Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1918-07-12

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THE COLUMBUS JEWISH CHRONICLE
A WEEKLY DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF JEWISH PEOPLE OF COLUMBUS AND VICINITY
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VOL. 1
COLUMBUS, OHIO, FRIDAY, JULY 12. 1918.
No. 16
AMERICAN JEWS CAPTURED BY TURKS
Swedish Embassy at Constantinople Verifies Report That Turks
Retreating From 'Jerusalem  Had Made  American
JeWs Prisoners
Nearly on<? thousand Amer¬ ican citizens are made virtual prisoners by the Turks when the British effected the capture of Jerusalem, according to word re¬ ceived yesterday by cable. , To be exact, the cable stated 842 American citizens are now in the hands of the Turks in Da¬ mascus and other cities of Galil- lee, having been removed from Jerusalem when the Turks evacuated the city.   All of these
' Arnerican citizens are in.a pit¬ iable plight. They have suffered untold privations, hardships and indignities.
This news affords the first in¬ timation received in the United States that • any considerable body of American citizens fell into the hands of the Turks^ through the capture of Jerus- aleni. It had been previously supposed that under the evacua¬ tion of the city before the Brit-
, ish advance, most of the civilian population bad remained and that they were being cared for by the British. It appears now that a large number of citizens of many c^ountries must have been forced by the Turks to: ac¬ company the retreating Turkish army back from the city.' The fact that nearly one thousand Americans are there comes as a surprise, as no news of this fact had .been previously received.
The cable, which was received from the Swedish Ambassador at Constantinople, through the State department,, states, that the bi:anch of the Joint Distribu-
' tioii Committee of the American Funds for Jewish War Sufferers in Damascus had advanced the sum of 50C0 Turkish lire to care for these war refugees. They have been fed, clothed and hous¬ ed and have been afforded med¬ ical treatment where this was necessary. In many instances they have only been enabled to
¦ be liept alive through the succor which has thus been' afforded them.
The Swedish Ambassador in his message urged that the 5000
the arrest of the Americans and their deportation to northern Palestine. But, when the raids began only a few helpless wo¬ men" and children were found, all the rest having succeeded in hiding. The women and child¬ ren were arrested, ahd according to this report, cruelly beaten in a vain attempt to compel them to reveal the hiding places of their husbands and fathers.
"These extreme measures fail¬ ing, the women and children were released, and the leading men of the community summon¬ ed before the Turkish military governor who denounced all the Jews, and especially the Amei'- icans as disloyal to the Otto¬ man government, and threatened dii'e things including the firing squad, unless the latter were handed over. As a result of these threats, seventy men emerged from their Ifiiding places and sur¬ rendered to the military author- and were deported.. Encourag¬ ed by the surrender, the author¬ ities, instituted a reign of ter¬ ror, which lasted for four days when the rest of the American Jews, sixty-two in number also
desirous of finding a bridge by moans of which the modern Zion¬ ist movement could meet and be reconciled with the traditional an... I'eligious spirit represented by the Jerusalem Rabbinate. The Rabbis agreed in principle to the proposals for the use of Hei)rew in the Yeshiboth and schools, and nominated a select commit¬ tee to J.1SCUSS the details < policy with the Zionist Commis¬ sion.
REFUGEES TO AMERICA HELP RED CROSS
Jewish touring clubs and have closed the hall of the Jewish gymnastic club "Makkabi" in Warsaw. Comhienting on this incident the "Judische Rund¬ schau" says there is no doubt that the German administration in Poland is deliberately ti'ying to Germanise the country.
FIRES  AND  I*LAGUES
IN  JEWISH  TOWNS
Patriotism Among Jewish Refugees
The following letter was writ¬ ten by Mr. Samuel Mason, repre¬ sentative of the Hebrew Shelter¬ ing Society of America in Japan to Hon. Roland's. Morris, United States Ambassador to Japan:
"At a lecture on Americanism held at the Home of the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society of America, 87 Yamas- hite-Cho, Yolcohama, before an audience of women and children who are here waiting for steam¬ ship accommodations to proceed to the United States to join their husbands' and fathers, your ap¬ peal for the American Red Cross
,was   read,  translated   and   ex- gave themselves up in order to I plained to the listeners who, to
save their women and children from Turkish brutality. But on the following day there rang through the city the glad shout: 'The English are coming,'' The terrorizing Turks became pahic- stricken and fled pell-mell, carry¬ ing their prisoners with them, .and their fate is imknown."
THE ZIONIST COMMISSION
A 'telegram from the Zionist Commission states that the Com¬ mission have held a conference with committees representing the most important sections of the Jerusalem community. After long discussion, the conference succeeded in drawing up a scheme for the formation of a committee to represent ^ and unite the whole Jewish Com¬ munity of Jerusalem. ' It is pro-
Volozhin, famous for the great Yeshibah that existed there for nearly a century, has been de¬ stroyed by fire and the Jewish inhabitants were reduced to des¬ titution as ^ resit. In Slonim, another Jewish town, in the pro¬ vince of Grodno, 500 homes were consumed by fire, most of which were the homes Of Jews.
A tpyhus epidemic broke out in the province of Volhynia, in consequence of the famine exist¬ ing there. Many Jews in the counties of Berditchev and Dub no have fallen victims .to the
Jews are subjected to, the musi¬ cal art is being cultivated by them with much enthusiasm.
ANTI-SEMITISM   IN,
EASTERN EUROPE
The Frankfurter Israelitisches Familienblatt in a recent article on "the lessons of the Cracow progroms" has the following in¬ structive remarks on the most recent developments of Anti- Semitism in Eastern Europe.
"Apart from their individual significance" it says "the in¬ cidents in Galicia have a more general bearing which should not be overlooked. They are a symptonof the new anti-semit- ism which is springing up nearly everywhere in the course of the war. The war has in all coun¬ tries strengthened and inflamed national feelings to an extra¬ ordinary degree, and through¬ out the world has unchained a spirit of ruthless and overbear¬ ing chauvinism.    This'chauvin-
C. C. A. R. IMPORTANT CONVENTION
Weighty Matters Discussed—Jewish Problems Taken Up—Co ment On Balfour Declaration
The twenty-;ninth convention contributed   to   this fund was
plague.   In Zitomir, the capital,
the plague is raging, especially! »«'"_fi^d«_«,'jP^f^«|«",_|"_.^]'j ^_'^
among the evicted Jews, who live
there in most congested quarters
on a very meagre allowance. Margolis, the commissary of the Jewish community, is doing all in his power to relieve the ter¬ rible suffering and distress, but he is practically powerless to do anything.
posed to set up a Central Coun- lire advanced for this work be cil in Jerusalem representing the
refunded by the Joint Distribu¬ tion Committee. The Commit¬ tee took immediate steps and has arranged with the State Depart¬ ment for the sending of all necessary funds which will be transmitted through the State Department to the Swedish Am¬ bassador at Constantinople, both to repay what has been advanced and to care for the future needs of the^e American citizens. Several months ago the Joint Distribution CommiUee brought to the United Slaters a large num¬ ber of American citizens who h^vi been, left in Jerusalem and other cities in Palestine and who were anxious to return to their relatives here. In the party were many women and children and some men. It would prob- aoiy'be impossible, owing to ex¬ isting conditions, now to repai'- triate this group of nearly one thousand unfortunates who have fallen into Turkish hands, but the Joint Distribution Commit-
Commission and intended to as sist the activities of the united Committee. A .'further confer¬ ence was held with representa¬ tives of the Rabbis of Jerusalem in which 35 Rabbis, Hasidim, Misnagdim, Ashkenazim, Sep- hardim and Yeminites took part. This was a most impressive gathering. For the first time Zionists entered into direct dis¬ cussion with the Jerusalem Rab¬ binate and all it represents. Dr. Weizmann made a stirring speech which deeply impressed the Rabbis. He said he was faced^ with a difficult pi'oblem. He had taken up a definite Zion¬ ist attitude, and was anxious at the same time to understand and appreciate the spirit animating the Jerusalem Rabbinate. He made it cle'ar that Zionists wish¬ ed to develop a modern Jewish life on a modern national basis in Palestine, Rabbi Tutchinsky, Secretary of the Rabbinate, gave a   description   of   the ¦ present
my great joy voluntarily came forward with the request that I accept their contributions to¬ wards the nobl^cause for trans¬ mission to you.
"As coming Americans, they insisted, they want the privilege of feeling that though still separated by the vast stretches of the.„Pacific from their fiiture home, they are already morally part and parcel of the great com¬ monwealth they are about to for¬ mally adopt as 1;heir country.
"As a result thereof I take pleasure in sending you a check for 260 yen, -which includes also my own contribution.
"Hoping that our countrymen in Japan will honor themselves with a surprising oversubscrip¬ tion to the great cause, I beg to remain,
"Very respectfully yours, "SAMUEL MASON, Director.'
The   Ambassador's   acknowl edgement.
Embassy of the United States of America.
Tokyo, May 23, laS'. Samuel Mason, Esq. Grand Hotel, Yokohama. My dear Mr..Mason:—
I am just in receipt this morn¬ ing of your letter' of the 21st with the check for Yen 260 and the list of contributors enclosed-
I am grately touched by this contribution, especially when I consider the Qircumstances un¬ der which it was made, and I wish you would express to the contributors my deep sympathy for them and my appreciation of their very,generous donation.
Sincerely yours, (Signed) ROLAND S.MORRIS
TO ABOLISH YIDDISH
Claim It Is Germian, Not Hebrew Tongue
St. Louis, Mo.-r-An effort is being made by many St. Louis, Jews, headed by,. A. .Rosenthal, editor of "The iloderri View," to abolish the use of the Yiddish tongue among St. Louisans of Jewish faith. They are pointing out that Yiddish is a Judeo-Ger- man language, and is not the language of the Jews in the old homeland of Palestine.
creased antipathy towards all other nations; and in regard to the Jews it takes the form of the new anti-Semitism. As the Jews are of all peoples the one against which hatred and antipathy can most easily vent themselves, this moral poison in the soul of Eu¬ rope has led to dangerous anti- Semitic movements in the vari¬ ous countries.
This mischievous tendency is particularly active among the small nati6na(ities in Eastern Europe which during this war have obtained a remarkable ac- cesion. of impoi'tance, and in some cases have for the first time attained to an independent existence. The. less these^ new nations can lay claim to any great national culture of their own, the more does their nation¬ alism display itSelf in the conflict with other nationalities, and most of all of course with the Jews. This has been most clear¬ ly shown hitherto in Poland, but
of the Central Conference of American Rabbis was held in Chicago from June 28th to July 4th. About ninety rabbis at¬ tended the convention which wias of great importance.
The meeting was opened with a Friday evening service at Temple Sholom.
On the afternoon oi Saturday, June 29, a Talmudic discourse was delivered by Prof. J. Z,. Lauterbach of the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati. In the evening addresses of welcome were delivered by Rabbi Joseph Stolz on behalf of the Chicago Rabbinical Association and by Mr, Israel Cowen, i-epresentirig the Chicago Federation of Syna- gogs. The response was made by Rabbi L. M. Franklin, vice- president of the Conference. The president. Rabbi Louis Gross¬ man, then read his message, in which special emphasis was laid on the subject of religious re¬ construction after the war. Rab¬ bi Grossman told of the services the Jews are rendering for America and said that niore than 60,000 are in the army. He as¬ serted that the war has evoked the deepest sources of Jewish patriotism, calling the young men to the colors, and the young women to War activities. The ¦^ork done fpr the men at the front must be more than recrea¬ tional he said. It must be relig¬ ious and evangelical.
The morning and afternoon sessions of Sunday, June 30, were..de,v<ited to the reading .of the reports of the different of¬ ficers and standing committees, among them the committee on Synagog Pension Fund, whose chairman. Rabbi Joseph Stolz, reported that the amount so far
$106;559, ?104,500 of which was invested in' the purchase of bonds of the Third Liberty Loan. In the evening a paper was pre¬ sented by Dr. Isaac Alcaley, chief rabbi of Serbia, on "The Cultural and Social Condition of the Jews in Serbia. He is on a visit to the United States as a representative of his govern¬ ment.
The Monday morning session was given over to further re- . ports of standing and special , committees, all showing that the different undertakings of the Conference, such as the revision of the Union Prayer Book, the harmonization of civil and relig¬ ious marriage laws, the survey of religious conditions of Amer¬ ican Jewry, are making steady progress.
At the ^ame session Professor G, Deutsch presented the I'eport of the Conimittee on Contempor¬ aneous History, in which recoi'd was made of the deaths during, the year of such noted men as Professor Israel Lewy, of Bres- lau; Rabbi Jules Ruff, of Ver- dum, who was killed while on duty as chaplain in a field hos¬ pital ; Rabbi Samuel Margolis of Cleveland;   Alfred   Mosley,  of London, England; and Abraham Slimmer, of Dubuque, la,, both noted   philanthropists;  Elward L .Heinsheimer, for many years president of the iBoard of Gov¬ ernors of "the Hebrew Union' Col¬ leges ; Dr. Henry, H. Leipsiger, the well-known educator of New York; ,.Meiidl&~.MochecL.S£oriin' (Solomon J. Abramowitch)   of Russia, a distinguished Yiddish writer,, and one of the pioneers in. that literaiy field; Lipman Levy,   of  Cincinnati,   who  for ( Continued on page 6.)
these states. Rabbi Samuel Gup, Union College.    The salutatory
JEWISH
HOSPITAL UNIT AT
FRONT
New York—The war hospital unit sent abroad in May by the Mount Sinai Hospital has been established in a monastery near the front under the designation United States Army Base Hos¬ pital No. 3, it was announced last Saturday at the Mount Sinai Hospital. On its staff are twenty-six trained women who volunteered for the service, and 150 enlisted men. The hospital has room for about 1500 pat¬ ients.
; Each of the thirteen ward buildings has accommodations for about 115 men, and is fitted with modern sanitary equip¬ ment. In the gardens of the mo¬ nastery are kitchens and operat¬ ing pavilions with surgical sup-
Lithuania similar tendencies «" ^'^half of the Department of
m
are already observeable, and re¬ ports point to' the wide-spread growth of anti-Semitism, in the Ukraine also. The same pro¬ cess is going on everywhere, springing from the same causes and leading to similar results. The cracow incidents are, an ex¬ ample of what threatens us in the East of EUrope, if matters continue further. to take the same course and .ari aggressive chauvinism gains ground among rhe various nationalities,"
Synagog, ?nd School Extension, is bending his efforts. ¦  At many summer camps in the central west as well as in the popular mountain regions of the
address by Alfred M. Cohen, President of the Board of Gov¬ ernors of the Hebrew Union College, is given in full. Follow¬ ing this comes the baccalaureate address,    "Judaism    and    the
.ijast, services are held as a i-ej:-1 World  Crisis"  by. Dr,  Samuel
UNION OF AMERICAN HEBREW CONGREGATIONS
Summer ¦ Services
Extensive   preparations being made by the Bureau
ular  camp feature throughoit the summer. >
As in previous years, the De¬ partment, with headquarters at 62 Duttenhofer Building, Cin¬ cinnati, Ohio, is prepared to loan Prayer Books and Hymnals for use at services.
In inaugurating slimmer serv¬ ices,   the  following  letter sent by the Department to bis throughout the country:
"The  approach  of the sum ^^'^ I mer season brings our usual re ^^ ¦ quest for co-operation in organ
Goldenson of Pittsburg, Pa,, which proved such' an inspira¬ tion to the graduates and their friends, and the Ordination Ad¬ dress by President Kaufmann Kohler, containing words of final admonition and advice.
"The Hebrew Union College Student Activities" written by Rabbi J, Max Weis, of the Class of 1918, former' president of the student body, reviews the endeavors and achievements of. the students dui'ing the year. It is of interest to note from this
Summer Services and the De-1 jzi^g je^.jsh religious life at the!'article what the students have
GERMANY AND THE POLISH JEWS
tee will make every effort to see'economic condition of the ortho- that their material wants are dox community, and stated that cared for insofar.as it may be,teachers and students were liv-
possible, through the sending of adequate funds.
Albert Lucas, Secretary of the Joint Distribution , Committee, last night made public the re¬ ceipt of the cable message and announced the plans which f^re being formulated to extend the relief work of the Committee to these refugees, •
Other advice describes actual conditions as follows:
"Twelve days before the entry into the Holy City of General Allenby, an order was issued for
ing in the greatest poverty, often on the verge of starvation, Dr, Weizmann stated that the Com¬ mission would do its utmost to relieve the economic needs of the Community, and made the fol¬ lowing suggestions: that the in¬ struction at the Yeshiboth or Talmud Torahs be conducted in Hebrew, and that the hostility or indifference of the orthodox community towards Zionism ."should cease. Zionists wished to maintain what was ancient and traditional in Jewry i*.... were
According to a Berlin report received by the Jewish Corres¬ pondence Bui'eau at Amsterdam, the German Home Secretary at the beginning of June forbade the admittance of Jewi.sh labor¬ ers from Poland into Germany, under the pretext that typhoid had broken out among tae Jew¬ ish population of Poland. Labor¬ ers of Polish nationality are still being admitted. The bui-eau points out that this conduct does not square well with Germany's declarations in favor of Zionism.
Similar treatment is being meted out to the Jews in Poland itself where, according toi the Jewish .Correspondence Bureau in Berne, the German authorities have forbidden the formation of
partment of Synagog and School j summer resorts frequented  by
Extension for the ninth, season j Jewish people. ¦ If you conteni-
plies given by the Mount Sinai'^^ services at summer resorts, I pj^te spending part of the sea-
where our people congregate in'son at such-a summer resort, let large numbers.    The past sue-Jus know and wo will send you
cess of the summer services has j i-eprint^   of the Union Prayer! Twenty-sixth   Council   of   the indeed    been   phenomenal   and Book, Hymn Books, etc., for your Union of American Hebrew Con-
¦ Hospital and the American Red Cros3, Garages, homes for the nurses, and barracks for the en¬ listed men, have been built near the monastery.
accomplished in other lines than those   directly   connected   with their studies, in spite of limited leisure time at .their disposal. An   advance   notice   of   the
MUSIC  CULTIVATED VILNA
IN-
Joseph Vinogradov, the opera singer, of Petrograd, organized in Vilna a Jewish opera com¬ pany, with the assistance of a number of his pupils and co- laborers and the results are most satisfactory. The company has already, rendered Tchaikovski's "Mazfeppo" and Rubinstein's "Maccabees" in Yiddish and is preparing Yiddish translations of a number pf the more pro}nin- ent opera. An original Yiddish opera "King Ahaz," by Elman, has also been presented with much success. A symphony or¬ chestra has also been organized in Vilna and, in spite of the suf¬ ferings and troubles which the
rabbis and laymen alike have ex¬ pressed their satisfaction with the bringing to them, even at their summer resort, bf these di-| vine services. In 1910, seventeen rabbis held sixty services at ten places, these numbers increasing yearly until 1916 when sixty rabbis and laymen hehl two hundred and eight services in twenty-nine places. Owing to the difficulty in obtaining rabbis, because of the need of the Jew¬ i.sh Welfare Board, for religious leaders, thei-e 'was a falling off in the number of summer serv¬ ices in 1917.
In many of the popular re¬ sorts in Michigan and Wiscon¬ sin, summer services have be¬ come part of the daily life of vacationists. To the task of makirtg preliminary arrange¬ ments for services at resorts in
use.' If you expect to spend the summer at some city near such n summer resort where we can oc¬ casionally call upon you" to fill a vacant summer service pulpit, let us know in advance so that we can make use of your serv¬ ices. In any event, pleaFO take the matter up with the members of your congregation urging them to give their support to this measure,"
There is no doubt that in the future the summer services will become ever more popular and summer resorts will be favored by patrons because they offer the opportunity of attendance upon divine services.
Union Bulletin
Part of the Bulletin is devoted to an account of the 918 gradua¬ tion  exercises  of  the  Hebrew
gregations, -which will be held at Boston, Mas., in January, is given, together with a full ac¬ count of the recent meeting of the Executive Board held in Cin¬ cinnati.
The recent successes of the various Temple Sisterhoods af¬ filiated with the National Fed¬ eration of Temple Sisterho9ds, published under the caption "News from the Sisterhoods," cannot but appeal to all who are interested in the advancement of Jewish ideals.   '   ¦
Some of the things which the Sisterhoods and Congregations affiliated with the Union of Am¬ erican Hebrew Congregations have done toward aiding our government in bringing the war to a successful close, is told in the article "Helping to Win the War."
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