The Denver Jewish news., 1919-08-27

IttSluSuCe.
These actions were required in every
war. When the German army captured
the city of Ofen from the Turks, 1886,
and Belgrad, 1859, the soldiers of the
victorious army were giveu the bonus
W holding the Jews whom they made
prisoners as pics Rabbi Leon
Erieli of Mantua appeals in 170s to
the congregation of Venice to assist
in liberating Jewish contractor for
the French army who was made pris-
oner by the Germans. Naturally these
organizations had to be permanent so
as to act promptly when occasion
arose, and a Request for such society.
eidyon Shebuyim, is mentioned by
Jacob Reischer of Worms in his re-
sponsa, IL, No. 81. 1910.
regular organization for concert
cd relief existed since ancient times
for the benefit of the Jews in Pales-
tine, still surviving as Halukah.
messenger of Zion is mentioned al
ready in the Talmud. The minutes of
the congregation Hamburg contain re
pcated entries of money sent TO Pal
cstine. Manasseh ben Israel speaks
Of such collections made in his city
IN 1853; the minutes of the congre'
gation of Berlin in 1870, in Hildesheim
in 1706, in Hanover in 1714, in Venice.
18th century, in Bordeaux, ZIG, re
fer to societies for the Eoor of Pal
cstine A Christian traveller reports
III 111f that the Jews of Jerusalem
live on charity sent from abroad, and
the Polish Jews made regular collec-
lions at the great fairs as early as
the 18th century for this purpose.
Modern times have the merit of
establishing concerted interna tional az
tions in emergencies. The pogroms of
Poland and Ukraine have become the
classic soil of patriotic" outbursts
which imposed upon the Jews of the
world the duty of organized charity
When in 164s the Cossocks under
1 'hmelnicki's leadership rebelled
against their Polish masters. the Jews
were butchered by the thousands. and
in 1865 the Poles i'm the war against
the Swedes revenged themselves on the
Jews, history's classic scapegoat. The
puor victims fled in all directions, but
no systematic efforts toward relief
We're made. Those who were fortunate
enough to escape found a refuge in
Amsterdam. in some town in Morayia
or in far off Smyrna, and local organi-
7ations helped the best they could. Only.
in 1881 wheR 1tottering czarism tried
'he old remedy -f -divertiag the fury
cf an exploited and oppressed mob to-
the enemies of Christ" u concerted
action was taken by the then existing
organizations, like the Alliance Israel.
lite of Paris, the Israelitische Allianz
of Vienna. the Board of Deputies o.
London and others.
Once more during the last five years.
the story of 1913 and 1865 repeated it,
self in Ukraine and Poland. For the
first time in history America has taken
the lead In an unprecedented manner
sums have been collected which were
l'eyOnd the dream of our ancestors
and which would have been consider
ed equally utopian even as late n
1911. The pride of this achievement
is considerably toned down when we
read what Zunz wrote In 1875. He
sees the large literature of the dirges
tSelihot) which commemorate Israel's
sufferiDgs decline with the beginning
of the 18th century. and believes that
the Selichah-Phoenix" is dying to be
resurrected as the universal liberty
hymn. He lived long enough to see
the falIacy of his optimism, for he died
in his ninety second year. several
years after the pogroms of 1881. Would
he with the experiences of the thirty
years following his death be so OPP
timistic as to believe in the end of the
Selihot literature?