The B'nai B'rith magazine · 1927-06-01 · 9 (6.1927) · p. Seite 367

THE B'nai B rith Magazine The National Jewish Monthly VOLUME XLI JUNE, 1927 NUMBER 9 Contents Editorials ............................................................................... 367 A Cross-Section of Jewish Life...................................... 370 Districts Race for Half-Way Mark in Wider Scope Campaign ..............................................r......................... 372 Thinking Aloud—By Urva Porah.................................. 374 The Holy City of Frankfurt—By E. David Goitein.. 375 In the Public Eye................................................................ 377 Louis Lozowick—By Yossef Gaer.................................... 378 News in Views....................................................................... 380 Wayfaring in Provence (Part I)—By Israel Cohen 383 The Leo N. Levi Memorial Hospital.............................. 386 District No. I Accepts Wider Scope Quota.................. 387 Sholom Asch—By Sarah Goldberg................................. 389 The Printed Page................................................................. 392 News of the Lodges.............................................................. 393 Across the Seas..................................................................... 396 Humoresque............................................................................ 398 The Stirrings of New Life In Israel THE news of Jewry used to be largely of drives and of the generosity of its millionaires. To be a Jew had to do largely with belonging to the local Jewish charity and paying the dues regularly. There was little said of Jewish life, for it was taken for granted that Jewish life did exist inasmuch as numbers of Jews were seen to breathe, eat, walk and do business. Jewish life was seldom thought of as being a cultural aspiration or as a way of living. But suddenly there was heard throughout Jewry in America, the questions, "Are we alive?" and "What are we really here for?" and "Do we exist only to be dues-paying members of societies for the relief of our poor?" Perhaps history will record as one of the important eras in the development of our people, the time when Jewry began to ask itself questions. We are still in the midst of this self-questioning. * # # Nor have we indulged merely in brooding introspection, for Jewish life is seen today on the march. The Jewish news reflects it. Whereas formerly, in its broader activities, Jewry was merely a social agency, today it is astir with cultural awakening. Whereas formerly appeals to Jews had to do altogether with charity, we read today an appeal by Rabbi S. Felix Mendelsohn of Chicago for the cultivation of a love for Jewish books : '' We Jews are known as the People of the Book. We have given to the world its greatest book, the Bible, and the genius of our people has always expressed itself in the writing of and love for books. In the Ghetto a Jewish home without a collection of representative books was unthinkable. In our day and in this country, however, we seem to be losing our traditional attachment to the printed word. There are Jewish homes where even the Bible and a set of prayer books are not to be found." -H- Whereas once the Jew's efforts to preserve his life were spent largely in protesting against those who reviled him, today he is called upon to look at himself and discover his own weaknesses. Thus, in a stirring address before the B'nai B'rith of New York, Rabbi Israel Mattuck of London, England, was heard to say: "I do not care what others think of the Jew. But I care a tremendous lot what the Jew thinks of himself." He called for the enrichment of Jewish life, for the cultivation of the Jewish inheritance. In New York city Jewish life has taken to radio as a means of animating the hearts of its people, and every Monday evening there is a Jewish radio hour under the auspices of "The Day," with a program of Jewish music; and in that city also there has been inaugurated the Menorah Jewish Forum to which are brought the problems of Jewish life. jfc jfe jfa "Jv Vr TV" It is this month that B'nai B'rith, on the occasion of Confirmations and Bar Mitzvahs, is making a wide distribution of Jewish books among the children of its members. The culture-conception of Jewish life comprehends the home as the source of Jewish culture, as the temple of Jewish life, a place for the preservation of a love for Jewish tradition and Jewish songs and Jewish books. - With this in mind, B 'nai B 'rith is distributing books of Jewish significance this month. Sfe £fe ifa These are stray notes on a movement in Jewry which has advanced so swiftly and so suddenly that Jewry itself is not yet fully conscious of it. But it remains to be seen whether the Jews will accept the opportunities to enrich their lives as Jews with the unbounded enthusiasm with which they gave $25,000,000 for the lives of their European brethren.