Evening Star Newspaper, February 2, 1930, Page 103

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. e with long machetes—those wicked knives that serve in South America both as agricultural im- plements and as weapons, Even my well armed guard, however, did not deter some of the frenzied mothers. On one occasion I was holding an infant in my arms and wrapping it in a sheet saturated with carbolic acid solution—something we did as a precautionary measure—when the mother aimed a kick at my abdomen and landed with such force that I doubled up with pain and dropped the child. One of my guards attempted to hold the woman off with his weapon, but she, tearing open the bosom of her dress, threw herself upon the sharp point. The blade pene- trated her heart and she died before I had regained my feet. Later I had another experience through which I would never have gone had I been & little more experienced than I was. It was an especially dark night. I had gone to bed, tired after a very hard day, and was sound asleep. The sky was obscured by clouds, and not a ray of light pencirated the black- ness of that diseased valley. I was awakened, about midnight, by one of the night watchmen who told me that Martinez, one of the straw bosses, had sent out a hurry call for me, saying that his wife was choking to death. Con- fluent smallpox attacks the throat, and I had had occasion several times to treat touch-and-go cases of this sort, and had with me at the house the instruments necessary for the operation that was essential. I took the mule that the night watchman had brought me and after a ride of a mile through the utter blackness, I arrived at Martinez's house. Even before I entered I could hear the sounds made by the woman's choking. She was almost at her last gasp when I entered and I hurriedly got together what I required for an immediate operation. MMIARTINEZ sfbod beside the bed watching and as I laid out my instruments he stared at them. “What are you going to do?” he asked huskily. I explained that there was only one thing to do. I must perform a tracheotomy at once or his wife would die. “You are going to cut into her throat? he demanded. e “All right,” he replied as he reached up to the rack on the wall and brought down a 36- inch machete. .“You cut into her throat. But if she dies, so do you!” And such is the self-confidence of youth that I performed that operation. However, once I bad placed the tube in her throat and the Araditions and Practices of Jewish Charity Have Roots in BY OSCAR LEBNARD, Executive Director Jewish Welfare PFederation. HEN Jews in need apply for help te the United Hebrew Relief Society in Washington they are handled in ac- cordance to traditions and practices " which have their roots in the dim centuries. There is a well defined philosophy back of the practice of charity among Jews. There is a body of tradition. There are phases of relief work which have grown out of the peculiar life of the people of Israel. ‘While the Jewish social agencies in Washing- ton are part of the Community Chest, they have their autonomy. There is no interference in the inner workings of the Jewish organiza- tions. They are permitted to meet their needs in the spirit in which they have done in years past. The establishment of the Chest has been extremely helpful since it has released the workers from the need of fund gathering, so that they may devote themselves to the work in behalf of the underprivileged. While the Jews have always taken care of their poor, there is no actual equivalent for the word “charity” in the language of the Jews. The Hebrew word used is “Zdakah,™ which means justice. Thus the Jews of old believed in meting out justice rather than dis- pencsing alms. They were not satisfied with giving a pittance to one in need. They felt that something more fundamental was neces- ALL social work has its beginnings in the fact that some human being was hungry and could not provide bread for himself. Out of this primary human need came the more than 57 varieties of efforts at human helpful- ness, known under the general name of social service. To be worth while relief must be social in outlook and represent service in method and urge. In the primitive village environment where every one is neighbor to every one else, the prac- tice of charity” was easy and could be simple. But we have traveled a long way from village life. Probably the first people to realize the need of system and regulation in the matter of giving were the Jews. It was borne in upon them by their feeling of responsibility for one another, and toward one another, because of the strong racial, religious and ethnic affilia- tion. ‘Then, too, Jews through the centuries were driven from pillar to post. Exile or running from persecution was frequent. Men who had no claim as neighbors upon one another had the claim of blood relationship and religious solidarity. The possibilities of abuse and im- posture must have been numerous. Safeguards had to be devised. This undoubtedly gave rise 80 clearly in the life of the Jews to regulations in the matter of charity. Some of the finest minds in Israel grappled with the problem. These men had good precedent. Moses, the Law Giver, was not too busy to ponder upon this phase of human endeavor. There still are men and women in the non- Jewish world who really believe that all Jews are rich. If they knew of the thousands and tens of thousands of Jews who earn a bare pittance! If they had been with some of us woman had started unimpeded breathing, I became very sick at my stomach. ‘The woman lived only until next day, but I was safe at home by then and was well pro- tected by my guards. However, Martinez never made any effort to bother me. He had a new wife within a week. ‘The epidemic lasted nearly three months and despite its virulent form we lost only about 80 C., FEBRUARY 2, 193(_).‘ lives. I converted an empty powder magazine into a pest house and put in as many cots as I could. This place I kept well disinfected with carbolic acid solution, permanganate solution, of cetra, and we took the cases to this tem- porary hospital as soon as we located them. One good thing that the smallpox did was to drive the warriors from our hills. And an- Modern Social Agencies;, a Part of the Community Chest, Had Their Start Long Ago—Ancient Customs ; in Charity Work. in Europe after the war to see the hundreds of thousands of starving men, women and chil- dren of Israel, perhaps they might have real- ized the absurdity of this superstition. But that is another story. The fact remains that the Jewish people have always had their poor and have always given much thought to this problem of poverty. It is for this reason they have been able to assume a position of leadership in the social service life of America and Europe, The Jewish ideas of relief for the poor go back to the days of Moses when laws and regulations were laid down in Exodus, Leviti- cus and in Deuteronomy. A certain portion of the fields had to be left for gathering of fruits and grains by the poor. There was & system of tithes. HE Hebrew prophets had much to say against oppressing the poor and pleaded for the widow and orphan. In the third cen- “You’re Out’ Continued from Seventeenth Page second base. He slid across the plate. His spikes caught in the dirt and as I called him safe, I heard a crack. It was Mostil's ankle, He was out for the remainder of the season. He was released to Toledo last month by the new manager, Donie Bush, who favors younger men, but ball players and umpires are hoping for his return to the majors. In the Spring of 1924 I blew into St. Peters- burg, Fla., to umpire a game between the Bos- ton Braves and the Washington“Senators. It was the year before I joined the American League staff of umpires. There had always been keen rivalry between these club in the exhibition tilts. There are many fans who labor under the impression that these exhibi- tion games are all in fun. That is entirely the wrong dope. In late years the National and American League teams take pride in lick- ing their rivals. The winning teams come in for a great amount of Spring prestige on the sport pages. This particular game was a regular big- lelazue engagement. I was working behind the plate. The game went along for eight innings with the score tied at 1-1. Walter Johnson was heaving them over for the Senators and Muddy Ruel was behind the bat. Everything was go- ing along lovely. It is a gorgeous day for an umpire when he has a tight battle on his hands with little or no kicking. I was patting my- tury before the Christian era Simon the Just, one of the leaders of the Great Synagogue, speaks of seven phases of charity: To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, bury the dead and comfort the mourners, ransom captives, educate the fatherless and shelter the homeless and provide poor maidens with dowry. Upon these ideas of relief much of present-day social service is based. No community was considered a “klal kodesh” (holy ecommunity) which did not have a properly organized relief body. Is not our modern Community Chest a worthy heir to this anclent Hebrew prac- tice? There is evidence that In those days many men really gave until it hurt. Else how can we explain the fact that there is legislation in Jewish life of ancient times prohibiting any man from “giving more than one-fifth of his fortune”? In our day such legislation seems superfluous, to say the least. Among the first forms of helping was the making of loans to the poor so that they can And Then the Akibis! self on the back for breezing through this bit- ter struggle of eight long innings and hardly a word of protest. But in Jast half of the ninth something happened. Braves loaded the bases. Manager Dave ft was up with two men out. B: and Johnson staged a battle of wits untfl the count was three balls and two strikes. The next pitch meant going extra rounds or the ending of the game. The great Barney took that famous wind-up. He cut loose with his fast one. Bancroft never stirred. Ruel caught the ball and started on the run for the bench, “Ball four!” I yelled at the top of my voice. “What!” cried Ruel, and in an instant I was surrounded by Washington players. They yelled murder. They were plenty angry. Some of the boys crowded me as I was walk- ing off the field. Those babies wanted to argue. I didn't. Walter Johnson caught up with the and said: “Now, wait a minute, fellows. I know pretty much what I'm throwing up to the batters. I have a fair idea of what con- stitutes a ball and what is a strike. I want- ed that ball to be a strike as much as any man on the club. If I had been umpiring mysel, I would have called it & ball. It was a trifie outside.” Those words were welcome music to my ears, as the players all pulled up short and gave me the “All right, then, Mac. Guess it was a ball. Walter says it was.” (Copyright by Public Ledger.) “You are going to cut into her throat?® he demanded. “Yes.” “All right,” he re= plied as he reached up to the rack om: the wall and brought down a 36-inch machete. “You cut into her throat, bug if she dies, so do you.” other was that the hanger-on about the ming emigrated. I had established myself as a doctor. I had a good practice. And then I got the idea that comes soon or late to every one who works for & mine. I wanted to get my fortune out of t#g2 ground. My ambition led to my great advenes ture in the Putumayo. (Copyright, 1930, by Hawthorne Daniel and Herbesd Spencer Dickey.) the Dim C’enturiavv become self-supporting. ‘The self-respect off the poor was always guarded jealously in all the rules dealing with charity. The Talmud, that encyclopedia of Jewish life, learning and - legislation, devoted many sections to this ime portant problem. Maimonidis, perhaps the most romantic fige ure in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, tabulated the different types of givers. Ale though a great physiclan, busy at court in Cairo, he had time for-lterature and art, nor did he forget the poor. He classified the givers as follows, placing the highest ecatee gories first: 1. He who aids the poor man to support himself by advancing him funds or by helping him secure work. 2. The giver who Rives without knowing the recipient and without allowing the recipient to find out the identity of the giver, 3. The giver who sends his gift to the poos without making his identity known to the yee cipient. o 4. The giver who knows the recipient withe out the recipient knowing his benefactor. 5. He who gives before he is asked. 6. He who gives after he is asked. 7. He who gives inadequately but readily. 8. The giver who gives grudgingly. It will be noted that there seems to be ne such thing as a non-giver. In fact, even re- cipients of alms were enjoined to give somew thing in order to retain their self-respect. These principles and the practice which had developed, together with the many rules and regulations, were finally codified by Joseph Ben Ephraim Karo in the Shulhan Aruch (the prepared table) in the sixteenth century. This code, which was based on one compiled by Jacob Ben Asher, 'who lived in the fourteenth century, was, and is still, in vogue among the orthodox Jews all over the world. One of the important sections relates to charity. It is in Some ways very modern. In other ways it is rather quaint. Among the principles enun~ clated is that “no man is ever impoverished from giving alms,” nor does harm ever come to any one from generosity. TH!:RE are regulations relating to the gathe ering of funds for charitable purposes. If & giver (non-givers were not known among the' Jews) did not give sufficiently he ecould be brought before a rabbinic court and assessed for the sum he could afford to contribute. A recalcitrant man ran the risk of having some of his goods seized by the rabbinic court and sold to make up the assessment. There were rules dealing with the almonesfi« who were officially set aside to distribute char- ity. The manner in which solicitation should be done was prescribed. Evidently even in those days the lot of the social worker was mot an easy one, for ome of the rules reads: “The gabbal (dispenser of relief) should not take to heart the insults which the poor may heap upon him; his reward (spiritual, of course, not financial) will be greater for it.” When Rabbi Akiba, one of the most learned and beloved of teachers, became almoner he was told by his friends to be prepared for the insults and curses of the applicants who were not entitled to relief or who were given less than they thought they ought to receive. Times have not changed in this respect. 4