deny it? — their cooperation from here. Of course, the Zionists are the vanguard in the difficult historical task of rebuilding Palestine. But every vanguard can fight with success only when it has a strong rear guard to rely upon. A vanguard alone does not constitute an army. All Jews who are not completely indifferent to our cause belong in our army; not merely by word of mouth nor merely with money, but with deeds as well. That is what Weizmann wants accomplished this time. Every loyal Zionist will help him in this.”

EFFICIENCY IN CHARITY

There are few better examples “of intelligent supervision and approved business methods applied to public charity” than that of the New York Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies, declares the New York “Times” of Nov. 8.

“The Federation is, as it were, a holding company for many subordinate societies. It watches over their work and takes steps to prevent overlapping or duplication of effort. It endeavors to prove that combination and central oversight are as good for philanthropy as they are for great manufacture, for example. Moreover, the Federation draws up a budget, carefully itemized, so that it knows exactly what is needed and what sums must be asked of the charitably minded.

“For ten years the Federation has been illustrating to the entire city the zeal of the Jewish population in taking care of its own dependents and unfortunates, while at the same time exhibiting to others the results of skilled and wise methods in the collection and distribution of large charity funds.”

The “Day” in commenting on the Federation and its drive for $4,700,000, observes: “It is called charity and it is charity, but the tendency is to make it more than that. It is something that is to become more and more an organization for Jewish self-help, of democratic, mutual assistance.”

The role of the Federation as a force for unification of all elements in New York Jewry, is dwelt upon by the “Jewish Daily News,” wherein we read:

“Federation has justified its existence. The Sunday night dinner demonstrated that most forcibly. East Side, West Side, all around the town. Men and women who in former years had been intensely jealous of each other, whose institutions had fought each other most violently, sat there united in a common cause. It has been said that New York Jewry cannot be organized. This is not true; it all depends on the manner and the methods employed.

“Federation has succeeded because it united not one particular group, but different groups of men and women who labored for the welfare of the community, each group in its respective field of endeavor.”

An editorial in the “Jewish Morning Journal” says: “The drive of the Federation will not last long and we hope it will be crowned with the success which befits the largest Jewish community in the world. The Federation itself is a wonderful achievement. Nearly one hundred important institutions are conducted by it with less noise than is heard during smaller and less important drives. The practicality of such an organization in which is contained the seed for a true Jewish Kehillah is now being generally recognized and the example is being followed in numerous Jewish communities throughout the United States. New York Jewish business men have ceased to wait for coaxing in order to give and the leaders and workers of the Federation deserve that measure of increasing response which will make it easier from year to year to continue this great philanthropic endeavor.”

CORRECTION

An error occurred in the report in yesterday’s issue of the claim of the Rev. de la Penha to the peninsula of Labrador. Charles Alleyn Tashereau was erroneously given as the registrar of the province of Quebec. He is the present prime minister of Quebec and is now on a visit to London, England.