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 does not indicate approval–Editor.]

The decision to take the initial steps for the creation of a Jewish national community chest, arrived at by a meeting at the home of Justice Irving Lehman, is regarded with approval by the “Day” of Nov. 26.

The proposal will again revive all the arguments pro and con that were raised when the New York Federation for the support of philanthropic societies was created, the paper points out. But, the “Day” proceeds, “taking into consideration all the arguments for and against, we are convinced that the federation idea has justified itself through its work and that the extension of the chest plan to all Jewish communal activities in America would prove to be of immeasurable significance for American Jewry.

“The significance of it appears even greater,” the paper continues “when we consider the possibility that this new fund-agency will include, besides the budgets of all the philanthropic and educational institutions in America, all the efforts of American Jewry for the Jews abroad, particularly the Jews in Eastern Europe and Palestine. Such a federation of all Jewish efforts into one great, influential agency, would certainly be welcome not only from the point of view of the huge sums which it would be able to raise, but also because it would constitute the best and securest guarantee for enduring peace and permanent cooperation in the ranks of all elements that comprise American Jewry.”

DR. PAUL NATHAN ON JEWISH COLONIZATION IN RUSSIA

The opinion of Dr. Paul Nathan, noted German Jewish leader and president of the Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden, on the subject of Jewish colonization in Russia, as expressed by him recently in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, is discussed by Charles Joseph in his “Random Thoughts” appearing in the San Antonio Jewish Weekly” of Nov. 19. Says Mr. Joseph:

“He (Paul Nathan) believes it would be a serious mistake if the mass of Jews or an overwhelming majority would be transferred into agriculture in Russia. The work must be distributed. Only those who have a special inclination and capacity for agricultural work should, he argues, be diverted into this channel. It would be senseless to eliminate from the relief program those who could be employed as workers in the factories, or mining districts, and as a third category, merchants, when the merchants can become a useful and necessary element in the Russian economic fabric.”

Making reference to Dr. Nathan’s assertion that the Jewish colonies should be established in the interior of Russia instead of near the western frontier where they would always be open to the dangers accompanying possible wars, Mr. Joseph concludes by saying that this “seems such good common sense that it is to be hoped that the leaders of the J. D. C. will lend an ear.”