Evening star., 1925-03-22

ceremonial, and there is very high
authority for acceptance Of grape
juice. Surely, God in Heaven cannot
be interested in the problem of fer
mented vs.. unfermented wine.
Our brethren who insist on having
fermented wine are taking their re-
ligious ceremonial much too serious
ly. The highest Jewish authorities
permit the use of unfermented wine
and SO does Almighty God.
Objects TO Abuses.
Il am not objecting. however, to
the use of sacramental wine. but to
the abuse of it and to those people
who all of. d sudden take notion
to get religion"
Rabbi Simon said he understood
there was 'lot of stuff here" in
Washington Some of 1T, he said. was
sacramental wine, but some of it was
not, and no one had a right to say
that all of the wine in Washington
was sacramental wine.
Admitting he had not gone deeply
into the matter of facts as a de-
tective would, the eminent rabbi
said: When | hear some of the men
talk as / hear them on the street, 1
know it's pretty bad"
Takes Different View.
Rabbi Loeb of the orthodox Church
took a different position.
He said his people used wine in
ceremonials. both in the synagogue
and at home, following a custom
which had come down through 80
centuries. I'VE wish to make use of
it," he said, "in a manner not to be
obnoxious to the community in which
we live, nor to its laws. | person
ally want to cooperate in any man
M ha1n ha
,tion of abuses in regard to sacra-
mental wines. But L call attention
to the fact that these are the same
kind of abuses common under other
SectS and creeds, and that the many
offenses against the law may better
be laid at the door of the uncom
mon stringency of the Nolstead
measure.
"Inasmuch as light wines and
beer are not being considered by the
ma ajority of people as intoxicants.
should these be released under the
law, l believe the greater part of
the evil would be removed. The
whisky business could be easily held
under control. ana many misdoines
would be done away with He
would not sanction the return of the
old-tim saloon" as it was a "den
of vice, corruption and crooked
politics."
He asked who among the rich of
the country. including the hotel man
agements. Senators and Members of
Congress. were entirely clear of ever
having violated the Volstead act.
Blame in Other Creeds.
An official of the Government
some time ago had told him, Rabbi Loeb
said. that there was just as much vio-
Of n
other sects and creeds as among the
Jewish people.
Making plea for temperance,
which he said meant moderation.
keeping from extremes" Rabbi Loeb
said he attributed the widespread
we see, and the crimes
in the various States, to the extreme
measure of stringency in the Nolstead
act"
Condition in Washington.
I'm Washington" charges the
American Hebrew, literally under
the shadow of the Capitol dome, boot
leggers openly take orders for and
make deliveries of cartons contain
ing one-g gallon bottles of wine orig
inally delivered to rabbis. Gentle
bootIeggers accommodate their Gus
toners with Jewish sacramentaI
Scotch just in from Weehawken. \.
j.. and other ports of de5arkation
along the Atlantic rum front.
The wine is sold to virtually all
corners. Gentiles staging celebrations
at their homes pridefully offered their
guests wine from bottles marked with
an Hebraic inscription. Even negroes
have boasted of the ease with which
they can and have obtained Jewish
wines. Why fool with one day old
corn it is asked, when one can get
aged wines intended for
Jewish consumption?
In Washington, bootleggers, in
,luding in some instances so-called
-abbis, have solicited customers for
wine in office buildings and a short
.ime later they have made deliveries
o the purchaser. They have operated
as openly as any of their Gentle
brethren"
Methods by which Jewish congrega-
ions were enormously inflated to in
,lude not only Jews, but other per-
sons as well. were described before
he recent conferences here on the Ques-
ion by Rabbi Coffee. A stenographic
,opy of his testimony is on file at
he prohibition unit, and was gener-
1usly quoted by the magazine.
"Fdr the first time in the history
Of thu Jewish religion" said Rabbi
Coffee, there are black, yellow and
EVEN red members of the Jewish
faith"
SIX MEN INDICTED.