The Denver Jewish news., 1925-09-17
BY A. II. FRoMENsoN

/ They have been on nv mind ever
since saw them on the streets OF
Jerusalem.
They add TO the bizarreness of the
City-the scampish, impndent featured
youngsters with their little. unkeinpt
corkscrew curls standing out like lues-
tion marks interrogatlng the future
the solemnvisaged youths, tmany Of
| them married at sixteen) In kapotas
and wide-brimmed streimlach, from
underneath which protrude long. shoul-
der-sweeping carefully trained peyoth.
Many tourists--lncluding American
Jews-are amused. How queer, how
picturesque I was disturbed. They
made me uneasy somehow. That un-
easiness has persisted.
Sometimes, as l think Of thpm-and
| think of them very often-I argue
with myself: What's wrong with
these young fellows? Suppose their
garb. their hirsute adornment would
not be approved by the sartorial savant
who pundits in the theatre programs
about What the Men VIII Wear?"
Well, what Of It? Youthful faces, that
never experienced the beatitude of a
keeDedged blade, young faces framed
IN earlOcks are conventional in Je-
rnaaaem. They are accepted as kills
are accepted In Scotland, as knickers
Oh the golf course, and daresay that
II one stays in Jerusalem long enough
he becomes accustomed to them, as one
becomes accustomed to the Arab
Abayah and Kefiyah.
Nevertheless they disturbed me, still.
disturb me. Possibly it is because I
vontured to look beyond the externals.
Possibly. 1t Is because l caught fleet
ing glimpse OF their souls.
1t Is a wonderful thing, that in this
hamboyant, student era of arrogantly
rebellious youth. from which Palestine
IL by NO means immune. there should
still exist a jewish youth devoted TO
the study Of the ancient Jewish lore,
the Gemorroh. the Talmud; youth
whose lives are lived within the frame
work Of the Torah, the Shulchan
Aruch; whose calendar is the calendar
Of Jewish fasts and feasts, whose days
should be divided into ChtzOss, Shach-
arith, Mlncha, Maariv and Krieth
Shema. II IL wonderful thing that
w. should still possess youth whose
ambitions express themselves In terms
q aspesxacy in the Aeld Of Jewish
sAslarship Of the oldea type, rather
than in terms Of academic and profess
sional degrees. The study of the law
was. through all the dark centuries,
shield and buckler for the Jew. 1t
protected him from suecumblng to the
storm Of hatred and persecution. 1t
made 1t possible for him to endure, to
survive. 1t saved Israel from extinc-
ton. And the study Of the Law must
always remain one Of the major Obli-
cations Of the Jew. That Is my pro
found conviction.
But the study of the Law for its
own sake, as matter OF mature,
reasoned, deliberate choice. Not out
Of a blind following in ancestral foot
steps. Not as an act Of life forced up
on one by external pressure, and above
all, not with the motive of gaining the
right to Chaluka.
II Ia the Chaluka background Of these
young fellows that disturbs me- To be
sure, not all Of the particular class
under discussion subsist on Chaluka.
A considerable number obtai ma liveli-
hood from some form or other of mer-
chandising. But, even those have the
same psychology, the same background.
the same outlook.
Let me say this: For the old, the
mIddle-aged men who, years ago and
even recently, made plous pilgrimage to
Jerusalem to study Torah, ''yom
y'lyloh' ! have feeling Of veneration,
Of love. I would not deprive them
OF that piOus joy. But like most Zion
lists cannot contemplate with equani-
nifty the prospect of the Chaluka, or
the Chaiuka psychology, becoming n
family heirloom, legacy to be handed
down by the generation that Is going
on to enjoy Its merited portion of