Editor, Jewish Daily Bulletin:
The messages of approval that came to me directly after you published my letter on Unity would warrant my continuing the correspondence, even if your considerate editorial in today’s “Bulletin” did not urge response.
The nub of the situation can be stated briefly. All that phase of the Jewish problem which constitutes reactions to anti-Semitism needs solution. The German experience has sunk deeply. A year after Hitler came to power thde Jews in Germany stand reduced in numbers, despoiled, crushed, hopeless. Few venture to speak otherwise, perhaps none believe otherwise. That condition reflects on all that organizations or leaders have attempted. No one blames, no one condemns, but equally clearly no one can have faith in methods that were tried and found wanting.
The average Jew has no reason to believe that Hitlerism carries within itself the seeds of selfdestruction as far as anti-Semitism is concerned. To the contrary, all his experiences, whether he reads in the “Bulletin” what is happening everywhere, or he judges of what is taking place in his home city, indicate the rapid spread of a malignant disease. Men talk wistfully of the Jewish outlook. A correspondent writes: “The entire Jewish situation seems hopeless.”
The stressing of those automatic duties which domestically fail not of performance even in the presence of death does not inspire. The men and women who attend the numerous functions which are being held are not disturbed by overlapping or lack of planning. What distresses them is that the big fine words leave them nowhere. They sign petitions, write to Congressmen, give here and there. They are glad that anti-Semitic propaganda is to be investigated, they rejoice that the boycott is gaining ground, but they realize that all this is merely fencing with buttoned foils.
We are facing a new day. Like the depression the Jewish problem has come to assume a personal aspect. The individual experiences it. What were formerly interesting newspaper paragraphs are now incidents that though they happen abroad establish personal contacts. At home the problem is even more direct for it relates itself to occupation, etc. The average Jew, however indifferent he may have been, is thus forced either to relate himself to collective Jewry, or seek complete escape. What is the message to him from this collective Jewry?
If we were being assailed by a babel of voices, or confused by the advocacy of contradictory policies, the need for unification and coordination would be apparent. The sad truth is that on this major issue, the ghost at every Jewish gathering, there is nothing to coordinate or unify.
The analogy of the depression serves admirably. The country overwhelmingly applauds President Roosevelt, and he has its confidence because he manfully faces the major problem and is wrestling with the devil of want. His acknowledgment of the dimensions of the problem and his frank casting about for adequate solutions have inspired.
There are of course some Jews who do not care “whether school keeps.” They may be safely counted out. The majority of Jews do care. They seek a line of action that measures up to the situation.
We agree “first a definite policy should be elaborated.” Let’s hold on to that, let’s get that policy. If forty-four years of active Jewish life have taught me anything it is that the coordination and the planning will follow the policy.
New York City.
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.
