Digest of Public Opinon 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.] Chief Rabbi Charges Liberal Jews Seek Estrangement from Judaism Chief Rabbi Charges Liberal Jews Seek Estrangement from Judaism

The charge that Liberal Judaism in England pursues a policy of definite estrangement from the collective consciousness of the Jewish people and the Jewish past was made by Chief Rabbi J. H. Hertz in his eighth sermon in London on "Affirmations of Judaism." Dr. Hertz said in part:

"They (the Reform leaders) never fail to emphasize that their form of Judaism cuts straight at the root of customs and laws more than 2,000 years old; that they permit work on the Sabbath and do not deem fasting essential on the Day of Atonement; and that rather than recede from the position they have taken up they would separate themselves from Jewry altogether. Again, in their Conference held in July last, the Minister of the local Synagogue did not hesitate to declare that the God of the Bible was not his God, and the leader of the whole movement repeated his usual plea for what he calls adequate Jewish recognition of the Founder of Christianity. Owing to a confusion of terms, a number of men who strictly adhere to the traditional service, the dietary and Sabbath laws, attended that Conference and these expressed their amazement at some of the utterances to which they listened.

"I have been asked why," Dr. Hertz continued, "in the circumstances, Orthodox Jewry does not officially recognize that men who proclaim such views have ruled themselves out of the ranks of Israel. Let history supply the answer. It is over 150 years ago that the later followers of Sabbathai Zevi, under the leadership of the notorious Jacob Frank, attacked Jews and Judaism far more bitterly than ever did Liberals in Berlin. Chicago or London. Yet. the Chassidic legend relates when Frank and his followers at last publicly left Judaism and joined the Catholic Church, the great Israel Baalshem wept the whole night through and refused to be comforted. ‘A man’s arm may be paralysed, or sorely diseased, he exclaimed, still there is always hope that it will regain its health and vigor. But if it is amputated, all hope of healing is gone forever.’ It is needless to point the moral of the application of this beautiful legend."

"TOO SWEET"

The attitude of Sol Levitan, State Treasurer of Wisconsin, against whom an anti-Semitic slur was directed by Ballard, State Superintendent of Public Property, in connection with a sign of welcome on Levitan’s door, is viewed as tactless by the "Daily Jewish Courier" of Chicago. Relating the incident, the paper, in its Feb. 8 issue, feels that the sign Mr. Levitan posted on his office door, saying "Uncle Sol, Your State Treasurer, Welcomes You", was "too sweet" and in bad taste.

"To call ones self ‘Uncle Sol’ , in the language of endearment, and to tell the public ‘Your State Treasurer’, that is, your darling boy, your favorite, and to extend a welcome to everybody in an outflow of brotherly love, is very poor taste. It is altogether ‘too sweet’. It smacks of currying favor and is undignified for a Jew who has been chosen State Treasurer for the third term," the paper writes, continuing:

"What would a sensible person in Levitan’s place have done? He would have quietly removed the sign against which the State Superintendent of Public Property objected and would have written a letter to Ballard, in the following vein: ‘You have a right to demand that the sign which was put up without your permission be removed. But the gratuitous insult you wrote me indicates that you are an insolent ignoramus who is unfit to hold a public office.’

"This would have been the most appropriate answer. But being tactless Sol Levitan showed Ballard’s letter to the members of the Legislature, who took up the cudgels for him and demand that Ballard apologize. But Ballard refuses to apologize–and the people of the state have something to talk about and something to laugh at.

"First Sol Levitan gave an anti-Semite an opportunity to make his venomous remark, and later he made it possible to spread the story and turn it into a public joke."

The Ku Klux Klan in Warren County, N. J., has sold the Cornish Mansion which it used as a county headquarters to Harry Cohen. formerly proprietor of a dry goods store in Washington. N. J. The mansion was purchased by the Klan in 1924 but it is understood that the Klan found the venture too expensive. Mr. Cohen plans to convert the house into an apartment building.

The Rotenberry anti-evolution bill which would prohibit the teaching of evolution in tax-supported schools of Arkansas, was tabled by the State Senate on Thursday. The bill was passed by the House the day before.