The Denver Jewish news., 1923-10-25
ZangwM at theAmer
Jewish Congress
BY ]. LEFTwICH

0ur vOiceS-tiley speak for us because
we cannot speak. they are ourselves
nrticnlate. the form for all that weltef
Of sllnpeless emotions which drive us
blintlly forwnrtl-nation, generation.
century, Not In the Wilderness crying
alone goes the voice. hut with us. step
by step AZ we 90. Interpreting our
movements. singing the things we do.
the things we cannot help doing. be-
cause the hrge To do them is in our
blood. N
! There are little voices. whispering
voices which speak for small groups.
for short periO,ls-nnd there are strong
voices. thunder voices. which speak
for II whole nation. for a decade. for
u century.
Not an artist is Israel Zangwill-
not writer of talent. All TINT Is
craftsmai,shiI-nbi to do one work.
He is voisp. II voice. and n mighty
voice. speaking for the Jews of our
time. Able men there nrc many. able
writer's. talented writers-l,Os.s of
tttVih. S"hS u" a tVhN''
| People often talk of literature and
Of art, they tnlk of talen. and Of genius
Of originality md Of wisslom-they
lave In mind work skilfully done.
Originally Is hut new trick Of doing
things. Life is never original. The
voice TX not concerned about originality.
nl,Out the ncwness. the novelty Of what
1t says. 1t is concerned only about lis
sincerity. And he who is Il voice IL
not ashamed to repeat what lesser
voices have said. he gives them au-
thOrity. he gathers up the sum total
u what has been said-hcrc n hit,
there bit. family. in whisperings. he
gives II forth whole.
The elected lenders mny deem
| themselves the sp0kesmen of the peO-
pie. hut they are only badges. The
voice of people does not need to he
| elected.
AZ times rs<yple talk ms II one man
| had come along md created a new way
of thinking. or Of doing things In this
Jewish lie Of ours. we talk Of the
Originators of the national idea. 1t Is
not the idea which coming suddenly
and propagnting itself creates its voice,
| the lpaidcr--nOt always the official lead
cr-wiio becomes the movement articu-
late.
Moses Menlclsoh. He was not man
arbitrarily creating movement In
Jewish life out of his own head. He
was the expression Of what Ind he
come inevitable. the spokesman Of all
who were going the same road as he.
Iecausc they could not go otherwise.
His theory was not wrong. For his
day, It was stipremely right. Only the
day for 1t has passed.
Life may not bc more than rising
md falling Of WAVES. bnt the waves
rise and. they fall. OF the new move
ment today in Jewish life-not Zion
pOrtnnt than that-Jcwisll peopleism
may Ike ventured sa name. but II il
more than the name suggests-Israel
Zangwill Is the voice. And the voice
has gone forth to the city which has
the greatest Jewish population the
world has ever seen. to speak there
ns from n mountain. to sum mp all
things which have been said by the
lesser vOiccs-the message that will
stand. From the mountain top it will
res0und over the world. Though when
the voice speaks 1t matters not whence
1t speaks.
Zangwill has written n grent deal
Jews sometimes do not realize the po-
.sition of Zangwill in English letters
In day when we have still writing
Hnrly. Shaw and Wells Among young
English au, hOrs, Zangwill is looked up
to with remarkable venerhtion There
may bc something exotic in the appeal
ns there was IN the case of an able
hut commonplace Jewish actOr who was
acclnimed the greatest actor in the
world. because he prOtrnyed Jews. But
Zangwill. however much he may have
gained by the exotic in his writings
IL IL great writer-strange. that wi i
all that splendid brain of the Jew
Heine and ZangwilI are the only Jews
IN European world literature. All that
luxuriant growth out of the slums OF
the Ghetto has not produced Il second
Zangwill. Not all the promise of Il
Rosenberg. Winston, Golding has
achieved what Znngwill as a writer
has achieved. Zangwill published tn,
"Children of the Ghetto at the age ot
twcnty-eight.
Above all, Zangwill as writer ba.
that quality which marks him out as {