The Denver Jewish news., 1924-08-28

oppose H. When the struggle for the
dominance Of one uf these tendencies
Is TO be ended there Is no way Of
knowing, All We can dc IL To record
the ihiugs that have already occur.
rsl.
Whnt Is the central tendency in
American Jewish life which Is likely 10
gain domlnancoY
Parallel with the pushing ahead Of
this tendency for Justice and equal
ity, aiming Nt the salvation of the
world, the fight for the emancipation
OF the Jewish people has been going on.
II was not until the French Revolution
and the German Revolution Of 1SIS
that the Jews Were In principle given
equal rights. The existence 0f The
American Jewish community In its pres
ent form aud numbers Is the first fact
Of this Kind which was ever recorded
in the history Of the Jewish people
and the history of the world. America
represents II unique experiment In this
respect. II is for the first time that n
great number Of Jews are Incorporated
into the body Of II great and free nation
under the protection Of democratic
and liberal government and given the
possibility of enjoying full citizenship
rights and religions liberty. This state
of affairs certainly has its advantages
hut II also has its dangers. Here again
Jewish history can furnish MS n good
reason for optimism. II was not earlier
than the date when the Jewish settle
ments began to grow and the develop
ment OF the Slavic countries that the
type Cf lew that we are now nccus-
toned 10 look upon as the only rep
resen'ativc Of traditional Judaism.
characterizing him as Orthodox Jew.
bcgnn 10 make his appearance We
are always inclined 10 think Of this
type Of Jew, whose JewishneSs is ex-
pressed by his difference in Language,
dress and external custom, from the
other inhabitants of the land. But let
us take n lesson from history. The
Jewish community in Arabic Spain was
highly cultured. highly developed and
certainly highly Jewish since it could
produce such n basically Jewish ltcra-
ture ms the one which has inspired our
historians to name that period The
Golden Epoch" Nevertheless. n leader
and intellectual genius like Maimonides
was not any different from his coun-
trymen in his language external Gus
tom and culture than any other leader
of that country and time. The essen
tials Of Judaism do not depend upon
such external appearances There is no
ground for peSsimism in the prediction
of the approach of similar type of
American Jew who enjoying to the full
measure his political rights, cultural
and economic opportunities, should re-
main true to his specific Jewish cul-
tui'' INV VI 'iouShl' uhi i'iiEibn Inc
time is not far off, in my opinion. when
America, the youngest of Jewish com
munites, will he in position to sup
ply with intellectual and religious lead
ers all the other older and now seem
ingly decadent Jewish communities of
the world. In this respect, Orthodox
Judaism is valuable protection and
veritable armor as it has proven To he
in the course Of our long and varied
historical development.
Whit is your opinion with regard
TO the lately much talked of theory of
the superiority of the NOrdicS in con
nectiOn with the anti-ImmigratiOn bill,
and is there any danger that America
will become susceptible to the doc
trines of anti-Semtism?
Here again Mr.. Wierniek concluded,
History could furnish us valuable adj
vice. The fate of the Jewish communi-
ties in the Anglo-Saxon countries which
we could rightly call biblical countries
is sufficient proof that Anti -Semitism,
M least so far as 1t ssharp and violent
forms are concerned never could root
itself very deeply in these countries"
lgVWJrTyNTUNTJnT NMTWTrInrI,117