Intermountain Jewish news., 1926-09-30

wM nerer be Gblo 10 iHiogrute
themselves into The soil on iphich
theD work? The authors of this
article, both Of ehom hare had
agriculture experience for mGnB
| yeors, smash tho many theories
of the Jew being untitled for the
agricultural background of the
Jem is enhanced bp p'easGni,
ironic tonch.-THE EDITOR.
To the ordinary Jew, revealing as he
does In generalitIes about his race and
quick tn pounce upon conclusions, the
Idea of II Jewish farmer. like the idea
OF a Jewish Navy is a remote possibil-
ity and even n family hilarious one
an ideal suggestion for newspaper
comic. He has visions Of his father,
the tailor or grocer or paper hanger
that was, milking COW, and inspired
to Il contemplatiyc mirth. He thinks
of his son, the dentist or lawyer or ac-
couniant to be, dedicated To the dubious
profit OF cabbage and cucuMbers. and
thanks God for preserving him from
such fate. liz thinks of himself,
of those dizzy, racking moments at
noon, crossing a afiic-jammed street
when 1t comes to him that II must he
n good thing to live half a mile from
your nearest neighbor breatls air that
is still and sweet. even IL less profit re-
suits than In. manufacturing suspenders.
But ilision-the jew. no will tell you
he wasn't made for the farm the
more complex mechanism Of his brain,
the more delicate mechanism Of his
body restrict him 10 city life. He will
quote you vague statistics about dia-
betes, about asthma, He will Dwell at
length on the thousands Of years We
have been alienated from the soiL upon
the depressing effects thereof So he
talks Of his race. Over analysed, over
synthcized, over-exalted. over-rcrilcd
through the ages, we Jews. like ahys.
terial woman have come to, make a cult
of our pcculiaritics, have built them up
like n polite wall of separation between
ourselves and the rest of mankind, We
.Tews--a little proud of our superior
liabilities. elaborately and inslgccrely
apologize.
Strange Thlings.
To-day, from abroad come strange
7 tt.lt,,a- nttr in Dt,c,yi.. Dol
estinc, urged on by the needs Of the
time and II new loyalty to the land
are breaking through our nge old re-
luciancc toward The soil. They arc
farming In spite of the thousands OF
years. etc. in spite of diabets, and
asthma. Whether this movement is
doomed to, failure, because of a basic
unfitness in us for the soil becomes an
! impelling question. The only way to
answer it is first to ignore this chaos
of preconccivcJ prcjudices which have
grown up on the subject of Jewish
farming. Rather must we turn to the
actually of experience, to learn what
has been accomplished in the past, in
order to predict what may he accom-.
plished in the past, in order TO predict
what may be accomplished in the
future.
There are Jewish farmers in Amer
lea, approximately $500, owning about
1,0O0.000 acres to the value of 500
0OO,O00 They engage in every known
branch of agriculture. general farming
poultry raising. Horticulture, beekeep
ing. vegetable growing. dairying. fruit
growin: and the various other spcciali
zations. These settlements of Jewish
Farmers, although originating in South
Jersey have spread to New England
to the middle west, to California.
Started in Eighties
When the pcrsecuted Jews vert
driven from Russia in the early eighties
"A number of wealthy and inhucntia
German Jews in New York. somewhat
confounded by this influx of their Rus
sian co-rcligionists. fell upon the re
markablc plan Of sending them to t,t
farm. Perhaps not 80 remarkable
Tolstoi and n "huck to the Soil'' ideal
ism were in the air land in Sputl
Jersey was cheap, and something had
TO he done with the immigrants,
Consistently, enough, then, the Jew
in America, took first to the farm be
cause he had no other recourse. Auf
yet these colonies spread. New re
cruits came voluntarily. Their motives
varied. Some-thc intcllegentsia (stil
intoxicated with TolstoD believed tina
the noblest life man can lead is clos,
to nature. earning his bread by tbt
sweat of his brow. Some believed tha
as owners Of 4 farm estate their so
cial prestige would be greatly enhanced
The writer's can still remember quit
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