Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-05
Rabbi J. T. Loeb of Chu
ShoIom Denounces Nathan
Cayton in Interview.
DECLARES JURIST'S LOGIC
is UNWORTHY OF BENCH
Suggests Desire for Immortality
May Have Prompted Criticism
"Too Offensive" to Disregard.

Declaring that Judge Nathan Cayton
of Municipal Court has never been
known to ningle with the Jewish peo-
pie sufficiently to know them, has not
borne their burdens and has not there
fore been able to Judge their deviations
from the paths of rectitude and right
eousneSs, Rabbi j. T. Loeb of Ohev
Sholom Congregation takes direct issue
with the remarks of the Judge, de-
nouncing his statements regarding the
Jewish crime wave as too offensive"
entirely to disregard.
In an interview at his home last
night Rabbi Loeb said Judge Cayton's
statements and implications appeared
to have been inspired by lack of ex-
perience and probably by lack of
knowledge of the Jewish people, and
scored them as i'll BETTING man who
has been called upon to administer the
functions of justice.
May Seek Immortality.
I'VE regret" Rabbi Loeb said, THAT
We are forced to take issue with Judge
Cayton so that We may refute his in
correct statements Possibly Cayton
his invention of the term Jewish crime
wave What q sweet morsel for the
Jew-baiters and sensationalists!
MY answer to Judge Cayton's ques-
ton, Why is there a Jewish crime
wave?' Is that there is none. Judge
Cayton Is smitten with a fanciful bit
OF imagery when he sees such a phe-
nomenon. When he brands the Jews
as criminal class he deals with ex-
aggerations and generalities that have
absolutely no foundation in fact.
NO one expects the Jews to be angels
but Judge Cayton apparently believes
that the sins of an individual or a few
individuals extend to the whole race
What reason or logic can a man have
for laying the sin of an individual at
the door Of an entire community? Jews
may be found guilty of misconduct, just
as others may be found so guilty, but
we do not find Catholics or Methodists
generally indicted for crime because an
individual member of their church COM
mits a crime.
Jews Made to Serve.
'I should like to agree with the Sc
we're critic who says the Jews have not
the right to produce a single criminal
from their ranks, because of all Jewish
laws the Jewish people were made to
serve the world for peaceful comrade-
ship and useful endeavor. Yet, under
present-day conditions, such a Utopia
Is impossible. The time when the Jews
lived in secluSion within their own
ghetto walls has gone and Jewish life
today is interviewer with the social and
political affairs of the world and thus
Is exposed to all the existing evils of
society. 1t is quite obvious that, lacking
the restrictions of the closely-knit So
ciety of the ghetto, an individual here
and there may stray from the paths of
rectitude and virtue
Judge Cayton's remarks are too
pointed to ignore. Had they come from
any but a man in so responsible a po-
sition as a man on the bench we might
dismiss them with the observation that
the man does not know of what he
speaks But the fact that he Is a men,
Der of the bench and is himself Jew
(Which seems to lend force to the argu-
ment) makes the situation far more
serious.
His statement that the Jews are
preponderantly a criminal class is one
that has not a shred of truth and can
not be proven. Rather, the facts prove
otherwise. 1 do not agree with his
judgment that postwar conditions have
not had much to do with the increase
of crimes in this country and that pro-
hibition is not a factor in lawlessness.
THE judge must know that war psy
chology and the prohibition law have
contributed largely to crime increase
in this country; that corruption spreads
through lack of observance and haunt-
ing of the prohibition law.
Hoover Applauded.
The Jewish people heartily applaud
ed the statements of President Hoover
in his inaugural address when he said
he intended to sift to the bottom the
misdoing connected with dry law en-
forcement. We felt that his view of
the situation was a correct one, and
that the test of stability or frailty of a
nation lies within the status of its
citizenry. We never had had an inkling
that President Hoover had in mind the
Jewish people when he referred to the
spread of crime Had this been So
Nathan Cayton would not have been
appointed a judge of the Municipal
Court of the District of Columbia. Such
an outburst of defamation of the Jew
ish character as that of Judge Cayton
cannot be called friendly criticism in
the sense of open reproach from an
inner love- I would call it directly
an attack Of an enemy from the inner
ranks.
Judge Cayton's motives do not mat
ter but the manner OF his Speaking-as
judge-does matter. His statement
that the Jew is not loyal to this coun-
try or that he is unwilling to contribute
to the welfare of the Nation is prepos-
ferrous. Should we cringe and cover to
demonstrate our patriotism and willing
ness to serve?
1.-The conditions described by Judge
Cayton are not known in Washington
We do not find that Jewish offenders
are out of proportion to their numbers.
But we do find many social agencies
working among Jews to improve condi-
tons of Jewish life. We have no de-
spair of the future of Judaism in this
country. Judaism will adjust itself and
survive the present crisis"