The Denver Jewish news., 1924-01-17
Jacob Mast, Rabbi and
Leader Of Russian
Jewry
BY d. sioskwin.
tJewish relesraphic Agency)

respondent OF the Jewish Telegraph
Agency. the occasion being the rabbits
completion of thirty years of public
seryice.-Editor.
1t is not in forgetfulness or in slight
Of his Office that write of him as Jacob
Mase.. not as Rabbi Jacob Mase. 1t
is because the rabbi is the least that
he is. To call him rabbi or crown rab-
bi, as the title used tol hr in Russia, is
The most dread humiliation you can
put upon Jacob Mase
At the celebration of his jubilee the
10 praise him. said that the fact that
Jacob Mase was among the crown rab-
bis took from the term the reproach
with which 1t was generally asOcsiated
among the Jews of Russia. Never in
my life have seen AIasc so indignant
as when he replied TO this reference to
his crown rabbinate. l have never
been a crown rabbi. he cried, and his
voice trcmblcd as he spoke. If / was
n rabbi or Raw, call 1t as You like, I
was n social service rabbi. To say that
was the redeeming feature among
the class of crown rabbis is little COM
pllment to me. 1t is as If you said that
of the thieves l was the most honest
man.
He objected altogether to the system
Of putting label on n man. of clubbing
him rabbi or anything else. The only
way of judging him, he insisted, was to
think of him ms man. Mase spoke
, of n young Jew. an educated. learned
young man. full of idealIsm and of love
for his people, eager to devote his life
TO their service. In the days OF the
ear the only way In which he could do
that was to become rabbi. Occupying
the rabbinicnl post, he could go about
freely among the Jews, he could inspire
them with his idealism, he could spread
among them culture and learning. Year
after year, this idealist, the fire of
\ love burning in his heart and in his
sonl, went about on his mission among
his people, hut he was n crown rabbi
and the Jews always looked with mis-
trust upon a crown rabbi. A crown
rabbi to them was the symbol of
man sold to the government, n man of
bribery and corruptIon,l n spy, and oft
on an informer. Unable to overcome
this feeling OF mistrust, the young
idealist in despair took his life. He
was a vlcffmaof the criminal classifi-
cation OF people according to the label
put upon them.
am the soul of that man, vehement
ily cried out Jacob Mase. I say that
not TO boast of it, but to warn you that
lyon may avert such criminal waste of
life in the future. I want to raise up
before your eyes the truth that you
may reflect upon it, that you may real
ze the wrong you have committed
Iagainst many who had the misfortune
nto have attached to them the official
label of Grown rabbi. 1t is not the
1profession, 1t is not what you call the
Imam that matters, 1t is the man him
Nself.
Jacob Mase has never been nn official
rabbi. still less has he been n crown
rabbi. He has always been Jacob Mase
Nhimsclf alOne-the best example of n
HJew' devoted to the cause of his people.
II His profound knowelge, his Jewish
learning his general education, his ora
torical powers almost unsurpassed. his
social work. his activity in all direc-
Vtions. have made his name famous out
II side of Moscow, and outside of Russia
\ even. everywhere where there are Jews.
" Officially, Mase was the representa-
tive of the Jewish congregations Of
Moscow. Actually. he was the repre-
v sentative of all Russian Jewry, and
there were times. as during that great
Beilis blood libel trial, when Mase was
Jewry, of al the Jews everywhere. At
such times Mase did not take his
II stand as one with bated heath interced
ing humbly for his people, as one de-
Tending his people against charges and
III half acknowledging their guilt, but
proudly as one repudiating with In
dignation unfounded accusations and
accusing in turn those who commit
wrongs against his people, MS one burn
ing with scorn and with anger, de-
ucuncing the wrongdoers, the persecu-
tors,
He showed this most powerfully Mt
v tbe time of the BELLS trial. Everyone
Knows the historic part played by Mase
ldurlng this terrible arraignment of the
whole Jewish people before a Russian
court of law. His eloquent speeches,
his uiasterful testimony, stand out as
monuments of his genius. There is II
III slight incident in the course of his evil
MI