Joseph Jacobs.
JOSEEH JACOBS finished his earthly labors as editor of The American Hebrew and director of the statistical bureau of the American Jewish Committee. He was essentially a bookman, interested in books and in ideas, but with no keen feeling with regard to any of the living issues of the day. His being harnessed to work on a religious weekly was unpleasant and irksome to him, but he had to do the work for in the fields in which he was a recognized authority, the compensation was hardly adequate to warrant single-minded devotion. He knew books, remembered their contents, appreciated thought, and was an intelligent and graceful commentator on a large variety of subjects. But he lacked the touch of interestedness, and therefore was at his best when dealing with things that had become fixed and permanent, things that could be dug out of books. He saw life only through books. His range of knowledge was astounding, though it was not always a deep knowledge. Ile was a facile writer on a great range of topics of general, so to say, world interest. But from his early youth he specialized in scholarly questions of Jewish interest. His concern for studies in Judaism was genuine and deep and he always devoted a great deal of his time to the pursuit of these studies, which was very remarkable and adds much to his credit when one remembers that he was born in Australia, a plcae far from the seat of Jewish learning. He was probably one of the very few English Jews born and brought up in England that manifested a love for Jewish scholarship and acquired distinction in this field in spite of the fact that he was hampered by lack of knowledge of the Hebrew language. As editor of The American Hebrew he was called upon to express views on subjects of daily occurrence, and lacking the spirit of partisanship, seeing no difference in fact between Zionism and anti-Zionism, between reform and orthodoxy, insofar as these issues affected his own life, he wrote with a deviating pen in accord with the traditions of the publication he served. Outside of that unpleasant service, he was a man of genial traits, considerate, gentle, and capable of strong friendships.
The Situation in Europe
THE war has progressed to what seems a period of preparation for further assaults. The combatants recognize that the first round of this tremendous collision has been fought. The visible results seem to be on the side of the Germans, but the Allies, feeling that Time fights with them, consider that the next round will result in finding the Central Powers weaker, and should it be necessary to fight a third round, still weaker. In the meantime, the outstanding fact is the fact of suffering. All the peoples involved are suffering. Those not engaged in the war, the neutral lands, may be enjoying to a certain extent a measure of prosperity, but that prosperity is the unhealthy increase of wealth, which is a menace to normal progress, and threatens reprisals when the day of peace arrives. Prosperity based on bloodshed, prosperity based upon the dislocation of the markets, prosperity that does not spring from natural conditions —such prosperity gives the semblance of health, but at its roots are most dangerous diseases. The Jews involved in the war suffer with the rest everywhere, but in the Slavic lands, they suffer extra portions of misery due to the absolutely unnecessary pressure which is brought to bear upon them. From a purely relief point of view, the Jewish question is a harrowing one, It involves millions of people who are beine doublv
pressed to the ground. And the burden falls only upon Jews. The help of other nationalities, the help of governments, extends only to the so to speak normal wretchedness imposed upon people by the war, but does not deal with the great unending Jewish woe. To the Jews themselves is left the problem of Jewish relief. The Belgians, too, are suffering the natural consequences of the great war. But they are receiving a double portion of relief. The Jews with a double portion of suffering, receive only that help which their own brethren can give them. This situation ought to impress those Jews who still think it possible to localize the Jewish question, and treat it specifically in each land of persecution.
Sympathy in the Orders
'THERE has been a great deal of sympathy for Zionism in the Jewish Orders. From time to time, this sympathy flared up into a strong resolution, adopted with great enthusiasm, at annual conventions. Last year, however, this sympathy was transformed into some thing more earnest and practical.e. A number of Orders voted not only moral but also financial support, and on the strength of these votes, Zionists have been going from Lodge to Lodge, seeking the lost sheep who, in sympathy and interest, belong in the Zionist organization. Wherever our committees go they find in the rank and file a strangely interesting form of sympathy. In the ranks, there exists a naive belief that they have always been Zionists, and that the fault lies with the organized Zionists that they have not been gathered into the fold. Why have not the Zionists come to collect the shekolim? We have indeed been lax in reaping the harvest of our propaganda. We have permitted this large field to remain without Zionist connections. We have left a large organized force to be utilized only for individual interests, and not for larger Jewish interests. Every Zionist should give thought to the obligation that rests upon him to help in the work of gaining the Orders, in an actual sense, for Zionism. Wherever a Zionist has influence in an Order or Lodge, let him secure some material form of organized support, preferably in the form of shekel en- rollments. We ought to be able in a nation-wide campaign to secure fifty per cent. of the membership of the Orders as shekel-pavers.