Intermountain Jewish news., 1926-11-18

and-thunder general, powerful cap
tains of industry, prominent leaders
in commerce. There was day when
q Jewish story consisted mostly of
repetition of some Of the command
ments. and q peroration: And thus
you see, my dear children, how God
rewards you II you are good Young
sters are just as impatient Of pa
tronizing as are adults. Those who
recognize this fact have gone long
way toward being able to write for
children"
"But in what way is Young Is
rael' specifically Jewish?" I inter
jected. "What particular methods do
you employ to keep the Jewish child
within the Jewish circle?"
1t is probable that these questions
were regarded by Miss Weihl in the
same light as the moral" stories that
used to clutter Jewish magazines.
ave are trying to provide home
magazine with subjects largely of
Jewish interest. Our stories are
mostly international episodes from
Jewish history and folklore. They
aim to acquaint the reader with Jew
ish customs and ceremonials. We
have q current events department
which designs to draw Jews of all
countries closer together. We try to
cultivate the religious feeling of the
child, but we never stress the ma
terialistic concept"
Miss Weihl occupies an absolute
ly unique position in Jewish life. She
does not hide the fact that early
amours had great deal to do with
interesting her in Jewish affairs.
! She was born in Cincinnati, the seat
of the Hebrew Union College, and
many of her admirers were rabbin-
ical students. 1t is not improbable
that many of them studied for ex-
aminations in Bible or Talmud with
Miss Weihl to check up on errors
She continued her interest in Jewish
work by lecturing on Jewish subjects
before adult groups, and by travel
ing throughout the country on be-
half of the Union of American He
brew Congregations-studying condi-
tions in schools for children. She
found the facilities inadequate, and
later decided that magazine Of ma
tional character would be welcome
binding force for Jewish work.
Her desire to inculcate general
humanism into the magazine which
reaches so many Jewish children is
symptomatic of her whole outlook on
life. She is greatly interested in
Jewish things, but she is quite as
active in other fields. She has trans
lated Ismar Elbogen's History Of
the Jews" from the German; she has
also spent a great deal of time in
European universities, taking courses
in art, music and literature. She is
a regular contributor of stories and
satires to various general magazines.
At present, Miss Weihl is engaged
upon her great endeavor" She is
writing biography of Heinrich
Heine in collaboration with Lewis
Browne; the latter has gone to Eu-
rope to gather, if possible, some
more intimate data. She herself has
been collecting material for years;
even today, she can be found in her
spare moments browsing in old book
shops, preferring the unknown Ger
man bookdealers who occasionally
remember a precious anecdote from
a long forgotten volume.
Miss Weihls may be engrossed in
Jewish work; she may have to adopt
an exclusively Jewish point of view
at times, but she is first and fore
most a woman interested in every
thing about her, intelligently, critic
ally and dispasionately.
Copyright 1925 by Seven Arts Feature
| Syndicate