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The celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which
began at sundown last night in the temples and synagogues
throughout the greater city, with special services and
prayers, was continued today, in all the army camps and
naval bases where there are Jewish sailors and soldiers who
were unable to take advantage of the furlough granted to men
of that faith services were conducted under the auspices of
the Jewish Welfare Board.
All the temples and synagogues throughout the city were
crowded at the services last evening and this morning, and
in some sections of the city where the synagogues would not
accommodate the crowded motion picture houses and vaudeville
theatres were rented for the services. Special services were
also held at the various branches of the Young men’s
Benevolent Association.
Rabbi Raisin on Conditions in Europe
Speaking at the New Year service of the Brooklyn Synagogue,
which is worshipping at Albany Avenue and St. Johns Place,
Dr. Max Raisin, rabbi of the congregation, spoke on the
deplorable situation of the Jews in Europe, particularly in
Poland.
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“At the present moment the fate of the Jews in war-ridden
Europe cries to the very heavens for protest and redress,”
he said. “It is a fate cruel and bitter. For the treaty
signed at Versailles, even though unintentionally, had dealt
a terrible blow to millions of our brethren. By the terms
of that treaty, four millions of Jews who hitherto were
secure in their rights under the firm rule of Germany and
Austria-Hungary have been transferred to the medieval
dominion of states newly created or enlarged, where their
constitutional rights are mocked at, and the safety of their
lives and property is at the mercy of barbarians. Bessarabia
and parts of Austria-Hungary have gone to Romania, while
Posen and Galicia, as well as parts of Lithuania, have been
incorporated in the new Poland, and as a result the progress
in a daily concurrence there and Jewish blood is flowing in
currents without let or hindrance from the outside world.
“The Treaty of Versailles maybe be said to have
been a sad failure from the very moment of its
conception, and the reason for it is that it
came to gratify the boundless selfishness of
some of the victorious Allies to the neglect of
the smaller and weaker national units. We still
remember the grandiloquent words uttered by many
a statesman about self-determination and the
protection of the weak. Today we find those
sublime principles but a mockery and derision.
Is there real peace in the world today? The
facts we are facing tell a different story.
There is peace for a few great and mighty
nations like England, France, Italy and the
United States; there is war and death for
Russia, Galicia, Posen, the Ukraine and Poland.
The much talked of League of Nations has proved
abortive, even before its consummation.” |
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The cover of a
publication of the Treaty of Versailles in
English (from Wikipedia). |
Bitter
Arraignment of World's Treatment of Jew.
A bitter
arraignment of the world's treatment of the Jew was made in
the sermon preached this morning by Rabbi Israel Herbert
Levinthal before an audience that filled every seat in
Temple Petach Tikvah, Rochester Avenue and Lincoln Place.
Speaking on “The Secret of Israel’s Immortality,” the Rabbi
said, in part:
“A year ago
today the world was full of bloodshed and tears and sorrow.
We felt that we were fighting to usher in a better day: we
believed that we were offering up our lives so that all
humanity shall be more blessed, so that democracy shall be
triumphant throughout the world, that freedom shall be
enjoyed by all. And we Jews too had dared to hope that this
war would help to bring nearer the day of good will on earth
and true brotherhood amongst men: We had dared to hope that
the world would desire to show its appreciation for the
heroic part played by the Jews in this war for freedom, by
allowing them at least to live in safety, without harm, In
the lands of their birth.
"Today the war, thank God, is over. Our boys have come back.
And yet, what has become of that hope, that faith that gave
us strength and courage to endure all suffering a year ago
today? Yes, Germany lies vanquished. Never again will she
dare to terrorize a whole world; no more will we aspire for
world conquest or world domination. But, I ask you, Is
democracy triumphant; is liberty exalted; does freedom hold
sway in those lands that were supposed to be battling for
democracy and liberty? Behold the mighty exponent of modern
democracy—Poland! See to what civilizing use she is making
of her new-found liberty. Her soldiers display their bravery
by shooting down innocent and helpless Jewish men and women,
and amuse their fellow-Poles with the fine sport of
shattering the brains of little Jewish children, they have
established democracy, and they prove it by desecrating
Jewish synagogues and schools, by ravaging Jewish women, by
tearing beards and the flesh too from the faces of old
Jewish men. Well might we too cry out: ‘O Liberty! O
Liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!’
“Today, on Rosh
Hashanah, the holiest season in all the year, we come to the
synagogue to renew our faith in the living God, who sleepeth
not, nor slumbereth. Today we come to the synagogue to
accept the challenge of the world and to proclaim to all our
enemies that as long as we are on the side of God, we cannot
be crushed; we will not be downed. The Jew, the world by
this time should have learned, is invincible, unconquerable,
aye, immortal.” |