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PUBLllHED BY The Vancouver Jewish Administrative Council
Vol. 4, No. 28
YAN'CQimrBR, B. C, THUiRSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1933
$1.00 Per Year
The Jewish Wit in the
House of Commons
S/ W/Ja^cpbs Adds to the Gtedety of Natio)^
By ANNE S. LEBNER
Courtesy of the Winnipeg Jewish Post
Samuel wiiliam Jacobs, K.G., M.P., one of the two Jewish members lii our House of Commons and known throughout this country as plain "S. W.", or just "Sam Jacobs," brilliant Jewish lavs^yer and wit, could not be interviewed It needed more than the ingenuity of our famous Canadian Mountie to "get this man." WJien he should have been in Ottavva, he was in Montreal-going into the details of the "I'm Alone" case in his capacity as the lawyer-^i-etained by Oapt. John T. Randall; and vyhen he should have been in his office in Montreal, he was in Ottawa enlivening the otherwise dullsessions of a House eager'for Parliament to adjourn. Others might approach him easily enough. But evidently when you tried to interview him—dead silence and a blank • wall.: • ■ : ■
Of course there are means and means. One might find him' at a meeting of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society and say, with as nonchalant and as disarming fill air as possible, "Now, please listen here, Mr. Jacobs . . . " Or one might go up :to one of his partners, who happens to be a friend, and ask, "Will you help a fellow out and introduce me to Jacobs?"
For once face to face with Mr. Jacobs, one could rely on his inate courtesy and friendliness. But perhaps after all, he wasn't the sort to be easily interviewed. There would be flashes of his brilliant wit, jokes to remember and be repeated with, "Oh, I just heard this one from S.W, the other day . . ." Or perhaps he would introduce me to his capable secretary and tell me to go ahead. ,
So here goes I
My first recollection of S. W. Jacobs picture him in a different light. It was in 1913 that he appeared in the city of Quebec as the senior counsel for the plaintiff in what is now known as the Anti-Semitic Libel Case. My uncle, the late Benjamin Ortenberg, was the plaintiff whose strong sense of racial pride made him a fighter against whatever odds there might be, and the little French-Canadian town hummed with suppressed resentment and hatred of "les Juifs," the Jews who had dared to take the case to the Superior Court and when that was lost, to appeal it before the Quebec Court of Appeal and then win it. The case created"widespread attention and to the little Jewish community in Quebec assumed the proportions of a legal fight to defend the honor and dignity of Jewry as a whole, fighting in the very stronghold of •Roman Cajtholicism in Old Canada.
The legal aspects of the. case attracted the attention of law circles in Canada. In "The Canadian Law Times," the legal aspect was set forth as followis
■...''Wher^.-in,,ajl.ecture deliyered in the, City^f. Quebec, the.defendant.violenjt-ly assaiieid and its religious doctrines, and social
practices, the object being to put the public of Quebec on guard against the Jews'of Quebec, who numbered only 75 families in a total population of 80,000 souls,
"Held, that, though not assailed individually, the plaintiff being one of the 'restricted collectively,' of the Jews of Quebec, was entitled to bring an action of defamation against the lecturer, the Jews of Quebec being sufficiently designated as the object of the lecturer's attack."
The lecturer, one Plamondon, had hurlled vile accusations against entire Jewry. "Voleur de nos biens, corrupteur de nos femmes, assassin d'enfants cretiens," he had cried and had urged his audience to beware of the Jews in their midst. The results were the inevitable outcome of blind hatred—Jews attacked In the streets, stones thrown at Jewish homes and open insults. To a man of the strong racial pride of my uncle, there was only one course open.
Jacobs was a brilliant speaker and an even better tactician. He gathered together the best minds in the district—Louis Fitch, K.C., now a prominent Jewish lawj^er in Canada, and L. A. Cannon, K.C., one of the best known French-Canadian lawyers in the country were associated with him as counsel —and for days the case was heard within the very shadow of the Bascilica,
Vancouver Jewish Administrative Council Monthly Meeting
The regular monthly meeting of the Jewish Administrative Council was held at the Jewish Community Centre on Tuesday evening, October 10. We regret that we are not able to give a full account of this meeting in this -issue owing to the fact that we are going to print a day before our usual time. Our next issue will contain a full report.
We can not, however, refrain froni expressing pleasure at seeing Mr. E. R. Sugarman.again resuming his seat a^ Chairman and admiring the wonderful speech he gave for withdrawing his iesignation.
Perhaps the most important business of the evening was the report of the Chairman of the Campaign Drive, Mr. H. B. Kahn. Space prohibits us saying more than this: That the drive will open with a dinner on Sunday evening, October 29, at the Community Centre for all the workers, at which some of the most prominent workersffor the Welfare Federation will be the speakers. The drive proper will;-; open on Wednesday, November 1 and continue to Tuesday, November 7| It is also anticipated that the Bulletin will publish a special "Welfare Pedeii'ation Issue" on Thursday, October 26. Watch our next issue for fuller particulars. Remember our Slogan for 1934 is "Have a Heart for the Federation." Incidentally, $335,000 is required. What share are we going to give? Watch otjr next issue for fuller information
Detroit Judge Apologizes | For Shylock Quotations
the famous old church in Quebec, and in the court rooms gathered rabbis and talmudin, priests and church-goers, with the Old and the New Testaments as their battle ground.
The case was lost in the Superior Court—on legal grounds—but when brought before the Superior Court of Appeal, with five judges sitting on it, the Superior Court judgment was reversed and the Ortenberg Libel Case, as it is known in the court records, was won. Jacobs made an impassioned speech, full of fire, wit and dignity. To the little Jewish community in which I lived, Jacobs was a Daniel, a very Daniel come to judgment.
What became of Plamondon I heard froin Jacobs as he sait in his office, remlniscently recalling the particulars. It appears that the man embezzled funds with which he was entrusted, pleaded insanity as his defence, was incarcerated in the insane asylum and died there. Another interesting aspect of the case is that one of the five judges was the then Judge Carroll, who is now the Lt. Governor of the Province of Quebec.
Since then Jacobs, who has sat in the Canadian House of Commons since 1917, has figured in a number of important and significant cases before the Courts in matters affecting Jewish citizens in Canada and their rights under the Civil Law. It was due to his energy and determination that various acts were passed by the Legislature whereby certain disabilities against Jews were removed, and he was also instrumental in obtaining amendments in the constitutional law of Quebec respecting the status of Jews in relation to the School Law, Marriage License Act, etc.
At the same time that he was discharging his political duties in a brilliant mariner, Jacobs was also winning renown as an astute lav^^yer. Those who recall the Costachescu extradition case, concerning an offlciajl of Bucharest who embezzled a large sum of money and fled to Canada, will remember that Jacobs was retained by the Government of Roumania as their Counsel; and in the same year that he made his brilliant plea in the Ortenberg Libel Case, he also appeared for the Attorney-General of New York to secure the return of Harry Thaw to Matteawan Asylum.
As a member of the Liberal Party, Jacobs has sat in the House for many years, watching the vicissitudes of his party and of the Opposition with an unflagging sense of fitting humor. Keenly conscious of his'standing as a Jew, yet Canadian-born and educated at the University of McGill and the French-Canadian University of Laval, he managed to make and retain friendships with all parties and at the same time to preserve the ability to see both sides of an argument— particularly the weak side of his opponent's argument.
The newspaper correspondents in Ottawa, particularly in the Press Gallery of the House, watch the Jewish member closely. They are a shrewd crowd, not to be taken in by the fireworks of any Parliamentary orator, dead red-haired laughing sort of a woman among them, a woman who could give and take with the best of them—who occupy responsible positions in Canadian newspaper life, journalists who are keen judges of the men who make
(Continued on Page 4>
DETROIT — Portia's famous words^ uttered in the courtroom scene, in Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice''-deriding Shylock's covetousness, re4 peated here by a circuit judge in att opinion rendered during injunction proceedings, aroused much resentment; on the part of Detroit Jews and resulU ed in an apology by the court to th^ Jewish race yesterday. ; j:
Louis Berry, a Jewish creditor of the Detroit Trust Company, sought ari? injunction restraining the company; from reorganizing. The company owed Berry $6,139. Circuit Judge Ormond. F| Hunt handed dovvn his opinion refusl ing the injunction, and quoting Shake§i speare.
■ '■ Aaron Kuplandr attorney fop- Ben and a well-known Jewish leader here, after listening to the Judge's opinion, was indignant.
"If your honor please," he said, "I want to state that the Court has been provocative in making the Shylock allusion. The plaintiff has a perfect right to come in here and ask a review without being subject to such an allusion."
Complaints came pouring into the offices of Judge Hunt during the subsequent three days. He expressed a desire to withdraw the offensive portion of the opinion. Through Henry Rottman, a Jewish attorney and a personal friend, the judge called together twenty-five outstanding Jews of the community and in open court read a statement of his apology, which follows:
"In the opinion I illustrated the point of insistence upon strict legal rights as opposed to equity by inserting a portion of Portia's speech from 'The Merchant of Venice'.
"At that time I had no thought that anyone would draw any reflection on the race or religion of any one involved in the case. If the case had centered around a Christian the quotation would have been just as apt in my mind.
"This morning I was informed that some members Of the Jewish race had construed my opinion as at least a veiled reflection. Never in my life have I spoken of the Jewish race or religion except in the highest terms. Christianity is based upon the Jewish religion and literature. Two members of the United States Supreme Court are members of that race. Our statesmen, poets and leading business men in every walk of life belong to it. The roster is full of prominent names. No Reflection on Jews
"The illustration was neither intended nor thought of as reflecting on the Jewish race, but to make certain
Einstein's Opinion On
Nazi Intelligence
The Nazis (putting a price of 20,000 marks on my head) are really very stupid people. I do not believe they really mean their menaces, but the Lessing murder shows that there are alwaiys fanatical young people who take their leader seriously.
The whole of Germany is today in a state of barbaric hysteria which produces the crudest atrocities. That is why I was persuaded by Mrs. Einstein to leave Belgium for England.
The Nazis still believe that in the near future British public opinion will change. Rosenberg and Hitler are confident that England must become Germany's ally. That is why the Nazis are much-more considerate of public ppinion -'iii Britain than in.: any'pthe.r country.
I am a confirmed democrat. It is because of this I have not been to Russia, in spite of very pressing invitations. My visit to Russia would certainly be exploited by the Soviet government to their political advantage.
I am as opposed to Bolshevism as I am to Fascism. I am against all dictatorship. With Germany in her present state I have no sympathy whatever.
Hitler's prospects? There is one thing which seems to me to foreshadow the near and inevitable downfall of the Hitler regime. It is not on the opponents of the regime that I rely. It is the stupidity of Nazis themselves.
Jewish Land-Owning Ban Extended to All Germany
BERLIN—An official announcement was issued today stating that the Nazi cabinet had decided to extend the law forbidding Jews to own land, which is now applicable only to Prussia, to all Germany. In the future Jews will be debarred from owning land anywhere in Germany.
Ex-President Hoover Suggested to Take Charge of Jewish Relief
there has been no thought of this nature, the court now amends the opinion, leaving out every reference to the quotation from Shakespeare. It is an opinion, not a judgment, and can be amended at any time. .
"I personally have drawn a pen through every reference to this quotation. I have instructed my stenographer to redraft the opinion and have it ready Tuesday morning, when I shall sign it as the opinion in the case."
GENEVA—An effort to draft Herbert Hoover as High Commissioner for the League of Nations, in charge of Jewish relief was started a few days ago.
The former president's name entered the discussion early and gained a wide following. It is recalled that ho had years of experience in relief work in Russia and the Near East.
The Hoover boom indicated thoroughly, however, that the United States be asked actively to assist the League in the proposed movement under its auspices to find work and homes for thousands of German Jew refugees now roaming Europe, many of them pennyless, literally without a country.' The names of Theodore Roosevelt, Jnr., and Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, England, a famous British statesman have also been mentioned for the position.
Vancouver Welfare Federation Jewish Community Chest
"HOW BIG IS YOUR HEART" will be the slogan for the forthcoming drive for the Vancouver Welfare Federation which officially opens on Nov. 7th.
The Jewish Division under the Community Chest will start their campaign on November 1. The matter, however, has not been definitely decided but will be settled at the meeting of the Administrative Council on Tuesday evening, October 9, fuller particulars of which will be found in another column. After using the scissors in every direction cutting down expenses to the minimum, the amount required for 1934 has been fixed at §335,000. This amount must be forthcoming and we feel that Vancouver JewTy will do their share. There are many reasons why we are having a special Jewish division for the city wide campaign, and will deal with the question in a later issue. All the Jewish men and women power available will be required to assist in this campaign. We will need workers besides givers. We will need them both. Fuller particulars of the campaign will appear in these columns week by week. Watch them, read them, and let your heart respond to the call. Here are a few facts that will interest you: "The largesi; single item in the Welfare Budget for 1933 was the sum allowed to the Children's Aid Society, amounting to $34,427.00" said Mr. Dixon the chairman of the Campaign.
The value in dollars and cents to Vancouver of this work among children is beyond estimation. Children taken in time from surroundings and associations which can do nothing hut doom them to a life of crime or vice get a. chance to become good citizens. The careful training in foster hbmes develops: in them all good qualities they possess. They learn the meaning of nice associations, pleasant surroundings, harmonious atmosphere.
"The value of the child can be judged; the value of the community of lessening the number of potential criminals is incalculable." Perhaps it is a matter of regret that many more children do not come within the sphere of the Society. Two hundred and fifty Jewish children directly or indirectly come into this sphere of support. The Jewish slogan for the coming campaign will be "HAVE A HEART AND ASSIST THE WELFARE FEDERATION." We know the call will not be in vain. Last year, despite harder times, we went over the top. This year, do not let us fail. Let us at least keep the position we have attained.
Schara Tzedeck Congregation Annual Meeting
- It -is regrcttable^-that-only• a• very^amall^ijercentage-=<^ the Congregation were present at the annual meeting held on Sunday, October 8. Possibly owing to the fact that the next day was a public holiday (thanksgiving day) many had taken advantage of spending the week end out of the city, might have accounted for the small attendance. However, those present had the pleasure of listening to the extremely creditable reports of the year's activities given by the President and the various Chairmen of the Executives and must have left the building with the feeling that Orthodoxy in this City, instead of being on the wane, was increasing in power and strength. Mr. J. B. Jaffe presided and gave a remarkable account of the position of the Congregation. "Notwithstanding hard times, depression, economic conditions, etc., that had prevailed," said the speaker, "the Schara Tzedeck Congregation has increased numerically in strength and the financial statement showed the Synagogue to be in a better position than it had been for many years. Many questions of importance must now come to their attention, firstly; The question of the engagement of a Rabbi and of more importance was the enlargement of the present synagogue building. Nearly twenty-five years had elapsed since the building was first erected and at that time it was amply large enough for their requirements. But the City had grown, and our youth had become men and provision must be made for them in the near future. However, this would be a matter that would come before them in the near future and deserved careful consideration. He thanked the various members of the Executive Board for their hard work and loyalty and looked for a greater future for the Congregation.
Reports of the various committees were heard which showed that each branch had worked well. Owing to the fact that the Committee appointed to bring in a slate for the nomination of officers had failed to do so and the small attendance present, it was unanimously decided to postpone the election till Sunday, October 15, at 2.30 p.m. A new nomination committee consisting of Mrs. M. Hyams. S. Rothstcin and Chas. Goldberg, were appointed" to select a slate of officers to present at the next meeting. A vote of thanks: was passed to those who voluntarily assisted Rabbi Paslinsky by forming-a choir on Kol Nidre evening.
Speaking on behalf of the Cemetery Board, Mr. W. J. Levin gave notice that at the meeting of the Congregation to be held on Sunday, October 13, he would move the following amendments to the present constitution and by-laws of the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board.
By-law No. I, Section 2.—That after the words "That such new congregations shall each have a membership of at least fifty bona-flde memi)ers" the following words be added: "provided further that .such congregations must be in existence at least twelve months before being entitled to a representative.
By-law No. 4—That By-law No. 4, referring to the alteration and repeal of any by-laws, shall not in any way refer to Bylaw 2, Section 1, which reads: "That all burials in the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery shall be made in strict accordance with the rites and customs of the Jewish Orthodox religion" and that said By-law No. 2 shall not in any way be amended, suspended or re-epaled under any conditions.
Services For The Fina^
Days of Succot^
Resolve to be thyself, and know that he who finds himself, loses his misery.
Schara Tzedeck Congregation
Wednesday, Oct. 11________________6.00 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 12.......----------- 9.00 a.m.
Memorial Service ................11.00 a.m.
Thursday, Oct. 12 ____________________ 6.03 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 13.................._......... 9.00 a.m.
A treat will be provided for all children attending the services on Simchat Torah evening Thur-sday, October 12.
Belh Israel Congregation
Wednesday, Oct. 11_________6.00 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. it_______..........9.00 a.m.
Memorial Service _____________10.15 a.m.
Sermon theme: "Overcoming
Our Limitations" ___________10.30 a.m.
Thursday, Oct. 12___________________6.00 p.m.
Children's treat for Simchat
Torah ------.........--------------6.30 p.m.
Friday, Oct, j3____________________9.00 a.m.
Usual Friday evening service
at --------------------------.......8.00 p.m.
Sermon tiiome; "Man the Image of God."