Intermountain Jewish news., 1925-10-22

der to satisfy his thirst for original.
ity,
Is. Shclvin resents this latest blum.
der of Zangwill, who fought to know
that the Jewish people cannot for.
give those who will attempt to slight
Its dignity, as well as those who
would make Of its religion an object
for their irresponsible witticisms."
In another issue Of the same news.
paper an editorial Is devoted to Zang.
Wills new confession Of faith. "a
bad dream" the writer calls the opin
ion of the dreamer of the Ghetto
that the New Testament should be
adopted by the Jewish people as a
legitimate part o fits Bible.
"Thc straying and restless spirit"
the writer says, "who could never
wander along in the dark; the dream
or, who always made sure that every
new dream of his should be brop l.
castcd by radio and cable to all parts
of the globe; the man who sought
God and publicity simultaneously-he
lives in constant fear lest he be for.
gotten. And in order to continue be
ing interesting both for himself and
for others, and to continually draw
general attention toward himself, he
must keep on wandering.
After his political dreams had led
to nothing. and his leadership had
lost its attractivencss, the old man
turned back upon religion. Here is
not one repeating, but agnin seeker
of new territories, where one may
come out with some new sensation -
Mr.. j. L. Brill, of the "Jcwish Daily
News" calls 2angwill's "New Juda-
ism "still-born child" He writes.
Israel Zangwill is an old man. For
almost forty years he has been not
able figure in Jewish life. He has
played many parts: teacher. novelist,
essayist and playwright. But, as a
statesman, endeavoring to solve the
Jewish problem, he has been a dis
NAL failure.
"Zangwill wanted Jews to forget
Eretz Yisroel, the land of their
father. and they refused to follow
him. They will little heed him as the
founder of new Judaism.
"Hangwill has translated into Eng
.lish portions of the Jewish prayer
book, the "Machzor," and only re-
Gently he gave us an English rendi-
tion of the poems of Solomon Ibn
Gabirol, but it appears that he has
been little swayed by the liturgy and
the outpourings of the Jewish poet
who flourished in the Golden Age of
Spain. Zangwill was never certain,
never sure of himself
"There is, unfortunately, n tenden.
cy among many modern Jews to de
cry Judaism. This is due partly to
the radical Reform movement that
swept across Europe and America
half century or so ago, and partly
to the fact that the Jew of today gets
his knowledge of Judaism mostly
from non-Jewish sources. All at
tempts to de-Judaize Judaism have
failed, ending in the assimilation of
those who made the effort.
Jews are more than just religi-
Gus sect. They are religious people,
or a nation with specific religious
concept. And it is this concept which
has been SO mighty factor in pre-
serving the Jewish people us sep
arate entity. And this concept, too,
frowned most severely upon mixed
marriages, because, as has been
pointed out, they lead to the absorp-
tion of the Jew by the non-Jewish
party.
ave are sorry" the writer con-
cludes, Extremely sorry for Israel
Zangwill, once the acclaimed leader
not only of English Jewry, but of
world Jewry as well. Disappointed,
aged, he is now cropping in the dark.
His sons will certainly not be Jews,
and thus the name Zangwll will not
be more than a memory among the
Jewish people"
A similar opinion is held by the
editorial writer in the same Jewish
Daily News" He sees that Zangwill
is doing everything he possibly can
do to eliminate himself entirely from
Jewry. "While it is true" the writer
says, that this is not the first time
Iangwill romances with Christianity,
that few decades ago he wrote a
hymn to the founder of the Christian
religion, this latest declaration of his
is of such content as will cause the
missionaries to rejoice and will sure