Poor Jews

Affluent indeed would be a community where out of 20,000 Jews not one was poor. When last fortnight the municipal council of the little Polish town of Bydgoszcz claimed such prosperity, rejected a $100,000 legacy left to the town's poor jews because there were no poor Jews, the potent, ubiquitous Jewish telegraphic agency sent a correspondent, investigated.

Interviewed was chief Rabbi Doctor Sonnenschein. He said that, alas, there were poor Jews, that the home for the aged was overcrowded, that $100,000 would bring sunshine (which is what Doctor Sonnenschein's name means) to many an unhappy soul. Perhaps there was a trace of anti-Semitism in the municipal council? But since the council's word was evidently legally final, it seemed last week that no Jew, rich or poor, would enjoy part of the $100,000.