The Denver Jewish news., 1924-06-05
RABBI SCHAPIRO, A LEADER
OF RARE CHARM AND
PERSONALITY.
An Interview by Harold Berman

catlonal Institutions In the wnr'rnvng-
cd lands, the Rabbi of kovuo, Lith-
uanln, Rabbi Il. Schaplro Ii an extra
ordinarily interesting mcmbcr.
Rabbi Schaplro, aside from being n
pillar Of learning, a Talmudlc scholar
of highest rank and of greatest magni-
tude is ulsG n man Of culture, world.
ly-wise md an all around man of prnc-
teal sense and experience, His under
standing OF the currents OF the pruc-
teal everyday life that surge about
him, his understanding OF the moves
and countcrmovcs upon the political
chess board In Eastern Europe since
the war on which the welfare OF our
own people so much depends, is rarc
indeed among the leaders Of the older
generation. They are mostly closet
men, immured In their narrow study
walls for, far away from the "madding
crowd" and the surglng movements
that throb all about them and engross
so much of the time and attention of
the people about them, with the re
suit that there is created n rift be
tween the leaders and those who are
to be led by them.
No so, however. is Rabbi Schapiro,
who is man of the World in the full
sense of the term, is au courant with
the life of the people about him, with
all the questions and problems-many
of them of great magnitude and su-
prcme importance that agitatc them
with all the GIBBS and floods of opinion
and sentiment and strife, internal as
well as external. He is thus eminent
ly qualified to be the spiritual leader
in the Jewry of today, of the Jewry of
Lithuania especially, the country that
has ever been the center of Jewish cul-
ture and learning, of public spirited ac.
tivity for countless past generations, n
state of affairs entirely well known
to all attentive students of Jewish his
tory during past three or from cen
turies
In my anxiety TO learn something at
first hand of the social and cultural
conditions of the Jews of Lithuania
since the day of her becoming n free
and independent nation; TO learn some
thing that is both more dependable as
well as more explicit and detailed than
the news that we usually receive thru
the not-always reliable news dispatches
The result of my venture have been
far more gratifying than even by fond
est hopes had led me to expect For
here there was no ordinary man of the
street before me, repeater of mere
rumors and market-place gossip, but n
man who is enjoying exceptionally
great opportunities of ascertaining
real facts ms well as for being in
formed about things that are not us
ually imported to every man, woman
and child.
And right here l must make con-
fcssion. That confession is to be
made right here and now, and in the
following brief words. was more in
terested in the spiritual and intellectual
side of the life of our people in Lith-
uania than in their material life and,
with that end in view, l shaped my
questions. In brief, l asked Aabbi
Schapiro to furnish me with full and
detailed inflammation nc IN tho ,,n,l
tions of their schools, their method of
operation, how far, and how efficiently.
Rabbi Schapiro, after listening at
tcntivcly to the torrent of questions
that l poured out before him, said, in
reply, the following: THE conditions
of our schools are both excellent and
bad, at one and the same time If
we consider their work. their accom-
plishment for the young who ARE re
ceiving their education in them, then
they are doing incompatible work in
decd. If we are to speak however of
their material conditions, of their
struggles with limited funds and their
communal siiiItlh1 " Ildht tlus meet,
the nthey are in periIous condition.
1t would break the heart of anyone
of our American brothers were he to
see cur constant struggles to afford
our youth the education that it so
Graves. And our struggle is further
enhanced by the fact that we have to
provide not only for our native chill
dren and youths but also for those of
the thousands of refugees who flock
to us from BOlshevik Russia. At pres
cnt, we have in operation four Rab-
binical Seminaries, 20 odd intermediate
schools, as well as n respectable num-
Der of schools wherein secular edu.
cation is given TO the pupils in addi.
tion to specifically Jewish education.
We are doing the best that we are able
with our limited resources. 1t is
American initiative and aid that has
all along encouraged the more-or-less