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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Menorah Journal, Volume 1, 1915</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Various</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 11, 2007 [eBook #22300]<br /> +[Most recently updated: December 28, 2022]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Juliet Sutherland, Emmy and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MENORAH JOURNAL, VOL. 1, 1915 ***</div> + +<p><a name="meno1" id="meno1"></a></p> +<h1>THE<br />MENORAH<br />JOURNAL</h1> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Title Page"> +<tr><td align='center'><img src="images/front-top1.png" width="600" height="171" alt="Volume 1; No. 1; January 1915; Menorah Title Page" title="Volume 1; No. 1; January 1915; Menorah Title Page" /> +</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><div class="blockquot"><div class='hang1'>Greetings: <small>From Dr. <span class="smcap">Cyrus Adler</span>, <span class="smcap">Louis D. Brandeis</span>, +Professor <span class="smcap">Richard Gottheil</span>, Dr. <span class="smcap">Joseph Jacobs</span>, Dr. +<span class="smcap">Kaufman Kohler</span>, Justice <span class="smcap">Irving Lehman</span>, Judge <span class="smcap">Julian W. +Mack</span>, Dr. J. L. <span class="smcap">Magnes</span>, Dr. <span class="smcap">Martin A. Meyer</span>, Dr. <span class="smcap">David +Philipson</span>, Dr. <span class="smcap">Solomon Schechter</span>, <span class="smcap">Jacob H. Schiff</span>, and +Dr. <span class="smcap">Stephen S. Wise</span></small> </div></div> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='left'>A Call to the Educated Jew</td><td align='right'><span class="smcap">Louis D. Brandeis</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Menorah: A Poem</td><td align='right'><span class="smcap">William Ellery Leonard</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Jews in the War</td><td align='right'><span class="smcap">Joseph Jacobs</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Jewish Students in European Universities</td><td align='right'><span class="smcap">Harry Wolfson</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Twilight of Hebraic Culture</td><td align='right'><span class="smcap">Max L. Margolis</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Days of Disillusionment</td><td align='right'><span class="smcap">Samuel Strauss</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Three University Addresses—<small>President <span class="smcap">Arthur T. Hadley</span> of Yale University,<br /> + Chancellor <span class="smcap">Elmer E. Brown</span> of New York University, <br /> + President <span class="smcap">Charles W. Dabney</span> of the University of Cincinnati</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Menorah Movement</td><td align='right'><span class="smcap">Henry Hurwitz</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>From College and University: Reports from Menorah Societies</td></tr> +</table></div> +</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'><img src="images/front-bottom.png" width="599" height="39" alt="Title page decoration bottom" title="Title page decoration bottom" /> +</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class='center'> +PUBLISHED BY THE INTERCOLLEGIATE MENORAH ASSOCIATION<br /> +600 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK -:- -:- -:- 25 CTS. A COPY<br /> +<br /><br /></div> + +<div class='bbox'> +<div class='center'><br /> +INTERCOLLEGIATE MENORAH<br /> +ASSOCIATION<br /> +<br /> +For the Study and Advancement of<br /> +Jewish Culture and Ideals<br /> +<br /><br /> +OFFICERS<br /> +<br /> +Chancellor<br /> +HENRY HURWITZ<br /> +600 Madison Avenue, New York<br /> +<br /> +President<br /> +I. LEO SHARFMAN<br /> +University of Michigan<br /> + +</div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Staff"> +<tr><td align='left'><br />First Vice-President<br /> +MOSES BARRON<br /> +University of Minnesota <br /></td><td align='left'><br />Second Vice-President<br /> +LEON J. ROSENTHAL<br /> +Cornell University<br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /> +Secretary<br /> +ISADOR BECKER<br /> +University of Michigan<br /></td><td align='left'><br />Treasurer<br /> +J. K. MILLER<br /> +Penn State College<br /></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<div class='center'><br /><br /> +THE ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL<br /> +<br /> +Composed of Representatives, one each, from every constituent Menorah +Society (The Representatives for 1915 will be announced in the next +issue of The Menorah Journal) +<br /><br /> +There are Menorah Societies now at the following Colleges and +Universities:<br /> +<br /></div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="List of Colleges with Menorah Societies"> +<tr><td align='left'>Boston University</td><td align='left'>University of Colorado</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Brown University</td><td align='left'>University of Denver</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Clark University</td><td align='left'>University of Illinois</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>College of City of New York </td><td align='left'>University of Maine</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Columbia University</td><td align='left'>University of Michigan</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Cornell University</td><td align='left'>University of Minnesota</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Harvard University</td><td align='left'>University of Missouri</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Hunter College</td><td align='left'>University of North Carolina</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Johns Hopkins University</td><td align='left'>University of Omaha</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>New York University</td><td align='left'>University of Pennsylvania</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Ohio State University</td><td align='left'>University of Pittsburgh</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Penn State College</td><td align='left'>University of Texas</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Radcliffe College</td><td align='left'>University of Washington</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Rutgers College</td><td align='left'>University of Wisconsin</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Tufts College</td><td align='left'>Valparaiso University</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>University of California</td><td align='left'>Western Reserve University</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>University of Chicago</td><td align='left'>Yale University</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>University of Cincinnati</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + + + + + + + + +<div class='center'> +<br /><br /> +Office of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association<br /> +600 Madison Avenue, New York<br /><br /> +</div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + + +<h1><span class="smcap">the</span><br /><span class="smcap">Menorah Journal</span></h1> + +<div class='center'> +VOLUME I JANUARY, 1915 NUMBER 1<br /> +</div> + +<h2>An Editorial Statement</h2> + + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE MENORAH JOURNAL, in its efforts to carry forward the aims and +aspirations of the Menorah movement, will necessarily be far more than +merely an "official organ" for the Menorah Societies. That function, +indeed, becomes increasingly important as the Menorah Societies +multiply in number and influence throughout the country. In this +special appeal to Menorah members, however, the Journal will be more +than a news medium; it will supply important material for study and +discussion, and stimulate thinking and active effort in behalf of +Menorah ideals. And inasmuch as the furtherance of Menorah ideals +means the advancement of American Jewry and the spread of Hebraic +culture, the Journal should appeal to every one in America who +sympathises with these purposes. The Journal will be conducted with +this general appeal always in mind—with the desire, indeed, to make +it a model publication dealing with Jewish life and thought. To +publish a periodical that shall measure up to this high standard, with +its accompanying influence and power, is one of the aspirations of the +Menorah movement; and the Menorah auspices and conditions are so +peculiarly favorable to the achievement of this ambition as to lend +every encouragement to the effort that will be put forth to make the +Journal a genuinely significant publication for the whole of American +Jewry.</div> + +<p>For conceived as it is and nurtured as it must continue to be in the +spirit that gave birth to the Menorah idea, the Menorah Journal is +under compulsion to be absolutely non-partisan, an expression of all +that is best in Judaism and not merely of some particular sect or +school or locality or group of special interests; fearless in telling +the truth; promoting constructive thought rather than aimless +controversy; animated with the vitality and enthusiasm of youth; +harking back to the past that we may deal more wisely with the present +and the future; recording and appreciating Jewish achievement, not to +brag, but to bestir ourselves to emulation and to deepen the +consciousness of <i>noblesse oblige</i>; striving always to be sane and +level-headed; offering no opinions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> of its own, but providing an +orderly platform for the discussion of mooted questions that really +matter; dedicated first and foremost to the fostering of the Jewish +"humanities" and the furthering of their influence as a spur to human +service.</p> + +<p>It will undoubtedly prove necessary on more than one occasion in the +future to emphasize again the fact that the Journal is an +unqualifiedly non-partisan forum for the discussion of Jewish +problems; and that accordingly neither the Menorah Journal nor the +Menorah Societies are to be regarded as standing sponsor for the views +expressed in these columns by contributors. Nor will the Journal have +any editorials expressing the views of its editors or of the Menorah +organization,—particularly since the Menorah organization takes no +official stand on mooted subjects. The editorial policy will be one of +fairness in giving equal hospitality to opposing views; and space will +gladly be given to reasonable letters or articles that take exception +to statements or opinions published in these pages.</p> + +<p>The Journal is singularly fortunate in having enlisted the +co-operation of the distinguished leaders of Jewish life and thought +who comprise its Board of Consulting Editors. The assurances already +in hand of important articles to come from our Consulting Editors and +from other notable men and women, both Jewish and non-Jewish, lend +strength to the editorial confidence that succeeding issues will more +and more repay the public interest. As an incidental but none the less +vital aim, the Journal hopes to be instrumental in encouraging our +young men and women, particularly in the Menorah membership, to devote +themselves to Jewish subjects as worthy of their best literary +effort,—with publication in the Menorah Journal as a prize to be +eagerly sought for. The Menorah hopes through the incentive of the +Journal to develop a "new school" of writers on Jewish topics that +shall be distinguished by the thoroughness and clarity of the +university-trained mind and inspired by the youthful, searching, +unfearing spirit of the Menorah movement.</p> + +<p>With these aims and these aspirations, the Menorah Journal bids for +the favor of the public. Scholarly when scholarship will be in order, +but always endeavoring to be timely, vivacious, readable; keen in the +pursuit of truth wherever its source and whatever the consequences; a +Jewish forum open to all sides; devoted first and last to bringing out +the values of Jewish culture and ideals, of Hebraism and of Judaism, +and striving for their advancement—the Menorah Journal hopes not +merely to entertain, but to enlighten, in a time when knowledge, +thought, and vision are more than ever imperative in Jewish life.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Greetings</h2> + + +<h3><i>From Dr. Cyrus Adler</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>President of the Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning, +Philadelphia</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 73px;"> +<img src="images/1cyrusa.jpg" width="73" height="100" alt="Cyrus Adler" title="Cyrus Adler" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> AM very glad to be able through this first number of your Journal to +send a word of greeting to the Menorah men throughout the United +States. An Association which has as its object the promotion in +American colleges and universities of the study of Jewish history, +culture and problems, and the advancement of Jewish ideals, cannot but +fail to command my personal and official interest and support.</div> + +<p>The Jewish people have a long and honorable record of literary +activity. Our Holy Scriptures, our Rabbinical Literature, our +contributions to philosophy, to ethics, to law, our poetry, sacred and +secular, our share in the world's history, all become part of the +program which you have laid out for yourselves as a means of +cultivation. In their due proportion they should (although they do +not) form a part of the outfit of every educated man. That they should +be especially cultivated by Jewish young people is self-evident, and, +for several thousand years, they have been.</p> + +<p>You Menorah men have taken the modern form of association for the +purpose of carrying on these studies, of cherishing your Jewish ideals +along with your general culture or with your chosen profession, and it +was high time that you should do so. You already count thousands of +young people, and as time goes on you will gradually increase in +number. From among your group will come the future leaders of the +Jewish people in America, and your main body will form our +intellectual backbone. It is my hope and belief that your movement +will gradually tend toward the maintenance and promotion of Judaism in +this land.</p> + +<p>We are now a population of nearly three million souls. That such a +vast body should be lost to Judaism or should maintain a Judaism +ignorant of its language, its literature or its traditions, is almost +unthinkable. Conditions abroad may shift the center of gravity of +Judaism and of Jewish learning to the American continent. Your +movement is one which will aid in training the group that may be +expected to measure up to our new responsibilities.</p> + +<p>It has been a source of great personal pleasure to me to meet with +your Association in your annual convention and to have the privilege +of coming in personal contact with some of your Societies,—at +Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Boston Universities. I hope +to have the pleasure of meeting more of you and to derive more of the +stimulus which your enthusiasm gives me in my work. Speaking not only +in my own name but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> in behalf of my colleagues on the Board of +Governors and the Faculty of The Dropsie College for Hebrew and +Cognate Learning, I wish your Association and your Journal success in +all of your endeavors.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 145px;"> +<img src="images/signature_cyrusa.png" width="145" height="45" alt="Signature: Cyrus Adler" title="Signature: Cyrus Adler" /> +</div> + + +<h3><br /><i>From Louis D. Brandeis</i></h3> + +<p><i>Chairman of the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist +Affairs</i></p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;"> +<img src="images/2louisb.jpg" width="100" height="138" alt="Louis Brandeis" title="Louis Brandeis" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE formation at Harvard University on October 25, 1906, of the first +Menorah Society is a landmark in the Jewish Renaissance. That +Renaissance, in which the Society is certain to be a significant +factor, is of no less importance to America than to its Jews.</div> + +<p>America offers to man his greatest opportunity—liberty amidst peace +and large natural resources. But the noble purpose to which America is +dedicated cannot be attained unless this high opportunity is fully +utilized; and to this end each of the many peoples which she has +welcomed to her hospitable shores must contribute the best of which it +is capable. To America the contribution of the Jews can be peculiarly +large. America's fundamental law seeks to make real the brotherhood of +man. That brotherhood became the Jews' fundamental law more than +twenty-five hundred years ago. America's twentieth century demand is +for social justice. That has been the Jews' striving ages-long. Their +religion and their afflictions have prepared them for effective +democracy. Persecution made the Jews' law of brotherhood +self-enforcing. It taught them the seriousness of life; it broadened +their sympathies; it deepened the passion for righteousness; it +trained them in patient endurance, in persistence, in self-control, +and in self-sacrifice. Furthermore, the widespread study of Jewish law +developed the intellect, and made them less subject to preconceptions +and more open to reason.</p> + +<p>America requires in her sons and daughters these qualities and +attainments, which are our natural heritage. Patriotism to America, as +well as loyalty to our past, imposes upon us the obligation of +claiming this heritage of the Jewish spirit and of carrying forward +noble ideals and traditions through lives and deeds worthy of our +ancestors. To this end each new generation should be trained in the +knowledge and appreciation of their own great past; and the +opportunity should be afforded for the further development of Jewish +character and culture.</p> + +<p>The Menorah Societies and their Journal deserve most generous support +in their efforts to perform this noble task.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_louisb.png" width="150" height="35" alt="Signature: Louis D. Brandeis" title="Signature: Louis D. Brandeis" /> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><br /><i>From Dr. Richard Gottheil</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Professor of Rabbinical Literature and the Semitic Languages, +Columbia University</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;"> +<img src="images/3richardg.jpg" width="100" height="134" alt="Dr. Richard Gottheil" title="Dr. Richard Gottheil" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> HAVE been asked to say a word of greeting to the readers of the +Menorah Journal. I do so with pleasure; indeed with much satisfaction. +The Menorah students at our colleges and universities will now be +bound together by a new bond, one that will give them a more unified +direction and converge their efforts toward the goal which the Menorah +has set for itself.</div> + +<p>I should like to think that it is not entirely fortuitous that this +added impulse is given to our work just at this time. We all feel that +the present is a moment when the very foundations of our ethical +life—both as individuals and as groups—have received a rude shock. +At such a time—more than ever—we need to understand and to bear in +mind the great teachings which Jewish sages have given to the world, +as their and our contribution to the moral foundations of society. +Such teachings were, in most cases, not decked out in the tawdry +trappings of a recondite and far-fetched philosophy, nor garnished +with the decorations of superlogical terminology, nor even put forth +with lusty rhetoric. They were simple and to the point, because they +were founded upon deep religious convictions.</p> + +<p>One of these teachings occurs to me as I write these lines: "The moral +condition of the world depends upon three things—truth, justice and +peace." Have we outgrown such teaching? Have the astounding advances +made during the last one hundred years in the science of physical +living brought us any nearer to the true inwardness of moral living +than the ethical principles put forth by these early teachers? As our +hearts are rent by the sufferings of those who are caught in the +meshes of the terrible war now raging, and as our intellects are +befogged by the various excuses advanced in justification of carnage +and wholesale destruction, do not the simple words of the old Hebrew +sage appear to us as a beacon-light in the surrounding darkness? +"Truth, Justice, Peace!"</p> + +<p>Many similar lessons are awaiting those who will show some little +willingness to learn and to know. They are a part of the patrimony +that is ours, and which for the most part we refuse to claim. A voice +is crying to us out of our own midst. We do not hear; for our ears are +sealed as with wax. The Menorah Societies, which now are to be found +in most of our institutions of higher learning, have set themselves +the task of bringing our Jewish students to a consciousness of their +own past, to a knowledge of their history as members of a great +historic people, and to a just appreciation of the teachings of their +religion. It is only the knowledge of what we have tried to be that +will make us realize fully what we are and will enable us to see what +our future may be. The Menorah Journal is intended to bring this +knowledge to our young men, to harden their Jewish resolve and to +point the way along which lies the consummation of our Jewish hopes. +It sends its greeting to every Jewish student, whether or not he be a +member of a Menorah Society. We of an older generation look to our +university and college men as the Jewish leaders of the future. Let +them gather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> around the Menorah Journal in order to make it a true +expression of Jewish ideals, a powerful incentive to join the ranks of +those who are active in our cause. The word of the Prophet comes to me +again: "Be ye strong, therefore, and let not your hands be weak; for +your work shall be rewarded."</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_richardg.png" width="150" height="44" alt="Signature: Richard Gottheil" title="Signature: Richard Gottheil" /> +</div> + + +<h3><br /><i>From Joseph Jacobs</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Editor of The American Hebrew, New York</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 76px;"> +<img src="images/4josephj.jpg" width="76" height="100" alt="Joseph Jacobs" title="Joseph Jacobs" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> GREET the appearance of the official organ of the Menorah Societies +something in the spirit of Ibsen's Master-Builder, who hears the +coming generation knocking at the door. I have long been of the +opinion that the future of American Israel lies with the academic Jews +of the American universities. The organ that represents them should +be, from this point of view, the voice of Israel's future in America. +If you can live up to that ideal, you have indeed a great future +before you.</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_josephj.png" width="150" height="59" alt="Signature: Joseph Jacobs" title="Signature: Joseph Jacobs" /> +</div> + + +<h3><br /><i>From Dr. Kaufman Kohler</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>President of Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 72px;"> +<img src="images/5kaufmank.jpg" width="72" height="100" alt="Kaufman Kohler" title="Kaufman Kohler" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>S you wander through the ruins of the <i>Forum Romanum</i> and are within +sight of the <i>Via Appia</i> at the other end, your attention is riveted +by an exquisite white marble arch wonderfully preserved. It is the +Arch of Titus erected in memory of Rome's triumph over <i>Judæa Capta</i>. +As you look closer at the trophies chiseled on this famous monument, +you find there standing out most conspicuously the seven-armed +candlestick carried by the Jewish captives, the <i>Menorah</i>, regarded, +no doubt, by the proud victor as the most characteristic feature of +the destroyed Jewish temple. Yet how strange! It seems to be almost a +foreboding of the future dominion of the vanquished over the +vanquisher. Israel's state, with its temple, Israel's nationality was +trampled under foot by the Roman legions—Israel's religion remained +unconquered, the light of its truth remained undimmed; nay, it grew +brighter and stronger until the world was filled with its splendor. +Little did the Emperor Vespasian dream, when he granted Rabbi Johanan +ben Zakkai, the Jewish maker of learning, the privilege of building a +schoolhouse at Jamnia as a substitute for the hall of the judiciary in +the temple at Jerusalem, that this sanctuary of the Jewish law and +what it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> represents would by far eclipse all the power and greatness +of the Roman civilization. Yet this was symbolized by the Menorah. +Whether originally intended or not, it was the emblem of Israel's +mission of light. It indicated the task of the Jew, when scattered +over the wide globe, to be a light to the nations, the religious +luminary to the world. And if we be permitted to give a special +meaning to the seven arms of light of the Golden Candlestick, we might +find therein a suggestion of the lights of truth, justice and purity, +or holiness, on the one side, and the lights of law, literature, and +art, or wisdom, on the other, while the light in the center stands for +religion, from which all the other lights emanated and for which the +Jew throughout the centuries lived, suffered, and died, to preserve +intact as mankind's highest treasure to the very end of history.</div> + +<p>These ideas I would offer as greeting to the editors and readers of +the Menorah Journal. The name "Menorah" was aptly chosen by the +founders of the pioneer Menorah Society with a view to the two-fold +task of the light-bearer, to enlighten a surrounding world, and to +foster self-respect in the hearts of the Jewish students by spreading +the light of Jewish knowledge among them. Now, if I understand +correctly the purpose of starting a Journal as the organ of the +Intercollegiate Menorah Association, it is to give to these endeavors +a more permanent and classical literary form, and thus successfully +defend the cause of Judaism. Wishing this enterprise all success and +Godspeed, I venture to express the hope that true to its name Menorah, +the Journal will become a real banner-bearer of light not only +dispelling clouds of doubt and of prejudice within and outside of our +camp, but also aiming to spread the truth of Judaism in all its +spiritual force and grandeur. Not nationalism, which in these days of +a cruel world-war with its barbarism puts our much-vaunted modern +civilization to everlasting shame and which has split the Jewish +people also into warring camps, but Judaism as a religion, which +notwithstanding the differences of its various wings as to form is in +its essentials and fundamentals one, should be the watchword, for it +is the light of the Torah that is both law and learning, religion and +culture, which is to unify and consolidate all the forces of American +Israel.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_kaufmank.png" width="150" height="33" alt="Signature: Dr. K. Kohler" title="Signature: Dr. K. Kohler" /> +</div> + + +<h3><br /><i>From Irving Lehman</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 74px;"> +<img src="images/6irvingl.jpg" width="74" height="100" alt="Irving Lehman" title="Irving Lehman" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> CONGRATULATE the members of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association +upon the fact that in their Journal they are obtaining a new +instrument to carry forward their work of bringing to the Jewish youth +knowledge of the old ideals and lessons of the Jewish past. During +these dreadful days, the Jewish students of almost every country +except America have been called from study, and preparation for a life +of usefulness, into pitiless war<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> and useless destruction. The +oppressed in Russia, the student in Germany, and the free Englishman, +all have answered the call to arms of the country in which they live, +and each is fighting, firm in the belief that he is defending his +Fatherland against foreign aggression. The loyalty shown by our +brethren even in those countries where their treatment might well have +furnished at least an explanation for disloyalty, is a new +demonstration of the ancient spirit of devotion to their ideals which, +I believe, has always been the true spirit of the Jews. But the ideal +of national physical strength is not the ideal which we Jews had when +we were a nation and which we must strive to make the ideal of the +modern nations in which we live. Dark though these present days are, +yet humanity must progress into the light of a permanent peace, and +though the Jews are doing their full share of the fighting in this war +brought on by their rulers, we must do more than our share in bringing +to its fruition the ancient prophecy: "For the law shall go forth from +Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge many +people and rebuke strong nations, and they shall beat their swords +into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall +not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any +more."</div> + +<p>The voice of this Journal may be only a weak, small voice, but if that +voice speaks in the spirit of the prophet and brings home to us the +worth of the prophetic ideals, it may well prove an important factor +in enabling Israel to fulfill its mission as a messenger of peace to +all the nations.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_irvingl.png" width="150" height="41" alt="Signature: Irving Lehman" title="Signature: Irving Lehman" /> +</div> + + +<h3><br /><i>From Julian W. Mack</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Judge of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 72px;"> +<img src="images/7julianm.jpg" width="72" height="100" alt="Julian Mack" title="Julian Mack" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>M</big>Y hopes are high that the Menorah Journal may prove a valuable means +not only of linking together the Menorah Societies of the country but +also of bringing to the individual members a clearer conception of the +culture, ideals and traditions of the Jews, thereby increasing their +interest in all things Jewish.</div> + +<p>This would inevitably tend to strengthen the religious faith of the +Jewish members and to awaken in all of the members a keener and a more +intelligent appreciation of the contribution which Jews and Judaism +have made to human progress.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_julianm.png" width="150" height="41" alt="Signature: Julian W. Mack" title="Signature: Julian W. Mack" /> +</div> +<p><br /><br /><br /></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + +<h3><br /><i>From Dr. J. L. Magnes</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Chairman of Executive Committee, Jewish Community (Kehillah) of New +York</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 74px;"> +<img src="images/8jlmagnus.jpg" width="74" height="100" alt="J. L. Magnes" title="J. L. Magnes" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> SEND hearty greetings to the members of the Intercollegiate Menorah +Association upon the publication of the Journal. If the Journal can be +put upon a sound business basis assuring its permanence, its +publication will mark an important event in the development of Judaism +in America. What we need above all things is sound thinking on Jewish +affairs. I have no doubt that proper action will result from sound +thinking. The Menorah Journal ought to become the medium for +publishing the best thought modern Jewry is capable of. The present +catastrophe overwhelming Europe has conferred upon the Jews in America +the leadership of Jewry. We can assume this historic obligation only +if our theories be clear cut and well thought out.</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 135px;"> +<img src="images/signature_jlmagnus.png" width="135" height="63" alt="Signature: J. L. Magnes" title="Signature: J. L. Magnes" /> +</div> + + +<h3><br /><i>From Dr. Martin A. Meyer</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 72px;"> +<img src="images/9martinm.jpg" width="72" height="100" alt="Dr. Martin Meyer" title="Dr. Martin Meyer" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is a pleasure to know that a journal is being launched in America +for the benefit of thinking Jews, which will stand between the +technical journal of the "Quarterly" type and outside of the purlieus +of our numerous "Weekly" gossip sheets.</div> + +<p>Jewish journalism in America has done little, if anything, to justify +the numerous calls which it makes upon the people for support. On the +other hand, there is sad need for a journal representative of our best +thought, which will be readable and which will represent rather than +misrepresent us.</p> + +<p>The field of Jewish culture and ideals surely has not been exhausted +by our European brethren. No matter what they may have contributed to +the exploitation of this field there surely remains ample ground for +the American Jew to express himself in the light of the old standards +of Jewish conduct and belief.</p> + +<p>It goes without saying that your Journal will make its primary appeal +to the college man and woman. If successful, it will have saved for +Jewry its most valuable elements and enable us to build in the future +on a better and broader basis than the purely financial and commercial +leadership of the past.</p> + +<p>From the far West we join hands with you in the far East and unite in +fervent hopes that the new Menorah Journal may grow from strength to +strength.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_martinm.png" width="150" height="23" alt="Signature: Martin A. Meyer" title="Signature: Martin A. Meyer" /> +</div><p><br /><br /><br /></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><i>From Dr. David Philipson</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 67px;"> +<img src="images/10davidp.jpg" width="67" height="100" alt="Dr. David Philipson" title="Dr. David Philipson" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>S</big>OME seventy years ago the celebrated Jewish scholar, Abraham Geiger, +charged the Jewish <i>intelligenzia</i> of his day with indifference +towards Judaism and Jewish interests. This accusation of Geiger's has +since been repeated frequently. But a rift is appearing in the cloud. +To-day as never before our <i>intelligenzia</i> as defined by university +training and education is identifying itself more and more with Jewish +life and aspiration in our country. And I feel that due credit should +be given the Menorah movement in our colleges for this change of +attitude of Jewish students and professors. This movement, still +young, has accomplished much in bringing together the young men and +women who form our intellectual elite into associations for the study +of Jewish history and the consideration of Jewish problems. It has +awakened an interest in Jewish matters in many who have been lukewarm +and indifferent. It has brought as lecturers to our colleges Jewish +men of light and leading from many communities, who have voiced their +messages and given food for thought to the future leaders now sitting +on university benches.</div> + +<p>The call of the ages sounds to the intellectual nobility of our day +and generation. Learning has been extolled among Jews from earliest +times, and the wise man has been the accredited leader, so that it was +declared that "the wise man is greater than the prophet." I would have +the learned classes come again into their own. I would have our +university men in coming years the staunchest Jews in the community +through their intelligent interest in everything that makes for its +highest welfare.</p> + +<p>To achieve this is the task of our university men. The possibility of +this achievement I see in such significant signs as the Menorah +movement, the institution of student congregations, and the launching +of this magazine by the Intercollegiate Menorah Association. What has +been called the "Jewish consciousness," a term which has done yeoman's +service during the past decade, is being aroused through these +agencies to an even greater degree. This aroused Jewish feeling will, +I am sure, be translated into active service more and more as the +years pass and the present generation of college men carve out their +careers in our communities throughout the country. This is the great +Jewish opportunity of the present generation; in this will they +reverse, such is my hope and my belief, that condition and that +attitude of the Jewish <i>intelligenzia</i> in the past (and still largely +in the present) which evoked the statement of Abraham Geiger. May this +new undertaking prosper so that the young generation whom this +magazine represents may be helped toward a realization of its ideals, +and become an inspiration to all Jewry throughout the length and +breadth of the land.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_davidp.png" width="150" height="38" alt="Signature: David Philipson" title="Signature: David Philipson" /> +</div><p><br /><br /><br /></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><i>From Dr. Solomon Schechter</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 73px;"> +<img src="images/11solomons.jpg" width="73" height="100" alt="Dr. Solomon Schechter" title="Dr. Solomon Schechter" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> WISH to send my hearty congratulations to the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association upon their undertaking the publication of the +Menorah Journal, which I have no doubt will prove greatly helpful in +promoting the knowledge of Judaism among the Jewish college youth. In +a liberal country like ours, with the eagerness of our people for +acquiring knowledge, there never was a lack of Jews in our Colleges +and Universities. But what the Menorah Association will accomplish +with the aid of the Journal is, I hope, to have Judaism also +represented in our seats of learning.</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 140px;"> +<img src="images/signature_solomons.png" width="140" height="52" alt="Signature: S. Schechter" title="Signature: S. Schechter" /> +</div> + + +<h3><br /><i>From Jacob H. Schiff</i></h3> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 73px;"> +<img src="images/12jacobs.jpg" width="73" height="100" alt="Jacob H. Schiff" title="Jacob H. Schiff" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is with much satisfaction that I learn of the launching of the +Menorah Journal, to provide an opportunity for a more general spread +of the high ideals of the Menorah Societies among our college youth. +When I received some time ago a copy of the publication entitled "The +Menorah Movement," I noted with particular pleasure the progress the +Menorah Societies had already made. After an attentive perusal of the +contents of this publication, I felt as if a copy ought to be placed +in the hands of every Jewish college and university student, and I +myself distributed a number of copies for propaganda purposes. The +Menorah Societies are to be congratulated upon their new venture in +issuing the Journal, upon which I wish them every success. It is to be +hoped that the Menorah Journal will help the Jewish student to +understand what Judaism means and what as Jews we should strive for to +become useful and worthy citizens of this country. We shall have to +face increasing problems because of the deplorable war in Europe, +which so tragically affects our co-religionists there, and it will +require much devotion and understanding on our part to properly deal +with the conditions which will necessarily arise. The Menorah Journal +should freely discuss these conditions, so as to inspire its readers +with the desire to aid and the courage needed in the situation which +is facing us. Thus, by "spreading light," the Journal can greatly +assist the Menorah movement, and render efficient service in and +outside of the university. Let me wish Godspeed to your new +publication and its managers.</div> + + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_jacobs.png" width="150" height="44" alt="Signature: Jacob H. Schiff" title="Signature: Jacob H. Schiff" /> +</div><p><br /><br /><br /></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><br /><i>From Dr. Stephen S. Wise</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Rabbi of the Free Synagogue, New York</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 74px;"> +<img src="images/13stephenw.jpg" width="74" height="100" alt="Dr. Stephen S. Wise" title="Dr. Stephen S. Wise" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> REJOICE to learn of the establishment of an organ by the Menorah +Association. The Menorah Journal will, I take it, serve the threefold +purpose of keeping the various groups of the Menorah throughout the +universities of the land in constant touch with one another, of +interpreting the ideals of the Menorah to widening circles of the +Jewish youth, and of confirming anew, from time to time, the loyalty +of the Menorah men to the Menorah ideal.</div> + +<p>A truly great Jew said about fifteen years ago that a high +self-reverence had transformed <i>arme Judenjungen</i> into <i>stolze junge +Juden</i>. I believe that the Menorah movement in this land is in part +the cause and in other part the token of a transformation among young +American Jews to-day parallel to that cited by Theodor Herzl. It marks +a sea-change from the self pitying Jewish youth, immeasurably "sorry +for himself" because of his exclusion from certain dominantly +unfraternal groups, to the Jewish youth self-regarding, in the highest +sense of the term, self-knowing, self-revering. That the +self-respecting young Jew command the respect of the world without is +of minor importance by the side of the outstanding fact that he has +ceased to measure himself by the values which he imagined the +unfriendly elements of the world without had set upon him.</p> + +<p>The Menorah movement is welcome as a proof of a new order in the life +of the young college Jew. He has come to see at last that it is comic, +in large part, to be shut out from the Greek letter fraternities of +the Hellenes and the Barbarians, but that it is tragic, in large part, +to shut himself out from the life of his own people. For it is from +his own people that he must draw his vision and spiritual sustenance +if he is to live a life of self-mastery rather than the life of a +contemptible parasite rooted nowhere and chameleonizing everywhere. +Time was when their fellow-Jews half excused the college men, who +drifted away from the life of Israel, as if the burden of the Jewish +bond were too much for the untried and unrobust shoulders of our +Jewish college men, as if their intellectual and moral squeamishness +led to inevitable revolt against association with their much-despised +and wholly misunderstood Jewish fellows. Now we see, and our younger +brothers of the Menorah fellowship have caught the vision, that no Jew +can be truly cultured who Jewishly uproots himself, that the man who +rejects the birthright of inheritance of the traditions of the +earliest and virilest of the cultured peoples of earth is +impoverishing his very being. The Jew who is a "little Jew" is less of +a man.</p> + +<p>The Menorah lights the path for the fellowship of young Israel, finely +self-reverencing. Long be that rekindled light undimmed!</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_stephenw.png" width="150" height="50" alt="Signature: Stephen S. Wise" title="Signature: Stephen S. Wise" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> + +<h2>A Call to the Educated Jew</h2> + + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Louis D. Brandeis</span></h3> +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 160px;"> +<img src="images/100.jpg" width="160" height="250" alt="LOUIS D. BRANDEIS" title="LOUIS D. BRANDEIS" /> +<i><big>L</big>OUIS D. BRANDEIS (born in Louisville, Ky., in 1856), +lawyer and publicist, is a distinguished leader in the voluntary +profession of "public servant." His extraordinary record of unselfish, +genuine achievement in behalf of the public interest—for shorter +hours of labor, savings bank insurance, protection against monopoly, +against increase in railroad rates, etc.,—gives peculiar aptness to +the appeal for community service made in this article, which Mr. +Brandeis has prepared from a recent Menorah address. From the +beginning Mr. Brandeis has taken a keen interest in the Menorah +movement as a promotive force for the ideals he has at heart.</i> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>HILE I was in Cleveland a few weeks ago, a young man who has won +distinction on the bench told me this incident from his early life. He +was born in a little village of Western Russia where the opportunities +for schooling were meagre. When he was thirteen his parents sent him +to the nearest city in search of an education. There—in +Bialystok—were good secondary schools and good high schools; but the +Russian law, which limits the percentage of Jewish pupils in any +school, barred his admission. The boy's parents lacked the means to +pay for private tuition. He had neither relative nor friend in the +city. But soon three men were found who volunteered to give him +instruction. None of them was a teacher by profession. One was a +newspaper man; another was a chemist; the third, I believe, was a +tradesman; all were educated men. And throughout five long years these +three men took from their leisure the time necessary to give a +stranger an education.</div> + +<p>The three men of Bialystok realized that education was not a thing of +one's own to do with as one pleases—not a personal privilege to be +merely enjoyed by the possessor—but a precious treasure transmitted +upon a sacred trust to be held, used and enjoyed, and if possible +strengthened—then passed on to others upon the same trust. Yet the +treasure which these three men held and the boy received in trust was +much more than an education. It included that combination of qualities +which enabled and impelled these three men to give and the boy to seek +and to acquire an education. These qualities embrace: first, +<i>intellectual capacity</i>; second, <i>an appreciation of the value of +education</i>; third, <i>indomitable will</i>; fourth, <i>capacity for hard +work</i>. It was these qualities which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> enabled the lad not only to +acquire but to so utilize an education that, coming to America, +ignorant of our language and of our institutions, he attained in +comparatively few years the important office he has so honorably +filled.</p> + +<p>Now whence comes this combination of qualities of mind, body and +character? These are qualities with which every one is familiar, +singly and in combination; which you find in friends and relatives, +and which others doubtless discover in you. They are qualities +possessed by most Jews who have attained distinction or other success; +and in combination they may properly be called Jewish qualities. For +they have not come to us by accident; they were developed by three +thousand years of civilization, and nearly two thousand years of +persecution; developed through our religion and spiritual life; +through our traditions; and through the social and political +conditions under which our ancestors lived. They are, in short, the +product of Jewish life.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Fruit of Three Thousand Years of Civilization</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>UR intellectual capacity was developed by the almost continuous +training of the mind throughout twenty-five centuries. The Torah led +the "People of the Book" to intellectual pursuits at times when most +of the <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Ayran'">Aryan</ins> peoples were illiterate. And religion imposed the use of +the mind upon the Jews, indirectly as well as directly, and demanded +of the Jew not merely the love, but the understanding of God. This +necessarily involved a study of the Laws. And the conditions under +which the Jews were compelled to live during the last two thousand +years also promoted study in a people among whom there was already +considerable intellectual attainment. Throughout the centuries of +persecution practically the only life open to the Jew which could give +satisfaction was the intellectual and spiritual life. Other fields of +activity and of distinction which divert men from intellectual +pursuits were closed to the Jews. Thus they were protected by their +privations from the temptations of material things and worldly +ambitions. Driven by circumstances to intellectual pursuits, their +mental capacity gradually developed. And as men delight in that which +they do well, there was an ever widening appreciation of things +intellectual.</div> + +<p>Is not the Jews' indomitable will—the power which enables them to +resist temptation and, fully utilizing their mental capacity, to +overcome obstacles—is not that quality also the result of the +conditions under which they lived so long? To live a Jew during the +centuries of persecution was to lead a constant struggle for +existence. That struggle was so severe that only the fittest could +survive. Survival was not possible except where there was strong +will—a will both to live and to live a Jew. The weaker ones passed +either out of Judaism or out of existence.</p> + +<p>And finally, the Jewish capacity for hard work is also the product of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +Jewish life—a life characterized by temperate, moral living continued +throughout the ages, and protected by those marvellous sanitary +regulations which were enforced through the religious sanctions. +Remember, too, that amidst the hardship to which our ancestors were +exposed it was only those with endurance who survived.</p> + +<p>So let us not imagine that what we call our achievements are wholly or +even largely our own. The phrase "self-made man" is most misleading. +We have power to mar; but we alone cannot make. The relatively large +success achieved by Jews wherever the door of opportunity is opened to +them is due, in the main, to this product of Jewish life—to this +treasure which we have acquired by inheritance—and which we are in +duty bound to transmit unimpaired, if not augmented, to coming +generations.</p> + +<p>But our inheritance comprises far more than this combination of +qualities making for effectiveness. These are but means by which man +may earn a living or achieve other success. Our Jewish trust comprises +also that which makes the living worthy and success of value. It +brings us that body of moral and intellectual perceptions, the point +of view and the ideals, which are expressed in the term Jewish spirit; +and therein lies our richest inheritance.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Kinship of Jewish and American Ideals</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>S it not a striking fact that a people coming from Russia, the most +autocratic of countries, to America, the most democratic of countries, +comes here, not as to a strange land, but as to a home? The ability of +the Russian Jew to adjust himself to America's essentially democratic +conditions is not to be explained by Jewish adaptability. The +explanation lies mainly in the fact that the twentieth century ideals +of America have been the ideals of the Jew for more than twenty +centuries. We have inherited these ideals of democracy and of social +justice as we have the qualities of mind, body and character to which +I referred. We have inherited also that fundamental longing for truth +on which all science—and so largely the civilization of the twentieth +century—rests; although the servility incident to persistent +oppression has in some countries obscured its manifestation.</div> + +<p>Among the Jews democracy was not an ideal merely. It was a practice—a +practice made possible by the existence among them of certain +conditions essential to successful democracy, namely:</p> + +<p>First: <i>An all-pervading sense of the duty in the citizen.</i> Democratic +ideals cannot be attained through emphasis merely upon the rights of +man. Even a recognition that every right has a correlative duty will +not meet the needs of democracy. Duty must be accepted as the dominant +conception in life. Such were the conditions in the early days of the +colonies and states of New England, when American democracy reached +there its fullest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> expression; for the Puritans were trained in +implicit obedience to stern duty by constant study of the Prophets.</p> + +<p>Second: <i>Relatively high intellectual attainments.</i> Democratic ideals +cannot be attained by the mentally undeveloped. In a government where +everyone is part sovereign, everyone should be competent, if not to +govern, at least to understand the problems of government; and to this +end education is an essential. The early New Englanders appreciated +fully that education is an essential of potential equality. The +founding of their common school system was coincident with the +founding of the colonies; and even the establishment of institutions +for higher education did not lag far behind. Harvard College was +founded but six years after the first settlement of Boston.</p> + +<p>Third: <i>Submission to leadership as distinguished from authority.</i> +Democratic ideals can be attained only where those who govern exercise +their power not by alleged divine right or inheritance, but by force +of character and intelligence. Such a condition implies the attainment +by citizens generally of relatively high moral and intellectual +standards; and such a condition actually existed among the Jews. These +men who were habitually denied rights, and whose province it has been +for centuries "to suffer and to think," learned not only to sympathize +with their fellows (which is the essence of democracy and social +justice), but also to accept voluntarily the leadership of those +highly endowed morally and intellectually.</p> + +<p>Fourth: <i>A developed community sense.</i> The sense of duty to which I +have referred was particularly effective in promoting democratic +ideals among the Jews, because of their deep-seated community feeling. +To describe the Jew as an individualist is to state a most misleading +half-truth. He has to a rare degree merged his individuality and his +interests in the community of which he forms a part. This is evidenced +among other things by his attitude toward immortality. Nearly every +other people has reconciled this world of suffering with the idea of a +beneficent providence by conceiving of immortality for the individual. +The individual sufferer bore present ills by regarding this world as +merely the preparation for another, in which those living righteously +here would find individual reward hereafter. Of all the nations, +Israel "takes precedence in suffering"; but, despite our national +tragedy, the doctrine of individual immortality found relatively +slight lodgment among us. As Ahad Ha-'Am so beautifully said: "Judaism +did not turn heavenward and create in Heaven an eternal habitation of +souls. It found 'eternal life' on earth, by strengthening the social +feeling in the individual; by making him regard himself not as an +isolated being with an existence bounded by birth and death, but as +part of a larger whole, as a limb of the social body. This conception +shifts the center of gravity not from the flesh to the spirit, but +from the individual to the community; and concurrently with this +shifting, the problem of life becomes a problem not of individual, but +of social life. I live for the sake<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> of the perpetuation and happiness +of the community of which I am a member; I die to make room for new +individuals, who will mould the community afresh and not allow it to +stagnate and remain forever in one position. When the individual thus +values the community as his own life, and strives after its happiness +as though it were his individual well-being, he finds satisfaction, +and no longer feels so keenly the bitterness of his individual +existence, because he sees the end for which he lives and suffers." Is +not that the very essence of the truly triumphant twentieth-century +democracy?</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Two-fold Command of Noblesse Oblige</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>S</big>UCH is our inheritance; such the estate which we hold in trust. And +what are the terms of that trust; what the obligations imposed? The +short answer is <i>noblesse oblige</i>; and its command is two-fold. It +imposes duties upon us in respect to our own conduct as individuals; +it imposes no less important duties upon us as part of the Jewish +community or race. Self-respect demands that each of us lead +individually a life worthy of our great inheritance and of the +glorious traditions of the race. But this is demanded also by respect +for the rights of others. The Jews have not only been ever known as a +"peculiar people"; they were and remain a distinctive and minority +people. Now it is one of the necessary incidents of a distinctive and +minority people that the act of any one is in some degree attributed +to the whole group. A single though inconspicuous instance of +dishonorable conduct on the part of a Jew in any trade or profession +has far-reaching evil effects extending to the many innocent members +of the race. Large as this country is, no Jew can behave badly without +injuring each of us in the end. Thus the Rosenthal and the white-slave +traffic cases, though local to New York, did incalculable harm to the +standing of the Jews throughout the country. The prejudice created may +be most unjust, but we may not disregard the fact that such is the +result. Since the act of each becomes thus the concern of all, we are +perforce our brothers' keepers. Each, as co-trustee for all, must +exact even from the lowliest the avoidance of things dishonorable; and +we may properly brand the guilty as traitor to the race.</div> + +<p>But from the educated Jew far more should be exacted. In view of our +inheritance and our present opportunities, self-respect demands that +we live not only honorably but worthily; and worthily implies nobly. +The educated descendants of a people which in its infancy cast aside +the Golden Calf and put its faith in the invisible God cannot worthily +in its maturity worship worldly distinction and things material. "Two +men he honors and no third," says Carlyle—"the toil-worn craftsman +who conquers the earth and him who is seen toiling for the spiritually +indispensable."</p> + +<p>And yet, though the Jew make his individual life the loftiest, that +alone will not fulfill the obligations of his trust. We are bound not +only to use<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> worthily our great inheritance, but to preserve and, if +possible, augment it; and then transmit it to coming generations. The +fruit of three thousand years of civilization and a hundred +generations of suffering may not be sacrificed by us. It will be +sacrificed if dissipated. Assimilation is national suicide. And +assimilation can be prevented only by preserving national +characteristics and life as other peoples, large and small, are +preserving and developing their national life. Shall we with our +inheritance do less than the Irish, the Servians, or the Bulgars? And +must we not, like them, have a land where the Jewish life may be +naturally led, the Jewish language spoken, and the Jewish spirit +prevail? Surely we must, and that land is our fathers' land: it is +Palestine.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>A Land Where the Jewish Spirit May Prevail</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE undying longing for Zion is a fact of deepest significance—a +manifestation in the struggle for existence. Zionism is, of course, +not a movement to remove all the Jews of the world compulsorily to +Palestine. In the first place, there are in the world about 14,000,000 +Jews, and Palestine would not accommodate more than one-fifth of that +number. In the second place, this is not a movement to compel anyone +to go to Palestine. It is essentially a movement to give to the Jew +more, not less, freedom—a movement to enable the Jews to exercise the +same right now exercised by practically every other people in the +world—to live at their option either in the land of their fathers or +in some other country; a right which members of small nations as well +as of large—which Irish, Greek, Bulgarian, Servian or Belgian, as +well as German or English—may now exercise.</div> + +<p>Furthermore, Zionism is not a movement to wrest from the Turk the +sovereignty of Palestine. Zionism seeks merely to establish in +Palestine for such Jews as choose to go and remain there, and for +their descendants, a legally secured home, where they may live +together and lead a Jewish life; where they may expect ultimately to +constitute a majority of the population, and may look forward to what +we should call home rule.</p> + +<p>The establishment of the legally secured Jewish home is no longer a +dream. For more than a generation brave pioneers have been building +the foundations of our new old home. It remains for us to build the +superstructure. The Ghetto walls are now falling, Jewish life cannot +be preserved and developed, assimilation cannot be averted, unless +there be reëstablished in the fatherland a center from which the +Jewish spirit may radiate and give to the Jews scattered throughout +the world that inspiration which springs from the memories of a great +past and the hope of a great future. To accomplish this it is not +necessary that the Jewish population of Palestine be large as compared +with the whole number of Jews in the world. Throughout centuries when +the Jewish influence was great, and it was working out its own, and in +large part the world's, destiny during the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> Persian, the Greek, and +the Roman Empires, only a relatively small part of the Jews lived in +Palestine; and only a small part of the Jews returned from Babylon +when the Temple was rebuilt.</p> + +<p>The glorious past can really live only if it becomes the mirror of a +glorious future; and to this end the Jewish home in Palestine is +essential. We Jews of prosperous America above all need its +inspiration. And the Menorah men should be its builders.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_louisb2.png" width="150" height="34" alt="Signature: Louis D. Brandeis" title="Signature: Louis D. Brandeis" /> +</div> + +<h6> </h6> + +<div class='bbox2'><i><big>T</big>HERE are two things necessary in the Jewish life of +this country. The one is an heroic attempt to organize +the Jews of the country for Jewish things. That can be +done, I believe, primarily through the organization of +self-conscious Jewish communities throughout the +country. The other thing necessary is, that we have +vigorous Jewish thinking. We need a theory, a +substantial theory, for our Jewish life, just as much +as we need Jewish organization. We need to have our +college men think their problems through without fear, +courageously, by whatever name their theories may be +known, be these theories called Zionism or +anti-Zionism, Reform Judaism or Orthodox Judaism. We +need some vigorous Jewish thinking.—From a Menorah +Address by Dr. J. L. Magnes.</i></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Menorah</h2> + +<h3>By <span class="smcap">William Ellery Leonard</span></h3> + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 184px;"> +<img src="images/101.jpg" width="184" height="250" alt="WILLIAM ELLERY LEONARD" title="WILLIAM ELLERY LEONARD" /> +<i><big>W</big>ILLIAM ELLERY LEONARD (born in New Jersey in 1876), +Assistant Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, is the +author of several volumes of verse and literary criticism which have +won high praise,—notably "Sonnets and Poems," "Byron and Byronism in +America," and "The Vaunt of Man."</i> +</div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Menorah"> +<tr><td align='left'><big>W</big>E'VE read in legends of the books of old</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>How deft Bezalel, wisest in his trade,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>At the command of veilèd Moses made</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The seven-branched candlestick of beaten gold—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The base, the shaft, the cups, the knops, the flowers,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Like almond blossoms—and the lamps were seven.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />We know at least that on the templed rock</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Of Zion hill, with earth's revolving hours</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Under the changing centuries of heaven,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>It stood upon the solemn altar block,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>By every Gentile who had heard abhorred—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The holy light of Israel of the Lord;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Until that Titus and the legions came</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And battered the walls with catapult and fire,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And bore the priests and candlestick away,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And, as memorial of fulfilled desire,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Bade carve upon the arch that bears his name</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The stone procession ye may see today</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Beyond the Forum on the Sacred Way,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Lifting the golden candlestick of fame.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />The city fell, the temple was a heap;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And little children, who had else grown strong</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And in their manhood venged the Roman wrong,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Strewed step and chamber, in eternal sleep.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>But the great vision of the sevenfold flames</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Outlasted the cups wherein at first it sprung.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Greeks might teach the arts, the Romans law;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The heathen hordes might shout for bread and games;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Still Israel, exalted in the realms of awe,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Guarded the Light in many an alien air,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Along the borders of the midland sea</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>In hostile cities, spending praise and prayer</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And pondering on the larger things to be—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Down through the ages when the Cross uprose</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Among the northern Gentiles to oppose:</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Then huddled in the ghettos, barred at night,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>In lands of unknown trees and fiercer snows,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>They watched forevermore the Light, the Light.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />The main seas opened to the west. The Nations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Covered new continents with generations</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>That had their work to do, their thought to say;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And Israel's hosts from bloody towns afar</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>In the dominions of the ermined Czar,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Seared with the iron, scarred with many a stroke,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Crowded the hollow ships but yesterday</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And came to us who are tomorrow's folk.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And the pure Light, however some might doubt</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Who mocked their dirt and rags, had not gone out.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />The holy Light of Israel hath unfurled</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Its tongues of mystic flame around the world.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Empires and Kings and Parliaments have passed;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Rivers and mountain chains from age to age</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Become new boundaries for man's politics.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The navies run new ensigns up the mast,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The temples try new creeds, new equipage;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The schools new sciences beyond the six.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And through the lands where many a song hath rung</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The people speak no more their fathers' tongue.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Yet in the shifting energies of man</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Light of Israel remains her Light.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And gathered to a splendid caravan</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>From the four corners of the day and night,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The chosen people—so the prophets hold—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Shall yet return unto the homes of old</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Under the hills of Judah. Be it so.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Only the stars and moon and sun can show</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A permanence of light to hers akin.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />What is that Light? Who is there that shall tell</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The purport of the tribe of Israel?—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>In the wild welter of races on that earth</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Which spins in space where thousand other spin—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The casual offspring of the Cosmic Mirth</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>Perhaps—what is there any man can win,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or any nation? Ultimates aside,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Men have their aims, and Israel her pride.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>She stands among the rest, austere, aloof,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Still the peculiar people, armed in proof</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Of Selfhood, whilst the others merge or die.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>She stands among the rest and answers: "I,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Above ye all, must ever gauge success</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>By ideal types, and know the more and less</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Of things as being in the end defined,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>For this our human life by righteousness.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And if I base this in Eternal Mind—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Our fathers' God in victory or distress—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>I cannot argue for my hardihood,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Save that the thought is in my flesh and blood,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And made me what I was in olden time,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And keeps me what I am today in every clime."</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_williaml.png" width="150" height="32" alt="Signature: William Ellery Leonard" title="Signature: William Ellery Leonard" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p> + +<h2>The Jews in the War</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Joseph Jacobs</span></h3> + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 138px;"> +<img src="images/102.jpg" width="138" height="175" alt="JOSEPH JACOBS" title="JOSEPH JACOBS" /> +<i><big>J</big>OSEPH JACOBS (born in New South Wales in 1854), noted +author and editor, was one of England's well-known scholars and men of +letters when he was called to America to become managing editor of the +Jewish Encyclopedia. He has held the chair of English literature at +the Jewish Theological Seminary, and is now editor of the American +Hebrew. He is the author of many authoritative books, including "Jews +of Angevin England," "Studies in Jewish Statistics," "Jewish Ideals," +and "Literary Studies."</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is of course difficult to conjecture what will be the ultimate +effect of such a world-cataclysm as the present European war on the +fate of the Jews of the world. The chief center of interest naturally +lies in the eastern field of the war which happens to rage within the +confines of Old Poland. This kingdom, founded by the Jagellons, +brought together Roman Catholic Poland and Greek Catholic Lithuania +and could not, therefore, apply in full rigor the mediaeval principle +that only those could belong to the State who belonged to the State +Church. Hence a certain amount of toleration of religious differences, +which led to Poland forming the chief asylum of the Jews evicted from +Western Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. As a +consequence here lies the most crowded seat of Jewish population in +the world. From it comes the vast majority of the third of a million +Jews in the prime of life who are fighting for their native countries +and often against their fellow-Jews. Probably three hundred thousand +Jewish soldiers are under arms in this district. Besides the +inevitable loss by death of many of these and the distress caused by +the removal of so many others for an indefinite period from +breadwinning for their families, there must be ineffable woe caused by +the fact that this district is the scene of strenuous conflicts, which +lead to the wholesale destruction of the Jewish homes in a literal +sense. When one reflects that one out of every six of the inhabitants +of Russian, Prussian, and Austrian Poland is a Jew, the extent of the +misery thus caused may be imagined. One meets friends whose +birth-place changes nationality from week to week, according as the +different armies take possession. The Jewish inhabitants of Suwalki, +for example, must be doubtful whether they are Germans or Russians, +according as Uhlan or Cossack holds control of their city. But +whichever wins, for the time being, the non-combatants suffer by the +demolition of their houses,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> the requisition of their property, and +above all by the dislocation of their trade. The mass of misery caused +by the present war in this way to the Jews of Russian, Prussian, and +Austrian Poland is incalculable.</div> + +<p>Nor is this direct loss and misery compensated for by any hope of +improved conditions after the war is concluded. One may dismiss at +once the rumor that the Czar has promised his Jewish soldiers any +alleviation of their lot, on account of their loyalty and bravery. +Such rumors are always spread about when the Russian autocracy needs +Jewish blood or money. Besides, we all know the value of the plighted +word of the crowned head of the Russian Church; the emasculation of +the Duma is sufficient evidence of this. And even if the Czar carries +out his promise of giving autonomy to Poland, including any sections +of Prussian and Austrian territory which he may acquire by the present +war, the Jewish lot will not be ameliorated in the slightest. For, +unfortunately, Poles have of recent years turned round on their Jewish +fellow sufferers from Russian tyranny somewhat on the principle of the +boy at school who "passes on" the blow which he has received from a +bigger boy to one smaller yet.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Probable Strengthening of Anti-Semitic Influences</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>UT the chief evil which will result from the present war, whatever +its outcome, will be the increased influence of just those circles +from whom the anti-Semitic movement has emanated throughout Europe for +the past forty years. It is, in my opinion, absurd to think that +militarism will be killed or even scotched by the present war; +militarism cannot cast out militarism. Even if Germany is defeated, it +is impossible to imagine that she will rest content with her defeat, +and practically the only change in the situation will be that "La +Revanche" will be translated into "Die Rache"; and in Russia, the +defeat of Germany will simply increase the prestige and influence of +the grand-ducal circles from which the persecution of the Jews has +mainly emanated.</div> + +<p>In the contrary case, if Germany gets the upper hand, the influence of +the Junkers in Germany, with their anti-Semitic tendencies, would be +raised to intolerable limits, while the Reaction in Russia, even if it +loses prestige, will yet be granted more power in order to carry out +the projected revenge.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Diminished Chances of Emigration</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>NOTHER unfortunate result for Jews from the present war will be the +decreased stream of emigration from Russia and Galicia to this +country, so that the escape from the House of Bondage would be still +more limited. Many will be so impoverished by the war that they will +not be able to afford the minimum sum needed for migration. Death on +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> battle-field or in the military hospitals will remove many +energetic young fellows who would otherwise have come to this country +and afterwards have brought their relatives with them. Conditions here +too, in the immediate future, are likely to be less attractive for the +immigrant from the economic point of view owing to the dislocation of +trade caused by the current conflict.</div> + +<p>Altogether, as will have been seen from the above enumeration, I am +strongly of opinion that the Jews will suffer even more than most +peoples concerned in the present war. They have nothing to gain by it; +they are sure to lose by it.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 165px;"> +<img src="images/signature_josephj2.png" width="165" height="94" alt="Signature: Joseph Jacobs" title="Signature: Joseph Jacobs" /> +</div> +<p> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + + +<div class="bbox2"><i><big>S</big>URELY a law, the essence of which is mercy and +justice to one's fellow men, is not a narrow rule of +life, to be discarded by us today on any plea that we +have outgrown it; surely a history of thousands of +years' devotion to spiritual ideals is not a history +to be forgotten. America is a land of divers races and +divers religions. Each race and each religion owes to +it the duty of bringing to its service all its +strength; it derives no added strength from a race +which has forgotten the lessons it has learnt in the +past, a race which deliberately discards the spiritual +strength which it has obtained by devotion to its +ideals.—From a Menorah Address by Justice Irving +Lehman.</i></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> + +<h2>Jewish Students in European Universities</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Harry Wolfson</span></h3> + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 111px;"> +<img src="images/103.jpg" width="111" height="150" alt="HARRY WOLFSON" title="HARRY WOLFSON" /> +<i><big>H</big>ARRY WOLFSON (Harvard A. B. and A. M. 1912), a member +of the Harvard Menorah Society since 1908, was the Hebrew poet at the +annual Harvard Menorah dinners for four years, and won the Harvard +Menorah prize in 1911 for an essay on "Maimonides and Halevi: A Study +in Typical Jewish Attitudes Toward Greek Philosophy in the Middle +Ages." On graduating from Harvard he received honors in Semitics and +Philosophy, and was appointed to a Sheldon Traveling Fellowship. As +Sheldon Fellow he spent two years abroad, studying in the University +of Berlin and doing research work in the libraries of Munich, Paris, +the Vatican, Parma, the British Museum, Oxford and Cambridge. The +present article is based upon the impressions he gathered during this +period. He is now pursuing graduate studies in Semitics and Philosophy +at Harvard.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Jewish student is no longer a <i>déraciné</i>. Deeply rooted to the +soil of Jewish reality, he is like the best of the academic youth of +other nations responsive to the needs of his own people. If in spots +he is still groping in the dark, he is no longer a lone, stray +wanderer, but is seeking his way out to light in the company of +kindred souls. A comprehensive and exhaustive study of native Jewish +student bodies in countries like England, Germany, Austria, France and +Italy, as well as of the Russian Jewish student colonies strewn all +over Western Europe, would bring out, in the most striking manner, +contrasting tendencies in modern Jewry. But that is far from the +direct purpose of this brief paper. As a student and traveler in +various European countries during the years 1912-1914 I had the +opportunity of observing Jewish student life and Jewish conditions in +general abroad, and it is merely a few random impressions of certain +aspects of these European conditions that I have here gathered +together for the readers of the Menorah Journal.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>In England</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>J</big>UDAISM in England, though of recent origin, is completely +domesticated. The Jewish gentleman is becoming as standardized as the +type of English gentleman. But more insular than the island itself, +Anglo-Jewry, as a whole, prefers to remain within its natural +boundaries, and is disinclined to become the bearer of the white Jew's +burden. Two of her great Jews, indeed, had embarked upon a scheme of +Jewish empire building. The attempts of both of them, however, ended +in a fizzle, for one was an unimaginative philanthropic squire, and +the other is an interpreter of the dreamers, himself too wide-awake to +become a master of dreams.</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> + +<p>Yet within its own narrow limits, Anglo-Jewry is active enough to keep +in perfect condition. Over-exertion, however, is avoided. Cricket +Judaism is played according to the rules of the game, and the players +are quite comfortable in their flannels. The established synagogue of +Mulberry Street is as staid and sober as the Church of England, the +liberalism preached in Berkeley Street as gentle and unscandalizing as +the nonconformity of the City Temple, and the orthodoxy of the United +Synagogue as innocuously papish as the last phases of the Oxford +movement.</p> + +<p>In England it is quite fashionable to admit Judaism into the parlor. +Parlor Judaism, to be sure, is not more vital a force nor more +creative than kitchen Judaism, but it seems to be more vital than the +Judaism restricted to the Temple. At least it is voluntary and +personal, and, what is more important, it is engaging. So engrossed in +the subject of his discussion was once my host at tea, that while +administering the sugar he asked me quite absent-mindedly: "Would you +have one or two lumps in your Judaism?" "Thank you, none at all," was +my reply. "But I am wont to take my Judaism somewhat stronger, if you +please."</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Jewish Student Groups at Oxford and Cambridge</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>S compared with ourselves, English Jews have a long tradition behind +them, in which they glory. That tradition does not at present seem to +stand any imminent danger of being interrupted. The younger generation +follow in the footprints of the older. Nowhere is there so narrow a +rift between Jewish fathers and sons as in England. Hence you do not +find there any prominent organization of the young. Last winter an +anonymous appeal for the organization of the Jewish students in +England ran for several weeks in the <i>Jewish Chronicle</i>, but it seems +to have resulted in nothing.</div> + +<p>Independent local organizations of Jewish students, however, are to be +found in almost every university in England. In Oxford and Cambridge +they are organized in congregations, having Synagogues of their own, +in which the students assemble for prayer on every Friday night and +Saturday morning. In Cambridge they hold two services, an orthodox and +a liberal, both well attended. In Oxford they have recently published +a special prayer book of their own, suitable for the needs of all +kinds of students, it being a medley of orthodoxy and liberalism, +which if rather indiscriminate in its theology is, on the whole, made +up with good common sense. English liberal Judaism, it should be +observed, is markedly different from its corresponding cults in +Germany and in the United States. In Germany, reformed Judaism has its +nascence in free thought, and it aims to appeal to the intellectual. +With us liberalism is stimulated by our pragmatic evaluation of +religion, and is held out as a bait to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> indifferent. In England it +arises from the growing admiration on the part of a certain class of +Jews for what they consider the inwardness and the superior morality +of Christianity, and is concocted as a cure to those who are so +affected. As a result, English liberal Judaism is more truly religious +than the German, and more sincerely pious than the American. In a +sermon delivered before the Oxford congregation, a young layman of the +Liberal Synagogue of London apostrophized liberal Judaism as the +safeguard of the modern Jews from the attractiveness of the superior +teachings of Christ.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Social Service Work of Jewish Students</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>E</big>NGLAND is the classic home of old-fashioned begging and of +old-fashioned giving. You are stopped for a penny everywhere and by +everybody, from the tramp who asks you to buy him a cup of tea, to the +hospital which solicits a contribution to its maintenance "for one +second." Pavement artists abound in Paris as much as in London, but in +Paris it is a Bohemian-looking denizen of the "Quartier" posing as a +pinched genius forced to sell his crayon masterpieces for a couple of +sous, whereas in London it is always a crippled ex-soldier trying to +arouse your pity in chalked words for a "poor man's talent." But +England is also the classic home of modern social service of every +description. The Salvation Army had its origin in London, where also +Toynbee Hall, the first University settlement of its kind, came into +existence. Likewise among the Jews, there are, on the one hand, the +firmly established old-fashioned charitable institutions to help the +"alien" brethren of the East End, and on the other hand, there are +also the equally well organized boys' clubs for the "uplifting" of the +"alien" little brethren of the same East End.</div> + +<p>The Jewish University men in England take an active interest in both +these branches of philanthropy. It was a fortunate coincidence that +when I came to Oxford the Jewish students there had among them a +social worker of the latter type, who had come to make arrangements +for the reception of a squad of Whitechapel boys who were under his +tutelage. When I afterwards went to Cambridge I found there a delegate +of some charitable board of the London Jewish community, seeking to +enlist the aid of the Jewish students in his work.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>What the Bulletin Boards Told at Berlin</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>T the University of Berlin I did not have to go far to find traces of +the presence of Jewish students. With their far-famed efficiency the +Germans have contrived to turn the large university hall into a medium +of information more adequate than our University Bulletins and +Registers combined. The bulletin boards covering every vacant spot on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +the walls told me the story of all the phases of Jewish activities in +the University, professional, social, vocational and, if you please, +also gastronomical, more fully than the frescoed walls of Dido's +temple told their story to pious Æneas. In the announcement of courses +by the various faculties, well-known Jewish names stand out quite +prominently,—none of them above the rank of Honorar-Professor, to be +sure, but in popularity and achievement they are among the foremost. +Among the long rows of the variegated Wappen of the Korporationen, the +Borussias, Teutonias and Germanias, there hang the insignia of the +Jewish students' societies, the yellow and white of the Sprevia and +the black and gold of the Hasmonea, both announcing the dates of their +Kneipe held in their respective places in the students' quarters +around Linienstrasse and Charlottenburg. In another nook of the hall, +from the midst of a jumble of little slips of paper enumerating in +minute detail in microscopic German script what dishes are offered at +the paltry sum of so many pfennig in the various "Privat-Mittagtische" +and "bürgerliche-Küche" there looms up unblushingly, proud in the +clearness of its square characters, the Hebrew word <ins title="Transliteration: kosher">כשר</ins> +over the notice of a Lebanon restaurant run by a Palestinian Jew. +Still further on the wall, students of unmistakably Jewish names offer +instruction in almost all the languages spoken, while a German young +lady wants to exchange lessons in Russian with an <i>orthodox Christian</i> +and one who hails from the mendacious little country, cautiously +states, as an inducement to a prospective pupil in the Roumanian +tongue, that the would-be instructor is a <i>true</i> Roumanian. Here you +have a picture of Jewish life in the Berlin University, in its outer +paraphernalia, in its cosmopolitan character, in its relation to the +rest of the student body, in its freedom and restriction, as portrayed +in the unjaundiced tales of bulletin boards.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Opposing Views of Student Societies at Berlin</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>F the two Jewish organizations mentioned above, the Hasmonea is a +branch of the inter-varsity K. Z. V. (Kartell Zionistischer +Verbindungen), whereas the Sprevia belongs to the K.-C. +(Kartell-Convent der Tendenzverbindungen deutscher Studenten jüdischen +Glaubens). The former, as the name implies, is Zionistic; the latter +is opposed to Zionism. Their relation to each other, however, is not +like that between the Menorah and the Zionist societies in American +colleges. The Hasmonea and the Sprevia are mutually exclusive, rather +than complementary to each other. The German Jewish student does not +come to the university with a mind open and free as to Judaism. He +comes there with definite views on the subject which have already been +crystallized under the influence of early training. Judaism, of +whatever shade it may happen to be, is more potent a factor in the +domestic life of German Jews and in the bringing up of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> young than +it is with us here. Jewish boys there evince a keener interest in +Judaism than do Jewish boys in America. Their intelligent +understanding of Judaism is therefore not necessarily preceded by a +period of indifference and lack of knowledge. It steadily grows and +develops with them from their early youth. And so by the time they +enter the university, at an age somewhat older than that of our +average freshman, their Jewish consciousness is mature and fixed. They +are able to judge whether they can work for or against Zionism, for to +them Zionism is the only vital question in present-day Judaism, a +question which they are willing to face squarely and once for all +determine their position towards it; and it is on this question of +Zionism and the future destiny of the Jews as a nation that the two +leading student organizations radically differ.</div> + +<p>There is another quite as notable distinction between our Menorah and +the Jewish students' organizations in Germany. With us the Menorah is +primarily an undergraduate society. When graduate Menorah Societies +arise, they may be confederated with the undergraduate organization, +but they will of course retain their separate character. In Germany +this distinction between undergraduate and graduate does not exist. +Matriculation in the University, not the taking of a degree in it, +introduces one into the society of the educated with its appellative +"intellectual" corresponding to our "high-brow" rather than to our +"college grad." Joining the membership of a student organization marks +the entrance into that large class of "intellectuals." And once you +join such an organization you are a member ever after. In Germany, in +fact, nobody graduates from a university in the same sense that we do. +There the taking of a degree is merely an episode. If you take it, you +will thenceforth be addressed as "Herr Doktor"; if you do not take it, +you will keep on printing on your visiting card "Kandidat Philosophie" +all the rest of your lifetime, and be addressed by the uninitiate as +"Herr Doktor" just the same. Thus the achievements generally ascribed +to Jewish students' organizations in Germany are in reality the +collective work of all the Jewish men of academic training, and not +necessarily of students actually engaged in university studies. Read +over the names of contributors to publications issued by what are +known as "student organizations," and you will notice how loosely that +term is used.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Intellectual Problems of the German Jewish Youth</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Jewish university men in Germany, whom we commonly call Jewish +students, take more interest in Jewish life than do our university men +in this country. This is chiefly due to the peculiar position of the +modern Jews in Germany. German Jewry, by the total disappearance of +its laboring class during recent times, has ceased to be a people by +itself and has become a part of the middle class of the general German +population.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> Among the native Jews of Germany, if Berlin is to be +taken as a typical example of Jewish communities in large cities, +there is no organic social body, complete in itself, consisting of +various classes, following all imaginable trades, ranging from the +chimney-sweep and the cobbler to the merchant prince. Such +communities, forming organic wholes in themselves, you may find in +Russia, Galicia, Roumania, and in the newer Jewish settlements of +England and America. You do not find them in Germany. Higher up in the +social scale, Jews are represented everywhere, but lower down you +cannot find any native Jew below a shop clerk or master tailor. Being +thus interspersed among the middle class of the general population, +that part of the population which more than any other sends its +children to universities, the number of academically trained men +engaged in liberal professions among the German Jews is exceedingly +large. These professional Jews encounter greater difficulties in their +careers than those engaged in commerce. While the latter are given +free range for the development of the native Jewish talents, the +former find their road toward recognition blockaded. Consequently they +are hurled back upon their Judaism, and their energies not finding +vent elsewhere turn into Jewish channels.</div> + +<p>The activities of Jewish university men in Germany are chiefly +literary and intellectual, for the problem with which they are faced +is quite different from that of ours. With us the problem of +Americanism and Judaism is in its ultimate analysis the possible +conflict between two sets of social duties, in themselves not +necessarily contradictory, which can be easily reconciled by a working +program adjusting the practical demands of both without curtailing the +scope and efficiency of either. For Americanism in the abstract has no +existence. The American mind is as yet unknown in its essence; it is +only manifest by its functions, of which Jewish activities may form a +complementary part. In Germany it is quite different. If Germanism +stand for Aryanism and Occidentalism, Judaism must inevitably stand +for Semitism and Orientalism,—and can the twain ever meet? That the +Jew manifests in his works and actions good practical patriotism does +not radically solve the problem; that the Jews are capable of being +good patriots is no longer questioned, but can they be genuine ones? +Will not the Jews always remain the carriers of an alien culture, +unabsorbable and unassimilable, despite their conversion and +intermarriage? It is this problem that confronts the Jewish +intellectuals in Germany, in the over-hanging shadow of which the +"Sorrows of the Jewish Werther" was written, and the martyrdom of Otto +Weininger, self-inflicted, was made possible. Hence the great +introspective literary activity of the German Jewish youth.</p> + +<p>There is, on the one hand, the great, ever-increasing inrush of the +Jews into the inmost sanctum of German cultural life, where their +Germanic protestations are more vociferous than those of the native +Teuton,—and they sometimes have, too, as must be admitted, a false +ring. Ludwig<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> Fulda openly proclaims that as to his relation with +Judaism there is none: Goethe is his Moses and the German war of +liberation is his Exodus; and Jewish "Gymnasium" seniors inundate the +columns of the <i>Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums</i> with introspective +analyses of their Teutonic souls. On the other hand, there are those +who, while quite as good Germans as the others, so far as practical +patriotism is concerned, do not renounce the intellectual and +spiritual heritage which is their own. Their self-imposed task is +therefore the cultivation, enrichment, and modernization of Jewish +thought and tradition. Hence the great output of highly meritorious +literary works on purely Jewish subjects which, if not as scholarly as +those of the German Jewish scientists of the past generation, are far +more stimulating and of greater educational value.</p> + +<div class='center'>(<i>To be concluded</i>)</div> + + +<div class="bbox2"><i><big>I</big>T may interest you to know that in this country, +during the early years of our leading universities, +Hebrew not only formed, a subject of instruction, but +also appeared upon the Commencement programs. Upon +such grandiloquent occasions you will find that side +by side with a poem in Greek there figured a speech in +Hebrew. What the Hebrew was like that was poured out +there I have difficulty in imagining. But that the +instruction was of much use to the student, I have +grave reasons to doubt. Will you allow me to read to +you a note written in regard to that famous professor +of Hebrew at Yale towards the end of the eighteenth +century—Ezra Stiles. Stiles was a very learned +Christian Hebraist. One of his pupils wrote about him: +"For Hebrew he possessed a high veneration. He said +one of the Psalms he tried to teach us would be the +first we should hear sung in Heaven, and that he +should be ashamed that any one of his pupils should be +entirely ignorant of that holy language."—From a +Menorah Address by Professor Richard Gottheil.</i></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>The Twilight of Hebraic Culture</h2> + +<h3><i>The Transition from Hebraism to Judaism</i></h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Max L. Margolis</span></h3> +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 93px;"> +<img src="images/104.jpg" width="93" height="150" alt="MAX L. MARGOLIS" title="MAX L. MARGOLIS" /> +<i><big>M</big>AX L. MARGOLIS (born in Merecz, Russia, in 1866), one +of the leading Biblical scholars of America, received his education in +Russia, Germany, and the United States (Columbia Ph.D. 1891). He has +held important professorships of Semitics and Biblical Exegesis at the +Hebrew Union College and the University of California,—and since 1909 +has filled the chair of Biblical Philology in The Dropsie College for +Hebrew and Cognate learning. He has been engaged also, as +Editor-in-Chief, in the monumental task of the new English translation +of the Bible by American Jewish scholars. He is the author of numerous +learned papers and books on Biblical lore and theology.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>S</big>O long as Jewish psalms are sung in the cathedrals of Christendom and +Jewish visions are rehearsed by Christian catechumens, the Synagogue +will continue to hold in veneration the chest where reposes its +chiefest glory. Surely a book which thrills the religious emotions of +civilized mankind cannot but be an object of pride to the people that +produced it. Stupendous as the literary output of the Jewish people +has been in post-biblical times, the Scriptures stand on a footing of +their own. Throughout the era of the dispersion they have held their +unique position and have exercised a most potent influence on the +Jewish soul. And the modern man taught by Lowth and Herder, and the +modern Jew under the spell of Mendelssohn and the Haskalah, have their +minds open to the æsthetic side of the "Bible as literature."</div> + +<p>To the Jew, however, the Scriptures are possessed of an interest +beyond the religious and literary. They are the record of his +achievements in the past when his foot rested firm and steady on +native soil, of a long history full of vicissitudes from the time when +the invaders battled against the kings of Canaan to the days when the +last visionary steeled the nation's endurance in its struggle with the +heathen. They are the charter of Jewish nobility, linking those of the +present to the wanderer from Ur of the Chaldees.</p> + +<p>As a finished product the Hebrew Scriptures came after the period of +national independence. When canon-making was in its last stage, +Jerusalem was a heap of ruins. The canon was the supreme effort of +Judæa—throttled by the legions of Rome—withdrawing to its inner +defences. The sword was sheathed and deliverance was looked for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> from +the clouds. The Scriptures were to teach the Jew conduct and prayer, +and the chidings of the prophets were listened to in a penitential +mood, but also joyfully because of the consolations to which they led. +The canon-makers had an eye to the steadying of a vanquished people +against the enemy without and the foe within. For there arose teachers +who proclaimed that the mission of the Jew was fulfilled: free from +the fetters of a narrow nationalism, of a religion bound up with the +soil, he was now ready to merge his individuality with the large world +when once it accepted that measure of his teaching suited to a wider +humanity. The temple that was made with hands was destroyed, and +another made without hands was building where men might worship in +spirit and truth. The dream was fascinating, the danger of absorption +was acute, because it was dressed up with the trappings of an ideal to +which many believed the Scriptures themselves pointed.</p> + +<p>There was a much larger range of writings in Palestine and a still +larger in Egypt. The list included historical works carrying on the +story of the people's fortunes beyond Alexander the Great; novelistic +tales like that of the heroic Judith luring the enemy of her people to +destruction, or that exquisite tale of Jewish family life as +exemplified by the pious Israelite captive Tobit; books like the wise +sayings of Jesus, son of Sirach, the Wisdom of Solomon, or the Psalms +of Solomon, all modelled after patterns in the canon; midrashic +expositions of the law, like the Little Genesis; apocalyptic visions +going by the name of Enoch and the Twelve Patriarchs and Moses and +Isaiah and Esdras, whose prototype may be sought in the canonical +Daniel. Over and above the three parts which the Synagogue accepted +there were a fourth and fifth; but by an act of exclusion the canon +was concentrated upon the three and the others were cast overboard. +The canon was the creation of the Pharisaic doctors, who drew a line +at a point of their own choosing, and decreed that writings "from that +time onward" did not defile the hands.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Making of the Canon by the Pharisees</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Pharisee held the ground when the nation had politically +abdicated. The war with Rome had been brought on by the intransigent +hotspurs of Galilee and the commune of Jerusalem. John, son of Zakkai, +parleyed with the enemy that Jamnia with its House of Study might go +unscathed. There the process began which culminated in the gigantic +storehouse of legal lore which was to dominate Jewish life and Jewish +literature for centuries, commentary being piled upon commentary and +code upon code. For in the sum total of Scriptures the Torah was +admittedly to be the chief corner-stone, albeit prophecy and wisdom +had not lost their appeal; and in moments of relaxation or when +addressing their congregations worn out with the strife of the +present, the scholars of the wise brought out of the ancient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> stock +many a legend and quaint saying and even apocalyptic vision, +transporting the mourners for Zion into the ecstasies of the future +redemption. While official Judaism was committed to the dialectics of +the Halakah, in the unofficial Haggadah mysticism exercised a potent +influence by underground channels, as it were, issuing in later days +in Kabbalah and offsetting the rational philosophies borrowed from +Hellas. For the time being, however, the dominant note was legistic, +Pharisean.</div> + +<p>The Pharisees had been lifted by the national catastrophe into the +leading position. They had previously been a party among many parties, +and their Judaism one of the many varieties. The Sadducees, their +chief opponents, had a literature of their own: the day upon which +their "Book of Decrees" was consigned to destruction was made a legal +holiday upon which fasting was prohibited. But even writings which +were lightly touched by the Sadduccee spirit were frowned upon: the +Siracide was barely tolerated on the outside because he made light of +individual immortality, and believed in the eternity of Israel and the +Zadokite priesthood. The Pharisees had been on the opposition during +the latter period of the Maccabeans: so with partisan ruthlessness +they excluded from the canon the writings commemorative of the +valorous deeds of those priest-warriors who freed the people from +foreign overlordship and restored the Davidic boundaries of the realm. +Because the apocalyptic visions inclined to teachings not acceptable +to the dominant opinion, they were declared not only heterodox, +heretical, but worthy of destruction. Had the stricter view prevailed, +the sceptical Preacher—now, to quote Renan, lost in the canon like a +volume of Voltaire among the folios of a theological library—would +have shared the fate of Sirach and Wisdom and the other writings which +Egypt cherished after Palestine had discarded them. And there were +mutterings heard even against the Song, that beautiful remnant of the +Anacreontic muse of <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Judea'">Judæa</ins>. It was then that Akiba stepped into the +breach and by bold allegory saved that precious piece of what may be +called the secular literature of the ancient Hebrews.</p> + +<p>The process concluded by the Pharisees had begun long before. The +Pharisee consummated what the scribe before him had commenced, and the +scribe in turn had carried to fruition the work inaugurated by the +prophet. Just as the Pharisee decreed what limits were to be imposed +upon the third part of the Scriptures, the scribe in his day gave +sanction to the second, and at a still earlier period the prophet to +the wide range of literature current in his days. Sobered by national +disaster, the scribe addressed himself to the task of safeguarding the +remnant of Judæa in the land of the fathers. There were schisms in the +ranks, and all kinds of heresies, chief among which stood the +Samaritan. The nation's history was recast in a spirit showing how +through the entire past faithful adherence to Mosaism brought in its +wake national stability, and conversely a swaying from legitimacy and +law was responsible for disaster. With the Torah<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> as a guide, prophecy +was forced into the channels of orthodoxy. Heterodox prophets, the +"false prophets," were consigned to oblivion. Their opponents alone +were given a hearing. Secular history there was to be none; there was +room only for the sacred. We may take it for granted that the +"prophets of Baal," as their adversaries triumphantly nicknamed them, +had their disciples who collected their writings and recorded the +deeds of <i>their</i> spirit. But they were one and all suppressed. The +political achievements of mighty dynasts had been recorded by +annalists; the pious narrators in the so-called historical books of +the canon brush them aside, gloss over them with a scant hint or +reference; what is of absorbing interest to them is the activity of an +Elijah or an Elisha, or the particular pattern of the altar in the +Jerusalem sanctuary. In their iconoclastic warfare upon the +abomination of Samaria, the prophets gave a partisanly distorted view +of conditions in the North which for a long time had been the scene of +Hebrew tradition and Hebrew life.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Death-blow to the Old Hebraic Culture</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>HAT these upheavals meant in the history of Hebrew literature and +culture can only approximately be gauged. One thing is certain: they +all and one dealt the death-blow to the old Hebraic culture. When the +excavator sinks his spade beneath the ground of a sleepy Palestinian +village, he lays bare to view from under the overlaid strata, Roman +and Greek and Jewish and Israelitish, the Canaanite foundation with +its mighty walls and marvellous tunnels, its stelæ and statuettes, its +entombed infants sacrificed to the abominable Moloch. Similarly if we +dig below the surface of the Scriptures, we uncover glimpses of the +civilization of the Amorite strong and mighty, which generations of +prophets and lawmakers succeeded in destroying root and branch. On the +ruins of the Canaanite-Amorite culture rose in the latter days Judaism +triumphant; the struggle—prolonged and of varying success—marked the +ascendancy of the Hebraic culture which was a midway station between +the indigenous Canaanite civilization on the one hand and that mighty +spiritual leaven, Mosaism in its beginnings and Judaism in its +consummation, on the other. The Hebraic culture was a compromise. It +began by absorbing the native civilization. The danger of succumbing +to it was there, but it was averted by those whom their adversaries +called the disturbers of Israel. And even to the last, when the sway +of Judaism was undisputed, the Hebraic culture could not be severed +from the soil in which it was rooted. It was part of a world-culture +just as it contributed itself thereto.</div> + +<p>Whether living in amity or in warfare, nations influence each other to +a marked degree. They exchange the products of their soils and their +industry—they also give and take spiritual possessions. Culture is a +compound product. The factors that are contributory to its make-up are +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> soil and the racial endowment recoiling against the domination +from without which, though not wholly overcome, is resisted with might +and main. Cultures are national amidst an international culture. They +express themselves in a variety of ways, chiefly in language and +literature. For while blood is thicker than water, the pen is mightier +than the sword. Out of a mass of myth and legend and worldly wisdom +the Hebrews constructed, in accordance with their own bent of mind, +their cosmogonies and ballads and collections of proverbs. At every +shrine the priests narrated to the throngs of worshippers the +marvelous stories of local or national interest.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Difference Between Hebraic Culture and Judaism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE chief feature of the Hebraic culture was that it was joyous. The +somber seriousness of latter-day Judaism had not yet penetrated it. +Israel rejoiced like the nations. The young men and maidens danced and +wooed in the precincts of the sanctuaries which dotted the country +from Dan to Beersheba. The festivals were seasons of joy, the +festivals of the harvest and of the vintage. The prophets called them +carousals and dubbed the gentlemen of Samaria drunkards. Probably +there were excesses. But life was enjoyed so long as the heavens +withdrew not the moisture which the husbandman was in need of. The +wars which the Kings waged were the wars of the Lord, and the exploits +of the warriors were rehearsed throughout the land—they were spoken +of as the Lord's righteous acts. National victories strengthened the +national consciousness. Taunt songs were scattered on broadsides. The +enemy was lampooned. At the height of national prosperity, when Israel +dwelt in safety in a land of corn and wine moistened with the dew of +the heavens, the pride of the nation expressed itself in the pæan, +"Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, a people victorious +through the Lord, the shield of thy help, and that is the Sword of thy +excellency!" Excellency then meant national independence and welfare. +It was the period of the Omrides whose exploits are merely hinted at +in our sources, whose sway marked the nascent struggle between +Hebraism and Judaism. For the time being, Hebraic culture was on the +ascendant, successor to the indigenous Canaanite civilization which it +had absorbed, remodelled, developed.</div> + +<p>The chief difference between the Hebraic culture and Judaism which +supplanted it consists in the fact that, whereas the latter was +bookish, transforming its votaries into the "people of the book," the +former was the sum total of all that goes to make up the concern of a +nation living upon its own soil. Bookishness, literature, has a place +in the affairs of a nation, but it contributes only a side in its +manifold activities. The spoken word precedes the written. The writer +has an eye to aftertimes. He lives in the future. The speaking voice +addresses itself to the present and its varied needs. Saints are +canonized after death. The act of canonization<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> means the verdict of +the survivors who from a distance are able to gauge the merits of past +deeds. When a literature is pronounced canonical or classical, it is +no more. In its dying moments it is reduced to rule, and its range +becomes norm. But normalization is an act of choosing, of accepting +and excising. A living literature is far from being normalized. Much +that is written serves a temporary purpose, but is none the less +effective while it has vogue. However, it is only a part of the +national activities, mirroring them and commenting upon them. So is +religion another part of the national life. Government policy and +legal procedure and the arts and the crafts occupy a nation's living +interests. The Hebraic culture meant all that. It is now a thing of +the distant past. It speaks to us from beneath the Hebrew Scriptures +by which it is overlaid, themselves the remnant of what in times gone +by stirred the nation's spirit. A revival of that culture may come, +but when it comes it will be tempered by Judaism. And the Hebrew +Scriptures which constitute the bridge between them both will act as +the peacemaker.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_maxm.png" width="150" height="34" alt="Signature: Max L. Margolis" title="Signature: Max L. Margolis" /> +</div> + +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> +<div class="bbox2"><i><big>J</big>EWISH knowledge to me is valuable in the sense in +which the word "knowledge" is employed in Hebrew. For +"to know" in Hebrew</i> (yada) <i>does not merely mean to +conceive intellectually, but expresses at the same +time the deepest emotions of the human soul; it also +means to care, to cherish, to love. It is remarkable +indeed that the only Hebrew expression which in any +way approaches what in modern languages we call +religion is</i> daath elohim, the knowledge of God. <i>It +is no less remarkable that the fundamental concept +formulated by one of the greatest thinkers who +proceeded from Jewish loins, by Baruch Spinoza, is</i> +amor Dei intellectualis, <i>"the intellectual love of +God," that is, the mental and yet emotional conception +of the Supreme Power that rules the universe. If I +were to wish for anything, it would be for an</i> amor +Judaismus intellectualis, "<i>an intellectual love of +Judaism," not shallow love and hollow self-complacency +that cover every sin. We want to be frank about our +Judaism, we want to be clear about our faults, we want +to remedy our faults whenever we can, but at the same +time we want to have the sympathy that goes with +knowledge.—From a Menorah Address by Professor Israel +Friedlaender.</i></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Days of Disillusionment</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Samuel Strauss</span></h3> + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 141px;"> +<img src="images/105.jpg" width="141" height="225" alt="SAMUEL STRAUSS" title="SAMUEL STRAUSS" /> +<i><big>S</big>AMUEL STRAUSS (born in Des Moines, Ia., in 1870), was +publisher of the Des Moines Leader from 1895 to 1904, and became +publisher of the New York Globe in 1904. Since 1912 he has been +associated with the management of the New York Times. Mr. Strauss has +taken an active and effective interest in many worthy movements for +Jewish betterment. He is a member of the Graduate Advisory Menorah +Committee and of the Menorah College of Lecturers. His impressive and +stimulating talks have given him marked popularity with the Menorah +Societies.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>E are at present witnessing an instance of the truth that a great +crisis is always a test for genuineness. Since August 1st a number of +things seemingly vital have come tumbling to the ground as mere +inflated delusions or comparative trifles formerly viewed out of all +perspective. Men are beginning to realize that they have been +deceiving themselves, and the immediate effect is disappointment.</div> + +<p>What profit will be derived from it all is as yet merely a matter for +speculation. Not yet have men been able to think of the conflict in +other than negative terms, to see in it other than despair, crippled +industry, a fall from civilization, all that belongs on the debit side +of the ledger. But there is also a credit side: and to realize that +the effects of war are positive as well as negative is by no means to +condone war, but only to accept it as a fact.</p> + +<p>History teaches us to expect that the positive result of this struggle +will be in the nature of a physic—a dissolving away of delusions, and +simultaneously a bringing into relief of some essential facts. This +clearing of the ground will not wait until the war is over; it has +already begun, though men are yet but half-conscious of it, and then +only in the guise of profitless disillusionment. This state of mind is +understandable enough. The spectacle of thousands going out by +trainload to settle differences through slaughter has been a terrible +shock. Individuals, having progressed beyond that stage, had assumed +that collectively, too, men must share the same aversion to so +illogical a method as murder for the solution of differences. This +assumption has had root in a justifiable belief in the world's +attainment to a higher plane of civilization. The quality of to-day's +culture may not be so fine as that of Judæa, of Greece, or Rome, or of +the Renaissance, but surely in no period of history has its extent +been so great. Never had the entire world been nearer +denationalization,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> never had the economic interdependence of nations +been more complete. Jingoism has seemed obsolete, cosmopolitanism had +seemed the ideal, as the horizon of an increasing number of +individuals broadened out, and prejudice gave way before +enlightenment. But now this assumption is suddenly discovered to be +mere delusion, and at once much scorn is heaped upon "our alleged +civilization." How much justification there is for disappointment over +the failure of culture to influence action is difficult to determine. +There is much confusion of thought on this point. To conclude that +because nations go to war, individuals have therefore made practically +no advance from the original state of barbarism is absurd. What should +be clear is the danger of generalizations from the individual to +groups of the individual—two psychologically different entities. It +may be that even as communities we have progressed more than we +believe, as some future reaction to this war may indicate, but what is +brought to the surface now is the old fact that the progress of groups +of men is at snail's pace, however men may forge ahead as individuals.</p> + +<p>This refreshed realization is by no means of negative value. It is +rather a positive benefit, and should be fixed in the minds of all men +who are striving collectively for various ends. For political parties, +socialists, suffragists, all and sundry reformers, this realization +should be the starting point from which to readjust programs when the +cataclysm is over.</p> + +<p>For the Jewish people this realization is peculiarly significant. +Though the outlines of the general situation the world over are as yet +indistinct, some problems of the Jews have already been brought out +into sharp relief. Like the rest of mankind, the Jew has had his eyes +cruelly opened, and the clear boundary between truth and delusion +which this war has made should be stamped upon his memory, to remain +vivid after negative feelings of wrongs and disappointments have been +forgotten.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Delusion of Assimilation</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N the past hundred years, the Jew has had more reason than at any +time since the dispersal to consider himself assimilated in all save +the Slav countries. Not that anti-Semitism had disappeared; but it had +seemed to be, and indeed is, so much less important when viewed +against the background of the Jew's positive advance to light and +freedom. Explained more recently as a survival of many prejudices +which do not die overnight, including the old religious differences, +physical and mental antipathies, economic jealousies—the force of +anti-Semitism was not only weakened by the increasing breadth of +vision, the cosmopolitanism on which the world has plumed itself, but +dwarfed by the achievement of the Jew himself. He has come out of his +Ghetto; softened by a more liberal attitude on the part of his +individual neighbor, he has largely laid aside his resentment and his +hostility. There was a feeling that adaptation and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> assimilation had +advanced so far that the Jew, by his own progress and with the consent +of his neighbor, had become a citizen of his community, differentiated +from the rest, if at all, only by what he chose to keep of his +religious belief. Those who have most zealously argued for +assimilation as the sole solution of the Jewish problem have had +little need of late to push their gospel further; the process seemed +to be taking excellent care of itself. But after all, it was not real. +A drastic crisis like the present one was required to brand it as +delusion. The attitude of the occasional individual was construed as +the attitude of the entire community. This has been a double-edged +delusion. The Jew has not judged himself as a community in relation to +his neighbor, and he has misjudged his individual neighbor as a +community in relation to himself.</div> + +<p>It takes two sides always to make up the full truth, but from both +sides, from the Jew and from his neighbor, there is circumstantial +evidence in the events of the past five months that gives abundant +support to this conclusion.</p> + +<p>In this time of crisis the world has thrown aside its pretense, honest +and well-intentioned pretense though it may have been, and revealed +its underlying feeling toward the Jewish people. Suddenly, without any +absolute change in their status, the Jews are singled out and set +apart. Special inducements are held out for their support. The Czar, +though this was reported upon dubious authority, addresses his +"beloved Jews;" a non-commissioned Jewish officer is recommended for +the Order of St. George; Dreyfus is decorated in France, his son made +Lieutenant; Austria issues a special appeal to the Jews of Poland; an +English Jew voices England's hope of their loyalty; in Germany +anti-Semitic newspapers suddenly announce their discontinuance.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Test of Jewish Patriotism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is not a new story. Doubt of the Jew's place in time of war has +been continuous. Through the centuries there has been report that he +has dodged his war tax wherever he could, that he bought soldiers to +fill his place in the ranks, that as financier he offered his gold +without scruple to the bitterest foes of his own fatherland. How much +of this is based on blind prejudice is beside the point. What is +important is the effect that this doubting attitude has had on the +Jew's normal impulse to render patriotic service. The Jew to-day who +feels most keenly the cause of Germany, or of France, or of England in +this war, who most unreservedly throws in his lot with his +compatriots, glorying in a privilege long withheld, moved to an +intense fervor of patriotism, cannot but be disheartened at the +spectacle of his neighbors as in one way or another they give evidence +of their lack of faith in him.</div> + +<p>Why this feeling of distrust? How has it been engendered, what are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +its roots? Again the answer is to be found both with the Jew himself +and with his neighbor.</p> + +<p>As far as the present situation is concerned, the Gentile world has +had lying dormant in its subconscious mind the notion that the Jew was +inferior, and by its own action it has kept this subconscious notion +alive. For while the world has admitted the Jew to its political life, +while it has modified much its religious and its economic prejudices +and jealousies, it has not broken down every barrier. Without fully +realizing its attitude, it has still held the Jew to be different and +of lower quality. The Jew's neighbors have had an honest sort of +delusion about their attitude toward the Semite; because they had +discovered the individual Jew, and taken him, as it were, into the +arms of their community life, they have fancied that all prejudice, +even toward the Jew as a class, had become obsolete. Here again there +is evidence of the fact that feeling toward Jews as individuals has +been mistaken for feeling toward the Jews as a race group.</p> + +<p>This delusion has its base in something more fundamental, to which may +be accredited perhaps the distrust against which the Jews have been +battling for centuries. It is not the stranger who inspires continued +suspicion, for he soon ceases to be a stranger, but it is the wanderer +and the gypsy. There is imbedded in human nature a distrust of +shifting things and a respect for what is long established in any one +place, and it is in the wandering class that the Jew is placed in +spite of all talk of assimilation. He has had no point of departure +and hence no place of arrival. The French have crossed over the +Channel and become Englishmen; one would hardly know that the Romans +still live on in the Tyrol; but the Jew has always remained Jew, for +he has no established place from which to come and whither to return.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>"A People Without A Home"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>N</big>OT <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'ony'">only</ins> have the Jews been looked upon by others as a people without +a home; subconsciously they have always regarded themselves as such. +To-day a gigantic fund is proposed for the relief of the Jews affected +by the present war, by the very ones who have argued most persistently +for adaptation and assimilation. Yet this is a relief fund not for +Belgian Jews, nor French Jews, nor German Jews, but for all Jews +irrespective of the side on which they fight. The Jews are not +thinking of themselves in terms of citizens or subjects of this or +that country, but only as members of the Jewish race, who have no +unity save as members of that race. It is the surest indication that +beneath all self-delusion the Jews have subconsciously realized +themselves as a homeless people, men without a country. Is it strange +that the rest of the world should regard the Jew as alien when he +cannot but hold himself as such?</div> + +<p>It would seem that this argument leads along a straight path towards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +Zionism as its conclusion. But practical Zionism, like all other +programs of reconstruction, must await a time which will admit of +reconstruction, and that is not the present. It may be that when this +war is concluded, world conditions will have so completely changed +that Zionism and its geographic program will no longer be the answer +to the problem of Jewry. All that is certain of it now is its +uncertainty. But the spirit of which Zionism is the expression, and +which has made of it more than a mere experiment in colonization, +still remains, emphasized by the self-realization to which the Jews +have been brought in the present conflict.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Persistence of the Jewish Faith</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N every crisis, even in those which have swept whole nations from +existence, the Jew has always found himself with one inalienable +possession—his faith. There is something mystifying about the +persistence through so many vicissitudes of a religion which commands +respect from neighbors who see in it a powerful inspiration, while the +Jew himself, especially the Jew more fortunately placed in the general +community, endeavors so often to cast it off as outworn and +impracticable. It is the Jew himself who has misled the rest of the +world into a delusion. He has seemed to consider himself, and the +faith with which he is bound up, inferior. In his endeavor to take on +the color of his environment, he has sought to lay aside all that was +old, and of this the religion of his fathers was a part. But a faith +as strong and as far-reaching as Judaism cannot be dropped out of the +life into which it has been ingrained, and hence the Jew has been hard +put to cover it up, to hide it, or to attempt its modification to fit +the fashion in religions. The inevitable reaction on the non-Jewish +part of the community has been a feeling of mystification, and, +following on that, suspicion and distrust.</div> + +<p>It is this which has undermined confidence in the Jews as a +people—their negation of that which is their valuable heritage. For +Judaism is not merely tradition, a thing to be reverenced as a relic; +it is a thing to be put to everyday use. This practical and vitalized +Judaism is the real salvation for which the Jews have been groping, +all the while under the delusion that it was anywhere but near at +hand. Such a rejuvenated faith would mean an end of that homelessness +which is accountable for much of the Jew's displacement in the world's +life. And though the remedy has been intimate to him these many years +he has failed to make positive use of it. It is true that the Zionists +have been striving for a geographical base for Judaism. But a +geographical base is never more than an outward expression of a +people's unity; it is an excellent starting point, but as an end in +itself it is nothing. The Jews had a geographical base for their +start; thereby they were enabled to build up a unified result, the +Jewish spirit. It is this which, if recognized as a positive fact, +will take from the Jew<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> his feeling of homelessness, and from his +neighbor the notion that the Jew is a member of a tribe forever +unestablished and purposeless. It is around a spiritual core that the +Jews as a people must build, around that central force which has thus +far held them intact.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Spiritual Service of the Jew</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>ND never has there been a time, it would seem, when not only the Jews +themselves but the world at large were so ready for this +reconstruction. If in the very near future, as seems probable, the +Jews are again to play a prominent rôle in history, it will be more +largely through the pressure exerted by the world outside than through +their own initiative. Men are coming more and more to need what the +Jewish people, under certain conditions, are peculiarly qualified to +bestow. The period of materialism now undoubtedly coming to a close +has brought with it a heavy burden of discontent, and there has been a +turning from tangible comforts, a reaching out for spiritual +consolation. Under the rule of enlightenment religion has gone away, +and the world begins to feel its lack. One may not prophesy that +religion is soon to return, but the suggestion of its coming is in the +air. What the Jew will then be able to furnish may now be an open +question, but the great fact of his religion is undeniable. It should +be remembered that only in things spiritual has the Jew been able to +render world service; in material progress he has been able to do +little more than march with the rank and file. Should the Jew again +lead in the world, it must be in a time when the things of the spirit +are paramount in men's desires. With the hope that such a time is near +at hand, the Jew should retrim his lamp, in the faith that it may help +to illuminate much that had fallen into darkness.</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_samuels.png" width="150" height="37" alt="Signature: Samuel Strauss" title="Signature: Samuel Strauss" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> + +<h2>Three University Addresses</h2> + + +<h3>I</h3> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">President Arthur T. Hadley</span> <i>of Yale University</i><br /> + +<i>Before the Yale Menorah Society, October 14, 1914</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 143px;"> +<img src="images/106.jpg" width="143" height="200" alt="Arthur T. Hadley" title="Arthur T. Hadley" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is a great pleasure for me to speak to the Menorah Society, and a +double pleasure when I see beside me the Menorah emblem, the emblem of +light, "the outward and visible sign of the inward and spiritual +grace." Jewish history is embodied in a great literature, and a +literature which is worthy of deep and earnest study. It is the common +heritage of all mankind, and should be studied by every man who lays +claim to culture and education.</div> + +<p>By studying the literature of the Jewish race, men at Yale and +elsewhere can do a great work for the learning and for the inspiration +of our country; especially can this Society do a noble and inspiring +work. History is in large measure made by the study of the literatures +of ancient races. What was it that waked Europe during the dark ages +from her apathy and ignorance but the discovery and the revival of the +Greek and Latin classics by enthusiastic scholars? In the various +centres of learning at the end of what we call the "dark ages," we +find groups of earnest young men devoting themselves to this study, +and in these groups we find the influence which roused Europe from her +period of intellectual torpor.</p> + +<p>Classics are the literatures which thus make history; which serve the +needs of all peoples, voicing truths of universal application. And +though it is to the Greek and Latin that the name classics has been +often confined, yet the Hebrew classics are being recognized more and +more as worthy of a place beside if not above them. Interest in the +Jewish classics never utterly perished. Throughout all ages the +theologian kept alive his interest in those writings; but there is +something of more than mere professional interest in these studies, +something which closely touches every man's development and +experience.</p> + +<p>It is not for me to attempt to say what these writings mean to +humanity. Biblical writings are far above any individual praise. But I +may with propriety say the reading of the Hebrew writings in English +has meant much to me personally. As a boy I read fewer books than do +youngsters of the present day, and among them the Bible was one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +extraordinary interest. I read the Psalms and Isaiah as wonderful +poetry, and turned to the Bible as to a storehouse of historical +literature.</p> + +<p>Hebrew history has been of great importance in the early history of +our country. The early settlement in America was due to the same +causes as the settlement of Canaan by the Hebrews. To the Pilgrim +Fathers the Old Testament was a supporting hand and a guide for them +in all matters. They took the Jewish theocracy as their model of +government and, in the measure that they patterned after a good model, +they achieved good results. So largely are the early history and +institutions of the United States a copy of Jewish institutions that +the spirit of the American people both before and after the Revolution +cannot be fully understood without a knowledge of Hebrew literature. +These early settlers were imbued with spirit and desire for the best +in life by reading the Bible. It was their one book, and "a man of one +book makes a strong man." And perhaps it is the Old Testament rather +than the New Testament the knowledge of which is of greater +consequence for the best understanding of the peculiar conditions of +the early American people.</p> + +<p>Therefore I welcome your Society first because it represents something +which has done much for learning in our great centres of learning, the +universities; and second, because as Americans, Jewish history means +much to us in understanding the early development of our own country.</p> + + +<h3>II</h3> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">Chancellor Elmer E. Brown</span> <i>of New York University</i><br /> + +<i>Before the Menorah Society of New York University, May 12, 1914</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 122px;"> +<img src="images/107.jpg" width="122" height="175" alt="Chancellor Elmer E. Brown" title="Chancellor Elmer E. Brown" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T seems to me that it is not only of value to the Jewish students, +but to the whole university, that there should be a body here devoted +to the study of Jewish tradition, Jewish literature and Jewish +history. You are emphasizing something that is of permanent value to +your associates here in the University who are not of the Jewish race +and the Jewish faith. The Christian Church finds in the Jewish +Scriptures some of the finest and most precious of the things it +cherishes from the religious point of view. Our civilization in these +occidental countries is deeply indebted to the history and the +literature of the Jewish race. From time to time that indebtedness +comes to stronger expression, and we may expect that in the future the +sense of that indebtedness of our whole people to that which is the +immediate concern of the Menorah Society will be more keenly felt.</div> + +<p>If you go back in the history of this country you will find a time +when our New Englanders were especially indebted to what they as +Christians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> called the Old Testament. There was a time in Colonial +days when the earlier portions of this literature exercised a mighty +influence over these new commonwealths. As you read the history of New +England you cannot help being profoundly impressed by the influence of +the Hebrew literature upon the life of the seventeenth century. The +names and references to the Jewish people are all interwoven with New +England history. I was thinking of a curious illustration of this fact +only a short time ago. You know the old poem of "Darius Green and His +Flying Machine" that has come into astonishingly new popularity in +modern times. It contains, you will recall, an enumeration of the +brothers of Darius, and four of the five names are taken from Hebrew +history. The appearance of these Jewish names in such large numbers is +coincident with a reappearance of Hebrew spirit in our Colonial times, +all modified of course by Christian tradition, but presenting a most +important and essential ingredient of the time. This apparently +trivial illustration simply shows that which is to be found in our +whole culture. It is profoundly significant in regard to our American +culture.</p> + +<p>So it seems to me that the Menorah Society has work of two kinds—to +bring together our Jewish students on a higher plane of sentiment, and +at the same time to put new emphasis, in all parts of the University, +on the invaluable things which the Jewish race has contributed to the +civilization of the world. So I feel that I may look to you of this +organization to bring to New York University a new emphasis upon these +great things which are the common heritage of our scholastic society. +I trust that you will feel that there is a genuine warmth and a +genuine interest in the welcome that I extend to you,—not a welcome +to the University alone, but a welcome to this new service in this +University, in which every movement such as this has work to do for +the good of all.</p> + + +<h3>III</h3> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">President Charles W. Dabney</span> <i>of the University of Cincinnati</i><br /> + +<i>Before the Cincinnati Menorah Society, November 19, 1914</i></div> + + +<div class='unindent'><big>S</big>TANDING as it does for the study of the history and culture of the +Jewish people, and for the advancement of their ideals, the Menorah +Society is welcomed to the University of Cincinnati. This University, +of all institutions, should welcome every such organization. The +University of Cincinnati claims to represent the idea of the democracy +of the higher education, the equality of opportunity for the highest +culture in its latest form. The American idea is that the university +should be as free to all cultures as our country is free to all races. +Standing for this idea more distinctly than any other type of +institution among us, the American state university has been called +the characteristic institution of the republic. But the municipal +university is destined to democratize<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> the higher education even more +completely than the state university. The state university makes the +higher education free to all who can come to it, but the municipal +university takes it to the poorest citizen at his home.</div> + +<p>For these reasons, if for no other, we should welcome the Menorah +Society into our midst. As I was just informed that the national +convention of the Intercollegiate Association is about to take place, +let me, on behalf of this University, say to you, Mr. Chancellor, as +the representative of the national organization, that we are glad to +extend an invitation to your convention to meet in our halls.</p> + +<p>There are special reasons, too, why we should welcome the Menorah +Association here. We believe that the University and its members need +this Society for several reasons. In the first place, a great +democratic institution like this can grow only when all the races +bring into it their peculiar customs and ideals. I believe the +non-Jews need it as well as the Jews. It takes varied elements to make +up the democracy, and America, and Cincinnati, and its University all +need the spiritual resources of the Jew. I am impressed with the +statement of the purposes of the Menorah Society as explained by the +Chancellor in the address to which we have just listened.</p> + +<p>He tells us first of all that its object is to promote the study of +the history of the Jewish race. Your ancient books are the sources of +all history; in fact, I cannot conceive of the study of history unless +it begins with, or takes up very early, these great historic books of +the Bible. They furnish the Ariadne's thread for the wanderer through +all history; they are the fountain head also of the philosophy of +history. The old Jewish historians always took the teleological view +of the world and looked from the effect back to the cause, +interpreting human events in the terms of God, the designer, the +creator, and the governor of the world. In fact, their great +contribution to history was this doctrine of God's hand in human +events.</p> + +<p>The Jew had also, it seems to me, throughout his whole history, a +special talent for theistic truth, for those verities that are +eternal. With an insight and a power almost surpassing all other men, +he discovered truths which have ever been, and always will be, +essential factors in all religion. The first of these ideas is his +conception of Jahveh, not only as a sovereign, powerful, and terrible +Being, but as a personal, holy, righteous, and good Father, "who +pitieth his children." Your Bible, however, nowhere tries to prove the +existence of a God; it everywhere assumes it. "It is the fool who says +in his heart there is no God," declares the Psalmist.</p> + +<p>For the same reason, your great books are the world's text book of +comparative religion. I cannot conceive of any one studying religions +without going to them, for above all others the Jewish religion is +original.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> For these and many more reasons, we hold that the history, +religion and philosophy of the Hebrews is fundamental and +indispensable for the student of these subjects—in fact, for all +students of the humanities.</p> + +<p>It was the Jew who discovered conscience, also, and produced in due +time an order of men who made themselves the conscience of their +nation. Moses first formed a law declaring the word of God and +teaching men their relations to God and to each other. Other nations +have had priests and augurs who received the oblations of the people +and gave them advice about their affairs, but the Jewish nation was +the first to produce real prophets who dared to denounce the sins of +the people and remind them of their duty as men and nations. What the +world needs today is another line of such prophets.</p> + +<p>To the young men assembled here tonight, I would say, therefore, it is +your duty to study the history, philosophy and theology presented in +these ancient Scriptures, and thus inform yourselves how to instruct +this great democratic people. Be prophets like the prophets of old to +guide the people into the truth!</p> + +<p>The Jews were the first people to uphold the sacred character of +patriotism, the patriotism of principle, not of mere power, the +patriotism that teaches that it is not might that makes right, but +right which makes might. How sadly the European powers need to learn +this lesson today! Only "righteousness exalteth the nation" and gives +it the power and the right to lead in the world. If nations would seek +righteousness as a means of winning leadership, they would never need +to go to war, and the exercise of might would never be necessary.</p> + +<p>Because this Society proposes to study the great history and +literature which teaches these things, we give it a welcome tonight, +and pray that the light held up by the Menorah may shine not only for +the people of Cincinnati, but for the people of America, and the +world, that all the nations may be guided into that righteousness +which leads to Peace.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> +<h2>The Menorah Movement</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Henry Hurwitz</span></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Chancellor of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association</i></div> + + +<div class='center'><br />I</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE MENORAH MOVEMENT is now in its ninth year. Starting at Harvard +University, where the first Menorah Society was organized in October, +1906, the idea spread to other colleges and universities in various +parts of the country. Societies arose at Columbia, College of the City +of New York, Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Minnesota, Michigan, +Chicago, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri. Before long a common +desire was felt for closer relationship and co-operation. This led to +the holding of two intercollegiate conferences early in 1912: one, an +eastern conference, at Columbia University, in January, with delegates +from six Menorah Societies, and another, a western conference, at the +University of Chicago, in April, where also six Societies were +represented. As a result of these preliminary gatherings, the first +national convention of Menorah Societies was called at the University +of Chicago, in January, 1913. Delegates of twelve Menorah Societies +from universities in both the East and the West came together, and +seven other Societies were heard from. At this national convention, +the Intercollegiate Menorah Association was formed.</div> + +<p>In a period of less than two years since this first convention, the +number of Societies has grown from nineteen to thirty-five. There are +Societies now at the following colleges and universities: Boston +University, Brown, California, Chicago, Cincinnati, College of the +City of New York, Clark, Colorado, Columbia, Cornell, Denver, Harvard, +Hunter, Illinois, Johns Hopkins, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, +New York University, North Carolina, Ohio State, Omaha, Pennsylvania, +Penn State, Pittsburgh, Radcliffe, Rutgers, Texas, Tufts, Valparaiso, +Washington, Western Reserve, Wisconsin, and Yale. New Societies are in +the process of formation at several other universities.</p> + +<p>This development of the Menorah movement has from the very beginning +been a natural, unforced growth. The Intercollegiate Menorah +Association makes no effort to organize new Menorah Societies; its +policy is rather to encourage and assist the efforts of students who, +wishing to join in the movement, have undertaken on their own +initiative to organize Menorah Societies at their colleges and +universities. Hence every Menorah<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> Society is the result of a +spontaneous desire among students to organize for Menorah purposes.</p> + +<p>The first Menorah Society started with sixteen members. Now the total +membership of Menorah Societies approximates 3,000. The Menorah idea +is firmly implanted in leading colleges and universities throughout +the country, from Massachusetts to California.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />II</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>E</big>VERY Menorah Society is organized to promote at its college or +university the study of Jewish history and culture and contemporary +Jewish problems. First of all, the Menorah Societies aim to spread a +knowledge of the Jewish humanities—Jewish literature, religion, and +ideals—and of their influence upon civilization. In other words, the +Societies aim to promote a true appreciation of the spirit and +achievements of the Jewish people, from ancient to modern times. +Particular study is made of contemporary conditions and problems, and +of the ways in which Jewish culture may not only be conserved but +advanced. To this end, the Menorah Societies strive to inspire the +Jewish student with an intelligent and spirited devotion to Jewish +ideals, and with the desire to develop and contribute to the community +what is best in his Jewish character and endowment.</div> + +<p>Thus, in endeavoring to promote knowledge, culture, idealism, the +Menorah Societies are in keeping with the university spirit which has +helped to call them into existence. The Societies are an expression of +the liberality and freedom of American universities. Membership is +open to all students and instructors. College and university +authorities have heartily welcomed the Menorah Societies, have aided +them in carrying out their objects, have enhanced their influence +among the students at large, and have been most generous in +recognizing the definite contribution which the Societies make to the +intellectual and idealistic life of their universities.</p> + +<p>Not only the university authorities, but the graduates, too, and other +public-spirited men and women outside of the universities, have warmly +welcomed the Menorah Movement. They see in it the expression of a +spontaneous and earnest desire on the part of growing numbers of +Jewish students for Jewish knowledge and idealism, for a realization +of the Jewish <i>noblesse oblige</i>; they see, too, that this movement is +bound at the same time to help bring about a more just and liberal +attitude on the part of university men and women in general toward the +character and ideals of their Jewish fellow-citizens.</p> + +<p>Through the encouragement and generous support provided by a Graduate +Advisory Menorah Committee, under the chairmanship of Justice Irving +Lehman of New York, the Intercollegiate Menorah Association is being +helped materially in carrying out its objects.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'><br />III</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>HILE the purposes of all the Menorah Societies are identical, they +are free to carry out these purposes in any ways they choose, along +lines that best suit their local conditions and are in keeping with +the academic and liberal character of the organization. Certain +activities, however, are followed in common by most of the Societies.</div> + +<p>To begin with, it may be stated that all of the Menorah Societies +strongly encourage their members to take the regular courses in Jewish +history and literature wherever such courses are a part of the +curriculum and are devoted not so much to technical learning as to a +liberal and humane study of Jewish culture. Where such courses are not +offered—and it is unfortunately true that many institutions are +deficient in this regard—the Menorah students are creating a demand +which, it is hoped, will be met in time by the offer of appropriate +courses. It is even hoped that a number of the leading universities +will eventually have special Chairs in Jewish history and culture.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, however, whether to supplement or to take the place of +regular courses, the Menorah Society enables its members—or, rather, +all the members of the university who so desire—to pursue their +interest in Jewish studies in less formal manner. Thus, the Societies +have lectures on Jewish subjects by members of the faculties, or by +men from outside their universities. In this connection, the +Intercollegiate Menorah Association has been of considerable service +to the various Societies. The Association has established the Menorah +College of Lecturers, consisting of a number of Jewish scholars, +publicists, and religious leaders, who have undertaken to lecture (for +love) before the Societies. Their lectures, which are generally +followed by informal discussions, are, as a rule, open to the whole +university, and are often held not merely under the auspices of the +Menorah Society, but also in conjunction with some department of the +university, or with some other student organization. At times, the +Menorah lecturers are invited by the university authorities to address +the whole student body at assemblies and convocations.</p> + +<p>At other Menorah meetings, the members themselves present papers and +carry on discussions upon Jewish topics of historic and literary as +well as current interest.</p> + +<p>Not content, however, with such lectures, papers, and discussions, +most of the Societies provide their members with opportunities for +intensive and systematic study. Study groups are formed, under the +leadership of older students or of competent men from outside the +universities, for the purpose of regular study in Jewish history, +religion and literature, or contemporary Jewish conditions and +problems, or the Hebrew language, or any other special field of +interest. The work of these groups is carried on along the lines of a +regular class or seminar, though, of course, with less rigor and +formality.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'><br />IV</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>S an incentive to original investigation on the part of the students, +several Menorah Societies have been enabled to offer prizes to their +universities for the best essays on Jewish subjects. Thus, at Harvard, +since 1907, through the generosity of Mr. Jacob H. Schiff, of New +York, the Menorah Society has offered an annual prize of $100 for the +best essay written by any undergraduate on some approved Jewish +subject; and similarly, at the Universities of Wisconsin and Michigan, +through the generosity of Mr. Julius Rosenwald, of Chicago, the +Menorah Societies are enabled to offer prizes of $100 each to their +Universities upon the same terms. (Menorah Prize Essays will be +printed from time to time in this Journal.) One or two other Societies +have been enabled to offer smaller prizes. All of the Societies are +anxious to be of similar service to their universities, and it is +hoped that the Intercollegiate Menorah Association may be enabled next +year to offer prizes open to the undergraduates of all American +colleges and universities. This should help materially to stimulate +Jewish study among students throughout the country.</div> + +<p>Perhaps the most essential requirement for carrying on Jewish study is +an adequate supply of books. Except at the larger institutions, there +has been a notable lack of Jewish books at American colleges and +universities, mainly, no doubt, because Jewish studies as a whole have +been neglected. The Intercollegiate Menorah Association has +fortunately been able to remedy these conditions to some extent at the +institutions where Menorah Societies exist. With the assistance of the +Jewish Publication Society and a number of individuals, the +Association has sent Menorah Libraries of Jewish books to the various +Menorah Societies. These books are for the use not only of Menorah +Societies, but of all the students in their universities. That the +Menorah Libraries have helped the work of the Societies, and have +added appreciably to the library facilities at the various +institutions, is abundantly shown by the gratitude expressed both by +students and authorities.</p> + +<p>Yet the work of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association has only +begun. Its field is almost unlimited; and with constantly growing +membership, both of undergraduates and of graduates, with the +increasing encouragement and support from men and women in all parts +of the country, the Association is gathering strength for enterprises +that must prove beneficial not to universities alone, but to the +community in general. Thus, the Menorah Journal is launched this year +in response to a desire not only on the part of the students, but of +men and women throughout the country who have been wanting such a +Review of Jewish life and literature in America. Other literary +enterprises are contemplated for the future. Besides syllabi for the +study groups, pamphlet essays, and similar facilities designed +especially for students, one large scheme in mind may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> appropriately +be mentioned here as of interest to all the readers of the Journal, +namely, the plan for the Menorah Classics. These are to be the +selected treasures of the literature of the Jewish people, from the +Bible to Bialik, printed in attractively handy form, with translations +and notes designed for the general reader as well as for students. In +this way, it is hoped to place the gems of the great store of Jewish +literature within the reach of all.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />V</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE work of the Menorah Societies is not designed to make Jewish +scholars of the members. It is meant to gratify their desire to +understand their heritage, to stimulate them still further to study +that heritage, to help them realize the honor and the responsibility +they share as the heirs and trustees of Jewish tradition. And though +the earnest work of Menorah Societies partakes largely of the spirit +of the class-room and the lecture-hall, the pursuit of Menorah aims +expresses itself incidentally in sociable ways as well. Smokers, +dinners, pageants, literary and dramatic evenings, testify to the +pleasure which the members find in their association together for +Menorah purposes.</div> + +<p>Menorah Societies, however, do not assume the character of social +organizations. Menorah Societies are all-inclusive, not exclusive; +they promote democracy, mutual respect, and understanding between +different types of Jewish students who have often in the past retained +toward one another the prejudices of their elders. The Menorah +fellowship expresses and promotes the common sentiment of all students +who have come to appreciate Jewish knowledge and ideals, who accept +their common Jewish heritage and Jewish hopes. In other words, where +in the past snobbery and spinelessness were not lacking among Jewish +students at our universities, there has grown up now a spirit of +democracy and of manly frankness, which has not escaped the +observation of older men, both within and without the universities.</p> + +<p>But these qualities in the Jewish students of to-day have merely been +revealed by the Menorah movement. The movement has definite moral +purposes of its own. The Menorah idea embraces not merely the study +but the enhancement of the Jewish heritage. And this requires not +moral enthusiasm alone, but vision and action. To accomplish their +full purposes, the Menorah Societies endeavor to inspire their members +with the will to throw themselves into the heart of Jewish life, to +join hands with other men in the active effort to advance its +interests and solve its problems.</p> + +<p>While this participation in Jewish life must be the personal outcome +of Menorah enthusiasm and activity—as indeed has been proven already +among students and graduates—the Menorah organization, as such, +maintains its non-partisan character. A Menorah Society is neither +orthodox nor reform, neither Zionist nor anti-Zionist, but rather an +open forum for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> presenting and discussing every point of view, a forum +hospitable in true academic spirit to the open-minded pursuit of +truth.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />VI</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N sum, the Menorah movement represents an organization and an idea. +If the organization has grown in extent and importance beyond the +fondest expectations, it is because the idea, conceived by students +and carried out by them, has found a welcome home in the American +university. And one of the reasons why the Menorah idea has seized +upon the imagination and caught the heart of the university man is +because it appeals both to his independence of mind and his pride. A +Menorah Society imposes no dogma, no ceremony; the independence of +thought so dear to the bosom of youth is given full scope. A Menorah +Society aims, first of all, to satisfy an aroused intellectual +curiosity with respect to the past and present and possible future of +the Jewish race.</div> + +<p>But the real source of Menorah strength lies far deeper. Consciously +or unconsciously, from the very beginning of his affiliation with a +Menorah Society, the Jewish student responds to a call within himself +of <i>noblesse oblige</i>. It is pride of race—not vanity or brag, but a +pride conscious of its human obligation—that animates Menorah men and +women throughout the country. Knowledge and service, which may be +regarded as the very cornerstones of Jewish idealism, constitute the +twin motives of the Menorah movement.</p> + +<p>The Menorah movement is the answer of the Jewish academic youth to the +challenge of American democracy. American institutions give us the +opportunity to develop all our capacities in freedom. The endeavor of +Menorah men is to preserve and enhance, for America and for mankind, +the best in us that may flourish in freedom, our Jewish heritage and +endowment.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> +<h2>From College and University</h2> + +<h3><i>Reports from Menorah Societies</i></h3> + +<p>[<i>It is not planned to have reports from all the Menorah Societies in +any single issue of the Journal. A complete list of Menorah Societies +may be found on the inside of the front cover.</i>]</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of California</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE California Menorah Society has begun its fourth year under most +promising auspices.</div> + +<p>The first meeting of the year, on Monday evening, August 31, was the +finest ever held by the Society. It had been announced before the +entire student body at the University meeting in Harmon Gymnasium, and +all interested were invited to attend. Eighty men and women of the +University were present. The theme of the meeting was the Menorah +Idea. Mr. Samuel Spring, Harvard, '09, a former member of the Harvard +Menorah Society, spoke on "The Menorah and the Community from a +Graduate's Standpoint;" Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin of Stockton, now a +graduate student in the University, spoke on "The Menorah and the +Rabbinate," and the chief speech of the evening was delivered by Dean +D.B. Barrows on "The University and the Menorah." Professor Barrows +greatly approved of the organization and characterized the California +Menorah Society as the most, useful student organization on the +campus.</p> + +<p>The second general meeting of the Society, held on September 28, was +devoted to the topic of Immigration. Professor Ira B. Cross, of the +University Economics Department and of the State Industrial Accident +Commission, delivered an excellent address on "Streams of Immigration, +Past, Present and Future." Mr. R. J. Rosenthal, of the California +State Commission on Immigration and Housing, spoke a few words on the +Jewish side of the question. A selection from Mary Antin's "The +Promised Land" was read. Appropriate literary and musical selections +were rendered. About fifty-five members were present.</p> + +<p>On Monday evening, October 12, a Study Circle meeting was held. Rabbi +Edgar F. Magnin conducted a discussion on "Dominant Notes in Jewish +Poetry." Among the poems read were the Song of Deborah, the 23d Psalm, +the Wine Song of Gabirol, selections from Emma Lazarus, and "The +Jewish Soldier" and "The Sweatshop" of Rosenfeld.</p> + +<p>At the general meeting of the Society on Monday evening, October 26, +Rabbi Jacob Nieto of San Francisco spoke on "The Modern Viewpoint of +the Bible" to an audience of over sixty, including several non-Jews, +who were so favorably impressed with the meeting that they declared +their intention to be present at future Menorah meetings. Rabbi +Nieto's talk stirred up a great deal of discussion among the members. +The first chapter of Isaiah and the Song of Moses were read, and there +were musical selections.</p> + +<p>On Monday evening, November 9, Mr. Harry Hart, Assistant City +Attorney, led a discussion in the Study Circle on "Early Jewish +Philosophers."</p> + +<p>The last general meeting was held on Monday evening, November 30. +Professor William Popper gave a most interesting talk on "Jewish +Education," in which he traced the history and methods of Jewish +pedagogy through the Biblical, post-Biblical and Talmudic periods. +Musical and literary numbers were rendered, the "Menorah Quartet" +making its debut at this meeting. The attendance was about sixty, of +whom ten were non-Jews.</p> + +<p>The constitution of the club has been revised to meet the expanding +needs of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> the Society. Three standing committees now exist. The +executive committee, composed of the four elected officers and three +other members elected by the general body, will be the administrative +arm of the club. The club's policy is largely determined by this +committee. They decide what business is to be brought before the club +members, and they set in motion all innovations looking to the +betterment of the club.</p> + +<p>The membership committee, composed of a chairman, appointed from the +three elected executive committee members by the President, and nine +other students, selected from the different colleges of the +University, has the duty of increasing the membership roll of the +Society. This committee began active operations in the summer. +California being a State university, its student body is made up +almost entirely of residents of California. Hence through the +assistance of Rabbis in different sections of the State, the committee +has been enabled to get in touch with many of the newcomers to the +University this fall. To them, as well as to the old members of this +Society, a circular letter was sent. The aims of the Menorah were +briefly outlined, and the dates of monthly meetings stated; the office +hours and location of several members of the Society during +registration were named, and all freshmen were advised to consult with +them for any information or aid desired.</p> + +<p>In this way the committee has been able to reach newcomers at the +University and impress them with the Menorah idea before the entrant's +viewpoint has been beclouded by any false attitude toward a Jewish +organization on the campus. After the college year has begun, the +committee scours the campus for those Jewish students who have not yet +been enlightened as to the work of the Menorah. The California Society +does not bow down before numbers, but it feels that the benefits of +the Menorah should be enjoyed by the largest possible number of Jewish +students.</p> + +<p>Upon the third committee, however, the Social committee, which plans +the programs, rests the major responsibility for the Club's success. +Taking the Harvard plan as a pattern, the California Menorah<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> has +created what is for the present called the Menorah Study Circle. This +meets bi-weekly. On the other hand, a general meeting of the Society +as a whole is held every month. These general meetings are more +popular in nature, for the many elements of the Jewish body must here +be conciliated, as well as those of non-Jewish faith who are +interested in the purposes of the Menorah. Due to the complex and +many-sided character of the Jewish student group, a concession to the +various interests must be made in the form of a cultural-social +program for the evening. Lecturers are secured; informal discussion is +encouraged; musical and literary programs are arranged—all, of +course, in the effort to present in attractive form such cultural +material as the diverse elements in the body of Jewish students can +absorb.</p> + +<p>The Study Circle meetings have a different viewpoint. They are of a +more specialized nature. Through them the serious phases of the club's +activity are furthered. The personnel of the Circle is made up of +those who are seriously interested in the distinctly intellectual work +of the Club. The demand for the Study Circle arose spontaneously from +these students. A faculty member, or Rabbi, or outside scholar, is +occasionally asked to present an address. Discussion follows. Jewish +literary, religious, economic and social problems are thus handled.</p> + +<p>The recent arrival of the Menorah Library has greatly pleased the +members. The books will be a great aid in the work of the Society. The +attention of all the students in the University is being called to the +Library by a statement in the <i>Daily Californian</i> and by other means. +Efforts are now being made to introduce a Menorah prize for the best +essay on a Jewish subject.</p> +<div class='signature'><span class="smcap">Louis I. Newman</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Cincinnati</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE University of Cincinnati Menorah Society was organized on April +25, 1914. Our first task was to place the Society in the right light +on the campus, to emphasize the absolutely unsectarian, academic, +cultural nature<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> of a Menorah, and the fact that membership is +"invitingly open to all the members of the University," irrespective +of creed or sex. We accomplished this by continuous announcements in +the <i>University News</i>, by the open character of our meetings, and by +the actual composition of our membership.</div> + +<p>Though we organized late in the year, we succeeded in having several +large meetings at which addresses were delivered by men who are +authorities in their respective subjects. At the initial meeting, +preliminary to organization, Dr. David Philipson, '83, spoke, and Dean +F. W. Chandler of the College of Liberal Arts cordially welcomed the +Society. The first meeting after our organization was addressed by +Professor Julian Morgenstern of the Hebrew Union College, who spoke on +"The Judaism of the Future." Addresses at subsequent meetings were +delivered by Mr. A. J. Kinsella of the Greek Department of the +University of Cincinnati on "The Greek and the Semite in the World's +Civilization;" by Dr. Edward Mack, Professor of Old Testament at the +Lane Theological Seminary, on "The Influence of Hebrew Literature on +the World's Thought and Literature"; and by Rabbi Louis L. Mann of New +Haven, Conn., on "Christian Science and Judaism." These meetings had +an average attendance of seventy.</p> + +<p>Among the meetings held so far this year the most important was on the +evening of November 19th. Chancellor Henry Hurwitz of the +Intercollegiate Menorah Association delivered an address on the +purposes of the Menorah movement, to which President Charles W. Dabney +of the University responded, heartily welcoming the Menorah Society to +the University and extending a cordial invitation to the +Intercollegiate Menorah Association to hold its next annual Convention +at the University. (The address of President Dabney is printed above, +<a href="#Page_47">page 47</a>). Dr. David Philipson spoke on the significance of the +Menorah, and lighted a large Menorah on the platform. Music was +rendered by the Girls' Glee Club. Dean F. W. Chandler sent the +following greeting:</p> + +<p>"With the modern drift of attention<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> away from the classics and away +from the Bible, it behooves those of us who would count as the friends +of culture to welcome every effort to stimulate interest in either. +The Menorah Societies which are finding a place in our chief +universities have assumed a laudable task. They are striving to hold +before the minds of the youth of this land the fine ideals of the +ancient Hebrew literature. In such efforts they should be encouraged +by Jew and Gentile alike. For we are all heirs of Hebrew tradition; we +are all brothers engaged in a common undertaking. We believe it to be +our duty to learn from the past whatever is best, to the end that we +may enrich with that knowledge the present and the future. We welcome +therefore all that the Menorah Society can give us of inspiration +toward making the most of our heritage. We rejoice that through this +agency we may be kept constantly aware of what a great people has +contributed to our civilization."</p> + +<p>The Cincinnati Menorah Society is delighted that the Association has +accepted the invitation of President Dabney to hold the next +Convention at this University. Preparations are now being made for the +Convention and for the entertainment not only of the delegates but of +all Menorah men and women who will come. We ardently hope to welcome a +large number of our fellow-Menorah members.</p> + +<p>It will be of interest to relate that, after reading a copy of "The +Menorah Movement," Miss E. McVea, Dean of Women and Assistant +Professor of English, suggested the following three subjects for +twenty-page essays in one of her English classes: "The Contribution of +the Jew to Civilization," "The Integrity of the Jewish Race," and +"Zionism."</p> + +<p>Early in the year Mr. Louis D. Brandeis of Boston spoke under the +auspices of the Menorah Society at a meeting open to the whole +University upon "The New Science of Efficiency"—the subject being +chosen at the request of President Dabney. In introducing the speaker +President Dabney expressed the indebtedness of the Faculty to the +Menorah for the pleasure of having Mr. Brandeis at the University.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Abraham J. Feldman</span><br /></div> +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>College of the City of New York</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>D</big>URING the past year the Menorah Society of the College of the City of +New York has made very important gains. First, in numbers—from 165, +reported at the last Convention, we have increased to 327. There are +still about 500 Jewish students who are not yet members, and these we +intend to gain over. Second, in prestige—from a position of mere +toleration we have gradually risen to the position of the recognized +and accepted exponent of Jewish culture in the College, and as such we +have set the College its standard of a cultural society. Third, in +influence—we have inspired a large number of students, including many +who for some reason or other have not yet become members, with a +lively interest in things Jewish and a serious desire for collegiate +Hebrew instruction. At present the College lacks such instruction; but +we hope before long to report progress in remedying this condition. +Meanwhile we are attracting the favorable attention of a considerable +number of the alumni—men who in their college days would not or could +not join the Menorah Society. This is indeed remarkable; that old +graduates, who never knew the Menorah, should manifest toward it the +highest interest and approbation is a most eloquent sign of the +influence of the Menorah idea.</div> + +<p>Our plan for the organization of the graduates as associate members is +the same as Harvard's. But their dues are disposed of in a different +way: out of the two dollars one goes to our Library Fund, and the +other is sent to the Menorah Journal as the associate's subscription, +for we feel that this is the best way to keep him in touch with +Menorah activities. This system has a further advantage in that it +spreads the Journal everywhere.</p> + +<p>There were held during the past year thirty regular meetings and +lectures—one each week. At the meetings the average attendance was +36, at the lectures 155. The principal lecturers were: Professor M. M. +Kaplan, "The Menorah Idea"; Professor Richard Gottheil, "Jews in +Various Lands"; Mr. Jacob H. Schiff, "Zionism and Jewish Nationality"; +Professor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> A. Marks, "Persecutions of the Jews in the Middle Ages"; +Rev. Dr. David de Sola Pool, "Jewish Education"; Professor Israel +Davidson, "Hebrew Literature"; Rev. Dr. M. A. Hyamson, "The Mishnah"; +Rev. Dr. Harry S. Lewis of London, "The Jews and Democracy"; Rev. Dr. +H. P. Mendes, "Traditional Judaism"; Professor Stephen P. Duggan, +"Tradition as a Static and Dynamic Force"; Rev. Dr. Stephen S. Wise, +"What's Wrong with the Jew?"</p> + +<p>There were four courses taught. The average attendance at a course was +16. Rabbi Nathan Blechman led the course in "An Extensive Study of the +Bible," Professor M. M. Kaplan taught "Essentials of Judaism," and +Rabbi Samuel Margoshes gave the course in "Jewish Philosophy and +Literature." At the request of a number of students a course in +"Elementary Hebrew" was also given for a time.</p> + +<p>Two social meetings were held during the year. The first was a +reception in the vestry rooms of the Temple Beth-el tendered us by the +Menorah Society of Hunter College (formerly Normal), in recognition of +our help in the organization of their Society. The second was a +"smoker" held at the College in the Faculty lunch-room. The guests of +the occasion were Professor Israel Friedlaender of the Jewish +Theological Seminary, Professor A. J. Goldfarb of the College, and +Rev. Dr. D. de Sola Pool.</p> + +<p>For the first semester this year, four regular Wednesday evening +meetings have been scheduled, four public lectures, six study circles, +and four courses. The courses—"Modern Movements in Judaism" (one +hour), "Elementary Hebrew" (two hours), "Post-Biblical History" (one +hour), and an "Extensive Study of the Bible" (one hour)—will be +conducted by Rabbis Stephen S. Wise, J. L. Magnes, Max Reichler, +Rudolph Grossman, Maurice Harris, C. H. Levy, H. S. Goldstein, and A. +Robinson. The study circles, which will meet once a week, under the +leadership of Dr. Joseph I. Gorfinkle and Dr. A. Basel, will read the +"Essays of Ahad Ha-'Am," Schechter's "Studies in Judaism," the "Book +of Job," the "Book of Jeremiah," "Pirke Aboth," and the "Five +Scrolls."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> + +<p>With the respect and co-operation of the student body, the faculty, +and the alumni, the prestige of our Menorah bids fair to increase +until, it is hoped, it will not be exceeded by that of any other City +College organization.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">George J. Horowitz</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Cornell University</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Cornell Menorah Society has this year issued a prospectus which +has met with much favor among undergraduates, graduates and faculty, +and has been very helpful in our work. It contains an explanation of +"The Menorah Idea," accounts of the history and activities of both the +Cornell Society and the Intercollegiate Association, and the address +of President Schurman of November 24, 1913, by which he welcomed the +Menorah Society to the University. There is also included, besides the +general program for the year, the announcement of the Cornell Menorah +prizes. These are three prizes of $25.00 each, offered by the Cornell +Menorah Society to all the undergraduates of the University for (1) +the best essay on any subject relating to the status and problems of +the Jews in any country; (2) the best essay on any subject relating to +Jewish literature in English; and (3) the best essay or poem in +Hebrew.</div> + +<p>The first meeting of the year, on October 7, was very successful. It +was attended by more than eighty students and several members of the +faculty. The meeting was devoted to an exposition of the purposes and +ideals of the Menorah movement. Professor W. A. Hurwitz and Professor +Hays spoke very enthusiastically of the accomplishments and the hopes +of the Cornell Menorah Society. About thirty new members were +enrolled, bringing our membership list up to one hundred. This number +includes five members of the faculty and about a score of graduates. +Several men who had come to the meeting to scoff stayed to enroll. The +subsequent meetings have also been well attended. Our organization is +gaining greater and greater prestige on the campus.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the plans for this year, the work of study circles has been +particularly emphasized. As compared with two circles last year, +meeting more or less irregularly, we have at present six circles +meeting very regularly and doing really splendid work. More than half +of our members are now enrolled in one or several of these circles. +The subjects of study are: (1) Elementary Hebrew, (2) Advanced Hebrew, +(3) The Bible, (4) Jewish History, (5) Sociological Problems of the +Jews, and (6) Zionism. Though we have been feeling very keenly the +need of suitable syllabi and text books, each circle has chosen the +texts considered most suitable and available for its purpose. Most of +the men have bought their own text books, and have subscribed to +various Jewish periodicals. Thus, the beginners in Hebrew are using +Manheimer as a text; the members of the advanced Hebrew circle are +also using the Bible as a text and have each subscribed to the +<i>Hatoren</i> (a Hebrew monthly of New York). The Bible circle is also +using the Bible as its text, and the Hebrew and Bible circles +contemplate procuring jointly several Jewish Commentaries, like those +of Rashi and Kimchi, for general reference in the University Library. +The circle in Zionism is using Professor Gottheil's book, and the +members have each subscribed to <i>The Maccabæan</i>. The history circle +has recently decided to use Dubnow's Essay as a text. It may be +mentioned here that the books of the Menorah Library are receiving +very good circulation and the standard reference works, such as +Graetz, Ginsburg, Schechter, and others, have been of great value to +the members of the study circles in their work. It is hoped that a +number of Jewish periodicals may also be made available in the +University Library.</p> + +<p>It is planned to hold meetings of the Cornell Menorah Society in +conjunction with one or two other university organizations for several +lecturers whom we expect through the courtesy of the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association. One meeting in particular that is planned for the +future may be noted. Annually, in February, occurs what is known as +Farmers'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> Week in Ithaca. During the week thousands of farmers from +all over the country visit the College of Agriculture, where a most +elaborate program is arranged for their benefit, consisting of +lectures, demonstrations, exhibits, and addresses on the various +phases of agriculture and country life. Last year, Mr. Joseph M. +Pincus, Editor of <i>The Jewish Farmer</i>, addressed a large audience +under the joint auspices of the Menorah Society and the College of +Agriculture on "The Jew as a Farmer." The lecture was illustrated with +a fine selection of lantern slides, and the meeting as a whole was +very successful. In planning for the coming year, we have tried to +emphasize even more strongly than last year our part in the program +for Farmers' Week. Mr. Pincus has kindly consented to come again, and +probably we shall also have Mr. Leonard G. Robinson, General Manager +of the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society, who will speak +on "Jewish Agricultural Co-operative Associations."</p> + +<p>We are now trying to make arrangements for our Society to take care of +an exhibit which will show by charts, photographs, and other suitable +material, the activities of the various Jewish agricultural +organizations and the progress of Jewish farmers in America within +recent years. It may be of interest to add that as a direct result of +the Menorah meeting last year during Farmers' Week, one of the +students was appointed by the Extension Department of the College of +Agriculture to go out with an "educational train" during the summer +and carry on certain extension work among the Jewish farmers of New +York State.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Leon J. Rosenthal</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Harvard University</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE opening meeting of the ninth year of the Harvard Menorah Society +was held on October 13, 1914. The meeting was the largest in the +history of the Society, over 150 men being present. The purposes of +the Society were explained to the new men by the officers, and Le +Baron Russell Briggs,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, +extended a welcome in behalf of the University. He said in part: "I +was present at the foundation of the Harvard Menorah Society in 1906, +and was very much impressed by the fine earnestness of the leaders. If +I were a Jew, I would be so proud of the history and traditions of my +race that I would welcome the opportunity that this Society offers. +For this reason I have always taken a great interest in the Menorah +Society."</div> + +<p>The plans for this year include as usual a series of fortnightly +lectures by men of learning and prominence. Among the speakers for the +first half year are Dr. Cyrus Adler of Philadelphia, Professor Richard +Gottheil of New York, Mr. Samuel Strauss of New York, Dr. A. A. Neuman +of Philadelphia, Dr. Martin A. Meyer of San Francisco, Dr. D. de Sola +Pool and Dr. S. Benderly of New York. In addition, there are planned +three study circles, each of which will meet every alternate week. One +of these circles is to be devoted to Jewish history, another to the +study of the Hebrew language, and the third to the consideration of +modern Jewish problems.</p> + +<p>The prospects for this year are even brighter than ever before. The +enthusiasm is as great as it has ever been, and the membership will +undoubtedly exceed all past records.</p> + +<p>It is of interest to note that more and more members of Menorah +Societies at other Universities all over the country continue their +Menorah activities in our Society when they come to study in the +graduate departments of Harvard University.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Isadore Levin</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Hunter College</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HROUGH the influence of the Menorah Society of the College of the +City of New York, a Menorah Society was formed at the Normal College +of New York (for women), with the approval of the Dean, in May, 1913. +Owing to the change of name of the College, it is now known as the +Hunter College Menorah.</div> + +<p>During the first year of its existence,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> under the leadership of its +first President, Miss Selma Blechman, and the hearty support of its +members, the corner-stone for its present greater work was laid. A +program of lectures was planned to be held on the third Friday of +every month. The lectures were to cover the several periods of Jewish +history from ancient to modern times. This was done with great +success.</p> + +<p>This year, in addition to the lectures, the Society is planning to +give courses in (1) Hebrew, (2) Jewish History, and (3) the Bible. +This project has met with the hearty approval of both the President +and the Dean, and the Menorah hopes to enter soon upon active work in +these subjects.</p> + +<p>A word about the membership of the Hunter Menorah must be said. When +the Society started it had a membership of one hundred, of whom ninety +were active members. It now has about twice that number, with an +active membership of one hundred.</p> + +<p>The Society has acquired such repute that students who are not members +attend the lectures and are very enthusiastic about them. Indeed, the +Hunter College Menorah sees before it a very rosy future.</p> + +<p>At the recent Bazaar given by the College Athletic Association for the +Red Cross Relief Fund, the Society had a booth and sold appropriate +articles, like brass Menorahs, books and small Hebrew scrolls, objects +of Jewish art, and candy and almonds from Palestine, thus adding a +considerable sum to the Fund. Besides, the members have contributed +over $100 for Jewish relief in Palestine.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Julia Mitchell</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Michigan</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N 1910 a group of Jewish students at the University of Michigan +formed a society and assumed the Menorah name. After a rather +checkered course of three years, marked by misunderstood ideals and +activities not always well-considered, the organization suddenly +became more alive to the consideration of the vital problems which had +been the ultimate excuse for its existence. A few men,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> sacrificing +personal ambition for the common welfare, spurred the Society on to +more serious and genuine work.</div> + +<p>The rejuvenated Menorah Society enjoyed this period of prosperity only +for a few months when a new organization for Jewish spiritual +development at the University was formed. It calls itself the Jewish +Student Congregation, and its aim, as distinguished from the Menorah +goal of cultural research, is purely religious. The weekly prayer +meeting, marked by sermon and ceremony, is now offered to the Jewish +students in addition to the weekly study circle of the cultural +society.</p> + +<p>However true or untrue may be the oft-repeated statement that the +Menorah has blazed the way for the Congregation, it still remains a +fact that the new organization was not confronted with the difficulty +of gaining a following, such as the parent Jewish society had +experienced. Though the attendance of the Congregation shaded off +quite considerably the last few months of its first year, there were +always enough to show their appreciation by their presence at the +services and to guarantee the continuation of the services in the +future. One noteworthy fact calls for special mention here—a certain +group of students seemed to be more religious than devoted to cultural +interests. Only a few of this class, however, were really inspired by +a religious zeal; for there were some who expressed this preference +because there still rankled in their thoughts the stigma which a few +thoughtless pioneers had allowed to attach itself to the Menorah in +the early days of its formation.</p> + +<p>That the Congregation would appeal to a certain number was evident +from the first. The Jewish service was fraught with that sociable +spirit which became more lacking in the Menorah the more it devoted +itself to its primary motives of research and investigation into +Jewish history, culture and ideals. Though there unquestionably exists +a strong feeling of fellowship in the Menorah, it cannot compare with +the atmosphere of fraternalism in a religious meeting.</p> + +<p>Moreover, the student can come to the Congregation to relax. He can +sit back passively and draw inspiration from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> service. But a +Menorah meeting is virtually a class-room lacking a few formalities. +There the student must actively discuss the problems placed before +him; he must earnestly dig for the Pierian waters before he can hope +to quench his thirst.</p> + +<p>The average Jewish student comes to Michigan wofully ignorant of +matters pertaining to Judaism. Many of them have been reared in small +towns, where the efforts of parents to train their children in Jewish +ways, if tried at all, barely passes the first two or three pages of +the "Siddur"; while those who have been raised in the city are +generally the victims of the lax system of Jewish training prevalent +there. At the most they have only a superficial knowledge of Jewish +culture, of the great Jewish movements of the past and present. The +Synagogue or Temple represents to the mind of the average Jewish +student all that there is in Jewry; and so, while he will readily and +voluntarily support a movement for the establishment of the Jewish +church, he will have to be persuaded to help or join an organization +devoted to Jewish culture. For in the latter case he must first be +made to understand that there are other vital forces in Israel than +the Jewish church as it stands to-day in its conventional form.</p> + +<p>The Menorah at Michigan faces the problem of attracting that element, +forming the big majority of the student body, which, though it proudly +upholds the high scholastic standard generally credited to the Jewish +student, still has its eyes closed and its brains dulled to many of +the vital Jewish problems which press for solution. With the +co-operation of the Intercollegiate Menorah office, the Society is +gradually molding the sentiment of the individual student toward a +more intelligent and favorable attitude. That the Menorah is already a +vital force on the campus may be seen from the work being done, the +zeal and enthusiasm displayed by the officers and members, many of +them among the University leaders. Those who formerly scorned or stood +aloof, including some who were in the position to mold student +sentiment, have begun to show a sympathetic interest, bordering in +many instances on actual participation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Jewish Student Congregation does not conflict in any way with the +Menorah Society. There is room for both on the campus. Each has its +own purpose. Menorah members participate in the conduct and the +services of the Congregation.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Jacob Levin</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Minnesota</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>J</big>UDGING from the interest and enthusiasm displayed at the opening "get +together" meeting, arranged especially for the benefit of new arrivals +at the University, the Minnesota Menorah seems certain to make this +year the most successful in its history. The meeting, which follows an +established custom at Minnesota, was well attended by both students +and alumni, and enabled both elements to become better acquainted. The +early part of the evening was devoted to a general reception; this was +followed by a short entertainment, and then a very interesting +discussion of Menorah ideals and duties by various members of the +faculty and alumni.</div> + +<p>The plans of the Society this year look more than ever before to an +intensive study of Jewish subjects by the students themselves. +Although various outside speakers will be asked to address the +Society, the bulk of the work will rest with the student body.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">David London</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>New York University</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE New York University Menorah Society is unique in its make-up and +in the form of its administration. The Society is really two +organizations within the one university. This dual composition is +necessitated by the division, geographically, of New York University +into colleges in the downtown section of New York City, and into +colleges in the far uptown section of the Bronx, the distance between +these divisions being some twelve miles. It has therefore been found +necessary to organize one Menorah Society at University Heights, the +Bronx section, and another at Washington Square, the downtown +section.</div> + +<p>Each of these Societies has its own officers, and each is active in +its own section. The Executive Councils of both Societies meet jointly +as a Board of Governors at least once in two months. This Board +directs Menorah work pertaining to the whole University, at the same +time considering the problems arising in the work of each Society.</p> + +<p>The University Heights chapter is the older, having been organized +December 22, 1913. Its membership is about 75 at this time, and an +increase to 100 is expected by the end of the present academic year. +Formed by the zeal of some twenty-five men, and looked upon at its +inception with indifference by the college community, it has made +itself respected at University Heights and has become, young as it is, +an institution in the college life.</p> + +<p>Its work during the first half-year was directed chiefly to the +internal strengthening of the Society, the increasing of its +membership and the institution of smooth working machinery of +administration. At the same time, however, the Society offered a +number of valuable lectures which attracted wide interest. Among the +speakers of that half-year may be mentioned Professor Israel +Friedlaender, Dr. Madison C. Peters, and Dr. Theodore F. Jones of the +faculty.</p> + +<p>The activities of the University Heights Menorah Society for this year +are extensive. It has arranged a program of lectures, among which may +be mentioned the following: "The Talmud," by Dr. Clifton H. Levy; "The +Jew in English Literature," by Dean Archibald L. Bouton; "The Jews in +Medieval Spain," by Dr. D. de Sola Pool; "Conservative Judaism," by +Dr. Jacob Kohn; "Historical Beginnings of Christianity," by Dr. A. H. +Limouze; "Reform Judaism," by Dr. Isaac Moses. Besides these lectures, +some meetings are devoted to discussions by members of such subjects +as Zangwill's "Melting Pot," "Zionism," and others of current +interest.</p> + +<p>The Society does not limit its work to these meetings. It conducts +regularly, every Thursday evening, classes in elementary Hebrew and in +Post-Biblical History, and on Tuesday afternoons a class in Advanced +Hebrew and the reading of Hebrew Literature. The Thursday evening +class in Hebrew is under the direction of Dr. Max Reichler. The course +in History is divided into several periods, and as the course proceeds +to a new period in the history a different instructor takes the class. +Among the men giving the course are Dr. M. H. Harris, Dr. Reichler, +Dr. Moses Hyamson, and Dr. Joseph Gorfinkle. The class in Advanced +Hebrew is conducted by Mr. Max Kadushin of the Jewish Theological +Seminary.</p> + +<p>Through the kindness of the Jewish Publication Society of America and +the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, and by its own additions, the +Society has placed a collection of books in the University library, +which, according to the Librarian's statement, is used more frequently +than is any other collection of books placed in the library by a +society.</p> + +<p>All these activities have caused favorable interest on the part of the +student body, faculty, and college authorities. Aside from these +academic efforts, the Society has made its members feel something of a +social friendliness toward each other and has brought together men who +might otherwise not have come in contact at all.</p> + +<p>The Society at Washington Square promises an exceedingly good future. +At the present writing it is only several weeks old, but it already +has a membership of over one hundred and fifty. Judging from the +strong beginning it has made, it is bound to become a factor in its +section of the University.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Charles K. Feinberg</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Ohio State University</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE year 1913-14, the fourth year of the Menorah at Ohio State +University, proved to be the most successful in its history. In accord +with the nature and purpose of our organization, we strove to be +academic, sociable and non-sectarian, and accomplished this end, even +beyond the expectations of the more optimistic. During the year the +Society carried on a lecture course in Biblical History, by Professor +Morgenstern, of the Hebrew Union College, in such a creditable manner +as to attract attention even outside the University. The lectures of +Dr. Israel Friedlaender and Dr. H. M. Kallen met with similar success, +and after their lectures at the University they addressed large +audiences at our local Temples.</div> + +<p>The new University library opened its doors this year, and we are +greatly indebted to our beloved friend, Mr. Joseph Schonthal, of +Columbus, for placing upon the shelves a set of the Jewish +Encyclopedia; and to the University, the Intercollegiate Menorah +Association, and the Jewish Publication Society for books and +periodicals. The trustees of the University considered our proposition +for the establishment of a chair in Jewish History and Culture, but it +was agreed that conditions were not yet ripe for this move. These +several undertakings, in connection with the entertainments, held the +members steadily interested throughout the year. The bi-monthly +meetings, the programs of which were made up by the members +themselves, were inspiring and beneficial.</p> + +<p>A successful close was marked by a "Farewell Banquet" to the seniors, +among whom were several of our best workers—pioneers of our Society. +Of the guests present, only our old friend Dean Orton made an address. +He was greatly impressed with the work of our Society, and assured us +that the faculty is in full sympathy with our aims.</p> + +<p>With the passing of a good year we are looking forward to a still +better one, and are predicting a big year for Menorah work. Such men +as Dr. J. Leonard Levy, Dr. Washington Gladden, Dr. Moses J. Gries, +Prof. I. Leo Sharfman, Dr. David Philipson, and Dr. Louis Wolsey are +among the speakers this year.</p> + +<p>Our program committee has been working up attractive plans, and expect +to carry out discussions and studies in Jewish history, literature and +problems. The social part of our program is taken care of as the year +progresses, and forms only so much of our work as is justifiable to +keep the members together.</p> + +<p>The Ohio State Menorah takes this opportunity of extending its best +wishes to the other Menorah Societies and of expressing its perfect +readiness to co-operate with them. The members will eagerly welcome +the first number of the Menorah Journal, both for its own sake and as +a means of strengthening the bonds with the other Menorahs.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Henry Greenberger</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Pennsylvania</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>UR Menorah at Pennsylvania has passed through a crisis which for a +time threatened its welfare, but happily the present internal +condition is healthy and assures the new administration the hearty +support of the entire membership. Despite difficulties our work has +been successful and varied. Last year fourteen regular meetings were +held, some devoted to programs by our own members, others to outside +speakers.</div> + +<p>Among those who addressed us last year were Dr. Cyrus Adler, '83, +President of the Dropsie College; Rabbi Henry Berkowitz, Chancellor of +the Jewish Chautauqua Society, on the "New Teaching of Religion"; Dr. +Henry M. Speaker, Principal of Gratz College, on "Jewish Literature"; +Rabbi Haas of the Baron de Hirsch School, on "Woodbine, a Jewish +Town"; Dr. Isaac Husik of the Semitic Faculty, on "Philosophic +Movements of Medieval Jewry"; and Dr. Henry Malter of the Dropsie +College, on "The Written and the Oral Law."</p> + +<p>In addition to the regular meetings we have been for the past three +years conducting a Jewish Discussion Group, led by Rabbi Marvin Nathan +of this city, which has proved very popular. The group meets at the +noon hour and attracts also non-Menorah men, women students, and +liberal-minded non-Jews. This year in order to accommodate the +students whose schedules prevent their attending this group, we expect +to institute another to be conducted either like the present or in +such a way as to utilize the services of the Rabbis and other +prominent Jews of Philadelphia.</p> + +<p>Our policy this year concerning new members differs decidedly from +that of the past. While we are by no means more restrictive or +exclusive than heretofore, we feel that the method of "rushing" men +into membership is psychologically wrong. It cheapens the organization +in the eyes of non-members and thereby defeats its own end. Instead of +attempting to cajole freshmen into joining, we shall endeavor to +attract the serious-minded men on the campus by the quality of our +programs and the variety of our activities. With the strong men in, +the others will follow, and in this way our membership will be one of +both quality and quantity.</p> + +<p>Another innovation this year will be the acceptance of women students +as members. The attitude of the University toward mixed membership in +organizations that meet on the campus has been unfavorable and as a +result women students have been admitted only to the Discussion Group +and to public meetings. Their wholesale application for admission into +the Society, however, prompted us to intervene in their behalf, and in +view of the seriousness of our purpose the authorities consented to +make the exception. Hereafter, therefore, we shall be able to offer +membership, on an equal footing, to all students.</p> + +<p>Although our attention this year will be directed mainly to intensive +work, the Menorah will continue to act unofficially as the medium +between the Jewish students here and local communal activities. In a +quiet way, also, we intend to exert our influence upon local Jewish +organizations so as to induce them to take a more active interest in +Jewish affairs. They will be invited to attend our public meetings and +assistance will be offered them in arranging programs along Jewish +lines. We shall further offer to furnish them with speakers from among +our members.</p> + +<p>A real need of our Menorah, and probably of other Menorahs, is some +extra incentive to induce the writing of Jewish papers. The +establishment here of a Menorah Prize would, we feel confident, work +wonders in stimulating interest in Jewish problems. We look forward to +the early filling of this need.</p> + +<p>Of our work this year we are very optimistic. Several papers have +already been prepared by members and others are promised. A number of +notable men, including Provost Edgar F. Smith, of our University, and +Professor David W. Amram, '87, of the Law Faculty, will give us +addresses. We are in addition organizing a Menorah Orchestra with the +idea primarily of presenting to the public the best Jewish music, and +we hope in this way to combine business with pleasure.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Jacob Rubinoff</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Penn State College</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Penn State Menorah was organized on April 27, 1913. Our activities +from the beginning were characterized by a willingness on the part of +the members to devote a great deal of their time to the mapping and +carrying out of our weekly program. The significant fact that the +Society has held forty talks during the past year, most of which were +delivered by its members, is in itself proof of the conscientiousness +and devotion that the men of Penn State bring to the Menorah Society.</div> + +<p>As is quite natural, our organization did not at first strike all the +Jewish students as something worth while, but in a comparatively short +time we found that ninety per cent. of the Jewish students of the +College were members, and that our attendance for the past year +averaged thirty-five out of a possible forty.</p> + +<p>Our meetings are held every Sunday morning from ten to twelve o'clock. +Our constitution states that any member who absents himself for three +consecutive meetings without a legitimate excuse is automatically +expelled. Thus far no man has been expelled. Members of the Menorah +Society are excused from the chapel by the Dean, provided they attend +all the Menorah meetings.</p> + +<p>Our Society has also striven to get desirable lecturers. Owing to our +limited treasury, we must depend upon the Intercollegiate Association +for support, else we can make but very little headway.</p> + +<p>The Menorah Library has proved a big boon, for practically every man +is making use of the books for his own reading and in the preparation +of papers for our meetings.</p> + +<p>We were very fortunate in having been offered the services of +Professor O. F. Boucke as a lecturer for the Society and as teacher of +a special course of study on the Old Testament. Professor Boucke's +assistance is bound to add materially to the prestige of the Menorah +on the campus. At an early meeting this year we had a most interesting +and inspiring talk by President Sparks, who is taking a deep interest +in the Menorah movement.</p> + +<p>It is our belief that the Menorahs in colleges and universities that +are isolated from the large cities (a good example of which is Penn +State) are bound to have by far the greater success, because the +students enjoy more opportunity of being together and doing more +things in common. In our Menorah Society the Jewish students find +their chance not only to study things Jewish in common, but to come +together and exchange their thoughts on all subjects in which they are +interested.</p> +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">M. Trumper</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Texas</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Menorah Society closed a successful year with a banquet held May +18, 1914, at the Hotel Driskill, Austin. In addition to forty-three +students and faculty members, there were present four honored guests: +Dean W. J. Battle of the University of Texas, Rabbi Henry Cohen of +Galveston, and Messrs. J. Koen and N. Davis of the Austin Jewish +community. The opening address was delivered by the President of the +Society, Mr. L. W. Moses, who traced the growth of the Menorah Society +of Texas from its beginning in 1907 through its affiliation with the +Intercollegiate organization and its consequently renewed vigor. Dean +Battle, as head of the department of Greek in the University, spoke on +"Hellenism and Hebraism," discussing the essential principles of the +two cultures and comparing their influence on modern civilization. Mr. +H. J. Ettlinger of the University Faculty elected as his subject, "The +Menorah in Its Relation to Other Student Activities," and he +elaborated on the many reasons why the Jewish student should select +the Menorah Society as one of his extra-curricular activities. Rabbi +David Rosenbaum of Austin and also of the University faculty, taking +excellent advantage of his position as a representative of both the +University and the community, gave an instructive talk on "What +Judaism Expects of the Student."</div> + +<p>Rabbi Henry Cohen, speaking eloquently on "Judaism as a Factor in +Modern Life," took up each one of the Ten Commandments and summarized +their influence on society to-day. A poem written especially for the +occasion was read by Mr. Israel Chasmin, and piano selections were +rendered by Miss Beatrice Burg and Miss Minna Rypinski. The program +closed with the installation of officers for the year 1914-15.</p> + +<p>We lost ten members by graduation last June, but our membership has +none the less increased on account of the greater number of Jewish +students at the University this year.</p> + +<p>The opening meeting of the year was attended by fifty out of the +fifty-eight Jewish students. In enthusiasm it resembled a football +rally, and the new students caught the spirit of the occasion. Since +then a number of other meetings have been held, with an average +attendance of forty. At the first meeting, Professor L. M. Keasby of +the Department of Institutional History gave an eminently just +interpretation of Jewish history from the point of view of the +economic development of mankind. At the next meeting, Israel Chasmin +reviewed Dubnow's Essay on Jewish History. At the last meeting, Rabbi +J. Bornstein of Houston, Texas, spoke on Jewish Music. We are looking +forward to an illustrated lecture by Professor Gideon of the +Department of Architecture on "The Architecture of the Synagogue, Past +and Present."</p> + +<p>Through the fund for local speakers which we are raising and through +the aid of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, we hope to have a +speaker at least every month for the rest of the year.</p> + +<p>The Menorah Library which we have received through the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association is greatly appreciated by the University and will +be of much help in the work of the Society.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">H. J. Ettlinger</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Washington</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N the summer of 1913 several Jewish students met and discussed the +feasibility of organizing a Jewish society on the campus. As a result, +a meeting was called at the Y. M. H. A. rooms in the first week of the +1913-14 semester. Cards for the meeting had been sent to all men +students known to be Jews. There was an enthusiastic discussion of the +purposes of the meeting, and it was decided to effect a permanent +organization, which should include the Jewish women students as well, +and to begin active work. Our purposes were then somewhat different +from what they are at present. We felt that if our union could bring +about a better understanding between the various Jewish elements in +the city of Seattle and throughout the State of Washington, we should +be accomplishing something worth while. The fact that the student body +itself was composed of these various elements would aid us, it was +believed, to bring that result about speedily and effectively.</div> + +<p>And so members of the Menorah Society joined the Jewish lodges in +Seattle, Jewish synagogues, and the "Modern Hebrew School," so that +they might effect their objects both from within as individual members +and from without as the Menorah Society. Our members volunteered to +teach at the Modern Hebrew School, an orthodox institution, one day in +the week. The offer was accepted gladly and greatly appreciated. At +the same school, a class was conducted by one of our members for the +instruction of Jewish men in the fundamentals of citizenship, and over +twelve of this class passed the examinations and secured their +citizenship papers. Another member organized an athletic club among +Jewish boys, and still another member did much valuable work at the +Settlement House.</p> + +<p>At the meetings of the Society, which were held in the quarters of +Jewish organizations downtown and at members' homes, papers bearing on +Jewish questions were read.</p> + +<p>During the past summer it was felt that by affiliating with the +Intercollegiate Menorah Association greater impetus would be given to +our Society, and steps have already been taken for admittance into +that body. President Henry Landes of the University has expressed, I +believe, the favorable attitude of the whole University toward the +Society, as shown in the letter quoted below.</p> + +<p>This year we shall devote more time to the study of Jewish culture and +ideals. A course of lectures is being arranged which will bring noted +Jewish men of the Pacific Coast to our University. It is hoped also +that we may have the benefit of speakers from the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association. Of course, the work we began last year down town +will be kept up, but it will now be done unofficially.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Eimon L. Wienir</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='hang1'><i>From a Letter of Acting President Henry Landes of the University of +Washington to the Chancellor of the Intercollegiate Menorah +Association:</i></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In behalf of the University it gives me great +pleasure to endorse this movement and to assure you of +the satisfactory university standing of the students +who are members of the local society. The scholarship +of the students is good, several of the number having +obtained highest grades in most of their studies. I +feel sure that the organization in every way is worthy +of recognition by the Intercollegiate Menorah +Association and that such recognition will be of great +assistance to these and other students in the +formation and conservation of the culture and ideals +of the Jewish people. The University recognizes the +large debt modern culture owes to these ideals and +feels assured that the Menorah organization among us +will be of the greatest assistance in keeping alive a +keener consciousness of this fundamental part of our +civilization.</p> + +<p>"The University will be glad to assist the Association +by permitting it to use University rooms for its +meetings, under the usual regulations governing the +use of rooms by student associations.</p> + +<p>"Personally I shall be glad to co-operate in any way I +can to make the work of the local Society successful.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +"<span class="smcap">Henry Landes</span>,<br /> +"<i>Acting President</i>"<br /> +</div> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Wisconsin</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>O have the student members of the Society furnish the largest part of +the program has been the policy of the Wisconsin Menorah for the past +two years. Because of its advantages, the same policy has been adopted +for the current year.</div> + +<p>In the past, the programs have been of a diverse nature, many phases +of Hebrew life and letters having been touched upon. The program +committee has put forth special efforts to assign to members those +subjects in which they have special interest.</p> + +<p>The work of the past year came to a close with a large banquet, at +which Professor I. Leo Sharfman, Judge Max Pam of Chicago, and +Professor Joseph Jastrow and Dr. H. M. Kallen of the Faculty of the +University of Wisconsin gave short talks.</p> + +<p>Although the Wisconsin Menorah may be said to be still in its infancy, +there is no doubt that, with its membership, which includes both men +and women, steadily increasing, it will soon be ranked high among the +Menorah Societies of the Middle West.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Florence J. Ellman</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Yale University</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>T a meeting held soon after the college opening, the Yale Menorah +Society inaugurated what bids fair to be a most successful year. +President Arthur T. Hadley addressed the meeting (for the address of +President Hadley see above, page 45), as did also Professor Charles F. +Kent of the Yale School of Religion.</div> + +<p>Professor Kent said:—"It is a great pleasure for me to face the work +of the new year with you, and it is a source of congratulation that +the Menorah is no longer an innovation but an established institution +at Yale. It seems a pity that Jews do not inherit Hebrew as a +birthright, but fortunately the study of Hebrew history and ideals +can proceed without this knowledge.</p> + +<p>"Men must appropriate old ideas and interpret them into the terms of +modern life and thought, for in the old we find the germ of the new. +It is in Jewish history that we must look for the first true +commonwealth or democracy, where the king was chosen by the people and +where his authority was derived solely from and rested in the people. +This has no ancient parallel, not even in Greece. International peace +was also one of the great fundamental teachings of the prophets of +Israel.</p> + +<p>"Religious education is to be traced directly to the Jews,—and this +is one of the great needs of America to-day. Not to the Greeks but to +the prophets do we turn for religious education. Hebrew sages were the +forerunners of the modern religious education movement, for they +devoted their time to developing the moral and spiritual ideals and +character of the individual. And then the great teacher of Nazareth +was a Rabbi, a Jew. The social motif is exceedingly strong throughout +Jewish history and literature. Social justice, social service, and the +universal brotherhood of man are the dominant ideas in the Old +Testament, and they constitute a heritage of priceless value to the +world and to our country to-day.</p> + +<p>"All success and joy to you in your work, for the Menorah fills a +large gap in the life of the University."</p> + +<p>We hold lecture meetings fortnightly. Among the speakers thus far have +been Professor Richard Gottheil of Columbia University and Mr. Samuel +Strauss of New York. In addition to these regular meetings study +groups have been planned under the direction of Rabbi Louis L. Mann of +the Temple Mishkan Israel of New Haven.</p> + +<p>Mr. Norman Winestine who was last spring elected President for this +year has been awarded a fellowship at the Dropsie College of +Philadelphia and has therefore left the University. Mr. Charles Cohen +has been chosen President to take Mr. Winestine's place.</p> +<div class='signature'> <span class="smcap">R. Horchow</span></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Notes</h2> + +<h3>Of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association</h3> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Third Annual Convention</i></div> + +<p>The Third Annual Convention of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association +took place at the University of Cincinnati on Wednesday and Thursday, +December 23 and 24, 1914. A report will be published in the next +number of the Journal.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Menorah Prize Awards</i></div> + +<p>The Harvard Menorah Society Prize of $100, established by Mr. Jacob H. +Schiff of New York, was awarded last May to Henry Epstein, '16, for an +essay on "The Jews of Russia." The judges were Professor David Gordon +Lyon of Harvard, chairman; Professor William R. Arnold of Harvard, and +President Solomon Schechter of the Jewish Theological Seminary. This +is the seventh award of the Harvard Menorah Society prize since its +foundation in 1907-8. (For the list of previous awards, see <i>The +Menorah Movement</i>, 1914, page 102.)</p> + +<p>The Wisconsin Menorah Society Prize of $100, established in 1911-12 by +Mr. Julius Rosenwald of Chicago, was awarded for the first time, in +1912, to Marvin M. Lowenthal (adult special student in Letters and +Science) for an essay on "The Jew in the American Revolution." There +was no competition in 1912-13, but last year the prize was divided +into two equal parts and awarded to Hemendra Kisor Rakshir (senior in +Letters and Science) for an essay on "The Jews and the Interest Rate +in Angevin England," and Percy B. Shostac (senior in Letters and +Science) for an essay on "A Short Survey of the Modern Yiddish Stage." +The prize for 1913-14 was awarded again to Marvin M. Lowenthal for an +essay on "Zionism." The Committee of Award consists of Professor R. E. +N. Dodge, chairman, Professor E. B. McGilvary, and Professor M. S. +Slaughter, of the University of Wisconsin. The chairman has stated +that the Menorah prize is the best prize offered by the University of +Wisconsin.</p> + +<p>The Michigan Menorah Society Prize of $100 was established in 1912 by +Mr. Julius Rosenwald of Chicago, but was not awarded the first year. +Last year three prizes of $50 each were awarded, one to Paul +Blanshard, '14, for an essay on "The Approach of Reformed Judaism to +the Unitarian Movement in the United States," one to Miss Judith +Ginsburg, '15, for an essay on "Disintegrating Forces in Contemporary +Jewish Life," and one to Miss Sadie Robinson, '15, for a general +discussion of Jewish problems upon the text of Proverbs 30, 13. The +judges were Professor Robert E. Wenly, chairman, and Professor I. Leo +Sharfman of the University of Michigan, and Rabbi Leo M. Franklin of +Detroit, Mich.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Cornell Menorah Prizes</i></div> + +<p>The Cornell Menorah Society offers this year the following prizes to +the undergraduates of the University: a prize of $25 for the best +essay on any subject relating to the status and the problems of the +Jews in any country; a prize of $25 for the best essay on any subject +relating to Jewish literature in English; and a prize of $25 for the +best essay or poem in Hebrew. The judges will be Professor Nathaniel +Schmidt of Cornell University, chairman; Professor M. M. Kaplan of the +Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and Professor I. Leo Sharfman +of the University of Michigan.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Gift from the Harvard Menorah Society</i></div> + +<p>The Harvard Menorah Society has made a gift of $50 to the +Intercollegiate Menorah Association. The sum is taken from the +Associate Membership Fund of the Society. This Fund consists of the +dues of associate members (graduates), "which shall be used +exclusively for the substantive work of the Society" (Harvard Menorah +Constitution, Article IV, section 4). The control of this Fund is in +the hands of an advisory committee, consisting of the President of the +Society and two associate members designated by the Executive Council +of the Society.</p> + +<p><a name="meno2" id="meno2"></a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> + + + + + +<h1><span class="smcap">the</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Menorah Journal</span></h1> + +<div class='center'> +VOLUME I APRIL, 1915 NUMBER 2<br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="300" height="199" alt="frontispiece" title="frontispiece" /> +</div> + + + + +<h2>For Small Mercies</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Israel Zangwill</span></h3> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="For Small Mercies"> +<tr><td align='left'>Thinking of Poland and her tortured Jews,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>'Twixt Goth and Cossack hounded, crucified</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>On either frontier, e'en the Pale denied,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Wand'ring with bloodied staff and broken shoes,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Scarred like their greatest son with stripe and bruise,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Though thrice a hundred thousand fight beside</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Their Russian brethren and are glorified</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>By death for those who flout them and abuse,—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />I suddenly was touched to thankful tears.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Not that one wave had ebbed of all this woe,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Not that one heart had softened in "the spheres"<a name="FNanchor_A_1.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1.1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>One touch of bureau-malice to forego,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>But that amid blind eyes, dumb mouths, deaf ears,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>One voice in England<a name="FNanchor_B_2.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2.1" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> said these things were so.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_izangwill.png" width="150" height="52" alt="Signature: Israel Zangwill" title="Signature: Israel Zangwill" /> +</div> + +<p> <br /><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1.1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Only permissible form of Russian reference to the Tsar +and his Counsellors.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2.1"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> The London <i>Nation</i>.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> +<h2>From Across the Seas</h2> + +<h3><i>From Dr. Max Nordau</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Madrid, Spain</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 63px;"> +<img src="images/1max.jpg" width="63" height="100" alt="Dr. Max Nordau" title="Dr. Max Nordau" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> HAIL most cordially the appearing of <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span> with the +noble and impressive program which you develop. It shows your +consciousness of the new duties of the rich, free and powerful +American Jewry, your readiness to assume fully the moral +responsibilities which your privileged position imposes upon you, and +your comprehension of the needs of the present hour. Your journal +seems the promising beginning of that organization in which we are so +sorely wanting and without which we will achieve nothing in the +forthcoming deep transformations of the old world.</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_mnordeau.png" width="150" height="31" alt="Signature: Dr. M. Nordau" title="Signature: Dr. M. Nordau" /> +</div> + + +<h3><i>From Dr. Moses Gaster</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Chief Rabbi (Haham) Spanish and Portuguese Congregations of the +British Empire</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 64px;"> +<img src="images/2moses.jpg" width="64" height="100" alt="Dr. Moses Gaster" title="Dr. Moses Gaster" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> AM glad to see that you have brought out again the Menorah from the +corner into which it had been thrust, that you have polished up the +old candlestick, nay, even more, that you have trimmed the wick and +poured the oil into the cup, that you are kindling a light which is to +dissipate the darkness spiritual, more dangerous, more terrible than +darkness physical. What our people really want is to be able to see +that light of truth, that light of hope, of humanity, of knowledge, of +idealism, which has been ours through the ages. We have never allowed +our lamp to be extinguished, whether it burned in a remote corner in +the ghetto, smoky, ill trimmed, even evil smelling; still there was +the light sufficiently strong to illumine the pages of the Torah and +the Talmud, even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> the pages of the writers of philosophy and science. +It was quite sufficient if one lamp was kept alight. This is the +greatness and the beauty of it,—that from one, one can kindle a +thousand.</div> + +<p>There is no limit to which the light cannot reach and there will be no +limit, I hope, to the light which you will now spread. It will reach +the remotest corner of the universities and schools of learning, nay, +even more, it will bring everywhere a measure of knowledge and of +truth, and above all it will illumine and warm. It will reach the eyes +of those who have hitherto refused to see the beauty of their own past +and the greatness of their own future. They may then learn to live in +the present by the teaching of the past and by the hope of the future. +Make both known.</p> + +<p>In conclusion, I can only express the wish that you keep steadily and +exclusively to Jewish questions, Jewish problems, Jewish learning. +Make your readers know what they can find in Jewish literature and +make the students of the various universities realize that in the +libraries of Europe and America there are vast treasures accumulated +which await the hand and the heart of the Jewish scholars. There are +great and grave problems which await solution and the field is +unlimited. Let them begin to till the ground of our own field, and +turn the furrows and sow the seed, and the golden harvest is sure to +repay them for their labor in the service of love and truth, and above +all of devotion to Judaism.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 125px;"> +<img src="images/signature_sgaster.png" width="125" height="48" alt="Signature: M. Gaster" title="Signature: M. Gaster" /> +</div> + + +<h3><i>From Norman Bentwich</i></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Professor of International Law, School of Law, Cairo, Egypt</i></div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 63px;"> +<img src="images/3norman.jpg" width="63" height="100" alt="Norman Bentwich" title="Norman Bentwich" /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>Y</big>OU are indeed happy in the moment of your appearance. I am not of +those who regard this world war as a terrible catastrophe. I can see +in it with God's grace the preparation of a great uplift of humanity +and especially the coming of redemption for Israel. But the more +glorious the vision of the future the greater the need of light, and +more light, to illuminate the present and to enable the young +generation to advance steadily towards the vision and make it reality. +That is what I believe the function of <span class="smcap">the Menorah Journal</span> to be, and +your first number is an earnest of the sincerity of your aim and the +goodness of your means.</div> + +<p>The Jewish people stand on the brink of a new era in which they are to +resume their true function of the spiritual teacher of mankind. And<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +American Jewry, it is a truism to say, has a vital and a leading part +to play in moulding the destiny of the Jewish people. So we may adapt +the old Rabbinic saying: "He who saves the soul of a single Jewish +student is as though he saved the world." <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span> in +holding up the light of the Jewish spirit to the young men and women +of America is doing the work of humanity.</p> + +<p>May I express the hope that the Menorah Societies will direct the gaze +of their members to the land of promise and the land of the prophets, +where the inspiration of Judaism has always come and whither the hopes +of Jewry have always turned. Living as I do, in the reflection of +Palestine as well as in the shadow of the Pyramids, I am very +conscious of the need for a continued Passover from the ideas of the +various Egypts that beset the Jewish people to the message that calls +us, in spirit if not in body, to the land of our fathers. To-day in +Palestine the light has begun to shine brightly again. Judaism has +relit there its prophetic lamp, which in centuries of stress and +darkness has never been permitted to fade away altogether. In our own +time the Menorah has been re-established in the Temple of the land by +a new band of Maccabees. But a single branch, so to say, of the seven +branches as yet shows its clear light. But if the Jewish youth wills +it, the whole Menorah may be lighted and shine full and clear to the +world with fresh lustre. In our day there may be a new Hanukka, a +rededication of the Hebraic light—if only we will it.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_nbentwich.png" width="150" height="25" alt="Signature: Norman Bentwich" title="" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> + +<h2>The Jewish Problem Today</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Jacob H. Schiff</span></h3> + + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 146px;"> +<img src="images/4jacob.jpg" width="146" height="200" alt="JACOB HENRY SCHIFF" title="JACOB HENRY SCHIFF" /> +<i><big>J</big>ACOB HENRY SCHIFF (born in Frankfort-on-the-Main, +Germany, in 1847, came to America in 1865), one of the world's leading +bankers (senior member of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., New York), and a prince of +philanthropists, noted for his personal devotion and munificent gifts +to many causes for human betterment. He was among the first to +encourage and befriend the Menorah movement, founding in 1907 the +annual Menorah Society Prize at Harvard. The present article forms the +approved substance of an interview granted by Mr. Schiff to the +Editors of The Menorah Journal on March 4, 1915. Mr. Schiff's +statement regarding the need for a separate Jewish Relief Fund is +given special significance by the fact that he is Treasurer of the +American Red Cross.</i> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is hardly possible to exaggerate the horrors of the Jewish +conditions in the war-stricken countries, especially in the three +Polands. According to the reports we get, conditions in Russian Poland +are such that Belgium's plight is a mere <i>bagatelle</i> in comparison. +The Jewish people there have been outraged in the most terrible +manner, both by the Poles who denounced them to the Russians as +enemies and spies and then by the Russians themselves, who treated +them as such. It is only after the Russian armies are forced to leave +that the Jews are given protection by the Germans. In saying this I do +not want to be misjudged, for it is well known that I am a German +sympathizer. But the fact is that the Russians and the Poles alike +have been inhumane to the Jewish population.</div> + +<p>According to the latest reports, the conditions are not being improved +in any way. And the relief so far has been entirely inadequate. It has +never been adequate. We need millions for the immediate relief of our +brethren, and so far only about half a million has been forthcoming +from American Jews. This in spite of the fact that all parties and +factions in Jewry are acting together in the work of relief, except +only one organization, the B'nai B'rith, and for this there is some +reason, because the B'nai B'rith have their own lodges abroad and they +want evidently to apply their relief to their own members first.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />"<i>We Must Have a Jewish Relief Fund of Our Own</i>"</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>E must have a Jewish Relief Fund of our own in addition to the Relief +Funds for other people in the war-stricken countries, because the +Jewish problem forms everywhere a problem of its own. It would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +rather hard to say whether, were it not for the specific Jewish Relief +Fund, the Jews would get as much relief as the other suffering people, +but there is very little doubt that the Jews in the war-stricken +districts, especially in Poland, have suffered a great deal more than +the rest of the population. The Jews, therefore, need more relief, +particularly as the civilian population has been against them.</div> + +<p>Beyond the immediate measures for relief we can for the present do +nothing. We must act from day to day. As the war goes on we must +simply keep on trying to relieve the distress. As to what is in store +after the war, I am unable to form a picture, at least so far as +Russia is concerned. The hope is expressed that when peace is restored +Russia will do better than heretofore for her large Jewish population. +But we have been disappointed so often by Russia's promises that we +should believe this only when actually done and not before. I have +little confidence at all in the assertion that Russia will mend her +way in the future.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />"<i>There Is Only One Way to Solve the Jewish Problem in Russia</i>"</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HERE is only one way to solve the Jewish problem in Russia and that +is nothing less than the entire removal of the Pale. We must ever +demand this and accept nothing else. When the Jew can go where he +pleases, and trade where he pleases, and live where he pleases, the +Jewish question in Russia will be solved. It is the government, the +governing classes, in Russia that create the enmity towards the Jews. +I believe there is no people anywhere who have at present or ever had +less anti-Jewish feeling than the mass of Russian people. When once +the pressure brought by the bureaucracy is removed and the Jews are +permitted to have normal relations with the mass of the Russian +population all over the country, the Jewish question will be a thing +of the past.</div> + +<p>The situation is different in Poland and Roumania, where the people +themselves are anti-Semitic. It may appear strange at first that there +should be such a difference between the Polish people and the Russian +people in their attitude towards the Jews in their midst. But it may +be easily explained. People who are oppressed generally become narrow +by the oppression. The Poles and the Roumanians have had long to +suffer from oppression to a great extent, the Poles from Russia and +the Roumanians for many years from Turkey, from whose yoke they were +freed only a few decades ago. It is generally a fact that when the +servant becomes a master he makes the most intolerant master. Even if +a Polish autonomous kingdom should be created, it could not be much +worse for the Jewish population than it is now. But the Russian people +have been happy. They have gotten used to their despotic government +and do not feel it in particular, and they have little prejudice +against their still greater oppressed Jewish neighbors.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> + +<p>The great numbers of Jews who have gone into the war and are fighting +heroically will, I have no doubt, make a convincing demonstration of +Jewish patriotism in every country, and that should make for an +improvement of Jewish conditions all over, except possibly in Russia.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />"<i>I Am Afraid England Has Been Contaminated By Her Alliance With +Russia</i>"</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>UT I am afraid that England too has been contaminated by her alliance +with Russia, because England doesn't want to do anything that is +displeasing to her ally, more through fear to offend her than through +respect for her. So far, at least, it has not come true, as it was +hoped in certain quarters, that England might apply pressure upon +Russia to obtain an improvement in the condition of the Jews. And +unfortunately the conditions in England itself affecting the Jews are +certainly not as good now as they have been formerly. England has +always been our great friend. In England there existed no such thing +as anti-Semitism. But now there are, I fear, signs of a change.</div> + +<p>In Germany the Jews do not suffer. They have a high standing and +occupy many high positions. There has, it is true, always been a +certain anti-Semitic tendency in Germany. But I think this war will +crush out most of that, in fact all class differences. I am quite +convinced that anti-Semitism in Germany is a thing of the past.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />"<i>When Peace Negotiations Begin, We Should Take United Action</i>"</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>HAT part America and the American Jews should play in the efforts to +bring about a permanent betterment of Jewish conditions elsewhere, it +is hard to say. America has already gone pretty far by breaking off +commercial treaty relations with Russia. Whether the United States +could or should go further is difficult to judge at this time. It is +certainly clear that the solution of the Jewish problem in Russia +along the lines already suggested would solve the passport problem and +would pave the way for the resumption of regular treaty and commercial +relations between the two countries.</div> + +<p>I do not think there is anything to do now for the Jews and for Jewish +bodies in America except to work harmoniously together in the raising +of relief funds. Of course, we must always be on the alert and ready +to take a definite position whenever the proper time arrives. But not +now. When peace negotiations begin to be talked about, I think it will +be well for such bodies as the American Jewish Committee, possibly the +B'nai B'rith and other organizations, to take united action. What +action they should take it is hard to say. It is a very difficult +question to decide at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> this moment whether or not it would be +advisable to have special Jewish representatives present at the peace +negotiations to look after the specific Jewish interests. Whatever +influence should be brought to bear at the proper time should +originate with the American Jewish Committee, which is the most +suitable unifying Jewish agent in America to-day.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />"<i>Arouse the Jews of America From Their Apathy</i>"</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>F</big>OR the present, however, I repeat, what we need is to raise relief +funds to a much larger extent than we have done so far. There has been +too much apathy among the American Jews. They have done much less than +at the time of the Kishineff massacres, when almost a million and a +half was raised. Now, with conditions infinitely worse, we have thus +far not been able to raise half as much as was readily given then. +Unfortunately we have become used to horrors and they do not touch us +any more as deeply as they should. Moreover, we have weighty and +costly problems of our own at home. We have to expend such enormous +sums for home problems that American Jewry seems unable to bear much +more. But notwithstanding this more must be forthcoming. We Jews must +give until it hurts, until it really becomes self-sacrifice; we must +stir up our people to the terrible condition of our brethren abroad. +And the Menorah Societies, which represent the most intelligent and +idealistic Jewish youth of the land, should do their share in making +known the tragic conditions and in arousing the Jews of America from +their apathy.</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_jschiff.png" width="150" height="43" alt="Signature: Jacob H. Schiff" title="Signature: Jacob H. Schiff" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<h2>Nationality and the Hyphenated American</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Horace M. Kallen</span></h3> + + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 137px;"> +<img src="images/5horace.jpg" width="137" height="200" alt="HORACE MEYER KALLEN" title="HORACE MEYER KALLEN" /> +<i><big>H</big>ORACE MEYER KALLEN (born in Silesia, Germany, in +1882, came to America in 1887), studied at Harvard (A. B., Ph.D.), +Princeton, Oxford, and Paris. He has been assistant and lecturer in +philosophy at Harvard, instructor in logic at Clark University, and +since 1911 of the faculty of philosophy at the University of +Wisconsin. At the request of the late William James, he edited his +unfinished book on "Some Problems of Modern Philosophy." Besides +contributing to philosophical and general periodicals, Dr. Kallen is +the author of a recently published book on "William James and Henri +Bergson." Dr. Kallen was one of the founders of the Harvard Menorah +Society, and has rendered signal service, both by tongue and pen, to +the Menorah movement.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE United States of America are at peace with all the world. Our +government is not taking sides in the great war; officially we are the +friends of all the embattled powers. And yet—we have but to take up +any newspaper, anywhere in America, to find violent praise of one +side, violent blame of the other. The sentiment of our country is +divided. On all sides, our diverse populations are emphasizing afresh +their European origins and background. The German in German-American, +the Slav in Slavic-American, the Briton in British-American, have +awakened, have become demonstrative and emphatic. The President, +observing this, has declared his official and personal boredom with +the "hyphenated American," and the conception expressed in this phrase +has become an issue in the written and spoken discourse of our +country.</div> + +<p>Why, in an officially neutral country, has this come to pass? When we +look closely to the ground and principle of the division of sentiment +in our population, we discover this significant fact: the division is +not truly determined by the merits of the European issue; it is +determined by the lines of our population's European origin and +ancestral allegiance. The Americans of German and Austrian and Magyar +ancestry are pro-German; those of French or British or Russian +ancestry favor the Allies. Only the Jews seem to be an exception to +this rule. Being mainly from Russia, their favor should go to the +Russians, but their newspapers, almost without exception, favor the +Germans. The case of the Jews, however, is an exception that proves +the rule. Although the majority of them came from Russia, they have +had no part in the Russian polity; they have been oppressed, +persecuted, terrorized, as their brethren still are in Russian +territory. As<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> Americans, what portion and what hope have they in +Russia that they should desire Russian victory? None. But they are not +for this reason in favor of Germany. The headlines of their newspapers +do not celebrate German victories, but Russian defeats. The Ghetto's +partiality to Germany is a consequence of its loyalty to Jewry. +Kinship of blood and race, ancestral allegiance, determine with the +Jewish masses in America also, what side they take in this war. +Although they have no political background in Europe, and their civil +allegiance is absolutely American, they too are hyphenated in +sentiment—Jewish-Americans.</p> + +<p>Such is the fact. Its significance lies in what it reveals, and what +it reveals is a force much deeper and more radical, distinctly more +primitive and original, than anything else in the structure of +society. It hyphenates English and Germans and Austrians and Russians +and Turks no less than it hyphenates Americans, and, in the failure of +the external socio-political organization of Europe to give it free +play, it is the chief, almost the only, cause of the present +unendurable European tragedy. Its name is nationality.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Two Mosaics of Nationalities: A Contrast</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>N</big>ATIONALITY is not nationhood, although it is the most important +constituent of nationhood. Many nationalities may compose a nation +(such is the case of the British, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and +Turkish Empires, of the Swiss Republic, of our own Union), and then +the relation between the nationalities will determine the strength or +the weakness of the nation. Again, a single nationality may be divided +among many nations (such is the case of the Poles, of the Serbs and +other Slavs, of the Jews), and then the stability of the nations will +be largely determined by their effect on the nationalities divided +among them.</div> + +<p>The Swiss Republic, for example, is a nation composed of three +nationalities, two of which belong to powers at war with each other. +These are the French and the German; the third is the Italian. Yet the +nationhood of Switzerland is the most integral and unified in Europe +to-day, because Switzerland is as complete and thorough a democracy as +exists in the civilized world, and the efficacious safeguard of +nationhood is democracy not only of individuals but of nationalities. +The German, French and Italian citizens of the Swiss Republic are +to-day under arms to defend the neutrality of their nation from +possible violation by German, French or Italian belligerents, and in +defending their nation, they are defending also the autonomy of each +other's nationality. In Switzerland, nationhood, being democratic, is +the safeguard and insurance of nationality.</p> + +<p>Contrast Swiss nationhood with Austro-Hungarian nationhood. +Austria-Hungary is the immediate and direct occasion of the great war +by reason of the fact that, although she is a mosaic of nationalities +like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> Switzerland, her government, instead of being a democracy, has +in the long run been directed toward the control and exploitation of +many nationalities by one or two. Hungary contains a population of +seven million Magyars among twelve million Slavs; yet the Hungarians, +having the economic and political upper hand, have sought to Magyarize +by force and trickery this almost doubly greater and culturally equal +population. They have tried to compel Magyar forms and standards in +language, in literature, in history, the arts, the sciences, religion, +law, in every intimate or remote concern of the daily life and +national genius of their Slavic subjects. The result has been the +steady disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian mosaic, the increasing +use of force to hold it together, the corresponding increase of +restlessness among the subject-peoples, plot and counterplot, the +assassination of the Archduke, and the attack on Serbia, which +precipitated the war. In this war Austria has come off worst of all +the combatants, and for the same reason: the attempt to maintain the +unity of a nation of nationalities by the force of one of them instead +of by the democratic coöperation of all. In Austria-Hungary, +nationality, having been exploited and suppressed, has been the enemy +and destroyer of nationhood.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>America A Commonwealth of Nationalities</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N this country the whole spirit of those institutions which +constitute American nationhood makes for the liberation and harmonious +coöperation of nationalities. This spirit is also a part of the +Hebraic spirit, a part of the explicit program of our prophets, those +champions and vindicators of social justice and international +righteousness and peace; and this, significantly, is the spirit that +literally inspired the democracy of our America.</div> + +<p>For the democracy of America had its first articulate voicing in the +Pilgrim Fathers and the Puritans of New England. These men and women, +devoted to the literature of the Old Testament, and upheld by the +ancestral memories of the Jews, were moved to undertake their great +American adventure by the ideal of nationality. It was not because of +an overwhelming oppression of body and soul that the Pilgrims +adventured to America. It was not "freedom to worship God" that they +sought. They had that in Holland. They sought freedom to be +themselves, to realize their national genius in their own individual +way. Their English manners, English speech, English history, and +English loyalty were, in fact, more important to them than their +Hebrew Bible. They used that as the spiritual pabulum which nourished +their English corporate life. Their Calvinism was a reinterpretation +of its prophetic nationalism expressed in the doctrine of the "chosen +people"; their political institutions were a modification of the ideal +political order it was supposed to reveal. As Cotton Mather narrates,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +his grandfather, John Cotton, found, on his arrival in New England, +that the population was much exercised over the framing of a "civil +constitution." They turned to him for help, begging "that he would, +from the laws wherewith God governed his ancient people, form an +abstract of such as were of a moral and lasting equity." So "he +propounded unto them an endeavor after a theocracy, as near as might +be to that which was the glory of Israel." Out of this beginning the +democratic mood of America surges; in such conceptions the ideals +which express the mood have their origins. These ideals are the +conservation of nationality, and the equality of men before the +inconceivable supremacy of their God. Hebraism and English +nationality—these are the spiritual background of the American +commonwealth.</p> + +<p>Political freedom in America has tended to generate self-expression of +each national group, and our country is to-day, broadly speaking, a +great coöperative commonwealth of nationalities, British, French, +German, Slavic, Jewish, each freely developing, in so far as it is +self-conscious, its national genius, its language, literature and art +in its own characteristic way as its best contribution to the +civilization of America as a whole,<a name="FNanchor_C_3.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3.1" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> realizing in this way the ideal +of the democracy of nationalities, of international comity and +coöperation which our prophets were the first to formulate.</p> + +<p>American nationhood, thus, is in the way of becoming what Swiss +nationhood fully is, the liberator and protector of nationality; its +democracy is its strength, and its democracy is "hyphenation." +"Hyphenation" may, it is true, become perverse. As an expression of +the coöperation of nationality with nationality in the life of the +State, it is inevitable and good; as an attempt to subordinate all +nationalities to one, to use all for the advantage of one, it is +partial, undemocratic, disloyal. Our nation is a democracy of +nationalities having for its aim the equal growth and free development +of all. It can take no sides. To require it to take sides, German or +Anglo-Saxon, Slavic or Jewish, is to be untrue to its spirit and to +pervert its ideal.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Renaissance of Nationality in the Past Century</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is the attempt of one nationality to dominate and to impose its +character, culture and ideals upon others that has been the basis of +all the great wars in Europe, of all international injustice from the +beginning of history.</div> + +<p>The movement in modern history which we call progressive has been a +movement toward democracy in both the internal affairs and external +relationships of nations. Men did not realize its entire significance +until the nineteenth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> century; only then did it come to full +consciousness in fact and idea, urged equally in Greece, in Germany, +in Ireland, in Italy. Its great voice is the Italian thinker and +patriot, Mazzini. In a marvelous essay entitled "Europe, Its Condition +and Its Prospects," he wrote, at a time when the hope of social and +international democracy seemed extinguished: "They struggled, they +still struggle, for country and liberty; for a word inscribed upon a +banner, proclaiming to the world that they also live, think, love and +labor for the benefit of all. They speak the same language, they bear +about them the impress of consanguinity, they kneel beside the same +tombs, they glory in the same tradition; and they demand to associate +freely, without obstacles, without foreign domination, in order to +elaborate and express their idea, to contribute their stone also to +the great pyramid of history. It is something moral which they are +seeking; and this moral something is in fact, politically speaking, +the most important question in the present state of things. It is the +organization of the European task. In principle, nationality ought to +be to humanity that which division of labor is in a workshop—the +recognized symbol of association; the assertion of the individuality +of a human group called by its geographical position, its traditions +and its language, to fulfill a special function in the European work +of civilization."</p> + +<p>Modern Europe saw the overthrow of the Holy Roman Empire, of the +imperial aspirations of Louis XIV, and of Napoleon before it realized +the natural fact and moral principle which underlay these overthrows, +and which finally so successfully asserted themselves as to unify +Italy and cast off the Austrian dominion, to liberate Greece, +Bulgaria, Roumania and the other Balkan States from the Turk, to unify +and create contemporary Germany. The last quarter of the nineteenth +century saw the renaissance, often in the face of overwhelming +suppression, of the language and cultures of Czechs, Bohemians, Poles, +Irish and Jews. It saw the rise of nationalism in the Oriental +dependencies of Great Britain. It saw the beginning of an +acknowledgment of the full rights of nationalities by both Austria and +Great Britain, the grant of local autonomy to the various +nationalities in the Austrian Empire, of progressive home rule to +India and South Africa and Ireland. The twentieth century seemed to be +moving peacefully toward the fulness of democracy—when came the war.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Present War: Nationality vs. Imperialism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>L</big>ET no one be deceived into believing that this war is a struggle for +the economic domination of the world, springing from commercial +rivalry and industrial intrigue. No. Nothing is so international as +economic life—we in America know that now to our own cost also—and +if commercial interests and capitalistic counsels had had their say, +there would have been no war. England was Germany's best customer, +France her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> great creditor, Russia supplied her with unskilled labor. +The socialist international was against war, the peace party was +against it, the intelligence of the world was against it. When it +came, it shattered all these international organizations into national +units, it smashed the solidarity of even science and art, which are +the most international enterprises in the world. And why? Because its +cause was something deeper than economic interest or the other +secondary interests. Here is the question that the war is to decide: +Is the whole of mankind to be dominated in body and in spirit, without +its consent, by a portion of it, and to be compelled "to elaborate and +express the idea" of the portion? or is the whole of mankind to be +self-governed, in a coöperative commonwealth, each part of which, by +elaborating and expressing its own idea, contributes its best to the +whole?</div> + +<p>This is the issue between the warring powers and each claims that it +is defending itself against the aggression of its opponents. Each +claims to be fighting for democracy. In the face of these claims, +history has the deciding voice. Now, historically, England, more than +any other power, has stood for the democratic and coöperative idea. +Her colonies have autonomy, her more backward dependencies are +encouraged toward autonomy. Since the Boer war, when imperialism +passed away, she has moved toward the position of Switzerland. Even +Ireland has obtained home rule. "We are a great world-wide, +peace-loving partnership," said Mr. Asquith,<a name="FNanchor_D_4.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4.1" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> has reiterated again +and again the principle for which all the Allies are fighting: +believing that "the preservation of local and national ties, of the +genius of a people which has a history of its own, is not only not +hostile to or inconsistent with, but on the contrary, fosters and +strengthens and stimulates the spirit of a common purpose, of a +corporate brotherhood," the Allies seek to defend public right, to +find and to keep "room for the independent existence and free +development of the smaller nationalities, each with a corporate +consciousness of its own . . . and, perhaps, by a slow and gradual +process, the substitution for force, for the clash of competing +ambitions, for groupings and alliances and a precarious equipoise, of +a real European partnership, based on equal right and enforced by a +common will."<a name="FNanchor_E_5.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5.1" class="fnanchor">[E]</a></p> + +<p>It is hard to believe that Russia can be fighting for such an end. +Fear of Russian barbarism is what brought Germany into the lists, the +Germans declare, to defend western ideals and western democracy. Yet +Russian government is Prussian in its organization, and it is on the +side of the ideal of western democracy that she is explicitly aligned. +The contradiction is striking, and it is still more striking when we +recall that in her armies are over a quarter of a million of Jews, and +that in the other armies there are half as many more. For the Jews the +war is more than civil; it is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> fratricide. On the face of it they have +no inevitable personal or political stake in the war's fortune. +England has acknowledged their "corporate consciousness" and given +them maximal opportunity for "free self-development"; so has France. +Russia has oppressed and horribly exploited them; Germany, though +infinitely better than Russia, has set them conditions in which "free +development" is synonymous with complete Germanization. Austria and +Turkey have dealt with them somewhat after the manner of England and +France. The contradiction of the Jewish position outdistances that of +the Russian. But both contradictions are resolved in the fact that the +ideal in question concerns not Russia alone, nor England alone, nor +the Jews alone, but the whole of Europe, the whole world. What is at +stake is not something local, personal, political, but a universal +principle, the goal toward which mankind has been so slowly and +deviously crawling from the beginnings of modern history—the +principle of democracy in nationality and nationality in democracy.</p> + +<p>It is for this that our brethren in the armies are fighting; it is for +this that they are undergoing crucifixion in the Pale, for this that +our people have suffered and died from the beginnings of our history. +Our whole recorded biography is the narrative of a struggle for social +justice against the exploitation of class by class within our polity, +for nationality against imperialism without. Our statesmen and leaders +were the first to formulate the ideal of the coöperative harmony of +nationality, and the ideal of international peace.<a name="FNanchor_F_6.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6.1" class="fnanchor">[F]</a> Mr. Asquith is +echoing our prophets, and our embattled brethren are engaged in the +defence of a principle which is the constituent of the genius of their +own nationality.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Service of Jewish Nationality to Civilization</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE genius of their own nationality! That with all its implications is +an issue in the war not only as a principle but as a fact. The Jewish +people are the great historic incarnation of the <i>casus belli</i>. In +fortune and in disaster, through difficult and terrible centuries, +they have cherished their language, their history, their culture, have +sustained their "corporate consciousness" and in terms of it have +served civilization in all the institutions of civilization. Not +freely, not by free development; not because of conditions, but in +spite of them. The Bible, whose moral vision inspires the world, we +gave the world only as we had or yearned for "independent existence" +and "free development." Our best, like the best of every people, has +been a function of this "independent existence and free development." +We also, scattered among the nations, tortured and oppressed by the +mighty and the weak among them, are among "the smaller nationalities" +for whose sake the war is being fought. With Serbia, with Belgium, +with Poland, we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> claim our public right and our national security, and +we claim it not merely for ourselves, but for the service of all +mankind. For as we have had a rôle "in the organization of the +European task," so we still have a rôle, and in that division of the +labor of civilization in terms of nationality we have our task to +accomplish, our service to render. This task, this service, is the +expression of the Jewish idea, the flowering and fruitage of the +Hebraic spirit, which, rooted in our historic past, planted on our +national soil, shall realize in modern terms, in social organization, +in religion, in the arts and the sciences, a national future that by +its inward excellence will truly make Israel "a light unto the +nations."</div> + +<p>The indispensable condition for such a realization is autonomous +nationality; not nationhood, necessarily, but autonomy. This, more +than civil rights among other nationalities, is our stake in this +great war. In the last analysis, the Hebraic culture and ideals which +our Menorah Societies study, can be <i>advanced</i>, can be a <i>living</i> +force in civilization, only as a national force. Our duty to America, +inspired by the Hebraic tradition,—our service to the world, in +whatever occupation,—both these are conditioned, in so far as we are +Jews, upon the conservation of Jewish nationality. That is the potent +reality in each of us, our selfhood, and service is the giving of the +living self. Let us so serve mankind; as Jews, aware of our great +heritage, through it and in it strong to live and labor for mankind's +good.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_hkallen2.png" width="150" height="27" alt="Signature: H. M. Kallen" title="Signature: H. M. Kallen" /> +</div> +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="bbox2"><i><big>I</big> THINK I see in your Society a recognition of the +real spirit of our country's motto</i>, e pluribus unum. +<i>That does not mean a sinking of the differences +between us all into absolute uniformity, but rather +the harmony that can result from the recognition of +these differences and developing our own +individualities so that we shall have variety in +unity.—From an Address before the Yale Menorah +Society by Professor Benjamin W. Bacon of Yale +University.</i> </div><p> </p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3.1"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> For a fuller treatment of this point compare in the New +York <i>Nation</i> for February 18 and 25, 1915, the author's articles on +"Democracy Versus the Melting Pot."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4.1"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> Cardiff Speech, 2d October, 1914.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5.1"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> Dublin Speech, 25th September, 1914.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6.1"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> Cf. Isaiah, II, 2-4; XIX, 23-25; XI, 6-9; LXV, 17-25, +etc.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Yankee and Jew</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> + + +<h3><i>An After-Dinner Address</i></h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By G. Stanley Hall</span></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>President of Clark University</i></div> + + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 158px;"> +<img src="images/6gshall.jpg" width="158" height="200" alt="G. STANLEY HALL" title="G. STANLEY HALL" /> +<i><big>G.</big> STANLEY HALL (born in Ashfield, Mass., in 1846), +President of Clark University, is a leading authority on education and +psychology, and author of a number of important books, notably +"Adolescence" (2 vols. 1904). The present address, delivered at a +recent dinner of the Clark Menorah Society, has been revised by Dr. +Hall for publication in The Menorah Journal.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> FEEL an unwonted embarrassment in speaking to you to-night, first +because the light After-Dinner View of Life, which is my theme on your +program, is far from being serious enough, and I must totally abandon +my plan and speak entirely extemporaneously, although upon a subject +in which I have an old and strong interest.</div> + +<p>Again, I am always embarrassed in talking to members of your race +because I feel a little as Napoleon did when he told his soldiers in +Egypt that forty generations looked down on them from the top of the +Pyramids. You know your ancestry in general back for thousands of +years, and I am rarely fortunate in being able to go back as much as +nine or ten generations to the Puritans of the "Mayflower," but there +I stop and everything before that is a blank. David Starr Jordan tells +us in his book that there is perhaps no man alive who has not kings or +queens in his ancestry, but adds that we all have had murderers among +our predecessors, too.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>There Is Much In Common Between Yankee and Jew</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HERE is much in common between the Yankees, whom I represent, and the +Jews, and this alone ought to give us a friendly feeling toward one +another. We are both misunderstood and caricatured. The Yankee stands +for a peculiar sort of closeness in money matters and a shrewdness +which has even given its slang name to a neighboring New England +State, the "Nutmeg State." Perhaps we have both done too much in the +past to deserve this reputation for super-cleverness. One of you has +referred to the fact that there are Jews who do not like to +acknowledge their race. In that respect we are alike, for there are +many Yankees<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> who are ashamed of being known as such. Long years ago, +when I was a student in Germany, I was introduced one evening to a +young German countess. She said in her broken English, "I am so glad +to meet an American. I have heard you have many funny people there, +the Dago, the Paddy, the Nigger, and many more; but I have heard that +the lowest people there are what they call the 'damn Yankees.' How I +would like to see one of them!" This, bear in mind, was soon after our +Civil War, and she received her impression of us doubtless from +Confederates. I did not have the courage to acknowledge my nationality +to her, but diverted the topic to some of the other people she had +mentioned.</div> + +<p>The old New England Puritan taught sternly. He was a patriarchal head +of his family. In my boyhood, Saturday evening or perhaps better +Thanksgiving Day, when their descendants all gathered together as long +as either of the grandparents lived, we had an illustration of +something very like Heine's touching picture of an old Jewish peddler +who worked hard through the week, but on Friday night put on his long +black coat and his three-cornered hat, lit the seven candles at the +table, and told his children and grandchildren how Jehovah had led His +people through the wilderness, and how the Egyptians and all the other +naughty people who persecuted them were long since dead, while the +chosen race survived. And so happy in his race was this poor peddler +and so proud of his pedigree that, as Heine says, had the great +Rothschild entered at that moment and asked him what favor he could +do, he would reply simply: "Stand out of my light, that I may finish +telling the law to my children."</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Eugenics of the Jewish Race</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>E Puritans were brought up on the Old Testament, the spirit of which, +far more than that of the New, pervaded the life of old New England. +Every day after breakfast, no matter how busy the season or how late +the breakfast, my grandfather read to the assembled family a chapter +from the Old Testament, and perhaps remarked upon certain passages. +After graduating from college and when I became a tutor in a prominent +Hebrew family in New York, and especially when I had to teach the +children their Sunday school lessons and freshen up the small +knowledge of the Hebrew language that I had, I realized very keenly +how closely related were the Jews to the Yankees,—with this +tremendous difference, that you are increasing in numbers while we are +decreasing.</div> + +<p>As I read the Old Testament, the substance of the covenant with +Abraham was that if he kept Jehovah's law, his seed would be +multiplied like the stars of Heaven. This placed society and life in +that early day squarely on a eugenic basis, for it makes the number +and success of good children the supreme test of every human +institution, activity, and every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> kind of culture. This I take it is +one of the chief characteristics of your race, and I hope it may long +be so.</p> + +<p>I am going to avail myself of this opportunity to say a few words +about a topic that has for centuries been a point of the very greatest +difference and tension between your people and mine, namely, the +character and work of Jesus. Please do not be shocked till you hear +what I have to say. Such of us psychologists as have recently been +interested in the psychological aspect of Jesus' life and work +understand, as had never been understood before, how purely Jewish he +was. Scholars have lately given to his figure a radically new +interpretation.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />"<i>An Extremely Representative Man of Your Race</i>"</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>CCORDING to many conceptions the chief trait of Jesus was a strong +and deep enthusiasm for the loftiest things of life. He was a little +ecstatic all the time, illustrating the higher powers of man. His soul +was unconquerable by misfortune and disaster, like that of the Jewish +race itself. He was also organizing victory out of defeat, and his +greatest triumph was over death itself. Some think that his youthful +dreams and ideals were to be an agrarian lord of a manor, or a grand +country gentleman of the Jewish order, making contracts with servants, +leasing out farms and vineyards, giving feasts, and the like, for more +than half the parables pertain directly or indirectly to such a +vocation. But this youthful dream he was unable on account of poverty +and his station in life to realize; so two very natural changes took +place in his soul. He came to hate the rich because they were wasting +their opportunities and never doing anything; but far more important, +he developed from these juvenile reveries his world-transforming ideas +of the kingdom, which created the church, visible and invisible, and +re-made society.</div> + +<p>The Jews are never beaten; if checked in their aspirations they, like +the prophets in the days of captivity, strike out in higher and nobler +ways. Thus you ought to be proud of Jesus for, as he is now being +understood, he was an extremely representative man of your race. The +real enemies of the Jews are now claiming that no such man ever lived, +which is the view of Drews and his school, some holding that he was a +deliberate invention of the early decades of the first century, and +others, like Jensen, that he was a revived Babylonian myth. But these +new views show that Jesus was not an Aryan, as a few of the +pan-Germanists have claimed, but a typical Semite. It does look now, +in view of the teachings of such men as Gobineau and various of his +successors, that the Aryans are the highest and best people in the +world and that the Germans are the very best of all the Aryans, that +it is Germany that has come to consider itself the chosen people, the +elite, superior race. But certainly Germany is not very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> Christian. It +was only converted in the thirteenth century, and Luther soon threw +off the fully developed Christianity of Rome. Since then we have had +the Tübingen School, that resolved everything into myth, and the very +many other negative points of view expressed in Nietzsche's supremest +condemnation of Jesus as a wretched degenerate, while Wagner's +deliberate slogan was, "<i>Das Deutschtum muss das Christentum siegen</i>."</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Rapprochement of Jew and Gentile in America</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> WONDER if the time is not near at hand when your people will +reconstruct your conceptions so much as to recognize Jesus as a +typical, golden, Jewish youth, worthy of being an ideal for young men. +We certainly do have in his life as now interpreted exactly what youth +needs above all things,—ambition, enthusiasm, idealism, all of them +absorbing, all of them diverting physical and sensuous energy into the +very highest culture sphere, sublimating desire, and making us +understand that youth is not complete without a great effort at +achievement. The very essence of youth is excitement. There must be +tension, strain, a tiptoe attitude, a strong "Excelsior"-like ambition +to climb, and a corresponding horror of inferiority, +<i>Miderwertigkeit</i>. Youth is an age of idealism, and the tension decade +of adolescence needs a regimen and an idealization all its own, to set +back-fires to temptation. Instead of the current altogether too plain +talk on sex hygiene and teaching, we must realize that every +enthusiasm or real interest, be it in the multiplication table or in +literature, debate, athletics, is an <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'alterative'">alternative</ins>. It reduces +temptation and stores up energy as the great reservoirs in the middle +west store up the floods that come down from the mountains, so that +they shall irrigate and not devastate the land. Jesus, in the new +interpretation of Holzmann and Baumann, stands for this kind of +enthusiasm.</div> + +<p>I cannot but wonder, therefore, whether, in view of these new +conceptions, Jew and Gentile are not going to meet in this country and +even agree about Jesus. It is difficult at least to see which of us +would change most if there were this <i>rapprochement</i>. We must neither +of us abandon our birthright. We must be the very best Puritan +Anglo-Saxons we possibly can, and you must be the best Jews possible, +for out of these component elements American citizenship is made up. +This country stands for the dropping of old prejudices, such as those +that are inflaming Europe now with war. If we can satisfy each other's +ideals and meet half way the thing is done, and the melting pot which +America stands for has got in its work. I want the Menorah Society to +feel that it is in the van of this movement.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_ghall.png" width="150" height="29" alt="Signature: G. Stanley Hall" title="Signature: G. Stanley Hall" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> + +<h2>"Golden Rule" Hillel</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Moses Hyamson</span></h3> + + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 152px;"> +<img src="images/7mosesh.jpg" width="152" height="200" alt="MOSES HYAMSON" title="MOSES HYAMSON" /> +<i><big>M</big>OSES HYAMSON (born in Suwalki, Russia, in 1863, came +to England in childhood). Rabbi and jurist; educated at Jews' College +and University College of London; for thirteen years Senior Dayan of +the London Beth-Din (Jewish Court of Arbitration), in which capacity, +because of his erudition in both the Jewish and the common law, he +rendered notable service to the British community. In 1913 he accepted +a call from the Congregation Orach Chayim of New York. Besides being a +contributor to the Jewish Quarterly Review and other learned +publications, Dr. Hyamson has published "The Oral Law and Other +Sermons" (1901), and an annotated edition of the medieval "Collatio +Romanorum et Mosaicarum Legum" (1912).</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>S the students and teachers in the famous school of Shemaya and +Abtalion assembled for worship one wintry Sabbath morning, they were +astonished to find their lecture-hall exceptionally dark. On looking +up they descried what seemed to be a human form lying prone across the +skylight. Willing feet ascended the roof and willing hands swept away +the snow from a young lad's half-frozen form. They brought him down, +and although it was the holy Sabbath, kindled a fire to revive the +chilled body. "Worthy is Hillel," they exclaimed, "that the Sabbath +should be desecrated for his sake!"</div> + +<p>So runs the Talmudic tale. The incident happened in Palestine in the +century before the common era. The boy Hillel had come from his +obscure home in Babylon, bent upon study at the most famous school in +Palestine, whose teachers, Shemaya and Abtalion, were heads of the +Synhedrion, the Supreme Court of Jurisdiction. Poor and proud, Hillel +supported himself by manual labor while he was securing his education. +Like Abraham Lincoln, he was a woodchopper. One half of the small +amount he earned daily served for his meals, and the other half he +paid to the porter at the college for his admission in the evening. On +this short Friday in mid-winter he had been able to earn nothing, and +in his keen anxiety not to miss the lecture and discussion, he +clambered to the roof of the college hall, braving snow and cold for +the words of the living God as expounded by his teachers.</p> + +<p>Within a few short years Hillel himself had succeeded his teachers as +the head of this famous school, and also as President of the +Synhedrion. Hillel's career is a shining example of the democratic +principle which has always prevailed in Jewish life, of the +opportunity open to all men of talents, however humble their origin, +to achieve position in the republic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> of Jewish learning. And learning +combined with noble character, as in the case of the great Hillel, +carried authority in Jewish life. It is true that Hillel was not +without letters patent of nobility; though he came from poverty and +obscurity and from an alien land, he was, according to tradition, of +the blood of David. It is not, however, to this accident of birth, +known only later, that Hillel owed his quick rise and supreme eminence +in Jewish life, but to his distinguished attainments, to his profound +learning not only in the Jewish Law but in many secular fields of +knowledge, to his bold and original mind combined with a pious +devotion to tradition, to his indomitable energy and industry, his +nobility of character, his sympathy with the people and his +understanding of their needs.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />"<i>What To Thee Is Hateful Do Not Unto Another</i>"</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T was Hillel who first enunciated the Golden Rule, although in +negative form. The story that is told in the Talmud is one of the most +familiar; yet no repetition can lessen its point and charm. A heathen, +it is related, came to Shammai, the leader of a rival school, +requesting to be received into Judaism and instructed in the whole of +the religion while he stood upon one leg. Shammai, an architect by +profession, threatened the heathen with his builder's measuring rod +and drove him out. The man went to Hillel with the same request. +Hillel, gentle, patient, democratic, received the man hospitably and +answered: "The whole of Judaism can be summarized in one short +sentence: 'What to thee is hateful do not unto another.' That is the +essence of the whole Torah; the rest is commentary."</div> + +<p>And in the interpretation of that "commentary" which, together with +the Torah itself, enshrined the spirit of Judaism and made it a +throbbing reality in the life of the nation, Hillel brought out the +humanity of every regulation, the true intent behind it, whenever +literal enforcement would have worked hardship or might have defeated +its true intent because of the changed circumstances since its +enactment. While keeping faithfully within the spirit of Jewish +tradition, Hillel struck out into innovations, new precedents and +legal institutions, which testified at once to the remarkable insight +and boldness of his mind as a jurist and to his tact and sympathy as a +leader of the people. Some of his innovations anticipate in a striking +way the developments under similar circumstances of the common law of +England and the United States many centuries later.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Hillel As A Jurist: His Sense of Social Justice</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>F</big>OR example, it happened that the first year after Herod's accession +was a Sabbatical year, which, according to the Deuteronomic provision +(Deut. 15, 2), set up a Statute of Limitations and effectively barred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +the recovery of all debts. The people, impoverished by the exactions +of the Government and by the failure of the harvest, were compelled to +have recourse to money lenders. But those who were able to accommodate +the needy were reluctant to do so on account of the imminence of the +Sabbatical year and its legal bar to the recovery of past debts. +Hillel's keen mind and sympathetic heart found a way out of this +difficulty. He set up the institution of the Prosbul, by which a +creditor received the right, when making a loan, to register the debt +in court. In this way the great jurist anticipated in a remarkable +manner a principle accepted so many centuries later in the common law +of England and America, namely, that the Statute of Limitations does +not apply to recorded judgments. Such judgments can always be sued on +and recovered. And so the new ordinance established by Hillel removed +the hardship of the Biblical enactment, the purpose of which was +humanitarian. By Hillel's innovation, the true spirit of that law was +maintained, and applied in accordance with its real intent in an age +when the economic conditions were vastly different from the time when +the law itself was established. Our modern lawyers and reformers in +this country may well take a leaf out of this progressive conservatism +of our great democratic teacher Hillel.</div> + +<p>Other decisions of Hillel equally significant could be cited. To +lawyers especially, the study of them is fascinating; they are full of +startling relevancy in the present time of unrest and agitation for +legal reform in this country. And not without reason. What we are keen +for now is a greater measure of social justice in a democratic +community. A study of Hillel's jurisprudence—both the theory and the +decisions affecting the workaday life of the people—will give one an +appreciation not only of the beautiful spirituality of the master, his +erudition and his imagination, but the characteristic coalition of +letter and spirit, the emphatic sense of social justice, which has +prevailed in the whole system of Jewish law.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Hillel's Public Spirit and Humanity</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HUS Hillel, while head of his famous school of instruction, became +the founder of a school in another sense—a school of interpretation +of the Torah. This school, as already indicated, was marked by a +leniency and elasticity of interpretation of the traditional law quite +in contrast to the harshness and rigidity of the contemporary school +of Shammai; it is the school of Hillel, leaning to the spiritual and +the humane, that has prevailed ever since in Jewish law. Hillel made +the people realize the truth of the famous text about the Torah: "It +is a tree of life to them that grasp it, and of them that uphold it, +everyone is rendered happy. Its paths are paths of pleasantness and +all its ways are peace." Those who have mistakenly conceived the +Jewish law as something dour and rigid, unlovable,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> unspiritual, +should study the decisions and dicta of this great master.</div> + +<p>Hillel's character is illustrated by a number of pregnant sayings of +his that have been recorded in the Talmud. "Do not separate yourself +from the community," was one of his characteristic sayings which +genuinely expressed his public spirit. His sense of individual and +social responsibility is summed up in his three famous questions: "If +I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am for myself alone, +what am I? And if not now, when?" His peace-loving nature and humanity +found voice in his counsel: "Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving +peace, pursuing peace, loving God's creatures and bringing them near +to the knowledge of the Law." His disinterestedness, his liberal +pursuit of the Law, that is, of knowledge, made him confidently say: +"He who aggrandizes his name, his name shall perish. He who does not +add to his store of learning and good deeds will suffer diminution. He +who does not teach deserves death. He who uses the crown of the Law +for selfish needs and personal advancement will be destroyed." Who had +a better right than Hillel, graduate of poverty, to warn his +contemporaries: "Do not say I shall learn when I will have leisure; +perhaps you never will have leisure." And in every case, even when the +conduct of a man seems most reprehensible, as when one of his +colleagues Menahem left the Synhedrion to take service under the +tyrant Herod, Hillel holds to this advice: "Judge not thy neighbor +until thou art in his place."</p> + +<p>Many a tale is narrated of Hillel's patience, unfailing courtesy and +tact, tolerance and humility, even under the greatest provocation. The +man who bet 400 Zuz that he would break Hillel's patience by silly and +far-fetched questions lost his own temper at the consideration with +which he was treated. And so the proverb became current, "Patience is +worth 400 Zuz." And other tales are told of Hillel's considerate +dealing with heathens who wished to embrace Judaism, in contrast to +the harsh treatment meted out to them by his contemporary Shammai.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Sage and Saint</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>H</big>IS perfect consideration and charity had in it even something of the +quixotic. When a man came to him for assistance, he was wont to help +him according to his previous position in life. Thus, in one instance +where a man had formerly enjoyed great wealth but had suffered +reverses, Hillel not only provided for him according to his previous +standard of living but, it is related, even hired a horse for the man +to ride on and a footman to run before him. It is added that on one +occasion, when Hillel could not obtain a runner, he himself served in +that capacity.</div> + +<p>His wife, we learn, was a fit helpmeet to the sage and saint. Their +domestic life was a perfect harmony. Once on returning from a journey<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +Hillel heard a sound of quarreling in the neighborhood of his house. +"I am certain," said he, "that this noise does not proceed from my +home." On another occasion Hillel sent his wife a message to prepare a +sumptuous meal for an honored guest. At the appointed hour Hillel and +his guest arrived. But the meal was not ready. "Why so late?" asked +Hillel. "I prepared a banquet," the wife replied, "according to your +desire. But I learned that a couple were to be wedded to-day and they +were too poor to provide a marriage feast, so I gave them our meal for +their wedding banquet." "Ah, my dear wife, I guessed as much."</p> + +<p>But the greatest and most constant hospitality was shown by Hillel to +a guest who was always with him and uppermost in his thoughts. Every +day it was his habit to withdraw for a while for private meditation. +"Whither art thou going?" asked his colleagues and disciples. "I have +a guest to whom I must show attention." "Who is this guest?" "My +soul," was the solemn reply; "to-day it is with me, to-morrow the +heavenly visitant may be departed and returned home."</p> + +<p>Is it any wonder that, after forty years of activity in the +Patriarchate, when Hillel died (in the year 10 of the common era), men +said of him: "Meek and humble-minded, a saint has departed from among +us, a disciple of Ezra the Scribe." The title fitted his career, for +he came like Ezra from Babylon to Palestine and like Ezra he restored +the Law when it was threatened with destruction. Great as a student, +he was great also as an inspirer of other students. He left eighty +distinguished disciples, of whom the youngest was that famous Jochanan +ben Zakkai who became the savior of Judaism at the destruction of the +second Temple.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_mhyamson.png" width="150" height="24" alt="Signature: M. Hyamson" title="Signature: M. Hyamson" /> +</div> +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="bbox2"><p><span class="smcap">Editors' Note</span>—Dr. Hyamson's portrait of Hillel is the +first in a series of character sketches of Jewish +Worthies to appear in <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span>. The second +paper will be on Hillel's disciple, Jochanan ben +Zakkai. </p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>The Quality of Mercy</h2> + +<h3><i>A Sixth Act to "The Merchant of Venice"</i></h3> + +<p><span class="smcap">By William M. Blatt</span></p> + + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 140px;"> +<img src="images/8william.jpg" width="140" height="200" alt="William M. Blatt" title="William M. Blatt" /> +<i><big>W</big>illiam M. Blatt (born in Orange, N.J., in 1876) +was educated in the public schools of Boston, and received his degree +of LL.B. from Boston University Law School in 1897. Besides being +engaged with the law in Boston and contributing to a number of legal +periodicals, Mr. Blatt is also devoted to letters and has published a +number of plays, including "Husbands on Approval," and many one-act +playlets, including "The Danger of Ideals," which have been given +professional performance.</i></div> + +<p><i>Characters:</i> <span class="smcap">Shylock</span>, <span class="smcap">Jessica</span>, <span class="smcap">Antonio</span>, <span class="smcap">Gratiano</span>, <span class="smcap">Portia</span>, <span class="smcap">Isaac</span>, <i>a +servant of Shylock</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Scene:</i> A street in Venice.</p> + +<p><i>Time:</i> An afternoon, two years after the last act of "The Merchant of +Venice."</p> + +<p><i>As curtain rises, Portia and Gratiano discovered standing and looking +down the street, Gratiano pointing.</i></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Play part 1"> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'>Now Lady Portia look a long way off<br /> +And see if you can recognize a friend.<br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Portia</i></td><td align='left'>A friend? One person only do I see—<br /> +A man, quite old, who hobbles with a staff.<br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'> He is the one I mean. Now look again<br /> +And try to recognize his face, his beard.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Portia</i></td><td align='left'>Why, is it not old Shylock? Sure it is.<br /> +And met most opportunely, on my word.<br /> +Now, dear Gratiano, with this icy heart<br /> +We must needs waste a score or two of words. </td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'>To make him help his daughter Jessica?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Portia</i></td><td align='left'>That is the task.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i> </td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 7em;">Too much for Hercules.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' colspan='2'>(<i>Enter Shylock.</i>)</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Portia</i></td><td align='left'>A moment, Shylock, of your precious time.<br /> +You must remember meeting me before.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>Remember, nay then, how could I forget<br /> +The noble judge who spoke so clean and fair<br /> +And took away on quibbles all I owned.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Portia</i></td><td align='left'>Not all, good Shylock, half of it remained.</td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Play part two"> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>Oh, true, I thank you for the half you left.<br /> +I thank that kindly merchant, him that begged<br /> +The Duke to quite remit the City's fine<br /> +Which never would have done him any good—<br /> +I thank him for accepting what was all<br /> +He could have claimed, the half of my estate.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Portia</i></td><td align='left'>In trust——</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">I know. In trust until I die.</span><br /> +And trust Antonio to eat it up.<br /> +Is it not known that when he takes a risk<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>Of more than common danger and doth lose,<br /> +He makes a record that he did invest<br /> +A part of my belongings in the venture?<br /> +Belike by now there's not a ducat left.<br /> +For that however I have naught but joy<br /> +Because it means that she who was my daughter<br /> +And that Lorenzo who's her paramour<br /> +Will, when I die, inherit penury.<br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'>But if Antonio's trust should disappear<br /> +They still would come by all you leave yourself;<br /> +'Twas thus the Duke decreed.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 12em;">I know a thing</span><br /> +Or two that I could tell and make the face<br /> +Of son Lorenzo somewhat longer grow.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'>Faith, often did Lorenzo say to us<br /> +"The Jew will find a way to cheat me yet."</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>To cheat him out of what? The gold he earned<br /> +By robbing me, debauching my—my child?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Portia</i></td><td align='left'>Nay, let us not be quarreling, old man,<br /> +I have a message that I want to give.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>No message from my daughter—none to me.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Portia</i></td><td align='left'>I meant not message, what I have is news.<br /> +Poor Jessica has come to sorry straits.<br /> +Her husband, having heard of what you spoke,<br /> +The loss of what Antonio received,<br /> +The tricks you have been playing with your own,<br /> +Fell out with Jessica; they came to words;<br /> +From words, they say, to blows. And so it seems<br /> +He left her in a pitiable state.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>(<i>laughing wildly</i>) Good, good, good, good. I prithee tell me more.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'>The fiends fly off with thee. Hast thou a heart<br /> +And canst thou hear the sorrows of thy child<br /> +In laughter and with joy?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 10em;">She is no child</span><br /> +Of mine. She is a wench who lied and stole<br /> +Repaid my love with treason. Broke my heart<br /> +And left me weakened for mine enemies<br /> +To ruin and to taunt. Tell me the rest,<br /> +Leave not a portion out. Describe her pain,<br /> +Her hunger, her remorse. I would know all.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Portia</i></td><td align='left'>The font has failed to change thy cruel soul;<br /> +Thou art a Christian, Shylock, but in name.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>Well, blame thy sacred water. Blame not me.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i> </td><td align='left'>And so poor Jessica must starve and die?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>Why, no. For you and she (<i>pointing to Portia</i>) should be her friends.<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>You Christians will not let a Christian fall.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'>Now there we cut the venom from thy tongue<br /> +For Jessica will not accept our aid.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Portia</i></td><td align='left'>Indeed, old man, we know not where she is.<br /> +We told you, that you might go search for her.<br /> +Bassanio did offer her employment<br /> +But she refused, belike because her shame<br /> +Would not permit that we should see her shame.<br /> +And so she fled.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 6em;">And may yet be alive.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i> </td><td align='left'>These circumstances you should tell unto<br /> +Lorenzo. 'Twas he took her upon himself<br /> +For better or for worse. Fare you well.<br /> +I have affairs that interest me more.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'>Come, Lady Portia. 'Tis a waste of time.<br /> +The Bible says that God did choose the Jews<br /> +But says not what it was He chose them for.<br /> +Our ancient friend hath made it clear to me<br /> +That they were chosen by our gracious Lord<br /> +To be a kind of warning and example<br /> +Of what a misbeliever may become.<br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Portia</i></td><td align='left'>Thou wilt not save thy daughter?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i> </td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 12em;">Lady fair,</span><br /> +In this peculiar and imperfect world<br /> +The virtues are divided into parts:<br /> +For instance, mercy. Some do practice it,<br /> +And some do merely preach. A third there are<br /> +Whose only contribution is to be<br /> +The text from which the second sermons preach;<br /> +They neither preach nor practice. Such am I.<br /> +Farewell.<br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 4em;">We but insult ourselves to stay. (<i>Exit Portia and +Gratiano. Shylock looks after them. Enter Antonio, sees +Shylock, walks over to him and touches him with his stick. +Shylock turns.</i>)</span><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>Hebrew, have I found thee out at last?<br /> +Once more thy promises are broken, eh?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>Yes, yes. I pray you——<br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i> </td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 10em;">Pray me nothing more.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>Signor Antonio, wait another day.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>Another day. For what? Until you hide<br /> +A bag of ducats or a jewel case?<br /> +Your bonds are by a fortnight overdue<br /> +And day by day your fortune dwindles down.<br /> +If I should sell the roof above your head<br /> +And all your land and chattels, they would bring<br /> +Less than enough to pay me what you owe.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>I prithee not so loud. But you alone<br /> +Are cognizant of my disastrous state.<br /> +My name is good. Perchance I may obtain<br /> +A temporary loan to tide me through.<br /> +But if my losses come to other ears<br /> +Before my kinsmen and my ship arrive<br /> +A bankrupt's ending stares me in the face.<br /> +Wait, wait Antonio, surely he will come,<br /> +My cousin Issachar who sailed away.<br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>Thy cousin Issachar will come no more.<br /> +He promised to return three weeks ago.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>But think, remember, good Antonio,<br /> +The vessel could not founder. 'Twas my best,<br /> +Held in reserve, the last one of my fleet.<br /> +Issachar swore he knew the very spot<br /> +Where dusky natives mined the laughing gold<br /> +And that if I would furnish men and ships<br /> +The moiety of the cargo would be mine.<br /> +Perhaps he is a little while delayed.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>Perhaps another theory will fit.<br /> +Perhaps your kinsman filled the ship with gold<br /> +And then did point his helm another way.<br /> +Perhaps in England now he lives at ease<br /> +And deems the whole is better than a half.<br /> +Consider, sir, your kinsman is a Jew.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>He will not fail me, for he is my friend.<br /> +Patience, good sir, patience a day or two.<br /> +Deal with me kindly as so oft before<br /> +You treated many an unfortunate.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>Let's have no whining. See you pay my bills<br /> +No later than to-day. Expect no further time.<br /> +I have done more than doth in truth become<br /> +A Christian to oblige a Jew withal.<br /> +Think not to share the leniency I give<br /> +To men of Venice of my faith and blood.<br /> +This case is different.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 8em;">But did thy Lord</span><br /> +Not preach a creed of brotherhood and love<br /> +And bid thee treat thy neighbor as thyself?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>He meant our Christian neighbors who reside<br /> +By right of law and ancient heritage<br /> +Within the land, but not the tribe who do<br /> +Usurp the places of their betters. No!<br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>I am a Christian, made so by your Church.<br /> +Your own priest said so and it must be true.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>'Twas but a form to bend thy haughty will.<br /> +In heart and manner thou art still a Jew.<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>They should be glad that they can here remain<br /> +To practice sacrilege, and cheat, and fawn.<br /> +I marvel we can be so tolerant.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>The God who made this land and you and me<br /> +Mocks at your selfish, mean, philosophy.<br /> +When you or yours can build a mountain peak<br /> +Or add a grain unto the universe<br /> +Then talk of this fair ground as your domain.<br /> +The earth is one and rests within His hand;<br /> +The great and small His erring children are,<br /> +But we who from Yisrael claim descent<br /> +Are now the eldest of the family.<br /> +The God of Justice never slumbereth.<br /> +Jehovah is His name; His will be done.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>Mumble thy prayers if that affords relief,<br /> +But if by sundown I am not repaid<br /> +Another Moses must thou be and bring<br /> +Another set of miracles from heaven<br /> +Or lose the very coat from off thy back.<br /> +By sundown—but a few short minutes hence. (<i>Exit Antonio</i>)</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>Finished—almost finished—almost done.<br /> +I see the wave that soon above my hopes,<br /> +My fears, my sorrows, and my broken heart,<br /> +Will roll in cruel triumph. I'm content.<br /> +A long and troubled record I shall leave<br /> +Of struggles in the dark 'gainst many foes.<br /> +I begged for light to see my duty clear<br /> +To see the purpose of my suffering<br /> +To see the end that my Creator served<br /> +In heaping hills of torment on my head.<br /> +The light has never come. But now ere long<br /> +I must be called where all shall be made clear.<br /> +Till then a few weeks more of faith in Him<br /> +A few weeks more with an unfalt'ring tongue<br /> +To praise His wisdom though its end be hid.<br /> +A few weeks more to walk within His law.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' colspan='2'>(<i>Starts to walk off. Enter Jessica in disordered dress and manner.</i>)</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>Father!</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i> </td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 8em;">Back! Away! Dare not to touch me.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>A word, a single word and I will go.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>(<i>trying to wrest his arm from her grasp</i>)<br /> +Let be I say.<br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 8em;">Nay, but I cannot leave.</span><br /> +I know not how much time I have to live.<br /> +I marvel that this body thin and frail<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>Has so long stood th' innumerable shocks<br /> +Which in my married life it hath endured.<br /> +Death must be near, it stretcheth out its arms,<br /> +And I in answer have extended mine.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>Come not to me for money. Had I all<br /> +The wealth of Sheba's mines I would not pay<br /> +A mite to save thy fallen soul from hell.<br /> +The potter's field may have thy rotten bones<br /> +And owls and jackals pray for thy repose.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>'Tis not for gold I beg but for thy love.<br /> +I threw it from me like an orange sucked<br /> +And turned to grasp the shining fruit that he,<br /> +Lorenzo, pictured to mine eyes. Ah me,<br /> +How bitter, hard and worthless to the taste<br /> +Hath been that substitute. The marriage moon<br /> +Had scarce grown full before my body bore<br /> +The marks of coward blows.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 8em;">Ha! Ha! That's well.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>I have not known a single kindly word,<br /> +I scarce have heard him call me by my name<br /> +Since less than four weeks after we were wed.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>(<i>gloatingly rubbing his hands</i>) Hm!</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>Oh father, why was I not told before<br /> +That we and all our people are accurst;<br /> +That those to whom we give our love and trust<br /> +Curse us and loathe us with a dreadful hate,<br /> +A hate that neither reason can assuage<br /> +Nor conduct make amends for. Awful fate,<br /> +That makes the very children of the street<br /> +With circle eyes point at us in contempt,<br /> +And people who have never heard our names<br /> +Thirst for our blood and menace us with death!</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>So thou didst think a priestly comedy<br /> +Could make Lorenzo love his Jewish wife?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>I could have died for him. For him I fled<br /> +And stole your wealth and helped your enemies.<br /> +Why could he not have been a little kind?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>(<i>chuckling</i>) Come tell me how he beat you. Tell me that.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>Have pity, father.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 8em;">Tell me how he swore.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>Oh, torture me no further. Take me back.<br /> +Love me not now, but let me win your love<br /> +A little at a time. No day shall pass<br /> +But in it I shall do some tiny act<br /> +That will in time make up a wealth of deeds,<br /> +And if we both are living long enough<br /> +The balance will be as it was before.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>Thy pleadings are but wasted, Jessica,<br /> +Thou canst not gain the end that thou dost seek.<br /> +For even if I have the foolish will<br /> +(And I assure thee that I have it not)<br /> +To bring thee back to all the luxury,<br /> +The silken clothes, the soft and perfumed beds,<br /> +The shining jewels of thy girlhood days,<br /> +I could not. I am almost penniless.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>Poor, and alone, and old! Nay, father dear,<br /> +Thou couldst not drive me from thee after this<br /> +Hadst thou the strength of ten. Let us go forth<br /> +And find a little corner of the earth<br /> +Where I may work and you may live at peace.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i> </td><td align='left'>I need no aid. I want no help from thee.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>Then give me thine. I starve for sympathy.<br /> +I shall go mad. I saw my baby die<br /> +And all around me were my husband's friends<br /> +Who spoke in terms of polished elegance.<br /> +With formal platitudes and commonplace<br /> +Regarding me as something curious,<br /> +A vulgar, noisy creature, lacking taste<br /> +And proper self-control. While on its bier<br /> +Lay all the joy that life in promise held.<br /> +Dead, and my heart within it.(<i>Weeps</i>)</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'> </td><td align='left'>(<i>Shylock turns to go, looks back after a step or two, and returns</i>)</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>I did not know the little one was dead.<br /> +Was it a pretty child?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 8em;">A pretty child!</span><br /> +A cherub could not be more beautiful.<br /> +Blue eyes and golden hair. A tiny mouth<br /> +A dimple in her chin. (<i>Shylock puts his arm around Jessica</i>)</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>Thy mother's face belike. So did she look.<br /> +And how old when it—died?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 8em;">A year, a year.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'> </td><td align='left'>(<i>Enter Antonio and Gratiano. Antonio touches Shylock on the shoulder</i>)</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>Well, let us have an end. The time is up.<br /> +I now demand the payment of my bonds.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>I have not moved since last you spoke to me.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>All's one for that. You had no move to make.<br /> +Your whole estate is in the bailiff's hands<br /> +And you yourself may come along with me.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>Where would you take me?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 8em;">Why, before the Duke.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>What need of trials? Freely I confess<br /> +The debts I owe you. Take what you can find.<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>Take ev'ry rag and counter. Take them all.<br /> +Myself and Jessica must go away.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>Not quite so fast. The law expressly states<br /> +That I may put you in the debtor's gaol<br /> +And so I mean to do.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i> </td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 8em;">But good Signor—</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>No protest will avail. I know you Jews.<br /> +You hang together in calamity<br /> +And help each other while the Christians starve.<br /> +Let them redeem you and repay my loss.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>Good sir, my kin are very far away<br /> +And poor as I.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i> </td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">'Twill do no good to lie.</span><br /> +Write letters. I will see them promptly sent.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>I swear to you Antonio—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i> </td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 6em;">Wait a while.</span><br /> +First tell us if the oath thou art to make<br /> +Is sworn as Christian or in Hebrew style;<br /> +Though truly which to give the preference<br /> +Is matter to discuss. A Jewish oath<br /> +Thou canst not take for thou hast been baptised,<br /> +And sooth to say I have a sort of doubt<br /> +About thy reverence for Christian forms.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>By that great Power who can humble both<br /> +Hebrew and Christian, I do swear to you<br /> +That not in all this universe's span<br /> +Have I a claim on friends or relatives<br /> +As large as this. Much more have I the right<br /> +To claim assistance from Antonio<br /> +Who though he found me keen for my revenge<br /> +And steadfast in assertion of my rights<br /> +Can bring no accusation on my head<br /> +Of underhanded trickery or crime.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'>Because we watch you pretty carefully.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i></td><td align='left'>What say you, sir? You will not keep us here?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>I warned thee once cajoling will not serve.<br /> +Write out the letters. That's the only way.<br /> +I'll see that while you tarry in the gaol<br /> +Your comfort shall not be too much disturbed.<br /> +Your food shall be according to your wish<br /> +And other things in reason you may have.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>Good sir, I think you know me, do you not?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>Why, are you not my friend Lorenzo's wife?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'> I am the Jessica who married him,<br /> +But not his wife if wifehood is a state<br /> +That presupposes more than legal rights.<br /> +I and Lorenzo are as strangers now<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>And less than strangers, less than enemies.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>I grieve to hear it.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i> </td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 8em;">I would have your grief</span><br /> +Not for myself but for my father here.<br /> +He speaks the truth. He has no more to give.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>Then let him call upon his wealthy friends,<br /> +The other Jews will trust him if he asks.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>You heard him say he knows not where to sue.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>O, that was but the cunning of his race.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>Unfeeling man! If his deserts are dumb<br /> +What of your obligation due to me?<br /> +The Court's decree as you no doubt recall<br /> +Was that the half of his estate should go<br /> +To you to hold in trust for me and mine.<br /> +I charge you now upon your Christian faith<br /> +To give my father all the residue<br /> +That will be mine when he shall pass away<br /> +Or take it for yourself and let him go.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>Three obstacles prevent your sacrifice.<br /> +The first is that though my intent was fair<br /> +By bad investments more than half the fund<br /> +Has disappeared, and all that doth remain<br /> +Would not suffice to satisfy the bonds.<br /> +The second, that the sum is payable<br /> +Upon your father's death, which is not yet.<br /> +But third and most of all the money goes<br /> +To you and to your husband, not to you.<br /> +The gift is joint and neither can alone<br /> +Claim all himself or any several part.<br /> +Indeed, I own it frankly, my desire<br /> +In asking that the Duke should so decree<br /> +Was not to benefit Lorenzo's wife,<br /> +A Jewess, who was never aught to me,<br /> +But solely to befriend Lorenzo's self<br /> +My coreligionist and distant kin.<br /> +To give you anything of Shylock's gold<br /> +Without Lorenzo's will would be a wrong,<br /> +A breach of trust, a patent injury.<br /> +And if your separation from his love,<br /> +As shrewdly I suspect, be fault of yours<br /> +And growing from thy Jewish wilfulness,<br /> +It would be most unfaithful and untrue<br /> +That I should thus reward inconstancy.<br /> +You see, in honor and before the law<br /> +I must refuse to do as you request.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>I see that Jesus died in vain for you.<br /> +His Jewish heart, with pity for the low<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>And meek and humble broke upon the cross<br /> +And for a time the magic of his words<br /> +Restrained the beast in Gentile followers,<br /> +But soon the kindly Stoic lost his sway<br /> +And cruel bigots in his Jewish name,<br /> +By his offenceless, mild authority<br /> +Took fire and sword and hatred for their flag.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i> </td><td align='left'>My girl, there is a law 'gainst blasphemy.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'>Why stand we here and listen to her spleen?<br /> +Away with Shylock. Take him to the gaol.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>Come on.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i> </td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 4em;">No! No!</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i> </td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 8em;">Resist no more, my child.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>Oh, father, we may never meet again;<br /> +Your age and suffering cannot endure<br /> +The shock of this disgrace.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Shylock</i> </td><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 10em;">'Tis better so.</span><br /> +I pray for death. It cannot come too soon.<br /> +Farewell.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Jessica</i></td><td align='left'>Farewell. (<i>Throws her arms around him</i>)<br /> +Yet not a long farewell,<br /> +I shall not far survive. It is no sin<br /> +To end a life of misery and shame.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Isaac</i> </td><td align='left'>(<i>behind scenes</i>) Where is my master? Where has Shylock gone? (<i>Enter Isaac.</i>)</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Gratiano</i></td><td align='left'>Here fellow, here he is. With Jessica<br /> +He poses like a model for the arts.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Isaac</i> </td><td align='left'>Great news and wonderful. His ship is here<br /> +And laden full of gold. The mine is found<br /> +And Issachar and he are princely rich.<br /> +This cargo is the greatest that has come<br /> +To Venice since the city first began.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'><i>Antonio</i></td><td align='left'>I do rejoice to hear it. Truly Jew<br /> +I have no wish to do thy body harm<br /> +But thou and thy relations are well known<br /> +To be so deep in craft and villainy<br /> +That to recover what is justly due<br /> +We Christians must resort to rigid means.<br /> +Go freely with thy daughter. Later on<br /> +When ev'rything's in order I'll return<br /> +And you may pay me what the balance is.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' valign='top'> </td><td align='left'>(<i>Exit Antonio and Gratiano, followed by Isaac. Shylock still +stands expressionless with Jessica's arms around him.</i>)</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_wblatt.png" width="150" height="19" alt="Signature: Wmln. Blatt" title="Signature: Wmln. Blatt" /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> + +<h2>Jewish Students in European Universities</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Harry Wolfson</span></h3> + +<div class='center'>(<i>Concluded</i>)</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Judaism and Jewish Students in France</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE decadence of native Judaism in France has become proverbial. The +original French Jews never amounted to much; and the Alsatian +immigrants, while still supplying rabbis for the pulpits, have of late +begun to disappear from the pews. You may state it is an axiom that +the synagogue will have to go a-begging for a quorum wherever +church-going is unpopular. But French Judaism has recently been +gaining reinforcement by the influx of newcomers from Eastern Europe. +Paris might be considered next to London the greatest centre of Jewish +immigration in Europe. In fact, Paris as well as some large cities in +the Low Countries, and to some extent even London, have since the +beginning of the Jewish movement towards the United States, become the +refuge of a considerable number who straggled behind the migratory +columns and were unable to reach their final destination. Free from +any official molestations and rather welcomed by the native Jews, the +foreign Jewish community in Paris has flourished in its own way. It +numbers by this time about twenty-five thousand souls, a large +proportion of whom were born and brought up in the French capital.</div> + +<p>It is these young French Jews of immigrant parentage, students and +professional men, who organized themselves, about two years ago, in an +"Association des Jeunes Juifs," known by its initials as A. J. J. The +aim of that organization, which is non-partisan in Jewish affairs, is +both cultural and practical. It publishes a monthly by the name of +"Les Pionniers," and occasionally holds debates and lectures on +various Jewish topics. It also carries on a program of social work +among the immigrant Jews. I might perhaps give a clearer idea of the +object of the A. J. J. by reproducing their following declaration: +"Notre But.—Nous voulons nous affirmer 'Juifs' sans forfanterie, mais +avec fermeté; cultiver, développer parmis nous, faire connaître au +dehors, l'âme juive; nous éduquer mutuellement; demander, par les +voies légales, le respect, la justice pour tous,—fussent-ils juifs; +aider nos frères émigrés à l'aquérir la <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'qualite'">qualité</ins> de citoyen; inculquer +à nos membres les principes de solidarité et de mutualité." In the +summer of 1913, Dr. Nahum Slouszch of the Sorbonne submitted to the +society a scheme for more extensive activities, both Jewish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> and +patriotic in their scope, namely, the participation in educational and +social work among the indigenous Jews of the French possessions in +Africa.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Jew of the Roman Ghetto</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is a pity that so little is known to us about the life of the +Jewish masses in Italy. The fame of the Nathans and Luzzattis has led +us to believe that in Italy Jews form the class of society from which +mayors and statesmen are recruited. But in Italy the majority of Jews +still live in social and economic conditions not far advanced above +those of their ancestors in centuries past. Italy is the only country +in Europe outside those in the Eastern part where the so-called +ghettoes are populated by native Jews. Their political emancipation +has not raised them from the bottom of the social structure over the +heads of their Gentile neighbors. Nowhere is the average Jew so much +like the non-Jew in appearance, language, manners, and vocation than +the inhabitant of the Roman Ghetto on the bank of the Tiber. He is +engaged there in the petty trades of selling his olives, peaches, and +figs, and hires out as a journeyman in and outside his country. He +hawks with "cartiloni" and "ricordi di Roma" in front of the café +terraces, and his street waifs accost the foreigners for a "soldi." +Even at the door of his old-clothes shop you can hardly recognize in +him the Jew. It is this, more than the paucity of the number of Jews +in Italy, that explains the absence of anti-Jewish feeling there. For +the name Sacerdote by which Italian Cohens call themselves does not +suggest affluence, and the cognomen Levi does not necessarily +designate one's business.</div> + +<p>In his religious life the Jew of the Roman Ghetto resembles the +Lithuanian rather than the Western European. His religious activity, +to be sure, is restricted to the prayer services of the Temple, but +his Temple is more like a Beth Midrash than a symphony hall and +lyceum. Living within a Catholic environment, his religion has been +preserved as something positive, tangible, and powerful; and if it is +no longer an inspiring influence within him, it exists at least as a +reality outside of him. The religious institutions and +instrumentalities are looked upon by him as something hallowed and +consecrate. The synagogue is spoken of as the "sacro tempio" and the +rabbi, referred to by the Hebrew words "Morenu Harav," is looked up to +in matters religious as if he were the incumbent of the throne of +Moses. The place of worship is opened three times a day for the +traditional number of the daily public prayers, and young men as well +as old, unwashed and in their working garments, repair there directly +from their work to hear the "sacra messa," as the services are +sometimes termed by them. Most of the younger Jews are unable to read +the Hebrew prayers, some read without understanding them; but they all +know a few selected prayers by heart which they recite aloud with many +interesting gesticulations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> and genuflections, while in the pulpit the +Chasan reads the services from a prayer-book printed in Livorno, +chanting them in a monotonous sing-song not unlike what one often +hears in the chapels of St. Peter.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Societies of Jewish Youth in Italy</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>R</big>ACIAL consciousness is strong among these Jews of the Roman Ghetto. +They are to themselves, in common parlance, "Ibrim" or "Yahudim," +which they utter not without pride, and the Gentile is looked down +upon as a mere "goi," while the passing priest is pointed out as a +"komer." If you ever happen to be in Rome, I should advise you take +one afternoon off, and ordering a "café noro" at some café house on +the Piazza Venezia, sit down quietly at a table on the terrace and try +to look Jewish. You will soon be assailed by a number of postal-card +venders coming one after another, until one importunate youth, +discovering your identity, will of a sudden change his attitude, and, +his obsequiousness gone, will enter with you into an intimate +conversation. He will tell you his name, his pedigree, and of the +"tempio," and of the street where many Jews live. He will no longer +entreat you to buy his goods; and if you do so, he will mumble out his +"grazie" rather perfunctorily. For are not all Israel of the same +descent?—and if they are not all princes, at least none of them is +better than a postal-card vender in Rome.</div> + +<p>It is therefore not surprising that among the native Italian Jews +there should arise on the part of the young educated elements a desire +to convert that latent Jewish sentiment into some form of practical +and useful activity. A society of Jewish youth in Italy has already +existed for about three years during which time two conventions were +held. A number of commendable resolutions were passed about the +improvement of Jewish education among the Italian Jews and especially +the advancement of the study of the Hebrew language among them. +Zionism was warmly endorsed, though the society as a whole did not +commit itself officially to the cause. Like the A. J. J. of Paris, the +Italian organization also purports to act as intermediaries between +the Italian government and the native Jewish population of Tripoli. In +Rome there is a local organization of Jewish students, devoted to the +study of Hebrew literature, and is rather of cosmopolitan complexion, +being composed of Italian, Greek, German, and Russian Jews. The moving +spirit of that circle was a brilliant Russian Jew, who had graduated +in law from the University of Rome.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Conclusion: The Growing National Spirit Among Jewish Students</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big> CLOSE observation of European Jewish students, both as individuals +and as groups, leads one to the realization of a growing consciousness +among them of national unity, and of an increasing belief on their +part of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> the imperishability of the Jews as a race. That morbid +feeling of national decay and the imminent disappearance of the race, +which had preyed upon the minds of Jewish men in the past generation, +and which is reflected in the literature of that time, has been +everywhere displaced by one of confidence and hope. Desertion from +Judaism, to be sure, may sporadically make its appearance here and +there as a convenient escape from material disadvantages; indifference +towards it may likewise in some quarters still survive as a relic of +the past,—but these are rather unusual and isolated phenomena, +emphasizing all the more the universal fidelity and attachment to all +things Jewish.</div> + +<p>The enthusiasm for Judaism, everywhere in a process of growth, +manifests itself in its early stages in study and self-cultivation; it +assumes a more concrete form, in its later stages, of some communal or +social activity; and if that development keeps on uninterruptedly it +finally consummates in Zionism. This development, it must be admitted, +is not a spontaneous and self-directive movement. In no small measure, +it is everywhere stimulated by the growing tendency on the part of +non-Jews in almost every country to appraise the Jew according to his +racial origin, an appraisal which results in a feeling not necessarily +hostile, but in most cases neutral and sometimes even favoring the +racial and cultural peculiarity, indestructible and impermiscible, of +the Jewish element. It is this external stimulus, rather than any +internal impulse, that is responsible for the unfolding of the +national spirit among Jewish students and the assertion of their +selfhood.</p> + +<p>None the less, their self-assertion has nowhere reached the extreme of +spiritual alienation from their environment. There is nothing more +remarkable in the character of Jewish youth of the present day, even +among those who were born and raised in East European ghettos, than +the spiritual and intellectual snugness in which they find themselves, +in what should have been expected to remain to them a foreign +environment. The residual estrangement of the Jewish soul from +everything that is non-Jewish, which our forefathers in the past had +figuratively designated with what Jewish mysticism called the +"Captivity of the Shekinah," has totally disappeared. The individual +Jew of to-day, while sharing in the sublimated consciousness of the +race as a whole, does not in any conscious or subliminal way feel +himself to be personally identified with it; whence the hesitation on +the part of the majority of Jewish students to participate actively in +Zionism even though they would all admit it to be the logical sequel +of Jewish history.</p> + +<p>For Zionism to them can never become a personal ideal, something +requisite for the salvation of their souls. It can at its best appeal +to them, in so far as they are consciously Jewish, as the cause of the +nation as a whole; and consequently the mere suspicion that their +affiliation with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> the movement might be held up against them as an +impugnment of their loyalty to the land of their birth and abode is +sufficient to keep them aloof from it. It was very interesting for me +to notice how everywhere, after a long manœuvre of Zionist discussions +with good Jewish young men, they would finally halt at their +unshakable position that Zionists might arouse the suspicion of their +Gentile neighbors as to the loyalty and patriotism of the Jews. Where +people are obsessed by the fear of being misunderstood in doing what +they otherwise think to be good and impeccable, no arguments, of +course, can avail. They are in this respect characteristically Jewish. +In their Brand-like racial frame of mind, the Jews could never stop +midway between the two antipodes of roving world-citizenry and +hidebound mono-patriotism. It is probable that their attitude will +change as soon as it is generally realized that personal devotion and +loyalty to two causes are not psychologically a self-deception, and +that the serving of two masters is not a moral anomaly unless, as in +the original adage, one of the masters be Satanic.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_hwolfson.png" width="150" height="39" alt="Signature: Harry Wolfson" title="Signature: Harry Wolfson" /> +</div> + +<p><br /><br /><br /> +</p> +<div class="bbox2"><big>E</big>xtract from a letter received from William Chadwick, +President of the Hebrew Congregation and the Adler +Society, Oxford University, England, commenting on the +section devoted to England in Mr. Wolfson's article in +our January number: "The remarks of Mr. Wolfson, whom +we remember very well, concerning Oxford, were very +apt for the time; but in Oxford, one particular type +of Judaism never remains for long; Judaism here is in +a state of perpetual flux, and to seize upon any one +moment and represent that view as a type of Oxford's +Judaism is very erroneous. I am sure that if Mr. +Wolfson were here now, he would not recognize the +services or the attitude now prevalent. I doubt if he +would now hear Liberal Judaism apostrophised 'as the +safeguard of modern Jews from the attractiveness of +the superior teachings of Christ.'" </div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Zionism: A Menorah Prize Essay</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Marvin M. Lowenthal</span></h3> + + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 149px;"> +<img src="images/9marvin.jpg" width="149" height="200" alt="MARVIN M. LOWENTHAL" title="MARVIN M. LOWENTHAL" /> +<i><big>M</big>ARVIN M. LOWENTHAL (born in Bradford, Pa., in 1890) +is at present a Senior in the University of Wisconsin. He has won the +Wisconsin Menorah Society Prize twice—in 1912 for an essay on "The +Jew in the American Revolution," and in 1914 for the essay on +"Zionism" here published for the first time. Mr. Lowenthal is now the +President of the Wisconsin Zionist Society.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>T the head of an alley-way hard by the Place of the Temple, the +Haram-esh-Sherif, in Jerusalem, a long wall built in rough-hewn +courses lifts itself above the squalor of the Moghrebin quarter to an +eastern sky from which a sun that seldom sleeps bakes the grey stones, +bares every detail of a crumbling ruin, and intensifies the wistful +odor of decay. This, the remnant of Solomon's glory, is the Wailing +Wall of the Jews. Clad in sackcloth and covered with ashes, +patriarchal figures sway to and fro, press their lips to the hot +granite, beat now their chests and now the wall, and today, as every +day for eighteen hundreds of years, wail in the words of the Psalmist:</div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Psalm"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Oh God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Thy holy Temple have they defiled;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">They have laid Jerusalem in heaps."<a name="FNanchor_1_7.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_7.1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>This picture reveals the typical and traditional attitude of the Jew +toward the land of his forefathers. Taught as children in the Cheder +to turn their thoughts and desires toward Palestine; devoting +themselves as men to the study of the Law and the Prophets and to the +building upon this study of the vast Talmudic structure, until a +spiritual Land of the Book may be said to have been created wherein +they continually dwelt; crystallizing and adopting the Restoration as +a dogma of the faith; commemorating with solemn fasts the Ninth of Ab +as the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple by Titus; and +repeating at each Passover with the pitiful hope of a child, "Next +year in Jerusalem," the Jews have bound the memory of Palestine as a +sign upon their hands and as frontlets between their eyes. They have +indeed written it upon the door-posts of their houses and upon their +gates, to the end—that they have wept and prayed. The vision of the +prophets, which created and sustained this passionate ideal, itself +inhibited the realization by emphasizing the redemption<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> as +miraculous, as a consummation to come in its own time without man's +effort, and indeed in spite of man's will. And so, except for the +sporadic and meteoric fiascos of mock-Messiahs, the Jews—this most +practical of people—continued in hope and prayer to watch the +centuries creep by. Frequently the hope flowered into the songs of a +Judah Halevi or Ibn Gabirol, songs as sweet as have blossomed in the +medieval garden; and the prayer found expression in a poignancy +attributable only to the racial genius which created the Psalms; but +until the nineteenth century the dream preserved all the qualities of +a dream.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>A Crusade for A Birthright</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>N August 29, 1897, a congress convened in Basel, Switzerland, +comparable in Jewry to the Council of Clermont; for in this congress +two hundred and four Jews, acting as delegates of their people from +half the countries in the world, assembled at the call of Theodor +Herzl to go crusading for the recovery of Palestine. This difference, +among others, may be apparent—the Christians sought the recovery of a +grave; the Jews, of a cradle. Palestine was to be a cradle in two +senses; this Congress, the first body representative of all Jewry to +be convened in the Diaspora, claimed the land of Israel not by virtue +of a death, but as a birthright, and furthermore hoped to find its +recovery the opportunity for the rejuvenation of a people.</div> + +<p>Quoting from his book, "The Jewish State"<a name="FNanchor_2_8.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_8.1" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>—a book journalistic in +style, but trumpet-toned in the note it sounded for political +Zionism—Theodor Herzl offered the following definition of Zionism +after the first Zionist Congress (1897): "Zionism has for its object +the creation of a home, secured by public rights, for those Jews who +either cannot or will not be assimilated in the country of their +adoption."<a name="FNanchor_3_9.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_9.1" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Zionism, in a word, is not the last truism in a weary +debate, nor a new verse to an old song; it is, on the contrary, a +definite answer to a perplexing and imperative question. What are +these Jews who cannot or will not be assimilated, and why cannot or +will not they be assimilated? This question constitutes what is known +as <i>the Jewish problem</i>, or, for those who deny or dislike the term, +<i>the Jewish position;</i> and this question must first be fully stated +before the Zionist or any other answer can be intelligible.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Isolation of Medieval Jewry</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Jews in the Middle Ages were considered by themselves, their few +friends, and their many enemies, as a twice separated nation—a people +separated from those among whom they dwelt and separated from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> the +land in which they originated. They were governed by their own +law—the Lex Judæorum—which was recognized by the authorities of the +land in which they lived as peculiar and proper to them;<a name="FNanchor_4_10" id="FNanchor_4_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_10" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> they dwelt +in communal groups which were bound together by common interests; they +observed their own customs and nourished their own culture; they were +held to be foreigners, and in a comparison of their own with the +Christian civilization, they readily acknowledged this status. The +force of persecution without and the religious conviction of +superiority, separateness, and nationality within, preserved and +constantly increased this solidarity.<a name="FNanchor_5_11" id="FNanchor_5_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_11" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></div> + +<p>That the existence of a separate, recalcitrant, and even obnoxious +nation within a nation did not constitute a problem for the medievals +may be attributable to two reasons: (1) the medieval theory of life +accentuated a hierarchical order of existence—a theory that found +expression in feudalism, in Church organization, and in guild and +craft life; in pursuance of this theory, the Jews were accorded a +recognized and distinct status; (2) furthermore, the Jews were an +economic necessity in the times when a ban was laid on money-lending, +and they constituted an important economic facility at a little later +period when capital could indeed be worked but when rivalry and +hatreds rendered communication uncertain.<a name="FNanchor_6_12" id="FNanchor_6_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_12" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> To the maintenance of +Jewish solidarity and the preservation of things Jewish <i>qua</i> Jewish, +sacrifices culminating in the surrender of life bequeathed to the race +a comprehensive martyrology.<a name="FNanchor_7_13" id="FNanchor_7_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_13" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>Ernest Renan defines a nation as "a great solidarity constituted by +the sentiment of the sacrifices that its citizens have made and those +they feel prepared to make once more. It implies a past, but is summed +up in the present by a tangible fact—the clearly expressed desire to +live a common life." In sum, the Jews throughout the Middle Ages, +which was prolonged for them until a little less than two hundred +years ago, comprised a nation as virtual in point of their own claim +and its recognition by other nations as in the days when they were +established in Palestine. Renaissance, Reformation, and the +rediscovery of the world by science failed to make an impression on +the thick ghetto walls; and Jewish isolation, even as late as the +eighteenth century, may be vividly realized by thinking of Rousseau +and Voltaire in contrast with the contemporary lights of Jewry—Elijah +Gaon and Israel Besht,<a name="FNanchor_8_14" id="FNanchor_8_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_14" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> men as medieval as a gargoyle.</p> + +<p>The French Revolution with its early philosophy of naturalism and +humanism and its later political expression in liberty, equality, and +fraternity, razed the physical and spiritual walls of the ghetto and +set up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> the "Jewish problem." Following the Revolution, four currents +of thought and action, working both simultaneously and successively, +causing, reacting upon, and intermingling with one another, affecting +the Jews now favorably and now unfavorably, went into the making of +this problem. To deal with Emancipation, Enlightenment, Nationalism, +and Anti-Semitism in detail would consume a volume, but an outline of +their bearing on the present situation is essential.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Emancipation and Enlightenment</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>E</big>MANCIPATION may be defined as the removal of the civil disabilities +from the Jews, following the acceptance of liberal principles by the +European governments. The process was a gradual one. In 1791 the +French Assembly passed the vote for the complete emancipation of the +Jews, which procedure was ratified and firmly established by the +Napoleonic regime. Belgium (1830), England (1846), Sweden (1848), +Denmark and Greece (1849), Prussia (1850), Austria (1867), Spain +(1868), Italy (1870), and Switzerland (1874) followed the lead of +France. The Balkan States in the treaty of Berlin (1878), upon +pressure from Disraeli, agreed to the emancipation of the Jews as one +of the conditions for securing their own freedom; Roumania has been +notoriously delinquent, however, in adhering to the terms nominated in +the bond.<a name="FNanchor_9_15" id="FNanchor_9_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_15" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> The removal of civil disabilities brought the Jew into a +wide contact with the Christian. This resulted for the Jews in +liberalization of outlook and liberation of capacities and talents, in +an abandonment of the "jargon" for the national tongues, in a +precipitation into the Haskalah movement (to be described in the next +paragraph), and in a restatement of their leading religious doctrines, +which amounted to a surrender in theory of their nationality and their +destiny as a Chosen People to be restored to Palestine. For the +Christians the removal of Jewish disabilities resulted in the +necessity of either accepting or rejecting the Jew's claim to be an +equal and a fellow-countryman.</div> + +<p>The Enlightenment, or Haskalah movement, broadly speaking, comprises +the Jewish absorption of secular learning, particularly in literature +and science, the abandonment of the study of the Talmud for modern +subjects, and the adoption of farm and craft life.<a name="FNanchor_10_16" id="FNanchor_10_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_16" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Moses +Mendelssohn in Germany and Lilienthal in Russia were the first great +protagonists of these radical departures; and the movement, which in +part led to the demand for Emancipation and in part resulted from it, +further removed the differences between Jew and non-Jew, at least from +the standpoint of the former, and further removed him from his +religious and historical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> past, perceptibly weakening and in many +cases practically destroying the medieval sense of solidarity. Each +Jew adopted the culture of his native country, and so one Jew became +virtually a foreigner to another. Haskalah, in a word, is a looking +outward on the part of the Jew; for all its virtues this movement had +the consequence of blunting racial consciousness and blurring racial +identity.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Nationalism and Anti-Semitism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>LL might have been well but for the presence of a third and +conflicting element. While the Jew became infected with the +universalism of the Revolutionary spirit, the majority of Europeans +were absorbing and developing the particularistic implications of '89. +Nationalism is the self-consciousness of a people, and it found its +European expression in the creation of the modern States of Germany, +Italy, Hungary, Greece, and the small Balkans. It is a race's +recognition of itself, a looking inward, and it leads to the pursuit +of racial ideals and development of racial qualities—an inward +expansion which, indifferent to the charge of chauvinism, can only be +secured by an outward discrimination. The Jew and the Christian had +changed places since medieval times: the Jew now stood for a universal +society and a universal church, and the Christian for exclusion and +separation upon racial bases. Emancipation thus brought the conflict +directly to the attention of the strong majority, namely, the +Christians, and anti-Semitism was their answer.</div> + +<p>In its restricted sense, anti-Semitism is a scientific stick used to +beat the Jewish dog with. After impartial, impersonal scientific +investigation, French and German scholars<a name="FNanchor_11_17" id="FNanchor_11_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_17" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> demonstrated the racial +inferiority of the Semite to the Aryan, enumerated the inherent +Semitic qualities as greed, special aptitude for money-making, +aversion to hard work, clannishness, obstrusiveness, lack of social +tact and of patriotism, the tendency to exploit and not to be overly +honest. Ernest Renan adequately sums up the anti-Semite position when +he claims for the Aryans all the great military, political, and +intellectual movements of history.<a name="FNanchor_12_18" id="FNanchor_12_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_18" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> The Semites never had a +comprehension of civilization in the sense in which the Aryan +understands the word; they were at no time public-spirited.<a name="FNanchor_13_19" id="FNanchor_13_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_19" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> In +fact, intolerance was the natural consequence of Semitic +monotheism.<a name="FNanchor_14_20" id="FNanchor_14_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_20" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>In the wider sense,<a name="FNanchor_15_21" id="FNanchor_15_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_21" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> anti-Semitism is the modern word for the old +and apparently ineradicable hatred of the Jew, partly dependent, as G. +F.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> Abbott well shows,<a name="FNanchor_16_22.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_22.1" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> not only upon Christian faith, but upon the +Christian frame of mind and feeling—a hatred to which the Nationalism +of the nineteenth century furnished a reasonable fuel, which found a +social expression in ostracism and rioting<a name="FNanchor_17_23.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_23.1" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> and a political +expression in the formation of the Christian Socialist Party in +Germany (1878), and similar parties in Austria and Hungary (1882-99), +seeking the suppression of equal rights for Jews, the Dreyfus affair +in France (1895), and the open, violent persecutions in Roumania—all +aimed at annulling the privileges granted by the Emancipation. +Clerical, economic, and social opposition to the Jews combined to +support the nationalistic contention summed up in the words of +Heinrich von Treitschke (Professor of History, University of Berlin): +"Die Juden sind unser Unglück."<a name="FNanchor_18_24.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_24.1" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> This essay is not concerned with +the truth of the contention; suffice that it is advanced, supported, +and acted upon.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Jewish Situation in the Four Zones</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big> REVIEW of the Jewish situation is now possible. But before +presenting this review, a definition of two words which will be +frequently used may not be irrelevant. The <i>Jewish problem</i> is taken +to mean an immediate concrete maladjustment where life and property +are imperiled, much as we speak of the Mexican problem. The <i>Jewish +position</i>, on the other hand, is taken to mean a social, cultural, or +spiritual disharmony or repression, much as we speak of the position +of the Poles in Galicia and Russia.</div> + +<p>The Jewish situation falls naturally into four geographical zones. The +first, which contains the <i>problem</i> in its most serious aspect, is +Eastern Europe, including Russia, Poland, and Roumania, where are +settled six of the twelve million Jews of the world.<a name="FNanchor_19_25.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_25.1" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> In this zone, +the Jews are for the most part maintaining medieval solidarity and +separation, are suffering from medieval repression and persecution; +but on the other hand, (and this appears to be the determining factor +in the gravity of the <i>problem</i>), the Russian Jew is by no means a +necessity to the Russian in any way similar to that in which the +medieval Jew was a necessity to the medieval Christian. The eastern +Jew is beginning to expand with the leaven of the Haskalah, and is +simultaneously strangling for lack of the release and exercise of his +powers afforded by Emancipation. The Russian and Roumanian, in what +they believe to be the preservation of Nationalism, are determined on +crippling or destroying the inimical and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> unassimilative factor in +their population; and although the Russian is politically medieval, he +is economically modern and considers himself restrained by no need of +Jewish money.<a name="FNanchor_20_26.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_26.1" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> The outcome for the Jews is economic impoverishment, +social persecution, political enslavement, and spiritual +degeneration.<a name="FNanchor_21_27.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_27.1" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<p>The second zone includes Austria, Germany, and to a minor degree +France, where are settled approximately three millions of Jews. Save +in Galicia, where political and racial turmoil is constantly giving +the Jewish situation the sombre tinge of a <i>problem</i>, the Jews are +finding themselves, for the most part, in a precarious <i>position</i>. +Nationalism demands that they surrender their racial identity and +proclivities; anti-Semitism declares upon the verdict of science that +such surrender is impossible, and substitutes repression, +assimilation, or extinction. The Jews in attempting to satisfy the +conditions by entering fully into all the activities of national life +arouse through their success only greater hostility; and the situation +becomes converted into a vicious circle.</p> + +<p>France to a large degree and England comprise the third zone, where +the Jewish <i>position</i> is identical with that of the fourth zone, the +United States, save in one important detail. The Jews in these two +zones, numbering only one-and-a-half million, have entered freely into +the national life about them, and, except for minor social +disabilities which can only make the judicious smile, have been +accorded equality, with the result that the Jew <i>qua</i> Jew is exposed +to complete assimilation. The distinction between the third and fourth +zone is that in England and France, anti-Semitism based on Nationalism +is a potentiality (though the recent Aliens Bill and Chesterton trial +would suggest that it might be more than this), whereas the open-door +theory of settlement which created the United States militates +basically against race-discrimination. The Jew of England and America +does not face persecution nor repression, but a gradual and apparently +pleasant extinction.</p> + +<p>The medieval Jew found himself a necessary, well-paying, if not +honored, guest in the households of Europe; but the day when the Jew +resolved on adopting the life and manners of his host, the host +resolved on drawing tightly the family lines. The modern Jew has +discovered it necessary either to convince the obdurate host, who +points to a scientifically certified chart of the family-tree, that he +too is of blood germane, or take himself to lodgings in the cellarage. +And yet—a third possibility here insinuates itself—why may not the +Jew set up housekeeping for himself?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Vain Effort of Reform Judaism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE medieval Jew would have accepted without hope the unfortunate +predicament; the modern Jew, nerved with a distillation of the +Revolutionary "rights of men" and confident that he was not combating +the implacability of a religious hatred, adopted expedient and +remedial measures, the chief of which, since they form the opposition +to Zionism, will be outlined.</div> + +<p>To justify Emancipation before and after it was secured, assimilative +doctrines of a peculiar type, known as Reform Judaism,<a name="FNanchor_22_28.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_28.1" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> whereby the +essentials of Jewish life were to be separated and saved, constituted +the main attempt of the Jew to demonstrate that he was a member of the +households of Europe and not an intruder. Reform Judaism began as a +result of the Haskalah by simplifying and beautifying, according to +European standards, the Orthodox religious service (Germany 1810-20), +and ended by abandoning the Messianic Restoration, the doctrine that +Israel is in exile and that the prophecies are literally to be +fulfilled. The expediency of these measures is apparent. To refute the +anti-Semitic charge of racial inferiority, the existence of the race +as a separate entity was denied, and the necessary scientific backing +has lately been secured.<a name="FNanchor_23_29.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_29.1" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> To meet the Nationalists, Israel's +national hopes were declared void, and it was strongly urged that the +basis of a modern nation is citizenship and not race.</p> + +<p>The Reformers proceeded further and maintained that the Jewish people +were themselves the Messiah, whose mission was "to spread by its +fortitude and loyalty the monotheistic truth all over the earth, and +to be an example of rectitude to all others,"<a name="FNanchor_24_30.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_30.1" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> whose goal was "not +a national Messianic State, but the realization in society of the +principles of righteousness as enunciated by the prophets;"<a name="FNanchor_25_31.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_31.1" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> +wherefore, it was not only just that they receive citizenship, but +religious duty compelled the Jew to demand it.</p> + +<p>The Jewish religion was considered the essential possession of the +Jewish people—so essential that it was to be maintained at the +sacrifice of assimilation; but nowhere is it made apparent how a +religion can be maintained without a people, how a people can be +maintained without separation, and how separation can be maintained +without abandoning the no-race, no-nation propositions. If these are +abandoned, the Jews are precisely where they began—another circle +whose viciousness is becoming obvious and is resulting in the constant +discarding of Jewish rite and form, until the religion which was to be +prized and saved is fast becoming a watery<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> Unitarianism, and its +adherents are allowing themselves, where permitted, to become +completely assimilated. Reform Judaism which began as a compromise is +ending as a surrender. The final and unanswerable objection to Reform +Judaism as a solution is that the majority of Jews will not even in +theory accept it. The devotion to race, religion, and separation is +too strong. The Gentile in asking the Jew to assimilate is undoubtedly +right; the refusal of the Jew undoubtedly is not wrong; and the ring +of true tragedy becomes audible.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Palliative Measures of Philanthropy</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>C</big>ONTEMPORARY with the unsuccessful attempt at clearing up the Jewish +<i>position</i> in western Europe, palliative measures were undertaken to +solve the <i>problem</i> in eastern Europe. In 1860 the Alliance Israelite +Universelle was founded at Paris with the following purposes in +chief:<a name="FNanchor_26_32.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_32.1" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>1. To work everywhere for the emancipation and moral +progress of the Jew.</p> + +<p>2. To give effectual support to those who are +suffering persecution because they are Jews. </p></div> + +<p>The Alliance began by distributing pamphlets and calling the attention +of western governments to eastern injustice; it gradually, however, +undertook practical work. Influenced by Rabbi Kalischer, religious +enthusiast, a farm school (Mikveh Israel) was established at Jaffa; +and after the Russian persecutions of 1880-82, active colonization for +the relief of refugees became the chief work, in which the Alliance +received substantial aid from Baron de Rothschild. Meanwhile Baron de +Hirsch, another philanthropist of international proportions, dedicated +millions to the foundation of colonies in Argentine and Palestine. In +the latter place the Hirsch activities were incorporated under the +title of the Jewish Colonization Association ("IKA", 1891), working in +harmony of aim with the Alliance and with still a third movement—one +more of the people—styled Chovevei-Zion (Lovers of Zion). The only +activities of the Chovevei-Zion, a general term attached to small and +ardent semi-affiliated societies throughout Europe and America, with +which we are here concerned are the philanthropic; and their services +in this respect were haphazard and negligible.<a name="FNanchor_27_33.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_33.1" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> + +<p>To cast up briefly the sum of practical work accomplished by 1898: 94 +schools in Asia and Africa,<a name="FNanchor_28_34.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_34.1" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> and 25 colonies in Palestine +supporting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> 5,000 Jews.<a name="FNanchor_29_35.1"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_35.1" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> Such philanthropy is to be considered an +attempt, however valiant and noble, to empty the sea with a pail—with +a leaking pail.</p> + +<p>Thus, upon a review of the situation, three alternatives present +themselves: (1) Maintenance of the <i>status quo</i> with its dull round of +persecution and degradation on one hand, and the soul-destroying life +in the Fool's Paradise of Reform Judaism on the other; (2) +Amalgamation with the surrounding peoples—a grim race-suicide; (3) +Re-establishment of a national center where, perhaps not the entire +people, but a remnant can be saved.</p> + +<div class='center'> +(<i>To be concluded</i>)<br /> +</div> + + +<div class="bbox2"><i><big>A</big>S Greece stands for art and Rome stands for law and +order, so Judaea stands for morality, and so it +occupies an exalted position in history. The Menorah +Society comes to the University with a challenge and +defies us to ignore at our peril that which Judaism +has contributed to civilization and which we have +derived from it. We have derived our own religion from +it, and that spirit of Puritanism which was so closely +connected with the settlement of the new +world.</i>—<i>From an Address before the Cornell Menorah +Society by President Jacob Gould Schurman of Cornell +University.</i> </div> +<p><br /><br/></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_7.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_7.1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>Psalm</i> 79.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_8.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_8.1"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>Der Judenstaat</i> (Vienna, 1906); English translation, +edited by J. de Haas.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_9.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_9.1"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Theodor Herzl, "The Zionist Congress," <i>Contemporary +Review</i>, v. 27, p. 587.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_10" id="Footnote_4_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_10"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> I. Abrahams, <i>Jewish Life in the Middle Ages</i> +(Philadelphia, 1897), p. 49.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_11" id="Footnote_5_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_11"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Jacob S. Raisin, <i>The Haskalah Movement</i> (Philadelphia, +1913), p. 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_12" id="Footnote_6_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_12"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> James H. Robinson, <i>History of Western Europe</i> (Boston, +1904, 2 vols.), vol. 1, p. 246. Addison & Steele, <i>The Spectator</i> +(London, 1823), No. 495, p. 710.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_13" id="Footnote_7_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_13"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> L. Zunz, <i>The Sufferings of the Jews During the Middle +Ages</i> (New York, 1907).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_14" id="Footnote_8_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_14"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> S. M. Dubnow, <i>Jewish History</i> (Philadelphia, 1903), p. +156.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_15" id="Footnote_9_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_15"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Lady Magnus, <i>Outlines of Jewish History</i> (London, 1888), +p. 301 et seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_16" id="Footnote_10_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_16"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Raisin, <i>The Haskalah Movement</i>, Chap. III.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_17" id="Footnote_11_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_17"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> S. Phillippson, <i>Weltbegerende Fragen</i> (Leipsic, 1868) +Edouard Drumont, <i>La France Juive</i> (Paris, 1886).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_18" id="Footnote_12_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_18"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Ernest Renan, <i>Études d'Histoire Religieuse</i> (Paris, +1862), p. 85.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_19" id="Footnote_13_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_19"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, p. 88.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_20" id="Footnote_14_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_20"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, p. 87.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_21" id="Footnote_15_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_21"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> H. Graetz, <i>History of the Jews</i> (Philadelphia, 1891), 5 +vols., vol. V., p. 318 et seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_22.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_22.1"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> G. F. Abbott, "The Jewish Problem," <i>Fortnightly +Review</i>, vol. 93, p. 742.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_23.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_23.1"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> <i>The Jewish Encyclopedia</i> (New York, 1901, 10 vols.), +under "Anti-Semitism."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_24.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_24.1"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <i>Idem.</i> and <i>ibid.</i>, quoting from Preussiche Jahrbücher, +1879.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_25.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_25.1"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> <i>American Jewish Year Book</i> (Philadelphia, 1913-14), p. +215.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_26.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_26.1"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Arnold White, "Europe and the Jews," <i>Contemporary +Review</i>, vol. 72, p. 738.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_27.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_27.1"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> American Jewish Year Book, 1906-07, p. 24-90. Tables +showing, for period of 3 years in Russia (1903-06), 254 pogroms, in +which 3,973 Jews were killed and 14,034 wounded. C. R. Conder, +"Zionists," <i>Blackwood</i>, vol. 163, p. 598, states on authority of Dr. +Farbstein that 70 per cent. of Galician Jews are beggars and 50 per +cent. of Russian Jews are paupers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_28.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_28.1"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> <i>Jewish Encyclopedia</i> under "Reform Judaism."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_29.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_29.1"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Maurice Fishberg, "The Jews" (New York, 1911).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_30.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_30.1"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <i>Jewish Encyclopedia</i> under "Reform Judaism."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_31.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_31.1"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <i>Idem.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_32.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_32.1"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <i>Jewish Encyclopedia</i> under "Alliance Israelite +Universelle."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_33.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_33.1"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Cohen, <i>Zionist Work in Palestine</i>, p. 157.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_34.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_34.1"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <i>Idem.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_35.1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_35.1"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, under "Agricultural Colonies in Palestine."</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> +<h2>The Third Annual Convention of the Menorah Societies</h2> + + +<h3>I. The Public Meeting</h3> + +<div class='unindent'><i><big>T</big>HE Third Annual Convention of the Intercollegiate Menorah +Association was held at the University of Cincinnati, in the city of +Cincinnati, on Wednesday and Thursday, December 23 and 24, 1914. The +third session, on Wednesday evening, was a public meeting in the +University auditorium. Abraham J. Feldman, President of the University +of Cincinnati Menorah Society, formally welcomed the convention, and +introduced Chancellor Henry Hurwitz as the Chairman of the evening. +Mayor F. S. Spiegel brought the greetings and welcome of the city of +Cincinnati. Dean Joseph E. Harry extended a welcome in behalf of the +University, and Dr. Kaufman Kohler, President of Hebrew Union College, +welcomed the convention in behalf of his institution and of the Jewish +community. Professor I. Leo Sharfman of the University of Michigan, +President of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, spoke on "The +Menorah Movement," and Dr. H. M. Kallen of the University of Wisconsin +delivered an address on "The Jews and the War." For the substance of +Dr. Kallen's address see his article on <a href="#Page_79">page 79</a>. The other speakers +spoke in part as follows:</i></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Dean J. E. Harry</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N behalf of the University of Cincinnati, I bid you welcome. I +confess that I can agree with the statement made in your declaration +of the nature and purpose of the Menorah Societies, that modern +civilization is chiefly a product of three ancient cultures, or to be +more exact, I should prefer to say two, since the Roman is but a +continuation of the Greek, and we cannot understand ourselves without +understanding and having direct reference to the character and work of +both the Greek and the Hebrew minds.</div> + +<p>Two principal elements have entered into the spiritual life of the +modern world. The past and the present are one and inseparable, and +you cannot destroy the former without doing positive damage to the +latter. The roots of our civilization lie in the soil of antiquity, +and you cannot destroy and disentangle the fibers of the growing tree +of civilization from the far-off centuries that are gone, without +injuring the whole organism. "If we were to wipe out all the records +of the past, what a series of inexplicable riddles would our own +history present, and if we were to blot out entirely every reference +to ancient writers, or were to blow away all the perfume that has been +shaken down from the vestments of those writers, how blurred and how +scentless would the fairest and most fragrant pages of our own great +poets and historians appear!"</p> + +<p>What we need to-day, what our country needs more than anything else, +is thorough, really liberally educated men, and not merely men who are +supposed by the general public to be educated, simply because they +have passed through a college, because in some quarters the business +of education has, alas, fallen into the hands of men who are not +themselves liberally educated; and so as an ardent advocate of the +humanities, with hope that the Intercollegiate Menorah Association +will contribute to the laying of greater stress upon the value of the +study of the humanities in our college curriculum,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> I bid you +God-speed, and again extend to you the cordial greetings of the +University of Cincinnati.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Dr. Kaufman Kohler</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> DO not know whether you have observed that Cincinnati is somewhat +akin to the city of Rome as well as to the holy city of Jerusalem—it +is a city with many hills. On this hill here, facing one another for +friendly and harmonious coöperation, the two institutions of learning +in which we especially, the Jewish community, take particular +pride—the University of Cincinnati, which so prominently and in ever +expanding proportion stands for the humanities, for classical culture, +for the professional and scientific branches of secular knowledge, and +on the other hand, the Hebrew Union College, which stands for the +mother religion of civilized humanity and for the progressive spirit +of Judaism and of Americanism. In this rather insignificant incident +the Jewish community may well find a great principle expressed. With +his face towards the East from which issues the light of day, where +was cradled the faith of Israel, the Jew, ever beholding in classical +wisdom and knowledge the sister of his faith, proceeded with the +westward march of civilization in order to make religion, by the +reason and research of the ages, a great, progressive power, ever +regenerating his spiritual heritage and rejuvenating that religion of +his own as it goes on through the centuries.</div> + +<p>This fact, however, of a continual intellectual and spiritual progress +of Judaism, is altogether too rarely recognized by the surrounding +Christian world, even by its men of light and leading or by its seats +of learning, because the New Testament is looked upon by altogether +too many as the death warrant of the Old Testament, as if the sun of +civilization had stood still over Israel ever since its seers and +singers and sages of yore voiced the Divine message. Nor does the +Jewish man of culture and college training as a rule appreciate the +wondrous achievements of the Jewish genius since the very dawn of +history until our day, in the whole domain of learning and science, or +of ethical and religious culture.</p> + +<p>It is therefore a highly laudable endeavor undertaken by the +Intercollegiate Menorah Association to arouse the dormant spirit of +self-respect in the academic Jewish youth, to stir in him the ambition +to study and know this matchless history and literature, and to kindle +in his soul anew that idealism which made the Jew throughout all the +ages endure and brave the onslaughts of the empires and churches and +the persecuting mobs, so that even to-day he is as young and as +vigorous as any of the youngest races and nations in the world.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Importance of Israel's Religion</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HIS past, I say, cannot but appeal to every high-minded American, +whether Christian or Jew, and your study of it will certainly meet +with our warmest support and encouragement. Only, in my opinion, one +thing you need, young as your association is, young in years and young +in experience, and that is, a full comprehension and keen realization +of the subject you have in view and a wise and right direction towards +it. No one doubts or questions the sincerity of your motives or the +praiseworthiness of your aims and purposes when you place on your +program the study of Jewish history, culture and problems, and the +advancement of Jewish ideals, but you omit that which is most +essential, which is the all-encompassing force and factor of Jewish +life, the real, peculiar and genuine product of the Jewish +genius—religion. We have got a religion which, as has been put by +Matthew Arnold, has fashioned four-fifths of the world's civilization. +In omitting the idea, as expressed by Matthew Arnold, of the power +that maketh for righteousness, in declaring your movement as being +altogether non-religious, you run the risk of making of your endeavor +an inevitable and certain failure.<a name="FNanchor_G_36" id="FNanchor_G_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_36" class="fnanchor">[G]</a> Let me quote to you from an +address delivered recently before a Jewish society<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> in London on +"Israel and Medicine" by Professor Osler, sentences that are +remarkable and worth repeating. He says:</div> + +<p>"In estimating the position of Israel in the human values, one must +remember that the quest for righteousness is Oriental, the quest for +knowledge, Occidental. With the great prophets of the East—Moses, +Isaiah, Mahomet [he might have included Jesus of Nazareth], the word +was 'Thus saith the Lord.' With the seers of the West, from Aristotle +to Darwin, it was 'What says nature?' Modern civilization is the +outcome of the two great movements of the mind of man, who is to-day +ruled in heart and head by Israel and by Greece. From the one he has +learned responsibility to a Supreme Being and love for his neighbor, +in which are embraced the law and the prophets. From the other he has +gathered the promise of Eden, to have dominion over the earth in which +he lives."</p> + +<p>Now let me add to this that whatever the Jew claims or possesses of +culture he has borrowed from the nations and civilizations around him, +whether it be architecture, the art or the mode of writing, philosophy +and science, the modes of social and industrial life, all of which he +has taken and assimilated into his own life.</p> + +<p>Not so with his religious truth. This is all his own, his peculiar and +genuine contribution to humanity. Thereby he has given human life its +eternal value, its purpose, its goal and hope for all time.</p> + +<p>Now it seems to me that you may as well expect of the blind to depict +for you his impressions of the prismatic glories of the rainbow, or of +the deaf to orate on the beauties of a Beethoven symphony, as to +expect of one who lacks the sense of religion, the spirit of faith, to +expound, or even to understand, the ideals of the Jew, whose history +throughout the past was but one continuous glorification of the only +one God, by the master works of its hundreds and thousands of men of +learning and the unparalleled martyrdom of the whole people, and whose +future is humanity made one by the belief in the only one God and +Father. Therefore, let me give you, delegates and members of the +Intercollegiate Menorah Association, the advice to continue as you +started, as an academic, cosmopolitan association, yet at the same +time let it be linked to the synagogue of each city as the center of +the faith. Let your watch-word be true to the symbol of <ins title="Transliteration: kumi uri">קומי אורי</ins> +"arise and shine," and give light to all the nations. Let your +inspiration and your power of enlightening the world ever come fresh +from the sanctuary of faith, as of yore, and you will not only be all +the more honored for this loyalty to the spirit of the past and the +spirit of the American people which is religious, but the sweetest +delight that comes from the classic world of beauty will reflect only +the brighter light of the holiness, the beauty of holiness, that comes +from Israel's one God.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Prof. I. Leo Sharfman</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>E want all that is worthy in the Jewish past to be made a potent +force in the American life of the present. You men and women who are +students at our universities cannot perform your full duty to your +universities unless you add to the richness of the university life, to +the variety of its content, to its genuineness and versatility. And in +the larger American community we Jews cannot perform our full duty +unless we place at the disposal of our country the best fruits of the +Jewish spirit. Our Menorah allegiance, then, rests on the foundation +of Americanism. And insofar as, through the Menorah movement, we are +succeeding in uniting by a common bond men and women who have been +brought up under a great variety of circumstances and conditions, we +are increasing the democratic spirit of our universities and of the +larger life beyond the academic gates. Within the universities, too, +the broadening effect of the Menorah idea is not limited to the +student body. I can bear witness from personal experience that the +university authorities, both faculty members and administrative +officers, are not merely tolerating, or even mildly accepting, the +work of our Menorah Societies in their midst, but are themselves being +led to a better understanding of the place which the Jewish problem +occupies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> in the larger problem of their universities and of the +American community for whose service they are training the youth of +the land.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Menorah and Religion</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> HAVE said that the aim of the Menorah movement is the study and +advancement of Hebraic culture and ideals. The culture of a people is +but the permanent expression of its ideals in the various activities +of life. Religion constitutes one of the most important of human +activities, and we in the Menorah Societies are fully cognizant of its +fundamental importance. Indeed, we recognize that the ideals of the +Jewish people are perhaps expressed more truly, more profoundly, more +eloquently in our religious literature than in any other manifestation +of the Jewish genius. We should not be charged with excluding +religion, merely because we aim to include more than religion in our +purposes and activities.</div> + +<p>I happen at the present time to be teaching at the University of +Michigan, at Ann Arbor. We have there a Menorah Society, devoted to +the general object to which all our Menorah Societies are devoted. We +listen to speakers and engage in discussions on Jewish history, Jewish +literature, Jewish religion, and current Jewish social, economic and +political problems. Side by side with the Menorah Society there exists +a Jewish Student Congregation, a body of men and women of which I feel +it a privilege to have been one of the organizers and to be a member +at the present time, which devotes itself entirely to religious +activity, to regular weekly worship. The two organizations do not +conflict in any way. It is significant that about ninety-five per +cent, if not more, of the members of the Michigan Menorah Society +attend regularly the services of the Jewish Student Congregation. +Unfortunately, not so large a percentage of the members of the +congregation attend the meetings or are members of the Michigan +Menorah Society. In the course of time, the relationship between the +two organizations will doubtless be adjusted more satisfactorily. But +in the experience at Michigan we have a concrete illustration of the +spur to religion which Menorah men derive from their participation in +Menorah work.</p> + +<p>The ideal of the Menorah Societies is a non-partisan ideal. We do not +stand for Zionism or anti-Zionism; we do not urge the acceptance of +reform Judaism or conservative Judaism or orthodox Judaism; we do not +favor the German Jew as against the Russian Jew, or vice versa, nor do +we appeal to one social class as against another. We want the Menorah +ideal to be broad enough to include every Jew. We do not exclude +religion as such from the scope of our interests; we but exclude any +insistence upon a particular sect or branch or kind of Judaism. We +avoid all partisan activity which may tend to disorganize our Jewish +students, which may tend to divide them. That is all.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>A Plea for Tolerance</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> BELIEVE that what we need in our universities, what we need in the +Jewish community, is more insistence upon Judaism and more light upon +the inspiration which Judaism can bring us, and less insistence upon +the particular kind of Judaism which you or I or some one else may +consider the acme of truth. Indifference to religion and not error in +religion is the great danger of these modern times. If we really want +religion, if we want to stir again the Jew's traditional passion for +religion, if we want to inspire once more the Jew's genius for +religion, let us try to understand all aspects and all manifestations +of it, let us bend our efforts to a renaissance of religious +influence. The future of the Jew in this country will not be +determined by the theories or the practices of any one group or sect +of Jews. The result will be a composite result, to which the reform +Jew and the Zionist, the orthodox Jew and the anti-Zionist, will alike +contribute. Let us leave it to the growing generation to determine for +itself the content of the theory of life best suited to the future +destiny of the Jew. At least, within our university walls let us be +tolerant, let us be liberal-minded, let us listen to and understand +every man's point of view.</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Mr. Hurwitz</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N the free and honest expression of adverse views which we have heard +to-night, this, indeed, has been a characteristic Menorah meeting. It +may fittingly be closed by a word from one of our staunchest friends, +one of our staunchest friends because he is an ardent and +public-spirited Jew and a patriotic American, Justice Irving Lehman of +the Supreme Court of the State of New York, the Chairman of the +Graduate Menorah Committee. He addresses this word to the convention:</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I am very sorry that I am unable to attend the +convention of the Association this year. I feel that +during the past year we have made some progress upon +which you have reason to congratulate yourselves, but +we must remember that our movement is still far from +having the force and power which I think it deserves. +We have a great and difficult task to perform if we +are to succeed in bringing back to the Jewish youth a +pride in their Jewish heritage and a knowledge of +their Jewish past, and I know that such work is worthy +of all effort. I trust that your convention may +possess the spirit and the wisdom necessary to further +the work, and I wish to renew to you my assurance of +willing co-operation."</p></div> + + +<h3>II. The Luncheon</h3> + +<div class='unindent'><i><big>T</big>HE fifth session of the Convention was a luncheon in the Hotel +Gibson, attended by the delegates, university students and graduates +in Cincinnati, and members of the Faculties of the University of +Cincinnati and the Hebrew Union College. Prof. I. Leo Sharfman, +President of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, was the +Toastmaster. Chancellor Hurwitz spoke for five minutes upon the +purposes and progress of the Menorah movement. President Abraham J. +Feldman of the University of Cincinnati Menorah Society expressed +gratification at the honor accorded to his Menorah Society by the +Convention and appealed to the graduates and prominent members of the +community present for support in the work of the Cincinnati Menorah +Society. The other speakers were Dean Joseph E. Harry of the +University of Cincinnati, Dr. Moses Barron, Representative from the +University of Minnesota, Dr. Louis Grossmann of Hebrew Union College, +Dr. Samuel Iglauer, graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Walter +M. Shohl, graduate of Harvard University, Dr. Kaufman Kohler, +President of Hebrew Union College, Prof. Julian Morgenstern of Hebrew +Union College, Dr. H. M. Kallen of the University of Wisconsin, and +Dr. David Philipson of Hebrew Union College. Following are somewhat +abridged reports of the speeches:</i></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Dean J. E. Harry</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> DID not know that I was going to be called upon today, or I should +certainly have tried to fortify myself, as the old darky in Virginia +said when his master sent him down to another part of the plantation +to see if the rebels were fortifying the place: "Massa, they am not +only fortyfying it; they am fiftyfying it!"</div> + +<p>I am glad that our Chancellor here to my right said that the speeches +were to be brief. I think that an after-dinner speaker who makes a +long speech ought to have about the same punishment that the member of +parliament mentioned when he introduced a bill, "The only way to stop +suicide is to make it a capital offense, punishable by death."</p> + +<p>But I have always tried to avoid redundancy of expression. I would +never say a "wealthy plumber," nor a "poor poet," nor for that matter +a "poor professor."</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Vessels of wrath, we pedagogues"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Vessels of wrath, we pedagogues;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Better we were dead,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Who, by the wrath of Peleus' son,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Must earn our daily bread."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Nor would I say an "interesting Menorah Association meeting." That +they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> are interesting goes without saying, if we can judge from the +one we had last night.</p> + +<p>I am exceedingly interested in real culture, and being an American, +and knowing, as I do, what the Jews in America can do for the +advancement of learning, of knowledge and of the humanities, I am +interested in the Menorah movement, which will tend to bring this +about; and it is when we reflect upon the war in Europe today, with +all its sickening horrors and what that means to culture (we can +hardly comprehend it yet), what an obstacle to learning, that we may +exclaim with that old bibliophile, Richard de Bury:</p> + +<p>"O pacis auctor et amator altissime! dissipa gentes bella volentes quæ +super omnes pestilentias libris nocent."</p> + +<p>And by "libris" he meant culture.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Dr. Moses Barron</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>M</big>INNESOTA brings its greeting to the Intercollegiate Menorah +Association as one of the very earliest Menorah Societies. It was +really originated in 1903, when a handful of students in the +University found it desirable to satisfy certain longings by taking up +the study of Jewish history and literature. Some of us had found that +it was of little avail to cry over the ashes of the past, and we +thought that it would be much more proper to try and study the +history, the literature, the ideals of the past for the inspiration to +be found there, which might better fit us to cope with the problems of +the present and the future. Our Society has grown from a mere handful +to an enthusiastic company, so that we have from fifty to +seventy-five, and even a hundred, attending our regular meetings. I +give this fact simply to show what a profound influence the work of +the Menorah has been, what an influence it necessarily must have in +the future, in promulgating Jewish culture, Jewish thought and ideals.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Dr. Louis Grossmann</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> AM reminded by our Chairman of the time when he was still a student +at Harvard, in the earliest days of the Menorah movement, when I +addressed the Menorah Society there. It was in the room of the +Chancellor, unless I am mistaken, and there were a number of students. +They were grouped about, some in chairs, some sitting on the floor, +some perched on window sills, while others improvised seats on the +furniture. I felt myself patriarchal in the midst of these young men. +It was a remarkable scene and it was a remarkably helpful evening, +helpful and refreshing to me. The pulses of youth always beat high and +I caught the elation of it. Who would not have been touched by it? +Some of these young men have since become leaders in thought and +action, and I am not surprised.</div> + +<p>Let me make a confession as to that evening. I not only felt a thrill +but made also some observations. These young men had their ideals, but +they had also their difficulties. And they spoke of them. We had an +exchange of thought and of candor such as comes to a man in the +ministry and to a teacher of students but rarely. They told me of +their doubts. Young men, serious young minds, always will have their +doubts. They want to earn their convictions. I hope the day will never +come when young men will not insist on seeing things. These young men +were quick-witted and ready with repartee and counter-argument, and I +saw in each eye a glint of an ideal. The debate was strong, but the +ideals were stronger.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Power of Ideals</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>DEALS are pulses that beat in their own way. An ideal is a fact of +the soul; it is more than a definition or an argument. An ideal is +always very certain and nobody wants to disprove it, nor can.</div> + +<p>I notice the Menorah Association has for its aim the cultivation of +ideals. It is natural that young men, with red blood in them, should +hold dear the precious dreams of what might and should be. As I look +upon ideals now, through the perspective of years, I see they have +both strength as well as limitations. But I know that, however much +life and experience challenges them, they are the best force in us. I +respect and value them so much that I deplore the waste of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> least +of them. An ideal is a moral ambition, a great wish of a true, even if +a bit naive, soul. And it should have the right of way.</p> + +<p>Every work in life implies stern necessity and a fine wish. I am +reminded of a bridge in Berlin which the Germans have built with +inimitable art and truth. There are four groups, each at a corner. On +one an elderly man stands erect and writing. It is History, stern and +real. At his side stands a boy, lithe and graceful. There are ideals +just as much as Law in the affairs of men. On the other side of the +bridge stands another symbol of the two forces in Life: a man carrying +a bundle, a bent man, who has borne the brunt of the pioneer days, and +next to him also a youth. Commerce, however sordid, still implies +morality and the generous side of man. On the third side stands the +solemn figure of Religion, sober and haggard, the symbol of Faith and +martyrdom. And the young man, next to it, seems sprightly and strong. +Why must Religion be interpreted as dispensing comfort alone? Should +it not also give strength and joy? In the last corner stands +Pestalozzi, the teacher, and a boy looks up into his kind face. We +crave for action and capability more than for knowledge and facts. And +we crave for love more than for truth, and the real truth brings +affections and enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>In the meetings of your Association you speak often of ideals, you +speak of them fervently. But ideals are not merely academic. They are +personal. An ideal becomes yourself, if it is yours at all. It is a +dynamic force within you. It pervades your whole being. It is an +unseen but a very telling strength. It directs you, and it sends you +on your errand of life. You cannot rest satisfied merely to know your +ideal and to speculate about it. It is the engine of warfare in your +career. Study ideals, not to contemplate and analyze, but to emulate +them and to fill yourself with them. You have work to do. And work is +more insistent than philosophy. You have work to do which no one else +can do for you, or may do for you. An ideal is your Self at the +highest power.</p> + +<p>You with fresh energies, you with the clear eye of healthy youth, you +with unoppressed hearts, you at the beginning of life, you should go +at your work splendidly, directly, forcefully. The real idealist is a +man of action, of untiring activity. Do things and you verify what you +plan. You have the privilege of youth. Have also the pride of youth. +Keep it sweet, but keep it also strong.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Dr. Samuel Iglauer</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Menorah Society appeals to me as a college graduate not only for +many of its positive virtues but also for some of its negative merits. +It is not in any sense a social organization, and above all it is not +a secret society. Now I have my own peculiar views about secret +societies in universities, and I do not believe that they tend to +promote college spirit and college unity. It has been well said that +in these societies those who are in any particular societies are +brothers, while every one else who belongs to another society, or to +no society whatever, is just a step-brother. To my mind that is not a +good spirit in an American institution.</div> + +<p>It seems to me that, having in this city a Hebrew Union College with a +gifted faculty, we should establish at our University a Department of +Semitics. Since the University is a public school, an institution +supported by public taxation, it certainly could not affiliate +directly with a sectarian institution, but I see no reason why the +professors in the Hebrew College, if they are not already overworked +like the students, should not be able to conduct courses at the +University itself, and I believe such courses would promote the +Menorah movement more than anything else you could do. I think you +would attract students from far and wide to the University of +Cincinnati, and you would thereby achieve one of the ends for which +you are working.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Mr. Walter M. Shohl</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is gratifying to me to attend this meeting of the Menorah, because, +as the Chairman has said, I heard the flapping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> of the wings of the +stork at its birth. I recall very well the preliminary meetings that +we had when the organization of the Menorah Society at Cambridge was +first spoken of. At that time I was one of the doubters; I held back. +There were in Cambridge a number of societies, social primarily, that +did not desire members of our faith among their number. I felt that a +movement which was composed entirely of Jewish men would be mistaken +for an effort at a Jewish fraternity that was to take the place of the +fraternities in which we were not welcome. The other men, however, +felt that we could have a society the purposes of which had nothing to +do with social matters, and that we could bring out all that was good +in Jewish matters of culture and develop a society to promote those +interests. So at first somewhat reluctantly, I joined in with the +movement, and the result has justified their farsightedness, and I am +sorry now that I was only a "trailer" in the beginning.</div> + +<p>The position of the Menorah movement and what it stands for calls to +mind a story that was told in Montreal a couple of years ago by Lord +Haldane, who came to America to attend a meeting of the American Bar +Association. A part of the story was recited in verse (which I do not +recall exactly) and had to do with an Englishman who was taken +prisoner in one of the countries of the Far East, and was offered his +choice between conversion to the religion of his captors or death. He +was a man who had no particular religious feelings; he was not +religious when at home. However, he felt that first and foremost he +was an Englishman and that if he were to do anything base it would +reflect upon all those ideals which were so dear to him, and therefore +he cast in his lot and chose against the change of religion. So, too, +with some of us who perhaps are not religious in a formal way; the +realization of the great things that have been accomplished in the +past by Jews, the Jewish historical background, is in itself a shield +to us, and the realization of what Judaism is and stands for must act +to prevent us from doing something that would be unworthy of +ourselves and of the religion of which we are a part.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Dr. Kaufman Kohler</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HIS comes rather unawares, but I wish to be very brief in stating +that, while I listened to the very interesting and suggestive remarks +that were made all along this table, and also on recalling what we +heard last night, I feel glad, after all, from the point of view of +the Hebrew Union College, that the Intercollegiate Menorah Association +has come here to make propaganda for its work, at the same time +receiving perhaps new direction and new ideas about the work they have +so nobly begun. The fact that the work—started, as we heard, at +Harvard in 1906—has made such progress shows that at least there was +something in the young Jewish student at the colleges that called for +the creation of such an association and such kind of work. Perhaps I +may say that those who had their misgivings as to the tendencies of +the Menorah Association are now at least informed that some of these +misgivings or suspicions were not well founded. I personally will say +that I had the impression that there was too much of nationalism or +Zionism behind the movement, and that the movement was not, from the +point of view of the Hebrew Union College or my humble self, one +deserving encouragement and support. I have learned to change some of +my views and some of my impressions as to the purpose and intention of +this movement. There is a well-known quotation, for those who know a +little German:</div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Das sind die Weisen"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Das sind die Weisen,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Die vom Irrtum zur Wahrheit reisen;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Das sind die Narren,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Die beim Irrtum beharren."</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>I am not one of those who insist on views once maintained though later +found faulty. I am rather ready to change my views, especially after +what I heard today from my honored neighbor (Prof. I. L. Sharfman) and +from what he said last night that the religious idea of Judaism is not +ignored but is held in view.</p> + +<p>All Jews who are Jews must believe that Judaism stands for an +uncompromising<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> monotheistic truth, while the world around us has +compromised the same. Therefore we, as Jews, must always insist upon +the maintenance of the pure monotheistic idea for which we suffered +and struggled, and for which our fathers died. We must maintain this +as the mainstay and vital principle of Judaism. For this very reason, +and for no other, we insist, especially from the point of view of a +Jewish theological college, that this idea of a pure Jewish religion, +the pure monotheistic idea, must be held unshakenly and without any +change or any concession. And for that very reason we could not and +will not say that race is everything. We cannot admit that a pure race +is the best, and that a pure Jew is he who has maintained solely +everything Jewish and not allowed the Greek culture to be assimilated +in order to sublimate and spiritualize and idealize the truth +inherited. For Ruppin and the Nationalists who follow him, the poor +Jews, the ghetto Jews, of Russia who speak Yiddish and live only an +exclusive narrow life, are <i>five-fifths</i> Jews, while the Jews in free +and civilized lands are only half Jews. Now against this, we of the +Hebrew Union College, we who represent progressive or reformed +Judaism, must protest. We must insist that the Jewish race, the Jewish +people or nation, if you want to call it so, can form only the body; +Judaism, the Jewish religion, is the soul. And we will always stand +not merely for the body, not merely for the material side, not merely +for race, which is the lowest kind of life, but for the spirit, the +soul of Judaism, and that is its religious truth.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Prof. Julian Morgenstern</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> BELIEVE that it is one of the positive aims of the Menorah Society +to recognize the Jewish side of much that enters, or should enter, +into our daily life, to develop our full consciousness of all that is +essentially and fundamentally Jewish, and thus enable us to live +positive and constructive Jewish lives. It is a noble aim, to which I +unrestrictedly subscribe. Whenever I hear public speakers or writers +pat Jews and Judaism on the back, and patronizingly tell us, "Oh, you +Jews are all right," I am, as no doubt most of us are, deeply +chagrined, to use a mild expression. What we want is not that others +should appreciate us and tell us that we are all right. What we want, +and what we need, is that we should appreciate ourselves and that we +should take ourselves seriously and at our full value. Not that we +should over-appreciate ourselves and think ourselves alone the salt of +the earth. There is such a thing as over-appreciation that must in the +end lead to futility and vanity. But equally, there is such a thing as +self-depreciation, and to a certain extent I cannot but feel that we +Jews have been more or less guilty of that in the past, have more or +less, particularly in our college and university life, assumed a +deprecating attitude, apologizing as it were for our existence as +Jews, and, probably unconsciously, have kept the fact of our Judaism +in the background, and suffered our education and our culture to +influence almost everything but our Jewish knowledge and our Jewish +life.</div> + +<p>For right appreciation, which shall be neither over-appreciation nor +under-appreciation, but true appreciation, based upon a correct +estimation of all essentials, the first requisite is knowledge, +thorough knowledge of all conditions, forces and influences. And the +second requisite is pride, pride in this knowledge and in the object +of this knowledge. And this, translated into the Menorah language, +means, as I understand it, correct knowledge of Judaism, of our Jewish +history, our Jewish past, our Jewish heritage, our Jewish religion, +and pride in all this Judaism—a knowledge and pride that alone can +enable us to know what Judaism truly is, and what its work and its +mission for the present and the future must be, that alone can enable +us to live positively and constructively as Jews and perpetuate our +Judaism for the blessing of ourselves, our children, and all mankind. +So I interpret the Menorah movement. And I heartily welcome such a +movement, whose aim is the awakening of our Jewish college young men +and women to a wholesome and genuine appreciation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> of themselves, of +the Jewish side of their lives, of their Jewish consciousness and +Jewish obligations, of the full meaning and responsibility imposed +upon them by their subscribing to the name Jew, and their adherence to +the religion of our fathers. We must look to our college-bred Jewish +men and women to become the guiding spirits in our Judaism of +to-morrow and of all the future. And I say, "Thank God for any +movement that must surely lead to this goal."</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Dr. H. M. Kallen</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>S</big>INCE this seems to be the occasion for reminiscence, I want to take +the liberty of recalling for you an episode of the formation of the +Menorah Society at Harvard. It turned on the question of the right +form of stating the object of the Society and you will remember +perhaps that the object is stated in these terms: "The Harvard Menorah +Society for the study and advancement of Hebraic culture and +ideals"—not Jewish, not Judaistic, but Hebraic. The persons who +agitated the use of the term Hebraic had certain very definite +literary and historic and social relationships in mind.</div> + +<p>To begin with, the word Judaism, in the English language, stands +exclusively for a religion. It is co-ordinate with the word +Christianity, the word Buddhism, the word Zoroastrianism, with any +word that stands exclusively for a religion. Now in the history of the +Jewish people, there was a time when Judaism did not exist, and if I +understand the gentlemen who represent the Reform sect correctly—I +speak under correction—the intention of the Reform movement is a +reversion in fact to the religious attitude of the pre-Judaistic +period in the history of the religion of the Jewish people. It is +"prophetic" or "progressive Judaism" for which they stand, I gather, +in contrast with the "Talmudical Judaism," of the larger orthodox +sect. But the period of the great prophets is not the period of +Judaism, and strictly speaking, the term Judaism excludes the +prophetic element as an active force in Jewish life. This is +significant, and to me the significance seems tremendous, for so far +as my personal sympathies are concerned they go entirely with the +prophetic aspects of Judaism, or better, of Hebraism.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Hebraism and Judaism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>H</big>EBRAISM and Judaism are words now in the English language and their +usage is determined for us entirely by the writers who become +authoritative either by their style or through the weight of their +opinion, and this usage has given the term Hebraism a meaning such +that it stands for the entire spirit of the Jew, not only in religion +but in all that is Jewish; in English the term Hebraism covers the +total biography of the Jewish soul, while the term Judaism stands only +for a portion of it. Now the Jewish soul is the important thing, but +no one has ever met a soul without a body (at least the people who +claim they have met it are still required, for belief, to show +evidence more than they have thus far shown); generally speaking, soul +and body are co-ordinate and mutually imply each other. You cannot +have one without the other. This is even more the case when you are +dealing not with an individual but with a people. Hence it is the +history of the Jewish body-politic with which Hebraism and its +components, including Judaism, co-ordinate.</div> + +<p>For this reason the gentlemen who stated the object of the Society in +the constitution of the Harvard Menorah Society were compelled to take +into consideration the following historic fact: There was a time in +the history of mankind when religion and life were coincident. You +know that the prophets were reformers. The orthodox religion which +they fought was the religion of the land. They were progressive +religionists, just as the gentlemen who are in the Reform sect to-day +claim to be progressive religionists. When they established their +religion, <i>it</i> became the religion of the whole nationality, for all +ancient religion is national religion. Religion for the Greeks, and +religion for the Jews, and religion for the Syrians, and for the +Babylonians, and the Romans, was essentially<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> national and political, +and the political nationalism of religion in the time of the Roman +Empire was the immediate basis for the persecution of the Jews by the +Romans. The latter persecuted the Jews not primarily because they +disliked the Jews, but because the Jews were a political danger in +their refusal to worship the representative of the State in the shape +of the Emperor. But in the development of civilization, religion +became detached from the totality of civilized living. In the +progressive division of labor religion became specialized. The +priestly group learned to confine itself more and more to the "things +of the spirit"—cult, ritual, dogma, while the other elements in +civilization loomed larger and larger. Religion remained social, but +society was no longer religious. Life was secularized. I think that +the representatives of the Reform sect, in one of their conferences, +declared that America is not a Christian country. In so doing they +acknowledged this fact.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Continuity of the Jewish Spirit</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HROUGHOUT the history of the Jewish people, there is a continuity of +spirit which is very different from the continuity of form that +attends both the secular and the religious developments of Jewish +life. This is the same in both these aspects of Jewish life—in the +secular Jewish poetry and thought of the middle ages and up to the +present day. Even a Bergson, ostensibly a Frenchman, expresses in his +philosophy what is essentially the Hebraic conception of the nature of +reality and the destiny of man. From Amos through Job, through the +philosophers of the middle ages, to Ahad Ha-'Am there is a clear and +accountable continuity. Finally, there is the development of the whole +of the secular life of modern Jewry, in Yiddish and in Hebrew. Yiddish +may be unpleasant, but Yiddish is no less the speech of the Jews than +English, no less the speech of the Jews than Aramaic, and Arabic and +Ladino, and all of these have acquired literary and qualitative +characteristics which are identical as expressions of the spirit of +the Jew, of the Hebraic spirit.</div> + +<p>This may be seen generally in the case of Yiddish alone. Yiddish, as +you know, is a German dialect; it is middle high German in its base, +and German is an inflected language; its rhythms are essentially long, +periodic, indeterminate, radically different from the rhythms of +Hebrew, involving a different kind of co-ordination and mode. But +compare Yiddish with German, and you find quite an antagonistic +literary quality. Yiddish reads like the Psalms, and the Bible, and +the Talmud; it doesn't read like German until it is Germanized. The +whole genius of the tongue has been altered by Jewish use so that its +spiritual quality has taken on the quality of the race that uses the +tongue, and its literary kinship has become Hebraic.</p> + +<p>Again, there is this whole mass of neo-English, neo-Russian, +neo-German literatures which, written by Jews, deal with the life of +the Jews, with their interests and character. This is not religious. +What is its relation to Jewry? Yet again, there is any number of +Jewish individuals, among whom I must count myself, who find it +impossible to adjust their consciences with any official type of +theological doctrine, who are interested in discovering the truth, and +are compelled to acknowledge that no truth has been discovered +finally, once and for all; there are hundreds and thousands such. What +is to be their relation to their people if Jews are to be considered +members merely of Judaistic sects? Yet Jews they are, and if they do +not contribute directly to Judaism, they do contribute to Hebraism.</p> + +<p>Hebraism stands not for that particular expression of the Jewish mind, +religion, but for all that has appeared in Jewish history, both +religious and secular. The term Judaism stands for that partial +expression of the Jewish genius which is religious.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Ethical Motive of Judaism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T has been said that the genius of the Jew is entirely religious. I +do not think that that is historically a demonstrable proposition. For +the dominant motive even in Judaism is not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> a religious motive. It is +an ethical motive. Judaism does not conceive its God as requiring man +to be damned for his glory. It conceives its God as an instrument by +the worship of whom "thy days may be lengthened in the land." +Righteousness and not salvation is the aim even of the Jewish +religion. Hebraism is the name for this living spirit which demands +righteousness, expressed in all the different interests in which Jews, +as Jews, have a share—in art, science, philosophy and social +organization and in religion. Hebraism, hence, is a wider term than +religion and its continuity embraces, but is not embraced by, the +continuity of religion.</div> + +<p>Now the Harvard Menorah Society, taking this fact into consideration, +made use, because of the tradition of English usage, of the term +"Hebraic." It recognized that since Hebraism is more comprehensive +than Judaism, many people might be Hebraists who are not and need not +be Judaists. It refused to exclude them from a share in Jewish life +and an opportunity for Jewish service. The organization goes on the +principle—both the Intercollegiate and the constituent +Societies—that nothing Jewish is alien to it. For this reason the +Menorah takes no sides; for this reason it is Hebraic and not +Judaistic. For this reason it welcomes everything Jewish without +exception—theological and secular, Russian, German, French, English. +It requires only that a thing shall be Jewish, that it shall be a +possible part of the organic total we call Hebraism.</p> + +<p>Hebraism is the flower and fruit of the <i>whole</i> of Jewish life. Its +root is the ethnic nationality of the Jewish people, and with this +also the secularizing reformers agree when they prohibit and +discourage the marriage of Jew with Gentile.</p> + +<p>Many of us, however, are not content with merely the <i>status quo</i>. +Throughout the nineteenth century it has thrown us into a series of +dishonorable compromises. We want a condition—I speak now for myself +and not for the Menorah—we want a condition in which the genius of +the Jew, the Hebraic spirit, may express itself without any need of +compromise. The orthodox Jew, at least, retains his integrity with his +darkness. But we are in danger of losing our integrity. We concede to +our environment point after point. But we are not liberated in spirit +by these concessions; we are merely turned into amateur Gentiles. The +orthodox sectary makes no concession to environment, and tends to +petrify and die. The reformed sectary makes too many, and tends to +dissolve and die. This is the penalty for the <i>status quo</i>.</p> + +<p>Life, to be sure, consists of compromise and concession. But for +integral living we must make them as masters, not serfs. There must be +one place where the ancestral spirit of the Jew will not need to adapt +itself to the world, but will, like the English or French spirit, +adapt the world to itself. That place is determined nationally, just +as the places of all European culture are determined nationally and +racially.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Aspiration for a Jewish State</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>P</big>RIDE in ancestry is not pride of race, but pride in the spirit of the +race, and pride of ancestry is not pride merely of background, but +pride in the obligations that ancestry sets. All aristocrats have one +motto—it is <i>noblesse oblige</i>. This must be the motto of the Jew. We +must hence carry our obligation in the spirit of the prophets, which +is not primarily a theological spirit, but a purely humane spirit, for +which the necessity of man determines the invocation of God; in which +the ideal of a free and happy humanity, in a just and democratic +society, is the dominating ideal; in which a righteous Jewish state is +a persistent aspiration. This is the Hebraism which must underly all +the activities of the Menorah Association.</div> + +<p>This Hebraism, academically realized through study, must be realized +in the lives of individuals through work, as Dr. Grossmann has well +said, and in the life of the great Jewish mass in a free Jewish state. +Every ideal we acquire from the past must be turned into a fact of the +present. <i>Noblesse oblige!</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Dr. David Philipson</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> AM reminded that this day marks the one hundredth anniversary of the +signing of the Treaty of Ghent—one hundred years of peace between +English-speaking peoples. I need to be reminded of this after the +speech that has just been made, because much that was said has quite +fired my fighting spirit—but this is a day of peace and it might not +be quite in the spirit of this anniversary day to say all I might +otherwise say in answer to the points that have been made and with +which I differ radically.</div> + +<p>There are some things in Dr. Kallen's eloquent address that I do +believe, but there are many more things with which I do not agree. But +let that be as it may, I was very much interested in his remark, that +the "Reform sect," as he is pleased to call us, harks back to the +prophets. This has been claimed frequently by the reformers +themselves, but he puts a new interpretation upon it; he says the +prophets were pre-Judaistic. This is the Christian point of view. They +claim that Judaism was the growth of the post-exilic period, but we +reformers interpret the term Judaism altogether differently.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Significance of Reform Judaism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>J</big>UDAISM means for us the Jewish religion and all that this implies; if +the Reform movement in its beginnings went back to prophetism it was +simply for this reason—that the pioneers of the Reform movement +recognized that the Jews had fallen into the very condition that Dr. +Kallen deprecates, namely, they had gotten away from life inasmuch as +they had been confined to the ghetto where they had been excluded from +the currents of contemporary life. Judaism had become a ghetto +religion, and because of this divorce between life and religion the +Reform movement arose. The Reform movement is not simply a matter of +creed. It affects the whole life of the Jew. One of its basic +principles is that the religion of the Jew must square with his life; +the needs of the Jew in the modern environment must be taken into +consideration by Jewish leaders; Reform Judaism, far from making a +separation and raising a barrier between the Jew and life, as those +who call us reformed sectarians like to say—quite to the contrary, +reconciles the Jew to the civilization in which he is living and +wherein his children are growing up. This, to my mind, is the great +significance of the Reform movement, and I believe that all those who +truly understand it look upon it in that way.</div> + +<p>The Reform movement, as the movement for religious emancipation, was +the accompaniment of similar emancipatory movements affecting the Jews +at the close of the eighteenth century. First there was the linguistic +emancipation when under the leadership of Moses Mendelssohn the Jews +of Germany discarded the use of the German-Jewish jargon or Yiddish, +the language of the Jew's degradation, (for there would have been no +such thing as Yiddish had the Jew not been degraded and excluded as he +was in the countries of Europe) and began the employment of pure +German. Secondly, there was the educational emancipation. The Jews had +been educated in <i>chedarim</i> where they received instruction only in +Hebrew branches and no so-called secular education whatsoever. This +separated the Jew from the culture of the world. At the close of the +eighteenth century German Jews began to attend schools and +universities. Gradually this took place also in other countries. +Thirdly, there was the civil or political emancipation, when after the +French Revolution the countries of western Europe, one after the +other, accorded the Jews the rights of men. The Reform movement or, in +other words, the religious emancipation, is simply the result of great +world forces, as embodied in these various aspects of emancipation, +and for this reason the Reform movement, far from being simply a +matter of creed or theological belief, made the Jew a citizen of the +world and fitted him for the modern environment.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The "Body and Soul" of Jewry</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>N</big>OW there is one other point made by the previous speaker to which I +feel that I must refer and that is the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> matter of "body and soul." +This is a favorite phrase of Zionist writers and speakers as +emphasizing the difference between Zionists and reformers. We +reformers also believe that the body Jewish is necessary, but in a +sense different from the Zionistic claim that the Jewish nation must +be re-established. I as a reformer and a non-Zionist also use the term +"the Jewish people," but in the sense of a "religious people," not a +"political people." This involves a vital distinction—the distinction +between religionism and nationalism. Yes, I also believe that the +body, the religious community, is necessary. The reform rabbinical +conference declared against intermarriage for the very reason that it +is all important that the Jewish people, the <i>mamleket kohanim</i>, the +<i>goy kadosh</i>, be the vessel embodying the religious idea, the spirit. +But let it be understood clearly that nationally we are poles apart +from the Zionists. Nationally I am an American. I also feel that we +ought not to have hyphenated Americans, but Americans pure and simple. +In that sense I am nationally an American without a hyphen. +Religiously I am a Jew, and religiously I am part and parcel of the +Jewish people with whom my religious fortunes are intertwined. +Further, I feel very much as Dr. Kallen does in regard to our duty +towards the Jews made destitute by the murderous European war. They +have none else to look to and we must help them; for whatever may be +our differences, we must stand united in this pressing duty of the +hour, this work of mercy. But may God speed the day when the Jews in +Poland, Russia and Roumania will receive full rights so that +nationally they may be considered Poles, Russians or Roumanians as are +all others in those lands, as is the case here in free America. To my +mind this is the only effective solution to the so-called Jewish +problem in those countries.</div> + +<p>Freedom is the Messiah that is still to come to the Jews in the lands +where they are oppressed, so that everywhere they may be at one in the +rights of citizenship with their fellow countrymen, differing from +them in their religion alone. This is the great distinction I desired +to draw between the Jew nationally and the Jew as a member of a +religious people; this "religious people" is the body of which Judaism +is the soul.</p> + + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">Prof. Sharfman</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> AM constrained to close this meeting with a statement similar to +that made by our Chancellor at the conclusion of the public meeting +last evening. This was a typical Menorah discussion. We are an open +forum for all points of view. We are glad to hear Dr. Kallen's +opinions; we are glad to hear Dr. Philipson's opinions. I am sure that +out of this clash of views will come a better understanding of the +Menorah idea, a truer and deeper realization of the strivings of our +Menorah movement.</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>III. The Business Sessions</h3> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">First Session</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>C</big>ALLED to order in the Faculty Room, McMicken Hall, at 11 A.M., by +President I. Leo Sharfman. N. M. Lyon, of the University of +Cincinnati, was appointed Secretary <i>pro tem</i>.</div> + +<p>Upon the presentation of credentials, the following were seated as the +Representatives of their respective Menorah Societies in the +Administrative Council: College of the City of New York, George J. +Horowitz; Columbia University, M. David Hoffman; University of +Illinois, Sidney Casner; University of Michigan, Jacob Levin; +University of Minnesota, Dr. Moses Barron; Ohio State University, +Herman Lebeson; University of Wisconsin, Dr. Horace M. Kallen. And the +following were seated as Deputies: Clark University, Philip +Wascerwitz; Harvard University, George A. Dreyfous; Johns Hopkins +University, Jerome Mark; New York University, S. Felix Mendelson; +University of North Carolina, N. M. Lyon; University of Pennsylvania, +Joseph Salesky; Penn State College, H. L. Lavender; University of +Texas, Jacob Marcus; Western Reserve University, Sol Landman.</p> + +<p>The applications for admission into the Association of the Menorah +Societies at Brown University, University of Cincinnati, Hunter +College, University of Maine, the Universities in the City of Omaha, +Radcliffe College, Valparaiso University, and University of Washington +were presented. After due consideration of the facts in each case and +the statements of the University authorities, all of the applications +were accepted and the Menorah Societies named were formally admitted +into the Association by the unanimous vote of the Administrative +Council.</p> + +<p>Upon the presentation of their credentials, the following were seated +as Representatives: University of Cincinnati, Abraham J. Feldman; the +Universities in the City of Omaha, Jacques Rieur; Valparaiso +University, Florence Turner. And the following were seated as +Deputies: Radcliffe College, S. Marie Pichel; Hunter College, Naomi +Rasinsky.</p> + +<p>The role of Representatives and Deputies was read by the Secretary, +and the dues of the several Menorah Societies to the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association for 1915 were paid.</p> + +<p>Chancellor Henry Hurwitz read a letter of greeting to the Convention +from Justice Irving Lehman of New York, Chairman of the Graduate +Advisory Menorah Committee. (See <a href="#Page_125">page 125</a>.)</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Second Session</span></div> + +<p>Called to order by President Sharfman at 3 P.M. in the Faculty Room, +McMicken Hall. Chancellor Hurwitz delivered the report of the Officers +for 1914.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Abstract of Officers' Report for 1914</i></div> + +<p>In his report in behalf of the Officers, the Chancellor referred to +the organization in the past year of the eight Menorah Societies which +were admitted into the Intercollegiate Menorah Association at the +previous session of the Convention, making in all thirty-five +constituent Societies, every one having arisen spontaneously at its +college or university, with the full approval and encouragement of the +authorities. Additional Societies are in the process of formation at +several other universities.</p> + +<p>With reference to the organization of Graduate Menorah Societies, the +time was deemed inopportune to proceed definitely in the matter, the +war situation absorbing the attention and energies of so many of those +who would otherwise be interested in the idea of Graduate Menorah +organization, and it was recommended that detailed consideration of +the question be laid over another year. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> a beginning of Graduate +organization has already been made in Scranton, Pa., where a Graduate +Menorah Society has been formed.</p> + +<p>The Intercollegiate Menorah Association has been very cordially +invited to join the Corda Fratres International Federation of +Students, whose objects are: "To unite student movements and +organizations throughout the world, to study student problems of every +nature, and to promote among students closer international relations, +mutual understandings and friendship; to encourage the study of +international relations and problems; to stimulate a sympathetic +appreciation of the character, problems and intellectual currents of +other nations; to facilitate foreign study, and to increase its value +and fruitfulness. The movement is neutral in all special religious, +political and economic principles." (From the official declaration of +principles.) The Corda Fratres at present comprises the following +national organizations as its constituents: Consulates of Corda +Fratres in Italy, Holland, Hungary and Greece; the Association +Generale des Etudiants de Paris, and the Union Nationale des +Associations des Etudiants de France; the Verband der Internationalen +Studentenverein in Germany; the Liga de Estudiantes Americanos, +including student organizations in the Argentine Republic, Brazil, +Chile, Paraguay, Peru and other countries in South America; and the +Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs in North America. Thus, at present, +the sole United States constituent is the Association of Cosmopolitan +Clubs. It was recommended that the Intercollegiate Menorah Association +accept the invitation to join Corda Fratres as a unit co-ordinate with +the Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs, it being understood that the +Menorah Association, while thus expressing its approval of the +purposes and spirit of Corda Fratres and desiring to aid in its +influence and to contribute the element of Jewish culture and ideals +to its spiritual constituency, would not be qualified in any way as to +its autonomy, purposes, and activities.</p> + +<p>During the past year the Association continued its lecture system, and +genuine thanks are due to all the speakers, members of the Menorah +College of Lecturers, who have so generously given of their time and +effort to the Menorah Societies.</p> + +<p>Similarly, the Association has been enabled to continue sending +Menorah Libraries to its constituent Societies. In most cases these +books have been placed at the disposal of all the members of the +university no less than of the members of the Menorah Societies, and +the authorities have expressed their warmest gratitude for these +contributions to their library facilities, even though the books +remained the property of the Jewish Publication Society of America.</p> + +<p>The presence of the books has done a great deal to stimulate actual +reading and study on the part of Menorah members, and the work of the +study groups has notably increased during the past year. This is a +most gratifying evidence of the seriousness with which the students +are taking hold of the Menorah idea. They are still hampered by lack +of suitable syllabi, the preparation of which has been unfortunately +delayed on account of the impaired health of the scholar who had +undertaken to prepare them, but it was hoped that the syllabi would be +made available before long.</p> + +<p>The chief visible product of the administration the past year was the +180-page booklet entitled "The Menorah Movement," which contains a +full and official exposition of the nature and purposes of the Menorah +movement, a detailed history of the several Societies as well as of +the Intercollegiate organization, including reports of the conferences +and conventions, besides other material illustrating the attitude of +the university authorities and the general community towards the +Menorah movement. Its preparation took several months of labor on the +part of the Officers of the Association (special credit being due to +the Secretary, Mr. Isador Becker), assisted by the various Societies. +An edition of five thousand, of which only a comparatively small +number of copies remain, was distributed all over the country among +the members of the Societies, other students, university authorities, +alumni, and the interested public. It served to arouse both the +academic and lay interest in the movement and to spread<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> authoritative +information about the nature and purposes of the Menorah Societies.</p> + +<p>This publication also prepared the way for the issue of the permanent +and periodical Journal of the Menorah Association, the desirability of +which has been felt almost from the beginning of the Intercollegiate +organization and reaffirmed at the last Convention. It had been hoped +that the first number of <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span> would appear in time for +this Convention, but the demands of an initial number that should in +every way be worthy of the Menorah ideal of the <span class="smcap">Journal</span> required a +little more time, and the first issue could not appear before January, +1915.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span>, it was hoped, would not only spread interesting +and authoritative information about the activities of the Menorah +Societies and stimulate their work further in the future, but would +itself be a potent means of promoting Jewish knowledge and literature. +The <span class="smcap">Journal</span> was meant to appeal not to Menorah members alone nor to +students only, but to all within and without the universities who were +interested in the literary treatment of Jewish life and aspiration. +The <span class="smcap">Journal</span> was extremely fortunate in having the counsel and literary +co-operation of many leaders of Jewish thought and action of all +parties (for list of Consulting Editors see Contents Page), the +<span class="smcap">Journal</span> itself, like the Menorah Societies, being non-partisan, a +forum for the free expression of variant views.</p> + +<p>Upon the success of the <span class="smcap">Journal</span> will largely depend the future +progress of the Menorah movement and its other literary enterprises +contemplated, <i>e. g.</i>, pamphlet essays and Menorah Classics, which for +the present should be postponed, all energies having to be devoted to +the <span class="smcap">Journal</span>.</p> + +<p>The gratifying encouragement given to the <span class="smcap">Journal</span> enterprise by many +men in the community is but a specific application of the co-operation +of the Graduate Menorah Committee, headed by Justice Irving Lehman, +which has continued during the past year to assist the Association +generously and in the most admirable spirit, the committee reposing +absolutely perfect confidence in the officers of the Association. To +that co-operation and spirit of confidence the Association owes a +great deal which it can repay only by continued effective devotion to +the cause which is equally dear to the students and the graduates. It +was deemed advisable that for the present the Graduate Menorah +Committee should continue as an informal body.</p> + +<p>A gratifying evidence of the mutual co-operation of the Menorah +Societies in a material way during the past year was shown in the +appropriation of fifty dollars by the Harvard Menorah Society for the +Association.</p> + +<p>All in all, the Association during the past year may be said to have +advanced satisfactorily, though the Officers are conscious of the +great opportunities which still remain before the organization. +Indeed, the Menorah work is still in its beginnings. With the loyal +co-operation of the students and the graduates, the Association looks +forward confidently to a bright and big future.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Resolutions</i></div> + +<p>After due consideration and discussion, the following resolutions were +unanimously adopted:</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Resolved</span>, <i>That the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, organized for +the promotion in American Colleges and Universities of the study of +Jewish history, culture and problems, and the advancement of Jewish +ideals, affiliate with the "Corda Fratres" International Federation of +Students.</i> Note: This resolution was adopted upon the conditions (1) +that the Intercollegiate Menorah Association be received into the +International Federation of Students as a unit co-ordinate with the +Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs, and (2) that the autonomy, purposes +and activities of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association shall nowise +be qualified by such affiliation.<a name="FNanchor_H_37" id="FNanchor_H_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_H_37" class="fnanchor">[H]</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Resolved</span>, <i>That the fifty dollars contributed by the Harvard Menorah +Society to the Intercollegiate Menorah Association be devoted to</i> <span class="smcap">The +Menorah Journal</span>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Resolved</span>, <i>That the Officers be constituted a committee to investigate +the nature and work of student organizations analogous to the Menorah +in other parts of the world and to submit a report thereon at the next +Intercollegiate Menorah Convention.</i> (Readopted from the last +Convention.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Resolved</span>, <i>That the Officers be constituted a committee to consider +and draw up definite plans for "Menorah insignia and distinctions.</i>"</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Third Session</span></div> + +<p>The third session was a public meeting held at 8.15 P.M. in McMicken +Auditorium, University of Cincinnati. (For report see <a href="#Page_121">page 121</a>.)</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Fourth Session</span></div> + +<p>Called to order on Thursday, December 24th, at 9.15 A.M., in the +Faculty Room, McMicken Hall, by President Sharfman.</p> + +<p>After due consideration and discussion the following resolutions were +unanimously adopted:</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Resolved</span>, <i>That the incoming Officers investigate the problem of the +organization of Graduate Menorah Societies and prepare a report with +recommendations for submission to the constituent Societies at the +beginning of the next academic year(1915-16).</i></p> + +<p><i>The Administrative Council, in session assembled, hereby expresses +its hearty approval of the relationship that has arisen and has been +maintained between the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, through +its Officers, and a body of representative Jewish citizens of public +spirit, known as a Graduate Advisory Committee, and gratefully records +its deep appreciation of the wise counsel and generous assistance of +this Graduate Advisory Committee in the prosecution of the Menorah +purposes, and</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Resolves</span>, <i>First, that these informal relations between the +Intercollegiate Menorah Association and the Graduate Advisory +Committee be permitted to continue as heretofore, and second, that +the incoming Officers of the Association present plans looking to the +permanent organization of this Graduate Advisory Committee, at the +next mid-winter meeting of the Administrative Council.</i> (Readopted +from the last Convention.)</p> + +<p><i>The Intercollegiate Menorah Convention extends its cordial greetings +to Justice Irving Lehman and acknowledges with warm appreciation his +welcome message and his generous assurance of willing co-operation. +The Association is encouraged to carry forward with renewed vigor and +inspiration its work of promoting the study of Jewish history and +culture at American Colleges and Universities and of advancing Jewish +ideals; to merit the confidence and support of the Graduate Advisory +Committee.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Resolved</span>, <i>That each constituent Menorah Society should be bound to +seek the advice and consent of the Officers of the Association before +soliciting assistance from any source.</i> (Readopted from the last +Convention.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Resolved</span>, <i>That the Administrative Council of the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association, in annual meeting assembled, hereby +enthusiastically expresses its entire confidence and trust in the work +done by the Officers of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association and +its appreciation of the able and efficient manner in which they +conducted and supervised the work of the organization during the past +year.</i></p> + +<p>The oral reports of the several Menorah Societies, in amplification of +their written reports, were presented and discussed.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Fifth Session</span></div> + +<p>The fifth session was an informal luncheon held in the Banquet Hall of +the Hotel Gibson, Cincinnati, at 1 P.M. (For a report of the +addresses, see <a href="#Page_125">page 125</a>.)</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Sixth Session</span></div> + +<p>Immediately following the luncheon, at 4 P.M., the sixth session was +convened in the private auditorium of the Hotel Gibson.</p> + +<p>The following resolution was unanimously adopted:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Resolved</span>, <i>That the Officers of the Association take steps to provide +Menorah Societies with syllabi of courses in Jewish history, Jewish +literature, and contemporaneous Jewish problems.</i> (Readopted from the +last Convention.)</p> + +<p>Upon proceeding to the choice of Officers of the Association for 1915, +the following were elected: Chancellor, Henry Hurwitz of Boston, Mass. +(re-elected by acclamation); President, I. Leo Sharfman of the +University of Michigan (re-elected by acclamation); First +Vice-President, Isadore Levin, of Harvard University; Second +Vice-President, Milton D. Sapiro of the University of California; +Third Vice-President, Abraham J. Feldman of the University of +Cincinnati; Treasurer, N. Morais Lyon of the University of Cincinnati; +and Secretary, Charles K. Feinberg of New York University.</p> + +<p>After some discussion as to the advisability of deciding immediately +upon the place of the next Annual Convention, it was</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Resolved</span>, <i>That the place of meeting for the next Annual Convention be +left to the judgment of the Officers of the Association.</i></p> + +<p>After passing unanimously a Resolution thanking the University of +Cincinnati, the Hebrew Union College, the Cincinnati Menorah Society, +and the city of Cincinnati for the cordial reception accorded to the +Convention, adjournment was had at 5.45 P.M.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">N. M. Lyon</span>, <i>Secretary pro tem</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Note</span>: In the course of the convention, several amendments to the +Constitution of the Association were proposed and adopted. The +Constitution as amended follows:</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />CONSTITUTION</div> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">Of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Article I: Name</span></div> + +<p>The name of this organization shall be the Intercollegiate Menorah +Association.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Article Ii: Object</span></div> + +<p>The object of this Association shall be the promotion, in American +colleges and universities, of the study of Jewish history, culture, +and problems, and the advancement of Jewish ideals.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Article III: Membership</span></div> + +<p>Sec. 1.—Menorah Societies in American colleges and universities, +having the object defined in Article II, shall be eligible for +membership in this Association, provided that membership in such +Societies is open to all members of their respective colleges or +universities so far as the efficient pursuit of the object may permit.</p> + +<p>Sec. 2.—The Administrative Council (provided for in Article IV) shall +have power to elect such honorary members as it may deem fit.</p> + +<p>Sec. 3.—One constituent Society may be composed of members of two or +more neighboring colleges or universities.</p> + +<p>Sec. 4.—All eligible Societies which adopt this constitution by +January 3, 1913, shall constitute the charter members of this +Association.</p> + +<p>Sec. 5.—Other Societies which are formed and eligible, or may be +formed and become eligible, for membership in this Association, shall +be admitted into this Association by the Administrative Council, and +shall become members upon adopting this Constitution.</p> + +<p>Sec. 6.—By a two-thirds vote of the Administrative Council, that +body, in session, shall have power to deprive of membership any +Society which may not be carrying out the object of the Association, +or may be employing methods prejudicial to its spirit.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Article IV: Administration</span></div> + +<p>Sec. 1.—The administration of this Association shall be in the hands +of the Administrative Council.</p> + +<p>Sec. 2.—Every constituent Society shall delegate one member to be +its Representative in the Council who shall, at the time of his +election, be directly connected with the college or the university as +a student or as a member of the Faculty.</p> + +<p>Sec. 3.—The Administrative Council shall elect annually at its +mid-winter meeting the following Officers of the Association: +Chancellor, First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Third +Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary.</p> + +<p>(a) Officers who are not Representatives shall ex-officio be members +of the Administrative Council.</p> + +<p>Sec. 4.—The Administrative Council shall hold a meeting during the +mid-winter recess, when and where it shall please a majority of the +Council. Other meetings of the Council may be called upon the request +of a majority of its members, and held when and where it shall please +a majority. Notice of every meeting shall be sent to each member at +least four weeks beforehand. A copy of the minutes of each meeting +shall be duly sent by the Secretary to each constituent Society.</p> + +<p>Sec. 5.—In case the Representative of a Society is unable to attend a +meeting of the Council, his Society may send a duly accredited and +instructed Deputy<a name="FNanchor_I_38" id="FNanchor_I_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_I_38" class="fnanchor">[I]</a> who is not already the Representative or Deputy +of another Society.</p> + +<p>Sec. 6.—A quorum of the Administrative Council shall consist of the +Representatives or Deputies from two-thirds of the constituent +Societies.</p> + +<p>(Note:—It is understood that a term of office of a Representative or +Officer shall be one year, from one mid-winter meeting to the next).</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Article V: Dues</span></div> + +<p>Sec. 1.—The annual dues from each constituent Society shall be five +dollars, which shall be paid to the Treasurer before the first meeting +of the Administrative Council.</p> + +<p>Sec. 2.—If a Society be admitted into membership after such date, its +dues shall be paid upon admission.</p> + +<p>Sec. 3.—Societies whose dues remain unpaid after the time set shall +lose their vote in the Administrative Council until payment is made. +Neglect to pay for two years may be a cause for dismissal from the +Association by the Administrative Council.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Article VI: Date of Effect</span></div> + +<p>This Constitution shall take effect January 2, 1913.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Article VII: Amendments</span></div> + +<p>An amendment to this Constitution may be adopted by a two-thirds vote +of the Administrative Council. </p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_G_36" id="Footnote_G_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_36"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> See Prof. Sharfman's address, <a href="#Page_124">page 124</a>, and Dr. Kohler's +remarks at the Convention luncheon, <a href="#Page_128">page 128</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_H_37" id="Footnote_H_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_H_37"><span class="label">[H]</span></a> The Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs, at its Convention +at Ohio State University on Dec. 26-30, 1914, passed a resolution of +greeting and welcome to the Intercollegiate Menorah Association.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_I_38" id="Footnote_I_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_I_38"><span class="label">[I]</span></a> <i>How, and to what extent, a Deputy shall be instructed, +depends upon the will of the Society which accredits him. (This was +the sense of the Constituent Convention.)</i></p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span></p> +<h2>Notes</h2> + +<h3>Of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association</h3> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Brown Menorah Dedication Exercises</i></div> + +<p>The Brown Menorah Society held its dedication exercises in the +auditorium of the Brown Union on January 16, 1915. The Chairman was +Maurice J. Siff, '15, President of the Society. Morris J. Wessel, '11, +spoke of the need of the Menorah from the graduate's point of view. +Chancellor Henry Hurwitz brought the greetings of the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association and explained the purposes of the Menorah +movement. President W. H. P. Faunce of the University, in his +response, welcomed the Menorah Society to Brown. Rabbi Nathan Stern, +of Providence, spoke upon the significance of the Menorah, and +unveiled and lit a brass Menorah which he presented to the Society. +Dean Otis E. Randall spoke upon "The Educational Value of College +Organizations," and expressed the hope that the new Menorah Society +would contribute to the uplift of the student body.</p> + +<p>President Faunce said, in part: "This Society must justify itself by +making better Brown men than ever before. Most especially among its +duties it must strive for a type of Brown man that cultivates the best +there is in himself, a man who respects himself, soul, body and +spirit, the type of man who flings himself gladly into whatever he +believes in. And so I hope to-night that every member of this Society +will cherish the finest things in the history of his own people if he +is a member of the Jewish nation—that he will cultivate everything +that is worthy and noble and try to help his brethren throughout the +world."</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Thirty-Sixth Menorah Society</i></div> + +<p>A Menorah Society has recently been organized at the Massachusetts +Institute of Technology, in Boston. The meeting preliminary to +definite organization was held in the Technology Union on March 9. +Isadore Levin of the Harvard Menorah Society, First Vice-President of +the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, brought the greetings of the +Association and explained the Menorah purposes and procedure. Leo I. +Dana, '16, was elected President.</p> + +<p>In a communication to the Chancellor of the Menorah Association, Dean +Alfred E. Burton of the Institute writes: "I take pleasure in stating +that we shall be glad to have a branch of the Menorah Society formed +among our undergraduates, and I can endorse the names of the officers +who have been chosen. They are all earnest students in good standing +at the Institute and I am sure they will be able to establish a branch +of the Menorah Society that will be a credit to the general +intercollegiate organization."</p> + +<p>The first lecture before the Society was delivered on April 5 by Dr. +H. M. Kallen of the University of Wisconsin. The subject was "Hebraism +and Nationality."</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Menorah Dinners</i></div> + +<p>The Menorah Society of Clark University held its "First Annual +Banquet" on December 17, 1914. President Max Smelensky, '15, +introduced the toastmaster, Samuel Resnick, '13. The speakers were +President G. Stanley Hall of the University, President Edmund C. +Sanford of the College, Dean James P. Porter, Rabbi H. H. Rubenovitz +of Boston, A. W. Hillman, '07, Joseph Talamo, '14, and Chancellor +Hurwitz. (For the substance of President Hall's address see <a href="#Page_87">page 87</a>.)</p> + +<p>The Ohio State Menorah Society held its Annual Banquet on February 21. +The toastmaster was Harry M. Udovitch, '14. (Mr. Udovitch was last +year President of the Corda Fratres Association of Cosmopolitan +Clubs). The speakers were Professor Joseph A. Leighton, Professor +Ludwig Lewisohn, President Henry Greenberger, '15, of the Society, +Herman Lebeson, '15, Ohio State Representative to the Intercollegiate +Administrative Council, Rabbi Morris N. Taxon of Columbus, Dr. +Sylvester Goodman, '06, and Helman Rosenthal, '12.</p> + +<p>The Harvard Menorah Society will hold its seventh annual dinner on May +3.</p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i.1">[i]</a></span></p> +<p><a name="meno3" id="meno3"></a></p> + + + +<h1><span class="smcap">The MENORAH JOURNAL</span></h1> + +<div class='center'> +<i>Published Bi-monthly During the Academic Year By<br /> +The Intercollegiate Menorah Association<br /> +"For the Study and Advancement of Jewish Culture and Ideals"<br /> +600 Madison Avenue, New York</i><br /></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="16" cellspacing="0" summary="Editorial Staff"> +<tr><td align='center'><i>Editor-in-Chief</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">Henry Hurwitz</span><br /></td><td align='center'><i>Associate Editor</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">I. Leo Sharfman</span><br /></td><td align='center'><i>Managing Editor</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">H. Askowith</span><br /></td><td align='center'><i>Business Manager</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">B. S. Pouzzner</span><br /></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contributing Editors"> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><i>Board of Consulting Editors</i><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. Cyrus Adler</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Louis D. Brandeis</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Dr. Lee K. Frankel</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Prof. Felix Frankfurter</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Prof. Israel Friedlaender</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Prof. Richard Gottheil</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Dr. Max Heller</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Dr. Joseph Jacobs</span><br /></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. Kaufman Kohler</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Justice Irving Lehman</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Judge Julian W. Mack</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Dr. J. L. Magnes</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Prof. Max L. Margolis</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Dr. H. Pereira Mendes</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Dr. Martin A. Meyer</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Dr. David Philipson</span><br /></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. Solomon Schechter</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Hon. Oscar S. Straus</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Samuel Strauss</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Judge Mayer Sulzberger</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Miss Henrietta Szold</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Felix M. Warburg</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Dr. Stephen S. Wise</span><br /></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<div class='center'> +VOLUME I JUNE, 1915 NUMBER 3<br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + + + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='left'>THE POTENCY OF THE JEWISH RACE</td><td align='right'><i>Charles W. Eliot</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>ISRAEL AND MEDICINE</td><td align='right'><i>Sir William Osler</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE WAR FROM A JEWISH STANDPOINT</td><td align='right'><i>Richard Gottheil</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>O SWEET ANEMONES: <i>A Song</i></td><td align='right'><i>Jessie E. Sampler</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_158">158</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>"PATHS OF PLEASANTNESS"</td><td align='right'><i>David Werner Amram</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE JEWISH GENIUS IN LITERATURE</td><td align='right'><i>Edward Chauncey Baldwin</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>JEWISH WORTHIES: JOCHANAN BEN ZAKKAI</td><td align='right'><i>Abraham M. Simon</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>ZIONISM: A MENORAH PRIZE ESSAY</td><td align='right'><i>Marvin M. Lowenthal</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'>FROM COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY: <i>Activities of Menorah Societies</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'>NOTES <i>of The Intercollegiate Menorah Association</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_200">200</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='center'> +25 cents a copy. Subscription, $1.00 a year; in Canada, $1.25; abroad, $1.50<br /> +<br /> +<i><small>Copyright, 1915, by The Intercollegiate Menorah Association. All rights reserved<br /> +Entered as second class matter January 6, 1915, at the New York Post Office, under the Act of March 3, 1879</small></i><br /> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ii_1">[ii]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Classic Casts of Sculpture Advertisement"> +<tr><td align='left'><img src="images/sculpture.jpg" width="174" height="300" alt="Sculpture" title="Sculpture" /> +</td><td align='center'><h2>Classic Casts of<br /> +Sculpture</h2> +FOR HOME, SCHOOL, LIBRARY<br /> +AND CLUBROOM DECORATION<br /><br /> +Michelangelo's MOSES, shown herewith,<br /> +may be obtained in the following sizes:<br /> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Sculpture sizes and prices"> +<tr><td align='left'>1279</td><td align='left'>3 ft. 1 in. </td><td align='left'>$25.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>1279A</td><td align='left'>2 ft.</td><td align='left'>12.00</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>1279B </td><td align='left'>1 ft. 7 in.</td><td align='left'>6.00</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<br /><span class="u">Special discount from these prices to<br /> +Menorah Societies and Menorah Members</span><br /> + + +<big><b>Boston Sculpture Co.</b></big><br /> +67 Sudbury St.<br /> +Boston Mass.<br /> +</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p> </p> +<div class='bbox'> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Title of Kohut school"> +<tr><td align='left'><h2>KOHUT SCHOOL</h2></td><td align='center'><small><b>FOR</b></small><br /><small><b>BOYS</b></small></td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class='center'> +<b>254th St. & Independence Ave. Phone 367 Kingsbridge</b><br /> +<b>Riverdale-on-Hudson</b> <b>New York City</b><br /> +<br /> +<i>An Ideal Boarding and Day School</i><br /></div> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Offerings of Kohut School"> +<tr><td align='center'>A<br /> +L<br /> +L<br /><br /> +D<br /> +A<br /> +Y<br /><br /> +IN THE<br /><br /> +C<br /> +O<br /> +U<br /> +N<br /> +T<br /> +R<br /> +Y</td><td align='left'>Unexcelled Advantages of Refined home<br /> +<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Physical training, and outdoor sports</span><br /><span style="margin-left: 2em;">under rigid supervision</span><br /> +<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Resident Masters and House-mother</span><br /> +<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Individualized attention in the class-room</span><br /> +<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gardening, Manual Training</span><br /> +<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Bible Study and Elementary Hebrew</span><br /> +<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">For Booklet, Address at School</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>HARRY J. KUGEL, Principal</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class='unindent'><b>KAMP KOHUT, A Boys' Summer Camp +at Oxford, Maine. Under the personal +direction of GEO. A. KOHUT, Ph.D.</b></div> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /> +<b>STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP,<br /> +MANAGEMENT, CIRCULATION, ETC.,<br /> +REQUIRED BY THE ACT OF<br /> +AUGUST 24, 1912</b><br /> +<br /> +<i>of</i> <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>published</i> bi-monthly <i>at</i> New York, N.Y.<br /> +<i>for</i> April 1, 1915<br /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'><small>Editor-in-chief, Henry Hurwitz, 600 Madison Ave., New York +City; Associate Editor, I. Leo Sharfman, 1607 S. University +Ave., Ann Arbor, Mich.; Managing Editor, Hyman Askowith, +North Pelham, N. Y.; Business Manager, Benjamin S. Pouzzner, +52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York City. Publisher, Intercollegiate +Menorah Association, 600 Madison Ave., New +York City. Owners: (If a corporation, give its name and +the names and addresses of stockholders holding 1 per cent +or more of total amount of stock. If not a corporation, give +names and addresses of individual owners.) Intercollegiate +Menorah Association, 600 Madison Ave., New York City. +An organization composed of thirty-five societies in as many +colleges and universities in the country, having a total membership +of about 3000, "For the Study and Advancement of +Jewish Culture and Ideals." The officers of the Association +are: Chancellor, Henry Hurwitz, 600 Madison Ave., New +York City; President, I. Leo Sharfman, Ann Arbor, Mich.; +First Vice-President, Isadore Levin, Cambridge, Mass.; Second +Vice-President, Milton D. Sapiro, Berkeley, Cal.; Third Vice-President, +Abraham J. Feldman, Cincinnati, O.; Treasurer, +N. M. Lyon, Cincinnati, O.; Secretary, Chas. K. 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Oscar S. Straus</b></i></div> + +<div class='blockquot'><i><b>Judge Mayer Sulzberger, Judge Julian W. Mack, Dr. Solomon Schechter, +Prof. Felix Frankfurter, Prof. Israel Friedlaender, Dr. J. L. Magnes, +Prof. Norman Bentwich, Rabbi Max Heller, Dr. Martin A. Meyer.</b></i></div> + + +<div class='unindent'><i>Among other articles to appear in future issues may be named:</i><br /> + +<br /><i><b>Dr. Stephen S. Wise</b></i>—<b>"The College Man and Jewish Life"</b><br /> + +<br /><i><b>Dr. George Alexander Kohut</b></i>—<b>"Some Curiosities of Jewish Literature"</b><br /> + +<br /><i><b>Dr. Solomon Solis Cohen</b></i>—<b>"The Poetry of Jehudah Ha-Levi"</b><br /> + +<br /><b>"Phases of Jewish Thinking in American Universities"</b>—A Menorah Prize Essay<br /> + +<br /><i><b>Maurice Wertheim</b></i>—<b>"Americanism and Judaism"</b><br /> + +<br /><i><b>Louis Weinberg</b></i>—<b>"The Jew in The Industrial and Fine Arts"</b><br /> + +<br /><i><b>Dr. I. L. Kandel</b></i> of the Carnegie Foundation—<b>"The Development of Jewish Education"</b><br /> + +<br /><b>"Jewish Worthies"</b>—A series of portrait sketches of the most notable personalities in the +history of Jewish life and thought<br /> + +<br /><b>"Jewish Women of the Eighteenth Century Salons"</b><br /> + +<br /><b>"The Jew in Modern Drama and Acting"</b><br /> + + +<p><i>As The Menorah Journal is published only during the academic year, the next number will +appear in October.</i></p> +<div class='center'>_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ </div> + + + + +<div class='center'><b>SUBSCRIPTION BLANK</b></div> + + +<p> +<b>THE MENORAH JOURNAL</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><b>600 Madison Avenue, New York</b></span><br /> +</p> + +<p>I enclose $1.00, for which kindly send me The Menorah Journal for the current year.</p> + +<div class='right'> +(Signed). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <br /> +<br /> +Address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br /> +<br /> +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br /></div> +</div></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><span class="smcap">the</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Menorah Journal</span></h1> + +<div class='center'> +VOLUME I JUNE, 1915 NUMBER 3<br /> +</div> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 81px;"> +<img src="images/menorahimage.png" width="81" height="85" alt="menorah" title="menorah" /> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p> + +<h2>The Potency of the Jewish Race</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Charles W. Eliot</span></h3> + + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 160px;"> +<img src="images/1cweliot.jpg" width="160" height="200" alt="Charles William Eliot" title="Charles William Eliot" /> +<i><big>C</big>HARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (born +in Boston, 1834), preëminent as +educator and publicist; for forty +years President of Harvard University; +revered not only by Harvard men +but by all Americans as a great leader +of thought and opinion. Dr. Eliot +warmly welcomed the organization of +the first Menorah Society at Harvard, +in 1906; and to his encouragement is +due in large measure the growth of the +Menorah movement. At a time when +the problems and lessons of the war are +absorbing his attention, Dr. Eliot has +generously shown his continued sympathy +with the Menorah aims and his interest +in the Menorah Journal by preparing +this article.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>F</big>OR many centuries the Jews have had +no country of their own or even national +headquarters. They have been +scattered among many nations, all more or +less unfriendly, and some cruelly oppressive; +yet they have retained, under the most adverse +circumstances, the capacity to earn their +livelihood, to bring up families, and to maintain +the great traditions of their race. The +main reason for the indestructibility of the +Jews is that they early embraced certain invaluable +ideals, and have struggled towards +them indomitably for thousands of years.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Races and Ideals</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE principal difference between races +is difference of ideals. Whenever several +distinct races come to live side by side on +the same territory in the bonds of a peaceful +and coöperative fellowship for all common +public purposes, it will be found that they +have all reached common political and social +ideals, although in regard to many racial +attributes and even in regard to religious +beliefs they remain distinct.</div> + +<p>The assimilation of different races can be +brought about only by a gradual acceptance of the same ideals and aspirations. +For several centuries this process of assimilation has been going on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +in many parts of the earth, and is now going on at an accelerated pace, +resulting in larger conceptions of nationality and larger political or governmental +units.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Influence of Lofty Ideals on the Jewish Race</i></div> +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Jewish race affords the strongest instance of the influence on a +human stock of lofty ideals, persistently held wherever on the face +of the earth a fragment of the race has planted itself. In all generations +and in all environments the Jews have succeeded in competition with other +races to a remarkable degree. Among a poor population they are less +poor than their neighbors; among a free and prosperous population the +Jews become richer and more prosperous than the average. Confined in +unwholesome Ghettos, they retain to an astonishing degree their health +and vitality, helped doubtless by the dietary and sanitary directions given +in their ancient Scriptures. Deprived of the right to bear arms in many +countries, and, therefore, unable to resist savage attack, they remain inextinguishable. +Wherever they become prosperous they develop an extraordinary +community feeling, and take care of their own poor or unfortunate. +In short, in all generations and in all their various environments they have +exhibited, and still exhibit, a remarkable racial tenacity and vigor. It is +manifest that this normal success of the race is not due to any especially +favorable material conditions, but to the rare strength and significance of +its ideals.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>"The Noblest of Human Ideals": Jewish Monotheism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>HAT are these ideals? What have they been for thousands of years? +The first of the Jewish ideals has been that of one God—the +noblest of all human ideals—early attained, and persistently clung to by +the whole race. Mohammedan monotheism is noble, and is the main source +of the strength of those races which have embraced the religion of Mahomet; +but the Mohammedan doctrine of One God arrived thousands of +years after the Jewish, and never was so pure. The most significant sentence +in the English speech is the first sentence of the Hebrew Bible—"In +the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." That is the first of +the Jewish ideals, to which the race has been true in all environments, in +weal and in woe; and that belief has delivered it from many sorts of enfeebling +and degrading terrors and superstitions.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Ideal of the Family</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>NOTHER Jewish ideal which has counted for much in the history of the +race is the ideal of the family—pure, honorable, and sacred. The +veneration of ancestors, which has been an important part of the religion of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +China and Japan, is only an undue exaggeration of the Hebrew commandment, +"Honor thy father and thy mother." The Jewish race has seen +fulfilled the promise which is the last phrase of that commandment, "that +thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee," +although in many lands and not in any land of their own. The organized +human society most likely to prove durable or permanent is that which +possesses and maintains in theory and practise a lofty ideal of the family. +The reverence shown by children toward their parents and the devotion of +parents to their children, which prevail in Jewish families, are both more +intense than is usual in Christian families. These sentiments yield infinite +good in any human society; they produce, and pass on from generation +to generation, purity of life, family honor, and a real consecration of the +best human affections. That is the second potent Jewish ideal.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Ethical Ideal of the Ten Commandments</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE third effective ideal is the ethical teaching contained in the Ten +Commandments, the most compact and yet comprehensive code of +morals ever written. These ethical principles have been held before the +Jewish race for thousands of years wherever it has lived, in good times +and bad, an ideal toward which the race has always struggled, though with +frequent lapses. This code contains the institution of the Sabbath Day, +which by itself accounts for much of the extraordinary endurance of the +race.</div> + +<p>The Jews have always been distinguished for their respect for learning +and their zeal for education. In the Ghettos of Europe, under the +most discouraging conditions, their Rabbis kept alive the ancient learning, +and through many centuries gave the elite of the rising generation +some mental training, when no instruction was to be had by the masses of +mankind. A persecuted race, provided it retains its vitality and elasticity, +receives admirable training in loyalty to its ideals. In the case of the Jews +this was a loyalty not only to race, but to religion; and religious loyalty +is the finest and most sustaining of all loyalties. The religion of the Jews +emphasizes an ideal to which the Jewish mind and heart have responded +ardently from the earliest times—the ideal of righteousness. Loyalty to +this ideal includes loyalty to race, family, religion, and all righteous persons. +The Jews believe that righteousness alone exalteth a nation, a family, +or a man.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Will the Jewish Race Meet the Test of Liberty?</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>F</big>OR two thousand years the Jews have led their daily lives under exposure +to bodily harm, injustice, and all sorts of disaster, and under +such grievous trials have preserved their ideals. The race is now to be +put to another and severer test. In the free countries of Europe and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +America the Jews enjoy complete political and industrial liberty. They +were for centuries excluded from most professions, arts, and industries, +and were driven into trade and money-lending. Now all callings are open +to them. In the Middle Ages there were only a few directions in which a +successful Jew could safely spend his money. Now he can spend it in any +direction—wisely and beneficently, or foolishly and ostentatiously. Will +the race bear liberty as well as it has borne oppression? The liberty, +which is the only atmosphere in which the strongest men and women can +develop, often causes the downfall of weak-willed human beings. Rich +Jews, like other rich people, are in danger of becoming luxurious—the +more so because the race has been cut off from military service, and has +not been addicted to out-of-door sports. The worst destroyer of sound +family and national life is luxury. If the race is to meet successfully the +test of liberty, it will get over its apparent tendency of the moment towards +materialism and reliance on the power of money, hold fast to its social and +artistic idealism, and press steadily towards its intellectual and religious +ideals.</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_celiot.png" width="150" height="47" alt="Signature: Charles W. Eliot" title="Signature: Charles W. Eliot" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> + +<h2>Israel and Medicine</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Sir William Osler</span></h3> + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 152px;"> +<img src="images/2wosler.jpg" width="152" height="200" alt="SIR WILLIAM OSLER" title="SIR WILLIAM OSLER" /> +<i><big>S</big>IR WILLIAM OSLER +(born in Ontario, Canada, +in 1849) Regius Professor of +Medicine at Oxford and one of +the world's leading medical +authorities; distinguished not +merely as investigator, teacher, +and practitioner, but also as +essayist and ethical teacher of +singular grace and humanity, +as shown in the volumes entitled +"Aequanimitas" and +"Counsels and Ideals." The +present address, delivered in +London at the twenty-fifth anniversary +of the Jewish Historical +Society of England, is here +given its first publication in +this country, with Sir William's +special authorization.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N estimating the position of Israel in the human +values we must remember that the quest for +righteousness is Oriental, the quest for knowledge +Occidental. With the great prophets of the +East—Moses, Isaiah, Mahomet—the word was, +"Thus saith the Lord"; with the great seers of the +West, from Thales and Aristotle to Archimedes and +Lucretius, it was "What says Nature?" They illustrate +two opposite views of man and his destiny—in +the one he is an "<i>angelus sepultus</i>" in a +muddy vesture of decay; in the other, he is the +"young light-hearted master" of the world, in it to +know it, and by knowing to conquer. Modern civilization +is the outcome of these two great movements +of the mind of man, who to-day is ruled in heart and +head by Israel and by Greece. From the one he has +learned responsibility to a Supreme Being, and the +love of his neighbor, in which are embraced both the +Law and the Prophets; from the other he has gathered +the promise of Eden to have dominion over the +earth on which he lives. Not that Israel is all heart, +nor Greece all head, for in estimating the human +value of the two races, intellect and science are found +in Jerusalem and beauty and truth at Athens, but in +different proportions.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Medicine in the Talmud</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is a striking fact that there is no great Oriental name in science—not +one to be put in the same class with Aristotle, with Hippocrates, or +with a score of Grecians. We do not go to the Bible for science, though +we may go to Moses for instruction in some of the best methods in hygiene. +Nor is the Talmud a fountain-head in which men seek inspiration to-day +as in the works of Aristotle. I do not forget the saying:</div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="In uns'rem Talmud kann man Jedes lesen"> +<tr><td align='left'>"<i>In uns'rem Talmud kann man Jedes lesen,</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: .5em;"><i>Und Alles ist schon einmal dagewesen</i>."</span></td></tr> +</table></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> + +<div class='unindent'>With much of intense interest for the physician, and in spite of some brave +sayings about the value of science, there is not in it the spirit of Aristotle +or of Galen. It is true we find there one of the earliest instances in literature +of an accurate diagnosis confirmed <i>post mortem</i>. A sheep of the +Rabbi Chabiba had paralysis of the hind legs. Rabbi Jemar diagnosed +ischias, or arthritis, but Rabbina, who was called in, said that the disease +was in the spinal marrow. To settle the dispute the sheep was killed, and +Rabbina's diagnosis was confirmed.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Role of Jewish Physicians in the Middle Ages</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N the early Middle Ages the Jewish physicians played a role of the first +importance as preservers and transmitters of ancient knowledge. With +the fall of Rome the broad stream of Greek science in western Europe +entered the sud of mediævalism. It filtered through in three streams—one +in South Italy, the other in Byzantium, and a third through Islam. +At the great school of Salernum in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries, +we find important Jewish teachers; Copho II wrote the Anatomia +Porci, and Rebecca wrote on fevers and the fœtus. Jews were valued councillors +at the court of the great Emperor Frederick. With the Byzantine +stream the Jews seem to have had little to do, but the broad, clear stream +which ran through Islam is dotted thickly with Hebrew names. In the +eastern and western Caliphates and in North Africa were men who to-day +are the glory of Israel, and bright stars in the medical firmament. Three +of these stand out preëminent. The writings of Isaac Judæus, known in +the Middle Ages as Monarcha Medicorum, were prized for more than four +centuries. He had a Hippocratic belief in the powers of nature and in the +superiority of prevention to cure. He was an optimist and held strongly +to the Talmudic precept that the physician who takes nothing is worth +nothing. Rabbi ben Ezra was a universal genius and wanderer, whose +travels brought him as far as England. His philosophy of life Browning +has depicted in the well-known poem, whose beauty of diction and clarity +of thought atone for countless muddy folios.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Maimonides: Prince Among Physicians</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>UT the prince among Jewish physicians, whose fame as such has been +overshadowed by his reputation as a Talmudist and philosopher, is +the Doctor Perplexorum—<i>dux, director, demonstrator, neutrorum dubitantium +et errantium!</i>—Moses Maimonides. Cordova boasts of three of +the greatest names in the history of Arabian medicine: Avenzoar, Albucasis, +and Averroes (Avenzoar is indeed claimed to be a Jew). Great as is the +fame of Averroes as the commentator and transmitter of Aristotle to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +scholastic Europe, his fame is enhanced as the teacher and inspirer of +Moses ben Maimon. Exiled from Spain, this great teacher became in +Egypt the Thomas Aquinas of Jewry, the conciliator of the Bible and the +Talmud with the philosophy of Aristotle. He remains one of Israel's great +prophets, and while devoted to theology and philosophy, he was a distinguished +and successful practitioner of medicine and the author of many +works highly prized for nearly five centuries, some of which are still +reprinted. He says pathetically, "Although from my youth Torah was +betrothed to me and continues to live by me as the wife of my youth, in +whose love I find a constant delight, strange women, whom I took at first +into my house as her handmaids, have become her rivals and absorbed part +of my time." The spirit of the man is manifest in his famous prayer, one +of the precious documents of our profession, worthy to be placed beside +the Hippocratic oath. It ends with: "In suffering let me always see only +my fellow creature."<a name="FNanchor_A_1.2"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1.2" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Jewish Physicians and Medieval Popes</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N the revival of learning in the thirteenth century, which led to the foundation +of so many of the universities, Hebrew physicians took a prominent +part, particularly in the great schools of Montpelier and of Paris; +and for the next two or three centuries in Italy, in France, and in Germany, +Hebrew physicians were greatly prized. But too often the tribulations +of Israel were their lot. As one reads of the grievous persecutions they +suffered, there comes to mind the truth of Zunz' words: "<i>Wenn es eine +Stufenleiter von Leiden giebt, so hat Israel die hochste Staffel erstiegen.</i>" +Their checkered career is well illustrated by the relations with the Popes, +some of whom uttered official bulls and fulminations against them, others +seem to have had a special fondness for them as body physicians. Paul III +was for years in charge of Jacob Montino, a distinguished Jewish physician, +who translated extensively from the Arabic and Hebrew into Latin, +and his edition of Averroes is dedicated to Pope Leo X. In my library +there is a copy of the letter of Pope Gregory XIII, dated March 30th, +1581, and printed in 1584, confirming the decrees of Paul IV and Pius V, +which he regrets were by no means held in observance, "but that there are +still many among Christian persons who desiring the infirmities of their +bodies be cured by illicit means, and especially by the service of Jews and +other infidels. . . ." It was at Mantua that a Jewish physician, Abraham +Conath, established a printing press, from which the first Hebrew +works were issued.</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Names of Distinction in Later Centuries</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HROUGHOUT the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries in +France, Germany, and Italy we meet many distinguished names in +the profession, and in his <i>Geschichte der Jüdischen Aertz</i> Landau pays a +very just tribute to their work. Only a few are met with in England. +Isaac Abendana, a Spaniard, practised in Oxford and lectured on Hebrew +at Magdalen College. We have at the Bodleian Jewish almanacs which lie +issued at the end of the seventeenth century, and a great Latin translation +of Mishnah. He afterwards migrated to Cambridge. A more important +author was Jacob de Castro Sarmento, a Portuguese Jew, who became +licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in 1725, and Fellow of the +Royal Society in 1730. There is in the Bodleian an interesting broadsheet +from the Register of the London Synagogues respecting charges made +when his name was proposed at the Royal Society. He contributed many +papers to the Philosophical Transactions, and was the author of several +works. In the eighteenth century Jean Baptiste de Silva, of a Portuguese +Jewish family, became one of the leading physicians of Paris, consulting +physician to Louis XV, and the friend of Voltaire, who remarks, "<i>C'était +un de ces médecins que Moliere n'eut ni pu ni osé rendre ridicules</i>." One of +the special treasures of my library is a volume of the Henriade superbly +bound by Padeloup, and a presentation copy from Voltaire to de Silva, +given me when I left Baltimore by my messmates in "The Ship of Fools" +(a dining club). Voltaire's inscription reads as follows:</div> + +<p>"<i>A Monsieur Silva, Esculape François. Recevez cet hommage de votre +frère en Apollon. Ce Dieu vous a laissé son plus bel héritage, tous les +Dons de l'esprit, tous ceux de la raison, et je n'eus que des Vers, hélas, pour +mon partage.</i>"</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Achievement of Recent Years</i></div> + + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N the nineteenth century, with the removal of the vexatious restrictions, +the Jew had a chance of reaching his full development, and he has +taken a position in the medical profession comparable to that occupied in +the palmy Arabian days of Cordova and Bagdad. In Germany particularly, +the last half of the century witnessed a remarkable outburst of +scientific activity. Traube, who may well be called the father of experimental +pathology; Henle, the distinguished anatomist and pathologist; +Valentin, the physiologist; Lebert, Remak, Romberg, Ebstein, Henoch, +have been among the clinical physicians of the very first rank. Cohnheim +was the most brilliant pathologist of his day; to Weigert pathological histology +owes an enormous debt, and, to crown all, the man whose ideas have +revolutionized modern pathology, Paul Ehrlich, is a Jew. In America<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +Hebrew members of our profession for many years occupied a very prominent +position. The father of the profession to-day, a man universally +beloved, is Abraham Jacobi, full of years and honors; and the two most +brilliant representatives in physiology and pathology, Simon Flexner and +Jacques Loeb, carry out the splendid traditions of Traube and Henle.</div> + +<p>I have always had a warm affection for my Jewish students, and the +friendships I have made with them have been among the special pleasures +of my life. Their success has always been a great gratification, as it has +been the just reward of earnestness and tenacity of purpose and devotion +to high ideals in science; and, I may add, a dedication of themselves as +practitioners to everything that could promote the welfare of their +patients. In the medical profession the Jews had a long and honorable +record, and among no people is all that is best in our science and art more +warmly appreciated; none in the community take more to heart the admonition +of the son of Sirach, "Give place to the physician, let him not go +from thee, for thou hast need of him."</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_wosler.png" width="150" height="30" alt="Signature: Wm Osler" title="Signature: Wm Osler" /> +</div> +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1.2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1.2"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> I am told by authorities that the attribution of this prayer to Maimonides is doubtful. +Where is the original?</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p> + +<h2>The War from a Jewish Standpoint</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Richard Gottheil</span></h3> + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 132px;"> +<img src="images/3rgottheil.jpg" width="132" height="200" alt="RICHARD GOTTHEIL" title="RICHARD GOTTHEIL" /> +<i><big>R</big>ICHARD GOTTHEIL +(born in Manchester, England, +in 1862; came to New +York in 1873), educated at +Columbia and at German Universities; +since 1887 Professor +of Semitic Languages and +Rabbinical Literature at Columbia. +Apart from his scholarly +labors, Professor Gottheil +has devoted himself body and +soul to many Jewish causes, +notably Zionism, in which he +has been a leader in America +from the beginning. He was +among the first to extend an +encouraging hand to the Menorah +movement and has responded +generously to repeated +calls to lecture before Menorah +Societies. The present article is +based upon an address recently +delivered before the Cornell +Menorah Society.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE war in Europe presents problems for +the Jews which must be faced no matter +what the consequences may be. These +problems are of two kinds, due to the fact that we +are members of a race that is scattered over the +whole earth, and the units of which are to be found +in the four corners of the globe. In this way a +double set of duties is entailed upon us. On the +one hand, we have to take our rightful place as citizens +of the different countries in which we live: to +accept all the burdens that go with such citizenship, +and to partake of the joys and sorrows that +are its inevitable accompaniment—in a word, to +take the advice of the Rabbis of old and "seek the +welfare" of the country in which we live. But this +obligation is so self-evident, and the problems +raised by it solve themselves so naturally, that they +need no further thought. In point of fact, the +patriotism of the Jews for the lands in which they +live has been demonstrated on so many occasions +that only blind ignorance or wilful misrepresentation +can call it into question. At the present moment, +in all the armies that are at the front, our +brethren are doing service even beyond their numerical +proportion.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Toll Paid by the Jew</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is to the second set of problems that I venture +to call attention—those Jewish problems +that concern ourselves in particular, that deal with our relations +to and with our fellow Jews—problems which I am afraid are not +always present in our minds. For one reason or another, they are apt +to be forgotten, to slip into the background through sheer negligence. Indeed, +in many cases we are fain to put them intentionally into a corner<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +and remove them discreetly from sight. It has needed a great world event +at this time, as it has in the past, to bring many of us to reason and to a +realization of our duty. The titanic struggle in which so many of the +nations of the world are engaged has come to remind us also of our position +as Jews and to recall to us our relations with the past, our connections with +the present, and our hopes for the future. It is indeed true that none of +the great political movements that have affected the world have passed by +without in some special manner affecting the Jewish people. As we look +back through history and allow our thoughts to run down the highway of +the ages, we perceive the effects such struggles have had upon the Jew. We +think of the time when ancient Babylonia stretched out its arm from the +East to gain a foothold on the Mediterranean and to grasp the power of the +world. What was the effect upon the Jews? The Babylonian captivity. +Many hundreds of years after, Rome—the Babylonia of the West—lunged +out toward the East in the same search for universal dominion; and we still +observe the Ninth of Ab in commemoration of the destruction of the Temple +at Jerusalem. Again some centuries passed us by, and we come to the inevitable +conflict between Christianity and the rising power of Islam. Who +was it but our own Jews who suffered most as the crusading hordes moved +through Europe—our own Jews who were driven before them from the +Rhine into what at a later time became the great national Ghetto in Poland? +And now in this twentieth century, as a people, and in proportion to its +numbers, which body of men, women and children is paying the most exacting +toll to the forces of destiny? Again it is the Jew.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>"The Belgians of All History"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>E all have the greatest possible sympathy for the Belgian people and +for the Belgian land. Yet how much greater has been the suffering +of the Jewish people—the Belgians not of a day but of all history? In +Eastern Europe, in Poland, in Galicia and in parts of Russia, at least two +or three millions of Jews have suffered from the ravages of a war waged +with a bitterness that exceeds all bounds. Invading armies have passed and +re-passed over their homes—miserable as they were even in times of peace. +False accusations have been launched against them so that they have been +regarded as enemies by both sides and treated as such. Thousands have +been driven from their homes to congest villages already filled to overflowing +or to increase the want and suffering indigenous to towns and cities. +An amount of anguish and pain has been caused such as the Jews have +never known in all their long tramp through the ages. What have we done, +we Jews in America, to assuage even a part of this pain? What measures +have we in view, when once the war shall be over, to regain for these people +the possibility of living, to bring back for them a little of that which they +have lost through no fault of their own and in no cause which is theirs? In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +most cases the only right permitted to them is the right to suffer, and they +must in addition pay the price of that suffering. As we think of all these +circumstances, is it not proper and meet that we should ponder the whole +situation in which we Jews find ourselves today?</div> + +<p>I believe that it is eminently the moment to do so. We refuse to believe +that the great waste of human life and energy now going on in Europe +is a waste pure and simple. We refuse to believe that some purification is +not to result from the fire through which mankind is passing, and that some +sanity in handling human affairs is not to follow the evident insanity with +which we are now confronted. Something a little more stable because a +little more reasonable must appear at the end to replace the inconstancy +and unrest which have up to now characterized the relations of peoples to +each other. And as we hope this for the world at large, we are hopeful too +that full attention will be given to those problems which concern the Jews +specifically. I wish then to indicate the chief among these problems, in +order that we may ourselves see clearly the road that must be taken.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Prospect in Russia and Poland</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>F</big>IRST and foremost, of course, rank the questions that concern the +Jews in Russia. Quite apart from any consideration of the general +problems affecting that country, the case of the Jews in Russia and Poland +demands a settlement that shall make existence bearable for them, and +which at the same time shall not run counter to the real and vital interests +of the Russian people. Nay more; such existence must not only be bearable. +It must be of a kind that will place the Jews upon a level with the +other inhabitants of the Empire and will give them the necessary opportunity +to develop whatever talents or capabilities they possess. It is not +for us to prescribe in what manner and by what means this shall be accomplished; +and I use the word "must" not in the sense that any compulsion +is to be applied to Russia in this respect, but rather as an expression of +the certainty that the trial through which the Czar's land is now passing is +of such a kind as to purge her necessarily of all traces of national and +religious intolerance. This feeling cannot be expressed in better words than +those used by M. Bourtzeff, the well-known reactionary, when he said, "We +are convinced that after this war there will no longer be any room for +political reaction and Russia will be associated with the existing group of +cultured and civilized countries."</div> + +<p>Proof that such feelings are making their way among the most intelligent +portion of the Russian population is shown by the remarkable +document put forth some weeks ago over the signatures of noted Christian +professors, litterateurs, and members of the Duma, in which the plea is made +for the removal of all restrictions that at present shackle the Jews. "Let<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +us understand," they say, "that the welfare and the power of Russia are +inseparably bound up with the welfare and liberties of all the nationalities +that constitute the whole Empire. Let us then conceive this truth. Let +us act in accordance with our intelligence and our conscience, and then we +are sure that the disappearance of all kinds of persecution of the Jews and +their complete emancipation, so as to be our equals in all rights of citizenship, +will form one of the conditions of a real constructive imperial policy." +And we are the more persuaded that these views will prevail when we remember +that Russia has been brought into closer contact with just those +nations of Europe where Jewish emancipation has been most perfect and +has brought forth the best fruits. It is unthinkable that these nations +should fail to put their influence on the side of Jewish freedom in Russia +when European accounts are finally balanced.<a name="FNanchor_B_2.2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2.2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Broken Faith of Roumania</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N the second place, any regulation of the Jewish status in Europe must +of necessity include Roumania. The injustice of the Government's +attitude in that country is even more pronounced than it is in Russia. For +Roumania is bound to a certain course by a "scrap of paper." At the Berlin +Congress of 1878, one of the conditions upon which statehood was granted +to Roumania was that the rights of free citizenship should be conferred +upon the Jewish inhabitants in the principality—who, it may be remarked +in passing, were among the oldest residents there. Roumania gave her solemn +promise to carry out this condition; but by political subterfuge of the +most brazen kind she has circumvented the whole spirit of the demand. The +Roumanian Chamber passed a law to the effect that only Jews who had been +naturalized by it were entitled to citizenship; and as the Chamber refused<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +to naturalize more than a handful each year, the provisions of the Berlin +Treaty have been as good as void. When quite recently—in 1913—during +the progress of the last Balkan War and prior to the intervention of Roumania, +the Roumanian Jews volunteered to serve in large numbers, the proposal +was brought forward to grant the rights of citizenship to all Jews +who had entered the army. Yet this proposal was voted down; and the +condition of the Jews has remained as it was prior to 1878. They are inhabitants +in a country, subject to its laws, liable to all duties placed upon +citizens—but they are themselves prohibited from becoming citizens. It is +intolerable that such a condition should be allowed to continue; and if right +is to take the place of might in the inevitable re-arrangement of the community +of European nations, the status of the Roumanian Jews must be +one of the Jewish problems to be solved.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Hope of Regaining Palestine</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HERE is a third Jewish problem the importance of which perhaps +even transcends the two just mentioned; transcends because of the +interest that attaches to it and because of its vital import to every Jew the +world over. I refer to the problem of Palestine, which is wrapt up with +the very existence of the Jews and which symbolizes the hopes that have +been nurtured throughout the centuries. We know that the Jew in his inevitable +march westward has kept his face turned towards the East; that in +prayer and in meditation his gaze has rested upon that country which +enshrined at one and the same time his origin and his future aspirations. +It is true that up to within some forty years that aspiration remained in +large part a pious wish; and that though it was cherished as coming to +realization "quickly and in our day," very few attempts were put through +to arm the Almighty with human effort. At best, God-fearing and pious +Jews removed to Palestine, either to immerse themselves there in study and +contemplation, or to end their days in the odor of sanctity.</div> + +<p>But the last twenty-five years have witnessed a conscious effort to +make of Palestine a rallying point for the Jewish people, a place where +Jewish life may be lived to its fullest extent and which may serve as a +beacon light to all parts of the Diaspora. Many a waste place has been +made to blossom again; and much of the culture and learning acquired by +the Jews in the long centuries of toil and effort has been made available +to revivify the Land of Promise. With infinite pains and untold sacrifices +the Jewish pioneers went forward in their peaceful effort to regain the soil +of their forefathers. Colonies have been founded there; primary schools, +high schools and technical institutions have been established, and many of +the forces have been started that make the foundation for a permanent +settlement. This conscious effort can not have been put forth in vain. +Palestine represents the goal of our endeavor. And any settlement after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +the war that has in view the general problems involved will be forced to +take cognizance of the just hopes that we Jews place in the future of that +country and the just rights that the Jewish people believe they possess and +have acquired there. The form in which such rights shall be expressed is +not a matter for discussion at present. The fact alone is of importance. +In the past the world has applauded the fight made by the Poles for their +national existence; it has followed with interest the Greek War of Independence, +the Italian striving for unity, the Irish endeavors for racial +autonomy, and the Alsatian effort after independent expression. It must +and will appreciate and esteem the attempt made by the Jews to re-fashion +their anomalous status and to re-create the statehood that they lost nearly +two thousand years ago.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Collapse of Principles Held Sacred by the Jews</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>UR concern, however, in the present world conflict goes further than +our own immediate affairs, and meets those interests which we have +in common with the rest of humankind. Much as we deplore the wanton +destruction of property, much as we bewail the reckless loss of life, we +mourn especially the diminution of ethical standards and the perversion of +our whole outlook on life. For this means the lapse of much for which our +own teachers have stood, the forfeit of many a principle which has been +dear to the Jewish heart. Let me touch lightly upon three points out of +the many that come to mind.</div> + +<p>First of all, what we must deplore most is the defiance to law and to +its reign which has become so marked a characteristic during the present +war. The agreements arrived at in conventions, the bases of treaties, the +binding character of compacts, and the sanctity of engagements—all seem +to have been thrown into one melting pot. The mere fact that the expression +"a scrap of paper" has become a household word, bandied about by +orators and scribblers, shows the distance we have descended into the abyss. +The whole structure of our international relations seems to have fallen to +the ground and the labored work of centuries to have been undone in a few +months. Now, the Jews have been from the earliest times a people that +have laid the greatest possible stress upon the rule of law; so much so, +that their own laws were supposed to have divine sanction. In olden Jewish +times everything was regulated by law—man's relation to his fellow men, +to the state, and to God; to such a degree that we have been blamed often +for being a law-ridden people. We cannot, therefore, remain oblivious to +the fact that the sanctity of law has now been rudely called into question +and its authority greatly weakened. As Jews we must be deeply concerned +in assisting the European world back to a full consciousness of the majesty +and eminence of the rule of law.</p> + +<p>But more than that, it was part of our earliest teaching that "thou<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." What clouds of hatred have not been +blown from one line of trenches to the other! What volumes of spleen +have not been sent from one country to the other! In countless speeches, +in newspapers and in books, the doctrines of dislike, of animosity, of deepest +malice have been preached. Men have been taught to look upon certain +neighbors as born enemies, to see in those who do not speak their own +tongue not only a stranger but an enemy. Back of the soldiers under arms, +back of the cannons with their deadly missiles, stand millions of loathing +men and women shooting darts of odium that reach further than any shell +and that are more poisonous than any gas. When shall we be able once +again to preach the beautiful teaching of the prophet, "Have we not all +one Father; hath not one God created us all?"</p> + +<p>And lastly, we must bear in mind that the Jews have been opposed +from of old to the rule and reign of might as represented by the God of +War. In a syllabus on the history of the Peace Movement just published +by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, it is passing strange +to find that the Old Testament is entirely overlooked and that from the +first point, "The Cosmopolitan Ideal among the Greek Philosophers," the +jump is made at once to the second, "Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace." +And yet we know that in the outlook of our greatest teachers and philosophers +the vision of peace loomed large and powerful. "Ye shall not +teach war any more," said one of our greatest. And for another the true +sign of his prophetic mission is that he preached peace. How sadly these +teachings have been belied in the present war we know only too well.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Is War Necessary and Good?</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N many circles it has been held that development is possible for the +human race only with the concomitance of war. What wonder—when +modern teachers have preached just such a necessity? Even so great a +religious leader as Luther said, "War is a business divine in itself, and is +as necessary as eating or drinking or any other work." Should we then +wonder that a historian such as von Treitschke has added, "War is the +last revealer of power. God will see to it that war always recurs as a +drastic medicine for the human race,"—or that another historian, Delbrueck, +should have said, "What beauty was to the Greek, holiness to the +Hebrew, government to the Romans; what liberty is to the Englishman, war +is to the Prussian." Nietzsche, one of the greatest of modern apostles, +has based many of his theories upon "a violent repudiation of any faith or +tradition which recognizes a power of right and justice lying beyond our +impulsive nature; an identification of self-restraint with degeneracy and +of self-assertion with health; a search for happiness in the conquest of +others rather than in self-conquest; a substitution of the Will to Power for +the Darwinian Will to Live, with the consequent intensification of the unconscious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +and instinctive struggle for existence into a battle for conscious +mastery; and a sharpening of the competition of life, with its self-observed +rules of fair play or its traditionally imposed limitations, into a glorification +of war as the supreme test of strength, obtaining its justification in +success."</div> + +<p>In a very remarkable article which appeared in the <i>Nineteenth Century</i> +for last September, written by a man evidently most religiously minded, +appears the following: "Is the heart of England still strong to bear and +to resolve and to endure? How shall we know? By the test? What test? +That which God has given for the trial of people—the test of war. The real +court, the only court in which this case can and will be tried, is the court of +God. This twentieth century will see that trial, and whichever people shall +have in it the greater soul of righteousness will be the victor. The discovery +that Christianity is incompatible with the military spirit is made only among +decaying people. While the nation is still vigorous, while its population is +expanding, while the blood in its veins is strong, then on this hope no +scruples are felt. But when its energies begin to wither, when self-indulgence +takes the place of self-sacrifice, when its sons and daughters become +degenerate, then it is that a spurious and bastard humanitarianism masquerading +as religion declares war to be an anachronism and a barbaric sin."</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Jewish Answer</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Jewish attitude in regard to this great problem before the world +can be dealt with in a very few words. These words have already been +given to us in the twentieth chapter of Exodus: "If thou wilt make an altar, +thou shalt not wave thy sword over it; for if thou wavest thy sword over it +thou hast polluted it." It has been emphasized by the prophet Jeremiah +when he said, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the +mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches; but +let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, +that I am the Lord who exerciseth loving kindness, judgment and righteousness +on the earth." To this I will add only one single word of the Rabbis: +"The whole Torah exists solely for the sake of the ways of peace." This +ideal of peace has been the guiding star of Israel for which the Jew has +prayed morning, noon and night, and I trust that the young men of the +Menorah will be true to that which the Menorah typifies, and will assist in +the spreading of its light by upholding the reign of law, the reign of love, +and the reign of peace.</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_rgottheil.png" width="150" height="42" alt="Signature: Richard Gottheil" title="Signature: Richard Gottheil" /> +</div> +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2.2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2.2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> In the last number of <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span>, Mr. Jacob H. Schiff ventured to suggest +the reverse influence, and to intimate that the association of England with Russia +was having an adverse effect upon the Jews in England. While Mr. Schiff does not tell +us upon what evidence he bases his views, I venture to guess that it consists largely of the +mistrust and ill-will caused in England by a small coterie of German-born bankers and +their following. But Mr. Schiff must know that this ill-will is in no way connected with +the fact that the men referred to are members of the Jewish race. Most of them have +never taken the least interest in Jewish affairs, some even have ostentatiously kept themselves +quite apart from any connection with them. And what is more, the feeling against +them is shared by Jews as well as by non-Jews in England. +</p><p> +Perhaps more serious still is Mr. Schiff's presentment concerning German anti-Semitism. +To speak simply of "a certain anti-Semitic tendency in Germany" is to coat the +truth with so much honey as almost to reverse its meaning. Anti-Semitism in Germany, +and especially in Prussia, has kept the Jews far from any positions of importance in +university life, on the bench, and in all state and military affairs. And to add that the +war "will crush out most of this anti-Semitic tendency" is to fly in the very face of well-ascertained +and authenticated facts of very recent occurrence. In <i>Harper's Weekly</i> for +February 6th of this year (p. 122), a series of such facts is adduced. Nor can Mr. Schiff +forget that forced conversion away from the Jewish faith and communion has nowhere +taken on the dangerous proportions it has in the Fatherland. Russia, it is true, has martyred +many Jewish bodies; German "Kultur" has quenched too many Jewish souls. History +will have to decide which has done the greater hurt to the Jewish cause.</p></div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>O Sweet Anemones</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Jessie E. Sampter</span></h3> + +<p><i>This Song is one of a series put into the mouth of a nationalist +Pharisee of Jerusalem living through the times of the coming of Jesus to +Jerusalem and the later development or perversion of Jesus' ideals by Paul.</i></p> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="O Sweet Anemones"> +<tr><td align='left'>O sweet anemones on Sharon's plain,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Light dancing seraphim of sun and rain,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Was he not one of us, was he not ours?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And yet he saved not us, O crimson flowers!</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />As stars that bloom in heaven, full-bloom and still,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>As native stags that leap from hill to hill,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>As you, dear blossom-stars, on native plains,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>So planted here, with God, our home remains.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />I, too, would perish here, where he has died,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>But felled by horse and spear, not crucified;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>I, man of peace, would pour, O Rock of God,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>My freedom or my blood on Zion's sod.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />When pagans sweep thy fields with withering blast,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>My heart is sanctified to death at last;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Its taste is honey-sweet within my mouth,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>For we that drink with God can dread no drouth.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />O sweet anemones on Sharon's plain,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A spring shall come for us, to bloom again,—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>To God a day, to us a thousand years,—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Who still remembers, lives, refreshed with tears.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>"Paths of Pleasantness"</h2> + +<h3><i>The Study of the Jewish Law</i></h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By David Werner Amram</span></h3> + +<div class='blockquot'><p>"<i>Her paths are paths of pleasantness, and all her +ways are peace. She is a tree of life to those that lay +fast hold on her, and happy is every one that retaineth +her."—Prov. 3:17, 18.</i></p></div> + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 144px;"> +<img src="images/4damram.jpg" width="144" height="200" alt="DAVID WERNER AMRAM" title="DAVID WERNER AMRAM" /> +<i><big>D</big>AVID WERNER AMRAM (born in Philadelphia, +1866), educated at the +University of Pennsylvania, +has been Lecturer and since +1912 Professor of Law in the +University of Pennsylvania +Law School. Professor Amram +has published books and +articles not only on common +law topics but on interesting +subjects in Jewish legal lore +and belles-lettres, among his +books being: "The Jewish Law +of Divorce," "Leading Cases in +the Bible," and "The Makers +of Hebrew Books in Italy."</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>NE of the methods by which the Jewish people +managed to survive endless misery +and persecution during eighteen centuries +of dispersion and protect themselves from the continuous +bombardment of their social and moral +citadels was by taking refuge in the study of the +law. The study and observance of the law, both +civil and religious, saved the Jews from degeneration +and vulgarization, and preserved for them the +humanizing memories of the thoughts and deeds of +their forebears. Through their common interest +in the law and its study they kept in touch with one +another throughout the lands of their dispersion, +they kept alive their feeling of brotherhood and the +memory of their ancient independence, and translated +this memory into a hope for the re-establishment +of the State, a hope which has never died.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br />"<i>The People of the Law</i>"</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE term "the people of the law" has often been applied to the Jews +in the opprobrious sense that they are a people who deal according +to hard and strict rules, untouched by the qualities of love and mercy.</div> + +<p>Properly understood, however, the term "the people of the law" is +a title of honor, one of which we may well be proud. As used in our +literature and by our people, "law" signifies something more than civil +and criminal jurisprudence. It is our word "Torah," meaning doctrine, +teaching, including not only what is generally known as law but also what +is known as ethics. The people of the law is the people that studies the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +great thoughts of its great men of all times, and adopts them as rules of +life which it becomes a duty and a pleasure to obey. The people of the law +is the people that in the midst of a world of chaos in which nation fought +nation with the weapons of death, sat in communion with a past world from +which came such messages as this: "Attend to me, O my people: and give +ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall go forth from me, and I will make +my judgment to rest for a light to the peoples. . . . . Hearken unto +me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear +ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye dismayed at their revilings. For +the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them +like wool: but my righteousness shall be forever and my salvation unto all +generations." Righteousness was the aspect of Deity that appealed to +the second Isaiah, and it was he that spoke words of comfort to our people +in all the days of their endless tribulations. The certain faith in the +ultimate success of right sustained them throughout the centuries and constitutes +their strength to-day. This is the law that was handed down to +them from of old, the law of right, which though often broken, often forgotten, +was always found again and cherished as the one thing worth while +in a world torn by the brutal instincts in man—instincts which the law had +chained and sought to make harmless.</p> + +<p>So we may well cling to our title of the people of the law, remembering +that it does not mean merely Nomos, as the Hellenized Jews mistranslated +Torah, but legal and ethical doctrine and knowledge in its broadest sense, +and that it is the people of the law that have always shown their love of +knowledge and found it "a tree of life to those that lay fast hold on it." +Some ancient Jewish mystic said that the sword and the book came out of +heaven together and Israel had to choose. Israel did choose and thereafter +dreamed of days when swords would be beaten into ploughshares.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>How the Heritage of the Law Was Preserved</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE reading of the law has since time immemorial been an established +part of the synagogue service, thus educating the people to know +their law, the very phrases of which by constant reference and repetition +became part of their daily vocabulary. The origin of this custom of +reading the law in the synagogue may probably be found in the Biblical +references to the great convocations when King and scribe read the law +to the assembled people.</div> + +<p>The effect of the dispersion of the Jews was to give a peculiar sacredness +to the law as the sole heritage of their earlier and happier days. In +most of the lands of their dispersion, the Jews dwelt a race apart, separated +from the rest of the community by mutual prejudices and antagonisms. +The soil on which they dwelt was so far as ultimate overlordship was concerned +the land of the stranger, but nevertheless in a very definite and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> +special sense it was the Jews' own land. For it was a land in which the law +of the stranger was not the law. The law of the land of their dispersion +was not the law of the owner of the soil but the law of the Jews. In this +sense the Ghettos of Italy and the Gassen of Germany were not so much +Italian and German soil as they were Jewish. As by the modern fiction +of extraterritoriality the home of an Ambassador is considered part of his +own national territory, so these exclusively Jewish settlements were colonies +of Judæa planted on foreign soil. They were separated from the +rest of the land by visible or invisible walls, and within these walls, hardly +touched by the influences that were at work shaping the life around them, +the ancient law of the Jews was preserved and handed down from generation +to generation. Hence during the Middle Ages the student of the law +became the most important member of the community, and all the energy +of the community that was not required to outwit the constant menace of +brutal force and religious persecution was devoted to the cultivation of +the law and of the literature that it gave rise to.</p> + +<p>It should be noted, however, that since the beginning of the Talmudic +period, the civil law developed in certain directions only, because after all +the Jewish people had no land of their own in the usual sense and no central +authority and were constantly moving from place to place, always +subject to persecution. Some branches of their law were entirely neglected +and others abnormally developed.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Schools of the Law</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N the Talmudic period, the judges, members of the Synhedrion, and +professors of the law schools, received a long professional training. +The course of study lasted seven years, at the end of which, having passed +their examination successfully, the graduates were eligible to assignment +as judges in the lower courts, from which they were promoted to act as +associate judges in the great Synhedrion and eventually might hope to +attain the dignity of full synhedrial membership. These judicial dignitaries +were obliged to be well versed in the languages, law and customs of +the contemporary peoples, especially in the laws of the Greeks and Romans. +Great academies of the law flourished in Palestine and still greater ones in +Babylonia, the latter eventually supplanting the former. These academies +called for the enthusiastic encomium of one Talmudist who said, "God +created these academies in order that the promise might be fulfilled that +the word of God should not depart from Israel's mouth."</div> + +<p>The law students met twice a year in assembly for examination. Their +studies were pursued at home, except in the months of Elul and Adar when +they went up to the Assembly. Here they were arranged in classes and +under the direction of their masters heard lectures and discussed the subject +matter presented to them topically. At these Assemblies actual questions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> +of law were submitted from Jewish communities all over the Jewish +world, and the solutions to these problems were prepared and forwarded +by the great masters. In addition to these professional schools there were +everywhere general schools or, as we might say, high schools connected +with the synagogues. It is a tribute to the importance that was ascribed +to the high schools in later generations that their origin was projected +back to the days of the Flood when Shem and Eber established a law school +in which subsequently Isaac, Jacob, and Rebecca heard lectures. It will +be noted that according to this bit of folklore Rebecca was the first woman +law student. The same fancy which invented this most ancient of the +schools, also invented the law school which Judah built for Jacob in Egypt, +and the school established by Moses in which he and Aaron were the professors +and Joshua was the janitor.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Study of the Law "the Chief End of Man"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE fancy of the people associated nearly all of its great men with the +study of the law. The entire tribe of Issachar was said to have +devoted itself to the study of the law, the merchant tribe of Zebulon furnishing +the means of support. God himself, according to another mystic, +was a professor in the celestial law school in which He taught the law to the +souls of all the righteous, in that heaven which they conceived of as a place +where the law might be perpetually studied; and even while the Temple was +still standing and sacrifices were being offered, the Jewish teachers used to +say that God does not require burnt offerings but the study of His law.</div> + +<p>From all of these traditions it will be seen that to the ancients the +study of the law was the chief end of man. The Jew never considered +ignorance to be bliss and has little sympathy with the religious ideal of +many non-Jewish people that religion is more important than knowledge. +One of the great masters even went so far as to say that the ignorant man +cannot be pious. It was Simon the Just, one of the survivors of the Men +of the Great Synagogue, who said that the world stands upon three things, +the law, the service of God, and charity, and he put the law first, for the +first duty of a man is to observe the law. He must be just before he can be +charitable.</p> + +<p>At one time it was sought to place some limitations upon the right +to become a student of law, and herein the schools of Hillel and Shammai +differed. Hillel was the democrat who held that all persons, without +exception, should enjoy the privilege of studying law; Shammai was +the intellectual aristocrat who sought to limit this privilege to those who +were wise, modest, of ample means and of goodly parentage, thereby establishing +rules similar to those that obtain in the best modern law schools, +which require a collegiate education as a preliminary to admission; but +Shammai went further in that he required the students to be wise and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +modest as well as persons of good breeding and of ample fortune. Just +how many of our modern law students could meet these requirements is a +question upon which I have no statistics. On this very matter of the +proper qualifications for admission to the privilege of studying law, we +have heard much in our time. Perhaps a contribution to the subject from +the old and somewhat neglected Code of the Mishnah would not be inappropriate. +The Mishnah says:</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>"Eight and Forty Qualifications for the Law"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>"T</big>HE law is greater than priesthood and royalty, for royalty is acquired +by thirty qualifications, priesthood by four and twenty, +but the law by eight and forty, and they are as follows: Study, attention, +utterance, understanding, reverence, veneration, modesty, cheerfulness and +purity, service of the wise, choice of associates, debate with fellow students, +deliberation in study of Bible and Mishnah, a minimum of business, a minimum +of worldly pursuits, a minimum of pleasure, a minimum of sleep, +a minimum of talk, a minimum of jesting, forbearance, kindliness, faith in +the wise, resignation in suffering, knowing one's place, satisfaction with +one's lot, bridling one's words, refraining from self-complacency, amiability, +loving the Creator, loving His creatures, loving righteousness, loving +equity, loving reproof, eschewing worldly honor, not being puffed up by +learning nor delighting in laying down the law, helping one's neighbor bear +the yoke, inclining toward a favorable judgment of others, steadfast in the +truth, steadfast for peace, concentration in study, asking, answering, listening, +enlarging, learning with a view to teach, learning with a view to act, enabling +one's teacher to become wiser, thoroughly understanding what one +hears, and repeating every dictum in the name of him who uttered it." +I recommend this list of qualifications to the consideration of modern +teachers and students as well as to those who are concerned with the preparation +of a code of legal ethics for the profession.</div> + +<p>The Jews loved the law and respected it and they honored its expounders +and administrators. They do not believe that the world can be made +over or made better by any man or by any preaching. They are by instinct +conservative, holding on with tenacity to the ideas and institutions +that have grown up in past times and that are expressions of the needs of +society and of its adjustment to the forces that play upon it. This is why +the law, which is the embodiment of these conservative forces, meets with +their respect and allegiance, why its study was cultivated with such zeal +in the past, and why in our own day it still finds so large a percentage of +votaries among the sons of our people.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_dwamram.png" width="150" height="29" alt="Signature: D.W. Amram" title="Signature: D.W. Amram" /> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> + +<h2>The Jewish Genius in Literature</h2> + +<h3><i>A Study of Three Modern Men of Letters</i></h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Edward Chauncey Baldwin</span></h3> + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 147px;"> +<img src="images/5ebaldwin.jpg" width="147" height="200" alt="EDWARD CHAUNCEY BALDWIN" title="EDWARD CHAUNCEY BALDWIN" /> +<i><big>E</big>DWARD CHAUNCEY BALDWIN (born in Cornwall, +Conn., 1870), Assistant +Professor of English in the +University of Illinois, has +taken a special and scholarly +interest in the contributions of +the Jews to civilization, on +which subject he has written a +notable book entitled "Our +Modern Debt to Israel," besides +articles in various periodicals. +He is an honorary member +of the Illinois Menorah +Society, evincing a warm sympathy +with the Menorah aims +and actively coöperating in the +Menorah work.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big> STUDY of great Jewish names in modern literature +has impressed me with the fact that +every Jewish man of letters has attained +his fame by virtue of qualities that are essentially +Jewish. In other words, we cannot fully understand +the work of even modern Jewish literary men unless +we know the fundamental qualities of Jewish genius. +To illustrate what is meant by this assertion, +we may consider briefly the work of three +nineteenth century Jewish authors—Heine, Beaconsfield, +and Zangwill. These men are apparently +wholly different; and yet they attained literary eminence +through qualities or mind and heart which +we have learned to associate with the race from +which they sprang.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Heinrich Heine: A Jew at Heart</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>H</big>EINRICH Heine is the one writer of the +first rank that Germany can boast between +the death of Goethe in 1832 and the advent of +the younger generation of dramatists, Sudermann, +Hauptmann, and the rest, sixty years later. To +free himself from such a limitation as his Jewish +birth seemed to him to be, and with the more specific object, it is said, of +securing a government position in Prussia, Heine allowed himself to become +a convert to Christianity. "Judaism," he said, "is not a religion; it is a +misfortune." His conversion, however, failed to profit him. He lost the +fellowship of his own people, and was contemptuously called "the Jew" +by his enemies. In a sense, the designation was entirely just. A Jew at +heart Heine remained to the day of his death. On his death bed, speaking +of the Jews he said: "Queer people this! Downtrodden for thousands of +years, weeping always, suffering always, abandoned always by its God, yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +clinging to him tenaciously, loyally, as no other under the sun. Oh, if +martyrdom, patience, and faith in spite of trial can confer a patent of +nobility, then this people is noble beyond any other. It would have been +absurd and petty if, as people accuse me, I had been ashamed of being a +Jew."</div> + +<p>Not only was Heine a Jew in his instinctive racial sympathies, but +his work bears the indelible impress of Judaism. It is a distinctively Jewish +product. In it appear the buoyancy of spirit which sustained him +under suffering that would have crushed a less resilient temper; the intellectual +arrogance; the proneness to censure rather than to commend; and +especially the excessive self-consciousness;—all these distinctively Jewish +traits were in him exaggerated and helped to make his work what it was. +It is his self-consciousness, in particular, that made his <i>Buch der Lieder</i> his +best production. In that remarkable collection of lyrics Heine appears at +his best, because the ability to compose songs that are the spontaneous +utterance of emotion, at one and the same time personal and representative, +is a Hebrew heritage. The Hebrew genius was essentially lyric, rather than +epic or dramatic; and in consequence, the lyrics of ancient Hebrew literature +are its chief glory. In proof of this, we have but to recall the dirges +and triumph songs, the reflective lyrics, and the liturgical hymns that compose +the collection we know as the Psalms. The excellence of both the old +Hebrew lyrics and of Heine's Lieder is to be found in the extraordinary +subjectivity of the Hebrew temper—the racial fondness for impassioned, +yet artistic, self-expression.</p> + +<p>Yet Heine's Jewish traits are evident not only in the subjectivity of +his lyrics, but in the new and richer character that he gave to the German +Lied. This, hitherto vague and dreamy, became in his hands startlingly +concrete and definite. And this is true even when he expresses the most +subtle feelings. Always the most evanescent <i>Stimmung</i>, not less than +moods more primitively simple, find expression in metaphors so sensuously +material as to recall Solomon's Song. Compare a typical lyric of Heine, +such as the following:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne"> +<tr><td align='left'>Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Die liebt' ich alle in Liebeswonne,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Ich lieb' sie nicht mehr, ich liebe allein</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Die Kleine, die Feine, die Reine, die Eine;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Sie selber, aller Liebe Bronne,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Ist Rose und Lilie und Taube und Sonne</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class='unindent'>with the love lyric sung by one of Israel's nameless singers:</div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Behold thou art fair"> +<tr><td align='left'>Behold thou art fair, my love;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Behold thou art fair;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Thine eyes are as doves.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Behold thou art fair, my beloved</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>Yea, thou art pleasant:</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And our couch is green.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The beams of our house are cedars,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And our rafters are firs.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>I am a rose of Sharon,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A lily of the valleys.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>As a lily among thorns,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>So is my love among the daughters.<a name="FNanchor_C_3.2"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3.2" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class='unindent'>Even so brief a comparison may illustrate, though it may not prove, that +for the ultimate source of Heine's Oriental exuberance and materialization, +so new to German literature, we must look in Jewish not in European +culture.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Spiritual Depth of Heine</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>P</big>ERHAPS because Heine was in spirit an Oriental, the Germans never +have known exactly what to make of him. Professor Francke says +(<i>History of German Literature</i>, p. 526) that Heine "produced hardly a +single poem which fathoms the depths of life." This assertion seems +scarcely defensible in view of such poems as the following:</div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Wo wird einst des Wandermüden"> +<tr><td align='left'>Wo wird einst des Wandermüden</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Letzte Ruhestatte sein?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Unter Palmen in dem Süden?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Unter Linden an dem Rhein?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />Werd' ich wo in einer Wüste</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Eingescharrt von fremder Hand?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Oder ruh' ich an der Küste</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Eines Meeres in dem Sand?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />Immerhin! Mich wird umgeben</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Gotteshimmel, dort wie hier,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Und als Todtenlampen schweben</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Nachts die Sterne über mir.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>To find an equally beautiful expression of faith in God as a universal +spiritual presence that transcends all space relations, we must go back to +the anonymous Jewish poet who wrote the psalm in which occur the lines:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Whither shall I go from thy spirit?"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Whither shall I go from thy spirit?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And whither shall I flee from thy presence?</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>If I make my bed in Sheol, behold thou art there.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>If I take the wings of the morning</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Even there shall thy hand lead me,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And thy right hand shall hold me.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And the light about me shall be night;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Even the darkness hideth me not from thee;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>But the night shineth as the day.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>For the darkness and the light are both alike to thee."</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class='unindent'>As a matter of fact, both poems are to be accounted for as equally the +product of a rarely gifted people—a people with a unique genius for +religion.<a name="FNanchor_D_4.2"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4.2" class="fnanchor">[D]</a></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Disraeli and His Oriental Imagination</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>ENJAMIN DISRAELI belonged to a family who left Spain in the +fifteenth century to avoid the horrors of the Inquisition. Upon their +escape, in gratitude to the God of Jacob who had sustained them through +unheard of trials, they adopted the name Disraeli, in order that their race +might be forever recognized. Of such a family Benjamin Disraeli was a +worthy representative. He never was ashamed of his race. On the contrary, +he gloried in it, and lost no opportunity to put forth the claim of +his people to be the true aristocracy of the earth. "Has not the Jew the +oldest blood and the finest genius of the world?" he asks. And again, in +one of his books (<i>Tancred</i>, 1847), he says, "The Jews are of the purest +race; the chosen people; they are the aristocracy of nature."</div> + +<p>It is Disraeli's Jewish characteristics that have bewildered and sometimes +offended his critics. He has been charged with insincerity because +he was so clever, and because he wrote with a kind of Oriental exuberance +that was to him entirely natural and a part of his Jewish heritage. Gilfillan +is the only critic, so far as I know, who has recognized that Disraeli's +excellences, and his defects as well, were racial rather than individual. +Speaking of his Oriental fancy and cleverness, Gilfillan says: "Disraeli +has a fine fancy, soaring up at intervals into high imagination, and making +him a genuine child of that nation from whom came forth the loftiest, richest, +and most impassioned songs the earth has ever witnessed—the nation of +Isaiah, Ezekiel, Solomon, and Job. He has little humor, but a vast deal +of diamond-pointed wit."<a name="FNanchor_E_5.2"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5.2" class="fnanchor">[E]</a></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Disraeli's Wit: A Purely Jewish Product</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>D</big>ISRAELI'S wit, which made him so many enemies, is a purely Jewish +product. It is satiric. Now satire was the form taken by Jewish +wit in the Middle Ages as a result of the hard conditions under which the +Jews lived. As one modern Jew has said, "The Jews seized the weapon of +wit, since they were interdicted the use of every other weapon." With<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +every door closed in hostility against them, there was little they could do +but laugh with bitter irony at their fate, and with savage satire at their +oppressors. With such an ancestry as this behind him, it is not to be wondered +at that Disraeli's wit is scornful, and that he excelled in personal +satire and invective. It was never, however, unprovoked. Disraeli never +indulged in personal satire or invective except in his own defence. For +example, his mockingly ironical reply to the attack of a member of the +House of Commons named Roebuck, which was one of the most effective +rejoinders Disraeli ever made, was in answer to a most virulent arraignment +of his political motives. "I have always felt," he said, "that in this world +you must bear a great deal, and that even in this indulgent, though dignified, +assembly, where we endeavor so far as possible to carry on public +affairs without any unnecessary acerbity—still we must occasionally submit +to some things which the rules of this house do not permit. I could, +no doubt, have vindicated my character; but that would only have made +the honorable member from Bath speak once or twice more, and really +I have never any wish to hear him. I have had the most corrupt motives +imputed to me. But I know how true it is that a tree must produce its +fruit—that a crab-tree will bring forth crab apples, and that a man of +meagre and acid mind, who writes a pamphlet or makes a speech, must make +a meagre and acid pamphlet or a poor and sour speech. Let things, then, +take their course."</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Disraeli's Fondness for Allegory</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>NOTHER striking peculiarity of Disraeli was his fondness for veiled +allusion. Nearly all of his most popular novels—and this was <i>one</i> +of the main reasons for their phenomenal popularity—were thinly veiled +representations of Disraeli's own contemporaries, who were easily recognizable +by the reading public. Take, for instance, the admirable burlesque +entitled <i>Ixion in Heaven</i>, where the author tells how Ixion, king of Thessaly, +having fallen into disrepute on earth, was taken up into heaven by +Jupiter and feasted by the gods. Here Jupiter is really George the +Fourth and Apollo is the poet Byron. The latter's pose of gloomy misanthropy, +as well as his habit of fasting to keep from growing fat, are admirably +satirized in the following dialogue:</div> + +<p>"You eat nothing, Apollo," said Ceres.</p> + +<p>"Nor drink," said Neptune.</p> + +<p>"To eat, to drink, what is it but to live; and what is life but death. . . . +I refresh myself now only with soda-water and biscuits. Ganymede, +bring some."</p> + +<p>Now this fondness for veiled allusion is distinctly a Hebrew characteristic. +The Arabs today have a saying, "as fond of a veiled allusion as +a Hebrew." This has always been a Hebrew trait. I suppose no literature<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> +of any people consists so largely of allegory, in proportion to its bulk, as +does the Hebrew. In proof of this assertion, one needs but to allude to the +vogue in post-exilic Judaism of the Apocalypse, in which contemporary history +was presented in the form of allegory, and to the Rabbinical fondness +for the allegorical interpretation of the Scriptures. So it would not be difficult +to show that not only these qualities I have mentioned, but all the +qualities that made Disraeli admired or feared were his by virtue of his +Jewish inheritance.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Zangwill's Prophetic Spirit in "The War God"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>SRAEL ZANGWILL knows the Jews, not as George Eliot did, through +a process of philosophic induction, but at first hand, because he is a +Jew by birth and breeding. He, unlike Heine, has never tried to conceal +the fact that he is a Jew. In Israel Zangwill all the tenderness and sympathy, +all the tenacity, the suppleness and adaptability, and it may be added, +the baffling inconsistencies of his race appear.</div> + +<p>Inconsistent he certainly is. He has been an ardent Zionist, and in his +story "Transitional" (from <i>They That Walk in Darkness</i>) he seems to +hold that assimilation will never solve the Jewish problem; yet in <i>The Melting +Pot</i> he obviously regards assimilation as the inevitable and desirable +end of Judaism.</p> + +<p>In spite of his inconsistencies, Zangwill is one in whom the ancient +ideals of Israel live again. It is in the spirit of the prophets that he wrote +<i>The War God</i> (1912). This play, with all its faults as an acting drama, +is nevertheless a remarkable document, voicing, as it does, on the very eve +of the breaking down of European civilization, the old prophetic protest +against the brutality and waste of war.</p> + +<p>This protest dates back to at least the ninth century <span class="smcap">b.c.</span> It may +not be generally known that it was a Hebrew prophet who first advocated +the humane treatment of prisoners of war. The story is told in the Second +Book of Kings that when a band of marauding Syrians were corralled +in Samaria, the "king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, +'My father, shall I smite them? Shall I smite them?' And he answered, +'Thou shalt not smite them: wouldst thou smite those whom thou has taken +captive with thy sword and with thy bow? Set bread and water before +them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.' And he prepared +great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he +sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came +no more into the land of Israel" (2 Kings 6:1-23). Again, Amos, in the +eighth century, in his arraignment of the sins of the nations, pronounces +God's severest judgments upon Damascus, Edom, Ammon, and Moab for +their cruelty in war. The charge against Edom, for example, is that "he +did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever." And the later +prophets' visions of the Messianic age include as the brightest feature of +that wished-for time the prediction that then "the nations shall not learn +war any more."</p> + +<p>Of such a spirit Mr. Zangwill's play <i>The War God</i> is an expression. +It is a satire upon militarism, but a satire without exaggeration. The arguments +employed to justify the maintenance of a huge army and navy are +not a whit more absurd than the fallacies which have been put forth for a +generation by those who would justify the maintenance of armaments. +These so-called arguments are presented by "the Chancellor" who represents +Bismarck, and by the king of Gothia, in whom we may easily recognize +the Russian Czar. "Dominance," roars the Chancellor,—</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="There rings the password of the universe"> +<tr><td align='left'>"There rings the password of the universe.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Who knows it, he is free of every camp.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Equality, your level, endless cornfield,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>However fat and fair and golden-stalked,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Would set us pining for the snow-topped peaks</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And barren glaciers. Life is fight, thank God!</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br />Take war away and men would sink to molluscs,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Limpets that wait the tide to wash them food.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The nations would grow foul with lazy feeling.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>What heaven loves is breeds with life a-tingle,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Swift-gliding, flashing, darting death at rivals,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Men fearing God and with no other fear.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Thus were the Albans, now the turn is ours</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>To be the chosen people of Jehovah."</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class='unindent'>And the King endorses such sentiments with the sage observation,</div> + +<div class='center'> +"No doubt we must protect our growing commerce."<br /> +</div> + +<p>In opposition to such militarists stands Count Frithiof, in whom we +may easily see the lineaments of Tolstoi. His motto is, "Resist not evil, +but reform yourself." In answer to the Chancellor's declaration, "To safeguard +peace, we must prepare for war," he replies,</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="I know that maxim; it was forged in hell"> +<tr><td align='left'>"I know that maxim; it was forged in hell.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>This wealth of ships and guns inflames the vulgar</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And makes the very war it guards against.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>How often, as the mighty master said, the sight</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done."</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>A Voice for Social Justice</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>Q</big>UITE outside the dramatic action of the play stands the Jew, Blum, +the Chancellor's secretary. Through his astuteness in managing the +Chancellor, he has hitherto moulded public policy according to his own will. +Finally, near the end of the play, he denounces Christian civilization in a +passage worthy of quotation:</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Man wins the realm of air and might have been"> +<tr><td align='left'>"Man wins the realm of air and might have been</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>An eagle with a soul; you make him harpy,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>More murderous than dragons of the ooze.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>I tell you, we outsiders see the game,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>We Jews, who bidden rise beyond the code</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Of eye for eye, must rub both eyes to see</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Not e'en eye-justice done in Christendom,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Whose cannon thunder 'gainst both God and Christ."</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>So might have spoken one of the ancient prophets of his race. Indeed +Amos, amid the orgies of the autumn festival at Bethel, did speak in the +same spirit when he denounced the formal service of worshippers who +ignored the claims of social justice. "Seek good and not evil," cries Amos, +"that ye may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, +as ye say. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment +(justice) in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious +unto the remnant of Joseph."</p> + +<p>So it is evident that even the literary work of modern Jews can be +understood and appreciated only as an expression of the characteristics of +the Jewish race. In this modern Jewish literature appears the exuberance, +the emotional intensity, and the love of social justice that were characteristic +also of ancient Hebrew literature as written by prophet, priest, and +sage.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Role of Israel in Human Emancipation</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>F</big>AR greater, however, than the work of these three authors, far greater, +indeed, than Israel's literature as a whole, of which they are a part, +is the life of this people, of which their literature is the record. We speak +of a nation's literature as great if it possesses three or four tragedies that +are classics. <i>Hamlet</i>, <i>Othello</i>, <i>Macbeth</i> and <i>King Lear</i> would, for example, +be sufficient to justify the title "great" as applied to English literature. +What shall we say, then, as some one has suggested, of this people who for +more than twenty centuries have lived a tragedy more pathetic than any +the world's literature can show? Job has always seemed to me a type of +the Jewish race. We recall that majestic picture in the thirty-first chapter, +where Job stands up on his ash-mound, robbed of his wealth, bereaved +of his children, deserted by his wife, suffering the agonies of a loathsome +and incurable disease, and cast off, as it seems to him, by the very God in +whom he trusted, and yet, in the face of poverty, and bereavement, and +mortal pain, and bewildered isolation, asserts his own unchanged and unalterable +belief that righteousness is salvation.</div> + +<p>Similarly Israel, through the long centuries of its tragic history, has +stood on the ash-mound of its national humiliation. Plundered, vilified, +and persecuted, a nation of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, from whom +men have hid their faces in aversion not concealed, Israel has yet clung with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +a grip that nothing could weaken nor dislodge to the fundamental idea that +religion—the right relation of man to God—was not creed nor ritual, but +simply doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.</p> + +<p>We have been looking backward at the literary accomplishment of +three Jewish men of genius. It is, I believe, a fault of modern Judaism to +look backward instead of forward, as if the glory of Israel had indeed departed, +and as if nothing were left but to look back with pride and regret +upon what has passed like a dream away. But I believe Jews may look forward +now with confident hope toward the years that are to be. That Israel +has completely played its role—that it has finished its service to the world—cannot +for a moment entertain. Surely no one who believes in a philosophy +of history, who sees in human history more than a meaningless and +unrelated succession of events, can think that Israel has been preserved +through centuries of discipline for no end whatever. On the contrary, we +must believe that Israel has still a mission. What that mission is to be we +cannot now foretell. We of this generation are looking upon the breaking +down of European civilization. Some of us hope and expect that when the +smoke of battle has cleared away there will gradually be built up a new and +better social order. In this constructive work of rebuilding, who is better +fitted to take a prominent part than the Jew, with his noble heritage of +ideals, his passion for social justice? Jews may well rejoice as they +reflect upon what individual members of their race have through literature +contributed to the emancipation of the human spirit. And they may rejoice +also in the hope of what Israel may yet accomplish in the years that +are to be.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 215px;"> +<img src="images/signature_ebaldwin.png" width="215" height="25" alt="Signature: Edward Chauncey Baldwin" title="Signature: Edward Chauncey Baldwin" /> +</div> +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3.2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3.2"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> <i>Song of Songs</i>, 1:15-2:2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4.2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4.2"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> An adequate and sympathetic treatment of Heine's work as a Jewish poet may be +found in <i>Heinrich Heine als Dichter Judentums</i> von Georg J. Plotke (Dresden, 1913).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5.2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5.2"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> George Gilfillan, <i>Third Gallery of Literary Portraits</i>, p. 360.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p> +<div class='center'>[<i>The Second in a Series of Sketches of Jewish Worthies</i>]</div> + +<h2>Jochanan ben Zakkai</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Abraham M. Simon</span></h3> +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 147px;"> +<img src="images/6asimon.jpg" width="147" height="200" alt="ABRAHAM M. SIMON" title="ABRAHAM M. SIMON" /> +<i><big>A</big>BRAHAM M. SIMON +(born in Kalvaria, Russian-Poland, +in 1886; came to +America in 1904) received his +A.B. with honors from Harvard +College in 1910, and his +M.A. from the University of +Pennsylvania in 1911. During +1910-11 he was a Fellow in the +Dropsie College for Hebrew +and Cognate Learning of Philadelphia, +and he spent the summer +of 1911 at the Bodleian +Library at Oxford and the Bibliothèque +Nationale in Paris, +reading and copying Arabic +manuscripts. In 1913 he won +his Ph.D. in Semitics at the +University of Pennsylvania. +Mr. Simon was one of the original +members of the Harvard +Menorah Society, and read a +Hebrew poem</i> Ner Yisrael +(<i>"The Light of Israel"</i>) <i>at the +dedicatory exercises of the +Society.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Jewish commonwealth was dissolved; the +Jewish nation disrupted. Jerusalem was +taken; the Temple had become a ruin. +The last vestige of independence seemed to have been +wiped out. All who had taken up arms were either +dead, or enslaved, or banished. The infuriated Roman +conquerors had spared neither the women nor +the children. It seemed as if Judaism had breathed +her last in that terrible year 70. Sadduceeism +was annihilated; the Zealots were exterminated; the +austere sentiment of the Pharisees, continually looking +back to ancient customs and institutions, tried +to assert itself. It is no longer permitted, they announced, +to eat meat or drink wine, now that the +Temple has fallen, because animals can no longer be +sacrificed on the holy altars, nor wine offered there +as a drink-offering. By such asceticism, these Pharisees +of the strict school would have caused the destruction +of Judaism. But there was a Hillelite still +alive—a man who had inherited the spirit of Hillel, +who rated conviction higher than ceremony, and +consulted the times more than the ancient forms. It +was he who kept the remnants together in close +union, and did not permit the spirit to vanish, although +the material bond was broken. This Hillelite +was Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Disciple and Favorite of Hillel</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>F the eighty disciples moulded by the great +Hillel to continue his policy, Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai was especially +distinguished. Before his death, Hillel is said to have designated +Jochanan as "the father of wisdom," and "the father of the coming generation." +Tradition divides Jochanan's life, like Hillel's, into three periods<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +of forty years each. The first forty years were spent in mercantile +pursuits; in the second he studied; and in the third he taught and managed +the affairs of the Jewish spiritual community.</div> + +<p>Even before the destruction of Jerusalem, Jochanan's fame had +spread far and wide. He was a member of the Synhedrion and taught +the holy law within the shadow of the Temple. His school was called the +"Great House," and was the scene of many incidents which formed the subjects +for anecdote and legend. He was the first man who successfully combatted +the Sadducees, and who knew how to refute their arguments, which +were partly religious and partly juridical. But Jochanan's great fame was +chiefly due to the influence which he afterwards exercised at Jabneh.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Jochanan's Escape from Jerusalem</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>WING to his peaceful character, Rabbi Jochanan had joined the +party of peace when the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem, and on +several occasions urged the nation, and in particular his nephew, ben Betiach, +the leader of the Zealots, to surrender the city. "Why do you desire +to destroy the city, and give up the Temple to the flames?" said he +to the leaders of the revolution. But his well meant admonitions were disregarded +by the "war party." When he saw the end approaching, and +recognized that all was lost, he determined to leave the doomed city. He +counselled with his foremost disciples, Eliezer ben Hyrkanos, Joshua ben +Chananja and others. It was decided that Rabbi Jochanan should leave +the city, go to the Roman general, and plead for those people who had no +share in the rebellion. But to depart from the city was extremely dangerous, +as the Zealots kept up a constant watch and slew all who attempted +to leave. Rabbi Jochanan, therefore, caused a rumor to be spread of his +sudden sickness and later of his death. Having been placed in a coffin he +was carried to the city gates, at the hour of sunset, by his pupils Eliezer +and Joshua. When the funeral procession approached, it was stopped at +the gate within.</div> + +<p>"Whose body do you carry here?" asked the Hebrew guard.</p> + +<p>"We are carrying the crown of Israel, the body of our master, Rabbi +Jochanan ben Zakkai," they answered in tears.</p> + +<p>The captain of the guards was affected.</p> + +<p>"Open the gates, men, and let them pass," the captain ordered.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure, captain, that Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai is dead?" +exclaimed one of the soldiers. "Maybe they are taking away a living +traitor. I will make sure that he is dead."</p> + +<p>He raised his dagger to strike at the shrouded form of the Rabbi.</p> + +<p>"Hold, soldier!" cried the captain; "to dishonor the body of the +saint would be a sin for which all Israel would have to atone. Open the +gates and let them pass in peace."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> + +<p>The fanatic reluctantly desisted; the gate was opened and the procession +passed through.</p> + +<p>Vespasian received the fugitive in a friendly manner, the more since, +like Josephus, Jochanan prophesied imperial honors for the general. +Asked to name the favor he desired, Rabbi Jochanan, instead of seeking +personal gain, requested permission to establish a school at Jabneh (or, +as the place is sometimes called, Jamnia), where he could continue to give +his lectures to his disciples. The request was granted, and thereupon +Jochanan settled with his disciples in Jabneh, there to await the issue of +events.</p> + +<p>What could Vespasian have thought of Rabbi Jochanan when he made +his request? Any one else bearing such prophecies might have asked for +gold, honor, great political preferments, while this Hebrew sage asked +simply for a corner where he could study undisturbed. How could the +Hebrew nation exist when the leaders, their great men, lacked ambition? +Little did Vespasian dream that his granting of the Rabbi's modest request +would undo the whole work of the Roman conquest.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Fall of the Temple: Jabneh Succeeds Jerusalem</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N Jabneh, surrounded by his disciples, Rabbi Jochanan received the terrible +news of the fall of Jerusalem and the burning of the Temple. +Although he had foreseen the calamity, yet the news crushed the soul of the +great master. He and his disciples tore their garments and for seven days +wept and mourned in sackcloth and ashes. Jochanan, however, did not +despair, for he recognized the truth that Judaism was not indissolubly +bound with its Temple and its altar. He saw a new spiritual Temple emerge +from the ruins and smoke of the old one; he beheld Judaism rising to a +higher plane, offering faith, love, truth and happiness to all humanity. +He comforted his colleagues and disciples by reminding them that Judaism +still existed. "My children," he said, "weep not, and dry your tears; +the Romans have destroyed the material Temple, but the true altar of +God, the true place of forgiveness, they could not destroy, and it is with +us yet. Would you know where? Behold, in the homes of the poor, there +is the altar; love, charity, mercy, and justice are the offerings, the sweet +incense which pleases the Lord more than any sacrifice, as it is written: +For I take pleasure in mercy and not in burnt offerings." The next step +taken by Rabbi Jochanan and his friends was to convoke a Synhedrion at +Jabneh, of which he was at once chosen president. With no opposition, +Jabneh took the place of Jerusalem, and became the religious national center +for the dispersed community. It enjoyed the same religious privileges +as Jerusalem. All the important functions of the Synhedrion, by which it +exercised a judicial and uniting power over the distant congregations, proceeded +from Jabneh.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></div> + +<p>Rabbi Jochanan's motto was: "If thou hast learnt much Torah, +ascribe not any merit to thyself, for thereunto wast thou created." +He found his real calling in the study of the Law. His knowledge was +spoken of reverently as though it included the whole cycle of Jewish learning. +And not only the Law but many languages of the Gentiles occupied +the active mind of Rabbi Jochanan. The following description of him is +handed down to us by tradition: "He had never been known to engage +in any profane conversation. He had always been the first to enter the +Academy. He never allowed himself, wittingly or unwittingly, to be overtaken +by sleep while in the Academy. He had never gone a distance of four +cubits without meditating on the Torah and without phylacteries. No one +ever found him engaged in anything but study. He always lectured in +person to his pupils. He never taught anything which he did not hear from +his masters. He had never been heard to say that it was time to leave the +Academy." He advised a certain family in Jerusalem, the members of +which died young, to occupy itself with the study of the Torah, so as to +mitigate the curse of dying in the prime of life.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Rabbi Jochanan as Teacher and Commentator</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>R</big>ABBI Jochanan ben Zakkai may be designated as the representative +of Halachic Judaism, founded by the great master Hillel, rather +than as an originator or independent thinker. Hillel, the most respected +of all the teachers of the Law, had given to Judaism a special garb +and form. He had drawn the Law from the midst of contending sects into +the quiet precincts of the Beth-Hamidrash, and labored to bring into harmony +those precepts which were apparently opposed to one another in the +Law. Rabbi Jochanan employed and developed Hillel's method. Like +Hillel, he was also liberal in his general views. Thus he seems to have frequently +engaged in discussions with heathens. And such was his general +affability and courtesy to all that no man was ever known to have anticipated +his salutations. The Haggadic tradition connects numerous and +various sayings with the name of Rabbi Jochanan. The Haggadah was a +peculiarly fascinating branch of study. Abounding in brilliant sallies, +displays of ingenuity, and wonderful stories, it gave special scope for the +cleverness and the rich imagination of the lecturers. By it a Halachah +might be illustrated, or a passage of Scripture commented upon in a novel +fashion. Without binding himself to any strict exegetical principles, the +Haggadist would bring almost anything out of the text, and interweave his +comment with legends. At the same time, the Haggadah remained only +the personal saying of the individual teacher, and its value depended upon +his learning and reputation, or upon the names which he could quote in +support of his statements.</div> + +<p>In this manner Rabbi Jochanan explained many laws and rendered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> +them comprehensible, when they seemed obscure or extraordinary. Rabbi +Jochanan's view of piety corresponded with his teaching that Job's piety +was not based on the love of God, but on the fear of God. To love God; +to serve Him out of love and not out of fear; to study the law continually, +and to have a good heart—these were the essentials of a pious man. He +once saw the daughter of Nakdimon ben Gurion picking up a scanty nourishment +of barley-corn from among the hoofs of the horses of the enemy. +When he recognized the woman, he broke out in tears and told his companion +how he had signed her marriage contract as a witness when her +father gave her one million golden dinars, besides the wealth she received +from her father-in-law. Then the old sage exclaimed: "Unhappy nation, +you would not serve God, therefore you must serve your enemies; you +would not offer half a shekel for the Temple, therefore you must pay thirty +times as much to the institutions of your conquerors; you refused to keep +the woods and paths in order for the pilgrims, therefore you must build +roads and bridges for the Roman soldiers; and in you is fulfilled the +prophecy: Because thou servest not the Lord with joyfulness, and with +gladness of heart, by reason of abundance of all things, therefore shalt thou +serve thy enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger and in +thirst and in nakedness and in want of all things."</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Jochanan's Spirit in Affliction and in Death</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>R</big>ABBI Jochanan had domestic as well as national troubles. A dearly +beloved son was taken from him by death, and the soul of the +father was filled with grief. His five famous scholars came to offer sympathy +and consolation. One recalled the sorrow that Adam had endured +when he looked at the body of his murdered son. Another one urged the +example of Job; a third, that of Aaron, the brother of Moses; a fourth, +that of David, King of Israel.</div> + +<p>"My sons," said the stricken father, "how can the sufferings of others +alleviate my sorrow?" But Eliezer ben Aroch, the most famous of his +scholars, then spoke to him and said:</p> + +<p>"A certain man had a priceless jewel entrusted to him. He watched +it by day and by night for its safe keeping, but was always troubled by the +thought that he might lose it. When, therefore, the owner of the jewel +came to take it back, the man was happy, because he no longer had to fear +for the safety of the precious jewel. Even so, dear master, thou shouldst +rejoice when thou hast given thy son to God, who trusted thee with him, +since thou hast returned him in his innocence as thou didst first receive +him."</p> + +<p>"My son," said the master, "thou hast truly comforted me."</p> + +<p>When Rabbi Jochanan was nigh to death, his colleagues and disciples +gathered round him in sorrow and trembling.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Master, Light of Israel!" they exclaimed. "Why weepest thou?"</p> + +<p>And the master answered: "If they were about to lead me before a +king of flesh and blood, who today is and tomorrow is in the grave—if he +were wroth with me, his wrath were not eternal; if he should put me in +chains, his chains were not eternal; if he should put me to death, that death +would not be eternal; I might appease him with words or bribe him with +gifts. But now they are about to lead me before the King of kings, the +Holy One, blessed be He, who lives and remains through all eternity. If +He is wroth with me, His wrath is eternal; if He casts me into chains, His +chains are eternal; if He puts me to death, it is eternal death; Him no +words can appease, no gifts soften. And further, there are two ways—one +to hell, one to Paradise; and I know not which way they will lead me. Is +there not cause for tears?"</p> + +<p>Asked to give his disciples a last blessing, he told them:</p> + +<p>"Fear God even as ye fear men."</p> + +<p>His disciples seemed disappointed, whereupon he added:</p> + +<p>"He who would commit a sin first looks around to discover whether +any man sees him; so take ye heed that God's all seeing eye see not the sinful +thought in your heart."</p> + +<p>His death occurred only a few years after the destruction of the Temple. +But in that short time he saved Judaism, and the impress he left upon +Israel is evident from the famous dictum of the Talmud: "With the death +of Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai the light of wisdom was quenched." And +many still believe that none like him—scholar and diplomat—has since +arisen in Israel.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_asimon.png" width="150" height="19" alt="Signature: Abraham M. Simon" title="Signature: Abraham M. Simon" /> +</div> +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Editors' Note.</span>—<i>The first sketch in this series +on Jewish Worthies, Dr. Moses Hyamson's study of +"Golden-Rule Hillel," appeared in our April number. +The third in the series will be on Rabbi Akiba.</i></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Zionism: A Menorah Prize Essay</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Marvin M. Lowenthal</span></h3> + +<div class='center'>(<i>Concluded</i>)</div> + + +<div class="sidenote"><i>This Essay was awarded the +Menorah Prize at the University +of Wisconsin last year. In the +first part, printed in our April issue, +the author reviews the status of the +Jews in medieval Europe and describes +the effects upon the Jews of +the razing of the Ghetto walls and the +play of the modern forces of Emancipation, +Enlightenment, Nationalism, +and Anti-Semitism. In the +situation resulting, the author distinguishes +between the "Jewish problem" +("an immediate concrete maladjustment +where life and property +are imperiled"), existing chiefly in +Eastern Europe, and the "Jewish +position" ("a social, cultural, or +spiritual disharmony or repression"), +prevailing in Western Europe +and America. After rejecting Reform +Judaism and the "palliative +measures" of philanthropy as answers +to the situation, the author proceeds +in this concluding instalment to +a consideration of the third alternative, +namely, "re-establishment of a +national center where, perhaps not +the entire people, but a remnant can +be saved."</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HAT the effort to ameliorate the conditions +through charity, and the effort to +assimilate and yet keep the essentials +apart, are ineffectual has been shown. There remains +the third possibility—Zionism. To a +consideration of its theoretic background this +section will be devoted. Although a natural commingling +is unavoidable, Zionism presents three +distinguishable aspects—as (1) a creative vision, +(2) a solution, (3) a fulfillment.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The National Ideal</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N its first aspect, Zionism applies the sauce of +the proverbial goose to the proverbial gander. +Nationalism is the partial cause, or at least +the excuse, for making the modern position of the +Jew in Europe untenable; nationalism for the +Jew becomes a means of evacuating the position. +Europe has intimated to the Jew that it can get +along without him; the Jew now proposes to +show that he can get along without Europe. +Nationalism is nothing new to the Jew; from the final dispersion in 70 +C. E., through the universalism of the Roman Empire and later of the +Roman Church, the national ideal, as indicated in our introduction, +was religiously preserved; but its modern practical form first arose +among the leaders of the Chovevei Zion movement in the middle of +the last century. The "Rom und Jerusalem" of Moses Hess (1862), +"Die Verjüngen des Jüdischen Stammes" of Graetz, the Jewish historian +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>(1864), the "Hashachar" of Smolenskin (1869), the "Auto-Emancipation"<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">of Dr. Leo Pinsker (1882) clearly foreshadowed the final and effective</span><br /> +expression of political Zionism—namely, "The Jewish State," published +by Herzl in 1896.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Vision of a Jewish State</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>ASING its structure on the formulas of the prophets,<a name="FNanchor_1_6" id="FNanchor_1_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_6" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> who proclaimed +that polity was indispensable for effecting the true mission of Israel—for +the realization of the religious, social, or ethical ideal; conceiving Israel, +as did Reform Judaism, to be its own Messiah, not fated, however, to +remain a minutely scattered leaven among nations who condemned or destroyed +it, but destined according to the prophetic promise to re-establish +itself upon Zion;<a name="FNanchor_2_7" id="FNanchor_2_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_7" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> convinced that a true assimilating of the fruits of +emancipation in contradistinction to an imitating of Gentile culture could +only be effected by an emancipation from within, by an auto-emancipation;<a name="FNanchor_3_8" id="FNanchor_3_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_8" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> +the vision of a Jewish State grew into outline. To the consummation +of the picture, a wealth of economic, scientific, and cultural inspiration +has been devoted. Herzl and his predecessors selected the stone which +had been rejected by the philanthropists and the earnest, but mistaken, +builders of Reform Judaism in their efforts to create a fit habitation for +the European Jew; and lo! it has become the chief corner-stone.</div> + +<p>To assure the foundation, to justify the conception of a Jewish State, +a number of powerful arguments other than above indicated have been +brought to bear. The problem of race was attacked,<a name="FNanchor_4_9" id="FNanchor_4_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_9" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and a consequent +demolition of the basis of Reform Judaism undertaken, whereby the racial +identity of the Jew became demonstrated and a comparative racial purity +established. In turn, the claim of the anti-Semites that the Jewish race +indeed existed, but to the peril of Western civilization, received scientific +annihilation. At the most, the Aryan race was proclaimed a myth and +Teutonic superiority a lie;<a name="FNanchor_5_10" id="FNanchor_5_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_10" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> at the least, a justification of the Jewish race +was achieved upon its contribution to civilization: in metaphysics, of the +vision of reality in flux; in morals, the conception of the value of the individual; +in religion, the conception of Jehovah as a moral-arbiter; in culture, +a literature of basic inspiration for the western world.<a name="FNanchor_6_11" id="FNanchor_6_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_11" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Moral Right of the Jewish Race to Survival</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HAT this race, definable in identity and valuable in content, is being +either crushed by force or dissipated by freedom, raises on one +hand the next question for creative Zionism, and constitutes on the other +the problem which Zionism in its aspect as a "solution" assails. The +question: Has this race, facing destruction, a moral right to survival? +is in the instinctive, Darwinian sense unnecessary. Every race has a right +to survive if it can prove its right by surviving; however, like most evolutionary +thinking, this is tautological. Nevertheless, an affirmative answer<a name="FNanchor_7_12" id="FNanchor_7_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_12" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> +has been advanced, based on the conception of values recognized since Aristotle; +whereby was demonstrated the intrinsic value of the Jews as witnessed +by their virility and capacity for an intelligent enjoyment of life, +which their social customs, religious ideals, and cultural ethos have created +for them, and which have won for them the title "<i>Am Olam</i>," the perpetual +people; and their instrumental value in the preservation and enrichment of +life for the Western world at large, as witnessed by their contributions to +civilization outlined above.</div> + +<p>To the final question: How may the destruction facing a race, worth +the saving, be averted? the Zionists, as already shown, answer: Let us establish +a Jewish State. It now remains to explain how this answer can be +made effective.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Program of the First Zionist Congress</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>LTHOUGH Herzl, like Pinsker, at first was indifferent as to the location +of the State, Palestine was decided upon at the First Zionist +Congress for the following practical reasons:<a name="FNanchor_8_13" id="FNanchor_8_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_13" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></div> + +<p>1. Palestine is, of inhabitable and sufficiently uninhabited lands, the +nearest to Russia and Roumania, where the greatest number of Jews are +undergoing physical suffering.</p> + +<p>2. It is not ruled by Christians, and penal discriminatory laws against +Jews are not there in force.</p> + +<p>3. Conditions of Oriental life are in accord with the stage and condition +of life reached by Jews in Eastern Europe.</p> + +<p>4. The country is already somewhat of a Jewish center.</p> + +<p>5. Jews are more familiar with the language spoken there than with +any West European language.</p> + +<p>6. Palestine for sentimental reasons has a power of attraction that +would operate practically upon Jews wishing to emigrate, and a power +of inspiration which would flower in equally practical works when once +Jews were established there.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p><p>Zionism, as a "solution," sets forth, in the program of this Congress, +four ways to achieve its object:<a name="FNanchor_9_14" id="FNanchor_9_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_14" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>1. To promote the settlement of Jewish agriculturalists, handicraftsmen, +industrialists, and professional men. This would offer an asylum +for the persecuted Jew and assure him of an independent livelihood, and +so simultaneously relieve suffering, starving Jewry—the immediate phase +of the <i>problem</i>—and afford a substantial basis for the prosperity and ensuing +civilization of the State.</p> + +<p>2. To centralize the Jewish people by means of general institutions +agreeable to the laws of the land. By institutions are meant banking-houses, +schools, etc., which would promote the welfare of the people and +render the growth of a culture more unconstrained.</p> + +<p>3. To strengthen Jewish national self-consciousness and national sentiment;—this +to be accomplished by the establishment of newspapers and +societies throughout the world, so as to secure the aid or interest of the +Jew who does not want to assimilate in behalf of a national center, and +offer a road of return to the Jew who has become assimilated at the cost of +his spiritual happiness.</p> + +<p>4. To obtain the sanctions of Governments necessary for carrying +out the objects of Zionism. This demand for legal assurances, for a charter +if possible, distinguishes political Zionism in the matter of means from +the mere small-scale colonizing efforts of the philanthropists and the +Chovevei Zion societies, precisely as the very conception of a State distinguishes +it in the matter of ends. In the words of Herzl, "We do not +wish to smuggle in any settlers, and above all, we do not wish to bring about +any 'accomplished facts' without preliminary agreement. We have absolutely +no interest in bringing about an economic strengthening of Turkey +without a corresponding compensation. The whole thing is to be accomplished +according to the simplest usage in the world: 'do ut des.' We +Zionists think it more foolish than noble to settle colonists without any +legal and political guarantees."<a name="FNanchor_10_15" id="FNanchor_10_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_15" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Variant Views of Zionist Groups</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>ESIDE the political Zionists, a large group can be distinguished as +Opportunist Zionists, the chief representative of whom is Israel +Zangwill,<a name="FNanchor_11_16" id="FNanchor_11_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_16" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> who in his eagerness to relieve the Jewish <i>problem</i> has become +impatient with the slow and seemingly fruitless political progress, and who +desires to lead his people to any vacant, habitable territory rather than +wait for a charter in Zion. Other leaders in the movement, such as Ussischkin, +contend that until the charter is granted, colonization in Palestine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> +should continue, both to satisfy the Jewish demand for emigration +and to give weight to the justice and necessity for autonomy.</div> + +<p>In sum, the establishing of Zion, while in process, will rescue the sorely +oppressed, magnetize and concentrate the interests of Jewry at large, and +force the issue of suicide or salvation upon the race; and the establishment +of the State, once accomplished, will rejuvenate a people. "They +shall revive as the grain and blossom as the vine; the scent thereof shall +be as the wine of Lebanon." (Hosea 14.7). In the Zionist vision, assured +not by the prophecies, but by the achievements of a glorious past, this new +wine, ripening and enriching its flavor in a cup that had long been bitter, +will be partaken of by the nations, Jew and Gentile. Jewish culture in +its widest sense, embracing the realization of ethical, social, and artistic +ideals, nourished by a people living again a homogeneous, autonomous, +national life free as it has not been for eighteen centuries from outward +pressure—a life imperative for the production of culture—will go forth +as a pure vintage, taking its place with the vintages of other nations, to +satisfy the soul in dry places and make strong the bones; and over this +new wine a new Kiddush may perhaps be spoken. The Reform Jew, the +"assimilated" Jew, who finds himself to-day in what we have nominated +a <i>position</i>, in a conscious or unconscious inspiration and pride induced +by the resurrection of a motherland, as the German in America is inspired +by his national unity in Europe, will indeed find his soul satisfied in dry +places, and can more generously and effectively contribute to the welfare +of the fatherland of which he is a citizen. The Jew who walks in the darkness +of a Russia, where his situation is a <i>problem</i> and where existence itself +is threatened, will discover in this reawakened motherland a hope and +possibly a material aid which will make strong his bones that he may endure +until emancipation.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Communistic Aims of the Social Zionists</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>U</big>NDER the stimulus of a new creative vision, many poets, practical or +otherwise, have brought their own tints to add to the rosy prospect, +and these we have designated to be Zionism as a "fulfillment." Just prior +to the birth of these United States, Thomas Paine, who in a few respects +was the Herzl of the new republic, rapturously exclaimed in his pamphlet +<i>Commonsense</i>: "We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A +situation similar to the present hath not happened since the days of +Noah!" Stimulated by the potentialities of an empty country and a great +race eager to reoccupy it, modern theorists have likewise, and with some +reason, discovered in Palestine a land of promise.</div> + +<p>Basing their faith in the inherent demand for social justice which +racial genius, as witnessed in the Deuteronomic experiment and the whole +social trend of the prophetic writings, has created as a permanent characteristic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +of the Jew and which the injustice of centuries has accentuated, +a group of Jewish socialists have entered the Zionist cause in the hope of +establishing a form of the communistic principle as a foundation for the +new society. The communistic ownership of land is particularly urged. +Past experiments of this nature—the Brook Farm and the French Commune +as a small and a large example—have failed partly for lack of scientific +guidance and sufficient exact knowledge of actual conditions, and +partly because of the social unfitness of the participants. Social Zionism, +however, has secured for its director an acknowledged authority in communistic +economics, Dr. Franz Oppenheimer of the University of Berlin; +and it is counting on the Jewish heritage of social instinct to furnish the +proper human material for its purpose. Amos, the herdsman of Tekoa, +who came down from his mountain in 750 B. C. to storm at the capitalistic +greed of Israel, raised the first plea in history for social justice. The successful +consummation of the prophet's ideal in the new Israel would be a +contribution to the world distinctly Hebraic and possibly the most valuable +of the modern Jew.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Yearning for a Spiritual Revival</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>O Ahad Ha-'Am,<a name="FNanchor_12_17" id="FNanchor_12_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_17" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> the leading writer of to-day in Hebrew, a "spiritual +revival" should be the desideratum of the Zionists. Spiritual is of +course not used in the restricted religious sense, but as the opposite of +material. Although Ahad Ha-'Am concedes the establishment of a center +in Palestine to be a necessity, he considers it only a means to the end of +an "awakening" of spiritual forces in art, morals, and national consciousness +among Jewry at large; and, to hasten this end, he urges the establishment +of a University, an art-school, and bands of workers in the spirit—poets, +painters, and all manner of creators—for he conceives the Jews not +to be a young race who must climb from satisfying the needs of the belly to +the needs of the brain, but an old people who can and must satisfy both +demands together.<a name="FNanchor_13_18" id="FNanchor_13_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_18" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></div> + +<p>Finally, the great mass of European Jewry, who weep on the Ninth of +Ab, who send their pittance to the Jews of the Holy City in order that +they may devote their days to lamenting at the old Wall, who pray each +Passover "next year at Jerusalem," and who treasure their little casket +of Palestinian earth, which some day will be placed over their shroud, look +to Zionism as a "fulfillment" in its literal, Biblical meaning. Although +the yearning for such a fulfillment may never be satisfied, it constitutes +the impelling force, the prime motive, behind the people who are to settle +once again in Canaan, and who are the stuff of which the philosophers' +dreams are to be made.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p><p>The opportunists who work for the day when the plowman shall overtake +the reaper, the politicals who plan that the house of Jacob may possess +its possessions, the culturals who behold upon the mountain the feet +of him who bringeth glad tidings, the socialists who strive to draw righteousness +and peace within kissing distance, and the devout who pray that +out of Zion shall go forth the Law, are all intermingling composites of the +Zionist dream. That the dream is not in vain, there is no positive assurance; +but somewhere it is written that Palestine <i>is</i> the Land of Promise.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Organization of Zionism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>S</big>OPHISTICATION makes for sluggishness of action; and a sophisticated, +practical people, such as the Jews, surrounded by an equally +sophisticated world, have not marched upon Jerusalem with the flag-flying +alacrity of the Crusaders. However, their sophistication has substituted +for speed a broad measure of surety; and a summary of the organization +of the movement and the work accomplished within and without Palestine +gives promise that, if the will behind Zionism be sustained, the Jews who +wail at the Wall may profitably direct their energies elsewhere.</div> + +<p>The Zionist organization comprises all Jews who subscribe to the Zionist +program and pay the annual contribution, known as a shekel, varying +from 15 cents to 25 cents in different countries. The program is that +formulated at the First Zionist Congress (Basel, 1897): "to obtain for +the Jewish people a publicly recognized and legally assured home in Palestine." +The members are grouped in local societies which, in turn, are +organized into national federations, to be found at present in Argentina, +Belgium, Bukowina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia-Slavonia-Herzegovina, +Egypt, England, France, Galicia, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Italy, +Roumania, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United +States. Unfederated societies exist in Palestine, Morocco, Servia, Sweden, +Denmark, Greece, China, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand.<a name="FNanchor_14_19" id="FNanchor_14_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_19" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> In +short, the atlas is practically exhausted. With a representation proportional +to the number of shekel-payers, a Congress convenes bi-annually in +a central European city (usually Basel), resolves, and prosecutes all work +incumbent upon the furtherance of Zionist purpose. The executive power, +although formerly invested in a president, is now exercised, since the death +of Herzl (1904) and the resignation of Wolffsohn, by a commission of +five, acting as the head of a committee of twenty-five, who constitute a +permanent body meeting at intervals between the sessions of Congress.<a name="FNanchor_15_20" id="FNanchor_15_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_20" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> +The Congress itself is divided into party-groups, based on policy, and +representative of the different theoretic elements that guide the movement.</p> + +<p>The original Government party, which stood shoulder to Herzl in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +brilliant but unsuccessful diplomatic schemes to secure a charter from the +Sultan, upon the overthrow of the autocracy in Turkey (1908), has +abandoned purely political Zionism, for the expedient reason that the +Young Turk government has naturally been reticent in the granting of +broad concessions. Political Zionism, of which Max Nordau and David +Wolffsohn<a name="FNanchor_F_21" id="FNanchor_F_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_21" class="fnanchor">[F]</a> are the leading protagonists, has through the accidents of +Turkish politics been rendered ineffective; and the actual work of Zionism +rests now upon the policies of the Opportunist wing, although the creation +of a State, autonomous in as great a degree as possible, is the cardinal +aim of the Zionists, and must be, in order to distinguish the movement from +a large-scale philanthropy.<a name="FNanchor_16_22" id="FNanchor_16_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_22" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Parties in Zionism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Opportunists were divided into two groups—the followers of +Zangwill who urged immediate colonization anywhere, and the +Ziyyone Zionists (Zionists toward Zion) who favored immediate settlement +in Palestine. The first party broke from the Zionist movement at the +Seventh Congress, instituted the Jewish Territorial Organization (ITO), +and have vainly devoted their energies toward securing lands in North, +East, and West Africa, Mesapotamia, and Australia.<a name="FNanchor_17_23" id="FNanchor_17_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_23" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> The Ziyyone +Zionists, however, possess the controlling vote, and in the last Congress +(1913) annulled the Basel program, temporarily at least, by securing from +the Congress a recognition of the work of settlement in Palestine as the +primary task.<a name="FNanchor_18_24" id="FNanchor_18_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_24" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></div> + +<p>Socialistic Zionism is represented by the Po'ale Zion, a small but vigorous +group, who are endeavoring to secure at least the adoption of the +communistic ownership of land in the pursuance of the Opportunist program.</p> + +<p>Dr. Franz Oppenheimer, lecturer in economics at the University of +Berlin, has recently issued a pamphlet disclosing the success of the Merchavia +Colony, a co-operative settlement near Nazareth, and demonstrating +that the only practical method of achieving large-scale colonization is by +this means.<a name="FNanchor_19_25" id="FNanchor_19_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_25" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<p>Strong in numbers and in influence, the Mizrachi party represents the +orthodox wing of Jewry, who "believe a faithful adherence to the Torah +and Tradition in all matters pertaining to Jewish life constitute the duty +of the Jewish people."<a name="FNanchor_20_26" id="FNanchor_20_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_26" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> In the assemblage of futurists, the Mizrachi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +stands as the spirit of the past, to whom all plans must be justified, and +whose power has its source in the religious fervor of the majority of eastern +Jews.</p> + +<p>Finally, the Cultural Zionists may be said to find representation in all +parties, for the furtherance of spirituality is inseparably bound up in the +aims of every Zionist.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Financial Institutions of Zionism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE financial instruments by which the practical Zionist aims are +seeking accomplishment are (1) the Jewish Colonial Trust,<a name="FNanchor_21_27" id="FNanchor_21_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_27" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> +incorporated as a limited company in London (1899) with a capital stock +of $20,000,000 and a paid-up capital of $1,324,000; (2) the Anglo-Palestine +Company,<a name="FNanchor_22_28" id="FNanchor_22_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_28" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> an offshoot of the Colonial Trust, with a paid-up capital +of $500,000, which finances Zionist undertakings in Palestine, and +declares annual dividends of 4 1-6 per cent.; (3) the Anglo-Levantine +Banking Company,<a name="FNanchor_23_29" id="FNanchor_23_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_29" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> the financial institution of the Zionists devoted to +their undertakings in the remainder of Turkey, with a capital of $125,000 +declaring 6 per cent. returns; (4) the Jewish National Fund,<a name="FNanchor_24_30" id="FNanchor_24_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_30" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> whose +object is to acquire land in Palestine as the inalienable property of the +entire Jewish people, with a capital of $650,000 raised by individual contributions; +(5) the Palestine Land Development Company,<a name="FNanchor_25_31" id="FNanchor_25_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_31" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> with a registered +capital of $87,500, organized for the purpose of (a) acquiring, +improving, and dividing into small holdings large Palestinian estates, (b) +laying out and cultivating intensive crops, (c) systematically settling and +training agricultural laborers in Palestine.</div> + +<p>Of late the Jewish Colonization Association, which is backed by the +forty-million dollar fund of Baron de Hirsch, is co-operating with the +Zionists in the purchase of Palestinian land to be administered by the Palestine +Land Development Company.<a name="FNanchor_26_32" id="FNanchor_26_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_32" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>The actual achievements, which these instruments have been the means +of effecting, may be summarized in two classes—Palestinian and non-Palestinian. +In both fields, the several branches of Zionist aims have borne +fruit.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>What Zionism Has Accomplished in Palestine</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>P</big>ALESTINE in 1880 contained 30,000 Jews, who studied the Law, +wailed at the Wall, and lived miserably on the alms (the Chalukah) +of pious Jewry at large. In 1911 the Jews comprised 100,000 out of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +total population of 700,000. In Jerusalem are 50,000 Jews, 7,000 at +Tiberias, 8,000 at Safed, and 10,000 at Jaffa. A large proportion, it is +true, are settlers of the Ghetto type, but the young generation is rapidly +being changed by the growing school-system.<a name="FNanchor_27_33" id="FNanchor_27_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_33" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></div> + +<p>Numbering about fifty, Jewish agricultural colonies extend the length +of the Holy Land and support some 5,000 Jews in their yield of olives, +dates, wine, sugar, cotton, grain, and cattle. Broad streets, clean homes +with gardens, and orchard land characterize the standard of living in the +colonies, as machinery and agricultural school students characterize their +modern standard of gaining their livelihood.<a name="FNanchor_28_34" id="FNanchor_28_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_34" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> A constantly increasing +number of emigrants are streaming into the Holy Land, although the +Zionists are devoting their main endeavors toward firmly establishing the +resident inhabitants and bettering their condition. On April 3, 1914, the +London <i>Jewish Chronicle</i> reported the emigration from the single port of +Odessa as numbering 250 persons a week.<a name="FNanchor_29_35" id="FNanchor_29_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_35" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> + +<p>In 1886, $1,800,000 of trade passed out through Jaffa, the port of +Palestine; in 1909, the value of the exports rose to $7,500,000.<a name="FNanchor_30_36" id="FNanchor_30_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_36" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> Rischon-le-Zion, +the oldest colony and containing 500 inhabitants, annually produces, +alone, more than a million gallons of wine.<a name="FNanchor_31_37" id="FNanchor_31_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_37" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> + +<p>The schools of the older class—Talmud Torah and Yeshibah—still +dominate; but, following the example of the Alliance Israelite, a modern +type of school with a modern curriculum taught in Hebrew has been established +in every colony, and culminates in a Gymnasium at Jaffa as the +principal national educational institution. The attendance of the colonial +schools number about 1,500, and in the Talmudic schools number several +thousands. The Mikveh Israel Agricultural School, near Jaffa, is the +center of vocational instruction in Palestine, and aids materially the work +of the colonists. Funds for a Hygienic and Technical Institute have likewise +been started to further practical education.<a name="FNanchor_32_38" id="FNanchor_32_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_38" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Revival of Jewish Culture</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE cultural revival in Palestine is plainly apparent in the excellent +work of the Bezalel,<a name="FNanchor_33_39" id="FNanchor_33_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_39" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> the school of arts and crafts in Jerusalem, +named after the builder of the first tabernacle in the wilderness, where are +devised carpentry, copperware, wood-carving, basketry, painting, and +sculpture "of cunning workmanship" and of distinctly Hebraic design.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> +Another sign of great hope springs from the widespread revival of ancient +Hebrew as a living tongue, which has become an awkward necessity among +the older Jews gathered from many different nations, and the free and +natural expression of the children. Several weeklies and monthlies are +published in Hebrew.<a name="FNanchor_34_40" id="FNanchor_34_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_40" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> A National Jewish Library, soon to be housed in +a fireproof building at Jerusalem, was founded by Dr. Joseph Chazanowicz, +a Zionist leader in Russia, who devoted his entire income to it. In +1910 the Library contained something over 15,000 volumes.<a name="FNanchor_35_41" id="FNanchor_35_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_41" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> Finally, +the Eleventh Congress (1913), convened on the 2,500th anniversary of the +destruction of the old temple on Mount Moriah, witnessed the pledging of +$100,000 to the building of a Jewish National University at Jerusalem—a +new temple of culture and science.<a name="FNanchor_36_42" id="FNanchor_36_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_42" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></div> + +<p>Precisely as the roots are more important than the blossoms in the +growth of a plant, the accomplishments without Palestine are more significant +than within. To-day the Golus (Diaspora) is the root, and Palestine +the stalk; some day the Zionists hope to reverse the simile—this, in +short, is the essence of the entire movement.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Accomplishments of Zionism Beyond Palestine</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>Z</big>IONISM'S chief aims without Palestine are two: (1) Revival of national +consciousness, (2) Relief of the persecuted. In regard to +the second, the Zionist organization, constantly working to shift emigration +from West to East, has in a measure focused it upon Palestine; and more +important, it is rapidly perfecting adequate machinery, which once securing +the motive power of money in such quantities as is now devoted to +the Jewish Colonization Association, will appreciably lessen the gravity of +the Jewish <i>problem</i>.</div> + +<p>In regard to the awakening of the national consciousness, the Zionist +societies, which number in the thousands, constitute centers for the dissemination +of propaganda and the stimulation of study in all things Jewish; +and the Zionist press, comprising one hundred newspapers and periodicals, +the official of which is <i>Die Welt</i>, and the leading American representative, +<i>The Maccabaean</i>, materially aid this preaching of Zion gospel. +Under the stimulus of the movement, numerous student societies have +sprung up abroad, promoting and crystallizing a national sentiment and +a race interest, while older societies of this order, such as the Kadimah, +have received a renewed impetus. Women's societies of a literary, educational, +and social character—the Benoth Zion (Sofia and New York) +and the Hadassah (Vienna and New York) for example—have taken a +place in the general revival.<a name="FNanchor_37_43" id="FNanchor_37_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_43" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p><p>The effect of Zionism in large centers of population is ably shown by +Charles S. Bernheimer in his study of the Russian Jew in the United States, +and his findings may be taken as typical. In general, the Zionist societies +have formed the chief social centers of the ghetto,<a name="FNanchor_38_44" id="FNanchor_38_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_44" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> have opened religious +schools<a name="FNanchor_39_45" id="FNanchor_39_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_45" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> and libraries,<a name="FNanchor_40_46" id="FNanchor_40_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_46" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> have brought the radicals in religion under the +influence of the national idea,<a name="FNanchor_41_47" id="FNanchor_41_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_47" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> and so prevented the loss of religion from +being followed by a loss of race-consciousness, and have "enlisted the sympathies +of the older people. The young people have grasped the great +significance of Zionism, and have taken a renewed interest in religion, education, +and culture."<a name="FNanchor_42_48" id="FNanchor_42_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_48" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> + +<p>A renaissance of art is following that of culture; in painting Ephraim +Lilien, Lesser Ury, Judah Epstein, and Hermann Struck, and in marble +and bronze Boris Schatz (the founder and director of Bezalel), Frederick +Beer, and Alfred Nossig are receiving their inspiration from Zionism.</p> + +<p>The primary enthusiasm for the movement has long ago been expended; +and the present interest is deep, healthy, and likely to abide. However, +the sustainment of this interest appears to be the primary duty and +task of Zionism; in a movement that is a long, dull, slow pull, every moment +is a critical moment.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Misconceptions of Zionism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>O the modern Jew who lacks the gift of prophecy, the outcome of an +undertaking must be determined by a consideration not only of the +force propelling the movement, but of the opposition confronting it. A +consideration of this opposition will afford an opportunity, moreover, for +a clear and summarizing definition of what the movement is, and, equally +important, of what it is not. Opposition to Zionism divides itself into +three categories—ignorant; theoretic; practical. One is reminded of +Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the servant, and Geshem the Arabian, who +mocked and threatened Nehemiah when he undertook to rebuild the walls +of Jerusalem.</div> + +<p>Ignorant opposition assails Zionism with arguments that are incontrovertible, +but totally irrelevant; it busies itself with destroying claims +which the Zionists have never made. A trio may be taken as representative. +It is pointed out with cogency that Palestine is not capable of supporting +the twelve million of Jews who inhabit our world; and more conclusively, +the twelve million of Jews do not wish to go to Palestine. Briefly, the +Zionists in seeking a home for the Jew in Canaan no more expect all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> +Jews to congregate within its bounds than a man who builds himself a +house expects that all his posterity will live in it. As a matter of history, +more Jews after the fall of the first Temple have lived without Palestine +than within. Only a remnant returned after the captivity; and Babylon, +Alexandria, and Rome contained a larger Jewish population than Jerusalem. +Throughout the dispersion, the majority of the Jews lived apart +from the nation center—whether that center was the Mesapotamia of Talmudic +times, the Spain of the Middle Ages, or the Poland of the early +modern period. The Zionist object is only to secure such a national center +(free from outward pressure) as a ganglion radiating Hebraic culture, +which can preserve Jewish unity and identity and inspire Jewish culture +elsewhere, precisely as the Judæa of old rendered similar service;<a name="FNanchor_43_49" id="FNanchor_43_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_49" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> and the +modern Palestine with a soil capable of supporting a million inhabitants +without extensive irrigation amply satisfies the Zionist purpose.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Zionism Leaves the Status of the Jew Uninjured</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>C</big>LOSELY allied to this argument is the claim that Zionism constitutes +an abandonment by the European Jew of his hard-earned Emancipation, +and a traitorous retreat from the position of brother and fellow-countryman +which he is now claiming in the several nations. In sum, renationalization +in the East spells de-nationalization in the West, and the return +of the Jew to the status of alien. Such a conclusion follows as +inevitably as it follows that the unification of Germany in 1870 rendered +alien the Germans of America who emigrated here in the '40s, that the +French Revolution denationalized the refugee Huguenot population of +Prussia, that the unification of Italy disfranchised the Italian Swiss, or +that the Irish Home Rule Bill will transform the populace of Boston into +undesirable citizens. On the contrary, the Zionists are convinced that the +re-establishment of a Jewish nation will strengthen, for example, the claim +of the German Jew that he is a German by distinctly separating the +national from the universal Jew—the sheep from the goats, if you will—and +will render his status less precarious because it will be more definable. +Moreover, such a national center will increase Jewish self-respect with the +consequence of increasing Christian respect. Jewish "aloofness" need no +longer be a reproach, because it may safely be abandoned; with Zion itself +preserving Hebraism in the East, the Jew in the West may throw himself +unreservedly into the life about him; and a flourishing of Jewish culture +will make his contribution the more valuable.</div> + +<p>Finally, the third objection is formulated in the question, "What is +the use?" Whether it be grounded in self-satisfied indifference, hostility, +or a sense of hopelessness, it forms the most insidious opposition, because<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> +it betrays a lack of racial consciousness that cannot be supplied by argument, +and exposes a weakness that cannot be remedied by emotional appeal. +It is a weakness amounting to an absence, a literal lack, of the very +functions through which a cure could be effected. An Englishman asking, +"Why preserve the English?" a Scandinavian asking, "Of what use are +the Scandinavians?" a Swiss asking, "Why maintain Switzerland?" is +inconceivable. Answers indeed can be found, but the point is that to put +the question indicates that the interrogator is beyond a comprehension +of the reply. He is like a congenital blindman, who asks: "Of what +use is seeing?" The question was, indeed, propounded in the third section +of this paper, but only as the hypothetical question of an outsider, much +as an Englishman might ask, "Of what value are the Chinese?" to secure +an external, historical justification of their existence. However, if the +great majority of Jews ever seriously question the need of preserving their +own race, the answer becomes immediate and conclusive; there is no need, +for there is no longer a race.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Zionism Has No Insuperable Obstacles</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HEORETIC opposition is determined on one hand by racial questions, +and on the other by religious dogmas. That the Jews are +no longer a race, that their preservation need not be undertaken because +they do not exist, is, laying aside the scientific disputations, in one sense +begging the question. Whether the Jews are a racial unit, and whether +their preservation will result in a distinct racial culture, is precisely what +a successful consummation of the Zionist object will prove or disprove +with finality; and until such consummation, even scientific theorizing on +the subject will expose itself to the unscientific process of working without +the check of laboratory experiment. To the scientist, Zionism offers Palestine +as such a laboratory. The religious opposition offered by Reform +Judaism has been previously discussed; however, it may be summed up in +three statements. An appeal to the implied meaning of the Scriptures can +only be authoritatively settled by the author. Granting, nevertheless, that +a suffering Israel and a missionary Israel are essentials in a Divine plan, +the establishment of a national center does not dogmatically preclude +Israel from continuing to suffer elsewhere, nor forbid Israel from pursuing +her missionary project of acting as a model example and shining light to +the nations. Quite the reverse; inasmuch as the Dispersion is fast becoming +a Destruction, which Zionism is attempting to avert, the preservation +of Reform Judaism itself demands the success of Zionism.</div> + +<p>Practical opposition is indeed ponderous, but not necessarily insuperable. +The majority of Palestinian obstacles, such as the difficulties which +the confusion of national tongues, culture, and habits will impose on unification, +the precarious chance of ultimately securing legal recognition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +from Turkey, the possible obstructions amounting even to conflict to be +offered by the native Arabian population, are distant bridges which the far-seeing +may fear, but which, the wise will not attempt to cross until reached. +However, three urgent perplexities and impediments are imminent in the +danger of securing only a low class of settlers, of suffering from insufficient +means, and of failing from diminution of interest. At bottom, the +three are one, and amount to the necessity of keeping up the old heart and +inspiring new hearts.</p> + +<p>With a sufficiency of interest, the necessary money and the proper men +will find their way to Palestine; in a word, only a people can save themselves, +and, failing to do so, aside from scientific argument and religious +dogma, they remain no more a people. That this people may not so perish, +the Zionists are not only furnishing the vision; but with back and arm, they +are working to rebuild the Wall where men have wailed the centuries by. +To the captious, the hostile, and the persistently heedless, their cue is to +say with Nehemiah of old: "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot +come down."</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 175px;"> +<img src="images/signature_mlowenthal.png" width="175" height="21" alt="Signature: Marvin M. Lowenthal." title="Signature: Marvin M. Lowenthal." /> +</div> +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="bbox2"><i><big>T</big>HE Jewish students form so distinctive and gifted an +element in the life of all our colleges that their self-expression +should serve a valuable purpose. Through +becoming articulate in such a publication as</i> The Menorah +Journal, <i>the first issue of which is full of promise, they may +well bring to pass not only a fuller realization of the part they +are to play in American society, but also a better understanding +of that part by the entire community to which they belong. +Without such better understandings there is small hope for +the community as a whole.</i>—<i>From an Editorial in the Harvard +Alumni Bulletin, March 17, 1915.</i></div> +<p> </p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_6" id="Footnote_1_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_6"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> I. Friedlaender, <i>The Political Ideals of the Prophets</i> (pamphlet) (Baltimore, 1910), +p. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_7" id="Footnote_2_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_7"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>Jewish Encyclopedia</i> under "Graetz."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_8" id="Footnote_3_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_8"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Ahad Ha-'Am, "Pinsker and His Brochure" (pamphlet) (New York, 1911), p. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_9" id="Footnote_4_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_9"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Ignaz Zollschan, <i>Das Rassenproblem</i> (Leipsic, 1911). G. Pollack, "Jewish Race," +<i>The Nation</i>, vol. 94, p. 609, in review of the above book. A. S. Waldstein, "A Study +of the Jews," <i>The Maccabaean</i>, vol. 21, p. 41. M. Waxman, "The Ethnic Character of +the Jews" (New York, 1910). <i>The American Hebrew</i>, "The Jewish Race Problem," vol. +90, p. 435.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_10" id="Footnote_5_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_10"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Zollschan, <i>Das Rassenproblem</i>, p. 140.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_11" id="Footnote_6_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_11"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> H. M. Kallen, "Judaism, Hebraism and Zionism," <i>The American Hebrew</i>, vol. 87, +p. 181.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_12" id="Footnote_7_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_12"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, p. 182.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_13" id="Footnote_8_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_13"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> R. C. Conder, "Zionists," <i>Blackwood's</i>, vol. 163, p. 598.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_14" id="Footnote_9_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_14"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Max Nordau, <i>Zionism</i> (New York, 1911), p. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_15" id="Footnote_10_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_15"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <i>The Maccabaean</i>, "Theodor Herzl in His Writings," vol. 23, p. 229.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_16" id="Footnote_11_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_16"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Zangwill, "Zionism and Territorialism," <i>Living Age</i>, vol. 265, p. 663.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_17" id="Footnote_12_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_17"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Ahad Ha-'Am, <i>Selected Essays</i> (Philadelphia, 1912), p. 253 et seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_18" id="Footnote_13_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_18"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, p. 290.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_19" id="Footnote_14_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_19"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Cohen, <i>Zionist Work in Palestine</i>, p. 198.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_20" id="Footnote_15_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_20"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <i>The Survey</i>, "The Tenth Zionist Congress," vol. 25, p. 845.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_21" id="Footnote_F_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_21"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> This Essay was written before Mr. Wolffsohn's death.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_22" id="Footnote_16_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_22"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <i>The American Hebrew</i>, "Dr. Max Nordau on Herzl's Policies," vol. 93, p. 403.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_23" id="Footnote_17_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_23"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> <i>American Jewish Year Book</i>, 1910-11, "Events of the Year." I. Zangwill, "Zionism +and Territorialism," <i>Living Age</i>, vol. 265, p. 668.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_24" id="Footnote_18_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_24"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> L. Lipsky, "Results of the Eleventh Congress," <i>The Maccabaean</i>, vol. 23, p. 250.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_25" id="Footnote_19_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_25"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Franz Oppenheimer, <i>Merchavia</i> (New York, 1914), p. 1-13. "Life Work of Franz +Oppenheimer," <i>The Maccabaean</i>, vol. 24, p. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_26" id="Footnote_20_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_26"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> <i>Jewish Encyclopedia</i> under "Zionism—Party Organization."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_27" id="Footnote_21_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_27"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, under "Jewish Colonial Trust." Cohen, <i>Zionist Work in Palestine</i>, p. 198.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_28" id="Footnote_22_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_28"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, p. 127.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_29" id="Footnote_23_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_29"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, p. 199.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_30" id="Footnote_24_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_30"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, p. 203.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_31" id="Footnote_25_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_31"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, p. 199.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_32" id="Footnote_26_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_32"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <i>American Jewish Year Book</i>, 1913-14, p. 203.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_33" id="Footnote_27_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_33"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> H. Bentwich, "The Jewish Renaissance in Palestine," <i>Fortnightly Review</i>, vol. 96, +p. 136.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_34" id="Footnote_28_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_34"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Cohen, <i>Zionist Work in Palestine</i>, p. 195.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_35" id="Footnote_29_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_35"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> <i>Jewish Chronicle</i> (London), No. 2348, p. 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_36" id="Footnote_30_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_36"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Bentwich, "The Jewish Renaissance in Palestine," <i>Fortnightly Review</i>, vol. 96, p. 136.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_37" id="Footnote_31_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_37"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> H. F. Ward, "Palestine for the Jews," <i>The World Today</i>, vol. 17, p. 1062.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_38" id="Footnote_32_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_38"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Cohen, <i>Zionist Work in Palestine</i>, p. 86.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_39" id="Footnote_33_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_39"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Bentwich, "The Jewish Renaissance in Palestine," <i>Fortnightly Review</i>, vol. 96, p. 136.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_40" id="Footnote_34_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_40"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> <i>Idem.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_41" id="Footnote_35_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_41"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> <i>Jewish Encyclopedia</i> under "Arbanel Library."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_42" id="Footnote_36_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_42"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <i>The Maccabaean</i>, vol. 23, p. 263.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_43" id="Footnote_37_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_43"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> <i>Jewish Encyclopedia</i> under "Zionism."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_44" id="Footnote_38_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_44"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> C. S. Bernheimer, "The Russian Jew in the United States." (Philadelphia, 1905), p. +232.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_45" id="Footnote_39_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_45"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, p. 180.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_46" id="Footnote_40_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_46"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, p. 168.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_47" id="Footnote_41_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_47"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, p. 155.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_48" id="Footnote_42_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_48"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> <i>Idem</i>, p. 181.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_49" id="Footnote_43_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_49"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> M. Waxman, "The Importance of Palestine for the Jews in the Diaspora," <i>The +Maccabaean</i>, vol. 23, p. 232. A succinct detailing of this service.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> + +<h2>From College and University</h2> + +<h3><i>Activities of Menorah Societies</i></h3> + + +<div class='center'><b>Brown University</b></div> + +<p>The need of some organization based +on ideals that would tend to promote +a closer relationship among +the Jewish students at Brown University +had long been felt on the campus. To +meet this need there has even been an +attempt at uniting the Jewish men by ties +not necessarily Jewish in spirit; happily +this attempt failed. Early in this college +year the Menorah movement was brought +to the attention of the Jewish students +and its aims at once appealed as very +worthy of the serious consideration of +Brown men.</p> + +<p>An informal meeting was held and almost +unanimous favor was exhibited for +the establishment of a Menorah Society +at Brown. Whereupon a committee was +elected to interview the authorities of the +University concerning this matter, and +their attitude was found to be all that +could be desired. Steps were then taken +for formal organization, and on the evening +of January 6, 1915, a dedicatory meeting +was held, and the Brown Menorah +Society was launched on its career. (For +an account of this meeting, see the April +<span class="smcap">Menorah Journal</span>, page 140.)</p> + +<p>Shortly afterwards the Executive Council +formulated a program of activities +for the rest of the year, a program +which has now been successfully carried +through. On February 17, Prof. Richard +Gottheil of Columbia University gave a +very interesting lecture on Zionism. Several +members of the Faculty were present +and took part in the general discussion +that followed the lecture. At the meeting +of March 17, Prof. A. T. Fowler of +the Biblical Department of the University +and a member of the Advisory Board of +the Society, spoke on "The Bible as a +Literary Document." On April 21, Prof. +David G. Lyon of Harvard University +gave an illustrated lecture on "The +Samarian Excavations." This lecture +was given in one of the largest halls of +the University and was open to the public.</p> + +<p>The other meetings of the year were +either business meetings or study councils. +At the study councils topics of Jewish interest +were discussed. An informal supper +on the evening of May 20, with election +of officers for the following year, +completed the activities of this year.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Abraham J. Burt</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Chicago</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>FTER lying practically dormant for +about one and one-half years, the +Menorah Society at Chicago has +awakened during this last year.</div> + +<p>The first meeting of the year was held +October 26, 1914, at which officers for +the quarter were elected. Then at varying +intervals there were addresses by Dr. +H. M. Kallen of the University of Wisconsin, +Dr. A. A. Neuman of the Dropsie +College, Dr. Emil G. Hirsch of Sinai +Temple of Chicago (who gave a series +of two lectures on Jewish history), and +Mr. Louis D. Brandeis of Boston. The +inspiring address of Mr. Brandeis, held +November 19, 1914, was the biggest event +of the year, the meeting being largely attended +by Jews and non-Jews alike. +Rabbis Stolz and Cohon, representing the +Chicago Rabbinical Society, also delivered +short talks.</p> + +<p>Hitherto, the Menorah Society has been +unknown to have other than quite formal +lectures. No attempt has been made to +make the members feel at home and more +sociable at the meetings. An innovation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> +was tried when, at the meeting on May +10, there was an informal talk by Dr. +Joseph Stolz, of the Isaiah Temple of +Chicago, on Hillel, which was followed +not only by discussion but also by refreshments. +This meeting was a complete success. +It was followed by another informal +meeting on Maimonides.</p> + +<p>The last meeting was a "get-together" +meeting of the Society to discuss plans for +the next year. Suggestions were accepted +to interest incoming freshmen by personal +letters and visits and "get-acquainted" +and "enthusiasm" gatherings. It is reasonable +to hope from the increasing membership +and the suggestions for future action +that the Menorah will become more +and more powerful on the campus, especially +with the encouragement and the aid +of the alumni in Chicago, who are planning +to have also a graduate Menorah +organization.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Ethel Jacobs</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><b>Clark University</b></div> + +<p>The second year, just closed, of the +Clark Menorah Society has been +most successful. At the weekly +meetings, papers were given by various +members on such subjects as Reform +Judaism, Orthodoxy, Zionism, Assimilation, +which were followed by entertaining +and instructive discussions. Reports were +also given by members on current books +of Jewish interest, among them being: +Fishberg's "The Jews," Ruppin's "The +Jews of Today," and Israel Cohen's +"Jewish Life in Modern Times." Current +magazine articles of Jewish interest +were also reviewed and discussed.</p> + +<p>Members of the Faculty and outside +speakers, including Rabbi M. M. Eichler +and Jacob de Haas of Boston, gave addresses +at various times and Rabbi H. H. +Rubenovitz of Boston delivered a series +of lectures on "The Maccabees."</p> + +<p>The first banquet of the Society, held +December 17, 1914, was a great success +and helped stir up much interest among +the students in the Menorah. (For a +note on this dinner see the April <span class="smcap">Menorah +Journal</span>, page 140; for the after-dinner +address of President G. Stanley +Hall see the April <span class="smcap">Journal</span>, page 87).</p> + +<p>A program for the next year has already +been made and the forecast for the +future is most promising.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Isador Lubin</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Colorado</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE academic year 1914-1915 opened +auspiciously for the University of +Colorado Menorah Society. The +old men returned with new and greater +enthusiasm, and the new men quickly +caught the same spirit. Our first meeting +was a get-together affair where acquaintances +were renewed and new acquaintances +made.</div> + +<p>The meetings of the first semester were +addressed entirely by the members of the +Society who chose their material from the +excellent Menorah Library. Those of +the second semester were addressed in +part by outside men and in part by members. +During the year two meetings were +held in Denver in conjunction with the +University of Denver Menorah. These +were well attended and the principal addresses +given by the heads of the two +universities.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Michael Idelson</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Columbia University</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE past year has been a year of +steady progress for the Columbia +Menorah Society and of increasing +interest in its activities. At the first meeting +of the year the members were greatly +stimulated by an address by Dr. H. +G. Enelow on the work of Menorah Societies. +At other meetings held during the +year, Mr. Samuel Strauss spoke on "Some +Delusions Now in the Testing," Professor +Talcott Williams, dean of the School of +Journalism, on "The War and Race +Prejudice," Rabbi Rudolph I. Coffee, of +Pittsburg, Pa., on "The College Graduate +in Jewish Affairs," Professor Israel +Friedlaender, on "Jewry, East and +West." At a smoker given in February, +Rev. Dr. Jacob Kohn spoke on "Jewish +Ceremonialism," Mr. Henry Hurwitz +spoke on the work of other Menorah Societies,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> +and Mr. M. David Hoffman, the +Representative of the Columbia Society in +the Administrative Council of the Intercollegiate +Association, presented an interesting +report of the Menorah Convention +of Cincinnati.</div> + +<p>Although the Society is not satisfied +with the number of its members, that +number is one which would probably be +deemed large at many another university. +The Society is becoming more and more +active and acquiring ever greater prestige +among the Jewish students, as well as in +the University in general. It has aroused +interest on the part of not a few who have +heretofore been indifferent to Jewish affairs.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Harry Wilk</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Illinois</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>T the beginning of this year conditions +were somewhat abnormal +for the Illinois Menorah Society. +The preceding graduating class had taken +an extraordinarily heavy toll from our +members and, as the number of Juniors +left was small, we had few veterans remaining. +But, to offset our loss, we were +compensated by an unusually large number +of promising freshmen.</div> + +<p>We started the year with a reception +to the new students at which over one +hundred were present. Our customary +smoker was dispensed with on account of +the increased number of Jewish co-eds, +there being about fifteen at present. At +our next meeting, at which we formally +welcomed the new students to our Society, +Dr. David S. Blondheim of our Faculty +explained the nature of the work we are +doing and gave some practical advice, and +Dr. Jacob Zeitlin of our Faculty spoke +on the Jewish problems of the present. +Since then we have had many regular +meetings, every other Sunday, student +programs alternating with outside speakers. +Among the latter have been Professor +I. Leo Sharfman of Michigan, who +spoke on "Jewish Ideals," Rabbi A. A. +Neuman of the Dropsie College, who +talked on "Life Among Medieval Spanish +Jews," and Dr. H. M. Kallen of Wisconsin +on "The Meaning of Hebraism." +Mrs. E. F. Nickoley, who has traveled +extensively in Palestine, gave an interesting +talk on the Jews in the Holy Land. +Professor Simon Litman of our Faculty +spoke on "Jews and Modern Capitalism." +Professor E. C. Baldwin of our English +department, in speaking on "Prayer," +roused a lively interest in the question as +to whether prayer is decadent among the +Jews. Professor Albert H. Lybyer lectured +on "Jews as the Transmitters of +Culture from the Moslems to the Christians"; +Professor Boyd H. Bode discussed +"What the Jew Contributes to +American Ideals," and Dr. A. R. Vail +spoke on "The Influence of the Hebrew +Prophets as the Teachers of Moral Law."</p> + +<p>Nor have we had a dearth of student +talks and readings, among them the following: +Herbert B. Rosenberg on the +Falashas, Louis Ribback on the Chinese +Jews, Jesse Block on the Spanish Jews, +S. J. Lurie on Maimonides, Julius Cohen +on "The Jewish Messianic Idea," L. J. +Greengard on "Prophecy," Karl Epstein +on Jewish Nationalism. Current events +were given during the year by Bertha +Bing, Julius Cohen, and William A. +Grossman.</p> + +<p>Early in February a study circle was +formed, under the leadership of Mrs. +Simon Litman, for the study of post-Biblical +Jewish history. Ten members of the +Society enrolled and met weekly at the +home of Professor and Mrs. Litman. +Portions of Vol. II of Graetz and of +Riggs' "History of the Jews" were read +and amplified by the excellent lectures of +the leader. The discussions also furnished +very valuable instruction.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Karl Epstein</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Maine</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>D</big>URING the past year the conditions +on the campus were such that it +made all of the Jewish students +feel the necessity of the right kind of +Jewish organization. Clubs had been +formed time after time, each of a different +nature; yet none of them could fulfill +the need and they all sooner or later broke +up. Thus things dragged along, each one +feeling that something ought to be done,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> +yet no one knowing what remedy was +needed, until a report came of the Menorah +movement. After a hastily gathered +meeting one Saturday night, the matter +was presented to the Jewish students +for discussion. Great enthusiasm was displayed +and everybody was heartily in favor +of organizing a Menorah Society.</div> + +<p>With the aid of the Menorah catalogue +("The Menorah Movement"), and Mr. +Joseph Spear, of our Faculty, a former +member of the Harvard Menorah Society, +a constitution was drawn up and presented +at the next meeting, when it was accepted. +It was also submitted to President +Aley, who approved it and congratulated +us most heartily upon the formation +of the Society.</p> + +<p>Our first task was to place the Society +in the right light on the campus by emphasizing +the absolutely unsectarian, +academic, cultural nature of the Menorah +Society and the fact that membership is +invitingly open to all members of the University. +In this we were greatly helped +by the visit of Chancellor Henry Hurwitz +who addressed the whole student +body in Chapel on the morning of May +5th, after being introduced by President +Aley, upon the nature and purposes of the +Menorah movement; and he addressed a +public meeting of the Society in the evening, +which was also attended by President +Aley, on "Jewish Ideals."</p> + +<p>During the course of the year we have +succeeded in holding several other enthusiastic +meetings besides. We have had +frank and inspiring talks by President +Aley and Professor Huddleston. At other +meetings our own members gave talks +and discussions. Thus, Samuel Rudman +gave a splendid talk on "The Attitude of +Jewish Young Men towards Jewish Religion", +which was warmly discussed. Another +paper was delivered by A. I. Schwey +on "Hebrew Literature."</p> + +<p>Through the kindness of the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association, into which we +were admitted at the Cincinnati Convention, +we have secured a Menorah Library, +which has been put in a conspicuous +place in the reading room of the University +library, for the benefit of all the students. +But the Menorah members especially +intend to make good use of the books +in the preparation of papers and in regular +study. We have also been fortunate +in securing a set of the Jewish Encyclopedia +from Mr. Cyrus L. Sulzberger of +New York for presentation to the University +library. The coming of the Encyclopedia +and the Menorah Library has +been greatly appreciated by the authorities, +and the Maine Menorah Society is happy +to have been able already to be of concrete +service to the University. All of our activities +have caused favorable interest on +the part of both the student body and the +college authorities, and a great change has +come about in the attitude towards the +Jewish men. We look forward to even +greater progress as well as hard work in +the future.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">A. I. Schwey</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Missouri</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>UR Menorah Society this year has +done at least two things. First, it +has definitely held to a program +of work; secondly, it has become accredited +as representative of the Jewish students +to the Jewish students themselves, and even +more to the non-Jews. The opposition that +some of the students manifested in other +years has not been so active, and the Society +drew a large proportion of them, +sometimes all of them, to its meetings. +The non-Jews, especially among the Faculty, +have exhibited an actively interested +and helpful attitude. In this connection, +our thanks are due Prof. J. E. Wrench, +of the History department, whose presence +at all of our meetings greatly stimulated +profitable discussion.</div> + +<p>Of the Jewish faculty men, Dr. Henry +M. Sheffer, of the Philosophy department, +one of the founders of the Harvard Menorah +Society, took a particularly active +interest in the work, especially in the preparation +of our programs. The program +for the second semester was on "Typical +Hebraic Ideals", as follows:</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Typical Hebraic Ideals program"> +<tr><td align='left'>I.</td><td align='left'>Transitional:</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'> 1. Hellenism</td><td align='right'>J. Sholtz</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></td><td align='left'> 2. Emancipation</td><td align='right'>J. L. Ellman</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>II.</td><td align='left'>Contemporary:</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'>(a) Religious</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'> 1. Orthodoxy</td><td align='right'>Wm. Stone</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'> 2. Reform</td><td align='right'>Robert Burnett</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'>(b) National</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'> 1. Assimilationism</td><td align='right'>A. Hertzmark</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'> 2. Zionism</td><td align='right'>D. A. Glushek</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'>(c) Literary</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'> 1. Yiddish</td><td align='right'>M. Glazer</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'> 2. Neo-Hebrew</td><td align='right'>C. Goldberg</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>III.</td><td align='left'>Prospective:</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'>The New Hebraism </td><td align='right'>Dr. H. M. Sheffer</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>This program was devised with the +idea of creating a definite reaction to +Hebraism. So, the papers on Hellenism +and Emancipation tried by the contrast +of transitional periods to make Hebraic +ideals as a whole stand out. The meeting +on Reform and Orthodoxy was devoted +to an historical analysis of the forces underlying +the present situation in Judaism. +The papers on Zionism and Assimilation, +again, summed up from another angle the +characteristics of Hebraic aspiration. And +at the two last meetings, present Jewish +life and ideals were discussed in terms of +their literary and philosophical expression.</p> + +<p>Along with these meetings we had several +lectures by Dr. H. M. Sheffer, Rabbi +A. A. Neuman of the Dropsie College, and +Dr. H. M. Kallen of Wisconsin. These +meetings were in every case productive of +great enthusiasm. Prof. J. E. Wrench +addressed a meeting composed in numbers +equally of Jews and non-Jews on "The +Jew and Christian in the Middle Ages", +and we also had an address by Dr. A. T. +Olmstead, Professor of Ancient History, +on the "Book of Kings".</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">John Sholtz</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of North Carolina</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Menorah Society at our University +is in a unique position. The +number of Jews in North Carolina +is the smallest of any in the Southern +States. Only in a few places is there any +organized Jewish life. The Jewish students +come chiefly from such places where +the number of Jews is very small. Under +these circumstances, it can readily be seen +how difficult it was at first to implant the +idea of a Jewish society for the purpose +of the study of Jewish subjects of which +the majority of the students were greatly +ignorant. The Society, however, has now +passed far beyond the experimental stage. +All the Jewish students at North Carolina +now show a great deal of interest and enthusiasm +in the Menorah work.</div> + +<p>From the fact that our Society can look +to very little in the way of help from any +Jewish community in the State, and that +it is far from any Jewish cultural center +in the South, it can be perceived how hard +it was at first to carry on our work in +comparison with our sister Societies located +in more favorable localities. A review +of our work of the last term will +show, however, gratifying results. Our +method was similar to that of the class +room. A text book on Jewish history was +taken as the basis for study, supplemented +by additional information from the Jewish +Encyclopedia and other books on Judaica +from the University Library and the +Menorah Library. The value of our +study of Jewish history may be educed +from the fact that most of us had but the +faintest knowledge of our glorious past. +When a thorough knowledge of the text +was acquired, discussions and studies of +different phases and movements in Judaism +were taken up. In this work the Menorah +Library proved an especially valuable aid.</p> + +<p>While our Society is not a religious organization, +it endeavors to surround our +work with ethical and religious aims. The +Society tries to be here for the Jewish +students what the Y. M. C. A. is in a +measure for our Christian fellow-students, +and we can say that it has succeeded in +its endeavor. The relation of the Menorah +Society here with the Y. M. C. A. +is one of heartiest co-operation.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Samuel R. Newman</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Universities in Omaha</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Omaha Menorah Society, covering +both the University of +Omaha and Creighton University, +was founded in September, 1914. At the +organization meeting, Rabbi Frederic +Cohn spoke on the Menorah movement, +and letters of endorsement from President<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> +D. E. Jenkins of the University of +Omaha and from President E. A. Magevney +of Creighton University were read. +A discussion of principles of the Menorah +movement followed.</div> + +<p>Among the speakers of the year were +Dr. I. Dansky, Dr. A. Greenberg, Dr. R. +Farber of S. Joseph, Professor Nathan +Bernstein, Mr. Isador Rees of the Omaha +High School, Professor F. P. Ramsay, +and Professor Walter Halsey. In addition +to their valuable addresses, discussions +on important Jewish topics were held +by the members of the Society—a phase of +Menorah work which is being steadily +accentuated.</p> + +<p>The largest meeting of the year took +place in Jacobs Memorial Hall, on the +evening of May 11th, at which over 300 +people were present. The speakers on +this occasion were President D. E. Jenkins +of the University of Omaha on +"Idealism in Education" and Rabbi +Samuel Cohen of Kansas City, who spoke +on "The Functions and Genesis of Ceremonials".</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Jacques Rieur</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Radcliffe College</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>D</big>URING the month of December, +1914, the Radcliffe Menorah Society +was organized with a membership +of twenty. On January 7, 1915, +the purposes of the Society were outlined +to the members by Mr. Henry Hurwitz; +and Mr. Ralph A. Newman, President of +the Harvard Menorah, extended greetings +and welcome from that Society. Dean +Bertha Boody showed her interest and +approval by her presence.</div> + +<p>Since the Radcliffe Menorah was not +organized until well after the college +calendar had been arranged, it was difficult +to formulate definite plans for the +time which remained. Lectures, however, +have been given at open meetings +by Dr. H. M. Kallen of the University +of Wisconsin and Mr. Maurice Wertheim +of New York; and plans are now under +way for the formation of a study circle +devoted to the study of the Hebrew language.</p> + +<p>The interest and enthusiasm of the +members—more than half of whom are +first year students—gives promise for +work of greater scope in the future.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Lillian H. Rosenblum</span><br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>New York University</b></div> + + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N the first number of <span class="smcap">The Menorah +Journal</span> it was reported that because +of the division of New York +University into uptown and downtown +colleges, it was found necessary to organize +an additional Menorah Society at +Washington Square, the downtown section. +This Washington Square Society +has for its sphere the professional schools +of New York University, whereas the +University Heights Society has the Schools +of Art and Applied Science.</div> + +<p>Organized in October, 1914, the Washington +Square Society can already boast +of a membership of 160. Over eighty percent +of the members are young men and +women who work during the day and devote +five evenings a week to school.</p> + +<p>The Society has conducted under its +auspices in the past year about ten lectures, +at which the attendance averaged +seventy-five members. The lectures covered +many phases of Jewish culture and +were greatly appreciated. It is expected +that study circles will be held during the +next academic year, even though it may +be necessary in most instances to hold them +after 9:30 p. m.</p> + +<p>Among the lectures during the past +year were the following: Dr. H. M. Kallen +of the University of Wisconsin, Dr. +H. G. Enelow of Temple Emanu-El, Mr. +Samuel Strauss of The New York Times, +and Chief Justice Isaac Franklin Russell +of the New York Court of Special Sessions.</p> + +<p>To celebrate the completion of one +year's active work, a dinner was held on +the evening of April 30th at the Broadway +Central Hotel, at which there were +present about 100 members. The Toastmaster +was E. Schwartz, and the speakers +of the evening included Dr. Bernard +Drachman, Israel N. Thurman, Hyman +Askowith, Louis Weinstein, the outgoing +President, and Chancellor Henry Hurwitz.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Bernard J. Reis</span><br /></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Notes</h2> + +<h3>Of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association</h3> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Menorah Prize Awards</i></div> + +<p>The Harvard Menorah Prize of $100 has +this year been divided into two equal parts +and awarded to Benjamin I. Goldberg, +'16, for an essay on "Maimonides as a +Scientist", and Leonard L. Levy, '17, for +an essay on "The Modern Jewish National +Movement". (This essay also won +the second undergraduate Bowdoin Prize +at Harvard.) Honorable mention was +given to Henry Epstein, '16. The judges +were Prof. David Gordon Lyon, chairman, +and Prof. J. R. Jewett of Harvard +University, and President Solomon Schechter +of the Jewish Theological Seminary.</p> + +<p>The Wisconsin Menorah Prize of $100 +has this year been awarded to Percy B. +Shoshtac, '15, for an essay on Scholom +Asch, the Yiddish novelist and dramatist. +The judges were Prof. R. E. N. Dodge, +chairman, Prof. E. B. McGilvary, and +Prof. M. S. Slaughter of the University +of Wisconsin.</p> + +<p>Of the three prizes of $25 each, offered +by the Cornell Menorah Society this year, +only one was awarded ("for the best essay +on any subject relating to the status and +problems of the Jews in any one country"). +The winning essay was by Morris +J. Escoll, '16 (College of Agriculture) +upon "Phases of Jewish Thinking in American +Universities." For the prize in +Hebrew there was no competition; for the +prize "on any subject relating to Jewish +literature in English", no essay was +deemed of sufficient merit. The judges +were Prof. Nathaniel Schmidt of Cornell, +chairman, Prof. I. Leo Sharfman of the +University of Michigan, and Prof. M. M. +Kaplan of the Jewish Theological Seminary.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Gift from the Cornell Menorah Society</i></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span> has received +a gift of $50 from the Cornell Menorah +Society.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Harvard Menorah Dinner</i></div> + +<p>The seventh annual Dinner of the Harvard +Menorah Society was held on May +3, 1915, in the Hotel Lenox, Boston. It +was the largest and most successful dinner +in the history of the Society, some 200 +men, including a number of graduate members, +being present. The toastmaster was +President Ralph A. Newman, and toasts +were responded to by Prof. D. G. Lyon, +Prof. G. F. Moore, Prof. Felix Frankfurter, +Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Mr. Felix M. +Warburg, Mr. Maurice Wertheim, Mr. +Joseph L. Cohen (of Cambridge University, +England), Mr. Hyman Askowith, +and Chancellor Henry Hurwitz. The +winners of the Harvard Menorah Prizes, +announced by Prof. Lyon, gave summaries +of their essays.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Wisconsin Menorah Banquet</i></div> + +<p>The fourth annual Banquet of the Wisconsin +Menorah Society was held on May +22, 1915, in the Women's Building of the +University. President Harry Hersh was +toastmaster, and toasts were responded +to by Judge Julian W. Mack, Prof. I. Leo +Sharfman, Mrs. Joseph Jastrow, Dr. H. +M. Kallen, and Dr. C. S. Levi of Milwaukee.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Incoming Menorah Presidents</i></div> + +<p>The elections of the following presidents +of Menorah Societies for next year have +been reported: Brown, Abraham J. Burt; +California, Stanley M. Arndt (re-elected); +Clark, Abraham J. Levensohn; Cincinnati, +Philip L. Wascerwitz; College of +the City of New York, Moses H. Gitelson; +Cornell, Aaron Bodanski; Harvard, +Fred F. Greenman; Hunter, Sarah Berenson; +Johns Hopkins, Jonas Friedenwald; +Illinois, Karl Epstein; Maine, Lewis H. +Kriger (re-elected); Michigan, A. J. +Levin; North Carolina, Alfred M. +Lindau; New York University, Michael +Stavitsky (University Heights) and Bernard +J. Reis (Washington Square); Pennsylvania, +Jacob Rubinoff (re-elected); +Radcliffe, Hannah R. London; Wisconsin, +Charles Lebowsky.</p> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<p><a name="meno4" id="meno4"></a></p> + + + + +<h1><span class="smcap">the</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Menorah Journal</span></h1> + +<div class='center'> +VOLUME I OCTOBER, 1915 NUMBER 4<br /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 81px;"> +<img src="images/menorahimage.png" width="81" height="85" alt="Menorah" title="Menorah" /> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p> + + +<h2>The Arch of Titus</h2> + +<div class='center'>Done into English by H. M. K. from the Hebrew of H. A. W.<a name="FNanchor_A_1.3"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1.3" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="The Arch of Titus, poem"> +<tr><td align='left'>Crumbling, age-worn, in Rome the eternal</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Stands the arch of Titus' triumph,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>With its carven Jewish captives</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Stooped before the holy Menorah.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">And each nightfall, when the turmoil</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of the Petrine clangor ceaseth,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Seven flames the arch illumine,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mystic burnings, glowing strangely.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Then cast off their graven shackles</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Judah's sons of beaten marble;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Living step they from the ruin</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Living stride they to the Jordan.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">They are healèd in its waters,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Till the freshness of each dawning;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Then resume their ancient sorrow,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Perfect marble, whole and holy.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Dust of dust the wheeling seasons,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Grind that mighty archèd splendor,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Raze the Gaul and raze the Roman,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Grind away their fame and glory,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">The shackled Jews alone withstand them,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Stooped before the holy Menorah.</span></td></tr> +</table></div><div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a> +<img src="images/frontis-tb.jpg" width="600" height="374" alt="THE SPOILS OF JERUSALEM, FROM THE ARCH OF TITUS" title="THE SPOILS OF JERUSALEM, FROM THE ARCH OF TITUS" /> +<span class="caption">THE SPOILS OF JERUSALEM, FROM THE ARCH OF TITUS</span> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 155px;"> +<img src="images/1mnordau.jpg" width="155" height="200" alt="MAX NORDAU" title="MAX NORDAU" /> +</div> +<div class='blockquot2'><i><big>M</big>AX NORDAU (born in Budapest, 1849), world-famous neurologist, +author, and publicist, a Nestor among Jewish leaders, and since +Herzl's death the President of the International Zionist Congresses. His +books on "Degeneration," "Paradoxes," and other volumes of social studies, +have evoked world-wide discussion. In sending the present article to The +Menorah Journal from Madrid, where he is now sojourning on account +of the War, Dr. Nordau writes: "I wish my words may not be dropped +into deaf ears. You can do much to bring them home to the consciousness +and the conscience of leading American Jews."</i> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<h2>The Duty of the Hour</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Max Nordau</span></h3> + + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>E are the people of the Messiah. We feel, we think Messianic. +In all situations of life, and particularly in the +critical ones, we hope for a miraculous event which will +fulfill all our yearnings, and in this hope we feel delivered of the +manly duty to work for the realization of our ideals, to prepare +our salvation by our own efforts.</div> + +<p>At this moment a large portion of Israel dreams once more a +particularly lively Messianic dream. Hundreds of thousands, +millions of Jews, indeed, have abandoned themselves to the expectation +that at the conclusion of the peace which will put a +stop to the world's war, the destiny of the Jewish people must +take a miraculous turn. The plenipotentiaries of the belligerent +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>powers will assemble in a conference or a congress to treat of the +conditions of peace. The conquerors will exact of the vanquished +the price of their sacrifices and return home with their booty in +the shape of territorial acquisitions and indemnities. And in the +course of these transactions the miracle will happen that a share +will be apportioned to the Jewish people too. Palestine will be +offered them, either as an area for colonization or, still better, as +a full property under the protectorate of a great power. They will +be accorded also entire equality of rights in Russia and Roumania.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Basis of Jewish Hopes: (1) The Self-Interest of the Powers</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>E may plead reasons or excuses for indulging in this dream. +Utterances of leading personalities of the big nations which +will necessarily be represented at the peace conference have become +publicly known which permit the conclusion, without intentional +self-beguiling, that some governments at least, if not all of +them, are occupying themselves earnestly with the Jewish problem +and examining the question whether it might not be worth +trying to settle the Jews in search of a homestead in Palestine, +under international and local legal conditions vouchsafing them +full freedom of economic, intellectual, and moral development.</div> + +<p>On the other hand, there is no doubt that the situation of the +six millions of Russian Jews occupies a certain place in the +thoughts and cares of the governments. Several countries have +an interest in turning away from their frontiers the ever more +violently swelling stream of Jewish emigration, and doing so +otherwise than with the brutal method of locking up their boundaries +and posting a police watch before them. Others have the +well-being of Russia at heart; they understand that the sufferings +and the despair of her six millions of Jews are a source of dire evils +and that the emancipation of this hard-working and highly gifted +population will bring about the material prosperity, the general +progress, and the powerful strengthening of Russia. Other +countries again, the statesmen of which are more farseeing than +the average and have been able to rise to the conception of a +political world hygiene, are aware that the systematic crushing of +six millions of intellectual and strong-feeling people driven to +despair must create a hotbed of the most dangerous anarchistic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> +and revolutionary epidemics, the spreading of which cannot easily +be limited to the spot of their origin. Lastly, even the most +irreclaimable pessimist will admit at least the possibility that +governments may not be entirely inaccessible to purely humane +sentiments of pity and justice, and may regard the treatment of +the Jews of Russia and Roumania as an indictment against the +civilization and the ruling religion of white mankind.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>(2) The Precedent of 1878</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE hope of the peace conference resulting in great achievements +for the Jewish people, moreover, can evoke an historical +precedent. The Berlin Congress of 1878 which brought +the Russo-Turkish war to an end, created the Bulgarian state, +raised Roumania to the rank of an independent kingdom, and +gave Bosnia and Herzegovina to Austria-Hungary, found time to +occupy itself with a Jewish matter and to introduce into the +treaty condensing its decisions the well known article obliging the +new kingdom of Roumania to bestow on her Jews equality of civil +franchises. It is not the fault of the Berlin Congress that this +article has remained to this day a dead letter. The case, at any +rate, is of a nature to encourage Jewish optimism against those +sceptics who sneer: "A diplomatic conference distributes no +presents; complacency and liberality play no part there; there +are only such interests enforced which are backed by a victorious +army or at least by an army which still inspires some fears." +Well, in 1878, too, the Jewish people had no country, no army, +no government, no accredited ambassador, and yet two of the +most influential members of the Berlin Congress, the representative +of Great Britain, Earl Beaconsfield, and that of France, +Waddington, were ready to step forward as advocates of the +Jewish cause, and the president of the Congress, Prince Bismarck, +evidently favored their action.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>But We Ignore a Valuable Lesson</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> HAVE produced everything capable of justifying the expectations +with which many Jews look forward to the future peace +congress. But I do not notice that the Jewish people keep in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> +view the lessons taught by the historic example of 1878. Beaconsfield +and Waddington did not plead for the Roumanian Jews at +the Berlin Congress from impulses of their own or in consequence +of a sudden inspiration from on high. The Paris Alliance Israelite +Universelle, the London Anglo-Jewish Association, the Berlin +Verband der deutschen Juden, had done serious and efficient +preparatory work, memorialized their several governments, informed +them of the facts, solicited their intervention. It was due +to their efforts that the position of the Roumanian Jews came up +for consideration at the Berlin Congress. They showed the way +the Jewish people must follow if they wish to obtain anything of +governments in congress. What are the Jewish people waiting +for in order to act now as their fathers acted thirty-seven years +ago?</div> + +<p>The war is raging, in a hundred battlefields uncounted brave +men shed their blood for the future of their nation, Jewish soldiers +fight and fall side by side with their non-Jewish countrymen and +comrades, but their heroic sacrifices are utterly useless for their +own people. In every country, even in Russia, the military excellence, +the patriotism, the contempt of danger and death of the +Jewish soldiers, will be rewarded more or less lavishly and liberally +with distinctions and preferment, but experience teaches us +that their glorious conduct is forgotten very soon after the war by +everybody but themselves and their brethren, and that it certainly +does not change in the least the status of the Jewish people +among the nations. At any rate the consideration of the merits +and military virtues of the Jewish soldiers will not by itself stimulate +to action the diplomatists at the peace congress, unless they +are insistently recalled to their memory. All this requires preparation +and arrangements, of which as yet there is scarcely any +trace to be seen.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Who Could Accept Palestine for the Jews?</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HERE is another point to which attention must be drawn. +Let us admit the most favorable case: the congress will +really open up Palestine to the Jewish people for colonization with +self-government and autonomous local institutions. To whom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> +will it be in a position to make such a concession? To whom will +it deliver Palestine? The Jewish people is a concept, but it is not +a political and administrative individuality, it is not a body with +a head and vital organs. There is actually not one man who could +present himself to the governments assembled in congress, receive +Palestine from their hands, and offer them the guarantee that he +will lead into the land of their ancestors those Jews that yearn +for a new home and national life on an historic soil, and that he +will undertake the implanting of modern culture, the maintaining +of order, and the economic development of the country. An offer +of the congress would fall flat, nobody having the moral right and +the material capacity to accept it in the name and in behalf of +the Jewish people.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Let Dreaming Give Way to Organizing! The Task for American Jewry</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>LL this points to the necessity of an adequate preparation for +coming events. The Messianic dream does not suffice. Mere +wishes and hopes are vain. We must work. We must organize +ourselves without further loss of time. We must create a body +with men of authority at its head, and the living forces of the +Jewish people, or at least a considerable portion of them, at its +back. The forces and the men do exist. They have only to be +gathered, united and grouped.</div> + +<p>Who is to do this organizing work? My reply is unhesitating: +American Jewry. I should be happy to say: here is a task for +the Zionists' organization which exists, which lives, which is prepared +for work of this kind, and which has to consider its carrying +out as its natural function; but I shrink back from giving this +near-lying answer. Many pre-eminent and influential Jews whose +good Jewish sentiments no one has a right to doubt, persist in +considering Zionism as a party tendency against which they raise +objections. Now the representations of the Jewish people before +the governments must not be a party affair, but ought to be the +cause of the entire people and must embrace all its parts. The +invitation must therefore be issued by personalities who repel +nobody at the outset by their pronounced party color. Moreover, +these personalities must necessarily belong to a neutral country,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> +so as to leave no room for the argument that according to the +political definition of the hour they are enemies and to co-operate +with them would mean disloyalty to one's own country. Only in +the case, which I hope will not be realized, of the United States +also precipitating itself into the whirlpool of the war, would they +be bound to transfer their initiative to the Swiss or the Dutch +Jewry. The first labor of the initiators should consist in inviting +the existing Jewish organizations of all countries to have themselves +represented by a delegation on a permanent board or committee. +It would be a matter of regret if they refused, but this +ought by no means to be a reason for discouragement nor for discontinuing +further endeavors. In this case the initiators would +simply have to do fundamental work and try to fall back on elements +that at present stand outside, or intentionally keep aloof +from, existing organizations. It would be the business of the permanent +board to secure financial co-operation that could be called +upon under given circumstances, and to cause Jews of standing in +every great country to approach their government, to submit to +it in time the aspirations of the Jewish people, and to procure its +approval and sympathy for them.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br />"<i>Not an Instant to Lose if We Wish to Prepare</i>"</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>UT of the peace which must follow the present horrible war, +a new Europe, a new world will be born. It depends on us +whether in this new world there is to be a place, "a place in the +sun," for the Jewish people. We have not an instant to lose if +we wish to prepare for the grand opportunity. Should we miss +this occasion we should have to resign all our national hopes, I +am afraid, for a very long time, if not for ever. We may, of course, +continue to dream our Messianic dream, but this will then ever +remain a dream till the dreamer disappears and his dream with +him.</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_dnordau.png" width="150" height="29" alt="Signature: Dr M. Nordau" title="Signature: Dr M. Nordau" /> +</div> +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1.3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1.3"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Original and translation read at a dinner of the Harvard Menorah Society.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span></p> + +<h2>What Judaism Is Not</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Mordecai M. Kaplan</span></h3> + +<div class="right"><i>"Every man who has seen the world knows that<br /> +nothing is so useless as a general maxim."</i><br /> +<i>Macaulay, in Essay on "Machiavelli."</i></div> + + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 138px;"> +<img src="images/2mkaplan.jpg" width="138" height="200" alt="MORDECAI M. KAPLAN" title="MORDECAI M. KAPLAN" /> +<i>MORDECAI M. KAPLAN (born in Russia in +1881, came to America in +1889), studied at College of +the City of New York (A. B. +1900), Columbia (M. A. 1902) +and Jewish Theological Seminary +(Rabbi, 1902); held Rabbinical +position in New York, +1903-1909; Principal since +1909 of the Teachers' Institute, +and Professor of Homiletics +since 1910 in the Jewish Theological +Seminary. Fearless and +original in thought, and exceptionally +stimulating as a Menorah +lecturer, Professor Kaplan +has won the deep respect and +friendship of Menorah students +at the various universities where +he has lectured on Jewish Religion +and Education.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>M</big>OST of the pain, which according to Koheleth +comes with the increase of knowledge, +is in the unlearning of the old rather than +in the learning of the new. Once an idea has become +imbedded in the mind, it cannot be removed without +causing a mental upheaval. Blessed are the young +to whom unlearning is easy, or who have not much +to unlearn. Whether our Jewish young men know +much or little about Judaism, they are certain, as +a rule, to have formed notions about it of which +they must be disabused, if Judaism is to constitute +an important factor in their lives. Strange to say, +they have obtained these notions not from sources +hostile to Judaism, but on the contrary from sources +distinctly intended to inculcate both a love and an +understanding of the Jewish religion,—such as catechisms +and text-books used in our religious schools, +and articles in encyclopedias meant for the enlightenment +of the general public. The view of Judaism +that one gets in this manner is not only a distorted +one, but it has the effect of bringing all further +reflection to a standstill. It lands one in a +blind alley. The conclusion which a person generally +arrives at when he consults these sources for +information about the Jewish religion is that, whatever +else Judaism might be, it certainly offers no +field for the exercise of deep insight or broad vision. +This largely accounts for the manifest sterility and +uncreativeness of present-day Judaism. To give new +impetus to fruitful and creative thinking in Jewish life, it is necessary, in +the first place, to counteract the paralyzing spell of these routine and conventional +interpretations of Judaism.</div> + +<p>To be concrete, let us take a typical instance of the kind of instruction +that has been in vogue for more than a century. Here are a few +sentences from the article on Judaism in Hastings' <i>Encyclopedia of Religion +and Ethics</i>: "Judaism may be defined as the strictest form of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> +monotheistic belief; but it is something more than a bare mental belief. +It is the effect which such a belief, with all its logical consequences, exerts +on life, that is to say, on thought and conduct. . . . . A formal and +precise definition of Judaism is a matter of some difficulty, because it +raises the question, What is the absolute and irreducible minimum of conformity? . . . . +Judaism denounces idolatry and polytheism. It believes +in a universal God, but it is not exclusive. It believes that this +world is good, and that man is capable of perfection. He possesses free +will, and is responsible for his actions. Judaism rejects any mediator and +any cosmic force for evil. Man is free. He is not subject to Satan; nor +are his material gifts of life inherently bad. Wealth might be a blessing +as well as a curse," etc., etc.</p> + +<p>In an encyclopedia we do not expect to find original or striking views. +It is not the particular article from which this excerpt is taken that fault +is found with. That article is selected simply as representative of the +kind of information that is expected to help one grasp the meaning of +Judaism. It is typical of the baffling glibness with which Jewish teachers +and preachers usually talk about the Jewish religion. One who reads or +listens to such statements finds that somehow or other little has been added +to his stock of knowledge about Judaism. He experiences how irritating +words can be when they either hide thought or betray its absence.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Mistaking the Shadow for the Thing Itself</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N the instance quoted, it is both amusing and painful to follow the +author's vacillating description of Judaism. At first Judaism is a form +of belief. Then it becomes the effect of that belief upon thought and +conduct. From that it evolves into some irreducible minimum of conformity, +if we can only get hold of it. This being difficult, it gets to be a +series of colorless platitudes. Such a definition calls up the image of a +streamlet, now leaping over rocks and boulders, now meandering upon +level ground, and finally losing itself in the marshes. The fitfulness and +inconsistency of the formulation, the picking up of the different threads +of thought without following out any one of them to its conclusion, are +characteristic of this type of definitions. They are as devoid of vitality as +a long drawn-out yawn, and their want of logic is exasperating. The +merest tyro can see that one can profess the principles they embody +without being a Jew. There are many sects that would heartily subscribe +to all of them. Universalists, Deists, Theists, Unitarians, and +even Ethical Culturists hold these doctrines. As matters stand at present, +these sects engage more actively in spreading them than we do.</div> + +<p>What is fundamentally wrong with the above definition and with +the entire class of formulations of which it is an instance? The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> +tendency to mistake the shadow of a thing for the thing itself. The main +cause for misapprehending the true character of Judaism is the proneness +to regard it merely as a form of truth, or, at best, as the effect of a truth +upon thought and conduct, and to overlook entirely the fact that it is a +living reality, a very strand of the primal moving forces of the world. +"Judaism is the truest form of truth," says one writer. "Judaism gives, +to truth the most truthful shape," says another. Now and then they +speak of it as a "form" of life, but it turns out to be only a lip service, +or a homiletical phrase. They fail to follow up the clue which is more +than once suggested to them by the difficulty of expounding Judaism as +a form of truth. That being a Jew has always involved conforming to +certain principles and modes of life is a truism. But these principles +or observances by themselves constitute only the outward expression of +Judaism. The mathematical formula which states the law of gravitation +is not the same as the force of gravitation itself. It is conceivable that +further experimentation might make it necessary to qualify the mathematical +formula. But the force of gravitation will ever be the same +as it has been. The change from looking upon Judaism as a form of +truth to that of regarding it as of the very substance of reality calls for +a complete transformation in our mode of thinking, or what has been +termed "a psychological change of front." We must break completely +with the habit of identifying the whole of the Jewish religion with merely +certain beliefs and duties, while ignoring completely the living energy +which has operated to produce them. They are only the static residue +of something that is essentially dynamic.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Jewish Aversion to Creeds and Formulas</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE change in attitude which is here advocated is not a departure +from all that has gone before in Jewish life. If it were that, +Judaism could not possibly survive under it. The fact is that we are only +bringing to the fore and translating into modern phraseology an attitude +that in one form or another has always asserted itself in Judaism. Simultaneously +with the tendency to compress Judaism within certain formulas, +there has always shown itself a strong aversion to gathering Judaism +within creeds and minima of conformity. To-day that aversion, which +has hitherto remained a matter of feeling and intuition, can make itself +articulate by availing itself of the results of recent research in the fields +of religion. It need no longer entertain the fear of being charged with +spiritual anarchy. Discountenancing dogmas in Judaism is not synonymous +with intellectual libertinism. It is rather a protest against shallowness +and superficiality, much like the chagrin of the artist at having his +knowledge of drawing praised and the soul of the picture missed.</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> +We can give in this connection a few cursory examples of the anti-summarizing +tendency. The Torah itself, in one instance, seems to set +out with a view of reducing Judaism to a minimum, but scarcely finds +itself able to do so. "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God +require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, and to walk in all His ways, +and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and +with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of thy Lord and the statutes, +which I command thee this day, for thine own good?" "Is this a small +matter?" asks the Talmud, in evident surprise at the hugeness of the +program. When the would-be proselyte came to Shammai and requested +him to sum up the entire Torah in one principle, he received no +better treatment than he deserved, when he was made to take to his heels. +That Hillel did not rebuff him and gave him the principle, "What is hateful +to thee do not do unto thy neighbor," proves that Hillel knew how +to be patient and tactful, but not that the Talmud looks upon that summary, +or any other, as expressive of the essence of Judaism. The same +applies to religious practices, concerning which the Mishnah announces +the maxim that it is not for us to estimate which are more important than +others. We are told that the custom obtained at one time of having the +Ten Commandments read as part of the daily service; but that as soon +as it gave rise to the impression that the Ten Commandments were more +essential than the rest of the Torah, it was discontinued. It is true that +Philo reduces the teachings of Judaism to five essential doctrines, but that +was because Judaism to Philo was Platonism divinely revealed.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>As Shown by Judah Ha-Levi</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE movement to formulate the fundamental teachings of Judaism +first gained headway at the beginning of the eleventh century with +the Karaites, whose entire conception of Judaism was such as to render +their sect hopelessly stagnant and doomed to dwindle. Still, even they would +never have thought of emphasizing certain dogmas as indispensable, had +they not discerned in the teachings of Mohammedanism a dangerous challenge +to Judaism. Thus the dogma-making tendency in Judaism arose during +the Middle Ages not as an indigenous product but as a retort to the +dominant religions of the time. What might be called the application of the +synoptic method to the Jewish religion remained confined mostly to the +part of Jewry which came, directly or indirectly, under the influence of +Aristotelian intellectualism.</div> + +<p>To this trend Judah Ha-Levi (1085-1140) stands out as a notable +exception. In him the disapproval of having Judaism subsumed under +formulas of a philosophic stamp comes again to the surface. His being +a poet even more than a philosopher enabled him to get a better insight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +into the inwardness of Judaism than that obtained by the intellectualists +with their analytic scalpels. This is apparent in his well-known "Al-Khazari." +The story goes that the Khazar king, after consulting a philosopher, +a Mohammedan, and a Christian as to what he should believe and +do, finally turned to a Jewish rabbi. When the king asked him about the +Jewish religion, the rabbi replied, "I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac +and Jacob, who led the Children of Israel out of Egypt, who fed them in +the desert, and gave them the land. . . . . Our belief is comprised in +the Torah, a very large domain." Upon hearing this, the king grew indignant, +and said to the rabbi, "Shouldst thou, O Jew, not have said that +thou believest in the Creator of the world, its Governor and Guide, and in +Him who created and keeps thee, and such attributes which serve as evidence +for every believer?" But the rabbi persists in his mode of stating +Judaism. He parries successfully the king's efforts to draw out of him +some definition of Judaism in terms of speculative theology. The king in +time becomes a convert to Judaism, and it is only then, according to Judah +Ha-Levi, that he succeeds in getting the rabbi to teach him concerning the +attributes of God, as if to imply that one has first to be a Jew before indulging +in any abstract or philosophic study of Judaism. The keynote +of Ha-Levi's thought is that the essence of Judaism is not merely to give +assent to any general belief, but to belong to Israel and share in its experiences.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>By Maimonides and by Abravanel</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>E</big>VEN Maimonides (1135-1204), who is usually represented as the +chief sponsor of the systematizing and speculative tendency in +Judaism, is far from having attached as much significance to the Creed he +formulated as the fact of its presence in the prayer book might indicate. +He himself strongly deprecates attaching more importance to one part +of the Torah than to another. "The Ten Commandments and the Shema +in the Torah," he says in the very same chapter of his commentary on the +Mishnah which contains the Creed, "are no holier than any of the genealogies +that are found in it." Albo (1380-1444) reduces the essence of +Judaism to three, yet inconsistently declares that he who denies other +articles of faith which are of minor importance is no less a heretic than +he who denies any of the essential ones. In fact, he admits that there are +as many articles of faith as commandments in the Torah.</div> + +<p>Abravanel (1437-1508), though an admirer of scholasticism, and +practically the last of the line of Jewish Aristotelians, considers the +thirteen Articles of Maimonides' Creed gratuitous, and as not representative +of the maturer views of Maimonides. His opinion is that they +properly belonged to the commentary on the Mishnah, which was the work +of his youth; and that as he ripened intellectually, he changed his mind<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> +about their value. We miss them in the Code and in the "Guide to the +Perplexed," where we should most of all have expected to find them. In +the same connection, Abravanel adds that the fashion of laying down +creeds as fundamental in Judaism owes its origin to the method employed +in the secular studies which always started with certain indisputable +axioms.</p> + +<p>The same resistance to the effort to extract Judaism from a few +source principles is encountered in Jewish mysticism. Whatever we may +think of the particular form which mysticism took on in the Jewish religion, +we cannot but regard it as the outbreak of a longing that forms a +part of all vital religion. We have good reason, therefore, to treat with +respect its opinion of the intellectualizing process of Jewish philosophy. +Although it was also addicted to speculative categories and developed a +theosophy instead of a theology, it approached Judaism from an entirely +different angle. Being impressionistic in its trend, it was bound to look +elsewhere than to abstract concepts for the core of Judaism. To put +Judaism into the form of a creed appeared to the mystics like combining +pure gold with a baser metal, in order to mint it for circulation.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>And More Recently by Mendelssohn</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N modern times the anti-dogmatizing tendency found a vigorous exponent +in Mendelssohn. Yet, somehow or other, he has been singled +out for attack, as though he had advocated a dry formalism, unredeemed +by any inner principle or inspiration. He is charged with having been +under the influence of the shallow deism of the English philosophers. The +truth is that Mendelssohn only repeats in his way what Judah Ha-Levi had +taught before him. He distinctly emphasizes the belief in the existence of +God, in providence and in retribution as the sine qua non of Judaism, but +he is clear-minded enough to realize that they constitute what he calls "the +universal religion of mankind," and not Judaism.</div> + +<p>Mendelssohn did not succeed in developing a constructive view of +Judaism, whereby it might be enabled to withstand the shock of modernism; +nevertheless, he does not deserve the treatment accorded him because +of his alleged attitude towards creeds. His position as to the relation of +creeds to Judaism is the only tenable one. He maintains that creeds can +only be of two kinds; either they oppose reason, and should therefore +find no place in Judaism, or are so self-evident that they are not confined +to Judaism. This does not mean that to be a Jew one can believe whatever +he likes, or not believe at all. It does not mean that Judaism only demands +outward conformity. Mendelssohn was aware that certain "Hobot ha-Lebabot," +Duties of the Heart, are indispensable to Judaism. But he refused +to make of Judaism a mutilated philosophy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Judaism Needs Working Principles—Not Abstract Dogmas</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>N</big>O sphere of life can be maintained intelligently without some basic +principles, particularly so exalted a sphere as religion. Who +counts upon any art attaining a high degree of development by mere rule +of thumb? Is anything so characteristic of modern life as emphasis upon +the mutual interrelation of theory and practice? All our strivings to +rehabilitate Judaism are bound to prove futile unless they are made to +center about some definite conception of its aims and methods. We need +principles, yea dogmas, in Judaism as we need working hypotheses in any +great undertaking. But dogmas, in the sense of abstract principles, regarded +as immutable, are both superfluous and dangerous. If such dogmas +are nothing more than the common denominator of all that has been identified +with Judaism in the course of its history, they are sure to be banal +and colorless. If they are to be fixed and unalterable, they are bound in +time to clash with reason and experience, and to sap the religion of its +vitality. Judaism needs principles that can help it to withstand danger, +that can give it a lease upon life. This is the criterion to be applied to +any articulate conception of Judaism. Can the principles which the text-books +on Judaism declare to be fundamental render this service? The +reply is an unequivocal No. Hence they are worse than useless.</div> + +<p>But we cannot afford to stop at this point. Knowing what Judaism +is not, is only half-knowledge, and therefore quite dangerous. We must +apply ourselves anew to the task of pondering over the problem of Judaism. +We may indulge to our heart's content in lauding the past when one +could be a Jew without troubling his head about the question, "What is +Judaism?" We may sigh in regret for those days when a Jew upon being +asked about his religion was able to reply, "I have no religion; I am a +Jew." The danger of the entire economy of the Jewish soul going to pieces +is too imminent to permit us to lull ourselves into that blissful unconsciousness, +the praises of which Carlyle sang quite consciously. We are treading +the narrow ledge of a precipice. Men like Zollschan, Ruppin, and Theilhaber +have pointed out the awful chasm that threatens to engulf us. It +requires not a little courage to maintain our nerve and avoid being seized +with the vertigo. But courage alone is not enough. We must take into +account the narrowness of the path and tread over it warily.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>We Must Face the Real Problem of Judaism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>E Jews must do some very hard thinking, of a kind, perhaps, that we +have not been called upon to do before. That task dare not be +shirked. We must not give in to that tendency which breaks out whenever +we have something very difficult to do, of turning to anything except that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> +which we know demands peremptory attention. A task that is thus +neglected revenges itself by haunting us and upsetting whatever we undertake. +Instead of giving to the problem of Judaism the careful deliberation +that it requires, we get busy with a thousand and one things, whereby +we hope to escape the need of concentrated attention. We have become +fussy and fidgety. We are divided into committees and sub-committees. +In place of clearness of thought we have a confusion of tongues. Our case +illustrates the truth which Pascal enunciated, that most of the evils in the +world can be traced to the inability of a person to sit in his room and +think.</div> + +<p>Without deprecating any of the undertakings to bring order out of +the social chaos in Jewish life, we must place at the present time chief +emphasis upon the serious consideration of our inner problem, the problem +of the Jewish soul and of the Jewish spirit, the problem of Judaism. We +may well envy the thousands of soldiers on the battlefields of Europe to +whom it is a joy to meet death for the sake of their respective flags. Each +of them has a cause to die for. Most of us, by reason of our Jewish descent, +find life, particularly in the higher sense of the word, to be a keener +struggle for existence than our neighbors do. Yet it would not be half so +wearing if our difficulties were consecrated by an inspiring cause or by a +thrilling loyalty. Why need we be poverty-stricken in spirit, bereft of +everything that makes struggle sweet and suffering endurable? We must +put the very question, What is Judaism? in a new way and in a different +spirit. We must have the definite purpose in mind, of so understanding it +as to know what to do next, and to strive for that vigorously, so as not +to drift like helpless flotsam and jetsam. We need strong beliefs which, +as Bagehot puts it, win strong men, and then make them stronger.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Judaism Must Speak to Us in the Language of Today</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N the Talmud we find the principle enunciated that the Torah adopted +the style of language that men were wont to use. A condition indispensable +to a religion being an active force in human life is that it speak +to men in terms of their own experience. Judaism, to be significant to modern +man or woman, can no longer afford to speak in the language of theology. +Psychology and social science, history and human experience, have +revealed new worlds in the domain of the spirit. The language of theology +might have a certain quaintness and charm to the ears of those to whom +religion is a kind of dreamy romanticism. But to those who want to find +in Judaism a way of life and a higher ambition, it must address itself in +the language of concrete and verifiable experience.</div> + +<p>The ideas in which Judaism was wont to spell itself out in the past +are no longer at home in the Weltanschauung of the modern man. What<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> +prevented the Reform movement from becoming a real reformation and a +vitalization of Judaism was that it sought to adjust Judaism to a Weltanschauung +which had already begun to grow obsolete. We have to reckon +with all that has been learned in the meantime concerning human society +and the place of religion in it. When one comes to a strange land, and has +with him only the coin of his native country, he must calculate in terms of +the currency of the land he is in, if he wants to know whether or not he +has enough to live on. Can we Jews afford to live spiritually upon our +heritage? That can only be answered if we learn what that heritage is +equivalent to in the current mental coin of the modern man. If we do not +wish to be cut off from the stream of living thought, if we do not want to +be spiritually starved, we Jews must know not so much what Judaism meant +twenty centuries ago, nor even a century ago, but what it is to mean to +us of today.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 145px;"> +<img src="images/signature_mkaplan.png" width="145" height="29" alt="Signature: MMKaplan" title="Signature: MMKaplan" /> +</div> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> +<div class="blockquot2"><p><span class="smcap">Editors' Note.</span>—<i>In articles to follow, Professor +Kaplan will give his conception of "What Judaism +Is."</i></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>The Jewish Student in Our Universities</h2> + +<h3><i>A Menorah Prize Essay</i></h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Morris J. Escoll</span></h3> + + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 135px;"> +<img src="images/3mescoll.jpg" width="135" height="200" alt="MORRIS J. ESCOLL" title="MORRIS J. ESCOLL" /> +<i><big>M</big>ORRIS J. ESCOLL (born +in Russia, 1893, came to +America in 1896), graduate of +Stuyvesant High School, New +York (1910), student at Columbia +(1910-'12) where he won +the Peithologian Medal for a +Freshman Essay; worked as +farm hand; and since 1914 a +student in the Cornell College of +Agriculture. The present paper +is a somewhat revised version +of the Essay with which he won +the Cornell Menorah Prize last +June.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE remarkable adaptability of the Jew to +his environment has been at once his +strength and his weakness. His strength, +in that it provided a variable cloak to shelter him in +storm on the one hand,—on the other, to deck him +seasonably, as it were, for the onward journey, +when days were fair; his weakness, in that it has +often led him to forget that the cloak was but raiment;—"and +is not the body more than raiment?" +Of strength in storm we have had example enough +for twenty centuries—such example as is unique in +history; of what is more rare, strength in days of +fair weather, we are to expect a supreme example +today, and in America, in the American Universities +let us say, where the cloak of adaptability is most +free and seasonable—a supreme example of strength, +or of weakness.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Cloak of Adaptability</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>NE is at first reluctant to single out the Jew +from his fellows at college. He seems in no +manner different from them. He studies with them, +eats with them, plays ball with them. He writes editorials +for the college paper; he competes in the +oratorical contests. One, for example, is a member +of the school orchestra; another, perhaps the son or the grandson of an +immigrant from Germany, leads the cheers at the track meet; another, himself +an immigrant from Russia, plays on the chess team and is one of the +brilliant scholars in his class. This last does, at present, have something of +the stranger about him, but before long, no doubt, his speech will have become +more smooth, his trousers will have begun to show a crease; he will +have become quite an interesting and regular figure at the various reform +and ethical club meetings at the university, and he will begin to be seen quite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> +frequently in the company of his gentile classmates—even in the company +of his German-Jewish cousin. Wonderful, indeed, the country that can so +readily attire its adopted children, and, as the saying goes, make them feel +at home; wonderful, perhaps, the race that, through centuries of degradation, +has kept alive, though often latent indeed, the potentialities of equal +partnership with the most enlightened peoples of a twentieth century civilization.</div> + +<p>What though it has no long past, America is the great land of +the future. Here let the Jew lay aside his burden of the time that has +gone and build anew into the time to come. Shall we regret, then, that the +Jewish student has taken on the polite address, the proud carriage, the +heartiness and the chuckle of his Yankee comrade? Should he now keep +the gabardine of his forefathers, yes, and the credulities and ceremonies of +a circumscribed and persecuted people? Why not absorb that wholesome +ruddiness, denied him so long, that breathes of open American prairies, fair +play, and the Declaration of Independence?</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>"The Goal of Twenty Centuries of Wandering"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>"F</big>OXES have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of +man hath not where to lay his head." Of whom did the great prophet +speak more fittingly than of the children of his own race? Homeless for +two thousand years, persecuted, ostracized, their backs have become bent +and in the eyes of many they have become a nation of religious fanatics +and usurers, wily, unkempt. The Jewish youth of to-day cannot look back +upon his history of exile and say, as did Æneas of old after seven long +years of wandering: "It will be pleasant to remember"—"forsan et +haec olim meminisse juvabit"; his trials have been but too real and he has +not recovered sufficiently to have any desire to recall them. Blame him not +then, if, when others from obscure and semi-civilized quarters of the globe +hail with pride their ancestry, he alone, with the proudest traditions in +history, will sometimes seek to hide his descent. He still feels, moreover, +some of the old "wiliness" and "unkemptness" within himself; he thinks +they are of the Jews and of none others—and he wants to get rid of them. +He still feels some of the old usury in his bones, the clannishness, the distrust +of the world, which the squalid ghetto walls the Middle Ages had built +around his fathers have bequeathed to him, and he wants to get rid of +those. Shall we look askance at him then, if when the American University +welcomes him to her hearth—Ithaca, for example, with her kindly professors +and laughing girl students, her ball games, her neat cottages and +rolling hills that drink Cayuga's stream beside—in the excess of eagerness +he should sometimes break with, yes, even forget his past, and dream new +things? (Hills, cottages, home and country; superfluous concepts were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> +these to other men, elementary satisfactions which they are born into and +take for granted as their inevitable heritage.) Eagerly, therefore, greedily, +perhaps, he sees new things; the goal of twenty centuries of wandering +stands revealed before him. The Irish have found a home in America, the +Germans, the Italians, the Poles, and why not the neediest of all, the Jews? +The American University typifies the ideals of the great democracy where +"race, creed and previous conditions" are forgotten. Here all men forget +their prejudices. All men become brothers.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>But Not Yet Are All Men Brothers</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>UT hold, have we not been expressing a wish rather than a fact? We +look into our own hearts, and strife and jealousy and racial antagonism +are still there. Can we expect that man who has but lately begun +to think of brotherhood can already feel it in his blood; that the age-long +superstition against the Jew can be obliterated with a new geographical +boundary—though that boundary be indeed serene as the all-washing, all-embracing +Atlantic? Oh, that "reality does not correspond to our conceptions," +exclaims Wilhelm Meister.</div> + +<p>For centuries the Jews had a respected and comfortable home in +Spain, but then came the fearful Inquisition, and the ninth day of Ab 1492 +saw 300,000 of them exiled out of the country they had helped grow to +culture and wealth. There was the Declaration of the Rights of Man during +the French Revolution, but then came the Dreyfus affair a century +later. There was science and enlightenment in United Germany, but never +was anti-Semitism more pronounced, more scientific than there between +1875 and '80. In 1881 the May Laws were passed in Russia. In 1882 +there was a ritual murder trial in Hungary. Our statutes and sciences, +after all, are but ways and means, improved ways and means, to what?—often +to unimproved ends, it seems. Our learning and knowledge are what?—but +channels to educate, to lead out (e-duco) the noble qualities in man? +yes; perhaps also his jealousies and hatreds. And thus there comes a time +of doubt. The courtesies and learning of this university life, reflects the +Jewish student, perhaps but cover up these jealousies and hatreds, make +them more polite, and all the more painful therefore. However much he +will not, he sees cliques and denominational clubs all about him: Catholic +clubs, Lutheran clubs, Jewish clubs; in the lecture room the gentiles form +their groups and the Jews form theirs; in the election of class officers the +Jews have been slighted; at the class dinner a Jew was insulted; one fellow +was refused accommodations at a student rooming-house because he was a +Jew; and the sensitive young man begins to feel as though there were but +two divisions of people at the University after all: Jews and everybody +else.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Perennial Burden of the Jew</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>UT it is unfair and ungrateful to speak thus of the American University. +All superstition and prejudice may not have disappeared +here; enough it is that they tend to disappear so rapidly. But what of +the large country outside the university? What of the growing Jewries +in our cities? What of the Jew in the little hamlet carrying his pack of +tinware from door to door; he is so eager to earn an honest dollar for a +wife, a daughter, perhaps for a son at college; so eager to find him a home +like that of the earlier non-Jewish immigrants who buy his wares; yet why +must he overstrain his virtues before them, break through the ice, as the +saying goes, and clear himself—why? for being a Jew. Evidently, others +are taken as good until they prove themselves bad; the Jew is bad until he +proves himself good. Should some other Jewish trader come to the same +locality and commit some wrong, overcharge a shilling on the price of a +kettle, for example, the first Jew must be made to feel ashamed of it, for +it was not the other man who did the wrong, but the "Jew in him." Evidently, +again, the Jewish problem is not of the individual, but of the race. +Must the Wandering Jew bear a perennial burden?</div> + +<p>But even if this problem were solved (it is possible for all the Jews in +America to be in time regarded on equal terms with their neighbors or even +to be assimilated altogether with them), what of the Jews in Russia, in +Roumania, in Galicia? How long must we wait for them to assimilate or +to become free and equal sons of a fatherland? Surely we shall not suggest +that it is well for them to continue forever an alien people in those +lands. And even if this problem too were solved, if the Jews of Russia, +Roumania, and Galicia were to become free and equal sons of a fatherland, +if the Jews all over the world were to be taken in as brothers by their neighbors, +is it enough? Are we to be satisfied with this alone? "Hills, cottages, +home and country"—is not all this but raiment? What of the body, +what of the Jewish soul?</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Three Types of Jewish Students: (1) The "No-Jew"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>ITH his problems thus put, how shall the Jewish youth face them? +Shall he consider body and raiment equally, shall he put body +above raiment, or shall he put raiment above body and forget the body? +To put it crudely into other words, shall his ready adaptation to American +University life tend to make him less of a Jew, more of a Jew, or no Jew at +all, and thus tending, to repeat our original thought, wherein will it be for +weakness, wherein for strength? Each Jewish student, no doubt, in varying +measure, responds to all three of these tendencies; yet, insofar as the +response towards one or another of these is more marked in certain individuals<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> +than in others, let us group the individuals together accordingly, +and for the convenience of our discussion divide them into three separate +types.</div> + +<p>The no-Jew type is common on the campus. His presence pleases us, +perhaps even flatters us. He is carefree, boyish. He makes heroes of +the gridiron athletes; he delights in the comedy shows that come to town; +he joins his non-Jewish friends in outdoor play in that easy laughter of +theirs that bubbles over at a trifle;—and we were beginning to think the +Jew had forgotten to play and laugh. We saw him after sundown once, +single in a canoe, paddling across the wide unruffled lake and far where +purple sky and purple water seem to commingle, and we thought we saw +the primitive Indian again, the wholesome child of nature plying those +waters as of old. Sail on, brave youth, we are glad to see thee still a lover +of the wild, the simple, the calm; we are glad there is still in the Jew something +of the wholesome child, the adventurer, the savage, shall we call it? +We are almost tempted to say we are glad to have him forget his past, +to sail thus away, as it were, from his troubled brethren, away across the +unruffled lake where purple wave and purple cloud in peace commingle,—so +long have we waited for the mind of the Jewish youth to be youthful, for +the moist gleam in the eye of a sorrowful children to disappear.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>"Neither Fish, Nor Flesh, Nor Fowl"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>UT not always is this drifting out of Jewish life so comely. There is +another individual in this type in whom it appears very much strained. +The first merges within the American tradition, the second obtrudes into +it; the first unconsciously, the second painfully aware of his effort; the +first because he has so much of the tradition within him, the second, we are +afraid, because he has so little. The second individual is generally of more +recent arrival to this country than the first; he considers his Jewishness +a misfortune which must be gotten rid of. Both are, indeed, self-centred, +unmindful of their people, but the first is more boyish—and a boy should +be self-centred. Both put the raiment above the body, and in this there +is weakness; but in the first there is not much of body, the roots of Jewish +growth have found no depth or proper sap in him, and if in him there is +not strength of body, there is at least grace of raiment; in the second there +is neither grace nor strength,—he may acquire the superstructure of American +character, but where the foundation to build it on? Where is there +strength when it is ever a getting and never a giving?</div> + +<p>Judaism weighs most heavily upon this latter individual. He will +often deny his race, we regret to say, and play for the affection of members +of other races. But they somehow will discover his "misfortune" +and despise him all the more for hiding it. All this prejudice, he explains,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> +is due to "those other Jews." If they would only learn modesty from the +gentile,—not talk so, not walk so, and not keep hanging around the professor's +desk after the lecture with all sorts of fool questions,—why then, +there would be no more of "this prejudice thing" and he could devote +his time to more important problems. (We half suspect those problems +would be superficial ones. We would also perhaps give more heed to his +urging us to modesty, if only the urging were more modest.) He may even +become eloquent and tell us that the Jews do not appreciate the generosities +and liberties of American life, that they ought to forget their old religious +superstitions and realize that in free America we don't need any religions, +for all men are brothers. (Here again we would perhaps give more heed +to his sentiment for its boundless idealism, were we not afraid it was but a +cover for boundless egotism.)</p> + +<p>And which brotherly organization, which fraternity do you belong to +up here? We ask, not to criticize those boyish aristocracies but rather to +embarrass him, we confess, for we know he must name a Jewish fraternity +or none at all. The other fraternities are indeed fraternal—but not to +Jews, not even to those who would get away from Judaism. We speak without +malice of this individual; we regret only that he gets so little out of the +great American tradition. The raiment becomes him badly. Speaking in +slang and following the baseball scores does not make an American. If he +sells his birthright let it be for something more than a mess of pottage. +Even if he should succeed in assimilating himself with the other races, +whether it be by the accumulation of wealth or baptism or successful denial +of his origin, yet we doubt whether he can become really happy—for he is +neither fish nor flesh nor fowl. Again, what can he receive when he has +nothing to give? And thus we must leave him, perhaps even now laughing +in the company of his non-Jewish acquaintances at some caricature of the +Jew presented for their entertainment—that is of one of "those other +Jews"—a type for which we are sorry, a coin that is spurious and does not +ring true.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Second Type: "An American of Jewish Ancestry"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>UR second type considers body and raiment as of equal weight; he +will make them as one. He will become less of a Jew and more of +an American, a better American for being a Jew. Unlike the first type, he +sees a little beyond himself. Americanism is good enough for him, but +there are other Jews not in America, he realizes, and there are Jews within +America who have not reached, perhaps never can reach, his position of comfortable +participation in American life, and what of them? There may be +more pressing, more important problems in the world, but who else will +solve that particular one of the Jew if he doesn't? He therefore will not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +run away from Judaism; he will try to modify it, of course, to fit in with +American progress, but, for the sake of his people, he will stay a Jew, or +better an American of Jewish ancestry. This type is the son of the big-hearted +givers among Israel. His father subscribes generously to charitable +organizations, is a member of a Reform Temple, and owes much indeed +to the opportunities of the American republic. The son, therefore, +is an American patriot, and what though it seem at times overtaxed, his +patriotism, unlike that of the individual under our first type, is genuine, +for it is not primarily self-seeking. When he speaks of ideals, it is not to +say we have no need of religions at all, but rather that we all in America +have more or less the same belief only that we choose to express it differently, +each according to his ancestral traditions. The three rings, says +Nathan der Weise, may all be true or all be false according to the conduct +of those that wear them. "But are there no peculiar values of conduct," +we ask him, "bequeathed by the peculiar traditions of the Jew?" "Yes," +he answers, "but those values may now be found in the cosmopolitan civilization +of America." "We are getting away from peculiar things," he +further adds; "we must learn to break down barriers and distinctions and +work all together, not as Jews or Americans or anything else, but simply +as men. Our only problem is to get the Jews treated everywhere as men." +"But aside from that," we go on to ask, "isn't there a something that +binds together certain groups of people that have had a common history, +a common religion or any such thing in common?" "Yes," he replies, +"but that something is the common intellect. The accident of birth does +not make us friends; though I must help the Jew in far-off Russia, yet I +am more closely identified with my Anglo-Saxon classmate. For me to co-operate +with the Jew simply because he is a Jew is as logical as for me to co-operate +with a man simply because he has the same shade of brown hair +that I have." Words that command our thought—but yet it seems to us +the speaker feels better than he knows. Why then did his heart quicken +when one Friday night we passed the window of that Galician Jew, the +erstwhile butt of many a jest between us, our college second-hand clothes +man, and saw the flicker of his Sabbath candles? No flicker within the +home of a brown-haired man would move him so. And even while he is +speaking to us, though the length of our acquaintanceship is short, we +detect an unwonted relaxation in his manner, a confidence that has found +understanding and seeks to lay itself bare. Is it not because both of us +are Jews?</div> + +<p>Be that as it may, the words of this type are sincere. If he forgets +his ancestry it is because he thinks of posterity. By blending his thoughts +and aspirations with those of free and generous America, he will bequeath +to his children a happier heritage than was left him by his forefathers. +As for ideals, why call them Jewish rather than American; what though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> +they originated in Judea, cannot they be distributed from America? His +Zion therefore will be in Washington. The Jewish soul and the American +soul will become as one. He does not deny the soul, then—the raiment +has not been put above the body, the flesh above the spirit; and the adaptation +of this type to the American environment can therefore make for +strength, for a better humanity.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Third Type: "More, Not Less, of a Jew"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>HAT room have we now for a third type? But there does appear +one among his brethren, an extremist, who is not to be satisfied +with the promised strength of his fellows of this last type. There may +be strength among them, he thinks, but strength not enough. Greater +strength is there in becoming not a non-Jew, nor less of a Jew, but simply +more of a Jew. Judaism to him is not a mere peculiar thing, but a peculiar +great thing, and only by keeping it peculiar can he enhance its greatness. +The Jewish genius cannot blend with that of America without loss to its +individuality; however much it may borrow from America in outer accoutrement, +in "wholesome ruddiness," "fair play," "polite address," and so +forth—(and it should borrow what it can to improve its appearance), yet +the accoutrement must remain but raiment,—and the body is more than +raiment. Apparently he is a very narrow-minded person—and he is; +yet he believes with Ahad Ha-'Am that "greatness is not a matter of +breadth only, but of depth."</div> + +<p>We have found this extremist in the dark-eyed dreamer who came +to us but recently from a Russian university, but also in the glad-eyed +youth who wears his Americanism most gracefully, it being handed down +to him for several generations. Judaism in this case, at any rate, to use +a homely expression, does not vary with the length of the nose. This +type is small in numbers, but the Jews have never made much of numbers, +and even as we observe him we are minded of the words of Joel, "—and in +the remnant shall be deliverance." Does he shun the American garment +then? No, on the contrary, he evermore seeks it and strives to make it +attire him more gracefully. He loves the American tradition; he has much +to gather from its sunniness—his fathers had been kept in the dark so +long. But, at the breaking of day, when the angel who wrestled with +him through the night would let him go, he will say, as did Jacob of old, +"I will not let thee go, except thou bless me"; America must bless him +so that in the light of modern day his people may once again be called "no +more Jacob but Israel."</p> + +<p>"Many and great are the gifts of the gentile world," he tells us, "but +that peculiar greatness within the character of the Jews as a people, it +has not. Some have called it religion, some morality; perhaps it is the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +devotion they have evolved to the unity of things, the <ins title="Transliteration: Yahweh Ahd or Adonai echad">אחד חוחי</ins>; perhaps it +is only a certain sadness of suffering, a certain depth of sympathy they +have evolved for all suffering and sorrow, but at any rate it is a racial +momentum which our ancestors for four thousand years have been forging +and refining in the hottest fires;" and whether it be conceit or inspiration, +he adds, "and think not that we, to-day, in the comfortable lassitude of +American life, can destroy it." The spirit is greater than the man; the Jew +may be lost or be assimilated, but the Jewish race, not yet.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>A Spiritual Vision and Aspiration</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>"B</big>UT consider," we say very plainly to him, "the great bulk of the +Jews who seem to have lost that old spirit of religion; they pray +in a language they scarce understand as though 'they shall be heard for +their much speaking'; when you want the Hebrew Bible, moreover, it +seems you must go to the gentiles, and have not these added thereto the +sublime teachings of Christ?"</div> + +<p>"Yes," replies our Jewish friend, with more of grief than of censure +in his voice, "and to-day the Christian world is awarding the Iron Cross +for excellence in killing. And our people it has made to loathe the name +of Christ, because it was his image that was in the hand of the priest who +led the mob to massacre at the Inquisition and at Kishineff; though all +the time it was that very persecuted people that was itself living the principles +and the martyrdom of its greatest prophet." And he continues, +and tells us brusquely how he went once to church with a Methodist young +lady and how when he was rapt in the music of a Psalm that was being +sung, she whispered giddily to him: "Don't that remind you somewhat +of the one-step music?" "No," he tells us he replied, "it reminds me +that I am the only Christian in this audience."</p> + +<p>And we understand in his reply he was not thinking of himself alone +(for extremist though he was, he must have known there was many another +devout listener in that audience) but rather of his race, of those very +Jews of the bended backs, "wily, unkempt," who were elsewhere chanting +that same Psalm in a language, 'tis true, they scarce understood, yet with +a spiritual zeal and forgetfulness of the "treasures upon earth" which +was the very soul of the teachings of Christ. Could his Methodist friend, +could even he, with all his university training and American ruddiness, but +have the noble spirit of his unlettered grandmother he remembered weeping +so bitterly in the old synagogue on Yom Kippur, as though weeping +for the sins of all humanity,—Rachel weeping for her children. No, it +was not the religion put on and off with the phylacteries that distinguished +his fathers; it was never the raiment, but the body. Even in the darkness +of the Middle Ages it was the <i>Malkuth Shaddai</i>, the kingdom of righteousness, +that the old Jew prayed for on his sacred days.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span></p> + +<p>Narrow-minded, indeed, is this last type of Jew; but yet when rays +are concentrated to a narrow radius, the outlook through the lens may be +wide and far-reaching. We understand that he, too, thinks of posterity +as does his cousin, but only as mistress within its own household does he +believe the Jewish race can bequeath great strength to its posterity and +the posterity of the world,—not as intruder into the home of others, nor +even as their welcome guest. The Bible was the work of a narrow, provincial +Israel; the Talmud their work when scattered among the nations.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>"To Make Strong the Spirit of the Prophets"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>"W</big>E have made too much," concludes our young friend, "of the cosmopolitan +likenesses among nations and men; we must promote +their differences, and respect for those differences. That is in the path +of peace; it is war, as you know, that levels distinctions. The harmony +of an autumn sunset is in its many colors. Our own little handful of +people does not wish to make itself great in possessions or strong in arms. +We have ever been the meekest among men; while many a Christian nation +was taking an eye for an eve, it is we that were turning the other cheek. +Yes, we think we have outgrown that boyish fascination for brutal brawn +a little more than they. Today, Israel wishes but to express its pent-up +soul, to make strong the spirit of its prophets and teachers, its Moses, its +Isaiah, its Hillel, so that it may be 'for a light to the Gentiles, (and bear) +salvation unto the end of the earth.'"</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_mescoll.png" width="150" height="36" alt="Signature: Morris J. Escoll" title="Signature: Morris J. Escoll" /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span></p> + +<h2>The Romance of Rabbi Akiba</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By George J. Horowitz</span></h3> + + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 124px;"> +<img src="images/4ghorowitz.jpg" width="124" height="200" alt="GEORGE JACOB HOROWITZ" title="GEORGE JACOB HOROWITZ" /> +<i><big>G</big>EORGE JACOB HOROWITZ (born in New York, +1894), educated in the Public +Schools of New York, College +of the City of New York (A. B. +1915), Talmud Torah, and +Teachers' Institute of Jewish +Theological Seminary; President +(1915) of Menorah Society +of City College of New +York; now a graduate student +in Romance Languages at +Columbia.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>KIBA ben Joseph, deservedly called the father +of Rabbinical Judaism, was one of the most +original and the most talented of all the +great galaxy of ancient Rabbis. In him was typified +the great ideal of a Jewish Rabbi—a man of +heart, of hand, and of head. But Akiba is still +more remarkable for the charm and romance of his +life. He is indeed the one Rabbi with a great romance. +The story of his life, stripped of all exaggeration +or literary artifice, reads more like a tale +of "knight and lady" than like the simple facts of +a scholar's life. His great love, his sudden rise from +the humblest obscurity, his brilliant intellectual and +spiritual achievements, and his glorious death, make +up the successive scenes of one of the most inspiring +chapters in Jewish history.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>His Youth and Romantic Marriage</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>KIBA was born about the year 50, at a time +when the Roman Empire at its height was +about to turn all its mighty forces against his people, +the little state of Judea; and he died a martyr +to his faith, in about the year 132, on the eve of the last great rebellion +against Roman domination. His origin and early years are shrouded in +darkness. We know that he was an unlettered shepherd in his youth and +mistrustful of Rabbis and their learning. His master, Kalba Sabua—so +the story goes—was one of the richest men in Jerusalem, one of the three +wealthy philanthropists who offered to prevent the famine occasioned by +the last great siege of Jerusalem.</div> + +<p>While in the service of Kalba Sabua, young Akiba made the acquaintance +of his daughter Rachel. They were immediately drawn to one another, +he attracted by her great beauty, and she by his innate refinement and +superiority. A deep attachment soon sprang up between them. Akiba was +still an illiterate man, however, and Rachel made him promise that if she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +were betrothed unto him he would go to the Beth Hamidrash to study. In +those days this was equivalent to acquiring education and culture. To +this Akiba assented and there followed a secret marriage. When her father +learned of what she had done, he became furious. He disinherited her, and +cast her off, leaving her without a roof over her head and absolutely penniless, +and he swore that as long as Akiba remained her husband she would +receive no help from her father. Then set in a period of bitter poverty +for the young pair. Akiba's heart was rent with pain to see his young +wife, who had been accustomed from earliest youth to a home of luxury, +pass her days in a miserable hovel, with the barest necessities and sometimes +even lacking bread to eat. In winter they slept on a pallet and Akiba +would pick the straws out of her wonderfully long and beautiful hair. She +was beautiful even in her rags and tatters, and once Akiba was moved to +exclaim: "Oh, that I had a fitting ornament for thee: a golden image of +Jerusalem the Holy City!" Both indeed were nearest his heart. Once a +man came to the door of their hut and asked for some straw, saying that +his wife was confined to child-bed and he had no couch for her. "Ah, see," +said Akiba to his wife, "there are those even poorer than we. This man has +not even straw to lie on." This seeming poor man, the Rabbis say, was +none other than Elijah, who had come to comfort them in their misery.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Struggles and Sacrifices for an Education</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE incident did indeed give them new heart, for until then Akiba could +not summon enough resolution to go off and study while his wife +remained behind in such abject circumstances. Nor could she insist. But +now her old strength came back to her, and she reminded Akiba of his +promise: "Go thou, and study in the Beth-Hamidrash." She must have +felt undoubtedly that there were great possibilities in him, and in truth +she was not mistaken. Akiba, however, in his modesty, had no confidence +that he could master the intricate subtleties of Rabbinic law. How could +he, who had now reached forty years of age without once attending even +an elementary school, hope to make any progress at all so late in life? One +day, musing thus, as he stood by the village well, his interest was suddenly +roused by observing that one of the stones had a deep hollow, caused probably +by the drippings of the buckets. "Who hollowed out this stone?" he +asked; and he was answered: "Canst thou not read Scripture, Akiba? +'The waters wear the stones,'—the water, that falls on it continually day +after day, has hollowed out the stone." Immediately Akiba argued <i>a +fortiori</i> (Kal Vahomer) with respect to himself. "If what is soft can cut +what is hard, then the words of the Torah, which are as hard as iron, will +surely impress themselves upon my heart, which is only flesh and blood." +So Akiba repaired forthwith to a <i>Melammed Tinokoth</i>, a teacher of children,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> +and, seated beside his own little son, he began learning his letters. +Akiba held one end of the A. B. C. board and his son the other.</div> + +<p>The elements once mastered, the next step was the Rabbinical academy. +Bitter poverty, however, would not permit Akiba to leave home, and he +would probably have remained in his little village for the rest of his life, +an obscure and unknown man, if it were not for his wife. It was her noble +self-sacrifice that enabled him to become the greatest Rabbi of his time and +perhaps of all time. Unknown to him, she stole out into the market-place +and sold all that beautiful hair of hers, so that he might continue his +studies. Indeed no sacrifice, no self-abnegation, was too great for her. +She sent Akiba away and for twelve long years dwelt alone in sorrow and in +want, a "living widow," and at the end of that period she crowned it with +a renewal of the same great sacrifice. As Akiba was crossing the threshold, +home again after twelve years of study, he overheard Rachel talking with a +neighbor. "It served thee right," said the neighbor, "for marrying a man +so far beneath thee. Now he has gone off and forsaken thee." "If he +hearkened to me," was Rachel's reply, "he would stay away another +twelve years." At these words Akiba exclaimed: "Since she gives me +permission, I will go back to my studies,"—and he went and stayed away +another twelve years. Such was the noble renunciation of Rachel, wife of +Rabbi Akiba, for his sake and for the sake of the Torah.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Akiba's Rise to Recognition and Fame</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>KIBA studied assiduously at the schools of R. Nahum of Geniso and +of R. Eliezer and R. Joshua, both renowned teachers, who in their +youth had been favorite pupils of Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai. It is +illuminating to consider Akiba's general method of study. He had the +habit, the Talmud tells us, of going alone to meditate over every Halakah +(law) that he learned. After this bit of hard thinking, as we would call it, +he usually came back with some very difficult questions. Only when these +questions were answered did he feel satisfied that he knew the Halakah. +That this thorough method of study bore fruitful results Akiba's subsequent +achievements showed. At first, however, his genius was not evident +and R. Eliezer paid no attention to him. But one day Akiba gave him his +first answer and R. Eliezer was astounded at its profundity. Said R. +Joshua then to R. Eliezer, in a slightly modified Scriptural phrase, "Is not +this he whom thou hast despised? Go thou now and contend with him." +From that time on Akiba was acknowledged a master of Rabbinic law.</div> + +<p>All that confused mass of traditional rules, precepts, laws, discussions +and opinions which composed the Oral Law, and which it usually took a lifetime +to master, Akiba made his own within the space of a few years, and at +an age when the mind is no longer fresh and impressionable. Akiba's genius<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> +showed itself even more brilliantly in his subsequent labors in the same field, +which were marked by three great achievements. These were his arrangement +of the Oral Law into a systematic code, the Mishnah (substantially +as later edited by R. Judah Ha-Nasi), his establishment of a logical foundation +for each Halakah, and his discovery and formulation of new and +original methods of hermeneutics and exegesis. To appreciate the magnitude +of these achievements, we must remember that up to and for some +time after Akiba's day, instruction in the rabbinical academies was oral. +Each teacher taught, as well as he could recall, exactly what he had heard +from the lips of his master, and his pupils in their turn did likewise. Every +great Rabbi therefore had his own set of Halakic traditions, his own +Mishnah.</p> + +<p>The results of this system or rather lack of system were mainly two: +the reasons for many of the Halakoth were forgotten, and of the laws that +were taught an immense number were uncoordinated, confused and often +contradictory. The greatest fault, however, of these early Mishnayoth +(Mishnayoth Rishonoth) was their general lack of arrangement. The +Halakoth were usually strung together without connection and without +any logical grouping. It was Akiba who first organized them into an +orderly system. He put all the Halakoth dealing with one particular subject +in one group, and then he divided the groups into the six general +divisions that our Mishnah has today. Besides this he introduced number +mneumonics wherever possible, in order to facilitate memorization. The +second work that we owe to Akiba's influence is the Tosephta or Supplement +to the Mishnah, as later edited by his pupil R. Nehemiah. Akiba's purpose +in this Supplement was to give explanatory matter on the Halakoth +of the Mishnah in the form of citations of cases, discussions, and opinions. +Here there was more room for originality than in the first work, for when +the reason for any law had been forgotten Akiba discovered it again.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>"The Third Founder of Judaism after Moses and Ezra"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE achievement, however, in which Akiba's mind revealed itself in all +its brilliant originality, and which more than anything else delighted +and astonished his colleagues, was his new system of Biblical, or rather +Pentateuchal, interpretation, his Midrash ha-Torah. The importance of +these new methods cannot be overestimated. The Oral Law is nothing more +than the Jewish interpretation of the Torah, and consequently new methods +of Pentateuchal exegesis meant the further growth and development of the +Oral Law. Akiba thus gave Judaism the capacity for vigorous further development. +He was indeed a firm believer in the principle that the Oral +Law, even as life itself, is always in process of evolution—"immer in Werden," +as the Germans put it—but never completed. His main exegetical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> +principle is quite simple. The language of the Torah is not like the language +of an ordinary book. In the Torah every syllable, every letter is +fraught with meaning. It is all essence. Hence every detail in the Torah +must be interpreted. There is absolutely nothing superfluous. It was +these exegetical methods that excited the unbounded admiration of his fellow-rabbis. +They said of him that things that were not even revealed to +Moses were revealed unto Akiba. By his preservation of the old Halakoth +in the Mishnah and by his stimulation of newer developments with his +exegesis, Akiba laid the foundations of Talmudic and Rabbinic learning, +and truly earned for himself the title of third founder of Judaism after +Moses and Ezra.</div> + +<p>Akiba's method of teaching also was extraordinary. The order and +system that he had brought into the Rabbinic curriculum coupled with +his novel methods of exegesis rendered his lectures clear, simple and most +interesting. Multitudes flocked to hear him. With hardly an exception +all the prominent Rabbis of the following generation attended Akiba's +academy. Notable amongst them was R. Meir, who handed down Akiba's +Mishnah to R. Judah Ha-Nasi and through him to posterity.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Happiness and Affluence</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>OWARDS the end of the twenty-four years thus devoted to study, +Akiba turned his steps homewards, accompanied by a large band of +disciples, which tradition numbers in the thousands. At the rumor that a +great Rabbi was coming, Rachel's heart was all aflutter with hope and expectation. +Perhaps it was he at last! The whole village went out to +meet him, she with the rest. When she saw that it was indeed he, she fell +on her knees before him sobbing and began kissing his feet. The pupils +surrounding Akiba wanted to push her aside, but he said, "Let her be. +What knowledge I possess and what knowledge you possess belongs to her." +When Kalba Sabua heard that a great Rabbi had come to town, not dreaming +that it was his son-in-law, he made up his mind to go to him and have +his vow absolved, for at the sight of his daughter's misery his heart had +softened, and but for his vow he would long since have taken her back. He +came to the Rabbi and the Rabbi said to him, "If thou hadst known that +her husband would one day be a great scholar, wouldst thou have vowed?" +"If he knew even one chapter or even one Halakah, I would not have +vowed," was the reply. "I am he," said Akiba simply. At these words +Kalba Sabua stared in amazement, and then fell at his feet and begged +pardon for all his past unkindness towards both Akiba and Rachel. To +make more substantial amends he gave them half his fortune and they lived +in comfort ever after. The affluence in which Akiba henceforth lived, contrasted +with the poverty of his student days when he used to cut wood for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> +a living, is thus quaintly described in the Talmud: "When he was a student +Akiba used to fetch a bundle of wood every day. Half he sold for food and +half for clothing. But before Akiba departed from this world, he had +tables of silver and of gold, and he climbed into his bed on golden ladders." +His wife too had the satisfaction of receiving from him and wearing the +"Golden Jerusalem," that Akiba had wished he could give her in the days +of their poverty. Indeed the magnificence of Rachel's jewels called forth +a protest on the part of the students of Akiba's academy. "Thou hast put +us to shame before our wives," they said, "for our wives do not possess +any such precious ornaments." "Ah, yes," said Akiba, "but she has +suffered much with me in the Torah."</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Akiba's Virile Ethics and Philosophy</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>KIBA'S philosophical speculations were no less famous than his +Halakic activities. Just about this time all sorts of hybrid religions +made up of decadent Greek philosophy and of dying Pagan creeds +were in vogue—the various forms of Gnosticism. Christianity—Jewish +Gnosticism, that is—was only one of the many perversions that Judaism +had to combat. These religions exercised a particular fascination because +they dealt largely in esoteric doctrines and in theosophic speculation. +There was great danger that Jewish minds might be led astray, as in fact +some were. Of the four great Rabbis, who the Talmud says entered upon +theosophic studies, only Akiba came through safely. Upon ben Azzai and +ben Zoma, both brilliant young students, and upon Aher (Elisha ben +Abuya) it had disastrous effects. Ben Azzai died young. Ben Zoma went +mad and Elisha ben Abuyah repudiated Judaism. Wherefore the Rabbis +never mentioned his name but always spoke of him as "<i>Aher</i>" ("the +Other").</div> + +<p>Akiba's philosophy and ethics are revealed in the following sayings:</p> + +<p>"Labor is honorable to man."</p> + +<p>"They err who say I will sin now and repent after. The day of atonement +brings no forgiveness to the insincere." This saying is strikingly +similar to Dante's famous line in the Inferno: "No one can repent and +will at once."</p> + +<p>The eternal problem why the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper +is answered by Akiba in this way. The righteous are punished in this world +for their few sins, so that in the next world they may receive only reward. +The wicked on the other hand are rewarded here for what little good they +do, so that in the next world they may receive only punishment.</p> + +<p>"Beloved are Israel, for they are called children of the All-present, +as it is said, 'Ye are children unto the Lord your God.' Beloved are Israel +for unto them was given the desirable instrument by which the world was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> +created, as it is written 'For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my +Torah.'" Israel is therefore the Chosen People. Nay more. In another +place Akiba says, "Even the poorest of Israel are looked upon as nobles," +and even R. Ishmael agreed with him that "Every Jew is a royal prince." +Our motto to-day of "noblesse oblige" is the same thought in a strange +tongue. "By which the world was created" means that Akiba identified +the Torah with "Wisdom," which is described in Proverbs, in that famous +chapter beginning "Doth not wisdom cry and understanding put forth +her voice?" as having been "set up from everlasting, from the beginning +before the earth was." Adapting the opening verse of John, Akiba could +very well have said, "In the beginning was the Torah and the Torah was +with God," but he certainly would not have said, "and the Torah was God."</p> + +<p>"Everything is foreseen," Akiba goes on to say, "yet freedom of +choice is given; and the world is judged by grace, yet all is according to +the amount of work." His doctrine of "grace" and "works" was that +"grace" is acquired through works, or in non-theological language, God's +favor goes to the man of good deeds. This was in opposition to the +Christian teaching that "grace" came through faith alone. God's justice +is tempered with mercy; yet even divine mercy is dealt out fairly, says +Akiba. He had such a strong sense of right that he even condemned the +action of the Israelites in despoiling the Egyptians. "It is equally wrong +to deceive a heathen as to deceive an Israelite," he said. Akiba agreed with +Hillel that the chief commandment of the Torah is, "Thou shalt love thy +neighbor as thyself" (Lev. XIX, 18), which again is nothing more than +an application of the principle of justice in our dealings with our fellow-men.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>A Man of the People</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>N spite of his great fame Akiba was the most modest of men. While still +a student at Jamnia Akiba was noted for his humility. R. Jochanan +ben Nuri told how he had occasion several times to complain of Akiba to +the Patriarch and how each time Akiba took his reprimand meekly. Nay +more. Despite these reproofs Akiba was all the more affectionate towards +R. Jochanan, so that the latter was moved to exclaim in admiration, "Reprove +a wise man and he will love thee!" (Prov. IX, 8.) Another notable +example of Akiba's modesty is his speech at the funeral of his son, which +was attended by a great gathering of men, women, and children from all +parts of Palestine. "Brethren of Israel," said Akiba, "listen to me. Not +because I am a learned man have ye appeared here so numerously. There +are those here more learned than I. Nor because I am a rich man. There +are those here far richer than I. The people of the South know Akiba; but +whence should the people of Galilee know him? The men know him; but +whence should the women and children that I see here know him? But I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> +know full well that ye have not given yourselves the trouble to come but +for the sake of fulfilling a religious precept and to do honor to the Torah, +and your reward will indeed be great." Practising it as he did, Akiba +did not fail likewise to preach modesty. "He who esteems himself highly +on account of his knowledge," said he, "is like a corpse lying at the wayside; +the traveler turns his head away in disgust and walks quickly by." +Again, in words almost identical with Luke (XIV, 8-11), Akiba says: +"Take thou a seat a few places below thy rank until thou art bidden to +take a higher place, for it is better that they should say to thee: 'Come +up higher' than that they should bid thee 'Go down lower.'"</div> + +<p>Akiba was likewise famous for his kindness and charity. He was a +man of the people. His heart was full of charity and affection for the +multitude. His interest in their welfare was so deep and genuine that he +ultimately came to be called the "Hand of the Poor." As overseer of the +poor, Akiba made many long and arduous journeys to collect funds for +their relief. It was his opinion that the funds of charity ought not to be +invested, in order that ready money might always be at hand, should a poor +man present himself. Once Akiba received some money from R. Tarphon, +for the purpose of buying some land. But instead Akiba distributed the +money to the poor. When Tarphon asked him where the property was, +Akiba showed him the verse in Psalms, "He hath scattered, he hath given +to the poor; his righteousness endureth forever; his horn shall be exalted +with honor." Thereupon Tarphon kissed Akiba on the forehead and exclaimed, +"My master and my guide!"</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>His Fervent Patriotism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>F</big>OR us to-day, however, the most striking thing about Akiba is his +nationalism. Other Rabbis were men of great intellect, other Rabbis +were learned, modest, and benevolent, other Rabbis lived, worked and died +for Judaism, but no other Rabbi was conspicuously and so zealously a +nationalist. Akiba loved "Eretz Yisrael" passionately, not only with the +visionary fervor of the pious Jew, but with the practical idealism of a +patriot. In all his extended journeys for the collection of alms, he took +care to spread and keep alive in the breast of his fellow-Jews the desire +for the rebuilding of Zion as a practical and immediate reality.</div> + +<p>It was Akiba's spirit that inspired and animated the last great rebellion +against Rome. This "final polemos," as the Talmud calls it, was preparing +for a number of years. Akiba openly acknowledged Bar Kochba, +who was to be the leader of the revolt, as the promised Messiah, as "the +star that would come out of Jacob." All the great influence, therefore, +of Akiba's moral support was behind Bar Kochba's military preparations. +The Jews had indeed much to complain of. Hadrian had broken faith with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> +them; he had failed to rebuild their Temple as he had promised, and now +(about the year 130), to make matters worse, he was beginning a systematic +persecution of their religion. He forbade circumcision, the study of the +Torah, the keeping of the Sabbath, the ordination of disciples, in short +everything that went to express the Jewish religion. The Jews determined +upon war. But even before the outbreak of hostilities their greatest loss +occurred. Akiba and several other great Rabbis were captured by the +Romans, imprisoned, condemned to death, and executed. Their crime was +simply that they had continued teaching the Torah in spite of the Imperial +decree.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>"Even Unto Death"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HIS was the manner of Akiba's death. When he heard that the renowned +R. Ishmael and a certain Simon were captured, he was +stirred all the more to persevere in his teaching. "Prepare ye for death, +for terrible days are awaiting us," said Akiba to his pupils. A certain +Pappos ben Judah met Akiba assembling the people and teaching the +Torah in public. "Dost thou not fear the Government?" said Pappos. +"Thou art considered a wise man, Pappos," answered Akiba, "but verily +thou art but a fool. I shall give thee a parable to the matter. Once a fox +was walking along the edge of a stream. He saw the fishes in commotion, +hurrying hither and thither. 'Before what do ye flee?' said he to them. +'We are fleeing before the nets of the fishermen that are cast out to catch +us.' 'Would ye be willing to come up on dry land and live with me, even +as your fathers and my fathers were wont to live?' 'Art thou he who is +called the most discerning among beasts? Verily thou art but a fool. If +even in the element that means life to us, we are fearful of death, how much +more so in the element that means our death.' Even so are we. If +even in the time that we are occupied with the Torah, of which it is said, +'For it is thy life and the length of thy days,' we are fearful of death, how +much more so if even for a moment we cease its study." Not many days +later Akiba was captured and thrown into prison. Pappos ben Judah also +found himself imprisoned with Akiba. "How camest thou here?" asked +Akiba. "Happy art thou," replied Pappos, "that thou hast been taken +prisoner for the sake of the Torah; woe is me, Pappos, that I have been +taken prisoner for vain things."</div> + +<p>When they led Akiba out to execution it was the hour of the reading +of the "Shema." Tinnius Rufus, the governor, caused his skin to be torn +off with hot irons; but Akiba was directing his heart towards accepting +the yoke of God's kingdom, that he might accept it with love. He recited +the "Shema" with a peaceful smile on his face. Rufus, astounded at his +insensibility to pain, asked him whether he was a sorcerer. "I am no +sorcerer," replied Akiba. "All the days of my life have I grieved that I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> +could not carry out the commandment, 'Thou shalt love thy God with all +thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy might,'—even unto death. But +now that I am able to fulfill it shall I not rejoice?" And with the last +syllable of the "Shema"—Hear, Oh Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is +One—Akiba expired.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_ghorowitz.png" width="150" height="37" alt="Signature: George J. Horowitz" title="Signature: George J. Horowitz" /> +</div> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> +<div class="blockquot2"><p><span class="smcap">Editors' Note.</span>—<i>This is the third in a series of +sketches of "Jewish Worthies," of which the fourth +will have "Judah the Prince" for its subject.</i></p></div> + + +<div class="bbox2"><i><big>H</big>EBREWS willingly neglectful of their own inheritance +cannot hope to be of much value as Americans. Nor +is the republic interested in suppressing this or any +other valuable legacy from the past. Our "assimilative process" +is far off from being the terrible thing which European +critics sometimes charge against us. We do reshape peoples +who come to us from the old world, but not at the cost of +the things they cherish or of the gifts they bring. Our civilization +is enriched, not impoverished, by these diverse race +traits, loyalty to which helps to make a loyalty worth having. +If the future world order is to be founded on the harmonization +of ethnic differences, there should be place enough for +such differences in our own peace-aspiring republic.</i>—<i>From +an Editorial in The Boston Herald.</i></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Aspects of Jewish Life and Letters</h2> + +<h3><i>As Revealed in Four Noteworthy Books</i></h3> + + +<h4>I</h4> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">A Sympathetic Study of Pharisaism</span><a name="FNanchor_B_2.3"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2.3" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>S a rule, Jewish readers approach the works of Christian writers upon +Jewish subjects with distrust. They are accustomed to find in them +either the misrepresentations of Anti-Semitic hatred or the misrepresentations +of conversionist love. The present book, based upon lectures delivered +at Oxford upon the Hibbert foundation, is a representative of the rare +group of studies belonging to neither class. It embodies an earnest and surprisingly +successful attempt to depict justly the religious life of the Jews in +the time of the Talmud. The writer is well prepared for his task by thirty +years' devoted study of Rabbinical literature; he is known as the author of a +careful and scholarly work on "Christianity in Talmud and Midrash."</div> + +<p>The book includes a preliminary historical sketch, a study of what the +Rabbis meant by Torah, indicating the true nature of Pharisaic legalism, chapters +on the attitude of Jesus and of Paul toward the Pharisees, and two final +chapters on the Pharisaic theology. The book is valuable as a Christian reply +to Weber, the German author of a learned, widely-used, and thoroughly unfair +presentation of Jewish theology. Mr. Herford frankly confesses that he is an +apologist of the Pharisees, but his book is in no sense an iconoclastic attack upon +the ideas received among Christians as to the character of the Pharisees. He +freely admits, as any fair-minded Jew would, the dangers of the Pharisaic system, +but he is likewise careful to point out that these dangers were by no means +destructive of true spiritual life. It is most refreshing to find a book of this +sort included in the Crown Theological Library, along with the erudite but anti-Jewish +works of Bousset and Harnack.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Truth About the Pharisees</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>M</big>R. HERFORD aims to set forth the truth about the Pharisees rather +than to present new ideas or conclusions. Nevertheless, his book +contains here and there new suggestions. His theory that the men of the +Great Synagogue were identical with the Soferim, though it has a certain +plausibility, is hardly supported by any great weight of historical evidence. It +is interesting to learn that the Synagogue represents the oldest form of congregational<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> +worship, and is the oldest human institution that has survived +without interruption. The parallel between the Hassidim and the Saints of +Cromwell's time (p. 38) is curious. Mr. Herford has the somewhat strange +notion (pp. 44-5) that there is a sign of "mutual distrust" in the weeping of +the High Priest and the representatives of the Beth Din after the former had +taken the oath to observe the regulations concerning the Day of Atonement. To +the ordinary reader of the Mishnah the tears seem a perfectly natural expression +of the emotional strain under which all the people labored on the great day.</div> + +<p>It is hard to part from Mr. Herford's admirable book without quoting a +very fine tribute which he pays to the Jewish people. In speaking of the influence +of Ezra's ideals, he says (p. 55): "The Talmud is the witness to show +how some of his countrymen, some of the bravest, some of the ablest, some of +the most pious and saintly, and a host of unnamed faithful, were true to those +ideals and clung to those hopes; and how, through good report and ill report, +through shocks of disaster and the ruin of their state, ground down by persecution, +or torn by faction, steadily facing enemies within, they held on to the +religion of the Torah."</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_dblondheim.png" width="150" height="32" alt="Signature: D.S. Blonsheim" title="Signature: D.S. Blonsheim" /> +</div> +<p><br /><br /></p> +<p> +<i>University of Illinois</i><br /> +</p> + + +<h4>II</h4> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">Judaism and Philanthropy</span><a name="FNanchor_C_3.3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3.3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>S</big>OME years ago I met a certain Russian Jew at a conference called to discuss +various problems of education. He was an immigrant who had +made his fortune through speculation in real estate, and with his rise in +fortune he had, it was evident, thrown off, one after another, the social habits, +the religious outlook, and the organization of the daily life which were the +heritage he had brought with him from Russia. He was at that time, he told +me, president of a large Jewish congregation, whose pillars of support were +men like himself. He complained bitterly of their backwardness and illiberality. +They would not introduce an organ and refused to change the prayer +book or to secure an "advanced" rabbi. For himself, he did not care whether +they had a synagogue—I mean temple—at all. He retained no longer any of +the superstitions or narrowness of his colleagues, and if it were not for the fact +that he felt himself out of place among members of the radically reformed +temple he would have attended that long ago. He was a member of it, of course. +His wife had made him join some years ago. It was a double expense, to be +sure, but his wife wanted to be active in the Women's Council, and the children +met other nice children in the Sunday School. He did not think anyhow that +synagogal affiliation made any difference.</div> + +<p>"I am," he said, "a good Jew. I give charity."</p> + +<p>The remark took me aback, yet the logical development to the point of +view that he expressed was inevitable. In an environment where the call of +ambition is generally a call toward de-Judaization, the connection between Jews<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +who prosper and the great masses of the Jewish people becomes, perforce, an +external and artificial one. It is notorious that the temple has thus far had no +appeal to and no message for the Jewish masses, that its membership is recruited +from the well-to-do and the successful, and that its relation to the great groups +which are destined never to be well-to-do or successful becomes purely a relation +of philanthropy. The elements of brotherhood, of a common consciousness +and a common purpose, fade or get submerged. Where the masses are concerned +the whole corporate essence of reformed Judaism becomes concentrated in the +word "charity."</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Justice vs. Charity in the Jewish Ideal</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>Y</big>ET it is significant that in Hebrew there is no special word for charity. +The term <ins title="Transliteration: tzedakah">צדקה</ins> (Zedakah) meant originally righteousness, and the +righteousness which the prophets advocated was the substance of social justice. +It was incorporated into the fundamental law of the Jewish state, which differed +from that of other ancient states in the fact that its intention was to +secure freedom and "life" for each individual man. Charity, as we now understand +the word, had no place in the social conceptions of the prophets and was +not acknowledged in the Law. The three codes which are preserved to us in +the Bible from the covenant in Exodus to the extraordinarily profound legislation +of Leviticus express an evolution of the social sense founded on a right +appreciation of social justice and democracy. "Life," and its sustenance food, +and shelter were regarded as the rights of each and every man and not as gifts +from one man to another. The law concerning the tenure of land is particularly +significant for its insight into the economic basis of social justice, and the +laws concerning indebtedness and slavery only less so. Charity appears only +when the state disintegrates. It is coincident with the decay of the social organization +and the consequent failings of the sense of corporate responsibility, and +consists substantially of the conversion of a right into a gift. This change is +registered in the new meaning which the word "Zedakah" receives. For a state +in which social justice prevails there is no room for charity, while a social +order which involves charity is not one which maintains justice. Thus it may +be said that the prophets, because they operated in terms of the reorganization +of the whole of society and not of the incidental correction of piecemeal evils, +were humanists. Their program was constructive and aimed at the enfranchisement +of manhood. The rabbis, on the other hand, were (relatively only) philanthropists. +Their program was remedial, and they aimed rather at the relief of +suffering than the realization and perfection of human potentialities.</div> + +<p>To-day the term "charity" has given way to a new equivalent, with a +somewhat different connotation. This new equivalent is "social service." That +it should be urged, as Mr. Lewis urges it, upon liberal Judaism is simply another +indication of the evanescing adherence of that sect to the corporate life +of the Jewish people. Although "social service" carries with it more of the +sense of justice than the term charity, it is still, in intention, a charitable thing. +It is not a thing done through the inevitable forms of right social organization, +but through the gracious good will of a kindly individual. It still maintains +the Christian quality of "grace" which is a condescension, a going down, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> +philanthropy. It stands in contrast to <i>law</i>, which knows no such qualities, and +the call which Mr. Lewis makes to liberal Judaists for a special kind of social +service is itself a demonstration that "liberal Judaism" thus far has little in +common with the substance of Jewish life. Indeed his whole book is a demonstration +of this fact, for of the six chapters that it contains only one has anything +to say of social service as such in the present day, while four are analyses, +not of charity, but of the law of righteousness as it operated in the Jewish +polity, both in Palestine and in the Diaspora. Even the actual charity of the +Middle Ages carries a quality of obligation and socially ordained necessity which +is derived from the basic law of the Jewish people.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Hope of Liberal Judaism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>UT to-day, while the great Jewish masses still live, more or less adequately +under the basic law and exercise such righteousness as they may in the +division of obligation which the laws of the Galuth lands compel, the classes +are divorced from its rule altogether. The call with which Mr. Lewis closes his +book,—</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We must teach the masses of our people, upon whom the Judaism of +yesterday has lost hold, that their salvation lies in liberal Judaism, which +is beginning to find itself to-day and which will become the Judaism of +to-morrow,"</p></div> + +<div class='unindent'>—is the best indication of this. Liberal Judaism has not touched the minds or +hearts of the masses. The radicals despise it as a capitalistic system of compromise +with the social environment. To the rest of the working classes, it makes +thus far no appeal whatever. It is only upon the radicals that the "Judaism +of yesterday" has lost its hold, and to them liberal Judaism can have no appeal. +To the rest of the Jewish people it can be significant and really developed into +the "Judaism of to-morrow" only in so far as it can succeed in reincorporating +itself into the common life. I am an old social service person, and I am prepared +to deny categorically that such a reincorporation is possible through social +service. What is needed is sympathetic intelligence, insight into the life +and aspirations of the masses, return of the classes to the masses, participation +in their ideals, their traditions, and their common life. It is not by a cutting +off from the past, but by a development out of it that such a reincorporation +can be consummated.</div> + +<p>If liberal Judaism is to be a living and growing force at all, it can become +so only by accepting the inevitable conditions which govern all life. Life is +organic; religion is only one of the many organs of human society, even Jewish +society. Its health and vitality are dependent upon the health and vitality of +the social residuum. The hope of liberal Judaism lies in a reincorporated +national life for the Jews. That alone can preserve the Jewish religion, either +from petrifying as orthodoxy through resistance against environmental pressure, +or from evaporating as reform through submission to environmental pressure.</p> + + + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_hkallen.png" width="150" height="26" alt="Signature: H. M. Kallen" title="Signature: H. M. Kallen" /> +</div><p> +<i>University of Wisconsin</i><br /> +</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p> + + +<h4>III</h4> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">The Hebrew Genius</span><a name="FNanchor_D_4.3"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4.3" class="fnanchor">[D]</a></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HIS little volume is five years old, but its review is always timely; and +for <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span> very appropriate. The English language +is extremely poor in popular, yet scholarly and well-written books +and essays on Jewish literature. A great many of those who are thoroughly +versed in Hebrew literature, who regard the study of the original Rabbinic +sources as a work of love if not a profession and a life work, have not a sufficient +command of English or of systematic exposition to be able to present the +spirit of these writings in acceptable form to the lay reader. The few scientific +scholars in our seminaries and colleges who could if they chose write authoritatively +and withal in an interesting manner concerning the course of Jewish +thought during the past two or three millenia, prefer to devote their time and +energy to the more technical aspects of the subject, which are not designed for +the uninitiated reader. And the men of journalistic calibre and inclination, +even if we had them, are not the most desirable purveyors of Jewish knowledge. +The truth of the matter is, in the words of Nietzsche, that ears are still growing +for the intelligent American Jewish people so far as Jewish literature—Hebrew +classical literature—is concerned.</div> + +<p>The cause of the paucity of works in English on Jewish literary subjects +is really economic. There is no lack of young men among the people of the +Book whose ideal of a well-spent life is one of complete devotion to a scholarly +career in the service of our ancient and medieval classics. But unfortunately +the very young men who give promise of presenting in a creditable manner our +intellectual heritage for the benefit of the majority otherwise occupied, have +no means of their own, and yet are not ready (as it should not be expected of +them that they should be) to take the vow of poverty and celibacy and form +a Jewish monastic order of St. Haninah. Accordingly not a few of these choose +the Rabbinic career as the most likely profession to enable them to keep in +touch with Jewish learning—more or less a disappointed hope to the real +scholar who has no other fitness for the modern Rabbinate except his scholarship. +Others are completely side-tracked and lost to Jewish scholarship.</p> + +<p>Thus the lack of interest in Jewish learning and scholarship keeps promising +young men away from these unpromising studies. The result is that the +field in English remains uncultivated, which reacts again unfavorably in a +diminution of interest, and the vicious circle is complete.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Need of Encouragement to Jewish Learning</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> HAVE used my text in good old fashion as a pretext for a little sermon to +the intelligent lay reader of <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span> who may be an influential +member of the American Jewish community, pointing out that we are +sorely in need of a great many such books as the present one, treating various +"aspects of the Hebrew Genius"; and they are sure to come just as soon as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> +there is a real demand for them. The Jewish students in our colleges and +universities whose number is rapidly increasing have in their midst a great +many talented young men who only need encouragement to devote their best +energies to Jewish learning. These will serve as a leaven to raise the entire +Jewish community of America to a more intelligent Jewish level. What we +need is liberal endowments for Jewish chairs in our universities and for the +promotion of Jewish education generally.</div> + +<p>And now to proceed to my proper topic: <i>Aspects of Hebrew Genius</i> is +a very creditable volume consisting of eight well-written essays on several topics +of Jewish history and thought. Norman Bentwich contributes an article in +which he gives an interesting sketch of the Jewish Alexandrian period of the +first two centuries B. C., whose thought activities culminated in the works of +Philo, the first man in history who attempted an amalgamation of Hebraism and +Hellenism. It was not a success so far as Judaism is concerned, as is evidenced +by the fact that he was neglected and forgotten by his Jewish successors. He +was made use of, however, by the early Christian writers in the formulation of +the Trinitarian dogma, and by early Christian apologists and theologians in +presenting the doctrines of the new religion in a form likely to appeal to the +Græco-Roman world, which trained as it was in philosophical thought would +have been repelled by the simple narratives of Scripture and the Gospels.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Representative Men and Tendencies in Jewish Thought</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE next essay by M. Simon deals with the second and more successful +attempt to enrich Jewish literature by infusing into it the spirit of +rationalistic inquiry originally derived from Greece. This time, in the ninth +and tenth centuries, the scene is placed in Babylonia. The place of the Greeks +is now taken by their medieval successors, the Mohammedan Arabs, upon whom +fell a part of the Hellenic mantle, that represented by Greek science and +philosophy. The æsthetic and literary aspects of the Greek genius were left +severely alone by the Arabs. The man about whom this sketch centers is the +famous Gaon of Sura, Saadiah. And Mr. Simon lays great stress upon his +achievements in Biblical exegesis. As the Septuagint was the first Jewish +translation of the Bible, so Saadiah's Arabic translation was the second, and it +was enriched by introductions and a commentary in which Saadiah leads his +co-religionists, the Rabbanite Jews, from the Talmud back to an appreciation +of the Bible.</div> + +<p>The period of systematic and rationalistic effort culminated in the legal +and philosophical works of Maimonides, the greatest Jew of the middle ages. +The Rev. H. S. Lewis gives a readable and sympathetic sketch of this pre-eminent +Jewish systematizer and rationalist. He defends him against the strictures +of Luzzatto and Graetz and points out the great influence his thinking had +on Judaism and Jews of his own and subsequent ages, and even on the Christian +scholastics.</p> + +<p>The following four essays are devoted not to representative men but to +brief and interesting sketches of tendencies in Jewish thought and departments +of Jewish literature. The Rabbinic legalistic lore of the Mishnah and Talmud, +which finds no general treatment in the volume, is partly represented by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> +article of Dr. S. Daiches, who gives a popular account of the post-Talmudic +attempts to codify the immense legal material scattered in Mishnah and Talmud +and in later additions. Maimonides' code naturally occupies an important place +in this sketch, and a novel feature is the important place assigned to Jacob ben +Asher (1280-1340), the author of the <i>Turim</i>, who superseded Maimonides and +is popularized by Joseph Caro in his <i>Shulchan Aruch</i>.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Jewish Rationalism and Mysticism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE title of the next paper, written by the competent hand of Dr. A. Wolf, +versed in philosophy as well as in Jewish literature, sounds novel; and +as the author says, is the first effort of the kind so far made. It is well known +that the philosophic movement in medieval Jewry is characterized with few exceptions +by the more or less faithful adaptation of Aristotelian thought as represented +in the Arabic translations of his works and in the compendia and expositions +made by such ardent disciples of the Stagirite as Al Farabi, Avicenna, +and Averroes. Dr. Wolf undertakes briefly and readably to indicate how much +the Jewish medieval philosophers owed to the Greek sage and what their attitude +to him was, and interestingly summarizes the Aristotelian point of view by +the one word rationalism, as distinguished from dogmatism and mysticism. He +rightly points out that while the specific doctrines borrowed from Aristotle and +read into the Bible by his ardent Jewish disciples are for the most part obsolete, +the spirit of systematic inquiry, the use of the reason in elucidating disputed +problems, "the exalted conception of the place and function of human +thought, the hallowing of intellectual effort," which was the product of this +philosophical activity, is a gain of inestimable value for all time.</div> + +<p>Rationalism and dogmatism, however, do not exhaust the aspects of Jewish +thought and literary endeavor. Parallel with the development of Mishnah and +Talmud and philosophy, there is visible, at first feebly and in the background, +and later, as circumstances favored it, more aggressively and in full view, the +mystic outlook upon life and religion in its various phases. H. Sperling in a +very interesting and sympathetic manner traces this mystic element in Jewish +literature from the Prophets of the Bible, through the "Maase Bereshit" and +"Maase Merkaba" of the Haggadah down to the Sefer Yezira and the Zohar +and its successors.</p> + +<p>There is no treatment of Jewish medieval poetry, and the volume closes +with a brief account of the more critical and historical treatment of Jewish +literature created in the nineteenth century by such men as Krochmal, Rapaport, +Luzzatto, Zunz, Geiger and others. Rev. M. H. Segal gives a brief but +illuminating account of this latest phase of Jewish writing, which is not yet +closed, and is likely to stay with us for a long while.</p> + +<p>E. M. Adler contributes an eloquent introduction by way of connecting +the necessarily independent essays and emphasizing the unity which the collection +in a great measure possesses.</p> + +<p>The volume, as we are told in the Preface, "owes its appearance to the +Union of Jewish Literary Societies" in London, and it does credit to their +earnestness and loyalty to the cause of Jewish learning. Let us hope it may +serve as an example and incentive to the revival of Jewish interests in this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> +country. It is well that all should read this useful little book and many others +of the kind which we hope will follow. But it is more important that such +reading shall inspire the student with a desire to study at first hand the original +depositories of Jewish thought. For this purpose a serious study of Hebrew is +imperative. And let us cherish the hope that we may witness a revival of, and +a wide-spread interest in, Jewish literature in this country where next to Russia +the greatest number of Jews are found and where, moreover, they enjoy life, +liberty and the pursuit of happiness.</p> + + + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_ihusik.png" width="150" height="38" alt="Signature: Isaac Husik" title="" /> +</div> +<p> +<i>University of Pennsylvania</i><br /> +</p> + +<h4>IV</h4> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">A General Survey of Jewish Life</span><a name="FNanchor_E_5.3"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5.3" class="fnanchor">[E]</a></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HROUGH his <i>Jewish Life in Modern Times</i> Israel Cohen has made a +notable contribution to the literature of Jewish life and thought. In +a single volume of scarce 350 pages of text there is presented a description +and estimate of the Jewish position in the modern world which may +well be considered among the most comprehensive and the most authoritative +now available in the English language.</div> + +<p>Taken as a whole, the volume is noteworthy because of three commendable +characteristics. It deals with Jewish life as it appears in modern times, not as +it should be in the light of the literature of the ancient Hebrews. It presents +Jewish life in all its important aspects and complexities, not on the basis of the +theory so widely prevalent that religion, of all human activities, constitutes the +sole binding force and the only distinguishing characteristic of the separate +Jewish existence. Finally, it aims to picture the life of the Jews in all corners +of the Diaspora, and not their problems and activities in a single country or +section of the globe.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Jewish Life Not Synonymous With Jewish Religion</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>N exposition of Jewish life as it is actually lived in modern times helps to +clarify a much-beclouded situation. It enables the Jew the better to +know himself; it presents to the outside world a clearer outline of a figure who +must ever, to some extent, remain "strange" and "unknowable." Moreover, the +reader's sense of proportion is adjusted by a work which does not make Jewish +life synonymous with Jewish religion. Whether there is sufficient evidence of +a biological and anthropological character to support the claim of those who +look upon the Jews as a separate race, whether the Jewish people in their dispersion +may properly be considered as a distinct national group in spite of the +absence of a government and a territory of their own, it is certainly difficult, in +all intellectual honesty, to maintain that the Jews are merely a religious community. +One of our brilliant young philosophers has strikingly said that a Jew +can change his religion, but that he cannot change his grandfather; nor, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> +might have added can he destroy his more general antecedents, that complex +of customs, traditions and ideals which have manifested themselves in the course +of thirty-five centuries of recorded history and which create within him an ineradicable +historic consciousness. Jewish solidarity is not grounded in religion +alone, and the distinctiveness of the Jewish people manifests itself in activities +other than religion.</div> + +<p>A work which like the present aims to present the Jew in every important +phase of life, which describes the social, political, economic, and intellectual +aspects of Jewish life, as well as the religious, deserves commendation because +of its mere scope and completeness. But Mr. Cohen has gone further. He has +not fallen into the error of many of the spokesmen for the cultural or historical +unity of Jewry of denying or even minimizing the potency of religion as a factor +in Jewish survival. Indeed, he everywhere recognizes that the primary or +motor force in the organization of the Jewish community, which is the +concrete expression of Jewish solidarity, is religious, springing from the +desire for public worship. But while religion is the underlying factor, it is +not the only factor. There is a sane coordination of the leading aspects of Jewish +life, a clear grasp of the relationship between them.</p> + +<p>Finally, the work is significant because it seeks to represent the Jew in all +lands, to paint Jewish life in all its diversity. Mr. Cohen, an Englishman intimately +acquainted with conditions in his own country, travelled extensively +on the continent in preparation for his task. But his knowledge of American +conditions was derived from study of American books and newspapers, and from +correspondence, instead of from personal experience. This accounts for such +minor lapses, with regard to American conditions, as the statement that the +Jews are "excluded from . . . . the principal hotels on the east coast of +the United States" and hence "take their holiday in the well-known resorts +of central and southern Europe" (p. 110). On the whole, however, the attempt +to describe Jewish life in all its diversity, as it is lived by Jews in all lands, +is crowned with marked success, and the author has ample justification for his +claim that he has brought "within the covers of a single book the fullest description +yet attempted of all the main aspects and problems of Jewish life in +the present day."</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Various Aspects of Jewish Life</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big> MORE detailed statement of the scope and plan of the work may best be +given in the author's own words. "First, a General Survey is presented, +showing the dispersion and distribution of Jewry in its countless manifestations, +its diversity of composition in political and spiritual respects, and the solidarity +that unifies its disparate elements. Then follow five main sections, in each of +which a leading aspect of life is investigated—the social, the political, the economic, +the intellectual, and the religious. Under the Social Aspect are set +forth the growth and constitution of the community, the characteristics and +customs of the home, social life and amenities, morality and philanthropy, and +racial and physical conditions. Under the Political Aspect are related how +one-half of the people acquired civil equality, how the other half is still suffering +in bondage, and what services Israel has rendered to so many countries in both +their government and their defence. Under the Economic Aspect are reviewed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> +the different spheres of commercial, industrial and professional activity in which +Jews are engaged, the contrasts of material welfare and predominance of poverty, +and the ceaseless currents of migration from the lands of bondage to the +havens of refuge. Under the Intellectual Aspect are considered the advance +made by secular education among the Jews, the nature of their national intellectual +products in modern times, and the contributions they have rendered to the +progress and culture of humanity. Under the Religious Aspect are described +their ecclesiastical organization and administration, their traditional faith and +observance and the growing divergences therefrom, and then the drift and +apostasy that are assuming ever more alarming proportions. Finally, the resultant +tendency of all the foregoing manifestations is examined under the +National Aspect, the strength of the forces of assimilation and absorption is +contrasted with the inherent force of conservation, and the realization of the +Zionist ideal is urged as the most effective means of ensuring the perpetuation +of Israel" (pp. viii-ix).</div> + +<p>The purpose of the author is thus seen to be, first, to present the facts of +Jewish life, and secondly, to offer an interpretation of them—"to depict the +variegated life of the Jewish people at the present day in all its intimacy and +intensity, and to trace the evolution that is being produced by modern forces" +(p. viii). He is more successful in the first of these objects than he is in the +second.</p> + +<p>His shortcomings in interpretation, however, are negative rather than positive; +they are due to omission rather than to commission. There is inadequate +consideration of the philosophy of Jewish life; external description has crowded +out internal analysis; the point of view is too largely objective. While, for +example, the conclusion is reached that Zionism is the only permanent and adequate +solution of the Jewish problem—with which we do not disagree—insufficient +stress is laid upon the distinctive Jewish obligation in the Diaspora; the +Jewish contributions to general culture and progress which the author enumerates +with such concreteness and detail are not distinctively Jewish contributions. +Even if Zion is the ultimate destiny of the Jew, he must, in the meantime, +justify his separate existence among the nations; if he is to remain a Jew as +well as a citizen of the world, his contribution must be that of a Jewish citizen; +in addition to the general obligation of his citizenship, he must fulfil the special +obligation of his Jewishness. But these deficiencies of interpretation, like the +inadequacies of description arising from the impossibility of treating exhaustively +so large a field within so narrow a compass, but reflect the inherent limitations +of the task set himself by our author.</p> +<div class="figright" style="width: 165px;"> +<img src="images/signature_isharfman.png" width="165" height="27" alt="Signature: I. Leo Sharfman" title="Signature: I. Leo Sharfman" /> +</div> +<p> +<i>University of Michigan.</i><br /> +</p> + + + + +<h4>JEWISH STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS</h4> + +<p><i>An Excerpt from Israel Cohen's Book, "Jewish Life in Modern Times," +pages 105-106:</i></p> + +<p>"It was not until the last quarter of the nineteenth century that the Jewish +students at any of the principal seats of learning were numerous enough to form<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> +a society of their own. The first organization was founded in 1882 in Vienna by +Jewish students from Russia, Rumania, and Galicia, who entitled their society +<i>Kadimah</i>, which means both 'Eastward' and 'Forward,' as an indication of the +ideal of a resettlement in Palestine which they advocated. Since then, partly +as a result of the advance of Zionism and partly as a result of the anti-Semitic +attitude of the general students' corps on the Continent, separate societies have +been formed by the Jewish students at almost every university at which they +number at least a dozen, and are now found in Germany, Austria-Hungary, +Russia, Switzerland, France, and Holland. Some of these societies owe their +existence simply to the exclusion of Jews from the general corporation, and +they adopt a passive attitude on Jewish questions, but the majority are animated +by the ideal of Jewish nationalism and actively foster the Zionist cause. The +Jewish nationalist societies in Germany are grouped into two organizations, the +'Bund Jüdischer Corporationen,' founded in 1901, with a membership of over +600 (graduates and undergraduates), and the smaller, 'Kartell Zionistischer +Verbindungen,' founded five years later, with a membership of 250. The Zionist +students' societies in Holland were federated in 1908, but those in other Continental +countries pursue an unattached existence. Established to assert and +promote the principle of Jewish nationalism, these corporations have nevertheless +adopted all the methods and conventions of German corporations; they each +have their distinctive colors, and they hold 'beer evenings' at which the students +sing spirited songs in swelling chorus around tables which they bang with their +beer-mugs, presided over by officers who are accoutred in a gorgeous uniform +and armed with a sword that does duty alternately as chairman's hammer and +conductor's baton. But their songs tell not of Teuton valor but of Jewish hope, +breathing the spirit of a rejuvenated people. Besides these convivial gatherings +the members cultivate the study of Jewish history, literature, and modern problems, +and also practice fencing so as to be prepared for any duel in which they +might be involved in vindication of the Jewish name. The Jewish societies at +the universities in English-speaking countries are not, like the Continental corps, +the inevitable product of an unfriendly environment, but voluntary associations +for the study of Jewish questions and for social intercourse. The Jewish +students in England, and to a less extent in the United States, join the societies +of their university; but their racial sympathies prompt them also to fraternize +with one another. Thus, Oxford has its Adler Society and Cambridge its +Schechter Society, whilst at both universities there is also a Zionist Society. +Moreover, in the United States, 'Menorah' societies for the study of Jewish +history and the discussion of Jewish questions have been formed at twenty-five +Universities and organized into an Intercollegiate 'Menorah' Association with +over 1000 members."</p> + +<div class="center">[There are now 37 Menorah Societies, with an approximate membership of 3,000.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>]</div> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2.3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2.3"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> <span class="smcap">R. Travers Herford</span>: <i>Pharisaism, Its Aim and Method</i>. London, Williams and Norgate; +New York, Putnam. $1.50. (Any of the books reviewed in this article may be ordered +through <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span>.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3.3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3.3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Harry S. Lewis</span>, M.A.: <i>Liberal Judaism and Social Service</i>. New York, Bloch Publishing +Co. (The Lewisohn Lectures.) $1.00.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4.3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4.3"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Leon Simon</span>, Editor: <i>Aspects of the Hebrew Genius</i>. Essays by Elkan Adler, Norman +Bentwich, H. S. Lewis, S. Daiches, A. Wolf, H. Sperling, M. Simon, M. H. Segal. +London, Routledge. $1.00.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5.3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5.3"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Israel Cohen</span>: <i>Jewish Life in Modern Times</i>. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. $3.00.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span></p> + +<h2>The Symbolism of the Menorah<a name="FNanchor_F_6.2"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6.2" class="fnanchor">[F]</a></h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Hyman Askowith</span></h3> + + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>FTER the severe and constantly-expanding test of nearly a decade, +the founders of the first Menorah Society may be permitted to +felicitate themselves on their choice of the name. For it was far +truer of the Menorah than it is of most organizations that the choice of +a name was of vital moment, and the founders were impressed by a number +of considerations which we can all fully appreciate even today. They +were bent upon choosing a name which would not deter any Jewish student +from enrolling under it with avidity; which would not excite opposition +from any source; which would command respect and reverence, increasing +respect and reverence, both from the University public and the general +public; which would be voluntarily adopted by similar societies in other +Universities in preference to any other that might be suggested; and finally, +a name with enough charm and euphony and significant symbolism to stand +constant repetition, to bear living with day by day, and all the while +grow in our imaginations and yield new beauteous meaning through the +years.</div> + +<p>From a descriptive standpoint, it would be difficult to find a more +appropriate name for a University society devoted to Hebraic culture +than the name Menorah. For there is hardly another available word in +the entire range of Hebraic history and learning which is so freighted with +sentiment and so symbolic of all that Israel stands for.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Most Expressive of All Hebraic Symbols</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>AKEN in a general sense, it is evident that the Menorah or seven-branched +candelabrum, being the distinctive lamp or light of the ancient +Hebrews, serves more distinctively than would the classic torch or the +conventional oil lamp to represent Hebrew enlightenment. Our aim being to +spread the light of Hebraic culture, it is clearly fitting that we should +employ the Hebraic lamp. It should be more effective, too, inasmuch as +its light is sevenfold, and our efforts are illuminated with a sevenfold +splendor.</div> + +<p>The word Menorah, it is worth noting, is among exclusively Hebrew +words the only one which would be readily understood by any considerable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +number of people aside from students or readers of Hebrew. It has +been made familiar to all by the representation of the captured Menorah +on the Arch of Titus (see <a href="#frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a>).</p> + +<p>According to the Bible, the original Menorah was of divine pattern. +It was ordained by God in his instructions to Moses for the sacred paraphernalia +of the Holy Tabernacle (<i>Exodus</i> XXV, 31 <i>et seq.</i>). The Menorah +was thus among the first instruments or tokens of the Hebrew religion, +and the only one which in any sense is in our possession today—the +only one which can be perpetuated. The divine pattern is still with us +and we are repeatedly modeling new copies from it. The Menorah is today, +therefore, the most expressive of all concrete symbols of the Hebrew +race and religion.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>A Favorite Object of Metaphor and Poetic Sentiment</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big> HALO of symbolism—almost kaleidoscopic in its manifold beauty—surrounds +the Menorah in Hebraic literature and tradition. Both the +single light or candle, and the distinctive combination of seven, are the favorite +objects of metaphor, interpretation, and poetic sentiment. In the +Bible the word "ner" (<ins title="Transliteration: ner">נר</ins>)—candle or light, embodied, of course, in +the word Menorah (<ins title="Transliteration: menorah">מנורה </ins>)—is used metaphorically in many significant +senses. God is a light—enlightening, comforting and honoring his people. +The rational understanding and conscience are lights which search, inform, +direct and judge us. A profession of faith is called a lamp, which renders +men shining and useful and instructors of others. The last two interpretations +certainly cast an appropriate reflection on our choice of +Menorah.</div> + +<p>For the number 7, as we all know, the ancient Hebrews had a singular +fondness, attributing to it a magic potency. This may have arisen +from the traditional story of the seven days of Creation, and the institution +of the Sabbath—without a doubt the most important of Hebrew institutions. +This certainly enhanced the reverence for the number 7, which +soon became the most sacred Hebrew number, bearing nearly always the +connotation of holiness and sanctity or mystic perfection. The acts of +atonement and purification were accompanied by a sevenfold sprinkling. +There were seven trumpets, seven priests that sounded them seven days +around Jericho, seven lamps, seven seals, etc. The seventh day was the +Sabbath, the seventh year was the Sabbatical (still observed to the well-earned +emolument of our professors in the Universities), and seven times +seven years brought on the Jubilee. The seventh month was the holiest +month of the year (which we appreciate now by regarding September as +an auspicious month in which to return to college studies). The number +seven soon came to be used also conventionally as an indefinite or round<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> +number, indicating abundance, completeness, perfection.<a name="FNanchor_1_7" id="FNanchor_1_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_7" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> Cicero calls +seven the knot and cement of all things, as being that by which the natural +and spiritual world are comprehended in one idea.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Manifold Symbolism of the Seven Lamps</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>E that as it may, our ancestral learned men seem to have found no end +of significant meanings in the seven lamps of the Menorah. Generally +it was held to represent the creation of the universe in seven days, the +center light symbolizing the Sabbath. Again, the seven branches are the +seven continents of the earth and the seven heavens, guided by the light +of God. According to Philo and others, the seven lights represent the +seven planets which, regarded as the eyes of God, behold everything.<a name="FNanchor_2_8" id="FNanchor_2_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_8" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> The +light in the center, which is especially distinguished, would signify the sun, +as the chief of the planets. With this was combined the mystic conception +of a celestial tree, with leaves reaching to the sky and fruit typifying +the planets.</div> + +<p>There would be little difficulty, of course, in extending this symbolistic +catalogue ad infinitum. We could easily and perhaps profitably select +Seven Wonders of Hebraic history or achievement, seven great epochs in +the development of Hebraic culture, seven great leaders of the race, etc. +We might also say that the seven lights represent the seven chief studies +which make up a liberal education—the Trivium and Quadrivium of the +Middle Ages, substantially the foundation of the university curriculum of +today<a name="FNanchor_3_9" id="FNanchor_3_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_9" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>.</p> + +<p>The words <ins title="Transliteration: y'hi or">יהי אור</ins>, "Let there be light," just above the Menorah +on our seal, are not only reminiscent of the first great word of God, pregnant +in meaning for humanity, but stand also for the purpose of this +Society—the relighting of the Menorah in order that it may shed its +ancient lustre and once again illumine the minds of men with the glory and +uplift of Hebraic ideals.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 322px;"> +<img src="images/meno-illo-tb.png" width="322" height="400" alt="REPRODUCTION (ONE-FOURTH THE SIZE OF THE ORIGINAL) OF THE MEMBERSHIP +SHINGLE OF THE HARVARD MENORAH SOCIETY, ADOPTED IN ITS FIRST YEAR (1906-07)" title="REPRODUCTION (ONE-FOURTH THE SIZE OF THE ORIGINAL) OF THE MEMBERSHIP +SHINGLE OF THE HARVARD MENORAH SOCIETY, ADOPTED IN ITS FIRST YEAR (1906-07)" /> +<span class="caption">REPRODUCTION (ONE-FOURTH THE SIZE OF THE ORIGINAL) OF THE MEMBERSHIP +SHINGLE OF THE HARVARD MENORAH SOCIETY, ADOPTED IN ITS FIRST YEAR<br /> + +(1906-07)</span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Symbolism of Palm and Olive Branch</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE seal as originally drawn for the Harvard Menorah Society (see accompanying +illustration of membership shingle) bears two or three +other symbols which deserve a word of interpretation. Below the Menorah +appears the so-called Star of David—lately revived by the Zionist movement +as the only exclusively Jewish figure or geometric symbol of any national +meaning. Entwined below the seal proper are an olive branch and a date +palm, both of which are intimately associated with the history of the race +in Palestine. They are the two most characteristic trees of the promised +land, and provided the chief staple foods of the Hebrews during their occupation +of the country. The olive, moreover, gave the oil with which the +Menorah was lit. There is also much fascinating symbolism in the olive +tree and the palm. Both are evergreens—standing for the persistency of +the Hebrew race. The date palm, we are told, has a slender and very yielding +stem, so that in a storm it sways back and forth but does not break; +and throughout its length it bears scars showing where leaves have fallen +off. Could anything be more beautifully expressive of the career of the +Jewish nation? Finally, the olive branch has always stood for peace—one +of the most cherished and distinctive Hebraic ideals; and the palm has +always stood for intellectual achievement—and who would deny the palm +to the race that gave the world its Bible and all that it stands for?</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature_haskomith.png" width="150" height="41" alt="Signature: Hyman Askowith" title="Signature: Hyman Askowith" /> +</div><p><br /><br /><br /></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6.2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6.2"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> This article is based upon a paper delivered at the Seventh Annual Banquet of the +Harvard Menorah Society last May.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_7" id="Footnote_1_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_7"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> Gen. vii, 2; xxi, 28-30; I Kings xviii, 43; Deut. xvi, 9; Ezek. xl, 22; xli, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_8" id="Footnote_2_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_8"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> Zech. iv, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_9" id="Footnote_3_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_9"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> In the form in which this paper was read before the Harvard Menorah Society, the +following paragraphs of a more local interest were added at this point: +</p><p> +"And it certainly adds to the eternal fitness of things that there should be just +seven letters in the word MENORAH, just seven letters in the word HARVARD, and +just seven letters in the word SOCIETY;—the whole name of the society thus forming +three times seven, or a majority. +</p><p> +"That there is something much more Hebraic in Harvard than the mere mechanical +coincidence of seven letters in the name, is well known to every one who is at all aware +of the part played by Hebrew ideals in the founding, organization and early history of +Harvard. The fact that Harvard took root in Hebraic culture and traditions is a welcome +and gratifying encouragement to this effort to replant the Hebraic influence on +Harvard ground."</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p> + +<h2>The Decennial of the Menorah<br /> +Movement</h2> + + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Menorah movement enters upon its decennial with the beginning +of the present academic year, the first Menorah Society having +been organized at Harvard University in 1906.<a name="FNanchor_G_10" id="FNanchor_G_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_10" class="fnanchor">[G]</a> From this Society +with an original membership of sixteen, the Menorah movement has grown +throughout the country so that at the close of the last academic year there +were Societies at thirty-seven colleges and universities with a membership +of some three thousand. Every Society has arisen upon the initiative of +the students themselves, inspired by a desire to pursue the objects embodied +in the Menorah. In January, 1913, the Intercollegiate Menorah Association +was formed for the purpose of mutual encouragement and co-operation +among the several Societies, and also to carry out enterprises beyond the +scope and power of any individual Society—such as the publication of +<span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span>.</div> + +<p>On the threshold of the decennial, and especially since the present +number of the <span class="smcap">Journal</span> will come into the hands of many new students and +readers, it may not be amiss again, in brief terms, to review the purposes +of the movement.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Three-Fold Purpose of the Menorah Organization</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Menorah Societies have been organized by the students in +response to their desire first of all to know more about the history, +literature, religion—in a word, the culture and ideals of the Jewish people, +and the conditions and problems which confront the Jews in the world +today. Being thus educational in primary purpose, every Menorah +Society is open to all the members of its university who have an interest in +Jewish life and thought. And inasmuch as the great majority, if not all, +of the students who have such an interest in Jewish knowledge and Jewish +aspirations are themselves Jews, the Menorah organization cherishes the +second purpose of strengthening the Jewish idealism and <i>noblesse oblige</i> +of the Jewish students, so that by understanding and carrying forward +their Jewish inheritance they may become better men and women by becoming +better Jews. And from this moral aim there flows still a third purpose,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> +that of patriotic service to the Republic; for by enriching the common +treasury of American culture and ideals with the spiritual resources of +the Jewish people, the educated Jews of the country may serve America +to the profoundest degree. Animated thus with the spirit and broad purposes +of our universities, the Menorah Societies have been warmly welcomed +and generously assisted by the university authorities.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Distinction Between Menorah and Other Student Societies</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE purposes of the Menorah movement will appear in greater relief +by comparison with the objects of other types of Jewish +organization—social, political, religious—that have arisen at our colleges and +universities. The Menorah Societies are all-inclusive, non-partisan, non-sectarian. +Hence they are to be distinguished in the first place from the +exclusive social organizations, such as the Greek letter or Hebrew letter +fraternities. Being rather educational in spirit and purpose, the Menorah +Societies make no social test for membership, nor do they pursue any +convivial activities except such as are deemed desirable for the most agreeable +and efficient pursuit of the Menorah objects. Again, the Menorah +Societies are clearly distinguishable from the Zionist Societies, which were +united last June in the Intercollegiate Zionist Association of America; +whereas the Zionist Societies are devoted to a specific political program in +confronting the so-called Jewish Question, the Menorah Societies, being +non-partisan, are neither Zionist nor anti-Zionist, but perfectly free and +open forums for the discussion of all points of view. The Menorah membership +consists of men and women of divers convictions, as well as of +those who have not yet made up their minds but come to the Menorah +for enlightenment and inspiration. Finally, just because the Menorah +appeals to every student who has a liberal interest in Jewish life and +thought—to every Jewish student particularly, whatever his present beliefs +and ideas—the Menorah Societies are not to be regarded as specifically +religious organizations. Therefore the observance of religious services +and practices is left to those students who desire them, individually or in +appropriate organizations, such as the Jewish Students' Congregation +organized recently under reform auspices at the University of Michigan. +The Menorah Societies are neither reform, conservative nor orthodox but +broadly inclusive of all elements.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Catholicity and Comradeship of the Menorah</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>NDEED, next to the Menorah idea—the sum of Menorah purposes—the +peculiar strength of the Menorah Societies lies in this catholic +spirit which determines the Menorah "open door." Thereby the Menorah<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> +Societies are enabled to perform more and more an incidental but most important +service apart from the objects to which they are formally dedicated. +With the growth of various Jewish organizations in our universities—which, +whatever the opinion as to their value and propriety, tend to +divide the Jewish students rather than to unite them—a most important +service performed by the all-inclusive Menorah Societies is to bring the +students together, in spite of their various differences, on a common high +plane. As stated over a year ago in the Association's book on <i>The +Menorah Movement</i>: "Where, as in almost all large universities, there +are Jewish students of diverse antecedents, it is one of the most important +functions of a non-partisan organization like the Menorah Society to +bring all classes and parties together upon an academic plane, in order +that they may learn each other's points of view, in order that their +prejudices against one another which are founded on misunderstanding and +snobbishness may wither away, and in order that they may pursue in +generous comradeship the knowledge of their common tradition and the +hope of their common future."</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Graduate Phase of the Menorah Movement</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is becoming increasingly evident, moreover, that such a unifying force +is called for outside of the universities among the graduates and other +educated Jews; and it is hoped that through the graduate phase of the +Menorah movement, this need may be subserved by graduate Menorah +groups in various communities. To quote once more from <i>The Menorah +Movement</i>: "Such graduate Menorah organizations, while academic and +non-partisan in their nature, like the university Menorah Societies, might +yet, if properly constituted and conducted, be of practical as well as of +ideal service to their communities. They could bring together, upon the +lofty basis of Jewish idealism, men of different views in the community, +who approach practical Jewish problems in different, sometimes in +mutually antagonistic, ways. Devoid itself of any sectarian or fraternal +or political bias, a graduate Menorah organization should be ideally fitted +to serve as a kind of intellectual clearing house of the Jewish community, +and thus promote on all sides a deeper understanding of one another, a +clearer vision of the common problems, a greater concord in Jewish life."</div> + +<p>In any event, it is hoped during the present year to bring the graduates +and other public-spirited Jewish citizens into closer touch with the activities +and aspirations of the students. At the fourth annual Convention of +the Intercollegiate Menorah Association to be held during the coming +midwinter recess, the idea of graduate Menorah committees and other +forms of possible graduate association with the Menorah movement will +be carefully considered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Year Ahead</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T may be added that at this Convention, which promises to be the most +important thus far held by the Menorah Societies, there will also be +given a full review of the activities of the Menorah organization since its +inception and a survey of the present opportunities and demands for +Menorah work throughout the country. More and more emphasis will be +laid upon the quality of accomplishment of every Menorah Society; upon +the active participation by all Menorah members in one phase or another of +Jewish study and labor; and, in general, upon an even greater utilization +of the lectures, libraries, study courses, and other means provided for the +accomplishment of Menorah ends.</div> + +<p>In this terrible time for Jewry, amid the general catastrophe, when +hundreds of thousands of Jewish young men are offering their lives +heroically in the contending armies, the members of the Menorah Societies +in this favored country cannot but enter upon the new year with a solemn +sense of added responsibility. More than ever in this decennial year of +the Menorah movement is intellectual and moral consecration to Jewish +ideals demanded of Jewish students in America.</p> + +<div class='right'> +Henry Hurwitz, <i>Chancellor</i><br /> +I. Leo Sharfman, <i>President</i><br /></div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_G_10" id="Footnote_G_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_10"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> It should be noted that in 1903 a Jewish literary society was founded at the University +of Minnesota which was later changed to a Menorah Society and is now one of +the constituents of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span></p> + +<h2>Menorah Notes and News</h2> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>The International Students' Reunion</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Intercollegiate Menorah Association +was represented at the International +Students' Reunion, which was +held in connection with the Panama-Pacific +International Exposition at San Francisco, +the University of California, and Leland +Stanford University, under the auspices +of Corda Fratres Association of Cosmopolitan +Clubs, from August 16th to 21st, +1915. Intercollegiate Vice-President Milton +D. Sapiro read a paper at the session +in the Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, +on "The Purposes of the Menorah Movement," +submitted by the Chancellor. Dr. +Horace M. Kallen, of the University of +Wisconsin, delivered a discourse at the +session at Stanford University on "The +Hebraic Spirit." The following is an +abstract of his address:</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Dr. Kallen on "The Hebraic Spirit"</i></div> + +<p>"A people's spirit is its character, considered +not as a cluster of qualities, but +as a spring and form of action—action +that expresses itself in social institutions, +in political and economic organization, in +art, in religion and in philosophy; in short, +in all that expressive part of human life +we call culture. A people's culture is +organic. However varied its form and +media, the varieties springing from a +single source possess an identical and +unique quality which is the quality of that +source. They express and reveal it, as +generative power, a force of creation, +having good or evil bearing upon the +residual civilization. The process of such +revelation is a people's total history; just +as the process of revelation of an individual's +character is his total biography. To +find the Hebraic spirit we must seek its +substantial development in the culture and +ideals of the Jewish people—in the unfoldment, +in the history of their common +attitude toward the world and toward +man, in their theory of life.</p> + +<p>"The Jewish theory of life involves +three fundamental conceptions, interdependent, +and forming a unit which has no +near parallel in civilization.</p> + +<p>"The first of these conceptions defines +the nature of God. What is significant +about it is the fact that it makes no distinction +between God and Nature. God +is Nature and Nature is God. The two +are related to each other as a force and +its operation, and what difference there +exists between them is a difference in completeness +and self-sufficiency, not in kind. +God reveals himself thus in and as the +cause of Nature, the whirlwind, the process +of life and decay, the development of +history. His essence is Change, Force, +Time. There is hence no Hebrew word +for eternal; God's attitude is everlasting. +That is, that which changes yet +retains its identity, as a man changes from +infancy to manhood, yet retains his identity.</p> + +<p>"God is one, all-inclusive, everlastingly +creative. In consequence, there exists a +real distinction between God and man, +such that the one cannot be defined in +analogy with anything human. Neither +wisdom, nor goodness, nor justice apply +to him; yet the goodness, wisdom and justice +of man depend upon him. Man is a +finite speck set over against divine infinitude. +His life is a constant struggle for +survival with forces which have each an +equal claim on divine regard with man. +Man's salvation, herein, consists in knowing +these facts, in understanding, using +them, and guarding against them. The +fear of the Lord, sings the chorus in Job, +is the beginning of wisdom, and to depart +from evil is understanding.</p> + +<p>"To depart from evil is to act as a +social being, to be righteous. Righteousness +is acknowledgment of the value and +integrity of other persons. It is the application<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> +of justice in all fields of human +endeavor, particularly in fundamental +economics. Thus the three historic constitutions +of the Jewish state, the Covenant, +Deuteronomy and the Levitical code, +are all directed toward making impossible +other than natural inequalities within the +state. Their intention is a social democracy; +and all Jewish law, departing from +this fundamental intention, aims, under +various conditions, to realize it. The +prophets, from Amos to Isaiah, preach it; +and men like Ferdinand Lassalle, Karl +Marx, Jean de Bloch, simply enhance their +tradition.</p> + +<p>"The Hebraic spirit carries the principle +of democracy beyond the individual to +the group. Men having a common ancestry, +history, culture and ideals, living +a common life, have definite contribution +to make to civilization as a group. They +constitute a nationality and the principles +of justice that apply among individuals +must apply equally among nationalities. +Hence Hebraism, through its prophets, +formulates the conception of an internationalism, +consisting of a co-operative democracy +of nationalities, under conditions +of universal peace. The great Isaiah, who +flourished in the fifth century B. C., is the +first to formulate this national vision. His +people have never departed from it. In +terms of it, they have been the foremost +protagonists of a constructive internationalism, +in every land and at all times. +Recently, as they have begun to find that +their service to civilization as a people +grows more and more impaired by the +Diaspora, they have formulated a program +of national reconcentration in Palestine, +and of the free development there of +Hebraic culture and ideals such as all +European peoples carry out in their own +homelands of their culture and ideals. +This program is called Zionism. It is the +practical and most expressive incarnation +of the Hebraic Spirit."</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>California Menorah Society</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE California Menorah Society met +on Monday evening, August 30th, +for its first meeting of the college year. +There was an attendance of 125. Mr. +Louis I. Newman gave a short talk on +the aims of the Menorah movement. Milton +D. Sapiro, first President of the +California Menorah and now the second +Vice-President of the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association, spoke on the history +of the movement, tracing the development +of the Menorah idea and the formation +of the Intercollegiate body; and in closing +he presented Stanley Arndt, now President +of the Society, with a bronze Menorah, +which is to be handed down from President +to President each year. President +Arndt, in accepting the Menorah, said +that it suggested the great problem that +the Jews are now facing. The great question +at the present time is whether this +Menorah will be a mere symbol of the +past glories, the past achievements of the +Jews, whether it is to be a mere monument +of a dying race, or the living emblem +of a living race, the soul of a living +people. As an exponent of the latter doctrine, +he introduced Dr. Horace M. Kallen +of the University of Wisconsin, Intercollegiate +Menorah Lecturer.</div> + +<p>Dr. Kallen spoke on "The Jews and +the Great War." He pointed out that +democracy in its essence was the liberation +of individuality; that by being most +one's self, a person or a nation does the +most for his neighbors. First of all, therefore, +we should know ourselves. Dr. Kallen +then took up the condition of the Jews +in Russia. He discussed the frightful persecutions +there as the result of a great +anti-Jewish conspiracy to cover up the +graft, the corruption and the inefficiency +of the government. He spoke on the great +drive of the Jews from the Pale by the +military authorities and then the drive +back again by the civil authorities. This, +he pointed out, involved not only a Jewish +problem, but a great international one +besides. The second phase of the Jewish +question was that of a free Jewish life +in Palestine. There the Jewish colonists +have practically an autonomy of their +own; they have established a Jewish +stage, Jewish art, Jewish music; and the +colonies were founded upon a social democratic +basis, upon the same fundamental +conceptions of social democracy that the +Hebrew Prophets had preached. Dr. Kallen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> +concluded with a plea for the Jew's +double responsibility. The Jew commits +a crime hot only as a citizen but as a +Jew. The Jews who in length of service +to the world are surely an aristocracy +must carry this responsibility.</p> + +<p>In the discussion which followed, Professor +Simon Litman of Illinois, who was +present, took part.</p> + +<p>A Menorah prize of $50. was announced +at this meeting. The judges will +be Professor William Popper and Dr. +Martin A. Meyer of the Semitics Department +of the University, and Judge Max +Sloss of the Supreme Court of California.</p> + +<p>A musical program, followed by an informal +reception to the new members, +completed the evening.</p> + +<p>N. M. Lyon, the Treasurer of the Intercollegiate, +formerly of Cincinnati, is +now a student at California and a member +of the California Menorah.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Dr. Kallen on the Pacific Coast</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>ESIDES his address at the opening +meeting of the California Menorah +Society and other informal talks with the +students, Dr. Kallen delivered a series +of three addresses at the University of +California, under the auspices of the +Department of Philosophy, on the general +subject: "The Hebraic Tradition in +Europe." On August 31st, he lectured +upon "The Rise and Significance of the +Hebraic Tradition"; on September 1st, +"Hebraism and Democracy"; and September +2nd, "Hebraism and Art."</div> + +<p>On August 30th, Dr. Kallen met a company +of graduates and other public-spirited +Jewish citizens in San Francisco at luncheon +and explained the purposes and activities +of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association.</p> + +<p>Dr. Kallen addressed the Menorah Society +of the University of Washington in +Seattle on August 14th, on "The Jewish +Question and the Great War." He also +met at a dinner a company of graduates +and other public-spirited Jewish citizens +in Seattle, and explained to them the purposes +and activities of the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Dr. Harry Wolfson of Harvard</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>H</big>ARRY AUSTRYN WOLFSON, +the author of the articles on "Jewish +Students in European Universities," +published in the first two numbers of the +Journal, has been appointed Instructor in +Jewish Literature and Philosophy at Harvard +University. He received his Ph.D. +from Harvard last June in the field of +Semitic Philology, his thesis subject being +"Crescas on the Problems of Infinity +and Divine Attributes."</div> + +<p>During the ensuing year he will give +the following courses: Post-Biblical Hebrew, +Jewish Aramaic, Jewish Literature +and Life From the Second to the End of +the Seventeenth Century, and An Introduction +to Medieval Jewish Philosophy.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Cornell Summer Meeting</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>N August 8, 1915, the Cornell +Menorah Society held a meeting for +the summer students. There was an +attendance of about 50, both Jews and +non-Jews. Rev. Dr. H. P. Mendes, of +New York, gave an address on "Bible +Ideals in Modern Times," and Professor +Frank Carney of Denison University, +Professor of Industrial Geography in the +Cornell Summer School, spoke on "The +Inorganic Basis of the Hebrew Contribution +to the World." Professor W.A. +Hurwitz of Cornell spoke briefly on the +scope of the Menorah movement, and Dr. +L. L. Silverman played Kol Nidre on the violin.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Hunter Menorah Society</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Menorah Society of Hunter +College, in New York City, begins +its third year with a marked increase in +the enthusiasm and the number of its +members. A program dealing with various +phases of Hebrew culture has been +planned for the regular monthly meetings, +comprising lectures on the Bible, the Talmud, +Medieval Hebrew Poetry, Modern +Hebrew Literature, Hebrew Music, and +Hebrew Art. In addition, the Society +hopes to present a pageant and a reception +to freshmen in February (for Hunter +College admits two classes during the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> +year). The lectures will be preceded by +refreshments, and the singing of Hebrew +songs by the Menorah Glee Club.</div> + +<p>Besides the regular monthly meetings, +the Society is organizing courses in conversational +Hebrew, Bible Study, and +Zionism—the first to meet weekly, the +others on alternate weeks.</p> + +<p>It is also hoped to have a general informal +meeting every week to discuss +modern Jewish problems in connection +with the reading of various newspapers +and periodicals.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>College of the City of New York</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Menorah Society of the College +of the City of New York closed its +activities during the past year with a very +interesting meeting held on May 20, 1915. +Rev. Dr. H. Pereira Mendes spoke on +"Jewish Ideals of Peace," and he was introduced +by the new President of the College, +Dr. Sidney Edward Mezes, who +presided. Dr. Mezes has come to City +College from the University of Texas, +and it is gratifying to note that he had already +been made familiar with the +Menorah work through the Texas +Menorah Society.</div> + +<p>The new year was opened with a forum +meeting on September 21st, in the +Menorah alcove, when the Chancellor addressed +a number of new men as well as +old, upon the significance and the increasing +scope of the Menorah movement. The +week beginning October 3rd will be known +as "Menorah Week" at the College. +On Monday, October 4th, the study circles +will meet for the first time; on Tuesday +there will be another meeting of the +Menorah forum; on Wednesday a semi-annual +smoker will be held in the City +College Club; and on Thursday, Mr. +Marcus M. Marks, President of the +Borough of Manhattan, will deliver a +lecture to the student body under the auspices +of the Menorah Society.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Fourth Annual Convention</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>MPORTANT matters touching the +development of Intercollegiate activities, +the work and membership of the +constituent Societies, the association of +graduates with the Intercollegiate body, +the problems and plans of <span class="smcap">The Menorah +Journal</span>, will be among the subjects presented +for discussion and decision at the +Fourth Menorah Convention, to be held +during the coming mid-winter recess. The +precise days and place of the Convention +will shortly be decided by the Administrative +Council, in accordance with Article +II, Section 4, of the Intercollegiate +Constitution. In addition to the business +sessions there will also be a formal dinner +and an academic session devoted to the +reading of papers by eminent scholars. It +is hoped that a large number of Menorah +men and women from all parts of the +country will be able to attend. Further +details will be published in the next number +of the <span class="smcap">Journal</span>.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Informal Gathering of Menorah +Officers</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>N June 21, 1915, there was an informal +gathering at the headquarters +of the Intercollegiate Association, 600 +Madison Avenue, New York City, of +Menorah officers who happened to be in +New York. There were present, besides +the Chancellor, President I. Leo Sharfman, +Vice-President Abraham J. Feldman, +and Secretary Charles K. Feinberg +of the Association, President Stanley +Arndt of California, President Jacob +Rubinoff of Pennsylvania, ex-President +Leon J. Rosenthal of Cornell, ex-President +George J. Horowitz, President +Moses H. Gitelson, Treasurer Herman +I. Trachman of College of the City of +New York, President Bernard J. Reis of +New York University (Washington +Square), ex-President Samuel Sussman of +Columbia, President Sarah Berenson, +Vice-President Babette Reinhardt, Treasurer +Minnie Weiss, and Secretary Ernestine +P. Franklin and ex-Secretary Julia +Mitchell of Hunter, and Dr. H. M. Kallen +of Wisconsin.</div> + +<p>There was informal discussion of the +activities of the various Societies, the +progress of <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span>, the +program of the next Intercollegiate Convention, +and the development of the graduate +phase of the Menorah movement.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><a name="meno5" id="meno5"></a></p> + +<h1>THE<br /> +MENORAH<br /> +JOURNAL</h1> + + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 599px;"> +<img src="images/front-top5.png" width="599" height="172" alt="Volume I, No. 5, December 1915" title="Volume I, No. 5, December 1915" /> +</div> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='left'>Frontispiece: Theodor Herzl</td><td align='left'>Etching by Hermann Struck</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Menorah</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Theodor Herzl</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The Present Crisis in American Jewry</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Israel Friedlaender</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Our Spiritual Inheritance</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Irving Lehman</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Adam Prometheus, and Other Lyrics</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Louis K. Anspacher</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Sholom Asch: The Jewish Maupassant </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Percy B. Shostac</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">A Menorah Prize Essay</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Liberalism and the Jews</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Joseph Jacobs</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>What Is Judaism?</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Mordecai M. Kaplan</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>University Menorah Addresses</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Activities of Menorah Societies</td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 599px;"> +<img src="images/front-bottom.png" width="599" height="39" alt="Decoration" title="Decoration" /> +</div> + + + + + +<div class='center'> +PUBLISHED BY THE INTERCOLLEGIATE MENORAH ASSOCIATION<br /> +600 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK -:- -:- -:- 25 CTS. A COPY<br /> +<br /><br /></div> + + + +<div class='bbox'> +<h2>INTERCOLLEGIATE MENORAH ASSOCIATION</h2> + +<div class='center'>For the Study and Advancement of<br /> +Jewish Culture and Ideals<br /> + +<br /> +<br />OFFICERS</div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="12" cellspacing="0" summary="Officers: Chancellor, President"> +<tr><td align='center'>Chancellor<br />HENRY HURWITZ<br />600 Madison Ave., New York</td><td align='center'>President<br />I. LEO SHARFMAN<br />University of Michigan</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="12" cellspacing="0" summary="Officers: Vice-Presidents"> +<tr><td align='center'>First Vice-President<br />ISADORE LEVIN<br />Harvard University</td><td align='center'>Second Vice-President<br />MILTON D. SAPIRO<br />University of California</td><td align='center'>Third Vice-President<br />ABRAHAM J. FELDMAN<br />University of Cincinnati</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="12" cellspacing="0" summary="Officers: Treasurer, Secretary"> +<tr><td align='center'>Treasurer<br />N. MORAIS LYON<br />University of California</td><td align='center'>Secretary<br />CHARLES K. FEINBERG<br />New York University</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class='center'><br />THE ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL</div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="The Administrative Council"> +<tr><td align='left'>Boston University: Maurice Horblit</td><td align='left'>University of Colorado: Morris Baskin</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Brown University: Ismar Baruch</td><td align='left'>University of Denver: Jacob Butcher</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Clark University: Max Smelensky</td><td align='left'>University of Illinois: Sidney Casner</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>College of the City of New York: G. J. Horowitz</td><td align='left'>University of Maine: Lewis H. Kriger</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Columbia University: M. D. Hoffman</td><td align='left'>University of Michigan: Jacob Levin</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Cornell University: Leon J. Rosenthal</td><td align='left'>University of Minnesota: Moses Barron</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Harvard University: Ralph A. Newman</td><td align='left'>University of Missouri: J. L. Ellman</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Hunter College: Sarah R. Friedman</td><td align='left'>University of North Carolina: Albert Oettinger</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Johns Hopkins University: Millard Eiseman</td><td align='left'>University of Omaha: Jacques Rieur</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>New York University: Charles K. Feinberg</td><td align='left'>University of Pennsylvania: Jacob Rubinoff</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Ohio State University: Samuel Lesser</td><td align='left'>University of Pittsburgh: A. Jerome Levy</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Penn State College: J. K. Miller</td><td align='left'>University of Texas: H. J. Ettlinger</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Radcliffe College: Anna Rogovin</td><td align='left'>University of Washington: Roy Rosenthal</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Rutgers College: Louis B. Gittleman</td><td align='left'>University of Wisconsin: H. M. Kallen</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Tufts College: Philip Marzynski</td><td align='left'>Valparaiso University: Florence Turner</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>University of California: Louis I. Newman</td><td align='left'>Western Reserve University: Benjamin Roth</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>University of Chicago: David Levy</td><td align='left'>Yale University: Reuben Horchow</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>University of Cincinnati: Abraham J. Feldman </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">and the officers</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class='center'> +<br /><br /> +Office of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association<br /> +600 Madison Avenue, New York<br /><br /> +</div></div> +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><span class="smcap">The MENORAH JOURNAL</span></h1> + +<div class='center'> +<i>Published Bi-monthly During the Academic Year By</i><br /> +<i>The Intercollegiate Menorah Association</i><br /> +<i>"For the Study and Advancement of Jewish Culture and Ideals"<br /> +600 Madison Avenue, New York</i><br /> +</div> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="12" cellspacing="0" summary="Editors"> +<tr><td align='center'><i>Editor-in-Chief</i><br /><span class="smcap">Henry Hurwitz</span></td><td align='center'><i>Associate Editor</i><br /><span class="smcap">I. Leo Sharfman</span></td><td align='center'><i>Managing Editor</i><br /><span class="smcap">H. Askowith</span></td><td align='center'><i>Business Manager</i><br /><span class="smcap">B. S. Pouzzner</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class='center'><i>Board of Consulting Editors</i></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Consulting Editors"> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. Cyrus Adler</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. Kaufmann Kohler</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. Solomon Schechter</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Louis D. Brandeis</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Justice Irving Lehman</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Hon. Oscar S. Straus</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. Lee K. Frankel</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Judge Julian W. Mack</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Samuel Strauss</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Prof. Felix Frankfurter</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. J. L. Magnes</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Judge Mayer Sulzberger</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Prof. Israel Friedlaender </span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Prof. Max L. Margolis</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Miss Henrietta Szold</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Prof. Richard Gottheil</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. H. Pereira Mendes </span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Felix M. Warburg</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. Max Heller</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. Martin A. Meyer</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. Stephen S. Wise</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. Joseph Jacobs</span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dr. David Philipson</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + + + + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='center'> +VOLUME I DECEMBER, 1915 NUMBER 5<br /> +</div> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='right' colspan='3'><span class="smcap">page</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#front"><i>Frontispiece:</i></a> THEODOR HERZL</td><td align='right'><i>From an Etching by Hermann Struck</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE MENORAH</td><td align='right'><i>Theodor Herzl</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>Translation by Bessie London Pouzzner</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE PRESENT CRISIS IN AMERICAN JEWRY</td><td align='right'><i>Israel Friedlaender</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>OUR SPIRITUAL INHERITANCE</td><td align='right'><i>Irving Lehman</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>ADAM PROMETHEUS, and OTHER LYRICS</td><td align='right'><i>Louis K. Anspacher</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_282">282</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>SHOLOM ASCH: THE JEWISH MAUPASSANT</td><td align='right'><i>Percy B. Shostac</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_285">285</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 3em;"><i>A Menorah Prize Essay</i></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>LIBERALISM AND THE JEWS</td><td align='right'><i>Joseph Jacobs</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_298">298</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>WHAT IS JUDAISM? <i>Second Paper</i></td><td align='right'><i>Mordecai M. Kaplan</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_309">309</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'>UNIVERSITY MENORAH ADDRESSES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_319">319</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'>INTERCOLLEGIATE MENORAH NOTES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_322"><ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads '321'">322</ins></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'>ACTIVITIES OF MENORAH SOCIETIES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_325"><ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads '324'">325</ins></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'>INDEX <i>to Volume I of <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span></i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_333">333</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='center'> +25 cents a copy. Subscription, $1.00 a year; in Canada, $1.25; abroad, $1.50<br /> +<br /> +<i><small>Copyright, 1915, by The Intercollegiate Menorah Association. All rights reserved</small><br /> +<small>Entered as second class matter January 6, 1915, at the New York Post Office, under the Act of March 3, 1879</small></i><br /> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 59px;"> +<img src="images/diegesemblem.png" width="59" height="60" alt="Emblem" title="Emblem" /> +</div> + + +<h2>DIEGES & CLUST</h2> +<h3>20 JOHN STREET<br /> +NEW YORK CITY, N. Y.</h3> + + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<div class='center'> +<b>Manufacturing Jewelers<br /> +for the Leading Colleges<br /> +Schools and Associations</b><br /> +</div> +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> +<div class='blockquot2'><i><b>Class, Fraternity, Club and +Society Pins, Medals and Badges, +Loving Cups, Plaques and +Trophies of All Descriptions, +Diamonds, Watches, Jewelry, +Silverware.</b></i></div> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<div class='bbox3'> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Title of Kohut school"> +<tr><td align='left'><h2>KOHUT SCHOOL</h2></td><td align='center'><small><b>FOR</b></small><br /><small><b>BOYS</b></small></td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class='center'> +<b>254th St. & Independence Ave. Phone 367 Kingsbridge</b><br /> +<b>Riverdale-on-Hudson</b> <b>New York City</b><br /> +<br /> +<i>An Ideal Boarding and Day School</i><br /></div> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Offerings of Kohut School"> +<tr><td align='center'>A<br /> +L<br /> +L<br /><br /> +D<br /> +A<br /> +Y<br /><br /> +IN THE<br /><br /> +C<br /> +O<br /> +U<br /> +N<br /> +T<br /> +R<br /> +Y</td><td align='left'>Unexcelled Advantages of Refined home<br /> +<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Physical training, and outdoor sports</span><br /><span style="margin-left: 2em;">under rigid supervision</span><br /> +<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Resident Masters and House-mother</span><br /> +<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Individualized attention in the class-room</span><br /> +<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gardening, Manual Training</span><br /> +<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Bible Study and Elementary Hebrew</span><br /> +<br /> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">For Booklet, Address at School</span><br /> +<br /> +<b>HARRY J. KUGEL, Principal</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class='unindent'><b>KAMP KOHUT, A Boys' Summer Camp +at Oxford, Maine. Under the personal +direction of GEO. A. KOHUT, Ph.D.</b></div> +</div> + +<p> </p> + +<div class='bbox3'> +<h2>The Jews of Russia<br /> +and Poland</h2> + +<div class='center'><b>A Bird's-Eye View of their History and Culture</b></div> + + +<b>By Israel Friedlaender, Ph.D.</b><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America</span><br /> +<br /> + +<div class='center'><b>12<sup>o</sup>. With a Map. $1.25 net</b></div> + +<p>A popular account of the Polish and Russian Jews whose Pale of Settlement +is the battleground of Teuton and Slav. It elucidates the problem of +Russian Jewry which, at the termination of the world struggle, will claim alike +the attention of statesman and humanitarian. It interprets the complex psychology +of the Russian Jew who is becoming an important factor in the life of +America.</p> + +<div class='center'><i>ALL BOOKSELLERS</i><br /> + + +<b><big>G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS</big></b><br /> +<b>NEW YORK, 2-6 West 45th Street LONDON, 24 Bedford Street</b><br /> +</div></div> + + + +<div class='center'><small>Kindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers</small></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> + +<div class='bbox3'> +<div class='hangindent'><span class="u"><b>Until January 15, 1916</b></span><br /> + +The Menorah Journal will present as a special gift to all new +and renewing subscribers (on request) a copy of the Portrait of Theodor +Herzl from the autographed etching by Hermann Struck (the frontispiece +to this issue), printed on art paper, and admirably suited for framing. +The Portrait will be sent, carefully wrapped, to any address desired. +Present subscribers may secure this gift by remitting now for an extension +of their subscription for one year, regardless of the date when their +present subscription expires. For each subscription secured from friends, +moreover, we will gladly send a copy of the Portrait either to the subscriber +or the sender. Give specific instructions, and address The +Menorah Journal, 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York.</div></div> + +<p> </p> + +<div class='bbox3'> +<h3>You Would, Wouldn't You—?</h3> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>F you knew that there was a tiny little book, just +large enough to slip into your pocket, that you +could read through in a few trolley-car or train +rides—and when you got through have an intelligent, +broad, philosophic grasp of the entire +history of the Jews—not just a lot of names and +dates, you know, but the big vital facts that count and that +you can remember and talk about, and never be embarrassed +by ignorance,—and best of all, if you could get a little wonder +book like that for just 40 cents, you'd send for it quick, +wouldn't you?</div> + +<p>Well we have just such a book, all ready for you—Paul +Goodman's little "<i>History of the Jews</i>"—in the Temple Classics +(the little books, you remember, that made Shakespere famous)—beautifully +bound, a joy to handle, and a greater joy to read. +Just write your name and address on this ad, tear it out, and +mail to The Menorah Journal, 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New +York (with 40 cents in stamps for each copy you want—you +can have as many as you like—they make dandy little gifts,—we'll +send the other copies direct, if you like, to the addresses +you give us).</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p><hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/kranichpiano.png" width="300" height="87" alt="Kranich & Bach" title="Kranich & Bach" /> +</div> + +<h2><i>and</i> Player Pianos</h2> + +<div class='center'>The Choice +of Cultured Musicians</div> +<div class="figright" style="width: 354px;"> +<img src="images/kranichillo.jpg" width="354" height="400" alt="Small Grand" title="Small Grand" /> +<div class='center'>Small Grand<br /> +Price $700<br /> +<small>(Freight and handling added)</small><br /> +<small>Deferred Payments Practically</small><br /> +<small>at Your Convenience.</small></div> +</div> +<div class='unindent'>Of all the beautiful possessions with which the +refined home is adorned, none other is +so indicative of the owner's culture and +musical taste as a +GRAND Piano. +Those first impressions +of discriminating taste, +instantly aroused by +the simple beauty of +the Kranich & Bach +Grand, are confirmed +and enhanced by the +exquisite tone of this +matchless instrument. +Words can +convey little +conception of +the artistic superiority of the +Kranich & Bach Small Grand. +Although only 5'4" long it +produces, in a manner almost +unbelievable, all the magnificent qualities of tone that make +"grands" infinitely more satisfying than "upright" pianos. With +its new full-tone scale and the marvelous "Isotonic Pedal," this +superb instrument IS the Small Grand leader of the world—<i>supreme +and incomparable</i>.</div> + +<div class='center'><br /> +<i>Golden Anniversary Booklet Mailed on Request.</i><br /> +KRANICH & BACH,<br />233-243 E. 23d St., New York<br /> +</div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='center'><small>Kindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers</small></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p><hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<h2>A WAR-TIME BOOK BARGAIN</h2> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/wartimebooks.jpg" width="300" height="203" alt="Photograph, Greatly Reduced" title="Photograph, Greatly Reduced" /> +<span class="caption">Photograph, Greatly Reduced</span> +</div><div class="unindent"><b>The Greatest<br /> +Word Master in<br /> +All Literature</b><br /> +<br /> +<b>Six Attractive<br /> +Cloth-Bound<br /> +Volumes to a Set</b><br /> + +<br /><b>Good Bible Paper, <br /> +Large, Clear Type,<br /> +Gold Decorations,<br /> +Duotone Illustrations</b></div> + + + +<h2>IMPORTED HUGO SETS</h2> + +<div class='center'>Buy these sets today</div> + +<h2>$1.60</h2> + +<div class='unindent'>The European War in destroying the +book market of England made possible +this great opportunity for you. +Nelsons, the famous Bible publishers +over-stocked with new editions, turned +to this country for buyers, and sold the sets for +the mere cost of paper and binding. The opportunity +is most unusual—the books are a real +bargain—but the offer is limited, and to get the +sets you must act promptly.<br /> +<br /> + +<b><big>EXTRA SPECIAL!</big></b> In connection with +our Extraordinary +Hugo Offer above, we announce a limited number +of six-volume sets of Famous Authors, including:</div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="War-Time Book Authors"> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Kipling </b></td><td align='left'><b>Shakespeare</b> </td><td align='left'><b>Scott</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Dumas</b></td><td align='left'><b>Stevenson</b></td><td align='left'><b>Dickens</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>Poe</b></td><td align='left'><b>Lincoln</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<div class='unindent'>The binding, paper, type and size of these Standard +sets are uniform with the Hugo sets, and the +same price—per set including delivery charges—will +prevail as long as the sets on hand last.</div> + + +<h3><b>SIX BOOKS FOR THE PRICE +OF ONE—ACT NOW</b></h3> + +<div class='unindent'><b><big>STUDENTS!</big></b> This is an exceptional opportunity +to commence compiling +your library. A good start is half the race +won. Fill your empty book-case with fifty-four +volumes of the complete works.</div> + + +<h3>A SENSIBLE GIFT</h3> + +<div class='unindent'>No better gift can be made that will +bring a higher sense of appreciation +and be more lasting and a constant +reminder of the generous giver. Your gift portrays +your character. Send us your instructions, +when and to whom you want your books sent. +The receipt of your check and instructions will +be acknowledged by us, and carried out with the +utmost care and deliberation. Buy one set or the +complete collection of the world famous authors.<br /> +<br /> +The <b>number of sets on hand is limited</b>. +The readers who send for these sets may +count themselves <b>lucky</b>. Six cloth-bound +volumes are offered at a price which is +just about what you would ordinarily +pay for <i><b>One Volume</b></i>.<br /> +<br /> +<b>BUY IT TODAY—Place your +order before they are all gone</b><br /> +<br /> +<i><b>Grasp this Opportunity +Today!</b></i><br /> +<br /> +<b>Tear Off Coupon, +Fill in, and +Sent to Us +Now</b></div> +<div class="dashed"></div> +<div class='center'><br /><b>THE CLASSICS LIBRARY COMPANY</b><br /> +<b>52 Vanderbilt Ave., N. Y.</b> Enclosed find $_ _ _ _ _ _(money order, +check, or currency), for which please send me _ _ _ _ _ __ Cloth +Bound Sets of Booklovers' Library, checked below:<br /><br /></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Quantity of Author's Requested"> +<tr><td align='left'>_ _ _ _ _ _ Dickens </td><td align='left'>_ _ _ _ _ _Dumas</td><td align='left'>_ _ _ _ _ _Stevenson</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>_ _ _ _ _ _Hugo</td><td align='left'>_ _ _ _ _ _Kipling </td><td align='left'>_ _ _ _ _ _Shakespeare</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>_ _ _ _ _ _Scott</td><td align='left'>_ _ _ _ _ _Poe</td><td align='left'>_ _ _ _ _ _Lincoln</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class='center'><br />Name_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ <br /> +Address_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ <br /> +<br /> + +Send all charges prepaid.<br /> +Select one or more<br /> +sets on this<br /> +coupon<br /> +NOW</div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='center'><small>Kindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers</small></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></p><hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<div class='unindent'> +<span class="u"><i>A Message to Representatives,<br /> +Present and Prospective,<br /> +of The Menorah Journal</i></span><br /> +</div> + +<h3><span class="u">RIGHT NOW</span> is Your Opportunity!—</h3> + +<p>—An opportunity to make money—make it easily +and pleasantly—and render <i>yourself</i>, <i>your friends</i>, +and <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span> a beneficent service.</p> + +<p>If you have already tried your hand at subscription-getting +for <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span>, you know how +agreeable it is to meet men and women of the class +we desire for subscribers, and how quickly their interest +is awakened when you hand them a copy and +they see for themselves the distinction, beauty, and +editorial "meat" of <span class="smcap">The Journal</span>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The special gift of the Portrait of Theodor Herzl +from the Struck etching, which we are now offering +with all new and renewal subscriptions received +before January 15, 1916 (see announcement on +<a href="#Page_iii">page iii</a> of this issue), gives you an extra advantage +just now in urging your prospect to subscribe +immediately. Work this for all you are worth +between now and January 15th, and you will +add a substantial sum to your financial resources. +<i>You</i> need the money—and <i>we</i> need the subscriptions. +The indubitable fact that lots of men and +women in your neighborhood really need <span class="smcap">The +Menorah Journal</span> makes the prospects for both +of us exceedingly bright.</p></div> + +<p>Cash in! The chance is yours for the asking and +the taking.</p> + +<p>The time is short. Every day you let go by means +money lost. Write to <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span>, 52 +Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, for sample copies, +terms, etc.—but meanwhile read the announcement +(in the front pages) of the good things <span class="smcap">The Journal</span> +will have in 1916,—and begin seeing your friends <i>at +once</i>.</p> + +<div class='unindent'><span class="u"><i>P. S.—Ask about the special Prizes<br /> +and Cash Rebates when you write</i></span></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p><hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + +<h2>ALL HUMAN KNOWLEDGE</h2> +<h3>SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN</h3> +<h4>IS <i>CONCENTRATED</i> IN</h4> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="One Mighty Book Images"> +<tr><td align='right'><img src="images/onemightyleft.png" width="174" height="183" alt="Lamp: Ask The Standard" title="Lamp: Ask The Standard" /> +</td><td align='center'><img src="images/onemightybook.jpg" width="400" height="183" alt="Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary" title="Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary" /> +</td><td align='left'><img src="images/onemightyright.png" width="161" height="183" alt="Lamp: It Never Fails" title="Lamp: It Never Fails" /> +</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class='bbox3'> +<h3>THE FUNK & WAGNALLS</h3> + +<h2>New Standard Dictionary</h2> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Word list, description and recommendations"> +<tr><td align='left'><div class='center'> +<table style="border: 1px black solid;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="War words"> +<tr><td align='center'> <small><b>KNOW WHAT<br />THE WAR-WORDS<br />MEAN</b></small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Burgomaster</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Reservist</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Contraband</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Mobilize</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Mitrailleuse</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Moratorium</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Armistice</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Armageddon</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Belligerent</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Entente</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Dreibund</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Enfilade</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Neutrality</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Landsturm</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Landwehr</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small>Cossack</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'> <small><b>Every Word used in War or Peace is fully defined in the NEW Standard</b></small></td></tr> +</table></div> +</td><td align='left'><div class='hangindent'><b>The World's Great Wonder Book—</b><br /> +It gives accurate, concise, and the most recent information +on every Word, Name, Place, Person, and Thing; +on every Phrase, Term, and Expression in the living +English language—on everything alive that can be +spelled in English.</div> + + +<div class='hangindent'><b>Lavish Expenditure to Make It Superior—</b><br /> +It cost nearly $1,500,000 to complete; for nearly four +years 380 of the world's foremost editors and specialists +labored upon it unceasingly.</div> + + +<div class='hangindent'><b>A Reference Work Beyond Comparison—</b><br /> +There are over 3,000 pages; 7,000 pictorial illustrations, +including many beautiful colored plates; it defines +450,000 terms, many thousands more than any other dictionary. +It is the only dictionary the contents of which +are arranged in one alphabetical order—an immense +time-saver.</div> + + +<div class='hangindent'><b>Most Authoritative Dictionary—</b><br /> +Six months after publication 75,000 copies had been +sold; it is the dependable authority in all branches of +the United States Government, in Courts of Law, in the +leading Universities and Colleges, and in the Public +Schools. In commercial life the NEW Standard is popularly +recognized as the <i>one</i> dictionary that never fails.</div> +</td> + +<td align='left'><div class='center'> +<table style="border: 1px black solid;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Recommendations"> +<tr><td align='left'><small> <b>U. S. Commissioner<br />of Education Claxton:</b></small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> "This great work can not fail to be a distinct <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'contributon'">contribution</ins> to English scholarship."</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small><br /><b> John Wanamaker,</b></small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> <i>Famous Merchant:</i></small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> "Artistic, complete</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> and of unrivaled</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> excellence."</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small><br /> <b>Earl Kitchener,</b></small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> <i>Secretary of</i></small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> <i>State for War:</i></small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> "A valuable book</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> which will be of</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> great utility to</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> me."</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small><br /> <b>George W. Kirchwey,<br />LL.D.,</b> <i>Columbia</i></small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> <i>Univ. Law School:</i></small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> "It makes all other</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> dictionaries look</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> pale and insignificant</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small> beside it."</small></td></tr> +</table></div></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<div class='hangindent'><b>A Superb +Christmas Gift</b> +<br />For the home, the school, the business and professional office, no present +can be more useful or acceptable than this handsome volume; it +will serve for years to come as a constant and valuable reminder of the giver.</div> + + +<div class='hangindent'><b>Send for Descriptive Booklet—<i>FREE</i></b><br />Sign the coupon and mail it to us so that we may send you by mail interesting +information regarding this peerless work, with descriptions of +the different beautiful bindings, prices, and easy terms of payment.</div> + +<div class='center'><br /><b>FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers, NEW YORK</b><br /><br /></div> + + + +<div class='dashed'></div> +<div class='center'><br /> +<b>FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY</b><br /> +<b>Dept. 294, New York</b><br /> +</div> + +<p>Send me free, by mail, Standard +Dictionary Booklet and prices.</p> + +<div class='unindent'> +<i>Name</i>........................................................................................................................<br /> +<br /> +<i>Street</i>.......................................................................................................................<br /> +<br /> +<i>City</i>..........................................................................................................................<br /> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='center'><small>Kindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers</small></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span></p><hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + +<h3> +<i>Make Your Dollar Produce More in a New York City Hotel</i> +</h3> + +<div class='center'>IN THE HEART OF THINGS</div> + +<h3>———TWO SPECIALTIES———</h3> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Hotel Martinique options"> +<tr><td align='left'><p><b><big>$2.50</big> per day</b></p> + +<p>A pleasant room with private bath, +facing large, open court. (Not one room, +but one hundred of them.)</p> + +<p><b>Also Attractive Rooms, Without +Bath, $1.50 Per Day.</b></p> + +<p>The restaurant prices are most moderate.</p> + +<div class='center'><i><b>600 ROOMS</b></i></div> +</td><td align='left'><img src="images/hotelmartinique.png" width="149" height="200" alt="Hotel Martinique" title="Hotel Martinique" /> +</td> +<td align='left' valign='top'><p><b><big>$3.00</big> per day</b></p> + +<p>An excellent room with private bath, +facing street, Southern exposure. (Not +one room, but eighty-seven of them.)</p> +<br /> +<p><b>The most central location in NEW +YORK, equally convenient for +amusements, shopping or business.</b></p> + +<div class='center'><b><i>400 BATHS</i></b></div> +</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<h2>HOTEL MARTINIQUE</h2> + +<div class='center'><b>On Broadway, 32d to 33d Street . . . . . . 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GILSON, Vice-President WALTER CHANDLER, Jr., General Manager<br /> +</div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="3" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="5" summary="Dictionary Advertisement"> +<tr><td align='left'><div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Grand Prize and Exposition Building"> +<tr><td align='left'><big>The Only Grand Prize</big><br /> +<b>(Highest Award) given to<br /> +<big>Dictionaries</big> at the<br /> +Panama-Pacific Exposition<br /> +<i>was granted to</i></b><br /> +</td><td align='left'><img src="images/exibitionbuilding.png" width="110" height="150" alt="Exposition Building" title="Exposition Building" /> +</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<h3>WEBSTER'S<br /> +NEW INTERNATIONAL</h3> + +<div class='center'><b>For Superiority of Educational Merit.</b><br /> +</div> + +<div class='unindent'>This <i><b>new</b></i> creation answers with <i><b>final</b></i> authority +all kinds of puzzling questions such as +"How is <i>Przemysl</i> pronounced?" "Where is +<i>Flanders?</i>" "What is a <i>continuous voyage?</i>" +"What is a <i>howitzer?</i>" "What is <i>white coal?</i>" +and thousands of others.<br /> +<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/webstersbooks.png" width="150" height="142" alt="Books" title="Books" /> +</div><b>More than 400,000 Vocabulary Terms. 30,000 Geographical +Subjects. 12,000 Biographical Entries. 6000 Illustrations. +2700 Pages. The only +dictionary with the divided +page—a stroke of genius.</b></div> + + + +<div class='center'><b>REGULAR and INDIA-PAPER +EDITIONS.</b></div> + +<p><b>Write</b> for specimen pages, +illustrations, etc. <b>Free</b>, a set +of Pocket Maps if you name +this paper.</p> + +<div class='center'> +<b>G. & C. MERRIAM CO.,<br /> +Springfield, Mass.</b><br /> +</div> +</td><td align='left'><div class='center'> +<span class="u"><b>Member of American Museum of Natural History</b></span><br /> +</div> +<h3>B. B. Amrom</h3> +<div class='center'> +<b>Collector and Expert Repairer of</b><br /> +</div> +<h2>Antiques</h2> +<div class='center'> +Chippendale, Sheraton, Heppelwhite, Adams,<br /> +Jacobean Furniture, Works of Art and<br /> +Decorations, Sheffield Plate,<br /> +Bric-a-Brac<br /> +<br /> +Pewter Historical Plates, Door Knockers and<br /> +Curiosities<br /> +<br /> +<i><b>Jewish Domestic and Ceremonial Objects</b></i><br /> +<br /> +INTERIOR DECORATOR<br /> +AND UPHOLSTERER<br /> +FINE CABINET WORK<br /> +<br /> +<b>728 Lexington Ave. New York</b><br /> +<b>Telephone—Plaza 854</b><br /> +</div> +</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<div class='center'><small>Kindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers</small></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span></p><hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='bbox3'> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Hotel Cumberland title"> +<tr><td align='left'><h2>Hotel Cumberland</h2> </td><td align='left'><span class="u">New<br /> +York</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Hotel Cumberland Image and description"> +<tr><td align='left'><img src="images/hotelcumberland.png" width="163" height="250" alt="Hotel Cumberland" title="Hotel Cumberland" /> +</td><td align='center'><span class="smcap">S. W. Corner Broadway at 54th Street</span><br /> + +"Broadway" Cars from Grand Central Depot<br /> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<b>Kept by a College Man</b><br /> +<b>Headquarters for College Men</b><br /> +<br /> +Ten minutes' walk to forty theatres.<br /> +Rooms, with bath, $2.50 and up. New, modern and<br /> +fireproof.<br /> +<br /> +<b>Special Rates for<br /> +College Teams and Students</b><br /> + +<big>H A R R Y P. S T I M S O N, M a n a g e r</big><br /> + +<b>The Cumberland does more college business than any<br /> +other New York Hotel</b></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<h3>HEADQUARTERS FOR STUDENTS</h3> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Menorah Movement and Hotel Lenox Ad"> +<tr><td align='left'><h3>"THE MENORAH MOVEMENT"</h3> + +<div class='unindent'>A book of 180 pages (paper bound) +giving a full account of the origin and +development of the Menorah movement +which has now extended to 35 colleges +and universities throughout the country. +The book contains also addresses by +many university heads and leaders in +American Jewry.<br /> +<br /> +Only a limited number of copies remain +from an edition of 5,000. While they +last copies may be procured on request +by those who send in their subscriptions +to The Menorah Journal directly to the +office of the Journal, 600 Madison +Avenue, New York.</div></td> + +<td align='left'><h2>HOTEL<br /> +LENOX</h2> + +<div class='center'><b>Corner Boylston and<br /> +Exeter Sts., Boston, Mass.</b></div> +</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><small>Kindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers</small></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span></p><hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/columbia.jpg" width="600" height="552" alt="Columbia Double-Disc Records" title="Columbia Double-Disc Records" /> +</div> + + +<div class='bbox3'><div class="figright" style="width: 131px;"> +<img src="images/granfonola.jpg" width="131" height="250" alt="Grafonola 110" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Grafonola 110<br /><i>Price $110</i></span> +</div> +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE finest silver thread of music spun by the wizard bow of Ysaye—the +tears and feeling in the tender depths of Fremstad's noble voice—the +sheer magnificence of a thrilling orchestral <i>finale</i>—all +these elusive tonal beauties are caught and +expressed in Columbia Records, from the faintest +whisper to the vastest tidal wave of sound.</div> + +<p>Volume—TONE—feeling—the most delicate shading +of a theme are perfectly preserved and supremely +present in every Columbia Record—an exquisite tone-perfection +that does not vanish with use.</p> + +<p>You can test these exclusive qualities in a series of +home recitals such as no concert audience is ever +privileged to hear. Arrange your first recital <i>to-day</i>.</p> +<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;"> +<img src="images/notethenotes.jpg" width="100" height="97" alt="Columbia: Note the Notes" title="Columbia: Note the Notes" /> +</div> +<div class='center'><br /> +<b>Columbia Graphophone Company</b><br /> +<b>Woolworth Building, New York</b><br /> +<br /> +<b><i>Prices in Canada Plus Duty</i></b><br /> +</div></div> + + + + + + + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='center'><small>Kindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers</small></div> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="front" id="front"></a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 194px;"> +<img src="images/1therzel.jpg" width="194" height="250" alt="Dr Theodor Herzl" title="Dr Theodor Herzl" /> +</div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature1_therzl.png" width="150" height="30" alt="Signature: Dr Theodor Herzl" title="Signature: Dr Theodor Herzl" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><i>From an Etching by Hermann Struck, Autographed by Theodor Herzl.</i><br /> + +<i>Reproduced from the Original by Courtesy of<br /> +the Berlin Photographic Co.</i><br /> + +<br /> +<i>Frontispiece</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span><br /> +<i>December, 1915</i><br /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1><span class="smcap">the</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Menorah Journal</span></h1> + +<div class='center'> +VOLUME I DECEMBER, 1915 NUMBER 5<br /> +</div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="The Menorah Story"> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><img src="images/menorahstorytop.png" width="600" height="59" alt="Decoration Top" title="Decoration Top" /> +</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><img src="images/menorahstoryleft.png" width="45" height="783" alt="Decoration Left" title="Decoration Left" /> +</td><td align='left'><h2>The Menorah</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Theodor Herzl</span></h3> + +<div class='center'><i>Translated from the German by Bessie London Pouzzner</i></div> + + +<div class='unindent'><big>D</big>EEP in his soul he began to feel the need of being a Jew. +His circumstances were not unsatisfactory; he enjoyed +an ample income and a profession that permitted him to +do whatever his heart desired. For he was an artist. His Jewish +origin and the faith of his fathers had long since ceased to +trouble him, when suddenly the old hatred came to the surface +again in a new mob-cry. With many others he believed that this +flood would shortly subside. But there was no change for the +better; in fact, things went from bad to worse; and every blow, +even though not aimed directly at him, struck him with fresh +pain, till little by little his soul became one bleeding wound. +These sorrows, buried deep in his heart and silenced there, evoked +thoughts of their origin and of his Judaism, and now he did something +he could not perhaps have done in the old days because he +was then so alien to it—he began to love this Judaism with an +intense fervor. Although in his own eyes he could not, at first, +clearly justify this new yearning, it became so powerful at length +that it crystallized from vague emotions into a definite idea which +he must needs express. It was the conviction that there was only +one solution for this <i>Judennot</i>—the return to Judaism.</div> + +<p>When this came to the knowledge of his closest friends, +similarly situated though they were, they shook their heads<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> +gravely and even feared for his reason. For how could that be +a remedy which merely sharpened and intensified the evil? It +seemed to him, on the other hand, that their moral distress +was so acute because the Jew of to-day had lost the poise which +was his father's very being. They ridiculed him for this when +his back was turned—many even laughed openly in his face; yet +he did not allow himself to be misled by the banalities of these +people whose acuteness of judgment had never before inspired +his respect, and he bore their witticisms and their sneers with +equal indifference. And since, in all other respects, he acted +like a man in his senses, they suffered him gradually to indulge +in his infatuation, which a number of them soon began to call +by a harsher term than <i>idée fixe</i>.</p> +<p>He continued, however, with characteristic persistence to +develop one idea after another from his fundamental conviction. +At this time he was profoundly moved by several instances of +apostasy, though his pride would not permit him to betray it. As +a man and as an artist of the modern school, he had, of course, +acquired many non-Jewish habits and his study of the cultures of +successive civilizations had left an indelible impress upon him. +How was this to be reconciled with his return to Judaism? +Often doubts assailed him as to the soundness of his guiding +thought, his "idée maîtresse," as a French thinker calls it. Perhaps +this generation, having grown up under the influence of +alien cultures, was no longer capable of that return which he +had perceived to be their redemption. But the new generation +would be capable of it, if it were only given the right direction +early enough. He resolved, therefore, that his own children, at +least, should be shown the proper path. They should be trained +as Jews in their own home.</p> +</td><td align='left'><img src="images/menorahstoryright.png" width="45" height="783" alt="Decoration Right" title="Decoration Right" /> +</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><img src="images/menorahstoryleft.png" width="45" height="783" alt="Decoration Left" title="Decoration Left" /> +</td><td align='left'> +<p>Hitherto he had permitted to pass by unobserved the holiday +which the wonderful apparition of the Maccabees had illumined +for thousands of years with the glow of miniature lights. +Now, however, he made this holiday an opportunity to prepare<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> +something beautiful which should be forever commemorated in +the minds of his children. In their young souls should be implanted +early a steadfast devotion to their ancient people. He +bought a Menorah, and when he held this nine-branched candlestick +in his hands for the first time, a strange mood came +over him. In his father's house also, the lights had once burned +in his youth, now far away, and the recollection gave him a sad +and tender feeling for home. The tradition was neither cold nor +dead,—thus it had passed through the ages, one light kindling +another. Moreover, the ancient form of the Menorah had excited +his interest. When was the primitive structure of this candlestick +fashioned? Clearly the design was suggested by the tree—in +the centre the sturdy trunk, on right and left four branches, one +below the other, in one plane, and all of equal height. A later +symbolism brought with it the short ninth branch, which projects +in front and functions as a servant. What mystery had +the generations which followed one another read into this form +of art, at once so simple and natural? And our artist wondered +to himself if it were not possible to animate again the withered +form of the Menorah, to water its roots, as one would a tree. +The mere sound of the name, which he now pronounced every +evening to his children, gave him great pleasure. There was a +lovable ring to the word when it came from the lips of little +children.</p> +<p>On the first night the candle was lit and the origin of the +holiday explained. The wonderful incident of the lights that +strangely remained burning so long, the story of the return +from the Babylonian exile, the second Temple, the Maccabees—our +friend told his children all he knew. It was not very much, +to be sure, but it served. When the second candle was lit, they +repeated what he had told them, and though it had all been +learned from him, it seemed to him quite new and beautiful. In +the days that followed he waited keenly for the evenings, which +became ever brighter. Candle after candle stood in the Menorah, +and the father mused on the little candles with his children,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> +till at length his reflections became too deep to be uttered +before them.</p><p>When he had resolved to return to his people and to make +open acknowledgment of his return, he had only thought he +would be doing the honorable and rational thing. But he had never +dreamed that he would find in it a gratification of his yearning +for the beautiful. Yet nothing less was his good fortune. The +Menorah with its many lights became a thing of beauty to inspire +lofty thought. So, with his practised hand, he drew a +plan for a Menorah to present to his children the following +year. He made free use of the motif of the eight branching +arms projecting right and left in one plane from the central +stem. He did not hold himself bound by the rigid traditional +form, but created directly from nature, unconcerned by other +symbolisms also seeking expression. He was on the search for +living beauty. Yet, though he gave the withered branch new +life, he conformed to the law, to the gentle dignity, of its being. +It was a tree with slender branches; its ends were moulded into +flower calyxes which would hold the lights.</p> + +<p>The week passed with this absorbing labor. Then came the +eighth day, when the whole row burns, even the faithful ninth, +the servant, which on other nights is used only for the lighting +of the others. A great splendor streamed from the Menorah. +The children's eyes glistened. But for our friend all this was +the symbol of the enkindling of a nation. When there is but +one light all is still dark, and the solitary light looks melancholy. +Soon it finds one companion, then another, and another. +The darkness must retreat. The light comes first to the young +and the poor,—then others join them who love Justice, Truth, +Liberty, Progress, Humanity, and Beauty. When all the candles +burn, then we must all stand and rejoice over the achievement. +And no office can be more blessed than that of a Servant of the +Light.</p> + + +</td><td align='left'><img src="images/menorahstoryright.png" width="45" height="783" alt="Decoration Right" title="Decoration Right" /> +</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><img src="images/menorahstorybottom.png" width="600" height="171" alt="Decoration Bottom" title="Decoration Bottom" /> +</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p> +<h2>The Present Crisis in American Jewry</h2> + +<div class='center'><i>A Plea for Reconciliation</i></div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Israel Friedlaender</span></h3> +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 144px;"> +<img src="images/2ifriedlander.jpg" width="144" height="200" alt="ISRAEL FRIEDLAENDER" title="ISRAEL FRIEDLAENDER" /> +<i><big>I</big>SRAEL FRIEDLAENDER +(born in Russia, 1876), attended +the Universities of Berlin +and Strassburg (Ph.D., +1901); called to the Jewish +Theological Seminary in 1903, +where he is now the Sabato +Morais Professor of Biblical +Literature and Exegesis. Professor +Friedlaender is not only +the author, editor, and translator +of a number of scholarly +works but his wide observation +of Jewish life in various countries, +coupled with his broad +historic knowledge, have enabled +him to write and speak +on present Jewish problems +with exceptional authority and +insight, as for example in his +new book, "The Jews of Russia +and Poland." His lectures before +Menorah Societies have +been particularly stimulating +and have made him a great +favorite with University students.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>V</big>ARIOUS occurrences of recent date have revealed +a rift in American Jewry which if not +healed in time is likely to result in a permanent +schism. The agitation centering around the question +of a Jewish Congress is not the cause of this rift; it is +rather an effect or a symptom betokening the profound +difference of opinion and sentiment which at +present divides the Jews of America. In the realignment +of American Jewry which this struggle is calling +forth, the Zionists and the non-Zionists of this +country—the former centering around their local +organization, the latter represented by the American +Jewish Committee—have been taking opposite sides. +Those of us whose Judaism is broad enough to embrace +with equal loyalty the ideals of Zionism and the +interests of American Judaism, cannot but view with +the deepest concern the possibility of a permanent +conflict between these two sections of American Jewry, +a conflict fraught with the gravest consequences, +not only for the Jewish cause in this country in general +but also for the Zionist movement—a conflict, +moreover, in which no victory achieved by either side +can be anything but a Pyrrhic victory.</div> + +<p>The situation is one that demands careful thought +and delicate action. Only a few of us are in a position +to influence the course of events by acting, but +many of us may help to clarify the situation by thinking. +A correct diagnosis is an indispensable preliminary +to a cure, and it is only by finding out +whether the issues underlying the present struggle +represent a chronic and perhaps irremediable conflict, +or are rather the effect of an acute and therefore +curable misunderstanding, that a proper solution may be discovered and +proposed. It is from this point of view that an attempt is here made to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> +analyze the present situation in American Jewry, to trace the causes which +have produced it, and to point out the consequences which are unavoidable +unless a remedy be applied in time.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Two Issues in American Jewry</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>O my mind there are two fundamental issues which separate the two +groups in American Jewry from one another. They may be expressed +in the following terms: 1, <i>Diaspora versus Palestine;</i> 2, <i>Religion +versus Nationalism</i>.</div> + +<p>Without any desire to lose myself in philosophic subtleties, I shall, for +the sake of brevity, adopt the Hegelian language and explain the development +of these issues on the principle of <i>Thesis</i>, <i>Antithesis</i> and <i>Synthesis</i>, +i. e., of the initial prevalence of one extreme, of its yielding subsequently +to the opposite extreme, and of the final harmonization of the two in a +higher unity, combining the essential features of both. I shall endeavor +to point out that the Synthesis forms the ground on which both parties may +cooperate, without sacrificing an iota of their respective convictions.</p> + +<p>The first issue, expressed in the formula "Diaspora versus Palestine," +hinges on the question as to whether the Jewish people finds its best opportunities +for development in the Diaspora, i. e., as an integral part of the +nations in whose midst it lives, or, away from the other nations, as a separate +entity, on its own soil in Palestine.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Rise and Fall of "Diaspora Judaism"</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>HEN modern Jewry, after the isolation of centuries, suddenly +emerged from the Ghetto to seek a place in the sun in the midst +of the Christian environment, the thesis adopted by it was <i>Diaspora</i>. +Consumed with the desire for emancipation, for sharing the benefits and +attractions of the new life around them, the Jews discarded the hope for an +independent national existence in Palestine, which had been their lode-star +throughout the ages. <i>Diaspora</i> as opposed to <i>Palestine</i>, and as exclusive of +it, became the slogan of emancipated Jewry. The Jewish religion was refitted +to harmonize with this new striving for material and cultural +progress. Reform Judaism arose, the main object of which was to break +down the previous separateness of the Jews; and the theory of a "Jewish +mission" sprang into life, not as a spontaneous growth of Jewish tradition, +but as a forced hothouse product of practical life—a theory which proclaimed +that an isolated Jewish existence in Palestine was subversive of the +very essence of Judaism, that the mission of the Jewish people was to propagate +monotheism among the nations of the earth, and that this mission +could only be carried out in the Dispersion, in the midst of the nations +which were to be the objects of that mission.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span></div> + +<p>As time progressed, however, the "Diaspora" thesis gradually lost its +force. Emancipation failed to fulfill the ardent hopes attached to it. The +nations refused to allow the Jews to participate fully and unrestrictedly +in the general life of the country. Anti-Semitism, manifesting itself in the +crude form of hatred, or under the subtle guise of prejudice, turned, in +many cases, the liberties previously granted to the Jews into a scrap of +paper. On the other hand, the dangers of this extreme Diaspora Judaism, +at first little thought of, began to loom larger and larger. The rush for +emancipation threatened not only to disrupt the unity of the Jewish people +throughout the world, which had been maintained during the ages of suffering +and persecution, but it also led large and important sections of +Jewry to assimilation, that is, to complete absorption.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Antithesis "Palestine" and Its Inadequacy</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>S a protest against the thesis "Diaspora," its opposite came to life, +the antithesis "Palestine." Political Zionism sprang into being, +loudly proclaiming that emancipation was a failure; that Judaism had no +chance of life in the Dispersion, and that the only salvation of Jewry lay +in being transferred to Palestine. <i>Zionism or assimilation</i> was the alternative +placed before the Jewish people. All efforts of Jewry, as the last attempt +to escape annihilation, were to be focused on the obtaining of a publicly +and legally assured home in Palestine. All Jewish endeavors in the +Diaspora were deprecated, because consecrated to a cause which was foredoomed +to failure.</div> + +<p>It was not long before the antithesis, too, began to reveal its deficiencies. +The difficulties of reaching the Zionist goal very soon proved far greater +than had been anticipated in the blissful ecstasy of the Zionist honeymoon. +The ultimate consummation of the national hope receded further and +further before the longing gaze of the Jewish people, and no longer held +out an immediate remedy for the pressing needs of suffering Jewry. The +conviction also gradually gained ground that, even under the most favorable +of circumstances, Palestine could only harbor a fraction of the Jewish, +people, and that the vast bulk of Jews would still remain in the lands of +the Diaspora. Zionists who were looking reality in the face could not accept +the view of the extremists, who were ready to save a small portion of +the Jewish people at the cost of abandoning to its fate the enormous majority +thereof.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Opposing Ideals Fused Into Spiritual Zionism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>S a result, a new formula asserted itself: Diaspora <i>plus</i> Palestine. It +was the combination between the two extremes of Diaspora existence +and Palestine existence. This synthesis, generally called Cultural or Spiritual<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> +Zionism, proclaimed that Palestine was indispensable for the continuation +of Judaism, for it was the only spot where the spirit of Judaism, undisturbed +by conflicting influences, could develop normally and unfold all its +hidden possibilities, and the only bond of unity which could save the scattered +members of the race from falling asunder into disjointed fragments. +The Diaspora, on the other hand, as the dwelling place of the overwhelming +majority of the Jewish people, had problems of its own which clamored +equally for solution.</div> + +<p>Hence the Jewish task became a double one: the Jews in every +country, while participating to the full in the life of their environment—for +the return to the Ghetto was neither desirable nor possible—had +to endeavor to secure a maximum of elbowroom for the development of their +own section of Jewry, while as part of universal Israel they had to keep up +their contact with the Jews throughout the world and labor with them for +the realization of the common Jewish hope, that of a spiritual center in the +historic land of Judaism. <i>Diaspora without Palestine</i> was impossible, because +without the refreshing breath of a healthy Jewish life in Palestine it +was bound to wither and dry up. <i>Palestine without the Diaspora</i> was +equally impossible, because it lacked the backing of the people as a whole, +and was in danger of becoming a petty and obscure corner in the vast expanse +of the Jewish Dispersion, a sort of Jewish Nigeria.</p> + +<p>This synthesis was not a pale cast of thought, the flimsy product of an +imaginative brain. It had its prototype in the actual facts of history. +For during several centuries preceding the dissolution of the Jewish state, +Palestine was the spiritual center of Judaism, in the sense just indicated. +The Jews outside of Palestine were superior, not only in numbers, but also +in wealth and influence, to those of Palestine. The Jews of Egypt, and the +same applies to other countries of that period, were closely associated with +the cultural and material aspirations of their environment. Philo was one +of the most illustrious representatives of the Hellenic culture of his age; +these Diaspora Jews even found it necessary to translate the Holy Writings +into Greek. Yet they were, at the same time, loyal to Palestine. They +paid their Shekel, they made their annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and +looked upon the Holy Land as the spiritual center of all Jewry.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Second Issue: Religion vs. Nationalism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE other fundamental issue on which Jewish opinion is divided is +closely associated with the preceding one; it hinges on the formula +<i>Religion versus Nationalism</i>. From its earliest beginnings down to the +time of modern emancipation, Judaism represented an indissoluble combination +of nationalism and religion. Though ultimately intended to appeal +to the whole of humanity, Judaism was essentially a <i>national</i> religion. Its +bearer was a national community which zealously guarded its racial purity,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> +and its external manifestations assumed the forms of a national life. Again +the Jewish people was, first and foremost, a <i>religious</i> nation. Its sole +reason for existence was, in the belief of every one of its members, "to know +the Lord" and to make Him known to others. A Jew who did not believe +in the fundamentals of the Jewish creed or who did not observe the fundamentals +of the Jewish ceremonial was as much of a monstrosity as the Jew +who denied the common racial descent of the Jews in the past, or their +common national destiny in the future.</div> + +<p>The departure of the Jews from the Ghetto and their entrance into +modern life marked a turning point also in this direction. Filled with the +desire of becoming part of the nations in whose midst they lived, modern +Jews were ready, and thought they were compelled, to deny the national +character of Judaism. The Jews were now labelled as Germans or Frenchmen +of the Mosaic persuasion, who were divided from their fellow-citizens +by the purely spiritual affiliations of religious faith—the same affiliations +which divided the Christian population. Here, too, Reform Judaism was +quick to meet the demands of practical life. It began to chop off all the +elements in Judaism which betrayed a national character, both in the +domain of doctrine and of practice, though it halted half way, and down +to this day still acknowledges, in flagrant contradiction with its own theory, +a number of rites and ceremonies which bear an unmistakable racial imprint.</p> + +<p>This transformation of Judaism, or rather this transformation of Jewish +terminology—for, in many cases, it was merely a question of terms—was +greatly stimulated by the development of nationalism in Western +Europe, where the structure of the modern state excluded, or was thought +to exclude, a diversity of nationalities, while the principle of religious +toleration left enough room for a variety of religious beliefs. As a result, +those Jews who lost their religious affiliations were bound to feel that +they were outcasts in the religious community of Israel: they became +either <i>konfessionslos</i> or, by a curious perversion of logic and conscience, +became members of the dominant faith.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Rapprochement of Religionists and Nationalists</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE thesis "Judaism as Religion" was followed by the antithesis +"Judaism as Nationalism." It is interesting to observe that the antithesis +came from the Jews of Eastern Europe who, in their overwhelming +majority, were adherents of strict orthodoxy. Those Jews of Russia and Poland +who had drifted away from their religious moorings were neither psychologically +nor physically in a position to abandon Judaism: psychologically, +because they were too strongly saturated with Jewish culture and Jewish +associations to tear themselves away from the influence of Judaism; +physically, because they were excluded from participating in the life of the +environment and were forced to remain within the fold. Living as the Eastern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> +Jews did in compact masses, they found it easier, both in theory and in +practice, to emphasize the national aspect of the Jewish community. As a +result, a doctrine sprang up which looked upon Jewry as an essentially +racial or national entity, in which religion was merely one of the many passing +phases of its historical development. If among the champions of the +thesis "Religion" there were Jews who celebrated the Ninth of Ab as a +holiday because it marked, in their eyes, the end of Jewry as a nation, there +were, among the others, the adherents of the antithesis "Nationalism," +Jews who arranged entertainments on the Day of Atonement, as a public +protest against the religious character ascribed to Judaism.</div> + +<p>Here, too, however, the synthesis was gradually paving its way, and the +formula "Religion <i>plus</i> Nationalism" was supplanting the thesis "Judaism +as Religion" and the antithesis "Judaism as Nationalism." The religionists, +that is, the believers in the purely religious character of Judaism, began +to realize the devastating effect of their doctrine on Jewish life and +development, while the nationalists, without sacrificing their convictions—for +religion, least of all sentiments, can be forced on modern men—began +to appreciate the overwhelming influence of the Jewish religion as a historic +factor in the life of the Jewish people, and were ready to acknowledge the +difficulty and the danger of squeezing an officially nationalistic Jewry into +the narrow frame of the modern <i>Nationalstaat</i>.</p> + +<p>This mutual <i>rapprochement</i> resulted, gradually, in a tacit agreement—an +agreement far more durable than a legal compact, because founded on +sentiment rather than on law—which implied the recognition of Judaism as +composed of Religion and Nationalism, but left sufficient room to include +the two extreme types of Jews: those whose loyalty to Judaism was entirely +fed from the fountain of religion, and those whose devotion to Judaism +was altogether grounded in race consciousness.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Growth of Diaspora Judaism in America</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HIS development, which may be traced in various countries of modern +Europe, nowhere assumed such huge proportions and such striking +manifestations as it did in America. The struggle, hinging on the two opposite +doctrines, was nowhere else so well defined and nowhere else fraught +with so many tangible consequences as in America, for the reason that +American Jewry, as no other Jewry in the world, was made up of two +different elements, sharply divided in their traditions and associations, as +well as in their mental and psychological complexion. The Jews hailing +from the lands of emancipation in Western Europe, who are conventionally, +though not quite accurately, designated as German Jews, brought over +with them the theses <i>Diaspora</i> as against <i>Palestine</i>, and <i>Religion</i> as against +<i>Nationalism</i>. The immigrants from Eastern Europe, the children of the +Ghetto, who with equal inaccuracy are termed Russian Jews, carried with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> +them the antitheses <i>Palestine</i> as against <i>Diaspora</i> and, as represented by +the extremists among them, <i>Nationalism</i> as against <i>Religion</i>. The fanatics +of Diaspora Judaism and of Judaism as a pure faith are to be found exclusively +among the "German" Jews. The radical adherents of Palestine +and of Jewish nationalism are recruited entirely from the ranks of +"Russian" Jews.</div> + +<p>These issues were of particular and immediate significance for the Jews +in this country; for America has, in less than one generation, become the +second largest center of the Jewish Diaspora, and bids fair to become the +first, instead of the second, within another generation. No other country +in the world offers, even approximately, such a favorable combination of +opportunities for the development of a Diaspora Judaism, as does America: +economic possibilities, vast and sparsely populated territories, freedom of +action, liberty of conscience, equality of citizenship, appreciation of the +fundamentals of Judaism, variety of population, excluding a rigidly nationalistic +state policy, and other similar factors. It is no wonder, therefore, +that in no other country did Reform Judaism, as the incarnation of +Diaspora Judaism, attain such luxurious growth as it did in America. It +discarded, more radically than in Europe, the national elements still clinging +to Judaism, and it solemnly proclaimed that Judaism was wholly and +exclusively a religious faith, and that America was the Zion and Washington +the Jerusalem of American Israel.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Opposition: The Palestinian Sentiment of Russian Jews</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>N the other hand, the emigrants from Russia brought the antithesis on +the scene. They quickly perceived the decomposing effect of American +life upon Jewish doctrine and practice, and they became convinced +more firmly than ever that Diaspora Judaism was a failure, and that the +only antidote was Palestine and nothing but Palestine. The nationalists +among them beheld in the very same factors in which the German Jews saw +the possibilities of a Diaspora Judaism, the chances for organizing Jewry +on purely nationalistic lines. Nowhere else, except perhaps in Russia, can +be found a greater amount of Palestinian sentiment, as well as a larger manifestation +of a one-sided Jewish nationalism, than is to be met with in this +country.</div> + +<p>This conflict of ideas became extraordinarily aggravated by numerous +influences of a personal character. The division between the so-called German +Jews and the so-called Russian Jews was not limited to a difference in +theory. It was equally nourished by far-reaching differences in economic +and social position and in the entire range of mental development. The +German Jews were the natives; the Russian Jews were the newcomers. The +German Jews were the rich; the Russian Jews were the poor. The German +Jews were the dispensers of charity; the Russian Jews were the receivers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> +of it. The German Jews were the employers; the Russian Jews were the +employees. The German Jews were deliberate, reserved, practical, sticklers +for formalities, with a marked ability for organization; the Russian Jews +were quick-tempered, emotional, theorizing, haters of formalities, with a +decided bent toward individualism. An enormous amount of explosives +had been accumulating between the two sections, which if lit by a spark +might have disrupted the edifice of American Israel, still in the process of +construction.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Promise of Union and Harmony</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>ND yet, not only was the conflict averted, but the impending struggle +gave way to hearty and extensive cooperation, such as cannot be +witnessed elsewhere in the whole Jewish world (one recalls particularly +the analogy of England) where East and West seem never to meet. +As the two sections came into closer contact with one another, they learned +to understand one another and to appreciate their respective points of +view. This cooperation was not founded upon the flimsy framework of +political expediency. It was grounded in that synthesis of Jewish life which +combines in a higher unity the essential elements of the doctrines formerly +believed to be exclusive of one another. The German Jews, while emphasizing +the needs of Diaspora Judaism and anxious to build up its largest manifestation +in America, learned to appreciate the quickening and ennobling +effect upon the Diaspora of a normal Hebrew life in Palestine, and became +interested in the regeneration of the Holy Land. The Russian Jews, on +the other hand, though laying particular stress on the possibilities of Judaism +in Palestine, put their shoulder to the wheel and were ready to assist +in rearing the great structure of Judaism in America. The so-called +religionists, while looking upon Judaism as a faith, were yet disinclined to +repudiate the purely nationalistic Jews, whose enthusiasm and devotion +they admired even though it flowed from a source they did not officially +acknowledge. The so-called nationalists, basing their Judaism on race +consciousness, realized that a common foundation of Judaism in this +country could only be laid along the lines of religious affiliation.</div> + +<p>This cooperation found tangible expression in the recent participation +of American Jews in the upbuilding of Palestine, a participation which one +will vainly look for in a similar group (I am not speaking of isolated individuals) +in other countries. The same desire for a better understanding +was further embodied in the movement toward Kehillah organization, +which, though centering around the Jewish religion, still clearly implied the +national element in Judaism.</p> + +<p>There was every reason to hope that this cooperation, which had been +so happily inaugurated between the two sections, would become more intimate +and more extensive, and that the interaction of the heterogeneous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> +elements of American Jewish life would resolve itself in a great and strong +harmony. America bade fair to become an ideal Jewish center, where the +practical wisdom of emancipated Jewry and the idealistic intensity of +Ghetto Jewry would be merged in one united Jewish community, fully conscious +of its duty as the future leader of the Jewish Diaspora and acknowledging +its indebtedness to the center of all Jews in the land of our Fathers.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Old Conflict Revived</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>S</big>UDDENLY, however, a reaction seems to have set in, which threatens +to disrupt the harmony hitherto prevailing. This reaction, which is +fraught with grave consequences for the future of American Judaism no +less than for the Zionist movement, dates from, or at least coincides with, +the struggle centering around the Haifa Technikum. This is not the place +to enter into an analysis of that momentous issue. It is enough to state +that the bond of unity was disrupted with rude hands, and the old conflict +hinging on the issues of Diaspora and Nationalism broke out with new +fury. Again we see Diaspora Judaism pitched against Palestinian Judaism, +and Religion against Nationalism. Reason has given way to passion, +and discrimination to generalization. The Jews of the new Palestine, who +have given of their life-blood to the rejuvenation of our homeland, are +sweepingly declared to be "anarchists," while, on the other hand, American +Jews who, with single-hearted devotion, have been the builders of the great +Jewish center in the New World, are contemptuously sneered at as "assimilationists."</div> + +<p>In this mood of distrust and prejudice, American Jewry was overtaken +by the great crisis resulting from the World War, and the disharmony prevailing +between the two factions soon found tangible expression in the +struggle over a Jewish Congress. The two elements of American Jewry +were clearly divided on the issue: the German or native Jews, represented by +leading members of the American Jewish Committee, were opposed to the +calling of a congress, while the Russian or immigrant Jews, speaking largely +through the Zionist organization, clamored for it.</p> + +<p>From what has preceded I believe it may be safely concluded that this +demand for a congress on the one hand, and the opposition to it on the +other, are not rooted in diametrically opposed and deeply implanted +theories of Judaism but are rather the expression of different moods or +temperaments. The immigrant Jews who were directly concerned in the +war, since its horrors affected their homelands and the kin they left behind, +and who were impulsive and sentimental, felt the burning need of crying out +in their despair, and were ready to face the consequences which might result +from this outcry. The native Jews, whose sympathy with their far-off +brethren, profound though it was, could hardly, in the nature of the case, +be more than indirect and whose accustomed reserve and self-restraint enabled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> +them to judge the issues more calmly, shrunk from the risks which in +their opinion were implied in an open protest of the Jewish people before +the inflamed public opinion of the non-Jewish world. It is not my intention, +nor is it my function, to render judgment in so momentous an hour on an +issue concerning which Jewish opinion is diametrically yet honestly divided. +But it is necessary to point out that whichever side may be in the right: +serious as may be the dangers of holding a congress or not, the dangers +involved in a split over this question are incalculably more serious. Such a +split may not only result in permanent and perhaps irreparable injury to the +Jewish cause in America and to the Zionist movement in this country, but +may also, by aligning the two sections of American Jewry against one another, +spell nothing short of disaster to the Jewish people as a whole. The +stakes involved in this conflict are infinitely greater than the issue which +has given rise to it.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Structure of American Judaism Endangered</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>S</big>O far as American Judaism is concerned, the practical results of this +strife between Zionists and non-Zionists in America,—to leave aside +all theoretical considerations,—may prove to be fatal. It will reopen the +gap between the two elements of American Jewry which had been almost +filled. The work of American Judaism has been done by both elements. +Prominent non-Zionists and even anti-Zionists have frequently and gratefully +acknowledged the debt which American Israel owes to the cooperation +of the Zionists. The institutions of American Jewry depend to a large +extent for their existence upon the non-Zionists, who may now by the force +of reaction be driven into anti-Zionism. But the progress of these institutions +just as largely depends upon those who are Zionists. The withdrawal +of the Zionists from American Jewish work—and such withdrawal may become +a moral duty for the Zionists who are loyal to the movement and +respect their convictions—might mean a complete standstill in the life of +American Jewry. Perhaps there are a few among us who are skeptical +about the fate of American Judaism, and who therefore see no harm in +hastening its disintegration. But those of us who are profoundly concerned +about the future of the two and one-half million Jews who are now in +America, and of twice that number who may one day be here, cannot but +view with the utmost anxiety the danger of wrecking what promises to +become the greatest Jewish center in the history of the Jews since their +dispersion.</div> + +<p>As for the Zionist movement, one cannot help doubting whether Zionism, +even if it succeeded in defeating its opponents, would thereby obtain its +object. I am not speaking of the very considerable material injury which +the movement will suffer from the indifference and hostility of the other side. +I am rather thinking of the dangers incurred by Zionism itself if, having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> +repulsed the so-called classes, it becomes a one-sided movement of the +masses. Of course, no Zionist can be otherwise than deeply gratified by +the prospect of Zionism becoming a cause of the people, but unless it +manages to preserve the balance of power within the Jewish community, it +will be exposed to risks from another source. Zionism is beset with so many +difficulties that it dare not burden itself with problems extraneous to it. The +injection of political or economic issues into the movement is fraught with +incalculable consequences for the future of the movement in this country. +These issues are so extensive in their bearings and so vital in their manifestations +that if superimposed on the delicate structure of Zionism they +may crush it, never to rise again.</p> + +<p>Zionism must, therefore, remain neutral. While including all Jews, +it dare not identify itself with any section of them. It dare not be either +a movement of the classes or of the masses. While holding scrupulously +aloof from the issues which divide modern Jewry as part of modern humanity, +it must keep its eye fixed on one point, the securing of a Jewish center +for the Jewish people as a whole, in which the ills that afflict humanity may +be cured in the prophetic spirit of justice and righteousness.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>A Plea for Peace and Cooperation</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE practical conclusion of these considerations is clear. It is a plea +for reconciliation, for a return to that Synthesis which was on the +point of becoming the common ground of all American Israel. American +Judaism needs peace to carry out the great task confronting it. Zionism is +no less in need of peace in order to gain the hearts of those whose hearts are +still Jewish. The very possibility of a conflict has bred a spirit of suspicion +and unfriendliness which falls like a blight upon every attempt at united +action. The non-Zionists may succeed in defeating their opponents; they +can never dispense with Zionism which is a driving force in American Jewish +life. The victory may perch on the banners of the Zionists but they can +never forego the assistance of the non-Zionists who still form the backbone +of American Jewry. Representing the common longings of the Jewish +people throughout the world, Zionism should serve as a leaven, quickening +and stimulating the Jewish activities of this country, and rescue them from +the greatest danger of Diaspora Judaism, the danger of provincialism, of +falling away from the main body of universal Israel. In the particular situation +confronting us Zionism ought to assert the claims of Palestine, in addition +to those of the Diaspora. But the Zionists cannot replace the present +agencies of American Jewish life, nor can they dispense with the cooperation +of the non-Zionists. Such cooperation, based on the synthesis +<i>Palestine plus Diaspora</i>, would be of equal benefit to both parties. Zionism +and non-Zionism have only one real enemy: it is Assimilation, which preaches +the suicide of Judaism. But all those who are concerned about the preservation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> +of Judaism, in whatever shape or by whatever means, have the right to +be recognized, if not as fellow workers in Zion, at least as fellow workers in +Israel.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Supreme Test for the Jews of America</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>L</big>ASTLY, if cooperation and harmony between the Zionists and the non-Zionists +be permanently needed for the welfare of American Judaism, +they are needed a thousandfold now when the catastrophe which has overwhelmed +the ancient centers of Jewry has turned the eyes and the hopes of +the whole Jewish world toward the Jews of this country. Ever since the Jews +of Russia, fleeing from the wrath of the oppressor, began to wend their +steps toward these hospitable shores, thoughtful European Jews have been +looking upon America as the future center of the Jewish Diaspora. And as +time progressed, as the numbers and the energies of the Old Jewish World +assembled more and more in the New, American Jewry has been steadily +advancing toward this exalted position of Jewish hegemony. But what, +in the natural course of events, might have been the fruit of slow and +gradual ripening, has now been thrust upon us as the sudden result of the +World War. Crippled European Jewry is now looking, and will look more +and more, to the Jewry of America not only for comfort and support, but +also for light and leading, for spiritual advice and guidance, and the Jewry +of America, the only Jewry of consequence unscathed by the world struggle, +cannot but assume the responsibility.</div> + +<p>Nor is the Jewry of America at liberty to choose. There is an ancient +Jewish legend which, with a subtle touch of sarcasm, tells us that when the +Lord, having descended upon Mount Sinai, was about to bestow the Torah +upon the Jews, the latter, shrinking from the obligations imposed by it, +made an attempt to refuse the proffered gift. Thereupon the Lord lifted +the mountain over their heads and angrily exclaimed: "If ye accept my +Law, well and good. If not, ye shall be crushed on the spot!" And the +Jews, yielding no less to the promptings of duty than to the dictates of +wisdom, quickly recanted and declared: "We will do and obey!" American +Jewry will either be the leader of Jewry or it will not be. Let it fail to +respond to the great call of history,—and it will unfailingly relapse into +the obscurity and sluggishness of its former parochialism. This great +world crisis will be either the making or the unmaking of American Jewry, +and no Jew whose mind is unclouded by the ephemeral passions of party +strife can do aught except ardently pray that the Jews of America may +emerge in triumph from their supreme test.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature2_ifriedlander.png" width="150" height="48" alt="Signature: Israel Friedlaender" title="Signature: Israel Friedlaender" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span></p> + +<h2>Our Spiritual Inheritance</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Irving Lehman</span></h3> + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 140px;"> +<img src="images/3ilehman.jpg" width="140" height="200" alt="IRVING LEHMAN" title="IRVING LEHMAN" /> +<i>IRVING LEHMAN (born +in New York, 1876), educated +at Columbia (A.B., 1896; +A.M., 1897; LL.B., 1898). +Justice of the Supreme Court of +New York; associated with a +number of Jewish institutions, +including the Jewish Theological +Seminary and the Y. M. H. +& Kindred Associations. Justice +Lehman has taken a particularly +keen interest in Jewish +University students, and as +Chairman of the Graduate +Menorah Committee since the +formation of the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association, he has +been generously helpful in promoting +the ideals which the +Menorah movement embodies. +Devoted Jew and public-spirited +American, his personal example +has been an inspiration +to Menorah men all over the +country.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>F a Jew of the Middle Ages, or even a Jew living +to-day in almost medieval conditions in Poland, +were present to-night,<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> he would certainly say, +"What sort of a conference of rabbis is this, at which +a layman is presiding, another layman is to speak on +'The Religion of the Hebrews,' and a third layman is +to speak on a social movement?"</div> + +<p>To the old-time Jew a conference of rabbis meant +a conference of men learned in the law and its authoritative +interpretation in the Talmud—men whose duty +it was to teach this law and who would confer among +themselves upon the application of its abstruse and +technical rules to the daily needs of their congregations. +But they could recognize no questions and no +problems not fully covered by that law; consequently +they could recognize no right in any person not an +authority on that law to take any part in such a conference +except to ask for the advice of the rabbis appointed +to teach the law. That was the attitude of +our ancient leaders, and it met with the full and unqualified +approval of the Jewish laymen, because it +fulfilled all the requirements of our medieval condition. +Until recent times we were a people apart, living +among the nations of the world, but not a part +of them. We had no right to join in the general civic +life. Our life consisted in the memory of a national +past and in the dreams of a national future. So far +as the present was concerned, we were perforce interested +only in the maintenance of our identity and in +the preservation of our ancient law, so that we might +be in a position some day to realize our dreams and to reëstablish our national +state, founded on this ancient law. Deprived as we were of all right +to live in the present, we could justify our existence and continuance as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> +separate people and a separate religion only by laying stress on the importance +of our ancient law, and striving to hand it down, pure and unaltered, to +future generations. Therefore in those days the rabbis were naturally our +only leaders, and their right to leadership depended solely upon their knowledge +of the law. The observance of the Torah embraced all the limits of the +life of the Jew.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>New Opportunities and New Obligations</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>O-DAY all this has changed. The Jew of to-day is living in the present, +and the observance of the minutiæ of Jewish law is to the man +active in civic and business life of slight if any importance.</div> + +<p>Inconceivable as it would be to a medieval Jew that at a conference +of Jewish rabbis a layman should preside and laymen should make formal +addresses, it would be equally inconceivable to such a Jew that among +the laymen who might make such addresses, there could be a professor at +a great university, a worker in the general social activities of the city, and +a judge. These changed conditions, this wide life now opened to the Jews, +have produced new problems, and we demand of our rabbis, if they are indeed +to remain the teachers and leaders in Israel, that they help us solve +these problems.</p> + +<p>As soon as opportunities were offered to us, we eagerly grasped them. +We are too eager, too ambitious, too practical a people to continue to +live in dreams of the past and visions of the future, when the present is +thrown open to us. We have definitely and forever discarded the concept +that we are a peculiar people, the "chosen of the Lord," in so far as that +concept cuts us off from free participation in the life of the nations among +which we live, or from serving in the cause of the general advance of humanity. +We have demanded the opportunity to exercise civic rights, and +as those rights have been granted, we have recognized that the opportunity +confers also an obligation—the obligation to exercise those rights in no +narrow spirit, but for the benefit of the whole people of which we are now +a part.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Why the Jew Remains a Jew</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>S a result of this change, we no longer take our Judaism for granted, +but day by day perforce are asking ourselves three questions: What +does Judaism mean, and why are we Jews? Will the maintenance of Judaism +be of benefit to the countries in which we live and to humanity at +large? How can Judaism be maintained, since now we not only live among +the nations of the world, but the individual Jew has become a part of these +nations?</div> + +<p>We have discarded, as I have said and as I firmly believe, the ancient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> +concept that Judaism means membership in a peculiar people, the chosen +of the Lord, except possibly in the sense that we have a peculiar obligation +imposed upon us to demonstrate to the world the power and worth of a +spiritual ideal. We Reform Jews have discarded the view that in any +literal sense the Lord revealed himself unto Moses and gave unto him the +tablets of stone. The words "Hear, O Israel, the Eternal is One, the Lord +is One," are still dear to us, but many who call themselves Jews deny even +the existence of a personal God. Why then do we still remain Jews, why +do not those so-called Jews, who deny the existence of the Lord, frankly +join the ranks of so-called universal philosophers while the rest of us join +the Unitarians?</p> + +<p>The answer comes not only from our heads, but from our hearts. Most +of us could not renounce Judaism because deep down in our consciousness, +aside from reason or logic, we know we are not as other men; we know we +are Jews. We hear the cry of the suffering in Belgium and we answer to +that cry because we are men and nothing human is alien to us,—but when +we hear the cry of the suffering Jew in Poland and Palestine, then the true +Jew answers that cry as the cry not only of a fellow human being, but as +the cry of a brother.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>A Nation Founded on a Spiritual Ideal</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>S Judaism then a matter of race? Are we after all and regardless of our +beliefs and special obligations, a peculiar people, perhaps even a separate +nation? The answer to this question lies, I think, in the study of our +history. For centuries past the Jew has been persecuted, driven from one +country to another, despoiled, massacred, and at best despised and forced +to live in the Ghetto clothed in the badges of disdain. All of this the Jew +has suffered and yet survived and kept his religion intact; willing at all +times to remain a man apart because he knew that in the past the Jews had +been a nation founded on a spiritual ideal; because his tradition taught +him that on the slopes of Mount Sinai, the Lord had entered into a covenant +with his fathers—and not only with them stood there that day, but also +"with him that was not there that day" but who came after them; and +that by virtue of this covenant, Israel became unto the Lord a kingdom +of priests and a holy people; and because the value of this tradition, the +force of this spiritual ideal was greater to him than the security, the right +to live and work freely among his fellow men, which he could have obtained +only by discarding his Judaism.</div> + +<p>During all the centuries since the dispersal, the Jews have had a common +history, a common tradition, a common spiritual ideal, and they have +survived by reason of the force of this common inheritance. It is this common +inheritance of a past founded on a spiritual force that to-day, in my +opinion, constitutes Judaism.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>America Demands Adherence to our Spiritual Ideals</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>R</big>ACIAL Judaism is in one sense, but in the sense of a race that has +stood for a spiritual ideal and is bound together by traditions of +the value of that ideal, and not simply a race that is bound together by +ties of common descent. At all times and in all places a Jew meant not +merely a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not merely a descendant +of the people who once ruled over the promised land, but one who considered +himself bound by the covenant of his fathers, at least to the extent +that he would be true to his spiritual ideals, whatever these ideals +might be. Judaism is in that sense a racial religion, but it is and at all +times must be a religion and not simply a race. True, we now differ among +ourselves as to the content of our religion. True, many of us now deny +that that covenant which has kept alive our race and religion was ever in +fact made, but we cannot deny our history and our past. We cannot deny +that by virtue of the tradition of that covenant our fathers considered +themselves under a peculiar obligation, and that by virtue of that tradition +they sought to become a kingdom of priests and a holy people.</div> + +<p>That tradition at least is our own heritage, and he only is a Jew who +recognizes the force of spiritual ideals, and by virtue of that inheritance +also for himself assumes the obligation involved in being a member of a +nation of priests and a holy people.</p> + +<p>If that spiritual concept and not merely race constitutes the basis and +the essential content of Judaism, then surely the question of whether the +maintenance of Judaism will be a benefit to the country in which we live +answers itself. In all civic matters we must work and be as one with our +fellow-citizens, but America demands that each citizen give to its service +the best of which he is capable.</p> + +<p>Since Judaism means the recognition of a peculiar obligation imposed +upon us by our past; since Judaism is founded upon a spiritual ideal,—adherence +to our ancient faith and endeavor to live up to our past must be +to us a source of greater moral and spiritual strength—strength that we +must bring to the service of our country.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Spiritual Value of a New Zion</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>UR problem then becomes really one of how we can maintain Judaism +and keep it alive now that it has become a part and not as formerly +the whole of our lives. Some say that this can be done only by recognizing +that we are not simply a racial religion but actually a nation, and that +we must reëstablish that nation and its capital upon the hills of Zion.</div> + +<p>This is neither the time nor the place to discuss such a matter. For +myself, I wish to say that if in the country where through our fathers the +world first learnt the value of spiritual ideals, where it was prophesied that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> +"the law shall go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem—" +and "nations shall no longer lift up sword against nations neither +shall they learn war any more," a community of Jews shall be again established +who shall represent and contribute to the fulfillment of the prophecy, +such a community would be from a spiritual standpoint a living force to +keep Judaism alive throughout the world.</p> + +<div class='center'><br />"<i>Nationally We Are Americans and Americans Only</i>"</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>UT I wish also to state that I cannot for an instant recognize that the +Jews as such constitute a nation in any sense in which that word is +recognized in political science, or that a national basis is a possible concept +for modern Judaism. We Jews in America, bound to the Jews of +other lands by our common faith, constituting our common inheritance, +cannot as American citizens feel any bond to them as members of a nation, +for nationally we are Americans and American only, and in political and +civic matters we cannot recognize any other ties. We must therefore look +for the maintenance of Judaism to those spiritual concepts which constitute +Judaism.</div> + +<p>And it is the duty of our rabbis in the present just as it was in the +past to lead us and strengthen us in our Judaism. A conference of rabbis +to-day properly recognizes that Judaism consists no longer in the minute +observances of the law; that the Jewish people are asking for the inner +meaning of their religion, and not for dry formulas. In all humility as a +layman, I say to them that the Jewish people again needs to be taught that +what the Lord requires of them is "to do justice, to love mercy and to +walk humbly with their God."</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature3_ilehman.png" width="150" height="40" alt="Signature: Irving Lehman" title="Signature: Irving Lehman" /> +</div> +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> +<div class="bbox2"><i><big>I</big> AM very much pleased with the excellence of The Menorah +Journal, which grows better with every number. It is +conceived in a fine spirit and has a high educational value +for the Jewish young men in the universities throughout the +country.</i> + +<p><i>The American spirit and the Jewish spirit are in entire +accord, in fact they supplement one another. The Puritan +ideals of democracy which lie at the foundation of our Government +were derived principally from the Jewish ideals of +democracy, and I cannot imagine any American being less +an American for being a good Jew. On the contrary, he will +be a better American for being a good Jew, more ready at all +times to make every sacrifice for his country in peace and in +war.—Hon. Oscar S. Straus, in a Letter to The Menorah +Journal.</i></p></div> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> This address was delivered at the opening session of the Eastern Conference of Reform +Rabbis, Temple Emanu-El, November 7, 1915, at which Justice Lehman presided.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span></p> + +<h2>Lyrics</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Louis K. Anspacher</span></h3> +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 143px;"> +<img src="images/4lanspacher.jpg" width="143" height="200" alt="LOUIS K. ANSPACHER" title="LOUIS K. ANSPACHER" /> +<i>LOUIS K. ANSPACHER, +poet and +playwright, whose most recent +plays, "Our Children" +and "The Unchastened +Woman," have won recognition +for him as one of the +most original and powerful +dramatists of the present +day. Born in Cincinnati in +1878, and educated at City +College of New York, and +Columbia University +(A.M., LL.B.), he occupied +the vestry pulpit of Temple +Emanu-El, New York, for +several years, and has lectured +on ethics and the +drama. A volume of his +poems, to be published soon, +will show more completely +the depth and resourcefulness +of the lyric power revealed +in the accompanying +verses. The portrait is from +an oil painting by Franzen.</i></div> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Adam Prometheus"> +<tr><td align='left'><h3>Adam Prometheus</h3></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><h3>I</h3></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>In olden books 'tis written,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>That he that would discern</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The secret'st truth of things</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Lost paradise eterne.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>He was the first that fed</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>On fruit that knowledge brings;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Exiled from joys, he fled</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And flaming swords did burn</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Behind his path, which led</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 4em;">To miseries.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><h3>II</h3></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Great God, vouchsafe me truth:</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>For I am one that smitten</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>With the deep mystery of things,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>In learned lore uncouth,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Out of pure wonder sings</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 4em;">In harmonies.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><h3>III</h3></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Great God, forfend the tooth</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Of deep remorse, and stings</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Of joys that I did spurn:</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Oh, spare the gnawing ruth</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Of memories' torturings,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Yea proudly did I turn</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>From earth to snatch at wings</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>To soar and ne'er return</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 4em;">To life's lees.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><h3>IV</h3></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Great God, I too am cursed;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>A destiny from birth,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Of all dread fates the worst,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Drives me unrestful, flings</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Me from my Eden bliss,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Over a barren earth,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>To impious search for things</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Whose heart is an abyss.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>I too am one that clings.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>In lust for a knowledge kiss,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 3em;">Upon my knees.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><h3>V</h3></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Great God, I've given o'er</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>My paradise of ease,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Allowed my soul to soar</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>To mysteries high or deep</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>At the world's core;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Oh, quench its ardent thirst,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Its hunger, God, appease:—</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Or if Thou dost ignore</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The soul that Thou hast nursed,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Then smite me as I leap,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And let Thy rages roar</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>On me as in the first</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>That fell on sulphur seas.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Yea, down Hell's sliffy steep</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Thy molten lightnings pour</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Till darkness be immersed;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Yet know I will not creep</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Though all Thy thunders burst</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 3em;">In penalties.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><h3>My Psalm of Life</h3></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>I cannot grow as men would have me grow,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>By ordered plodding to a life complete;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Climbing the path with slow and heavy beat</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Of tedious footsteps from the world below.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>I cannot like a visible circle flow</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>Until by measured compass I can meet</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The place I started from with weary feet.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>That proudly point the obvious path they go.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Ah no,—mine be the instinct given to trust</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>That all will in the outcome fall aright.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Like a migrant swan still wandering since I must,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>I'll fill a life's full cycle in my flight:</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Though I soar into the clouds or sink to dust,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>My orb will come around; I'll reach my height.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><br /><h3>The Vocal Memnon to the Sphynx</h3></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The sands of time drift round me, and within</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">There is the knell of passing and decay:</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The sun-smit vastness of the world doth weigh</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Upon my riddling soul like hidden sin,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And bids it speak. Thou desert art my kin!</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">I crumble to thee, waning day by day;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">But I am cursed with questions that betray</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The end of life before death's hours begin,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>My eyes are staring, yet their sight is blind.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">My ears are hollow, yet they hear no sound.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">My knees are buried and my body sinks.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The stars weave fates that they themselves unwind,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Traversing the same cycles round and round;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 2em;">While I sit gazing at the silent Sphynx.</span></td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class="figright" style="width: 180px;"> +<img src="images/signature4_lasnspacher.png" width="180" height="35" alt="Louise Anspacher" title="Louise Anspacher" /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span></p> + +<h2>Sholom Asch: The Jewish Maupassant</h2> + +<div class='center'><i>A Menorah Prize Essay</i></div> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Percy B. Shostac</span></h3> +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 149px;"> +<img src="images/5pshostac.jpg" width="149" height="200" alt="PERCY B. SHOSTAC" title="PERCY B. SHOSTAC" /> +<i>PERCY B. SHOSTAC, born +in 1892, in New York +City, where he attended the +Ethical Culture School and +High School; graduate of the +University of Wisconsin +(1915), where he was an active +member of the Wisconsin +Dramatic Society and contributed +frequently to the Wisconsin +Play-Book. He is now +teaching English at the University +of Kansas. The present +Essay was awarded the +Wisconsin Menorah Prize for 1915.</i></div> + + +<div class='center'><b><big>I</big></b></div> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">The Man and His Work</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T was in the little parlor of a four-room New York +flat. The room was furnished sparsely: a table +and a few chairs of bamboo, a long row of books +on the yellow floor along one wall, some Chinese ornaments +and plants, a few Russian embroideries, a rich +Persian covering on the couch, and candles—many +candles burning and flickering on their rest of saucer +or glazed clay candlestick. Our hostess seemed part +of her room; she was a Russian Jewess, decidedly +Oriental in type, rare in her beauty and still more +rare in her personality and charm.</div> + +<p>Sholom Asch sat opposite me smoking his cigarette +and sipping his coffee—a big man of thirty-five, +with broad shoulders and a frame sturdy and substantial; +thick black hair, a high forehead, a characteristically +Jewish nose, a firm mouth, a little black +moustache, and deep brown eyes—eyes that at times +would seem to be unaware of anything surrounding +them, yet one felt that they saw everything and understood +everything. His complexion was that of a +ruddy boy, yet his large handsome features had the +sensitiveness which classed him unmistakably as an +artist.</p> + +<p>He was talking in Yiddish. His voice was soft +and his sentences followed each other in musical cadence and beauty.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><big>"Y</big>ES," Asch was saying, "he was the best Jew I ever met. I always +think of him as 'The Light of Damascus.' I was in Damascus last +year. The most beautiful city in the world! The houses on the winding +streets are centuries old. The people seem older than the houses. For +hours I stood in the market-place watching the camels and the asses pass<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> +by. Some had the dust of the desert on their feet and some had mud and +dirt. Each went slowly on its way with its turbaned rider sitting still as +a figure of stone on its back.</div> + +<p>"Through the kindness of a friend we entered a house on one of the +strange streets. Like most of the old houses its front was plain and unattractive. +We went through a court and on to a balcony overlooking an +enclosed garden. Such a garden I had never seen! It seemed a picture +transported from the 'Thousand and One Nights.' In the center was a +fountain of extraordinary workmanship, so inlaid with gems that after +the water had gushed out it seemed to splash down again in a shower of +ruby and amethyst. About the fountain were palms and fig trees. The +flowers were more wondrous than the jewelled water or the +many-colored +mosaics of the walls and arches.</p> + +<p>"On the grass sat a grey-bearded Mohammedan. He smoked his +hookah in silence. Suddenly we heard voices. Three young women came +from the house and bathed in the fountain. Their lord and husband sat +stoically and smoked. They laughed and played in the splashing waters. +And as I watched this old man and these beautiful women, I thought myself +back in the ancient Damascus, in the city that I had thought was dead +for a thousand years.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><big>"T</big>HAT evening I was walking in the city. Suddenly I saw a light before +me. To my surprise it was an electric bulb—the only one +in Damascus. It was fastened to the head of a donkey and illuminated a +painted advertisement attached to his back. By following the wires I +found they led to a large wholesale warehouse. It hurt me to find this +electric light in Damascus. I was still more hurt when I found that the +man who had installed it was a Jew, a Russian Jew who had come to the +city some years before.</div> + +<p>"The next day I visited a shop where hammered gold and silver, for +which Damascus is famous, was sold. With the permission of the proprietor +I went upstairs to the workroom. What I saw there I shall never forget.</p> + +<p>"I found myself in a long but very narrow room, dimly lighted by a +few dirty windows. In two long rows in front of two long tables sat fifty +or sixty little girls huddled so close together that they touched one another. +Each child was bent over the table and each held a little hammer. +She was tapping on a piece of metal. The tapping was never-ending—a +sharp clicking sound like the falling of hail. The children never spoke nor +smiled. Near me sat a little girl. She was not more than eight years old. +Her hammer had stopped tapping and her eyes were closed. She was +asleep. The girl next to her, evidently her elder sister, seeing the foreman +approach, pinched the child sharply. She opened her eyes and dully<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> +began her tapping. As I left this room of darkness my eyes were wet +with tears.</p> + +<p>"I found out that only little girls were employed in this industry: +that they began when eight or nine years old. When they were sixteen +they usually were dead from the metal that had entered their lungs. The +children were mostly Jewish, for you must know that when the Jews become +part of a slow Eastern civilization they sink yet lower and become +yet more phlegmatic and listless than the people among whom they have +settled. I was indignant and asked if nothing was being done to remedy +this terrible evil. Then I was told that there was one man who was devoting +his life to freeing these children. It was the Jewish merchant who +used the only electric light in Damascus. He gave every cent he earned +to this work. He maintained an industrial school for Jewish children and +was trying to interest the Jews of the world in the movement. And then +I blessed this man's electric light. I think of him always as 'The Light +of Damascus.'"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>ND thus Sholom Asch talked. I cannot reproduce his words; I have +only tried to give the spirit of them. He talked in the finished style +of a Maupassant, with all the imagination and all the strength of that +great master. I saw then, before I had read his work, that his title of +"The Jewish Maupassant" was not extravagant. And I saw also that +here was an artist with human sympathy immeasurable, and yet not lacking +sensuous imagery and elemental strength and beauty.</div> + +<p>Sholom Asch was born and brought up in a little town in Poland, +Kuttnow, near Lodz. His father was a merchant on a small scale. He +bought sheep and oxen from the peasants and shipped them to be marketed +in Lodz, in Germany, in France. He rode about the country and +sometimes took Sholom with him, whom he loved especially because he +studied so well. Sholom liked the sheep and the cattle, and he loved the +melancholy Polish landscape—mystic, fearful.</p> + +<p>His father was a healthy, normal, honorable Jew; not fanatical but +deeply religious. He was philosophic toward life, he cared nothing for +money and was content without it. His mother, on the other hand, was +nervous and worldly. She was dependent on the externals of life and to +her no money was misery. There was a big house with much food, many +new clothes, much hospitality, and many big brothers and sisters; something +like eleven children. The ceremonies of the Jewish faith were observed +beautifully, the holidays kept happily. There was substance and +spirit.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>ND Sholom absorbed this atmosphere of the old religious rites, and +the paganism of the cattle and nature, and spoke little. When he +was six he was sent to the Jewish school. This was in session from eight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> +in the morning until five in the evening. He and the other children used +to watch the sun shine on certain spots and know the time. How they +waited for the moment of freedom, little knowing how well one of their +number was to picture for the world each intimate emotion and thought +of their imprisoned souls.</div> + +<p>One day a peasant came to his house and Sholom went with him on +his wagon. That was a wonderful day; he played hookey. The next day +the rabbi, who believed in corporal punishment, expressed his views on the +matter of absence.</p> + +<p>Asch was extremely clever at learning the Talmud and the old history +and philosophy of the Jews. He learned to reason from the Talmud and +to-day he says, "Art is logic. There must be an 'Urkraft' (elemental +strength) behind a man's work." And if there is one outstanding characteristic +of Asch's work, it is this elemental, this passionately strong and +elemental vein.</p> + +<p>Max Reinhardt, whom Asch calls "Ein Dichter im Theater," loves +Asch dearly. In his Deutsches Theater, the most artistic and best +equipped theatre in the world, he produced Asch's <i>God of Vengeance</i>. This +was a marked success and is still a most popular play in Germany, Russia, +and in the Yiddish theatres of New York. Asch was only twenty-four +years at this time. From this play he made much money and a whole +village was made happy an entire summer.</p> + +<p>Since then his income from his writings has increased steadily. Much +of his work is now translated into Russian and German, but as yet not +into English. The income from his translations far exceeds that from his +Yiddish publications, and he is able to support his wife and four children +in ease and comfort. Although he has been to America a few times during +the last six years, it is only several months ago that his wife and children +arrived from Poland and he settled here permanently.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>N important happening in the history of Jewish literature occurred +in the beginning of April. Perez, the intellectual father of the new +movement, died. Asch and Perez were deep friends. Of all living writers +Perez has had most influence on Asch, both as writer and as man. When +Asch brought him his first story, Perez gave him a volume of his poems. +He said of Asch, "A bird is breaking through the shell—who knows, is it +an eagle or a crow?" It proved to be an eagle. Perez was a revolutionist, +a poet, a dramatist, the defender of the weak, the inspiration of the +talented. A little story of his, "Bonchi the Silent," about a Jewish workingman +who never complained and who took all his misfortunes as a matter +of course, whose desires and hopes were so thoroughly crushed out of him +that on reaching Heaven and being asked by God to request what he desired +most, he said, "I want a piece of white bread every Friday"—that +story, more than any one influence, caused the formation of the "Bund<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> +of the Russian Revolution." It made the <i>intelligenzia</i> of Russia feel that +it was their duty to teach the workingman to demand the earth.</div> + +<p>And now since Perez's death, on Asch's shoulders has fallen the responsibility +of being the greatest Jewish writer living to-day. He is assuming +the added duty of revolutionist as well as artist. For the serious Jewish +writer is a sort of rabbi to his people. Ethically he stands for the old +Jewish ideals. To these Asch has added the beauty of paganism and the +vision of anarchistic communism.</p> + +<p>In Paris once he came to a meeting of Zionists. He spoke against the +Zionist idea and was not listened to with great deference. Another writer, +Abraham Raisin, coming in shouted, "Hear! Listen to a great Jew." +Asch was given the floor and finished the speech.</p> + +<p>Asch feels that only now is he beginning to drop his Jewish past as +material for his work. He is going out into the future: he is becoming +impressed with a vision of the America to be—the ideal democracy. And +his work is showing it. He is planning a poetic industrial drama, he is +finishing a gripping war play. His deep understanding of the industrial +slavery of our times is shown wonderfully in his novel, <i>Motke the Scamp</i>, +which is now appearing in serial form in the New York Yiddish <i>Forward</i>. +He begins with Motke's infancy. His mother's milk is sold to the rich +man's baby; Motke is cheated of everything. Picture after picture of +sordid Polish ghetto life follows—intermixed with wood and river sunshine +as only Asch can do it. One feels the sun resting eternally over all, +while man with his laughter and tenderness and pain struggles toward perfection.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>SCH is becoming an exposer and a prophet, but with great beauty +of style and purity of emotion. He is decidedly modern, decidedly +Russian, decidedly Hebraic, and eternally universal. He is bringing the +message of beauty and freedom to the American Yiddish working man. +Asch is not a socialist; he is a real individualist. With a sincere contribution +to the happiness of the world he believes that every human being is +entitled to all the joy of the world, no matter what form his contribution +may assume; shirts, street cleaning, cooking, a painting, dishes, a poem. +He does not preach eight hours and a dollar more, he demands joy in labor. +He wants people to play—to be happy at their work. He demands freedom +in one's personal life and beauty in mind and body. He is an industrialist +plus an artist.</div> + +<p>Asch has traveled through Russia talking on various subjects to Jewish +gatherings, not for money but for love of his race. He has visited Palestine, +but with a keen interest in the growth and development of the Jew—not +from a nationalistic standpoint but from a world point of view.</p> + +<p>And this is why he admires America—because it brings to him a vision +of a perfect race, the result of the mixture of all races, perpetuating the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> +fine traits of all. He is immensely interested in the public school. He believes +in democracy and thinks we have it in America.</p> + +<p>For artists, however, he says this country is not good. The newspapers +in Europe, he says, print what Tolstoi eats and how he sleeps. Here +Rockefeller is the national hero. The artist here lacks artistic obstinacy; +he succumbs to money, he leaves starvation and his <i>Kunst</i>.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>SCH loves Shakespere above all other writers; he is his master. For +months he went each night to the Berlin theatres and often, with his +eyes shut, would listen to the words and cadences of Shakespere's lines. +<i>Hamlet</i> he considers the greatest play ever written. <i>Midsummer Night's +Dream</i> and <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> are two of his favorites. From the ghost +scene in <i>Hamlet</i> he can trace Maeterlinck and all the modern mystics. He +says that Shakespere is universal in his appeal and that his work in translation, +when done by a master like Schlegel, takes on the peculiar flavor of +the tongue and people into which it is translated and loses none of its +intrinsic worth.</div> + +<p>He loves Gogol and Tolstoi. <i>Faust</i> is one of his favorite dramas. +He loves the old masters Greco and Rembrandt; among the moderns, +Cézanne, Puvis de Chavannes, Manet. In opera he does not care for Wagner, +but he is very fond of <i>The Magic Flute</i>, of <i>Madame Butterfly</i>, of +<i>Pagliacci</i>. He loves music and the theatre. Asch reads in many languages, +German, French, Russian, Polish, Hebrew, and a little English. But to +everybody he talks in Yiddish. He has no ear for other languages except +English, which he says is like his mother tongue!</p> + +<p>In the spring Asch goes out to the country and works, in the summer +he loafs, in the winter he lives among his friends. He writes all the time, +being chock full of energy—for work, for love, for friendship, for happiness. +As he says, "I am thankful to God for three things: first that he +gave me life, second that he gave me my talent, third for my love for you" +(this to whomever the lady happens to be).</p> + +<p>Like all the artists he is erratic, original, attractive, all-seeing. But +unlike most he has much strength of character and a brilliant logical +faculty that makes him check up his personal relations. He has much +affection in him and a great honesty and integrity which wins him admiration +and respect, and he has many friends among many kinds of people in +many parts of the world.</p> + +<p>Sholom Asch is a philosopher, a novelist, a poet, and a dramatist. +He loves the clouds and the sea, he truly loves mankind. Always through +all he writes one feels a deep and elemental strength, an elemental belief +in nature and truth. He is not ahead of his time; he is rather an interpreter +and inspirer of his own day. This makes him the happy person that +he is. He is greatly honored in Russia and in Germany, and by all writers +in Europe.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>II</h3> + +<div class='center'><span class="smcap">Asch as a Novelist and Short-Story Writer</span></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>ITH this brief sketch of Sholom Asch the man, I shall turn to a +consideration of a few of his most important works. As Sir Walter +Raleigh, the eminent English critic, has said, the best way to form a judgment +of an author is to quote his good passages. Accordingly I have been +as liberal as space would allow in my insertion of translated passages. The +most recent works, mentioned in the early part of this essay, I shall not +treat, as it was impossible for me to procure them at the time of writing. +I shall take up each work individually before making generalizations.</div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><i><big>D</big>IE Jüngsten</i> is a novel by Asch in which he tries to portray the character +and the influences at work on the younger generation of Jews in +Russia. The plot can be simply set forth. The younger generation is +represented by five characters of three social classes. Mery Lipskaja is +the daughter of a well-to-do Jewish manufacturer—in other words, she +is of the middle or bourgeois class. She has completed her <i>gymnasium</i> +(high-school) education and has absorbed the prevalent ideas about women +and emancipation, and a desire for higher education, for a broader life, for +St. Petersburg. Kowalski is an artist. He, like Mery, is not interested in +the class struggle; all that vitally concerns him is his art and "living." +David and Rahel Lazarus are the children of a physician who is giving his +life to the people of the "Grube" or ghetto. They have grown up among +the suppressed and impoverished Jews and they are filled with the spirit of +the revolution; David actively and Rahel passively. Mischa, the cousin +of Mery, is a member of the middle class. He has become aware of the +conditions in the Grube and his struggle lies between his middle class environmental +influence, which includes his love for Mery, and his desire to +join the revolution.</div> + +<p>At the beginning of the novel Mery has just returned from the <i>gymnasium</i>. +She is oppressed and dissatisfied with her provincial surroundings +and longs to go to the university at St. Petersburg. Mischa, in love with +Mery, has also just completed work at the <i>gymnasium</i>, and they plan to +go to St. Petersburg together. The artist Kowalski now comes to the +little south Russian village and soon Mery is in love with him. Mischa is +much distressed and suffers greatly. Kowalski leaves, promising to meet +Mery at St. Petersburg.</p> + +<p>The second part of the novel opens with Mischa and Mery in St. Petersburg. +The climate does not agree with Mery and Mischa arranges that +they go to a Finnish village. Here they grow very dear to each other +and Mischa is about to propose when Kowalski melodramatically appears. +Kowalski and Mery now give expression to their love. Mischa returns to +St. Petersburg but cannot pursue his studies because the revolutionary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> +disturbances have closed the university. Kowalski and Mery return to +St. Petersburg soon after and are admitted to the bohemian life there. +Kowalski meanwhile has become famous. The lovers gradually grow apart +and when the revolution breaks out Mery returns to her home for safety, +leaving Kowalski never to see him again. Mischa has returned home also. +After a massacre of the Jews in the Grube in which Rahel, the sister of +David, is outraged, he sees that in marrying her lies his only means of becoming +one of the Jews whom he was so desirous of helping. So despite +the fact that he still loves Mery and she is now willing to be his wife, he +marries Rahel. Mery after a period of restlessness in the little town returns +to St. Petersburg to join the bohemian group there.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE outstanding excellence of the novel lies in its characterization. +The characters live before us and we see the workings of their +minds and emotions with remarkable clarity. The mental struggles of +Mischa between his love for Mery and his desire to help the oppressed Jews, +always inhibited by inherited powerlessness to act; the carefree, art-centered, +egotistical Kowalski; the adolescent romanticism and sympathetic +insight of Mery; the cynically idealistic and self-sacrificing Dr. +Lazarus—these constitute the real substance and artistic worth of the book. The +pictures of contemporary Russian Jewish life are of marked interest, +especially to the western reader. The following passages are descriptive +of the Grube or ghetto and characterize the condition of the poorer Jews +in the towns throughout Russia:</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The sun seldom shone into the valley. Old people lost their vision early +and the percentage of child mortality was enormous. But even those who remained +alive under these conditions were weak, sick, half crippled people; +impoverished figures with crooked legs, large heads and weak arms crept through +the streets.</p> + +<p>"And in spite of everything the inhabitants never left their grave (Grube) +and made no attempt to find a better, more healthy home. A sort of sick love +bound them to their unfortunate homes, and like a curse it rested on each who +was born in the valley—that he could not free himself from it and that until +the end of his days he must eke out his sad existence there."</p></div> + +<p>After the massacre Mischa walks through the Grube:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The murmur of prayers re-echoed to his ears. From the little windows +of the synagogue came the soft gleam of candles. He entered. Deep as in a +cellar, as miserable and abandoned as themselves, lay the little house of prayer +of the wretched inhabitants of the Grube. The walls were bare. The Ark +of the Covenant was hung with only a piece of coarse linen. In front of the +broken 'altar' stood an old man in a torn prayer shawl and prayed before the +small penny candles. The room was full of worshippers, all inhabitants of the +Grube. Their prayer was a groaning, and sighing, and screaming, out of tormented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> +hearts. It rose up to the low ceiling and hung over them all like a +heavy black cloud."</p></div> + +<p>And then Mischa knew his people:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"He felt his strength to bear everything; sorrow and misery and persecution. +He saw his people doing the work of servants through the centuries, +from the farthest past to the present day. He saw the bare walls of the synagogue, +the wretched Ark of the Covenant, he heard the sad melody of their +prayers which grew to despairing screams. . . . He had the feeling that he +was with his people in a large ship. For eternities this ship was on a voyage +of searching. It landed at harbors always new and strange: Egypt, Palestine, +Babylon, Arabia, Spain, at Turkey, at Holland and Russia. And to-day +is also a test day for the Jews. And also this day will end, and many, many, +but the ship will always sail on, will carry them all to new harbors into the +farthest future."</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>EFORE leaving <i>Die Jüngsten</i>, I cannot refrain from translating two +passages concerning Kowalski—the first his longing for the open +country after his long stay in St. Petersburg, and the other his remarks +on clouds:</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"St. Petersburg had become sickening to him. For loneliness he longed, +for solitude. Solitude, with his brush behind the mountains, in the deep woods. +To see every day sun, mountains, and water! The water that pushes blocks +of ice before it, and to see the cloud shadows which camp on the wide snow +fields. To live again in the little room with his comrade the Lithuanian peasant +with whom he studied in the academy! To have no money. To eat bread; +much good black bread with honey which his comrade's father would send from +the village. For whole days to wander about and paint clouds!"</p></div> + +<p>Mery discovers him at work, and looking at his painting he says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Everything is clouds—the warmth that I feel, the warmth— . . . and do +you see the pride that such a cloud has, the pride, the formality? 'The cloud +is no small thing,' my fat professor used to say. It is no small thing to paint a +cloud, for then one must feel eternity. As lovingly as a girl's body must one +model a cloud. And warmth and pride must come to expression. To paint a +cloud means to step into Heaven, into the middle of Heaven and to see a new +world which we do not know here at all. Such a nobody as I wishes to paint +a cloud, a Heaven—wishes to have seen God and create Him anew with his little +art! That is an impudence, isn't it?</p> + +<p>"There you see what I have painted. It is nothing—it is worthless—something +is lacking." He looked amusedly at the picture. "Love is lacking. So it +is as my professor with the fat belly loved to say, 'To paint a real cloud one +must love.' Yes, yes, to be able to create something good one must be in love or—do +you know what? Or to feel a great sin in one's soul. Yes, yes, with a +burning sin in one's heart one can create big things. When one has entirely +fallen. . . ."</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><i><big>B</big>ILDER aus dem Ghetto</i> is a series of sketches dealing with Jewish life. +Many Jewish characters are pictured in dramatic situations but +with very little plot. The characters are all poor; fishmongers, children of +the Ghetto, a Jewish farmer, two mothers, an old married couple. A few +typical plots follow.</div> + +<p>"Ein Eilbotte" is really a prose poem describing a sunrise, a +storm, and the reappearing sun—more properly perhaps a series of paintings, +of symphonic word canvases. Let me translate the opening passages:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Behind the town ruin which stands on a small hill like a national monument, +flaming and fiery rises the red of the morning and floods with its glow the +gray clouds that hang in the horizon. It brings a son of the sun into the world. +The day tears itself from the lap of the mother Night.</p> + +<p>"In the little town life is beginning to stir. Here and there one sees a +peasant wagon on which the dew drops of the night are still hanging. Here +and there a Jew, eyes heavy with sleep. The show windows and house doors +are for the most part locked. For many of the inhabitants the day has not +yet begun. . . . This day shall be like yesterday, like to-morrow."</p> + +<p>A storm rushes over the woods. The storm comes like a mighty giant that +wishes to swallow the world or it seems as though God himself were spreading +out His black mantle: "The end of the world! Neither heaven nor earth, +neither beginning nor end! Black, ominous, dull, empty. . . . Suddenly +Heaven opens for a second. . . . A blinding light has torn the clouds. Stabbed +by a flaming dagger the giant dies—a confused moaning fills the air. It rains." +But the storm passes. "The Heaven is clear and blue as if nothing had happened. +The air is clearer and purer, the earth washed clean by the water."</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div>"<big>D</big>IE Mutter." It is in a little Hebrew school in a small town in Russia. +The rabbi has gone to say the evening prayer, leaving the +small boys to study. Instead they begin to talk of various subjects. +Mothers are discussed and each boy praised his most highly. One pale +little chap with large eyes says, "My mother also . . ." and then stops. +One of the boys laughs uncontrolledly and then there is an embarrassing +silence. The teacher returns. The little Josek, however, cannot keep his +attention on the book:</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The 'crazy Trajna' stands life-like before him. Out there at the well she +stands. . . . He sees her plainly. . . . All too well he knows that dirty sun-burned +face plowed through by a thousand wrinkles, those great blood-shot +eyes with the swollen, sore lids. . . .</p> + +<p>"He remembers her, yes, he remembers. . . . He was still a little boy then, +when the teacher carried him to school in his arms. He cried then and hung +tightly with both hands to the apron of his mother.</p> + +<p>"Mother! . . . this woman his mother?"</p></div> + +<p>And so the emotions of the boy are set forth in memories telling us +of his mother before she was insane and now, when she is known to all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span> +village as the "crazy Trajna." The time when he found her insane is +described. It was raining and he was hurrying home from school. Suddenly +he sees his mother near his father's house:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"There at the corner she stands. . . . Trembling for cold she seeks protection +under any roof. . . . The boy stands as rooted to the ground, without +turning his gaze from her. The water flows in streams from his coat. She +has turned her glassy eyes on him. Slowly as though following some inner +force she comes closer to him. He is not able to move from the spot; something +unspeakable gleams in those glassy eyes. . . .</p> + +<p>"Now he feels in her the mother. . . . His heart beats as though to +break. Always closer to him she comes. A hot wave of blood flows through +all his limbs and rises to his head. He trembles as in fever.</p> + +<p>"Suddenly all fear leaves him. He assumes a waiting position and looks directly +into her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Now she stands close before him. She looks at him. Away! These eyes! +this look! He wishes to fall weeping into her arms. . . . To weep, yes, to +weep . . . to weep and to kiss.</p> + +<p>"He is in the impulse to carry out his purpose when she suddenly takes +his hand. With a quick push he tears himself from her embrace and runs away +as rapidly as he can.</p> + +<p>"It seems as though she ran after him with outstretched arms and blowing +hair, always faster and faster, always grasping more heavily. It seemed to +him as though he heard her terrible voice, hoarse with weariness, calling +'Joselle,' 'Joselle' . . ."</p></div> + +<p>The father has taken a new wife and the "crazy Trajna" is no longer +a member of the household but is driven about the streets. And as he +leaves the schoolroom this evening, Josek is consumed with indignation and +sorrow and resolves not to flee from his mother the next time he meets her. +On his way home he meets her. The tears flow from her eyes; when she +embraces him he again runs away. But that evening he steals a plate of +meat from his home and brings it to her. That night he does not sleep. +The next noon, coming home from school he sees Trajna standing near +the well surrounded by street urchins:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"One pulls her bonnet from her head. Another jerks at her apron. A +third tears the prayer book from her hand. Some boys cry loudly,</p> + +<p>"'Hurrah! The crazy one, the crazy one!'</p> + +<p>"She looks at her son in surprise. Josek can stand it no longer; he goes +to his mother and with his fists drives away the urchins that torment her.</p> + +<p>"They have run away. Without saying a word Josek reaches out both his +hands. His face is deathly pale. His eyes gleam with fever. The boys +laugh. . . . Their loud calls press themselves to his ears. . . . Another moment +and the hands of his mother reach around him as in a cramp.</p> + +<p>"The 'crazy one' hugs him, kisses him, now laughing, now crying. Suddenly +she clutches him and begins to dance with him. 'Hurrah! Hurrah! +The crazy one is dancing with her son!'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Josek casts a confused glance at the urchins. He draws himself together, +tears himself from the embrace of his mother with a quick movement and runs +away. He does not even think of the cap which remains in her hand.</p> + +<p>"Even from a distance he hears the calls, 'Hurrah! Hurrah! The crazy +one dances with her son!'"</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><big>"D</big>ER Wunderrabbi." He is a very stupid shepherd boy. He will +not learn his Hebrew lessons nor prayers. When in the fields +he often feels near to God—and whistles. He is taken to the synagogue on +a holiday. His parents are ashamed of him. He cannot repeat the prayers +from the prayerbook, yet he feels a great desire to praise God. To the +consternation of his parents he walks to the altar, and placing two fingers +in his mouth he voices his praise in a loud, shrill whistle.</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"All stand as though struck by lightning. Who dared to whistle in this +holy place? The father is about to grasp the boy and lead him out, the people +clench their fists threateningly. But the rabbi turns from his place at the +east of the synagogue and asks in a loud voice, 'Where is the saint? Where +is the miracle-worker who destroyed the evil forces hanging above us, who +bored through heaven that our prayers might easily penetrate the black clouds +to the throne of God?'</p> + +<p>"There is no sign of the miracle-worker. He has slipped out of the house +of prayer and with his shoes and stockings over his shoulder is running as fast +as he can toward the village."</p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><big>"E</big>IN Jüdisch Kind." She is about to be married but will not comply +with the Talmudic law requiring married women to cut off their +hair and wear wigs. She loves her hair and will not part with it. She is +married. Weeks go by and her husband is ostracised. He and his wife +have become more and more estranged and they speak to each other hardly +at all. One day he comes home and with loving words induces her to let +him cut off her black braids.</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"When Chanele awoke the next morning, she looked at herself in the mirror +that hung opposite her bed. Terror seized her and she thought that she had +become mad and that she lay in the hospital. On the table near her bed lay the +dead braids. The soul that had lived in these braids when they were on her +head was dead, and they reminded her of death . . . She hid her face in both +her hands and heart-breaking sobs filled the quiet room."</p></div> + +<p>And there are other "Wortbilder" which I shall not treat. This book +of sketches shows Asch at his very best. For the form—one without plot +dealing with character and nature description—is decidedly fitted to the +elemental, passion-laden flow of his style. It is a great wonder to me that +these gems of artistic word portraiture have not yet been translated into +English. In my opinion they rank equal in worth with the similar work of +Daudet, Maupassant, Tchekoff and Turgenieff.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class='unindent'><i>D<big>A</big>S Städtchen</i> is also a book of sketches. In this, however, the different +high points—the Sabbath eve, the holidays, the marriage +ceremony and others in Russian Jewish village life, are treated. Character +is not emphasized, although one man appears through all the sketches. +The book does not come up to <i>Die Bilder aus dem Ghetto</i>.</div> + +<p>Asch is essentially a dramatist. In his sketches, in his novels and in +his stories, the dramatic point of view is not lost. His plays consequently +always move, are always full of action and tense situation. The same +elemental strength and purity of emotion that is found in his prose is +always present in his dramas. In the concluding part of this essay, I shall +touch upon five of his plays in the order of their importance.</p> + +<div class="blockquot2"><p><span class="smcap">Editors' Note</span>—<i>The third and concluding part of +Mr. Shostac's prize essay, dealing with Shalom Asch as a +Dramatist, will appear in the next issue.</i></p></div> + + +<div class="bbox2"><i><big>T</big>HOSE of us in England who know how much harshness +and injustice the Jews have had to suffer will join in +your hopes that after the war some means may be found +of permanently ameliorating their lot. You may feel the more +sure of our sympathy in this because, as you know, England +is the European country in which, since Oliver Cromwell +sanctioned their return nearly three centuries ago, the Jews +have been best treated, being freely admitted to all posts +of power and honor, and not exposed to any sort of social +disparagement. They have held places in our Cabinets and +been among the most eminent lawyers and judges. Such a +one was Sir George Jessel, the famous Master of the Rolls. +We have no more patriotic citizens, nor more generous benefactors +to works of charity and to public purposes supported +by private liberality. With those members of the race who +have suffered injustice or violence in other countries, there +has always been a warm sympathy in Great Britain.—Viscount +Bryce, in a Letter to The Menorah Journal.</i></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span></p> + + +<h2>Liberalism and the Jews</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Joseph Jacobs</span></h3> + +<div class="sidenote" style="width: 155px;"> +<img src="images/6jjacobs.jpg" width="155" height="200" alt="JOSEPH JACOBS" title="JOSEPH JACOBS" /> +<span class="caption">JOSEPH JACOBS</span> +<i>JOSEPH JACOBS (born in +New South Wales in +1854), one of our leading +scholars and men of letters; +managing editor of the Jewish +Encyclopedia; author of many +authoritative books on Jewish +subjects, including "Jews of +Angevin England," "Studies in +Jewish Statistics," "Jewish +Ideals," etc. The present article +is adapted from a chapter +in Dr. Jacobs' forthcoming +book which will deal comprehensively +with the contribution +of the Jew to modern progress.</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE eighteenth century was the era of the +"benevolent despots," like Frederick II, +Joseph II, Catherine II, who adopted the ruling +principle of the Welfare-State—that the object +of government should be the good of the people—but +considered that it could only be carried out for the +people, not by them. The weakness of the principle +consisted in the difficulty of securing a heritable succession +of capable benevolence, and the collapse of +Prussia at Jena and of Joseph II's well-meant but +unreflective reforms led, in the nineteenth century, to +the triumph of the principle first enunciated in America +and carried out in France—of government for the +people by the people. The transition to the next +stage, from religious toleration to religious liberty, is +marked, as regards the Jews, by the tolerance edict +of Joseph II, in 1781, which for the first time threw +open service in the army to the Jews and placed them +to some extent on the same level with other dissenters +from the State-Church of Austria.</div> + +<p>But this was still toleration and not liberty, and +it was soon cast into the background by the full religious +liberty granted by the French Revolution +in 1791, in imitation of the American constitution of 1787, which entirely +separated State and Church. The granting of full religious liberty to the +Jews had previously been advocated by Mirabeau, and though Rousseau's +influence, which was all-important in the Revolution, still retained a touch +of Genevan intolerance, Jews came within his religious requirements for +citizenship by their belief in Providence and in future rewards and punishment. +It has to be remembered that in spirit, if not in will-power or influence, +Louis XVI was of the school of the benevolent despots, and it was +he who signed the edict of November 13, 1791, which for the first time in +European history placed Jews on the same level as the adherents of all +other creeds as regards civil and political qualifications. Holland was appropriately<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span> +the first country to grant the same religious equality to its +Jews.<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> + +<p>The French Revolution, from our present standpoint, is the more +remarkable inasmuch as it is the only great European movement on +which Jews had absolutely no influence, direct or indirect, owing to their +inappreciable numbers and insecure position in the chief centers, Paris, +Lyons, and Marseilles. The Revolution principles spread into the neighboring +countries with the advance of the French arms. In Venice, the +walls of the original Ghetto, from which all the rest received their name, +fell at once on the entry of Napoleon's troops. No wonder they welcomed +with fervor the victories of the French troops; we can catch, in Heine, +echoes of the enthusiasm with which Napoleon was acclaimed the Liberator.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Napoleon's Recognition of the Jews</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>N</big>APOLEON'S own attitude was not so uniformly friendly to Jews. On +his way back from Austerlitz in 1805 he learnt at Strassburg of the +wide distress caused in Alsace by the exactions of certain Jewish usurers in +that province, and on his return to Paris issued edicts directed against the +Alsatian Jews, restricting their usurious activity. It is fair to add that +these enactments were obviously directed against the usury of the Alsatian +Jews, and not against the Jews in general, since they were specifically +declared not to apply to the Jews of Bordeaux in the South or Northern +Italy, then under Napoleon's control. It would indeed have been against +the whole tendency of his career to have made the Jews an exception to that +principle of the "carrière ouverte aux talents," which was the key-note of +his whole policy, as it is logically to all war-lords. It was by no accident +that similar indifference toward the creed of their soldiers, or civil servants, +was shown by William the Silent, Wallenstein, Cromwell, William III, and +Frederick the Great.</div> + +<p>Napoleon's attention having thus been drawn to the Jewish Question, +he proceeded with characteristic energy to solve it by summoning +to Paris a representative assembly of the Jews of France, Germany +and Italy, who should determine on what terms Jews could be +admitted into a modern Country-State, which had been freed from the +shackles of the medieval Church-State and only recognized a certain prerogative +in the Church to which the majority of Frenchmen belonged (the +Concordat of 1802). After summoning an assembly of Jewish Notables +for a preliminary inquiry, in 1806, a more formal Sanhedrin was summoned +in the following year, to which twelve test questions were submitted,—among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> +them, whether the French Jews could regard France as their Fatherland +and Frenchmen as their brothers, and the laws of the State as binding +upon them. Further points were raised as to polygamy, divorce, and +mixed marriages; other questions related to the position of Rabbis and the +Jewish laws about usury.</p> + +<p>All these problems were decided to the satisfaction of Napoleon, though +some of them aroused much searching of heart among the more strictly +orthodox. The outcome legally recognized that there was nothing in +Jewish law or faith which prevented its adherents from being legitimate +and full members of a modern State which, at that time, practically +recognized Catholicism as the State-Church. The significance of the +decision was far-reaching not alone for the Jews but for the whole European +State system; it was a practical recognition that the Country, not the +Faith, was the foundation of a nation and thus gave the final blow to the +conception of a Church-Empire, which had upheld the contrary principle. +It was not without significance that simultaneously the Emperor of Austria +agreed to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Liberalism Draws the Jews to Its Ranks</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>UT though the Jews had had no influence on the French Revolution +and no share in Napoleon's revolutionary reorganization of West +Europe, the benefit they reaped from both movements was second only to +that of the serfs. For the Jews and the serfs were the two most oppressed +classes under the feudal system still surviving. And so the Jews imbibed +with enthusiasm the libertarian principles of the Revolution and the "open +career" administration of Napoleon. They threw off with avidity most +of the shackles which prevented their joining in general European culture, +and Jewish parents of means immediately began giving their sons and, what +is more, their daughters, the secular education which would adapt them +to the careers now seemingly open to them, as publicists, lawyers, and +civil servants. When the reaction came, under the Holy Alliance, with its +attempt to revive the Church-State and the closed career of prerogative, +Jews everywhere in Western Europe joined the Liberal forces, from whose +triumph alone they could hope for a dispersal of the clouds which once +more obscured the sun of liberty in which they had basked for a few short +years. Jews soon ranked among the intellectual leaders of continental +Liberalism, and from 1815 to 1848 exercised an appreciable influence on +the course of public opinion. In particular a brilliant band of Jewish +litterateurs in Germany helped to mediate between French Liberalism and +German public opinion, and practically led the movement known as Young +Germany, which opposed the cosmopolitan tendencies of the eighteenth +century to the narrow nationalism of the Reaction and advocated the +Revolution principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity, as against the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span> +revival of the claims of Authority and Privilege by the Holy Alliance. +Boerne and Heine, Hartmann and Saphir, Jacoby and Karl Marx, are +recognized by friends and foes alike as among the leading influences which +led ultimately to the downfall of Metternich and his school.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Salons of Jewish Women and Their Liberalizing Influence</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HEY were aided in their Liberal tendencies by a remarkable group +of emancipated Jewesses, who introduced into Germany the vogue of +the political Salon after the manner of Madame Roland and Madame de +Staël. They were mostly from the Berlin Circle, which had arisen around +Moses Mendelssohn, and carried his tendencies towards rationalism and +culture to extreme limits. His two daughters Dorothea and Henriette, +and their friends Henriette Herz and Rahel Lewin, created salons to which +were attracted some of the more liberal spirits of the cultured world of +Berlin. Dorothea Mendelssohn ultimately married Friedrich von Schlegel +and became one of the Muses of the German Romantic School. Publicists +of distinction like Wilhelm von Humboldt and Friedrich von Gentz formed, +with Dorothea and others of her circle, a "Bond of Virtue" (Tugendbund) +which according to all appearance was named on the principle of <i>locus a +non lucendo</i>. Rahel, "the little woman with a great soul," as Goethe +called her, was even a more striking personality. She numbered, among +her friends, men of such different types as Schelling and Schleiermacher, +the Prince de Ligne, and Fichte, Schlegel and Gutzkow, Prince Louis +Ferdinand, Frederick the Great's nephew, and Fouqué, Gentz, and the +Humboldts, and she finally married Varnhagen van Ense. She was the +first to appreciate, in its full extent, the multiform genius of Goethe, and +helped the rise to fame of Boerne, Heine, and Victor Hugo. She was undoubtedly +the most striking personality among the women of her age in +Germany, and she is nowadays regarded as one of the chief forerunners of +the Feminist movement.<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></div> + +<p>These salons had an air of cultured Bohemianism, which attracted +many men of rank in Mid-Europe who were beginning to be repelled by the +exactions of social gathering in which all associations were determined by +armorial bearings. A similar salon was held in Vienna by Baroness von +Arnstein, in whose mansion all the diplomats of the Congress of Vienna +met as on neutral ground. Such gatherings, while helping to liberalize +good society in Mid-Europe, also brought the position of Jews to the +notice of the ruling classes and, in many cases, aroused a determination to +repair their wrongs. You cannot accept a man socially yet refuse him the +most elementary rights politically.<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span></p> +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Liberal Leadership of Heine and Boerne</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Revolution of 1830 brought into European prominence the two +most brilliant members of Rahel's coterie, Ludwig Boerne and Heinrich +Heine. Both had made their mark as litterateurs in the preceding +decade, but Boerne's "Letters from Paris" and Heine's "French Conditions" +(contributed to the <i>Augsburger Zeitung</i>) drew the attention of all +liberal Germany to the new hopes aroused by the downfall of the absolutist +monarchy in France. Henceforth they were the dominating voices in +arousing among the German Liberals the hope of similar liberty, while in +France itself they helped to make known to French culture the deeper +currents of German thought and literature. In particular their brilliant +wit and incisive sarcasm set the tone for the feuilleton literature of all +Mid-Europe. By their very isolation they were enabled to regard men +and affairs with a certain detachment, and both wrote with an iridescent +insolence which can only be described by the Jewish technical word +<i>Chutzpah</i>. Treitschke complained of their frequent irreverences and flippancies +but in both respects Heine, "the wittiest Frenchman since Voltaire," +was merely following in the footsteps of his predecessor, and +Boerne, like Diderot, knew that the most effective weapon against authority +is sarcasm.</div> + +<p>Under the leadership of Heine and Boerne a whole school of liberal +journalists arose in Germany and Austria, many of them Jews like Saphir +and Hartmann, and they gave a tone to Mid-European journalism which +has lasted to the present day. They thus helped to internationalize +Liberalism of the French form, with its rather vague and indefinite strivings +after liberty, equality, and fraternity, as contrasted with the Liberalism +of the English type dominated by Jeremy Bentham, which aimed at constitutional, +economic, and social reforms of a definite character. Young +Germany, as represented by Heine and Boerne, left the latter type of +Liberalism severely alone.</p> + +<p>Yet in the struggle for constitutional liberty, which led to the revolutions +of 1848, Jews took a considerable part on the more practical side. +Everywhere during that critical year Jews had a hand in the upheaval +against absolutism.<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Among the Conservatives: Stahl and Disraeli</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>UT Jews were not altogether unrepresented among the Conservative +forces, counting indeed two of the chief leaders, F. J. Stahl in Prussia<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> +and Benjamin Disraeli in England. Disraeli's is the better known name, +but it is probable Stahl was equally influential. Stahl is described by Sir +A. W. Ward in the Cambridge Modern History, xi. 395, as "the intellectual +leader of the conservative aristocratic party and the most remarkable brain +in the Upper Chamber. . . . He largely supplied the ruling party with the +learning and wealth of ideas on which to found their claims. Their organ +was the <i>Kreuzzeitung</i>, and the party was called by its name." Bluntschli +calls him, "after Hegel the most important representative of the philosophical +theory of the State. He, in many ways, advanced political science +by his dialectical and critical ability in founding new points of view." +(<i>The Theory of the State</i>, p. 73). But Stahl's historic influence will +probably rest on his connection with Bismarck at the formative period of +his career, when the future chancellor was also a member of the <i>Kreuzzeitung</i> +party.</div> + +<p>Disraeli's career and influence is far better known and need not be +further adverted to in this place. The fact that both were converts has +little significance from our present point of view, since many of the Jewish +leaders on the Liberal side had also adopted Christianity. It is more +pertinent to remark that one cannot trace their conservatism to their +Judaism since there was everything in the Jewish position of their time to +range Jews on the Liberal side. Stahl and Disraeli are, therefore, to be +regarded merely as examples of Jewish ability. There is nothing specifically +Jewish in their influence unless we regard the socialistic strain in Disraeli's +conception of "Young England" as a part of the Jewish sympathy +with the "under dog," which can be attributed to their own experiences +and to the traditions of the Prophets.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Contribution of the Jews to Socialism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>C</big>ERTAINLY we find a strong Jewish participation throughout the +socialistic movement which, from its inception up to the present day, +has been largely dominated by Jewish influences. Although modern socialism +can be traced back to St. Simon, the whole movement would have collapsed +at the death of the master but for the organizing ability of Olinde +Rodrigues and the religious enthusiasm of his brother Eugene. A practical +turn was also given by their cousins, Isaac and Jacob Pereire, who, as +bankers, had thought out the best means of carrying out the principles of +the school into practical life. An extension of the facilities for banking +would lower the rate of interest and therefore leave more to be distributed +to the workers, while the development of railways would reduce the cost +of transportation and thus lower the cost of living and raise real wages. +Accordingly the Pereires devoted themselves, with religious enthusiasm, to +creating the Credit Foncier, and later the Credit Mobilier, and were the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span> +chief agents in developing the railway system of Northern France, incidentally +making themselves multi-millionaires in the process, though they +never lost their enthusiasm for the socialistic ideals.<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a></div> + +<p>Most of these left the St. Simonian Church when it diverged into the +sexual vagaries of Enfantin, though one of his creeds was, "I believe that +God has raised up Saint Simon to teach the Father (Enfantin) through +Rodrigues." Felicien David the musician, however, accompanied Enfantin +on his epoch-making journey to Egypt, during which he implanted the +idea of the Suez Canal in the minds of Mehemet Ali and Ferdinand de +Lesseps, and Gustave d'Eichthal devoted his enthusiasm and energies to +creating, out of the ideas of St. Simon and Enfantin, a new religion which +should revert to the socialism of the Prophets, while denying or ignoring, +like them, any other life than this. It is said that he consulted Heine as +to the best means of founding such a religion. "Get crucified and rise +again on the third day," was Heine's caustic reply. The socialistic tone +of J. S. Mill's <i>Principles of Political Economy</i>, which differentiates it from +its Ricardian predecessors, is undoubtedly due in large measure to his +intercourse with d'Eichthal. Enfantin's vagaries, while they destroyed +any direct practical outcome for St. Simonism, drew wide attention to its +views, and Jews helped to spread them throughout Europe, Moritz Veit +performing that function in Germany, and M. Parma in Italy. The +cosmopolitan position of Jews is seen at its best in such propagandism, +and it is not surprising that they should have been attracted by views of +which the kernel is in the Prophets of Israel, whom indeed Renan, in his +<i>Histoire d'Israel</i>, brilliantly characterized as socialistic preachers.</p> + +<p>The later stages of socialism in Europe were, as is well known, dominated +by Karl Marx, who based upon Ricardo's "iron law" of wages the +imposing edifice of <i>Das Kapital</i>, for long the gospel of advanced +socialism. The brilliant Ferdinand Lassalle introduced its principles +into German politics, and the most recent stages of German socialism have +been controlled by the opportunism of E. Bernstein, while among its most +prominent leaders have been V. Adler and Paul Singer.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Struggle for Political Emancipation</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HIS participation of Jewish intellect and sympathies with the Liberal +current in European politics made Jewish emancipation a part of +the Liberal creed throughout Europe. Jews were fighting for themselves +in fighting for the general liberties, and their position in the forefront of +the struggle was thus justified by the representative principle at the root of +modern Liberalism. Jewish disabilities were the last stronghold of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> +old Church-State conception, and the struggle on the side of the Reaction +to retain this fundamental principle was the more intense. If Jews were +granted full civil and political rights it could no longer be contended that +Christianity was a fundamental principle of the State (or, as the English +<i>obiter dictum</i> put it, "Christianity is a parcel of the common law"). +Hence the extreme violence of the defense which seems, at first sight, out of +all proportion to the interests or numbers involved. Thus the struggle +was as embittered in Switzerland as anywhere, though the Jews there only +constituted a handful, and the traditions of the country were in favor of +toleration.</div> + +<p>From this aspect the fight in England is typical. As soon as the +Catholics had obtained emancipation in 1828 (the Jews had stood aside in +order not to complicate the question), Jewish emancipation became part +of the Liberal creed, and the struggle was waged in Parliament, or rather +in the House of Lords, for the ensuing thirty years. England was the +home of toleration, and her Toleration Act, passed as early as 1689, formed +the third stage in the European progress towards religious liberty. Yet +the more conservative elements in English life fought against the removal +of Jewish disabilities because it meant the visible proof of the secularization +of English politics. It is perhaps characteristic that the Tory resistance +was mainly broken down by Disraeli, of Jewish, and by Lord George +Bentinck, of Dutch, descent.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The High Tide of Liberalism</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>ITH Jewish emancipation in England Liberalism reached its acme +about 1860. Complete civil and religious liberty was gained for +Jews throughout Western Europe during the next decade,—in the German +confederation and in Switzerland, 1866, in Austria and Hungary, 1867, +and in the German Empire, 1871, while even in Spain the expulsion order +was practically repealed and toleration, if not liberty, was given to Jews +there in 1869. By that time Liberalism, both in the French sense of liberty +and equality before the law and in the English sense of constitutional +government and free-trade, had gained its fullest triumph and had spent +its force. Its negative work had been most valuable; it had freed the +human spirit from intolerable shackles and thrown into the lumber-room +the clogging survivals of medieval feudalism. But to the human spirit +thus freed it had little instruction to give of a constructive kind; its slogan +seemed to be, "Go as you please," or, to use its own formula, "laissez +faire, laissez aller." It was rather superficial in its treatment of national +and social forces and made no appeal to the more generous imaginative +emotions. It was inevitable that a reaction should set in if only to fill +the void. Nationalism which had given vitality to France under Napoleon,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> +and in Spain, Russia and Prussia had brought down his downfall, was +opposed to Liberal cosmopolitanism. Protection to native industry, which +had, only for a moment and in England, lost its hold, replaced free trade, +and the strong individualism of "Manchestertum" was drowned in the +rising flood of Collectivism, whether in the more formal guise of socialism +or in the vaguer tendencies of philanthropy. In none of these currents of +opinion had Jews a prominent voice except, as we have seen, in the latter, +though there they were mainly effective in opposition and criticism.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Bismarck and the Forces of Reaction</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>LL these tendencies, which may roughly be summed up as the Counter-Revolution, +found a home in victorious Prussia and a voice in Otto +von Bismarck, its representative statesman. As we have seen, his views on +the nature of the State had been influenced in his formative period by F. +J. Stahl, and his socialistic sympathies may possibly have been aroused +by Ferdinand Lassalle, but he was of too independent a character to submit +much to external influences, and the tendencies he represented, Junkertum +and Militarism, were entirely opposed to Jewish Liberalism. For some +fifteen years he found it convenient to work with the National Liberal +party, to which all German Jews belonged, and among whose leaders the +most prominent were two Jews, Eduard Lasker and Ludwig Bamberger. +But in 1878 he broke with the party and let loose the forces of "Anti-Semitism" +as a means of discrediting them. The movement, thus encouraged +by Bismarck, soon spread to Austria and was transformed in +Russia into the pogroms of 1881. In France the Royalists and Jesuits +conceived hopes of reviving the Church-State and adopted anti-Semitism +as a means of discrediting not alone Jews but also Protestants and other +opponents of Catholicism. Their adherents, the French nobility, were +especially embittered against the Jews by the bankruptcy of the Union +Générale, a banking establishment in which all their money had been placed +in the hope of wresting the control of French finance from the hands of the +Rothschilds. Their chief hope lay in getting control of the General Staff, +by filling its posts with young men of noble birth, trained by Jesuits. In +order to attain this they schemed to remove all Jews and Protestants from +the Staff and thought they had found a rare chance in their perverse persecution +of Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Their scheme recoiled on their own +heads, and the final result of the Dreyfus Affaire was to break the alliance +of clericalism and militarism, at least in France.</div> + +<p>The Dreyfus Affaire was specially significant as bringing into play, at +one time, all the forces that have given vitality to anti-Semitism. The +New Nationalism, based not on Country but on Race and fostered by +chauvinistic anthropologists as well as historians; the revived Church<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span> +spirit, which sees in the National Church not so much the guardian of +Christian truth as a spiritual bond of national unity; the New Collectivism +which sees in capitalism the chief anti-social force, and the revived militaristic +spirit which glorifies war as the regenerator of the nation; all these +movements combine to regard the Jew—considered as alien, infidel, capitalist, +and pacificist—as the representative enemy. All the reactionary +forces regard a revival of the medieval Church-State as both the means and +the end of their strivings, and naturally find the position of the Jew, +both theoretically and practically, one of the chief stumbling-blocks in their +way.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Church-State versus Welfare-State</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T remains to be seen whether the ideals of religious and political liberty, +which have been gained through so much blood and tears, will be +preserved intact against the rising forces of the Reaction and Counter-Revolution +which are, at bottom, an attempt at a revival of the Church-Empire. +The slogan "One God, one king, one people," has again been +raised, and armies that are nations in arms are in movement to the cry. +Anti-Semitism is largely the result of this reaction, and while it is dominant +in the councils of certain nations Jews must once more take up their rôle +of martyrs to the wider truth. Nowadays however they do not fight alone, +and it is scarcely possible that in Western Europe and in lands dominated +by Western European ideals they can be reinterned into their ghetti. But +the Colossus of the North still retains the medieval ideal of the Church-Empire, +and while that controls Russian State policy Jews will have to suffer, +in All the Russias, indignities and disabilities from which they have +been freed in the lands of true civilization and religious liberty.</div> + +<p>The ideal of the unified Church-State has been shattered by the assaults +of modern criticism and the growth of true religious liberty. But the +conception of all the citizens of a compact territory animated by the same +ideals still retains its attraction; only the unification nowadays is with +regard to the goal rather than to the roads that lead to it. In other +words, the Welfare-State (interpreting Welfare as spiritual as well as +material) is taking the place of the Church-State of the Middle Ages and +of Reformation times. What then is to become of the separate churches or +religious bodies which are found in profusion in modern States? That +is the sole ecclesiastical problem which the modern statesman has to face. +Except among the extreme parties, such as the Ultramontagnes, the +obvious solution would seem to be that given by the modern Federal constitution +in which each State (in this case Church) has a corporate life of +its own over which it has autonomous control, except in any case where +this conflicts with the general Federal ideals. The Jewish Synagogue may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span> +rightly claim its place among these churches within the State as having its +part in promoting the general welfare.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Rôle of the Jews in European Progress</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>WING to their medieval disabilities Jews, though sharing as we have +seen in the higher life and in the commerce of Europe, were yet kept +in a kind of enclave in each of the European nations, and thus acted, both +intellectually and economically, as a separate body with distinctive tendencies +caused by their isolation and disabilities. Accordingly we are able to +estimate roughly the part taken by the Jews as a body in the various +movements which have made European civilization what it is to-day. In +all these movements (except possibly one, the French Revolution) the Jews +have contributed towards European culture while sharing in it themselves. +Their monotheistic views and liturgic practices were the foundation of the +medieval Church, both in creed and deed. By their connection with their +brethren in the East and their tolerated existence, both in Islam and in +Christendom, they helped towards that transmission of Oriental thought, +science and commerce, which had so large an influence on the Middle Ages +and led on to the Renaissance and the Reform, in both of which movements +Jews had their direct part to play. So, too, in the struggle for religious +liberty and in the different stages of toleration which lay at the root of +political liberty, Jews had their part to play, and when freed from their +shackles by the French Revolution took a leading rôle both in Nineteenth +Century Liberalism and in the Collectivism which has now replaced it.</div> + +<p>But when fully emancipated, Jews no longer acted in the European +world of ideas collectively but as individuals, often choosing opposite +ideals and in most cases applying the talents thus let free to objects apart +from the general political or religious movements of the time. Great as +has been the influence of Jews in their collective capacity on the development +of European thought and culture up to the present day, it is possible +that their influence as individuals, during the past fifty years, has been even +more extensive though less discernible, owing to the absence of any general +direction to Jewish intellectuality.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/signature5_jjacobs.png" width="150" height="79" alt="Signature: Joseph Jacobs" title="Signature: Joseph Jacobs" /> +</div> +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> It is perhaps worth while remarking that one of the most prominent leaders on the +Jewish side in Holland, Herz Bromet, had lived as a free Burgher in Surinam for a +long time, and that the example of America, especially New York State, was adduced +in favor of the movement. (Graetz xi, 230-1).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> See Ellen Key, "Rahel Lewin."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> Similar salons were held later by distinguished Jewesses like Countess Waldegrave, +in London, and Madame Raffalovitch in Paris; and the Rothschilds have, throughout, +made their houses centers of the most cultured influence.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> No adequate or connected account has yet been given of the part taken by the +Jews in the revolution of 1848. Incidentally a good deal of information is contained in +the last volume of Georg Brandes, <i>Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature</i>, vi, +"Young Germany."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> They got their altruistic tendencies from their family connections. Their uncle +Jacob Rodrigues Pereire (1750-80) was the first teacher of deaf mutes.</p></div></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span></p> + +<div class='center'>[<i>The second in a series of articles on The Meaning of Judaism</i>]</div> + +<h2>What Is Judaism?</h2> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By Mordecai M. Kaplan</span></h3> + + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>HAT is Judaism if not an ethical monotheism? The answer +is that it is not an "ism" at all, despite the last +syllable in its name. It is a living soul or consciousness; +it is the soul or consciousness of the Jewish people. We are not interested +in names, and we should not quibble about terms; it is reality that +we are after. We want to know what is involved in being a Jew and +living a Jewish life. The main reason for our finding fault with the usual +presentation of Judaism is that it does not enlighten or inspire us. If +the term Judaism does not direct our minds at once to the living energy +that operates in the Jewish people, if it has not the power to launch +us upon the stream of Israel's active thought and spiritual striving, then +it is a word without content, and had better be deleted from our vocabulary. +We did well enough without it until very recently, and should it prove an +insuperable obstacle to the solution of our spiritual problems, we shall +have to throw it into the scrap-heap of obsolete terminology. We shall +begin to call our religion "Jewishness" instead of Judaism. The former +designation has at least the advantage of connoting consciousness, and +nothing is so important for understanding the essence of any religion as +the identification of it with a form or state of consciousness. If Jewishness +will mean to us Jewish consciousness and not merely "gefillte fisch" +or some other Jewish dish, it will serve our purpose.</div> + +<p>Let us not lose sight of the main issue in these discussions. We Jews +refuse to have our life quest confined to the satisfaction of our material +needs. Our souls are hungry; and whether we call it Jewishness or Judaism, +what we want is religion that will help us get our bearings in the world, +that will keep down the beast in us and spur us on to worthy endeavor in +the field of thought and action. Under normal conditions we should find +all this in the faith of our fathers. But, unfortunately, all that most of +us know about that faith is what we acquired from some old-fashioned +"rabbi" who taught us when we were small children and who made us recite +Hebrew by the page. At home our parents would insist upon our conforming +to routine observances and ceremonies which meant nothing to +us. When we grew older and occasionally asked questions about the Bible, +we met with cold and evasive replies. No wonder that later on, when we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span> +entered the academic world, we grew accustomed to look upon Judaism as +out of touch with the realities of life, and far removed from the elemental +needs that agitate the masses of active, enterprising humanity. We could +see no connection between the few humble ceremonies in our homes or in our +synagogues with the social, political and industrial problems upon which +was riveted the attention of the men of light and leading. To most of us +the faith of our fathers seemed little more than a medley of needless restraints, +other-worldliness, and hostility to all progress.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Religion Indispensable to the Human Race</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>UT a change has come over us. We have begun to realize that Judaism +could not have transformed the spiritual history of mankind, +as it did, if it were the negligible and insignificant thing we thought it was. +We have been unable to discern its true character, because we did not know +how to probe beneath the outward and often unattractive surface which it +presented to us in the limited circle in which we moved. We have begun +to surmise that the Jewish life we are familiar with is nothing more than +a devitalized fragment of what, under auspicious circumstances, becomes +a life that is spiritually healthful, joyous and invigorating. We have at +last learned to take into consideration the inevitable difference in mental +scope and outlook that must mark two generations, one of which had its +life formed amidst the oppressive atmosphere of Eastern Europe, and the +other in the bracing atmosphere of America. This being the case, nothing +could be more unreasonable than to expect that the spiritual heritage be +transmitted from father to child with ease and naturalness. But who is +in a better position to smooth out the roughness and overcome the angularities—father +or child? Should we demand of our elders, who are burdened +by numerous cares, and whose lives are for the most part hurried +and difficult, that they adapt themselves to our attitude of mind? Is it not +meet that we, who still retain the plasticity of youth, make advances? +Without surrendering an iota of our own individuality we might cultivate +that sympathetic insight that would reveal the inestimable worth of our +spiritual heritage. Not merely reverence for the past, but a regard for +our own future prompts us to achieve a proper understanding of Judaism.</div> + +<p>It is well to realize at the outset that the problem of religion is not +confined to the Jews alone. Every great world-faith experiences nowadays +the throes of transformation and readjustment. Mistaking them for the +final struggle, the believer wrings his hands in despair over the impending +doom, and the doubter contemplates a religionless future with a great deal +of glee. But both will be disappointed in their reckoning. Religion, as +we shall see, is entirely too inherent in human life to be dispensable. The +belief that it has served its purpose in the evolution of the race, and that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> +it can only survive as a troublesome vestige in the organism of human society, +is based upon a misunderstanding of its function. In view of the +deeper insight into human nature that has been acquired of late, as a result +of the progress made in psychological and social research, there is +good reason to believe that a better understanding is not far distant. These +investigations have not merely led to new theories about religion, but have +essentially changed the method of approach. They have rendered superfluous +the subtleties and refinements of metaphysical arguments. A new +reservoir in human nature has been tapped, and discovered to be the inexhaustible +fount of religion.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Adaptation of Judaism to Changing Conditions</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HIS new way of looking at the problem of religion gives promise +of helping us also to get a better comprehension of Judaism. We +shall find by means of it that there is much more substantial nourishment +to the faith of our fathers than can be obtained from the tabloid form in +which the textbooks mete it out to us. The previous article on "What +Judaism Is Not"<a name="FNanchor_G_7" id="FNanchor_G_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_7" class="fnanchor">[G]</a> did not argue that Judaism could forego such doctrines +as the unity of God, the brotherhood of man and similar principles, +or that it should glory in remaining vague and inarticulate. The main +objection to the ordinary way of conceiving Judaism was that it lacked +the means of preventing its teachings from degenerating into dull platitudes. +But if Judaism is essentially the self-consciousness of the Jewish +people, these doctrines will be viewed as some of its characteristic expressions. +As such they forthwith become instinct with life. To be a religious +Jew, accordingly, means not merely to profess the unity of God in +cold philosophical fashion, but to live over again by means of thought and +symbol the divine intuition, the backslidings, the temptations, the defiance, +the threats, the tortures and the final victory implied in the "Shema Yisroel." +The Jew who does not thrill with exaltation when he sings the +world's most stirring paean, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the +Lord is One!" is either ignorant or has the blood of a fish.</div> + +<p>Whether Judaism is an ethical monotheism or the consciousness of +Israel is not merely an academic question. These two conceptions represent +widely divergent ways of dealing with the practical problems of self-adjustment +to the novel situation with which Judaism is confronted. +Whether the one or the other view shall prevail will make a difference in +the fight for existence. We protest that if Judaism will be armed with +nothing stronger than the conventional platitudes, it must succumb. By +knowing itself for what it really is, Judaism will muster new heart and +strength. The need for self-adjustment is not of today; Judaism has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span> +been going through that process ever since it saw the light. But during +the past hundred and fifty years, Judaism has been wrestling with the problem +of self-adaptation which both the redistribution of Jewry and the incursions +of materialistic secularism have called into being. In this comparatively +short period of a century and a half, Judaism has lived through +all that the other religions have experienced within the last three or four +centuries. If we were to compare the different stages in the process of +Jewish self-adjustment we should find them analogous to those through +which European religion in general has passed. These different steps in +the process seem to have been unavoidable because they are the concomitant +of the natural development of the human spirit. A review of the salient +phases in the self-adaptation of religion to the changing conditions of life +and thought will throw light upon the significance of that vital method of +viewing Judaism which has of late worked its way into Jewish life—for the +most part unawares.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Storm and Stress Period in Religion</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>HEN we refer to the self-adjustment of religion to modern conditions, +our concern is not with the vast hinterland of ignorance +and superstition that is still inhabited by large numbers of the unthinking of +all creeds, Jewish as well as Christian. The destiny of religion is, primarily, +in the hands of those who are in the vanguard of intellectual progress, and +as long as its place in their lives is a problematic one its future is uncertain. +Since the days of the Renaissance, religion has practically been busy +adjusting itself to the ever enlarging human experience. It was otherwise +during the middle ages, when the men of intellect threw the weight of +their influence on the side of tradition and authority. They devoted their +mental powers to the support of truths that were accepted at their face +value without further scrutiny and analysis. All the resources of intellect +were spent in interpreting the few facts they had in their possession. Many +centuries elapsed before the cry was raised for more facts; but when, at +last, the cry was answered, and new knowledge concerning the world in +which men lived began to pour in, the foundations of tradition were shaken. +Since then the religion of the intellectuals has no longer been marked by +the naiveté and self-assurance of its earlier years. Its existence has been +one of storm and stress. It has resisted all attempts to crowd it out from +the new world that man has conquered for himself, and in order to be accorded +a place in that world it has submitted to considerable change and +self-adjustment. We may note three distinct stages in these efforts of religion +to accommodate itself to life, corresponding in a large measure with +the great thought movements of the eighteenth, the nineteenth, and the +twentieth centuries respectively.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span></div> + +<p>The first stage in the process was the rationalistic. With Copernicus +and Galileo defeated by the Vatican, with Descartes having to defend +his orthodoxy, it seemed to the English and French philosophers +of the eighteenth century that the only way man could save his spiritual +nature from falling a prey to animalism or materialism was by consigning +to destruction the special forms in which religion existed in the established +faiths. The dreamers and the visionaries of that day, who were +moved by a sincere desire to further man's higher life, entertained the hope +that natural religion would revive with the downfall of revealed religion. +But human events have taken a different turn. Life does not adapt itself +to preconceived logical systems. The rationalistic method of adjusting +religion to life failed because it was based upon a false reconstruction of +the rise and growth of religion. However logical and plausible such a +reconstruction might have appeared, the fact that it could not be verified +by study and observation of religious phenomena invalidated the practical +inferences drawn from it.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Failure of the Rationalistic School</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>LTHOUGH by that time science had made sufficient strides to know +how futile it was to reconstruct fact by means of reason, the territory +of religion was still considered exempt from the need of resorting to experience. +The thinkers of the rationalistic age were to a certain extent +still under the dominance of the medieval regard for abstract reasoning, +and applied it to man's spiritual existence. They reasoned thus: The +human being is naturally gifted with an intuition that enables him to +discover for himself the truth about God and his relation to the world. If +man had only been left alone and had not had the stream of his ideas +muddied by outside interference, he would have continued professing a religion +that would have been both pure and simple. But human depravity +did not permit the natural religion of primitive life to continue. The +fanatics with their delusions and the priests with their love of power distorted +man's primitive faith in God. They invented dogmas and practices +by means of which they could hold the masses in subjection. In course of +time these extraneous elements came to be looked upon as the main content +of revealed religion. The various established faiths and revealed religions +were little more than wilful fabrications that were bound to crumble before +the onslaughts of reason. Thus, by bringing the established cults into +disrepute, men like Voltaire and Hume hoped to restore religion to its +original state of purity and simplicity, bare of all artificialities of forms +and institutions.</div> + +<p>However superficial the rationalistic method may appear to us, +nothing but supercilious ingratitude could prompt us to disparage the +service it has rendered. The rationalists are the men to whom the world<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> +is indebted for being the pioneers in the work of breaking down the impassable +barrier of hatred and disdain which divided the followers of one faith +from those of another. Rationalism began to lift the curse of intolerance +and persecution which lay heavily upon the human race. No one who values +the freedom to live his own life in his own way should cast aspersions upon +the influence of that school of thought. Though they argued erroneously +about the nature and essence of religion, we must not forget that they +emancipated the human soul from the shackles of spiritual bondage.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, our gratitude to them cannot blind us to their superficiality +and inexperience in the matter of religion. Nineteenth century +thought, with its emphasis upon historic development, exposed the fallacies +and weaknesses of the method they employed to interpret religious phenomena. +The distinction between natural and revealed religion was an +arbitrary one, and the conception of priestly fabrications a mere figment +of the imagination. Historical research has established that all the great +world faiths or revealed religions have followed laws of development that +have been in accord with the circumstances and mentality of those who professed +them, and in that sense have been perfectly natural. Instead of +being the product of fraud and wilful deceit, the established religions were +seen to be the outcome of a healthy enthusiasm and deep sincerity. The +limitations of knowledge and experience, which marked the earlier expressions +of religious life, were, from the historical point of view, more than +atoned for by the inner worth and sincerity that had prevailed in former +days. In fact, so far did the historical conception change men's attitude +that, upon finding themselves sophisticated and torn by doubt, they looked +back longingly to former ages, when religion had brought inward calm and +serenity. As a consequence of this reaction to the disintegrating tendencies +of eighteenth century rationalism, a renewed appreciation for the religion +of the past made itself felt among the circles of the cultured, particularly +those of Germany and England, and the institutions in which the spirit of +the past clothed itself were given a new lease of life.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Historic Method Is Found Wanting</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE adoption by religion of the historic method thus represents the +second stage in its process of self-adjustment. It now appealed +to man's natural desire not to allow his past to sink into oblivion. Nothing +is so humanizing as memory. He that is engrossed only in the future and +would make it the only standard of value, he who has no patience with anything +that interferes with practical utility—and memory is certainly a +source of such interference—lacks the main ingredient of humanity and +has something beaverish about him. Thus taught the historical school during +the nineteenth century, and the rationalistic ideal that would have +destroyed the established faiths no longer held sway.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span></div> + +<p>But while the historic method stemmed the tide of rationalism, it failed +to give back to religion its native vigor. It removed forever the stigma of +insincerity that was attached to the origin and development of the dominant +faiths; it illumined the past and incorporated it into man's spiritual life; +but it was unable to restore to religion its most important function, that of +shaping the future. The fundamental paradox which the historic method +harbors, and which has prevented it from contributing adequately to the +process of adjustment, is the fact that the spiritual experiences of the past, +which it asks us to love and revere, were at the time of their enactment not +memories, but vital responses to immediate and pressing needs. In the +past religion dealt with its own present. That at all times the past did +play an important rôle cannot be denied; but in all effective religion it can +only be a means to an end. The historic method, on the other hand, succeeds +in nothing but in revitalizing the past for its own sake. It provides +no guidance for the future. A religion must not only write history—it +must make history. This is why the historic method has been found wanting +and has had to be supplemented by a new method of adjustment, which for +want of a better term we may designate the socio-psychological.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The New Way—the Social and Psychological Viewpoint</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>B</big>UT little attention has so far been paid to this new method of self-adjustment. +Though it is still inchoate and uncrystallized, it +forms the best part of every endeavor that makes for the rehabilitation of +religion. The remarkable feature about the new mode of adjustment is +that it did not come about directly, through a desire on the part of the +teachers of religion to make good the inadequacy of previous methods. +It was arrived at indirectly from a source that at first seemed hostile, and +to some extent is still considered so, namely, social science. Not alone +religion, but government and education, as well as history, economics and +psychology, have been revolutionized as a result of the new way of approaching +the problems of human life. So recent is the change that we +have hardly had time to appraise it. The modern point of view toward +human society has worked a change in all our thinking, comparable only to +the one which resulted when the true purport of the concept "evolution" became +apparent. The human race has lived through the forces generated by +social existence without having been aware of them, even as it went on living +for thousands of years without knowing the numerous forces that were +latent in the earth, air and sea. It will probably take a much longer time +for man to estimate at their worth the forces that are at work in social +life than it took him to perceive the forces that dominate the physical world.</div> + +<p>With all that, it is now generally established that the study of any +phase of human life, whether for theoretical or for practical purposes, must +be based upon the recognition that man is not merely a social animal, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span> +Aristotle put it, but that his being more than an animal is due entirely to +his leading a social life. In opposition to the older point of view, which +prevailed in the more materialistic schools of thought during the nineteenth +century, social science has proved that the forces that operate in human +life are not merely those that are derived from the physical environment, but +also those which are of a mental character. These psychical forces operate +with a uniformity and power in no way inferior to those of the physical +world. Social science is gradually accustoming us to regard human society +not merely as an aggregate of individuals but as a psychical entity, as a +mind not less but more real than the mind of any of the individuals that +constitute it. The perennial source of error has been the fallacy of considering +the individual human mind as an entity apart from the social environment. +Whatever significance the study of the mind, as detached from +its social environment, may have for metaphysical inquiry, it can throw no +light upon the practical problems with which the mind has to deal—problems +that arise solely from the interaction of the individual with his fellows. +The individual human being is as much the product of his social environment +as the angle is of the sides that bound it.</p> + +<p>This new method of studying mental life both in the race and in the +individual has revealed not merely the true significance of religion, but +the way in which it functions and the conditions which affect its career. +We now know that those phenomena in life which we call religious are +primarily the expression of the collective life of a social group, after it has +attained a degree of consciousness which is analogous to the self-consciousness +of the individual. When a collective life becomes self-knowing we +have a religion, which may therefore be considered the flowering stage in +the organic growth of the tree of social life. The problem of religious +adjustment is at bottom that of maintaining in a social group the psychical +or spiritual energy which expresses itself in beliefs, ideals, customs and +standards of conduct. Accordingly, when a religion is passing through a +crisis, what is really happening is not so much that certain accepted truths +or traditional habits are threatened with obsolescence, as that the social +group with whose life it has been identified is on the point of dissolution. +Whatever interest we have in the cultivation of the spiritual life must go +towards conserving this kind of social energy. To have roses we must take +care of the tree on which they grow, and not content ourselves with having +a bouquet of them put into a vase filled with water. This newer conception +of the religious life is fraught with far-reaching consequences, some of +which we shall have to point out in a later article.</p> + +<p>In Judaism we encounter the same three stages in the process of self-adjustment, +though less clearly defined, by reason of much overlapping. +What is known as the Haskalah movement represents the application of +the rationalistic method to the spiritual problems of Jewish life. Having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> +taken place in Russia, it was bound to be delayed in its coming for nearly +a century. It received the first setback in its career when the pogroms +broke out in the early "eighties," and the Russian Government inaugurated +its policy of hounding and repression. The type which the Haskalah movement +produced is the "Maskil," a man who curls his lip at ceremony and +tradition, who lacks a sense of history and dabbles in cosmopolitanism. +Not having had the courage to be thoroughgoing in his principles, or realizing +that it was futile to be so, he tolerated what was distinctively Jewish +so long as it was kept indoors and withdrawn from public gaze. In practice, +however, "Haskalah" moved in the same direction as eighteenth century +rationalism which made for the abrogation of the historic faiths.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Judaism in the Rationalistic and Historic Stages</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>C</big>ONTEMPORANEOUSLY with the rise and development of the Haskalah +movement in Russia, Jewry in the German-speaking countries +tested the validity both of the rationalistic and of the historic method. The +Reform movement was at first, like the Haskalah movement, little more than +a diluted cosmopolitanism. A typical case is that of David Friedlander and +his friends, who began by reforming the worship in harmony with modern +ideas and the changed social position of the Jews, and ended in offering to +accept Christianity, if they would not be required to believe in Jesus and +could be exempted from the observance of certain ceremonies. Influenced +by the general reaction against rationalistic tendencies and by the rise of +Jewish Wissenschaft, the Reform movement has had to reckon with the +historic method of adjustment. But that influence has not been strong +enough to overcome its early rationalistic bias from which it suffers to this +very day.</div> + +<p>The historic method was applied with far more thoroughness and consistency +by the advocates of Historical Judaism. Zunz, Frankel, Graetz, +Herzfeld, Luzzatto and Joel drew the line between adaptation and assimilation. +They laid down the principle that it was fatuous to speak of a religion +adjusting itself when it breaks so completely with the past as to be +unrecognizable. In our anxiety to have Judaism conform to the needs of +the age, we must take care lest we create an altogether new religion and +label it Judaism. Intellectual honesty demands that we give due heed to +the principle of identity, so that the sameness in our Judaism and that of +our fathers be greater than the difference between them. They therefore +applied themselves to the task of reconstructing the past by dint not of logic +and phrase-mongering, but of patient, plodding search after facts strewn +in the most out-of-the-way by-paths of literature, with the consequence that +they discovered an impassable gulf between the Judaism of history and the +Judaism of the Reform movement. We shall never be able to discharge +fully our debt of gratitude to these Jewish scholars and historians who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span> +have given us, in place of a few vague and detached memories, a past rich in +content and inspiration. But what they did was only to lay the foundation +of the Judaism of the future. A foundation affords poor shelter against +the hail and sleet of a bleak wintry day. Of what avail is it to keep on +forever hugging the cold foundation stones, when we should be engaged in +building the house of Israel?</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Judaism and the Jewish Soul</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>S soon as we begin to experience the need not merely of giving consent +to certain abstract truths or of contemplating the past, but +of helping to build the house of Israel as a means to our spiritual well-being, +Judaism enters through us upon the third stage in the process of +self-adjustment. This is the case with all those who rebel against the pulverizing +and granulating tendencies of Judaized Protestantisms which ignore +the "Kenneseth-Israel" in the effort to mete out salvation to the individual +soul. This is true of all who refuse to allow Judaism to provincialize itself +by applying for naturalization papers wherever it finds a habitat. To this +class also belong those who see in Zionism not what its opponents make it +out to be, a sulking, sullen Chauvinism, but a method of regeneration to +which Judaism has been led by divine intuition. Dr. Schechter, who has +contributed to Judaism the concept of catholicity, has this to say of +Zionism: "While it is constantly winning souls for the present, it is at +the same time preparing us for the future, which will be a Jewish future. +Only when Judaism has found itself, when the Jewish soul has been redeemed +from the Galuth, can Judaism hope to resume its mission in the world." +How significant the apposition in which the author places Judaism and +the Jewish soul! What a pity to spoil a poetic insight of that kind by +applying to it so barbarous a term as socio-psychological. Yet in that insight +is echoed the modern conception of religion as the self-consciousness +of the group, a conception which the very conditions of life have forced the +Jew to adopt. Whatever vitality Judaism still displays may be traced to +a general presentiment that it is a social mind and not a system of abstract +truths. We should not, however, permit such a principle to remain +merely a vague presentiment. The task that devolves upon us is to render +articulate both in theory and in practice all that is implied in the intuition +that Judaism is the soul of Israel.</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><span class="smcap">Editors' Note.</span>—<i>Prof. Kaplan will continue to +develop his conception of the true meaning of Judaism +in articles to appear in subsequent issues.</i></div> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_G_7" id="Footnote_G_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_7"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> In <i>The Menorah Journal</i> for October, 1915.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span></p> + +<h2>University Menorah Addresses</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>The following addresses indicating the attitude of University authorities towards the +Menorah movement may be considered as supplementary to the University Addresses printed in +Part II of</i> <span class="smcap">The Menorah Movement</span> (1914) <i>and in the first number</i> (<i>January</i>, 1915) <i>of</i> <span class="smcap">The +Menorah Journal</span>.</p></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Professor Albert <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Leon Guerard'">Léon Guérard</ins> of +The Rice Institute</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Before the Rice Institute Menorah Society, +November 29, 1915</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big>T is my privilege to welcome the Menorah +Society in the name of the non-Jewish +element and of the Faculty of +the Rice Institute. When I was requested +to do so, I accepted at once and with pleasure. +I am in hearty sympathy with the +purpose of the Menorah Society. I am a +teacher of French; but I should consider +myself unworthy of my calling if, behind +the words of a foreign language, I did not +attempt to show the civilization of a people, +their soul, their ideal. Now, what I +am attempting to do for French, the Menorah +plans to do for the traditions, the +problems, the aspirations of the Jewish +race. And although I believe that the people +which gave to the world Saint Louis, +Joan of Arc, Calvin, Descartes, Pascal, +Rousseau, Pasteur, Victor Hugo has left +its imperial imprint upon the whole of +modern civilization, yet I cannot but be +conscious of the prior and higher claims of +that strange family of whose blood Moses, +Jesus and Spinoza were born. Judaism +and Hellenism, said Renan, are the twin +miracles of human history. The artistic +and philosophical primacy of the Greeks +is not so striking as the religious primacy +of the Hebrews. The worship of beauty +is a less vital element than the undying +quest for righteousness. The whole fabric +of our culture rests on those Judeo-Hellenic +foundations. And surely a university +would be false to its name if it did not include +among its courses the study of Jewish +literature and Jewish history. The +Rice Institute is young, and will not reach +its full stature for many a decade; all +branches of knowledge cannot be taken up +at the same time. But the place which +Judaic studies ought by right to have in +the curriculum will be at least indicated +and kept in mind by your Menorah Society.</div> + +<p>I heartily welcome the Menorah because, +open to Jews and Gentiles alike, it +will help us break down the barrier of +prejudices which still separates the two +elements. I have seen with my own eyes +the tragic effects of such prejudices: I was +in Paris at the time of the Dreyfus case; +I have seen how they warped the thought +of scholarly men, like Houston Stewart +Chamberlain; I have read with horror of +the Russian pogroms. You, who have +suffered for ages under the fierce contempt +and hatred of fanatics, you who +have at last reached this haven of democracy +and justice, let not the lesson of +past sufferings be lost; do not forget your +brethren still in bondage; and your brethren +are those who are persecuted, all the +world over, even as you were persecuted. +You ought to be foremost among those +who labor for equality and freedom. We +have a right to count upon you in the +fight against all prejudices—prejudices of +race and color, of class and country, of +caste and religion. The emancipated Jew +must be an emancipator.</p> + +<p>I welcome the Menorah Society because, +though devoted primarily to the +tradition of your people, it does not look +exclusively towards the past. Be rightly +proud of the most unique and entrancing +tradition in the history of the world. +Cherish it, hold fast to it, as a title of +nobility. The world has no respect for +the man who does not respect himself in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span> +his forefathers. The call to American +citizenship does not in the least imply the +duty of forgetting that you are Jews: it +is the best Jews that will make the best +Americans. But do not be hypnotized by +your past; be worthy of your ancestors by +continuing their spirit rather than aping +their habits. Think of the problems of to-day +and to-morrow. Apply to human +affairs your Biblical test of righteousness. +Then you will find that, with a slightly +different coloring perhaps, your aspirations +are ours; our diverse evolutions, after centuries +of estrangement and conflict, tend +towards the same goal; and in the Menorah +I see a sign of the coming harmony +of sects and creeds, each remaining passionately +attached to its own past, but all +working in common towards the same +future.</p> + +<p>Finally, I cannot drive away from my +thought the shambles of Europe. Your +co-religionists are fighting under all the +belligerent flags, as bravely, as loyally, as +their fellow-citizens of a different creed; +and they have suffered more heavily in +Poland than even the Belgian martyrs. +When one thinks of the carnival of murder +to which the idolatry of territorial, +political patriotism has led, one cannot but +wonder whether the Jewish people +throughout the world might not afford an +example for all to follow. In Judaism we +have tradition, culture and race dissociated +from any special habitat or from any +political form; and this nation without a +land, this nation without a king, is developing, +prospering, unconquerable. I +wonder whether the territorial state, which +has led to such monstrous aberrations, is +not a last idol and doomed to disappear as +an ethical factor; and whether the future +might not belong to universal, interpenetrating +communities;—freely expanding, +untrammelled by physical boundaries, unable +to use force, and free from the fear +of force, communities of which Judaism +to-day might be the prototype. But I do +not want to dwell at any length on a mere +hypothesis or perhaps on a flight of fancy. +I have said enough, I hope, to convince +you of my hearty sympathy with the work +of the Menorah Society. May it long +prosper—an increasing element of strength +in our Institute!</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Professor Philip B. Kennedy, Director +of the Day Division of the School +of Commerce, New York University</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Before the New York University (Washington +Square) Menorah Society, +November 3, 1915</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>I</big> AM very glad to be present this morning +at the opening meeting of the Menorah +Society. I believe that any people +should make the most of traditions +which they have behind them. Personally, +I always feel more confidence in a man of +any race when he stands up for the best +of his race traditions.</div> + +<p>The Hebrew race is a very ancient one +and should contribute to the civilization of +this country. Students of this race who +are in our colleges are the ones who may +rightfully take the lead in making these +traditions count.</p> + +<p>The Menorah Society, I believe, is proceeding +along the right lines. I hope to +learn more of the work of this Society as +it continues its work in the School of +Commerce; and I am especially glad to +have the opportunity of being with you at +the beginning of the year. I trust that the +year will be a very successful one. Personally, +I shall attempt to back up the +Society in every way that I can.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Dean Alfred E. Burton, of Massachusetts +Institute of Technology</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Before the M. I. T. Menorah Society, October +22, 1915</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Menorah Society has appealed +to me especially because of its high +purpose. We who are not of the +Jewish race realize what an important factor +the Jews have been in civilization. +Jewish culture has played an important +part particularly here in the foundation of +New England. Puritan life and thought +drew its chief inspiration from the Old +Testament. From the earliest times Jewish +men have, been leaders in science and +letters. Among the Americans and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span> +English there is a growing tendency towards +a better appreciation of Jewish +ideals.</div> + +<p>It is important that all Jewish men +have pride in their race. If you don't, +others will not. Some Jewish students do +not seem to realize that they have a great +inheritance. Many Jewish students with +whom I have talked have been inclined +to self-depreciation, and they also felt +that everyone was against them. In contrast, +Irish students have always impressed +me with their self-confidence.</p> + +<p>Bring non-Jewish students to your +meetings. Try to increase your members. +I shall do all I can to foster and promote +your work. I would also urgently advocate +a joint Menorah banquet between +Harvard and Technology. This banquet +would not only tend to tie Technology +and Harvard students closer together, but +would be of great benefit to your Society.</p> + +<p>The study of Jewish culture and ideals +will help you to think of other things than +those immediately connected with your +school work, and it will, furthermore, instill +in you a feeling of dignity for your +heritage.</p> + +<div class='center'><br /><span class="smcap">Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes, Secretary +of Yale University</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Substance of Address before the Yale +Menorah Society, October 27, 1915</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>M</big>R. Stokes spoke of three reasons +why Jewish students of the right +type were welcome to Yale University:</div> + +<p>1. <i>They showed themselves capable of +the highest scholarship;</i> the large number +of prize awards won by Jewish students +was evidence of this. The speaker expressed +the hope that some of the Jewish +students would go in for scholarly life +careers. With so many Jewish students +of high scholarship it seemed strange that +relatively few pursued graduate studies +outside of the various professions.</p> + +<p>2. <i>They made their contribution to the +life and thought of a democratic American +university.</i> A university like Yale is, he +said, a melting pot of democracy. One +of its main advantages is that it brings together +Orient and Occident, North and +South, Catholic and Protestant, Christian +and Jew, and makes each understand the +point of view of the other.</p> + +<p>3. <i>The presence of Jewish students at +the University tends to attract to Yale +gifts in the interest of Semitic studies.</i> +The contribution of Judaism to religious +and ethical ideals was so important that +no university could afford to fail in supplying +adequate courses of Semitic instruction. +Several recent gifts to the University +in the interest of Jewish scholarship +from prominent Jewish citizens indicates +that they had been impressed with +the fair treatment of Jewish boys at Yale. +He spoke with appreciation of a recent +gift of a rabbinic library of several thousand +volumes of large value.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stokes spoke with much appreciation +of the Menorah Society because of +what it was doing in bringing together +Jewish students in the interest of high intellectual +and ethical ideals, and hoped +that it would not forget that its mission +was not only to interest Jewish students +but also Christian students in Jewish culture.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span></p> +<h2>Intercollegiate Menorah Notes</h2> + +<h3>Fourth Annual Menorah Convention</h3> + + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big>T the University of Pennsylvania, +Philadelphia, Pa., on Monday, +Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, +December 27, 28, 29 and 30, 1915.</div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Announcements</i></div> + +<p>All members of Menorah Societies are +cordially invited to attend the Convention. +Though the right to vote is enjoyed only +by duly accredited Representatives and +Deputies of constituent Menorah Societies, +all Menorah members may be +given the privilege of the floor at the +business sessions. Graduates also, especially +former members of Menorah Societies, +are invited to attend.</p> + +<p>All business sessions, unless otherwise +indicated, will take place at College Hall, +University of Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>A reception will be given to the delegates +and other Menorah members by a +Committee of graduates and leading Jewish +men and women of Philadelphia, at +the Y. M. H. A., on Monday evening, +at 8.</p> + +<p>By invitation from the President of the +Dropsie College, Dr. Cyrus Adler, one of +the meetings, the "Scholars' Evening," +will be held at The Dropsie College, corner +Broad and York Sts., Philadelphia, +on Tuesday evening, December 28, at +8.15 P. M. This meeting will be open to +the public.</p> + +<p>The Convention Dinner, at the Hotel +Adelphia, Philadelphia, on Wednesday +evening, December 29, at 6.30 P. M., will +be open to Representatives and Deputies, +all other Menorah members, all graduates, +and invited guests. Menorah members +who desire their friends to be invited +will please send their names and addresses +immediately to the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association, 600 Madison Avenue, +New York. The subscription will +be $3.00 a cover.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Program</i></div> + +<div class='unindent'> +<span class="smcap">Monday</span>, December 27.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>10. A. M. Opening session. Submission of +credentials by Representatives +and Deputies, and written reports +of their respective Menorah +Societies (unless previously sent +to the Chancellor of the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association); +payment of Society dues to the +Association for 1916; seating of +Representatives and Deputies; +presentation of the applications +of new Menorah Societies for admission +into the Association and +action thereon.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>1. P. M. Informal luncheon to delegates +and visiting Menorah members.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>2. P. M. Presentation of reports of Intercollegiate +Officers for 1915, covering +(1) roster of Menorah Societies +and census of Menorah +members; (2) extension of the +Menorah movement during 1915; +(3) the Menorah College of Lecturers; +(4) Menorah courses of +study and syllabi; (5) Menorah +Libraries; (6) Menorah Prizes; +(7) The Menorah Journal; (8) +Menorah Classics; (9) Graduate +Menorah Committees; (10) The +graduate phase of the movement; +(11) Relations of the Menorah +with other organizations, etc. +Questions regarding the activities +of the Association and the policy +of the Administration during +1916.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>8. P. M. Formal reception to the delegates +and visiting Menorah students, +given by University alumni of +Philadelphia at the Y. M. H. A.</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Tuesday</span>, December 28th.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>9.30 A. M. Discussion of the Intercollegiate +reports submitted the previous +afternoon, with special reference +to The Menorah Journal. Resolutions.</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span></p> +<div class='hangindent'>1. P. M. Informal luncheon.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>2. P. M. Discussion continued of the Intercollegiate +reports, with special +reference to the question of the +affiliation of graduates with the +movement. Resolutions.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>8. P. M. "Scholars' Evening" at The Dropsie +College. Papers by Professor +Max L. Margolis of The Dropsie +College, Professor Israel Friedlaender +of the Jewish Theological +Seminary of America, and Professor +Julian Morgenstern of the +Hebrew Union College. Informal +memorial to the late Dr. +Schechter by President Cyrus +Adler of The Dropsie College.</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Wednesday</span>, December 29th.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>9.30 A. M. Submission of 10 minute oral reports +of Menorah Societies by +their respective Representatives +or Deputies, in summary of the +written reports previously submitted.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>2. P. M. Discussion of the activities and +problems of the Menorah Societies +and the ways in which +Menorah work may be still further +advanced in the Colleges +and Universities of the country.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>4. P. M. Election of Intercollegiate Officers +for 1916.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>6.30 P. M. Convention Dinner at the Hotel +Adelphia for Representatives and +Deputies, all other Menorah +members, graduates, friends and +invited guests. Toasts.</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Thursday</span>, December 30th.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>9.30 A. M. Discussion continued of Menorah +activities in Colleges and Universities. +Resolutions.</div> + +<div class='hangindent'>2. P. M. Unfinished business.</div> + + + +<h3>Items of Interest</h3> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Death of Dr. Schechter</i></div> + +<p>Solomon Schechter, President of the +Jewish Theological Seminary of America, +died suddenly on November 19. Dr. +Schechter was a member of the Board +of Consulting Editors of <span class="smcap">The Journal</span>, +and from the first an inspiring friend of +the Menorah movement. <span class="smcap">The Journal</span> +was shortly to have received his promised +article. Endeavor will be made in an +early issue to give worthy appreciation of +Dr. Schechter as scholar and humanist and +Jewish leader. Meantime, it may be +noted that several of his leading works +are to be found in Menorah libraries: +"Studies in Judaism" and "Aspects of +Rabbinic Theology." Attention may also +be called to Dr. Schechter's last book, +published only recently, entitled "Seminary +Papers and Addresses."</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Relief of Jewish Students in Switzerland</i></div> + +<p>Menorah members have sent the following +amounts through the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association for the relief +of Russian Jewish students at present +in Switzerland: $38 from the University +of Pennsylvania; $23.50 from the University +of Valparaiso; $18 from The Johns +Hopkins University; $9.50 from Temple +University (Philadelphia); and $6 from +the University of North Carolina. The +students at Harvard sent approximately +$100.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Syllabus of Jewish History</i></div> + +<p>By special arrangement with the University +of London, the Intercollegiate Menorah +Association has been enabled to provide +Menorah Study Circles with a Syllabus +of Jewish History from Mendelssohn +to Herzl, prepared by ten Jewish authorities +in England as an Extension Course of +the University of London.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>New Menorah Societies</i></div> + +<p>New Menorah Societies have been organized +since the opening of this academic +year at a number of Colleges and Universities, +including Alabama, George Washington +(Washington, D. C.), Rice Institute +(Houston, Texas), Temple, Vanderbilt, +and Washington (St. Louis). Menorah +Societies are now in process of +formation at a number of other Universities.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>The Graduate Phase</i></div> + +<p>A graduate Menorah Society was organized +last year in Scranton, Pa., with +Dr. Elias G. Roos as President.</p> + +<p>A number of former members of the +Menorah Society of New York University<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> +organized last month into "The Menorah +Alumni of New York University," with +Louis Weinstein as temporary President.</p> + +<p>A Graduate Menorah Society has recently +been formed in Montgomery, Ala., +with Harry Weil as President.</p> + +<p>A Graduate Menorah Advisory Committee +has been formed in Cincinnati, with +Mr. S. Marcus Fechheimer as Chairman.</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><i>Joint Menorah Meetings in New York</i></div> + +<p>Continuing the pleasant practice originated +last year, the Menorah Societies in +New York—at the College of the City of +New York, Columbia University, Hunter +College and New York University, in +company with the newly organized "Menorah +Alumni of New York University"—held +their first joint meeting of this year +in the Auditorium of Hunter College, the +Hunter Menorah acting as hostess. It +was a most successful meeting, with an +attendance of about 700 Menorah members +and friends.</p> + +<p>Miss Sarah Berenson, President of the +Hunter Menorah, introduced the Chancellor +as the chairman. The speakers +were Miss Tamar Hirschensohn of the +Hunter College Faculty, and Mrs. Benjamin +S. Pouzzner, Radcliffe, 1912. Miss +Hirschensohn drew a comparative picture +of a great Hebrew friendship celebrated +in the Bible, that of David and Jonathan, +and notable friendships in the +Greek and Latin classics—Achilles and +Patroclus and Euryalus and Nisus. +Mrs. Pouzzner spoke upon the Jewish +women of the German Salons of the +eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The +Chancellor read communications to <span class="smcap">The +Menorah Journal</span> from Viscount Bryce +and Hon. Oscar S. Straus (see pages 281 +and 297). After the speaking the Hunter +Menorah held an informal reception for +the members of the other Menorah Societies.</p> + +<p>The next joint meeting of the Menorah +Societies of New York will be held at +Columbia University on Sunday afternoon, +December 26. The principal speaker +will be Mr. Louis Weinberg, artist +and lecturer at the Metropolitan Art Museum +and the College of the City of New +York. The subject will be "Culture and +Nationalism." Besides the members of +the Menorah Societies in New York, +members of Menorah Societies at other +Colleges and Universities home for their +vacation are invited to be present. It is +hoped also that a number of delegates +from various parts of the country to the +Menorah Convention which meets the +next morning in Philadelphia will be able +to attend.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span></p> + +<h2>Activities of Menorah Societies</h2> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Clark College</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE third year of the Clark College +Menorah Society opened on September +24 with every Jewish +member of the college present. The +membership is larger than ever before, +and all things forecast a most prosperous +year, one which will be fully in keeping +with the decennial year of the Menorah +movement.</div> + +<p>A program has been made by the executive +committee and the subjects for +the year have been mapped out, as follows:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Program List"> +<tr><td align='left'>(1) Jewish Literature;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(2) The Messiah Idea in Jewish History;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(3) Aspects of Hebrew Genius;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(4) Jewish History;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(5) Stories and Pictures;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(6) The Haskalah Movement;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(7) Songs of Exile;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(8) Judah Ha-Levi;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(9) Zionism;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(10) Ahad Ha-'Amism;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(11) The Bible as Literature;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(12) The Jewish Language;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(13) Reform vs. Orthodoxy;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(14) Nationality and the Hyphenated American;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(15) Anti-Semitism;</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>(16) Justice and Mercy.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>These topics are assigned to the various +members of the Society and reports are +given at the meetings. Discussion follows +usually and great interest has been manifested +by all members.</p> + +<p>The second annual banquet of the Society +is to be held in January and plans +have already been under way for the past +few weeks, efforts being made to hold a +banquet surpassed by no other Society in +point of stirring interest for the Menorah +among all the students and faculty.</p> + +<div class='signature'><span class="smcap">Isador Lubin</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>College of the City of New York</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE beginning of the academic year +1915-1916 marked the adoption +of a new policy in the history of +the C. C. N. Y. Menorah Society. During +the past five years, Menorah activities +have been mainly extensive, the purpose +being to interest as large a number of +students as possible. But now that the +Menorah has come to exert such a wide +influence in C. C. N. Y., greater prominence +is being given to work of a more +intensive nature, and emphasis is laid on +the quality rather than the quantity of the +membership.</div> + +<p>Our program of Menorah activities may +be divided into extensive work and intensive +work. At the basis of the extensive +work are the public lectures which +are intended not only for Menorah members +but for the entire student body. The +first of these public lectures was held on +October 7 when Dr. Sidney E. Goldstein +of the Free Synagogue delivered an enthusiastic +and inspiring address on "Social +Service and the Jew" before an +audience of over 150 students. At the +suggestion of Dr. Goldstein a number of +students present volunteered to form a +group for the study of social problems in +the Jewish community of New York City +in connection with actual social service +work. The second public lecture, held on +October 21, was delivered by the Hon. +Marcus M. Marks, Borough President of +Manhattan. Over 200 students were +present, and about 150 more were turned +away after the doors were shut.</p> + +<p>The weekly forums constitute the +second part of the extensive work of the +Society. At these Forums, talks followed +by discussions are given by members of the +Faculty, Menorah alumni and others. +The first Forum meeting of the semester, +with which Menorah activities were formally +opened, was held on September 21,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span> +and was led by Chancellor Henry Hurwitz, +who spoke on "The Meaning of the +Menorah Movement." Other Forum +speakers have been Professor William B. +Guthrie of the Department of Political +Science; Professor John P. Turner of the +Philosophy Department; Mr. George J. +Horowitz, an ex-president of the Menorah; +Rabbi Aaron Robison, Director of +the Y. M. H. A.; Mr. Isadore Berkson, +an alumnus and ex-president of the Menorah; +Professor H. D. Marsh of the +Philosophy Department; and Mr. Julius +Drachsler, Secretary of the School of +Jewish Communal Workers.</p> + +<p>The study circles comprise the intensive +work of the Menorah and constitute its +most important activity. At these study +circles a group of not more than ten students +come together once a week for one +hour to study and discuss questions of +Jewish interest. The work in the study +circles is done entirely by the students +themselves. Up to the present, eleven +study circles have been organized and +these meet regularly every week. Some of +the subjects taken up are: Modern Jewish +Movements, Current Events in Jewry, +Schechter's "Essays in Judaism," Present +Day Problems in Judaism, Jewish Biography, +The Philosophy of Ahad Ha-'am.</p> + +<p>In addition to all these activities, +"regular" meetings of the Society are +held. On the evening of October 6 the +annual smoker took place at the City College +Club, with Mr. M. S. Levussove of +the Faculty, Mr. Julius Hyman, an alumnus, +and Chancellor Hurwitz among the +speakers. On October 23 George J. Horowitz +read an interesting paper on "Judaism +and Christianity," which was followed +by a spirited discussion. On Saturday +evening, November 13, there was held +a joint meeting of the students of the day +college and of the evening college for the +purpose of organizing a Menorah Society +among the students of the evening college. +Professor I. Leo Sharfman of Michigan +addressed the meeting on "A Few Facts +About the Menorah." The men of the +night college were very enthusiastic about +the idea of the Menorah and the prospects +of a successful Menorah among them are +very favorable.</p> + +<p>The membership of the C. C. N. Y. +Menorah is constantly growing, although +in every case application for membership +is always spontaneous and voluntary.</p> + +<div class='signature'><span class="smcap">William E. Austin</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Hunter College</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>S</big>INCE its first meeting of the season, +the Hunter College Menorah Society +has more than trebled its +membership. Ten per cent of the entire +student body have joined our ranks. We +hope for even greater members before the +end of the year. Our freshman "At +Home" was pronounced the most enjoyable +welcome to freshmen given by any +society. A large audience, including several +members of the Faculty, attended our +first regular meeting, which was addressed +by Professor Israel Friedlaender of the +Jewish Theological Seminary.</div> + +<p>Between our regular meetings, we hold +weekly noon-time Forums. Besides, the +three study circles organized by the Society +meet weekly and are attended by +between twenty and twenty-five members. +The Society arranged for the very successful +joint meeting of all the Menorah Societies +in the city, which was held at Hunter +on Sunday evening, November 21, with +an attendance of about 700.</p> + +<p>The members of the Society have shown +their appreciation of the privileges arising +from membership not only by voting +almost unanimously to double the annual +dues but also by undertaking a catalogue, +on the basis of subject matter, of the contents +of books which might be of interest +to students of Hebraic culture. This +work will cover finally, we hope, all such +books in English and the leading modern +foreign languages and should prove a lasting +help to students everywhere.</p> + +<div class='signature'><span class="smcap">Ernestine P. Franklin</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Johns Hopkins University</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>A</big> DISTINCT Menorah revival has +taken place this year at the Johns +Hopkins University. Having for +several years led a rather aimless and +nomadic existence, the Menorah Society +has at last affiliated itself definitely with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span> +the University. At the beginning of the +present collegiate year, application was +made to the authorities of the University +for permission to hold meetings in +one of the college buildings. The permission +was very graciously granted, and, in +addition, the Dean of the Johns Hopkins +University, Dr. Murray Peabody Brush, +accepted our imitation to say a few words +of welcome to the Jewish students at the +inaugural meeting of the Society for the +year 1915-16.</div> + +<p>This meeting was held in McCoy Hall, +on the evening of October 18, and was +comparatively well attended. Dr. Brush, +in a talk that was brief but to the point, +congratulated both the Menorah Society +and the University upon the closer relations +into which the two organizations +were entering. The University must +benefit, he said, from all student activities +not directly connected with the curricula +of studies, as a more unselfish love for the +institution is thereby fostered in the student. +The Menorah Society must prove +of advantage to us, as students, in that it +tends to broaden our outlook and encourages +us to enter fields of study that we +might otherwise never approach. Finally, +the Society fulfills a definite purpose for +the Jewish students in particular by keeping +fresh in their minds all the great ideals +and achievements which distinguish their +history. The Dean closed his talk with +a hearty welcome from the authorities of +the University to the Johns Hopkins Menorah +Society. Dr. Brush was followed +by the Chancellor of the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association, who urged the assembled +students to give the Society a +strong impetus this year, now that it has +definitely found a habitat in the University. +He explained the need that is filled +in the life of the student by the Menorah +Society, and outlined a mode of conduct +for the Hopkins organization.</p> + +<p>In accordance with Mr. Hurwitz's suggestion, +a study circle, aiming to take up +modern Jewish history since the time of +Moses Mendelssohn, was formed on the +spot. The Society has been fortunate +enough to procure the services of Mr. +Elias N. Rabinowitz, a member of the +Semitic department of the Johns Hopkins +University, as leader of the study +circle. The group consists of close to +twenty students and meets weekly in one +of the rooms of the University library. +It bids fair to prove of genuine good to +the students interested in it.</p> + +<p>At the second meeting of the Society, +November 1, the speaker was Rabbi +Eugene Kohn, of Baltimore, whose interesting +talk on "The Elements of Stability +and Progress in Judaism" elicited warm +discussion. The Society hopes to have +regular monthly meetings, for which attractive +programs have been arranged by +the Executive Committee.</p> + +<div class='signature'><span class="smcap">Aaron Schaffer</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>New York University</b><br /> +(University Heights)</div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>F</big>ORMED in December, 1913, forced +to cope at first with many opposing +and discouraging elements, the +New York University Menorah Society +at University Heights has rapidly mounted +the ladder of success and has entered upon +a banner year. We have set two great +aims before us for this year: first, to make +the Society strong internally, and, secondly, +to bring the purposes and ideals of the +Menorah movement before the alumni of +New York University.</div> + +<p>Various plans are being utilized for the +fulfillment of the first aim. The Executive +committee succeeded during the summer +in getting together an excellent list +of prominent men to lecture before the +Society on current topics of Jewish interest. +A prospectus was issued in the +first week of the college year, containing, +in brief, a discussion of the Menorah Idea, +a history of the Intercollegiate Menorah +Association, a resume of the New York +University Menorah Society, a speech by +Chancellor Elmer E. Brown delivered +before the Menorah Society, a word about +Associate membership and about Menorah +Prizes, and the program for the year. +Using this prospectus as a means of introduction +to those unacquainted with the +movement, a vigorous campaign was conducted +by a well organized committee to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span> +increase the membership. A doubled +membership in two weeks was the result +of this. Another means towards getting +the new men to join was the Freshmen +Reception, held on October 14, at +which Dean Bouton of the College of +Arts and Chancellor Hurwitz were the +speakers. This reception proved a great +success.</p> + +<p>Besides attending the regular bi-weekly +lectures of the Society, each member is +urged to join one of the eight study circles +in modern Jewish History and Hebrew +(elementary and advanced). A well +organized committee has charge of these +study circles. It has been successful in +signing up nearly a hundred men. The +study circles are conducted by several +members who are also Seminary students +and by several rabbis of the city. These +study circles are proving of first importance +in our general plans, because it is +really in these that the men acquire a little +"Jewish culture and ideals and an independence +of thought and action in things +Jewish." Several members of these classes +have become so enthused with the newer +Jewish spirit that they devote a good part +of their time lecturing on Jewish topics to +Young Judaean organizations and Young +People's Synagogues in and about New +York City.</p> + +<p>To stimulate still further individual +research and study of Jewish problems it +has been decided to offer one or two Menorah +prizes for papers on various Jewish +topics. In order to raise a substantial +amount of money for that purpose two +committees are working on separate plans. +One of these committees, by a special arrangement +with the Business Manager of +<span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span>, has started a +campaign to get two hundred subscriptions +for <span class="smcap">The Journal</span>, thereby netting +the Society fifty dollars for one prize. +This committee, backed by the entire membership, +is gaining speed daily, and looks +forward to the accomplishment of its object +before the Convention. Another committee +is circularizing the alumni outside +of New York City to get their support. +The result of this work, though incomplete +as yet, looks most promising.</p> + +<p>The above is a brief resume of our +year's plans. We realize the importance +not only of having plans but of carrying +them through successfully, as we are determined +they shall be. The work is +being done systematically, not by one man +nor by two or three men, but by an efficient, +earnest executive committee backed +by almost every man in the Menorah Society. +It is our aim to tell a pretty tale +at the Intercollegiate Menorah Convention.</p> + +<div class='signature'><span class="smcap">M. A. Stavitsky</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Ohio State University</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>O</big>UR annual freshmen reception this +year saw very little of the conventional +"stiffshirt" formalities, nor +did it hear much of the honey-soaked +praises of Jewish loyalty and patriotism. +Instead of this we had a simple, all-student +affair where everyone found satisfaction +in merely meeting and getting acquainted +with the rest of the Jewish students. +A short talk on the purpose of +the Menorah, several selections of Jewish +music and refreshments made up the rest +of the program. This year's Freshmen, +both men and women, are especially +promising for the Menorah.</div> + +<p>At the second meeting the members displayed +an excellent Menorah spirit by +adopting a resolution to include the subscription +fee of <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span> +in the membership dues and thus making +the <span class="smcap">Journal</span> receivable by every member +as a matter of course.</p> + +<p>At a later meeting there was a lecture +by Professor Brooder of the Sociology +Department on "The Anthropology of +the Jew," which was followed by a general +discussion. At another meeting the +writer read a paper on the Jewish Congress +movement.</p> + +<p>Our meetings have thus far been unusually +well attended and highly spirited. +It must be admitted, however, that the +work was rather spontaneous and not the +product of previous planning. This is to +be remedied soon by a plan, now under +consideration, systematizing the entire +year's work.</p> + +<div class='signature'> +<span class="smcap">Samuel Lesser</span><br /></div><p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Radcliffe College</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Radcliffe Menorah, which was +organized in December, 1914, did +not accomplish very much last +year; there was no study circle, although +attempts to form one were made, and +the members did little or no concerted +work. This year, however, a much +stronger group spirit is being shown. A +study circle in Jewish history, lead by Dr. +Harry Wolfson of Harvard, has been +formed; and a petition for a regular +course in Jewish Literature has been +drawn up.</div> + +<p>We have had two lecture meetings. +At the first, Mr. Henry Hurwitz spoke +on the imperative need for concerted action +among American Jews in the attempt +to ameliorate the conditions among the +Jews of Europe. He said the Menorah +Society should ultimately help towards +this concerted effort by bringing home +the realization of the conditions to Jewish +young men and women who, through lack +of interest or education, have not yet become +conscious of them. At the second +meeting, Dr. Kaufmann Kohler, President +of the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati, +spoke on Reform Judaism: its history, +meaning, and purpose. Reform +Judaism has its being, stated the speaker, +not in the desire of the Jew for an easier, +less irksome mode of cooking and praying, +but in his acute need of adapting himself +to the manners and customs of the country +in which he lives. Not only is the spirit +of Judaism not lost, it is reinforced +through the casting off of the form which +might obscure it. At the same meeting, +Mr. Frederick F. Greenman, President +of the Harvard Menorah, spoke about +the possibility of co-operation between the +Harvard and Radcliffe Societies.</p> + +<p>While there are few new members of +the Radcliffe Menorah, it is expected that +the year will be an active one.</p> + +<div class='signature'><span class="smcap">Ruth Jane Mack</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Tufts College</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Menorah Society of Tufts College +began its activities for the +third year with an enthusiastic +reception to the Freshman class. A +marked increase of enthusiasm came along +with the new members. Our Society, +which three years ago began with four +members, has now a membership of sixty, +all enthusiastic about the Menorah work. +A shingle has been designed and adopted. +A Menorah prize which was offered last +year for 1915-1916 was announced at the +first meeting and it looks as if a keen competition +will take place. Courses have +been organized in Jewish History, Philosophy +and Bible study, the feature of the +study circles being that a different member +conducts each meeting and the man +who obtains the highest mark (each student +being rated by the presiding member) +will receive a prize of a set of books. All +in all, the outlook is for the most successful +year in the history of the Tufts +Menorah.</div> + +<div class='signature'><span class="smcap">H. L. Katz</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Illinois</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE Illinois Menorah is looking forward +to a most successful year, +with efficient officers, enthusiastic +members, and the usual interest and co-operation +of the Faculty members. A +definite attempt is to be made to foster a +spirit of friendliness and co-operation +among all the Jewish students.</div> + +<p>The year was formally opened on October +10 by a reception to the new students. +After an opening talk by President +Karl Epstein, the students were addressed +by Professor E. C. Baldwin, Dr. Jacob +Zeitlin and Mr. Samuel Abrams, a former +president. The meeting was attended by +110 students. At later meetings Dr. +David S. Blondheim spoke on "The Jewish +Congress," Dr. Simon Litman on +"The Jew of To-day," and Professor B. +H. Bode on "The Hyphenated Jewish-American."</p> + +<p>The work of our Menorah is augmented +by the Menorah Study Circle, +under the leadership of Mrs. Simon Litman. +The class is doing intensive work in +Jewish post-exilic history. Throughout, +the bearing of our past history upon present +day problems is emphasized. Judging +from the enthusiasm of the members +of the class, the Study Circle is going to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span> +become a permanent feature of our Menorah +activities.</p> + +<div class='signature'><span class="smcap">Anita Libman</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Michigan</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>S</big>OMEONE once said that he could +lift the world if he could find a +place to stand on. The Menorah +Society at Michigan is still working to +rear a strong foundation which will bear +the weight of a large and beautiful superstructure.</div> + +<p>Our Society began its current year with +a "Teruah Gedolah." The trumpet blast +was sounded loud and long: and the children +of Israel came out from their tents. +Through advertisement in the <i>Michigan +Daily</i>, through posters and personal contact +with the students on the campus, a +large attendance was procured for the first +meeting. Professor Sharfman was on +hand to inspire enthusiasm into the men +and women. An excellent musical program +had been provided for. The meeting +was highly successful and brought tidings +for a banner year. Some previously +discordant strings were brought to the +proper tune. There had been some friction +between the Students' Congregation +and the Menorah last year. This friction +arose for two reasons: first, some Menorah +men felt that the Congregation was +"cutting out" the Menorah, that the +Congregation was entering upon the Menorah's +field of action. Of course, there +is absolutely no reason for such an objection. +The Menorah supplies the intellectual +needs of the Jewish students; the +Congregation exists for religious inspiration +only. True enough, the two overlap +to a small degree; but not sufficiently to +be termed "encroachment." The second +reason was a technical one. The Menorah +men were greatly vexed because +the time of the Congregation conflicted +with our time. The Menorah began at +8 <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> on Sunday evening; but the Congregation +did not adjourn often until 8.15 +or 8.30. The Congregation itself was not +to blame, for they could not always foresee +that a Rabbi would become so overheated +in discussing the war situation +that he would ignore the element of time +in the make-up of our universe. At the +beginning of this semester we determined +to put an end to all friction, though +trivial, between the two organizations. +There is no worldly reason for discord +between the two Jewish organizations. +We held a consultation with the President +of the Congregation who assured us of +all possible support; and in turn the Menorah +assured the Congregation of support. +Indeed, the Menorah conceded a +point by moving our meeting time fifteen +minutes; and the President of the Congregation, +who is also a Menorah member, +was given the floor at the first meeting +to enlighten the audience on the meaning +of the Congregation to student life. +A goodly number of Congregation men +and women are Menorah members and +<i>vice versa</i>. The two organizations are +now working in entire harmony and we +are accomplishing the more for it.</p> + +<p>Our second meeting was held on October +31. Professor Leroy Waterman, the +new head of the Semitics Department, led +the discussion with an address on "The +Religious Problems of To-day in the Light +of Early Jewish History and Literature."</p> + +<p>On November 28, Mr. Fred M. Butzel, +an alumnus of Michigan and President +of the United Jewish Charities in Detroit, +led the discussion with a talk +on "Some Tendencies in the Social +Work of the Jews." Through the Intercollegiate +Menorah Association we +were enabled to procure Professor Edward +Chauncey Baldwin of the University +of Illinois to speak before us on December +12 on "Job." Also through the +Association we expect to have Professor +Julian Morgenstern of the Hebrew Union +College.</p> + +<p>We have this year more members than +ever before, and they are enthusiastic. +But it is not in numbers alone that we +must put our trust. We should never +worry—I know that some do—when the +Menorah has a small meeting if only it is +successful. I think that we never had a +better meeting than when Dr. Kallen addressed +fourteen members two years ago. +Isaiah's prophecy concerning the <i>Shearith +Yisrael</i>, the remnant of Israel, applies to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span> +our Menorah problem. The few will redeem +the many; they will uphold the +ideals and culture of the Jewish race.</p> + +<p>But no matter how successful the semester +will be, we shall only be able to say +that we have added but one stone to the +pedestal which is to be the permanent and +deep foundation of the Menorah at Michigan.</p> + +<div class='signature'><span class="smcap">Abraham J. Levin</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Minnesota</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>W</big>ITH an attendance that broke +all records, and a display of +enthusiasm and interest that +augurs well for the Society, the Minnesota +Menorah opened its year of activities +on October 1, with the annual +"Get-Together" reception. During the +evening, members of the freshman class +were introduced to members of the Faculty, +alumni and upperclass men and +women. A short program entertained the +assembly, which was followed by a brief +address by President H. W. Davis, expressing +the aims and purposes of the +Society.</div> + +<p>Following the plan adopted last year of +centralizing the subjects of study and discussion, +our Program Committee has for +this year again divided the work of the Society +into two divisions. The first semester +will be devoted to a presentation and +discussion of some of the Jewish problems, +viz., anti-Semitism and certain social, +economic, and religious problems, while +the second semester will be devoted to +proposed solutions of these problems +through Zionism, Socialism, Assimilation, +etc. Students and representative members +of the community will alternate in the +presentation of the various subjects to the +Society. Greater emphasis than ever before +will be given to general discussion +by all the members of the Society at each +meeting.</p> + +<p>After careful consideration, the Minnesota +Menorah has decided to withdraw +its campaign to bring the Intercollegiate +Convention to Minnesota this year, yielding +in favor of the East and Philadelphia. +We wish, however, to thank the members +of the Administrative Council who had +pledged us their support, and we take this +opportunity to announce that at this Convention +Minnesota will earnestly urge +the delegates to fix the place for the Convention +of 1916, and it is for that Convention +that Minnesota will put in its +strongest bid.</p> + +<div class='signature'><span class="smcap">David London</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>University of Wisconsin</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE academic year 1915-16 opened +very auspiciously for the Menorah +at Wisconsin. Fully 100 +attended the first meeting, at Lathrop +parlors, on October 4. Twenty-four new +members were added, swelling the total +membership to fifty-six. President +Charles A. Lebowsky welcomed the freshmen +into the Society, and explained the +broad and liberal basis upon which the +Menorah rested. Professor Dodge, +Chairman of the Menorah Prize Committee, +announced the Menorah prize of +$100 (the largest individual prize in the +University of Wisconsin), and urged all +members to try for it. The closing speech +of the evening was given by Dr. H. M. +Kallen, mentor of the organization. Dr. +Kallen spoke on "The Menorah Movement—Its +Relation to Jewish Academic +Life." After the meeting a general mixer +was held, refreshments served, and the +members became acquainted with each +other.</div> + +<p>At the second meeting of the year, on +October 18, Mr. Alexander Aaronsohn of +Palestine, brother of the famous agronomist, +addressed an enthusiastic audience +upon the subject of "Jewish Colonization +in Palestine." The speaker had but recently +arrived from that land, after many +thrilling adventures, and his talk was most +inspiring. Mr. Aaronsohn emphasized +the fact that while formerly, since time +immemorial, it has been the custom, and +in fact the ambition, of every Jew to return +to Palestine that he might die there, +to-day, it was not to die, but to live, that +the Jew returned to the land of his +fathers. At the following meeting the +Society discussed the Russian situation; +Mr. Zigmund Salit gave an interesting +paper describing his own experiences in +that land of suffering. Mr. Milton Moses<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span> +delivered an oration on "The Wandering +Jew."</p> + +<p>On November 15, Rev. C. A. Greenman, +of the First Unitarian Church of +Milwaukee, addressed us on a striking +theme, "The Relationship Between Judaism +and Unitarianism." Other speakers +to follow are Justice Hugo Pam, of the +Chicago Appellate Court, Rabbi Joseph +Stolz, and Dr. Horace J. Bridges, of the +Chicago Ethical Culture Society, besides +members of our own Faculty.</p> + +<p>In order to arouse even more enthusiasm +for the Menorah idea, the executive +committee has arranged to hold a number +of informal dinners. Since these dinners +are given primarily for members of the +Society, no outside speakers will be invited. +Short and snappy toasts will be +given by members, the alumni will be +called upon if any happen to be present, +and the Menorah Song will be rendered +by the ensemble. If the first dinner proves +to be successful, and there is every reason +to believe that it will, these affairs will +become an established part of the Menorah +program at Wisconsin.</p> + +<div class='signature'><span class="smcap">Charles A. Lebowsky</span></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><b>Western Reserve University</b></div> + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE opening of the scholastic year +1915-16 marked a radical change +in the policy hitherto followed by +the Western Reserve Menorah Society. +During the first few years of its existence +membership was open only to the male +students of the university and attendance +was necessarily small. Interest in the Society +itself began to dwindle until finally +it became clear that some radical step +would have to be taken if the Society was +to remain intact and worthy of the name.</div> + +<p>Accordingly, at a meeting of the executive +committee held shortly after the +opening of college in the fall, it was decided +that hereafter membership would +be open to both the men and the women +of the university. Seventy-five students +gathered for the opening meeting held on +October 24. At later meetings, Dr. Lamberton, +of the Faculty, lectured on "The +Influence of Hellenism on Hebraic Culture," +and Dr. Daniel A. Huebsch, noted +art critic and lecturer, spoke on "The +Neglect of the Old Testament." Dr. +Huebsch urged that inasmuch as the +Menorah Society was devoted to Jewish +study, it was the proper place for a revival +of interest particularly in Biblical +literature and other Hebrew writings. +These works were distinctively the Jews' +own and should not be neglected by them +as the younger generation was inclined +to do. Both lectures were well attended +and followed by interesting discussions. +A later meeting was devoted almost entirely +to a lively as well as an intensely +interesting discussion of Zionism.</p> + +<p>The Western Reserve Menorah Society +may well look forward to a banner year. +Having overcome the obstacles that face +every new organization, we are now prepared +and eager to carry on the aggressive +work of the Menorah. Passing as we +are through a period fraught with epoch-making +events, an endless number of +problems spring up on every side, each +one clamoring for attention. Upon the +solution of many of these problems rests +the future welfare of the Jewish race. +Having been awakened to a realization of +the seriousness of the situation, the Western +Reserve Menorah Society will compass +every effort to do its share in the +movement for enlightenment and progress.</p> + +<div class='right'> +<span class="smcap">Benjamin F. Roth</span><br /></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333.1">[333]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a href="./22300-h.htm#Page_333">INDEX</a></h2> + +<p> </p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Hardman Piano Ad"> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><img src="images/hardmanpianotopandbottom.png" width="600" height="32" alt="Decoration: Top and Bottom border" title="" /> +</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><img src="images/hardmanpianoside.png" width="33" height="882" alt="Decoration: Side" title="" /> +</td><td align='left'><div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Caruso and his letter"> +<tr><td align='center'><img src="images/caruso.png" width="200" height="228" alt="CARUSO & HIS +HARDMAN PIANO" title="CARUSO & HIS +HARDMAN PIANO" /> +<b>CARUSO & HIS +HARDMAN PIANO</b></td><td align='left'><div class='bbox4'> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"> +<small>New York, April 13th, 1914.</small><br /> +</span> + +<small>Messers. Hardman, Peck & Company,</small><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><small>#433 Fifth Avenue,</small></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><small>New York City.</small></span><br /> + +<p><small>Dear Mr. Peck:—</small></p> + +<p><small>The five foot Hardman Grand which +you have sent for my use to my apartment is +certainly a beautiful piano. I was surprised +how your factory was able to produce such a +wonderful tone in such a small Grand.</small></p> + +<p><small>Accept my congratulations for your +success.</small></p> + +<span style="margin-left: 6em;"><small>Sincerely,</small></span><br /> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 100px;"> +<img src="images/signature_ecaruso.png" width="100" height="33" alt="Signature: Enrico Caruso" title="" /> +</div><p><br /><br /></p> +</div> + + +</td></tr> +</table></div><h2><i>The New</i><br /> + +HARDMAN Five-Foot Grand</h2> + +<div class='blockquot2'>The perfect small Grand Piano, +exquisite in its artistic lines +and marvelous in tone.</div> + +<h3>Caruso</h3> + +<div class='blockquot2'>uses one himself and calls its +tone "wonderful."</div> + +<h3>Price, $650</h3> + +<div class='blockquot2'>We cordially invite you to visit our +warerooms and hear this marvelous +little Grand, without placing +you under any obligation to buy.<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Hardman Company Addresses"> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><b><big>HARDMAN, PECK & COMPANY</big></b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><small><b>BROOKLYN STORE</b><br /> +<b>524 Fulton Street</b><br /> +<b>Near Hanover Place</b></small> <br /> +</td><td align='center' valign='top'><small>(<b>Founded 1842</b>)</small> </td> +<td align='left'><small><b>HARDMAN HOUSE</b><br /> +<b>433 Fifth Avenue</b><br /> +<b>Bet. 38th & 39th Sts.</b></small><br /> +</td></tr> +</table></div> +</td><td align='left'><img src="images/hardmanpianoside.png" width="33" height="882" alt="Decoration: Side" title="" /> +</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><img src="images/hardmanpianotopandbottom.png" width="600" height="32" alt="Decoration: Top and Bottom border" title="" /> +</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><small>Kindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers</small><br /><br /></div> + + +<div class='bbox'> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> +<img src="images/steinway.png" width="350" height="295" alt="Steinway" title="" /> +</div> + + +<div class='unindent'><big>T</big>HE purchase of a Steinway for the home +means the selection of the ideal piano, tone +and workmanship being of first importance.<br /> +<br /> +It is the price of the Steinway which makes +possible its supreme musical qualities, but you +will find that the Steinway costs only a trifle +more than many so-called "good" pianos.<br /> +<br /> +Style V, the new Upright, and Style M, the +smallest Steinway Grand, offer a special advantage +in price. They embody all the distinct +Steinway features, but, being of a reduced size to +meet the requirements of the modern home or +apartment, are offered at very moderate prices.<br /> +<br /> +<i>We shall be glad to send you, free, illustrated literature, +with the name of the Steinway dealer nearest you.</i></div> + +<div class='center'><br /> +STEINWAY & SONS, STEINWAY HALL<br /> +<i>107-109 East Fourteenth Street, New York</i><br /> +</div></div> + + +<div class='center'><br /><small>Kindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers</small></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span></p> + +<h1>THE<br /> +MENORAH<br /> +JOURNAL</h1> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 599px;"> +<img src="images/front-topindex.png" width="599" height="172" alt="Volume I, 1915" title="Volume I, 1915" /> +</div> + +<h2>INDEX</h2> + +<h3>To Volume I of <span class="smcap">The Menorah Journal</span> + +<br />January—December, 1915</h3> + +<div class='center'>Authors' names in <span class="smcap">Small Capitals</span>; Titles of Articles in <i>Italics</i></div> + + +<div> +<i>Adam Prometheus, and Other Lyrics</i> (Dec.) <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Adler, Dr. Cyrus</span>, Greeting from, (Jan.) <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br /> +<a name="Akiba" id="Akiba"></a><i>Akiba, The Romance of Rabbi</i>. (Oct.) <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br /> +American Jewry, The Present Crisis in (Dec.) <a href="#Page_265">265</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Amram, David Werner</span>: <i>"Paths of Pleasantness," The Study of the Jewish Law</i> (June) <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Anspacher, Louis K.</span>: <i>Adam Prometheus, and Other Lyrics</i>. (Dec.) <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br /> +<i>Arch of Titus, The:</i> A Poem (Oct.) <a href="#Page_201">201</a><br /> +Arch of Titus, The: <a href="#frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a> (<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Jan.'">Oct.</ins>)<br /> +<i>Asch, Sholom: The Jewish Maupassant</i> (Dec.) <a href="#Page_285">285</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Askowith, Hyman</span>: <i>The Symbolism of the Menorah</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br /> +<i>Aspects of Jewish Life and Letters:</i> Reviews of Books (Oct.) <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Bacon, Benjamin W.</span>: From a Menorah Address (<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Jan.'">Apr.</ins>) <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Baldwin, Edward Chauncey</span>: <i>The Jewish Genius in Literature</i>, (June) <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Bentwich, Norman</span>, Greeting from, (Apr.) <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Blatt, William M.</span>: <i>The Quality of Mercy: A Sixth Act to "The Merchant of Venice"</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_96">96</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Blondheim, D. S.</span>: Review of Herford's "Pharisaism" (Oct.) <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br /> +Book Reviews: <i>Aspects of Jewish Life and Letters</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Brandeis, Louis D.</span>, Greeting from, (Jan.) <a href="#Page_4">4</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>A Call to the Educated Jew</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_13">13</a></span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Brown, Elmer E.</span>: Menorah Address (Jan.) <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Bryce, Viscount</span>: Letter from. (Dec.) <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br /> +<i>Call to the Educated Jew, A</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br /> +Colleges and Universities: <i>See</i> <a href="#menorah_societies">Menorah Societies</a>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Dabney, Charles W.</span>: Menorah Address (Jan.) <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> +<i>Days of Disillusionment</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_39">39</a><br /> +<i>Decennial of the Menorah Movement, The</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> +<i>Duty of the Hour, The</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_202">202</a><br /> +<i>Editorial Statement</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_1">1</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Eliot, Charles W.</span>: <i>The Potency of the Jewish Race</i> (June) <a href="#Page_141">141</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Escoll, Morris J.</span>: <i>The Jewish Student in Our Universities</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_217">217</a><br /> +<i>European Universities, Jewish Students in</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, (Apr.) <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Friedlaender, Israel</span>: From a Menorah Address (Jan.) <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The Present Crisis in American Jewry</i> (Dec.) <a href="#Page_265">265</a></span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Gaster, Moses</span>, Greeting from. (Apr.) <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Gottheil, Richard</span>, Greeting from, (Jan.) <a href="#Page_5">5</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From a Menorah Address (Jan.) <a href="#Page_32">32</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The War from a Jewish Standpoint</i> (June) <a href="#Page_150">150</a></span><br /> +Greetings (Jan.) <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, (Apr.) <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Guérard, Albert Léon</span>: Menorah Address (Dec.) <a href="#Page_319">319</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Hadley, Arthur T.</span>: Menorah Address (Jan.) <a href="#Page_45">45</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Hall, G. Stanley</span>: <i>Yankee and Jew</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +Harvard Menorah Society Shingle (Oct.) <a href="#Page_251">251</a><br /> +<i>Hebraic Culture, The Twilight of</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_33">33</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Herzl, Theodor</span>: <i>The Menorah</i>, (Dec.) <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> +Herzl, Theodor, Etching by Hermann Struck, <a href="#front"><i>Frontispiece</i></a> (Dec.)<br /> +<a name="Hillel" id="Hillel"></a><i>Hillel, "Golden Rule"</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_91">91</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Horowitz, George J.</span>: <i>The Romance of Rabbi Akiba</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Hurwitz, Henry</span>: <i>The Menorah Movement</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The Decennial of the Menorah Movement</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_253">253</a></span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Husik, Isaac</span>: Review of "Aspects of the Hebrew Genius" (Oct.) <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Hyamson, Moses</span>: <i>"Golden Rule" Hillel</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_91">91</a><br /> +<a name="intercollegiate" id="intercollegiate"></a>Intercollegiate Menorah Association Notes (Jan.) <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads '70'"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></ins>, (Apr.) <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, (June) <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, (Oct.) <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, (Dec.) <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Third Annual Convention (Apr.) <a href="#Page_121">121</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fourth Annual Convention (Dec.) <a href="#Page_322">322</a></span><br /> +<i>Israel and Medicine</i> (June) <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Jacobs, Joseph</span>, Greeting from (Jan.) <a href="#Page_6">6</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The Jews in the War</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_23">23</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Liberalism and the Jews</i> (Dec.) <a href="#Page_298">298</a></span><br /> +<i>Jew, Yankee and</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +<i>Jewish Genius in Literature, The</i>, (June) <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> +<i>Jewish Problem Today, The</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_75">75</a><br /> +<i>Jewish Race, The Potency of</i> (June) <a href="#Page_141">141</a><br /> +<a name="students" id="students"></a><i>Jewish Student in Our Universities, The</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_217">217</a><br /> +<i>Jewish Students in European Universities</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, (Apr.) <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br /> +<i>Jewish Student Organisations</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_246">246</a><br /> +Jewish Worthies: <i>See</i> <a href="#Hillel">Hillel</a>, <a href="#Jochanan">Jochanan ben Zakkai</a>, <a href="#Akiba">Akiba</a>.<br /> +<a name="Jochanan" id="Jochanan"></a><i>Jochanan ben Zakkai</i> (June) <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br /> +Judaism—<i>What Judaism Is Not</i>, (Oct.) <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>What Is Judaism?</i> (Dec.) <a href="#Page_309">309</a></span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Kallen, Horace M.</span>: <i>Nationality and the Hyphenated American</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Review of Lewis' "Liberal Judaism" (Oct.) <a href="#Page_238">238</a></span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Kaplan, Mordecai M.</span>:<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>What Judaism Is Not</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_208">208</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>What Is Judaism?</i> (Dec.) <a href="#Page_309">309</a></span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Kohler, Kaufmann</span>, Greeting from (Jan.) <a href="#Page_6">6</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Lehman, Irving</span>, Greeting from (Jan.) <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From a Menorah Address (Jan.) <a href="#Page_25">25</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Our Spiritual Inheritance</i> (Dec.) <a href="#Page_277">277</a></span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Leonard, William Ellery</span>: <i>Menorah:</i> A Poem (Jan.) <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br /> +<i>Liberalism and the Jews</i> (Dec.) <a href="#Page_298">298</a><br /> +<i>Literature, The Jewish Genius in</i>, (June) <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Lowenthal, Marvin M.</span>: <i>Zionism: A Menorah Prize Essay</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, (June) <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Mack, Julian W.,</span> Greeting from, (Jan.) <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Magnes, J. L.</span>, Greeting from (Jan.) <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From a Menorah Address (Jan.) <a href="#Page_19">19</a></span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Margolis, Max L.</span>: <i>The Twilight of Hebraic Culture</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_33">33</a><br /> +<i>Medicine, Israel and</i> (June) <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br /> +<i>Menorah: A Poem</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br /> +<i>Menorah, The</i> (<span class="smcap">Herzl</span>) (Dec.) <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> +Menorah Addresses, Extracts from, (Jan.) <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, (Apr.) <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br /> +Menorah Addresses, Third Convention (Apr.) <a href="#Page_121">121</a><br /> +Menorah Addresses by University Authorities (Jan.) <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, (Apr.) <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, (Dec.) <a href="#Page_319">319</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>See also</i> <a href="#intercollegiate">Intercollegiate Menorah Association</a>.</span><br /> +<i>Menorah Movement, The</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /> +<i>Menorah Movement, The Decennial of the</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> +<a name="prize" id="prize"></a>Menorah Prize Essays:<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Zionism</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_111">111</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The Jewish Student in Our Universities</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_217">217</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Shalom Asch: The Jewish <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Maupaussant'">Maupassant</ins></i> (Dec.) <a href="#Page_285">285</a></span><br /> +<a name="menorah_societies" id="menorah_societies"></a>Menorah Societies, Activities of, (Jan.) <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, (June) <a href="#Page_194">194</a> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, (Dec.) <a href="#Page_325">325</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>See also</i> <a href="#intercollegiate">Intercollegiate Menorah Association</a>.</span><br /> +<i>Menorah, The Symbolism of the</i>, (Oct.) <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br /> +<i>"Merchant of Venice, The": A Sixth Act to</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_96">96</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Meyer, Martin A.</span>, Greeting from, (Jan.) <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br /> +<i>Nationality and the Hyphenated American</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Nordau, Max</span>, Greeting from (Apr.) <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The Duty of the Hour</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_202">202</a></span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Osler, Sir William</span>: <i>Israel and Medicine</i> (June) <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br /> +<i>"Paths of Pleasantness," The Study of the Jewish Law</i> (June) <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Philipson, David</span>, Greeting from, (Jan.) <a href="#Page_10">10</a><br /> +Poetry (Jan.) <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, (Apr.) <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, (June) <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, (Oct.) <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, (Dec.) <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br /> +<i>Potency of the Jewish Race, The</i> (June) <a href="#Page_141">141</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Pouzzner, Bessie L.</span>, translator: <i>The Menorah, by Theodor Herzl</i>, (Dec.) <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> +Prize Essays: <i>See</i> <a href="#prize">Menorah Prize Essays</a>.<br /> +<i>Quality of Mercy, The: A Sixth Act to "The Merchant of Venice,"</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_96">96</a><br /> +<i>Romance of Rabbi Akiba, The</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Sampter, Jessie E.</span>, <i>O Sweet Anemones:</i> A Poem (June) <a href="#Page_158">158</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Schechter, Solomon</span>, Greeting from (Jan.) <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Schiff, Jacob H.</span>, Greeting from (Jan.) <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The Jewish Problem Today</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_75">75</a></span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Schurman, Jacob Gould</span>, From a Menorah Address (Apr.) <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Sharfman, I. Leo</span>: Review of Cohen's "Jewish Life in Modern Times," (Oct.) <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The Decennial of the Menorah Movement (Oct.) <a href="#Page_253">253</a></span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Shostac, Percy B.</span>: <i>Sholom Asch, the Jewish Maupassant</i> (Dec.) <a href="#Page_285">285</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Simon, Abraham M.</span>: <i>Jochanan ben Zakkai</i> (June) <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Strauss, Samuel</span>: <i>Days of Disillusionment</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_39">39</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Straus, Oscar S.</span>, Letter from (Dec.) <a href="#Page_281">281</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Struck, Hermann</span>: Etching of Theodor Herzl, <a href="#front"><i>Frontispiece</i></a> (Dec.)<br /> +Students: <i>See</i> <a href="#students">Jewish Students</a>.<br /> +<i>Symbolism, The, of the Menorah</i>, (Oct.) <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br /> +University Authorities, Menorah Addresses by (Jan.) <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, (Apr.) <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, (Dec.) <a href="#Page_319">319</a><br /> +War, The Present:<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The Jews in the War</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_23">23</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The Jewish Problem Today</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_75">75</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Nationality and the Hyphenated American</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_79">79</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>The War from a Jewish Standpoint</i> (June) <a href="#Page_150">150</a></span><br /> +<i>What Is Judaism?</i> (Dec.) <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br /> +<i>What Judaism Is Not</i> (Oct.) <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Wise, Stephen S.</span>, Greeting from (Jan.) <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Wolfson, Harry</span>: <i>Jewish Students in European Universities</i> (Jan.) <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">(Apr.) <a href="#Page_106">106</a></span><br /> +<i>Yankee and Jew</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br /> +<span class="smcap">Zangwill, Israel</span>: <i>For Small Mercies:</i> A Sonnet (Apr.) <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> +<i>Zionism: A Menorah Prize Essay</i> (Apr.) <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, (June) <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br /> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Issues"> +<tr><td align='left'><h2><a href="#meno1">January</a></h2></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><h2><a href="#meno2">April</a></h2></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><h2><a href="#meno3">June</a></h2></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><h2><a href="#meno4">October</a></h2></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><h2><a href="#meno5">December</a></h2></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3> +<p>Obvious punctuation errors repaired.</p> +<p>The reference to page 145 under the "Menorah Addresses by University Authorities" +was deleted as the April edition has no page 145 and the June edition has no +such section. This was also deleted from "University Authorities, Menorah Addresses by" +for the same reason.</p> + +<p>The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p></div> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MENORAH JOURNAL, VOL. 1, 1915 ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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