A ft III 3 * V
Vol. X.
TORONTO, ONT., DECEMBER 14, 1928
No. 8
THIS DEDICATING WEEK
Editorials
By Rabbi Ferdinand M. Isserman Chanukah this year will have been appropriately celebrated by the Toronto Jewish community. Two new institutions will have been dedicated during the Chanukah week. Scheuer House, the gift to the Jewish community by friends of Edmund Scheuer in appreciation for his communal service, was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies. The esteem in which Mr. Scheuer is held by Toronto Jews was voiced, and that his character is appreciated by th6 larger community was indicated by the presence of Sir William Mulock, Chief Justice of Ontario, and the Rev. Dr. Salem G. Bland, distinguished Christian teacher and journalist. Both of these gentlemen came to the dedication without special invitations and paid their tribute to the venerable and venerated Jewish leader. Significant in the establishment of Scheuer House, which is to house the Federation and other social agencies, is the fact that two young leaders took the initiative in securing it, J. I. Oelbaum, the executive director of Federation, and Joseph E. Tarshis.
Another Chanukah dedication will be "held next Sunday afternoon when the new gymnasium of the Council of Jewish Women will be formally opened. This gymnasium is the gift of three generous and pubHc-spirited citizens, Charles Draimin, Elly Marks and Percy Hermant, to the Jewish community. The fine girls' work done under the auspices of the Council has long been handicapped by the lack of gymnasium facilities. Now that that obstacle no longer exists, the work of the Council should be greatly advanced.
WTe are indeed happy to note these two new buildings in our community. They indicate that the Toronto Jewish community is making progress, and that shortly it will.have the institutions its importance and size warrants. We hope that the Chanukah spirit will induce some other individuals to emulate the example of the donors of the council gymnasium and provide for a gymnasium for the Boys' Club. This Chanukah has been a real feast of dedication lor the Jews of Toronto.
THE FEDERAL COUNCIL OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST OF AMERICA HESITATES
We have been following for a number of years the splendid work cf the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. It is ^n organization of more than a score of church denominations. Its president for the past few years was the well-known and universally-appreciated Rev. Dr. S. Parkes Cadman. When the federation was first organized, its liberal attitude won for it our respect and admiration. During the steel strike, it realized that Christianity had a message in the arena of industrial disputes, and accordingly it appointed a commission to bring the facts about the steel industry to light. The thorough and unbiased. report prepared by that commission which fairly, yet courageously exposed the industrial tyranny and evils which had existed in the-eteel industry, will long live as one of the significant documents in the history of American churches. That attempts by the industrialists were made first to belittle the steel report, and subsequently to cripple the Federation only indicated the service that that experiment in applied Christianity rendered
Continued on fagx 12
THE COMMUNAL TUMULT
To the casual observer Jewish life in the large centers is a constant process of hectic activity. Campaigning for worthy causes is always going on in, a major key. And there is the perpetual accompaniment of the din of lesser calls for minor institutions. Federation appeals, Palestine appeals, Talmud Torah appeals, campaigns for European relief, for synagogues,'for orphanages, for Yeshivahs�demands for big sums of money�these are projected with the customary ballyhoo and pyrotechnic effects. Then there is the unmitigated succession of petty vexations�raffles, programmes, theatre nights, food sales for less pretentious objects. The claims of the perpetrators of these annoyances are advanced in more subdued tones. But they are insistent and inescapable, and pervasive. Taken together, they form an immense volume of sound in a pleading pitch, which fills the air with its bulk.
The onlooker cannot but be impressed by the sonant evidence of communal energy. Here is a group of people constantly astir. Men and women, rich and poor are everlastingly active in minding the communal welfare. They must surely possess an extraordinarily high sense of public duty. The cultural quality of such a settlement must be of an advanced order.
Added to the unremitting campaigning tumult, there is also the hubbub of the fraternal and social play. There are the meetings and the programmes and the politics and the entertainments. To anyone making the rounds of the Jewish clubs and lodges it might appear that our public life is seething with activity and bubbling over with energy.
It takes, however, only a cursory examination to discover that Jewish group life in the big communities is not a rich, vibrant affair. Rather it is sluggish, anaemic, with only a localized outbreak of activity here and there. The masses are indifferent; impervious to ideas. They ply their trades and pursuits and are soundly selfish. They worry about the butcher's bills and the high tax on gasoline. They are interested in trade unionism insofar as the unions spell higher wages. They attend Zionist propaganda meetings when celebrities offer novelties and entertainments. They grow heated at the lodge meetings over lodge affairs because the lodges provide free medical service and burial grounds. They suffer the presence of. collectors and plate rattlers because of their lack of energy to resist the will of the communal manipulators.
With all the turmoil in the communal arena the number of active operators is really very small. The wheel of the charities keeps on grinding. Only a few hands are engaged in turning it. There is Zionism, there is Hadassah�apparently an imposing edifice. There are only a handful of enthusiasts�the number can be counted on the fingers of two hands�who toil and slave to keep the grand structure from crumpling. Scan the names of the leading spirits in the various spheres of public work. The same familiar appellations. They are everywhere. Do not worry about the motives or psychoses of the communalists. The latter are the ones that feel the responsibility and bear the burdens. They get their compensations. They are human enough to need them.
There is a constant frenzy of excitement in our larger Jewish communities. It does^not mean that there Is a divine unrest quivering in the social frame. A small band of zealous souls are rampant. The bulk of the community is selfish and vulgar,and normal; just like the immobile egos around them that make up the mass of humanity.�A.B.B.
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