Intermountain Jewish news., 1925-12-17
THE JEWISH REALM OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

and has TO resort TO the good Office of
the Russian" shokhal. This is hard
on the poor Sephardlm. They are sigh
Ing FOR the day when they will be able
to get n shokhat of their own, aud
some of them are probably wondering
whether the meat they are eating from
under the knife of that Russian Is
after all, kosher" This will perhaps
Illustrate better than other incidents
the profound estrangemcnt between the
two sections OF the Jewish community.
1t is manifest that the breach be-
tween the two groups of the Jewish
people, n breach that has its origin In
causes geographical, ethnographical
Publicity.-rhc customer at the small
restaurant called the waiter.
What's the meaning of this" he eN-
claimed, Yesterday you gave me II
portion twice as large as This"
Where did you sit yesterday, sirr'
by the window"
"Oh. that accounts for 1t. We al
ways give people by the window larger
portions. Progressive Grocer.
and climatic, going back so many gem
erations in the past, has not been heal
ed as yet. And even when both groups
are forced to dwell side by side in the
same country, under the same condi-
tions and circumstances, they con-
tinue to regard each other with a
good deal Of prejudice and maintain
a persistent aloofness. Not so soon
can We see the example of the Jews
of Uruguay.
In addition to the Jews from West
ern and Central Europe, who, being
too few to set up communities of
their own, found it best to join the
group of the Russian Jews in Uru-
quay, we must note some whom jew
ish society scarcely knows but who
are Jews just the same. Their fam
lily names plainly proclaim them to
be of Jewish origin, even though they
have completely severed every tie
that might have bound them or their
ancestors to Israel. These Jews Tin
name only are very careful to avoid
giving the slightest hint that they are
of Jewish blood, for fear that it
might interfere with their business
success or reflect upon their "Yichus," +"
even though the native Uruguayan is
against the "Judeo." To the Gentle
inhabitants, the Jewish situation in
this country appears simple enough;
they believe that there are two differ
ent "tribes" of Israel-a European
and an Asiatic-who dwell not exact
ly in peace with each other. But the
press, as well as the general public,
treats the Jews fully as well as any
other group of people in this coun-
try, making no visible distinction.
While on the subject of the press,
it will be proper to say n few words
regarding the amount and kind of at
tention which the Uruguayan press
and general literature pay to jewish
life.
The number of Spanish books deal
ing with Jews is very Insignificant,
In the twenty or more countries
where the language is Spanish, no i'm
portant Jewish colonies exist. Small
wonder under these circumstances,
that Jewish life is almost mystery
to the people of these countries.
Their writers and their newspaper
men simply had no opportunity to get
acquainted at first hand with Jewish
life and their works are therefore
practically free from any Jewish
theme. Uruguayan literature is no
exception to this almost universal
rule. Until very recent times it was
impossible to come across a single ar
ticle on Jews in any Of the Uru-
guayan papers and magazines. Only
lately, with the growth of the Jewish
communities, when they are beginn-
ing to make their influence felt in
public life, the subject is obtaining
some publicity in the press.
The great daily "El Dia" is now
running a series from Raimond Geig-
er's book, "Jewish Stories" which ap-
peared serially in the "Novelle Revue
Fmnclisc.' Owing TO the fact that
French is generally understood by the
writer's and intellectuals of this coun-
try, which is strongly Influenced by
French culture generally the news
paper decided to turn to French
work on the Jews and had it trans
lated into Spanish for the benefit Of
its readers. Unfortunately, this Sc
lection is far from satisfactory as an
Interpretation of the Jew, and this
collection of stories and anecdotes has
even n taint Of anti-Semitism