(The editors reserve the right to excerpt all letters exceeding 250 words in length. All letters must bear the name and address of the writer, although not necessarily for publication.)
To the Editor, Jewish Daily Bulletin:
Mr. Lyons’ rejoinder to the old gentleman who insisted that at crucial points Jews always flinch and crack was undoubtedly apt, but unfortunately the old gentleman had much to back his statements.
He might have pointed to the Jew in Germany, who undeniably has cracked. Or the Jew in Poland who, as witness the increasing rate of suicides among the young, is cracking.
Everywhere among us is much tearing of hair, protestations, denunciations, but little of dignity and calm courage.
What is wrong with us? At one moment we cry to high heaven to witness our defenseless position and wail, and in the next breath we treat the world as our special oyster. Consider two current events: the proposed barter between the United States and Germany and the coming Olympics.
If I did not know our pre-exilic history, I would give up all hope. There is nothing in our present condition to inspire either hope or respect. But I know, as the old gentleman might have learned, that Judah has always had a certain tough residium that has held fast and outlived its enemies, and that this same residium exists today.
Ben Frommer.
Dec. 9, 1934,
New York.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
