The B'nai B'rith magazine · 1927-07-01 · 10 (7.1927) · p. Seite 427

He remembers the Prophets of Israel. "You will understand why here," he writes, speaking of these mountains of Judae, "the greatest word of faith was uttered, and the last word of desperate and contemptuous disbelief, the flame-white faith of Isaiah, and the ice-white negation of Koheleth. . . . Why was it that in this place alone, men were found to write as the prophets have written? Art not Abanah and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Are there not hills and valleys in the land of the Hellenes? Is not the Nile mightier than the Jordan? The Valley of the Two Rivers is broader and richer, and there are in the world peaks that overtop ten times the summit of these hills. The vision and the voice were Palestine's alone. Why? Why? The question has drummed in my brain many years, and no one will ever answer it. But, drawing ever closer to Jerusalem, through the labyrinth of the hills of Judea, I felt the ancient power falling on me, and a faint flush of those dread ecstacies rushed through my blood." The publishers of "I, The Jew," in their advance blurbs, feature the chapter devoted to Reform Judaism. I cannot get excited about Mr. Samuel's plainly biased utterances. They are completely unprejudiced by even an elementary knowledge of the history and spirit of the "Reform" movement. But of that ignorance Mr. Samuel has already betrayed himself in his article "The Quest for Culture" in the August-September issue of the Menorah Journal of this past year, when he disposes of Zunz and Geiger very cavalierly. Mr.. Samuel seems guilty of gratuitous, journalistic chutzpah when he claims that Reform, "under cover of an evasion," sought "to destroy the instruments of Jewish survival." But one suspects that something more than downright ignorance is at work when Samuel delivers himself of other cheap vulgarities of the circus, too closely resembling the thumb and finger manipulations of gutter-snipes to deserve quotation here. One has to do a great deal of scratching from the record to assert that "Reform Judaism has been the work of respectable theorists and polite apologists." But to alter a chronicle implies first to have studied it and that may be too much of a compliment to Mr. Samuel's knowledge of the history of Reform. It is true that the pioneers of Reform together with some of their out- VERSATILE PEN standing disciples who are still championing its cause were hostile to the nationalist interpretation of Jewish history. They wished to emancipate themselves from the ghetto introversion of the galuth psychology. They wished to emphasize what they felt were the natural, the spiritual, the universal, the humanistic religious elements of Judaism. They wished to be free men in a free world, to reassert the potency of prophetic idealism on a planet that had not yet taken to heart the burning message of Israel's gloriously and singularly inspired seers. They wished to give Israel new life and vitality in a new world. They wished to create a self-reliant Diaspora Judaism for an ignominious Ghetto Judaism. Mr. Samuel's The Jew" has lucid intervals. He is best when he is describing the sea or sky or the distant mountains. These subjects do not demand the discipline of research, the confinement of study. His pen is graceful when it yields to the beauties of Nature. He really should settle down on some fertile bit of Palestinian soil and write poetry. It may not sell as well as diatribes against Reform but it will probably be pleasant verse, colorful and tinged with honest emotion. Communications Editor, B'nai B'rith Magazine: I want to commend your editorial headed "Some Stirrings Among the the Young" dealing with debates between Hillel Foundations. I think a series of such debates, not only among University students but in every town where there is a Jewish congregation, small or large, would go a long way in opening the minds of the Jewish young people on Jewish questions and on Jewish Ideals. I would like to see I. O. B. B. sponsor such a movement not only for places where they have Hillel Foundations but, in every town where there is a B'nai B'rith Lodge. The subject for these debates should be left to a Committee of Rabbis and I am almost certain that we could increase the knowledge of Judaism among our young people— something that is needed very much these days. Sam D. Brooks, Corsicana, Texas. 427 M,l,l,M,M,M,M,M,.,M...mTO No. 3 M.I.M.M.M.M.-.M.M.-.U) of A SERIES OF AD-CHATS About the HOTEL MCALPIN Broadway at 34th St., New York A New York Palace of Modern Comforts and Old Courtesies TRULY it is a fact that what you don't find at the McAlpin you can't find elsewhere— And what you do find here you won't find elsewhere. Within the four great walls of the magnificent McAlpin there is at your disposal every service, every comfort, and smart entertainment that New York affords. The McAlpin is a great city within a great city—conveniently located at the spot where the "Great White Way" begins—Baltimore and Ohio train connection busses de luxe start from the door—Pennsylvania Terminal is a block away—Grand Central Terminal a few blocks off. The most comfortable and cheerful rooms— limited to $3.50 to $10.00 per day—without limit on service. 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