Judge — May 1938 — page 42: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

IN WITNESS So overwhelming has been the re- action to last month's editorial in The Judge on the Bench that we could not reprint even a small percentage of the letters received in one or a dozen issues of THE Jupce. On these pages we have reprinted significant excerpts from some of them. We shall continue to do so from time to time. It is possible that in the near future we may be able to as- semble these letters in such form as will make it possible for interested readers to see them all. It is not Jewish leadership, sadly as this is needed, but Christian leadership that must rally the forces of the world against the in- justice which is being done éo liberal thought in Europe today. As long as the Isolationist sits back and says: “I do not care what happens in another nation,” such brutality will continue. I do not mean to go to war for 1 do not believe that war would have been necessary. A firm stand by a united aroused world would have prevented the disaster. Isaac E. MaRrcuson, Macon, Ga. It seems to me about time that the Jews got away from the Wailing Wall. They— or we (since my father was a Jew)—are almost the only race I know that, consistent- ly persecuted, have never learned to stick together. They will fight for anyone but themselves. Eventually, they always repudi- ate their leaders, and their extreme self- consciousness would cease being regrettable if it led to anything but self-pity. CHANNING POLLOCK, New York, N.Y. Your call to fight our enemies strikes a responsive note in every Jewish heart. It seems to me that our civilization will be saved by no skirmish along any small front but rather by a concerted drive of all liberal forces against Pagan intolerance. Rast Jacos SINGER, Temple Mizpah, Chicago, Ilinois. Jews must understand and recognize the nature of the forces arrayed against them. They must fight fascism, whether it mani- fest itself in pogroms in Germany, Austria and Poland; or in lynchings and wage-slav- ery in our own “feudalist South.” Yes, 1 believe Jews should fight. But in doing so, they should fight, not alone, but together with all progressive groups. They should fight, not for Jews alone, but for all exploited and oppressed. They should wear, not the secular uniform of Judaism, but the broad uniform of humanity. Ropert G. HERzOG, New York Cit just such a word as contained in your editorial should galvanize Jewry into a new and vigorous mental attitude on the subject of Anti-Semitism. Only by building up his own self-respect will the Jew be able to win the respect of the world. Rass Louis D. Gross, New York City. The Jews themselves must defend and foster those historical processes which ren- der inarticulate or effect the assimilation of dissident national groups. Further attempts ‘on the part of the Jews to render themselves inconspicuous by a humiliating self-repudia- tion and apologetic diffidence can only evoke the ridicule and disrespect of the entire 38 world and the judgment of timidity, cow- ardice and inferiority against themselves. RutH NANDA ANSHEN, New York, N.Y. The editorial seems unconvincing. There is only one way to fight—and that is with an army and guns. It seems to me also that the only time the Jew is roused to fight is when Communism is to be put over or is attacked. There is only one fighting Jew in the world today— Trotsky, General Trotsky. BENJAMIN S. DECASSERES, New York, N.Y. There can be no doubt that the solution of the present world Jewish problem, unique in history, lies entirely in the intensity of the strength of a United Jewish Front, which shall include al! Jewish social, frater- nal, religious, cultural, national and inter- national classes and organizations. Such a U.J.F. headed by the leadership of one of the outstanding personalities of this country mentioned in the editorial, would do wonders. Epnraim E, YOLLES, Rabbi, United Orth. Congregations, Philadelphia, Pa. Millions of us have been sitting back awaiting leadership in striking back against our enemies and the vicious and malicious injustices being imposed upon us everywhere. This editorial is a great inspiration. Davin T. Witentz, Attorney General, State of New Jersey. Jews have always fought—with the only weapons we had, our minds, our hearts, and our spirits. We fought the oppressor in our own way, and without quarter. More Jews died in the long wars against injustice and intolerance, than there are Germans in Eu- rope today. We still die; because we are still alone, and badly armed, in the front of that battle. We have no army. We have only a little wealth, which can be taken away from us, and a few poets who can be silenced by decree. But when the oppressor throws for- ward his armies against free men, his heaviest cannon are trained on that little sector held by the Jews; for while it holds, freedom holds too. We need not be told to fight, for we have never done anything else. It is others who need to be told—not to fight with machine guns and rubber truncheons, but with heart and spirit; not with hate for strangers, but for love of justice. Let them come and join us; for we have held the line for a long while. Rosert NATHAN, New York, N.Y. I do not believe that the sufferings of the Jew constitute an exclusively Jewish problem. In a significant passage, the Talmud says, “When trouble comes to the world, the Jew feels it first.” Our bitter plight throughout the world is but a forerunner of the perse- cution of all liberals and adherents of high religion. It is up to Christians to join with Jews in a relentless battle against bigotry and dictatorship. Dr. Max Arzt, Rabbi, Temple Israel, Scranton, Pa, It is indeed a striking editorial. Bruce BLIVEN, New York, N.Y. I have read your editorial with much in- terest. It is a clarion call to Jewry to under- take an offensive on its own behalf, so that WHEREOF under true teadership, it may cause truth to prevail and justice to be done. You are to congratulated upon this timely appeal. Never ‘has the need been greater to brin; forcibly to a disturbed, if not a disheartened, world, the lessons of brotherhood, so that peace may be advanced and civilization saved. Jewry will, I am sure, appreciate to the full this message emanating from a disinterested source and printed in a publication which takes up cudgels in the name of fair play. We are heartened by the knowledge that, be- hind Jewry in this, its hour of greatest peril, there are noble souls and influential forces to lend support. Keep up the good work for all peoples and all good causes. Justice MrtcHeELt. May, Supreme Court, Brooklyn, N.Y. The editorial on a militant policy for Jews is written in a spirit of love of truth and sympathy for a people almost hopelessly outnumbered by their enemies. It is, how- ever, too simple to be plausible. Gone are the days when little David armed with noth- ing more than a slingshot and a pebble could topple the mighty Goliath. Eas LIEBERMAN, Richmond Hill, N.Y. An aggressor in either international or in- tranational strife can be quarantined effective- ly by economic sanctions. Christians, ashamed of the conduct of their fellow-Christians, should translate that shame into positive ac- tion, All the leaders mentioned by the fight- ing Irishman who wrote the editorial com- mand the respect of both Jews and Gentiles in this country. I trust that one of them will answer the appeal to fight against the pscudo- Aryan reversion to the Dark Ages. RAPHAEL Levy, Baltimore, Md. Your editorial comes nearer ¢o hitting the nail on the head than anything I have read in a long time. UDGE AARON A, MELNIKER, istrict Court, Bayonne, N.J. This battle is not to be won by fighting. For one thing, victory is apt to go to the vanquished. One has only to remember the war fought in the name of democracy, won by the democratic powers, and ending in the spread of the most vicious dictatorships the world has yet known. One of the greatest Jews the race has produced, Jesus Christ, and many thoughtful rabbis before him, in- sisted on the futility of war. The Jews, like the other victims of Hitler's folly, can fight best not by withdrawing from positions of power and trust, but rather by fulfilling their obligations, be it as judges, government offi- cials, scientists or artists, as well as they can, by commanding the respect of the civilized world for good work conscientiously per- formed. Basette Deutscn, New York City, N.Y. More power to you. There are few causes worthier of your support. Emit LENGYEL, Astoria, N.Y. I commend the challenge in the editorial. I most heartily endorse the vision that rec- ognizes this as a crucial moment for joinin, all our best forces. I urge that all who pond for sorely stricken Israel, reflect the thought and feeling of the Jewish community through intimate contact with our people. If re- demption come not tomorrow or the day after, what then! We shall have assured the comicbooks.com