Congress bulletin, 1 novembre 1950, Novembre

[" TEA - 4.28 \u201cCONGRESS BULLE Yol.6 No.9 MONTREAL NOV.-DEC, 1950 Court Decision Advances Democracy Supreme Court Voids Restrictive Clauses Michael Garber, K.C., of Montreal, chairman af the national executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress, welcomed the decision tof the Supreme , Court of Canada ruling illegal restric- * tive clauses in property deeds on grounds of race or religion.He called it an important step towards abolishing.racial and religious discrimination in this country.The Supreme Court has reversed the judgments of two Ontario: courts and has upheld the right of Mrs.Noble of London, Ont., to sell to Bernard Wiolf of that city a property in the Beach O'Pines area in Southern Ontario in spite of the opposition of neighbouring property owners who maintained that a 1933 clause in the property deed fore- bade the transfer of the property to Jews or Negros, Among the reasons given for declaring invalid the restrictive covenant attached to the property at Beach O\u2019Pines\u2019 was that the clause was personal and did not run with the land through future transactions beyond the original one between convenantor and convenan- tee.Another was on the grounds of (Continued on page 3) L.M, Becker Examines Memorial Volumes Congress Warns Against Admitting Nazi Immi grants \u201cThe presence of Nazis among any German immigrants who may be allowed into this country will endanger the harmonious pattern of Canadian life and will complicate the security problems of the country,\u201d said the Canadian Jewish Congress in a letter to Prime Minister Louis St.Laurent urging the utmost care in the admission of German and of Ukrainian immigrants, These representations were followed up by a delegation which called on the Hon.S.Garson, minister of justice.(Continued on Page 22) DISTRIBUTE BOOKS OF EUROPE JEWS The Canadian Jewish Congress has received 1,500 volumes from the homes and the libraries of European Jews who had been massacred by the Germans for placement in Jewish institutions and libraries in Canada where they will be preserved as memorials to their previous owners.À Canadian Jewish Congress committee headed by Lavy M.Becker of Montreal is at present sorting the books and making arrangements for their distribution and preservation.\u201cThese books are a tragic reminder of the fate of millions of Jews and of ancient communities which have been (Continued on Page 22) adian Jewry for January 21 Royal Hotel in Montreal to deal gration and National Emergency Conference for Israel in January Samuel Bronfman, national president of the Canadian Jewish Congress has called a national conference of Can- and 22nd, at the Mount with the emergency situation confronting Israel arising out of its vast immi- resettlement program.Associated with the The confetrence is being convened for the purpose of calling upon every Jewish community in Canada to collect quickly outstanding pledges, for campaigns and to set early dates for the 1951 campaign.The sponsors of the national conference point to Israel's need for private capital investment, government to intensify support Canadian Jewish Congress in sponsoring this conference are the Zionist organisations in Canada, the Canadian Committee of Welfare Funds and the Canadian lodges of the Bnai Brith.The distinguished Israeli diplomat, Aubrey Eban, and Robert Nathan, Jewish Agency economist, will be the guests of the National Conference for Israel.Michael Garber, K.C., and S.E.Schwisberg of Montreal and E.E.Gelber and B.Sadowski, M.B.E., of Toronto will be vice-chairmen of the sessions.Saul Hayes and Rabbi J.J.Schwartz are the directors.aid to Israel and the proceeds of voluntary campaigns on a larger scale than heretofore.The conference will decide on the goal for 1951 United Israel Appeal and the setting up of machinery to implement the resolutions adopted.The urgency of this conference was emphasized at a meeting of the Canadian delegates to the recent Washington Conference on Israel Reconstruction.The Zionist organizations of Cancda requested the Canadian Jewish Congress to convene such a conference.After the Congress executive voted to take the leadership on this question the Canadian Committee of Welfare Funds was invited to act as co-sponsors.Plans for the January conference wére formulated after the national meeting of the welfare funds in Washington at the beginning of December.A preliminary conference is being convened in Monte real for December 17th, to finalize plans for the Jae nuary conference.A LH I AE Vast Festival of Jewish Culture Is Staged by Toronto Community One of the most effective\u2019 educational projects in the history of the Canadian community centred the attention of Toronto Jews and non-Jews on all phases of Jewish culture during the Congress-sponsored Festival of Jewish Culture, Congress was associated with the United Jewish Welfare Fund and the Assembly of Jewish Organizations in the preparations for Jewish Community Month.In the words of the Toronto Star: \u201cIt is the firs time in the history of this country that an entire minority group has attempted such self-analysis.The project would seem to be the first of its kind on the North American continent.The major aim is to acquaint the rising generation and the newcomers in the Jewish community with their cultural heritage, the status and achievements of Jews in Canada and the historic reasons for the progress that has been made.\u201cFor the program of events, the planning committee has been able to draw upon leaders in Canadian music, art and scholarship.Among Canada\u2019s growing roster of creative artists, significant writers and speakers, able composers, performers and conductors of music are a considerable number of Jewish origin.\u201d Not only have the major Jewish resources of the Canadian community been utilized in this program, but the cultural institutions of Toronto were also integrated.\u201cAn equally distinctive feature of Jewish Community Month in Toronto is the cooperation its planners have received from all community resources.Exhibits on Biblical lore have been arranged by the Royal Ontario Museum.Concerts and art displays have been held at the Art Gallery of Toronto and other galleries.Lectures were given in the museum theatre as well as at the King Edward and Royal York hotels,\u201d wrote the Star.The 65,000 Jews of Toronto were enabled to: Examine Jewish and Palestinian antiquities dating back 2,000 years at the Royal Ontario Museum including ancient manuscript, silver work, old books, mosaics, astronomical tables, synagogue plans, handicrafts, coins, seals, Bible scrolls, ceremonial objects, prayer books, community record books and stonework from synagogues in China.See the modern works of art of Israel and the paintings of Canadian Jewish artists.Hear the specially-commissioned orchestral suite, \u201cCredo,\u201d written by Morris Surdin and based on Jewish themes, performed by the Canadian Little Symphony Orchestra.Witness the premiere performance of John Weinz- weig\u2019's Israel Sonata composed ag a tribute to the Jewish State.Hear the Yiddish poet, J.I, Segal, Lamed Prize winner of Montreal.Study Jewish music with Israel Rabinovitch of Montreal, author of \u201cMusic Among Jews.\u201d Hear A.M.Klein's poem \u2018Psalm XXVI\u201d get to music by Harry Freedman and sung by Evelyn Pasen.Page 2 OAR IRAE See an exhibition of Jewish books in a variety of languages at the Jewish Public Library.Attend the national convention of the Labor Zionist movement.See the exhibition of Jewish community work as arranged by the Jewish Welfare Fund.* Take part in a symposium on the history of the Jewish community of Toronto.Hear the Jewish Folk Choir in a program which included Zeisl\u2019s \u201cRequiem Hebraico\u201d with Verda Hall Borowski as soloist.Listen in on a round-table discussion on Jewish art led by Dr, Stephan S.Kayser, curatior of the Jewish Museum in New York.Examine the ceramic sculpture of Dora Wechsler and the art- {Continued on Page 23) CONGRESS SULLETN Leaders in the Festival of Jewish Culture which was sponsored by the Canadian Jewish Congress in Toronto: (seated) Mrs.Beatrice Fisher who arranged the art exhibits; Dr.Anna Gelber, popular painter who introduced the Israel art exhibit; Mrs, Tutzi Seguin who is active on the sub-committee on arts.(Standing) Mrs.Dora Wexler, chairman on the sub-committee on visual arts; Dr, Eli Borovsky, archeologist and historian on the staff of the Royal Ontario Museum who is chairman of the sub-committee on Letters; and Mrs.Bailey Leslie, worker in artistic pottery.\u201cNOV.-DEC.1950 | SY (0) iS! me 1 gag ge pal of inst forever I proper of ist?pose, Ÿ ipstrumé to prêté areas 7 poriant Jews 4 Jewish \u20ac and of In 18 such à ( on gene ( Pinés held th Canadi an imÿ combat Since the cot énacter tion of but th tive ar alread Rob of the \u201cWi judem spells estate cause The Justie to by Justie Mr Court demo hearts Citizey Courts have tring The y Exist; lerio Bislet Tertiy Tig | \u2018ni tion y Lens y ho CONGRESS LAUDS DECISION AS VICTORY FOR FREEDOM (Continued from page 1) uncertainty of intention of the parties as to the amount or degree of the prohibited race or blood.The Supreme.Court took the decision in a 6-1 vote.The ruling marked an important stage in the battle to render illegal the practice followed in some areas of inserting in property deeds a clause forever forbidding the transfer of the property to Jews or to other victims of discrimination such as Negroes, Japanese, ete, This has been one of the instruments used by anti-semites to prevent Jews from settling in certain areas and has been in effect an important form of discrimination against Jews and a serious diminution of Jewish equality in matters of residence and of property ownership.\u2018In 1945 Justice McKay had ruled such a clause in a Toronto deed invalid on general grounds, but in the Beach O\u2019Pines case Ontario courts had upheld the validity of such clauses: The Canadian Jewish Congress has made it an important part of its program to combat this practice, Since this case first appeared before the courts, the Ontario legislature has enacted a law forbidding the introduct- tion of such clauses in property deeds, but this legislation was not retroactive and does not apply to such clauses already inscribed in deeds.Robert Taylor, Ottawa correspondent of the Toronto Star reported that: \u201cMost legal experts said that the judgment and the new rule of law spells for all Canada the end of real estate convenants that bar people because of race or religion.\u201d The judgment was written by Mr.Justice Ivan C.Rand and was assented to by Mr.Justice Ray Kellock and Mr.Justice Gerald Fauteux, : Effects Far Reaching Mr.Garber said \u2018\u2018that the Supreme Court decision is the clear voice of democracy which will re-echo in the hearts of the majority of Canadian citizens.Since the case came to the courts, several provincial legislatures have made it illegal to insert such discriminatory clauses in property deeds.The present ruling renders invalid such existing clauses in the Province of Ontario and will doubtless stimulate legislative and judicial action in this direction in other provinces of Canada.The Jewish community in this country considers this judgment a reaffirmation of the ideal of equality of all citizens within a democracy.\u201d Refugees From China May Go To U.S.After considerable effort by the Canadian Jewish Congress and by other interested organizations, American immigration authorities agreed to the entry under existing DP immigration regulations of a number of refugees who arrived in Canada sometime ago from Shanghai, The Jewish Immigrant Aid Society of Canada has cooperated with the Canadian Jewish Congress in much df the preparatory work including documentation, ,case work, ete., on this group.These refugees had spent the war years in the Far East as refugees and had been interned for a time by the Japanese as enemy aliens.When hostilities broke out in the Far East, the Canadian Jewish Congress made every effort to rescue them and to bring them to this side of the Pacific.The Canadian Government granted permission for several hundred of these to come to this country.They were brought over by air with assistance of the JDC.Many of them left Shanghai when the city was already in flames as a result of invasion attacks.; A number of these refugees have made application while in Shanghai for U.S.immigration.Eastern Region Conference Held On December 10th The possible consequences which the re-admission of Germany into the family of nations may have upon racial tensions here and whether it can constitute a threat to the status of the Jewish community were discussed at biennial conference of the Canadian Jewish Congress in Eastern Canada held in Montreal December 10.Delegateg from all Jewish organizations and institutions in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland attended the sessions under the chairmanship of Monroe Abbey, president of the Congress in this region.The sessions were devoted to reports and discussion of civic rights, community ' organization, interfaith goodwill activities, youth program, education, fund-raising, social research and other activities of the Canadian Jewish Congress.The morning and afternoon sessions were devoted to business discussions.During the luncheon, Dr.S.Margoshes of New York City addressed the delegates.A list of squadron navigators on the Pacific airlift operations of the R.C.A.F.mentioned in a Tokyo despatch, included the names of Flt, Lt.H.Spector of Toronto, F.O.Abe Finkelstein of Ottawa and F.O.A, Glustein of Montreal.\u201cAll people of good will will hail this judgment with deepest satisfaction,\u201d said Irving Oelbaum, president of the Ontario Region, Canadian Jewish Congress.\u2018\u2018It is further evidence that there is no place in Canada for racial or religious intoleranc2 The judgment gives force of law to a moral principle.\u201d The Montreal \u201cStar\u201d commented editorially on the decision: \u201cSuch a contract, the court holds in declaring it invalid, is against the public interest.There are other stated grounds of illegality, but from the published reports it appears that the court\u2019s principal reason for rejection is that a discriminatory agreement of this kind \u2014 a restrictive covenant, as it is called \u2014 is socially immoral.\u201cThere will be some heart-burning over this decision, for many such agreements barring Jews and Negroes exist.Some inconvenience may result, too; but surely it is good and proper in a country like ours to refuse to permit the enshrinement of race and color NOV.-DEC, 1950 prejudice in a contract, We have long enjoyed a healthy tolerance, both legal and social, of religious minorities; we takeanother democratic step forward when we extend this tolerance to racial and color minorities.To do anything eise would be retrograde, \u201cIt should not be assumed that the court, in ruling as it has, hag declared against freedom of contract.Such freedom is still one of the bases of our social structure, But contracts have always been affected by public interest and it is a general rule of law that where a contract affects the public interest adversely it cannot be enforced.It is illegal because it is immoral.\u201cControl of group prejudice has been described as \u2018the unfinished business of democracy\u2019.We can be thankful that here, where we subscribe to ideal of human brotherhood and the principles of equality enshrined in the Four Freedoms and the Declaration of Human Rights, we are enjoined to practice what we preach.\u201d CONCRESS BULLETIN Page 3 TE ET AEE EE EAE ERSTE A TREE TE Jews in Egypt By Meier Faerber HHI RANG LITT Israel welcomed the change which has taken place In Egypt as a result of the last elections there.The Wafd is known as a party whose tendencies are progressive in comparison with the platforms of other political groups in the country and it is considered quite possible that peace talks may be started in the near future.Up to the declaration of war with Israel, there were some 80,000 Jews in Egypt; 40,000 of them lived in Cairo, 80,000 in Alexandria, the remainder in Port Said, Tanta, Mansura and other small towns.A number of families, such ag the Circurels, the Cattauis, Mosseiris, Suares, Rolos and Zagduns had occupied leading positions in the economic life of Egypt.Only a few were able to acquire Egyptian citizenship.Most of the Egyptian Jews lived in the uncertain status of \u201clocal subjects.\u201d When Egyptian xenophobia became predominant, Jewish industrialists and businessmen were compelled to take non- Jews as partners.The majority of Jewish employees in Egyptians firms were given notice and had to leave their jobs.After the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel, this situation developed into an open anti-Jewish campaign.) Martial law was imposed upon the whole of Egypt and the Italian school in Cairo, which during the war harboured Italian internees, were transformed into an internment camp for suspect Jews.Arrests of Jews, according to lists prepared by the Political Bureau, were carried out in Cairo, Alexandria and the Suez Canal Zone.Those arrested included Zionists and non-Zionists, Egyptian citizens and foreigners; among the latter British, Italian, French and Greeks subjects.1,000 Jews, including young women, were arrested in Cairo alone during the first twenty-four hourg of \u201coperations.\u201d Alexandria was the scene of another 141 arrests, whilst fifty more Jews were arrested in Port Said and the Suez Canal Zone.Another 1,000 Jews_were interned up to the end of May 1948.Jewish property was put under Government \u201ccustody.\u201d In addition, the assets of organizations and companies were put under control even if a single of their members had ever been to Israel.Jewish property thus seized amounted to several million pounds.The Egyptians were not pacified by the statement of the Chief Rabbi of Egypt that the Egyptian Jews were backing the \u2018Holy War\u201d of their Egyptian fellow-citizens against Zionism.And Egypt\u2019s Jews tried in vain to prove their loyalty by collecting $275,000 for the Egyptian Soldiers\u2019 Welfare Fund.The residential quarter of the most assimilated of Egyptian Jews was blown up.Forty-four Jews, most of them women and children, were killed and over sixty severely injured.The authorities charged that the explosion -had been caused by the Jews themselves and a new wave of searches in Jewish houses and arrests by the police started.The mob of Cairo thus received encouragement for fresh attacks against Jews in the streets; and nearly 100 Jews were murdered and about 500 injured.A short time later two big Jewish department stores in Cairo (Circurel and Oreco) were destroyed by explosions.About five hundred shops in the neighbourhood suffered damage, Three people were killed as a result of this ex- (Continued on Page 11) Page 4 CONCRESS BULLECIN Israel\u2019s ~ Bus Co-operatives : By DAVID KRIVINE Dan and Egged are the largest bus companies operating in Israel and both are complete co-operatives, Dan has 700 members and owns about 330 buses, It is a most striking feature of Israel economy that the bus company has not a single employee.The principle of the co-operative is put severely to the test at present, Employment of labour is considered in Israeli labour circles as the exploitation of labour.No \u2018person who employs anyone may be a member of the Hista- druth}! If a member takes an employee, he must resign from the Histadruth, Some years ago, Dan began to use hired labour as practical necessity dictated.The cost of membership in the cooperative had risen and there was a need for emploved clerks, fitters and even drivers, But thig indulgence was very soon brought to a halt.It was decided to turn over the garages to Solel Boneh, the building co-operative, and to confine Dan to the actual bus crews, who should all be members of the co-operative.At the same time the question arose, how could a rapid inflow of new members be secured?Sixteen years ago, the cost of entry into the co-operative was £650 (less £50 for one who had served full time in -Hagana), But by now the value of such a share had gone up to £3,500 and demobilized soldiers\u2014the major source of new manpower\u2014ecould scarcely afford even the reduced figure of £3,000.It was decided, therefore, to reduce the cost of a share to £2,000 (£1,500 for ex-soldiers) by the simple means of paying out the difference to existing members.Each member, therefore received a lump sum of £1,500 from the co-operati- ve.The sum of money for this disbursement was raised by sales of surplus land.For example, a garage in Tel Aviv was sold because it had become too small and a larger one was bought outside town, But the larger garage was cheaper than the one that was sold because land values inside Tel Aviv had risen so high.Again, 15 dunams of \u2018land were sold to the Histadruth on which to erect their new Va'\u2019ad Hapoel (Executive Committee) building.The new members were helped by the Co-operative Fund to raise the capital with which to become shareholders.Fellow-members assisted in a fraternal way.Members of the co-operative lent £10 each to the would-be member whio repaid in instalments from income, Now the only hired help in Dan are those whose membership is pending.And so the members of Dan themselves work out.their own destinies, They have an annual meeting to elect their officers.They vote for a Council of 33 people and a management of 11.Outside Tel Aviv, an attractive housing project is going on, This is paid for out of the Pension Fund.Each man may draw his share out of that Fund for building a hôuse (but not for any other purpose).NOV.-DEC.1950 The 30D quivers Oa the ool denti Sigler: \u201c have the Co! is mor splendid Vater, \u201cThis To X preciation considera jessors, B dong so emulated openly I {0-0peral : from eve tered ils - received 1 has firs, En fhe first Faculty : ba éd me à gious gy never § Monsieu tor, sou final ex intervia Priesthy dg it Help it Cathol dieing By Ve by Uli Jeg i \u2018Th Monty Wo, in mon - | French-Canadians Appreciate Jews\u2019 Interest in French The article on Jewish students at the University of Montreal (\u2018Cros Over the Open Door\u201d by Betty Sigler) in the last - issue of the Congress Bulletin proved one of the most widely discussed features we have published \u2018in recent months, At least two students at the university were niot too happy with the article, largely because they resented the subject being considered newsworthy.They accepted their attendance at the university as a matter of course, On the other hand, a prominent surgeon dentist at Montreal wrote to Miss Sigler: \u201cI have just completed looking over the Congress Bulletin which arrived this morning and enjoyed reading your splendid article about my old Alma Mater.\u201cThis thoughtful article about the U.of M.was inspired no doubt in appreciation for the benefits and other considerations received from the professors, By writing this article you have done something which I should have emulated thirty years ago: express openly my sentiments for the splendid co-operation and assistance I received from everyone from the moment I entered its portals in 1916 to the time I received my Doctorat.I have {he distinction of being the first English-speaking, and definitely the first Jewish student, to enter the Faculty of Dentistry of Laval University, as it was then called.They accepted me ag their equal in spite of religious and language barriers.I shall never forget the day when the late Monsignor Gauthier who was then rector, sought me out prior to taking the final examinations, and after a short interview sent me away with our priestly benediction ringing in my ears and\u2014most wondrous\u2014he repeated it in Hebrew.\u201d At Muenster, Sask., the friendly Catholic weekly published by the Benedictine priests, \u201cThe Prairie Messenger\u201d, reprinted the article on the front page.In Montreal, Le Devoir, carried a column by P.V.dealing with \u201cThe Jews in our Midst\u201d: \u201cThis homage to the University of Montreal might be no more than an expression of the sympathy towards us on the part of the author, Miss Betty Sigler.But the fact that it was published in the official organ of the Canadian Jewish Congress gives it quite another import.It indicates that the Jews are beginning to consider their relations with French-Canadiang much more realistically.They are apparently beginning to realize that the frictions that may arise between the two groups as a result of the keen economic competition that their merchants and industrialists offer to our own and the quite normal differences bf opinion on such questions as immigration do not justify the cry of anti-semitism.They may finish by- according greater importance than they have to the French language which is Still the language of the population whence they draw most of their customers.\u201d Joseph G., front page columnist of the Jewish Daily Eagle, agrees with the Le Devoir writer (whom he identifies as Pierre Vigeant, one of the editors of the Catholic daily), particularly in regard to the French language.\u201cThe Le Devoir editor would like to see greater interest among Jews in the French language and in the culture of our French-Canadian neighbours.This is a wise approach, even if only from the purely cultural point of view, not to speak of the practical value of such a development for the establishment of a more friendly modus vivendi -with French-Canadians who are our permanent fellow-citizens, not our temporary hosts.It is significant that the suggestion comeg from a source whence we had, in the past, heard altogether different comments in regard to the Jews.P.V.represents a point of view among French-Canadians which considers the preservation of the French language and its equality with English as cardinal and not subject to compromise.Whether, with all the good will in the world, we can satisfy the autonomist- nationalist group in the province for whom P.V, speaks is another question.\u201d S.D.Cohen, chairman of the joint public relations committee in eastern Canada and who also heads the committee on French-Canadian affairs, wrote to the Eagle columnist: \u201cI quite agree with you that there is great merit in the suggestion that the Jewish community of this province interest itself to a greater extent in the French langudge and in the noble culture which is given expression in this tongue.As you say, this is true quite aside from the practical effect this would have in bringing us into a more close relationship with French-Cana- dians.\u201cApparently your point of view, with which I agree, is also shared by quite a number of other Jews in this city, for there has been an increased interest in French in recent months as is evidenced by a number of developments.I understand that the Bnai Brith lodges of Montreal have established courses in the French language for their members and friends.» \u201cI also understand that the YMHA of Montreal is now making plans to provide their many members with the same educational facilities.\u201cPerhaps the most Impressive ace complishment in this direction to date hag been the organization last year of the Cercle Juif de Langue Francaise under the presidency of Dr, H.R.Wit- kov and with the active participation of such community figures as Rabbi Solomon P.Frank, A, J.Rosenstein, Louis Benjamin, Miss Enid Goldstine and Miss Daisy Casdim, \u201cThis organization had a number of meetings last season which were ade dressed by I'ather Stephan Valiquette, S.J., who spoke on the Jesuit colleges of French Canada, and by Pierre Jü neau who spoke on Catholic Action.\u201cThis year Madame Germaine Gue- vremont, the outstanding French-Can= adian novelist, has been the guest of the Cercle and the next meeting with the group will hear Father Emile Le- gault, who has founded and directed the world-famoug dramatic group, Les Compagnons.\u201cIn addition to these public meetings with invited speakers, Le Cercle Juif holds meetings of its members which provide them with an opportunity to speak in French among themselves, I believe these developments prove the soundness of your point of view, It would be well if they were more widely known within and without the Jewish community.\u201d B.G.Sack, historian and student of French-Canadian affairs, writing in the Jewish Daily Eagle, drew attention to the radio broadcasts and La Patrie ar- (Continued on Page 22) NOV.-DEÉC.1950 \u2019 CONCRESS BULLECIN Page 5 _ Page 6 Frank Sylvester And The Gold Rush The First Jew in Western Canada By DAVID ROME Frank Sylvester or, more formally, Francis Joseph Sylvester, was one of the small group of pioneers who were the first Jews to come to Western Canada.They came to Victoria on Vancouver Island, now the capital of the province of British Columbia, in the summer of 1858 after word of the discovery of gold on the Fraser River reached California and get off the historic Fraser River Gold Rush.\u201c The number of Jews who came to Victoria at this time wag relatively small, probably séveral score.But they were an unusually active group and within a few short years they established in Victoria a Jewish community which ranks in interest with many of the larger Jewish settlements in Canada.They all came to Victoria from California, which at that time was practically the last frontier, the westernmost home of the world\u2019s wanderers.Only ihe most venturesome went further to the northern settlement of Vancouver Island.It is rather remarkable that this small group included many who were to play so important a part in every phase .of the life of the country.Among these Jewish pioneers who came in 1858 and the following several years were\u2014 the Oppenheimer brothers: Charles, who helped to build the Cariboo Road; Isaac, the civic leader of Barkerville; David, later mayor of Vancouver, and Godfrey, the merchant prince of Victoria; the Sutros of California fame; Joseph Boscowitz, who developed .the sealing industry; Henry Nathan and his son, Henry Jr., who was to be the first Jew to: sit in the Ottawa House of Commons; Selim Franklin, who sat in the Colonial Assembly; his brother Lumley, Mayor of Victoria; H.A.Belasco with his son David, whose name is written in the history of the American theatre; John Malowänsky, Bering Sea adventurer; Morris Moss, famed Indian agent, and & number of other civie leaders who contributed to every aspect of life in Victoria, including its rowdy phases, Of all these pioneer settlers of Victoria, the one about \u2018whose daily life we know most is Frank Sylvester who appears frequently in contemporary records.We are fortunate that a part of his Victoria diary and many of his personal papers in the Provincial Archives of British Columbia of that period have survived.These portray an unusual picture of the life of a typical Jewish resident in Victoria of that time.Frank Sylvester was born in New York in 1837, (1) and came to California in 1553.He left San Francisco in July 11, 1858, and arrived at Esquimalt on July 17.He is thug the first Jew to our certain knowledge to settle in what is now western Canada, Other Victoria Jewish pioneers of 1858 may have come aboard the same vessel with him and it may be that some may have come even earlier but we have no clear record of this.Tragically enough, the only two Jews who, we know, preceded him to British Columbia both lost their lives on the way.: During the latter part of May 1858, Eugene L.Dennery (1) Arthur Daniel Hart, The Jew in Canada (Toronto, 1926) P.118.One press obituary also gives this date, but another newspaper gives 1835, and information supplied by the family to the Provincial Archives of British Columbia give sthe year 1834.« CONCRESS BULLETIN ~ \"was drowned while ascending the Fraser River when a cae noe with four others overturned.(The name Dennery is connected with a Jewish family in Metz, France\u2014See Archives Israelites, 1861, P.177).Dennery was one of the founder of the Hebrew Young Men\u2019s Literary Society of San Francisco and occupied several important positions therein.the last one as librarian, which he resigned upon the eve of his departure, (San Francisco Gleaner, June 25, 1858).The other was Isaac Rosenbaum, of the firm of Rosen- baum & Van Allan, who was drowned when the sailboat Alcatraz capsized on June 21 at the entrance of the harbour of Victoria (Victoria Gazette, June 25, 1858).The San Francisco Gleaner reported that he had drowned from a canoe while going up the Fraser.* Sylvester\u2019s papers describe his voyage to Victoria and his first day in the city and in the gold fields.His first night in Victoria was spent in a tent on the site of Yates St.Shortly afterwards he leased a narrow, 15- foot lot from Amor De Cosmos at $100 per month, He built a small store there, but with lumber $125 a thousand and carpenters at $8 a day, the store cost him §1,500.Business wag poor because of the strong competition and he surrendered the building to De Cosmos for rent.In July, 1859, Sylvester went to the gold fields on the Fraser and further into the interior, and his diaries and papers preserve thrilling descriptions of his experiences.\u201cI had to cross a narrow saddle, on a trail not less than 1,000 feet above the river, a trail not over one foot wide, and the least misstep would have sent me into the boiling river, faintly seen below.\u201d \u2018Sylvester must have returned to Victoria hefore 1862, for September 12, 1861, he joined the Tiger Engine @ompany of Firefighters and was elected secretary on January 7, 1862.(Hart is in error when he states on P.118 of \u201cThe Jews in Canada\u201d that Sylvester returned in 1863).It was in this capacity that he signed the following advertisement in the Colonist of July 21, 1862: \u201cAttention Tigers : \u201cYour engine being out of order, you are requested to run with the: Hose Carriage of your Company, and to assist the Deluge Engine until further orders.\u201d On September 18th, he called his company to attend the trial of their new engine, As secretary of the company he also called upon \u2018the active honorary and contributing members\u201d to assemblé for the funeral of J.D.Carroll on July 31, 1562, (See Colonist Sept.3, 1862) and to the Finance Committee of the Board \u2018of Delegates on Sept.10th.He was secretary of the Tiger Company in 1868, when a new engine wgs purchased and he\u2019 signed the list of subscriptions towards this cause.As secretary of the Victoria Fire Department, he signed the address of welcome to Governor Musgrave in the fall of 1869.' The records which he kept as secretary of the Tiger Co.from January 1862 to July 7, 1863, and from January 5, 1864, to Jahuary 3, 1865, and ag secretary of the Fire Department are preserved in the Government Archives of the NOV.-DEC.1950 ante 5 sis, 5 January foloved 7 zut Ë avail spare abi An 1869) 1 al with ¥ well-Hr Th ed in fori, Sy as the Chern ate Oppos step © He urged enter Ww Cana ings Was ( loria Main 10 M 0 J tong) 0g on {} bir Vig 1 in, Igy Sly {on thin i Ag, TE en À \u201cAirey fgg Tags, Ve & 31 hig Ase dat A], fo of Uthiey 2 FLE + Srie : 110 ting aTTOF Tie, void \u2014 TT RGR a ry Province of British Columbia.These records contain a thrilling story of the participation of the Jewish citizens of Vie- toria in the firefighting organization of the city.We find there the names of Lewis Rosenberg, A.F.Keyser, Samuel Harris, Joshua Davies, Henry Moses Cohen, George W.Cchen, J.Fried, L.Levy, Marcus Meyer, Saul Shannon, D.Kaufman, Samuel Joel, Emanuel Levy, John Allen, John Malowansky and Nathan Koshland.Sylvester was secretary of the Fire Department at least until 1871.In the fall of 1864, he was appointed Victoria agent for M.Prag.By 1869 he was employed by Henry Moses Cohen and later became accountant for Judah Philip Davies, and we find him appearing as a witness in a minor suit in this capacity on Nov.1, 1870.The Victoria Directory for 1877 describes him thus.At that time, he resided on Pandora Street (Voters\u2019 List of 1876).As is evident from the diary, he was an active member \u2018Of the Masonic Lodge.\u2019 .The diary frequently mentions Miss Davies, The reference is to Cecelia Davies, daughter of Judah Philip Davies.Sylvester married Miss Davies at her father\u2019s home on January 27, 1869.The formal notice in the Colonist was followed by the following from the editor.\u201cThe happy pair, in the fullness of their joy, forgot not the printer; and if the good wishes of our staff avail anything, Mr.and Frank Sylvester will be long spared to each other and will \u2018increase and multiply abundantly\u2019.\u2014Ed.\u201d A news item in the same issue of the Colonist (Jan.28, 1869) reported that \u2018\u201c\u2018the flags were flying.yesterday as a.mark of respect for the union of Mr.Frank Sylvester with Miss Cecelia Davies, daughter of J.P.Davies, Esq., the well-known auctioneer.\u201d The Sylvesters resided in Victoria for many years, respect- .ed in the business community and in the social life of Victoria.Sylvester took some interest in congregational affairs, as the diary indicates.He was re-elected Secretary of the Chevrah Bikur Cholim Society on January 12, 1864 and as late as 1885 we hear of him at a meeting of the congregation opposing the installation of an organ in the synagogue as a step towards reform.He took some slight interest in political affairs.He was urged to stand for office but was too retiring by nature to enter the hurly-burly.When the question of British Columbia entering the Canadian Confederation came up, he opposed the proceedings of the Yale Convention which supported this step and was one of the \u2018\u2018f£oreign residents\u201d\u2019 who disavowed the Victoria representatives at this conference.He probably remained an American citizen until his death on December 25, 1908.Mrs, Sylvester, who was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on Jan, 22, 1848, was socially prominent and active in the congregation and presided over a fine Jewish home.She was one of the first members of the I.O.D.E.in Victoria and served \u201c on the executive of the Royal Jubilee Hospital.She survived her husband until November 6, 1935.The family resides in Victoria.Their children are Miss Louise Sylvester, Mrs.M.Menkus, Mrs.Rachel Campbell, Mrs.Lawrence Macrae, Mrs.À.B.Ellis, William Sylvester (died 1931), Jesse Sylvester, Clarence Sylvester (for many years secretary of May 24th Celebration \u2018Committee, died in 1933 at the age of 57) and the Sylvester twins who died in infancy.NOV.-DEC.1950 500,000th Person Helped by JDC CONCAESS BULLETIN By RICHARD COHEN m=mmmic\u2014d Last month, eleven years after she first faced the German troops marching down her street in Warsaw, Mrs, Fanny Kirshenberg, her husband and their two children left Paris on their last trip\u2014to Israel.For the Kirshenbergs, the trip to Israel was promise of a new future, For the Joint Distribution Committee, Mrs.Kirshenberg® wag the 500,000th Jewish victim of the war whom the JDC had helped reach a permanent home since the guns of World War II were silenced.The tragedy in Simon and Fanny Kirshenberg\u2019s life was \u2018long and merciless.Before their marriage 20 years ago, Simon and Fanny had lived in different cities in Poland.She worked as a librarian in the famous Yiddish Scientifie Institute (YIVO) of her native Vilno.He was an up-and- coming young lawyer in Warsaw.After their marriage, the young couple settled in Warsaw and looked forward to a comfortable life, Simon\u2019s practice flourished, Fanny gave birth to a boy, two years later to a girl.But the prospect of a peaceful future ended abruptly one day in September, 1939, when the German armies broke across the Polish border, Then followed the long years of suffering and insecurity that are only now beginning to end for.the Kirshenberg family.An officer in the Polish Army, Simon Kirshenberg was forced to leave his family and move eastward before the German advance.When Warsaw fell, his wife and her young children remained alone.For a year, the mother and her children hid in cellars, foraged for food at night, slept fitfully.Then one day, after long and careful planning, she fled east and found her husband in Vilno, The Kirshenbergs were sent by Russian authorities from Soviet-occupied Lithuania to Kazakstan, in Siberia, and put to work on a government farm as laborers.* This ordeal ended a few months later when the Soviet and Polish Governments signed the Sikorsky Treaty and all Polish citizens in Russia were amnestied.The Kirshenbergs moved into a small city in the region and lived by selling their clothing and whatever other possessions they had, Mr.Kirshenberg became apprentice to a bellmaker, In March, 1943, all Poles in Russia were ordered to become Russian citizens.The alternative was a prison sentence of two years.Assigned to different camps, the Kirshen- bergs were all separated from each other.The children, who remained in a nearby town, lived by selling and bartering the last of the family possessions.The war ended and the Kirshenbergs were repatriated to Poland in 1946, But, early in 1949, the Xirshenberg family again gathered up its belongings and packed its bags, hoping to begin life again in Israel.Simon Kirshenberg hopes to pass examinations which will permit him to hang out his shingle and resume hig law practice in Israel, Fanny Kirshenberg\u2014never one for the kitchen\u2014is certain that her office experience can be.put to good use.Eighteen-year-old Joseph, who just received a coveted .degrees in a French lycee, hopes to continue his studies in engineering and find a new life with the help of Canadian and American Jewry through the J.D.C.Page 7 Hebrew University Medical Student Ami is the typical Israeli medical student.He has fought in two wars and had about six years eut out of the best years of study and play in his life.He\u2019s had very little campus life and on his return to the University to pick up his studies where he left off he is far more serious then when he entered.Ami is a sabra, and therefore shares with a third of his classmates certain advantages of language and integration which the others still have to attain.They are 130 medical students in all of whom 25 are women.Although the Hebrew University Medical School had been blueprinted for many years, and eventually will fit into the Medical Centre on Mount Scopus, its establishment actually arose out of an emergency with a good deal of improvisation as a result.Fifty medical students were fighting in Israel.About half of them were from Europe and had come to Israel the hard way through Cyprus and Latrun, They had abandoned all hope of pursuing their medical career.The other half were young Israeli boys and girls who had been studying abroad and had come home to fight.Most of the Israeli students were World War II veterans and were studying with the help of government grants.They lost these grants when they left their universities to go to the defence of the Homeland.\u201cSeven of us were stationed in one military hospital fn Jerusalem\u201d, said Ami.\u201cWe used to meet every Saturday.The question came up of returning abroad after the war.We wanted to remain in Israel, and we began to count on the proposed Medical School opening in time for us.\u201d \u201cWasn't that a pretty bold idea,\u201d I asked, \u2018\u2018considering that the university was home-hunting?\u201d \u2019 \u2018Maybe, but the Army saw eye-to-eye with us, not only for our own needs, but for those of the country.As a matter of fact they were ready to open an Academy for the purpose.But this wasn\u2019t necessary.The University and Hadassah took over the scheme as an emergency measure.The staff and the students were available, and the other things could coms.\u201d \u201cHow was it possible to begin without equipment and without a library, without classrooms, and all that?\u201d \u201cThe opening of the course wag typical of the whole set-up.It\u2019s just a year that the course began, even before the school was opened.That opening was held only a stone\u2019s throw from the enemy lines, amid barbed wire and dragon\u2019s teeth.All our beginnings fitted into that picture perfectly.One class of a clinical course was held in the library of the Zeev Hospital, and one in our lodgings.We scrounged equipment and microscopes from laboratories and clinics all over the country.We found a skeleton in an abandoned foreign hospital, and we rescued a medical library just as it was to be thrown out with rubbish that had been cleared out of military barracks.We had all sorts of windfalls in those days.Luck played into our hands whenever we seemed to despair.Of course stuff was rushed over from America.We are pretty well equipped right now.\u201d \u201cWhat handicaps are you up against?\u201d I asked.- Page 8 CONCRESS BULLETIN By.Molly Lyons Bar:David \u201cSome of the students are married and have children\u2014 for we range in age up to 37 as a result of the European odysseys and the war in Israel.Practically all the students have to earn a living as well as attend school.Some are night watchmen, and.some work at night in the hospital.It would be a great thing if we could have some alleviation here.\u201d - \u201cI remember that in my day it was quite customary for the students abroad to act as waiters and take on other jobs to help put them through college.\u201d \u201cYes, And I wish there were more jobs like that here, of a kind that could fit in with the curriculum.The men sometimes get work at loading and other odd jobs, but the income is erratic, This summer many of us are going to the Negev to plant trees in the afforestation scheme.Meanwhile we hope to increase our loan fund.\u201d \u201cWhat sort of human material have you at the school, Ami?\u201d I asked, \u201cI mean, aside from their being good Israelis.\u201d \u201cTheir experiences make them all unusually good material.Most of them have suffered abroad, and see in their profession a great chance to alleviate suffering.Their backgrounds are very varied.We have students not only from Israel, but from South Africa, Holland, Bulgaria, Rumania, Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Syria and Russia.\u201d .\u201cEven from Russia?\u201d \u201cYes, a girl whose family was exiled to Siberia for Zionist activity.She was very gifted and served as a nurse \u2014the only one within 200 miles\u2014and the Russians gave her a scholarship in Moscow.She got here somehow, via Cyprus, and served as a frontline nurse with the Palmach.She always wanted to be a doctor, and now she is going to be one.She fell in love with one of our other medical students and married him.How\u2019s that for a story?\u201cWe have the advantage of stress being laid on the problems we will have to face as doctors in Israel, the problems brought in by immigration, tropical diseases and our own laboratory diagnosis in immigrant camps and fields.We are being trained to practice and to appreciate preventive medicine on Israeli lines .\u201cOur sources of medical men in Europe have dried up, and numerus clausus in many other Universities must surely discourage proud Jews from taxing up medicine in other countries.Our people have given the world many outstanding medical men, and Will continue to do so\u2014this time from Israel.\u201d Vancouver labor has organized a local Joint Labor Committee to combat Racial Intolerance, following the pattern already set in Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg.J.Bury heads the local committee and Knute Buttedahl is secretary.Among the groups participating in addition to the Jewish Labor Committee are the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, the International Woodworkers of America, the Home Service Employees and the United Fisher- nien and Allied Workers, NOV.-DEC.1950 LA fab fb for à ied viré 9 ei pri apigrabs Neve! pscapiné yore UE fr 8 po BOS pterior pesorted This of rad Jewish jrgi ?\u201cTh pa J chooses writing Interit Wi if wit! \u201c Jews good, Since in the 10 pr and \u20ac there leave citize enacts Ir oly Omar of J frozen lragi With Neral he à the Arab [ Ing ape shay thoy Only 7 ler Soon, su | 8g oy y { (thy S400 smn ren sera sess san tig \u201crap \u201cop ie 2 an ral, sation AF Igy thy i en, 3 Deg 3 du fring tem, sh, 200d Us thalr bate fm ch, Doors Are Opened To Leave For Israel Exodus from Iraq , By joseph B.Schechtmen For a number of years the 150,000 Jews in Iraq have lived virtually behind hermetically-closed doors.Restrictions on Jewish migration to Palestine have always been particularly severe.After the establishment of Israel in May, 1948, emigration to the young State became a capital offence.Nevertheless, a considerable number of Jews succeeded in escaping from Iraq to Israel via Iran.The Iraqi authorities were unable to stem this clandestine emigration.An official Iraqi spokesman frankly admitted that there was \u201cpractically no poscibility of stopping it.\u201d The Iraqi Minister of the Interior reported to the Parliament that the \u201cIraqi Jews had resorted to unimaginable devices to get out of the country.\u201d This played a cons derable part in the sudden decision of Iraq\u2019s rulers to reverse their traditional pclicy and legalize Jewish emigration from the country.In Mareh, 1950, the - Iraqi Parliament passed a law which reads: \u201cThe Council cf Minister is emppwered to deprive any Iraqi Jew of Iraqi citizenship who, of his own free will, chooses to leave Iraq for good, after he shall so signify in writing before an official designated by the Minister of the Interior.\u201d When introducing the bill.the Government accompanied it with the following comment: \u201cConsideration was given to the fact that many Iragi Jews are using all illegal ways in order to leave Iraq for good; indeed many of them have already left Iraq illegally.\u2018Singe the presence of such citizens (who are forced to remain in the country and retain their Iragi citizenship) is bound to produce results which will adversely affect security and create social and economic problems, it was found that there was no alternative but not to hinder those desiring to leave Iraq for good, and to deprive them of the Iraqi citizenship.It is for this purpose that the present law was enacted.\u201d Iraq\u2019s decision to permit Jewish emigration was reached only after a stormy debate and much opposition.Senator Omari demanded that the law also determine the disposal of Jewish property.He proposed that all Jewish assets be frozen.Ex-Premier Musahim Amin Pashashi urged that the Iraqi Government first consult with the other Arab states with a view to common lezislative measures concerning a general exodus of Jews from the Arab lands.At the same time he declared that serious consideration ouzht to be given to the question of exchanging the Jewish population of the Arab countries for the Arabs of Israel.Legalization of emigration precipitated the rush among Iragi Jews to leave the country.At first, when notices appeared that every Jew desirous of leaving the country should register at the Central Synagogue in Baghdad, many thought, this was a trap to round up suspected Zionists.Only 4,000 registered.When it became known that the government actually permitted emigration, the mass movement started.Very soon, additional registration centres were established.Jewish Agency sources estimate that between 50,000 and 60,000.Jews will be transferred from Iraq to Israel in the first phase of the migration.For the time being, many of the wealthier Iraqi Jews (the number of well-to-do Jews in Iraq is estimated at .(Continued on Page 14) NOV.-DEC.1950 CONCRESS BULICCIN Rabbi in Korea By Chapiain Joseph B.Messing The pleasant pace of occupation duty in Japan was rudely disrupted en June 25, 1950, when the North Koreans crossed the 38th Parallel.Just before midnight on July 5, the phone awoke me and I was informed that I should prepare to leave within 24 hours.The next few hours were a maelstrom of action as I prepared to move with the Tropic Lightning Division.Unification hag accomplished many wonders for the armed forces but it has not eliminated \u201churry up and wait.\u201d It was not until July 9 that I received the written orders to leave Kobe.We sailed to Korea on a Japanese ship.The Japanese rendered immeasurable aid to us during the first, dark days of this military action.Without their ships and without their port personnel we would have been unable to transport men and sorely needed supplies to the front.During the trip I spent much time among the officers and men.There was resentment amongst them at being ordered into a fight which seemingly had no bearing on their future.Much of this resentment was expressed openly and freely.Sarcastic jibes about \u201ccops and robbers\u201d were bandied back and forth.There were some men\u2014very few, I might add-\u2014 who actually had an insight into the situation and the possible implication which might arise from the first UN police action in history.At Pusan motor travel was severely restricted by atrocious roads, roving Red patrols behind our lines, guerrillas and decapitation wires, The latter device is a rather muder- ous implement.We were not permitted to travel on the roads except in convoys with sufficient fire power to stave off guere rilla attacks.' For the first four weeks in Pusan there were only three Chaplains in this area.We worked as a close team.Every ship that docked was boarded by the \u201cPusan Team\u2019 and we contacted the men of our faiths.I distributed prayer books, Bibles and mezuzoth.Mezuzoth particularly were in great demand among Jewish servicemen.Services were held om board ship or on the pierg after the men debarked.The Evacuation Hospital was the only one in Korea at that time and was flooded with patients.The hospital was so short of personnel that we often worked as surgical] assistants and litter bearers in addition to performing our ree ligious duties.It was gratifying to see the light of joy in the eyes of the Jewish wounded when their rabbi visited thea I had known most of these men in Japan.Regular Friday evening services were held in the Base Chapel.Attendance varied with the military situation.Each service was followed by an Oneg Shabbat and a long bull session with garnished corned beef and gefilte fish.The pressure of work usually prevented a good attendance.High Holy Day services were held in Pusan and the Jewish men were brought from the lines to Pusan.The situation at that time was such that it would not have been feasible to conduct services in the field.The Air Force placed a C-47 at our disposal and the men stationed in the Taegu area were able to fly to services and return to their foxe holes quickly.(Continued on Page 16) Page 9 The Incredible History Of China\u2019s Jews TRB mie One of the first Europeans to report on China, the famous Venetian merchant and explorer Marco Polo, wrote in 1286 that he met Chinese Jews who exercised an astounding political influence in China and Mongolia.In 1605 another European occupied himself with the incredible history of China\u2019s Jews.He was Matteo Ricci, a member of the Jesuit mission in Peking.Many years after his*coming there he happened to meet a strange-looking man, named Ngai, who sought out the Jesuit; Ngai came from the interior of China and, to judge by his costume and language, was a typical Chinese.He had heard that strangers had arrived on the coast who believed in one God and Ngai was sent to welcome them, The astounded priest asked his visitor into the chapel, where there were pictures of Mary, Christ and John the Baptist.The guest bowed respectfully, adding that although it was not hig custom to worship pictures, he liked to show his reverence towards religious history! Another painting showed the four evangelists and the visitor asked whether they were among the \u2018twelve men,\u201d which the Jesuit confirmed.In the course of the further discussion it became evident that Ricci\u2019s guest wag a Jew! He had mistaken the Madonna and Christ for Rebecca with her sons, Jacob and Esau.By the \u201ctwelve men\u201d he meant not the apostles but the twelve sons of Jacob.Neither he nor his co-religionists knew where they had come from.They had never heard of the Christian religion and certainly not that Christians were persecuting Jews in the occidental countries, Following this meeting a friendly relationship developed between the Jews of Kai-feng and the Jesuits of Peking.During the second half of the 19th century, a Russian merchant whose name was Liebermann was the first European Jew to see the town of Kai-feng, with its conglomeration of races living peacefully together.At the same time, Protestant missionaries learned about this Jewish segment.In a most interesting booklet issued in London in 1843, James Finn deals with \u201cJews in China\u201d.He had lived for quite a while among them before he was appointed British consul in Jerusalem, A Dr, Smith was sent out to China in 1850 to act as Bishop of Hong-Kong.He was also instructed to investigate the truth concerning the Chinese Jews and to convert them to Christianity if possible.Soon after his arrival in Hong- Kong, the Missionary Society in Shangai sent two Chinese converts into the interior of Honan.After a few months both returned to Shanghai and brought two Jews from Kai-feng dressed in Chinese style, speaking Chinese, behaving according to Chinese customs and bearing Chinese names.One of them had an undeniable Jewish appearance, however.Both were circumcised.Eight manuscripts, copies of the Hebrew Old Testament on silk scrolls and on sheepskin were also brought.In the course of many hours of conversation, Rev.Milne secured a thorough knowledge about Kai-feng's Jews and their past history.His report was publishad in one of his Page 10 The Jews of Kai-feng-fu.By PETER BLUMENSCHEIN CONCRESS BULLECIN JE ERE books on China in 1857 in London under the title \u2018Life in China\u201d.It told an astounded world about tho existence of Jews in China, where no Jews were known to be.More descriptions and essays followed, published among others in the \u201cJapan Chronicle\u201d, \u2018\u2018Israel\u2019s Messenger\u201d and the \u2018Journal Chinoise\u201d, The town Kai-feng-fu or Kai-fang is the capital of Honan, about 700 miles northwest of Shanghai.For a time during the Sung Dynasty, Kai-fang has been the capital of the Chinese Empire.In the course of the war between Japan and - China, Japanese planes destroyed the Anglican Church but a stone tablet with Chinese characters only 50 yards from the cathedral was not even touched.The text had been engraved in 1489 and is one of the most important clues in connection with the past of these Chinese Jews, It reads as follows: \u201cOur religion came to China during the reign of the Han Dynasty between 200 B.C.and 200 A.D.\u201d The inscription continues with the names of the 70 Jewish families who had migrated from India to China.When Rev, Milne met the two Jewish men, only seventy families consisting of 200 souls had survived.They lived in the center of the town near their synagogue.Some were storekeepers and other were farmers, but the greater part lived in dire need, so poor that from time to time symbols and Jewish relics from the synagogue had to be sold.Their outward appearance did not offer any hint as to their descent.Yet they felt different somehow, owing perhaps, to a certain close union emphasized by their religion.Originally they called themselves adherents of the Ticnt- schu religion (Tientschu is the Chinese name for India), because they believed they came from India.In the following centurieg they changed their name to Tiau-kin-kiau, which means \u2018\u2018these who tear out the sinew or tendon\u201d\u2019\u2014because they removed the sinews of anything they ate from sheep, cattle or poultry, which appears to be another form of kash- rut.Aside from the rabbi, whom they called.Mwanlah\u2014the Mohammedan-Arabian term for Mullah, the religious head of a community\u2014the \u2018\u2018Tearer of Sinews\u2019\u201d was a most important functionary.They did not eat pork.The boys were circumecis- ed at the age of one month.They observed the Sabbath.The last Jew who still could read and wrile Hebrew died about 1800.When they went to their religious service they covered their head with a blue, turban-shaped cloth, hence their name \u2018\u2018Mohammedans with the Blue Turban.\u201d Most Chinese historians termed them as a Moslem sect.Some, very remarkable studies have heen made about their religious ideas by Joseph Edkins, who had the rare opportunity to know some members of the community.They knew of no promised Messiah and had no conception of a future life after death, at least no other theory than that held by the Chinese.To express the concept of God, they used the Chinese idiom Ti-in, which means heaven, without attempting to distinguish between the visible sky and the Honorable Master of Heaven.One of their inscriptions read: \u201cThere are, indeed, some deviations of minor importance NOV.-DEC.1950 ~~ em mit \u2014\u2014 \u2014\u2014\u2014 re jit sé i a 8 pod (est ons pu gloë fr jai gi no The {in weed ! se il pei! In\u2019 peauti cond disperf posi Jews | high i for Ÿ which fhe M el, T viet fives, A them they such eur sligh then pret Som the the and tor but sion vif \u2018Ce Pur tha of] the Jeg Lite tha