The Denver Jewish news., 1925-01-22
the JeW
by OSCAR LEONARD

sity to live. Whereupon a lady, who
did not appreciate poets, said;
81 do not sec the nccc sity."
There arc many persons who do not
sec the necessity for the survival Of
the jew. Among these are some per-
sons Of Jewish blood OF these some
have not the courage to step out.
Others have stepped out to mix with
non-Jcws; Joined clubs where Jews
are not wanted, and are known only
10 Gontiles as Jews.
The great bulk Of the Jewish people,
however, want to survive, not merely
individually, but collectively. Even
though the jew has lived on from an
tiquity he is not yet lifeweary. lie
seems not to have exhausted the will
to serve, which stimulates the will to
live. He has gone through centuries
Of oppression and his sufTerings were,
and still are, untold in their heights
and depths. Yet he has persisted.
During darkest periods Of his life the
jew has managed to go on, but it
seems the dawn of tolerance means
the twilight Of his existence.
This is the burden Of Survival or
Extinction by Elisha NJ. Friedman
(Thomas Selzer) This book is a study
of the social aspects of the Jewish
question. Its author is scientist, an
economist of note, a man who does not
rhapsodizc or sentimentaize. He is
business man who looks at things
dispassionately. On questions like the
one treated in this book much senti-
ment and emotion is spent. Usually
such works are the results of heat
rather than Of light.
Starting out scientifically, the au-
thor states: zone Of the basic facts
in biology is that any change in the
environment is followed by one of
three results: the adaptation of the
organism, physical migration out of
the newly unfavorable environment,
or death"
The Jew can not be an exception to
natural law. 1t is true, he seems to be
contradiction to history. He should
have disappeared long ago; but some
thing has kept him from so doing.
Yet, looking at the thing scientifically,
one wonders whether the eternal
people can possibly be eternal, or
even as eternal as man can visualize.
The environment has created three
main types of Jews. The assimila-
zionist, the status quo, and the nation
alist. OF course, there are asSimila-
tionists who are misnomers. Complete
assimilation means to follow in the
footsteps of the Mendelssohns, Rubin
stems, and several well-known Amer
lean families like the Belmonts, and
Astors, who came here as Jews and
ended by being SO exclusive socially
that they would keep their own cousins
out of their social functions. This city,
too, can boast of several such families,
which means that st. Louis is a nor
NAL city. =
There are so-called assimilationists
who would not allow their children to
marry out of the Jewish fold, yet in
sist that nothing must be done to per-
petuate Jewish culture or traditions.
The status quo jew is usually we'll
to-do. He is satisfied with conditions
as he finds them for himself, in the
lanl where he happens to live. lie
does not want the Jews to disappear,
but he does not care to see them build
up home of their own. He, of course,
does not see the absurdity of his posi-
tion, since the Jews scattered means
the jew will disappear eventually,
The only logical position, providing
one believes the jew has something to
offer to the world and therefore should
continue, is that of the nationalist who
dreams and works for the realization
of the destiny Of his people.
To this thesis the author addresses
himself This thesis nc proves amply.
He goes through the history of the
jew. He points out the various par
ties in Jewry that have come and gone,
and that the jew has been able to live
on solely through the hope and faith
in his destiny. Only those parties in
Jewry helped the Jew bear his heavy
burden who had that faith in the re-
building of Zion. The parties which
were bcreft of this hope always disap-
peared together with their adhcrents
who ended by intermarrying or bap-
tiziag. In other words, they created
an excuse for their cowardly desertion
of prosecuted and suffering people.
The most important of modern par
tic in Jewry is the Reform Movement.
Founded by truly great Jew, Moses
Mendelssohn, who himself was a me-
ticulCus observer of all customs and