Digest of Public Opinion on Jewish Matters

The attitude of the “New Judaea,” official organ in London of the World Zionist Executive, on the Weizmann-Marshall agreement, is stated in the January 21 issue of that paper.

“It is not, of course, suggested,” we read, “that the extension of the Agency is already to be regarded as an established fact, but the agreement to send a Commission without delay will be welcomed by Zionist public opinion as marking a positive step towards the early consummation of the extension scheme as approved of by the last Zionist Congress. There is still much ground to cover before the extended Agency will be finally completed. But an agreement having been arrived at with the most important branch of the projected extended Agency and its decision to take so forward and positive a step as the sending of a Commission to elaborate a comprehensive program for the development of Palestine, encourages the hope that the question is at last reaching a head. The readiness on the part of the Marshall group to cooperate in the work and to share the financial responsibility involved in the establishment of the Jewish National Home, is at last assuming a very tagible form.”

EINSTEIN’S RESIGNATION AROUSES FEAR OF JEWISH FUNDAMENTALIAN

The fear that fundamentalism threatens to intrude into the field of Jewish scholarship and hamper its development is voiced in the “S. A. J. Review,” publication of the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, of which Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan is president. Commenting on Professor Einstein’s resignation from the Board of Governors of the Hebrew University on account of the refusal by the Board to ratify the appointment of Prof. Chajes of Vienna to the faculty of the School of Jewish Studies, the “S. A. J. Review” observes (Feb. 5 issue): that this “has brought home to us the realization that the ghost of fundamentalism is rising to plague the development of Jewish scholarship,” and adds:

“The fundamentalist element on the Board of the University objects strenuously to the appointment of Prof. Chajes on the ground that he is too liberal and unorthodox in his Biblical criticism.

“We had looked to the Hebrew University in Palestine as a place where Jewish scholarship could develop scientifically, unhampered by traditional pre-conceptions. We deplore the rise at this early stage of a fundamentalist controversy. We hope that the members of the Board will change their decision and will grant the scholars in the University freedom to do honest, openminded, scientific research in every subject of study.”

LATE MILLIONAIRE CRITICIZED FOR IGNORING CHARITY IN HIS WILL

The will of the late Joseph Byfield, millionaire hotel man of Chicago, disposing of an estate of more than $1,500,000 but leaving nothing to charity has aroused comment in Chicago newspapers. The “Chicago Chronicle” writes:

“We don’t like to talk disparagingly about those who have passed away, but sometimes a few words may serve as a reminder for the living. The large fortune accumulated by Mr. Byfield, who came here as a poor boy, was left practically in its entirety to his descendants.

“Such wills,” the article continues, “have a sinister effect on the public, who always look upon men of wealth to do something at least after they are gone. Byfield was not the only rich man who did little to perpetuate his name on the rostrum of philanthropy, but this is made up at least in part by others who see their duty to their fellow men when they are alive.”