The Jewish Herald (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 42, Ed. 1, Thursday, July 15, 1909 Page: 4 of 10
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WV f r j fffvmn prr
Brith an enlarged sphere of influence
and seryice
In Houston Texas the Jewish Lit-
erary Society has recently matured its
plans for the erection of a 20000
home for itself Probably it may let
its local Bnai Brith lodges have a
room or two who know In the ma-
jority of cases the local lodge of BNai
BRith must rent a hall for its head-
quarters 0 the neglected half of BNai
Brith work I should say the neg-
lected threefourths but when I think
of our collossal opportunities and our
pigmy performance I am tempted to
say the neglected seveneighths of
BNai Brith work Sons of the Cov-
enant indeed What Covenant The
Lord has kept his part of the contract
but have we fulfilled all of ours 1
inquire to know
The synagogue is losing the Jewish
youth You know it and so do I In
many communities the synagogue is
losing many Jews who are not youth-
ful It is not too much to say that the
Constitution Grand Lodge has in its
power to call back to Judaism what
the synagogue has lost Will it do it
Gentlemen of the convention I am
emphatic that it is for us to say
whother or not the performance of the
Constitution Grand Lodge shall be as
epochmaking as its opportunities The
Order of Bnai Brith is by its verj
nature the fountainhead of Jewish in-
spiration Jewish thought and Jewish
activity The Constitution Grand
Lodge must provide the channels
through which the waters from this
fountainhead are to reach the bulk
of Jewry I repose secure in my con-
viction that the unselfish activity and
noble endeavor that have engraved
Touro and the Orphans Home on the
tablets of humanity will not be found
wanting to further the work of unit-
ing a militant and progressive race of
Jews
During the month of July the sub-
scription price of the Herald will be
100 per year during July only
THE JEWISH HERALD
LETS HAVE A MOTTO
Appeal to the Members of the Jewish Literary Society
It is said that constant dripping
wears away rocks so the writer of
these lines is inclined to believe that
constant repetition and hammering ac
the idea that the Jewish Literary So-
ciety of Houston has drifted away
from the road on which such an or-
ganization should keep will necessari-
ly bring about the result of either
changing its direction or its name
It was the sole aim and object of
the founders of this society to pro-
mote culture and character along
lines approved by Jewish thought and
ethics Art I Constitution Jewish
Literary Society This article is self
explanatory it is evident that it was
meant to organize and build up a Jew-
ish institution the chief work of which
shall be along lines approved by Jew-
ish thought and ethics Now pardon
me for my heretic question is a Val-
entine dance approved by Jewish
thought Why not better give a Jud-
ith dance or a Maccabaen dance
Too much interest do we take about
whether Washington or Lincoln was a
greater president but never do we dis-
cuss about Maimonides Ibn Ezra
Yehudah Halevi etc nothing to say
about our modern poets novelists and
dramatists as Morris Rosenfeld Sho
lem Aleichem Jacob Gordon and many
others who are absolutely strange to
the most of our members Now when 1
is that Jewish Thought Is it not a
surprising fact that while we speak
so much of Jewish thought Jewish
ethics our great poet Morris Rosen
feld has for many years lived in pov-
erty working in a sweatshop And
as a Jewish poet he would have to re-
main there for the rest of his life
were it not for Mr Leo Wiener profes-
sor on Slavonic languages in Harvard
University who translated Rosenfields
poems into English and German and
so saved him from his indigence It
required something extraordinary
Jewish poems translated in foreign
languages to get a Jewish poet out
of a sweatshop What is the cause
of that The answer is obvious
It is sad but tiue that a very small
number of our membership knows any-
thing of Jewish history so why not or
ganize a History Class Sucha class
would be available in every respect
It would acquaint our members with
Jewish great men and heroes gives
them a general knowledge of Jewish
literature and make them proud of
their ancestors
A gentleman upon whose informa-
tion we may confidently rely and who
takes great interest in the work of the
society when his attention was called
to the fact that the Jewish Literary
Society does not work in compliance
Avith its name in reply stated that the
name of this society is its ideal List-
en my dear friends we have an ideal
to realize an ideal to make the hall cf
our society a place where Jewish his-
tory and Jewish literature are being
studied by its members a place where
discussion concerning the life greac
men and especially the affairs of the
Jewish people are taking place It cer- >
tainly is an ideal worthy of being real-
ized so why not take steps to the real-
ization of this ideal It must always
be borne in mind that this is a Liter-
ary Society for the elevation of its
members This is what I read in our
ByLaws Are we working in compli-
ance with same And at least two
literary meetings shall be held each
month What has become ofvthJ
bylaw
Your attention is also called to this
striking fact that there are a great
many members of our membership
who have joined this institution be-
ing allured by its name Jewish Litei
ary Society and what shall we expect
of such a body They certainly hoped
to get some knowledge of Jewish sci-
ence and culture As it is you must
either change the name of this insti-
tution call the child by its real name
or work in accordance to its name Let
us have a motto let the aim of this
society be known to everyone of our
members let it bo strictly under-
stood that as the first article of our
bylaws reads The object of this So-
ciety is to promote culture and charac-
ter along lines approved by Jewish
thought and ethics
Lot this bo our motto
OHOFSIII
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Goldberg, E. The Jewish Herald (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 42, Ed. 1, Thursday, July 15, 1909, newspaper, July 15, 1909; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth84777/m1/4/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .