The Denver Jewish news., 1919-11-12
o OpportunitiesP Presented by Jew.
ish Homeland
CONTINUED from Page One, !,

religious life; and they tended to be-
come subservient rather than indie
pendent, submissive rather than re-
sistant. They lacked the good ele-
Iuents in the martial spirit. They met
the indigIities and cruelties to which
they were subjected not with indignant
protest, but with lamentations, both
public and private.
Their thoughtful men took refuge
in the study of the great Hebrew
literature, in teaching, in the practice
Of medicine, in the cultivation of
music, and in the preservation of the
dietetic, sanitary, and ceremonial ira
ditions of the race; but these occu-
rations had to be pursued in isolation
or even secrecy, and they were all of
the kind that developed the nervous
system and the emotions rather than
the muscular system. They needed
as atmosphere peace and quietness, not
strife or the strenuousncss of vigorous
competition.
A Misleading Reputation.
Under their very peculiar industrial
conditions, the Jews in all generations
developed skill in buying at low prices
and selling at high. and also skill i'll
lending money at high rates to i'm
pecunious Christians: and they ac-
CURED among Christians IL reputation
for being. grasping and sharp i'll their
money transactions. They were ready
to lend money to persons. who had
nothing to furnish as security except
their domestic animals, or their house
hold goods: and, when the borrowers
could no longer pay the high rates Of
interest they had agreed to pay they
lost to the Jewish lenders the precious
cLattels they had pledged. This prae-
tice of lending money or giving credit
to poor people. taking land, chattels. o.
crops not yet gathered as security.
has always been highly inexpedient for
Jews : but it is persisted in to this day
in many parts of the world. as for in
stance, by Jewish shop-keepers in the
southern fS.3tcS-
Thruout the Middle Ages ana down
to comparatively recent times. prUmis-
ing Jewish children could procure a
better education than was to he had
ly any other race in Europe; because
education was better preserved among
the Jews than among an- other CON
stituent of the European population
Accordingly. the Jews wt.re likely to
excel their Christian neighbors in those
intellectual occupations accessible to
them: and here again was n source Of
exasperation against them as IA race.
and often of danger tC them.
Here we see important sources of
modern prejudices against the Jew
ish race coming down the centuries.
The present Christian generations of
European and American origin dread
the clannishness of the Hebrew peo-
pie who live among them, their in
genuity and keenness in buying and
selling. and their practical skill in
banking and carrying on a great var
iety of trading operations, both whole
sale and retail In the countries
where Jews are free the Christians
complain that, although the refined,
educated and public-spirited jew is Il
thoroly satisfactory friend and neigh
Dor. the coarse, ignorant, Ostentatious
Jews is PECULIARLY disagreeable pro
duction of free institutions. especially
if he be newly rich.
1t is perfectly plain that both the
noble and the ignoble qualities of a
free Jewish population are inevitable
results of the life of the race during
centuries of oppression and isola tion.
and that the cure for the evil can only
be found in new centuries of free
dom and education. The coming gen-
erations in all races are going to at
tend much more than past generations
did to the suppression of the physical
and moral evils which affect dis
astronsly the public health and vital
ity. and to the means Of securing
yigor of body and independence Of
thought. Most Of the Christian peo-
l,les put n high value ON the fighting.
adventurous spirit in "A
healthy man. ANA have good reason to