{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_22300/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_22300","id":"gutenberg_22300","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22300","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: History - American","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: Journalism/Media/Writing","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Jews -- Periodicals","Jews -- United States -- Periodicals","The Menorah Journal"],"text":"THE MENORAH JOURNAL\n\n[Illustration]\n\n VOLUME I\n NO. 1\n\n JANUARY\n 1915\n\n\n Greetings: From Dr. CYRUS ADLER, LOUIS D. BRANDEIS,\n Professor RICHARD GOTTHEIL, Dr. JOSEPH JACOBS, Dr.\n KAUFMAN KOHLER, Justice IRVING LEHMAN, Judge JULIAN W.\n MACK, Dr. J. L. MAGNES, Dr. MARTIN A. MEYER, Dr. DAVID\n PHILIPSON, Dr. SOLOMON SCHECHTER, JACOB H. SCHIFF, and\n Dr. STEPHEN S. WISE\n\n A Call to the Educated Jew LOUIS D. BRANDEIS\n\n Menorah: A Poem WILLIAM ELLERY LEONARD\n\n The Jews in the War JOSEPH JACOBS\n\n Jewish Students in European Universities HARRY WOLFSON\n\n The Twilight of Hebraic Culture MAX L. MARGOLIS\n\n Days of Disillusionment SAMUEL STRAUSS\n\n Three University Addresses--President ARTHUR T. HADLEY of\n Yale University, Chancellor ELMER E. BROWN of New York\n University, President CHARLES W. DABNEY of the University\n of Cincinnati\n\n The Menorah Movement HENRY HURWITZ\n\n From College and University: Reports from Menorah Societies\n\n\n PUBLISHED BY THE INTERCOLLEGIATE MENORAH ASSOCIATION\n 600 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK -:- -:- -:- 25 CTS. A COPY\n\n\n INTERCOLLEGIATE MENORAH\n ASSOCIATION\n\n For the Study and Advancement of\n Jewish Culture and Ideals\n\n OFFICERS\n\n Chancellor\n HENRY HURWITZ\n 600 Madison Avenue, New York\n\n President\n I. LEO SHARFMAN\n University of Michigan\n First Vice-President\n\n MOSES BARRON\n University of Minnesota\n\n Second Vice-President\n LEON J. ROSENTHAL\n Cornell University\n\n Secretary\n ISADOR BECKER\n University of Michigan\n\n\n Treasurer\n J. K. MILLER\n Penn State College\n\n\nTHE ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL\n\nComposed of Representatives, one each, from every constituent Menorah\nSociety (The Representatives for 1915 will be announced in the next\nissue of The Menorah Journal)\n\nThere are Menorah Societies now at the following Colleges and\nUniversities:\n\n Boston University\n Brown University\n Clark University\n College of City of New York\n Columbia University\n Cornell University\n Harvard University\n Hunter College\n Johns Hopkins University\n New York University\n Ohio State University\n Penn State College\n Radcliffe College\n Rutgers College\n Tufts College\n University of California\n University of Chicago\n University of Cincinnati\n University of Colorado\n University of Denver\n University of Illinois\n University of Maine\n University of Michigan\n University of Minnesota\n University of Missouri\n University of North Carolina\n University of Omaha\n University of Pennsylvania\n University of Pittsburgh\n University of Texas\n University of Washington\n University of Wisconsin\n Valparaiso University\n Western Reserve University\n Yale University\n\n Office of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association\n 600 Madison Avenue, New York\n\n\n\n\nTHE MENORAH JOURNAL\n\n VOLUME I JANUARY, 1915 NUMBER 1\n\nAn Editorial Statement\n\n\nTHE MENORAH JOURNAL, in its efforts to carry forward the aims and\naspirations of the Menorah movement, will necessarily be far more than\nmerely an \"official organ\" for the Menorah Societies. That function,\nindeed, becomes increasingly important as the Menorah Societies\nmultiply in number and influence throughout the country. In this\nspecial appeal to Menorah members, however, the Journal will be more\nthan a news medium; it will supply important material for study and\ndiscussion, and stimulate thinking and active effort in behalf of\nMenorah ideals. And inasmuch as the furtherance of Menorah ideals\nmeans the advancement of American Jewry and the spread of Hebraic\nculture, the Journal should appeal to every one in America who\nsympathises with these purposes. The Journal will be conducted with\nthis general appeal always in mind--with the desire, indeed, to make\nit a model publication dealing with Jewish life and thought. To\npublish a periodical that shall measure up to this high standard, with\nits accompanying influence and power, is one of the aspirations of the\nMenorah movement; and the Menorah auspices and conditions are so\npeculiarly favorable to the achievement of this ambition as to lend\nevery encouragement to the effort that will be put forth to make the\nJournal a genuinely significant publication for the whole of American\nJewry.\n\nFor conceived as it is and nurtured as it must continue to be in the\nspirit that gave birth to the Menorah idea, the Menorah Journal is\nunder compulsion to be absolutely non-partisan, an expression of all\nthat is best in Judaism and not merely of some particular sect or\nschool or locality or group of special interests; fearless in telling\nthe truth; promoting constructive thought rather than aimless\ncontroversy; animated with the vitality and enthusiasm of youth;\nharking back to the past that we may deal more wisely with the present\nand the future; recording and appreciating Jewish achievement, not to\nbrag, but to bestir ourselves to emulation and to deepen the\nconsciousness of _noblesse oblige_; striving always to be sane and\nlevel-headed; offering no opinions of its own, but providing an\norderly platform for the discussion of mooted questions that really\nmatter; dedicated first and foremost to the fostering of the Jewish\n\"humanities\" and the furthering of their influence as a spur to human\nservice.\n\nIt will undoubtedly prove necessary on more than one occasion in the\nfuture to emphasize again the fact that the Journal is an\nunqualifiedly non-partisan forum for the discussion of Jewish\nproblems; and that accordingly neither the Menorah Journal nor the\nMenorah Societies are to be regarded as standing sponsor for the views\nexpressed in these columns by contributors. Nor will the Journal have\nany editorials expressing the views of its editors or of the Menorah\norganization,--particularly since the Menorah organization takes no\nofficial stand on mooted subjects. The editorial policy will be one of\nfairness in giving equal hospitality to opposing views; and space will\ngladly be given to reasonable letters or articles that take exception\nto statements or opinions published in these pages.\n\nThe Journal is singularly fortunate in having enlisted the\nco-operation of the distinguished leaders of Jewish life and thought\nwho comprise its Board of Consulting Editors. The assurances already\nin hand of important articles to come from our Consulting Editors and\nfrom other notable men and women, both Jewish and non-Jewish, lend\nstrength to the editorial confidence that succeeding issues will more\nand more repay the public interest. As an incidental but none the less\nvital aim, the Journal hopes to be instrumental in encouraging our\nyoung men and women, particularly in the Menorah membership, to devote\nthemselves to Jewish subjects as worthy of their best literary\neffort,--with publication in the Menorah Journal as a prize to be\neagerly sought for. The Menorah hopes through the incentive of the\nJournal to develop a \"new school\" of writers on Jewish topics that\nshall be distinguished by the thoroughness and clarity of the\nuniversity-trained mind and inspired by the youthful, searching,\nunfearing spirit of the Menorah movement.\n\nWith these aims and these aspirations, the Menorah Journal bids for\nthe favor of the public. Scholarly when scholarship will be in order,\nbut always endeavoring to be timely, vivacious, readable; keen in the\npursuit of truth wherever its source and whatever the consequences; a\nJewish forum open to all sides; devoted first and last to bringing out\nthe values of Jewish culture and ideals, of Hebraism and of Judaism,\nand striving for their advancement--the Menorah Journal hopes not\nmerely to entertain, but to enlighten, in a time when knowledge,\nthought, and vision are more than ever imperative in Jewish life.\n\n\n\n\nGreetings\n\n\n_From Dr. Cyrus Adler_\n\n_President of the Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning,\nPhiladelphia_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI AM very glad to be able through this first number of your Journal to\nsend a word of greeting to the Menorah men throughout the United\nStates. An Association which has as its object the promotion in\nAmerican colleges and universities of the study of Jewish history,\nculture and problems, and the advancement of Jewish ideals, cannot but\nfail to command my personal and official interest and support.\n\nThe Jewish people have a long and honorable record of literary\nactivity. Our Holy Scriptures, our Rabbinical Literature, our\ncontributions to philosophy, to ethics, to law, our poetry, sacred and\nsecular, our share in the world's history, all become part of the\nprogram which you have laid out for yourselves as a means of\ncultivation. In their due proportion they should (although they do\nnot) form a part of the outfit of every educated man. That they should\nbe especially cultivated by Jewish young people is self-evident, and,\nfor several thousand years, they have been.\n\nYou Menorah men have taken the modern form of association for the\npurpose of carrying on these studies, of cherishing your Jewish ideals\nalong with your general culture or with your chosen profession, and it\nwas high time that you should do so. You already count thousands of\nyoung people, and as time goes on you will gradually increase in\nnumber. From among your group will come the future leaders of the\nJewish people in America, and your main body will form our\nintellectual backbone. It is my hope and belief that your movement\nwill gradually tend toward the maintenance and promotion of Judaism in\nthis land.\n\nWe are now a population of nearly three million souls. That such a\nvast body should be lost to Judaism or should maintain a Judaism\nignorant of its language, its literature or its traditions, is almost\nunthinkable. Conditions abroad may shift the center of gravity of\nJudaism and of Jewish learning to the American continent. Your\nmovement is one which will aid in training the group that may be\nexpected to measure up to our new responsibilities.\n\nIt has been a source of great personal pleasure to me to meet with\nyour Association in your annual convention and to have the privilege\nof coming in personal contact with some of your Societies,--at\nHarvard, Yale, Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Boston Universities. I hope\nto have the pleasure of meeting more of you and to derive more of the\nstimulus which your enthusiasm gives me in my work. Speaking not only\nin my own name but in behalf of my colleagues on the Board of\nGovernors and the Faculty of The Dropsie College for Hebrew and\nCognate Learning, I wish your Association and your Journal success in\nall of your endeavors.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Cyrus Adler]\n\n\n_From Louis D. Brandeis_\n\n_Chairman of the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist\nAffairs_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE formation at Harvard University on October 25, 1906, of the first\nMenorah Society is a landmark in the Jewish Renaissance. That\nRenaissance, in which the Society is certain to be a significant\nfactor, is of no less importance to America than to its Jews.\n\nAmerica offers to man his greatest opportunity--liberty amidst peace\nand large natural resources. But the noble purpose to which America is\ndedicated cannot be attained unless this high opportunity is fully\nutilized; and to this end each of the many peoples which she has\nwelcomed to her hospitable shores must contribute the best of which it\nis capable. To America the contribution of the Jews can be peculiarly\nlarge. America's fundamental law seeks to make real the brotherhood of\nman. That brotherhood became the Jews' fundamental law more than\ntwenty-five hundred years ago. America's twentieth century demand is\nfor social justice. That has been the Jews' striving ages-long. Their\nreligion and their afflictions have prepared them for effective\ndemocracy. Persecution made the Jews' law of brotherhood\nself-enforcing. It taught them the seriousness of life; it broadened\ntheir sympathies; it deepened the passion for righteousness; it\ntrained them in patient endurance, in persistence, in self-control,\nand in self-sacrifice. Furthermore, the widespread study of Jewish law\ndeveloped the intellect, and made them less subject to preconceptions\nand more open to reason.\n\nAmerica requires in her sons and daughters these qualities and\nattainments, which are our natural heritage. Patriotism to America, as\nwell as loyalty to our past, imposes upon us the obligation of\nclaiming this heritage of the Jewish spirit and of carrying forward\nnoble ideals and traditions through lives and deeds worthy of our\nancestors. To this end each new generation should be trained in the\nknowledge and appreciation of their own great past; and the\nopportunity should be afforded for the further development of Jewish\ncharacter and culture.\n\nThe Menorah Societies and their Journal deserve most generous support\nin their efforts to perform this noble task.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Louis D. Brandeis]\n\n\n_From Dr. Richard Gottheil_\n\n_Professor of Rabbinical Literature and the Semitic Languages,\nColumbia University_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI HAVE been asked to say a word of greeting to the readers of the\nMenorah Journal. I do so with pleasure; indeed with much satisfaction.\nThe Menorah students at our colleges and universities will now be\nbound together by a new bond, one that will give them a more unified\ndirection and converge their efforts toward the goal which the Menorah\nhas set for itself.\n\nI should like to think that it is not entirely fortuitous that this\nadded impulse is given to our work just at this time. We all feel that\nthe present is a moment when the very foundations of our ethical\nlife--both as individuals and as groups--have received a rude shock.\nAt such a time--more than ever--we need to understand and to bear in\nmind the great teachings which Jewish sages have given to the world,\nas their and our contribution to the moral foundations of society.\nSuch teachings were, in most cases, not decked out in the tawdry\ntrappings of a recondite and far-fetched philosophy, nor garnished\nwith the decorations of superlogical terminology, nor even put forth\nwith lusty rhetoric. They were simple and to the point, because they\nwere founded upon deep religious convictions.\n\nOne of these teachings occurs to me as I write these lines: \"The moral\ncondition of the world depends upon three things--truth, justice and\npeace.\" Have we outgrown such teaching? Have the astounding advances\nmade during the last one hundred years in the science of physical\nliving brought us any nearer to the true inwardness of moral living\nthan the ethical principles put forth by these early teachers? As our\nhearts are rent by the sufferings of those who are caught in the\nmeshes of the terrible war now raging, and as our intellects are\nbefogged by the various excuses advanced in justification of carnage\nand wholesale destruction, do not the simple words of the old Hebrew\nsage appear to us as a beacon-light in the surrounding darkness?\n\"Truth, Justice, Peace!\"\n\nMany similar lessons are awaiting those who will show some little\nwillingness to learn and to know. They are a part of the patrimony\nthat is ours, and which for the most part we refuse to claim. A voice\nis crying to us out of our own midst. We do not hear; for our ears are\nsealed as with wax. The Menorah Societies, which now are to be found\nin most of our institutions of higher learning, have set themselves\nthe task of bringing our Jewish students to a consciousness of their\nown past, to a knowledge of their history as members of a great\nhistoric people, and to a just appreciation of the teachings of their\nreligion. It is only the knowledge of what we have tried to be that\nwill make us realize fully what we are and will enable us to see what\nour future may be. The Menorah Journal is intended to bring this\nknowledge to our young men, to harden their Jewish resolve and to\npoint the way along which lies the consummation of our Jewish hopes.\nIt sends its greeting to every Jewish student, whether or not he be a\nmember of a Menorah Society. We of an older generation look to our\nuniversity and college men as the Jewish leaders of the future. Let\nthem gather around the Menorah Journal in order to make it a true\nexpression of Jewish ideals, a powerful incentive to join the ranks of\nthose who are active in our cause. The word of the Prophet comes to me\nagain: \"Be ye strong, therefore, and let not your hands be weak; for\nyour work shall be rewarded.\"\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Richard Gottheil]\n\n\n_From Joseph Jacobs_\n\n_Editor of The American Hebrew, New York_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI GREET the appearance of the official organ of the Menorah Societies\nsomething in the spirit of Ibsen's Master-Builder, who hears the\ncoming generation knocking at the door. I have long been of the\nopinion that the future of American Israel lies with the academic Jews\nof the American universities. The organ that represents them should\nbe, from this point of view, the voice of Israel's future in America.\nIf you can live up to that ideal, you have indeed a great future\nbefore you.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Joseph Jacobs]\n\n\n_From Dr. Kaufman Kohler_\n\n_President of Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAS you wander through the ruins of the _Forum Romanum_ and are within\nsight of the _Via Appia_ at the other end, your attention is riveted\nby an exquisite white marble arch wonderfully preserved. It is the\nArch of Titus erected in memory of Rome's triumph over _Jud\u00e6a Capta_.\nAs you look closer at the trophies chiseled on this famous monument,\nyou find there standing out most conspicuously the seven-armed\ncandlestick carried by the Jewish captives, the _Menorah_, regarded,\nno doubt, by the proud victor as the most characteristic feature of\nthe destroyed Jewish temple. Yet how strange! It seems to be almost a\nforeboding of the future dominion of the vanquished over the\nvanquisher. Israel's state, with its temple, Israel's nationality was\ntrampled under foot by the Roman legions--Israel's religion remained\nunconquered, the light of its truth remained undimmed; nay, it grew\nbrighter and stronger until the world was filled with its splendor.\nLittle did the Emperor Vespasian dream, when he granted Rabbi Johanan\nben Zakkai, the Jewish maker of learning, the privilege of building a\nschoolhouse at Jamnia as a substitute for the hall of the judiciary in\nthe temple at Jerusalem, that this sanctuary of the Jewish law and\nwhat it represents would by far eclipse all the power and greatness\nof the Roman civilization. Yet this was symbolized by the Menorah.\nWhether originally intended or not, it was the emblem of Israel's\nmission of light. It indicated the task of the Jew, when scattered\nover the wide globe, to be a light to the nations, the religious\nluminary to the world. And if we be permitted to give a special\nmeaning to the seven arms of light of the Golden Candlestick, we might\nfind therein a suggestion of the lights of truth, justice and purity,\nor holiness, on the one side, and the lights of law, literature, and\nart, or wisdom, on the other, while the light in the center stands for\nreligion, from which all the other lights emanated and for which the\nJew throughout the centuries lived, suffered, and died, to preserve\nintact as mankind's highest treasure to the very end of history.\n\nThese ideas I would offer as greeting to the editors and readers of\nthe Menorah Journal. The name \"Menorah\" was aptly chosen by the\nfounders of the pioneer Menorah Society with a view to the two-fold\ntask of the light-bearer, to enlighten a surrounding world, and to\nfoster self-respect in the hearts of the Jewish students by spreading\nthe light of Jewish knowledge among them. Now, if I understand\ncorrectly the purpose of starting a Journal as the organ of the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association, it is to give to these endeavors\na more permanent and classical literary form, and thus successfully\ndefend the cause of Judaism. Wishing this enterprise all success and\nGodspeed, I venture to express the hope that true to its name Menorah,\nthe Journal will become a real banner-bearer of light not only\ndispelling clouds of doubt and of prejudice within and outside of our\ncamp, but also aiming to spread the truth of Judaism in all its\nspiritual force and grandeur. Not nationalism, which in these days of\na cruel world-war with its barbarism puts our much-vaunted modern\ncivilization to everlasting shame and which has split the Jewish\npeople also into warring camps, but Judaism as a religion, which\nnotwithstanding the differences of its various wings as to form is in\nits essentials and fundamentals one, should be the watchword, for it\nis the light of the Torah that is both law and learning, religion and\nculture, which is to unify and consolidate all the forces of American\nIsrael.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Dr. K. Kohler]\n\n\n_From Irving Lehman_\n\n_Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI CONGRATULATE the members of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association\nupon the fact that in their Journal they are obtaining a new\ninstrument to carry forward their work of bringing to the Jewish youth\nknowledge of the old ideals and lessons of the Jewish past. During\nthese dreadful days, the Jewish students of almost every country\nexcept America have been called from study, and preparation for a life\nof usefulness, into pitiless war and useless destruction. The\noppressed in Russia, the student in Germany, and the free Englishman,\nall have answered the call to arms of the country in which they live,\nand each is fighting, firm in the belief that he is defending his\nFatherland against foreign aggression. The loyalty shown by our\nbrethren even in those countries where their treatment might well have\nfurnished at least an explanation for disloyalty, is a new\ndemonstration of the ancient spirit of devotion to their ideals which,\nI believe, has always been the true spirit of the Jews. But the ideal\nof national physical strength is not the ideal which we Jews had when\nwe were a nation and which we must strive to make the ideal of the\nmodern nations in which we live. Dark though these present days are,\nyet humanity must progress into the light of a permanent peace, and\nthough the Jews are doing their full share of the fighting in this war\nbrought on by their rulers, we must do more than our share in bringing\nto its fruition the ancient prophecy: \"For the law shall go forth from\nZion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge many\npeople and rebuke strong nations, and they shall beat their swords\ninto ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall\nnot lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any\nmore.\"\n\nThe voice of this Journal may be only a weak, small voice, but if that\nvoice speaks in the spirit of the prophet and brings home to us the\nworth of the prophetic ideals, it may well prove an important factor\nin enabling Israel to fulfill its mission as a messenger of peace to\nall the nations.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Irving Lehman]\n\n\n_From Julian W. Mack_\n\n_Judge of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMY hopes are high that the Menorah Journal may prove a valuable means\nnot only of linking together the Menorah Societies of the country but\nalso of bringing to the individual members a clearer conception of the\nculture, ideals and traditions of the Jews, thereby increasing their\ninterest in all things Jewish.\n\nThis would inevitably tend to strengthen the religious faith of the\nJewish members and to awaken in all of the members a keener and a more\nintelligent appreciation of the contribution which Jews and Judaism\nhave made to human progress.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Julian W. Mack]\n\n\n_From Dr. J. L. Magnes_\n\n_Chairman of Executive Committee, Jewish Community (Kehillah) of New\nYork_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI SEND hearty greetings to the members of the Intercollegiate Menorah\nAssociation upon the publication of the Journal. If the Journal can be\nput upon a sound business basis assuring its permanence, its\npublication will mark an important event in the development of Judaism\nin America. What we need above all things is sound thinking on Jewish\naffairs. I have no doubt that proper action will result from sound\nthinking. The Menorah Journal ought to become the medium for\npublishing the best thought modern Jewry is capable of. The present\ncatastrophe overwhelming Europe has conferred upon the Jews in America\nthe leadership of Jewry. We can assume this historic obligation only\nif our theories be clear cut and well thought out.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: J. L. Magnes]\n\n\n_From Dr. Martin A. Meyer_\n\n_Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIT is a pleasure to know that a journal is being launched in America\nfor the benefit of thinking Jews, which will stand between the\ntechnical journal of the \"Quarterly\" type and outside of the purlieus\nof our numerous \"Weekly\" gossip sheets.\n\nJewish journalism in America has done little, if anything, to justify\nthe numerous calls which it makes upon the people for support. On the\nother hand, there is sad need for a journal representative of our best\nthought, which will be readable and which will represent rather than\nmisrepresent us.\n\nThe field of Jewish culture and ideals surely has not been exhausted\nby our European brethren. No matter what they may have contributed to\nthe exploitation of this field there surely remains ample ground for\nthe American Jew to express himself in the light of the old standards\nof Jewish conduct and belief.\n\nIt goes without saying that your Journal will make its primary appeal\nto the college man and woman. If successful, it will have saved for\nJewry its most valuable elements and enable us to build in the future\non a better and broader basis than the purely financial and commercial\nleadership of the past.\n\nFrom the far West we join hands with you in the far East and unite in\nfervent hopes that the new Menorah Journal may grow from strength to\nstrength.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Martin A. Meyer]\n\n\n_From Dr. David Philipson_\n\n_Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSOME seventy years ago the celebrated Jewish scholar, Abraham Geiger,\ncharged the Jewish _intelligenzia_ of his day with indifference\ntowards Judaism and Jewish interests. This accusation of Geiger's has\nsince been repeated frequently. But a rift is appearing in the cloud.\nTo-day as never before our _intelligenzia_ as defined by university\ntraining and education is identifying itself more and more with Jewish\nlife and aspiration in our country. And I feel that due credit should\nbe given the Menorah movement in our colleges for this change of\nattitude of Jewish students and professors. This movement, still\nyoung, has accomplished much in bringing together the young men and\nwomen who form our intellectual elite into associations for the study\nof Jewish history and the consideration of Jewish problems. It has\nawakened an interest in Jewish matters in many who have been lukewarm\nand indifferent. It has brought as lecturers to our colleges Jewish\nmen of light and leading from many communities, who have voiced their\nmessages and given food for thought to the future leaders now sitting\non university benches.\n\nThe call of the ages sounds to the intellectual nobility of our day\nand generation. Learning has been extolled among Jews from earliest\ntimes, and the wise man has been the accredited leader, so that it was\ndeclared that \"the wise man is greater than the prophet.\" I would have\nthe learned classes come again into their own. I would have our\nuniversity men in coming years the staunchest Jews in the community\nthrough their intelligent interest in everything that makes for its\nhighest welfare.\n\nTo achieve this is the task of our university men. The possibility of\nthis achievement I see in such significant signs as the Menorah\nmovement, the institution of student congregations, and the launching\nof this magazine by the Intercollegiate Menorah Association. What has\nbeen called the \"Jewish consciousness,\" a term which has done yeoman's\nservice during the past decade, is being aroused through these\nagencies to an even greater degree. This aroused Jewish feeling will,\nI am sure, be translated into active service more and more as the\nyears pass and the present generation of college men carve out their\ncareers in our communities throughout the country. This is the great\nJewish opportunity of the present generation; in this will they\nreverse, such is my hope and my belief, that condition and that\nattitude of the Jewish _intelligenzia_ in the past (and still largely\nin the present) which evoked the statement of Abraham Geiger. May this\nnew undertaking prosper so that the young generation whom this\nmagazine represents may be helped toward a realization of its ideals,\nand become an inspiration to all Jewry throughout the length and\nbreadth of the land.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: David Philipson]\n\n\n_From Dr. Solomon Schechter_\n\n_President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI WISH to send my hearty congratulations to the Intercollegiate\nMenorah Association upon their undertaking the publication of the\nMenorah Journal, which I have no doubt will prove greatly helpful in\npromoting the knowledge of Judaism among the Jewish college youth. In\na liberal country like ours, with the eagerness of our people for\nacquiring knowledge, there never was a lack of Jews in our Colleges\nand Universities. But what the Menorah Association will accomplish\nwith the aid of the Journal is, I hope, to have Judaism also\nrepresented in our seats of learning.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: S. Schechter]\n\n\n_From Jacob H. Schiff_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIT is with much satisfaction that I learn of the launching of the\nMenorah Journal, to provide an opportunity for a more general spread\nof the high ideals of the Menorah Societies among our college youth.\nWhen I received some time ago a copy of the publication entitled \"The\nMenorah Movement,\" I noted with particular pleasure the progress the\nMenorah Societies had already made. After an attentive perusal of the\ncontents of this publication, I felt as if a copy ought to be placed\nin the hands of every Jewish college and university student, and I\nmyself distributed a number of copies for propaganda purposes. The\nMenorah Societies are to be congratulated upon their new venture in\nissuing the Journal, upon which I wish them every success. It is to be\nhoped that the Menorah Journal will help the Jewish student to\nunderstand what Judaism means and what as Jews we should strive for to\nbecome useful and worthy citizens of this country. We shall have to\nface increasing problems because of the deplorable war in Europe,\nwhich so tragically affects our co-religionists there, and it will\nrequire much devotion and understanding on our part to properly deal\nwith the conditions which will necessarily arise. The Menorah Journal\nshould freely discuss these conditions, so as to inspire its readers\nwith the desire to aid and the courage needed in the situation which\nis facing us. Thus, by \"spreading light,\" the Journal can greatly\nassist the Menorah movement, and render efficient service in and\noutside of the university. Let me wish Godspeed to your new\npublication and its managers.\n\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Jacob H. Schiff]\n\n\n_From Dr. Stephen S. Wise_\n\n_Rabbi of the Free Synagogue, New York_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI REJOICE to learn of the establishment of an organ by the Menorah\nAssociation. The Menorah Journal will, I take it, serve the threefold\npurpose of keeping the various groups of the Menorah throughout the\nuniversities of the land in constant touch with one another, of\ninterpreting the ideals of the Menorah to widening circles of the\nJewish youth, and of confirming anew, from time to time, the loyalty\nof the Menorah men to the Menorah ideal.\n\nA truly great Jew said about fifteen years ago that a high\nself-reverence had transformed _arme Judenjungen_ into _stolze junge\nJuden_. I believe that the Menorah movement in this land is in part\nthe cause and in other part the token of a transformation among young\nAmerican Jews to-day parallel to that cited by Theodor Herzl. It marks\na sea-change from the self pitying Jewish youth, immeasurably \"sorry\nfor himself\" because of his exclusion from certain dominantly\nunfraternal groups, to the Jewish youth self-regarding, in the highest\nsense of the term, self-knowing, self-revering. That the\nself-respecting young Jew command the respect of the world without is\nof minor importance by the side of the outstanding fact that he has\nceased to measure himself by the values which he imagined the\nunfriendly elements of the world without had set upon him.\n\nThe Menorah movement is welcome as a proof of a new order in the life\nof the young college Jew. He has come to see at last that it is comic,\nin large part, to be shut out from the Greek letter fraternities of\nthe Hellenes and the Barbarians, but that it is tragic, in large part,\nto shut himself out from the life of his own people. For it is from\nhis own people that he must draw his vision and spiritual sustenance\nif he is to live a life of self-mastery rather than the life of a\ncontemptible parasite rooted nowhere and chameleonizing everywhere.\nTime was when their fellow-Jews half excused the college men, who\ndrifted away from the life of Israel, as if the burden of the Jewish\nbond were too much for the untried and unrobust shoulders of our\nJewish college men, as if their intellectual and moral squeamishness\nled to inevitable revolt against association with their much-despised\nand wholly misunderstood Jewish fellows. Now we see, and our younger\nbrothers of the Menorah fellowship have caught the vision, that no Jew\ncan be truly cultured who Jewishly uproots himself, that the man who\nrejects the birthright of inheritance of the traditions of the\nearliest and virilest of the cultured peoples of earth is\nimpoverishing his very being. The Jew who is a \"little Jew\" is less of\na man.\n\nThe Menorah lights the path for the fellowship of young Israel, finely\nself-reverencing. Long be that rekindled light undimmed!\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Stephen S. Wise]\n\n\n\n\nA Call to the Educated Jew\n\nBY LOUIS D. BRANDEIS\n\n\n[Illustration: _Louis D. Brandeis (born in Louisville, Ky., in 1856),\nlawyer and publicist, is a distinguished leader in the voluntary\nprofession of \"public servant.\" His extraordinary record of unselfish,\ngenuine achievement in behalf of the public interest--for shorter\nhours of labor, savings bank insurance, protection against monopoly,\nagainst increase in railroad rates, etc.,--gives peculiar aptness to\nthe appeal for community service made in this article, which Mr.\nBrandeis has prepared from a recent Menorah address. From the\nbeginning Mr. Brandeis has taken a keen interest in the Menorah\nmovement as a promotive force for the ideals he has at heart._]\n\nWHILE I was in Cleveland a few weeks ago, a young man who has won\ndistinction on the bench told me this incident from his early life. He\nwas born in a little village of Western Russia where the opportunities\nfor schooling were meagre. When he was thirteen his parents sent him\nto the nearest city in search of an education. There--in\nBialystok--were good secondary schools and good high schools; but the\nRussian law, which limits the percentage of Jewish pupils in any\nschool, barred his admission. The boy's parents lacked the means to\npay for private tuition. He had neither relative nor friend in the\ncity. But soon three men were found who volunteered to give him\ninstruction. None of them was a teacher by profession. One was a\nnewspaper man; another was a chemist; the third, I believe, was a\ntradesman; all were educated men. And throughout five long years these\nthree men took from their leisure the time necessary to give a\nstranger an education.\n\nThe three men of Bialystok realized that education was not a thing of\none's own to do with as one pleases--not a personal privilege to be\nmerely enjoyed by the possessor--but a precious treasure transmitted\nupon a sacred trust to be held, used and enjoyed, and if possible\nstrengthened--then passed on to others upon the same trust. Yet the\ntreasure which these three men held and the boy received in trust was\nmuch more than an education. It included that combination of qualities\nwhich enabled and impelled these three men to give and the boy to seek\nand to acquire an education. These qualities embrace: first,\n_intellectual capacity_; second, _an appreciation of the value of\neducation_; third, _indomitable will_; fourth, _capacity for hard\nwork_. It was these qualities which enabled the lad not only to\nacquire but to so utilize an education that, coming to America,\nignorant of our language and of our institutions, he attained in\ncomparatively few years the important office he has so honorably\nfilled.\n\nNow whence comes this combination of qualities of mind, body and\ncharacter? These are qualities with which every one is familiar,\nsingly and in combination; which you find in friends and relatives,\nand which others doubtless discover in you. They are qualities\npossessed by most Jews who have attained distinction or other success;\nand in combination they may properly be called Jewish qualities. For\nthey have not come to us by accident; they were developed by three\nthousand years of civilization, and nearly two thousand years of\npersecution; developed through our religion and spiritual life;\nthrough our traditions; and through the social and political\nconditions under which our ancestors lived. They are, in short, the\nproduct of Jewish life.\n\n\n_The Fruit of Three Thousand Years of Civilization_\n\nOUR intellectual capacity was developed by the almost continuous\ntraining of the mind throughout twenty-five centuries. The Torah led\nthe \"People of the Book\" to intellectual pursuits at times when most\nof the Aryan peoples were illiterate. And religion imposed the use of\nthe mind upon the Jews, indirectly as well as directly, and demanded\nof the Jew not merely the love, but the understanding of God. This\nnecessarily involved a study of the Laws. And the conditions under\nwhich the Jews were compelled to live during the last two thousand\nyears also promoted study in a people among whom there was already\nconsiderable intellectual attainment. Throughout the centuries of\npersecution practically the only life open to the Jew which could give\nsatisfaction was the intellectual and spiritual life. Other fields of\nactivity and of distinction which divert men from intellectual\npursuits were closed to the Jews. Thus they were protected by their\nprivations from the temptations of material things and worldly\nambitions. Driven by circumstances to intellectual pursuits, their\nmental capacity gradually developed. And as men delight in that which\nthey do well, there was an ever widening appreciation of things\nintellectual.\n\nIs not the Jews' indomitable will--the power which enables them to\nresist temptation and, fully utilizing their mental capacity, to\novercome obstacles--is not that quality also the result of the\nconditions under which they lived so long? To live a Jew during the\ncenturies of persecution was to lead a constant struggle for\nexistence. That struggle was so severe that only the fittest could\nsurvive. Survival was not possible except where there was strong\nwill--a will both to live and to live a Jew. The weaker ones passed\neither out of Judaism or out of existence.\n\nAnd finally, the Jewish capacity for hard work is also the product of\nJewish life--a life characterized by temperate, moral living continued\nthroughout the ages, and protected by those marvellous sanitary\nregulations which were enforced through the religious sanctions.\nRemember, too, that amidst the hardship to which our ancestors were\nexposed it was only those with endurance who survived.\n\nSo let us not imagine that what we call our achievements are wholly or\neven largely our own. The phrase \"self-made man\" is most misleading.\nWe have power to mar; but we alone cannot make. The relatively large\nsuccess achieved by Jews wherever the door of opportunity is opened to\nthem is due, in the main, to this product of Jewish life--to this\ntreasure which we have acquired by inheritance--and which we are in\nduty bound to transmit unimpaired, if not augmented, to coming\ngenerations.\n\nBut our inheritance comprises far more than this combination of\nqualities making for effectiveness. These are but means by which man\nmay earn a living or achieve other success. Our Jewish trust comprises\nalso that which makes the living worthy and success of value. It\nbrings us that body of moral and intellectual perceptions, the point\nof view and the ideals, which are expressed in the term Jewish spirit;\nand therein lies our richest inheritance.\n\n\n_The Kinship of Jewish and American Ideals_\n\nIS it not a striking fact that a people coming from Russia, the most\nautocratic of countries, to America, the most democratic of countries,\ncomes here, not as to a strange land, but as to a home? The ability of\nthe Russian Jew to adjust himself to America's essentially democratic\nconditions is not to be explained by Jewish adaptability. The\nexplanation lies mainly in the fact that the twentieth century ideals\nof America have been the ideals of the Jew for more than twenty\ncenturies. We have inherited these ideals of democracy and of social\njustice as we have the qualities of mind, body and character to which\nI referred. We have inherited also that fundamental longing for truth\non which all science--and so largely the civilization of the twentieth\ncentury--rests; although the servility incident to persistent\noppression has in some countries obscured its manifestation.\n\nAmong the Jews democracy was not an ideal merely. It was a practice--a\npractice made possible by the existence among them of certain\nconditions essential to successful democracy, namely:\n\nFirst: _An all-pervading sense of the duty in the citizen._ Democratic\nideals cannot be attained through emphasis merely upon the rights of\nman. Even a recognition that every right has a correlative duty will\nnot meet the needs of democracy. Duty must be accepted as the dominant\nconception in life. Such were the conditions in the early days of the\ncolonies and states of New England, when American democracy reached\nthere its fullest expression; for the Puritans were trained in\nimplicit obedience to stern duty by constant study of the Prophets.\n\nSecond: _Relatively high intellectual attainments._ Democratic ideals\ncannot be attained by the mentally undeveloped. In a government where\neveryone is part sovereign, everyone should be competent, if not to\ngovern, at least to understand the problems of government; and to this\nend education is an essential. The early New Englanders appreciated\nfully that education is an essential of potential equality. The\nfounding of their common school system was coincident with the\nfounding of the colonies; and even the establishment of institutions\nfor higher education did not lag far behind. Harvard College was\nfounded but six years after the first settlement of Boston.\n\nThird: _Submission to leadership as distinguished from authority._\nDemocratic ideals can be attained only where those who govern exercise\ntheir power not by alleged divine right or inheritance, but by force\nof character and intelligence. Such a condition implies the attainment\nby citizens generally of relatively high moral and intellectual\nstandards; and such a condition actually existed among the Jews. These\nmen who were habitually denied rights, and whose province it has been\nfor centuries \"to suffer and to think,\" learned not only to sympathize\nwith their fellows (which is the essence of democracy and social\njustice), but also to accept voluntarily the leadership of those\nhighly endowed morally and intellectually.\n\nFourth: _A developed community sense._ The sense of duty to which I\nhave referred was particularly effective in promoting democratic\nideals among the Jews, because of their deep-seated community feeling.\nTo describe the Jew as an individualist is to state a most misleading\nhalf-truth. He has to a rare degree merged his individuality and his\ninterests in the community of which he forms a part. This is evidenced\namong other things by his attitude toward immortality. Nearly every\nother people has reconciled this world of suffering with the idea of a\nbeneficent providence by conceiving of immortality for the individual.\nThe individual sufferer bore present ills by regarding this world as\nmerely the preparation for another, in which those living righteously\nhere would find individual reward hereafter. Of all the nations,\nIsrael \"takes precedence in suffering\"; but, despite our national\ntragedy, the doctrine of individual immortality found relatively\nslight lodgment among us. As Ahad Ha-'Am so beautifully said: \"Judaism\ndid not turn heavenward and create in Heaven an eternal habitation of\nsouls. It found 'eternal life' on earth, by strengthening the social\nfeeling in the individual; by making him regard himself not as an\nisolated being with an existence bounded by birth and death, but as\npart of a larger whole, as a limb of the social body. This conception\nshifts the center of gravity not from the flesh to the spirit, but\nfrom the individual to the community; and concurrently with this\nshifting, the problem of life becomes a problem not of individual, but\nof social life. I live for the sake of the perpetuation and happiness\nof the community of which I am a member; I die to make room for new\nindividuals, who will mould the community afresh and not allow it to\nstagnate and remain forever in one position. When the individual thus\nvalues the community as his own life, and strives after its happiness\nas though it were his individual well-being, he finds satisfaction,\nand no longer feels so keenly the bitterness of his individual\nexistence, because he sees the end for which he lives and suffers.\" Is\nnot that the very essence of the truly triumphant twentieth-century\ndemocracy?\n\n\n_The Two-fold Command of Noblesse Oblige_\n\nSUCH is our inheritance; such the estate which we hold in trust. And\nwhat are the terms of that trust; what the obligations imposed? The\nshort answer is _noblesse oblige_; and its command is two-fold. It\nimposes duties upon us in respect to our own conduct as individuals;\nit imposes no less important duties upon us as part of the Jewish\ncommunity or race. Self-respect demands that each of us lead\nindividually a life worthy of our great inheritance and of the\nglorious traditions of the race. But this is demanded also by respect\nfor the rights of others. The Jews have not only been ever known as a\n\"peculiar people\"; they were and remain a distinctive and minority\npeople. Now it is one of the necessary incidents of a distinctive and\nminority people that the act of any one is in some degree attributed\nto the whole group. A single though inconspicuous instance of\ndishonorable conduct on the part of a Jew in any trade or profession\nhas far-reaching evil effects extending to the many innocent members\nof the race. Large as this country is, no Jew can behave badly without\ninjuring each of us in the end. Thus the Rosenthal and the white-slave\ntraffic cases, though local to New York, did incalculable harm to the\nstanding of the Jews throughout the country. The prejudice created may\nbe most unjust, but we may not disregard the fact that such is the\nresult. Since the act of each becomes thus the concern of all, we are\nperforce our brothers' keepers. Each, as co-trustee for all, must\nexact even from the lowliest the avoidance of things dishonorable; and\nwe may properly brand the guilty as traitor to the race.\n\nBut from the educated Jew far more should be exacted. In view of our\ninheritance and our present opportunities, self-respect demands that\nwe live not only honorably but worthily; and worthily implies nobly.\nThe educated descendants of a people which in its infancy cast aside\nthe Golden Calf and put its faith in the invisible God cannot worthily\nin its maturity worship worldly distinction and things material. \"Two\nmen he honors and no third,\" says Carlyle--\"the toil-worn craftsman\nwho conquers the earth and him who is seen toiling for the spiritually\nindispensable.\"\n\nAnd yet, though the Jew make his individual life the loftiest, that\nalone will not fulfill the obligations of his trust. We are bound not\nonly to use worthily our great inheritance, but to preserve and, if\npossible, augment it; and then transmit it to coming generations. The\nfruit of three thousand years of civilization and a hundred\ngenerations of suffering may not be sacrificed by us. It will be\nsacrificed if dissipated. Assimilation is national suicide. And\nassimilation can be prevented only by preserving national\ncharacteristics and life as other peoples, large and small, are\npreserving and developing their national life. Shall we with our\ninheritance do less than the Irish, the Servians, or the Bulgars? And\nmust we not, like them, have a land where the Jewish life may be\nnaturally led, the Jewish language spoken, and the Jewish spirit\nprevail? Surely we must, and that land is our fathers' land: it is\nPalestine.\n\n\n_A Land Where the Jewish Spirit May Prevail_\n\nTHE undying longing for Zion is a fact of deepest significance--a\nmanifestation in the struggle for existence. Zionism is, of course,\nnot a movement to remove all the Jews of the world compulsorily to\nPalestine. In the first place, there are in the world about 14,000,000\nJews, and Palestine would not accommodate more than one-fifth of that\nnumber. In the second place, this is not a movement to compel anyone\nto go to Palestine. It is essentially a movement to give to the Jew\nmore, not less, freedom--a movement to enable the Jews to exercise the\nsame right now exercised by practically every other people in the\nworld--to live at their option either in the land of their fathers or\nin some other country; a right which members of small nations as well\nas of large--which Irish, Greek, Bulgarian, Servian or Belgian, as\nwell as German or English--may now exercise.\n\nFurthermore, Zionism is not a movement to wrest from the Turk the\nsovereignty of Palestine. Zionism seeks merely to establish in\nPalestine for such Jews as choose to go and remain there, and for\ntheir descendants, a legally secured home, where they may live\ntogether and lead a Jewish life; where they may expect ultimately to\nconstitute a majority of the population, and may look forward to what\nwe should call home rule.\n\nThe establishment of the legally secured Jewish home is no longer a\ndream. For more than a generation brave pioneers have been building\nthe foundations of our new old home. It remains for us to build the\nsuperstructure. The Ghetto walls are now falling, Jewish life cannot\nbe preserved and developed, assimilation cannot be averted, unless\nthere be re\u00ebstablished in the fatherland a center from which the\nJewish spirit may radiate and give to the Jews scattered throughout\nthe world that inspiration which springs from the memories of a great\npast and the hope of a great future. To accomplish this it is not\nnecessary that the Jewish population of Palestine be large as compared\nwith the whole number of Jews in the world. Throughout centuries when\nthe Jewish influence was great, and it was working out its own, and in\nlarge part the world's, destiny during the Persian, the Greek, and\nthe Roman Empires, only a relatively small part of the Jews lived in\nPalestine; and only a small part of the Jews returned from Babylon\nwhen the Temple was rebuilt.\n\nThe glorious past can really live only if it becomes the mirror of a\nglorious future; and to this end the Jewish home in Palestine is\nessential. We Jews of prosperous America above all need its\ninspiration. And the Menorah men should be its builders.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Louis D. Brandeis]\n\n\n _THERE are two things necessary in the Jewish life of\n this country. The one is an heroic attempt to organize\n the Jews of the country for Jewish things. That can be\n done, I believe, primarily through the organization of\n self-conscious Jewish communities throughout the\n country. The other thing necessary is, that we have\n vigorous Jewish thinking. We need a theory, a\n substantial theory, for our Jewish life, just as much\n as we need Jewish organization. We need to have our\n college men think their problems through without fear,\n courageously, by whatever name their theories may be\n known, be these theories called Zionism or\n anti-Zionism, Reform Judaism or Orthodox Judaism. We\n need some vigorous Jewish thinking._--_From a Menorah\n Address by Dr. J. L. Magnes._\n\n\n\n\n\nMenorah\n\nBy WILLIAM ELLERY LEONARD\n\n\n[Illustration: _WILLIAM ELLERY LEONARD (born in New Jersey in 1876),\nAssistant Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, is the\nauthor of several volumes of verse and literary criticism which have\nwon high praise,--notably \"Sonnets and Poems,\" \"Byron and Byronism in\nAmerica,\" and \"The Vaunt of Man.\"_]\n\n WE'VE read in legends of the books of old\n How deft Bezalel, wisest in his trade,\n At the command of veil\u00e8d Moses made\n The seven-branched candlestick of beaten gold--\n The base, the shaft, the cups, the knops, the flowers,\n Like almond blossoms--and the lamps were seven.\n\n We know at least that on the templed rock\n Of Zion hill, with earth's revolving hours\n Under the changing centuries of heaven,\n It stood upon the solemn altar block,\n By every Gentile who had heard abhorred--\n The holy light of Israel of the Lord;\n Until that Titus and the legions came\n And battered the walls with catapult and fire,\n And bore the priests and candlestick away,\n And, as memorial of fulfilled desire,\n Bade carve upon the arch that bears his name\n The stone procession ye may see today\n Beyond the Forum on the Sacred Way,\n Lifting the golden candlestick of fame.\n\n The city fell, the temple was a heap;\n And little children, who had else grown strong\n And in their manhood venged the Roman wrong,\n Strewed step and chamber, in eternal sleep.\n But the great vision of the sevenfold flames\n Outlasted the cups wherein at first it sprung.\n The Greeks might teach the arts, the Romans law;\n The heathen hordes might shout for bread and games;\n Still Israel, exalted in the realms of awe,\n Guarded the Light in many an alien air,\n Along the borders of the midland sea\n In hostile cities, spending praise and prayer\n And pondering on the larger things to be--\n Down through the ages when the Cross uprose\n Among the northern Gentiles to oppose:\n Then huddled in the ghettos, barred at night,\n In lands of unknown trees and fiercer snows,\n They watched forevermore the Light, the Light.\n\n The main seas opened to the west. The Nations\n Covered new continents with generations\n That had their work to do, their thought to say;\n And Israel's hosts from bloody towns afar\n In the dominions of the ermined Czar,\n Seared with the iron, scarred with many a stroke,\n Crowded the hollow ships but yesterday\n And came to us who are tomorrow's folk.\n And the pure Light, however some might doubt\n Who mocked their dirt and rags, had not gone out.\n\n The holy Light of Israel hath unfurled\n Its tongues of mystic flame around the world.\n Empires and Kings and Parliaments have passed;\n Rivers and mountain chains from age to age\n Become new boundaries for man's politics.\n The navies run new ensigns up the mast,\n The temples try new creeds, new equipage;\n The schools new sciences beyond the six.\n And through the lands where many a song hath rung\n The people speak no more their fathers' tongue.\n Yet in the shifting energies of man\n The Light of Israel remains her Light.\n And gathered to a splendid caravan\n From the four corners of the day and night,\n The chosen people--so the prophets hold--\n Shall yet return unto the homes of old\n Under the hills of Judah. Be it so.\n Only the stars and moon and sun can show\n A permanence of light to hers akin.\n\n What is that Light? Who is there that shall tell\n The purport of the tribe of Israel?--\n In the wild welter of races on that earth\n Which spins in space where thousand other spin--\n The casual offspring of the Cosmic Mirth\n Perhaps--what is there any man can win,\n Or any nation? Ultimates aside,\n Men have their aims, and Israel her pride.\n She stands among the rest, austere, aloof,\n Still the peculiar people, armed in proof\n Of Selfhood, whilst the others merge or die.\n She stands among the rest and answers: \"I,\n Above ye all, must ever gauge success\n By ideal types, and know the more and less\n Of things as being in the end defined,\n For this our human life by righteousness.\n And if I base this in Eternal Mind--\n Our fathers' God in victory or distress--\n I cannot argue for my hardihood,\n Save that the thought is in my flesh and blood,\n And made me what I was in olden time,\n And keeps me what I am today in every clime.\"\n\n[Illustration: Signature: William Ellery Leonard]\n\n\n\n\nThe Jews in the War\n\nBY JOSEPH JACOBS\n\n[Illustration: _JOSEPH JACOBS (born in New South Wales in 1854), noted\nauthor and editor, was one of England's well-known scholars and men of\nletters when he was called to America to become managing editor of the\nJewish Encyclopedia. He has held the chair of English literature at\nthe Jewish Theological Seminary, and is now editor of the American\nHebrew. He is the author of many authoritative books, including \"Jews\nof Angevin England,\" \"Studies in Jewish Statistics,\" \"Jewish Ideals,\"\nand \"Literary Studies.\"_]\n\nIT is of course difficult to conjecture what will be the ultimate\neffect of such a world-cataclysm as the present European war on the\nfate of the Jews of the world. The chief center of interest naturally\nlies in the eastern field of the war which happens to rage within the\nconfines of Old Poland. This kingdom, founded by the Jagellons,\nbrought together Roman Catholic Poland and Greek Catholic Lithuania\nand could not, therefore, apply in full rigor the mediaeval principle\nthat only those could belong to the State who belonged to the State\nChurch. Hence a certain amount of toleration of religious differences,\nwhich led to Poland forming the chief asylum of the Jews evicted from\nWestern Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. As a\nconsequence here lies the most crowded seat of Jewish population in\nthe world. From it comes the vast majority of the third of a million\nJews in the prime of life who are fighting for their native countries\nand often against their fellow-Jews. Probably three hundred thousand\nJewish soldiers are under arms in this district. Besides the\ninevitable loss by death of many of these and the distress caused by\nthe removal of so many others for an indefinite period from\nbreadwinning for their families, there must be ineffable woe caused by\nthe fact that this district is the scene of strenuous conflicts, which\nlead to the wholesale destruction of the Jewish homes in a literal\nsense. When one reflects that one out of every six of the inhabitants\nof Russian, Prussian, and Austrian Poland is a Jew, the extent of the\nmisery thus caused may be imagined. One meets friends whose\nbirth-place changes nationality from week to week, according as the\ndifferent armies take possession. The Jewish inhabitants of Suwalki,\nfor example, must be doubtful whether they are Germans or Russians,\naccording as Uhlan or Cossack holds control of their city. But\nwhichever wins, for the time being, the non-combatants suffer by the\ndemolition of their houses, the requisition of their property, and\nabove all by the dislocation of their trade. The mass of misery caused\nby the present war in this way to the Jews of Russian, Prussian, and\nAustrian Poland is incalculable.\n\nNor is this direct loss and misery compensated for by any hope of\nimproved conditions after the war is concluded. One may dismiss at\nonce the rumor that the Czar has promised his Jewish soldiers any\nalleviation of their lot, on account of their loyalty and bravery.\nSuch rumors are always spread about when the Russian autocracy needs\nJewish blood or money. Besides, we all know the value of the plighted\nword of the crowned head of the Russian Church; the emasculation of\nthe Duma is sufficient evidence of this. And even if the Czar carries\nout his promise of giving autonomy to Poland, including any sections\nof Prussian and Austrian territory which he may acquire by the present\nwar, the Jewish lot will not be ameliorated in the slightest. For,\nunfortunately, Poles have of recent years turned round on their Jewish\nfellow sufferers from Russian tyranny somewhat on the principle of the\nboy at school who \"passes on\" the blow which he has received from a\nbigger boy to one smaller yet.\n\n\n_The Probable Strengthening of Anti-Semitic Influences_\n\nBUT the chief evil which will result from the present war, whatever\nits outcome, will be the increased influence of just those circles\nfrom whom the anti-Semitic movement has emanated throughout Europe for\nthe past forty years. It is, in my opinion, absurd to think that\nmilitarism will be killed or even scotched by the present war;\nmilitarism cannot cast out militarism. Even if Germany is defeated, it\nis impossible to imagine that she will rest content with her defeat,\nand practically the only change in the situation will be that \"La\nRevanche\" will be translated into \"Die Rache\"; and in Russia, the\ndefeat of Germany will simply increase the prestige and influence of\nthe grand-ducal circles from which the persecution of the Jews has\nmainly emanated.\n\nIn the contrary case, if Germany gets the upper hand, the influence of\nthe Junkers in Germany, with their anti-Semitic tendencies, would be\nraised to intolerable limits, while the Reaction in Russia, even if it\nloses prestige, will yet be granted more power in order to carry out\nthe projected revenge.\n\n\n_Diminished Chances of Emigration_\n\nANOTHER unfortunate result for Jews from the present war will be the\ndecreased stream of emigration from Russia and Galicia to this\ncountry, so that the escape from the House of Bondage would be still\nmore limited. Many will be so impoverished by the war that they will\nnot be able to afford the minimum sum needed for migration. Death on\nthe battle-field or in the military hospitals will remove many\nenergetic young fellows who would otherwise have come to this country\nand afterwards have brought their relatives with them. Conditions here\ntoo, in the immediate future, are likely to be less attractive for the\nimmigrant from the economic point of view owing to the dislocation of\ntrade caused by the current conflict.\n\nAltogether, as will have been seen from the above enumeration, I am\nstrongly of opinion that the Jews will suffer even more than most\npeoples concerned in the present war. They have nothing to gain by it;\nthey are sure to lose by it.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Joseph Jacobs]\n\n\n _SURELY a law, the essence of which is mercy and\n justice to one's fellow men, is not a narrow rule of\n life, to be discarded by us today on any plea that we\n have outgrown it; surely a history of thousands of\n years' devotion to spiritual ideals is not a history\n to be forgotten. America is a land of divers races and\n divers religions. Each race and each religion owes to\n it the duty of bringing to its service all its\n strength; it derives no added strength from a race\n which has forgotten the lessons it has learnt in the\n past, a race which deliberately discards the spiritual\n strength which it has obtained by devotion to its\n ideals._--_From a Menorah Address by Justice Irving\n Lehman._\n\n\n\n\nJewish Students in European Universities\n\nBY HARRY WOLFSON\n\n\n[Illustration: _HARRY WOLFSON (Harvard A. B. and A. M. 1912), a member\nof the Harvard Menorah Society since 1908, was the Hebrew poet at the\nannual Harvard Menorah dinners for four years, and won the Harvard\nMenorah prize in 1911 for an essay on \"Maimonides and Halevi: A Study\nin Typical Jewish Attitudes Toward Greek Philosophy in the Middle\nAges.\" On graduating from Harvard he received honors in Semitics and\nPhilosophy, and was appointed to a Sheldon Traveling Fellowship. As\nSheldon Fellow he spent two years abroad, studying in the University\nof Berlin and doing research work in the libraries of Munich, Paris,\nthe Vatican, Parma, the British Museum, Oxford and Cambridge. The\npresent article is based upon the impressions he gathered during this\nperiod. He is now pursuing graduate studies in Semitics and Philosophy\nat Harvard._]\n\nTHE Jewish student is no longer a _d\u00e9racin\u00e9_. Deeply rooted to the\nsoil of Jewish reality, he is like the best of the academic youth of\nother nations responsive to the needs of his own people. If in spots\nhe is still groping in the dark, he is no longer a lone, stray\nwanderer, but is seeking his way out to light in the company of\nkindred souls. A comprehensive and exhaustive study of native Jewish\nstudent bodies in countries like England, Germany, Austria, France and\nItaly, as well as of the Russian Jewish student colonies strewn all\nover Western Europe, would bring out, in the most striking manner,\ncontrasting tendencies in modern Jewry. But that is far from the\ndirect purpose of this brief paper. As a student and traveler in\nvarious European countries during the years 1912-1914 I had the\nopportunity of observing Jewish student life and Jewish conditions in\ngeneral abroad, and it is merely a few random impressions of certain\naspects of these European conditions that I have here gathered\ntogether for the readers of the Menorah Journal.\n\n\n_In England_\n\nJUDAISM in England, though of recent origin, is completely\ndomesticated. The Jewish gentleman is becoming as standardized as the\ntype of English gentleman. But more insular than the island itself,\nAnglo-Jewry, as a whole, prefers to remain within its natural\nboundaries, and is disinclined to become the bearer of the white Jew's\nburden. Two of her great Jews, indeed, had embarked upon a scheme of\nJewish empire building. The attempts of both of them, however, ended\nin a fizzle, for one was an unimaginative philanthropic squire, and\nthe other is an interpreter of the dreamers, himself too wide-awake to\nbecome a master of dreams.\n\nYet within its own narrow limits, Anglo-Jewry is active enough to keep\nin perfect condition. Over-exertion, however, is avoided. Cricket\nJudaism is played according to the rules of the game, and the players\nare quite comfortable in their flannels. The established synagogue of\nMulberry Street is as staid and sober as the Church of England, the\nliberalism preached in Berkeley Street as gentle and unscandalizing as\nthe nonconformity of the City Temple, and the orthodoxy of the United\nSynagogue as innocuously papish as the last phases of the Oxford\nmovement.\n\nIn England it is quite fashionable to admit Judaism into the parlor.\nParlor Judaism, to be sure, is not more vital a force nor more\ncreative than kitchen Judaism, but it seems to be more vital than the\nJudaism restricted to the Temple. At least it is voluntary and\npersonal, and, what is more important, it is engaging. So engrossed in\nthe subject of his discussion was once my host at tea, that while\nadministering the sugar he asked me quite absent-mindedly: \"Would you\nhave one or two lumps in your Judaism?\" \"Thank you, none at all,\" was\nmy reply. \"But I am wont to take my Judaism somewhat stronger, if you\nplease.\"\n\n\n_Jewish Student Groups at Oxford and Cambridge_\n\nAS compared with ourselves, English Jews have a long tradition behind\nthem, in which they glory. That tradition does not at present seem to\nstand any imminent danger of being interrupted. The younger generation\nfollow in the footprints of the older. Nowhere is there so narrow a\nrift between Jewish fathers and sons as in England. Hence you do not\nfind there any prominent organization of the young. Last winter an\nanonymous appeal for the organization of the Jewish students in\nEngland ran for several weeks in the _Jewish Chronicle_, but it seems\nto have resulted in nothing.\n\nIndependent local organizations of Jewish students, however, are to be\nfound in almost every university in England. In Oxford and Cambridge\nthey are organized in congregations, having Synagogues of their own,\nin which the students assemble for prayer on every Friday night and\nSaturday morning. In Cambridge they hold two services, an orthodox and\na liberal, both well attended. In Oxford they have recently published\na special prayer book of their own, suitable for the needs of all\nkinds of students, it being a medley of orthodoxy and liberalism,\nwhich if rather indiscriminate in its theology is, on the whole, made\nup with good common sense. English liberal Judaism, it should be\nobserved, is markedly different from its corresponding cults in\nGermany and in the United States. In Germany, reformed Judaism has its\nnascence in free thought, and it aims to appeal to the intellectual.\nWith us liberalism is stimulated by our pragmatic evaluation of\nreligion, and is held out as a bait to the indifferent. In England it\narises from the growing admiration on the part of a certain class of\nJews for what they consider the inwardness and the superior morality\nof Christianity, and is concocted as a cure to those who are so\naffected. As a result, English liberal Judaism is more truly religious\nthan the German, and more sincerely pious than the American. In a\nsermon delivered before the Oxford congregation, a young layman of the\nLiberal Synagogue of London apostrophized liberal Judaism as the\nsafeguard of the modern Jews from the attractiveness of the superior\nteachings of Christ.\n\n\n_Social Service Work of Jewish Students_\n\nENGLAND is the classic home of old-fashioned begging and of\nold-fashioned giving. You are stopped for a penny everywhere and by\neverybody, from the tramp who asks you to buy him a cup of tea, to the\nhospital which solicits a contribution to its maintenance \"for one\nsecond.\" Pavement artists abound in Paris as much as in London, but in\nParis it is a Bohemian-looking denizen of the \"Quartier\" posing as a\npinched genius forced to sell his crayon masterpieces for a couple of\nsous, whereas in London it is always a crippled ex-soldier trying to\narouse your pity in chalked words for a \"poor man's talent.\" But\nEngland is also the classic home of modern social service of every\ndescription. The Salvation Army had its origin in London, where also\nToynbee Hall, the first University settlement of its kind, came into\nexistence. Likewise among the Jews, there are, on the one hand, the\nfirmly established old-fashioned charitable institutions to help the\n\"alien\" brethren of the East End, and on the other hand, there are\nalso the equally well organized boys' clubs for the \"uplifting\" of the\n\"alien\" little brethren of the same East End.\n\nThe Jewish University men in England take an active interest in both\nthese branches of philanthropy. It was a fortunate coincidence that\nwhen I came to Oxford the Jewish students there had among them a\nsocial worker of the latter type, who had come to make arrangements\nfor the reception of a squad of Whitechapel boys who were under his\ntutelage. When I afterwards went to Cambridge I found there a delegate\nof some charitable board of the London Jewish community, seeking to\nenlist the aid of the Jewish students in his work.\n\n\n_What the Bulletin Boards Told at Berlin_\n\nAT the University of Berlin I did not have to go far to find traces of\nthe presence of Jewish students. With their far-famed efficiency the\nGermans have contrived to turn the large university hall into a medium\nof information more adequate than our University Bulletins and\nRegisters combined. The bulletin boards covering every vacant spot on\nthe walls told me the story of all the phases of Jewish activities in\nthe University, professional, social, vocational and, if you please,\nalso gastronomical, more fully than the frescoed walls of Dido's\ntemple told their story to pious \u00c6neas. In the announcement of courses\nby the various faculties, well-known Jewish names stand out quite\nprominently,--none of them above the rank of Honorar-Professor, to be\nsure, but in popularity and achievement they are among the foremost.\nAmong the long rows of the variegated Wappen of the Korporationen, the\nBorussias, Teutonias and Germanias, there hang the insignia of the\nJewish students' societies, the yellow and white of the Sprevia and\nthe black and gold of the Hasmonea, both announcing the dates of their\nKneipe held in their respective places in the students' quarters\naround Linienstrasse and Charlottenburg. In another nook of the hall,\nfrom the midst of a jumble of little slips of paper enumerating in\nminute detail in microscopic German script what dishes are offered at\nthe paltry sum of so many pfennig in the various \"Privat-Mittagtische\"\nand \"b\u00fcrgerliche-K\u00fcche\" there looms up unblushingly, proud in the\nclearness of its square characters, the Hebrew word \u05db\u05e9\u05e8 over the\nnotice of a Lebanon restaurant run by a Palestinian Jew. Still further\non the wall, students of unmistakably Jewish names offer instruction\nin almost all the languages spoken, while a German young lady wants to\nexchange lessons in Russian with an _orthodox Christian_ and one who\nhails from the mendacious little country, cautiously states, as an\ninducement to a prospective pupil in the Roumanian tongue, that the\nwould-be instructor is a _true_ Roumanian. Here you have a picture of\nJewish life in the Berlin University, in its outer paraphernalia, in\nits cosmopolitan character, in its relation to the rest of the student\nbody, in its freedom and restriction, as portrayed in the unjaundiced\ntales of bulletin boards.\n\n\n_The Opposing Views of Student Societies at Berlin_\n\nOF the two Jewish organizations mentioned above, the Hasmonea is a\nbranch of the inter-varsity K. Z. V. (Kartell Zionistischer\nVerbindungen), whereas the Sprevia belongs to the K.-C.\n(Kartell-Convent der Tendenzverbindungen deutscher Studenten j\u00fcdischen\nGlaubens). The former, as the name implies, is Zionistic; the latter\nis opposed to Zionism. Their relation to each other, however, is not\nlike that between the Menorah and the Zionist societies in American\ncolleges. The Hasmonea and the Sprevia are mutually exclusive, rather\nthan complementary to each other. The German Jewish student does not\ncome to the university with a mind open and free as to Judaism. He\ncomes there with definite views on the subject which have already been\ncrystallized under the influence of early training. Judaism, of\nwhatever shade it may happen to be, is more potent a factor in the\ndomestic life of German Jews and in the bringing up of the young than\nit is with us here. Jewish boys there evince a keener interest in\nJudaism than do Jewish boys in America. Their intelligent\nunderstanding of Judaism is therefore not necessarily preceded by a\nperiod of indifference and lack of knowledge. It steadily grows and\ndevelops with them from their early youth. And so by the time they\nenter the university, at an age somewhat older than that of our\naverage freshman, their Jewish consciousness is mature and fixed. They\nare able to judge whether they can work for or against Zionism, for to\nthem Zionism is the only vital question in present-day Judaism, a\nquestion which they are willing to face squarely and once for all\ndetermine their position towards it; and it is on this question of\nZionism and the future destiny of the Jews as a nation that the two\nleading student organizations radically differ.\n\nThere is another quite as notable distinction between our Menorah and\nthe Jewish students' organizations in Germany. With us the Menorah is\nprimarily an undergraduate society. When graduate Menorah Societies\narise, they may be confederated with the undergraduate organization,\nbut they will of course retain their separate character. In Germany\nthis distinction between undergraduate and graduate does not exist.\nMatriculation in the University, not the taking of a degree in it,\nintroduces one into the society of the educated with its appellative\n\"intellectual\" corresponding to our \"high-brow\" rather than to our\n\"college grad.\" Joining the membership of a student organization marks\nthe entrance into that large class of \"intellectuals.\" And once you\njoin such an organization you are a member ever after. In Germany, in\nfact, nobody graduates from a university in the same sense that we do.\nThere the taking of a degree is merely an episode. If you take it, you\nwill thenceforth be addressed as \"Herr Doktor\"; if you do not take it,\nyou will keep on printing on your visiting card \"Kandidat Philosophie\"\nall the rest of your lifetime, and be addressed by the uninitiate as\n\"Herr Doktor\" just the same. Thus the achievements generally ascribed\nto Jewish students' organizations in Germany are in reality the\ncollective work of all the Jewish men of academic training, and not\nnecessarily of students actually engaged in university studies. Read\nover the names of contributors to publications issued by what are\nknown as \"student organizations,\" and you will notice how loosely that\nterm is used.\n\n\n_Intellectual Problems of the German Jewish Youth_\n\nTHE Jewish university men in Germany, whom we commonly call Jewish\nstudents, take more interest in Jewish life than do our university men\nin this country. This is chiefly due to the peculiar position of the\nmodern Jews in Germany. German Jewry, by the total disappearance of\nits laboring class during recent times, has ceased to be a people by\nitself and has become a part of the middle class of the general German\npopulation. Among the native Jews of Germany, if Berlin is to be\ntaken as a typical example of Jewish communities in large cities,\nthere is no organic social body, complete in itself, consisting of\nvarious classes, following all imaginable trades, ranging from the\nchimney-sweep and the cobbler to the merchant prince. Such\ncommunities, forming organic wholes in themselves, you may find in\nRussia, Galicia, Roumania, and in the newer Jewish settlements of\nEngland and America. You do not find them in Germany. Higher up in the\nsocial scale, Jews are represented everywhere, but lower down you\ncannot find any native Jew below a shop clerk or master tailor. Being\nthus interspersed among the middle class of the general population,\nthat part of the population which more than any other sends its\nchildren to universities, the number of academically trained men\nengaged in liberal professions among the German Jews is exceedingly\nlarge. These professional Jews encounter greater difficulties in their\ncareers than those engaged in commerce. While the latter are given\nfree range for the development of the native Jewish talents, the\nformer find their road toward recognition blockaded. Consequently they\nare hurled back upon their Judaism, and their energies not finding\nvent elsewhere turn into Jewish channels.\n\nThe activities of Jewish university men in Germany are chiefly\nliterary and intellectual, for the problem with which they are faced\nis quite different from that of ours. With us the problem of\nAmericanism and Judaism is in its ultimate analysis the possible\nconflict between two sets of social duties, in themselves not\nnecessarily contradictory, which can be easily reconciled by a working\nprogram adjusting the practical demands of both without curtailing the\nscope and efficiency of either. For Americanism in the abstract has no\nexistence. The American mind is as yet unknown in its essence; it is\nonly manifest by its functions, of which Jewish activities may form a\ncomplementary part. In Germany it is quite different. If Germanism\nstand for Aryanism and Occidentalism, Judaism must inevitably stand\nfor Semitism and Orientalism,--and can the twain ever meet? That the\nJew manifests in his works and actions good practical patriotism does\nnot radically solve the problem; that the Jews are capable of being\ngood patriots is no longer questioned, but can they be genuine ones?\nWill not the Jews always remain the carriers of an alien culture,\nunabsorbable and unassimilable, despite their conversion and\nintermarriage? It is this problem that confronts the Jewish\nintellectuals in Germany, in the over-hanging shadow of which the\n\"Sorrows of the Jewish Werther\" was written, and the martyrdom of Otto\nWeininger, self-inflicted, was made possible. Hence the great\nintrospective literary activity of the German Jewish youth.\n\nThere is, on the one hand, the great, ever-increasing inrush of the\nJews into the inmost sanctum of German cultural life, where their\nGermanic protestations are more vociferous than those of the native\nTeuton,--and they sometimes have, too, as must be admitted, a false\nring. Ludwig Fulda openly proclaims that as to his relation with\nJudaism there is none: Goethe is his Moses and the German war of\nliberation is his Exodus; and Jewish \"Gymnasium\" seniors inundate the\ncolumns of the _Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums_ with introspective\nanalyses of their Teutonic souls. On the other hand, there are those\nwho, while quite as good Germans as the others, so far as practical\npatriotism is concerned, do not renounce the intellectual and\nspiritual heritage which is their own. Their self-imposed task is\ntherefore the cultivation, enrichment, and modernization of Jewish\nthought and tradition. Hence the great output of highly meritorious\nliterary works on purely Jewish subjects which, if not as scholarly as\nthose of the German Jewish scientists of the past generation, are far\nmore stimulating and of greater educational value.\n\n(_To be concluded_)\n\n\n _IT may interest you to know that in this country,\n during the early years of our leading universities,\n Hebrew not only formed, a subject of instruction, but\n also appeared upon the Commencement programs. Upon\n such grandiloquent occasions you will find that side\n by side with a poem in Greek there figured a speech in\n Hebrew. What the Hebrew was like that was poured out\n there I have difficulty in imagining. But that the\n instruction was of much use to the student, I have\n grave reasons to doubt. Will you allow me to read to\n you a note written in regard to that famous professor\n of Hebrew at Yale towards the end of the eighteenth\n century--Ezra Stiles. Stiles was a very learned\n Christian Hebraist. One of his pupils wrote about him:\n \"For Hebrew he possessed a high veneration. He said\n one of the Psalms he tried to teach us would be the\n first we should hear sung in Heaven, and that he\n should be ashamed that any one of his pupils should be\n entirely ignorant of that holy language.\"_--_From a\n Menorah Address by Professor Richard Gottheil._\n\n\n\n\nThe Twilight of Hebraic Culture\n\n_The Transition from Hebraism to Judaism_\n\nBY MAX L. MARGOLIS\n\n\n[Illustration: _MAX L. MARGOLIS (born in Merecz, Russia, in 1866), one\nof the leading Biblical scholars of America, received his education in\nRussia, Germany, and the United States (Columbia Ph.D. 1891). He has\nheld important professorships of Semitics and Biblical Exegesis at the\nHebrew Union College and the University of California,--and since 1909\nhas filled the chair of Biblical Philology in The Dropsie College for\nHebrew and Cognate learning. He has been engaged also, as\nEditor-in-Chief, in the monumental task of the new English translation\nof the Bible by American Jewish scholars. He is the author of numerous\nlearned papers and books on Biblical lore and theology._]\n\nSO long as Jewish psalms are sung in the cathedrals of Christendom and\nJewish visions are rehearsed by Christian catechumens, the Synagogue\nwill continue to hold in veneration the chest where reposes its\nchiefest glory. Surely a book which thrills the religious emotions of\ncivilized mankind cannot but be an object of pride to the people that\nproduced it. Stupendous as the literary output of the Jewish people\nhas been in post-biblical times, the Scriptures stand on a footing of\ntheir own. Throughout the era of the dispersion they have held their\nunique position and have exercised a most potent influence on the\nJewish soul. And the modern man taught by Lowth and Herder, and the\nmodern Jew under the spell of Mendelssohn and the Haskalah, have their\nminds open to the \u00e6sthetic side of the \"Bible as literature.\"\n\nTo the Jew, however, the Scriptures are possessed of an interest\nbeyond the religious and literary. They are the record of his\nachievements in the past when his foot rested firm and steady on\nnative soil, of a long history full of vicissitudes from the time when\nthe invaders battled against the kings of Canaan to the days when the\nlast visionary steeled the nation's endurance in its struggle with the\nheathen. They are the charter of Jewish nobility, linking those of the\npresent to the wanderer from Ur of the Chaldees.\n\nAs a finished product the Hebrew Scriptures came after the period of\nnational independence. When canon-making was in its last stage,\nJerusalem was a heap of ruins. The canon was the supreme effort of\nJud\u00e6a--throttled by the legions of Rome--withdrawing to its inner\ndefences. The sword was sheathed and deliverance was looked for from\nthe clouds. The Scriptures were to teach the Jew conduct and prayer,\nand the chidings of the prophets were listened to in a penitential\nmood, but also joyfully because of the consolations to which they led.\nThe canon-makers had an eye to the steadying of a vanquished people\nagainst the enemy without and the foe within. For there arose teachers\nwho proclaimed that the mission of the Jew was fulfilled: free from\nthe fetters of a narrow nationalism, of a religion bound up with the\nsoil, he was now ready to merge his individuality with the large world\nwhen once it accepted that measure of his teaching suited to a wider\nhumanity. The temple that was made with hands was destroyed, and\nanother made without hands was building where men might worship in\nspirit and truth. The dream was fascinating, the danger of absorption\nwas acute, because it was dressed up with the trappings of an ideal to\nwhich many believed the Scriptures themselves pointed.\n\nThere was a much larger range of writings in Palestine and a still\nlarger in Egypt. The list included historical works carrying on the\nstory of the people's fortunes beyond Alexander the Great; novelistic\ntales like that of the heroic Judith luring the enemy of her people to\ndestruction, or that exquisite tale of Jewish family life as\nexemplified by the pious Israelite captive Tobit; books like the wise\nsayings of Jesus, son of Sirach, the Wisdom of Solomon, or the Psalms\nof Solomon, all modelled after patterns in the canon; midrashic\nexpositions of the law, like the Little Genesis; apocalyptic visions\ngoing by the name of Enoch and the Twelve Patriarchs and Moses and\nIsaiah and Esdras, whose prototype may be sought in the canonical\nDaniel. Over and above the three parts which the Synagogue accepted\nthere were a fourth and fifth; but by an act of exclusion the canon\nwas concentrated upon the three and the others were cast overboard.\nThe canon was the creation of the Pharisaic doctors, who drew a line\nat a point of their own choosing, and decreed that writings \"from that\ntime onward\" did not defile the hands.\n\n\n_The Making of the Canon by the Pharisees_\n\nTHE Pharisee held the ground when the nation had politically\nabdicated. The war with Rome had been brought on by the intransigent\nhotspurs of Galilee and the commune of Jerusalem. John, son of Zakkai,\nparleyed with the enemy that Jamnia with its House of Study might go\nunscathed. There the process began which culminated in the gigantic\nstorehouse of legal lore which was to dominate Jewish life and Jewish\nliterature for centuries, commentary being piled upon commentary and\ncode upon code. For in the sum total of Scriptures the Torah was\nadmittedly to be the chief corner-stone, albeit prophecy and wisdom\nhad not lost their appeal; and in moments of relaxation or when\naddressing their congregations worn out with the strife of the\npresent, the scholars of the wise brought out of the ancient stock\nmany a legend and quaint saying and even apocalyptic vision,\ntransporting the mourners for Zion into the ecstasies of the future\nredemption. While official Judaism was committed to the dialectics of\nthe Halakah, in the unofficial Haggadah mysticism exercised a potent\ninfluence by underground channels, as it were, issuing in later days\nin Kabbalah and offsetting the rational philosophies borrowed from\nHellas. For the time being, however, the dominant note was legistic,\nPharisean.\n\nThe Pharisees had been lifted by the national catastrophe into the\nleading position. They had previously been a party among many parties,\nand their Judaism one of the many varieties. The Sadducees, their\nchief opponents, had a literature of their own: the day upon which\ntheir \"Book of Decrees\" was consigned to destruction was made a legal\nholiday upon which fasting was prohibited. But even writings which\nwere lightly touched by the Sadduccee spirit were frowned upon: the\nSiracide was barely tolerated on the outside because he made light of\nindividual immortality, and believed in the eternity of Israel and the\nZadokite priesthood. The Pharisees had been on the opposition during\nthe latter period of the Maccabeans: so with partisan ruthlessness\nthey excluded from the canon the writings commemorative of the\nvalorous deeds of those priest-warriors who freed the people from\nforeign overlordship and restored the Davidic boundaries of the realm.\nBecause the apocalyptic visions inclined to teachings not acceptable\nto the dominant opinion, they were declared not only heterodox,\nheretical, but worthy of destruction. Had the stricter view prevailed,\nthe sceptical Preacher--now, to quote Renan, lost in the canon like a\nvolume of Voltaire among the folios of a theological library--would\nhave shared the fate of Sirach and Wisdom and the other writings which\nEgypt cherished after Palestine had discarded them. And there were\nmutterings heard even against the Song, that beautiful remnant of the\nAnacreontic muse of Jud\u00e6a. It was then that Akiba stepped into the\nbreach and by bold allegory saved that precious piece of what may be\ncalled the secular literature of the ancient Hebrews.\n\nThe process concluded by the Pharisees had begun long before. The\nPharisee consummated what the scribe before him had commenced, and the\nscribe in turn had carried to fruition the work inaugurated by the\nprophet. Just as the Pharisee decreed what limits were to be imposed\nupon the third part of the Scriptures, the scribe in his day gave\nsanction to the second, and at a still earlier period the prophet to\nthe wide range of literature current in his days. Sobered by national\ndisaster, the scribe addressed himself to the task of safeguarding the\nremnant of Jud\u00e6a in the land of the fathers. There were schisms in the\nranks, and all kinds of heresies, chief among which stood the\nSamaritan. The nation's history was recast in a spirit showing how\nthrough the entire past faithful adherence to Mosaism brought in its\nwake national stability, and conversely a swaying from legitimacy and\nlaw was responsible for disaster. With the Torah as a guide, prophecy\nwas forced into the channels of orthodoxy. Heterodox prophets, the\n\"false prophets,\" were consigned to oblivion. Their opponents alone\nwere given a hearing. Secular history there was to be none; there was\nroom only for the sacred. We may take it for granted that the\n\"prophets of Baal,\" as their adversaries triumphantly nicknamed them,\nhad their disciples who collected their writings and recorded the\ndeeds of _their_ spirit. But they were one and all suppressed. The\npolitical achievements of mighty dynasts had been recorded by\nannalists; the pious narrators in the so-called historical books of\nthe canon brush them aside, gloss over them with a scant hint or\nreference; what is of absorbing interest to them is the activity of an\nElijah or an Elisha, or the particular pattern of the altar in the\nJerusalem sanctuary. In their iconoclastic warfare upon the\nabomination of Samaria, the prophets gave a partisanly distorted view\nof conditions in the North which for a long time had been the scene of\nHebrew tradition and Hebrew life.\n\n\n_The Death-blow to the Old Hebraic Culture_\n\nWHAT these upheavals meant in the history of Hebrew literature and\nculture can only approximately be gauged. One thing is certain: they\nall and one dealt the death-blow to the old Hebraic culture. When the\nexcavator sinks his spade beneath the ground of a sleepy Palestinian\nvillage, he lays bare to view from under the overlaid strata, Roman\nand Greek and Jewish and Israelitish, the Canaanite foundation with\nits mighty walls and marvellous tunnels, its stel\u00e6 and statuettes, its\nentombed infants sacrificed to the abominable Moloch. Similarly if we\ndig below the surface of the Scriptures, we uncover glimpses of the\ncivilization of the Amorite strong and mighty, which generations of\nprophets and lawmakers succeeded in destroying root and branch. On the\nruins of the Canaanite-Amorite culture rose in the latter days Judaism\ntriumphant; the struggle--prolonged and of varying success--marked the\nascendancy of the Hebraic culture which was a midway station between\nthe indigenous Canaanite civilization on the one hand and that mighty\nspiritual leaven, Mosaism in its beginnings and Judaism in its\nconsummation, on the other. The Hebraic culture was a compromise. It\nbegan by absorbing the native civilization. The danger of succumbing\nto it was there, but it was averted by those whom their adversaries\ncalled the disturbers of Israel. And even to the last, when the sway\nof Judaism was undisputed, the Hebraic culture could not be severed\nfrom the soil in which it was rooted. It was part of a world-culture\njust as it contributed itself thereto.\n\nWhether living in amity or in warfare, nations influence each other to\na marked degree. They exchange the products of their soils and their\nindustry--they also give and take spiritual possessions. Culture is a\ncompound product. The factors that are contributory to its make-up are\nthe soil and the racial endowment recoiling against the domination\nfrom without which, though not wholly overcome, is resisted with might\nand main. Cultures are national amidst an international culture. They\nexpress themselves in a variety of ways, chiefly in language and\nliterature. For while blood is thicker than water, the pen is mightier\nthan the sword. Out of a mass of myth and legend and worldly wisdom\nthe Hebrews constructed, in accordance with their own bent of mind,\ntheir cosmogonies and ballads and collections of proverbs. At every\nshrine the priests narrated to the throngs of worshippers the\nmarvelous stories of local or national interest.\n\n\n_The Difference Between Hebraic Culture and Judaism_\n\nTHE chief feature of the Hebraic culture was that it was joyous. The\nsomber seriousness of latter-day Judaism had not yet penetrated it.\nIsrael rejoiced like the nations. The young men and maidens danced and\nwooed in the precincts of the sanctuaries which dotted the country\nfrom Dan to Beersheba. The festivals were seasons of joy, the\nfestivals of the harvest and of the vintage. The prophets called them\ncarousals and dubbed the gentlemen of Samaria drunkards. Probably\nthere were excesses. But life was enjoyed so long as the heavens\nwithdrew not the moisture which the husbandman was in need of. The\nwars which the Kings waged were the wars of the Lord, and the exploits\nof the warriors were rehearsed throughout the land--they were spoken\nof as the Lord's righteous acts. National victories strengthened the\nnational consciousness. Taunt songs were scattered on broadsides. The\nenemy was lampooned. At the height of national prosperity, when Israel\ndwelt in safety in a land of corn and wine moistened with the dew of\nthe heavens, the pride of the nation expressed itself in the p\u00e6an,\n\"Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, a people victorious\nthrough the Lord, the shield of thy help, and that is the Sword of thy\nexcellency!\" Excellency then meant national independence and welfare.\nIt was the period of the Omrides whose exploits are merely hinted at\nin our sources, whose sway marked the nascent struggle between\nHebraism and Judaism. For the time being, Hebraic culture was on the\nascendant, successor to the indigenous Canaanite civilization which it\nhad absorbed, remodelled, developed.\n\nThe chief difference between the Hebraic culture and Judaism which\nsupplanted it consists in the fact that, whereas the latter was\nbookish, transforming its votaries into the \"people of the book,\" the\nformer was the sum total of all that goes to make up the concern of a\nnation living upon its own soil. Bookishness, literature, has a place\nin the affairs of a nation, but it contributes only a side in its\nmanifold activities. The spoken word precedes the written. The writer\nhas an eye to aftertimes. He lives in the future. The speaking voice\naddresses itself to the present and its varied needs. Saints are\ncanonized after death. The act of canonization means the verdict of\nthe survivors who from a distance are able to gauge the merits of past\ndeeds. When a literature is pronounced canonical or classical, it is\nno more. In its dying moments it is reduced to rule, and its range\nbecomes norm. But normalization is an act of choosing, of accepting\nand excising. A living literature is far from being normalized. Much\nthat is written serves a temporary purpose, but is none the less\neffective while it has vogue. However, it is only a part of the\nnational activities, mirroring them and commenting upon them. So is\nreligion another part of the national life. Government policy and\nlegal procedure and the arts and the crafts occupy a nation's living\ninterests. The Hebraic culture meant all that. It is now a thing of\nthe distant past. It speaks to us from beneath the Hebrew Scriptures\nby which it is overlaid, themselves the remnant of what in times gone\nby stirred the nation's spirit. A revival of that culture may come,\nbut when it comes it will be tempered by Judaism. And the Hebrew\nScriptures which constitute the bridge between them both will act as\nthe peacemaker.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Max L. Margolis]\n\n\n _JEWISH knowledge to me is valuable in the sense in\n which the word \"knowledge\" is employed in Hebrew. For\n \"to know\" in Hebrew_ (yada) _does not merely mean to\n conceive intellectually, but expresses at the same\n time the deepest emotions of the human soul; it also\n means to care, to cherish, to love. It is remarkable\n indeed that the only Hebrew expression which in any\n way approaches what in modern languages we call\n religion is_ daath elohim, the knowledge of God. _It\n is no less remarkable that the fundamental concept\n formulated by one of the greatest thinkers who\n proceeded from Jewish loins, by Baruch Spinoza, is_\n amor Dei intellectualis, _\"the intellectual love of\n God,\" that is, the mental and yet emotional conception\n of the Supreme Power that rules the universe. If I\n were to wish for anything, it would be for an_ amor\n Judaismus intellectualis, \"_an intellectual love of\n Judaism,\" not shallow love and hollow self-complacency\n that cover every sin. We want to be frank about our\n Judaism, we want to be clear about our faults, we want\n to remedy our faults whenever we can, but at the same\n time we want to have the sympathy that goes with\n knowledge._--_From a Menorah Address by Professor Israel\n Friedlaender._\n\n\n\n\nDays of Disillusionment\n\nBY SAMUEL STRAUSS\n\n\n[Illustration: _SAMUEL STRAUSS (born in Des Moines, Ia., in 1870), was\npublisher of the Des Moines Leader from 1895 to 1904, and became\npublisher of the New York Globe in 1904. Since 1912 he has been\nassociated with the management of the New York Times. Mr. Strauss has\ntaken an active and effective interest in many worthy movements for\nJewish betterment. He is a member of the Graduate Advisory Menorah\nCommittee and of the Menorah College of Lecturers. His impressive and\nstimulating talks have given him marked popularity with the Menorah\nSocieties._]\n\nWE are at present witnessing an instance of the truth that a great\ncrisis is always a test for genuineness. Since August 1st a number of\nthings seemingly vital have come tumbling to the ground as mere\ninflated delusions or comparative trifles formerly viewed out of all\nperspective. Men are beginning to realize that they have been\ndeceiving themselves, and the immediate effect is disappointment.\n\nWhat profit will be derived from it all is as yet merely a matter for\nspeculation. Not yet have men been able to think of the conflict in\nother than negative terms, to see in it other than despair, crippled\nindustry, a fall from civilization, all that belongs on the debit side\nof the ledger. But there is also a credit side: and to realize that\nthe effects of war are positive as well as negative is by no means to\ncondone war, but only to accept it as a fact.\n\nHistory teaches us to expect that the positive result of this struggle\nwill be in the nature of a physic--a dissolving away of delusions, and\nsimultaneously a bringing into relief of some essential facts. This\nclearing of the ground will not wait until the war is over; it has\nalready begun, though men are yet but half-conscious of it, and then\nonly in the guise of profitless disillusionment. This state of mind is\nunderstandable enough. The spectacle of thousands going out by\ntrainload to settle differences through slaughter has been a terrible\nshock. Individuals, having progressed beyond that stage, had assumed\nthat collectively, too, men must share the same aversion to so\nillogical a method as murder for the solution of differences. This\nassumption has had root in a justifiable belief in the world's\nattainment to a higher plane of civilization. The quality of to-day's\nculture may not be so fine as that of Jud\u00e6a, of Greece, or Rome, or of\nthe Renaissance, but surely in no period of history has its extent\nbeen so great. Never had the entire world been nearer denationalization,\nnever had the economic interdependence of nations been more complete.\nJingoism has seemed obsolete, cosmopolitanism had seemed the ideal, as\nthe horizon of an increasing number of individuals broadened out, and\nprejudice gave way before enlightenment. But now this assumption is\nsuddenly discovered to be mere delusion, and at once much scorn is\nheaped upon \"our alleged civilization.\" How much justification there\nis for disappointment over the failure of culture to influence action\nis difficult to determine. There is much confusion of thought on this\npoint. To conclude that because nations go to war, individuals have\ntherefore made practically no advance from the original state of\nbarbarism is absurd. What should be clear is the danger of\ngeneralizations from the individual to groups of the individual--two\npsychologically different entities. It may be that even as communities\nwe have progressed more than we believe, as some future reaction to\nthis war may indicate, but what is brought to the surface now is the\nold fact that the progress of groups of men is at snail's pace,\nhowever men may forge ahead as individuals.\n\nThis refreshed realization is by no means of negative value. It is\nrather a positive benefit, and should be fixed in the minds of all men\nwho are striving collectively for various ends. For political parties,\nsocialists, suffragists, all and sundry reformers, this realization\nshould be the starting point from which to readjust programs when the\ncataclysm is over.\n\nFor the Jewish people this realization is peculiarly significant.\nThough the outlines of the general situation the world over are as yet\nindistinct, some problems of the Jews have already been brought out\ninto sharp relief. Like the rest of mankind, the Jew has had his eyes\ncruelly opened, and the clear boundary between truth and delusion\nwhich this war has made should be stamped upon his memory, to remain\nvivid after negative feelings of wrongs and disappointments have been\nforgotten.\n\n\n_The Delusion of Assimilation_\n\nIN the past hundred years, the Jew has had more reason than at any\ntime since the dispersal to consider himself assimilated in all save\nthe Slav countries. Not that anti-Semitism had disappeared; but it had\nseemed to be, and indeed is, so much less important when viewed\nagainst the background of the Jew's positive advance to light and\nfreedom. Explained more recently as a survival of many prejudices\nwhich do not die overnight, including the old religious differences,\nphysical and mental antipathies, economic jealousies--the force of\nanti-Semitism was not only weakened by the increasing breadth of\nvision, the cosmopolitanism on which the world has plumed itself, but\ndwarfed by the achievement of the Jew himself. He has come out of his\nGhetto; softened by a more liberal attitude on the part of his\nindividual neighbor, he has largely laid aside his resentment and his\nhostility. There was a feeling that adaptation and assimilation had\nadvanced so far that the Jew, by his own progress and with the consent\nof his neighbor, had become a citizen of his community, differentiated\nfrom the rest, if at all, only by what he chose to keep of his\nreligious belief. Those who have most zealously argued for\nassimilation as the sole solution of the Jewish problem have had\nlittle need of late to push their gospel further; the process seemed\nto be taking excellent care of itself. But after all, it was not real.\nA drastic crisis like the present one was required to brand it as\ndelusion. The attitude of the occasional individual was construed as\nthe attitude of the entire community. This has been a double-edged\ndelusion. The Jew has not judged himself as a community in relation to\nhis neighbor, and he has misjudged his individual neighbor as a\ncommunity in relation to himself.\n\nIt takes two sides always to make up the full truth, but from both\nsides, from the Jew and from his neighbor, there is circumstantial\nevidence in the events of the past five months that gives abundant\nsupport to this conclusion.\n\nIn this time of crisis the world has thrown aside its pretense, honest\nand well-intentioned pretense though it may have been, and revealed\nits underlying feeling toward the Jewish people. Suddenly, without any\nabsolute change in their status, the Jews are singled out and set\napart. Special inducements are held out for their support. The Czar,\nthough this was reported upon dubious authority, addresses his\n\"beloved Jews;\" a non-commissioned Jewish officer is recommended for\nthe Order of St. George; Dreyfus is decorated in France, his son made\nLieutenant; Austria issues a special appeal to the Jews of Poland; an\nEnglish Jew voices England's hope of their loyalty; in Germany\nanti-Semitic newspapers suddenly announce their discontinuance.\n\n\n_The Test of Jewish Patriotism_\n\nIT is not a new story. Doubt of the Jew's place in time of war has\nbeen continuous. Through the centuries there has been report that he\nhas dodged his war tax wherever he could, that he bought soldiers to\nfill his place in the ranks, that as financier he offered his gold\nwithout scruple to the bitterest foes of his own fatherland. How much\nof this is based on blind prejudice is beside the point. What is\nimportant is the effect that this doubting attitude has had on the\nJew's normal impulse to render patriotic service. The Jew to-day who\nfeels most keenly the cause of Germany, or of France, or of England in\nthis war, who most unreservedly throws in his lot with his\ncompatriots, glorying in a privilege long withheld, moved to an\nintense fervor of patriotism, cannot but be disheartened at the\nspectacle of his neighbors as in one way or another they give evidence\nof their lack of faith in him.\n\nWhy this feeling of distrust? How has it been engendered, what are\nits roots? Again the answer is to be found both with the Jew himself\nand with his neighbor.\n\nAs far as the present situation is concerned, the Gentile world has\nhad lying dormant in its subconscious mind the notion that the Jew was\ninferior, and by its own action it has kept this subconscious notion\nalive. For while the world has admitted the Jew to its political life,\nwhile it has modified much its religious and its economic prejudices\nand jealousies, it has not broken down every barrier. Without fully\nrealizing its attitude, it has still held the Jew to be different and\nof lower quality. The Jew's neighbors have had an honest sort of\ndelusion about their attitude toward the Semite; because they had\ndiscovered the individual Jew, and taken him, as it were, into the\narms of their community life, they have fancied that all prejudice,\neven toward the Jew as a class, had become obsolete. Here again there\nis evidence of the fact that feeling toward Jews as individuals has\nbeen mistaken for feeling toward the Jews as a race group.\n\nThis delusion has its base in something more fundamental, to which may\nbe accredited perhaps the distrust against which the Jews have been\nbattling for centuries. It is not the stranger who inspires continued\nsuspicion, for he soon ceases to be a stranger, but it is the wanderer\nand the gypsy. There is imbedded in human nature a distrust of\nshifting things and a respect for what is long established in any one\nplace, and it is in the wandering class that the Jew is placed in\nspite of all talk of assimilation. He has had no point of departure\nand hence no place of arrival. The French have crossed over the\nChannel and become Englishmen; one would hardly know that the Romans\nstill live on in the Tyrol; but the Jew has always remained Jew, for\nhe has no established place from which to come and whither to return.\n\n\n_\"A People Without A Home\"_\n\nNOT only have the Jews been looked upon by others as a people without\na home; subconsciously they have always regarded themselves as such.\nTo-day a gigantic fund is proposed for the relief of the Jews affected\nby the present war, by the very ones who have argued most persistently\nfor adaptation and assimilation. Yet this is a relief fund not for\nBelgian Jews, nor French Jews, nor German Jews, but for all Jews\nirrespective of the side on which they fight. The Jews are not\nthinking of themselves in terms of citizens or subjects of this or\nthat country, but only as members of the Jewish race, who have no\nunity save as members of that race. It is the surest indication that\nbeneath all self-delusion the Jews have subconsciously realized\nthemselves as a homeless people, men without a country. Is it strange\nthat the rest of the world should regard the Jew as alien when he\ncannot but hold himself as such?\n\nIt would seem that this argument leads along a straight path towards\nZionism as its conclusion. But practical Zionism, like all other\nprograms of reconstruction, must await a time which will admit of\nreconstruction, and that is not the present. It may be that when this\nwar is concluded, world conditions will have so completely changed\nthat Zionism and its geographic program will no longer be the answer\nto the problem of Jewry. All that is certain of it now is its\nuncertainty. But the spirit of which Zionism is the expression, and\nwhich has made of it more than a mere experiment in colonization,\nstill remains, emphasized by the self-realization to which the Jews\nhave been brought in the present conflict.\n\n\n_The Persistence of the Jewish Faith_\n\nIN every crisis, even in those which have swept whole nations from\nexistence, the Jew has always found himself with one inalienable\npossession--his faith. There is something mystifying about the\npersistence through so many vicissitudes of a religion which commands\nrespect from neighbors who see in it a powerful inspiration, while the\nJew himself, especially the Jew more fortunately placed in the general\ncommunity, endeavors so often to cast it off as outworn and\nimpracticable. It is the Jew himself who has misled the rest of the\nworld into a delusion. He has seemed to consider himself, and the\nfaith with which he is bound up, inferior. In his endeavor to take on\nthe color of his environment, he has sought to lay aside all that was\nold, and of this the religion of his fathers was a part. But a faith\nas strong and as far-reaching as Judaism cannot be dropped out of the\nlife into which it has been ingrained, and hence the Jew has been hard\nput to cover it up, to hide it, or to attempt its modification to fit\nthe fashion in religions. The inevitable reaction on the non-Jewish\npart of the community has been a feeling of mystification, and,\nfollowing on that, suspicion and distrust.\n\nIt is this which has undermined confidence in the Jews as a\npeople--their negation of that which is their valuable heritage. For\nJudaism is not merely tradition, a thing to be reverenced as a relic;\nit is a thing to be put to everyday use. This practical and vitalized\nJudaism is the real salvation for which the Jews have been groping,\nall the while under the delusion that it was anywhere but near at\nhand. Such a rejuvenated faith would mean an end of that homelessness\nwhich is accountable for much of the Jew's displacement in the world's\nlife. And though the remedy has been intimate to him these many years\nhe has failed to make positive use of it. It is true that the Zionists\nhave been striving for a geographical base for Judaism. But a\ngeographical base is never more than an outward expression of a\npeople's unity; it is an excellent starting point, but as an end in\nitself it is nothing. The Jews had a geographical base for their\nstart; thereby they were enabled to build up a unified result, the\nJewish spirit. It is this which, if recognized as a positive fact,\nwill take from the Jew his feeling of homelessness, and from his\nneighbor the notion that the Jew is a member of a tribe forever\nunestablished and purposeless. It is around a spiritual core that the\nJews as a people must build, around that central force which has thus\nfar held them intact.\n\n\n_The Spiritual Service of the Jew_\n\nAND never has there been a time, it would seem, when not only the Jews\nthemselves but the world at large were so ready for this\nreconstruction. If in the very near future, as seems probable, the\nJews are again to play a prominent r\u00f4le in history, it will be more\nlargely through the pressure exerted by the world outside than through\ntheir own initiative. Men are coming more and more to need what the\nJewish people, under certain conditions, are peculiarly qualified to\nbestow. The period of materialism now undoubtedly coming to a close\nhas brought with it a heavy burden of discontent, and there has been a\nturning from tangible comforts, a reaching out for spiritual\nconsolation. Under the rule of enlightenment religion has gone away,\nand the world begins to feel its lack. One may not prophesy that\nreligion is soon to return, but the suggestion of its coming is in the\nair. What the Jew will then be able to furnish may now be an open\nquestion, but the great fact of his religion is undeniable. It should\nbe remembered that only in things spiritual has the Jew been able to\nrender world service; in material progress he has been able to do\nlittle more than march with the rank and file. Should the Jew again\nlead in the world, it must be in a time when the things of the spirit\nare paramount in men's desires. With the hope that such a time is near\nat hand, the Jew should retrim his lamp, in the faith that it may help\nto illuminate much that had fallen into darkness.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Samuel Strauss]\n\n\n\n\nThree University Addresses\n\n\nI\n\nPRESIDENT ARTHUR T. HADLEY _of Yale University_\n\n_Before the Yale Menorah Society, October 14, 1914_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIT is a great pleasure for me to speak to the Menorah Society, and a\ndouble pleasure when I see beside me the Menorah emblem, the emblem of\nlight, \"the outward and visible sign of the inward and spiritual\ngrace.\" Jewish history is embodied in a great literature, and a\nliterature which is worthy of deep and earnest study. It is the common\nheritage of all mankind, and should be studied by every man who lays\nclaim to culture and education.\n\nBy studying the literature of the Jewish race, men at Yale and\nelsewhere can do a great work for the learning and for the inspiration\nof our country; especially can this Society do a noble and inspiring\nwork. History is in large measure made by the study of the literatures\nof ancient races. What was it that waked Europe during the dark ages\nfrom her apathy and ignorance but the discovery and the revival of the\nGreek and Latin classics by enthusiastic scholars? In the various\ncentres of learning at the end of what we call the \"dark ages,\" we\nfind groups of earnest young men devoting themselves to this study,\nand in these groups we find the influence which roused Europe from her\nperiod of intellectual torpor.\n\nClassics are the literatures which thus make history; which serve the\nneeds of all peoples, voicing truths of universal application. And\nthough it is to the Greek and Latin that the name classics has been\noften confined, yet the Hebrew classics are being recognized more and\nmore as worthy of a place beside if not above them. Interest in the\nJewish classics never utterly perished. Throughout all ages the\ntheologian kept alive his interest in those writings; but there is\nsomething of more than mere professional interest in these studies,\nsomething which closely touches every man's development and\nexperience.\n\nIt is not for me to attempt to say what these writings mean to\nhumanity. Biblical writings are far above any individual praise. But I\nmay with propriety say the reading of the Hebrew writings in English\nhas meant much to me personally. As a boy I read fewer books than do\nyoungsters of the present day, and among them the Bible was one of\nextraordinary interest. I read the Psalms and Isaiah as wonderful\npoetry, and turned to the Bible as to a storehouse of historical\nliterature.\n\nHebrew history has been of great importance in the early history of\nour country. The early settlement in America was due to the same\ncauses as the settlement of Canaan by the Hebrews. To the Pilgrim\nFathers the Old Testament was a supporting hand and a guide for them\nin all matters. They took the Jewish theocracy as their model of\ngovernment and, in the measure that they patterned after a good model,\nthey achieved good results. So largely are the early history and\ninstitutions of the United States a copy of Jewish institutions that\nthe spirit of the American people both before and after the Revolution\ncannot be fully understood without a knowledge of Hebrew literature.\nThese early settlers were imbued with spirit and desire for the best\nin life by reading the Bible. It was their one book, and \"a man of one\nbook makes a strong man.\" And perhaps it is the Old Testament rather\nthan the New Testament the knowledge of which is of greater\nconsequence for the best understanding of the peculiar conditions of\nthe early American people.\n\nTherefore I welcome your Society first because it represents something\nwhich has done much for learning in our great centres of learning, the\nuniversities; and second, because as Americans, Jewish history means\nmuch to us in understanding the early development of our own country.\n\n\nII\n\nCHANCELLOR ELMER E. BROWN _of New York University_\n\n_Before the Menorah Society of New York University, May 12, 1914_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIT seems to me that it is not only of value to the Jewish students,\nbut to the whole university, that there should be a body here devoted\nto the study of Jewish tradition, Jewish literature and Jewish\nhistory. You are emphasizing something that is of permanent value to\nyour associates here in the University who are not of the Jewish race\nand the Jewish faith. The Christian Church finds in the Jewish\nScriptures some of the finest and most precious of the things it\ncherishes from the religious point of view. Our civilization in these\noccidental countries is deeply indebted to the history and the\nliterature of the Jewish race. From time to time that indebtedness\ncomes to stronger expression, and we may expect that in the future the\nsense of that indebtedness of our whole people to that which is the\nimmediate concern of the Menorah Society will be more keenly felt.\n\nIf you go back in the history of this country you will find a time\nwhen our New Englanders were especially indebted to what they as\nChristians called the Old Testament. There was a time in Colonial\ndays when the earlier portions of this literature exercised a mighty\ninfluence over these new commonwealths. As you read the history of New\nEngland you cannot help being profoundly impressed by the influence of\nthe Hebrew literature upon the life of the seventeenth century. The\nnames and references to the Jewish people are all interwoven with New\nEngland history. I was thinking of a curious illustration of this fact\nonly a short time ago. You know the old poem of \"Darius Green and His\nFlying Machine\" that has come into astonishingly new popularity in\nmodern times. It contains, you will recall, an enumeration of the\nbrothers of Darius, and four of the five names are taken from Hebrew\nhistory. The appearance of these Jewish names in such large numbers is\ncoincident with a reappearance of Hebrew spirit in our Colonial times,\nall modified of course by Christian tradition, but presenting a most\nimportant and essential ingredient of the time. This apparently\ntrivial illustration simply shows that which is to be found in our\nwhole culture. It is profoundly significant in regard to our American\nculture.\n\nSo it seems to me that the Menorah Society has work of two kinds--to\nbring together our Jewish students on a higher plane of sentiment, and\nat the same time to put new emphasis, in all parts of the University,\non the invaluable things which the Jewish race has contributed to the\ncivilization of the world. So I feel that I may look to you of this\norganization to bring to New York University a new emphasis upon these\ngreat things which are the common heritage of our scholastic society.\nI trust that you will feel that there is a genuine warmth and a\ngenuine interest in the welcome that I extend to you,--not a welcome\nto the University alone, but a welcome to this new service in this\nUniversity, in which every movement such as this has work to do for\nthe good of all.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nPRESIDENT CHARLES W. DABNEY _of the University of Cincinnati_\n\n_Before the Cincinnati Menorah Society, November 19, 1914_\n\n\nSTANDING as it does for the study of the history and culture of the\nJewish people, and for the advancement of their ideals, the Menorah\nSociety is welcomed to the University of Cincinnati. This University,\nof all institutions, should welcome every such organization. The\nUniversity of Cincinnati claims to represent the idea of the democracy\nof the higher education, the equality of opportunity for the highest\nculture in its latest form. The American idea is that the university\nshould be as free to all cultures as our country is free to all races.\nStanding for this idea more distinctly than any other type of\ninstitution among us, the American state university has been called\nthe characteristic institution of the republic. But the municipal\nuniversity is destined to democratize the higher education even more\ncompletely than the state university. The state university makes the\nhigher education free to all who can come to it, but the municipal\nuniversity takes it to the poorest citizen at his home.\n\nFor these reasons, if for no other, we should welcome the Menorah\nSociety into our midst. As I was just informed that the national\nconvention of the Intercollegiate Association is about to take place,\nlet me, on behalf of this University, say to you, Mr. Chancellor, as\nthe representative of the national organization, that we are glad to\nextend an invitation to your convention to meet in our halls.\n\nThere are special reasons, too, why we should welcome the Menorah\nAssociation here. We believe that the University and its members need\nthis Society for several reasons. In the first place, a great\ndemocratic institution like this can grow only when all the races\nbring into it their peculiar customs and ideals. I believe the\nnon-Jews need it as well as the Jews. It takes varied elements to make\nup the democracy, and America, and Cincinnati, and its University all\nneed the spiritual resources of the Jew. I am impressed with the\nstatement of the purposes of the Menorah Society as explained by the\nChancellor in the address to which we have just listened.\n\nHe tells us first of all that its object is to promote the study of\nthe history of the Jewish race. Your ancient books are the sources of\nall history; in fact, I cannot conceive of the study of history unless\nit begins with, or takes up very early, these great historic books of\nthe Bible. They furnish the Ariadne's thread for the wanderer through\nall history; they are the fountain head also of the philosophy of\nhistory. The old Jewish historians always took the teleological view\nof the world and looked from the effect back to the cause,\ninterpreting human events in the terms of God, the designer, the\ncreator, and the governor of the world. In fact, their great\ncontribution to history was this doctrine of God's hand in human\nevents.\n\nThe Jew had also, it seems to me, throughout his whole history, a\nspecial talent for theistic truth, for those verities that are\neternal. With an insight and a power almost surpassing all other men,\nhe discovered truths which have ever been, and always will be,\nessential factors in all religion. The first of these ideas is his\nconception of Jahveh, not only as a sovereign, powerful, and terrible\nBeing, but as a personal, holy, righteous, and good Father, \"who\npitieth his children.\" Your Bible, however, nowhere tries to prove the\nexistence of a God; it everywhere assumes it. \"It is the fool who says\nin his heart there is no God,\" declares the Psalmist.\n\nFor the same reason, your great books are the world's text book of\ncomparative religion. I cannot conceive of any one studying religions\nwithout going to them, for above all others the Jewish religion is\noriginal. For these and many more reasons, we hold that the history,\nreligion and philosophy of the Hebrews is fundamental and\nindispensable for the student of these subjects--in fact, for all\nstudents of the humanities.\n\nIt was the Jew who discovered conscience, also, and produced in due\ntime an order of men who made themselves the conscience of their\nnation. Moses first formed a law declaring the word of God and\nteaching men their relations to God and to each other. Other nations\nhave had priests and augurs who received the oblations of the people\nand gave them advice about their affairs, but the Jewish nation was\nthe first to produce real prophets who dared to denounce the sins of\nthe people and remind them of their duty as men and nations. What the\nworld needs today is another line of such prophets.\n\nTo the young men assembled here tonight, I would say, therefore, it is\nyour duty to study the history, philosophy and theology presented in\nthese ancient Scriptures, and thus inform yourselves how to instruct\nthis great democratic people. Be prophets like the prophets of old to\nguide the people into the truth!\n\nThe Jews were the first people to uphold the sacred character of\npatriotism, the patriotism of principle, not of mere power, the\npatriotism that teaches that it is not might that makes right, but\nright which makes might. How sadly the European powers need to learn\nthis lesson today! Only \"righteousness exalteth the nation\" and gives\nit the power and the right to lead in the world. If nations would seek\nrighteousness as a means of winning leadership, they would never need\nto go to war, and the exercise of might would never be necessary.\n\nBecause this Society proposes to study the great history and\nliterature which teaches these things, we give it a welcome tonight,\nand pray that the light held up by the Menorah may shine not only for\nthe people of Cincinnati, but for the people of America, and the\nworld, that all the nations may be guided into that righteousness\nwhich leads to Peace.\n\n\n\n\nThe Menorah Movement\n\nBY HENRY HURWITZ\n\n_Chancellor of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association_\n\n\nI\n\nTHE MENORAH MOVEMENT is now in its ninth year. Starting at Harvard\nUniversity, where the first Menorah Society was organized in October,\n1906, the idea spread to other colleges and universities in various\nparts of the country. Societies arose at Columbia, College of the City\nof New York, Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Minnesota, Michigan,\nChicago, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri. Before long a common\ndesire was felt for closer relationship and co-operation. This led to\nthe holding of two intercollegiate conferences early in 1912: one, an\neastern conference, at Columbia University, in January, with delegates\nfrom six Menorah Societies, and another, a western conference, at the\nUniversity of Chicago, in April, where also six Societies were\nrepresented. As a result of these preliminary gatherings, the first\nnational convention of Menorah Societies was called at the University\nof Chicago, in January, 1913. Delegates of twelve Menorah Societies\nfrom universities in both the East and the West came together, and\nseven other Societies were heard from. At this national convention,\nthe Intercollegiate Menorah Association was formed.\n\nIn a period of less than two years since this first convention, the\nnumber of Societies has grown from nineteen to thirty-five. There are\nSocieties now at the following colleges and universities: Boston\nUniversity, Brown, California, Chicago, Cincinnati, College of the\nCity of New York, Clark, Colorado, Columbia, Cornell, Denver, Harvard,\nHunter, Illinois, Johns Hopkins, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,\nNew York University, North Carolina, Ohio State, Omaha, Pennsylvania,\nPenn State, Pittsburgh, Radcliffe, Rutgers, Texas, Tufts, Valparaiso,\nWashington, Western Reserve, Wisconsin, and Yale. New Societies are in\nthe process of formation at several other universities.\n\nThis development of the Menorah movement has from the very beginning\nbeen a natural, unforced growth. The Intercollegiate Menorah\nAssociation makes no effort to organize new Menorah Societies; its\npolicy is rather to encourage and assist the efforts of students who,\nwishing to join in the movement, have undertaken on their own\ninitiative to organize Menorah Societies at their colleges and\nuniversities. Hence every Menorah Society is the result of a\nspontaneous desire among students to organize for Menorah purposes.\n\nThe first Menorah Society started with sixteen members. Now the total\nmembership of Menorah Societies approximates 3,000. The Menorah idea\nis firmly implanted in leading colleges and universities throughout\nthe country, from Massachusetts to California.\n\n\nII\n\nEVERY Menorah Society is organized to promote at its college or\nuniversity the study of Jewish history and culture and contemporary\nJewish problems. First of all, the Menorah Societies aim to spread a\nknowledge of the Jewish humanities--Jewish literature, religion, and\nideals--and of their influence upon civilization. In other words, the\nSocieties aim to promote a true appreciation of the spirit and\nachievements of the Jewish people, from ancient to modern times.\nParticular study is made of contemporary conditions and problems, and\nof the ways in which Jewish culture may not only be conserved but\nadvanced. To this end, the Menorah Societies strive to inspire the\nJewish student with an intelligent and spirited devotion to Jewish\nideals, and with the desire to develop and contribute to the community\nwhat is best in his Jewish character and endowment.\n\nThus, in endeavoring to promote knowledge, culture, idealism, the\nMenorah Societies are in keeping with the university spirit which has\nhelped to call them into existence. The Societies are an expression of\nthe liberality and freedom of American universities. Membership is\nopen to all students and instructors. College and university\nauthorities have heartily welcomed the Menorah Societies, have aided\nthem in carrying out their objects, have enhanced their influence\namong the students at large, and have been most generous in\nrecognizing the definite contribution which the Societies make to the\nintellectual and idealistic life of their universities.\n\nNot only the university authorities, but the graduates, too, and other\npublic-spirited men and women outside of the universities, have warmly\nwelcomed the Menorah Movement. They see in it the expression of a\nspontaneous and earnest desire on the part of growing numbers of\nJewish students for Jewish knowledge and idealism, for a realization\nof the Jewish _noblesse oblige_; they see, too, that this movement is\nbound at the same time to help bring about a more just and liberal\nattitude on the part of university men and women in general toward the\ncharacter and ideals of their Jewish fellow-citizens.\n\nThrough the encouragement and generous support provided by a Graduate\nAdvisory Menorah Committee, under the chairmanship of Justice Irving\nLehman of New York, the Intercollegiate Menorah Association is being\nhelped materially in carrying out its objects.\n\n\nIII\n\nWHILE the purposes of all the Menorah Societies are identical, they\nare free to carry out these purposes in any ways they choose, along\nlines that best suit their local conditions and are in keeping with\nthe academic and liberal character of the organization. Certain\nactivities, however, are followed in common by most of the Societies.\n\nTo begin with, it may be stated that all of the Menorah Societies\nstrongly encourage their members to take the regular courses in Jewish\nhistory and literature wherever such courses are a part of the\ncurriculum and are devoted not so much to technical learning as to a\nliberal and humane study of Jewish culture. Where such courses are not\noffered--and it is unfortunately true that many institutions are\ndeficient in this regard--the Menorah students are creating a demand\nwhich, it is hoped, will be met in time by the offer of appropriate\ncourses. It is even hoped that a number of the leading universities\nwill eventually have special Chairs in Jewish history and culture.\n\nMeanwhile, however, whether to supplement or to take the place of\nregular courses, the Menorah Society enables its members--or, rather,\nall the members of the university who so desire--to pursue their\ninterest in Jewish studies in less formal manner. Thus, the Societies\nhave lectures on Jewish subjects by members of the faculties, or by\nmen from outside their universities. In this connection, the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association has been of considerable service\nto the various Societies. The Association has established the Menorah\nCollege of Lecturers, consisting of a number of Jewish scholars,\npublicists, and religious leaders, who have undertaken to lecture (for\nlove) before the Societies. Their lectures, which are generally\nfollowed by informal discussions, are, as a rule, open to the whole\nuniversity, and are often held not merely under the auspices of the\nMenorah Society, but also in conjunction with some department of the\nuniversity, or with some other student organization. At times, the\nMenorah lecturers are invited by the university authorities to address\nthe whole student body at assemblies and convocations.\n\nAt other Menorah meetings, the members themselves present papers and\ncarry on discussions upon Jewish topics of historic and literary as\nwell as current interest.\n\nNot content, however, with such lectures, papers, and discussions,\nmost of the Societies provide their members with opportunities for\nintensive and systematic study. Study groups are formed, under the\nleadership of older students or of competent men from outside the\nuniversities, for the purpose of regular study in Jewish history,\nreligion and literature, or contemporary Jewish conditions and\nproblems, or the Hebrew language, or any other special field of\ninterest. The work of these groups is carried on along the lines of a\nregular class or seminar, though, of course, with less rigor and\nformality.\n\n\nIV\n\nAS an incentive to original investigation on the part of the students,\nseveral Menorah Societies have been enabled to offer prizes to their\nuniversities for the best essays on Jewish subjects. Thus, at Harvard,\nsince 1907, through the generosity of Mr. Jacob H. Schiff, of New\nYork, the Menorah Society has offered an annual prize of $100 for the\nbest essay written by any undergraduate on some approved Jewish\nsubject; and similarly, at the Universities of Wisconsin and Michigan,\nthrough the generosity of Mr. Julius Rosenwald, of Chicago, the\nMenorah Societies are enabled to offer prizes of $100 each to their\nUniversities upon the same terms. (Menorah Prize Essays will be\nprinted from time to time in this Journal.) One or two other Societies\nhave been enabled to offer smaller prizes. All of the Societies are\nanxious to be of similar service to their universities, and it is\nhoped that the Intercollegiate Menorah Association may be enabled next\nyear to offer prizes open to the undergraduates of all American\ncolleges and universities. This should help materially to stimulate\nJewish study among students throughout the country.\n\nPerhaps the most essential requirement for carrying on Jewish study is\nan adequate supply of books. Except at the larger institutions, there\nhas been a notable lack of Jewish books at American colleges and\nuniversities, mainly, no doubt, because Jewish studies as a whole have\nbeen neglected. The Intercollegiate Menorah Association has\nfortunately been able to remedy these conditions to some extent at the\ninstitutions where Menorah Societies exist. With the assistance of the\nJewish Publication Society and a number of individuals, the\nAssociation has sent Menorah Libraries of Jewish books to the various\nMenorah Societies. These books are for the use not only of Menorah\nSocieties, but of all the students in their universities. That the\nMenorah Libraries have helped the work of the Societies, and have\nadded appreciably to the library facilities at the various\ninstitutions, is abundantly shown by the gratitude expressed both by\nstudents and authorities.\n\nYet the work of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association has only\nbegun. Its field is almost unlimited; and with constantly growing\nmembership, both of undergraduates and of graduates, with the\nincreasing encouragement and support from men and women in all parts\nof the country, the Association is gathering strength for enterprises\nthat must prove beneficial not to universities alone, but to the\ncommunity in general. Thus, the Menorah Journal is launched this year\nin response to a desire not only on the part of the students, but of\nmen and women throughout the country who have been wanting such a\nReview of Jewish life and literature in America. Other literary\nenterprises are contemplated for the future. Besides syllabi for the\nstudy groups, pamphlet essays, and similar facilities designed\nespecially for students, one large scheme in mind may appropriately\nbe mentioned here as of interest to all the readers of the Journal,\nnamely, the plan for the Menorah Classics. These are to be the\nselected treasures of the literature of the Jewish people, from the\nBible to Bialik, printed in attractively handy form, with translations\nand notes designed for the general reader as well as for students. In\nthis way, it is hoped to place the gems of the great store of Jewish\nliterature within the reach of all.\n\n\nV\n\nTHE work of the Menorah Societies is not designed to make Jewish\nscholars of the members. It is meant to gratify their desire to\nunderstand their heritage, to stimulate them still further to study\nthat heritage, to help them realize the honor and the responsibility\nthey share as the heirs and trustees of Jewish tradition. And though\nthe earnest work of Menorah Societies partakes largely of the spirit\nof the class-room and the lecture-hall, the pursuit of Menorah aims\nexpresses itself incidentally in sociable ways as well. Smokers,\ndinners, pageants, literary and dramatic evenings, testify to the\npleasure which the members find in their association together for\nMenorah purposes.\n\nMenorah Societies, however, do not assume the character of social\norganizations. Menorah Societies are all-inclusive, not exclusive;\nthey promote democracy, mutual respect, and understanding between\ndifferent types of Jewish students who have often in the past retained\ntoward one another the prejudices of their elders. The Menorah\nfellowship expresses and promotes the common sentiment of all students\nwho have come to appreciate Jewish knowledge and ideals, who accept\ntheir common Jewish heritage and Jewish hopes. In other words, where\nin the past snobbery and spinelessness were not lacking among Jewish\nstudents at our universities, there has grown up now a spirit of\ndemocracy and of manly frankness, which has not escaped the\nobservation of older men, both within and without the universities.\n\nBut these qualities in the Jewish students of to-day have merely been\nrevealed by the Menorah movement. The movement has definite moral\npurposes of its own. The Menorah idea embraces not merely the study\nbut the enhancement of the Jewish heritage. And this requires not\nmoral enthusiasm alone, but vision and action. To accomplish their\nfull purposes, the Menorah Societies endeavor to inspire their members\nwith the will to throw themselves into the heart of Jewish life, to\njoin hands with other men in the active effort to advance its\ninterests and solve its problems.\n\nWhile this participation in Jewish life must be the personal outcome\nof Menorah enthusiasm and activity--as indeed has been proven already\namong students and graduates--the Menorah organization, as such,\nmaintains its non-partisan character. A Menorah Society is neither\northodox nor reform, neither Zionist nor anti-Zionist, but rather an\nopen forum for presenting and discussing every point of view, a forum\nhospitable in true academic spirit to the open-minded pursuit of\ntruth.\n\n\nVI\n\nIN sum, the Menorah movement represents an organization and an idea.\nIf the organization has grown in extent and importance beyond the\nfondest expectations, it is because the idea, conceived by students\nand carried out by them, has found a welcome home in the American\nuniversity. And one of the reasons why the Menorah idea has seized\nupon the imagination and caught the heart of the university man is\nbecause it appeals both to his independence of mind and his pride. A\nMenorah Society imposes no dogma, no ceremony; the independence of\nthought so dear to the bosom of youth is given full scope. A Menorah\nSociety aims, first of all, to satisfy an aroused intellectual\ncuriosity with respect to the past and present and possible future of\nthe Jewish race.\n\nBut the real source of Menorah strength lies far deeper. Consciously\nor unconsciously, from the very beginning of his affiliation with a\nMenorah Society, the Jewish student responds to a call within himself\nof _noblesse oblige_. It is pride of race--not vanity or brag, but a\npride conscious of its human obligation--that animates Menorah men and\nwomen throughout the country. Knowledge and service, which may be\nregarded as the very cornerstones of Jewish idealism, constitute the\ntwin motives of the Menorah movement.\n\nThe Menorah movement is the answer of the Jewish academic youth to the\nchallenge of American democracy. American institutions give us the\nopportunity to develop all our capacities in freedom. The endeavor of\nMenorah men is to preserve and enhance, for America and for mankind,\nthe best in us that may flourish in freedom, our Jewish heritage and\nendowment.\n\n\n\n\nFrom College and University\n\n_Reports from Menorah Societies_\n\n[_It is not planned to have reports from all the Menorah Societies in\nany single issue of the Journal. A complete list of Menorah Societies\nmay be found on the inside of the front cover._]\n\n\n=University of California=\n\nTHE California Menorah Society has begun its fourth year under most\npromising auspices.\n\nThe first meeting of the year, on Monday evening, August 31, was the\nfinest ever held by the Society. It had been announced before the\nentire student body at the University meeting in Harmon Gymnasium, and\nall interested were invited to attend. Eighty men and women of the\nUniversity were present. The theme of the meeting was the Menorah\nIdea. Mr. Samuel Spring, Harvard, '09, a former member of the Harvard\nMenorah Society, spoke on \"The Menorah and the Community from a\nGraduate's Standpoint;\" Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin of Stockton, now a\ngraduate student in the University, spoke on \"The Menorah and the\nRabbinate,\" and the chief speech of the evening was delivered by Dean\nD.B. Barrows on \"The University and the Menorah.\" Professor Barrows\ngreatly approved of the organization and characterized the California\nMenorah Society as the most, useful student organization on the\ncampus.\n\nThe second general meeting of the Society, held on September 28, was\ndevoted to the topic of Immigration. Professor Ira B. Cross, of the\nUniversity Economics Department and of the State Industrial Accident\nCommission, delivered an excellent address on \"Streams of Immigration,\nPast, Present and Future.\" Mr. R. J. Rosenthal, of the California\nState Commission on Immigration and Housing, spoke a few words on the\nJewish side of the question. A selection from Mary Antin's \"The\nPromised Land\" was read. Appropriate literary and musical selections\nwere rendered. About fifty-five members were present.\n\nOn Monday evening, October 12, a Study Circle meeting was held. Rabbi\nEdgar F. Magnin conducted a discussion on \"Dominant Notes in Jewish\nPoetry.\" Among the poems read were the Song of Deborah, the 23d Psalm,\nthe Wine Song of Gabirol, selections from Emma Lazarus, and \"The\nJewish Soldier\" and \"The Sweatshop\" of Rosenfeld.\n\nAt the general meeting of the Society on Monday evening, October 26,\nRabbi Jacob Nieto of San Francisco spoke on \"The Modern Viewpoint of\nthe Bible\" to an audience of over sixty, including several non-Jews,\nwho were so favorably impressed with the meeting that they declared\ntheir intention to be present at future Menorah meetings. Rabbi\nNieto's talk stirred up a great deal of discussion among the members.\nThe first chapter of Isaiah and the Song of Moses were read, and there\nwere musical selections.\n\nOn Monday evening, November 9, Mr. Harry Hart, Assistant City\nAttorney, led a discussion in the Study Circle on \"Early Jewish\nPhilosophers.\"\n\nThe last general meeting was held on Monday evening, November 30.\nProfessor William Popper gave a most interesting talk on \"Jewish\nEducation,\" in which he traced the history and methods of Jewish\npedagogy through the Biblical, post-Biblical and Talmudic periods.\nMusical and literary numbers were rendered, the \"Menorah Quartet\"\nmaking its debut at this meeting. The attendance was about sixty, of\nwhom ten were non-Jews.\n\nThe constitution of the club has been revised to meet the expanding\nneeds of the Society. Three standing committees now exist. The\nexecutive committee, composed of the four elected officers and three\nother members elected by the general body, will be the administrative\narm of the club. The club's policy is largely determined by this\ncommittee. They decide what business is to be brought before the club\nmembers, and they set in motion all innovations looking to the\nbetterment of the club.\n\nThe membership committee, composed of a chairman, appointed from the\nthree elected executive committee members by the President, and nine\nother students, selected from the different colleges of the\nUniversity, has the duty of increasing the membership roll of the\nSociety. This committee began active operations in the summer.\nCalifornia being a State university, its student body is made up\nalmost entirely of residents of California. Hence through the\nassistance of Rabbis in different sections of the State, the committee\nhas been enabled to get in touch with many of the newcomers to the\nUniversity this fall. To them, as well as to the old members of this\nSociety, a circular letter was sent. The aims of the Menorah were\nbriefly outlined, and the dates of monthly meetings stated; the office\nhours and location of several members of the Society during\nregistration were named, and all freshmen were advised to consult with\nthem for any information or aid desired.\n\nIn this way the committee has been able to reach newcomers at the\nUniversity and impress them with the Menorah idea before the entrant's\nviewpoint has been beclouded by any false attitude toward a Jewish\norganization on the campus. After the college year has begun, the\ncommittee scours the campus for those Jewish students who have not yet\nbeen enlightened as to the work of the Menorah. The California Society\ndoes not bow down before numbers, but it feels that the benefits of\nthe Menorah should be enjoyed by the largest possible number of Jewish\nstudents.\n\nUpon the third committee, however, the Social committee, which plans\nthe programs, rests the major responsibility for the Club's success.\nTaking the Harvard plan as a pattern, the California Menorah has\ncreated what is for the present called the Menorah Study Circle. This\nmeets bi-weekly. On the other hand, a general meeting of the Society\nas a whole is held every month. These general meetings are more\npopular in nature, for the many elements of the Jewish body must here\nbe conciliated, as well as those of non-Jewish faith who are\ninterested in the purposes of the Menorah. Due to the complex and\nmany-sided character of the Jewish student group, a concession to the\nvarious interests must be made in the form of a cultural-social\nprogram for the evening. Lecturers are secured; informal discussion is\nencouraged; musical and literary programs are arranged--all, of\ncourse, in the effort to present in attractive form such cultural\nmaterial as the diverse elements in the body of Jewish students can\nabsorb.\n\nThe Study Circle meetings have a different viewpoint. They are of a\nmore specialized nature. Through them the serious phases of the club's\nactivity are furthered. The personnel of the Circle is made up of\nthose who are seriously interested in the distinctly intellectual work\nof the Club. The demand for the Study Circle arose spontaneously from\nthese students. A faculty member, or Rabbi, or outside scholar, is\noccasionally asked to present an address. Discussion follows. Jewish\nliterary, religious, economic and social problems are thus handled.\n\nThe recent arrival of the Menorah Library has greatly pleased the\nmembers. The books will be a great aid in the work of the Society. The\nattention of all the students in the University is being called to the\nLibrary by a statement in the _Daily Californian_ and by other means.\nEfforts are now being made to introduce a Menorah prize for the best\nessay on a Jewish subject. LOUIS I. NEWMAN\n\n\n=University of Cincinnati=\n\nTHE University of Cincinnati Menorah Society was organized on April\n25, 1914. Our first task was to place the Society in the right light\non the campus, to emphasize the absolutely unsectarian, academic,\ncultural nature of a Menorah, and the fact that membership is\n\"invitingly open to all the members of the University,\" irrespective\nof creed or sex. We accomplished this by continuous announcements in\nthe _University News_, by the open character of our meetings, and by\nthe actual composition of our membership.\n\nThough we organized late in the year, we succeeded in having several\nlarge meetings at which addresses were delivered by men who are\nauthorities in their respective subjects. At the initial meeting,\npreliminary to organization, Dr. David Philipson, '83, spoke, and Dean\nF. W. Chandler of the College of Liberal Arts cordially welcomed the\nSociety. The first meeting after our organization was addressed by\nProfessor Julian Morgenstern of the Hebrew Union College, who spoke on\n\"The Judaism of the Future.\" Addresses at subsequent meetings were\ndelivered by Mr. A. J. Kinsella of the Greek Department of the\nUniversity of Cincinnati on \"The Greek and the Semite in the World's\nCivilization;\" by Dr. Edward Mack, Professor of Old Testament at the\nLane Theological Seminary, on \"The Influence of Hebrew Literature on\nthe World's Thought and Literature\"; and by Rabbi Louis L. Mann of New\nHaven, Conn., on \"Christian Science and Judaism.\" These meetings had\nan average attendance of seventy.\n\nAmong the meetings held so far this year the most important was on the\nevening of November 19th. Chancellor Henry Hurwitz of the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association delivered an address on the\npurposes of the Menorah movement, to which President Charles W. Dabney\nof the University responded, heartily welcoming the Menorah Society to\nthe University and extending a cordial invitation to the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association to hold its next annual Convention\nat the University. (The address of President Dabney is printed above,\npage 47). Dr. David Philipson spoke on the significance of the\nMenorah, and lighted a large Menorah on the platform. Music was\nrendered by the Girls' Glee Club. Dean F. W. Chandler sent the\nfollowing greeting:\n\n\"With the modern drift of attention away from the classics and away\nfrom the Bible, it behooves those of us who would count as the friends\nof culture to welcome every effort to stimulate interest in either.\nThe Menorah Societies which are finding a place in our chief\nuniversities have assumed a laudable task. They are striving to hold\nbefore the minds of the youth of this land the fine ideals of the\nancient Hebrew literature. In such efforts they should be encouraged\nby Jew and Gentile alike. For we are all heirs of Hebrew tradition; we\nare all brothers engaged in a common undertaking. We believe it to be\nour duty to learn from the past whatever is best, to the end that we\nmay enrich with that knowledge the present and the future. We welcome\ntherefore all that the Menorah Society can give us of inspiration\ntoward making the most of our heritage. We rejoice that through this\nagency we may be kept constantly aware of what a great people has\ncontributed to our civilization.\"\n\nThe Cincinnati Menorah Society is delighted that the Association has\naccepted the invitation of President Dabney to hold the next\nConvention at this University. Preparations are now being made for the\nConvention and for the entertainment not only of the delegates but of\nall Menorah men and women who will come. We ardently hope to welcome a\nlarge number of our fellow-Menorah members.\n\nIt will be of interest to relate that, after reading a copy of \"The\nMenorah Movement,\" Miss E. McVea, Dean of Women and Assistant\nProfessor of English, suggested the following three subjects for\ntwenty-page essays in one of her English classes: \"The Contribution of\nthe Jew to Civilization,\" \"The Integrity of the Jewish Race,\" and\n\"Zionism.\"\n\nEarly in the year Mr. Louis D. Brandeis of Boston spoke under the\nauspices of the Menorah Society at a meeting open to the whole\nUniversity upon \"The New Science of Efficiency\"--the subject being\nchosen at the request of President Dabney. In introducing the speaker\nPresident Dabney expressed the indebtedness of the Faculty to the\nMenorah for the pleasure of having Mr. Brandeis at the University.\n\n ABRAHAM J. FELDMAN\n\n\n=College of the City of New York=\n\nDURING the past year the Menorah Society of the College of the City of\nNew York has made very important gains. First, in numbers--from 165,\nreported at the last Convention, we have increased to 327. There are\nstill about 500 Jewish students who are not yet members, and these we\nintend to gain over. Second, in prestige--from a position of mere\ntoleration we have gradually risen to the position of the recognized\nand accepted exponent of Jewish culture in the College, and as such we\nhave set the College its standard of a cultural society. Third, in\ninfluence--we have inspired a large number of students, including many\nwho for some reason or other have not yet become members, with a\nlively interest in things Jewish and a serious desire for collegiate\nHebrew instruction. At present the College lacks such instruction; but\nwe hope before long to report progress in remedying this condition.\nMeanwhile we are attracting the favorable attention of a considerable\nnumber of the alumni--men who in their college days would not or could\nnot join the Menorah Society. This is indeed remarkable; that old\ngraduates, who never knew the Menorah, should manifest toward it the\nhighest interest and approbation is a most eloquent sign of the\ninfluence of the Menorah idea.\n\nOur plan for the organization of the graduates as associate members is\nthe same as Harvard's. But their dues are disposed of in a different\nway: out of the two dollars one goes to our Library Fund, and the\nother is sent to the Menorah Journal as the associate's subscription,\nfor we feel that this is the best way to keep him in touch with\nMenorah activities. This system has a further advantage in that it\nspreads the Journal everywhere.\n\nThere were held during the past year thirty regular meetings and\nlectures--one each week. At the meetings the average attendance was\n36, at the lectures 155. The principal lecturers were: Professor M. M.\nKaplan, \"The Menorah Idea\"; Professor Richard Gottheil, \"Jews in\nVarious Lands\"; Mr. Jacob H. Schiff, \"Zionism and Jewish Nationality\";\nProfessor A. Marks, \"Persecutions of the Jews in the Middle Ages\";\nRev. Dr. David de Sola Pool, \"Jewish Education\"; Professor Israel\nDavidson, \"Hebrew Literature\"; Rev. Dr. M. A. Hyamson, \"The Mishnah\";\nRev. Dr. Harry S. Lewis of London, \"The Jews and Democracy\"; Rev. Dr.\nH. P. Mendes, \"Traditional Judaism\"; Professor Stephen P. Duggan,\n\"Tradition as a Static and Dynamic Force\"; Rev. Dr. Stephen S. Wise,\n\"What's Wrong with the Jew?\"\n\nThere were four courses taught. The average attendance at a course was\n16. Rabbi Nathan Blechman led the course in \"An Extensive Study of the\nBible,\" Professor M. M. Kaplan taught \"Essentials of Judaism,\" and\nRabbi Samuel Margoshes gave the course in \"Jewish Philosophy and\nLiterature.\" At the request of a number of students a course in\n\"Elementary Hebrew\" was also given for a time.\n\nTwo social meetings were held during the year. The first was a\nreception in the vestry rooms of the Temple Beth-el tendered us by the\nMenorah Society of Hunter College (formerly Normal), in recognition of\nour help in the organization of their Society. The second was a\n\"smoker\" held at the College in the Faculty lunch-room. The guests of\nthe occasion were Professor Israel Friedlaender of the Jewish\nTheological Seminary, Professor A. J. Goldfarb of the College, and\nRev. Dr. D. de Sola Pool.\n\nFor the first semester this year, four regular Wednesday evening\nmeetings have been scheduled, four public lectures, six study circles,\nand four courses. The courses--\"Modern Movements in Judaism\" (one\nhour), \"Elementary Hebrew\" (two hours), \"Post-Biblical History\" (one\nhour), and an \"Extensive Study of the Bible\" (one hour)--will be\nconducted by Rabbis Stephen S. Wise, J. L. Magnes, Max Reichler,\nRudolph Grossman, Maurice Harris, C. H. Levy, H. S. Goldstein, and A.\nRobinson. The study circles, which will meet once a week, under the\nleadership of Dr. Joseph I. Gorfinkle and Dr. A. Basel, will read the\n\"Essays of Ahad Ha-'Am,\" Schechter's \"Studies in Judaism,\" the \"Book\nof Job,\" the \"Book of Jeremiah,\" \"Pirke Aboth,\" and the \"Five\nScrolls.\"\n\nWith the respect and co-operation of the student body, the faculty,\nand the alumni, the prestige of our Menorah bids fair to increase\nuntil, it is hoped, it will not be exceeded by that of any other City\nCollege organization.\n\n GEORGE J. HOROWITZ\n\n\n=Cornell University=\n\nTHE Cornell Menorah Society has this year issued a prospectus which\nhas met with much favor among undergraduates, graduates and faculty,\nand has been very helpful in our work. It contains an explanation of\n\"The Menorah Idea,\" accounts of the history and activities of both the\nCornell Society and the Intercollegiate Association, and the address\nof President Schurman of November 24, 1913, by which he welcomed the\nMenorah Society to the University. There is also included, besides the\ngeneral program for the year, the announcement of the Cornell Menorah\nprizes. These are three prizes of $25.00 each, offered by the Cornell\nMenorah Society to all the undergraduates of the University for (1)\nthe best essay on any subject relating to the status and problems of\nthe Jews in any country; (2) the best essay on any subject relating to\nJewish literature in English; and (3) the best essay or poem in\nHebrew.\n\nThe first meeting of the year, on October 7, was very successful. It\nwas attended by more than eighty students and several members of the\nfaculty. The meeting was devoted to an exposition of the purposes and\nideals of the Menorah movement. Professor W. A. Hurwitz and Professor\nHays spoke very enthusiastically of the accomplishments and the hopes\nof the Cornell Menorah Society. About thirty new members were\nenrolled, bringing our membership list up to one hundred. This number\nincludes five members of the faculty and about a score of graduates.\nSeveral men who had come to the meeting to scoff stayed to enroll. The\nsubsequent meetings have also been well attended. Our organization is\ngaining greater and greater prestige on the campus.\n\nIn the plans for this year, the work of study circles has been\nparticularly emphasized. As compared with two circles last year,\nmeeting more or less irregularly, we have at present six circles\nmeeting very regularly and doing really splendid work. More than half\nof our members are now enrolled in one or several of these circles.\nThe subjects of study are: (1) Elementary Hebrew, (2) Advanced Hebrew,\n(3) The Bible, (4) Jewish History, (5) Sociological Problems of the\nJews, and (6) Zionism. Though we have been feeling very keenly the\nneed of suitable syllabi and text books, each circle has chosen the\ntexts considered most suitable and available for its purpose. Most of\nthe men have bought their own text books, and have subscribed to\nvarious Jewish periodicals. Thus, the beginners in Hebrew are using\nManheimer as a text; the members of the advanced Hebrew circle are\nalso using the Bible as a text and have each subscribed to the\n_Hatoren_ (a Hebrew monthly of New York). The Bible circle is also\nusing the Bible as its text, and the Hebrew and Bible circles\ncontemplate procuring jointly several Jewish Commentaries, like those\nof Rashi and Kimchi, for general reference in the University Library.\nThe circle in Zionism is using Professor Gottheil's book, and the\nmembers have each subscribed to _The Maccab\u00e6an_. The history circle\nhas recently decided to use Dubnow's Essay as a text. It may be\nmentioned here that the books of the Menorah Library are receiving\nvery good circulation and the standard reference works, such as\nGraetz, Ginsburg, Schechter, and others, have been of great value to\nthe members of the study circles in their work. It is hoped that a\nnumber of Jewish periodicals may also be made available in the\nUniversity Library.\n\nIt is planned to hold meetings of the Cornell Menorah Society in\nconjunction with one or two other university organizations for several\nlecturers whom we expect through the courtesy of the Intercollegiate\nMenorah Association. One meeting in particular that is planned for the\nfuture may be noted. Annually, in February, occurs what is known as\nFarmers' Week in Ithaca. During the week thousands of farmers from\nall over the country visit the College of Agriculture, where a most\nelaborate program is arranged for their benefit, consisting of\nlectures, demonstrations, exhibits, and addresses on the various\nphases of agriculture and country life. Last year, Mr. Joseph M.\nPincus, Editor of _The Jewish Farmer_, addressed a large audience\nunder the joint auspices of the Menorah Society and the College of\nAgriculture on \"The Jew as a Farmer.\" The lecture was illustrated with\na fine selection of lantern slides, and the meeting as a whole was\nvery successful. In planning for the coming year, we have tried to\nemphasize even more strongly than last year our part in the program\nfor Farmers' Week. Mr. Pincus has kindly consented to come again, and\nprobably we shall also have Mr. Leonard G. Robinson, General Manager\nof the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society, who will speak\non \"Jewish Agricultural Co-operative Associations.\"\n\nWe are now trying to make arrangements for our Society to take care of\nan exhibit which will show by charts, photographs, and other suitable\nmaterial, the activities of the various Jewish agricultural\norganizations and the progress of Jewish farmers in America within\nrecent years. It may be of interest to add that as a direct result of\nthe Menorah meeting last year during Farmers' Week, one of the\nstudents was appointed by the Extension Department of the College of\nAgriculture to go out with an \"educational train\" during the summer\nand carry on certain extension work among the Jewish farmers of New\nYork State.\n\n LEON J. ROSENTHAL\n\n\n=Harvard University=\n\nTHE opening meeting of the ninth year of the Harvard Menorah Society\nwas held on October 13, 1914. The meeting was the largest in the\nhistory of the Society, over 150 men being present. The purposes of\nthe Society were explained to the new men by the officers, and Le\nBaron Russell Briggs, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences,\nextended a welcome in behalf of the University. He said in part: \"I\nwas present at the foundation of the Harvard Menorah Society in 1906,\nand was very much impressed by the fine earnestness of the leaders. If\nI were a Jew, I would be so proud of the history and traditions of my\nrace that I would welcome the opportunity that this Society offers.\nFor this reason I have always taken a great interest in the Menorah\nSociety.\"\n\nThe plans for this year include as usual a series of fortnightly\nlectures by men of learning and prominence. Among the speakers for the\nfirst half year are Dr. Cyrus Adler of Philadelphia, Professor Richard\nGottheil of New York, Mr. Samuel Strauss of New York, Dr. A. A. Neuman\nof Philadelphia, Dr. Martin A. Meyer of San Francisco, Dr. D. de Sola\nPool and Dr. S. Benderly of New York. In addition, there are planned\nthree study circles, each of which will meet every alternate week. One\nof these circles is to be devoted to Jewish history, another to the\nstudy of the Hebrew language, and the third to the consideration of\nmodern Jewish problems.\n\nThe prospects for this year are even brighter than ever before. The\nenthusiasm is as great as it has ever been, and the membership will\nundoubtedly exceed all past records.\n\nIt is of interest to note that more and more members of Menorah\nSocieties at other Universities all over the country continue their\nMenorah activities in our Society when they come to study in the\ngraduate departments of Harvard University.\n\n ISADORE LEVIN\n\n\n=Hunter College=\n\nTHROUGH the influence of the Menorah Society of the College of the\nCity of New York, a Menorah Society was formed at the Normal College\nof New York (for women), with the approval of the Dean, in May, 1913.\nOwing to the change of name of the College, it is now known as the\nHunter College Menorah.\n\nDuring the first year of its existence, under the leadership of its\nfirst President, Miss Selma Blechman, and the hearty support of its\nmembers, the corner-stone for its present greater work was laid. A\nprogram of lectures was planned to be held on the third Friday of\nevery month. The lectures were to cover the several periods of Jewish\nhistory from ancient to modern times. This was done with great\nsuccess.\n\nThis year, in addition to the lectures, the Society is planning to\ngive courses in (1) Hebrew, (2) Jewish History, and (3) the Bible.\nThis project has met with the hearty approval of both the President\nand the Dean, and the Menorah hopes to enter soon upon active work in\nthese subjects.\n\nA word about the membership of the Hunter Menorah must be said. When\nthe Society started it had a membership of one hundred, of whom ninety\nwere active members. It now has about twice that number, with an\nactive membership of one hundred.\n\nThe Society has acquired such repute that students who are not members\nattend the lectures and are very enthusiastic about them. Indeed, the\nHunter College Menorah sees before it a very rosy future.\n\nAt the recent Bazaar given by the College Athletic Association for the\nRed Cross Relief Fund, the Society had a booth and sold appropriate\narticles, like brass Menorahs, books and small Hebrew scrolls, objects\nof Jewish art, and candy and almonds from Palestine, thus adding a\nconsiderable sum to the Fund. Besides, the members have contributed\nover $100 for Jewish relief in Palestine.\n\n JULIA MITCHELL\n\n\n=University of Michigan=\n\nIN 1910 a group of Jewish students at the University of Michigan\nformed a society and assumed the Menorah name. After a rather\ncheckered course of three years, marked by misunderstood ideals and\nactivities not always well-considered, the organization suddenly\nbecame more alive to the consideration of the vital problems which had\nbeen the ultimate excuse for its existence. A few men, sacrificing\npersonal ambition for the common welfare, spurred the Society on to\nmore serious and genuine work.\n\nThe rejuvenated Menorah Society enjoyed this period of prosperity only\nfor a few months when a new organization for Jewish spiritual\ndevelopment at the University was formed. It calls itself the Jewish\nStudent Congregation, and its aim, as distinguished from the Menorah\ngoal of cultural research, is purely religious. The weekly prayer\nmeeting, marked by sermon and ceremony, is now offered to the Jewish\nstudents in addition to the weekly study circle of the cultural\nsociety.\n\nHowever true or untrue may be the oft-repeated statement that the\nMenorah has blazed the way for the Congregation, it still remains a\nfact that the new organization was not confronted with the difficulty\nof gaining a following, such as the parent Jewish society had\nexperienced. Though the attendance of the Congregation shaded off\nquite considerably the last few months of its first year, there were\nalways enough to show their appreciation by their presence at the\nservices and to guarantee the continuation of the services in the\nfuture. One noteworthy fact calls for special mention here--a certain\ngroup of students seemed to be more religious than devoted to cultural\ninterests. Only a few of this class, however, were really inspired by\na religious zeal; for there were some who expressed this preference\nbecause there still rankled in their thoughts the stigma which a few\nthoughtless pioneers had allowed to attach itself to the Menorah in\nthe early days of its formation.\n\nThat the Congregation would appeal to a certain number was evident\nfrom the first. The Jewish service was fraught with that sociable\nspirit which became more lacking in the Menorah the more it devoted\nitself to its primary motives of research and investigation into\nJewish history, culture and ideals. Though there unquestionably exists\na strong feeling of fellowship in the Menorah, it cannot compare with\nthe atmosphere of fraternalism in a religious meeting.\n\nMoreover, the student can come to the Congregation to relax. He can\nsit back passively and draw inspiration from the service. But a\nMenorah meeting is virtually a class-room lacking a few formalities.\nThere the student must actively discuss the problems placed before\nhim; he must earnestly dig for the Pierian waters before he can hope\nto quench his thirst.\n\nThe average Jewish student comes to Michigan wofully ignorant of\nmatters pertaining to Judaism. Many of them have been reared in small\ntowns, where the efforts of parents to train their children in Jewish\nways, if tried at all, barely passes the first two or three pages of\nthe \"Siddur\"; while those who have been raised in the city are\ngenerally the victims of the lax system of Jewish training prevalent\nthere. At the most they have only a superficial knowledge of Jewish\nculture, of the great Jewish movements of the past and present. The\nSynagogue or Temple represents to the mind of the average Jewish\nstudent all that there is in Jewry; and so, while he will readily and\nvoluntarily support a movement for the establishment of the Jewish\nchurch, he will have to be persuaded to help or join an organization\ndevoted to Jewish culture. For in the latter case he must first be\nmade to understand that there are other vital forces in Israel than\nthe Jewish church as it stands to-day in its conventional form.\n\nThe Menorah at Michigan faces the problem of attracting that element,\nforming the big majority of the student body, which, though it proudly\nupholds the high scholastic standard generally credited to the Jewish\nstudent, still has its eyes closed and its brains dulled to many of\nthe vital Jewish problems which press for solution. With the\nco-operation of the Intercollegiate Menorah office, the Society is\ngradually molding the sentiment of the individual student toward a\nmore intelligent and favorable attitude. That the Menorah is already a\nvital force on the campus may be seen from the work being done, the\nzeal and enthusiasm displayed by the officers and members, many of\nthem among the University leaders. Those who formerly scorned or stood\naloof, including some who were in the position to mold student\nsentiment, have begun to show a sympathetic interest, bordering in\nmany instances on actual participation.\n\nThe Jewish Student Congregation does not conflict in any way with the\nMenorah Society. There is room for both on the campus. Each has its\nown purpose. Menorah members participate in the conduct and the\nservices of the Congregation.\n\n JACOB LEVIN\n\n\n=University of Minnesota=\n\nJUDGING from the interest and enthusiasm displayed at the opening \"get\ntogether\" meeting, arranged especially for the benefit of new arrivals\nat the University, the Minnesota Menorah seems certain to make this\nyear the most successful in its history. The meeting, which follows an\nestablished custom at Minnesota, was well attended by both students\nand alumni, and enabled both elements to become better acquainted. The\nearly part of the evening was devoted to a general reception; this was\nfollowed by a short entertainment, and then a very interesting\ndiscussion of Menorah ideals and duties by various members of the\nfaculty and alumni.\n\nThe plans of the Society this year look more than ever before to an\nintensive study of Jewish subjects by the students themselves.\nAlthough various outside speakers will be asked to address the\nSociety, the bulk of the work will rest with the student body.\n\n DAVID LONDON\n\n\n=New York University=\n\nTHE New York University Menorah Society is unique in its make-up and\nin the form of its administration. The Society is really two\norganizations within the one university. This dual composition is\nnecessitated by the division, geographically, of New York University\ninto colleges in the downtown section of New York City, and into\ncolleges in the far uptown section of the Bronx, the distance between\nthese divisions being some twelve miles. It has therefore been found\nnecessary to organize one Menorah Society at University Heights, the\nBronx section, and another at Washington Square, the downtown\nsection.\n\nEach of these Societies has its own officers, and each is active in\nits own section. The Executive Councils of both Societies meet jointly\nas a Board of Governors at least once in two months. This Board\ndirects Menorah work pertaining to the whole University, at the same\ntime considering the problems arising in the work of each Society.\n\nThe University Heights chapter is the older, having been organized\nDecember 22, 1913. Its membership is about 75 at this time, and an\nincrease to 100 is expected by the end of the present academic year.\nFormed by the zeal of some twenty-five men, and looked upon at its\ninception with indifference by the college community, it has made\nitself respected at University Heights and has become, young as it is,\nan institution in the college life.\n\nIts work during the first half-year was directed chiefly to the\ninternal strengthening of the Society, the increasing of its\nmembership and the institution of smooth working machinery of\nadministration. At the same time, however, the Society offered a\nnumber of valuable lectures which attracted wide interest. Among the\nspeakers of that half-year may be mentioned Professor Israel\nFriedlaender, Dr. Madison C. Peters, and Dr. Theodore F. Jones of the\nfaculty.\n\nThe activities of the University Heights Menorah Society for this year\nare extensive. It has arranged a program of lectures, among which may\nbe mentioned the following: \"The Talmud,\" by Dr. Clifton H. Levy; \"The\nJew in English Literature,\" by Dean Archibald L. Bouton; \"The Jews in\nMedieval Spain,\" by Dr. D. de Sola Pool; \"Conservative Judaism,\" by\nDr. Jacob Kohn; \"Historical Beginnings of Christianity,\" by Dr. A. H.\nLimouze; \"Reform Judaism,\" by Dr. Isaac Moses. Besides these lectures,\nsome meetings are devoted to discussions by members of such subjects\nas Zangwill's \"Melting Pot,\" \"Zionism,\" and others of current\ninterest.\n\nThe Society does not limit its work to these meetings. It conducts\nregularly, every Thursday evening, classes in elementary Hebrew and in\nPost-Biblical History, and on Tuesday afternoons a class in Advanced\nHebrew and the reading of Hebrew Literature. The Thursday evening\nclass in Hebrew is under the direction of Dr. Max Reichler. The course\nin History is divided into several periods, and as the course proceeds\nto a new period in the history a different instructor takes the class.\nAmong the men giving the course are Dr. M. H. Harris, Dr. Reichler,\nDr. Moses Hyamson, and Dr. Joseph Gorfinkle. The class in Advanced\nHebrew is conducted by Mr. Max Kadushin of the Jewish Theological\nSeminary.\n\nThrough the kindness of the Jewish Publication Society of America and\nthe Intercollegiate Menorah Association, and by its own additions, the\nSociety has placed a collection of books in the University library,\nwhich, according to the Librarian's statement, is used more frequently\nthan is any other collection of books placed in the library by a\nsociety.\n\nAll these activities have caused favorable interest on the part of the\nstudent body, faculty, and college authorities. Aside from these\nacademic efforts, the Society has made its members feel something of a\nsocial friendliness toward each other and has brought together men who\nmight otherwise not have come in contact at all.\n\nThe Society at Washington Square promises an exceedingly good future.\nAt the present writing it is only several weeks old, but it already\nhas a membership of over one hundred and fifty. Judging from the\nstrong beginning it has made, it is bound to become a factor in its\nsection of the University.\n\n CHARLES K. FEINBERG\n\n\n=Ohio State University=\n\nTHE year 1913-14, the fourth year of the Menorah at Ohio State\nUniversity, proved to be the most successful in its history. In accord\nwith the nature and purpose of our organization, we strove to be\nacademic, sociable and non-sectarian, and accomplished this end, even\nbeyond the expectations of the more optimistic. During the year the\nSociety carried on a lecture course in Biblical History, by Professor\nMorgenstern, of the Hebrew Union College, in such a creditable manner\nas to attract attention even outside the University. The lectures of\nDr. Israel Friedlaender and Dr. H. M. Kallen met with similar success,\nand after their lectures at the University they addressed large\naudiences at our local Temples.\n\nThe new University library opened its doors this year, and we are\ngreatly indebted to our beloved friend, Mr. Joseph Schonthal, of\nColumbus, for placing upon the shelves a set of the Jewish\nEncyclopedia; and to the University, the Intercollegiate Menorah\nAssociation, and the Jewish Publication Society for books and\nperiodicals. The trustees of the University considered our proposition\nfor the establishment of a chair in Jewish History and Culture, but it\nwas agreed that conditions were not yet ripe for this move. These\nseveral undertakings, in connection with the entertainments, held the\nmembers steadily interested throughout the year. The bi-monthly\nmeetings, the programs of which were made up by the members\nthemselves, were inspiring and beneficial.\n\nA successful close was marked by a \"Farewell Banquet\" to the seniors,\namong whom were several of our best workers--pioneers of our Society.\nOf the guests present, only our old friend Dean Orton made an address.\nHe was greatly impressed with the work of our Society, and assured us\nthat the faculty is in full sympathy with our aims.\n\nWith the passing of a good year we are looking forward to a still\nbetter one, and are predicting a big year for Menorah work. Such men\nas Dr. J. Leonard Levy, Dr. Washington Gladden, Dr. Moses J. Gries,\nProf. I. Leo Sharfman, Dr. David Philipson, and Dr. Louis Wolsey are\namong the speakers this year.\n\nOur program committee has been working up attractive plans, and expect\nto carry out discussions and studies in Jewish history, literature and\nproblems. The social part of our program is taken care of as the year\nprogresses, and forms only so much of our work as is justifiable to\nkeep the members together.\n\nThe Ohio State Menorah takes this opportunity of extending its best\nwishes to the other Menorah Societies and of expressing its perfect\nreadiness to co-operate with them. The members will eagerly welcome\nthe first number of the Menorah Journal, both for its own sake and as\na means of strengthening the bonds with the other Menorahs.\n\n HENRY GREENBERGER\n\n\n=University of Pennsylvania=\n\nOUR Menorah at Pennsylvania has passed through a crisis which for a\ntime threatened its welfare, but happily the present internal\ncondition is healthy and assures the new administration the hearty\nsupport of the entire membership. Despite difficulties our work has\nbeen successful and varied. Last year fourteen regular meetings were\nheld, some devoted to programs by our own members, others to outside\nspeakers.\n\nAmong those who addressed us last year were Dr. Cyrus Adler, '83,\nPresident of the Dropsie College; Rabbi Henry Berkowitz, Chancellor of\nthe Jewish Chautauqua Society, on the \"New Teaching of Religion\"; Dr.\nHenry M. Speaker, Principal of Gratz College, on \"Jewish Literature\";\nRabbi Haas of the Baron de Hirsch School, on \"Woodbine, a Jewish\nTown\"; Dr. Isaac Husik of the Semitic Faculty, on \"Philosophic\nMovements of Medieval Jewry\"; and Dr. Henry Malter of the Dropsie\nCollege, on \"The Written and the Oral Law.\"\n\nIn addition to the regular meetings we have been for the past three\nyears conducting a Jewish Discussion Group, led by Rabbi Marvin Nathan\nof this city, which has proved very popular. The group meets at the\nnoon hour and attracts also non-Menorah men, women students, and\nliberal-minded non-Jews. This year in order to accommodate the\nstudents whose schedules prevent their attending this group, we expect\nto institute another to be conducted either like the present or in\nsuch a way as to utilize the services of the Rabbis and other\nprominent Jews of Philadelphia.\n\nOur policy this year concerning new members differs decidedly from\nthat of the past. While we are by no means more restrictive or\nexclusive than heretofore, we feel that the method of \"rushing\" men\ninto membership is psychologically wrong. It cheapens the organization\nin the eyes of non-members and thereby defeats its own end. Instead of\nattempting to cajole freshmen into joining, we shall endeavor to\nattract the serious-minded men on the campus by the quality of our\nprograms and the variety of our activities. With the strong men in,\nthe others will follow, and in this way our membership will be one of\nboth quality and quantity.\n\nAnother innovation this year will be the acceptance of women students\nas members. The attitude of the University toward mixed membership in\norganizations that meet on the campus has been unfavorable and as a\nresult women students have been admitted only to the Discussion Group\nand to public meetings. Their wholesale application for admission into\nthe Society, however, prompted us to intervene in their behalf, and in\nview of the seriousness of our purpose the authorities consented to\nmake the exception. Hereafter, therefore, we shall be able to offer\nmembership, on an equal footing, to all students.\n\nAlthough our attention this year will be directed mainly to intensive\nwork, the Menorah will continue to act unofficially as the medium\nbetween the Jewish students here and local communal activities. In a\nquiet way, also, we intend to exert our influence upon local Jewish\norganizations so as to induce them to take a more active interest in\nJewish affairs. They will be invited to attend our public meetings and\nassistance will be offered them in arranging programs along Jewish\nlines. We shall further offer to furnish them with speakers from among\nour members.\n\nA real need of our Menorah, and probably of other Menorahs, is some\nextra incentive to induce the writing of Jewish papers. The\nestablishment here of a Menorah Prize would, we feel confident, work\nwonders in stimulating interest in Jewish problems. We look forward to\nthe early filling of this need.\n\nOf our work this year we are very optimistic. Several papers have\nalready been prepared by members and others are promised. A number of\nnotable men, including Provost Edgar F. Smith, of our University, and\nProfessor David W. Amram, '87, of the Law Faculty, will give us\naddresses. We are in addition organizing a Menorah Orchestra with the\nidea primarily of presenting to the public the best Jewish music, and\nwe hope in this way to combine business with pleasure.\n\n JACOB RUBINOFF\n\n\n=Penn State College=\n\nTHE Penn State Menorah was organized on April 27, 1913. Our activities\nfrom the beginning were characterized by a willingness on the part of\nthe members to devote a great deal of their time to the mapping and\ncarrying out of our weekly program. The significant fact that the\nSociety has held forty talks during the past year, most of which were\ndelivered by its members, is in itself proof of the conscientiousness\nand devotion that the men of Penn State bring to the Menorah Society.\n\nAs is quite natural, our organization did not at first strike all the\nJewish students as something worth while, but in a comparatively short\ntime we found that ninety per cent. of the Jewish students of the\nCollege were members, and that our attendance for the past year\naveraged thirty-five out of a possible forty.\n\nOur meetings are held every Sunday morning from ten to twelve o'clock.\nOur constitution states that any member who absents himself for three\nconsecutive meetings without a legitimate excuse is automatically\nexpelled. Thus far no man has been expelled. Members of the Menorah\nSociety are excused from the chapel by the Dean, provided they attend\nall the Menorah meetings.\n\nOur Society has also striven to get desirable lecturers. Owing to our\nlimited treasury, we must depend upon the Intercollegiate Association\nfor support, else we can make but very little headway.\n\nThe Menorah Library has proved a big boon, for practically every man\nis making use of the books for his own reading and in the preparation\nof papers for our meetings.\n\nWe were very fortunate in having been offered the services of\nProfessor O. F. Boucke as a lecturer for the Society and as teacher of\na special course of study on the Old Testament. Professor Boucke's\nassistance is bound to add materially to the prestige of the Menorah\non the campus. At an early meeting this year we had a most interesting\nand inspiring talk by President Sparks, who is taking a deep interest\nin the Menorah movement.\n\nIt is our belief that the Menorahs in colleges and universities that\nare isolated from the large cities (a good example of which is Penn\nState) are bound to have by far the greater success, because the\nstudents enjoy more opportunity of being together and doing more\nthings in common. In our Menorah Society the Jewish students find\ntheir chance not only to study things Jewish in common, but to come\ntogether and exchange their thoughts on all subjects in which they are\ninterested.\n\n M. TRUMPER\n\n\n=University of Texas=\n\nTHE Menorah Society closed a successful year with a banquet held May\n18, 1914, at the Hotel Driskill, Austin. In addition to forty-three\nstudents and faculty members, there were present four honored guests:\nDean W. J. Battle of the University of Texas, Rabbi Henry Cohen of\nGalveston, and Messrs. J. Koen and N. Davis of the Austin Jewish\ncommunity. The opening address was delivered by the President of the\nSociety, Mr. L. W. Moses, who traced the growth of the Menorah Society\nof Texas from its beginning in 1907 through its affiliation with the\nIntercollegiate organization and its consequently renewed vigor. Dean\nBattle, as head of the department of Greek in the University, spoke on\n\"Hellenism and Hebraism,\" discussing the essential principles of the\ntwo cultures and comparing their influence on modern civilization. Mr.\nH. J. Ettlinger of the University Faculty elected as his subject, \"The\nMenorah in Its Relation to Other Student Activities,\" and he\nelaborated on the many reasons why the Jewish student should select\nthe Menorah Society as one of his extra-curricular activities. Rabbi\nDavid Rosenbaum of Austin and also of the University faculty, taking\nexcellent advantage of his position as a representative of both the\nUniversity and the community, gave an instructive talk on \"What\nJudaism Expects of the Student.\"\n\nRabbi Henry Cohen, speaking eloquently on \"Judaism as a Factor in\nModern Life,\" took up each one of the Ten Commandments and summarized\ntheir influence on society to-day. A poem written especially for the\noccasion was read by Mr. Israel Chasmin, and piano selections were\nrendered by Miss Beatrice Burg and Miss Minna Rypinski. The program\nclosed with the installation of officers for the year 1914-15.\n\nWe lost ten members by graduation last June, but our membership has\nnone the less increased on account of the greater number of Jewish\nstudents at the University this year.\n\nThe opening meeting of the year was attended by fifty out of the\nfifty-eight Jewish students. In enthusiasm it resembled a football\nrally, and the new students caught the spirit of the occasion. Since\nthen a number of other meetings have been held, with an average\nattendance of forty. At the first meeting, Professor L. M. Keasby of\nthe Department of Institutional History gave an eminently just\ninterpretation of Jewish history from the point of view of the\neconomic development of mankind. At the next meeting, Israel Chasmin\nreviewed Dubnow's Essay on Jewish History. At the last meeting, Rabbi\nJ. Bornstein of Houston, Texas, spoke on Jewish Music. We are looking\nforward to an illustrated lecture by Professor Gideon of the\nDepartment of Architecture on \"The Architecture of the Synagogue, Past\nand Present.\"\n\nThrough the fund for local speakers which we are raising and through\nthe aid of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, we hope to have a\nspeaker at least every month for the rest of the year.\n\nThe Menorah Library which we have received through the Intercollegiate\nMenorah Association is greatly appreciated by the University and will\nbe of much help in the work of the Society.\n\n H. J. ETTLINGER\n\n\n=University of Washington=\n\nIN the summer of 1913 several Jewish students met and discussed the\nfeasibility of organizing a Jewish society on the campus. As a result,\na meeting was called at the Y. M. H. A. rooms in the first week of the\n1913-14 semester. Cards for the meeting had been sent to all men\nstudents known to be Jews. There was an enthusiastic discussion of the\npurposes of the meeting, and it was decided to effect a permanent\norganization, which should include the Jewish women students as well,\nand to begin active work. Our purposes were then somewhat different\nfrom what they are at present. We felt that if our union could bring\nabout a better understanding between the various Jewish elements in\nthe city of Seattle and throughout the State of Washington, we should\nbe accomplishing something worth while. The fact that the student body\nitself was composed of these various elements would aid us, it was\nbelieved, to bring that result about speedily and effectively.\n\nAnd so members of the Menorah Society joined the Jewish lodges in\nSeattle, Jewish synagogues, and the \"Modern Hebrew School,\" so that\nthey might effect their objects both from within as individual members\nand from without as the Menorah Society. Our members volunteered to\nteach at the Modern Hebrew School, an orthodox institution, one day in\nthe week. The offer was accepted gladly and greatly appreciated. At\nthe same school, a class was conducted by one of our members for the\ninstruction of Jewish men in the fundamentals of citizenship, and over\ntwelve of this class passed the examinations and secured their\ncitizenship papers. Another member organized an athletic club among\nJewish boys, and still another member did much valuable work at the\nSettlement House.\n\nAt the meetings of the Society, which were held in the quarters of\nJewish organizations downtown and at members' homes, papers bearing on\nJewish questions were read.\n\nDuring the past summer it was felt that by affiliating with the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association greater impetus would be given to\nour Society, and steps have already been taken for admittance into\nthat body. President Henry Landes of the University has expressed, I\nbelieve, the favorable attitude of the whole University toward the\nSociety, as shown in the letter quoted below.\n\nThis year we shall devote more time to the study of Jewish culture and\nideals. A course of lectures is being arranged which will bring noted\nJewish men of the Pacific Coast to our University. It is hoped also\nthat we may have the benefit of speakers from the Intercollegiate\nMenorah Association. Of course, the work we began last year down town\nwill be kept up, but it will now be done unofficially.\n\n EIMON L. WIENIR\n\n_From a Letter of Acting President Henry Landes of the University of\nWashington to the Chancellor of the Intercollegiate Menorah\nAssociation:_\n\n \"In behalf of the University it gives me great\n pleasure to endorse this movement and to assure you of\n the satisfactory university standing of the students\n who are members of the local society. The scholarship\n of the students is good, several of the number having\n obtained highest grades in most of their studies. I\n feel sure that the organization in every way is worthy\n of recognition by the Intercollegiate Menorah\n Association and that such recognition will be of great\n assistance to these and other students in the\n formation and conservation of the culture and ideals\n of the Jewish people. The University recognizes the\n large debt modern culture owes to these ideals and\n feels assured that the Menorah organization among us\n will be of the greatest assistance in keeping alive a\n keener consciousness of this fundamental part of our\n civilization.\n\n \"The University will be glad to assist the Association\n by permitting it to use University rooms for its\n meetings, under the usual regulations governing the\n use of rooms by student associations.\n\n \"Personally I shall be glad to co-operate in any way I\n can to make the work of the local Society successful.\n\n \"HENRY LANDES,\n \"_Acting President_\"\n\n\n\n\n=University of Wisconsin=\n\nTO have the student members of the Society furnish the largest part of\nthe program has been the policy of the Wisconsin Menorah for the past\ntwo years. Because of its advantages, the same policy has been adopted\nfor the current year.\n\nIn the past, the programs have been of a diverse nature, many phases\nof Hebrew life and letters having been touched upon. The program\ncommittee has put forth special efforts to assign to members those\nsubjects in which they have special interest.\n\nThe work of the past year came to a close with a large banquet, at\nwhich Professor I. Leo Sharfman, Judge Max Pam of Chicago, and\nProfessor Joseph Jastrow and Dr. H. M. Kallen of the Faculty of the\nUniversity of Wisconsin gave short talks.\n\nAlthough the Wisconsin Menorah may be said to be still in its infancy,\nthere is no doubt that, with its membership, which includes both men\nand women, steadily increasing, it will soon be ranked high among the\nMenorah Societies of the Middle West.\n\n FLORENCE J. ELLMAN\n\n\n=Yale University=\n\nAT a meeting held soon after the college opening, the Yale Menorah\nSociety inaugurated what bids fair to be a most successful year.\nPresident Arthur T. Hadley addressed the meeting (for the address of\nPresident Hadley see above, page 45), as did also Professor Charles F.\nKent of the Yale School of Religion.\n\nProfessor Kent said:--\"It is a great pleasure for me to face the work\nof the new year with you, and it is a source of congratulation that\nthe Menorah is no longer an innovation but an established institution\nat Yale. It seems a pity that Jews do not inherit Hebrew as a\nbirthright, but fortunately the study of Hebrew history and ideals\ncan proceed without this knowledge.\n\n\"Men must appropriate old ideas and interpret them into the terms of\nmodern life and thought, for in the old we find the germ of the new.\nIt is in Jewish history that we must look for the first true\ncommonwealth or democracy, where the king was chosen by the people and\nwhere his authority was derived solely from and rested in the people.\nThis has no ancient parallel, not even in Greece. International peace\nwas also one of the great fundamental teachings of the prophets of\nIsrael.\n\n\"Religious education is to be traced directly to the Jews,--and this\nis one of the great needs of America to-day. Not to the Greeks but to\nthe prophets do we turn for religious education. Hebrew sages were the\nforerunners of the modern religious education movement, for they\ndevoted their time to developing the moral and spiritual ideals and\ncharacter of the individual. And then the great teacher of Nazareth\nwas a Rabbi, a Jew. The social motif is exceedingly strong throughout\nJewish history and literature. Social justice, social service, and the\nuniversal brotherhood of man are the dominant ideas in the Old\nTestament, and they constitute a heritage of priceless value to the\nworld and to our country to-day.\n\n\"All success and joy to you in your work, for the Menorah fills a\nlarge gap in the life of the University.\"\n\nWe hold lecture meetings fortnightly. Among the speakers thus far have\nbeen Professor Richard Gottheil of Columbia University and Mr. Samuel\nStrauss of New York. In addition to these regular meetings study\ngroups have been planned under the direction of Rabbi Louis L. Mann of\nthe Temple Mishkan Israel of New Haven.\n\nMr. Norman Winestine who was last spring elected President for this\nyear has been awarded a fellowship at the Dropsie College of\nPhiladelphia and has therefore left the University. Mr. Charles Cohen\nhas been chosen President to take Mr. Winestine's place. R. HORCHOW\n\n\n\n\nNotes\n\nOf the Intercollegiate Menorah Association\n\n\n_Third Annual Convention_\n\nThe Third Annual Convention of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association\ntook place at the University of Cincinnati on Wednesday and Thursday,\nDecember 23 and 24, 1914. A report will be published in the next\nnumber of the Journal.\n\n\n_Menorah Prize Awards_\n\nThe Harvard Menorah Society Prize of $100, established by Mr. Jacob H.\nSchiff of New York, was awarded last May to Henry Epstein, '16, for an\nessay on \"The Jews of Russia.\" The judges were Professor David Gordon\nLyon of Harvard, chairman; Professor William R. Arnold of Harvard, and\nPresident Solomon Schechter of the Jewish Theological Seminary. This\nis the seventh award of the Harvard Menorah Society prize since its\nfoundation in 1907-8. (For the list of previous awards, see _The\nMenorah Movement_, 1914, page 102.)\n\nThe Wisconsin Menorah Society Prize of $100, established in 1911-12 by\nMr. Julius Rosenwald of Chicago, was awarded for the first time, in\n1912, to Marvin M. Lowenthal (adult special student in Letters and\nScience) for an essay on \"The Jew in the American Revolution.\" There\nwas no competition in 1912-13, but last year the prize was divided\ninto two equal parts and awarded to Hemendra Kisor Rakshir (senior in\nLetters and Science) for an essay on \"The Jews and the Interest Rate\nin Angevin England,\" and Percy B. Shostac (senior in Letters and\nScience) for an essay on \"A Short Survey of the Modern Yiddish Stage.\"\nThe prize for 1913-14 was awarded again to Marvin M. Lowenthal for an\nessay on \"Zionism.\" The Committee of Award consists of Professor R. E.\nN. Dodge, chairman, Professor E. B. McGilvary, and Professor M. S.\nSlaughter, of the University of Wisconsin. The chairman has stated\nthat the Menorah prize is the best prize offered by the University of\nWisconsin.\n\nThe Michigan Menorah Society Prize of $100 was established in 1912 by\nMr. Julius Rosenwald of Chicago, but was not awarded the first year.\nLast year three prizes of $50 each were awarded, one to Paul\nBlanshard, '14, for an essay on \"The Approach of Reformed Judaism to\nthe Unitarian Movement in the United States,\" one to Miss Judith\nGinsburg, '15, for an essay on \"Disintegrating Forces in Contemporary\nJewish Life,\" and one to Miss Sadie Robinson, '15, for a general\ndiscussion of Jewish problems upon the text of Proverbs 30, 13. The\njudges were Professor Robert E. Wenly, chairman, and Professor I. Leo\nSharfman of the University of Michigan, and Rabbi Leo M. Franklin of\nDetroit, Mich.\n\n\n_Cornell Menorah Prizes_\n\nThe Cornell Menorah Society offers this year the following prizes to\nthe undergraduates of the University: a prize of $25 for the best\nessay on any subject relating to the status and the problems of the\nJews in any country; a prize of $25 for the best essay on any subject\nrelating to Jewish literature in English; and a prize of $25 for the\nbest essay or poem in Hebrew. The judges will be Professor Nathaniel\nSchmidt of Cornell University, chairman; Professor M. M. Kaplan of the\nJewish Theological Seminary of America, and Professor I. Leo Sharfman\nof the University of Michigan.\n\n\n_Gift from the Harvard Menorah Society_\n\nThe Harvard Menorah Society has made a gift of $50 to the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association. The sum is taken from the\nAssociate Membership Fund of the Society. This Fund consists of the\ndues of associate members (graduates), \"which shall be used\nexclusively for the substantive work of the Society\" (Harvard Menorah\nConstitution, Article IV, section 4). The control of this Fund is in\nthe hands of an advisory committee, consisting of the President of the\nSociety and two associate members designated by the Executive Council\nof the Society.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nPage 14, \"Ayran\" changed to \"Aryan\" (of the Aryan peoples)\n\nPage 35, \"Judea\" changed to \"Jud\u00e6a\" (muse of Jud\u00e6a)\n\nPage 44, \"ony\" changed to \"only\" (Not only have the)\n\nThis text uses both to-day and today.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE\n\nMENORAH JOURNAL\n\n VOLUME I APRIL, 1915 NUMBER 2\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nFor Small Mercies\n\nBY ISRAEL ZANGWILL\n\n\n Thinking of Poland and her tortured Jews,\n 'Twixt Goth and Cossack hounded, crucified\n On either frontier, e'en the Pale denied,\n Wand'ring with bloodied staff and broken shoes,\n Scarred like their greatest son with stripe and bruise,\n Though thrice a hundred thousand fight beside\n Their Russian brethren and are glorified\n By death for those who flout them and abuse,--\n\n I suddenly was touched to thankful tears.\n Not that one wave had ebbed of all this woe,\n Not that one heart had softened in \"the spheres\"[A]\n One touch of bureau-malice to forego,\n But that amid blind eyes, dumb mouths, deaf ears,\n One voice in England[B] said these things were so.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Israel Zangwill]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[A] Only permissible form of Russian reference to the Tsar and his\nCounsellors.\n\n[B] The London _Nation_.\n\n\n\n\nFrom Across the Seas\n\n_From Dr. Max Nordau_\n\n_Madrid, Spain_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI hail most cordially the appearing of THE MENORAH JOURNAL with the\nnoble and impressive program which you develop. It shows your\nconsciousness of the new duties of the rich, free and powerful\nAmerican Jewry, your readiness to assume fully the moral\nresponsibilities which your privileged position imposes upon you, and\nyour comprehension of the needs of the present hour. Your journal\nseems the promising beginning of that organization in which we are so\nsorely wanting and without which we will achieve nothing in the\nforthcoming deep transformations of the old world.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Dr. M. Nordau]\n\n\n_From Dr. Moses Gaster_\n\n_Chief Rabbi (Haham) Spanish and Portuguese Congregations of the\nBritish Empire_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI am glad to see that you have brought out again the Menorah from the\ncorner into which it had been thrust, that you have polished up the\nold candlestick, nay, even more, that you have trimmed the wick and\npoured the oil into the cup, that you are kindling a light which is to\ndissipate the darkness spiritual, more dangerous, more terrible than\ndarkness physical. What our people really want is to be able to see\nthat light of truth, that light of hope, of humanity, of knowledge, of\nidealism, which has been ours through the ages. We have never allowed\nour lamp to be extinguished, whether it burned in a remote corner in\nthe ghetto, smoky, ill trimmed, even evil smelling; still there was\nthe light sufficiently strong to illumine the pages of the Torah and\nthe Talmud, even the pages of the writers of philosophy and science.\nIt was quite sufficient if one lamp was kept alight. This is the\ngreatness and the beauty of it,--that from one, one can kindle a\nthousand.\n\nThere is no limit to which the light cannot reach and there will be no\nlimit, I hope, to the light which you will now spread. It will reach\nthe remotest corner of the universities and schools of learning, nay,\neven more, it will bring everywhere a measure of knowledge and of\ntruth, and above all it will illumine and warm. It will reach the eyes\nof those who have hitherto refused to see the beauty of their own past\nand the greatness of their own future. They may then learn to live in\nthe present by the teaching of the past and by the hope of the future.\nMake both known.\n\nIn conclusion, I can only express the wish that you keep steadily and\nexclusively to Jewish questions, Jewish problems, Jewish learning.\nMake your readers know what they can find in Jewish literature and\nmake the students of the various universities realize that in the\nlibraries of Europe and America there are vast treasures accumulated\nwhich await the hand and the heart of the Jewish scholars. There are\ngreat and grave problems which await solution and the field is\nunlimited. Let them begin to till the ground of our own field, and\nturn the furrows and sow the seed, and the golden harvest is sure to\nrepay them for their labor in the service of love and truth, and above\nall of devotion to Judaism.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: M. Gaster]\n\n\n_From Norman Bentwich_\n\n_Professor of International Law, School of Law, Cairo, Egypt_\n\n[Illustration]\n\nYou are indeed happy in the moment of your appearance. I am not of\nthose who regard this world war as a terrible catastrophe. I can see\nin it with God's grace the preparation of a great uplift of humanity\nand especially the coming of redemption for Israel. But the more\nglorious the vision of the future the greater the need of light, and\nmore light, to illuminate the present and to enable the young\ngeneration to advance steadily towards the vision and make it reality.\nThat is what I believe the function of THE MENORAH JOURNAL to be, and\nyour first number is an earnest of the sincerity of your aim and the\ngoodness of your means.\n\nThe Jewish people stand on the brink of a new era in which they are to\nresume their true function of the spiritual teacher of mankind. And\nAmerican Jewry, it is a truism to say, has a vital and a leading part\nto play in moulding the destiny of the Jewish people. So we may adapt\nthe old Rabbinic saying: \"He who saves the soul of a single Jewish\nstudent is as though he saved the world.\" THE MENORAH JOURNAL in\nholding up the light of the Jewish spirit to the young men and women\nof America is doing the work of humanity.\n\nMay I express the hope that the Menorah Societies will direct the gaze\nof their members to the land of promise and the land of the prophets,\nwhere the inspiration of Judaism has always come and whither the hopes\nof Jewry have always turned. Living as I do, in the reflection of\nPalestine as well as in the shadow of the Pyramids, I am very\nconscious of the need for a continued Passover from the ideas of the\nvarious Egypts that beset the Jewish people to the message that calls\nus, in spirit if not in body, to the land of our fathers. To-day in\nPalestine the light has begun to shine brightly again. Judaism has\nrelit there its prophetic lamp, which in centuries of stress and\ndarkness has never been permitted to fade away altogether. In our own\ntime the Menorah has been re-established in the Temple of the land by\na new band of Maccabees. But a single branch, so to say, of the seven\nbranches as yet shows its clear light. But if the Jewish youth wills\nit, the whole Menorah may be lighted and shine full and clear to the\nworld with fresh lustre. In our day there may be a new Hanukka, a\nrededication of the Hebraic light--if only we will it.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Norman Bentwich]\n\n\n\n\nThe Jewish Problem Today\n\nBY JACOB H. SCHIFF\n\n\n[Illustration: _JACOB HENRY SCHIFF (born in Frankfort-on-the-Main,\nGermany, in 1847, came to America in 1865), one of the world's leading\nbankers (senior member of Kuhn, Loeb & Co., New York), and a prince of\nphilanthropists, noted for his personal devotion and munificent gifts\nto many causes for human betterment. He was among the first to\nencourage and befriend the Menorah movement, founding in 1907 the\nannual Menorah Society Prize at Harvard. The present article forms the\napproved substance of an interview granted by Mr. Schiff to the\nEditors of The Menorah Journal on March 4, 1915. Mr. Schiff's\nstatement regarding the need for a separate Jewish Relief Fund is\ngiven special significance by the fact that he is Treasurer of the\nAmerican Red Cross._]\n\nIt is hardly possible to exaggerate the horrors of the Jewish\nconditions in the war-stricken countries, especially in the three\nPolands. According to the reports we get, conditions in Russian Poland\nare such that Belgium's plight is a mere _bagatelle_ in comparison.\nThe Jewish people there have been outraged in the most terrible\nmanner, both by the Poles who denounced them to the Russians as\nenemies and spies and then by the Russians themselves, who treated\nthem as such. It is only after the Russian armies are forced to leave\nthat the Jews are given protection by the Germans. In saying this I do\nnot want to be misjudged, for it is well known that I am a German\nsympathizer. But the fact is that the Russians and the Poles alike\nhave been inhumane to the Jewish population.\n\nAccording to the latest reports, the conditions are not being improved\nin any way. And the relief so far has been entirely inadequate. It has\nnever been adequate. We need millions for the immediate relief of our\nbrethren, and so far only about half a million has been forthcoming\nfrom American Jews. This in spite of the fact that all parties and\nfactions in Jewry are acting together in the work of relief, except\nonly one organization, the B'nai B'rith, and for this there is some\nreason, because the B'nai B'rith have their own lodges abroad and they\nwant evidently to apply their relief to their own members first.\n\n\n\"_We Must Have a Jewish Relief Fund of Our Own_\"\n\nWe must have a Jewish Relief Fund of our own in addition to the Relief\nFunds for other people in the war-stricken countries, because the\nJewish problem forms everywhere a problem of its own. It would be\nrather hard to say whether, were it not for the specific Jewish Relief\nFund, the Jews would get as much relief as the other suffering people,\nbut there is very little doubt that the Jews in the war-stricken\ndistricts, especially in Poland, have suffered a great deal more than\nthe rest of the population. The Jews, therefore, need more relief,\nparticularly as the civilian population has been against them.\n\nBeyond the immediate measures for relief we can for the present do\nnothing. We must act from day to day. As the war goes on we must\nsimply keep on trying to relieve the distress. As to what is in store\nafter the war, I am unable to form a picture, at least so far as\nRussia is concerned. The hope is expressed that when peace is restored\nRussia will do better than heretofore for her large Jewish population.\nBut we have been disappointed so often by Russia's promises that we\nshould believe this only when actually done and not before. I have\nlittle confidence at all in the assertion that Russia will mend her\nway in the future.\n\n\n\"_There Is Only One Way to Solve the Jewish Problem in Russia_\"\n\nThere is only one way to solve the Jewish problem in Russia and that\nis nothing less than the entire removal of the Pale. We must ever\ndemand this and accept nothing else. When the Jew can go where he\npleases, and trade where he pleases, and live where he pleases, the\nJewish question in Russia will be solved. It is the government, the\ngoverning classes, in Russia that create the enmity towards the Jews.\nI believe there is no people anywhere who have at present or ever had\nless anti-Jewish feeling than the mass of Russian people. When once\nthe pressure brought by the bureaucracy is removed and the Jews are\npermitted to have normal relations with the mass of the Russian\npopulation all over the country, the Jewish question will be a thing\nof the past.\n\nThe situation is different in Poland and Roumania, where the people\nthemselves are anti-Semitic. It may appear strange at first that there\nshould be such a difference between the Polish people and the Russian\npeople in their attitude towards the Jews in their midst. But it may\nbe easily explained. People who are oppressed generally become narrow\nby the oppression. The Poles and the Roumanians have had long to\nsuffer from oppression to a great extent, the Poles from Russia and\nthe Roumanians for many years from Turkey, from whose yoke they were\nfreed only a few decades ago. It is generally a fact that when the\nservant becomes a master he makes the most intolerant master. Even if\na Polish autonomous kingdom should be created, it could not be much\nworse for the Jewish population than it is now. But the Russian people\nhave been happy. They have gotten used to their despotic government\nand do not feel it in particular, and they have little prejudice\nagainst their still greater oppressed Jewish neighbors.\n\nThe great numbers of Jews who have gone into the war and are fighting\nheroically will, I have no doubt, make a convincing demonstration of\nJewish patriotism in every country, and that should make for an\nimprovement of Jewish conditions all over, except possibly in Russia.\n\n\n\"_I Am Afraid England Has Been Contaminated By Her Alliance With\nRussia_\"\n\nBut I am afraid that England too has been contaminated by her alliance\nwith Russia, because England doesn't want to do anything that is\ndispleasing to her ally, more through fear to offend her than through\nrespect for her. So far, at least, it has not come true, as it was\nhoped in certain quarters, that England might apply pressure upon\nRussia to obtain an improvement in the condition of the Jews. And\nunfortunately the conditions in England itself affecting the Jews are\ncertainly not as good now as they have been formerly. England has\nalways been our great friend. In England there existed no such thing\nas anti-Semitism. But now there are, I fear, signs of a change.\n\nIn Germany the Jews do not suffer. They have a high standing and\noccupy many high positions. There has, it is true, always been a\ncertain anti-Semitic tendency in Germany. But I think this war will\ncrush out most of that, in fact all class differences. I am quite\nconvinced that anti-Semitism in Germany is a thing of the past.\n\n\n\"_When Peace Negotiations Begin, We Should Take United Action_\"\n\nWhat part America and the American Jews should play in the efforts to\nbring about a permanent betterment of Jewish conditions elsewhere, it\nis hard to say. America has already gone pretty far by breaking off\ncommercial treaty relations with Russia. Whether the United States\ncould or should go further is difficult to judge at this time. It is\ncertainly clear that the solution of the Jewish problem in Russia\nalong the lines already suggested would solve the passport problem and\nwould pave the way for the resumption of regular treaty and commercial\nrelations between the two countries.\n\nI do not think there is anything to do now for the Jews and for Jewish\nbodies in America except to work harmoniously together in the raising\nof relief funds. Of course, we must always be on the alert and ready\nto take a definite position whenever the proper time arrives. But not\nnow. When peace negotiations begin to be talked about, I think it will\nbe well for such bodies as the American Jewish Committee, possibly the\nB'nai B'rith and other organizations, to take united action. What\naction they should take it is hard to say. It is a very difficult\nquestion to decide at this moment whether or not it would be\nadvisable to have special Jewish representatives present at the peace\nnegotiations to look after the specific Jewish interests. Whatever\ninfluence should be brought to bear at the proper time should\noriginate with the American Jewish Committee, which is the most\nsuitable unifying Jewish agent in America to-day.\n\n\n\"_Arouse the Jews of America From Their Apathy_\"\n\nFor the present, however, I repeat, what we need is to raise relief\nfunds to a much larger extent than we have done so far. There has been\ntoo much apathy among the American Jews. They have done much less than\nat the time of the Kishineff massacres, when almost a million and a\nhalf was raised. Now, with conditions infinitely worse, we have thus\nfar not been able to raise half as much as was readily given then.\nUnfortunately we have become used to horrors and they do not touch us\nany more as deeply as they should. Moreover, we have weighty and\ncostly problems of our own at home. We have to expend such enormous\nsums for home problems that American Jewry seems unable to bear much\nmore. But notwithstanding this more must be forthcoming. We Jews must\ngive until it hurts, until it really becomes self-sacrifice; we must\nstir up our people to the terrible condition of our brethren abroad.\nAnd the Menorah Societies, which represent the most intelligent and\nidealistic Jewish youth of the land, should do their share in making\nknown the tragic conditions and in arousing the Jews of America from\ntheir apathy.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Jacob H. Schiff]\n\n\n\n\n\nNationality and the Hyphenated American\n\nBY HORACE M. KALLEN\n\n\n[Illustration: _HORACE MEYER KALLEN (born in Silesia, Germany, in\n1882, came to America in 1887), studied at Harvard (A. B., Ph.D.),\nPrinceton, Oxford, and Paris. He has been assistant and lecturer in\nphilosophy at Harvard, instructor in logic at Clark University, and\nsince 1911 of the faculty of philosophy at the University of\nWisconsin. At the request of the late William James, he edited his\nunfinished book on \"Some Problems of Modern Philosophy.\" Besides\ncontributing to philosophical and general periodicals, Dr. Kallen is\nthe author of a recently published book on \"William James and Henri\nBergson.\" Dr. Kallen was one of the founders of the Harvard Menorah\nSociety, and has rendered signal service, both by tongue and pen, to\nthe Menorah movement._]\n\nThe United States of America are at peace with all the world. Our\ngovernment is not taking sides in the great war; officially we are the\nfriends of all the embattled powers. And yet--we have but to take up\nany newspaper, anywhere in America, to find violent praise of one\nside, violent blame of the other. The sentiment of our country is\ndivided. On all sides, our diverse populations are emphasizing afresh\ntheir European origins and background. The German in German-American,\nthe Slav in Slavic-American, the Briton in British-American, have\nawakened, have become demonstrative and emphatic. The President,\nobserving this, has declared his official and personal boredom with\nthe \"hyphenated American,\" and the conception expressed in this phrase\nhas become an issue in the written and spoken discourse of our\ncountry.\n\nWhy, in an officially neutral country, has this come to pass? When we\nlook closely to the ground and principle of the division of sentiment\nin our population, we discover this significant fact: the division is\nnot truly determined by the merits of the European issue; it is\ndetermined by the lines of our population's European origin and\nancestral allegiance. The Americans of German and Austrian and Magyar\nancestry are pro-German; those of French or British or Russian\nancestry favor the Allies. Only the Jews seem to be an exception to\nthis rule. Being mainly from Russia, their favor should go to the\nRussians, but their newspapers, almost without exception, favor the\nGermans. The case of the Jews, however, is an exception that proves\nthe rule. Although the majority of them came from Russia, they have\nhad no part in the Russian polity; they have been oppressed,\npersecuted, terrorized, as their brethren still are in Russian\nterritory. As Americans, what portion and what hope have they in\nRussia that they should desire Russian victory? None. But they are not\nfor this reason in favor of Germany. The headlines of their newspapers\ndo not celebrate German victories, but Russian defeats. The Ghetto's\npartiality to Germany is a consequence of its loyalty to Jewry.\nKinship of blood and race, ancestral allegiance, determine with the\nJewish masses in America also, what side they take in this war.\nAlthough they have no political background in Europe, and their civil\nallegiance is absolutely American, they too are hyphenated in\nsentiment--Jewish-Americans.\n\nSuch is the fact. Its significance lies in what it reveals, and what\nit reveals is a force much deeper and more radical, distinctly more\nprimitive and original, than anything else in the structure of\nsociety. It hyphenates English and Germans and Austrians and Russians\nand Turks no less than it hyphenates Americans, and, in the failure of\nthe external socio-political organization of Europe to give it free\nplay, it is the chief, almost the only, cause of the present\nunendurable European tragedy. Its name is nationality.\n\n\n_Two Mosaics of Nationalities: A Contrast_\n\nNationality is not nationhood, although it is the most important\nconstituent of nationhood. Many nationalities may compose a nation\n(such is the case of the British, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and\nTurkish Empires, of the Swiss Republic, of our own Union), and then\nthe relation between the nationalities will determine the strength or\nthe weakness of the nation. Again, a single nationality may be divided\namong many nations (such is the case of the Poles, of the Serbs and\nother Slavs, of the Jews), and then the stability of the nations will\nbe largely determined by their effect on the nationalities divided\namong them.\n\nThe Swiss Republic, for example, is a nation composed of three\nnationalities, two of which belong to powers at war with each other.\nThese are the French and the German; the third is the Italian. Yet the\nnationhood of Switzerland is the most integral and unified in Europe\nto-day, because Switzerland is as complete and thorough a democracy as\nexists in the civilized world, and the efficacious safeguard of\nnationhood is democracy not only of individuals but of nationalities.\nThe German, French and Italian citizens of the Swiss Republic are\nto-day under arms to defend the neutrality of their nation from\npossible violation by German, French or Italian belligerents, and in\ndefending their nation, they are defending also the autonomy of each\nother's nationality. In Switzerland, nationhood, being democratic, is\nthe safeguard and insurance of nationality.\n\nContrast Swiss nationhood with Austro-Hungarian nationhood.\nAustria-Hungary is the immediate and direct occasion of the great war\nby reason of the fact that, although she is a mosaic of nationalities\nlike Switzerland, her government, instead of being a democracy, has\nin the long run been directed toward the control and exploitation of\nmany nationalities by one or two. Hungary contains a population of\nseven million Magyars among twelve million Slavs; yet the Hungarians,\nhaving the economic and political upper hand, have sought to Magyarize\nby force and trickery this almost doubly greater and culturally equal\npopulation. They have tried to compel Magyar forms and standards in\nlanguage, in literature, in history, the arts, the sciences, religion,\nlaw, in every intimate or remote concern of the daily life and\nnational genius of their Slavic subjects. The result has been the\nsteady disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian mosaic, the increasing\nuse of force to hold it together, the corresponding increase of\nrestlessness among the subject-peoples, plot and counterplot, the\nassassination of the Archduke, and the attack on Serbia, which\nprecipitated the war. In this war Austria has come off worst of all\nthe combatants, and for the same reason: the attempt to maintain the\nunity of a nation of nationalities by the force of one of them instead\nof by the democratic co\u00f6peration of all. In Austria-Hungary,\nnationality, having been exploited and suppressed, has been the enemy\nand destroyer of nationhood.\n\n\n_America A Commonwealth of Nationalities_\n\nIn this country the whole spirit of those institutions which\nconstitute American nationhood makes for the liberation and harmonious\nco\u00f6peration of nationalities. This spirit is also a part of the\nHebraic spirit, a part of the explicit program of our prophets, those\nchampions and vindicators of social justice and international\nrighteousness and peace; and this, significantly, is the spirit that\nliterally inspired the democracy of our America.\n\nFor the democracy of America had its first articulate voicing in the\nPilgrim Fathers and the Puritans of New England. These men and women,\ndevoted to the literature of the Old Testament, and upheld by the\nancestral memories of the Jews, were moved to undertake their great\nAmerican adventure by the ideal of nationality. It was not because of\nan overwhelming oppression of body and soul that the Pilgrims\nadventured to America. It was not \"freedom to worship God\" that they\nsought. They had that in Holland. They sought freedom to be\nthemselves, to realize their national genius in their own individual\nway. Their English manners, English speech, English history, and\nEnglish loyalty were, in fact, more important to them than their\nHebrew Bible. They used that as the spiritual pabulum which nourished\ntheir English corporate life. Their Calvinism was a reinterpretation\nof its prophetic nationalism expressed in the doctrine of the \"chosen\npeople\"; their political institutions were a modification of the ideal\npolitical order it was supposed to reveal. As Cotton Mather narrates,\nhis grandfather, John Cotton, found, on his arrival in New England,\nthat the population was much exercised over the framing of a \"civil\nconstitution.\" They turned to him for help, begging \"that he would,\nfrom the laws wherewith God governed his ancient people, form an\nabstract of such as were of a moral and lasting equity.\" So \"he\npropounded unto them an endeavor after a theocracy, as near as might\nbe to that which was the glory of Israel.\" Out of this beginning the\ndemocratic mood of America surges; in such conceptions the ideals\nwhich express the mood have their origins. These ideals are the\nconservation of nationality, and the equality of men before the\ninconceivable supremacy of their God. Hebraism and English\nnationality--these are the spiritual background of the American\ncommonwealth.\n\nPolitical freedom in America has tended to generate self-expression of\neach national group, and our country is to-day, broadly speaking, a\ngreat co\u00f6perative commonwealth of nationalities, British, French,\nGerman, Slavic, Jewish, each freely developing, in so far as it is\nself-conscious, its national genius, its language, literature and art\nin its own characteristic way as its best contribution to the\ncivilization of America as a whole,[C] realizing in this way the ideal\nof the democracy of nationalities, of international comity and\nco\u00f6peration which our prophets were the first to formulate.\n\nAmerican nationhood, thus, is in the way of becoming what Swiss\nnationhood fully is, the liberator and protector of nationality; its\ndemocracy is its strength, and its democracy is \"hyphenation.\"\n\"Hyphenation\" may, it is true, become perverse. As an expression of\nthe co\u00f6peration of nationality with nationality in the life of the\nState, it is inevitable and good; as an attempt to subordinate all\nnationalities to one, to use all for the advantage of one, it is\npartial, undemocratic, disloyal. Our nation is a democracy of\nnationalities having for its aim the equal growth and free development\nof all. It can take no sides. To require it to take sides, German or\nAnglo-Saxon, Slavic or Jewish, is to be untrue to its spirit and to\npervert its ideal.\n\n\n_The Renaissance of Nationality in the Past Century_\n\nIt is the attempt of one nationality to dominate and to impose its\ncharacter, culture and ideals upon others that has been the basis of\nall the great wars in Europe, of all international injustice from the\nbeginning of history.\n\nThe movement in modern history which we call progressive has been a\nmovement toward democracy in both the internal affairs and external\nrelationships of nations. Men did not realize its entire significance\nuntil the nineteenth century; only then did it come to full\nconsciousness in fact and idea, urged equally in Greece, in Germany,\nin Ireland, in Italy. Its great voice is the Italian thinker and\npatriot, Mazzini. In a marvelous essay entitled \"Europe, Its Condition\nand Its Prospects,\" he wrote, at a time when the hope of social and\ninternational democracy seemed extinguished: \"They struggled, they\nstill struggle, for country and liberty; for a word inscribed upon a\nbanner, proclaiming to the world that they also live, think, love and\nlabor for the benefit of all. They speak the same language, they bear\nabout them the impress of consanguinity, they kneel beside the same\ntombs, they glory in the same tradition; and they demand to associate\nfreely, without obstacles, without foreign domination, in order to\nelaborate and express their idea, to contribute their stone also to\nthe great pyramid of history. It is something moral which they are\nseeking; and this moral something is in fact, politically speaking,\nthe most important question in the present state of things. It is the\norganization of the European task. In principle, nationality ought to\nbe to humanity that which division of labor is in a workshop--the\nrecognized symbol of association; the assertion of the individuality\nof a human group called by its geographical position, its traditions\nand its language, to fulfill a special function in the European work\nof civilization.\"\n\nModern Europe saw the overthrow of the Holy Roman Empire, of the\nimperial aspirations of Louis XIV, and of Napoleon before it realized\nthe natural fact and moral principle which underlay these overthrows,\nand which finally so successfully asserted themselves as to unify\nItaly and cast off the Austrian dominion, to liberate Greece,\nBulgaria, Roumania and the other Balkan States from the Turk, to unify\nand create contemporary Germany. The last quarter of the nineteenth\ncentury saw the renaissance, often in the face of overwhelming\nsuppression, of the language and cultures of Czechs, Bohemians, Poles,\nIrish and Jews. It saw the rise of nationalism in the Oriental\ndependencies of Great Britain. It saw the beginning of an\nacknowledgment of the full rights of nationalities by both Austria and\nGreat Britain, the grant of local autonomy to the various\nnationalities in the Austrian Empire, of progressive home rule to\nIndia and South Africa and Ireland. The twentieth century seemed to be\nmoving peacefully toward the fulness of democracy--when came the war.\n\n\n_The Present War: Nationality vs. Imperialism_\n\nLet no one be deceived into believing that this war is a struggle for\nthe economic domination of the world, springing from commercial\nrivalry and industrial intrigue. No. Nothing is so international as\neconomic life--we in America know that now to our own cost also--and\nif commercial interests and capitalistic counsels had had their say,\nthere would have been no war. England was Germany's best customer,\nFrance her great creditor, Russia supplied her with unskilled labor.\nThe socialist international was against war, the peace party was\nagainst it, the intelligence of the world was against it. When it\ncame, it shattered all these international organizations into national\nunits, it smashed the solidarity of even science and art, which are\nthe most international enterprises in the world. And why? Because its\ncause was something deeper than economic interest or the other\nsecondary interests. Here is the question that the war is to decide:\nIs the whole of mankind to be dominated in body and in spirit, without\nits consent, by a portion of it, and to be compelled \"to elaborate and\nexpress the idea\" of the portion? or is the whole of mankind to be\nself-governed, in a co\u00f6perative commonwealth, each part of which, by\nelaborating and expressing its own idea, contributes its best to the\nwhole?\n\nThis is the issue between the warring powers and each claims that it\nis defending itself against the aggression of its opponents. Each\nclaims to be fighting for democracy. In the face of these claims,\nhistory has the deciding voice. Now, historically, England, more than\nany other power, has stood for the democratic and co\u00f6perative idea.\nHer colonies have autonomy, her more backward dependencies are\nencouraged toward autonomy. Since the Boer war, when imperialism\npassed away, she has moved toward the position of Switzerland. Even\nIreland has obtained home rule. \"We are a great world-wide,\npeace-loving partnership,\" said Mr. Asquith,[D] has reiterated again\nand again the principle for which all the Allies are fighting:\nbelieving that \"the preservation of local and national ties, of the\ngenius of a people which has a history of its own, is not only not\nhostile to or inconsistent with, but on the contrary, fosters and\nstrengthens and stimulates the spirit of a common purpose, of a\ncorporate brotherhood,\" the Allies seek to defend public right, to\nfind and to keep \"room for the independent existence and free\ndevelopment of the smaller nationalities, each with a corporate\nconsciousness of its own . . . and, perhaps, by a slow and gradual\nprocess, the substitution for force, for the clash of competing\nambitions, for groupings and alliances and a precarious equipoise, of\na real European partnership, based on equal right and enforced by a\ncommon will.\"[E]\n\nIt is hard to believe that Russia can be fighting for such an end.\nFear of Russian barbarism is what brought Germany into the lists, the\nGermans declare, to defend western ideals and western democracy. Yet\nRussian government is Prussian in its organization, and it is on the\nside of the ideal of western democracy that she is explicitly aligned.\nThe contradiction is striking, and it is still more striking when we\nrecall that in her armies are over a quarter of a million of Jews, and\nthat in the other armies there are half as many more. For the Jews the\nwar is more than civil; it is fratricide. On the face of it they have\nno inevitable personal or political stake in the war's fortune.\nEngland has acknowledged their \"corporate consciousness\" and given\nthem maximal opportunity for \"free self-development\"; so has France.\nRussia has oppressed and horribly exploited them; Germany, though\ninfinitely better than Russia, has set them conditions in which \"free\ndevelopment\" is synonymous with complete Germanization. Austria and\nTurkey have dealt with them somewhat after the manner of England and\nFrance. The contradiction of the Jewish position outdistances that of\nthe Russian. But both contradictions are resolved in the fact that the\nideal in question concerns not Russia alone, nor England alone, nor\nthe Jews alone, but the whole of Europe, the whole world. What is at\nstake is not something local, personal, political, but a universal\nprinciple, the goal toward which mankind has been so slowly and\ndeviously crawling from the beginnings of modern history--the\nprinciple of democracy in nationality and nationality in democracy.\n\nIt is for this that our brethren in the armies are fighting; it is for\nthis that they are undergoing crucifixion in the Pale, for this that\nour people have suffered and died from the beginnings of our history.\nOur whole recorded biography is the narrative of a struggle for social\njustice against the exploitation of class by class within our polity,\nfor nationality against imperialism without. Our statesmen and leaders\nwere the first to formulate the ideal of the co\u00f6perative harmony of\nnationality, and the ideal of international peace.[F] Mr. Asquith is\nechoing our prophets, and our embattled brethren are engaged in the\ndefence of a principle which is the constituent of the genius of their\nown nationality.\n\n\n_The Service of Jewish Nationality to Civilization_\n\nThe genius of their own nationality! That with all its implications is\nan issue in the war not only as a principle but as a fact. The Jewish\npeople are the great historic incarnation of the _casus belli_. In\nfortune and in disaster, through difficult and terrible centuries,\nthey have cherished their language, their history, their culture, have\nsustained their \"corporate consciousness\" and in terms of it have\nserved civilization in all the institutions of civilization. Not\nfreely, not by free development; not because of conditions, but in\nspite of them. The Bible, whose moral vision inspires the world, we\ngave the world only as we had or yearned for \"independent existence\"\nand \"free development.\" Our best, like the best of every people, has\nbeen a function of this \"independent existence and free development.\"\nWe also, scattered among the nations, tortured and oppressed by the\nmighty and the weak among them, are among \"the smaller nationalities\"\nfor whose sake the war is being fought. With Serbia, with Belgium,\nwith Poland, we claim our public right and our national security, and\nwe claim it not merely for ourselves, but for the service of all\nmankind. For as we have had a r\u00f4le \"in the organization of the\nEuropean task,\" so we still have a r\u00f4le, and in that division of the\nlabor of civilization in terms of nationality we have our task to\naccomplish, our service to render. This task, this service, is the\nexpression of the Jewish idea, the flowering and fruitage of the\nHebraic spirit, which, rooted in our historic past, planted on our\nnational soil, shall realize in modern terms, in social organization,\nin religion, in the arts and the sciences, a national future that by\nits inward excellence will truly make Israel \"a light unto the\nnations.\"\n\nThe indispensable condition for such a realization is autonomous\nnationality; not nationhood, necessarily, but autonomy. This, more\nthan civil rights among other nationalities, is our stake in this\ngreat war. In the last analysis, the Hebraic culture and ideals which\nour Menorah Societies study, can be _advanced_, can be a _living_\nforce in civilization, only as a national force. Our duty to America,\ninspired by the Hebraic tradition,--our service to the world, in\nwhatever occupation,--both these are conditioned, in so far as we are\nJews, upon the conservation of Jewish nationality. That is the potent\nreality in each of us, our selfhood, and service is the giving of the\nliving self. Let us so serve mankind; as Jews, aware of our great\nheritage, through it and in it strong to live and labor for mankind's\ngood.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: H. M. Kallen]\n\n\n _I think I see in your Society a recognition of the\n real spirit of our country's motto_, e pluribus unum.\n _That does not mean a sinking of the differences\n between us all into absolute uniformity, but rather\n the harmony that can result from the recognition of\n these differences and developing our own\n individualities so that we shall have variety in\n unity.--From an Address before the Yale Menorah\n Society by Professor Benjamin W. Bacon of Yale\n University._\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[C] For a fuller treatment of this point compare in the New York\n_Nation_ for February 18 and 25, 1915, the author's articles on\n\"Democracy Versus the Melting Pot.\"\n\n[D] Cardiff Speech, 2d October, 1914.\n\n[E] Dublin Speech, 25th September, 1914.\n\n[F] Cf. Isaiah, II, 2-4; XIX, 23-25; XI, 6-9; LXV, 17-25, etc.\n\n\n\n\nYankee and Jew\n\n_An After-Dinner Address_\n\nBY G. STANLEY HALL\n\n_President of Clark University_\n\n\n[Illustration: _G. STANLEY HALL (born in Ashfield, Mass., in 1846),\nPresident of Clark University, is a leading authority on education and\npsychology, and author of a number of important books, notably\n\"Adolescence\" (2 vols. 1904). The present address, delivered at a\nrecent dinner of the Clark Menorah Society, has been revised by Dr.\nHall for publication in The Menorah Journal._]\n\nI feel an unwonted embarrassment in speaking to you to-night, first\nbecause the light After-Dinner View of Life, which is my theme on your\nprogram, is far from being serious enough, and I must totally abandon\nmy plan and speak entirely extemporaneously, although upon a subject\nin which I have an old and strong interest.\n\nAgain, I am always embarrassed in talking to members of your race\nbecause I feel a little as Napoleon did when he told his soldiers in\nEgypt that forty generations looked down on them from the top of the\nPyramids. You know your ancestry in general back for thousands of\nyears, and I am rarely fortunate in being able to go back as much as\nnine or ten generations to the Puritans of the \"Mayflower,\" but there\nI stop and everything before that is a blank. David Starr Jordan tells\nus in his book that there is perhaps no man alive who has not kings or\nqueens in his ancestry, but adds that we all have had murderers among\nour predecessors, too.\n\n\n_There Is Much In Common Between Yankee and Jew_\n\nThere is much in common between the Yankees, whom I represent, and the\nJews, and this alone ought to give us a friendly feeling toward one\nanother. We are both misunderstood and caricatured. The Yankee stands\nfor a peculiar sort of closeness in money matters and a shrewdness\nwhich has even given its slang name to a neighboring New England\nState, the \"Nutmeg State.\" Perhaps we have both done too much in the\npast to deserve this reputation for super-cleverness. One of you has\nreferred to the fact that there are Jews who do not like to\nacknowledge their race. In that respect we are alike, for there are\nmany Yankees who are ashamed of being known as such. Long years ago,\nwhen I was a student in Germany, I was introduced one evening to a\nyoung German countess. She said in her broken English, \"I am so glad\nto meet an American. I have heard you have many funny people there,\nthe Dago, the Paddy, the Nigger, and many more; but I have heard that\nthe lowest people there are what they call the 'damn Yankees.' How I\nwould like to see one of them!\" This, bear in mind, was soon after our\nCivil War, and she received her impression of us doubtless from\nConfederates. I did not have the courage to acknowledge my nationality\nto her, but diverted the topic to some of the other people she had\nmentioned.\n\nThe old New England Puritan taught sternly. He was a patriarchal head\nof his family. In my boyhood, Saturday evening or perhaps better\nThanksgiving Day, when their descendants all gathered together as long\nas either of the grandparents lived, we had an illustration of\nsomething very like Heine's touching picture of an old Jewish peddler\nwho worked hard through the week, but on Friday night put on his long\nblack coat and his three-cornered hat, lit the seven candles at the\ntable, and told his children and grandchildren how Jehovah had led His\npeople through the wilderness, and how the Egyptians and all the other\nnaughty people who persecuted them were long since dead, while the\nchosen race survived. And so happy in his race was this poor peddler\nand so proud of his pedigree that, as Heine says, had the great\nRothschild entered at that moment and asked him what favor he could\ndo, he would reply simply: \"Stand out of my light, that I may finish\ntelling the law to my children.\"\n\n\n_The Eugenics of the Jewish Race_\n\nWe Puritans were brought up on the Old Testament, the spirit of which,\nfar more than that of the New, pervaded the life of old New England.\nEvery day after breakfast, no matter how busy the season or how late\nthe breakfast, my grandfather read to the assembled family a chapter\nfrom the Old Testament, and perhaps remarked upon certain passages.\nAfter graduating from college and when I became a tutor in a prominent\nHebrew family in New York, and especially when I had to teach the\nchildren their Sunday school lessons and freshen up the small\nknowledge of the Hebrew language that I had, I realized very keenly\nhow closely related were the Jews to the Yankees,--with this\ntremendous difference, that you are increasing in numbers while we are\ndecreasing.\n\nAs I read the Old Testament, the substance of the covenant with\nAbraham was that if he kept Jehovah's law, his seed would be\nmultiplied like the stars of Heaven. This placed society and life in\nthat early day squarely on a eugenic basis, for it makes the number\nand success of good children the supreme test of every human\ninstitution, activity, and every kind of culture. This I take it is\none of the chief characteristics of your race, and I hope it may long\nbe so.\n\nI am going to avail myself of this opportunity to say a few words\nabout a topic that has for centuries been a point of the very greatest\ndifference and tension between your people and mine, namely, the\ncharacter and work of Jesus. Please do not be shocked till you hear\nwhat I have to say. Such of us psychologists as have recently been\ninterested in the psychological aspect of Jesus' life and work\nunderstand, as had never been understood before, how purely Jewish he\nwas. Scholars have lately given to his figure a radically new\ninterpretation.\n\n\n\"_An Extremely Representative Man of Your Race_\"\n\nAccording to many conceptions the chief trait of Jesus was a strong\nand deep enthusiasm for the loftiest things of life. He was a little\necstatic all the time, illustrating the higher powers of man. His soul\nwas unconquerable by misfortune and disaster, like that of the Jewish\nrace itself. He was also organizing victory out of defeat, and his\ngreatest triumph was over death itself. Some think that his youthful\ndreams and ideals were to be an agrarian lord of a manor, or a grand\ncountry gentleman of the Jewish order, making contracts with servants,\nleasing out farms and vineyards, giving feasts, and the like, for more\nthan half the parables pertain directly or indirectly to such a\nvocation. But this youthful dream he was unable on account of poverty\nand his station in life to realize; so two very natural changes took\nplace in his soul. He came to hate the rich because they were wasting\ntheir opportunities and never doing anything; but far more important,\nhe developed from these juvenile reveries his world-transforming ideas\nof the kingdom, which created the church, visible and invisible, and\nre-made society.\n\nThe Jews are never beaten; if checked in their aspirations they, like\nthe prophets in the days of captivity, strike out in higher and nobler\nways. Thus you ought to be proud of Jesus for, as he is now being\nunderstood, he was an extremely representative man of your race. The\nreal enemies of the Jews are now claiming that no such man ever lived,\nwhich is the view of Drews and his school, some holding that he was a\ndeliberate invention of the early decades of the first century, and\nothers, like Jensen, that he was a revived Babylonian myth. But these\nnew views show that Jesus was not an Aryan, as a few of the\npan-Germanists have claimed, but a typical Semite. It does look now,\nin view of the teachings of such men as Gobineau and various of his\nsuccessors, that the Aryans are the highest and best people in the\nworld and that the Germans are the very best of all the Aryans, that\nit is Germany that has come to consider itself the chosen people, the\nelite, superior race. But certainly Germany is not very Christian. It\nwas only converted in the thirteenth century, and Luther soon threw\noff the fully developed Christianity of Rome. Since then we have had\nthe T\u00fcbingen School, that resolved everything into myth, and the very\nmany other negative points of view expressed in Nietzsche's supremest\ncondemnation of Jesus as a wretched degenerate, while Wagner's\ndeliberate slogan was, \"_Das Deutschtum muss das Christentum siegen_.\"\n\n\n_The Rapprochement of Jew and Gentile in America_\n\nI wonder if the time is not near at hand when your people will\nreconstruct your conceptions so much as to recognize Jesus as a\ntypical, golden, Jewish youth, worthy of being an ideal for young men.\nWe certainly do have in his life as now interpreted exactly what youth\nneeds above all things,--ambition, enthusiasm, idealism, all of them\nabsorbing, all of them diverting physical and sensuous energy into the\nvery highest culture sphere, sublimating desire, and making us\nunderstand that youth is not complete without a great effort at\nachievement. The very essence of youth is excitement. There must be\ntension, strain, a tiptoe attitude, a strong \"Excelsior\"-like ambition\nto climb, and a corresponding horror of inferiority, _Miderwertigkeit_.\nYouth is an age of idealism, and the tension decade of adolescence\nneeds a regimen and an idealization all its own, to set back-fires to\ntemptation. Instead of the current altogether too plain talk on sex\nhygiene and teaching, we must realize that every enthusiasm or real\ninterest, be it in the multiplication table or in literature, debate,\nathletics, is an alternative. It reduces temptation and stores up\nenergy as the great reservoirs in the middle west store up the floods\nthat come down from the mountains, so that they shall irrigate and not\ndevastate the land. Jesus, in the new interpretation of Holzmann and\nBaumann, stands for this kind of enthusiasm.\n\nI cannot but wonder, therefore, whether, in view of these new\nconceptions, Jew and Gentile are not going to meet in this country and\neven agree about Jesus. It is difficult at least to see which of us\nwould change most if there were this _rapprochement_. We must neither\nof us abandon our birthright. We must be the very best Puritan\nAnglo-Saxons we possibly can, and you must be the best Jews possible,\nfor out of these component elements American citizenship is made up.\nThis country stands for the dropping of old prejudices, such as those\nthat are inflaming Europe now with war. If we can satisfy each other's\nideals and meet half way the thing is done, and the melting pot which\nAmerica stands for has got in its work. I want the Menorah Society to\nfeel that it is in the van of this movement.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: G. Stanley Hall]\n\n\n\n\n\"Golden Rule\" Hillel\n\nBY MOSES HYAMSON\n\n\n[Illustration: _MOSES HYAMSON (born in Suwalki, Russia, in 1863, came\nto England in childhood). Rabbi and jurist; educated at Jews' College\nand University College of London; for thirteen years Senior Dayan of\nthe London Beth-Din (Jewish Court of Arbitration), in which capacity,\nbecause of his erudition in both the Jewish and the common law, he\nrendered notable service to the British community. In 1913 he accepted\na call from the Congregation Orach Chayim of New York. Besides being a\ncontributor to the Jewish Quarterly Review and other learned\npublications, Dr. Hyamson has published \"The Oral Law and Other\nSermons\" (1901), and an annotated edition of the medieval \"Collatio\nRomanorum et Mosaicarum Legum\" (1912)._]\n\nAs the students and teachers in the famous school of Shemaya and\nAbtalion assembled for worship one wintry Sabbath morning, they were\nastonished to find their lecture-hall exceptionally dark. On looking\nup they descried what seemed to be a human form lying prone across the\nskylight. Willing feet ascended the roof and willing hands swept away\nthe snow from a young lad's half-frozen form. They brought him down,\nand although it was the holy Sabbath, kindled a fire to revive the\nchilled body. \"Worthy is Hillel,\" they exclaimed, \"that the Sabbath\nshould be desecrated for his sake!\"\n\nSo runs the Talmudic tale. The incident happened in Palestine in the\ncentury before the common era. The boy Hillel had come from his\nobscure home in Babylon, bent upon study at the most famous school in\nPalestine, whose teachers, Shemaya and Abtalion, were heads of the\nSynhedrion, the Supreme Court of Jurisdiction. Poor and proud, Hillel\nsupported himself by manual labor while he was securing his education.\nLike Abraham Lincoln, he was a woodchopper. One half of the small\namount he earned daily served for his meals, and the other half he\npaid to the porter at the college for his admission in the evening. On\nthis short Friday in mid-winter he had been able to earn nothing, and\nin his keen anxiety not to miss the lecture and discussion, he\nclambered to the roof of the college hall, braving snow and cold for\nthe words of the living God as expounded by his teachers.\n\nWithin a few short years Hillel himself had succeeded his teachers as\nthe head of this famous school, and also as President of the\nSynhedrion. Hillel's career is a shining example of the democratic\nprinciple which has always prevailed in Jewish life, of the\nopportunity open to all men of talents, however humble their origin,\nto achieve position in the republic of Jewish learning. And learning\ncombined with noble character, as in the case of the great Hillel,\ncarried authority in Jewish life. It is true that Hillel was not\nwithout letters patent of nobility; though he came from poverty and\nobscurity and from an alien land, he was, according to tradition, of\nthe blood of David. It is not, however, to this accident of birth,\nknown only later, that Hillel owed his quick rise and supreme eminence\nin Jewish life, but to his distinguished attainments, to his profound\nlearning not only in the Jewish Law but in many secular fields of\nknowledge, to his bold and original mind combined with a pious\ndevotion to tradition, to his indomitable energy and industry, his\nnobility of character, his sympathy with the people and his\nunderstanding of their needs.\n\n\n\"_What To Thee Is Hateful Do Not Unto Another_\"\n\nIt was Hillel who first enunciated the Golden Rule, although in\nnegative form. The story that is told in the Talmud is one of the most\nfamiliar; yet no repetition can lessen its point and charm. A heathen,\nit is related, came to Shammai, the leader of a rival school,\nrequesting to be received into Judaism and instructed in the whole of\nthe religion while he stood upon one leg. Shammai, an architect by\nprofession, threatened the heathen with his builder's measuring rod\nand drove him out. The man went to Hillel with the same request.\nHillel, gentle, patient, democratic, received the man hospitably and\nanswered: \"The whole of Judaism can be summarized in one short\nsentence: 'What to thee is hateful do not unto another.' That is the\nessence of the whole Torah; the rest is commentary.\"\n\nAnd in the interpretation of that \"commentary\" which, together with\nthe Torah itself, enshrined the spirit of Judaism and made it a\nthrobbing reality in the life of the nation, Hillel brought out the\nhumanity of every regulation, the true intent behind it, whenever\nliteral enforcement would have worked hardship or might have defeated\nits true intent because of the changed circumstances since its\nenactment. While keeping faithfully within the spirit of Jewish\ntradition, Hillel struck out into innovations, new precedents and\nlegal institutions, which testified at once to the remarkable insight\nand boldness of his mind as a jurist and to his tact and sympathy as a\nleader of the people. Some of his innovations anticipate in a striking\nway the developments under similar circumstances of the common law of\nEngland and the United States many centuries later.\n\n\n_Hillel As A Jurist: His Sense of Social Justice_\n\nFor example, it happened that the first year after Herod's accession\nwas a Sabbatical year, which, according to the Deuteronomic provision\n(Deut. 15, 2), set up a Statute of Limitations and effectively barred\nthe recovery of all debts. The people, impoverished by the exactions\nof the Government and by the failure of the harvest, were compelled to\nhave recourse to money lenders. But those who were able to accommodate\nthe needy were reluctant to do so on account of the imminence of the\nSabbatical year and its legal bar to the recovery of past debts.\nHillel's keen mind and sympathetic heart found a way out of this\ndifficulty. He set up the institution of the Prosbul, by which a\ncreditor received the right, when making a loan, to register the debt\nin court. In this way the great jurist anticipated in a remarkable\nmanner a principle accepted so many centuries later in the common law\nof England and America, namely, that the Statute of Limitations does\nnot apply to recorded judgments. Such judgments can always be sued on\nand recovered. And so the new ordinance established by Hillel removed\nthe hardship of the Biblical enactment, the purpose of which was\nhumanitarian. By Hillel's innovation, the true spirit of that law was\nmaintained, and applied in accordance with its real intent in an age\nwhen the economic conditions were vastly different from the time when\nthe law itself was established. Our modern lawyers and reformers in\nthis country may well take a leaf out of this progressive conservatism\nof our great democratic teacher Hillel.\n\nOther decisions of Hillel equally significant could be cited. To\nlawyers especially, the study of them is fascinating; they are full of\nstartling relevancy in the present time of unrest and agitation for\nlegal reform in this country. And not without reason. What we are keen\nfor now is a greater measure of social justice in a democratic\ncommunity. A study of Hillel's jurisprudence--both the theory and the\ndecisions affecting the workaday life of the people--will give one an\nappreciation not only of the beautiful spirituality of the master, his\nerudition and his imagination, but the characteristic coalition of\nletter and spirit, the emphatic sense of social justice, which has\nprevailed in the whole system of Jewish law.\n\n\n_Hillel's Public Spirit and Humanity_\n\nThus Hillel, while head of his famous school of instruction, became\nthe founder of a school in another sense--a school of interpretation\nof the Torah. This school, as already indicated, was marked by a\nleniency and elasticity of interpretation of the traditional law quite\nin contrast to the harshness and rigidity of the contemporary school\nof Shammai; it is the school of Hillel, leaning to the spiritual and\nthe humane, that has prevailed ever since in Jewish law. Hillel made\nthe people realize the truth of the famous text about the Torah: \"It\nis a tree of life to them that grasp it, and of them that uphold it,\neveryone is rendered happy. Its paths are paths of pleasantness and\nall its ways are peace.\" Those who have mistakenly conceived the\nJewish law as something dour and rigid, unlovable, unspiritual,\nshould study the decisions and dicta of this great master.\n\nHillel's character is illustrated by a number of pregnant sayings of\nhis that have been recorded in the Talmud. \"Do not separate yourself\nfrom the community,\" was one of his characteristic sayings which\ngenuinely expressed his public spirit. His sense of individual and\nsocial responsibility is summed up in his three famous questions: \"If\nI am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am for myself alone,\nwhat am I? And if not now, when?\" His peace-loving nature and humanity\nfound voice in his counsel: \"Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving\npeace, pursuing peace, loving God's creatures and bringing them near\nto the knowledge of the Law.\" His disinterestedness, his liberal\npursuit of the Law, that is, of knowledge, made him confidently say:\n\"He who aggrandizes his name, his name shall perish. He who does not\nadd to his store of learning and good deeds will suffer diminution. He\nwho does not teach deserves death. He who uses the crown of the Law\nfor selfish needs and personal advancement will be destroyed.\" Who had\na better right than Hillel, graduate of poverty, to warn his\ncontemporaries: \"Do not say I shall learn when I will have leisure;\nperhaps you never will have leisure.\" And in every case, even when the\nconduct of a man seems most reprehensible, as when one of his\ncolleagues Menahem left the Synhedrion to take service under the\ntyrant Herod, Hillel holds to this advice: \"Judge not thy neighbor\nuntil thou art in his place.\"\n\nMany a tale is narrated of Hillel's patience, unfailing courtesy and\ntact, tolerance and humility, even under the greatest provocation. The\nman who bet 400 Zuz that he would break Hillel's patience by silly and\nfar-fetched questions lost his own temper at the consideration with\nwhich he was treated. And so the proverb became current, \"Patience is\nworth 400 Zuz.\" And other tales are told of Hillel's considerate\ndealing with heathens who wished to embrace Judaism, in contrast to\nthe harsh treatment meted out to them by his contemporary Shammai.\n\n\n_Sage and Saint_\n\nHis perfect consideration and charity had in it even something of the\nquixotic. When a man came to him for assistance, he was wont to help\nhim according to his previous position in life. Thus, in one instance\nwhere a man had formerly enjoyed great wealth but had suffered\nreverses, Hillel not only provided for him according to his previous\nstandard of living but, it is related, even hired a horse for the man\nto ride on and a footman to run before him. It is added that on one\noccasion, when Hillel could not obtain a runner, he himself served in\nthat capacity.\n\nHis wife, we learn, was a fit helpmeet to the sage and saint. Their\ndomestic life was a perfect harmony. Once on returning from a journey\nHillel heard a sound of quarreling in the neighborhood of his house.\n\"I am certain,\" said he, \"that this noise does not proceed from my\nhome.\" On another occasion Hillel sent his wife a message to prepare a\nsumptuous meal for an honored guest. At the appointed hour Hillel and\nhis guest arrived. But the meal was not ready. \"Why so late?\" asked\nHillel. \"I prepared a banquet,\" the wife replied, \"according to your\ndesire. But I learned that a couple were to be wedded to-day and they\nwere too poor to provide a marriage feast, so I gave them our meal for\ntheir wedding banquet.\" \"Ah, my dear wife, I guessed as much.\"\n\nBut the greatest and most constant hospitality was shown by Hillel to\na guest who was always with him and uppermost in his thoughts. Every\nday it was his habit to withdraw for a while for private meditation.\n\"Whither art thou going?\" asked his colleagues and disciples. \"I have\na guest to whom I must show attention.\" \"Who is this guest?\" \"My\nsoul,\" was the solemn reply; \"to-day it is with me, to-morrow the\nheavenly visitant may be departed and returned home.\"\n\nIs it any wonder that, after forty years of activity in the\nPatriarchate, when Hillel died (in the year 10 of the common era), men\nsaid of him: \"Meek and humble-minded, a saint has departed from among\nus, a disciple of Ezra the Scribe.\" The title fitted his career, for\nhe came like Ezra from Babylon to Palestine and like Ezra he restored\nthe Law when it was threatened with destruction. Great as a student,\nhe was great also as an inspirer of other students. He left eighty\ndistinguished disciples, of whom the youngest was that famous Jochanan\nben Zakkai who became the savior of Judaism at the destruction of the\nsecond Temple.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: M. Hyamson]\n\n\n EDITORS' NOTE--Dr. Hyamson's portrait of Hillel is the\n first in a series of character sketches of Jewish\n Worthies to appear in THE MENORAH JOURNAL. The second\n paper will be on Hillel's disciple, Jochanan ben\n Zakkai.\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Quality of Mercy\n\n_A Sixth Act to \"The Merchant of Venice\"_\n\nBY WILLIAM M. BLATT\n\n\n[Illustration: _William M. Blatt (born in Orange, N.J., in 1876)\nwas educated in the public schools of Boston, and received his degree\nof LL.B. from Boston University Law School in 1897. Besides being\nengaged with the law in Boston and contributing to a number of legal\nperiodicals, Mr. Blatt is also devoted to letters and has published a\nnumber of plays, including \"Husbands on Approval,\" and many one-act\nplaylets, including \"The Danger of Ideals,\" which have been given\nprofessional performance._]\n\n_Characters_: SHYLOCK, JESSICA, ANTONIO, GRATIANO, PORTIA, ISAAC, _a\nservant of Shylock_.\n\n_Scene_: A street in Venice.\n\n_Time_: An afternoon, two years after the last act of \"The Merchant of\nVenice.\"\n\n_As curtain rises, Portia and Gratiano discovered standing and looking\ndown the street, Gratiano pointing._\n\n _Gratiano_ Now Lady Portia look a long way off\n And see if you can recognize a friend.\n\n _Portia_ A friend? One person only do I see--\n A man, quite old, who hobbles with a staff.\n\n _Gratiano_ He is the one I mean. Now look again\n And try to recognize his face, his beard.\n\n _Portia_ Why, is it not old Shylock? Sure it is.\n And met most opportunely, on my word.\n Now, dear Gratiano, with this icy heart\n We must needs waste a score or two of words.\n\n _Gratiano_ To make him help his daughter Jessica?\n\n _Portia_ That is the task.\n\n _Gratiano_ Too much for Hercules.\n\n (_Enter Shylock._)\n\n _Portia_ A moment, Shylock, of your precious time.\n You must remember meeting me before.\n\n _Shylock_ Remember, nay then, how could I forget\n The noble judge who spoke so clean and fair\n And took away on quibbles all I owned.\n\n _Portia_ Not all, good Shylock, half of it remained.\n\n _Shylock_ Oh, true, I thank you for the half you left.\n I thank that kindly merchant, him that begged\n The Duke to quite remit the City's fine\n Which never would have done him any good--\n I thank him for accepting what was all\n He could have claimed, the half of my estate.\n\n _Portia_ In trust----\n\n _Shylock_ I know. In trust until I die.\n And trust Antonio to eat it up.\n Is it not known that when he takes a risk\n Of more than common danger and doth lose,\n He makes a record that he did invest\n A part of my belongings in the venture?\n Belike by now there's not a ducat left.\n For that however I have naught but joy\n Because it means that she who was my daughter\n And that Lorenzo who's her paramour\n Will, when I die, inherit penury.\n\n _Gratiano_ But if Antonio's trust should disappear\n They still would come by all you leave yourself;\n 'Twas thus the Duke decreed.\n\n _Shylock_ I know a thing\n Or two that I could tell and make the face\n Of son Lorenzo somewhat longer grow.\n\n _Gratiano_ Faith, often did Lorenzo say to us\n \"The Jew will find a way to cheat me yet.\"\n\n _Shylock_ To cheat him out of what? The gold he earned\n By robbing me, debauching my--my child?\n\n _Portia_ Nay, let us not be quarreling, old man,\n I have a message that I want to give.\n\n _Shylock_ No message from my daughter--none to me.\n\n _Portia_ I meant not message, what I have is news.\n Poor Jessica has come to sorry straits.\n Her husband, having heard of what you spoke,\n The loss of what Antonio received,\n The tricks you have been playing with your own,\n Fell out with Jessica; they came to words;\n From words, they say, to blows. And so it seems\n He left her in a pitiable state.\n\n _Shylock_ (_laughing wildly_) Good, good, good, good. I prithee\n tell me more.\n\n _Gratiano_ The fiends fly off with thee. Hast thou a heart\n And canst thou hear the sorrows of thy child\n In laughter and with joy?\n\n _Shylock_ She is no child\n Of mine. She is a wench who lied and stole\n Repaid my love with treason. Broke my heart\n And left me weakened for mine enemies\n To ruin and to taunt. Tell me the rest,\n Leave not a portion out. Describe her pain,\n Her hunger, her remorse. I would know all.\n\n _Portia_ The font has failed to change thy cruel soul;\n Thou art a Christian, Shylock, but in name.\n\n _Shylock_ Well, blame thy sacred water. Blame not me.\n\n _Gratiano_ And so poor Jessica must starve and die?\n\n _Shylock_ Why, no. For you and she (_pointing to Portia_) should be\n her friends.\n You Christians will not let a Christian fall.\n\n _Gratiano_ Now there we cut the venom from thy tongue\n For Jessica will not accept our aid.\n\n _Portia_ Indeed, old man, we know not where she is.\n We told you, that you might go search for her.\n Bassanio did offer her employment\n But she refused, belike because her shame\n Would not permit that we should see her shame.\n And so she fled.\n\n _Gratiano_ And may not be alive.\n\n _Shylock_ These circumstances you should tell unto\n Lorenzo. 'Twas he took her upon himself\n For better or for worse. Fare you well.\n I have affairs that interest me more.\n\n _Gratiano_ Come, Lady Portia. 'Tis a waste of time.\n The Bible says that God did choose the Jews\n But says not what it was He chose them for.\n Our ancient friend hath made it clear to me\n That they were chosen by our gracious Lord\n To be a kind of warning and example\n Of what a misbeliever may become.\n\n _Portia_ Thou wilt not save thy daughter?\n\n _Shylock_ Lady fair,\n In this peculiar and imperfect world\n The virtues are divided into parts:\n For instance, mercy. Some do practice it,\n And some do merely preach. A third there are\n Whose only contribution is to be\n The text from which the second sermons preach;\n They neither preach nor practice. Such am I.\n Farewell.\n\n _Gratiano_ We but insult ourselves to stay. (_Exit Portia and\n Gratiano. Shylock looks after them. Enter Antonio, sees\n Shylock, walks over to him and touches him with his\n stick. Shylock turns._)\n\n _Antonio_ Hebrew, have I found thee out at last?\n Once more thy promises are broken, eh?\n\n _Shylock_ Yes, yes. I pray you----\n\n _Antonio_ Pray me nothing more.\n\n _Shylock_ Signor Antonio, wait another day.\n\n _Antonio_ Another day. For what? Until you hide\n A bag of ducats or a jewel case?\n Your bonds are by a fortnight overdue\n And day by day your fortune dwindles down.\n If I should sell the roof above your head\n And all your land and chattels, they would bring\n Less than enough to pay me what you owe.\n\n _Shylock_ I prithee not so loud. But you alone\n Are cognizant of my disastrous state.\n My name is good. Perchance I may obtain\n A temporary loan to tide me through.\n But if my losses come to other ears\n Before my kinsmen and my ship arrive\n A bankrupt's ending stares me in the face.\n Wait, wait Antonio, surely he will come,\n My cousin Issachar who sailed away.\n\n _Antonio_ Thy cousin Issachar will come no more.\n He promised to return three weeks ago.\n\n _Shylock_ But think, remember, good Antonio,\n The vessel could not founder. 'Twas my best,\n Held in reserve, the last one of my fleet.\n Issachar swore he knew the very spot\n Where dusky natives mined the laughing gold\n And that if I would furnish men and ships\n The moiety of the cargo would be mine.\n Perhaps he is a little while delayed.\n\n _Antonio_ Perhaps another theory will fit.\n Perhaps your kinsman filled the ship with gold\n And then did point his helm another way.\n Perhaps in England now he lives at ease\n And deems the whole is better than a half.\n Consider, sir, your kinsman is a Jew.\n\n _Shylock_ He will not fail me, for he is my friend.\n Patience, good sir, patience a day or two.\n Deal with me kindly as so oft before\n You treated many an unfortunate.\n\n _Antonio_ Let's have no whining. See you pay my bills\n No later than to-day. Expect no further time.\n I have done more than doth in truth become\n A Christian to oblige a Jew withal.\n Think not to share the leniency I give\n To men of Venice of my faith and blood.\n This case is different.\n\n _Shylock_ But did thy Lord\n Not preach a creed of brotherhood and love\n And bid thee treat thy neighbor as thyself?\n\n _Antonio_ He meant our Christian neighbors who reside\n By right of law and ancient heritage\n Within the land, but not the tribe who do\n Usurp the places of their betters. No!\n\n _Shylock_ I am a Christian, made so by your Church.\n Your own priest said so and it must be true.\n\n _Antonio_ 'Twas but a form to bend thy haughty will.\n In heart and manner thou art still a Jew.\n They should be glad that they can here remain\n To practice sacrilege, and cheat, and fawn.\n I marvel we can be so tolerant.\n\n _Shylock_ The God who made this land and you and me\n Mocks at your selfish, mean, philosophy.\n When you or yours can build a mountain peak\n Or add a grain unto the universe\n Then talk of this fair ground as your domain.\n The earth is one and rests within His hand;\n The great and small His erring children are,\n But we who from Yisrael claim descent\n Are now the eldest of the family.\n The God of Justice never slumbereth.\n Jehovah is His name; His will be done.\n\n _Antonio_ Mumble thy prayers if that affords relief,\n But if by sundown I am not repaid\n Another Moses must thou be and bring\n Another set of miracles from heaven\n Or lose the very coat from off thy back.\n By sundown--but a few short minutes hence. (_Exit Antonio_)\n\n _Shylock_ Finished--almost finished--almost done.\n I see the wave that soon above my hopes,\n My fears, my sorrows, and my broken heart,\n Will roll in cruel triumph. I'm content.\n A long and troubled record I shall leave\n Of struggles in the dark 'gainst many foes.\n I begged for light to see my duty clear\n To see the purpose of my suffering\n To see the end that my Creator served\n In heaping hills of torment on my head.\n The light has never come. But now ere long\n I must be called where all shall be made clear.\n Till then a few weeks more of faith in Him\n A few weeks more with an unfalt'ring tongue\n To praise His wisdom though its end be hid.\n A few weeks more to walk within His law.\n\n (_Starts to walk off. Enter Jessica in disordered dress\n and manner._)\n\n _Jessica_ Father!\n\n _Shylock_ Back! Away! Dare not to touch me.\n\n _Jessica_ A word, a single word and I will go.\n\n _Shylock_ (_trying to wrest his arm from her grasp_)\n Let be I say.\n\n _Jessica_ Nay, but I cannot leave.\n I know not how much time I have to live.\n I marvel that this body thin and frail\n Has so long stood th' innumerable shocks\n Which in my married life it hath endured.\n Death must be near, it stretcheth out its arms,\n And I in answer have extended mine.\n\n _Shylock_ Come not to me for money. Had I all\n The wealth of Sheba's mines I would not pay\n A mite to save thy fallen soul from hell.\n The potter's field may have thy rotten bones\n And owls and jackals pray for thy repose.\n\n _Jessica_ 'Tis not for gold I beg but for thy love.\n I threw it from me like an orange sucked\n And turned to grasp the shining fruit that he,\n Lorenzo, pictured to mine eyes. Ah me,\n How bitter, hard and worthless to the taste\n Hath been that substitute. The marriage moon\n Had scarce grown full before my body bore\n The marks of coward blows.\n\n _Shylock_ Ha! Ha! That's well.\n\n _Jessica_ I have not known a single kindly word,\n I scarce have heard him call me by my name\n Since less than four weeks after we were wed.\n\n _Shylock_ (_gloatingly rubbing his hands_) Hm!\n\n _Jessica_ Oh father, why was I not told before\n That we and all our people are accurst;\n That those to whom we give our love and trust\n Curse us and loathe us with a dreadful hate,\n A hate that neither reason can assuage\n Nor conduct make amends for. Awful fate,\n That makes the very children of the street\n With circle eyes point at us in contempt,\n And people who have never heard our names\n Thirst for our blood and menace us with death!\n\n _Shylock_ So thou didst think a priestly comedy\n Could make Lorenzo love his Jewish wife?\n\n _Jessica_ I could have died for him. For him I fled\n And stole your wealth and helped your enemies.\n Why could he not have been a little kind?\n\n _Shylock_ (_chuckling_) Come tell me how he beat you. Tell me that.\n\n _Jessica_ Have pity, father.\n\n _Shylock_ Tell me how he swore.\n\n _Jessica_ Oh, torture me no further. Take me back.\n Love me not now, but let me win your love\n A little at a time. No day shall pass\n But in it I shall do some tiny act\n That will in time make up a wealth of deeds,\n And if we both are living long enough\n The balance will be as it was before.\n\n _Shylock_ Thy pleadings are but wasted, Jessica,\n Thou canst not gain the end that thou dost seek.\n For even if I have the foolish will\n (And I assure thee that I have it not)\n To bring thee back to all the luxury,\n The silken clothes, the soft and perfumed beds,\n The shining jewels of thy girlhood days,\n I could not. I am almost penniless.\n\n _Jessica_ Poor, and alone, and old! Nay, father dear,\n Thou couldst not drive me from thee after this\n Hadst thou the strength of ten. Let us go forth\n And find a little corner of the earth\n Where I may work and you may live at peace.\n\n _Shylock_ I need no aid. I want no help from thee.\n\n _Jessica_ Then give me thine. I starve for sympathy.\n I shall go mad. I saw my baby die\n And all around me were my husband's friends\n Who spoke in terms of polished elegance.\n With formal platitudes and commonplace\n Regarding me as something curious,\n A vulgar, noisy creature, lacking taste\n And proper self-control. While on its bier\n Lay all the joy that life in promise held.\n Dead, and my heart within it. (_Weeps_)\n (_Shylock turns to go, looks back after a step\n or two, and returns_)\n\n _Shylock_ I did not know the little one was dead.\n Was it a pretty child?\n\n _Jessica_ A pretty child!\n A cherub could not be more beautiful.\n Blue eyes and golden hair. A tiny mouth\n A dimple in her chin. (_Shylock puts his arm around\n Jessica_)\n\n _Shylock_ Thy mother's face belike. So did she look.\n And how old when it--died?\n\n _Jessica_ A year, a year.\n\n (_Enter Antonio and Gratiano. Antonio touches\n Shylock on the shoulder_)\n\n _Antonio_ Well, let us have an end. The time is up.\n I now demand the payment of my bonds.\n\n _Shylock_ I have not moved since last you spoke to me.\n\n _Antonio_ All's one for that. You had no move to make.\n Your whole estate is in the bailiff's hands\n And you yourself may come along with me.\n\n _Shylock_ Where would you take me?\n\n _Antonio_ Why, before the Duke.\n\n _Shylock_ What need of trials? Freely I confess\n The debts I owe you. Take what you can find.\n Take ev'ry rag and counter. Take them all.\n Myself and Jessica must go away.\n\n _Antonio_ Not quite so fast. The law expressly states\n That I may put you in the debtor's gaol\n And so I mean to do.\n\n _Shylock_ But good Signor--\n\n _Antonio_ No protest will avail. I know you Jews.\n You hang together in calamity\n And help each other while the Christians starve.\n Let them redeem you and repay my loss.\n\n _Shylock_ Good sir, my kin are very far away\n And poor as I.\n\n _Antonio_ 'Twill do no good to lie.\n Write letters. I will see them promptly sent.\n\n _Shylock_ I swear to you Antonio--\n\n _Gratiano_ Wait a while.\n First tell us if the oath thou art to make\n Is sworn as Christian or in Hebrew style;\n Though truly which to give the preference\n Is matter to discuss. A Jewish oath\n Thou canst not take for thou hast been baptised,\n And sooth to say I have a sort of doubt\n About thy reverence for Christian forms.\n\n _Shylock_ By that great Power who can humble both\n Hebrew and Christian, I do swear to you\n That not in all this universe's span\n Have I a claim on friends or relatives\n As large as this. Much more have I the right\n To claim assistance from Antonio\n Who though he found me keen for my revenge\n And steadfast in assertion of my rights\n Can bring no accusation on my head\n Of underhanded trickery or crime.\n\n _Gratiano_ Because we watch you pretty carefully.\n\n _Shylock_ What say you, sir? You will not keep us here?\n\n _Antonio_ I warned thee once cajoling will not serve.\n Write out the letters. That's the only way.\n I'll see that while you tarry in the gaol\n Your comfort shall not be too much disturbed.\n Your food shall be according to your wish\n And other things in reason you may have.\n\n _Jessica_ Good sir, I think you know me, do you not?\n\n _Antonio_ Why, are you not my friend Lorenzo's wife?\n\n _Jessica_ I am the Jessica who married him,\n But not his wife if wifehood is a state\n That presupposes more than legal rights.\n I and Lorenzo are as strangers now\n And less than strangers, less than enemies.\n\n _Antonio_ I grieve to hear it.\n\n _Jessica_ I would have your grief\n Not for myself but for my father here.\n He speaks the truth. He has no more to give.\n\n _Antonio_ Then let him call upon his wealthy friends,\n The other Jews will trust him if he asks.\n\n _Jessica_ You heard him say he knows not where to sue.\n\n _Antonio_ O, that was but the cunning of his race.\n\n _Jessica_ Unfeeling man! If his deserts are dumb\n What of your obligation due to me?\n The Court's decree as you no doubt recall\n Was that the half of his estate should go\n To you to hold in trust for me and mine.\n I charge you now upon your Christian faith\n To give my father all the residue\n That will be mine when he shall pass away\n Or take it for yourself and let him go.\n\n _Antonio_ Three obstacles prevent your sacrifice.\n The first is that though my intent was fair\n By bad investments more than half the fund\n Has disappeared, and all that doth remain\n Would not suffice to satisfy the bonds.\n The second, that the sum is payable\n Upon your father's death, which is not yet.\n But third and most of all the money goes\n To you and to your husband, not to you.\n The gift is joint and neither can alone\n Claim all himself or any several part.\n Indeed, I own it frankly, my desire\n In asking that the Duke should so decree\n Was not to benefit Lorenzo's wife,\n A Jewess, who was never aught to me,\n But solely to befriend Lorenzo's self\n My coreligionist and distant kin.\n To give you anything of Shylock's gold\n Without Lorenzo's will would be a wrong,\n A breach of trust, a patent injury.\n And if your separation from his love,\n As shrewdly I suspect, be fault of yours\n And growing from thy Jewish wilfulness,\n It would be most unfaithful and untrue\n That I should thus reward inconstancy.\n You see, in honor and before the law\n I must refuse to do as you request.\n\n _Jessica_ I see that Jesus died in vain for you.\n His Jewish heart, with pity for the low\n And meek and humble broke upon the cross\n And for a time the magic of his words\n Restrained the beast in Gentile followers,\n But soon the kindly Stoic lost his sway\n And cruel bigots in his Jewish name,\n By his offenceless, mild authority\n Took fire and sword and hatred for their flag.\n\n _Antonio_ My girl, there is a law 'gainst blasphemy.\n\n _Gratiano_ Why stand we here and listen to her spleen?\n Away with Shylock. Take him to the gaol.\n\n _Antonio_ Come on.\n\n _Jessica_ No! No!\n\n _Shylock_ Resist no more, my child.\n\n _Jessica_ Oh, father, we may never meet again;\n Your age and suffering cannot endure\n The shock of this disgrace.\n\n _Shylock_ 'Tis better so.\n I pray for death. It cannot come too soon.\n Farewell.\n\n _Jessica_ Farewell. (_Throws her arms around him_)\n Yet not a long farewell,\n I shall not far survive. It is no sin\n To end a life of misery and shame.\n\n _Isaac_ (_behind scenes_) Where is my master? Where has Shylock gone?\n (_Enter Isaac._)\n\n _Gratiano_ Here fellow, here he is. With Jessica\n He poses like a model for the arts.\n\n _Isaac_ Great news and wonderful. His ship is here\n And laden full of gold. The mine is found\n And Issachar and he are princely rich.\n This cargo is the greatest that has come\n To Venice since the city first began.\n\n _Antonio_ I do rejoice to hear it. Truly Jew\n I have no wish to do thy body harm\n But thou and thy relations are well known\n To be so deep in craft and villainy\n That to recover what is justly due\n We Christians must resort to rigid means.\n Go freely with thy daughter. Later on\n When ev'rything's in order I'll return\n And you may pay me what the balance is.\n\n (_Exit Antonio and Gratiano, followed by Isaac. Shylock\n still stands expressionless with Jessica's arms around\n him._)\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Wmln. Blatt]\n\n\n\n\nJewish Students in European Universities\n\nBY HARRY WOLFSON\n\n(_Concluded_)\n\n\n_Judaism and Jewish Students in France_\n\nThe decadence of native Judaism in France has become proverbial. The\noriginal French Jews never amounted to much; and the Alsatian\nimmigrants, while still supplying rabbis for the pulpits, have of late\nbegun to disappear from the pews. You may state it is an axiom that\nthe synagogue will have to go a-begging for a quorum wherever\nchurch-going is unpopular. But French Judaism has recently been\ngaining reinforcement by the influx of newcomers from Eastern Europe.\nParis might be considered next to London the greatest centre of Jewish\nimmigration in Europe. In fact, Paris as well as some large cities in\nthe Low Countries, and to some extent even London, have since the\nbeginning of the Jewish movement towards the United States, become the\nrefuge of a considerable number who straggled behind the migratory\ncolumns and were unable to reach their final destination. Free from\nany official molestations and rather welcomed by the native Jews, the\nforeign Jewish community in Paris has flourished in its own way. It\nnumbers by this time about twenty-five thousand souls, a large\nproportion of whom were born and brought up in the French capital.\n\nIt is these young French Jews of immigrant parentage, students and\nprofessional men, who organized themselves, about two years ago, in an\n\"Association des Jeunes Juifs,\" known by its initials as A. J. J. The\naim of that organization, which is non-partisan in Jewish affairs, is\nboth cultural and practical. It publishes a monthly by the name of\n\"Les Pionniers,\" and occasionally holds debates and lectures on\nvarious Jewish topics. It also carries on a program of social work\namong the immigrant Jews. I might perhaps give a clearer idea of the\nobject of the A. J. J. by reproducing their following declaration:\n\"Notre But.--Nous voulons nous affirmer 'Juifs' sans forfanterie, mais\navec fermet\u00e9; cultiver, d\u00e9velopper parmis nous, faire conna\u00eetre au\ndehors, l'\u00e2me juive; nous \u00e9duquer mutuellement; demander, par les\nvoies l\u00e9gales, le respect, la justice pour tous,--fussent-ils juifs;\naider nos fr\u00e8res \u00e9migr\u00e9s \u00e0 l'aqu\u00e9rir la qualit\u00e9 de citoyen; inculquer\n\u00e0 nos membres les principes de solidarit\u00e9 et de mutualit\u00e9.\" In the\nsummer of 1913, Dr. Nahum Slouszch of the Sorbonne submitted to the\nsociety a scheme for more extensive activities, both Jewish and\npatriotic in their scope, namely, the participation in educational and\nsocial work among the indigenous Jews of the French possessions in\nAfrica.\n\n\n_The Jew of the Roman Ghetto_\n\nIt is a pity that so little is known to us about the life of the\nJewish masses in Italy. The fame of the Nathans and Luzzattis has led\nus to believe that in Italy Jews form the class of society from which\nmayors and statesmen are recruited. But in Italy the majority of Jews\nstill live in social and economic conditions not far advanced above\nthose of their ancestors in centuries past. Italy is the only country\nin Europe outside those in the Eastern part where the so-called\nghettoes are populated by native Jews. Their political emancipation\nhas not raised them from the bottom of the social structure over the\nheads of their Gentile neighbors. Nowhere is the average Jew so much\nlike the non-Jew in appearance, language, manners, and vocation than\nthe inhabitant of the Roman Ghetto on the bank of the Tiber. He is\nengaged there in the petty trades of selling his olives, peaches, and\nfigs, and hires out as a journeyman in and outside his country. He\nhawks with \"cartiloni\" and \"ricordi di Roma\" in front of the caf\u00e9\nterraces, and his street waifs accost the foreigners for a \"soldi.\"\nEven at the door of his old-clothes shop you can hardly recognize in\nhim the Jew. It is this, more than the paucity of the number of Jews\nin Italy, that explains the absence of anti-Jewish feeling there. For\nthe name Sacerdote by which Italian Cohens call themselves does not\nsuggest affluence, and the cognomen Levi does not necessarily\ndesignate one's business.\n\nIn his religious life the Jew of the Roman Ghetto resembles the\nLithuanian rather than the Western European. His religious activity,\nto be sure, is restricted to the prayer services of the Temple, but\nhis Temple is more like a Beth Midrash than a symphony hall and\nlyceum. Living within a Catholic environment, his religion has\nbeen preserved as something positive, tangible, and powerful; and\nif it is no longer an inspiring influence within him, it exists at\nleast as a reality outside of him. The religious institutions and\ninstrumentalities are looked upon by him as something hallowed and\nconsecrate. The synagogue is spoken of as the \"sacro tempio\" and the\nrabbi, referred to by the Hebrew words \"Morenu Harav,\" is looked up to\nin matters religious as if he were the incumbent of the throne of\nMoses. The place of worship is opened three times a day for the\ntraditional number of the daily public prayers, and young men as well\nas old, unwashed and in their working garments, repair there directly\nfrom their work to hear the \"sacra messa,\" as the services are\nsometimes termed by them. Most of the younger Jews are unable to read\nthe Hebrew prayers, some read without understanding them; but they all\nknow a few selected prayers by heart which they recite aloud with many\ninteresting gesticulations and genuflections, while in the pulpit the\nChasan reads the services from a prayer-book printed in Livorno,\nchanting them in a monotonous sing-song not unlike what one often\nhears in the chapels of St. Peter.\n\n\n_Societies of Jewish Youth in Italy_\n\nRacial consciousness is strong among these Jews of the Roman Ghetto.\nThey are to themselves, in common parlance, \"Ibrim\" or \"Yahudim,\"\nwhich they utter not without pride, and the Gentile is looked down\nupon as a mere \"goi,\" while the passing priest is pointed out as a\n\"komer.\" If you ever happen to be in Rome, I should advise you take\none afternoon off, and ordering a \"cafe noro\" at some caf\u00e9 house on\nthe Piazza Venezia, sit down quietly at a table on the terrace and try\nto look Jewish. You will soon be assailed by a number of postal-card\nvenders coming one after another, until one importunate youth,\ndiscovering your identity, will of a sudden change his attitude, and,\nhis obsequiousness gone, will enter with you into an intimate\nconversation. He will tell you his name, his pedigree, and of the\n\"tempio,\" and of the street where many Jews live. He will no longer\nentreat you to buy his goods; and if you do so, he will mumble out his\n\"grazie\" rather perfunctorily. For are not all Israel of the same\ndescent?--and if they are not all princes, at least none of them is\nbetter than a postal-card vender in Rome.\n\nIt is therefore not surprising that among the native Italian Jews\nthere should arise on the part of the young educated elements a desire\nto convert that latent Jewish sentiment into some form of practical\nand useful activity. A society of Jewish youth in Italy has already\nexisted for about three years during which time two conventions were\nheld. A number of commendable resolutions were passed about the\nimprovement of Jewish education among the Italian Jews and especially\nthe advancement of the study of the Hebrew language among them.\nZionism was warmly endorsed, though the society as a whole did not\ncommit itself officially to the cause. Like the A. J. J. of Paris, the\nItalian organization also purports to act as intermediaries between\nthe Italian government and the native Jewish population of Tripoli. In\nRome there is a local organization of Jewish students, devoted to the\nstudy of Hebrew literature, and is rather of cosmopolitan complexion,\nbeing composed of Italian, Greek, German, and Russian Jews. The moving\nspirit of that circle was a brilliant Russian Jew, who had graduated\nin law from the University of Rome.\n\n\n_Conclusion: The Growing National Spirit Among Jewish Students_\n\nA close observation of European Jewish students, both as individuals\nand as groups, leads one to the realization of a growing consciousness\namong them of national unity, and of an increasing belief on their\npart of the imperishability of the Jews as a race. That morbid\nfeeling of national decay and the imminent disappearance of the race,\nwhich had preyed upon the minds of Jewish men in the past generation,\nand which is reflected in the literature of that time, has been\neverywhere displaced by one of confidence and hope. Desertion from\nJudaism, to be sure, may sporadically make its appearance here and\nthere as a convenient escape from material disadvantages; indifference\ntowards it may likewise in some quarters still survive as a relic of\nthe past,--but these are rather unusual and isolated phenomena,\nemphasizing all the more the universal fidelity and attachment to all\nthings Jewish.\n\nThe enthusiasm for Judaism, everywhere in a process of growth,\nmanifests itself in its early stages in study and self-cultivation; it\nassumes a more concrete form, in its later stages, of some communal or\nsocial activity; and if that development keeps on uninterruptedly it\nfinally consummates in Zionism. This development, it must be admitted,\nis not a spontaneous and self-directive movement. In no small measure,\nit is everywhere stimulated by the growing tendency on the part of\nnon-Jews in almost every country to appraise the Jew according to his\nracial origin, an appraisal which results in a feeling not necessarily\nhostile, but in most cases neutral and sometimes even favoring the\nracial and cultural peculiarity, indestructible and impermiscible, of\nthe Jewish element. It is this external stimulus, rather than any\ninternal impulse, that is responsible for the unfolding of the\nnational spirit among Jewish students and the assertion of their\nselfhood.\n\nNone the less, their self-assertion has nowhere reached the extreme of\nspiritual alienation from their environment. There is nothing more\nremarkable in the character of Jewish youth of the present day, even\namong those who were born and raised in East European ghettos, than\nthe spiritual and intellectual snugness in which they find themselves,\nin what should have been expected to remain to them a foreign\nenvironment. The residual estrangement of the Jewish soul from\neverything that is non-Jewish, which our forefathers in the past had\nfiguratively designated with what Jewish mysticism called the\n\"Captivity of the Shekinah,\" has totally disappeared. The individual\nJew of to-day, while sharing in the sublimated consciousness of the\nrace as a whole, does not in any conscious or subliminal way feel\nhimself to be personally identified with it; whence the hesitation on\nthe part of the majority of Jewish students to participate actively in\nZionism even though they would all admit it to be the logical sequel\nof Jewish history.\n\nFor Zionism to them can never become a personal ideal, something\nrequisite for the salvation of their souls. It can at its best appeal\nto them, in so far as they are consciously Jewish, as the cause of the\nnation as a whole; and consequently the mere suspicion that their\naffiliation with the movement might be held up against them as an\nimpugnment of their loyalty to the land of their birth and abode is\nsufficient to keep them aloof from it. It was very interesting for me\nto notice how everywhere, after a long manoeuvre of Zionist\ndiscussions with good Jewish young men, they would finally halt at\ntheir unshakable position that Zionists might arouse the suspicion of\ntheir Gentile neighbors as to the loyalty and patriotism of the Jews.\nWhere people are obsessed by the fear of being misunderstood in doing\nwhat they otherwise think to be good and impeccable, no arguments, of\ncourse, can avail. They are in this respect characteristically Jewish.\nIn their Brand-like racial frame of mind, the Jews could never stop\nmidway between the two antipodes of roving world-citizenry and\nhidebound mono-patriotism. It is probable that their attitude will\nchange as soon as it is generally realized that personal devotion and\nloyalty to two causes are not psychologically a self-deception, and\nthat the serving of two masters is not a moral anomaly unless, as in\nthe original adage, one of the masters be Satanic.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Harry Wolfson]\n\n\n Extract from a letter received from William Chadwick,\n President of the Hebrew Congregation and the Adler\n Society, Oxford University, England, commenting on the\n section devoted to England in Mr. Wolfson's article in\n our January number: \"The remarks of Mr. Wolfson, whom\n we remember very well, concerning Oxford, were very\n apt for the time; but in Oxford, one particular type\n of Judaism never remains for long; Judaism here is in\n a state of perpetual flux, and to seize upon any one\n moment and represent that view as a type of Oxford's\n Judaism is very erroneous. I am sure that if Mr.\n Wolfson were here now, he would not recognize the\n services or the attitude now prevalent. I doubt if he\n would now hear Liberal Judaism apostrophised 'as the\n safeguard of modern Jews from the attractiveness of\n the superior teachings of Christ.'\"\n\n\n\n\nZionism: A Menorah Prize Essay\n\nBY MARVIN M. LOWENTHAL\n\n\n[Illustration: _MARVIN M. LOWENTHAL (born in Bradford, Pa., in 1890)\nis at present a Senior in the University of Wisconsin. He has won the\nWisconsin Menorah Society Prize twice--in 1912 for an essay on \"The\nJew in the American Revolution,\" and in 1914 for the essay on\n\"Zionism\" here published for the first time. Mr. Lowenthal is now the\nPresident of the Wisconsin Zionist Society._]\n\nAt the head of an alley-way hard by the Place of the Temple, the\nHaram-esh-Sherif, in Jerusalem, a long wall built in rough-hewn\ncourses lifts itself above the squalor of the Moghrebin quarter to an\neastern sky from which a sun that seldom sleeps bakes the grey stones,\nbares every detail of a crumbling ruin, and intensifies the wistful\nodor of decay. This, the remnant of Solomon's glory, is the Wailing\nWall of the Jews. Clad in sackcloth and covered with ashes,\npatriarchal figures sway to and fro, press their lips to the hot\ngranite, beat now their chests and now the wall, and today, as every\nday for eighteen hundreds of years, wail in the words of the Psalmist:\n\n \"Oh God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance;\n Thy holy Temple have they defiled;\n They have laid Jerusalem in heaps.\"[1]\n\nThis picture reveals the typical and traditional attitude of the Jew\ntoward the land of his forefathers. Taught as children in the Cheder\nto turn their thoughts and desires toward Palestine; devoting\nthemselves as men to the study of the Law and the Prophets and to the\nbuilding upon this study of the vast Talmudic structure, until a\nspiritual Land of the Book may be said to have been created wherein\nthey continually dwelt; crystallizing and adopting the Restoration as\na dogma of the faith; commemorating with solemn fasts the Ninth of Ab\nas the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple by Titus; and\nrepeating at each Passover with the pitiful hope of a child, \"Next\nyear in Jerusalem,\" the Jews have bound the memory of Palestine as a\nsign upon their hands and as frontlets between their eyes. They have\nindeed written it upon the door-posts of their houses and upon their\ngates, to the end--that they have wept and prayed. The vision of the\nprophets, which created and sustained this passionate ideal, itself\ninhibited the realization by emphasizing the redemption as\nmiraculous, as a consummation to come in its own time without man's\neffort, and indeed in spite of man's will. And so, except for the\nsporadic and meteoric fiascos of mock-Messiahs, the Jews--this most\npractical of people--continued in hope and prayer to watch the\ncenturies creep by. Frequently the hope flowered into the songs of a\nJudah Halevi or Ibn Gabirol, songs as sweet as have blossomed in the\nmedieval garden; and the prayer found expression in a poignancy\nattributable only to the racial genius which created the Psalms; but\nuntil the nineteenth century the dream preserved all the qualities of\na dream.\n\n\n_A Crusade for A Birthright_\n\nOn August 29, 1897, a congress convened in Basel, Switzerland,\ncomparable in Jewry to the Council of Clermont; for in this congress\ntwo hundred and four Jews, acting as delegates of their people from\nhalf the countries in the world, assembled at the call of Theodor\nHerzl to go crusading for the recovery of Palestine. This difference,\namong others, may be apparent--the Christians sought the recovery of a\ngrave; the Jews, of a cradle. Palestine was to be a cradle in two\nsenses; this Congress, the first body representative of all Jewry to\nbe convened in the Diaspora, claimed the land of Israel not by virtue\nof a death, but as a birthright, and furthermore hoped to find its\nrecovery the opportunity for the rejuvenation of a people.\n\nQuoting from his book, \"The Jewish State\"[2]--a book journalistic in\nstyle, but trumpet-toned in the note it sounded for political\nZionism--Theodor Herzl offered the following definition of Zionism\nafter the first Zionist Congress (1897): \"Zionism has for its object\nthe creation of a home, secured by public rights, for those Jews who\neither cannot or will not be assimilated in the country of their\nadoption.\"[3] Zionism, in a word, is not the last truism in a weary\ndebate, nor a new verse to an old song; it is, on the contrary, a\ndefinite answer to a perplexing and imperative question. What are\nthese Jews who cannot or will not be assimilated, and why cannot or\nwill not they be assimilated? This question constitutes what is known\nas _the Jewish problem_, or, for those who deny or dislike the term,\n_the Jewish position_; and this question must first be fully stated\nbefore the Zionist or any other answer can be intelligible.\n\n\n_The Isolation of Medieval Jewry_\n\nThe Jews in the Middle Ages were considered by themselves, their few\nfriends, and their many enemies, as a twice separated nation--a people\nseparated from those among whom they dwelt and separated from the\nland in which they originated. They were governed by their own\nlaw--the Lex Jud\u00e6orum--which was recognized by the authorities of the\nland in which they lived as peculiar and proper to them;[4] they dwelt\nin communal groups which were bound together by common interests; they\nobserved their own customs and nourished their own culture; they were\nheld to be foreigners, and in a comparison of their own with the\nChristian civilization, they readily acknowledged this status. The\nforce of persecution without and the religious conviction of\nsuperiority, separateness, and nationality within, preserved and\nconstantly increased this solidarity.[5]\n\nThat the existence of a separate, recalcitrant, and even obnoxious\nnation within a nation did not constitute a problem for the medievals\nmay be attributable to two reasons: (1) the medieval theory of life\naccentuated a hierarchical order of existence--a theory that found\nexpression in feudalism, in Church organization, and in guild and\ncraft life; in pursuance of this theory, the Jews were accorded a\nrecognized and distinct status; (2) furthermore, the Jews were an\neconomic necessity in the times when a ban was laid on money-lending,\nand they constituted an important economic facility at a little later\nperiod when capital could indeed be worked but when rivalry and\nhatreds rendered communication uncertain.[6] To the maintenance of\nJewish solidarity and the preservation of things Jewish _qua_ Jewish,\nsacrifices culminating in the surrender of life bequeathed to the race\na comprehensive martyrology.[7]\n\nErnest Renan defines a nation as \"a great solidarity constituted by\nthe sentiment of the sacrifices that its citizens have made and those\nthey feel prepared to make once more. It implies a past, but is summed\nup in the present by a tangible fact--the clearly expressed desire to\nlive a common life.\" In sum, the Jews throughout the Middle Ages,\nwhich was prolonged for them until a little less than two hundred\nyears ago, comprised a nation as virtual in point of their own claim\nand its recognition by other nations as in the days when they were\nestablished in Palestine. Renaissance, Reformation, and the\nrediscovery of the world by science failed to make an impression on\nthe thick ghetto walls; and Jewish isolation, even as late as the\neighteenth century, may be vividly realized by thinking of Rousseau\nand Voltaire in contrast with the contemporary lights of Jewry--Elijah\nGaon and Israel Besht,[8] men as medieval as a gargoyle.\n\nThe French Revolution with its early philosophy of naturalism and\nhumanism and its later political expression in liberty, equality, and\nfraternity, razed the physical and spiritual walls of the ghetto and\nset up the \"Jewish problem.\" Following the Revolution, four currents\nof thought and action, working both simultaneously and successively,\ncausing, reacting upon, and intermingling with one another, affecting\nthe Jews now favorably and now unfavorably, went into the making of\nthis problem. To deal with Emancipation, Enlightenment, Nationalism,\nand Anti-Semitism in detail would consume a volume, but an outline of\ntheir bearing on the present situation is essential.\n\n\n_Emancipation and Enlightenment_\n\nEmancipation may be defined as the removal of the civil disabilities\nfrom the Jews, following the acceptance of liberal principles by the\nEuropean governments. The process was a gradual one. In 1791 the\nFrench Assembly passed the vote for the complete emancipation of the\nJews, which procedure was ratified and firmly established by the\nNapoleonic regime. Belgium (1830), England (1846), Sweden (1848),\nDenmark and Greece (1849), Prussia (1850), Austria (1867), Spain\n(1868), Italy (1870), and Switzerland (1874) followed the lead of\nFrance. The Balkan States in the treaty of Berlin (1878), upon\npressure from Disraeli, agreed to the emancipation of the Jews as one\nof the conditions for securing their own freedom; Roumania has been\nnotoriously delinquent, however, in adhering to the terms nominated in\nthe bond.[9] The removal of civil disabilities brought the Jew into a\nwide contact with the Christian. This resulted for the Jews in\nliberalization of outlook and liberation of capacities and talents, in\nan abandonment of the \"jargon\" for the national tongues, in a\nprecipitation into the Haskalah movement (to be described in the next\nparagraph), and in a restatement of their leading religious doctrines,\nwhich amounted to a surrender in theory of their nationality and their\ndestiny as a Chosen People to be restored to Palestine. For the\nChristians the removal of Jewish disabilities resulted in the\nnecessity of either accepting or rejecting the Jew's claim to be an\nequal and a fellow-countryman.\n\nThe Enlightenment, or Haskalah movement, broadly speaking, comprises\nthe Jewish absorption of secular learning, particularly in literature\nand science, the abandonment of the study of the Talmud for modern\nsubjects, and the adoption of farm and craft life.[10] Moses\nMendelssohn in Germany and Lilienthal in Russia were the first great\nprotagonists of these radical departures; and the movement, which in\npart led to the demand for Emancipation and in part resulted from it,\nfurther removed the differences between Jew and non-Jew, at least from\nthe standpoint of the former, and further removed him from his\nreligious and historical past, perceptibly weakening and in many\ncases practically destroying the medieval sense of solidarity. Each\nJew adopted the culture of his native country, and so one Jew became\nvirtually a foreigner to another. Haskalah, in a word, is a looking\noutward on the part of the Jew; for all its virtues this movement had\nthe consequence of blunting racial consciousness and blurring racial\nidentity.\n\n\n_Nationalism and Anti-Semitism_\n\nAll might have been well but for the presence of a third and\nconflicting element. While the Jew became infected with the\nuniversalism of the Revolutionary spirit, the majority of Europeans\nwere absorbing and developing the particularistic implications of '89.\nNationalism is the self-consciousness of a people, and it found its\nEuropean expression in the creation of the modern States of Germany,\nItaly, Hungary, Greece, and the small Balkans. It is a race's\nrecognition of itself, a looking inward, and it leads to the pursuit\nof racial ideals and development of racial qualities--an inward\nexpansion which, indifferent to the charge of chauvinism, can only be\nsecured by an outward discrimination. The Jew and the Christian had\nchanged places since medieval times: the Jew now stood for a universal\nsociety and a universal church, and the Christian for exclusion and\nseparation upon racial bases. Emancipation thus brought the conflict\ndirectly to the attention of the strong majority, namely, the\nChristians, and anti-Semitism was their answer.\n\nIn its restricted sense, anti-Semitism is a scientific stick used to\nbeat the Jewish dog with. After impartial, impersonal scientific\ninvestigation, French and German scholars[11] demonstrated the racial\ninferiority of the Semite to the Aryan, enumerated the inherent\nSemitic qualities as greed, special aptitude for money-making,\naversion to hard work, clannishness, obstrusiveness, lack of social\ntact and of patriotism, the tendency to exploit and not to be overly\nhonest. Ernest Renan adequately sums up the anti-Semite position when\nhe claims for the Aryans all the great military, political, and\nintellectual movements of history.[12] The Semites never had a\ncomprehension of civilization in the sense in which the Aryan\nunderstands the word; they were at no time public-spirited.[13] In\nfact, intolerance was the natural consequence of Semitic\nmonotheism.[14]\n\nIn the wider sense,[15] anti-Semitism is the modern word for the old\nand apparently ineradicable hatred of the Jew, partly dependent, as G.\nF. Abbott well shows,[16] not only upon Christian faith, but upon the\nChristian frame of mind and feeling--a hatred to which the Nationalism\nof the nineteenth century furnished a reasonable fuel, which found a\nsocial expression in ostracism and rioting[17] and a political\nexpression in the formation of the Christian Socialist Party in\nGermany (1878), and similar parties in Austria and Hungary (1882-99),\nseeking the suppression of equal rights for Jews, the Dreyfus affair\nin France (1895), and the open, violent persecutions in Roumania--all\naimed at annulling the privileges granted by the Emancipation.\nClerical, economic, and social opposition to the Jews combined to\nsupport the nationalistic contention summed up in the words of\nHeinrich von Treitschke (Professor of History, University of Berlin):\n\"Die Juden sind unser Ungl\u00fcck.\"[18] This essay is not concerned with\nthe truth of the contention; suffice that it is advanced, supported,\nand acted upon.\n\n\n_The Jewish Situation in the Four Zones_\n\nA review of the Jewish situation is now possible. But before\npresenting this review, a definition of two words which will be\nfrequently used may not be irrelevant. The _Jewish problem_ is taken\nto mean an immediate concrete maladjustment where life and property\nare imperiled, much as we speak of the Mexican problem. The _Jewish\nposition_, on the other hand, is taken to mean a social, cultural, or\nspiritual disharmony or repression, much as we speak of the position\nof the Poles in Galicia and Russia.\n\nThe Jewish situation falls naturally into four geographical zones. The\nfirst, which contains the _problem_ in its most serious aspect, is\nEastern Europe, including Russia, Poland, and Roumania, where are\nsettled six of the twelve million Jews of the world.[19] In this zone,\nthe Jews are for the most part maintaining medieval solidarity and\nseparation, are suffering from medieval repression and persecution;\nbut on the other hand, (and this appears to be the determining factor\nin the gravity of the _problem_), the Russian Jew is by no means a\nnecessity to the Russian in any way similar to that in which the\nmedieval Jew was a necessity to the medieval Christian. The eastern\nJew is beginning to expand with the leaven of the Haskalah, and is\nsimultaneously strangling for lack of the release and exercise of his\npowers afforded by Emancipation. The Russian and Roumanian, in what\nthey believe to be the preservation of Nationalism, are determined on\ncrippling or destroying the inimical and unassimilative factor in\ntheir population; and although the Russian is politically medieval, he\nis economically modern and considers himself restrained by no need of\nJewish money.[20] The outcome for the Jews is economic impoverishment,\nsocial persecution, political enslavement, and spiritual\ndegeneration.[21]\n\nThe second zone includes Austria, Germany, and to a minor degree\nFrance, where are settled approximately three millions of Jews. Save\nin Galicia, where political and racial turmoil is constantly giving\nthe Jewish situation the sombre tinge of a _problem_, the Jews are\nfinding themselves, for the most part, in a precarious _position_.\nNationalism demands that they surrender their racial identity and\nproclivities; anti-Semitism declares upon the verdict of science that\nsuch surrender is impossible, and substitutes repression,\nassimilation, or extinction. The Jews in attempting to satisfy the\nconditions by entering fully into all the activities of national life\narouse through their success only greater hostility; and the situation\nbecomes converted into a vicious circle.\n\nFrance to a large degree and England comprise the third zone, where\nthe Jewish _position_ is identical with that of the fourth zone, the\nUnited States, save in one important detail. The Jews in these two\nzones, numbering only one-and-a-half million, have entered freely into\nthe national life about them, and, except for minor social\ndisabilities which can only make the judicious smile, have been\naccorded equality, with the result that the Jew _qua_ Jew is exposed\nto complete assimilation. The distinction between the third and fourth\nzone is that in England and France, anti-Semitism based on Nationalism\nis a potentiality (though the recent Aliens Bill and Chesterton trial\nwould suggest that it might be more than this), whereas the open-door\ntheory of settlement which created the United States militates\nbasically against race-discrimination. The Jew of England and America\ndoes not face persecution nor repression, but a gradual and apparently\npleasant extinction.\n\nThe medieval Jew found himself a necessary, well-paying, if not\nhonored, guest in the households of Europe; but the day when the Jew\nresolved on adopting the life and manners of his host, the host\nresolved on drawing tightly the family lines. The modern Jew has\ndiscovered it necessary either to convince the obdurate host, who\npoints to a scientifically certified chart of the family-tree, that he\ntoo is of blood germane, or take himself to lodgings in the cellarage.\nAnd yet--a third possibility here insinuates itself--why may not the\nJew set up housekeeping for himself?\n\n\n\n_The Vain Effort of Reform Judaism_\n\nThe medieval Jew would have accepted without hope the unfortunate\npredicament; the modern Jew, nerved with a distillation of the\nRevolutionary \"rights of men\" and confident that he was not combating\nthe implacability of a religious hatred, adopted expedient and\nremedial measures, the chief of which, since they form the opposition\nto Zionism, will be outlined.\n\nTo justify Emancipation before and after it was secured, assimilative\ndoctrines of a peculiar type, known as Reform Judaism,[22] whereby the\nessentials of Jewish life were to be separated and saved, constituted\nthe main attempt of the Jew to demonstrate that he was a member of the\nhouseholds of Europe and not an intruder. Reform Judaism began as a\nresult of the Haskalah by simplifying and beautifying, according to\nEuropean standards, the Orthodox religious service (Germany 1810-20),\nand ended by abandoning the Messianic Restoration, the doctrine that\nIsrael is in exile and that the prophecies are literally to be\nfulfilled. The expediency of these measures is apparent. To refute the\nanti-Semitic charge of racial inferiority, the existence of the race\nas a separate entity was denied, and the necessary scientific backing\nhas lately been secured.[23] To meet the Nationalists, Israel's\nnational hopes were declared void, and it was strongly urged that the\nbasis of a modern nation is citizenship and not race.\n\nThe Reformers proceeded further and maintained that the Jewish people\nwere themselves the Messiah, whose mission was \"to spread by its\nfortitude and loyalty the monotheistic truth all over the earth, and\nto be an example of rectitude to all others,\"[24] whose goal was \"not\na national Messianic State, but the realization in society of the\nprinciples of righteousness as enunciated by the prophets;\"[25]\nwherefore, it was not only just that they receive citizenship, but\nreligious duty compelled the Jew to demand it.\n\nThe Jewish religion was considered the essential possession of the\nJewish people--so essential that it was to be maintained at the\nsacrifice of assimilation; but nowhere is it made apparent how a\nreligion can be maintained without a people, how a people can be\nmaintained without separation, and how separation can be maintained\nwithout abandoning the no-race, no-nation propositions. If these are\nabandoned, the Jews are precisely where they began--another circle\nwhose viciousness is becoming obvious and is resulting in the constant\ndiscarding of Jewish rite and form, until the religion which was to be\nprized and saved is fast becoming a watery Unitarianism, and its\nadherents are allowing themselves, where permitted, to become\ncompletely assimilated. Reform Judaism which began as a compromise is\nending as a surrender. The final and unanswerable objection to Reform\nJudaism as a solution is that the majority of Jews will not even in\ntheory accept it. The devotion to race, religion, and separation is\ntoo strong. The Gentile in asking the Jew to assimilate is undoubtedly\nright; the refusal of the Jew undoubtedly is not wrong; and the ring\nof true tragedy becomes audible.\n\n\n_The Palliative Measures of Philanthropy_\n\nContemporary with the unsuccessful attempt at clearing up the Jewish\n_position_ in western Europe, palliative measures were undertaken to\nsolve the _problem_ in eastern Europe. In 1860 the Alliance Israelite\nUniverselle was founded at Paris with the following purposes in\nchief:[26]\n\n 1. To work everywhere for the emancipation and moral\n progress of the Jew.\n\n 2. To give effectual support to those who are\n suffering persecution because they are Jews.\n\nThe Alliance began by distributing pamphlets and calling the attention\nof western governments to eastern injustice; it gradually, however,\nundertook practical work. Influenced by Rabbi Kalischer, religious\nenthusiast, a farm school (Mikveh Israel) was established at Jaffa;\nand after the Russian persecutions of 1880-82, active colonization for\nthe relief of refugees became the chief work, in which the Alliance\nreceived substantial aid from Baron de Rothschild. Meanwhile Baron de\nHirsch, another philanthropist of international proportions, dedicated\nmillions to the foundation of colonies in Argentine and Palestine. In\nthe latter place the Hirsch activities were incorporated under the\ntitle of the Jewish Colonization Association (\"IKA\", 1891), working in\nharmony of aim with the Alliance and with still a third movement--one\nmore of the people--styled Chovevei-Zion (Lovers of Zion). The only\nactivities of the Chovevei-Zion, a general term attached to small and\nardent semi-affiliated societies throughout Europe and America, with\nwhich we are here concerned are the philanthropic; and their services\nin this respect were haphazard and negligible.[27]\n\nTo cast up briefly the sum of practical work accomplished by 1898: 94\nschools in Asia and Africa,[28] and 25 colonies in Palestine\nsupporting 5,000 Jews.[29] Such philanthropy is to be considered an\nattempt, however valiant and noble, to empty the sea with a pail--with\na leaking pail.\n\nThus, upon a review of the situation, three alternatives present\nthemselves: (1) Maintenance of the _status quo_ with its dull round of\npersecution and degradation on one hand, and the soul-destroying life\nin the Fool's Paradise of Reform Judaism on the other; (2)\nAmalgamation with the surrounding peoples--a grim race-suicide; (3)\nRe-establishment of a national center where, perhaps not the entire\npeople, but a remnant can be saved.\n\n (_To be concluded_)\n\n\n _As Greece stands for art and Rome stands for law and\n order, so Judaea stands for morality, and so it\n occupies an exalted position in history. The Menorah\n Society comes to the University with a challenge and\n defies us to ignore at our peril that which Judaism\n has contributed to civilization and which we have\n derived from it. We have derived our own religion from\n it, and that spirit of Puritanism which was so closely\n connected with the settlement of the new\n world._--_From an Address before the Cornell Menorah\n Society by President Jacob Gould Schurman of Cornell\n University._\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] _Psalm_ 79.\n\n[2] _Der Judenstaat_ (Vienna, 1906); English translation, edited by J.\nde Haas.\n\n[3] Theodor Herzl, \"The Zionist Congress,\" _Contemporary Review_, v.\n27, p. 587.\n\n[4] I. Abrahams, _Jewish Life in the Middle Ages_ (Philadelphia,\n1897), p. 49.\n\n[5] Jacob S. Raisin, _The Haskalah Movement_ (Philadelphia, 1913), p.\n33.\n\n[6] James H. Robinson, _History of Western Europe_ (Boston, 1904, 2\nvols.), vol. 1, p. 246. Addison & Steele, _The Spectator_ (London,\n1823), No. 495, p. 710.\n\n[7] L. Zunz, _The Sufferings of the Jews During the Middle Ages_ (New\nYork, 1907).\n\n[8] S. M. Dubnow, _Jewish History_ (Philadelphia, 1903), p. 156.\n\n[9] Lady Magnus, _Outlines of Jewish History_ (London, 1888), p. 301\net seq.\n\n[10] Raisin, _The Haskalah Movement_, Chap. III.\n\n[11] S. Phillippson, _Weltbegerende Fragen_ (Leipsic, 1868) Edouard\nDrumont, _La France Juive_ (Paris, 1886).\n\n[12] Ernest Renan, _\u00c9tudes d'Histoire Religieuse_ (Paris, 1862), p.\n85.\n\n[13] _Idem_, p. 88.\n\n[14] _Idem_, p. 87.\n\n[15] H. Graetz, _History of the Jews_ (Philadelphia, 1891), 5 vols.,\nvol. V., p. 318 et seq.\n\n[16] G. F. Abbott, \"The Jewish Problem,\" _Fortnightly Review_, vol.\n93, p. 742.\n\n[17] _The Jewish Encyclopedia_ (New York, 1901, 10 vols.), under\n\"Anti-Semitism.\"\n\n[18] _Idem._ and _ibid._, quoting from Preussiche Jahrb\u00fccher, 1879.\n\n[19] _American Jewish Year Book_ (Philadelphia, 1913-14), p. 215.\n\n[20] Arnold White, \"Europe and the Jews,\" _Contemporary Review_, vol.\n72, p. 738.\n\n[21] American Jewish Year Book, 1906-07, p. 24-90. Tables showing, for\nperiod of 3 years in Russia (1903-06), 254 pogroms, in which 3,973\nJews were killed and 14,034 wounded. C. R. Conder, \"Zionists,\"\n_Blackwood_, vol. 163, p. 598, states on authority of Dr. Farbstein\nthat 70 per cent. of Galician Jews are beggars and 50 per cent. of\nRussian Jews are paupers.\n\n[22] _Jewish Encyclopedia_ under \"Reform Judaism.\"\n\n[23] Maurice Fishberg, \"The Jews\" (New York, 1911).\n\n[24] _Jewish Encyclopedia_ under \"Reform Judaism.\"\n\n[25] _Idem._\n\n[26] _Jewish Encyclopedia_ under \"Alliance Israelite Universelle.\"\n\n[27] Cohen, _Zionist Work in Palestine_, p. 157.\n\n[28] _Idem._\n\n[29] _Idem_, under \"Agricultural Colonies in Palestine.\"\n\n\n\n\nThe Third Annual Convention of the Menorah Societies\n\n\nI. The Public Meeting\n\n_The Third Annual Convention of the Intercollegiate Menorah\nAssociation was held at the University of Cincinnati, in the city of\nCincinnati, on Wednesday and Thursday, December 23 and 24, 1914. The\nthird session, on Wednesday evening, was a public meeting in the\nUniversity auditorium. Abraham J. Feldman, President of the University\nof Cincinnati Menorah Society, formally welcomed the convention, and\nintroduced Chancellor Henry Hurwitz as the Chairman of the evening.\nMayor F. S. Spiegel brought the greetings and welcome of the city of\nCincinnati. Dean Joseph E. Harry extended a welcome in behalf of the\nUniversity, and Dr. Kaufman Kohler, President of Hebrew Union College,\nwelcomed the convention in behalf of his institution and of the Jewish\ncommunity. Professor I. Leo Sharfman of the University of Michigan,\nPresident of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, spoke on \"The\nMenorah Movement,\" and Dr. H. M. Kallen of the University of Wisconsin\ndelivered an address on \"The Jews and the War.\" For the substance of\nDr. Kallen's address see his article on page 79. The other speakers\nspoke in part as follows:_\n\n\nDEAN J. E. HARRY\n\nIn behalf of the University of Cincinnati, I bid you welcome. I\nconfess that I can agree with the statement made in your declaration\nof the nature and purpose of the Menorah Societies, that modern\ncivilization is chiefly a product of three ancient cultures, or to be\nmore exact, I should prefer to say two, since the Roman is but a\ncontinuation of the Greek, and we cannot understand ourselves without\nunderstanding and having direct reference to the character and work of\nboth the Greek and the Hebrew minds.\n\nTwo principal elements have entered into the spiritual life of the\nmodern world. The past and the present are one and inseparable, and\nyou cannot destroy the former without doing positive damage to the\nlatter. The roots of our civilization lie in the soil of antiquity,\nand you cannot destroy and disentangle the fibers of the growing tree\nof civilization from the far-off centuries that are gone, without\ninjuring the whole organism. \"If we were to wipe out all the records\nof the past, what a series of inexplicable riddles would our own\nhistory present, and if we were to blot out entirely every reference\nto ancient writers, or were to blow away all the perfume that has been\nshaken down from the vestments of those writers, how blurred and how\nscentless would the fairest and most fragrant pages of our own great\npoets and historians appear!\"\n\nWhat we need to-day, what our country needs more than anything else,\nis thorough, really liberally educated men, and not merely men who are\nsupposed by the general public to be educated, simply because they\nhave passed through a college, because in some quarters the business\nof education has, alas, fallen into the hands of men who are not\nthemselves liberally educated; and so as an ardent advocate of the\nhumanities, with hope that the Intercollegiate Menorah Association\nwill contribute to the laying of greater stress upon the value of the\nstudy of the humanities in our college curriculum, I bid you\nGod-speed, and again extend to you the cordial greetings of the\nUniversity of Cincinnati.\n\n\nDR. KAUFMAN KOHLER\n\nI do not know whether you have observed that Cincinnati is somewhat\nakin to the city of Rome as well as to the holy city of Jerusalem--it\nis a city with many hills. On this hill here, facing one another for\nfriendly and harmonious co\u00f6peration, the two institutions of learning\nin which we especially, the Jewish community, take particular\npride--the University of Cincinnati, which so prominently and in ever\nexpanding proportion stands for the humanities, for classical culture,\nfor the professional and scientific branches of secular knowledge, and\non the other hand, the Hebrew Union College, which stands for the\nmother religion of civilized humanity and for the progressive spirit\nof Judaism and of Americanism. In this rather insignificant incident\nthe Jewish community may well find a great principle expressed. With\nhis face towards the East from which issues the light of day, where\nwas cradled the faith of Israel, the Jew, ever beholding in classical\nwisdom and knowledge the sister of his faith, proceeded with the\nwestward march of civilization in order to make religion, by the\nreason and research of the ages, a great, progressive power, ever\nregenerating his spiritual heritage and rejuvenating that religion of\nhis own as it goes on through the centuries.\n\nThis fact, however, of a continual intellectual and spiritual progress\nof Judaism, is altogether too rarely recognized by the surrounding\nChristian world, even by its men of light and leading or by its seats\nof learning, because the New Testament is looked upon by altogether\ntoo many as the death warrant of the Old Testament, as if the sun of\ncivilization had stood still over Israel ever since its seers and\nsingers and sages of yore voiced the Divine message. Nor does the\nJewish man of culture and college training as a rule appreciate the\nwondrous achievements of the Jewish genius since the very dawn of\nhistory until our day, in the whole domain of learning and science, or\nof ethical and religious culture.\n\nIt is therefore a highly laudable endeavor undertaken by the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association to arouse the dormant spirit of\nself-respect in the academic Jewish youth, to stir in him the ambition\nto study and know this matchless history and literature, and to kindle\nin his soul anew that idealism which made the Jew throughout all the\nages endure and brave the onslaughts of the empires and churches and\nthe persecuting mobs, so that even to-day he is as young and as\nvigorous as any of the youngest races and nations in the world.\n\n\n_The Importance of Israel's Religion_\n\nThis past, I say, cannot but appeal to every high-minded American,\nwhether Christian or Jew, and your study of it will certainly meet\nwith our warmest support and encouragement. Only, in my opinion, one\nthing you need, young as your association is, young in years and young\nin experience, and that is, a full comprehension and keen realization\nof the subject you have in view and a wise and right direction towards\nit. No one doubts or questions the sincerity of your motives or the\npraiseworthiness of your aims and purposes when you place on your\nprogram the study of Jewish history, culture and problems, and the\nadvancement of Jewish ideals, but you omit that which is most\nessential, which is the all-encompassing force and factor of Jewish\nlife, the real, peculiar and genuine product of the Jewish\ngenius--religion. We have got a religion which, as has been put by\nMatthew Arnold, has fashioned four-fifths of the world's civilization.\nIn omitting the idea, as expressed by Matthew Arnold, of the power\nthat maketh for righteousness, in declaring your movement as being\naltogether non-religious, you run the risk of making of your endeavor\nan inevitable and certain failure.[G] Let me quote to you from an\naddress delivered recently before a Jewish society in London on\n\"Israel and Medicine\" by Professor Osler, sentences that are\nremarkable and worth repeating. He says:\n\n\"In estimating the position of Israel in the human values, one must\nremember that the quest for righteousness is Oriental, the quest for\nknowledge, Occidental. With the great prophets of the East--Moses,\nIsaiah, Mahomet [he might have included Jesus of Nazareth], the word\nwas 'Thus saith the Lord.' With the seers of the West, from Aristotle\nto Darwin, it was 'What says nature?' Modern civilization is the\noutcome of the two great movements of the mind of man, who is to-day\nruled in heart and head by Israel and by Greece. From the one he has\nlearned responsibility to a Supreme Being and love for his neighbor,\nin which are embraced the law and the prophets. From the other he has\ngathered the promise of Eden, to have dominion over the earth in which\nhe lives.\"\n\nNow let me add to this that whatever the Jew claims or possesses of\nculture he has borrowed from the nations and civilizations around him,\nwhether it be architecture, the art or the mode of writing, philosophy\nand science, the modes of social and industrial life, all of which he\nhas taken and assimilated into his own life.\n\nNot so with his religious truth. This is all his own, his peculiar and\ngenuine contribution to humanity. Thereby he has given human life its\neternal value, its purpose, its goal and hope for all time.\n\nNow it seems to me that you may as well expect of the blind to depict\nfor you his impressions of the prismatic glories of the rainbow, or of\nthe deaf to orate on the beauties of a Beethoven symphony, as to\nexpect of one who lacks the sense of religion, the spirit of faith, to\nexpound, or even to understand, the ideals of the Jew, whose history\nthroughout the past was but one continuous glorification of the only\none God, by the master works of its hundreds and thousands of men of\nlearning and the unparalleled martyrdom of the whole people, and whose\nfuture is humanity made one by the belief in the only one God and\nFather. Therefore, let me give you, delegates and members of the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association, the advice to continue as you\nstarted, as an academic, cosmopolitan association, yet at the same\ntime let it be linked to the synagogue of each city as the center of\nthe faith. Let your watch-word be true to the symbol of \u05e7\u05d5\u05de\u05d9 \u05d0\u05d5\u05e8\u05d9\n\"arise and shine,\" and give light to all the nations. Let your\ninspiration and your power of enlightening the world ever come fresh\nfrom the sanctuary of faith, as of yore, and you will not only be all\nthe more honored for this loyalty to the spirit of the past and the\nspirit of the American people which is religious, but the sweetest\ndelight that comes from the classic world of beauty will reflect only\nthe brighter light of the holiness, the beauty of holiness, that comes\nfrom Israel's one God.\n\n\nPROF. I. LEO SHARFMAN\n\nWe want all that is worthy in the Jewish past to be made a potent\nforce in the American life of the present. You men and women who are\nstudents at our universities cannot perform your full duty to your\nuniversities unless you add to the richness of the university life, to\nthe variety of its content, to its genuineness and versatility. And in\nthe larger American community we Jews cannot perform our full duty\nunless we place at the disposal of our country the best fruits of the\nJewish spirit. Our Menorah allegiance, then, rests on the foundation\nof Americanism. And insofar as, through the Menorah movement, we are\nsucceeding in uniting by a common bond men and women who have been\nbrought up under a great variety of circumstances and conditions, we\nare increasing the democratic spirit of our universities and of the\nlarger life beyond the academic gates. Within the universities, too,\nthe broadening effect of the Menorah idea is not limited to the\nstudent body. I can bear witness from personal experience that the\nuniversity authorities, both faculty members and administrative\nofficers, are not merely tolerating, or even mildly accepting, the\nwork of our Menorah Societies in their midst, but are themselves being\nled to a better understanding of the place which the Jewish problem\noccupies in the larger problem of their universities and of the\nAmerican community for whose service they are training the youth of\nthe land.\n\n\n_Menorah and Religion_\n\nI have said that the aim of the Menorah movement is the study and\nadvancement of Hebraic culture and ideals. The culture of a people is\nbut the permanent expression of its ideals in the various activities\nof life. Religion constitutes one of the most important of human\nactivities, and we in the Menorah Societies are fully cognizant of its\nfundamental importance. Indeed, we recognize that the ideals of the\nJewish people are perhaps expressed more truly, more profoundly, more\neloquently in our religious literature than in any other manifestation\nof the Jewish genius. We should not be charged with excluding\nreligion, merely because we aim to include more than religion in our\npurposes and activities.\n\nI happen at the present time to be teaching at the University of\nMichigan, at Ann Arbor. We have there a Menorah Society, devoted to\nthe general object to which all our Menorah Societies are devoted. We\nlisten to speakers and engage in discussions on Jewish history, Jewish\nliterature, Jewish religion, and current Jewish social, economic and\npolitical problems. Side by side with the Menorah Society there exists\na Jewish Student Congregation, a body of men and women of which I feel\nit a privilege to have been one of the organizers and to be a member\nat the present time, which devotes itself entirely to religious\nactivity, to regular weekly worship. The two organizations do not\nconflict in any way. It is significant that about ninety-five per\ncent, if not more, of the members of the Michigan Menorah Society\nattend regularly the services of the Jewish Student Congregation.\nUnfortunately, not so large a percentage of the members of the\ncongregation attend the meetings or are members of the Michigan\nMenorah Society. In the course of time, the relationship between the\ntwo organizations will doubtless be adjusted more satisfactorily. But\nin the experience at Michigan we have a concrete illustration of the\nspur to religion which Menorah men derive from their participation in\nMenorah work.\n\nThe ideal of the Menorah Societies is a non-partisan ideal. We do not\nstand for Zionism or anti-Zionism; we do not urge the acceptance of\nreform Judaism or conservative Judaism or orthodox Judaism; we do not\nfavor the German Jew as against the Russian Jew, or vice versa, nor do\nwe appeal to one social class as against another. We want the Menorah\nideal to be broad enough to include every Jew. We do not exclude\nreligion as such from the scope of our interests; we but exclude any\ninsistence upon a particular sect or branch or kind of Judaism. We\navoid all partisan activity which may tend to disorganize our Jewish\nstudents, which may tend to divide them. That is all.\n\n\n_A Plea for Tolerance_\n\nI believe that what we need in our universities, what we need in the\nJewish community, is more insistence upon Judaism and more light upon\nthe inspiration which Judaism can bring us, and less insistence upon\nthe particular kind of Judaism which you or I or some one else may\nconsider the acme of truth. Indifference to religion and not error in\nreligion is the great danger of these modern times. If we really want\nreligion, if we want to stir again the Jew's traditional passion for\nreligion, if we want to inspire once more the Jew's genius for\nreligion, let us try to understand all aspects and all manifestations\nof it, let us bend our efforts to a renaissance of religious\ninfluence. The future of the Jew in this country will not be\ndetermined by the theories or the practices of any one group or sect\nof Jews. The result will be a composite result, to which the reform\nJew and the Zionist, the orthodox Jew and the anti-Zionist, will alike\ncontribute. Let us leave it to the growing generation to determine for\nitself the content of the theory of life best suited to the future\ndestiny of the Jew. At least, within our university walls let us be\ntolerant, let us be liberal-minded, let us listen to and understand\nevery man's point of view.\n\n\nMR. HURWITZ\n\nIn the free and honest expression of adverse views which we have heard\nto-night, this, indeed, has been a characteristic Menorah meeting. It\nmay fittingly be closed by a word from one of our staunchest friends,\none of our staunchest friends because he is an ardent and\npublic-spirited Jew and a patriotic American, Justice Irving Lehman of\nthe Supreme Court of the State of New York, the Chairman of the\nGraduate Menorah Committee. He addresses this word to the convention:\n\n \"I am very sorry that I am unable to attend the\n convention of the Association this year. I feel that\n during the past year we have made some progress upon\n which you have reason to congratulate yourselves, but\n we must remember that our movement is still far from\n having the force and power which I think it deserves.\n We have a great and difficult task to perform if we\n are to succeed in bringing back to the Jewish youth a\n pride in their Jewish heritage and a knowledge of\n their Jewish past, and I know that such work is worthy\n of all effort. I trust that your convention may\n possess the spirit and the wisdom necessary to further\n the work, and I wish to renew to you my assurance of\n willing co-operation.\"\n\n\nII. The Luncheon\n\n_The fifth session of the Convention was a luncheon in the Hotel\nGibson, attended by the delegates, university students and graduates\nin Cincinnati, and members of the Faculties of the University of\nCincinnati and the Hebrew Union College. Prof. I. Leo Sharfman,\nPresident of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, was the\nToastmaster. Chancellor Hurwitz spoke for five minutes upon the\npurposes and progress of the Menorah movement. President Abraham J.\nFeldman of the University of Cincinnati Menorah Society expressed\ngratification at the honor accorded to his Menorah Society by the\nConvention and appealed to the graduates and prominent members of the\ncommunity present for support in the work of the Cincinnati Menorah\nSociety. The other speakers were Dean Joseph E. Harry of the\nUniversity of Cincinnati, Dr. Moses Barron, Representative from the\nUniversity of Minnesota, Dr. Louis Grossmann of Hebrew Union College,\nDr. Samuel Iglauer, graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Walter\nM. Shohl, graduate of Harvard University, Dr. Kaufman Kohler,\nPresident of Hebrew Union College, Prof. Julian Morgenstern of Hebrew\nUnion College, Dr. H. M. Kallen of the University of Wisconsin, and\nDr. David Philipson of Hebrew Union College. Following are somewhat\nabridged reports of the speeches:_\n\n\nDEAN J. E. HARRY\n\nI did not know that I was going to be called upon today, or I should\ncertainly have tried to fortify myself, as the old darky in Virginia\nsaid when his master sent him down to another part of the plantation\nto see if the rebels were fortifying the place: \"Massa, they am not\nonly fortyfying it; they am fiftyfying it!\"\n\nI am glad that our Chancellor here to my right said that the speeches\nwere to be brief. I think that an after-dinner speaker who makes a\nlong speech ought to have about the same punishment that the member of\nparliament mentioned when he introduced a bill, \"The only way to stop\nsuicide is to make it a capital offense, punishable by death.\"\n\nBut I have always tried to avoid redundancy of expression. I would\nnever say a \"wealthy plumber,\" nor a \"poor poet,\" nor for that matter\na \"poor professor.\"\n\n \"Vessels of wrath, we pedagogues;\n Better we were dead,\n Who, by the wrath of Peleus' son,\n Must earn our daily bread.\"\n\nNor would I say an \"interesting Menorah Association meeting.\" That\nthey are interesting goes without saying, if we can judge from the\none we had last night.\n\nI am exceedingly interested in real culture, and being an American,\nand knowing, as I do, what the Jews in America can do for the\nadvancement of learning, of knowledge and of the humanities, I am\ninterested in the Menorah movement, which will tend to bring this\nabout; and it is when we reflect upon the war in Europe today, with\nall its sickening horrors and what that means to culture (we can\nhardly comprehend it yet), what an obstacle to learning, that we may\nexclaim with that old bibliophile, Richard de Bury:\n\n\"O pacis auctor et amator altissime! dissipa gentes bella volentes qu\u00e6\nsuper omnes pestilentias libris nocent.\"\n\nAnd by \"libris\" he meant culture.\n\n\nDR. MOSES BARRON\n\nMinnesota brings its greeting to the Intercollegiate Menorah\nAssociation as one of the very earliest Menorah Societies. It was\nreally originated in 1903, when a handful of students in the\nUniversity found it desirable to satisfy certain longings by taking up\nthe study of Jewish history and literature. Some of us had found that\nit was of little avail to cry over the ashes of the past, and we\nthought that it would be much more proper to try and study the\nhistory, the literature, the ideals of the past for the inspiration to\nbe found there, which might better fit us to cope with the problems of\nthe present and the future. Our Society has grown from a mere handful\nto an enthusiastic company, so that we have from fifty to\nseventy-five, and even a hundred, attending our regular meetings. I\ngive this fact simply to show what a profound influence the work of\nthe Menorah has been, what an influence it necessarily must have in\nthe future, in promulgating Jewish culture, Jewish thought and ideals.\n\n\nDR. LOUIS GROSSMANN\n\nI am reminded by our Chairman of the time when he was still a student\nat Harvard, in the earliest days of the Menorah movement, when I\naddressed the Menorah Society there. It was in the room of the\nChancellor, unless I am mistaken, and there were a number of students.\nThey were grouped about, some in chairs, some sitting on the floor,\nsome perched on window sills, while others improvised seats on the\nfurniture. I felt myself patriarchal in the midst of these young men.\nIt was a remarkable scene and it was a remarkably helpful evening,\nhelpful and refreshing to me. The pulses of youth always beat high and\nI caught the elation of it. Who would not have been touched by it?\nSome of these young men have since become leaders in thought and\naction, and I am not surprised.\n\nLet me make a confession as to that evening. I not only felt a thrill\nbut made also some observations. These young men had their ideals, but\nthey had also their difficulties. And they spoke of them. We had an\nexchange of thought and of candor such as comes to a man in the\nministry and to a teacher of students but rarely. They told me of\ntheir doubts. Young men, serious young minds, always will have their\ndoubts. They want to earn their convictions. I hope the day will never\ncome when young men will not insist on seeing things. These young men\nwere quick-witted and ready with repartee and counter-argument, and I\nsaw in each eye a glint of an ideal. The debate was strong, but the\nideals were stronger.\n\n\n_The Power of Ideals_\n\nIdeals are pulses that beat in their own way. An ideal is a fact of\nthe soul; it is more than a definition or an argument. An ideal is\nalways very certain and nobody wants to disprove it, nor can.\n\nI notice the Menorah Association has for its aim the cultivation of\nideals. It is natural that young men, with red blood in them, should\nhold dear the precious dreams of what might and should be. As I look\nupon ideals now, through the perspective of years, I see they have\nboth strength as well as limitations. But I know that, however much\nlife and experience challenges them, they are the best force in us. I\nrespect and value them so much that I deplore the waste of the least\nof them. An ideal is a moral ambition, a great wish of a true, even if\na bit naive, soul. And it should have the right of way.\n\nEvery work in life implies stern necessity and a fine wish. I am\nreminded of a bridge in Berlin which the Germans have built with\ninimitable art and truth. There are four groups, each at a corner. On\none an elderly man stands erect and writing. It is History, stern and\nreal. At his side stands a boy, lithe and graceful. There are ideals\njust as much as Law in the affairs of men. On the other side of the\nbridge stands another symbol of the two forces in Life: a man carrying\na bundle, a bent man, who has borne the brunt of the pioneer days, and\nnext to him also a youth. Commerce, however sordid, still implies\nmorality and the generous side of man. On the third side stands the\nsolemn figure of Religion, sober and haggard, the symbol of Faith and\nmartyrdom. And the young man, next to it, seems sprightly and strong.\nWhy must Religion be interpreted as dispensing comfort alone? Should\nit not also give strength and joy? In the last corner stands\nPestalozzi, the teacher, and a boy looks up into his kind face. We\ncrave for action and capability more than for knowledge and facts. And\nwe crave for love more than for truth, and the real truth brings\naffections and enthusiasm.\n\nIn the meetings of your Association you speak often of ideals, you\nspeak of them fervently. But ideals are not merely academic. They are\npersonal. An ideal becomes yourself, if it is yours at all. It is a\ndynamic force within you. It pervades your whole being. It is an\nunseen but a very telling strength. It directs you, and it sends you\non your errand of life. You cannot rest satisfied merely to know your\nideal and to speculate about it. It is the engine of warfare in your\ncareer. Study ideals, not to contemplate and analyze, but to emulate\nthem and to fill yourself with them. You have work to do. And work is\nmore insistent than philosophy. You have work to do which no one else\ncan do for you, or may do for you. An ideal is your Self at the\nhighest power.\n\nYou with fresh energies, you with the clear eye of healthy youth, you\nwith unoppressed hearts, you at the beginning of life, you should go\nat your work splendidly, directly, forcefully. The real idealist is a\nman of action, of untiring activity. Do things and you verify what you\nplan. You have the privilege of youth. Have also the pride of youth.\nKeep it sweet, but keep it also strong.\n\n\nDR. SAMUEL IGLAUER\n\nThe Menorah Society appeals to me as a college graduate not only for\nmany of its positive virtues but also for some of its negative merits.\nIt is not in any sense a social organization, and above all it is not\na secret society. Now I have my own peculiar views about secret\nsocieties in universities, and I do not believe that they tend to\npromote college spirit and college unity. It has been well said that\nin these societies those who are in any particular societies are\nbrothers, while every one else who belongs to another society, or to\nno society whatever, is just a step-brother. To my mind that is not a\ngood spirit in an American institution.\n\nIt seems to me that, having in this city a Hebrew Union College with a\ngifted faculty, we should establish at our University a Department of\nSemitics. Since the University is a public school, an institution\nsupported by public taxation, it certainly could not affiliate\ndirectly with a sectarian institution, but I see no reason why the\nprofessors in the Hebrew College, if they are not already overworked\nlike the students, should not be able to conduct courses at the\nUniversity itself, and I believe such courses would promote the\nMenorah movement more than anything else you could do. I think you\nwould attract students from far and wide to the University of\nCincinnati, and you would thereby achieve one of the ends for which\nyou are working.\n\n\nMR. WALTER M. SHOHL\n\nIt is gratifying to me to attend this meeting of the Menorah, because,\nas the Chairman has said, I heard the flapping of the wings of the\nstork at its birth. I recall very well the preliminary meetings that\nwe had when the organization of the Menorah Society at Cambridge was\nfirst spoken of. At that time I was one of the doubters; I held back.\nThere were in Cambridge a number of societies, social primarily, that\ndid not desire members of our faith among their number. I felt that a\nmovement which was composed entirely of Jewish men would be mistaken\nfor an effort at a Jewish fraternity that was to take the place of the\nfraternities in which we were not welcome. The other men, however,\nfelt that we could have a society the purposes of which had nothing to\ndo with social matters, and that we could bring out all that was good\nin Jewish matters of culture and develop a society to promote those\ninterests. So at first somewhat reluctantly, I joined in with the\nmovement, and the result has justified their farsightedness, and I am\nsorry now that I was only a \"trailer\" in the beginning.\n\nThe position of the Menorah movement and what it stands for calls to\nmind a story that was told in Montreal a couple of years ago by Lord\nHaldane, who came to America to attend a meeting of the American Bar\nAssociation. A part of the story was recited in verse (which I do not\nrecall exactly) and had to do with an Englishman who was taken\nprisoner in one of the countries of the Far East, and was offered his\nchoice between conversion to the religion of his captors or death. He\nwas a man who had no particular religious feelings; he was not\nreligious when at home. However, he felt that first and foremost he\nwas an Englishman and that if he were to do anything base it would\nreflect upon all those ideals which were so dear to him, and therefore\nhe cast in his lot and chose against the change of religion. So, too,\nwith some of us who perhaps are not religious in a formal way; the\nrealization of the great things that have been accomplished in the\npast by Jews, the Jewish historical background, is in itself a shield\nto us, and the realization of what Judaism is and stands for must act\nto prevent us from doing something that would be unworthy of\nourselves and of the religion of which we are a part.\n\n\nDR. KAUFMAN KOHLER\n\nThis comes rather unawares, but I wish to be very brief in stating\nthat, while I listened to the very interesting and suggestive remarks\nthat were made all along this table, and also on recalling what we\nheard last night, I feel glad, after all, from the point of view of\nthe Hebrew Union College, that the Intercollegiate Menorah Association\nhas come here to make propaganda for its work, at the same time\nreceiving perhaps new direction and new ideas about the work they have\nso nobly begun. The fact that the work--started, as we heard, at\nHarvard in 1906--has made such progress shows that at least there was\nsomething in the young Jewish student at the colleges that called for\nthe creation of such an association and such kind of work. Perhaps I\nmay say that those who had their misgivings as to the tendencies of\nthe Menorah Association are now at least informed that some of these\nmisgivings or suspicions were not well founded. I personally will say\nthat I had the impression that there was too much of nationalism or\nZionism behind the movement, and that the movement was not, from the\npoint of view of the Hebrew Union College or my humble self, one\ndeserving encouragement and support. I have learned to change some of\nmy views and some of my impressions as to the purpose and intention of\nthis movement. There is a well-known quotation, for those who know a\nlittle German:\n\n \"Das sind die Weisen,\n Die vom Irrtum zur Wahrheit reisen;\n Das sind die Narren,\n Die beim Irrtum beharren.\"\n\nI am not one of those who insist on views once maintained though later\nfound faulty. I am rather ready to change my views, especially after\nwhat I heard today from my honored neighbor (Prof. I. L. Sharfman) and\nfrom what he said last night that the religious idea of Judaism is not\nignored but is held in view.\n\nAll Jews who are Jews must believe that Judaism stands for an\nuncompromising monotheistic truth, while the world around us has\ncompromised the same. Therefore we, as Jews, must always insist upon\nthe maintenance of the pure monotheistic idea for which we suffered\nand struggled, and for which our fathers died. We must maintain this\nas the mainstay and vital principle of Judaism. For this very reason,\nand for no other, we insist, especially from the point of view of a\nJewish theological college, that this idea of a pure Jewish religion,\nthe pure monotheistic idea, must be held unshakenly and without any\nchange or any concession. And for that very reason we could not and\nwill not say that race is everything. We cannot admit that a pure race\nis the best, and that a pure Jew is he who has maintained solely\neverything Jewish and not allowed the Greek culture to be assimilated\nin order to sublimate and spiritualize and idealize the truth\ninherited. For Ruppin and the Nationalists who follow him, the poor\nJews, the ghetto Jews, of Russia who speak Yiddish and live only an\nexclusive narrow life, are _five-fifths_ Jews, while the Jews in free\nand civilized lands are only half Jews. Now against this, we of the\nHebrew Union College, we who represent progressive or reformed\nJudaism, must protest. We must insist that the Jewish race, the Jewish\npeople or nation, if you want to call it so, can form only the body;\nJudaism, the Jewish religion, is the soul. And we will always stand\nnot merely for the body, not merely for the material side, not merely\nfor race, which is the lowest kind of life, but for the spirit, the\nsoul of Judaism, and that is its religious truth.\n\n\nPROF. JULIAN MORGENSTERN\n\nI believe that it is one of the positive aims of the Menorah Society\nto recognize the Jewish side of much that enters, or should enter,\ninto our daily life, to develop our full consciousness of all that is\nessentially and fundamentally Jewish, and thus enable us to live\npositive and constructive Jewish lives. It is a noble aim, to which I\nunrestrictedly subscribe. Whenever I hear public speakers or writers\npat Jews and Judaism on the back, and patronizingly tell us, \"Oh, you\nJews are all right,\" I am, as no doubt most of us are, deeply\nchagrined, to use a mild expression. What we want is not that others\nshould appreciate us and tell us that we are all right. What we want,\nand what we need, is that we should appreciate ourselves and that we\nshould take ourselves seriously and at our full value. Not that we\nshould over-appreciate ourselves and think ourselves alone the salt of\nthe earth. There is such a thing as over-appreciation that must in the\nend lead to futility and vanity. But equally, there is such a thing as\nself-depreciation, and to a certain extent I cannot but feel that we\nJews have been more or less guilty of that in the past, have more or\nless, particularly in our college and university life, assumed a\ndeprecating attitude, apologizing as it were for our existence as\nJews, and, probably unconsciously, have kept the fact of our Judaism\nin the background, and suffered our education and our culture to\ninfluence almost everything but our Jewish knowledge and our Jewish\nlife.\n\nFor right appreciation, which shall be neither over-appreciation nor\nunder-appreciation, but true appreciation, based upon a correct\nestimation of all essentials, the first requisite is knowledge,\nthorough knowledge of all conditions, forces and influences. And the\nsecond requisite is pride, pride in this knowledge and in the object\nof this knowledge. And this, translated into the Menorah language,\nmeans, as I understand it, correct knowledge of Judaism, of our Jewish\nhistory, our Jewish past, our Jewish heritage, our Jewish religion,\nand pride in all this Judaism--a knowledge and pride that alone can\nenable us to know what Judaism truly is, and what its work and its\nmission for the present and the future must be, that alone can enable\nus to live positively and constructively as Jews and perpetuate our\nJudaism for the blessing of ourselves, our children, and all mankind.\nSo I interpret the Menorah movement. And I heartily welcome such a\nmovement, whose aim is the awakening of our Jewish college young men\nand women to a wholesome and genuine appreciation of themselves, of\nthe Jewish side of their lives, of their Jewish consciousness and\nJewish obligations, of the full meaning and responsibility imposed\nupon them by their subscribing to the name Jew, and their adherence to\nthe religion of our fathers. We must look to our college-bred Jewish\nmen and women to become the guiding spirits in our Judaism of\nto-morrow and of all the future. And I say, \"Thank God for any\nmovement that must surely lead to this goal.\"\n\n\nDR. H. M. KALLEN\n\nSince this seems to be the occasion for reminiscence, I want to take\nthe liberty of recalling for you an episode of the formation of the\nMenorah Society at Harvard. It turned on the question of the right\nform of stating the object of the Society and you will remember\nperhaps that the object is stated in these terms: \"The Harvard Menorah\nSociety for the study and advancement of Hebraic culture and\nideals\"--not Jewish, not Judaistic, but Hebraic. The persons who\nagitated the use of the term Hebraic had certain very definite\nliterary and historic and social relationships in mind.\n\nTo begin with, the word Judaism, in the English language, stands\nexclusively for a religion. It is co-ordinate with the word\nChristianity, the word Buddhism, the word Zoroastrianism, with any\nword that stands exclusively for a religion. Now in the history of the\nJewish people, there was a time when Judaism did not exist, and if I\nunderstand the gentlemen who represent the Reform sect correctly--I\nspeak under correction--the intention of the Reform movement is a\nreversion in fact to the religious attitude of the pre-Judaistic\nperiod in the history of the religion of the Jewish people. It is\n\"prophetic\" or \"progressive Judaism\" for which they stand, I gather,\nin contrast with the \"Talmudical Judaism,\" of the larger orthodox\nsect. But the period of the great prophets is not the period of\nJudaism, and strictly speaking, the term Judaism excludes the\nprophetic element as an active force in Jewish life. This is\nsignificant, and to me the significance seems tremendous, for so far\nas my personal sympathies are concerned they go entirely with the\nprophetic aspects of Judaism, or better, of Hebraism.\n\n\n_Hebraism and Judaism_\n\nHebraism and Judaism are words now in the English language and their\nusage is determined for us entirely by the writers who become\nauthoritative either by their style or through the weight of their\nopinion, and this usage has given the term Hebraism a meaning such\nthat it stands for the entire spirit of the Jew, not only in religion\nbut in all that is Jewish; in English the term Hebraism covers the\ntotal biography of the Jewish soul, while the term Judaism stands only\nfor a portion of it. Now the Jewish soul is the important thing, but\nno one has ever met a soul without a body (at least the people who\nclaim they have met it are still required, for belief, to show\nevidence more than they have thus far shown); generally speaking, soul\nand body are co-ordinate and mutually imply each other. You cannot\nhave one without the other. This is even more the case when you are\ndealing not with an individual but with a people. Hence it is the\nhistory of the Jewish body-politic with which Hebraism and its\ncomponents, including Judaism, co-ordinate.\n\nFor this reason the gentlemen who stated the object of the Society in\nthe constitution of the Harvard Menorah Society were compelled to take\ninto consideration the following historic fact: There was a time in\nthe history of mankind when religion and life were coincident. You\nknow that the prophets were reformers. The orthodox religion which\nthey fought was the religion of the land. They were progressive\nreligionists, just as the gentlemen who are in the Reform sect to-day\nclaim to be progressive religionists. When they established their\nreligion, _it_ became the religion of the whole nationality, for all\nancient religion is national religion. Religion for the Greeks, and\nreligion for the Jews, and religion for the Syrians, and for the\nBabylonians, and the Romans, was essentially national and political,\nand the political nationalism of religion in the time of the Roman\nEmpire was the immediate basis for the persecution of the Jews by the\nRomans. The latter persecuted the Jews not primarily because they\ndisliked the Jews, but because the Jews were a political danger in\ntheir refusal to worship the representative of the State in the shape\nof the Emperor. But in the development of civilization, religion\nbecame detached from the totality of civilized living. In the\nprogressive division of labor religion became specialized. The\npriestly group learned to confine itself more and more to the \"things\nof the spirit\"--cult, ritual, dogma, while the other elements in\ncivilization loomed larger and larger. Religion remained social, but\nsociety was no longer religious. Life was secularized. I think that\nthe representatives of the Reform sect, in one of their conferences,\ndeclared that America is not a Christian country. In so doing they\nacknowledged this fact.\n\n\n_Continuity of the Jewish Spirit_\n\nThroughout the history of the Jewish people, there is a continuity of\nspirit which is very different from the continuity of form that\nattends both the secular and the religious developments of Jewish\nlife. This is the same in both these aspects of Jewish life--in the\nsecular Jewish poetry and thought of the middle ages and up to the\npresent day. Even a Bergson, ostensibly a Frenchman, expresses in his\nphilosophy what is essentially the Hebraic conception of the nature of\nreality and the destiny of man. From Amos through Job, through the\nphilosophers of the middle ages, to Ahad Ha-'Am there is a clear and\naccountable continuity. Finally, there is the development of the whole\nof the secular life of modern Jewry, in Yiddish and in Hebrew. Yiddish\nmay be unpleasant, but Yiddish is no less the speech of the Jews than\nEnglish, no less the speech of the Jews than Aramaic, and Arabic and\nLadino, and all of these have acquired literary and qualitative\ncharacteristics which are identical as expressions of the spirit of\nthe Jew, of the Hebraic spirit.\n\nThis may be seen generally in the case of Yiddish alone. Yiddish, as\nyou know, is a German dialect; it is middle high German in its base,\nand German is an inflected language; its rhythms are essentially long,\nperiodic, indeterminate, radically different from the rhythms of\nHebrew, involving a different kind of co-ordination and mode. But\ncompare Yiddish with German, and you find quite an antagonistic\nliterary quality. Yiddish reads like the Psalms, and the Bible, and\nthe Talmud; it doesn't read like German until it is Germanized. The\nwhole genius of the tongue has been altered by Jewish use so that its\nspiritual quality has taken on the quality of the race that uses the\ntongue, and its literary kinship has become Hebraic.\n\nAgain, there is this whole mass of neo-English, neo-Russian,\nneo-German literatures which, written by Jews, deal with the life of\nthe Jews, with their interests and character. This is not religious.\nWhat is its relation to Jewry? Yet again, there is any number of\nJewish individuals, among whom I must count myself, who find it\nimpossible to adjust their consciences with any official type of\ntheological doctrine, who are interested in discovering the truth, and\nare compelled to acknowledge that no truth has been discovered\nfinally, once and for all; there are hundreds and thousands such. What\nis to be their relation to their people if Jews are to be considered\nmembers merely of Judaistic sects? Yet Jews they are, and if they do\nnot contribute directly to Judaism, they do contribute to Hebraism.\n\nHebraism stands not for that particular expression of the Jewish mind,\nreligion, but for all that has appeared in Jewish history, both\nreligious and secular. The term Judaism stands for that partial\nexpression of the Jewish genius which is religious.\n\n\n_The Ethical Motive of Judaism_\n\nIt has been said that the genius of the Jew is entirely religious. I\ndo not think that that is historically a demonstrable proposition. For\nthe dominant motive even in Judaism is not a religious motive. It is\nan ethical motive. Judaism does not conceive its God as requiring man\nto be damned for his glory. It conceives its God as an instrument by\nthe worship of whom \"thy days may be lengthened in the land.\"\nRighteousness and not salvation is the aim even of the Jewish\nreligion. Hebraism is the name for this living spirit which demands\nrighteousness, expressed in all the different interests in which Jews,\nas Jews, have a share--in art, science, philosophy and social\norganization and in religion. Hebraism, hence, is a wider term than\nreligion and its continuity embraces, but is not embraced by, the\ncontinuity of religion.\n\nNow the Harvard Menorah Society, taking this fact into consideration,\nmade use, because of the tradition of English usage, of the term\n\"Hebraic.\" It recognized that since Hebraism is more comprehensive\nthan Judaism, many people might be Hebraists who are not and need not\nbe Judaists. It refused to exclude them from a share in Jewish life\nand an opportunity for Jewish service. The organization goes on the\nprinciple--both the Intercollegiate and the constituent\nSocieties--that nothing Jewish is alien to it. For this reason the\nMenorah takes no sides; for this reason it is Hebraic and not\nJudaistic. For this reason it welcomes everything Jewish without\nexception--theological and secular, Russian, German, French, English.\nIt requires only that a thing shall be Jewish, that it shall be a\npossible part of the organic total we call Hebraism.\n\nHebraism is the flower and fruit of the _whole_ of Jewish life. Its\nroot is the ethnic nationality of the Jewish people, and with this\nalso the secularizing reformers agree when they prohibit and\ndiscourage the marriage of Jew with Gentile.\n\nMany of us, however, are not content with merely the _status quo_.\nThroughout the nineteenth century it has thrown us into a series of\ndishonorable compromises. We want a condition--I speak now for myself\nand not for the Menorah--we want a condition in which the genius of\nthe Jew, the Hebraic spirit, may express itself without any need of\ncompromise. The orthodox Jew, at least, retains his integrity with his\ndarkness. But we are in danger of losing our integrity. We concede to\nour environment point after point. But we are not liberated in spirit\nby these concessions; we are merely turned into amateur Gentiles. The\northodox sectary makes no concession to environment, and tends to\npetrify and die. The reformed sectary makes too many, and tends to\ndissolve and die. This is the penalty for the _status quo_.\n\nLife, to be sure, consists of compromise and concession. But for\nintegral living we must make them as masters, not serfs. There must be\none place where the ancestral spirit of the Jew will not need to adapt\nitself to the world, but will, like the English or French spirit,\nadapt the world to itself. That place is determined nationally, just\nas the places of all European culture are determined nationally and\nracially.\n\n\n_The Aspiration for a Jewish State_\n\nPride in ancestry is not pride of race, but pride in the spirit of the\nrace, and pride of ancestry is not pride merely of background, but\npride in the obligations that ancestry sets. All aristocrats have one\nmotto--it is _noblesse oblige_. This must be the motto of the Jew. We\nmust hence carry our obligation in the spirit of the prophets, which\nis not primarily a theological spirit, but a purely humane spirit, for\nwhich the necessity of man determines the invocation of God; in which\nthe ideal of a free and happy humanity, in a just and democratic\nsociety, is the dominating ideal; in which a righteous Jewish state is\na persistent aspiration. This is the Hebraism which must underly all\nthe activities of the Menorah Association.\n\nThis Hebraism, academically realized through study, must be realized\nin the lives of individuals through work, as Dr. Grossmann has well\nsaid, and in the life of the great Jewish mass in a free Jewish state.\nEvery ideal we acquire from the past must be turned into a fact of the\npresent. _Noblesse oblige!_\n\n\nDR. DAVID PHILIPSON\n\nI am reminded that this day marks the one hundredth anniversary of the\nsigning of the Treaty of Ghent--one hundred years of peace between\nEnglish-speaking peoples. I need to be reminded of this after the\nspeech that has just been made, because much that was said has quite\nfired my fighting spirit--but this is a day of peace and it might not\nbe quite in the spirit of this anniversary day to say all I might\notherwise say in answer to the points that have been made and with\nwhich I differ radically.\n\nThere are some things in Dr. Kallen's eloquent address that I do\nbelieve, but there are many more things with which I do not agree. But\nlet that be as it may, I was very much interested in his remark, that\nthe \"Reform sect,\" as he is pleased to call us, harks back to the\nprophets. This has been claimed frequently by the reformers\nthemselves, but he puts a new interpretation upon it; he says the\nprophets were pre-Judaistic. This is the Christian point of view. They\nclaim that Judaism was the growth of the post-exilic period, but we\nreformers interpret the term Judaism altogether differently.\n\n\n_The Significance of Reform Judaism_\n\nJudaism means for us the Jewish religion and all that this implies; if\nthe Reform movement in its beginnings went back to prophetism it was\nsimply for this reason--that the pioneers of the Reform movement\nrecognized that the Jews had fallen into the very condition that Dr.\nKallen deprecates, namely, they had gotten away from life inasmuch as\nthey had been confined to the ghetto where they had been excluded from\nthe currents of contemporary life. Judaism had become a ghetto\nreligion, and because of this divorce between life and religion the\nReform movement arose. The Reform movement is not simply a matter of\ncreed. It affects the whole life of the Jew. One of its basic\nprinciples is that the religion of the Jew must square with his life;\nthe needs of the Jew in the modern environment must be taken into\nconsideration by Jewish leaders; Reform Judaism, far from making a\nseparation and raising a barrier between the Jew and life, as those\nwho call us reformed sectarians like to say--quite to the contrary,\nreconciles the Jew to the civilization in which he is living and\nwherein his children are growing up. This, to my mind, is the great\nsignificance of the Reform movement, and I believe that all those who\ntruly understand it look upon it in that way.\n\nThe Reform movement, as the movement for religious emancipation, was\nthe accompaniment of similar emancipatory movements affecting the Jews\nat the close of the eighteenth century. First there was the linguistic\nemancipation when under the leadership of Moses Mendelssohn the Jews\nof Germany discarded the use of the German-Jewish jargon or Yiddish,\nthe language of the Jew's degradation, (for there would have been no\nsuch thing as Yiddish had the Jew not been degraded and excluded as he\nwas in the countries of Europe) and began the employment of pure\nGerman. Secondly, there was the educational emancipation. The Jews had\nbeen educated in _chedarim_ where they received instruction only in\nHebrew branches and no so-called secular education whatsoever. This\nseparated the Jew from the culture of the world. At the close of the\neighteenth century German Jews began to attend schools and\nuniversities. Gradually this took place also in other countries.\nThirdly, there was the civil or political emancipation, when after the\nFrench Revolution the countries of western Europe, one after the\nother, accorded the Jews the rights of men. The Reform movement or, in\nother words, the religious emancipation, is simply the result of great\nworld forces, as embodied in these various aspects of emancipation,\nand for this reason the Reform movement, far from being simply a\nmatter of creed or theological belief, made the Jew a citizen of the\nworld and fitted him for the modern environment.\n\n\n_The \"Body and Soul\" of Jewry_\n\nNow there is one other point made by the previous speaker to which I\nfeel that I must refer and that is the matter of \"body and soul.\"\nThis is a favorite phrase of Zionist writers and speakers as\nemphasizing the difference between Zionists and reformers. We\nreformers also believe that the body Jewish is necessary, but in a\nsense different from the Zionistic claim that the Jewish nation must\nbe re-established. I as a reformer and a non-Zionist also use the term\n\"the Jewish people,\" but in the sense of a \"religious people,\" not a\n\"political people.\" This involves a vital distinction--the distinction\nbetween religionism and nationalism. Yes, I also believe that the\nbody, the religious community, is necessary. The reform rabbinical\nconference declared against intermarriage for the very reason that it\nis all important that the Jewish people, the _mamleket kohanim_, the\n_goy kadosh_, be the vessel embodying the religious idea, the spirit.\nBut let it be understood clearly that nationally we are poles apart\nfrom the Zionists. Nationally I am an American. I also feel that we\nought not to have hyphenated Americans, but Americans pure and simple.\nIn that sense I am nationally an American without a hyphen.\nReligiously I am a Jew, and religiously I am part and parcel of the\nJewish people with whom my religious fortunes are intertwined.\nFurther, I feel very much as Dr. Kallen does in regard to our duty\ntowards the Jews made destitute by the murderous European war. They\nhave none else to look to and we must help them; for whatever may be\nour differences, we must stand united in this pressing duty of the\nhour, this work of mercy. But may God speed the day when the Jews in\nPoland, Russia and Roumania will receive full rights so that\nnationally they may be considered Poles, Russians or Roumanians as are\nall others in those lands, as is the case here in free America. To my\nmind this is the only effective solution to the so-called Jewish\nproblem in those countries.\n\nFreedom is the Messiah that is still to come to the Jews in the lands\nwhere they are oppressed, so that everywhere they may be at one in the\nrights of citizenship with their fellow countrymen, differing from\nthem in their religion alone. This is the great distinction I desired\nto draw between the Jew nationally and the Jew as a member of a\nreligious people; this \"religious people\" is the body of which Judaism\nis the soul.\n\n\nPROF. SHARFMAN\n\nI am constrained to close this meeting with a statement similar to\nthat made by our Chancellor at the conclusion of the public meeting\nlast evening. This was a typical Menorah discussion. We are an open\nforum for all points of view. We are glad to hear Dr. Kallen's\nopinions; we are glad to hear Dr. Philipson's opinions. I am sure that\nout of this clash of views will come a better understanding of the\nMenorah idea, a truer and deeper realization of the strivings of our\nMenorah movement.\n\n\nIII. The Business Sessions\n\n\nFIRST SESSION\n\nCalled to order in the Faculty Room, McMicken Hall, at 11 A.M., by\nPresident I. Leo Sharfman. N. M. Lyon, of the University of\nCincinnati, was appointed Secretary _pro tem_.\n\nUpon the presentation of credentials, the following were seated as the\nRepresentatives of their respective Menorah Societies in the\nAdministrative Council: College of the City of New York, George J.\nHorowitz; Columbia University, M. David Hoffman; University of\nIllinois, Sidney Casner; University of Michigan, Jacob Levin;\nUniversity of Minnesota, Dr. Moses Barron; Ohio State University,\nHerman Lebeson; University of Wisconsin, Dr. Horace M. Kallen. And the\nfollowing were seated as Deputies: Clark University, Philip\nWascerwitz; Harvard University, George A. Dreyfous; Johns Hopkins\nUniversity, Jerome Mark; New York University, S. Felix Mendelson;\nUniversity of North Carolina, N. M. Lyon; University of Pennsylvania,\nJoseph Salesky; Penn State College, H. L. Lavender; University of\nTexas, Jacob Marcus; Western Reserve University, Sol Landman.\n\nThe applications for admission into the Association of the Menorah\nSocieties at Brown University, University of Cincinnati, Hunter\nCollege, University of Maine, the Universities in the City of Omaha,\nRadcliffe College, Valparaiso University, and University of Washington\nwere presented. After due consideration of the facts in each case and\nthe statements of the University authorities, all of the applications\nwere accepted and the Menorah Societies named were formally admitted\ninto the Association by the unanimous vote of the Administrative\nCouncil.\n\nUpon the presentation of their credentials, the following were seated\nas Representatives: University of Cincinnati, Abraham J. Feldman; the\nUniversities in the City of Omaha, Jacques Rieur; Valparaiso\nUniversity, Florence Turner. And the following were seated as\nDeputies: Radcliffe College, S. Marie Pichel; Hunter College, Naomi\nRasinsky.\n\nThe role of Representatives and Deputies was read by the Secretary,\nand the dues of the several Menorah Societies to the Intercollegiate\nMenorah Association for 1915 were paid.\n\nChancellor Henry Hurwitz read a letter of greeting to the Convention\nfrom Justice Irving Lehman of New York, Chairman of the Graduate\nAdvisory Menorah Committee. (See page 125.)\n\n\nSECOND SESSION\n\nCalled to order by President Sharfman at 3 P.M. in the Faculty Room,\nMcMicken Hall. Chancellor Hurwitz delivered the report of the Officers\nfor 1914.\n\n\n_Abstract of Officers' Report for 1914_\n\nIn his report in behalf of the Officers, the Chancellor referred to\nthe organization in the past year of the eight Menorah Societies which\nwere admitted into the Intercollegiate Menorah Association at the\nprevious session of the Convention, making in all thirty-five\nconstituent Societies, every one having arisen spontaneously at its\ncollege or university, with the full approval and encouragement of the\nauthorities. Additional Societies are in the process of formation at\nseveral other universities.\n\nWith reference to the organization of Graduate Menorah Societies, the\ntime was deemed inopportune to proceed definitely in the matter, the\nwar situation absorbing the attention and energies of so many of those\nwho would otherwise be interested in the idea of Graduate Menorah\norganization, and it was recommended that detailed consideration of\nthe question be laid over another year. But a beginning of Graduate\norganization has already been made in Scranton, Pa., where a Graduate\nMenorah Society has been formed.\n\nThe Intercollegiate Menorah Association has been very cordially\ninvited to join the Corda Fratres International Federation of\nStudents, whose objects are: \"To unite student movements and\norganizations throughout the world, to study student problems of every\nnature, and to promote among students closer international relations,\nmutual understandings and friendship; to encourage the study of\ninternational relations and problems; to stimulate a sympathetic\nappreciation of the character, problems and intellectual currents of\nother nations; to facilitate foreign study, and to increase its value\nand fruitfulness. The movement is neutral in all special religious,\npolitical and economic principles.\" (From the official declaration of\nprinciples.) The Corda Fratres at present comprises the following\nnational organizations as its constituents: Consulates of Corda\nFratres in Italy, Holland, Hungary and Greece; the Association\nGenerale des Etudiants de Paris, and the Union Nationale des\nAssociations des Etudiants de France; the Verband der Internationalen\nStudentenverein in Germany; the Liga de Estudiantes Americanos,\nincluding student organizations in the Argentine Republic, Brazil,\nChile, Paraguay, Peru and other countries in South America; and the\nAssociation of Cosmopolitan Clubs in North America. Thus, at present,\nthe sole United States constituent is the Association of Cosmopolitan\nClubs. It was recommended that the Intercollegiate Menorah Association\naccept the invitation to join Corda Fratres as a unit co-ordinate with\nthe Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs, it being understood that the\nMenorah Association, while thus expressing its approval of the\npurposes and spirit of Corda Fratres and desiring to aid in its\ninfluence and to contribute the element of Jewish culture and ideals\nto its spiritual constituency, would not be qualified in any way as to\nits autonomy, purposes, and activities.\n\nDuring the past year the Association continued its lecture system, and\ngenuine thanks are due to all the speakers, members of the Menorah\nCollege of Lecturers, who have so generously given of their time and\neffort to the Menorah Societies.\n\nSimilarly, the Association has been enabled to continue sending\nMenorah Libraries to its constituent Societies. In most cases these\nbooks have been placed at the disposal of all the members of the\nuniversity no less than of the members of the Menorah Societies, and\nthe authorities have expressed their warmest gratitude for these\ncontributions to their library facilities, even though the books\nremained the property of the Jewish Publication Society of America.\n\nThe presence of the books has done a great deal to stimulate actual\nreading and study on the part of Menorah members, and the work of the\nstudy groups has notably increased during the past year. This is a\nmost gratifying evidence of the seriousness with which the students\nare taking hold of the Menorah idea. They are still hampered by lack\nof suitable syllabi, the preparation of which has been unfortunately\ndelayed on account of the impaired health of the scholar who had\nundertaken to prepare them, but it was hoped that the syllabi would be\nmade available before long.\n\nThe chief visible product of the administration the past year was the\n180-page booklet entitled \"The Menorah Movement,\" which contains a\nfull and official exposition of the nature and purposes of the Menorah\nmovement, a detailed history of the several Societies as well as of\nthe Intercollegiate organization, including reports of the conferences\nand conventions, besides other material illustrating the attitude of\nthe university authorities and the general community towards the\nMenorah movement. Its preparation took several months of labor on the\npart of the Officers of the Association (special credit being due to\nthe Secretary, Mr. Isador Becker), assisted by the various Societies.\nAn edition of five thousand, of which only a comparatively small\nnumber of copies remain, was distributed all over the country among\nthe members of the Societies, other students, university authorities,\nalumni, and the interested public. It served to arouse both the\nacademic and lay interest in the movement and to spread authoritative\ninformation about the nature and purposes of the Menorah Societies.\n\nThis publication also prepared the way for the issue of the permanent\nand periodical Journal of the Menorah Association, the desirability of\nwhich has been felt almost from the beginning of the Intercollegiate\norganization and reaffirmed at the last Convention. It had been hoped\nthat the first number of THE MENORAH JOURNAL would appear in time for\nthis Convention, but the demands of an initial number that should in\nevery way be worthy of the Menorah ideal of the JOURNAL required a\nlittle more time, and the first issue could not appear before January,\n1915.\n\nTHE MENORAH JOURNAL, it was hoped, would not only spread interesting\nand authoritative information about the activities of the Menorah\nSocieties and stimulate their work further in the future, but would\nitself be a potent means of promoting Jewish knowledge and literature.\nThe JOURNAL was meant to appeal not to Menorah members alone nor to\nstudents only, but to all within and without the universities who were\ninterested in the literary treatment of Jewish life and aspiration.\nThe JOURNAL was extremely fortunate in having the counsel and literary\nco-operation of many leaders of Jewish thought and action of all\nparties (for list of Consulting Editors see Contents Page), the\nJOURNAL itself, like the Menorah Societies, being non-partisan, a\nforum for the free expression of variant views.\n\nUpon the success of the JOURNAL will largely depend the future\nprogress of the Menorah movement and its other literary enterprises\ncontemplated, _e. g._, pamphlet essays and Menorah Classics, which for\nthe present should be postponed, all energies having to be devoted to\nthe JOURNAL.\n\nThe gratifying encouragement given to the JOURNAL enterprise by many\nmen in the community is but a specific application of the co-operation\nof the Graduate Menorah Committee, headed by Justice Irving Lehman,\nwhich has continued during the past year to assist the Association\ngenerously and in the most admirable spirit, the committee reposing\nabsolutely perfect confidence in the officers of the Association. To\nthat co-operation and spirit of confidence the Association owes a\ngreat deal which it can repay only by continued effective devotion to\nthe cause which is equally dear to the students and the graduates. It\nwas deemed advisable that for the present the Graduate Menorah\nCommittee should continue as an informal body.\n\nA gratifying evidence of the mutual co-operation of the Menorah\nSocieties in a material way during the past year was shown in the\nappropriation of fifty dollars by the Harvard Menorah Society for the\nAssociation.\n\nAll in all, the Association during the past year may be said to have\nadvanced satisfactorily, though the Officers are conscious of the\ngreat opportunities which still remain before the organization.\nIndeed, the Menorah work is still in its beginnings. With the loyal\nco-operation of the students and the graduates, the Association looks\nforward confidently to a bright and big future.\n\n\n_Resolutions_\n\nAfter due consideration and discussion, the following resolutions were\nunanimously adopted:\n\nRESOLVED, _That the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, organized for\nthe promotion in American Colleges and Universities of the study of\nJewish history, culture and problems, and the advancement of Jewish\nideals, affiliate with the \"Corda Fratres\" International Federation of\nStudents._ Note: This resolution was adopted upon the conditions (1)\nthat the Intercollegiate Menorah Association be received into the\nInternational Federation of Students as a unit co-ordinate with the\nAssociation of Cosmopolitan Clubs, and (2) that the autonomy, purposes\nand activities of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association shall nowise\nbe qualified by such affiliation.[H]\n\nRESOLVED, _That the fifty dollars contributed by the Harvard Menorah\nSociety to the Intercollegiate Menorah Association be devoted to_ THE\nMENORAH JOURNAL.\n\nRESOLVED, _That the Officers be constituted a committee to investigate\nthe nature and work of student organizations analogous to the Menorah\nin other parts of the world and to submit a report thereon at the next\nIntercollegiate Menorah Convention._ (Readopted from the last\nConvention.)\n\nRESOLVED, _That the Officers be constituted a committee to consider\nand draw up definite plans for \"Menorah insignia and distinctions._\"\n\n\nTHIRD SESSION\n\nThe third session was a public meeting held at 8.15 P.M. in McMicken\nAuditorium, University of Cincinnati. (For report see page 121.)\n\n\nFOURTH SESSION\n\nCalled to order on Thursday, December 24th, at 9.15 A.M., in the\nFaculty Room, McMicken Hall, by President Sharfman.\n\nAfter due consideration and discussion the following resolutions were\nunanimously adopted:\n\nRESOLVED, _That the incoming Officers investigate the problem of the\norganization of Graduate Menorah Societies and prepare a report with\nrecommendations for submission to the constituent Societies at the\nbeginning of the next academic year(1915-16)._\n\n_The Administrative Council, in session assembled, hereby expresses\nits hearty approval of the relationship that has arisen and has been\nmaintained between the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, through\nits Officers, and a body of representative Jewish citizens of public\nspirit, known as a Graduate Advisory Committee, and gratefully records\nits deep appreciation of the wise counsel and generous assistance of\nthis Graduate Advisory Committee in the prosecution of the Menorah\npurposes, and_\n\nRESOLVES, _First, that these informal relations between the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association and the Graduate Advisory\nCommittee be permitted to continue as heretofore, and second, that the\nincoming Officers of the Association present plans looking to the\npermanent organization of this Graduate Advisory Committee, at the\nnext mid-winter meeting of the Administrative Council._ (Readopted\nfrom the last Convention.)\n\n_The Intercollegiate Menorah Convention extends its cordial greetings\nto Justice Irving Lehman and acknowledges with warm appreciation his\nwelcome message and his generous assurance of willing co-operation.\nThe Association is encouraged to carry forward with renewed vigor and\ninspiration its work of promoting the study of Jewish history and\nculture at American Colleges and Universities and of advancing Jewish\nideals; to merit the confidence and support of the Graduate Advisory\nCommittee._\n\nRESOLVED, _That each constituent Menorah Society should be bound to\nseek the advice and consent of the Officers of the Association before\nsoliciting assistance from any source._ (Readopted from the last\nConvention.)\n\nRESOLVED, _That the Administrative Council of the Intercollegiate\nMenorah Association, in annual meeting assembled, hereby\nenthusiastically expresses its entire confidence and trust in the work\ndone by the Officers of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association and\nits appreciation of the able and efficient manner in which they\nconducted and supervised the work of the organization during the past\nyear._\n\nThe oral reports of the several Menorah Societies, in amplification of\ntheir written reports, were presented and discussed.\n\n\nFIFTH SESSION\n\nThe fifth session was an informal luncheon held in the Banquet Hall of\nthe Hotel Gibson, Cincinnati, at 1 P.M. (For a report of the\naddresses, see page 125.)\n\n\nSIXTH SESSION\n\nImmediately following the luncheon, at 4 P.M., the sixth session was\nconvened in the private auditorium of the Hotel Gibson.\n\nThe following resolution was unanimously adopted:\n\nRESOLVED, _That the Officers of the Association take steps to provide\nMenorah Societies with syllabi of courses in Jewish history, Jewish\nliterature, and contemporaneous Jewish problems._ (Readopted from the\nlast Convention.)\n\nUpon proceeding to the choice of Officers of the Association for 1915,\nthe following were elected: Chancellor, Henry Hurwitz of Boston, Mass.\n(re-elected by acclamation); President, I. Leo Sharfman of the\nUniversity of Michigan (re-elected by acclamation); First\nVice-President, Isadore Levin, of Harvard University; Second\nVice-President, Milton D. Sapiro of the University of California;\nThird Vice-President, Abraham J. Feldman of the University of\nCincinnati; Treasurer, N. Morais Lyon of the University of Cincinnati;\nand Secretary, Charles K. Feinberg of New York University.\n\nAfter some discussion as to the advisability of deciding immediately\nupon the place of the next Annual Convention, it was\n\nRESOLVED, _That the place of meeting for the next Annual Convention be\nleft to the judgment of the Officers of the Association._\n\nAfter passing unanimously a Resolution thanking the University of\nCincinnati, the Hebrew Union College, the Cincinnati Menorah Society,\nand the city of Cincinnati for the cordial reception accorded to the\nConvention, adjournment was had at 5.45 P.M.\n\n\nN. M. LYON, _Secretary pro tem_.\n\nNOTE: In the course of the convention, several amendments to the\nConstitution of the Association were proposed and adopted. The\nConstitution as amended follows:\n\n\nCONSTITUTION\n\nOF THE INTERCOLLEGIATE MENORAH ASSOCIATION\n\n\nARTICLE I: NAME\n\nThe name of this organization shall be the Intercollegiate Menorah\nAssociation.\n\n\nARTICLE II: OBJECT\n\nThe object of this Association shall be the promotion, in American\ncolleges and universities, of the study of Jewish history, culture,\nand problems, and the advancement of Jewish ideals.\n\n\nARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP\n\nSec. 1.--Menorah Societies in American colleges and universities,\nhaving the object defined in Article II, shall be eligible for\nmembership in this Association, provided that membership in such\nSocieties is open to all members of their respective colleges or\nuniversities so far as the efficient pursuit of the object may permit.\n\nSec. 2.--The Administrative Council (provided for in Article IV) shall\nhave power to elect such honorary members as it may deem fit.\n\nSec. 3.--One constituent Society may be composed of members of two or\nmore neighboring colleges or universities.\n\nSec. 4.--All eligible Societies which adopt this constitution by\nJanuary 3, 1913, shall constitute the charter members of this\nAssociation.\n\nSec. 5.--Other Societies which are formed and eligible, or may be\nformed and become eligible, for membership in this Association, shall\nbe admitted into this Association by the Administrative Council, and\nshall become members upon adopting this Constitution.\n\nSec. 6.--By a two-thirds vote of the Administrative Council, that\nbody, in session, shall have power to deprive of membership any\nSociety which may not be carrying out the object of the Association,\nor may be employing methods prejudicial to its spirit.\n\n\nARTICLE IV: ADMINISTRATION\n\nSec. 1.--The administration of this Association shall be in the hands\nof the Administrative Council.\n\nSec. 2.--Every constituent Society shall delegate one member to be\nits Representative in the Council who shall, at the time of his\nelection, be directly connected with the college or the university as\na student or as a member of the Faculty.\n\nSec. 3.--The Administrative Council shall elect annually at its\nmid-winter meeting the following Officers of the Association:\nChancellor, First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Third\nVice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary.\n\n(a) Officers who are not Representatives shall ex-officio be members\nof the Administrative Council.\n\nSec. 4.--The Administrative Council shall hold a meeting during the\nmid-winter recess, when and where it shall please a majority of the\nCouncil. Other meetings of the Council may be called upon the request\nof a majority of its members, and held when and where it shall please\na majority. Notice of every meeting shall be sent to each member at\nleast four weeks beforehand. A copy of the minutes of each meeting\nshall be duly sent by the Secretary to each constituent Society.\n\nSec. 5.--In case the Representative of a Society is unable to attend a\nmeeting of the Council, his Society may send a duly accredited and\ninstructed Deputy[I] who is not already the Representative or Deputy\nof another Society.\n\nSec. 6.--A quorum of the Administrative Council shall consist of the\nRepresentatives or Deputies from two-thirds of the constituent\nSocieties.\n\n(Note:--It is understood that a term of office of a Representative or\nOfficer shall be one year, from one mid-winter meeting to the next).\n\n\nARTICLE V: DUES\n\nSec. 1.--The annual dues from each constituent Society shall be five\ndollars, which shall be paid to the Treasurer before the first meeting\nof the Administrative Council.\n\nSec. 2.--If a Society be admitted into membership after such date, its\ndues shall be paid upon admission.\n\nSec. 3.--Societies whose dues remain unpaid after the time set shall\nlose their vote in the Administrative Council until payment is made.\nNeglect to pay for two years may be a cause for dismissal from the\nAssociation by the Administrative Council.\n\n\nARTICLE VI: DATE OF EFFECT\n\nThis Constitution shall take effect January 2, 1913.\n\n\nARTICLE VII: AMENDMENTS\n\nAn amendment to this Constitution may be adopted by a two-thirds vote\nof the Administrative Council.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[G] See Prof. Sharfman's address, page 124, and Dr. Kohler's remarks\nat the Convention luncheon, page 128.\n\n[H] The Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs, at its Convention at Ohio\nState University on Dec. 26-30, 1914, passed a resolution of greeting\nand welcome to the Intercollegiate Menorah Association.\n\n[I] _How, and to what extent, a Deputy shall be instructed, depends\nupon the will of the Society which accredits him. (This was the sense\nof the Constituent Convention.)_\n\n\n\n\nNotes\n\nOf the Intercollegiate Menorah Association\n\n\n_Brown Menorah Dedication Exercises_\n\nThe Brown Menorah Society held its dedication exercises in the\nauditorium of the Brown Union on January 16, 1915. The Chairman was\nMaurice J. Siff, '15, President of the Society. Morris J. Wessel, '11,\nspoke of the need of the Menorah from the graduate's point of view.\nChancellor Henry Hurwitz brought the greetings of the Intercollegiate\nMenorah Association and explained the purposes of the Menorah\nmovement. President W. H. P. Faunce of the University, in his\nresponse, welcomed the Menorah Society to Brown. Rabbi Nathan Stern,\nof Providence, spoke upon the significance of the Menorah, and\nunveiled and lit a brass Menorah which he presented to the Society.\nDean Otis E. Randall spoke upon \"The Educational Value of College\nOrganizations,\" and expressed the hope that the new Menorah Society\nwould contribute to the uplift of the student body.\n\nPresident Faunce said, in part: \"This Society must justify itself by\nmaking better Brown men than ever before. Most especially among its\nduties it must strive for a type of Brown man that cultivates the best\nthere is in himself, a man who respects himself, soul, body and\nspirit, the type of man who flings himself gladly into whatever he\nbelieves in. And so I hope to-night that every member of this Society\nwill cherish the finest things in the history of his own people if he\nis a member of the Jewish nation--that he will cultivate everything\nthat is worthy and noble and try to help his brethren throughout the\nworld.\"\n\n\n_The Thirty-Sixth Menorah Society_\n\nA Menorah Society has recently been organized at the Massachusetts\nInstitute of Technology, in Boston. The meeting preliminary to\ndefinite organization was held in the Technology Union on March 9.\nIsadore Levin of the Harvard Menorah Society, First Vice-President of\nthe Intercollegiate Menorah Association, brought the greetings of the\nAssociation and explained the Menorah purposes and procedure. Leo I.\nDana, '16, was elected President.\n\nIn a communication to the Chancellor of the Menorah Association, Dean\nAlfred E. Burton of the Institute writes: \"I take pleasure in stating\nthat we shall be glad to have a branch of the Menorah Society formed\namong our undergraduates, and I can endorse the names of the officers\nwho have been chosen. They are all earnest students in good standing\nat the Institute and I am sure they will be able to establish a branch\nof the Menorah Society that will be a credit to the general\nintercollegiate organization.\"\n\nThe first lecture before the Society was delivered on April 5 by Dr.\nH. M. Kallen of the University of Wisconsin. The subject was \"Hebraism\nand Nationality.\"\n\n\n_Menorah Dinners_\n\nThe Menorah Society of Clark University held its \"First Annual\nBanquet\" on December 17, 1914. President Max Smelensky, '15,\nintroduced the toastmaster, Samuel Resnick, '13. The speakers were\nPresident G. Stanley Hall of the University, President Edmund C.\nSanford of the College, Dean James P. Porter, Rabbi H. H. Rubenovitz\nof Boston, A. W. Hillman, '07, Joseph Talamo, '14, and Chancellor\nHurwitz. (For the substance of President Hall's address see page 87.)\n\nThe Ohio State Menorah Society held its Annual Banquet on February 21.\nThe toastmaster was Harry M. Udovitch, '14. (Mr. Udovitch was last\nyear President of the Corda Fratres Association of Cosmopolitan\nClubs). The speakers were Professor Joseph A. Leighton, Professor\nLudwig Lewisohn, President Henry Greenberger, '15, of the Society,\nHerman Lebeson, '15, Ohio State Representative to the Intercollegiate\nAdministrative Council, Rabbi Morris N. Taxon of Columbus, Dr.\nSylvester Goodman, '06, and Helman Rosenthal, '12.\n\nThe Harvard Menorah Society will hold its seventh annual dinner on May\n3.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nPage 90, \"alterative\" changed to \"alternative\" (is an alternative)\n\nPage 106, \"qualite\" changed to \"qualit\u00e9\" (l'aqu\u00e9rir la qualit\u00e9)\n\nThis text uses both co\u00f6peration and co-operation, as well as today and\nto-day.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE MENORAH JOURNAL\n\n _Published Bi-monthly During the Academic Year By\n The Intercollegiate Menorah Association\n \"For the Study and Advancement of Jewish Culture and Ideals\"\n 600 Madison Avenue, New York_\n\n\n _Editor-in-Chief_\n HENRY HURWITZ\n\n _Associate Editor_\n I. LEO SHARFMAN\n\n _Managing Editor_\n H. ASKOWITH\n\n _Business Manager_\n B. S. POUZZNER\n\n\n_Board of Consulting Editors_\n\n DR. CYRUS ADLER\n LOUIS D. BRANDEIS\n DR. LEE K. FRANKEL\n PROF. FELIX FRANKFURTER\n PROF. ISRAEL FRIEDLAENDER\n PROF. RICHARD GOTTHEIL\n DR. MAX HELLER\n DR. JOSEPH JACOBS\n DR. KAUFMAN KOHLER\n JUSTICE IRVING LEHMAN\n JUDGE JULIAN W. MACK\n DR. J. L. MAGNES\n PROF. MAX L. MARGOLIS\n DR. H. PEREIRA MENDES\n DR. MARTIN A. MEYER\n DR. DAVID PHILIPSON\n DR. SOLOMON SCHECHTER\n HON. OSCAR S. STRAUS\n SAMUEL STRAUSS\n JUDGE MAYER SULZBERGER\n MISS HENRIETTA SZOLD\n FELIX M. WARBURG\n DR. STEPHEN S. WISE\n\n * * * * *\n\n VOLUME I JUNE, 1915 NUMBER 3\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n THE POTENCY OF THE JEWISH RACE _Charles W. Eliot_ 141\n ISRAEL AND MEDICINE _Sir William Osler_ 145\n THE WAR FROM A JEWISH STANDPOINT _Richard Gottheil_ 150\n O SWEET ANEMONES: _A Song_ _Jessie E. Sampler_ 158\n \"PATHS OF PLEASANTNESS\" _David Werner Amram_ 159\n THE JEWISH GENIUS IN LITERATURE _Edward Chauncey Baldwin_ 164\n JEWISH WORTHIES: JOCHANAN BEN ZAKKAI _Abraham M. Simon_ 173\n ZIONISM: A MENORAH PRIZE ESSAY _Marvin M. Lowenthal_ 179\n FROM COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY: _Activities of Menorah Societies_ 194\n NOTES _of The Intercollegiate Menorah Association_ 200\n\n * * * * *\n\n 25 cents a copy. Subscription, $1.00 a year; in Canada,\n $1.25; abroad, $1.50\n\n _Copyright, 1915, by The Intercollegiate Menorah\n Association. All rights reserved\n\n Entered as second class matter January 6, 1915, at the\n New York Post Office, under the Act of March 3, 1879_\n\n\n\n\nClassic Casts of Sculpture\n\n[Illustration]\n\n FOR HOME, SCHOOL, LIBRARY\n AND CLUBROOM DECORATION\n\nMichelangelo's MOSES, shown herewith, may be obtained in the following\nsizes:\n\n 1279 3 ft. 1 in. $25.00\n\n 1279A 2 ft. 12.00\n\n 1279B 1 ft. 7 in. 6.00\n\nSpecial discount from these prices to Menorah Societies and Menorah\nMembers\n\n Boston Sculpture Co.\n 67 Sudbury St.\n Boston Mass.\n\n\n\n\n =KOHUT SCHOOL= FOR\n BOYS\n\n =254th St. & Independence Ave. Phone 367 Kingsbridge=\n =Riverdale-on-Hudson= =New York City=\n\n _An Ideal Boarding and Day School_\n\nALL DAY IN THE COUNTRY\n\nUnexcelled Advantages of Refined home\n\nPhysical training, and outdoor sports under rigid supervision\n\nResident Masters and House-mother\n\nIndividualized attention in the class-room\n\nGardening, Manual Training\n\nBible Study and Elementary Hebrew\n\nFor Booklet, Address at School\n\n=HARRY J. KUGEL, Principal=\n\n=KAMP KOHUT, A Boys' Summer Camp at Oxford, Maine. Under the personal\ndirection of GEO. A. KOHUT, Ph.D.=\n\n\n\n\n =STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP,\n MANAGEMENT, CIRCULATION, ETC.,\n REQUIRED BY THE ACT OF\n AUGUST 24, 1912=\n\n _of_ THE MENORAH JOURNAL\n\n _published_ bi-monthly _at_ New York, N.Y.\n _for_ April 1, 1915\n\nEditor-in-chief, Henry Hurwitz, 600 Madison Ave., New York City;\nAssociate Editor, I. Leo Sharfman, 1607 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor,\nMich.; Managing Editor, Hyman Askowith, North Pelham, N. Y.; Business\nManager, Benjamin S. Pouzzner, 52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York City.\nPublisher, Intercollegiate Menorah Association, 600 Madison Ave., New\nYork City. Owners: (If a corporation, give its name and the names and\naddresses of stockholders holding 1 per cent or more of total amount\nof stock. If not a corporation, give names and addresses of individual\nowners.) Intercollegiate Menorah Association, 600 Madison Ave., New\nYork City. An organization composed of thirty-five societies in as\nmany colleges and universities in the country, having a total\nmembership of about 3000, \"For the Study and Advancement of Jewish\nCulture and Ideals.\" The officers of the Association are: Chancellor,\nHenry Hurwitz, 600 Madison Ave., New York City; President, I. Leo\nSharfman, Ann Arbor, Mich.; First Vice-President, Isadore Levin,\nCambridge, Mass.; Second Vice-President, Milton D. Sapiro, Berkeley,\nCal.; Third Vice-President, Abraham J. Feldman, Cincinnati, O.;\nTreasurer, N. M. Lyon, Cincinnati, O.; Secretary, Chas. K. Feinberg,\nNew York University, University Heights, New York City; Known\nbondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders, holding one per\ncent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities:\n(If there are none, so state.) None. Average number of copies of each\nissue of this publication sold or distributed, through the mails or\notherwise, to paid subscribers during the six months preceding the\ndate shown above. (This information is required from daily newspapers\nonly.)\n\n(Signed) Benjamin S. Pouzzner. Sworn to and subscribed before me this\n21st day of April, 1915. (Signed) Margaret M. Murphy. (My commission\nexpires March 30, 1916.)\n\n =Kindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers=\n\n\n\n\n =Cincinnati 1854= =The Oldest and Largest Jewish\n Publishing House in America= =New York 1901=\n\n =BLOCH PUBLISHING CO.=\n\n \"_The Jewish Book Concern_\"\n\n * * * * *\n\n=SOME RECENT AND POPULAR PUBLICATIONS=\n\n\n=JEWISH CLASSICS.= Three volumes I. Sufferings of the Jews in the\nMiddle Ages, by L. Zunz; II. Hebrew Tales, by H. Hurwitz; III. Sayings\nof the Jewish Fathers (Pirke Aboth) by J.I. Gorfinkle. Per volume\n=.50=\n\n=JEWISH QUESTIONS.= By Dr. Ignatz Zollschan =.25=\n\n=THE CRUCIFIXION.= From a Jewish standpoint, by Dr. Emil G. Hirsch.\n=.25=\n\n=LIBERAL JUDAISM AND SOCIAL SERVICE.= By Harry S. Lewis. Six lectures\n=$1.00=\n\n=OUTLINES OF LIBERAL JUDAISM.= By Claude G. Montefiore. (Special)\n=.65=\n\n=WHAT IS JUDAISM?= A survey of Jewish Life, Thought and Achievement.\nBy Dr. Abram S. Isaacs. =.75=\n\n=JUSTICE TO THE JEW.= By Madison C. Peters. New edition =$1.00=\n\n=Any book of Jewish interest supplied by us. Send for our catalogues\nand price lists of Religious School Books, Bibles, Prayer Books,\nPlays, Dictionaries, Rare and out-of-print works and General Judaica=\n(English).\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n =Union Square= =40 East 14th Street= =New York=\n\n[Illustration: _Copyright by Curtis & Cameron_\n\nThe Frieze of The Prophets--By Sargent. _Mural decoration in the\nBoston Public Library_. Four sizes: 17 x 93 inches, $20.00; 10 x 55\ninches, $10.00; 6-1/2 x 35 inches, $5.00; 4-1/2 x 25 inches, $2.50.\nThe frieze may also be obtained in five separate panels in each of the\nsizes--priced, according to size, $4.50, $2.50, $1.00, and 50 cts.]\n\n=The Copley Prints=\n\n =For 20 years a Hall-Mark of Good Taste in\n Pictures--Unsurpassed for Home, School, and Club\n Decoration=\n\n At Art Stores, or sent on approval. $1.00 to $100.00.\n\n =Illustrated Catalogue=, practically a Handbook of\n American Art, =sent on receipt of 25 cents= (stamps\n accepted) this cost deducted from subsequent purchase\n of Prints.\n\n =Also a distinguished new series=\n\n =The Copley Etchings=\n\n _Mention The Menorah Journal when you write to us._\n\n =CURTIS & CAMERON= =Boston Salesroom: Pierce Building,\n opposite Public Library=\n =77 Harcourt St., BOSTON= =New York Salesroom: Craftsman Building,\n 6 E. 39th Street=\n\n\n * * * * *\n\n Kindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers\n\n\n\n\n_Forthcoming issues of The Menorah Journal will contain articles by_\n\n\n_=Lord Bryce=_\n\n_=Dr. Max Nordau=_\n\n_=Hon. Oscar S. Straus=_\n\n_=Judge Mayer Sulzberger, Judge Julian W. Mack, Dr. Solomon Schechter,\nProf. Felix Frankfurter, Prof. Israel Friedlaender, Dr. J. L. Magnes,\nProf. Norman Bentwich, Rabbi Max Heller, Dr. Martin A. Meyer.=_\n\n\n_Among other articles to appear in future issues may be named:_\n\n_=Dr. Stephen S. Wise=_--=\"The College Man and Jewish Life\"=\n\n_=Dr. George Alexander Kohut=_--=\"Some Curiosities of Jewish\nLiterature\"=\n\n_=Dr. Solomon Solis Cohen=_--=\"The Poetry of Jehudah Ha-Levi\"=\n\n=\"Phases of Jewish Thinking in American Universities\"=--A Menorah\nPrize Essay\n\n_=Maurice Wertheim=_--=\"Americanism and Judaism\"=\n\n_=Louis Weinberg=_--=\"The Jew in The Industrial and Fine Arts\"=\n\n_=Dr. I. L. Kandel=_ of the Carnegie Foundation--=\"The Development of\nJewish Education\"=\n\n=\"Jewish Worthies\"=--A series of portrait sketches of the most notable\npersonalities in the history of Jewish life and thought\n\n=\"Jewish Women of the Eighteenth Century Salons\"=\n\n=\"The Jew in Modern Drama and Acting\"=\n\n\n_As The Menorah Journal is published only during the academic year,\nthe next number will appear in October._\n\n________________________________________________________________________\n\n\n\n\nSUBSCRIPTION BLANK\n\n\n THE MENORAH JOURNAL\n 600 Madison Avenue, New York\n\nI enclose $1.00, for which kindly send me The Menorah Journal for the\ncurrent year.\n\n (Signed)___________________________________________________\n\n Address____________________________________________________\n\n ____________________________________________________\n\n\n\n\nTHE MENORAH JOURNAL\n\n VOLUME I JUNE, 1915 NUMBER 3\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Potency of the Jewish Race\n\nBY CHARLES W. ELIOT\n\n\n[Illustration: _CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (born in Boston, 1834),\npre\u00ebminent as educator and publicist; for forty years President of\nHarvard University; revered not only by Harvard men but by all\nAmericans as a great leader of thought and opinion. Dr. Eliot warmly\nwelcomed the organization of the first Menorah Society at Harvard, in\n1906; and to his encouragement is due in large measure the growth of\nthe Menorah movement. At a time when the problems and lessons of the\nwar are absorbing his attention, Dr. Eliot has generously shown his\ncontinued sympathy with the Menorah aims and his interest in the\nMenorah Journal by preparing this article._]\n\nFor many centuries the Jews have had no country of their own or even\nnational headquarters. They have been scattered among many nations,\nall more or less unfriendly, and some cruelly oppressive; yet they\nhave retained, under the most adverse circumstances, the capacity to\nearn their livelihood, to bring up families, and to maintain the great\ntraditions of their race. The main reason for the indestructibility of\nthe Jews is that they early embraced certain invaluable ideals, and\nhave struggled towards them indomitably for thousands of years.\n\n\n_Races and Ideals_\n\nThe principal difference between races is difference of ideals.\nWhenever several distinct races come to live side by side on the same\nterritory in the bonds of a peaceful and co\u00f6perative fellowship for\nall common public purposes, it will be found that they have all\nreached common political and social ideals, although in regard to many\nracial attributes and even in regard to religious beliefs they remain\ndistinct.\n\nThe assimilation of different races can be brought about only by a\ngradual acceptance of the same ideals and aspirations. For several\ncenturies this process of assimilation has been going on in many\nparts of the earth, and is now going on at an accelerated pace,\nresulting in larger conceptions of nationality and larger political or\ngovernmental units.\n\n\n_The Influence of Lofty Ideals on the Jewish Race_\n\nThe Jewish race affords the strongest instance of the influence on a\nhuman stock of lofty ideals, persistently held wherever on the face of\nthe earth a fragment of the race has planted itself. In all\ngenerations and in all environments the Jews have succeeded in\ncompetition with other races to a remarkable degree. Among a poor\npopulation they are less poor than their neighbors; among a free and\nprosperous population the Jews become richer and more prosperous than\nthe average. Confined in unwholesome Ghettos, they retain to an\nastonishing degree their health and vitality, helped doubtless by the\ndietary and sanitary directions given in their ancient Scriptures.\nDeprived of the right to bear arms in many countries, and, therefore,\nunable to resist savage attack, they remain inextinguishable. Wherever\nthey become prosperous they develop an extraordinary community\nfeeling, and take care of their own poor or unfortunate. In short, in\nall generations and in all their various environments they have\nexhibited, and still exhibit, a remarkable racial tenacity and vigor.\nIt is manifest that this normal success of the race is not due to any\nespecially favorable material conditions, but to the rare strength and\nsignificance of its ideals.\n\n\n_\"The Noblest of Human Ideals\": Jewish Monotheism_\n\nWhat are these ideals? What have they been for thousands of years? The\nfirst of the Jewish ideals has been that of one God--the noblest of\nall human ideals--early attained, and persistently clung to by the\nwhole race. Mohammedan monotheism is noble, and is the main source of\nthe strength of those races which have embraced the religion of\nMahomet; but the Mohammedan doctrine of One God arrived thousands of\nyears after the Jewish, and never was so pure. The most significant\nsentence in the English speech is the first sentence of the Hebrew\nBible--\"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.\" That\nis the first of the Jewish ideals, to which the race has been true in\nall environments, in weal and in woe; and that belief has delivered it\nfrom many sorts of enfeebling and degrading terrors and superstitions.\n\n\n_The Ideal of the Family_\n\nAnother Jewish ideal which has counted for much in the history of the\nrace is the ideal of the family--pure, honorable, and sacred. The\nveneration of ancestors, which has been an important part of the\nreligion of China and Japan, is only an undue exaggeration of the\nHebrew commandment, \"Honor thy father and thy mother.\" The Jewish race\nhas seen fulfilled the promise which is the last phrase of that\ncommandment, \"that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy\nGod giveth thee,\" although in many lands and not in any land of their\nown. The organized human society most likely to prove durable or\npermanent is that which possesses and maintains in theory and practise\na lofty ideal of the family. The reverence shown by children toward\ntheir parents and the devotion of parents to their children, which\nprevail in Jewish families, are both more intense than is usual in\nChristian families. These sentiments yield infinite good in any human\nsociety; they produce, and pass on from generation to generation,\npurity of life, family honor, and a real consecration of the best\nhuman affections. That is the second potent Jewish ideal.\n\n\n_The Ethical Ideal of the Ten Commandments_\n\nThe third effective ideal is the ethical teaching contained in the Ten\nCommandments, the most compact and yet comprehensive code of morals\never written. These ethical principles have been held before the\nJewish race for thousands of years wherever it has lived, in good\ntimes and bad, an ideal toward which the race has always struggled,\nthough with frequent lapses. This code contains the institution of the\nSabbath Day, which by itself accounts for much of the extraordinary\nendurance of the race.\n\nThe Jews have always been distinguished for their respect for learning\nand their zeal for education. In the Ghettos of Europe, under the most\ndiscouraging conditions, their Rabbis kept alive the ancient learning,\nand through many centuries gave the elite of the rising generation\nsome mental training, when no instruction was to be had by the masses\nof mankind. A persecuted race, provided it retains its vitality and\nelasticity, receives admirable training in loyalty to its ideals. In\nthe case of the Jews this was a loyalty not only to race, but to\nreligion; and religious loyalty is the finest and most sustaining of\nall loyalties. The religion of the Jews emphasizes an ideal to which\nthe Jewish mind and heart have responded ardently from the earliest\ntimes--the ideal of righteousness. Loyalty to this ideal includes\nloyalty to race, family, religion, and all righteous persons. The Jews\nbelieve that righteousness alone exalteth a nation, a family, or a\nman.\n\n\n_Will the Jewish Race Meet the Test of Liberty?_\n\nFor two thousand years the Jews have led their daily lives under\nexposure to bodily harm, injustice, and all sorts of disaster, and\nunder such grievous trials have preserved their ideals. The race is\nnow to be put to another and severer test. In the free countries of\nEurope and America the Jews enjoy complete political and industrial\nliberty. They were for centuries excluded from most professions, arts,\nand industries, and were driven into trade and money-lending. Now all\ncallings are open to them. In the Middle Ages there were only a few\ndirections in which a successful Jew could safely spend his money. Now\nhe can spend it in any direction--wisely and beneficently, or\nfoolishly and ostentatiously. Will the race bear liberty as well as it\nhas borne oppression? The liberty, which is the only atmosphere in\nwhich the strongest men and women can develop, often causes the\ndownfall of weak-willed human beings. Rich Jews, like other rich\npeople, are in danger of becoming luxurious--the more so because the\nrace has been cut off from military service, and has not been addicted\nto out-of-door sports. The worst destroyer of sound family and\nnational life is luxury. If the race is to meet successfully the test\nof liberty, it will get over its apparent tendency of the moment\ntowards materialism and reliance on the power of money, hold fast to\nits social and artistic idealism, and press steadily towards its\nintellectual and religious ideals.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Charles W. Eliot]\n\n\n\n\nIsrael and Medicine\n\nBY SIR WILLIAM OSLER\n\n\n[Illustration: _SIR WILLIAM OSLER (born in Ontario, Canada, in 1849)\nRegius Professor of Medicine at Oxford and one of the world's leading\nmedical authorities; distinguished not merely as investigator,\nteacher, and practitioner, but also as essayist and ethical teacher of\nsingular grace and humanity, as shown in the volumes entitled\n\"Aequanimitas\" and \"Counsels and Ideals.\" The present address,\ndelivered in London at the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Jewish\nHistorical Society of England, is here given its first publication in\nthis country, with Sir William's special authorization._]\n\nIn estimating the position of Israel in the human values we must\nremember that the quest for righteousness is Oriental, the quest for\nknowledge Occidental. With the great prophets of the East--Moses,\nIsaiah, Mahomet--the word was, \"Thus saith the Lord\"; with the great\nseers of the West, from Thales and Aristotle to Archimedes and\nLucretius, it was \"What says Nature?\" They illustrate two opposite\nviews of man and his destiny--in the one he is an \"_angelus sepultus_\"\nin a muddy vesture of decay; in the other, he is the \"young\nlight-hearted master\" of the world, in it to know it, and by knowing\nto conquer. Modern civilization is the outcome of these two great\nmovements of the mind of man, who to-day is ruled in heart and head by\nIsrael and by Greece. From the one he has learned responsibility to a\nSupreme Being, and the love of his neighbor, in which are embraced\nboth the Law and the Prophets; from the other he has gathered the\npromise of Eden to have dominion over the earth on which he lives. Not\nthat Israel is all heart, nor Greece all head, for in estimating the\nhuman value of the two races, intellect and science are found in\nJerusalem and beauty and truth at Athens, but in different\nproportions.\n\n\n_Medicine in the Talmud_\n\nIt is a striking fact that there is no great Oriental name in\nscience--not one to be put in the same class with Aristotle, with\nHippocrates, or with a score of Grecians. We do not go to the Bible\nfor science, though we may go to Moses for instruction in some of the\nbest methods in hygiene. Nor is the Talmud a fountain-head in which\nmen seek inspiration to-day as in the works of Aristotle. I do not\nforget the saying:\n\n \"_In uns'rem Talmud kann man Jedes lesen,\n Und Alles ist schon einmal dagewesen_.\"\n\nWith much of intense interest for the physician, and in spite of some\nbrave sayings about the value of science, there is not in it the\nspirit of Aristotle or of Galen. It is true we find there one of the\nearliest instances in literature of an accurate diagnosis confirmed\n_post mortem_. A sheep of the Rabbi Chabiba had paralysis of the hind\nlegs. Rabbi Jemar diagnosed ischias, or arthritis, but Rabbina, who\nwas called in, said that the disease was in the spinal marrow. To\nsettle the dispute the sheep was killed, and Rabbina's diagnosis was\nconfirmed.\n\n\n_The Role of Jewish Physicians in the Middle Ages_\n\nIn the early Middle Ages the Jewish physicians played a role of the\nfirst importance as preservers and transmitters of ancient knowledge.\nWith the fall of Rome the broad stream of Greek science in western\nEurope entered the sud of medi\u00e6valism. It filtered through in three\nstreams--one in South Italy, the other in Byzantium, and a third\nthrough Islam. At the great school of Salernum in the tenth, eleventh\nand twelfth centuries, we find important Jewish teachers; Copho II\nwrote the Anatomia Porci, and Rebecca wrote on fevers and the f\u0153tus.\nJews were valued councillors at the court of the great Emperor\nFrederick. With the Byzantine stream the Jews seem to have had little\nto do, but the broad, clear stream which ran through Islam is dotted\nthickly with Hebrew names. In the eastern and western Caliphates and\nin North Africa were men who to-day are the glory of Israel, and\nbright stars in the medical firmament. Three of these stand out\npre\u00ebminent. The writings of Isaac Jud\u00e6us, known in the Middle Ages as\nMonarcha Medicorum, were prized for more than four centuries. He had a\nHippocratic belief in the powers of nature and in the superiority of\nprevention to cure. He was an optimist and held strongly to the\nTalmudic precept that the physician who takes nothing is worth\nnothing. Rabbi ben Ezra was a universal genius and wanderer, whose\ntravels brought him as far as England. His philosophy of life Browning\nhas depicted in the well-known poem, whose beauty of diction and\nclarity of thought atone for countless muddy folios.\n\n\n_Maimonides: Prince Among Physicians_\n\nBut the prince among Jewish physicians, whose fame as such has been\novershadowed by his reputation as a Talmudist and philosopher, is the\nDoctor Perplexorum--_dux, director, demonstrator, neutrorum\ndubitantium et errantium!_--Moses Maimonides. Cordova boasts of three\nof the greatest names in the history of Arabian medicine: Avenzoar,\nAlbucasis, and Averroes (Avenzoar is indeed claimed to be a Jew).\nGreat as is the fame of Averroes as the commentator and transmitter of\nAristotle to scholastic Europe, his fame is enhanced as the teacher\nand inspirer of Moses ben Maimon. Exiled from Spain, this great\nteacher became in Egypt the Thomas Aquinas of Jewry, the conciliator\nof the Bible and the Talmud with the philosophy of Aristotle. He\nremains one of Israel's great prophets, and while devoted to theology\nand philosophy, he was a distinguished and successful practitioner of\nmedicine and the author of many works highly prized for nearly five\ncenturies, some of which are still reprinted. He says pathetically,\n\"Although from my youth Torah was betrothed to me and continues to\nlive by me as the wife of my youth, in whose love I find a constant\ndelight, strange women, whom I took at first into my house as her\nhandmaids, have become her rivals and absorbed part of my time.\" The\nspirit of the man is manifest in his famous prayer, one of the\nprecious documents of our profession, worthy to be placed beside the\nHippocratic oath. It ends with: \"In suffering let me always see only\nmy fellow creature.\"[A]\n\n\n_Jewish Physicians and Medieval Popes_\n\nIn the revival of learning in the thirteenth century, which led to the\nfoundation of so many of the universities, Hebrew physicians took a\nprominent part, particularly in the great schools of Montpelier and of\nParis; and for the next two or three centuries in Italy, in France,\nand in Germany, Hebrew physicians were greatly prized. But too often\nthe tribulations of Israel were their lot. As one reads of the\ngrievous persecutions they suffered, there comes to mind the truth of\nZunz' words: \"_Wenn es eine Stufenleiter von Leiden giebt, so hat\nIsrael die hochste Staffel erstiegen._\" Their checkered career is well\nillustrated by the relations with the Popes, some of whom uttered\nofficial bulls and fulminations against them, others seem to have had\na special fondness for them as body physicians. Paul III was for years\nin charge of Jacob Montino, a distinguished Jewish physician, who\ntranslated extensively from the Arabic and Hebrew into Latin, and his\nedition of Averroes is dedicated to Pope Leo X. In my library there is\na copy of the letter of Pope Gregory XIII, dated March 30th, 1581, and\nprinted in 1584, confirming the decrees of Paul IV and Pius V, which\nhe regrets were by no means held in observance, \"but that there are\nstill many among Christian persons who desiring the infirmities of\ntheir bodies be cured by illicit means, and especially by the service\nof Jews and other infidels. . . .\" It was at Mantua that a Jewish\nphysician, Abraham Conath, established a printing press, from which\nthe first Hebrew works were issued.\n\n\n_Names of Distinction in Later Centuries_\n\nThroughout the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries in\nFrance, Germany, and Italy we meet many distinguished names in the\nprofession, and in his _Geschichte der J\u00fcdischen Aertz_ Landau pays a\nvery just tribute to their work. Only a few are met with in England.\nIsaac Abendana, a Spaniard, practised in Oxford and lectured on Hebrew\nat Magdalen College. We have at the Bodleian Jewish almanacs which lie\nissued at the end of the seventeenth century, and a great Latin\ntranslation of Mishnah. He afterwards migrated to Cambridge. A more\nimportant author was Jacob de Castro Sarmento, a Portuguese Jew, who\nbecame licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in 1725, and\nFellow of the Royal Society in 1730. There is in the Bodleian an\ninteresting broadsheet from the Register of the London Synagogues\nrespecting charges made when his name was proposed at the Royal\nSociety. He contributed many papers to the Philosophical Transactions,\nand was the author of several works. In the eighteenth century Jean\nBaptiste de Silva, of a Portuguese Jewish family, became one of the\nleading physicians of Paris, consulting physician to Louis XV, and the\nfriend of Voltaire, who remarks, \"_C'\u00e9tait un de ces m\u00e9decins que\nMoliere n'eut ni pu ni os\u00e9 rendre ridicules_.\" One of the special\ntreasures of my library is a volume of the Henriade superbly bound by\nPadeloup, and a presentation copy from Voltaire to de Silva, given me\nwhen I left Baltimore by my messmates in \"The Ship of Fools\" (a dining\nclub). Voltaire's inscription reads as follows:\n\n\"_A Monsieur Silva, Esculape Fran\u00e7ois. Recevez cet hommage de votre\nfr\u00e8re en Apollon. Ce Dieu vous a laiss\u00e9 son plus bel h\u00e9ritage, tous\nles Dons de l'esprit, tous ceux de la raison, et je n'eus que des\nVers, h\u00e9las, pour mon partage._\"\n\n\n_The Achievement of Recent Years_\n\n\nIn the nineteenth century, with the removal of the vexatious\nrestrictions, the Jew had a chance of reaching his full development,\nand he has taken a position in the medical profession comparable to\nthat occupied in the palmy Arabian days of Cordova and Bagdad. In\nGermany particularly, the last half of the century witnessed a\nremarkable outburst of scientific activity. Traube, who may well be\ncalled the father of experimental pathology; Henle, the distinguished\nanatomist and pathologist; Valentin, the physiologist; Lebert, Remak,\nRomberg, Ebstein, Henoch, have been among the clinical physicians of\nthe very first rank. Cohnheim was the most brilliant pathologist of\nhis day; to Weigert pathological histology owes an enormous debt, and,\nto crown all, the man whose ideas have revolutionized modern\npathology, Paul Ehrlich, is a Jew. In America Hebrew members of our\nprofession for many years occupied a very prominent position. The\nfather of the profession to-day, a man universally beloved, is Abraham\nJacobi, full of years and honors; and the two most brilliant\nrepresentatives in physiology and pathology, Simon Flexner and Jacques\nLoeb, carry out the splendid traditions of Traube and Henle.\n\nI have always had a warm affection for my Jewish students, and the\nfriendships I have made with them have been among the special\npleasures of my life. Their success has always been a great\ngratification, as it has been the just reward of earnestness and\ntenacity of purpose and devotion to high ideals in science; and, I may\nadd, a dedication of themselves as practitioners to everything that\ncould promote the welfare of their patients. In the medical profession\nthe Jews had a long and honorable record, and among no people is all\nthat is best in our science and art more warmly appreciated; none in\nthe community take more to heart the admonition of the son of Sirach,\n\"Give place to the physician, let him not go from thee, for thou hast\nneed of him.\"\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Wm Osler]\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[Footnote A: I am told by authorities that the attribution of this\nprayer to Maimonides is doubtful. Where is the original?]\n\n\n\n\nThe War from a Jewish Standpoint\n\nBY RICHARD GOTTHEIL\n\n\n[Illustration: _RICHARD GOTTHEIL (born in Manchester, England, in\n1862; came to New York in 1873), educated at Columbia and at German\nUniversities; since 1887 Professor of Semitic Languages and Rabbinical\nLiterature at Columbia. Apart from his scholarly labors, Professor\nGottheil has devoted himself body and soul to many Jewish causes,\nnotably Zionism, in which he has been a leader in America from the\nbeginning. He was among the first to extend an encouraging hand to the\nMenorah movement and has responded generously to repeated calls to\nlecture before Menorah Societies. The present article is based upon an\naddress recently delivered before the Cornell Menorah Society._]\n\nThe war in Europe presents problems for the Jews which must be faced\nno matter what the consequences may be. These problems are of two\nkinds, due to the fact that we are members of a race that is scattered\nover the whole earth, and the units of which are to be found in the\nfour corners of the globe. In this way a double set of duties is\nentailed upon us. On the one hand, we have to take our rightful place\nas citizens of the different countries in which we live: to accept all\nthe burdens that go with such citizenship, and to partake of the joys\nand sorrows that are its inevitable accompaniment--in a word, to take\nthe advice of the Rabbis of old and \"seek the welfare\" of the country\nin which we live. But this obligation is so self-evident, and the\nproblems raised by it solve themselves so naturally, that they need no\nfurther thought. In point of fact, the patriotism of the Jews for the\nlands in which they live has been demonstrated on so many occasions\nthat only blind ignorance or wilful misrepresentation can call it into\nquestion. At the present moment, in all the armies that are at the\nfront, our brethren are doing service even beyond their numerical\nproportion.\n\n\n_The Toll Paid by the Jew_\n\nIt is to the second set of problems that I venture to call\nattention--those Jewish problems that concern ourselves in particular,\nthat deal with our relations to and with our fellow Jews--problems\nwhich I am afraid are not always present in our minds. For one reason\nor another, they are apt to be forgotten, to slip into the background\nthrough sheer negligence. Indeed, in many cases we are fain to put\nthem intentionally into a corner and remove them discreetly from\nsight. It has needed a great world event at this time, as it has in\nthe past, to bring many of us to reason and to a realization of our\nduty. The titanic struggle in which so many of the nations of the\nworld are engaged has come to remind us also of our position as Jews\nand to recall to us our relations with the past, our connections with\nthe present, and our hopes for the future. It is indeed true that none\nof the great political movements that have affected the world have\npassed by without in some special manner affecting the Jewish people.\nAs we look back through history and allow our thoughts to run down the\nhighway of the ages, we perceive the effects such struggles have had\nupon the Jew. We think of the time when ancient Babylonia stretched\nout its arm from the East to gain a foothold on the Mediterranean and\nto grasp the power of the world. What was the effect upon the Jews?\nThe Babylonian captivity. Many hundreds of years after, Rome--the\nBabylonia of the West--lunged out toward the East in the same search\nfor universal dominion; and we still observe the Ninth of Ab in\ncommemoration of the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem. Again\nsome centuries passed us by, and we come to the inevitable conflict\nbetween Christianity and the rising power of Islam. Who was it but our\nown Jews who suffered most as the crusading hordes moved through\nEurope--our own Jews who were driven before them from the Rhine into\nwhat at a later time became the great national Ghetto in Poland? And\nnow in this twentieth century, as a people, and in proportion to its\nnumbers, which body of men, women and children is paying the most\nexacting toll to the forces of destiny? Again it is the Jew.\n\n\n_\"The Belgians of All History\"_\n\nWe all have the greatest possible sympathy for the Belgian people and\nfor the Belgian land. Yet how much greater has been the suffering of\nthe Jewish people--the Belgians not of a day but of all history? In\nEastern Europe, in Poland, in Galicia and in parts of Russia, at least\ntwo or three millions of Jews have suffered from the ravages of a war\nwaged with a bitterness that exceeds all bounds. Invading armies have\npassed and re-passed over their homes--miserable as they were even in\ntimes of peace. False accusations have been launched against them so\nthat they have been regarded as enemies by both sides and treated as\nsuch. Thousands have been driven from their homes to congest villages\nalready filled to overflowing or to increase the want and suffering\nindigenous to towns and cities. An amount of anguish and pain has been\ncaused such as the Jews have never known in all their long tramp\nthrough the ages. What have we done, we Jews in America, to assuage\neven a part of this pain? What measures have we in view, when once the\nwar shall be over, to regain for these people the possibility of\nliving, to bring back for them a little of that which they have lost\nthrough no fault of their own and in no cause which is theirs? In\nmost cases the only right permitted to them is the right to suffer,\nand they must in addition pay the price of that suffering. As we think\nof all these circumstances, is it not proper and meet that we should\nponder the whole situation in which we Jews find ourselves today?\n\nI believe that it is eminently the moment to do so. We refuse to\nbelieve that the great waste of human life and energy now going on in\nEurope is a waste pure and simple. We refuse to believe that some\npurification is not to result from the fire through which mankind is\npassing, and that some sanity in handling human affairs is not to\nfollow the evident insanity with which we are now confronted.\nSomething a little more stable because a little more reasonable must\nappear at the end to replace the inconstancy and unrest which have up\nto now characterized the relations of peoples to each other. And as we\nhope this for the world at large, we are hopeful too that full\nattention will be given to those problems which concern the Jews\nspecifically. I wish then to indicate the chief among these problems,\nin order that we may ourselves see clearly the road that must be\ntaken.\n\n\n_The Prospect in Russia and Poland_\n\nFirst and foremost, of course, rank the questions that concern the\nJews in Russia. Quite apart from any consideration of the general\nproblems affecting that country, the case of the Jews in Russia and\nPoland demands a settlement that shall make existence bearable for\nthem, and which at the same time shall not run counter to the real and\nvital interests of the Russian people. Nay more; such existence must\nnot only be bearable. It must be of a kind that will place the Jews\nupon a level with the other inhabitants of the Empire and will give\nthem the necessary opportunity to develop whatever talents or\ncapabilities they possess. It is not for us to prescribe in what\nmanner and by what means this shall be accomplished; and I use the\nword \"must\" not in the sense that any compulsion is to be applied to\nRussia in this respect, but rather as an expression of the certainty\nthat the trial through which the Czar's land is now passing is of such\na kind as to purge her necessarily of all traces of national and\nreligious intolerance. This feeling cannot be expressed in better\nwords than those used by M. Bourtzeff, the well-known reactionary,\nwhen he said, \"We are convinced that after this war there will no\nlonger be any room for political reaction and Russia will be\nassociated with the existing group of cultured and civilized\ncountries.\"\n\nProof that such feelings are making their way among the most\nintelligent portion of the Russian population is shown by the\nremarkable document put forth some weeks ago over the signatures of\nnoted Christian professors, litterateurs, and members of the Duma, in\nwhich the plea is made for the removal of all restrictions that at\npresent shackle the Jews. \"Let us understand,\" they say, \"that the\nwelfare and the power of Russia are inseparably bound up with the\nwelfare and liberties of all the nationalities that constitute the\nwhole Empire. Let us then conceive this truth. Let us act in\naccordance with our intelligence and our conscience, and then we are\nsure that the disappearance of all kinds of persecution of the Jews\nand their complete emancipation, so as to be our equals in all rights\nof citizenship, will form one of the conditions of a real constructive\nimperial policy.\" And we are the more persuaded that these views will\nprevail when we remember that Russia has been brought into closer\ncontact with just those nations of Europe where Jewish emancipation\nhas been most perfect and has brought forth the best fruits. It is\nunthinkable that these nations should fail to put their influence on\nthe side of Jewish freedom in Russia when European accounts are\nfinally balanced.[B]\n\n\n_The Broken Faith of Roumania_\n\nIn the second place, any regulation of the Jewish status in Europe\nmust of necessity include Roumania. The injustice of the Government's\nattitude in that country is even more pronounced than it is in Russia.\nFor Roumania is bound to a certain course by a \"scrap of paper.\" At\nthe Berlin Congress of 1878, one of the conditions upon which\nstatehood was granted to Roumania was that the rights of free\ncitizenship should be conferred upon the Jewish inhabitants in the\nprincipality--who, it may be remarked in passing, were among the\noldest residents there. Roumania gave her solemn promise to carry out\nthis condition; but by political subterfuge of the most brazen kind\nshe has circumvented the whole spirit of the demand. The Roumanian\nChamber passed a law to the effect that only Jews who had been\nnaturalized by it were entitled to citizenship; and as the Chamber\nrefused to naturalize more than a handful each year, the provisions\nof the Berlin Treaty have been as good as void. When quite\nrecently--in 1913--during the progress of the last Balkan War and\nprior to the intervention of Roumania, the Roumanian Jews volunteered\nto serve in large numbers, the proposal was brought forward to grant\nthe rights of citizenship to all Jews who had entered the army. Yet\nthis proposal was voted down; and the condition of the Jews has\nremained as it was prior to 1878. They are inhabitants in a country,\nsubject to its laws, liable to all duties placed upon citizens--but\nthey are themselves prohibited from becoming citizens. It is\nintolerable that such a condition should be allowed to continue; and\nif right is to take the place of might in the inevitable\nre-arrangement of the community of European nations, the status of the\nRoumanian Jews must be one of the Jewish problems to be solved.\n\n\n_The Hope of Regaining Palestine_\n\nThere is a third Jewish problem the importance of which perhaps even\ntranscends the two just mentioned; transcends because of the interest\nthat attaches to it and because of its vital import to every Jew the\nworld over. I refer to the problem of Palestine, which is wrapt up\nwith the very existence of the Jews and which symbolizes the hopes\nthat have been nurtured throughout the centuries. We know that the Jew\nin his inevitable march westward has kept his face turned towards the\nEast; that in prayer and in meditation his gaze has rested upon that\ncountry which enshrined at one and the same time his origin and his\nfuture aspirations. It is true that up to within some forty years that\naspiration remained in large part a pious wish; and that though it was\ncherished as coming to realization \"quickly and in our day,\" very few\nattempts were put through to arm the Almighty with human effort. At\nbest, God-fearing and pious Jews removed to Palestine, either to\nimmerse themselves there in study and contemplation, or to end their\ndays in the odor of sanctity.\n\nBut the last twenty-five years have witnessed a conscious effort to\nmake of Palestine a rallying point for the Jewish people, a place\nwhere Jewish life may be lived to its fullest extent and which may\nserve as a beacon light to all parts of the Diaspora. Many a waste\nplace has been made to blossom again; and much of the culture and\nlearning acquired by the Jews in the long centuries of toil and effort\nhas been made available to revivify the Land of Promise. With infinite\npains and untold sacrifices the Jewish pioneers went forward in their\npeaceful effort to regain the soil of their forefathers. Colonies have\nbeen founded there; primary schools, high schools and technical\ninstitutions have been established, and many of the forces have been\nstarted that make the foundation for a permanent settlement. This\nconscious effort can not have been put forth in vain. Palestine\nrepresents the goal of our endeavor. And any settlement after the war\nthat has in view the general problems involved will be forced to take\ncognizance of the just hopes that we Jews place in the future of that\ncountry and the just rights that the Jewish people believe they\npossess and have acquired there. The form in which such rights shall\nbe expressed is not a matter for discussion at present. The fact alone\nis of importance. In the past the world has applauded the fight made\nby the Poles for their national existence; it has followed with\ninterest the Greek War of Independence, the Italian striving for\nunity, the Irish endeavors for racial autonomy, and the Alsatian\neffort after independent expression. It must and will appreciate and\nesteem the attempt made by the Jews to re-fashion their anomalous\nstatus and to re-create the statehood that they lost nearly two\nthousand years ago.\n\n\n_The Collapse of Principles Held Sacred by the Jews_\n\nOur concern, however, in the present world conflict goes further than\nour own immediate affairs, and meets those interests which we have in\ncommon with the rest of humankind. Much as we deplore the wanton\ndestruction of property, much as we bewail the reckless loss of life,\nwe mourn especially the diminution of ethical standards and the\nperversion of our whole outlook on life. For this means the lapse of\nmuch for which our own teachers have stood, the forfeit of many a\nprinciple which has been dear to the Jewish heart. Let me touch\nlightly upon three points out of the many that come to mind.\n\nFirst of all, what we must deplore most is the defiance to law and to\nits reign which has become so marked a characteristic during the\npresent war. The agreements arrived at in conventions, the bases of\ntreaties, the binding character of compacts, and the sanctity of\nengagements--all seem to have been thrown into one melting pot. The\nmere fact that the expression \"a scrap of paper\" has become a\nhousehold word, bandied about by orators and scribblers, shows the\ndistance we have descended into the abyss. The whole structure of our\ninternational relations seems to have fallen to the ground and the\nlabored work of centuries to have been undone in a few months. Now,\nthe Jews have been from the earliest times a people that have laid the\ngreatest possible stress upon the rule of law; so much so, that their\nown laws were supposed to have divine sanction. In olden Jewish times\neverything was regulated by law--man's relation to his fellow men, to\nthe state, and to God; to such a degree that we have been blamed often\nfor being a law-ridden people. We cannot, therefore, remain oblivious\nto the fact that the sanctity of law has now been rudely called into\nquestion and its authority greatly weakened. As Jews we must be deeply\nconcerned in assisting the European world back to a full consciousness\nof the majesty and eminence of the rule of law.\n\nBut more than that, it was part of our earliest teaching that \"thou\nshalt love thy neighbor as thyself.\" What clouds of hatred have not\nbeen blown from one line of trenches to the other! What volumes of\nspleen have not been sent from one country to the other! In countless\nspeeches, in newspapers and in books, the doctrines of dislike, of\nanimosity, of deepest malice have been preached. Men have been taught\nto look upon certain neighbors as born enemies, to see in those who do\nnot speak their own tongue not only a stranger but an enemy. Back of\nthe soldiers under arms, back of the cannons with their deadly\nmissiles, stand millions of loathing men and women shooting darts of\nodium that reach further than any shell and that are more poisonous\nthan any gas. When shall we be able once again to preach the beautiful\nteaching of the prophet, \"Have we not all one Father; hath not one God\ncreated us all?\"\n\nAnd lastly, we must bear in mind that the Jews have been opposed from\nof old to the rule and reign of might as represented by the God of\nWar. In a syllabus on the history of the Peace Movement just published\nby the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, it is passing\nstrange to find that the Old Testament is entirely overlooked and that\nfrom the first point, \"The Cosmopolitan Ideal among the Greek\nPhilosophers,\" the jump is made at once to the second, \"Jesus Christ,\nthe Prince of Peace.\" And yet we know that in the outlook of our\ngreatest teachers and philosophers the vision of peace loomed large\nand powerful. \"Ye shall not teach war any more,\" said one of our\ngreatest. And for another the true sign of his prophetic mission is\nthat he preached peace. How sadly these teachings have been belied in\nthe present war we know only too well.\n\n\n_Is War Necessary and Good?_\n\nIn many circles it has been held that development is possible for the\nhuman race only with the concomitance of war. What wonder--when modern\nteachers have preached just such a necessity? Even so great a\nreligious leader as Luther said, \"War is a business divine in itself,\nand is as necessary as eating or drinking or any other work.\" Should\nwe then wonder that a historian such as von Treitschke has added, \"War\nis the last revealer of power. God will see to it that war always\nrecurs as a drastic medicine for the human race,\"--or that another\nhistorian, Delbrueck, should have said, \"What beauty was to the Greek,\nholiness to the Hebrew, government to the Romans; what liberty is to\nthe Englishman, war is to the Prussian.\" Nietzsche, one of the\ngreatest of modern apostles, has based many of his theories upon \"a\nviolent repudiation of any faith or tradition which recognizes a power\nof right and justice lying beyond our impulsive nature; an\nidentification of self-restraint with degeneracy and of self-assertion\nwith health; a search for happiness in the conquest of others rather\nthan in self-conquest; a substitution of the Will to Power for the\nDarwinian Will to Live, with the consequent intensification of the\nunconscious and instinctive struggle for existence into a battle for\nconscious mastery; and a sharpening of the competition of life, with\nits self-observed rules of fair play or its traditionally imposed\nlimitations, into a glorification of war as the supreme test of\nstrength, obtaining its justification in success.\"\n\nIn a very remarkable article which appeared in the _Nineteenth\nCentury_ for last September, written by a man evidently most\nreligiously minded, appears the following: \"Is the heart of England\nstill strong to bear and to resolve and to endure? How shall we know?\nBy the test? What test? That which God has given for the trial of\npeople--the test of war. The real court, the only court in which this\ncase can and will be tried, is the court of God. This twentieth\ncentury will see that trial, and whichever people shall have in it the\ngreater soul of righteousness will be the victor. The discovery that\nChristianity is incompatible with the military spirit is made only\namong decaying people. While the nation is still vigorous, while its\npopulation is expanding, while the blood in its veins is strong, then\non this hope no scruples are felt. But when its energies begin to\nwither, when self-indulgence takes the place of self-sacrifice, when\nits sons and daughters become degenerate, then it is that a spurious\nand bastard humanitarianism masquerading as religion declares war to\nbe an anachronism and a barbaric sin.\"\n\n\n_The Jewish Answer_\n\nThe Jewish attitude in regard to this great problem before the world\ncan be dealt with in a very few words. These words have already been\ngiven to us in the twentieth chapter of Exodus: \"If thou wilt make an\naltar, thou shalt not wave thy sword over it; for if thou wavest thy\nsword over it thou hast polluted it.\" It has been emphasized by the\nprophet Jeremiah when he said, \"Let not the wise man glory in his\nwisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the\nrich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth, glory in\nthis, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord who\nexerciseth loving kindness, judgment and righteousness on the earth.\"\nTo this I will add only one single word of the Rabbis: \"The whole\nTorah exists solely for the sake of the ways of peace.\" This ideal of\npeace has been the guiding star of Israel for which the Jew has prayed\nmorning, noon and night, and I trust that the young men of the Menorah\nwill be true to that which the Menorah typifies, and will assist in\nthe spreading of its light by upholding the reign of law, the reign of\nlove, and the reign of peace.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Richard Gottheil]\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[Footnote B: In the last number of THE MENORAH JOURNAL, Mr. Jacob H.\nSchiff ventured to suggest the reverse influence, and to intimate that\nthe association of England with Russia was having an adverse effect\nupon the Jews in England. While Mr. Schiff does not tell us upon what\nevidence he bases his views, I venture to guess that it consists\nlargely of the mistrust and ill-will caused in England by a small\ncoterie of German-born bankers and their following. But Mr. Schiff\nmust know that this ill-will is in no way connected with the fact that\nthe men referred to are members of the Jewish race. Most of them have\nnever taken the least interest in Jewish affairs, some even have\nostentatiously kept themselves quite apart from any connection with\nthem. And what is more, the feeling against them is shared by Jews as\nwell as by non-Jews in England.\n\nPerhaps more serious still is Mr. Schiff's presentment concerning\nGerman anti-Semitism. To speak simply of \"a certain anti-Semitic\ntendency in Germany\" is to coat the truth with so much honey as almost\nto reverse its meaning. Anti-Semitism in Germany, and especially in\nPrussia, has kept the Jews far from any positions of importance in\nuniversity life, on the bench, and in all state and military affairs.\nAnd to add that the war \"will crush out most of this anti-Semitic\ntendency\" is to fly in the very face of well-ascertained and\nauthenticated facts of very recent occurrence. In _Harper's Weekly_\nfor February 6th of this year (p. 122), a series of such facts is\nadduced. Nor can Mr. Schiff forget that forced conversion away from\nthe Jewish faith and communion has nowhere taken on the dangerous\nproportions it has in the Fatherland. Russia, it is true, has martyred\nmany Jewish bodies; German \"Kultur\" has quenched too many Jewish\nsouls. History will have to decide which has done the greater hurt to\nthe Jewish cause.]\n\n\n\n\nO Sweet Anemones\n\nBY JESSIE E. SAMPTER\n\n_This Song is one of a series put into the mouth of a nationalist\nPharisee of Jerusalem living through the times of the coming of Jesus\nto Jerusalem and the later development or perversion of Jesus' ideals\nby Paul._\n\n\n O sweet anemones on Sharon's plain,\n Light dancing seraphim of sun and rain,\n Was he not one of us, was he not ours?\n And yet he saved not us, O crimson flowers!\n\n As stars that bloom in heaven, full-bloom and still,\n As native stags that leap from hill to hill,\n As you, dear blossom-stars, on native plains,\n So planted here, with God, our home remains.\n\n I, too, would perish here, where he has died,\n But felled by horse and spear, not crucified;\n I, man of peace, would pour, O Rock of God,\n My freedom or my blood on Zion's sod.\n\n When pagans sweep thy fields with withering blast,\n My heart is sanctified to death at last;\n Its taste is honey-sweet within my mouth,\n For we that drink with God can dread no drouth.\n\n O sweet anemones on Sharon's plain,\n A spring shall come for us, to bloom again,--\n To God a day, to us a thousand years,--\n Who still remembers, lives, refreshed with tears.\n\n\n\n\n\"Paths of Pleasantness\"\n\n_The Study of the Jewish Law_\n\nBY DAVID WERNER AMRAM\n\n\"_Her paths are paths of pleasantness, and all her ways are peace. She\nis a tree of life to those that lay fast hold on her, and happy is\nevery one that retaineth her.\"--Prov. 3:17, 18._\n\n\n[Illustration: _DAVID WERNER AMRAM (born in Philadelphia, 1866),\neducated at the University of Pennsylvania, has been Lecturer and\nsince 1912 Professor of Law in the University of Pennsylvania Law\nSchool. Professor Amram has published books and articles not only on\ncommon law topics but on interesting subjects in Jewish legal lore and\nbelles-lettres, among his books being: \"The Jewish Law of Divorce,\"\n\"Leading Cases in the Bible,\" and \"The Makers of Hebrew Books in\nItaly.\"_]\n\nOne of the methods by which the Jewish people managed to survive\nendless misery and persecution during eighteen centuries of dispersion\nand protect themselves from the continuous bombardment of their social\nand moral citadels was by taking refuge in the study of the law. The\nstudy and observance of the law, both civil and religious, saved the\nJews from degeneration and vulgarization, and preserved for them the\nhumanizing memories of the thoughts and deeds of their forebears.\nThrough their common interest in the law and its study they kept in\ntouch with one another throughout the lands of their dispersion, they\nkept alive their feeling of brotherhood and the memory of their\nancient independence, and translated this memory into a hope for the\nre-establishment of the State, a hope which has never died.\n\n\n\"_The People of the Law_\"\n\nThe term \"the people of the law\" has often been applied to the Jews in\nthe opprobrious sense that they are a people who deal according to\nhard and strict rules, untouched by the qualities of love and mercy.\n\nProperly understood, however, the term \"the people of the law\" is a\ntitle of honor, one of which we may well be proud. As used in our\nliterature and by our people, \"law\" signifies something more than\ncivil and criminal jurisprudence. It is our word \"Torah,\" meaning\ndoctrine, teaching, including not only what is generally known as law\nbut also what is known as ethics. The people of the law is the people\nthat studies the great thoughts of its great men of all times, and\nadopts them as rules of life which it becomes a duty and a pleasure to\nobey. The people of the law is the people that in the midst of a world\nof chaos in which nation fought nation with the weapons of death, sat\nin communion with a past world from which came such messages as this:\n\"Attend to me, O my people: and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a\nlaw shall go forth from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a\nlight to the peoples. . . . Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness,\nthe people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men,\nneither be ye dismayed at their revilings. For the moth shall eat them\nup like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my\nrighteousness shall be forever and my salvation unto all generations.\"\nRighteousness was the aspect of Deity that appealed to the second\nIsaiah, and it was he that spoke words of comfort to our people in all\nthe days of their endless tribulations. The certain faith in the\nultimate success of right sustained them throughout the centuries and\nconstitutes their strength to-day. This is the law that was handed\ndown to them from of old, the law of right, which though often broken,\noften forgotten, was always found again and cherished as the one thing\nworth while in a world torn by the brutal instincts in man--instincts\nwhich the law had chained and sought to make harmless.\n\nSo we may well cling to our title of the people of the law,\nremembering that it does not mean merely Nomos, as the Hellenized Jews\nmistranslated Torah, but legal and ethical doctrine and knowledge in\nits broadest sense, and that it is the people of the law that have\nalways shown their love of knowledge and found it \"a tree of life to\nthose that lay fast hold on it.\" Some ancient Jewish mystic said that\nthe sword and the book came out of heaven together and Israel had to\nchoose. Israel did choose and thereafter dreamed of days when swords\nwould be beaten into ploughshares.\n\n\n_How the Heritage of the Law Was Preserved_\n\nThe reading of the law has since time immemorial been an established\npart of the synagogue service, thus educating the people to know their\nlaw, the very phrases of which by constant reference and repetition\nbecame part of their daily vocabulary. The origin of this custom of\nreading the law in the synagogue may probably be found in the Biblical\nreferences to the great convocations when King and scribe read the law\nto the assembled people.\n\nThe effect of the dispersion of the Jews was to give a peculiar\nsacredness to the law as the sole heritage of their earlier and\nhappier days. In most of the lands of their dispersion, the Jews dwelt\na race apart, separated from the rest of the community by mutual\nprejudices and antagonisms. The soil on which they dwelt was so far as\nultimate overlordship was concerned the land of the stranger, but\nnevertheless in a very definite and special sense it was the Jews'\nown land. For it was a land in which the law of the stranger was not\nthe law. The law of the land of their dispersion was not the law of\nthe owner of the soil but the law of the Jews. In this sense the\nGhettos of Italy and the Gassen of Germany were not so much Italian\nand German soil as they were Jewish. As by the modern fiction of\nextraterritoriality the home of an Ambassador is considered part of\nhis own national territory, so these exclusively Jewish settlements\nwere colonies of Jud\u00e6a planted on foreign soil. They were separated\nfrom the rest of the land by visible or invisible walls, and within\nthese walls, hardly touched by the influences that were at work\nshaping the life around them, the ancient law of the Jews was\npreserved and handed down from generation to generation. Hence during\nthe Middle Ages the student of the law became the most important\nmember of the community, and all the energy of the community that was\nnot required to outwit the constant menace of brutal force and\nreligious persecution was devoted to the cultivation of the law and of\nthe literature that it gave rise to.\n\nIt should be noted, however, that since the beginning of the Talmudic\nperiod, the civil law developed in certain directions only, because\nafter all the Jewish people had no land of their own in the usual\nsense and no central authority and were constantly moving from place\nto place, always subject to persecution. Some branches of their law\nwere entirely neglected and others abnormally developed.\n\n\n_The Schools of the Law_\n\nIn the Talmudic period, the judges, members of the Synhedrion, and\nprofessors of the law schools, received a long professional training.\nThe course of study lasted seven years, at the end of which, having\npassed their examination successfully, the graduates were eligible to\nassignment as judges in the lower courts, from which they were\npromoted to act as associate judges in the great Synhedrion and\neventually might hope to attain the dignity of full synhedrial\nmembership. These judicial dignitaries were obliged to be well versed\nin the languages, law and customs of the contemporary peoples,\nespecially in the laws of the Greeks and Romans. Great academies of\nthe law flourished in Palestine and still greater ones in Babylonia,\nthe latter eventually supplanting the former. These academies called\nfor the enthusiastic encomium of one Talmudist who said, \"God created\nthese academies in order that the promise might be fulfilled that the\nword of God should not depart from Israel's mouth.\"\n\nThe law students met twice a year in assembly for examination. Their\nstudies were pursued at home, except in the months of Elul and Adar\nwhen they went up to the Assembly. Here they were arranged in classes\nand under the direction of their masters heard lectures and discussed\nthe subject matter presented to them topically. At these Assemblies\nactual questions of law were submitted from Jewish communities all\nover the Jewish world, and the solutions to these problems were\nprepared and forwarded by the great masters. In addition to these\nprofessional schools there were everywhere general schools or, as we\nmight say, high schools connected with the synagogues. It is a tribute\nto the importance that was ascribed to the high schools in later\ngenerations that their origin was projected back to the days of the\nFlood when Shem and Eber established a law school in which\nsubsequently Isaac, Jacob, and Rebecca heard lectures. It will be\nnoted that according to this bit of folklore Rebecca was the first\nwoman law student. The same fancy which invented this most ancient of\nthe schools, also invented the law school which Judah built for Jacob\nin Egypt, and the school established by Moses in which he and Aaron\nwere the professors and Joshua was the janitor.\n\n\n_The Study of the Law \"the Chief End of Man\"_\n\nThe fancy of the people associated nearly all of its great men with\nthe study of the law. The entire tribe of Issachar was said to have\ndevoted itself to the study of the law, the merchant tribe of Zebulon\nfurnishing the means of support. God himself, according to another\nmystic, was a professor in the celestial law school in which He taught\nthe law to the souls of all the righteous, in that heaven which they\nconceived of as a place where the law might be perpetually studied;\nand even while the Temple was still standing and sacrifices were being\noffered, the Jewish teachers used to say that God does not require\nburnt offerings but the study of His law.\n\nFrom all of these traditions it will be seen that to the ancients the\nstudy of the law was the chief end of man. The Jew never considered\nignorance to be bliss and has little sympathy with the religious ideal\nof many non-Jewish people that religion is more important than\nknowledge. One of the great masters even went so far as to say that\nthe ignorant man cannot be pious. It was Simon the Just, one of the\nsurvivors of the Men of the Great Synagogue, who said that the world\nstands upon three things, the law, the service of God, and charity,\nand he put the law first, for the first duty of a man is to observe\nthe law. He must be just before he can be charitable.\n\nAt one time it was sought to place some limitations upon the right to\nbecome a student of law, and herein the schools of Hillel and Shammai\ndiffered. Hillel was the democrat who held that all persons, without\nexception, should enjoy the privilege of studying law; Shammai was the\nintellectual aristocrat who sought to limit this privilege to those\nwho were wise, modest, of ample means and of goodly parentage, thereby\nestablishing rules similar to those that obtain in the best modern law\nschools, which require a collegiate education as a preliminary to\nadmission; but Shammai went further in that he required the students\nto be wise and modest as well as persons of good breeding and of\nample fortune. Just how many of our modern law students could meet\nthese requirements is a question upon which I have no statistics. On\nthis very matter of the proper qualifications for admission to the\nprivilege of studying law, we have heard much in our time. Perhaps a\ncontribution to the subject from the old and somewhat neglected Code\nof the Mishnah would not be inappropriate. The Mishnah says:\n\n\n_\"Eight and Forty Qualifications for the Law\"_\n\n\"The law is greater than priesthood and royalty, for royalty is\nacquired by thirty qualifications, priesthood by four and twenty, but\nthe law by eight and forty, and they are as follows: Study, attention,\nutterance, understanding, reverence, veneration, modesty, cheerfulness\nand purity, service of the wise, choice of associates, debate with\nfellow students, deliberation in study of Bible and Mishnah, a minimum\nof business, a minimum of worldly pursuits, a minimum of pleasure, a\nminimum of sleep, a minimum of talk, a minimum of jesting,\nforbearance, kindliness, faith in the wise, resignation in suffering,\nknowing one's place, satisfaction with one's lot, bridling one's\nwords, refraining from self-complacency, amiability, loving the\nCreator, loving His creatures, loving righteousness, loving equity,\nloving reproof, eschewing worldly honor, not being puffed up by\nlearning nor delighting in laying down the law, helping one's neighbor\nbear the yoke, inclining toward a favorable judgment of others,\nsteadfast in the truth, steadfast for peace, concentration in study,\nasking, answering, listening, enlarging, learning with a view to\nteach, learning with a view to act, enabling one's teacher to become\nwiser, thoroughly understanding what one hears, and repeating every\ndictum in the name of him who uttered it.\" I recommend this list of\nqualifications to the consideration of modern teachers and students as\nwell as to those who are concerned with the preparation of a code of\nlegal ethics for the profession.\n\nThe Jews loved the law and respected it and they honored its\nexpounders and administrators. They do not believe that the world can\nbe made over or made better by any man or by any preaching. They are\nby instinct conservative, holding on with tenacity to the ideas and\ninstitutions that have grown up in past times and that are expressions\nof the needs of society and of its adjustment to the forces that play\nupon it. This is why the law, which is the embodiment of these\nconservative forces, meets with their respect and allegiance, why its\nstudy was cultivated with such zeal in the past, and why in our own\nday it still finds so large a percentage of votaries among the sons of\nour people.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: D.W. Amram]\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Jewish Genius in Literature\n\n_A Study of Three Modern Men of Letters_\n\nBY EDWARD CHAUNCEY BALDWIN\n\n\n[Illustration: _EDWARD CHAUNCEY BALDWIN (born in Cornwall, Conn.,\n1870), Assistant Professor of English in the University of Illinois,\nhas taken a special and scholarly interest in the contributions of the\nJews to civilization, on which subject he has written a notable book\nentitled \"Our Modern Debt to Israel,\" besides articles in various\nperiodicals. He is an honorary member of the Illinois Menorah Society,\nevincing a warm sympathy with the Menorah aims and actively\nco\u00f6perating in the Menorah work._]\n\nA study of great Jewish names in modern literature has impressed me\nwith the fact that every Jewish man of letters has attained his fame\nby virtue of qualities that are essentially Jewish. In other words, we\ncannot fully understand the work of even modern Jewish literary men\nunless we know the fundamental qualities of Jewish genius. To\nillustrate what is meant by this assertion, we may consider briefly\nthe work of three nineteenth century Jewish authors--Heine,\nBeaconsfield, and Zangwill. These men are apparently wholly different;\nand yet they attained literary eminence through qualities or mind and\nheart which we have learned to associate with the race from which they\nsprang.\n\n\n_Heinrich Heine: A Jew at Heart_\n\nHeinrich Heine is the one writer of the first rank that Germany can\nboast between the death of Goethe in 1832 and the advent of the\nyounger generation of dramatists, Sudermann, Hauptmann, and the rest,\nsixty years later. To free himself from such a limitation as his\nJewish birth seemed to him to be, and with the more specific object,\nit is said, of securing a government position in Prussia, Heine\nallowed himself to become a convert to Christianity. \"Judaism,\" he\nsaid, \"is not a religion; it is a misfortune.\" His conversion,\nhowever, failed to profit him. He lost the fellowship of his own\npeople, and was contemptuously called \"the Jew\" by his enemies. In a\nsense, the designation was entirely just. A Jew at heart Heine\nremained to the day of his death. On his death bed, speaking of the\nJews he said: \"Queer people this! Downtrodden for thousands of years,\nweeping always, suffering always, abandoned always by its God, yet\nclinging to him tenaciously, loyally, as no other under the sun. Oh,\nif martyrdom, patience, and faith in spite of trial can confer a\npatent of nobility, then this people is noble beyond any other. It\nwould have been absurd and petty if, as people accuse me, I had been\nashamed of being a Jew.\"\n\nNot only was Heine a Jew in his instinctive racial sympathies, but his\nwork bears the indelible impress of Judaism. It is a distinctively\nJewish product. In it appear the buoyancy of spirit which sustained\nhim under suffering that would have crushed a less resilient temper;\nthe intellectual arrogance; the proneness to censure rather than to\ncommend; and especially the excessive self-consciousness;--all these\ndistinctively Jewish traits were in him exaggerated and helped to make\nhis work what it was. It is his self-consciousness, in particular,\nthat made his _Buch der Lieder_ his best production. In that\nremarkable collection of lyrics Heine appears at his best, because the\nability to compose songs that are the spontaneous utterance of\nemotion, at one and the same time personal and representative, is a\nHebrew heritage. The Hebrew genius was essentially lyric, rather than\nepic or dramatic; and in consequence, the lyrics of ancient Hebrew\nliterature are its chief glory. In proof of this, we have but to\nrecall the dirges and triumph songs, the reflective lyrics, and the\nliturgical hymns that compose the collection we know as the Psalms.\nThe excellence of both the old Hebrew lyrics and of Heine's Lieder is\nto be found in the extraordinary subjectivity of the Hebrew\ntemper--the racial fondness for impassioned, yet artistic,\nself-expression.\n\nYet Heine's Jewish traits are evident not only in the subjectivity of\nhis lyrics, but in the new and richer character that he gave to the\nGerman Lied. This, hitherto vague and dreamy, became in his hands\nstartlingly concrete and definite. And this is true even when he\nexpresses the most subtle feelings. Always the most evanescent\n_Stimmung_, not less than moods more primitively simple, find\nexpression in metaphors so sensuously material as to recall Solomon's\nSong. Compare a typical lyric of Heine, such as the following:\n\n Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne\n Die liebt' ich alle in Liebeswonne,\n Ich lieb' sie nicht mehr, ich liebe allein\n Die Kleine, die Feine, die Reine, die Eine;\n Sie selber, aller Liebe Bronne,\n Ist Rose und Lilie und Taube und Sonne\n\nwith the love lyric sung by one of Israel's nameless singers:\n\n Behold thou art fair, my love;\n Behold thou art fair;\n Thine eyes are as doves.\n Behold thou art fair, my beloved\n Yea, thou art pleasant:\n And our couch is green.\n The beams of our house are cedars,\n And our rafters are firs.\n I am a rose of Sharon,\n A lily of the valleys.\n As a lily among thorns,\n So is my love among the daughters.[C]\n\nEven so brief a comparison may illustrate, though it may not prove,\nthat for the ultimate source of Heine's Oriental exuberance and\nmaterialization, so new to German literature, we must look in Jewish\nnot in European culture.\n\n\n_The Spiritual Depth of Heine_\n\nPerhaps because Heine was in spirit an Oriental, the Germans never\nhave known exactly what to make of him. Professor Francke says\n(_History of German Literature_, p. 526) that Heine \"produced hardly a\nsingle poem which fathoms the depths of life.\" This assertion seems\nscarcely defensible in view of such poems as the following:\n\n Wo wird einst des Wanderm\u00fcden\n Letzte Ruhestatte sein?\n Unter Palmen in dem S\u00fcden?\n Unter Linden an dem Rhein?\n\n Werd' ich wo in einer W\u00fcste\n Eingescharrt von fremder Hand?\n Oder ruh' ich an der K\u00fcste\n Eines Meeres in dem Sand?\n\n Immerhin! Mich wird umgeben\n Gotteshimmel, dort wie hier,\n Und als Todtenlampen schweben\n Nachts die Sterne \u00fcber mir.\n\nTo find an equally beautiful expression of faith in God as a universal\nspiritual presence that transcends all space relations, we must go\nback to the anonymous Jewish poet who wrote the psalm in which occur\nthe lines:\n\n \"Whither shall I go from thy spirit?\n And whither shall I flee from thy presence?\n If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:\n If I make my bed in Sheol, behold thou art there.\n If I take the wings of the morning\n And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;\n Even there shall thy hand lead me,\n And thy right hand shall hold me.\n If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me,\n And the light about me shall be night;\n Even the darkness hideth me not from thee;\n But the night shineth as the day.\n For the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.\"\n\nAs a matter of fact, both poems are to be accounted for as equally the\nproduct of a rarely gifted people--a people with a unique genius for\nreligion.[D]\n\n\n_Disraeli and His Oriental Imagination_\n\nBenjamin Disraeli belonged to a family who left Spain in the fifteenth\ncentury to avoid the horrors of the Inquisition. Upon their escape, in\ngratitude to the God of Jacob who had sustained them through unheard\nof trials, they adopted the name Disraeli, in order that their race\nmight be forever recognized. Of such a family Benjamin Disraeli was a\nworthy representative. He never was ashamed of his race. On the\ncontrary, he gloried in it, and lost no opportunity to put forth the\nclaim of his people to be the true aristocracy of the earth. \"Has not\nthe Jew the oldest blood and the finest genius of the world?\" he asks.\nAnd again, in one of his books (_Tancred_, 1847), he says, \"The Jews\nare of the purest race; the chosen people; they are the aristocracy of\nnature.\"\n\nIt is Disraeli's Jewish characteristics that have bewildered and\nsometimes offended his critics. He has been charged with insincerity\nbecause he was so clever, and because he wrote with a kind of Oriental\nexuberance that was to him entirely natural and a part of his Jewish\nheritage. Gilfillan is the only critic, so far as I know, who has\nrecognized that Disraeli's excellences, and his defects as well, were\nracial rather than individual. Speaking of his Oriental fancy and\ncleverness, Gilfillan says: \"Disraeli has a fine fancy, soaring up at\nintervals into high imagination, and making him a genuine child of\nthat nation from whom came forth the loftiest, richest, and most\nimpassioned songs the earth has ever witnessed--the nation of Isaiah,\nEzekiel, Solomon, and Job. He has little humor, but a vast deal of\ndiamond-pointed wit.\"[E]\n\n\n_Disraeli's Wit: A Purely Jewish Product_\n\nDisraeli's wit, which made him so many enemies, is a purely Jewish\nproduct. It is satiric. Now satire was the form taken by Jewish wit in\nthe Middle Ages as a result of the hard conditions under which the\nJews lived. As one modern Jew has said, \"The Jews seized the weapon of\nwit, since they were interdicted the use of every other weapon.\" With\nevery door closed in hostility against them, there was little they\ncould do but laugh with bitter irony at their fate, and with savage\nsatire at their oppressors. With such an ancestry as this behind him,\nit is not to be wondered at that Disraeli's wit is scornful, and that\nhe excelled in personal satire and invective. It was never, however,\nunprovoked. Disraeli never indulged in personal satire or invective\nexcept in his own defence. For example, his mockingly ironical reply\nto the attack of a member of the House of Commons named Roebuck, which\nwas one of the most effective rejoinders Disraeli ever made, was in\nanswer to a most virulent arraignment of his political motives. \"I\nhave always felt,\" he said, \"that in this world you must bear a great\ndeal, and that even in this indulgent, though dignified, assembly,\nwhere we endeavor so far as possible to carry on public affairs\nwithout any unnecessary acerbity--still we must occasionally submit to\nsome things which the rules of this house do not permit. I could, no\ndoubt, have vindicated my character; but that would only have made the\nhonorable member from Bath speak once or twice more, and really I have\nnever any wish to hear him. I have had the most corrupt motives\nimputed to me. But I know how true it is that a tree must produce its\nfruit--that a crab-tree will bring forth crab apples, and that a man\nof meagre and acid mind, who writes a pamphlet or makes a speech, must\nmake a meagre and acid pamphlet or a poor and sour speech. Let things,\nthen, take their course.\"\n\n\n_Disraeli's Fondness for Allegory_\n\nAnother striking peculiarity of Disraeli was his fondness for veiled\nallusion. Nearly all of his most popular novels--and this was _one_ of\nthe main reasons for their phenomenal popularity--were thinly veiled\nrepresentations of Disraeli's own contemporaries, who were easily\nrecognizable by the reading public. Take, for instance, the admirable\nburlesque entitled _Ixion in Heaven_, where the author tells how\nIxion, king of Thessaly, having fallen into disrepute on earth, was\ntaken up into heaven by Jupiter and feasted by the gods. Here Jupiter\nis really George the Fourth and Apollo is the poet Byron. The latter's\npose of gloomy misanthropy, as well as his habit of fasting to keep\nfrom growing fat, are admirably satirized in the following dialogue:\n\n\"You eat nothing, Apollo,\" said Ceres.\n\n\"Nor drink,\" said Neptune.\n\n\"To eat, to drink, what is it but to live; and what is life but\ndeath. . . . I refresh myself now only with soda-water and biscuits.\nGanymede, bring some.\"\n\nNow this fondness for veiled allusion is distinctly a Hebrew\ncharacteristic. The Arabs today have a saying, \"as fond of a veiled\nallusion as a Hebrew.\" This has always been a Hebrew trait. I suppose\nno literature of any people consists so largely of allegory, in\nproportion to its bulk, as does the Hebrew. In proof of this\nassertion, one needs but to allude to the vogue in post-exilic Judaism\nof the Apocalypse, in which contemporary history was presented in the\nform of allegory, and to the Rabbinical fondness for the allegorical\ninterpretation of the Scriptures. So it would not be difficult to show\nthat not only these qualities I have mentioned, but all the qualities\nthat made Disraeli admired or feared were his by virtue of his Jewish\ninheritance.\n\n\n_Zangwill's Prophetic Spirit in \"The War God\"_\n\nIsrael Zangwill knows the Jews, not as George Eliot did, through a\nprocess of philosophic induction, but at first hand, because he is a\nJew by birth and breeding. He, unlike Heine, has never tried to\nconceal the fact that he is a Jew. In Israel Zangwill all the\ntenderness and sympathy, all the tenacity, the suppleness and\nadaptability, and it may be added, the baffling inconsistencies of his\nrace appear.\n\nInconsistent he certainly is. He has been an ardent Zionist, and in\nhis story \"Transitional\" (from _They That Walk in Darkness_) he seems\nto hold that assimilation will never solve the Jewish problem; yet in\n_The Melting Pot_ he obviously regards assimilation as the inevitable\nand desirable end of Judaism.\n\nIn spite of his inconsistencies, Zangwill is one in whom the ancient\nideals of Israel live again. It is in the spirit of the prophets that\nhe wrote _The War God_ (1912). This play, with all its faults as an\nacting drama, is nevertheless a remarkable document, voicing, as it\ndoes, on the very eve of the breaking down of European civilization,\nthe old prophetic protest against the brutality and waste of war.\n\nThis protest dates back to at least the ninth century B.C. It may not\nbe generally known that it was a Hebrew prophet who first advocated\nthe humane treatment of prisoners of war. The story is told in the\nSecond Book of Kings that when a band of marauding Syrians were\ncorralled in Samaria, the \"king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he\nsaw them, 'My father, shall I smite them? Shall I smite them?' And he\nanswered, 'Thou shalt not smite them: wouldst thou smite those whom\nthou has taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? Set bread and\nwater before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their\nmaster.' And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had\neaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So\nthe bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel\" (2 Kings\n6:1-23). Again, Amos, in the eighth century, in his arraignment of the\nsins of the nations, pronounces God's severest judgments upon\nDamascus, Edom, Ammon, and Moab for their cruelty in war. The charge\nagainst Edom, for example, is that \"he did pursue his brother with the\nsword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually,\nand he kept his wrath forever.\" And the later prophets' visions of the\nMessianic age include as the brightest feature of that wished-for time\nthe prediction that then \"the nations shall not learn war any more.\"\n\nOf such a spirit Mr. Zangwill's play _The War God_ is an expression.\nIt is a satire upon militarism, but a satire without exaggeration. The\narguments employed to justify the maintenance of a huge army and navy\nare not a whit more absurd than the fallacies which have been put\nforth for a generation by those who would justify the maintenance of\narmaments. These so-called arguments are presented by \"the Chancellor\"\nwho represents Bismarck, and by the king of Gothia, in whom we may\neasily recognize the Russian Czar. \"Dominance,\" roars the\nChancellor,--\n\n \"There rings the password of the universe.\n Who knows it, he is free of every camp.\n Equality, your level, endless cornfield,\n However fat and fair and golden-stalked,\n Would set us pining for the snow-topped peaks\n And barren glaciers. Life is fight, thank God!\n\n \"Take war away and men would sink to molluscs,\n Limpets that wait the tide to wash them food.\n The nations would grow foul with lazy feeling.\n What heaven loves is breeds with life a-tingle,\n Swift-gliding, flashing, darting death at rivals,\n Men fearing God and with no other fear.\n Thus were the Albans, now the turn is ours\n To be the chosen people of Jehovah.\"\n\nAnd the King endorses such sentiments with the sage observation,\n\n \"No doubt we must protect our growing commerce.\"\n\nIn opposition to such militarists stands Count Frithiof, in whom we\nmay easily see the lineaments of Tolstoi. His motto is, \"Resist not\nevil, but reform yourself.\" In answer to the Chancellor's declaration,\n\"To safeguard peace, we must prepare for war,\" he replies,\n\n \"I know that maxim; it was forged in hell.\n This wealth of ships and guns inflames the vulgar\n And makes the very war it guards against.\n How often, as the mighty master said, the sight\n Of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done.\"\n\n\n_A Voice for Social Justice_\n\nQuite outside the dramatic action of the play stands the Jew, Blum,\nthe Chancellor's secretary. Through his astuteness in managing the\nChancellor, he has hitherto moulded public policy according to his own\nwill. Finally, near the end of the play, he denounces Christian\ncivilization in a passage worthy of quotation:\n\n \"Man wins the realm of air and might have been\n An eagle with a soul; you make him harpy,\n More murderous than dragons of the ooze.\n I tell you, we outsiders see the game,\n We Jews, who bidden rise beyond the code\n Of eye for eye, must rub both eyes to see\n Not e'en eye-justice done in Christendom,\n Whose cannon thunder 'gainst both God and Christ.\"\n\nSo might have spoken one of the ancient prophets of his race. Indeed\nAmos, amid the orgies of the autumn festival at Bethel, did speak in\nthe same spirit when he denounced the formal service of worshippers\nwho ignored the claims of social justice. \"Seek good and not evil,\"\ncries Amos, \"that ye may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts,\nshall be with you, as ye say. Hate the evil, and love the good, and\nestablish judgment (justice) in the gate. It may be that the Lord God\nof hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.\"\n\nSo it is evident that even the literary work of modern Jews can be\nunderstood and appreciated only as an expression of the\ncharacteristics of the Jewish race. In this modern Jewish literature\nappears the exuberance, the emotional intensity, and the love of\nsocial justice that were characteristic also of ancient Hebrew\nliterature as written by prophet, priest, and sage.\n\n\n_The Role of Israel in Human Emancipation_\n\nFar greater, however, than the work of these three authors, far\ngreater, indeed, than Israel's literature as a whole, of which they\nare a part, is the life of this people, of which their literature is\nthe record. We speak of a nation's literature as great if it possesses\nthree or four tragedies that are classics. _Hamlet_, _Othello_,\n_Macbeth_ and _King Lear_ would, for example, be sufficient to justify\nthe title \"great\" as applied to English literature. What shall we say,\nthen, as some one has suggested, of this people who for more than\ntwenty centuries have lived a tragedy more pathetic than any the\nworld's literature can show? Job has always seemed to me a type of the\nJewish race. We recall that majestic picture in the thirty-first\nchapter, where Job stands up on his ash-mound, robbed of his wealth,\nbereaved of his children, deserted by his wife, suffering the agonies\nof a loathsome and incurable disease, and cast off, as it seems to\nhim, by the very God in whom he trusted, and yet, in the face of\npoverty, and bereavement, and mortal pain, and bewildered isolation,\nasserts his own unchanged and unalterable belief that righteousness is\nsalvation.\n\nSimilarly Israel, through the long centuries of its tragic history,\nhas stood on the ash-mound of its national humiliation. Plundered,\nvilified, and persecuted, a nation of sorrows, and acquainted with\ngrief, from whom men have hid their faces in aversion not concealed,\nIsrael has yet clung with a grip that nothing could weaken nor\ndislodge to the fundamental idea that religion--the right relation of\nman to God--was not creed nor ritual, but simply doing justly, loving\nmercy, and walking humbly with God.\n\nWe have been looking backward at the literary accomplishment of three\nJewish men of genius. It is, I believe, a fault of modern Judaism to\nlook backward instead of forward, as if the glory of Israel had indeed\ndeparted, and as if nothing were left but to look back with pride and\nregret upon what has passed like a dream away. But I believe Jews may\nlook forward now with confident hope toward the years that are to be.\nThat Israel has completely played its role--that it has finished its\nservice to the world--cannot for a moment entertain. Surely no one who\nbelieves in a philosophy of history, who sees in human history more\nthan a meaningless and unrelated succession of events, can think that\nIsrael has been preserved through centuries of discipline for no end\nwhatever. On the contrary, we must believe that Israel has still a\nmission. What that mission is to be we cannot now foretell. We of this\ngeneration are looking upon the breaking down of European\ncivilization. Some of us hope and expect that when the smoke of battle\nhas cleared away there will gradually be built up a new and better\nsocial order. In this constructive work of rebuilding, who is better\nfitted to take a prominent part than the Jew, with his noble heritage\nof ideals, his passion for social justice? Jews may well rejoice as\nthey reflect upon what individual members of their race have through\nliterature contributed to the emancipation of the human spirit. And\nthey may rejoice also in the hope of what Israel may yet accomplish in\nthe years that are to be.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Edward Chauncey Baldwin]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[Footnote C: _Song of Songs_, 1:15-2:2.]\n\n[Footnote D: An adequate and sympathetic treatment of Heine's work as\na Jewish poet may be found in _Heinrich Heine als Dichter Judentums_\nvon Georg J. Plotke (Dresden, 1913).]\n\n[Footnote E: George Gilfillan, _Third Gallery of Literary Portraits_,\np. 360.]\n\n\n\n\n[_The Second in a Series of Sketches of Jewish Worthies_]\n\nJochanan ben Zakkai\n\nBY ABRAHAM M. SIMON\n\n\n[Illustration: _ABRAHAM M. SIMON (born in Kalvaria, Russian-Poland, in\n1886; came to America in 1904) received his A.B. with honors from\nHarvard College in 1910, and his M.A. from the University of\nPennsylvania in 1911. During 1910-11 he was a Fellow in the Dropsie\nCollege for Hebrew and Cognate Learning of Philadelphia, and he spent\nthe summer of 1911 at the Bodleian Library at Oxford and the\nBiblioth\u00e8que Nationale in Paris, reading and copying Arabic\nmanuscripts. In 1913 he won his Ph.D. in Semitics at the University of\nPennsylvania. Mr. Simon was one of the original members of the Harvard\nMenorah Society, and read a Hebrew poem_ Ner Yisrael (_\"The Light of\nIsrael\"_) _at the dedicatory exercises of the Society._]\n\nThe Jewish commonwealth was dissolved; the Jewish nation disrupted.\nJerusalem was taken; the Temple had become a ruin. The last vestige of\nindependence seemed to have been wiped out. All who had taken up arms\nwere either dead, or enslaved, or banished. The infuriated Roman\nconquerors had spared neither the women nor the children. It seemed as\nif Judaism had breathed her last in that terrible year 70. Sadduceeism\nwas annihilated; the Zealots were exterminated; the austere sentiment\nof the Pharisees, continually looking back to ancient customs and\ninstitutions, tried to assert itself. It is no longer permitted, they\nannounced, to eat meat or drink wine, now that the Temple has fallen,\nbecause animals can no longer be sacrificed on the holy altars, nor\nwine offered there as a drink-offering. By such asceticism, these\nPharisees of the strict school would have caused the destruction of\nJudaism. But there was a Hillelite still alive--a man who had\ninherited the spirit of Hillel, who rated conviction higher than\nceremony, and consulted the times more than the ancient forms. It was\nhe who kept the remnants together in close union, and did not permit\nthe spirit to vanish, although the material bond was broken. This\nHillelite was Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai.\n\n\n_The Disciple and Favorite of Hillel_\n\nOf the eighty disciples moulded by the great Hillel to continue his\npolicy, Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai was especially distinguished. Before\nhis death, Hillel is said to have designated Jochanan as \"the father\nof wisdom,\" and \"the father of the coming generation.\" Tradition\ndivides Jochanan's life, like Hillel's, into three periods of forty\nyears each. The first forty years were spent in mercantile pursuits;\nin the second he studied; and in the third he taught and managed the\naffairs of the Jewish spiritual community.\n\nEven before the destruction of Jerusalem, Jochanan's fame had spread\nfar and wide. He was a member of the Synhedrion and taught the holy\nlaw within the shadow of the Temple. His school was called the \"Great\nHouse,\" and was the scene of many incidents which formed the subjects\nfor anecdote and legend. He was the first man who successfully\ncombatted the Sadducees, and who knew how to refute their arguments,\nwhich were partly religious and partly juridical. But Jochanan's great\nfame was chiefly due to the influence which he afterwards exercised at\nJabneh.\n\n\n_Jochanan's Escape from Jerusalem_\n\nOwing to his peaceful character, Rabbi Jochanan had joined the party\nof peace when the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem, and on several\noccasions urged the nation, and in particular his nephew, ben Betiach,\nthe leader of the Zealots, to surrender the city. \"Why do you desire\nto destroy the city, and give up the Temple to the flames?\" said he to\nthe leaders of the revolution. But his well meant admonitions were\ndisregarded by the \"war party.\" When he saw the end approaching, and\nrecognized that all was lost, he determined to leave the doomed city.\nHe counselled with his foremost disciples, Eliezer ben Hyrkanos,\nJoshua ben Chananja and others. It was decided that Rabbi Jochanan\nshould leave the city, go to the Roman general, and plead for those\npeople who had no share in the rebellion. But to depart from the city\nwas extremely dangerous, as the Zealots kept up a constant watch and\nslew all who attempted to leave. Rabbi Jochanan, therefore, caused a\nrumor to be spread of his sudden sickness and later of his death.\nHaving been placed in a coffin he was carried to the city gates, at\nthe hour of sunset, by his pupils Eliezer and Joshua. When the funeral\nprocession approached, it was stopped at the gate within.\n\n\"Whose body do you carry here?\" asked the Hebrew guard.\n\n\"We are carrying the crown of Israel, the body of our master, Rabbi\nJochanan ben Zakkai,\" they answered in tears.\n\nThe captain of the guards was affected.\n\n\"Open the gates, men, and let them pass,\" the captain ordered.\n\n\"Are you sure, captain, that Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai is dead?\"\nexclaimed one of the soldiers. \"Maybe they are taking away a living\ntraitor. I will make sure that he is dead.\"\n\nHe raised his dagger to strike at the shrouded form of the Rabbi.\n\n\"Hold, soldier!\" cried the captain; \"to dishonor the body of the saint\nwould be a sin for which all Israel would have to atone. Open the\ngates and let them pass in peace.\"\n\nThe fanatic reluctantly desisted; the gate was opened and the\nprocession passed through.\n\nVespasian received the fugitive in a friendly manner, the more since,\nlike Josephus, Jochanan prophesied imperial honors for the general.\nAsked to name the favor he desired, Rabbi Jochanan, instead of seeking\npersonal gain, requested permission to establish a school at Jabneh\n(or, as the place is sometimes called, Jamnia), where he could\ncontinue to give his lectures to his disciples. The request was\ngranted, and thereupon Jochanan settled with his disciples in Jabneh,\nthere to await the issue of events.\n\nWhat could Vespasian have thought of Rabbi Jochanan when he made his\nrequest? Any one else bearing such prophecies might have asked for\ngold, honor, great political preferments, while this Hebrew sage asked\nsimply for a corner where he could study undisturbed. How could the\nHebrew nation exist when the leaders, their great men, lacked\nambition? Little did Vespasian dream that his granting of the Rabbi's\nmodest request would undo the whole work of the Roman conquest.\n\n\n_The Fall of the Temple: Jabneh Succeeds Jerusalem_\n\nIn Jabneh, surrounded by his disciples, Rabbi Jochanan received the\nterrible news of the fall of Jerusalem and the burning of the Temple.\nAlthough he had foreseen the calamity, yet the news crushed the soul\nof the great master. He and his disciples tore their garments and for\nseven days wept and mourned in sackcloth and ashes. Jochanan, however,\ndid not despair, for he recognized the truth that Judaism was not\nindissolubly bound with its Temple and its altar. He saw a new\nspiritual Temple emerge from the ruins and smoke of the old one; he\nbeheld Judaism rising to a higher plane, offering faith, love, truth\nand happiness to all humanity. He comforted his colleagues and\ndisciples by reminding them that Judaism still existed. \"My children,\"\nhe said, \"weep not, and dry your tears; the Romans have destroyed the\nmaterial Temple, but the true altar of God, the true place of\nforgiveness, they could not destroy, and it is with us yet. Would you\nknow where? Behold, in the homes of the poor, there is the altar;\nlove, charity, mercy, and justice are the offerings, the sweet incense\nwhich pleases the Lord more than any sacrifice, as it is written: For\nI take pleasure in mercy and not in burnt offerings.\" The next step\ntaken by Rabbi Jochanan and his friends was to convoke a Synhedrion at\nJabneh, of which he was at once chosen president. With no opposition,\nJabneh took the place of Jerusalem, and became the religious national\ncenter for the dispersed community. It enjoyed the same religious\nprivileges as Jerusalem. All the important functions of the\nSynhedrion, by which it exercised a judicial and uniting power over\nthe distant congregations, proceeded from Jabneh.\n\nRabbi Jochanan's motto was: \"If thou hast learnt much Torah, ascribe\nnot any merit to thyself, for thereunto wast thou created.\" He found\nhis real calling in the study of the Law. His knowledge was spoken of\nreverently as though it included the whole cycle of Jewish learning.\nAnd not only the Law but many languages of the Gentiles occupied the\nactive mind of Rabbi Jochanan. The following description of him is\nhanded down to us by tradition: \"He had never been known to engage in\nany profane conversation. He had always been the first to enter the\nAcademy. He never allowed himself, wittingly or unwittingly, to be\novertaken by sleep while in the Academy. He had never gone a distance\nof four cubits without meditating on the Torah and without\nphylacteries. No one ever found him engaged in anything but study. He\nalways lectured in person to his pupils. He never taught anything\nwhich he did not hear from his masters. He had never been heard to say\nthat it was time to leave the Academy.\" He advised a certain family in\nJerusalem, the members of which died young, to occupy itself with the\nstudy of the Torah, so as to mitigate the curse of dying in the prime\nof life.\n\n\n_Rabbi Jochanan as Teacher and Commentator_\n\nRabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai may be designated as the representative of\nHalachic Judaism, founded by the great master Hillel, rather than as\nan originator or independent thinker. Hillel, the most respected of\nall the teachers of the Law, had given to Judaism a special garb and\nform. He had drawn the Law from the midst of contending sects into the\nquiet precincts of the Beth-Hamidrash, and labored to bring into\nharmony those precepts which were apparently opposed to one another in\nthe Law. Rabbi Jochanan employed and developed Hillel's method. Like\nHillel, he was also liberal in his general views. Thus he seems to\nhave frequently engaged in discussions with heathens. And such was his\ngeneral affability and courtesy to all that no man was ever known to\nhave anticipated his salutations. The Haggadic tradition connects\nnumerous and various sayings with the name of Rabbi Jochanan. The\nHaggadah was a peculiarly fascinating branch of study. Abounding in\nbrilliant sallies, displays of ingenuity, and wonderful stories, it\ngave special scope for the cleverness and the rich imagination of the\nlecturers. By it a Halachah might be illustrated, or a passage of\nScripture commented upon in a novel fashion. Without binding himself\nto any strict exegetical principles, the Haggadist would bring almost\nanything out of the text, and interweave his comment with legends. At\nthe same time, the Haggadah remained only the personal saying of the\nindividual teacher, and its value depended upon his learning and\nreputation, or upon the names which he could quote in support of his\nstatements.\n\nIn this manner Rabbi Jochanan explained many laws and rendered them\ncomprehensible, when they seemed obscure or extraordinary. Rabbi\nJochanan's view of piety corresponded with his teaching that Job's\npiety was not based on the love of God, but on the fear of God. To\nlove God; to serve Him out of love and not out of fear; to study the\nlaw continually, and to have a good heart--these were the essentials\nof a pious man. He once saw the daughter of Nakdimon ben Gurion\npicking up a scanty nourishment of barley-corn from among the hoofs of\nthe horses of the enemy. When he recognized the woman, he broke out in\ntears and told his companion how he had signed her marriage contract\nas a witness when her father gave her one million golden dinars,\nbesides the wealth she received from her father-in-law. Then the old\nsage exclaimed: \"Unhappy nation, you would not serve God, therefore\nyou must serve your enemies; you would not offer half a shekel for the\nTemple, therefore you must pay thirty times as much to the\ninstitutions of your conquerors; you refused to keep the woods and\npaths in order for the pilgrims, therefore you must build roads and\nbridges for the Roman soldiers; and in you is fulfilled the prophecy:\nBecause thou servest not the Lord with joyfulness, and with gladness\nof heart, by reason of abundance of all things, therefore shalt thou\nserve thy enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger\nand in thirst and in nakedness and in want of all things.\"\n\n\n_Jochanan's Spirit in Affliction and in Death_\n\nRabbi Jochanan had domestic as well as national troubles. A dearly\nbeloved son was taken from him by death, and the soul of the father\nwas filled with grief. His five famous scholars came to offer sympathy\nand consolation. One recalled the sorrow that Adam had endured when he\nlooked at the body of his murdered son. Another one urged the example\nof Job; a third, that of Aaron, the brother of Moses; a fourth, that\nof David, King of Israel.\n\n\"My sons,\" said the stricken father, \"how can the sufferings of others\nalleviate my sorrow?\" But Eliezer ben Aroch, the most famous of his\nscholars, then spoke to him and said:\n\n\"A certain man had a priceless jewel entrusted to him. He watched it\nby day and by night for its safe keeping, but was always troubled by\nthe thought that he might lose it. When, therefore, the owner of the\njewel came to take it back, the man was happy, because he no longer\nhad to fear for the safety of the precious jewel. Even so, dear\nmaster, thou shouldst rejoice when thou hast given thy son to God, who\ntrusted thee with him, since thou hast returned him in his innocence\nas thou didst first receive him.\"\n\n\"My son,\" said the master, \"thou hast truly comforted me.\"\n\nWhen Rabbi Jochanan was nigh to death, his colleagues and disciples\ngathered round him in sorrow and trembling.\n\n\"Master, Light of Israel!\" they exclaimed. \"Why weepest thou?\"\n\nAnd the master answered: \"If they were about to lead me before a king\nof flesh and blood, who today is and tomorrow is in the grave--if he\nwere wroth with me, his wrath were not eternal; if he should put me in\nchains, his chains were not eternal; if he should put me to death,\nthat death would not be eternal; I might appease him with words or\nbribe him with gifts. But now they are about to lead me before the\nKing of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, who lives and remains\nthrough all eternity. If He is wroth with me, His wrath is eternal; if\nHe casts me into chains, His chains are eternal; if He puts me to\ndeath, it is eternal death; Him no words can appease, no gifts soften.\nAnd further, there are two ways--one to hell, one to Paradise; and I\nknow not which way they will lead me. Is there not cause for tears?\"\n\nAsked to give his disciples a last blessing, he told them:\n\n\"Fear God even as ye fear men.\"\n\nHis disciples seemed disappointed, whereupon he added:\n\n\"He who would commit a sin first looks around to discover whether any\nman sees him; so take ye heed that God's all seeing eye see not the\nsinful thought in your heart.\"\n\nHis death occurred only a few years after the destruction of the\nTemple. But in that short time he saved Judaism, and the impress he\nleft upon Israel is evident from the famous dictum of the Talmud:\n\"With the death of Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai the light of wisdom was\nquenched.\" And many still believe that none like him--scholar and\ndiplomat--has since arisen in Israel.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Abraham M. Simon]\n\n\n EDITORS' NOTE.--_The first sketch in this series on\n Jewish Worthies, Dr. Moses Hyamson's study of\n \"Golden-Rule Hillel,\" appeared in our April number.\n The third in the series will be on Rabbi Akiba._\n\n\n\n\nZionism: A Menorah Prize Essay\n\nBY MARVIN M. LOWENTHAL\n\n(_Concluded_)\n\n\n[Sidenote: _This Essay was awarded the Menorah Prize at the University\nof Wisconsin last year. In the first part, printed in our April issue,\nthe author reviews the status of the Jews in medieval Europe and\ndescribes the effects upon the Jews of the razing of the Ghetto walls\nand the play of the modern forces of Emancipation, Enlightenment,\nNationalism, and Anti-Semitism. In the situation resulting, the author\ndistinguishes between the \"Jewish problem\" (\"an immediate concrete\nmaladjustment where life and property are imperiled\"), existing\nchiefly in Eastern Europe, and the \"Jewish position\" (\"a social,\ncultural, or spiritual disharmony or repression\"), prevailing in\nWestern Europe and America. After rejecting Reform Judaism and the\n\"palliative measures\" of philanthropy as answers to the situation, the\nauthor proceeds in this concluding instalment to a consideration of\nthe third alternative, namely, \"re-establishment of a national center\nwhere, perhaps not the entire people, but a remnant can be saved.\"_]\n\nThat the effort to ameliorate the conditions through charity,\nand the effort to assimilate and yet keep the essentials apart,\nare ineffectual has been shown. There remains the third\npossibility--Zionism. To a consideration of its theoretic background\nthis section will be devoted. Although a natural commingling is\nunavoidable, Zionism presents three distinguishable aspects--as (1) a\ncreative vision, (2) a solution, (3) a fulfillment.\n\n\n_The National Ideal_\n\nIn its first aspect, Zionism applies the sauce of the proverbial goose\nto the proverbial gander. Nationalism is the partial cause, or at\nleast the excuse, for making the modern position of the Jew in Europe\nuntenable; nationalism for the Jew becomes a means of evacuating the\nposition. Europe has intimated to the Jew that it can get along\nwithout him; the Jew now proposes to show that he can get along\nwithout Europe. Nationalism is nothing new to the Jew; from the final\ndispersion in 70 C. E., through the universalism of the Roman Empire\nand later of the Roman Church, the national ideal, as indicated in our\nintroduction, was religiously preserved; but its modern practical form\nfirst arose among the leaders of the Chovevei Zion movement in the\nmiddle of the last century. The \"Rom und Jerusalem\" of Moses Hess\n(1862), \"Die Verj\u00fcngen des J\u00fcdischen Stammes\" of Graetz, the Jewish\nhistorian (1864), the \"Hashachar\" of Smolenskin (1869), the\n\"Auto-Emancipation\" of Dr. Leo Pinsker (1882) clearly foreshadowed\nthe final and effective expression of political Zionism--namely, \"The\nJewish State,\" published by Herzl in 1896.\n\n\n_The Vision of a Jewish State_\n\nBasing its structure on the formulas of the prophets,[1] who\nproclaimed that polity was indispensable for effecting the true\nmission of Israel--for the realization of the religious, social, or\nethical ideal; conceiving Israel, as did Reform Judaism, to be its own\nMessiah, not fated, however, to remain a minutely scattered leaven\namong nations who condemned or destroyed it, but destined according to\nthe prophetic promise to re-establish itself upon Zion;[2] convinced\nthat a true assimilating of the fruits of emancipation in\ncontradistinction to an imitating of Gentile culture could only be\neffected by an emancipation from within, by an auto-emancipation;[3]\nthe vision of a Jewish State grew into outline. To the consummation of\nthe picture, a wealth of economic, scientific, and cultural\ninspiration has been devoted. Herzl and his predecessors selected the\nstone which had been rejected by the philanthropists and the earnest,\nbut mistaken, builders of Reform Judaism in their efforts to create a\nfit habitation for the European Jew; and lo! it has become the chief\ncorner-stone.\n\nTo assure the foundation, to justify the conception of a Jewish State,\na number of powerful arguments other than above indicated have been\nbrought to bear. The problem of race was attacked,[4] and a consequent\ndemolition of the basis of Reform Judaism undertaken, whereby the\nracial identity of the Jew became demonstrated and a comparative\nracial purity established. In turn, the claim of the anti-Semites that\nthe Jewish race indeed existed, but to the peril of Western\ncivilization, received scientific annihilation. At the most, the Aryan\nrace was proclaimed a myth and Teutonic superiority a lie;[5] at the\nleast, a justification of the Jewish race was achieved upon its\ncontribution to civilization: in metaphysics, of the vision of reality\nin flux; in morals, the conception of the value of the individual; in\nreligion, the conception of Jehovah as a moral-arbiter; in culture, a\nliterature of basic inspiration for the western world.[6]\n\n\n\n_The Moral Right of the Jewish Race to Survival_\n\nThat this race, definable in identity and valuable in content, is\nbeing either crushed by force or dissipated by freedom, raises on one\nhand the next question for creative Zionism, and constitutes on the\nother the problem which Zionism in its aspect as a \"solution\" assails.\nThe question: Has this race, facing destruction, a moral right to\nsurvival? is in the instinctive, Darwinian sense unnecessary. Every\nrace has a right to survive if it can prove its right by surviving;\nhowever, like most evolutionary thinking, this is tautological.\nNevertheless, an affirmative answer[7] has been advanced, based on the\nconception of values recognized since Aristotle; whereby was\ndemonstrated the intrinsic value of the Jews as witnessed by their\nvirility and capacity for an intelligent enjoyment of life, which\ntheir social customs, religious ideals, and cultural ethos have\ncreated for them, and which have won for them the title \"_Am Olam_,\"\nthe perpetual people; and their instrumental value in the preservation\nand enrichment of life for the Western world at large, as witnessed by\ntheir contributions to civilization outlined above.\n\nTo the final question: How may the destruction facing a race, worth\nthe saving, be averted? the Zionists, as already shown, answer: Let us\nestablish a Jewish State. It now remains to explain how this answer\ncan be made effective.\n\n\n_The Program of the First Zionist Congress_\n\nAlthough Herzl, like Pinsker, at first was indifferent as to the\nlocation of the State, Palestine was decided upon at the First Zionist\nCongress for the following practical reasons:[8]\n\n1. Palestine is, of inhabitable and sufficiently uninhabited lands,\nthe nearest to Russia and Roumania, where the greatest number of Jews\nare undergoing physical suffering.\n\n2. It is not ruled by Christians, and penal discriminatory laws\nagainst Jews are not there in force.\n\n3. Conditions of Oriental life are in accord with the stage and\ncondition of life reached by Jews in Eastern Europe.\n\n4. The country is already somewhat of a Jewish center.\n\n5. Jews are more familiar with the language spoken there than with any\nWest European language.\n\n6. Palestine for sentimental reasons has a power of attraction that\nwould operate practically upon Jews wishing to emigrate, and a power\nof inspiration which would flower in equally practical works when once\nJews were established there.\n\nZionism, as a \"solution,\" sets forth, in the program of this\nCongress, four ways to achieve its object:[9]\n\n1. To promote the settlement of Jewish agriculturalists,\nhandicraftsmen, industrialists, and professional men. This would offer\nan asylum for the persecuted Jew and assure him of an independent\nlivelihood, and so simultaneously relieve suffering, starving\nJewry--the immediate phase of the _problem_--and afford a substantial\nbasis for the prosperity and ensuing civilization of the State.\n\n2. To centralize the Jewish people by means of general institutions\nagreeable to the laws of the land. By institutions are meant\nbanking-houses, schools, etc., which would promote the welfare of the\npeople and render the growth of a culture more unconstrained.\n\n3. To strengthen Jewish national self-consciousness and national\nsentiment;--this to be accomplished by the establishment of newspapers\nand societies throughout the world, so as to secure the aid or\ninterest of the Jew who does not want to assimilate in behalf of a\nnational center, and offer a road of return to the Jew who has become\nassimilated at the cost of his spiritual happiness.\n\n4. To obtain the sanctions of Governments necessary for carrying out\nthe objects of Zionism. This demand for legal assurances, for a\ncharter if possible, distinguishes political Zionism in the matter of\nmeans from the mere small-scale colonizing efforts of the\nphilanthropists and the Chovevei Zion societies, precisely as the very\nconception of a State distinguishes it in the matter of ends. In the\nwords of Herzl, \"We do not wish to smuggle in any settlers, and above\nall, we do not wish to bring about any 'accomplished facts' without\npreliminary agreement. We have absolutely no interest in bringing\nabout an economic strengthening of Turkey without a corresponding\ncompensation. The whole thing is to be accomplished according to the\nsimplest usage in the world: 'do ut des.' We Zionists think it more\nfoolish than noble to settle colonists without any legal and political\nguarantees.\"[10]\n\n\n_The Variant Views of Zionist Groups_\n\nBeside the political Zionists, a large group can be distinguished as\nOpportunist Zionists, the chief representative of whom is Israel\nZangwill,[11] who in his eagerness to relieve the Jewish _problem_ has\nbecome impatient with the slow and seemingly fruitless political\nprogress, and who desires to lead his people to any vacant, habitable\nterritory rather than wait for a charter in Zion. Other leaders in the\nmovement, such as Ussischkin, contend that until the charter is\ngranted, colonization in Palestine should continue, both to satisfy\nthe Jewish demand for emigration and to give weight to the justice and\nnecessity for autonomy.\n\nIn sum, the establishing of Zion, while in process, will rescue the\nsorely oppressed, magnetize and concentrate the interests of Jewry at\nlarge, and force the issue of suicide or salvation upon the race; and\nthe establishment of the State, once accomplished, will rejuvenate a\npeople. \"They shall revive as the grain and blossom as the vine; the\nscent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.\" (Hosea 14.7). In the\nZionist vision, assured not by the prophecies, but by the achievements\nof a glorious past, this new wine, ripening and enriching its flavor\nin a cup that had long been bitter, will be partaken of by the\nnations, Jew and Gentile. Jewish culture in its widest sense,\nembracing the realization of ethical, social, and artistic ideals,\nnourished by a people living again a homogeneous, autonomous, national\nlife free as it has not been for eighteen centuries from outward\npressure--a life imperative for the production of culture--will go\nforth as a pure vintage, taking its place with the vintages of other\nnations, to satisfy the soul in dry places and make strong the bones;\nand over this new wine a new Kiddush may perhaps be spoken. The Reform\nJew, the \"assimilated\" Jew, who finds himself to-day in what we have\nnominated a _position_, in a conscious or unconscious inspiration and\npride induced by the resurrection of a motherland, as the German in\nAmerica is inspired by his national unity in Europe, will indeed find\nhis soul satisfied in dry places, and can more generously and\neffectively contribute to the welfare of the fatherland of which he is\na citizen. The Jew who walks in the darkness of a Russia, where his\nsituation is a _problem_ and where existence itself is threatened,\nwill discover in this reawakened motherland a hope and possibly a\nmaterial aid which will make strong his bones that he may endure until\nemancipation.\n\n\n_The Communistic Aims of the Social Zionists_\n\nUnder the stimulus of a new creative vision, many poets, practical or\notherwise, have brought their own tints to add to the rosy prospect,\nand these we have designated to be Zionism as a \"fulfillment.\" Just\nprior to the birth of these United States, Thomas Paine, who in a few\nrespects was the Herzl of the new republic, rapturously exclaimed in\nhis pamphlet _Commonsense_: \"We have it in our power to begin the\nworld over again. A situation similar to the present hath not happened\nsince the days of Noah!\" Stimulated by the potentialities of an empty\ncountry and a great race eager to reoccupy it, modern theorists have\nlikewise, and with some reason, discovered in Palestine a land of\npromise.\n\nBasing their faith in the inherent demand for social justice which\nracial genius, as witnessed in the Deuteronomic experiment and the\nwhole social trend of the prophetic writings, has created as a\npermanent characteristic of the Jew and which the injustice of\ncenturies has accentuated, a group of Jewish socialists have entered\nthe Zionist cause in the hope of establishing a form of the\ncommunistic principle as a foundation for the new society. The\ncommunistic ownership of land is particularly urged. Past experiments\nof this nature--the Brook Farm and the French Commune as a small and a\nlarge example--have failed partly for lack of scientific guidance and\nsufficient exact knowledge of actual conditions, and partly because of\nthe social unfitness of the participants. Social Zionism, however, has\nsecured for its director an acknowledged authority in communistic\neconomics, Dr. Franz Oppenheimer of the University of Berlin; and it\nis counting on the Jewish heritage of social instinct to furnish the\nproper human material for its purpose. Amos, the herdsman of Tekoa,\nwho came down from his mountain in 750 B. C. to storm at the\ncapitalistic greed of Israel, raised the first plea in history for\nsocial justice. The successful consummation of the prophet's ideal in\nthe new Israel would be a contribution to the world distinctly Hebraic\nand possibly the most valuable of the modern Jew.\n\n\n_The Yearning for a Spiritual Revival_\n\nTo Ahad Ha-'Am,[12] the leading writer of to-day in Hebrew, a\n\"spiritual revival\" should be the desideratum of the Zionists.\nSpiritual is of course not used in the restricted religious sense, but\nas the opposite of material. Although Ahad Ha-'Am concedes the\nestablishment of a center in Palestine to be a necessity, he considers\nit only a means to the end of an \"awakening\" of spiritual forces in\nart, morals, and national consciousness among Jewry at large; and, to\nhasten this end, he urges the establishment of a University, an\nart-school, and bands of workers in the spirit--poets, painters, and\nall manner of creators--for he conceives the Jews not to be a young\nrace who must climb from satisfying the needs of the belly to the\nneeds of the brain, but an old people who can and must satisfy both\ndemands together.[13]\n\nFinally, the great mass of European Jewry, who weep on the Ninth of\nAb, who send their pittance to the Jews of the Holy City in order that\nthey may devote their days to lamenting at the old Wall, who pray each\nPassover \"next year at Jerusalem,\" and who treasure their little\ncasket of Palestinian earth, which some day will be placed over their\nshroud, look to Zionism as a \"fulfillment\" in its literal, Biblical\nmeaning. Although the yearning for such a fulfillment may never be\nsatisfied, it constitutes the impelling force, the prime motive,\nbehind the people who are to settle once again in Canaan, and who are\nthe stuff of which the philosophers' dreams are to be made.\n\nThe opportunists who work for the day when the plowman shall overtake\nthe reaper, the politicals who plan that the house of Jacob may\npossess its possessions, the culturals who behold upon the mountain\nthe feet of him who bringeth glad tidings, the socialists who strive\nto draw righteousness and peace within kissing distance, and the\ndevout who pray that out of Zion shall go forth the Law, are all\nintermingling composites of the Zionist dream. That the dream is not\nin vain, there is no positive assurance; but somewhere it is written\nthat Palestine _is_ the Land of Promise.\n\n\n_The Organization of Zionism_\n\nSophistication makes for sluggishness of action; and a sophisticated,\npractical people, such as the Jews, surrounded by an equally\nsophisticated world, have not marched upon Jerusalem with the\nflag-flying alacrity of the Crusaders. However, their sophistication\nhas substituted for speed a broad measure of surety; and a summary of\nthe organization of the movement and the work accomplished within and\nwithout Palestine gives promise that, if the will behind Zionism be\nsustained, the Jews who wail at the Wall may profitably direct their\nenergies elsewhere.\n\nThe Zionist organization comprises all Jews who subscribe to the\nZionist program and pay the annual contribution, known as a shekel,\nvarying from 15 cents to 25 cents in different countries. The program\nis that formulated at the First Zionist Congress (Basel, 1897): \"to\nobtain for the Jewish people a publicly recognized and legally assured\nhome in Palestine.\" The members are grouped in local societies which,\nin turn, are organized into national federations, to be found at\npresent in Argentina, Belgium, Bukowina, Bulgaria, Canada,\nCroatia-Slavonia-Herzegovina, Egypt, England, France, Galicia,\nGermany, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Roumania, Russia, South Africa,\nSwitzerland, Turkey, and the United States. Unfederated societies\nexist in Palestine, Morocco, Servia, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, China,\nBrazil, Australia, and New Zealand.[14] In short, the atlas is\npractically exhausted. With a representation proportional to the\nnumber of shekel-payers, a Congress convenes bi-annually in a central\nEuropean city (usually Basel), resolves, and prosecutes all work\nincumbent upon the furtherance of Zionist purpose. The executive\npower, although formerly invested in a president, is now exercised,\nsince the death of Herzl (1904) and the resignation of Wolffsohn, by a\ncommission of five, acting as the head of a committee of twenty-five,\nwho constitute a permanent body meeting at intervals between the\nsessions of Congress.[15] The Congress itself is divided into\nparty-groups, based on policy, and representative of the different\ntheoretic elements that guide the movement.\n\nThe original Government party, which stood shoulder to Herzl in his\nbrilliant but unsuccessful diplomatic schemes to secure a charter from\nthe Sultan, upon the overthrow of the autocracy in Turkey (1908), has\nabandoned purely political Zionism, for the expedient reason that the\nYoung Turk government has naturally been reticent in the granting of\nbroad concessions. Political Zionism, of which Max Nordau and David\nWolffsohn[F] are the leading protagonists, has through the accidents\nof Turkish politics been rendered ineffective; and the actual work of\nZionism rests now upon the policies of the Opportunist wing, although\nthe creation of a State, autonomous in as great a degree as possible,\nis the cardinal aim of the Zionists, and must be, in order to\ndistinguish the movement from a large-scale philanthropy.[16]\n\n\n_Parties in Zionism_\n\nThe Opportunists were divided into two groups--the followers of\nZangwill who urged immediate colonization anywhere, and the Ziyyone\nZionists (Zionists toward Zion) who favored immediate settlement in\nPalestine. The first party broke from the Zionist movement at the\nSeventh Congress, instituted the Jewish Territorial Organization\n(ITO), and have vainly devoted their energies toward securing lands in\nNorth, East, and West Africa, Mesapotamia, and Australia.[17] The\nZiyyone Zionists, however, possess the controlling vote, and in the\nlast Congress (1913) annulled the Basel program, temporarily at least,\nby securing from the Congress a recognition of the work of settlement\nin Palestine as the primary task.[18]\n\nSocialistic Zionism is represented by the Po'ale Zion, a small but\nvigorous group, who are endeavoring to secure at least the adoption of\nthe communistic ownership of land in the pursuance of the Opportunist\nprogram.\n\nDr. Franz Oppenheimer, lecturer in economics at the University of\nBerlin, has recently issued a pamphlet disclosing the success of the\nMerchavia Colony, a co-operative settlement near Nazareth, and\ndemonstrating that the only practical method of achieving large-scale\ncolonization is by this means.[19]\n\nStrong in numbers and in influence, the Mizrachi party represents the\northodox wing of Jewry, who \"believe a faithful adherence to the Torah\nand Tradition in all matters pertaining to Jewish life constitute the\nduty of the Jewish people.\"[20] In the assemblage of futurists, the\nMizrachi stands as the spirit of the past, to whom all plans must be\njustified, and whose power has its source in the religious fervor of\nthe majority of eastern Jews.\n\nFinally, the Cultural Zionists may be said to find representation in\nall parties, for the furtherance of spirituality is inseparably bound\nup in the aims of every Zionist.\n\n\n_The Financial Institutions of Zionism_\n\nThe financial instruments by which the practical Zionist aims are\nseeking accomplishment are (1) the Jewish Colonial Trust,[21]\nincorporated as a limited company in London (1899) with a capital\nstock of $20,000,000 and a paid-up capital of $1,324,000; (2) the\nAnglo-Palestine Company,[22] an offshoot of the Colonial Trust, with a\npaid-up capital of $500,000, which finances Zionist undertakings in\nPalestine, and declares annual dividends of 4 1-6 per cent.; (3) the\nAnglo-Levantine Banking Company,[23] the financial institution of the\nZionists devoted to their undertakings in the remainder of Turkey,\nwith a capital of $125,000 declaring 6 per cent. returns; (4) the\nJewish National Fund,[24] whose object is to acquire land in Palestine\nas the inalienable property of the entire Jewish people, with a\ncapital of $650,000 raised by individual contributions; (5) the\nPalestine Land Development Company,[25] with a registered capital of\n$87,500, organized for the purpose of (a) acquiring, improving, and\ndividing into small holdings large Palestinian estates, (b) laying out\nand cultivating intensive crops, (c) systematically settling and\ntraining agricultural laborers in Palestine.\n\nOf late the Jewish Colonization Association, which is backed by the\nforty-million dollar fund of Baron de Hirsch, is co-operating with the\nZionists in the purchase of Palestinian land to be administered by the\nPalestine Land Development Company.[26]\n\nThe actual achievements, which these instruments have been the means\nof effecting, may be summarized in two classes--Palestinian and\nnon-Palestinian. In both fields, the several branches of Zionist aims\nhave borne fruit.\n\n\n_What Zionism Has Accomplished in Palestine_\n\nPalestine in 1880 contained 30,000 Jews, who studied the Law, wailed\nat the Wall, and lived miserably on the alms (the Chalukah) of pious\nJewry at large. In 1911 the Jews comprised 100,000 out of a total\npopulation of 700,000. In Jerusalem are 50,000 Jews, 7,000 at\nTiberias, 8,000 at Safed, and 10,000 at Jaffa. A large proportion, it\nis true, are settlers of the Ghetto type, but the young generation is\nrapidly being changed by the growing school-system.[27]\n\nNumbering about fifty, Jewish agricultural colonies extend the length\nof the Holy Land and support some 5,000 Jews in their yield of olives,\ndates, wine, sugar, cotton, grain, and cattle. Broad streets, clean\nhomes with gardens, and orchard land characterize the standard of\nliving in the colonies, as machinery and agricultural school students\ncharacterize their modern standard of gaining their livelihood.[28] A\nconstantly increasing number of emigrants are streaming into the Holy\nLand, although the Zionists are devoting their main endeavors toward\nfirmly establishing the resident inhabitants and bettering their\ncondition. On April 3, 1914, the London _Jewish Chronicle_ reported\nthe emigration from the single port of Odessa as numbering 250 persons\na week.[29]\n\nIn 1886, $1,800,000 of trade passed out through Jaffa, the port of\nPalestine; in 1909, the value of the exports rose to $7,500,000.[30]\nRischon-le-Zion, the oldest colony and containing 500 inhabitants,\nannually produces, alone, more than a million gallons of wine.[31]\n\nThe schools of the older class--Talmud Torah and Yeshibah--still\ndominate; but, following the example of the Alliance Israelite, a\nmodern type of school with a modern curriculum taught in Hebrew has\nbeen established in every colony, and culminates in a Gymnasium at\nJaffa as the principal national educational institution. The\nattendance of the colonial schools number about 1,500, and in the\nTalmudic schools number several thousands. The Mikveh Israel\nAgricultural School, near Jaffa, is the center of vocational\ninstruction in Palestine, and aids materially the work of the\ncolonists. Funds for a Hygienic and Technical Institute have likewise\nbeen started to further practical education.[32]\n\n\n_The Revival of Jewish Culture_\n\nThe cultural revival in Palestine is plainly apparent in the excellent\nwork of the Bezalel,[33] the school of arts and crafts in Jerusalem,\nnamed after the builder of the first tabernacle in the wilderness,\nwhere are devised carpentry, copperware, wood-carving, basketry,\npainting, and sculpture \"of cunning workmanship\" and of distinctly\nHebraic design. Another sign of great hope springs from the\nwidespread revival of ancient Hebrew as a living tongue, which has\nbecome an awkward necessity among the older Jews gathered from many\ndifferent nations, and the free and natural expression of the\nchildren. Several weeklies and monthlies are published in Hebrew.[34]\nA National Jewish Library, soon to be housed in a fireproof building\nat Jerusalem, was founded by Dr. Joseph Chazanowicz, a Zionist leader\nin Russia, who devoted his entire income to it. In 1910 the Library\ncontained something over 15,000 volumes.[35] Finally, the Eleventh\nCongress (1913), convened on the 2,500th anniversary of the\ndestruction of the old temple on Mount Moriah, witnessed the pledging\nof $100,000 to the building of a Jewish National University at\nJerusalem--a new temple of culture and science.[36]\n\nPrecisely as the roots are more important than the blossoms in the\ngrowth of a plant, the accomplishments without Palestine are more\nsignificant than within. To-day the Golus (Diaspora) is the root, and\nPalestine the stalk; some day the Zionists hope to reverse the\nsimile--this, in short, is the essence of the entire movement.\n\n\n_The Accomplishments of Zionism Beyond Palestine_\n\nZionism's chief aims without Palestine are two: (1) Revival of\nnational consciousness, (2) Relief of the persecuted. In regard to the\nsecond, the Zionist organization, constantly working to shift\nemigration from West to East, has in a measure focused it upon\nPalestine; and more important, it is rapidly perfecting adequate\nmachinery, which once securing the motive power of money in such\nquantities as is now devoted to the Jewish Colonization Association,\nwill appreciably lessen the gravity of the Jewish _problem_.\n\nIn regard to the awakening of the national consciousness, the Zionist\nsocieties, which number in the thousands, constitute centers for the\ndissemination of propaganda and the stimulation of study in all things\nJewish; and the Zionist press, comprising one hundred newspapers and\nperiodicals, the official of which is _Die Welt_, and the leading\nAmerican representative, _The Maccabaean_, materially aid this\npreaching of Zion gospel. Under the stimulus of the movement, numerous\nstudent societies have sprung up abroad, promoting and crystallizing a\nnational sentiment and a race interest, while older societies of this\norder, such as the Kadimah, have received a renewed impetus. Women's\nsocieties of a literary, educational, and social character--the Benoth\nZion (Sofia and New York) and the Hadassah (Vienna and New York) for\nexample--have taken a place in the general revival.[37]\n\nThe effect of Zionism in large centers of population is ably shown by\nCharles S. Bernheimer in his study of the Russian Jew in the United\nStates, and his findings may be taken as typical. In general, the\nZionist societies have formed the chief social centers of the\nghetto,[38] have opened religious schools[39] and libraries,[40] have\nbrought the radicals in religion under the influence of the national\nidea,[41] and so prevented the loss of religion from being followed by\na loss of race-consciousness, and have \"enlisted the sympathies of the\nolder people. The young people have grasped the great significance of\nZionism, and have taken a renewed interest in religion, education, and\nculture.\"[42]\n\nA renaissance of art is following that of culture; in painting Ephraim\nLilien, Lesser Ury, Judah Epstein, and Hermann Struck, and in marble\nand bronze Boris Schatz (the founder and director of Bezalel),\nFrederick Beer, and Alfred Nossig are receiving their inspiration from\nZionism.\n\nThe primary enthusiasm for the movement has long ago been expended;\nand the present interest is deep, healthy, and likely to abide.\nHowever, the sustainment of this interest appears to be the primary\nduty and task of Zionism; in a movement that is a long, dull, slow\npull, every moment is a critical moment.\n\n\n_Misconceptions of Zionism_\n\nTo the modern Jew who lacks the gift of prophecy, the outcome of an\nundertaking must be determined by a consideration not only of the\nforce propelling the movement, but of the opposition confronting it. A\nconsideration of this opposition will afford an opportunity, moreover,\nfor a clear and summarizing definition of what the movement is, and,\nequally important, of what it is not. Opposition to Zionism divides\nitself into three categories--ignorant; theoretic; practical. One is\nreminded of Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the servant, and Geshem the\nArabian, who mocked and threatened Nehemiah when he undertook to\nrebuild the walls of Jerusalem.\n\nIgnorant opposition assails Zionism with arguments that are\nincontrovertible, but totally irrelevant; it busies itself with\ndestroying claims which the Zionists have never made. A trio may be\ntaken as representative. It is pointed out with cogency that Palestine\nis not capable of supporting the twelve million of Jews who inhabit\nour world; and more conclusively, the twelve million of Jews do not\nwish to go to Palestine. Briefly, the Zionists in seeking a home for\nthe Jew in Canaan no more expect all the Jews to congregate within\nits bounds than a man who builds himself a house expects that all his\nposterity will live in it. As a matter of history, more Jews after the\nfall of the first Temple have lived without Palestine than within.\nOnly a remnant returned after the captivity; and Babylon, Alexandria,\nand Rome contained a larger Jewish population than Jerusalem.\nThroughout the dispersion, the majority of the Jews lived apart from\nthe nation center--whether that center was the Mesapotamia of Talmudic\ntimes, the Spain of the Middle Ages, or the Poland of the early modern\nperiod. The Zionist object is only to secure such a national center\n(free from outward pressure) as a ganglion radiating Hebraic culture,\nwhich can preserve Jewish unity and identity and inspire Jewish\nculture elsewhere, precisely as the Jud\u00e6a of old rendered similar\nservice;[43] and the modern Palestine with a soil capable of\nsupporting a million inhabitants without extensive irrigation amply\nsatisfies the Zionist purpose.\n\n\n_Zionism Leaves the Status of the Jew Uninjured_\n\nClosely allied to this argument is the claim that Zionism constitutes\nan abandonment by the European Jew of his hard-earned Emancipation,\nand a traitorous retreat from the position of brother and\nfellow-countryman which he is now claiming in the several nations. In\nsum, renationalization in the East spells de-nationalization in the\nWest, and the return of the Jew to the status of alien. Such a\nconclusion follows as inevitably as it follows that the unification of\nGermany in 1870 rendered alien the Germans of America who emigrated\nhere in the '40s, that the French Revolution denationalized the\nrefugee Huguenot population of Prussia, that the unification of Italy\ndisfranchised the Italian Swiss, or that the Irish Home Rule Bill will\ntransform the populace of Boston into undesirable citizens. On the\ncontrary, the Zionists are convinced that the re-establishment of a\nJewish nation will strengthen, for example, the claim of the German\nJew that he is a German by distinctly separating the national from the\nuniversal Jew--the sheep from the goats, if you will--and will render\nhis status less precarious because it will be more definable.\nMoreover, such a national center will increase Jewish self-respect\nwith the consequence of increasing Christian respect. Jewish\n\"aloofness\" need no longer be a reproach, because it may safely be\nabandoned; with Zion itself preserving Hebraism in the East, the Jew\nin the West may throw himself unreservedly into the life about him;\nand a flourishing of Jewish culture will make his contribution the\nmore valuable.\n\nFinally, the third objection is formulated in the question, \"What is\nthe use?\" Whether it be grounded in self-satisfied indifference,\nhostility, or a sense of hopelessness, it forms the most insidious\nopposition, because it betrays a lack of racial consciousness that\ncannot be supplied by argument, and exposes a weakness that cannot be\nremedied by emotional appeal. It is a weakness amounting to an\nabsence, a literal lack, of the very functions through which a cure\ncould be effected. An Englishman asking, \"Why preserve the English?\" a\nScandinavian asking, \"Of what use are the Scandinavians?\" a Swiss\nasking, \"Why maintain Switzerland?\" is inconceivable. Answers indeed\ncan be found, but the point is that to put the question indicates that\nthe interrogator is beyond a comprehension of the reply. He is like a\ncongenital blindman, who asks: \"Of what use is seeing?\" The question\nwas, indeed, propounded in the third section of this paper, but only\nas the hypothetical question of an outsider, much as an Englishman\nmight ask, \"Of what value are the Chinese?\" to secure an external,\nhistorical justification of their existence. However, if the great\nmajority of Jews ever seriously question the need of preserving their\nown race, the answer becomes immediate and conclusive; there is no\nneed, for there is no longer a race.\n\n\n_Zionism Has No Insuperable Obstacles_\n\nTheoretic opposition is determined on one hand by racial questions,\nand on the other by religious dogmas. That the Jews are no longer a\nrace, that their preservation need not be undertaken because they do\nnot exist, is, laying aside the scientific disputations, in one sense\nbegging the question. Whether the Jews are a racial unit, and whether\ntheir preservation will result in a distinct racial culture, is\nprecisely what a successful consummation of the Zionist object will\nprove or disprove with finality; and until such consummation, even\nscientific theorizing on the subject will expose itself to the\nunscientific process of working without the check of laboratory\nexperiment. To the scientist, Zionism offers Palestine as such a\nlaboratory. The religious opposition offered by Reform Judaism has\nbeen previously discussed; however, it may be summed up in three\nstatements. An appeal to the implied meaning of the Scriptures can\nonly be authoritatively settled by the author. Granting, nevertheless,\nthat a suffering Israel and a missionary Israel are essentials in a\nDivine plan, the establishment of a national center does not\ndogmatically preclude Israel from continuing to suffer elsewhere, nor\nforbid Israel from pursuing her missionary project of acting as a\nmodel example and shining light to the nations. Quite the reverse;\ninasmuch as the Dispersion is fast becoming a Destruction, which\nZionism is attempting to avert, the preservation of Reform Judaism\nitself demands the success of Zionism.\n\nPractical opposition is indeed ponderous, but not necessarily\ninsuperable. The majority of Palestinian obstacles, such as the\ndifficulties which the confusion of national tongues, culture, and\nhabits will impose on unification, the precarious chance of ultimately\nsecuring legal recognition from Turkey, the possible obstructions\namounting even to conflict to be offered by the native Arabian\npopulation, are distant bridges which the far-seeing may fear, but\nwhich, the wise will not attempt to cross until reached. However,\nthree urgent perplexities and impediments are imminent in the danger\nof securing only a low class of settlers, of suffering from\ninsufficient means, and of failing from diminution of interest. At\nbottom, the three are one, and amount to the necessity of keeping up\nthe old heart and inspiring new hearts.\n\nWith a sufficiency of interest, the necessary money and the proper men\nwill find their way to Palestine; in a word, only a people can save\nthemselves, and, failing to do so, aside from scientific argument and\nreligious dogma, they remain no more a people. That this people may\nnot so perish, the Zionists are not only furnishing the vision; but\nwith back and arm, they are working to rebuild the Wall where men have\nwailed the centuries by. To the captious, the hostile, and the\npersistently heedless, their cue is to say with Nehemiah of old: \"I am\ndoing a great work, so that I cannot come down.\"\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Marvin M. Lowenthal.]\n\n\n _The Jewish students form so distinctive and gifted an\n element in the life of all our colleges that their\n self-expression should serve a valuable purpose.\n Through becoming articulate in such a publication as_\n The Menorah Journal, _the first issue of which is full\n of promise, they may well bring to pass not only a\n fuller realization of the part they are to play in\n American society, but also a better understanding of\n that part by the entire community to which they\n belong. Without such better understandings there is\n small hope for the community as a whole._--_From an\n Editorial in the Harvard Alumni Bulletin, March 17,\n 1915._\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[Footnote 1: I. Friedlaender, _The Political Ideals of the Prophets_\n(pamphlet) (Baltimore, 1910), p. 10.]\n\n[Footnote 2: _Jewish Encyclopedia_ under \"Graetz.\"]\n\n[Footnote 3: Ahad Ha-'Am, \"Pinsker and His Brochure\" (pamphlet) (New\nYork, 1911), p. 5.]\n\n[Footnote 4: Ignaz Zollschan, _Das Rassenproblem_ (Leipsic, 1911). G.\nPollack, \"Jewish Race,\" _The Nation_, vol. 94, p. 609, in review of\nthe above book. A. S. Waldstein, \"A Study of the Jews,\" _The\nMaccabaean_, vol. 21, p. 41. M. Waxman, \"The Ethnic Character of the\nJews\" (New York, 1910). _The American Hebrew_, \"The Jewish Race\nProblem,\" vol. 90, p. 435.]\n\n[Footnote 5: Zollschan, _Das Rassenproblem_, p. 140.]\n\n[Footnote 6: H. M. Kallen, \"Judaism, Hebraism and Zionism,\" _The\nAmerican Hebrew_, vol. 87, p. 181.]\n\n[Footnote 7: _Idem_, p. 182.]\n\n[Footnote 8: R. C. Conder, \"Zionists,\" _Blackwood's_, vol. 163, p.\n598.]\n\n[Footnote 9: Max Nordau, _Zionism_ (New York, 1911), p. 11.]\n\n[Footnote 10: _The Maccabaean_, \"Theodor Herzl in His Writings,\" vol.\n23, p. 229.]\n\n[Footnote 11: Zangwill, \"Zionism and Territorialism,\" _Living Age_,\nvol. 265, p. 663.]\n\n[Footnote 12: Ahad Ha-'Am, _Selected Essays_ (Philadelphia, 1912), p.\n253 et seq.]\n\n[Footnote 13: _Idem_, p. 290.]\n\n[Footnote 14: Cohen, _Zionist Work in Palestine_, p. 198.]\n\n[Footnote 15: _The Survey_, \"The Tenth Zionist Congress,\" vol. 25, p.\n845.]\n\n[Footnote F: This Essay was written before Mr. Wolffsohn's death.]\n\n[Footnote 16: _The American Hebrew_, \"Dr. Max Nordau on Herzl's\nPolicies,\" vol. 93, p. 403.]\n\n[Footnote 17: _American Jewish Year Book_, 1910-11, \"Events of the\nYear.\" I. Zangwill, \"Zionism and Territorialism,\" _Living Age_, vol.\n265, p. 668.]\n\n[Footnote 18: L. Lipsky, \"Results of the Eleventh Congress,\" _The\nMaccabaean_, vol. 23, p. 250.]\n\n[Footnote 19: Franz Oppenheimer, _Merchavia_ (New York, 1914), p.\n1-13. \"Life Work of Franz Oppenheimer,\" _The Maccabaean_, vol. 24, p.\n12.]\n\n[Footnote 20: _Jewish Encyclopedia_ under \"Zionism--Party\nOrganization.\"]\n\n[Footnote 21: _Idem_, under \"Jewish Colonial Trust.\" Cohen, _Zionist\nWork in Palestine_, p. 198.]\n\n[Footnote 22: _Idem_, p. 127.]\n\n[Footnote 23: _Idem_, p. 199.]\n\n[Footnote 24: _Idem_, p. 203.]\n\n[Footnote 25: _Idem_, p. 199.]\n\n[Footnote 26: _American Jewish Year Book_, 1913-14, p. 203.]\n\n[Footnote 27: H. Bentwich, \"The Jewish Renaissance in Palestine,\"\n_Fortnightly Review_, vol. 96, p. 136.]\n\n[Footnote 28: Cohen, _Zionist Work in Palestine_, p. 195.]\n\n[Footnote 29: _Jewish Chronicle_ (London), No. 2348, p. 34.]\n\n[Footnote 30: Bentwich, \"The Jewish Renaissance in Palestine,\"\n_Fortnightly Review_, vol. 96, p. 136.]\n\n[Footnote 31: H. F. Ward, \"Palestine for the Jews,\" _The World Today_,\nvol. 17, p. 1062.]\n\n[Footnote 32: Cohen, _Zionist Work in Palestine_, p. 86.]\n\n[Footnote 33: Bentwich, \"The Jewish Renaissance in Palestine,\"\n_Fortnightly Review_, vol. 96, p. 136.]\n\n[Footnote 34: _Idem._]\n\n[Footnote 35: _Jewish Encyclopedia_ under \"Arbanel Library.\"]\n\n[Footnote 36: _The Maccabaean_, vol. 23, p. 263.]\n\n[Footnote 37: _Jewish Encyclopedia_ under \"Zionism.\"]\n\n[Footnote 38: C. S. Bernheimer, \"The Russian Jew in the United\nStates.\" (Philadelphia, 1905), p. 232.]\n\n[Footnote 39: _Idem_, p. 180.]\n\n[Footnote 40: _Idem_, p. 168.]\n\n[Footnote 41: _Idem_, p. 155.]\n\n[Footnote 42: _Idem_, p. 181.]\n\n[Footnote 43: M. Waxman, \"The Importance of Palestine for the Jews in\nthe Diaspora,\" _The Maccabaean_, vol. 23, p. 232. A succinct detailing\nof this service.]\n\n\n\n\nFrom College and University\n\n_Activities of Menorah Societies_\n\n\nBrown University\n\nThe need of some organization based on ideals that would tend to\npromote a closer relationship among the Jewish students at Brown\nUniversity had long been felt on the campus. To meet this need there\nhas even been an attempt at uniting the Jewish men by ties not\nnecessarily Jewish in spirit; happily this attempt failed. Early in\nthis college year the Menorah movement was brought to the attention of\nthe Jewish students and its aims at once appealed as very worthy of\nthe serious consideration of Brown men.\n\nAn informal meeting was held and almost unanimous favor was exhibited\nfor the establishment of a Menorah Society at Brown. Whereupon a\ncommittee was elected to interview the authorities of the University\nconcerning this matter, and their attitude was found to be all that\ncould be desired. Steps were then taken for formal organization, and\non the evening of January 6, 1915, a dedicatory meeting was held, and\nthe Brown Menorah Society was launched on its career. (For an account\nof this meeting, see the April MENORAH JOURNAL, page 140.)\n\nShortly afterwards the Executive Council formulated a program of\nactivities for the rest of the year, a program which has now been\nsuccessfully carried through. On February 17, Prof. Richard Gottheil\nof Columbia University gave a very interesting lecture on Zionism.\nSeveral members of the Faculty were present and took part in the\ngeneral discussion that followed the lecture. At the meeting of March\n17, Prof. A. T. Fowler of the Biblical Department of the University\nand a member of the Advisory Board of the Society, spoke on \"The Bible\nas a Literary Document.\" On April 21, Prof. David G. Lyon of Harvard\nUniversity gave an illustrated lecture on \"The Samarian Excavations.\"\nThis lecture was given in one of the largest halls of the University\nand was open to the public.\n\nThe other meetings of the year were either business meetings or study\ncouncils. At the study councils topics of Jewish interest were\ndiscussed. An informal supper on the evening of May 20, with election\nof officers for the following year, completed the activities of this\nyear.\n\n ABRAHAM J. BURT\n\n\nUniversity of Chicago\n\nAfter lying practically dormant for about one and one-half years, the\nMenorah Society at Chicago has awakened during this last year.\n\nThe first meeting of the year was held October 26, 1914, at which\nofficers for the quarter were elected. Then at varying intervals there\nwere addresses by Dr. H. M. Kallen of the University of Wisconsin, Dr.\nA. A. Neuman of the Dropsie College, Dr. Emil G. Hirsch of Sinai\nTemple of Chicago (who gave a series of two lectures on Jewish\nhistory), and Mr. Louis D. Brandeis of Boston. The inspiring address\nof Mr. Brandeis, held November 19, 1914, was the biggest event of the\nyear, the meeting being largely attended by Jews and non-Jews alike.\nRabbis Stolz and Cohon, representing the Chicago Rabbinical Society,\nalso delivered short talks.\n\nHitherto, the Menorah Society has been unknown to have other than\nquite formal lectures. No attempt has been made to make the members\nfeel at home and more sociable at the meetings. An innovation was\ntried when, at the meeting on May 10, there was an informal talk by\nDr. Joseph Stolz, of the Isaiah Temple of Chicago, on Hillel, which\nwas followed not only by discussion but also by refreshments. This\nmeeting was a complete success. It was followed by another informal\nmeeting on Maimonides.\n\nThe last meeting was a \"get-together\" meeting of the Society to\ndiscuss plans for the next year. Suggestions were accepted to interest\nincoming freshmen by personal letters and visits and \"get-acquainted\"\nand \"enthusiasm\" gatherings. It is reasonable to hope from the\nincreasing membership and the suggestions for future action that the\nMenorah will become more and more powerful on the campus, especially\nwith the encouragement and the aid of the alumni in Chicago, who are\nplanning to have also a graduate Menorah organization.\n\n ETHEL JACOBS\n\n\nClark University\n\nThe second year, just closed, of the Clark Menorah Society has been\nmost successful. At the weekly meetings, papers were given by various\nmembers on such subjects as Reform Judaism, Orthodoxy, Zionism,\nAssimilation, which were followed by entertaining and instructive\ndiscussions. Reports were also given by members on current books of\nJewish interest, among them being: Fishberg's \"The Jews,\" Ruppin's\n\"The Jews of Today,\" and Israel Cohen's \"Jewish Life in Modern Times.\"\nCurrent magazine articles of Jewish interest were also reviewed and\ndiscussed.\n\nMembers of the Faculty and outside speakers, including Rabbi M. M.\nEichler and Jacob de Haas of Boston, gave addresses at various times\nand Rabbi H. H. Rubenovitz of Boston delivered a series of lectures on\n\"The Maccabees.\"\n\nThe first banquet of the Society, held December 17, 1914, was a great\nsuccess and helped stir up much interest among the students in the\nMenorah. (For a note on this dinner see the April MENORAH JOURNAL,\npage 140; for the after-dinner address of President G. Stanley Hall\nsee the April JOURNAL, page 87).\n\nA program for the next year has already been made and the forecast for\nthe future is most promising.\n\n ISADOR LUBIN\n\n\nUniversity of Colorado\n\nThe academic year 1914-1915 opened auspiciously for the University of\nColorado Menorah Society. The old men returned with new and greater\nenthusiasm, and the new men quickly caught the same spirit. Our first\nmeeting was a get-together affair where acquaintances were renewed and\nnew acquaintances made.\n\nThe meetings of the first semester were addressed entirely by the\nmembers of the Society who chose their material from the excellent\nMenorah Library. Those of the second semester were addressed in part\nby outside men and in part by members. During the year two meetings\nwere held in Denver in conjunction with the University of Denver\nMenorah. These were well attended and the principal addresses given by\nthe heads of the two universities.\n\n MICHAEL IDELSON\n\n\nColumbia University\n\nThe past year has been a year of steady progress for the Columbia\nMenorah Society and of increasing interest in its activities. At the\nfirst meeting of the year the members were greatly stimulated by an\naddress by Dr. H. G. Enelow on the work of Menorah Societies. At other\nmeetings held during the year, Mr. Samuel Strauss spoke on \"Some\nDelusions Now in the Testing,\" Professor Talcott Williams, dean of the\nSchool of Journalism, on \"The War and Race Prejudice,\" Rabbi Rudolph\nI. Coffee, of Pittsburg, Pa., on \"The College Graduate in Jewish\nAffairs,\" Professor Israel Friedlaender, on \"Jewry, East and West.\" At\na smoker given in February, Rev. Dr. Jacob Kohn spoke on \"Jewish\nCeremonialism,\" Mr. Henry Hurwitz spoke on the work of other Menorah\nSocieties, and Mr. M. David Hoffman, the Representative of the\nColumbia Society in the Administrative Council of the Intercollegiate\nAssociation, presented an interesting report of the Menorah Convention\nof Cincinnati.\n\nAlthough the Society is not satisfied with the number of its members,\nthat number is one which would probably be deemed large at many\nanother university. The Society is becoming more and more active and\nacquiring ever greater prestige among the Jewish students, as well as\nin the University in general. It has aroused interest on the part of\nnot a few who have heretofore been indifferent to Jewish affairs.\n\n HARRY WILK\n\n\nUniversity of Illinois\n\nAt the beginning of this year conditions were somewhat abnormal for\nthe Illinois Menorah Society. The preceding graduating class had taken\nan extraordinarily heavy toll from our members and, as the number of\nJuniors left was small, we had few veterans remaining. But, to offset\nour loss, we were compensated by an unusually large number of\npromising freshmen.\n\nWe started the year with a reception to the new students at which over\none hundred were present. Our customary smoker was dispensed with on\naccount of the increased number of Jewish co-eds, there being about\nfifteen at present. At our next meeting, at which we formally welcomed\nthe new students to our Society, Dr. David S. Blondheim of our Faculty\nexplained the nature of the work we are doing and gave some practical\nadvice, and Dr. Jacob Zeitlin of our Faculty spoke on the Jewish\nproblems of the present. Since then we have had many regular meetings,\nevery other Sunday, student programs alternating with outside\nspeakers. Among the latter have been Professor I. Leo Sharfman of\nMichigan, who spoke on \"Jewish Ideals,\" Rabbi A. A. Neuman of the\nDropsie College, who talked on \"Life Among Medieval Spanish Jews,\" and\nDr. H. M. Kallen of Wisconsin on \"The Meaning of Hebraism.\" Mrs. E.\nF. Nickoley, who has traveled extensively in Palestine, gave an\ninteresting talk on the Jews in the Holy Land. Professor Simon Litman\nof our Faculty spoke on \"Jews and Modern Capitalism.\" Professor E. C.\nBaldwin of our English department, in speaking on \"Prayer,\" roused a\nlively interest in the question as to whether prayer is decadent among\nthe Jews. Professor Albert H. Lybyer lectured on \"Jews as the\nTransmitters of Culture from the Moslems to the Christians\"; Professor\nBoyd H. Bode discussed \"What the Jew Contributes to American Ideals,\"\nand Dr. A. R. Vail spoke on \"The Influence of the Hebrew Prophets as\nthe Teachers of Moral Law.\"\n\nNor have we had a dearth of student talks and readings, among them the\nfollowing: Herbert B. Rosenberg on the Falashas, Louis Ribback on the\nChinese Jews, Jesse Block on the Spanish Jews, S. J. Lurie on\nMaimonides, Julius Cohen on \"The Jewish Messianic Idea,\" L. J.\nGreengard on \"Prophecy,\" Karl Epstein on Jewish Nationalism. Current\nevents were given during the year by Bertha Bing, Julius Cohen, and\nWilliam A. Grossman.\n\nEarly in February a study circle was formed, under the leadership of\nMrs. Simon Litman, for the study of post-Biblical Jewish history. Ten\nmembers of the Society enrolled and met weekly at the home of\nProfessor and Mrs. Litman. Portions of Vol. II of Graetz and of Riggs'\n\"History of the Jews\" were read and amplified by the excellent\nlectures of the leader. The discussions also furnished very valuable\ninstruction.\n\n KARL EPSTEIN\n\n\nUniversity of Maine\n\nDuring the past year the conditions on the campus were such that it\nmade all of the Jewish students feel the necessity of the right kind\nof Jewish organization. Clubs had been formed time after time, each of\na different nature; yet none of them could fulfill the need and they\nall sooner or later broke up. Thus things dragged along, each one\nfeeling that something ought to be done, yet no one knowing what\nremedy was needed, until a report came of the Menorah movement. After\na hastily gathered meeting one Saturday night, the matter was\npresented to the Jewish students for discussion. Great enthusiasm was\ndisplayed and everybody was heartily in favor of organizing a Menorah\nSociety.\n\nWith the aid of the Menorah catalogue (\"The Menorah Movement\"), and\nMr. Joseph Spear, of our Faculty, a former member of the Harvard\nMenorah Society, a constitution was drawn up and presented at the next\nmeeting, when it was accepted. It was also submitted to President\nAley, who approved it and congratulated us most heartily upon the\nformation of the Society.\n\nOur first task was to place the Society in the right light on the\ncampus by emphasizing the absolutely unsectarian, academic, cultural\nnature of the Menorah Society and the fact that membership is\ninvitingly open to all members of the University. In this we were\ngreatly helped by the visit of Chancellor Henry Hurwitz who addressed\nthe whole student body in Chapel on the morning of May 5th, after\nbeing introduced by President Aley, upon the nature and purposes of\nthe Menorah movement; and he addressed a public meeting of the Society\nin the evening, which was also attended by President Aley, on \"Jewish\nIdeals.\"\n\nDuring the course of the year we have succeeded in holding several\nother enthusiastic meetings besides. We have had frank and inspiring\ntalks by President Aley and Professor Huddleston. At other meetings\nour own members gave talks and discussions. Thus, Samuel Rudman gave a\nsplendid talk on \"The Attitude of Jewish Young Men towards Jewish\nReligion\", which was warmly discussed. Another paper was delivered by\nA. I. Schwey on \"Hebrew Literature.\"\n\nThrough the kindness of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, into\nwhich we were admitted at the Cincinnati Convention, we have secured a\nMenorah Library, which has been put in a conspicuous place in the\nreading room of the University library, for the benefit of all the\nstudents. But the Menorah members especially intend to make good use\nof the books in the preparation of papers and in regular study. We\nhave also been fortunate in securing a set of the Jewish Encyclopedia\nfrom Mr. Cyrus L. Sulzberger of New York for presentation to the\nUniversity library. The coming of the Encyclopedia and the Menorah\nLibrary has been greatly appreciated by the authorities, and the Maine\nMenorah Society is happy to have been able already to be of concrete\nservice to the University. All of our activities have caused favorable\ninterest on the part of both the student body and the college\nauthorities, and a great change has come about in the attitude towards\nthe Jewish men. We look forward to even greater progress as well as\nhard work in the future.\n\n A. I. SCHWEY\n\n\nUniversity of Missouri\n\nOur Menorah Society this year has done at least two things. First, it\nhas definitely held to a program of work; secondly, it has become\naccredited as representative of the Jewish students to the Jewish\nstudents themselves, and even more to the non-Jews. The opposition\nthat some of the students manifested in other years has not been so\nactive, and the Society drew a large proportion of them, sometimes all\nof them, to its meetings. The non-Jews, especially among the Faculty,\nhave exhibited an actively interested and helpful attitude. In this\nconnection, our thanks are due Prof. J. E. Wrench, of the History\ndepartment, whose presence at all of our meetings greatly stimulated\nprofitable discussion.\n\nOf the Jewish faculty men, Dr. Henry M. Sheffer, of the Philosophy\ndepartment, one of the founders of the Harvard Menorah Society, took a\nparticularly active interest in the work, especially in the\npreparation of our programs. The program for the second semester was\non \"Typical Hebraic Ideals\", as follows:\n\n I. Transitional:\n 1. Hellenism J. Sholtz\n 2. Emancipation J. L. Ellman\n\n II. Contemporary:\n (a) Religious\n 1. Orthodoxy Wm. Stone\n 2. Reform Robert Burnett\n (b) National\n 1. Assimilationism A. Hertzmark\n 2. Zionism D. A. Glushek\n (c) Literary\n 1. Yiddish M. Glazer\n 2. Neo-Hebrew C. Goldberg\n\n III. Prospective:\n The New Hebraism Dr. H. M. Sheffer\n\nThis program was devised with the idea of creating a definite reaction\nto Hebraism. So, the papers on Hellenism and Emancipation tried by the\ncontrast of transitional periods to make Hebraic ideals as a whole\nstand out. The meeting on Reform and Orthodoxy was devoted to an\nhistorical analysis of the forces underlying the present situation in\nJudaism. The papers on Zionism and Assimilation, again, summed up from\nanother angle the characteristics of Hebraic aspiration. And at the\ntwo last meetings, present Jewish life and ideals were discussed in\nterms of their literary and philosophical expression.\n\nAlong with these meetings we had several lectures by Dr. H. M.\nSheffer, Rabbi A. A. Neuman of the Dropsie College, and Dr. H. M.\nKallen of Wisconsin. These meetings were in every case productive of\ngreat enthusiasm. Prof. J. E. Wrench addressed a meeting composed in\nnumbers equally of Jews and non-Jews on \"The Jew and Christian in the\nMiddle Ages\", and we also had an address by Dr. A. T. Olmstead,\nProfessor of Ancient History, on the \"Book of Kings\".\n\n JOHN SHOLTZ\n\n\nUniversity of North Carolina\n\nThe Menorah Society at our University is in a unique position. The\nnumber of Jews in North Carolina is the smallest of any in the\nSouthern States. Only in a few places is there any organized Jewish\nlife. The Jewish students come chiefly from such places where the\nnumber of Jews is very small. Under these circumstances, it can\nreadily be seen how difficult it was at first to implant the idea of\na Jewish society for the purpose of the study of Jewish subjects of\nwhich the majority of the students were greatly ignorant. The Society,\nhowever, has now passed far beyond the experimental stage. All the\nJewish students at North Carolina now show a great deal of interest\nand enthusiasm in the Menorah work.\n\nFrom the fact that our Society can look to very little in the way of\nhelp from any Jewish community in the State, and that it is far from\nany Jewish cultural center in the South, it can be perceived how hard\nit was at first to carry on our work in comparison with our sister\nSocieties located in more favorable localities. A review of our work\nof the last term will show, however, gratifying results. Our method\nwas similar to that of the class room. A text book on Jewish history\nwas taken as the basis for study, supplemented by additional\ninformation from the Jewish Encyclopedia and other books on Judaica\nfrom the University Library and the Menorah Library. The value of our\nstudy of Jewish history may be educed from the fact that most of us\nhad but the faintest knowledge of our glorious past. When a thorough\nknowledge of the text was acquired, discussions and studies of\ndifferent phases and movements in Judaism were taken up. In this work\nthe Menorah Library proved an especially valuable aid.\n\nWhile our Society is not a religious organization, it endeavors to\nsurround our work with ethical and religious aims. The Society tries\nto be here for the Jewish students what the Y. M. C. A. is in a\nmeasure for our Christian fellow-students, and we can say that it has\nsucceeded in its endeavor. The relation of the Menorah Society here\nwith the Y. M. C. A. is one of heartiest co-operation.\n\n SAMUEL R. NEWMAN\n\n\nUniversities in Omaha\n\nThe Omaha Menorah Society, covering both the University of Omaha and\nCreighton University, was founded in September, 1914. At the\norganization meeting, Rabbi Frederic Cohn spoke on the Menorah\nmovement, and letters of endorsement from President D. E. Jenkins of\nthe University of Omaha and from President E. A. Magevney of Creighton\nUniversity were read. A discussion of principles of the Menorah\nmovement followed.\n\nAmong the speakers of the year were Dr. I. Dansky, Dr. A. Greenberg,\nDr. R. Farber of S. Joseph, Professor Nathan Bernstein, Mr. Isador\nRees of the Omaha High School, Professor F. P. Ramsay, and Professor\nWalter Halsey. In addition to their valuable addresses, discussions on\nimportant Jewish topics were held by the members of the Society--a\nphase of Menorah work which is being steadily accentuated.\n\nThe largest meeting of the year took place in Jacobs Memorial Hall, on\nthe evening of May 11th, at which over 300 people were present. The\nspeakers on this occasion were President D. E. Jenkins of the\nUniversity of Omaha on \"Idealism in Education\" and Rabbi Samuel Cohen\nof Kansas City, who spoke on \"The Functions and Genesis of\nCeremonials\".\n\n JACQUES RIEUR\n\n\nRadcliffe College\n\nDuring the month of December, 1914, the Radcliffe Menorah Society was\norganized with a membership of twenty. On January 7, 1915, the\npurposes of the Society were outlined to the members by Mr. Henry\nHurwitz; and Mr. Ralph A. Newman, President of the Harvard Menorah,\nextended greetings and welcome from that Society. Dean Bertha Boody\nshowed her interest and approval by her presence.\n\nSince the Radcliffe Menorah was not organized until well after the\ncollege calendar had been arranged, it was difficult to formulate\ndefinite plans for the time which remained. Lectures, however, have\nbeen given at open meetings by Dr. H. M. Kallen of the University of\nWisconsin and Mr. Maurice Wertheim of New York; and plans are now\nunder way for the formation of a study circle devoted to the study of\nthe Hebrew language.\n\nThe interest and enthusiasm of the members--more than half of whom\nare first year students--gives promise for work of greater scope in\nthe future.\n\n LILLIAN H. ROSENBLUM\n\n\nNew York University\n\n\nIn the first number of THE MENORAH JOURNAL it was reported that\nbecause of the division of New York University into uptown and\ndowntown colleges, it was found necessary to organize an additional\nMenorah Society at Washington Square, the downtown section. This\nWashington Square Society has for its sphere the professional schools\nof New York University, whereas the University Heights Society has the\nSchools of Art and Applied Science.\n\nOrganized in October, 1914, the Washington Square Society can already\nboast of a membership of 160. Over eighty percent of the members are\nyoung men and women who work during the day and devote five evenings a\nweek to school.\n\nThe Society has conducted under its auspices in the past year about\nten lectures, at which the attendance averaged seventy-five members.\nThe lectures covered many phases of Jewish culture and were greatly\nappreciated. It is expected that study circles will be held during the\nnext academic year, even though it may be necessary in most instances\nto hold them after 9:30 p. m.\n\nAmong the lectures during the past year were the following: Dr. H. M.\nKallen of the University of Wisconsin, Dr. H. G. Enelow of Temple\nEmanu-El, Mr. Samuel Strauss of The New York Times, and Chief Justice\nIsaac Franklin Russell of the New York Court of Special Sessions.\n\nTo celebrate the completion of one year's active work, a dinner was\nheld on the evening of April 30th at the Broadway Central Hotel, at\nwhich there were present about 100 members. The Toastmaster was E.\nSchwartz, and the speakers of the evening included Dr. Bernard\nDrachman, Israel N. Thurman, Hyman Askowith, Louis Weinstein, the\noutgoing President, and Chancellor Henry Hurwitz.\n\n BERNARD J. REIS\n\n\n\n\n\nNotes\n\nOf the Intercollegiate Menorah Association\n\n\n_Menorah Prize Awards_\n\nThe Harvard Menorah Prize of $100 has this year been divided into two\nequal parts and awarded to Benjamin I. Goldberg, '16, for an essay on\n\"Maimonides as a Scientist\", and Leonard L. Levy, '17, for an essay on\n\"The Modern Jewish National Movement\". (This essay also won the second\nundergraduate Bowdoin Prize at Harvard.) Honorable mention was given\nto Henry Epstein, '16. The judges were Prof. David Gordon Lyon,\nchairman, and Prof. J. R. Jewett of Harvard University, and President\nSolomon Schechter of the Jewish Theological Seminary.\n\nThe Wisconsin Menorah Prize of $100 has this year been awarded to\nPercy B. Shoshtac, '15, for an essay on Scholom Asch, the Yiddish\nnovelist and dramatist. The judges were Prof. R. E. N. Dodge,\nchairman, Prof. E. B. McGilvary, and Prof. M. S. Slaughter of the\nUniversity of Wisconsin.\n\nOf the three prizes of $25 each, offered by the Cornell Menorah\nSociety this year, only one was awarded (\"for the best essay on any\nsubject relating to the status and problems of the Jews in any one\ncountry\"). The winning essay was by Morris J. Escoll, '16 (College of\nAgriculture) upon \"Phases of Jewish Thinking in American\nUniversities.\" For the prize in Hebrew there was no competition; for\nthe prize \"on any subject relating to Jewish literature in English\",\nno essay was deemed of sufficient merit. The judges were Prof.\nNathaniel Schmidt of Cornell, chairman, Prof. I. Leo Sharfman of the\nUniversity of Michigan, and Prof. M. M. Kaplan of the Jewish\nTheological Seminary.\n\n\n_Gift from the Cornell Menorah Society_\n\nTHE MENORAH JOURNAL has received a gift of $50 from the Cornell\nMenorah Society.\n\n\n_Harvard Menorah Dinner_\n\nThe seventh annual Dinner of the Harvard Menorah Society was held on\nMay 3, 1915, in the Hotel Lenox, Boston. It was the largest and most\nsuccessful dinner in the history of the Society, some 200 men,\nincluding a number of graduate members, being present. The toastmaster\nwas President Ralph A. Newman, and toasts were responded to by Prof.\nD. G. Lyon, Prof. G. F. Moore, Prof. Felix Frankfurter, Dr. Stephen S.\nWise, Mr. Felix M. Warburg, Mr. Maurice Wertheim, Mr. Joseph L. Cohen\n(of Cambridge University, England), Mr. Hyman Askowith, and Chancellor\nHenry Hurwitz. The winners of the Harvard Menorah Prizes, announced by\nProf. Lyon, gave summaries of their essays.\n\n\n_Wisconsin Menorah Banquet_\n\nThe fourth annual Banquet of the Wisconsin Menorah Society was held on\nMay 22, 1915, in the Women's Building of the University. President\nHarry Hersh was toastmaster, and toasts were responded to by Judge\nJulian W. Mack, Prof. I. Leo Sharfman, Mrs. Joseph Jastrow, Dr. H. M.\nKallen, and Dr. C. S. Levi of Milwaukee.\n\n\n_Incoming Menorah Presidents_\n\nThe elections of the following presidents of Menorah Societies for\nnext year have been reported: Brown, Abraham J. Burt; California,\nStanley M. Arndt (re-elected); Clark, Abraham J. Levensohn;\nCincinnati, Philip L. Wascerwitz; College of the City of New York,\nMoses H. Gitelson; Cornell, Aaron Bodanski; Harvard, Fred F. Greenman;\nHunter, Sarah Berenson; Johns Hopkins, Jonas Friedenwald; Illinois,\nKarl Epstein; Maine, Lewis H. Kriger (re-elected); Michigan, A. J.\nLevin; North Carolina, Alfred M. Lindau; New York University, Michael\nStavitsky (University Heights) and Bernard J. Reis (Washington\nSquare); Pennsylvania, Jacob Rubinoff (re-elected); Radcliffe, Hannah\nR. London; Wisconsin, Charles Lebowsky.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nThis text uses both co-operation and co\u00f6peration, as well as both to-day\nand today.\n\nObvious punctuation errors repaired.\n\nPage ii, \"commissiom\" changed to \"commission\" (My commission expires)\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE SPOILS OF JERUSALEM, FROM THE ARCH OF TITUS]\n\n\n\nTHE MENORAH JOURNAL\n\n VOLUME 1 OCTOBER, 1915 NUMBER 4\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe Arch of Titus\n\nDone into English by H. M. K. from the Hebrew of H. A. W.[A]\n\n CRUMBLING, age-worn, in Rome the eternal\n Stands the arch of Titus' triumph,\n With its carven Jewish captives\n Stooped before the holy Menorah.\n\n And each nightfall, when the turmoil\n Of the Petrine clangor ceaseth,\n Seven flames the arch illumine,\n Mystic burnings, glowing strangely.\n\n Then cast off their graven shackles\n Judah's sons of beaten marble;\n Living step they from the ruin\n Living stride they to the Jordan.\n\n They are heal\u00e8d in its waters,\n Till the freshness of each dawning;\n Then resume their ancient sorrow,\n Perfect marble, whole and holy.\n\n Dust of dust the wheeling seasons,\n Grind that mighty arch\u00e8d splendor,\n Raze the Gaul and raze the Roman,\n Grind away their fame and glory,\n The shackled Jews alone withstand them,\n Stooped before the holy Menorah.\n\n\n[Illustration: _MAX NORDAU (born in Budapest, 1849), world-famous\nneurologist, author, and publicist, a Nestor among Jewish leaders, and\nsince Herzl's death the President of the International Zionist\nCongresses. His books on \"Degeneration,\" \"Paradoxes,\" and other\nvolumes of social studies, have evoked world-wide discussion. In\nsending the present article to The Menorah Journal from Madrid, where\nhe is now sojourning on account of the War, Dr. Nordau writes: \"I wish\nmy words may not be dropped into deaf ears. You can do much to bring\nthem home to the consciousness and the conscience of leading American\nJews.\"_]\n\n\n\n\nThe Duty of the Hour\n\nBY MAX NORDAU\n\n\nWE are the people of the Messiah. We feel, we think Messianic. In all\nsituations of life, and particularly in the critical ones, we hope for\na miraculous event which will fulfill all our yearnings, and in this\nhope we feel delivered of the manly duty to work for the realization\nof our ideals, to prepare our salvation by our own efforts.\n\nAt this moment a large portion of Israel dreams once more a\nparticularly lively Messianic dream. Hundreds of thousands, millions\nof Jews, indeed, have abandoned themselves to the expectation that at\nthe conclusion of the peace which will put a stop to the world's war,\nthe destiny of the Jewish people must take a miraculous turn. The\nplenipotentiaries of the belligerent powers will assemble in a\nconference or a congress to treat of the conditions of peace. The\nconquerors will exact of the vanquished the price of their sacrifices\nand return home with their booty in the shape of territorial\nacquisitions and indemnities. And in the course of these transactions\nthe miracle will happen that a share will be apportioned to the Jewish\npeople too. Palestine will be offered them, either as an area for\ncolonization or, still better, as a full property under the\nprotectorate of a great power. They will be accorded also entire\nequality of rights in Russia and Roumania.\n\n\n_The Basis of Jewish Hopes: (1) The Self-Interest of the Powers_\n\nWE may plead reasons or excuses for indulging in this dream.\nUtterances of leading personalities of the big nations which will\nnecessarily be represented at the peace conference have become\npublicly known which permit the conclusion, without intentional\nself-beguiling, that some governments at least, if not all of them,\nare occupying themselves earnestly with the Jewish problem and\nexamining the question whether it might not be worth trying to settle\nthe Jews in search of a homestead in Palestine, under international\nand local legal conditions vouchsafing them full freedom of economic,\nintellectual, and moral development.\n\nOn the other hand, there is no doubt that the situation of the six\nmillions of Russian Jews occupies a certain place in the thoughts and\ncares of the governments. Several countries have an interest in\nturning away from their frontiers the ever more violently swelling\nstream of Jewish emigration, and doing so otherwise than with the\nbrutal method of locking up their boundaries and posting a police\nwatch before them. Others have the well-being of Russia at heart; they\nunderstand that the sufferings and the despair of her six millions of\nJews are a source of dire evils and that the emancipation of this\nhard-working and highly gifted population will bring about the\nmaterial prosperity, the general progress, and the powerful\nstrengthening of Russia. Other countries again, the statesmen of which\nare more farseeing than the average and have been able to rise to the\nconception of a political world hygiene, are aware that the systematic\ncrushing of six millions of intellectual and strong-feeling people\ndriven to despair must create a hotbed of the most dangerous\nanarchistic and revolutionary epidemics, the spreading of which\ncannot easily be limited to the spot of their origin. Lastly, even the\nmost irreclaimable pessimist will admit at least the possibility that\ngovernments may not be entirely inaccessible to purely humane\nsentiments of pity and justice, and may regard the treatment of the\nJews of Russia and Roumania as an indictment against the civilization\nand the ruling religion of white mankind.\n\n\n_(2) The Precedent of 1878_\n\nTHE hope of the peace conference resulting in great achievements for\nthe Jewish people, moreover, can evoke an historical precedent. The\nBerlin Congress of 1878 which brought the Russo-Turkish war to an end,\ncreated the Bulgarian state, raised Roumania to the rank of an\nindependent kingdom, and gave Bosnia and Herzegovina to\nAustria-Hungary, found time to occupy itself with a Jewish matter and\nto introduce into the treaty condensing its decisions the well known\narticle obliging the new kingdom of Roumania to bestow on her Jews\nequality of civil franchises. It is not the fault of the Berlin\nCongress that this article has remained to this day a dead letter. The\ncase, at any rate, is of a nature to encourage Jewish optimism against\nthose sceptics who sneer: \"A diplomatic conference distributes no\npresents; complacency and liberality play no part there; there are\nonly such interests enforced which are backed by a victorious army or\nat least by an army which still inspires some fears.\" Well, in 1878,\ntoo, the Jewish people had no country, no army, no government, no\naccredited ambassador, and yet two of the most influential members of\nthe Berlin Congress, the representative of Great Britain, Earl\nBeaconsfield, and that of France, Waddington, were ready to step\nforward as advocates of the Jewish cause, and the president of the\nCongress, Prince Bismarck, evidently favored their action.\n\n\n_But We Ignore a Valuable Lesson_\n\nI HAVE produced everything capable of justifying the expectations with\nwhich many Jews look forward to the future peace congress. But I do\nnot notice that the Jewish people keep in view the lessons taught by\nthe historic example of 1878. Beaconsfield and Waddington did not\nplead for the Roumanian Jews at the Berlin Congress from impulses of\ntheir own or in consequence of a sudden inspiration from on high. The\nParis Alliance Israelite Universelle, the London Anglo-Jewish\nAssociation, the Berlin Verband der deutschen Juden, had done serious\nand efficient preparatory work, memorialized their several\ngovernments, informed them of the facts, solicited their intervention.\nIt was due to their efforts that the position of the Roumanian Jews\ncame up for consideration at the Berlin Congress. They showed the way\nthe Jewish people must follow if they wish to obtain anything of\ngovernments in congress. What are the Jewish people waiting for in\norder to act now as their fathers acted thirty-seven years ago?\n\nThe war is raging, in a hundred battlefields uncounted brave men shed\ntheir blood for the future of their nation, Jewish soldiers fight and\nfall side by side with their non-Jewish countrymen and comrades, but\ntheir heroic sacrifices are utterly useless for their own people. In\nevery country, even in Russia, the military excellence, the\npatriotism, the contempt of danger and death of the Jewish soldiers,\nwill be rewarded more or less lavishly and liberally with distinctions\nand preferment, but experience teaches us that their glorious conduct\nis forgotten very soon after the war by everybody but themselves and\ntheir brethren, and that it certainly does not change in the least the\nstatus of the Jewish people among the nations. At any rate the\nconsideration of the merits and military virtues of the Jewish\nsoldiers will not by itself stimulate to action the diplomatists at\nthe peace congress, unless they are insistently recalled to their\nmemory. All this requires preparation and arrangements, of which as\nyet there is scarcely any trace to be seen.\n\n\n_Who Could Accept Palestine for the Jews?_\n\nTHERE is another point to which attention must be drawn. Let us admit\nthe most favorable case: the congress will really open up Palestine to\nthe Jewish people for colonization with self-government and autonomous\nlocal institutions. To whom will it be in a position to make such a\nconcession? To whom will it deliver Palestine? The Jewish people is a\nconcept, but it is not a political and administrative individuality,\nit is not a body with a head and vital organs. There is actually not\none man who could present himself to the governments assembled in\ncongress, receive Palestine from their hands, and offer them the\nguarantee that he will lead into the land of their ancestors those\nJews that yearn for a new home and national life on an historic soil,\nand that he will undertake the implanting of modern culture, the\nmaintaining of order, and the economic development of the country. An\noffer of the congress would fall flat, nobody having the moral right\nand the material capacity to accept it in the name and in behalf of\nthe Jewish people.\n\n\n_Let Dreaming Give Way to Organizing! The Task for American Jewry_\n\nALL this points to the necessity of an adequate preparation for coming\nevents. The Messianic dream does not suffice. Mere wishes and hopes\nare vain. We must work. We must organize ourselves without further\nloss of time. We must create a body with men of authority at its head,\nand the living forces of the Jewish people, or at least a considerable\nportion of them, at its back. The forces and the men do exist. They\nhave only to be gathered, united and grouped.\n\nWho is to do this organizing work? My reply is unhesitating: American\nJewry. I should be happy to say: here is a task for the Zionists'\norganization which exists, which lives, which is prepared for work of\nthis kind, and which has to consider its carrying out as its natural\nfunction; but I shrink back from giving this near-lying answer. Many\npre-eminent and influential Jews whose good Jewish sentiments no one\nhas a right to doubt, persist in considering Zionism as a party\ntendency against which they raise objections. Now the representations\nof the Jewish people before the governments must not be a party\naffair, but ought to be the cause of the entire people and must\nembrace all its parts. The invitation must therefore be issued by\npersonalities who repel nobody at the outset by their pronounced party\ncolor. Moreover, these personalities must necessarily belong to a\nneutral country, so as to leave no room for the argument that\naccording to the political definition of the hour they are enemies and\nto co-operate with them would mean disloyalty to one's own country.\nOnly in the case, which I hope will not be realized, of the United\nStates also precipitating itself into the whirlpool of the war, would\nthey be bound to transfer their initiative to the Swiss or the Dutch\nJewry. The first labor of the initiators should consist in inviting\nthe existing Jewish organizations of all countries to have themselves\nrepresented by a delegation on a permanent board or committee. It\nwould be a matter of regret if they refused, but this ought by no\nmeans to be a reason for discouragement nor for discontinuing further\nendeavors. In this case the initiators would simply have to do\nfundamental work and try to fall back on elements that at present\nstand outside, or intentionally keep aloof from, existing\norganizations. It would be the business of the permanent board to\nsecure financial co-operation that could be called upon under given\ncircumstances, and to cause Jews of standing in every great country to\napproach their government, to submit to it in time the aspirations of\nthe Jewish people, and to procure its approval and sympathy for them.\n\n\n\"_Not an Instant to Lose if We Wish to Prepare_\"\n\nOUT of the peace which must follow the present horrible war, a new\nEurope, a new world will be born. It depends on us whether in this new\nworld there is to be a place, \"a place in the sun,\" for the Jewish\npeople. We have not an instant to lose if we wish to prepare for the\ngrand opportunity. Should we miss this occasion we should have to\nresign all our national hopes, I am afraid, for a very long time, if\nnot for ever. We may, of course, continue to dream our Messianic\ndream, but this will then ever remain a dream till the dreamer\ndisappears and his dream with him.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Dr M. Nordau]\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[A] Original and translation read at a dinner of the Harvard Menorah\nSociety.\n\n\n\n\nWhat Judaism Is Not\n\nBY MORDECAI M. KAPLAN\n\n _\"Every man who has seen the world knows that nothing\n is so useless as a general maxim.\"_\n\n _Macaulay, in Essay on \"Machiavelli.\"_\n\n\n[Illustration: _MORDECAI M. KAPLAN (born in Russia in 1881, came to\nAmerica in 1889), studied at College of the City of New York (A. B.\n1900), Columbia (M. A. 1902) and Jewish Theological Seminary (Rabbi,\n1902); held Rabbinical position in New York, 1903-1909; Principal\nsince 1909 of the Teachers' Institute, and Professor of Homiletics\nsince 1910 in the Jewish Theological Seminary. Fearless and original\nin thought, and exceptionally stimulating as a Menorah lecturer,\nProfessor Kaplan has won the deep respect and friendship of Menorah\nstudents at the various universities where he has lectured on Jewish\nReligion and Education._]\n\nMOST of the pain, which according to Koheleth comes with the increase\nof knowledge, is in the unlearning of the old rather than in the\nlearning of the new. Once an idea has become imbedded in the mind, it\ncannot be removed without causing a mental upheaval. Blessed are the\nyoung to whom unlearning is easy, or who have not much to unlearn.\nWhether our Jewish young men know much or little about Judaism, they\nare certain, as a rule, to have formed notions about it of which they\nmust be disabused, if Judaism is to constitute an important factor in\ntheir lives. Strange to say, they have obtained these notions not from\nsources hostile to Judaism, but on the contrary from sources\ndistinctly intended to inculcate both a love and an understanding of\nthe Jewish religion,--such as catechisms and text-books used in our\nreligious schools, and articles in encyclopedias meant for the\nenlightenment of the general public. The view of Judaism that one gets\nin this manner is not only a distorted one, but it has the effect of\nbringing all further reflection to a standstill. It lands one in a\nblind alley. The conclusion which a person generally arrives at when\nhe consults these sources for information about the Jewish religion is\nthat, whatever else Judaism might be, it certainly offers no field for\nthe exercise of deep insight or broad vision. This largely accounts\nfor the manifest sterility and uncreativeness of present-day Judaism.\nTo give new impetus to fruitful and creative thinking in Jewish life,\nit is necessary, in the first place, to counteract the paralyzing\nspell of these routine and conventional interpretations of Judaism.\n\nTo be concrete, let us take a typical instance of the kind of\ninstruction that has been in vogue for more than a century. Here are a\nfew sentences from the article on Judaism in Hastings' _Encyclopedia\nof Religion and Ethics_: \"Judaism may be defined as the strictest form\nof monotheistic belief; but it is something more than a bare mental\nbelief. It is the effect which such a belief, with all its logical\nconsequences, exerts on life, that is to say, on thought and\nconduct. . . . A formal and precise definition of Judaism is a matter of\nsome difficulty, because it raises the question, What is the absolute\nand irreducible minimum of conformity? . . . Judaism denounces idolatry\nand polytheism. It believes in a universal God, but it is not\nexclusive. It believes that this world is good, and that man is\ncapable of perfection. He possesses free will, and is responsible for\nhis actions. Judaism rejects any mediator and any cosmic force for\nevil. Man is free. He is not subject to Satan; nor are his material\ngifts of life inherently bad. Wealth might be a blessing as well as a\ncurse,\" etc., etc.\n\nIn an encyclopedia we do not expect to find original or striking\nviews. It is not the particular article from which this excerpt is\ntaken that fault is found with. That article is selected simply as\nrepresentative of the kind of information that is expected to help one\ngrasp the meaning of Judaism. It is typical of the baffling glibness\nwith which Jewish teachers and preachers usually talk about the Jewish\nreligion. One who reads or listens to such statements finds that\nsomehow or other little has been added to his stock of knowledge about\nJudaism. He experiences how irritating words can be when they either\nhide thought or betray its absence.\n\n\n_Mistaking the Shadow for the Thing Itself_\n\nIN the instance quoted, it is both amusing and painful to follow the\nauthor's vacillating description of Judaism. At first Judaism is a\nform of belief. Then it becomes the effect of that belief upon thought\nand conduct. From that it evolves into some irreducible minimum of\nconformity, if we can only get hold of it. This being difficult, it\ngets to be a series of colorless platitudes. Such a definition calls\nup the image of a streamlet, now leaping over rocks and boulders, now\nmeandering upon level ground, and finally losing itself in the\nmarshes. The fitfulness and inconsistency of the formulation, the\npicking up of the different threads of thought without following out\nany one of them to its conclusion, are characteristic of this type of\ndefinitions. They are as devoid of vitality as a long drawn-out yawn,\nand their want of logic is exasperating. The merest tyro can see that\none can profess the principles they embody without being a Jew. There\nare many sects that would heartily subscribe to all of them.\nUniversalists, Deists, Theists, Unitarians, and even Ethical\nCulturists hold these doctrines. As matters stand at present, these\nsects engage more actively in spreading them than we do.\n\nWhat is fundamentally wrong with the above definition and with the\nentire class of formulations of which it is an instance? The tendency\nto mistake the shadow of a thing for the thing itself. The main cause\nfor misapprehending the true character of Judaism is the proneness to\nregard it merely as a form of truth, or, at best, as the effect of a\ntruth upon thought and conduct, and to overlook entirely the fact that\nit is a living reality, a very strand of the primal moving forces of\nthe world. \"Judaism is the truest form of truth,\" says one writer.\n\"Judaism gives, to truth the most truthful shape,\" says another. Now\nand then they speak of it as a \"form\" of life, but it turns out to be\nonly a lip service, or a homiletical phrase. They fail to follow up\nthe clue which is more than once suggested to them by the difficulty\nof expounding Judaism as a form of truth. That being a Jew has always\ninvolved conforming to certain principles and modes of life is a\ntruism. But these principles or observances by themselves constitute\nonly the outward expression of Judaism. The mathematical formula which\nstates the law of gravitation is not the same as the force of\ngravitation itself. It is conceivable that further experimentation\nmight make it necessary to qualify the mathematical formula. But the\nforce of gravitation will ever be the same as it has been. The change\nfrom looking upon Judaism as a form of truth to that of regarding it\nas of the very substance of reality calls for a complete\ntransformation in our mode of thinking, or what has been termed \"a\npsychological change of front.\" We must break completely with the\nhabit of identifying the whole of the Jewish religion with merely\ncertain beliefs and duties, while ignoring completely the living\nenergy which has operated to produce them. They are only the static\nresidue of something that is essentially dynamic.\n\n\n_The Jewish Aversion to Creeds and Formulas_\n\nTHE change in attitude which is here advocated is not a departure from\nall that has gone before in Jewish life. If it were that, Judaism\ncould not possibly survive under it. The fact is that we are only\nbringing to the fore and translating into modern phraseology an\nattitude that in one form or another has always asserted itself in\nJudaism. Simultaneously with the tendency to compress Judaism within\ncertain formulas, there has always shown itself a strong aversion to\ngathering Judaism within creeds and minima of conformity. To-day that\naversion, which has hitherto remained a matter of feeling and\nintuition, can make itself articulate by availing itself of the\nresults of recent research in the fields of religion. It need no\nlonger entertain the fear of being charged with spiritual anarchy.\nDiscountenancing dogmas in Judaism is not synonymous with intellectual\nlibertinism. It is rather a protest against shallowness and\nsuperficiality, much like the chagrin of the artist at having his\nknowledge of drawing praised and the soul of the picture missed.\n\nWe can give in this connection a few cursory examples of the\nanti-summarizing tendency. The Torah itself, in one instance, seems to\nset out with a view of reducing Judaism to a minimum, but scarcely\nfinds itself able to do so. \"And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy\nGod require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, and to walk in all\nHis ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy\nheart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of thy Lord and\nthe statutes, which I command thee this day, for thine own good?\" \"Is\nthis a small matter?\" asks the Talmud, in evident surprise at the\nhugeness of the program. When the would-be proselyte came to Shammai\nand requested him to sum up the entire Torah in one principle, he\nreceived no better treatment than he deserved, when he was made to\ntake to his heels. That Hillel did not rebuff him and gave him the\nprinciple, \"What is hateful to thee do not do unto thy neighbor,\"\nproves that Hillel knew how to be patient and tactful, but not that\nthe Talmud looks upon that summary, or any other, as expressive of the\nessence of Judaism. The same applies to religious practices,\nconcerning which the Mishnah announces the maxim that it is not for us\nto estimate which are more important than others. We are told that the\ncustom obtained at one time of having the Ten Commandments read as\npart of the daily service; but that as soon as it gave rise to the\nimpression that the Ten Commandments were more essential than the rest\nof the Torah, it was discontinued. It is true that Philo reduces the\nteachings of Judaism to five essential doctrines, but that was because\nJudaism to Philo was Platonism divinely revealed.\n\n\n_As Shown by Judah Ha-Levi_\n\nTHE movement to formulate the fundamental teachings of Judaism first\ngained headway at the beginning of the eleventh century with the\nKaraites, whose entire conception of Judaism was such as to render\ntheir sect hopelessly stagnant and doomed to dwindle. Still, even they\nwould never have thought of emphasizing certain dogmas as\nindispensable, had they not discerned in the teachings of\nMohammedanism a dangerous challenge to Judaism. Thus the dogma-making\ntendency in Judaism arose during the Middle Ages not as an indigenous\nproduct but as a retort to the dominant religions of the time. What\nmight be called the application of the synoptic method to the Jewish\nreligion remained confined mostly to the part of Jewry which came,\ndirectly or indirectly, under the influence of Aristotelian\nintellectualism.\n\nTo this trend Judah Ha-Levi (1085-1140) stands out as a notable\nexception. In him the disapproval of having Judaism subsumed under\nformulas of a philosophic stamp comes again to the surface. His being\na poet even more than a philosopher enabled him to get a better\ninsight into the inwardness of Judaism than that obtained by the\nintellectualists with their analytic scalpels. This is apparent in his\nwell-known \"Al-Khazari.\" The story goes that the Khazar king, after\nconsulting a philosopher, a Mohammedan, and a Christian as to what he\nshould believe and do, finally turned to a Jewish rabbi. When the king\nasked him about the Jewish religion, the rabbi replied, \"I believe in\nthe God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who led the Children of Israel\nout of Egypt, who fed them in the desert, and gave them the land. . . .\nOur belief is comprised in the Torah, a very large domain.\" Upon\nhearing this, the king grew indignant, and said to the rabbi,\n\"Shouldst thou, O Jew, not have said that thou believest in the\nCreator of the world, its Governor and Guide, and in Him who created\nand keeps thee, and such attributes which serve as evidence for every\nbeliever?\" But the rabbi persists in his mode of stating Judaism. He\nparries successfully the king's efforts to draw out of him some\ndefinition of Judaism in terms of speculative theology. The king in\ntime becomes a convert to Judaism, and it is only then, according to\nJudah Ha-Levi, that he succeeds in getting the rabbi to teach him\nconcerning the attributes of God, as if to imply that one has first to\nbe a Jew before indulging in any abstract or philosophic study of\nJudaism. The keynote of Ha-Levi's thought is that the essence of\nJudaism is not merely to give assent to any general belief, but to\nbelong to Israel and share in its experiences.\n\n\n_By Maimonides and by Abravanel_\n\nEVEN Maimonides (1135-1204), who is usually represented as the chief\nsponsor of the systematizing and speculative tendency in Judaism, is\nfar from having attached as much significance to the Creed he\nformulated as the fact of its presence in the prayer book might\nindicate. He himself strongly deprecates attaching more importance to\none part of the Torah than to another. \"The Ten Commandments and the\nShema in the Torah,\" he says in the very same chapter of his\ncommentary on the Mishnah which contains the Creed, \"are no holier\nthan any of the genealogies that are found in it.\" Albo (1380-1444)\nreduces the essence of Judaism to three, yet inconsistently declares\nthat he who denies other articles of faith which are of minor\nimportance is no less a heretic than he who denies any of the\nessential ones. In fact, he admits that there are as many articles of\nfaith as commandments in the Torah.\n\nAbravanel (1437-1508), though an admirer of scholasticism, and\npractically the last of the line of Jewish Aristotelians, considers\nthe thirteen Articles of Maimonides' Creed gratuitous, and as not\nrepresentative of the maturer views of Maimonides. His opinion is that\nthey properly belonged to the commentary on the Mishnah, which was the\nwork of his youth; and that as he ripened intellectually, he changed\nhis mind about their value. We miss them in the Code and in the\n\"Guide to the Perplexed,\" where we should most of all have expected to\nfind them. In the same connection, Abravanel adds that the fashion of\nlaying down creeds as fundamental in Judaism owes its origin to the\nmethod employed in the secular studies which always started with\ncertain indisputable axioms.\n\nThe same resistance to the effort to extract Judaism from a few source\nprinciples is encountered in Jewish mysticism. Whatever we may think\nof the particular form which mysticism took on in the Jewish religion,\nwe cannot but regard it as the outbreak of a longing that forms a part\nof all vital religion. We have good reason, therefore, to treat with\nrespect its opinion of the intellectualizing process of Jewish\nphilosophy. Although it was also addicted to speculative categories\nand developed a theosophy instead of a theology, it approached Judaism\nfrom an entirely different angle. Being impressionistic in its trend,\nit was bound to look elsewhere than to abstract concepts for the core\nof Judaism. To put Judaism into the form of a creed appeared to the\nmystics like combining pure gold with a baser metal, in order to mint\nit for circulation.\n\n\n_And More Recently by Mendelssohn_\n\nIN modern times the anti-dogmatizing tendency found a vigorous\nexponent in Mendelssohn. Yet, somehow or other, he has been singled\nout for attack, as though he had advocated a dry formalism, unredeemed\nby any inner principle or inspiration. He is charged with having been\nunder the influence of the shallow deism of the English philosophers.\nThe truth is that Mendelssohn only repeats in his way what Judah\nHa-Levi had taught before him. He distinctly emphasizes the belief in\nthe existence of God, in providence and in retribution as the sine qua\nnon of Judaism, but he is clear-minded enough to realize that they\nconstitute what he calls \"the universal religion of mankind,\" and not\nJudaism.\n\nMendelssohn did not succeed in developing a constructive view of\nJudaism, whereby it might be enabled to withstand the shock of\nmodernism; nevertheless, he does not deserve the treatment accorded\nhim because of his alleged attitude towards creeds. His position as to\nthe relation of creeds to Judaism is the only tenable one. He\nmaintains that creeds can only be of two kinds; either they oppose\nreason, and should therefore find no place in Judaism, or are so\nself-evident that they are not confined to Judaism. This does not mean\nthat to be a Jew one can believe whatever he likes, or not believe at\nall. It does not mean that Judaism only demands outward conformity.\nMendelssohn was aware that certain \"Hobot ha-Lebabot,\" Duties of the\nHeart, are indispensable to Judaism. But he refused to make of Judaism\na mutilated philosophy.\n\n\n_Judaism Needs Working Principles--Not Abstract Dogmas_\n\nNO sphere of life can be maintained intelligently without some basic\nprinciples, particularly so exalted a sphere as religion. Who counts\nupon any art attaining a high degree of development by mere rule of\nthumb? Is anything so characteristic of modern life as emphasis upon\nthe mutual interrelation of theory and practice? All our strivings to\nrehabilitate Judaism are bound to prove futile unless they are made to\ncenter about some definite conception of its aims and methods. We need\nprinciples, yea dogmas, in Judaism as we need working hypotheses in\nany great undertaking. But dogmas, in the sense of abstract\nprinciples, regarded as immutable, are both superfluous and dangerous.\nIf such dogmas are nothing more than the common denominator of all\nthat has been identified with Judaism in the course of its history,\nthey are sure to be banal and colorless. If they are to be fixed and\nunalterable, they are bound in time to clash with reason and\nexperience, and to sap the religion of its vitality. Judaism needs\nprinciples that can help it to withstand danger, that can give it a\nlease upon life. This is the criterion to be applied to any articulate\nconception of Judaism. Can the principles which the text-books on\nJudaism declare to be fundamental render this service? The reply is an\nunequivocal No. Hence they are worse than useless.\n\nBut we cannot afford to stop at this point. Knowing what Judaism is\nnot, is only half-knowledge, and therefore quite dangerous. We must\napply ourselves anew to the task of pondering over the problem of\nJudaism. We may indulge to our heart's content in lauding the past\nwhen one could be a Jew without troubling his head about the question,\n\"What is Judaism?\" We may sigh in regret for those days when a Jew\nupon being asked about his religion was able to reply, \"I have no\nreligion; I am a Jew.\" The danger of the entire economy of the Jewish\nsoul going to pieces is too imminent to permit us to lull ourselves\ninto that blissful unconsciousness, the praises of which Carlyle sang\nquite consciously. We are treading the narrow ledge of a precipice.\nMen like Zollschan, Ruppin, and Theilhaber have pointed out the awful\nchasm that threatens to engulf us. It requires not a little courage to\nmaintain our nerve and avoid being seized with the vertigo. But\ncourage alone is not enough. We must take into account the narrowness\nof the path and tread over it warily.\n\n\n_We Must Face the Real Problem of Judaism_\n\nWE Jews must do some very hard thinking, of a kind, perhaps, that we\nhave not been called upon to do before. That task dare not be shirked.\nWe must not give in to that tendency which breaks out whenever we have\nsomething very difficult to do, of turning to anything except that\nwhich we know demands peremptory attention. A task that is thus\nneglected revenges itself by haunting us and upsetting whatever we\nundertake. Instead of giving to the problem of Judaism the careful\ndeliberation that it requires, we get busy with a thousand and one\nthings, whereby we hope to escape the need of concentrated attention.\nWe have become fussy and fidgety. We are divided into committees and\nsub-committees. In place of clearness of thought we have a confusion\nof tongues. Our case illustrates the truth which Pascal enunciated,\nthat most of the evils in the world can be traced to the inability of\na person to sit in his room and think.\n\nWithout deprecating any of the undertakings to bring order out of the\nsocial chaos in Jewish life, we must place at the present time chief\nemphasis upon the serious consideration of our inner problem, the\nproblem of the Jewish soul and of the Jewish spirit, the problem of\nJudaism. We may well envy the thousands of soldiers on the\nbattlefields of Europe to whom it is a joy to meet death for the sake\nof their respective flags. Each of them has a cause to die for. Most\nof us, by reason of our Jewish descent, find life, particularly in the\nhigher sense of the word, to be a keener struggle for existence than\nour neighbors do. Yet it would not be half so wearing if our\ndifficulties were consecrated by an inspiring cause or by a thrilling\nloyalty. Why need we be poverty-stricken in spirit, bereft of\neverything that makes struggle sweet and suffering endurable? We must\nput the very question, What is Judaism? in a new way and in a\ndifferent spirit. We must have the definite purpose in mind, of so\nunderstanding it as to know what to do next, and to strive for that\nvigorously, so as not to drift like helpless flotsam and jetsam. We\nneed strong beliefs which, as Bagehot puts it, win strong men, and\nthen make them stronger.\n\n\n_Judaism Must Speak to Us in the Language of Today_\n\nIN the Talmud we find the principle enunciated that the Torah adopted\nthe style of language that men were wont to use. A condition\nindispensable to a religion being an active force in human life is\nthat it speak to men in terms of their own experience. Judaism, to be\nsignificant to modern man or woman, can no longer afford to speak in\nthe language of theology. Psychology and social science, history and\nhuman experience, have revealed new worlds in the domain of the\nspirit. The language of theology might have a certain quaintness and\ncharm to the ears of those to whom religion is a kind of dreamy\nromanticism. But to those who want to find in Judaism a way of life\nand a higher ambition, it must address itself in the language of\nconcrete and verifiable experience.\n\nThe ideas in which Judaism was wont to spell itself out in the past\nare no longer at home in the Weltanschauung of the modern man. What\nprevented the Reform movement from becoming a real reformation and a\nvitalization of Judaism was that it sought to adjust Judaism to a\nWeltanschauung which had already begun to grow obsolete. We have to\nreckon with all that has been learned in the meantime concerning human\nsociety and the place of religion in it. When one comes to a strange\nland, and has with him only the coin of his native country, he must\ncalculate in terms of the currency of the land he is in, if he wants\nto know whether or not he has enough to live on. Can we Jews afford to\nlive spiritually upon our heritage? That can only be answered if we\nlearn what that heritage is equivalent to in the current mental coin\nof the modern man. If we do not wish to be cut off from the stream of\nliving thought, if we do not want to be spiritually starved, we Jews\nmust know not so much what Judaism meant twenty centuries ago, nor\neven a century ago, but what it is to mean to us of today.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: MMKaplan]\n\n\n EDITORS' NOTE.--_In articles to follow, Professor\n Kaplan will give his conception of \"What Judaism Is.\"_\n\n\n\n\nThe Jewish Student in Our Universities\n\n_A Menorah Prize Essay_\n\nBY MORRIS J. ESCOLL\n\n\n[Illustration: _MORRIS J. ESCOLL (born in Russia, 1893, came to\nAmerica in 1896), graduate of Stuyvesant High School, New York (1910),\nstudent at Columbia (1910-'12) where he won the Peithologian Medal for\na Freshman Essay; worked as farm hand; and since 1914 a student in the\nCornell College of Agriculture. The present paper is a somewhat\nrevised version of the Essay with which he won the Cornell Menorah\nPrize last June._]\n\nTHE remarkable adaptability of the Jew to his environment has been at\nonce his strength and his weakness. His strength, in that it provided\na variable cloak to shelter him in storm on the one hand,--on the\nother, to deck him seasonably, as it were, for the onward journey,\nwhen days were fair; his weakness, in that it has often led him to\nforget that the cloak was but raiment;--\"and is not the body more than\nraiment?\" Of strength in storm we have had example enough for twenty\ncenturies--such example as is unique in history; of what is more rare,\nstrength in days of fair weather, we are to expect a supreme example\ntoday, and in America, in the American Universities let us say, where\nthe cloak of adaptability is most free and seasonable--a supreme\nexample of strength, or of weakness.\n\n\n_The Cloak of Adaptability_\n\nONE is at first reluctant to single out the Jew from his fellows at\ncollege. He seems in no manner different from them. He studies with\nthem, eats with them, plays ball with them. He writes editorials for\nthe college paper; he competes in the oratorical contests. One, for\nexample, is a member of the school orchestra; another, perhaps the son\nor the grandson of an immigrant from Germany, leads the cheers at the\ntrack meet; another, himself an immigrant from Russia, plays on the\nchess team and is one of the brilliant scholars in his class. This\nlast does, at present, have something of the stranger about him, but\nbefore long, no doubt, his speech will have become more smooth, his\ntrousers will have begun to show a crease; he will have become quite\nan interesting and regular figure at the various reform and ethical\nclub meetings at the university, and he will begin to be seen quite\nfrequently in the company of his gentile classmates--even in the\ncompany of his German-Jewish cousin. Wonderful, indeed, the country\nthat can so readily attire its adopted children, and, as the saying\ngoes, make them feel at home; wonderful, perhaps, the race that,\nthrough centuries of degradation, has kept alive, though often latent\nindeed, the potentialities of equal partnership with the most\nenlightened peoples of a twentieth century civilization.\n\nWhat though it has no long past, America is the great land of the\nfuture. Here let the Jew lay aside his burden of the time that has\ngone and build anew into the time to come. Shall we regret, then, that\nthe Jewish student has taken on the polite address, the proud\ncarriage, the heartiness and the chuckle of his Yankee comrade? Should\nhe now keep the gabardine of his forefathers, yes, and the credulities\nand ceremonies of a circumscribed and persecuted people? Why not\nabsorb that wholesome ruddiness, denied him so long, that breathes of\nopen American prairies, fair play, and the Declaration of\nIndependence?\n\n\n_\"The Goal of Twenty Centuries of Wandering\"_\n\n\"FOXES have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of\nman hath not where to lay his head.\" Of whom did the great prophet\nspeak more fittingly than of the children of his own race? Homeless\nfor two thousand years, persecuted, ostracized, their backs have\nbecome bent and in the eyes of many they have become a nation of\nreligious fanatics and usurers, wily, unkempt. The Jewish youth of\nto-day cannot look back upon his history of exile and say, as did\n\u00c6neas of old after seven long years of wandering: \"It will be pleasant\nto remember\"--\"forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit\"; his trials have\nbeen but too real and he has not recovered sufficiently to have any\ndesire to recall them. Blame him not then, if, when others from\nobscure and semi-civilized quarters of the globe hail with pride their\nancestry, he alone, with the proudest traditions in history, will\nsometimes seek to hide his descent. He still feels, moreover, some of\nthe old \"wiliness\" and \"unkemptness\" within himself; he thinks they\nare of the Jews and of none others--and he wants to get rid of them.\nHe still feels some of the old usury in his bones, the clannishness,\nthe distrust of the world, which the squalid ghetto walls the Middle\nAges had built around his fathers have bequeathed to him, and he wants\nto get rid of those. Shall we look askance at him then, if when the\nAmerican University welcomes him to her hearth--Ithaca, for example,\nwith her kindly professors and laughing girl students, her ball games,\nher neat cottages and rolling hills that drink Cayuga's stream\nbeside--in the excess of eagerness he should sometimes break with,\nyes, even forget his past, and dream new things? (Hills, cottages,\nhome and country; superfluous concepts were these to other men,\nelementary satisfactions which they are born into and take for granted\nas their inevitable heritage.) Eagerly, therefore, greedily, perhaps,\nhe sees new things; the goal of twenty centuries of wandering stands\nrevealed before him. The Irish have found a home in America, the\nGermans, the Italians, the Poles, and why not the neediest of all, the\nJews? The American University typifies the ideals of the great\ndemocracy where \"race, creed and previous conditions\" are forgotten.\nHere all men forget their prejudices. All men become brothers.\n\n\n_But Not Yet Are All Men Brothers_\n\nBUT hold, have we not been expressing a wish rather than a fact? We\nlook into our own hearts, and strife and jealousy and racial\nantagonism are still there. Can we expect that man who has but lately\nbegun to think of brotherhood can already feel it in his blood; that\nthe age-long superstition against the Jew can be obliterated with a\nnew geographical boundary--though that boundary be indeed serene as\nthe all-washing, all-embracing Atlantic? Oh, that \"reality does not\ncorrespond to our conceptions,\" exclaims Wilhelm Meister.\n\nFor centuries the Jews had a respected and comfortable home in Spain,\nbut then came the fearful Inquisition, and the ninth day of Ab 1492\nsaw 300,000 of them exiled out of the country they had helped grow to\nculture and wealth. There was the Declaration of the Rights of Man\nduring the French Revolution, but then came the Dreyfus affair a\ncentury later. There was science and enlightenment in United Germany,\nbut never was anti-Semitism more pronounced, more scientific than\nthere between 1875 and '80. In 1881 the May Laws were passed in\nRussia. In 1882 there was a ritual murder trial in Hungary. Our\nstatutes and sciences, after all, are but ways and means, improved\nways and means, to what?--often to unimproved ends, it seems. Our\nlearning and knowledge are what?--but channels to educate, to lead out\n(e-duco) the noble qualities in man? yes; perhaps also his jealousies\nand hatreds. And thus there comes a time of doubt. The courtesies and\nlearning of this university life, reflects the Jewish student, perhaps\nbut cover up these jealousies and hatreds, make them more polite, and\nall the more painful therefore. However much he will not, he sees\ncliques and denominational clubs all about him: Catholic clubs,\nLutheran clubs, Jewish clubs; in the lecture room the gentiles form\ntheir groups and the Jews form theirs; in the election of class\nofficers the Jews have been slighted; at the class dinner a Jew was\ninsulted; one fellow was refused accommodations at a student\nrooming-house because he was a Jew; and the sensitive young man begins\nto feel as though there were but two divisions of people at the\nUniversity after all: Jews and everybody else.\n\n\n_The Perennial Burden of the Jew_\n\nBUT it is unfair and ungrateful to speak thus of the American\nUniversity. All superstition and prejudice may not have disappeared\nhere; enough it is that they tend to disappear so rapidly. But what of\nthe large country outside the university? What of the growing Jewries\nin our cities? What of the Jew in the little hamlet carrying his pack\nof tinware from door to door; he is so eager to earn an honest dollar\nfor a wife, a daughter, perhaps for a son at college; so eager to find\nhim a home like that of the earlier non-Jewish immigrants who buy his\nwares; yet why must he overstrain his virtues before them, break\nthrough the ice, as the saying goes, and clear himself--why? for being\na Jew. Evidently, others are taken as good until they prove themselves\nbad; the Jew is bad until he proves himself good. Should some other\nJewish trader come to the same locality and commit some wrong,\novercharge a shilling on the price of a kettle, for example, the first\nJew must be made to feel ashamed of it, for it was not the other man\nwho did the wrong, but the \"Jew in him.\" Evidently, again, the Jewish\nproblem is not of the individual, but of the race. Must the Wandering\nJew bear a perennial burden?\n\nBut even if this problem were solved (it is possible for all the Jews\nin America to be in time regarded on equal terms with their neighbors\nor even to be assimilated altogether with them), what of the Jews in\nRussia, in Roumania, in Galicia? How long must we wait for them to\nassimilate or to become free and equal sons of a fatherland? Surely we\nshall not suggest that it is well for them to continue forever an\nalien people in those lands. And even if this problem too were solved,\nif the Jews of Russia, Roumania, and Galicia were to become free and\nequal sons of a fatherland, if the Jews all over the world were to be\ntaken in as brothers by their neighbors, is it enough? Are we to be\nsatisfied with this alone? \"Hills, cottages, home and country\"--is not\nall this but raiment? What of the body, what of the Jewish soul?\n\n\n_The Three Types of Jewish Students: (1) The \"No-Jew\"_\n\nWITH his problems thus put, how shall the Jewish youth face them?\nShall he consider body and raiment equally, shall he put body above\nraiment, or shall he put raiment above body and forget the body? To\nput it crudely into other words, shall his ready adaptation to\nAmerican University life tend to make him less of a Jew, more of a\nJew, or no Jew at all, and thus tending, to repeat our original\nthought, wherein will it be for weakness, wherein for strength? Each\nJewish student, no doubt, in varying measure, responds to all three of\nthese tendencies; yet, insofar as the response towards one or another\nof these is more marked in certain individuals than in others, let us\ngroup the individuals together accordingly, and for the convenience of\nour discussion divide them into three separate types.\n\nThe no-Jew type is common on the campus. His presence pleases us,\nperhaps even flatters us. He is carefree, boyish. He makes heroes of\nthe gridiron athletes; he delights in the comedy shows that come to\ntown; he joins his non-Jewish friends in outdoor play in that easy\nlaughter of theirs that bubbles over at a trifle;--and we were\nbeginning to think the Jew had forgotten to play and laugh. We saw him\nafter sundown once, single in a canoe, paddling across the wide\nunruffled lake and far where purple sky and purple water seem to\ncommingle, and we thought we saw the primitive Indian again, the\nwholesome child of nature plying those waters as of old. Sail on,\nbrave youth, we are glad to see thee still a lover of the wild, the\nsimple, the calm; we are glad there is still in the Jew something of\nthe wholesome child, the adventurer, the savage, shall we call it? We\nare almost tempted to say we are glad to have him forget his past, to\nsail thus away, as it were, from his troubled brethren, away across\nthe unruffled lake where purple wave and purple cloud in peace\ncommingle,--so long have we waited for the mind of the Jewish youth to\nbe youthful, for the moist gleam in the eye of a sorrowful children to\ndisappear.\n\n\n_\"Neither Fish, Nor Flesh, Nor Fowl\"_\n\nBUT not always is this drifting out of Jewish life so comely. There is\nanother individual in this type in whom it appears very much strained.\nThe first merges within the American tradition, the second obtrudes\ninto it; the first unconsciously, the second painfully aware of his\neffort; the first because he has so much of the tradition within him,\nthe second, we are afraid, because he has so little. The second\nindividual is generally of more recent arrival to this country than\nthe first; he considers his Jewishness a misfortune which must be\ngotten rid of. Both are, indeed, self-centred, unmindful of their\npeople, but the first is more boyish--and a boy should be\nself-centred. Both put the raiment above the body, and in this there\nis weakness; but in the first there is not much of body, the roots of\nJewish growth have found no depth or proper sap in him, and if in him\nthere is not strength of body, there is at least grace of raiment; in\nthe second there is neither grace nor strength,--he may acquire the\nsuperstructure of American character, but where the foundation to\nbuild it on? Where is there strength when it is ever a getting and\nnever a giving?\n\nJudaism weighs most heavily upon this latter individual. He will often\ndeny his race, we regret to say, and play for the affection of members\nof other races. But they somehow will discover his \"misfortune\" and\ndespise him all the more for hiding it. All this prejudice, he\nexplains, is due to \"those other Jews.\" If they would only learn\nmodesty from the gentile,--not talk so, not walk so, and not keep\nhanging around the professor's desk after the lecture with all sorts\nof fool questions,--why then, there would be no more of \"this\nprejudice thing\" and he could devote his time to more important\nproblems. (We half suspect those problems would be superficial ones.\nWe would also perhaps give more heed to his urging us to modesty, if\nonly the urging were more modest.) He may even become eloquent and\ntell us that the Jews do not appreciate the generosities and liberties\nof American life, that they ought to forget their old religious\nsuperstitions and realize that in free America we don't need any\nreligions, for all men are brothers. (Here again we would perhaps give\nmore heed to his sentiment for its boundless idealism, were we not\nafraid it was but a cover for boundless egotism.)\n\nAnd which brotherly organization, which fraternity do you belong to up\nhere? We ask, not to criticize those boyish aristocracies but rather\nto embarrass him, we confess, for we know he must name a Jewish\nfraternity or none at all. The other fraternities are indeed\nfraternal--but not to Jews, not even to those who would get away from\nJudaism. We speak without malice of this individual; we regret only\nthat he gets so little out of the great American tradition. The\nraiment becomes him badly. Speaking in slang and following the\nbaseball scores does not make an American. If he sells his birthright\nlet it be for something more than a mess of pottage. Even if he should\nsucceed in assimilating himself with the other races, whether it be by\nthe accumulation of wealth or baptism or successful denial of his\norigin, yet we doubt whether he can become really happy--for he is\nneither fish nor flesh nor fowl. Again, what can he receive when he\nhas nothing to give? And thus we must leave him, perhaps even now\nlaughing in the company of his non-Jewish acquaintances at some\ncaricature of the Jew presented for their entertainment--that is of\none of \"those other Jews\"--a type for which we are sorry, a coin that\nis spurious and does not ring true.\n\n\n_The Second Type: \"An American of Jewish Ancestry\"_\n\nOUR second type considers body and raiment as of equal weight; he will\nmake them as one. He will become less of a Jew and more of an\nAmerican, a better American for being a Jew. Unlike the first type, he\nsees a little beyond himself. Americanism is good enough for him, but\nthere are other Jews not in America, he realizes, and there are Jews\nwithin America who have not reached, perhaps never can reach, his\nposition of comfortable participation in American life, and what of\nthem? There may be more pressing, more important problems in the\nworld, but who else will solve that particular one of the Jew if he\ndoesn't? He therefore will not run away from Judaism; he will try to\nmodify it, of course, to fit in with American progress, but, for the\nsake of his people, he will stay a Jew, or better an American of\nJewish ancestry. This type is the son of the big-hearted givers among\nIsrael. His father subscribes generously to charitable organizations,\nis a member of a Reform Temple, and owes much indeed to the\nopportunities of the American republic. The son, therefore, is an\nAmerican patriot, and what though it seem at times overtaxed, his\npatriotism, unlike that of the individual under our first type, is\ngenuine, for it is not primarily self-seeking. When he speaks of\nideals, it is not to say we have no need of religions at all, but\nrather that we all in America have more or less the same belief only\nthat we choose to express it differently, each according to his\nancestral traditions. The three rings, says Nathan der Weise, may all\nbe true or all be false according to the conduct of those that wear\nthem. \"But are there no peculiar values of conduct,\" we ask him,\n\"bequeathed by the peculiar traditions of the Jew?\" \"Yes,\" he answers,\n\"but those values may now be found in the cosmopolitan civilization of\nAmerica.\" \"We are getting away from peculiar things,\" he further adds;\n\"we must learn to break down barriers and distinctions and work all\ntogether, not as Jews or Americans or anything else, but simply as\nmen. Our only problem is to get the Jews treated everywhere as men.\"\n\"But aside from that,\" we go on to ask, \"isn't there a something that\nbinds together certain groups of people that have had a common\nhistory, a common religion or any such thing in common?\" \"Yes,\" he\nreplies, \"but that something is the common intellect. The accident of\nbirth does not make us friends; though I must help the Jew in far-off\nRussia, yet I am more closely identified with my Anglo-Saxon\nclassmate. For me to co-operate with the Jew simply because he is a\nJew is as logical as for me to co-operate with a man simply because he\nhas the same shade of brown hair that I have.\" Words that command our\nthought--but yet it seems to us the speaker feels better than he\nknows. Why then did his heart quicken when one Friday night we passed\nthe window of that Galician Jew, the erstwhile butt of many a jest\nbetween us, our college second-hand clothes man, and saw the flicker\nof his Sabbath candles? No flicker within the home of a brown-haired\nman would move him so. And even while he is speaking to us, though the\nlength of our acquaintanceship is short, we detect an unwonted\nrelaxation in his manner, a confidence that has found understanding\nand seeks to lay itself bare. Is it not because both of us are Jews?\n\nBe that as it may, the words of this type are sincere. If he forgets\nhis ancestry it is because he thinks of posterity. By blending his\nthoughts and aspirations with those of free and generous America, he\nwill bequeath to his children a happier heritage than was left him by\nhis forefathers. As for ideals, why call them Jewish rather than\nAmerican; what though they originated in Judea, cannot they be\ndistributed from America? His Zion therefore will be in Washington.\nThe Jewish soul and the American soul will become as one. He does not\ndeny the soul, then--the raiment has not been put above the body, the\nflesh above the spirit; and the adaptation of this type to the\nAmerican environment can therefore make for strength, for a better\nhumanity.\n\n\n_The Third Type: \"More, Not Less, of a Jew\"_\n\nWHAT room have we now for a third type? But there does appear one\namong his brethren, an extremist, who is not to be satisfied with the\npromised strength of his fellows of this last type. There may be\nstrength among them, he thinks, but strength not enough. Greater\nstrength is there in becoming not a non-Jew, nor less of a Jew, but\nsimply more of a Jew. Judaism to him is not a mere peculiar thing, but\na peculiar great thing, and only by keeping it peculiar can he enhance\nits greatness. The Jewish genius cannot blend with that of America\nwithout loss to its individuality; however much it may borrow from\nAmerica in outer accoutrement, in \"wholesome ruddiness,\" \"fair play,\"\n\"polite address,\" and so forth--(and it should borrow what it can to\nimprove its appearance), yet the accoutrement must remain but\nraiment,--and the body is more than raiment. Apparently he is a very\nnarrow-minded person--and he is; yet he believes with Ahad Ha-'Am that\n\"greatness is not a matter of breadth only, but of depth.\"\n\nWe have found this extremist in the dark-eyed dreamer who came to us\nbut recently from a Russian university, but also in the glad-eyed\nyouth who wears his Americanism most gracefully, it being handed down\nto him for several generations. Judaism in this case, at any rate, to\nuse a homely expression, does not vary with the length of the nose.\nThis type is small in numbers, but the Jews have never made much of\nnumbers, and even as we observe him we are minded of the words of\nJoel, \"--and in the remnant shall be deliverance.\" Does he shun the\nAmerican garment then? No, on the contrary, he evermore seeks it and\nstrives to make it attire him more gracefully. He loves the American\ntradition; he has much to gather from its sunniness--his fathers had\nbeen kept in the dark so long. But, at the breaking of day, when the\nangel who wrestled with him through the night would let him go, he\nwill say, as did Jacob of old, \"I will not let thee go, except thou\nbless me\"; America must bless him so that in the light of modern day\nhis people may once again be called \"no more Jacob but Israel.\"\n\n\"Many and great are the gifts of the gentile world,\" he tells us, \"but\nthat peculiar greatness within the character of the Jews as a people,\nit has not. Some have called it religion, some morality; perhaps it is\nthe devotion they have evolved to the unity of things, the \u05d0\u05d7\u05d3 \u05d7\u05d5\u05d7\u05d9;\nperhaps it is only a certain sadness of suffering, a certain depth of\nsympathy they have evolved for all suffering and sorrow, but at any\nrate it is a racial momentum which our ancestors for four thousand\nyears have been forging and refining in the hottest fires;\" and\nwhether it be conceit or inspiration, he adds, \"and think not that we,\nto-day, in the comfortable lassitude of American life, can destroy\nit.\" The spirit is greater than the man; the Jew may be lost or be\nassimilated, but the Jewish race, not yet.\n\n\n_A Spiritual Vision and Aspiration_\n\n\"BUT consider,\" we say very plainly to him, \"the great bulk of the\nJews who seem to have lost that old spirit of religion; they pray in a\nlanguage they scarce understand as though 'they shall be heard for\ntheir much speaking'; when you want the Hebrew Bible, moreover, it\nseems you must go to the gentiles, and have not these added thereto\nthe sublime teachings of Christ?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" replies our Jewish friend, with more of grief than of censure\nin his voice, \"and to-day the Christian world is awarding the Iron\nCross for excellence in killing. And our people it has made to loathe\nthe name of Christ, because it was his image that was in the hand of\nthe priest who led the mob to massacre at the Inquisition and at\nKishineff; though all the time it was that very persecuted people that\nwas itself living the principles and the martyrdom of its greatest\nprophet.\" And he continues, and tells us brusquely how he went once to\nchurch with a Methodist young lady and how when he was rapt in the\nmusic of a Psalm that was being sung, she whispered giddily to him:\n\"Don't that remind you somewhat of the one-step music?\" \"No,\" he tells\nus he replied, \"it reminds me that I am the only Christian in this\naudience.\"\n\nAnd we understand in his reply he was not thinking of himself alone\n(for extremist though he was, he must have known there was many\nanother devout listener in that audience) but rather of his race, of\nthose very Jews of the bended backs, \"wily, unkempt,\" who were\nelsewhere chanting that same Psalm in a language, 'tis true, they\nscarce understood, yet with a spiritual zeal and forgetfulness of the\n\"treasures upon earth\" which was the very soul of the teachings of\nChrist. Could his Methodist friend, could even he, with all his\nuniversity training and American ruddiness, but have the noble spirit\nof his unlettered grandmother he remembered weeping so bitterly in the\nold synagogue on Yom Kippur, as though weeping for the sins of all\nhumanity,--Rachel weeping for her children. No, it was not the\nreligion put on and off with the phylacteries that distinguished his\nfathers; it was never the raiment, but the body. Even in the darkness\nof the Middle Ages it was the _Malkuth Shaddai_, the kingdom of\nrighteousness, that the old Jew prayed for on his sacred days.\n\nNarrow-minded, indeed, is this last type of Jew; but yet when rays are\nconcentrated to a narrow radius, the outlook through the lens may be\nwide and far-reaching. We understand that he, too, thinks of posterity\nas does his cousin, but only as mistress within its own household does\nhe believe the Jewish race can bequeath great strength to its\nposterity and the posterity of the world,--not as intruder into the\nhome of others, nor even as their welcome guest. The Bible was the\nwork of a narrow, provincial Israel; the Talmud their work when\nscattered among the nations.\n\n\n_\"To Make Strong the Spirit of the Prophets\"_\n\n\"WE have made too much,\" concludes our young friend, \"of the\ncosmopolitan likenesses among nations and men; we must promote their\ndifferences, and respect for those differences. That is in the path of\npeace; it is war, as you know, that levels distinctions. The harmony\nof an autumn sunset is in its many colors. Our own little handful of\npeople does not wish to make itself great in possessions or strong in\narms. We have ever been the meekest among men; while many a Christian\nnation was taking an eye for an eve, it is we that were turning the\nother cheek. Yes, we think we have outgrown that boyish fascination\nfor brutal brawn a little more than they. Today, Israel wishes but to\nexpress its pent-up soul, to make strong the spirit of its prophets\nand teachers, its Moses, its Isaiah, its Hillel, so that it may be\n'for a light to the Gentiles, (and bear) salvation unto the end of the\nearth.'\"\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Morris J. Escoll]\n\n\n\n\nThe Romance of Rabbi Akiba\n\nBY GEORGE J. HOROWITZ\n\n\n[Illustration: _GEORGE JACOB HOROWITZ (born in New York, 1894),\neducated in the Public Schools of New York, College of the City of New\nYork (A. B. 1915), Talmud Torah, and Teachers' Institute of Jewish\nTheological Seminary; President (1915) of Menorah Society of City\nCollege of New York; now a graduate student in Romance Languages at\nColumbia._]\n\nAKIBA ben Joseph, deservedly called the father of Rabbinical Judaism,\nwas one of the most original and the most talented of all the great\ngalaxy of ancient Rabbis. In him was typified the great ideal of a\nJewish Rabbi--a man of heart, of hand, and of head. But Akiba is still\nmore remarkable for the charm and romance of his life. He is indeed\nthe one Rabbi with a great romance. The story of his life, stripped of\nall exaggeration or literary artifice, reads more like a tale of\n\"knight and lady\" than like the simple facts of a scholar's life. His\ngreat love, his sudden rise from the humblest obscurity, his brilliant\nintellectual and spiritual achievements, and his glorious death, make\nup the successive scenes of one of the most inspiring chapters in\nJewish history.\n\n\n_His Youth and Romantic Marriage_\n\nAKIBA was born about the year 50, at a time when the Roman Empire at\nits height was about to turn all its mighty forces against his people,\nthe little state of Judea; and he died a martyr to his faith, in about\nthe year 132, on the eve of the last great rebellion against Roman\ndomination. His origin and early years are shrouded in darkness. We\nknow that he was an unlettered shepherd in his youth and mistrustful\nof Rabbis and their learning. His master, Kalba Sabua--so the story\ngoes--was one of the richest men in Jerusalem, one of the three\nwealthy philanthropists who offered to prevent the famine occasioned\nby the last great siege of Jerusalem.\n\nWhile in the service of Kalba Sabua, young Akiba made the acquaintance\nof his daughter Rachel. They were immediately drawn to one another, he\nattracted by her great beauty, and she by his innate refinement and\nsuperiority. A deep attachment soon sprang up between them. Akiba was\nstill an illiterate man, however, and Rachel made him promise that if\nshe were betrothed unto him he would go to the Beth Hamidrash to\nstudy. In those days this was equivalent to acquiring education and\nculture. To this Akiba assented and there followed a secret marriage.\nWhen her father learned of what she had done, he became furious. He\ndisinherited her, and cast her off, leaving her without a roof over\nher head and absolutely penniless, and he swore that as long as Akiba\nremained her husband she would receive no help from her father. Then\nset in a period of bitter poverty for the young pair. Akiba's heart\nwas rent with pain to see his young wife, who had been accustomed from\nearliest youth to a home of luxury, pass her days in a miserable\nhovel, with the barest necessities and sometimes even lacking bread to\neat. In winter they slept on a pallet and Akiba would pick the straws\nout of her wonderfully long and beautiful hair. She was beautiful even\nin her rags and tatters, and once Akiba was moved to exclaim: \"Oh,\nthat I had a fitting ornament for thee: a golden image of Jerusalem\nthe Holy City!\" Both indeed were nearest his heart. Once a man came to\nthe door of their hut and asked for some straw, saying that his wife\nwas confined to child-bed and he had no couch for her. \"Ah, see,\" said\nAkiba to his wife, \"there are those even poorer than we. This man has\nnot even straw to lie on.\" This seeming poor man, the Rabbis say, was\nnone other than Elijah, who had come to comfort them in their misery.\n\n\n_Struggles and Sacrifices for an Education_\n\nTHE incident did indeed give them new heart, for until then Akiba\ncould not summon enough resolution to go off and study while his wife\nremained behind in such abject circumstances. Nor could she insist.\nBut now her old strength came back to her, and she reminded Akiba of\nhis promise: \"Go thou, and study in the Beth-Hamidrash.\" She must have\nfelt undoubtedly that there were great possibilities in him, and in\ntruth she was not mistaken. Akiba, however, in his modesty, had no\nconfidence that he could master the intricate subtleties of Rabbinic\nlaw. How could he, who had now reached forty years of age without once\nattending even an elementary school, hope to make any progress at all\nso late in life? One day, musing thus, as he stood by the village\nwell, his interest was suddenly roused by observing that one of the\nstones had a deep hollow, caused probably by the drippings of the\nbuckets. \"Who hollowed out this stone?\" he asked; and he was answered:\n\"Canst thou not read Scripture, Akiba? 'The waters wear the\nstones,'--the water, that falls on it continually day after day, has\nhollowed out the stone.\" Immediately Akiba argued _a fortiori_ (Kal\nVahomer) with respect to himself. \"If what is soft can cut what is\nhard, then the words of the Torah, which are as hard as iron, will\nsurely impress themselves upon my heart, which is only flesh and\nblood.\" So Akiba repaired forthwith to a _Melammed Tinokoth_, a\nteacher of children, and, seated beside his own little son, he began\nlearning his letters. Akiba held one end of the A. B. C. board and his\nson the other.\n\nThe elements once mastered, the next step was the Rabbinical academy.\nBitter poverty, however, would not permit Akiba to leave home, and he\nwould probably have remained in his little village for the rest of his\nlife, an obscure and unknown man, if it were not for his wife. It was\nher noble self-sacrifice that enabled him to become the greatest Rabbi\nof his time and perhaps of all time. Unknown to him, she stole out\ninto the market-place and sold all that beautiful hair of hers, so\nthat he might continue his studies. Indeed no sacrifice, no\nself-abnegation, was too great for her. She sent Akiba away and for\ntwelve long years dwelt alone in sorrow and in want, a \"living widow,\"\nand at the end of that period she crowned it with a renewal of the\nsame great sacrifice. As Akiba was crossing the threshold, home again\nafter twelve years of study, he overheard Rachel talking with a\nneighbor. \"It served thee right,\" said the neighbor, \"for marrying a\nman so far beneath thee. Now he has gone off and forsaken thee.\" \"If\nhe hearkened to me,\" was Rachel's reply, \"he would stay away another\ntwelve years.\" At these words Akiba exclaimed: \"Since she gives me\npermission, I will go back to my studies,\"--and he went and stayed\naway another twelve years. Such was the noble renunciation of Rachel,\nwife of Rabbi Akiba, for his sake and for the sake of the Torah.\n\n\n_Akiba's Rise to Recognition and Fame_\n\nAKIBA studied assiduously at the schools of R. Nahum of Geniso and of\nR. Eliezer and R. Joshua, both renowned teachers, who in their youth\nhad been favorite pupils of Rabbi Jochanan ben Zakkai. It is\nilluminating to consider Akiba's general method of study. He had the\nhabit, the Talmud tells us, of going alone to meditate over every\nHalakah (law) that he learned. After this bit of hard thinking, as we\nwould call it, he usually came back with some very difficult\nquestions. Only when these questions were answered did he feel\nsatisfied that he knew the Halakah. That this thorough method of study\nbore fruitful results Akiba's subsequent achievements showed. At\nfirst, however, his genius was not evident and R. Eliezer paid no\nattention to him. But one day Akiba gave him his first answer and R.\nEliezer was astounded at its profundity. Said R. Joshua then to R.\nEliezer, in a slightly modified Scriptural phrase, \"Is not this he\nwhom thou hast despised? Go thou now and contend with him.\" From that\ntime on Akiba was acknowledged a master of Rabbinic law.\n\nAll that confused mass of traditional rules, precepts, laws,\ndiscussions and opinions which composed the Oral Law, and which it\nusually took a lifetime to master, Akiba made his own within the space\nof a few years, and at an age when the mind is no longer fresh and\nimpressionable. Akiba's genius showed itself even more brilliantly in\nhis subsequent labors in the same field, which were marked by three\ngreat achievements. These were his arrangement of the Oral Law into a\nsystematic code, the Mishnah (substantially as later edited by R.\nJudah Ha-Nasi), his establishment of a logical foundation for each\nHalakah, and his discovery and formulation of new and original methods\nof hermeneutics and exegesis. To appreciate the magnitude of these\nachievements, we must remember that up to and for some time after\nAkiba's day, instruction in the rabbinical academies was oral. Each\nteacher taught, as well as he could recall, exactly what he had heard\nfrom the lips of his master, and his pupils in their turn did\nlikewise. Every great Rabbi therefore had his own set of Halakic\ntraditions, his own Mishnah.\n\nThe results of this system or rather lack of system were mainly two:\nthe reasons for many of the Halakoth were forgotten, and of the laws\nthat were taught an immense number were uncoordinated, confused and\noften contradictory. The greatest fault, however, of these early\nMishnayoth (Mishnayoth Rishonoth) was their general lack of\narrangement. The Halakoth were usually strung together without\nconnection and without any logical grouping. It was Akiba who first\norganized them into an orderly system. He put all the Halakoth dealing\nwith one particular subject in one group, and then he divided the\ngroups into the six general divisions that our Mishnah has today.\nBesides this he introduced number mneumonics wherever possible, in\norder to facilitate memorization. The second work that we owe to\nAkiba's influence is the Tosephta or Supplement to the Mishnah, as\nlater edited by his pupil R. Nehemiah. Akiba's purpose in this\nSupplement was to give explanatory matter on the Halakoth of the\nMishnah in the form of citations of cases, discussions, and opinions.\nHere there was more room for originality than in the first work, for\nwhen the reason for any law had been forgotten Akiba discovered it\nagain.\n\n\n_\"The Third Founder of Judaism after Moses and Ezra\"_\n\nTHE achievement, however, in which Akiba's mind revealed itself in all\nits brilliant originality, and which more than anything else delighted\nand astonished his colleagues, was his new system of Biblical, or\nrather Pentateuchal, interpretation, his Midrash ha-Torah. The\nimportance of these new methods cannot be overestimated. The Oral Law\nis nothing more than the Jewish interpretation of the Torah, and\nconsequently new methods of Pentateuchal exegesis meant the further\ngrowth and development of the Oral Law. Akiba thus gave Judaism the\ncapacity for vigorous further development. He was indeed a firm\nbeliever in the principle that the Oral Law, even as life itself, is\nalways in process of evolution--\"immer in Werden,\" as the Germans put\nit--but never completed. His main exegetical principle is quite\nsimple. The language of the Torah is not like the language of an\nordinary book. In the Torah every syllable, every letter is fraught\nwith meaning. It is all essence. Hence every detail in the Torah must\nbe interpreted. There is absolutely nothing superfluous. It was these\nexegetical methods that excited the unbounded admiration of his\nfellow-rabbis. They said of him that things that were not even\nrevealed to Moses were revealed unto Akiba. By his preservation of the\nold Halakoth in the Mishnah and by his stimulation of newer\ndevelopments with his exegesis, Akiba laid the foundations of Talmudic\nand Rabbinic learning, and truly earned for himself the title of third\nfounder of Judaism after Moses and Ezra.\n\nAkiba's method of teaching also was extraordinary. The order and\nsystem that he had brought into the Rabbinic curriculum coupled with\nhis novel methods of exegesis rendered his lectures clear, simple and\nmost interesting. Multitudes flocked to hear him. With hardly an\nexception all the prominent Rabbis of the following generation\nattended Akiba's academy. Notable amongst them was R. Meir, who handed\ndown Akiba's Mishnah to R. Judah Ha-Nasi and through him to posterity.\n\n\n_Happiness and Affluence_\n\nTOWARDS the end of the twenty-four years thus devoted to study, Akiba\nturned his steps homewards, accompanied by a large band of disciples,\nwhich tradition numbers in the thousands. At the rumor that a great\nRabbi was coming, Rachel's heart was all aflutter with hope and\nexpectation. Perhaps it was he at last! The whole village went out to\nmeet him, she with the rest. When she saw that it was indeed he, she\nfell on her knees before him sobbing and began kissing his feet. The\npupils surrounding Akiba wanted to push her aside, but he said, \"Let\nher be. What knowledge I possess and what knowledge you possess\nbelongs to her.\" When Kalba Sabua heard that a great Rabbi had come to\ntown, not dreaming that it was his son-in-law, he made up his mind to\ngo to him and have his vow absolved, for at the sight of his\ndaughter's misery his heart had softened, and but for his vow he would\nlong since have taken her back. He came to the Rabbi and the Rabbi\nsaid to him, \"If thou hadst known that her husband would one day be a\ngreat scholar, wouldst thou have vowed?\" \"If he knew even one chapter\nor even one Halakah, I would not have vowed,\" was the reply. \"I am\nhe,\" said Akiba simply. At these words Kalba Sabua stared in\namazement, and then fell at his feet and begged pardon for all his\npast unkindness towards both Akiba and Rachel. To make more\nsubstantial amends he gave them half his fortune and they lived in\ncomfort ever after. The affluence in which Akiba henceforth lived,\ncontrasted with the poverty of his student days when he used to cut\nwood for a living, is thus quaintly described in the Talmud: \"When he\nwas a student Akiba used to fetch a bundle of wood every day. Half he\nsold for food and half for clothing. But before Akiba departed from\nthis world, he had tables of silver and of gold, and he climbed into\nhis bed on golden ladders.\" His wife too had the satisfaction of\nreceiving from him and wearing the \"Golden Jerusalem,\" that Akiba had\nwished he could give her in the days of their poverty. Indeed the\nmagnificence of Rachel's jewels called forth a protest on the part of\nthe students of Akiba's academy. \"Thou hast put us to shame before our\nwives,\" they said, \"for our wives do not possess any such precious\nornaments.\" \"Ah, yes,\" said Akiba, \"but she has suffered much with me\nin the Torah.\"\n\n\n_Akiba's Virile Ethics and Philosophy_\n\nAKIBA'S philosophical speculations were no less famous than his\nHalakic activities. Just about this time all sorts of hybrid religions\nmade up of decadent Greek philosophy and of dying Pagan creeds were in\nvogue--the various forms of Gnosticism. Christianity--Jewish\nGnosticism, that is--was only one of the many perversions that Judaism\nhad to combat. These religions exercised a particular fascination\nbecause they dealt largely in esoteric doctrines and in theosophic\nspeculation. There was great danger that Jewish minds might be led\nastray, as in fact some were. Of the four great Rabbis, who the Talmud\nsays entered upon theosophic studies, only Akiba came through safely.\nUpon ben Azzai and ben Zoma, both brilliant young students, and upon\nAher (Elisha ben Abuya) it had disastrous effects. Ben Azzai died\nyoung. Ben Zoma went mad and Elisha ben Abuyah repudiated Judaism.\nWherefore the Rabbis never mentioned his name but always spoke of him\nas \"_Aher_\" (\"the Other\").\n\nAkiba's philosophy and ethics are revealed in the following sayings:\n\n\"Labor is honorable to man.\"\n\n\"They err who say I will sin now and repent after. The day of\natonement brings no forgiveness to the insincere.\" This saying is\nstrikingly similar to Dante's famous line in the Inferno: \"No one can\nrepent and will at once.\"\n\nThe eternal problem why the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper is\nanswered by Akiba in this way. The righteous are punished in this\nworld for their few sins, so that in the next world they may receive\nonly reward. The wicked on the other hand are rewarded here for what\nlittle good they do, so that in the next world they may receive only\npunishment.\n\n\"Beloved are Israel, for they are called children of the All-present,\nas it is said, 'Ye are children unto the Lord your God.' Beloved are\nIsrael for unto them was given the desirable instrument by which the\nworld was created, as it is written 'For I give you good doctrine,\nforsake ye not my Torah.'\" Israel is therefore the Chosen People. Nay\nmore. In another place Akiba says, \"Even the poorest of Israel are\nlooked upon as nobles,\" and even R. Ishmael agreed with him that\n\"Every Jew is a royal prince.\" Our motto to-day of \"noblesse oblige\"\nis the same thought in a strange tongue. \"By which the world was\ncreated\" means that Akiba identified the Torah with \"Wisdom,\" which is\ndescribed in Proverbs, in that famous chapter beginning \"Doth not\nwisdom cry and understanding put forth her voice?\" as having been \"set\nup from everlasting, from the beginning before the earth was.\"\nAdapting the opening verse of John, Akiba could very well have said,\n\"In the beginning was the Torah and the Torah was with God,\" but he\ncertainly would not have said, \"and the Torah was God.\"\n\n\"Everything is foreseen,\" Akiba goes on to say, \"yet freedom of choice\nis given; and the world is judged by grace, yet all is according to\nthe amount of work.\" His doctrine of \"grace\" and \"works\" was that\n\"grace\" is acquired through works, or in non-theological language,\nGod's favor goes to the man of good deeds. This was in opposition to\nthe Christian teaching that \"grace\" came through faith alone. God's\njustice is tempered with mercy; yet even divine mercy is dealt out\nfairly, says Akiba. He had such a strong sense of right that he even\ncondemned the action of the Israelites in despoiling the Egyptians.\n\"It is equally wrong to deceive a heathen as to deceive an Israelite,\"\nhe said. Akiba agreed with Hillel that the chief commandment of the\nTorah is, \"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself\" (Lev. XIX, 18),\nwhich again is nothing more than an application of the principle of\njustice in our dealings with our fellow-men.\n\n\n_A Man of the People_\n\nIN spite of his great fame Akiba was the most modest of men. While\nstill a student at Jamnia Akiba was noted for his humility. R.\nJochanan ben Nuri told how he had occasion several times to complain\nof Akiba to the Patriarch and how each time Akiba took his reprimand\nmeekly. Nay more. Despite these reproofs Akiba was all the more\naffectionate towards R. Jochanan, so that the latter was moved to\nexclaim in admiration, \"Reprove a wise man and he will love thee!\"\n(Prov. IX, 8.) Another notable example of Akiba's modesty is his\nspeech at the funeral of his son, which was attended by a great\ngathering of men, women, and children from all parts of Palestine.\n\"Brethren of Israel,\" said Akiba, \"listen to me. Not because I am a\nlearned man have ye appeared here so numerously. There are those here\nmore learned than I. Nor because I am a rich man. There are those here\nfar richer than I. The people of the South know Akiba; but whence\nshould the people of Galilee know him? The men know him; but whence\nshould the women and children that I see here know him? But I know\nfull well that ye have not given yourselves the trouble to come but\nfor the sake of fulfilling a religious precept and to do honor to the\nTorah, and your reward will indeed be great.\" Practising it as he did,\nAkiba did not fail likewise to preach modesty. \"He who esteems himself\nhighly on account of his knowledge,\" said he, \"is like a corpse lying\nat the wayside; the traveler turns his head away in disgust and walks\nquickly by.\" Again, in words almost identical with Luke (XIV, 8-11),\nAkiba says: \"Take thou a seat a few places below thy rank until thou\nart bidden to take a higher place, for it is better that they should\nsay to thee: 'Come up higher' than that they should bid thee 'Go down\nlower.'\"\n\nAkiba was likewise famous for his kindness and charity. He was a man\nof the people. His heart was full of charity and affection for the\nmultitude. His interest in their welfare was so deep and genuine that\nhe ultimately came to be called the \"Hand of the Poor.\" As overseer of\nthe poor, Akiba made many long and arduous journeys to collect funds\nfor their relief. It was his opinion that the funds of charity ought\nnot to be invested, in order that ready money might always be at hand,\nshould a poor man present himself. Once Akiba received some money from\nR. Tarphon, for the purpose of buying some land. But instead Akiba\ndistributed the money to the poor. When Tarphon asked him where the\nproperty was, Akiba showed him the verse in Psalms, \"He hath\nscattered, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth\nforever; his horn shall be exalted with honor.\" Thereupon Tarphon\nkissed Akiba on the forehead and exclaimed, \"My master and my guide!\"\n\n\n_His Fervent Patriotism_\n\nFOR us to-day, however, the most striking thing about Akiba is his\nnationalism. Other Rabbis were men of great intellect, other Rabbis\nwere learned, modest, and benevolent, other Rabbis lived, worked and\ndied for Judaism, but no other Rabbi was conspicuously and so\nzealously a nationalist. Akiba loved \"Eretz Yisrael\" passionately, not\nonly with the visionary fervor of the pious Jew, but with the\npractical idealism of a patriot. In all his extended journeys for the\ncollection of alms, he took care to spread and keep alive in the\nbreast of his fellow-Jews the desire for the rebuilding of Zion as a\npractical and immediate reality.\n\nIt was Akiba's spirit that inspired and animated the last great\nrebellion against Rome. This \"final polemos,\" as the Talmud calls it,\nwas preparing for a number of years. Akiba openly acknowledged Bar\nKochba, who was to be the leader of the revolt, as the promised\nMessiah, as \"the star that would come out of Jacob.\" All the great\ninfluence, therefore, of Akiba's moral support was behind Bar Kochba's\nmilitary preparations. The Jews had indeed much to complain of.\nHadrian had broken faith with them; he had failed to rebuild their\nTemple as he had promised, and now (about the year 130), to make\nmatters worse, he was beginning a systematic persecution of their\nreligion. He forbade circumcision, the study of the Torah, the keeping\nof the Sabbath, the ordination of disciples, in short everything that\nwent to express the Jewish religion. The Jews determined upon war. But\neven before the outbreak of hostilities their greatest loss occurred.\nAkiba and several other great Rabbis were captured by the Romans,\nimprisoned, condemned to death, and executed. Their crime was simply\nthat they had continued teaching the Torah in spite of the Imperial\ndecree.\n\n\n_\"Even Unto Death\"_\n\nTHIS was the manner of Akiba's death. When he heard that the renowned\nR. Ishmael and a certain Simon were captured, he was stirred all the\nmore to persevere in his teaching. \"Prepare ye for death, for terrible\ndays are awaiting us,\" said Akiba to his pupils. A certain Pappos ben\nJudah met Akiba assembling the people and teaching the Torah in\npublic. \"Dost thou not fear the Government?\" said Pappos. \"Thou art\nconsidered a wise man, Pappos,\" answered Akiba, \"but verily thou art\nbut a fool. I shall give thee a parable to the matter. Once a fox was\nwalking along the edge of a stream. He saw the fishes in commotion,\nhurrying hither and thither. 'Before what do ye flee?' said he to\nthem. 'We are fleeing before the nets of the fishermen that are cast\nout to catch us.' 'Would ye be willing to come up on dry land and live\nwith me, even as your fathers and my fathers were wont to live?' 'Art\nthou he who is called the most discerning among beasts? Verily thou\nart but a fool. If even in the element that means life to us, we are\nfearful of death, how much more so in the element that means our\ndeath.' Even so are we. If even in the time that we are occupied with\nthe Torah, of which it is said, 'For it is thy life and the length of\nthy days,' we are fearful of death, how much more so if even for a\nmoment we cease its study.\" Not many days later Akiba was captured and\nthrown into prison. Pappos ben Judah also found himself imprisoned\nwith Akiba. \"How camest thou here?\" asked Akiba. \"Happy art thou,\"\nreplied Pappos, \"that thou hast been taken prisoner for the sake of\nthe Torah; woe is me, Pappos, that I have been taken prisoner for vain\nthings.\"\n\nWhen they led Akiba out to execution it was the hour of the reading of\nthe \"Shema.\" Tinnius Rufus, the governor, caused his skin to be torn\noff with hot irons; but Akiba was directing his heart towards\naccepting the yoke of God's kingdom, that he might accept it with\nlove. He recited the \"Shema\" with a peaceful smile on his face. Rufus,\nastounded at his insensibility to pain, asked him whether he was a\nsorcerer. \"I am no sorcerer,\" replied Akiba. \"All the days of my life\nhave I grieved that I could not carry out the commandment, 'Thou\nshalt love thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all\nthy might,'--even unto death. But now that I am able to fulfill it\nshall I not rejoice?\" And with the last syllable of the \"Shema\"--Hear,\nOh Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is One--Akiba expired.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: George J. Horowitz]\n\n\n EDITORS' NOTE.--_This is the third in a series of\n sketches of \"Jewish Worthies,\" of which the fourth\n will have \"Judah the Prince\" for its subject._\n\n\n _HEBREWS willingly neglectful of their own inheritance\n cannot hope to be of much value as Americans. Nor is\n the republic interested in suppressing this or any\n other valuable legacy from the past. Our \"assimilative\n process\" is far off from being the terrible thing\n which European critics sometimes charge against us. We\n do reshape peoples who come to us from the old world,\n but not at the cost of the things they cherish or of\n the gifts they bring. Our civilization is enriched,\n not impoverished, by these diverse race traits,\n loyalty to which helps to make a loyalty worth having.\n If the future world order is to be founded on the\n harmonization of ethnic differences, there should be\n place enough for such differences in our own\n peace-aspiring republic._--_From an Editorial in The\n Boston Herald._\n\n\n\n\nAspects of Jewish Life and Letters\n\n_As Revealed in Four Noteworthy Books_\n\n\nI\n\nA SYMPATHETIC STUDY OF PHARISAISM[B]\n\nAS a rule, Jewish readers approach the works of Christian writers upon\nJewish subjects with distrust. They are accustomed to find in them\neither the misrepresentations of Anti-Semitic hatred or the\nmisrepresentations of conversionist love. The present book, based upon\nlectures delivered at Oxford upon the Hibbert foundation, is a\nrepresentative of the rare group of studies belonging to neither\nclass. It embodies an earnest and surprisingly successful attempt to\ndepict justly the religious life of the Jews in the time of the\nTalmud. The writer is well prepared for his task by thirty years'\ndevoted study of Rabbinical literature; he is known as the author of a\ncareful and scholarly work on \"Christianity in Talmud and Midrash.\"\n\nThe book includes a preliminary historical sketch, a study of what the\nRabbis meant by Torah, indicating the true nature of Pharisaic\nlegalism, chapters on the attitude of Jesus and of Paul toward the\nPharisees, and two final chapters on the Pharisaic theology. The book\nis valuable as a Christian reply to Weber, the German author of a\nlearned, widely-used, and thoroughly unfair presentation of Jewish\ntheology. Mr. Herford frankly confesses that he is an apologist of the\nPharisees, but his book is in no sense an iconoclastic attack upon the\nideas received among Christians as to the character of the Pharisees.\nHe freely admits, as any fair-minded Jew would, the dangers of the\nPharisaic system, but he is likewise careful to point out that these\ndangers were by no means destructive of true spiritual life. It is\nmost refreshing to find a book of this sort included in the Crown\nTheological Library, along with the erudite but anti-Jewish works of\nBousset and Harnack.\n\n\n_The Truth About the Pharisees_\n\nMR. HERFORD aims to set forth the truth about the Pharisees rather\nthan to present new ideas or conclusions. Nevertheless, his book\ncontains here and there new suggestions. His theory that the men of\nthe Great Synagogue were identical with the Soferim, though it has a\ncertain plausibility, is hardly supported by any great weight of\nhistorical evidence. It is interesting to learn that the Synagogue\nrepresents the oldest form of congregational worship, and is the\noldest human institution that has survived without interruption. The\nparallel between the Hassidim and the Saints of Cromwell's time (p.\n38) is curious. Mr. Herford has the somewhat strange notion (pp. 44-5)\nthat there is a sign of \"mutual distrust\" in the weeping of the High\nPriest and the representatives of the Beth Din after the former had\ntaken the oath to observe the regulations concerning the Day of\nAtonement. To the ordinary reader of the Mishnah the tears seem a\nperfectly natural expression of the emotional strain under which all\nthe people labored on the great day.\n\nIt is hard to part from Mr. Herford's admirable book without quoting a\nvery fine tribute which he pays to the Jewish people. In speaking of\nthe influence of Ezra's ideals, he says (p. 55): \"The Talmud is the\nwitness to show how some of his countrymen, some of the bravest, some\nof the ablest, some of the most pious and saintly, and a host of\nunnamed faithful, were true to those ideals and clung to those hopes;\nand how, through good report and ill report, through shocks of\ndisaster and the ruin of their state, ground down by persecution, or\ntorn by faction, steadily facing enemies within, they held on to the\nreligion of the Torah.\"\n\n[Illustration: Signature: D.S. Blonsheim]\n\n _University of Illinois_\n\n\nII\n\nJUDAISM AND PHILANTHROPY[C]\n\nSOME years ago I met a certain Russian Jew at a conference called to\ndiscuss various problems of education. He was an immigrant who had\nmade his fortune through speculation in real estate, and with his rise\nin fortune he had, it was evident, thrown off, one after another, the\nsocial habits, the religious outlook, and the organization of the\ndaily life which were the heritage he had brought with him from\nRussia. He was at that time, he told me, president of a large Jewish\ncongregation, whose pillars of support were men like himself. He\ncomplained bitterly of their backwardness and illiberality. They would\nnot introduce an organ and refused to change the prayer book or to\nsecure an \"advanced\" rabbi. For himself, he did not care whether they\nhad a synagogue--I mean temple--at all. He retained no longer any of\nthe superstitions or narrowness of his colleagues, and if it were not\nfor the fact that he felt himself out of place among members of the\nradically reformed temple he would have attended that long ago. He was\na member of it, of course. His wife had made him join some years ago.\nIt was a double expense, to be sure, but his wife wanted to be active\nin the Women's Council, and the children met other nice children in\nthe Sunday School. He did not think anyhow that synagogal affiliation\nmade any difference.\n\n\"I am,\" he said, \"a good Jew. I give charity.\"\n\nThe remark took me aback, yet the logical development to the point of\nview that he expressed was inevitable. In an environment where the\ncall of ambition is generally a call toward de-Judaization, the\nconnection between Jews who prosper and the great masses of the\nJewish people becomes, perforce, an external and artificial one. It is\nnotorious that the temple has thus far had no appeal to and no message\nfor the Jewish masses, that its membership is recruited from the\nwell-to-do and the successful, and that its relation to the great\ngroups which are destined never to be well-to-do or successful becomes\npurely a relation of philanthropy. The elements of brotherhood, of a\ncommon consciousness and a common purpose, fade or get submerged.\nWhere the masses are concerned the whole corporate essence of reformed\nJudaism becomes concentrated in the word \"charity.\"\n\n\n_Justice vs. Charity in the Jewish Ideal_\n\nYET it is significant that in Hebrew there is no special word for\ncharity. The term \u05e6\u05d3\u05e7\u05d4 (Zedakah) meant originally righteousness, and\nthe righteousness which the prophets advocated was the substance of\nsocial justice. It was incorporated into the fundamental law of the\nJewish state, which differed from that of other ancient states in the\nfact that its intention was to secure freedom and \"life\" for each\nindividual man. Charity, as we now understand the word, had no place\nin the social conceptions of the prophets and was not acknowledged in\nthe Law. The three codes which are preserved to us in the Bible from\nthe covenant in Exodus to the extraordinarily profound legislation of\nLeviticus express an evolution of the social sense founded on a right\nappreciation of social justice and democracy. \"Life,\" and its\nsustenance food, and shelter were regarded as the rights of each and\nevery man and not as gifts from one man to another. The law concerning\nthe tenure of land is particularly significant for its insight into\nthe economic basis of social justice, and the laws concerning\nindebtedness and slavery only less so. Charity appears only when the\nstate disintegrates. It is coincident with the decay of the social\norganization and the consequent failings of the sense of corporate\nresponsibility, and consists substantially of the conversion of a\nright into a gift. This change is registered in the new meaning which\nthe word \"Zedakah\" receives. For a state in which social justice\nprevails there is no room for charity, while a social order which\ninvolves charity is not one which maintains justice. Thus it may be\nsaid that the prophets, because they operated in terms of the\nreorganization of the whole of society and not of the incidental\ncorrection of piecemeal evils, were humanists. Their program was\nconstructive and aimed at the enfranchisement of manhood. The rabbis,\non the other hand, were (relatively only) philanthropists. Their\nprogram was remedial, and they aimed rather at the relief of suffering\nthan the realization and perfection of human potentialities.\n\nTo-day the term \"charity\" has given way to a new equivalent, with a\nsomewhat different connotation. This new equivalent is \"social\nservice.\" That it should be urged, as Mr. Lewis urges it, upon liberal\nJudaism is simply another indication of the evanescing adherence of\nthat sect to the corporate life of the Jewish people. Although \"social\nservice\" carries with it more of the sense of justice than the term\ncharity, it is still, in intention, a charitable thing. It is not a\nthing done through the inevitable forms of right social organization,\nbut through the gracious good will of a kindly individual. It still\nmaintains the Christian quality of \"grace\" which is a condescension, a\ngoing down, a philanthropy. It stands in contrast to _law_, which\nknows no such qualities, and the call which Mr. Lewis makes to liberal\nJudaists for a special kind of social service is itself a\ndemonstration that \"liberal Judaism\" thus far has little in common\nwith the substance of Jewish life. Indeed his whole book is a\ndemonstration of this fact, for of the six chapters that it contains\nonly one has anything to say of social service as such in the present\nday, while four are analyses, not of charity, but of the law of\nrighteousness as it operated in the Jewish polity, both in Palestine\nand in the Diaspora. Even the actual charity of the Middle Ages\ncarries a quality of obligation and socially ordained necessity which\nis derived from the basic law of the Jewish people.\n\n\n_The Hope of Liberal Judaism_\n\nBUT to-day, while the great Jewish masses still live, more or less\nadequately under the basic law and exercise such righteousness as they\nmay in the division of obligation which the laws of the Galuth lands\ncompel, the classes are divorced from its rule altogether. The call\nwith which Mr. Lewis closes his book,--\n\n \"We must teach the masses of our people, upon whom the\n Judaism of yesterday has lost hold, that their\n salvation lies in liberal Judaism, which is beginning\n to find itself to-day and which will become the\n Judaism of to-morrow,\"\n\n--is the best indication of this. Liberal Judaism has not touched the\nminds or hearts of the masses. The radicals despise it as a\ncapitalistic system of compromise with the social environment. To the\nrest of the working classes, it makes thus far no appeal whatever. It\nis only upon the radicals that the \"Judaism of yesterday\" has lost its\nhold, and to them liberal Judaism can have no appeal. To the rest of\nthe Jewish people it can be significant and really developed into the\n\"Judaism of to-morrow\" only in so far as it can succeed in\nreincorporating itself into the common life. I am an old social\nservice person, and I am prepared to deny categorically that such a\nreincorporation is possible through social service. What is needed is\nsympathetic intelligence, insight into the life and aspirations of the\nmasses, return of the classes to the masses, participation in their\nideals, their traditions, and their common life. It is not by a\ncutting off from the past, but by a development out of it that such a\nreincorporation can be consummated.\n\nIf liberal Judaism is to be a living and growing force at all, it can\nbecome so only by accepting the inevitable conditions which govern all\nlife. Life is organic; religion is only one of the many organs of\nhuman society, even Jewish society. Its health and vitality are\ndependent upon the health and vitality of the social residuum. The\nhope of liberal Judaism lies in a reincorporated national life for the\nJews. That alone can preserve the Jewish religion, either from\npetrifying as orthodoxy through resistance against environmental\npressure, or from evaporating as reform through submission to\nenvironmental pressure.\n\n _University of Wisconsin_\n\n[Illustration: Signature: H. M. Kallen]\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE HEBREW GENIUS[D]\n\nTHIS little volume is five years old, but its review is always timely;\nand for THE MENORAH JOURNAL very appropriate. The English language is\nextremely poor in popular, yet scholarly and well-written books and\nessays on Jewish literature. A great many of those who are thoroughly\nversed in Hebrew literature, who regard the study of the original\nRabbinic sources as a work of love if not a profession and a life\nwork, have not a sufficient command of English or of systematic\nexposition to be able to present the spirit of these writings in\nacceptable form to the lay reader. The few scientific scholars in our\nseminaries and colleges who could if they chose write authoritatively\nand withal in an interesting manner concerning the course of Jewish\nthought during the past two or three millenia, prefer to devote their\ntime and energy to the more technical aspects of the subject, which\nare not designed for the uninitiated reader. And the men of\njournalistic calibre and inclination, even if we had them, are not the\nmost desirable purveyors of Jewish knowledge. The truth of the matter\nis, in the words of Nietzsche, that ears are still growing for the\nintelligent American Jewish people so far as Jewish literature--Hebrew\nclassical literature--is concerned.\n\nThe cause of the paucity of works in English on Jewish literary\nsubjects is really economic. There is no lack of young men among the\npeople of the Book whose ideal of a well-spent life is one of complete\ndevotion to a scholarly career in the service of our ancient and\nmedieval classics. But unfortunately the very young men who give\npromise of presenting in a creditable manner our intellectual heritage\nfor the benefit of the majority otherwise occupied, have no means of\ntheir own, and yet are not ready (as it should not be expected of them\nthat they should be) to take the vow of poverty and celibacy and form\na Jewish monastic order of St. Haninah. Accordingly not a few of these\nchoose the Rabbinic career as the most likely profession to enable\nthem to keep in touch with Jewish learning--more or less a\ndisappointed hope to the real scholar who has no other fitness for the\nmodern Rabbinate except his scholarship. Others are completely\nside-tracked and lost to Jewish scholarship.\n\nThus the lack of interest in Jewish learning and scholarship keeps\npromising young men away from these unpromising studies. The result is\nthat the field in English remains uncultivated, which reacts again\nunfavorably in a diminution of interest, and the vicious circle is\ncomplete.\n\n\n_The Need of Encouragement to Jewish Learning_\n\nI HAVE used my text in good old fashion as a pretext for a little\nsermon to the intelligent lay reader of THE MENORAH JOURNAL who may be\nan influential member of the American Jewish community, pointing out\nthat we are sorely in need of a great many such books as the present\none, treating various \"aspects of the Hebrew Genius\"; and they are\nsure to come just as soon as there is a real demand for them. The\nJewish students in our colleges and universities whose number is\nrapidly increasing have in their midst a great many talented young men\nwho only need encouragement to devote their best energies to Jewish\nlearning. These will serve as a leaven to raise the entire Jewish\ncommunity of America to a more intelligent Jewish level. What we need\nis liberal endowments for Jewish chairs in our universities and for\nthe promotion of Jewish education generally.\n\nAnd now to proceed to my proper topic: _Aspects of Hebrew Genius_ is a\nvery creditable volume consisting of eight well-written essays on\nseveral topics of Jewish history and thought. Norman Bentwich\ncontributes an article in which he gives an interesting sketch of the\nJewish Alexandrian period of the first two centuries B. C., whose\nthought activities culminated in the works of Philo, the first man in\nhistory who attempted an amalgamation of Hebraism and Hellenism. It\nwas not a success so far as Judaism is concerned, as is evidenced by\nthe fact that he was neglected and forgotten by his Jewish successors.\nHe was made use of, however, by the early Christian writers in the\nformulation of the Trinitarian dogma, and by early Christian\napologists and theologians in presenting the doctrines of the new\nreligion in a form likely to appeal to the Gr\u00e6co-Roman world, which\ntrained as it was in philosophical thought would have been repelled by\nthe simple narratives of Scripture and the Gospels.\n\n\n_Representative Men and Tendencies in Jewish Thought_\n\nTHE next essay by M. Simon deals with the second and more successful\nattempt to enrich Jewish literature by infusing into it the spirit of\nrationalistic inquiry originally derived from Greece. This time, in\nthe ninth and tenth centuries, the scene is placed in Babylonia. The\nplace of the Greeks is now taken by their medieval successors, the\nMohammedan Arabs, upon whom fell a part of the Hellenic mantle, that\nrepresented by Greek science and philosophy. The \u00e6sthetic and literary\naspects of the Greek genius were left severely alone by the Arabs. The\nman about whom this sketch centers is the famous Gaon of Sura,\nSaadiah. And Mr. Simon lays great stress upon his achievements in\nBiblical exegesis. As the Septuagint was the first Jewish translation\nof the Bible, so Saadiah's Arabic translation was the second, and it\nwas enriched by introductions and a commentary in which Saadiah leads\nhis co-religionists, the Rabbanite Jews, from the Talmud back to an\nappreciation of the Bible.\n\nThe period of systematic and rationalistic effort culminated in the\nlegal and philosophical works of Maimonides, the greatest Jew of the\nmiddle ages. The Rev. H. S. Lewis gives a readable and sympathetic\nsketch of this pre-eminent Jewish systematizer and rationalist. He\ndefends him against the strictures of Luzzatto and Graetz and points\nout the great influence his thinking had on Judaism and Jews of his\nown and subsequent ages, and even on the Christian scholastics.\n\nThe following four essays are devoted not to representative men but to\nbrief and interesting sketches of tendencies in Jewish thought and\ndepartments of Jewish literature. The Rabbinic legalistic lore of the\nMishnah and Talmud, which finds no general treatment in the volume, is\npartly represented by the article of Dr. S. Daiches, who gives a\npopular account of the post-Talmudic attempts to codify the immense\nlegal material scattered in Mishnah and Talmud and in later additions.\nMaimonides' code naturally occupies an important place in this sketch,\nand a novel feature is the important place assigned to Jacob ben Asher\n(1280-1340), the author of the _Turim_, who superseded Maimonides and\nis popularized by Joseph Caro in his _Shulchan Aruch_.\n\n\n_Jewish Rationalism and Mysticism_\n\nTHE title of the next paper, written by the competent hand of Dr. A.\nWolf, versed in philosophy as well as in Jewish literature, sounds\nnovel; and as the author says, is the first effort of the kind so far\nmade. It is well known that the philosophic movement in medieval Jewry\nis characterized with few exceptions by the more or less faithful\nadaptation of Aristotelian thought as represented in the Arabic\ntranslations of his works and in the compendia and expositions made by\nsuch ardent disciples of the Stagirite as Al Farabi, Avicenna, and\nAverroes. Dr. Wolf undertakes briefly and readably to indicate how\nmuch the Jewish medieval philosophers owed to the Greek sage and what\ntheir attitude to him was, and interestingly summarizes the\nAristotelian point of view by the one word rationalism, as\ndistinguished from dogmatism and mysticism. He rightly points out that\nwhile the specific doctrines borrowed from Aristotle and read into the\nBible by his ardent Jewish disciples are for the most part obsolete,\nthe spirit of systematic inquiry, the use of the reason in elucidating\ndisputed problems, \"the exalted conception of the place and function\nof human thought, the hallowing of intellectual effort,\" which was the\nproduct of this philosophical activity, is a gain of inestimable value\nfor all time.\n\nRationalism and dogmatism, however, do not exhaust the aspects of\nJewish thought and literary endeavor. Parallel with the development of\nMishnah and Talmud and philosophy, there is visible, at first feebly\nand in the background, and later, as circumstances favored it, more\naggressively and in full view, the mystic outlook upon life and\nreligion in its various phases. H. Sperling in a very interesting and\nsympathetic manner traces this mystic element in Jewish literature\nfrom the Prophets of the Bible, through the \"Maase Bereshit\" and\n\"Maase Merkaba\" of the Haggadah down to the Sefer Yezira and the Zohar\nand its successors.\n\nThere is no treatment of Jewish medieval poetry, and the volume closes\nwith a brief account of the more critical and historical treatment of\nJewish literature created in the nineteenth century by such men as\nKrochmal, Rapaport, Luzzatto, Zunz, Geiger and others. Rev. M. H.\nSegal gives a brief but illuminating account of this latest phase of\nJewish writing, which is not yet closed, and is likely to stay with us\nfor a long while.\n\nE. M. Adler contributes an eloquent introduction by way of connecting\nthe necessarily independent essays and emphasizing the unity which the\ncollection in a great measure possesses.\n\nThe volume, as we are told in the Preface, \"owes its appearance to the\nUnion of Jewish Literary Societies\" in London, and it does credit to\ntheir earnestness and loyalty to the cause of Jewish learning. Let us\nhope it may serve as an example and incentive to the revival of Jewish\ninterests in this country. It is well that all should read this\nuseful little book and many others of the kind which we hope will\nfollow. But it is more important that such reading shall inspire the\nstudent with a desire to study at first hand the original depositories\nof Jewish thought. For this purpose a serious study of Hebrew is\nimperative. And let us cherish the hope that we may witness a revival\nof, and a wide-spread interest in, Jewish literature in this country\nwhere next to Russia the greatest number of Jews are found and where,\nmoreover, they enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.\n\n _University of Pennsylvania_\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Isaac Husik]\n\n\nIV\n\nA GENERAL SURVEY OF JEWISH LIFE[E]\n\nTHROUGH his _Jewish Life in Modern Times_ Israel Cohen has made a\nnotable contribution to the literature of Jewish life and thought. In\na single volume of scarce 350 pages of text there is presented a\ndescription and estimate of the Jewish position in the modern world\nwhich may well be considered among the most comprehensive and the most\nauthoritative now available in the English language.\n\nTaken as a whole, the volume is noteworthy because of three\ncommendable characteristics. It deals with Jewish life as it appears\nin modern times, not as it should be in the light of the literature of\nthe ancient Hebrews. It presents Jewish life in all its important\naspects and complexities, not on the basis of the theory so widely\nprevalent that religion, of all human activities, constitutes the sole\nbinding force and the only distinguishing characteristic of the\nseparate Jewish existence. Finally, it aims to picture the life of the\nJews in all corners of the Diaspora, and not their problems and\nactivities in a single country or section of the globe.\n\n\n_Jewish Life Not Synonymous With Jewish Religion_\n\nAN exposition of Jewish life as it is actually lived in modern times\nhelps to clarify a much-beclouded situation. It enables the Jew the\nbetter to know himself; it presents to the outside world a clearer\noutline of a figure who must ever, to some extent, remain \"strange\"\nand \"unknowable.\" Moreover, the reader's sense of proportion is\nadjusted by a work which does not make Jewish life synonymous with\nJewish religion. Whether there is sufficient evidence of a biological\nand anthropological character to support the claim of those who look\nupon the Jews as a separate race, whether the Jewish people in their\ndispersion may properly be considered as a distinct national group in\nspite of the absence of a government and a territory of their own, it\nis certainly difficult, in all intellectual honesty, to maintain that\nthe Jews are merely a religious community. One of our brilliant young\nphilosophers has strikingly said that a Jew can change his religion,\nbut that he cannot change his grandfather; nor, he might have added\ncan he destroy his more general antecedents, that complex of customs,\ntraditions and ideals which have manifested themselves in the course\nof thirty-five centuries of recorded history and which create within\nhim an ineradicable historic consciousness. Jewish solidarity is not\ngrounded in religion alone, and the distinctiveness of the Jewish\npeople manifests itself in activities other than religion.\n\nA work which like the present aims to present the Jew in every\nimportant phase of life, which describes the social, political,\neconomic, and intellectual aspects of Jewish life, as well as the\nreligious, deserves commendation because of its mere scope and\ncompleteness. But Mr. Cohen has gone further. He has not fallen into\nthe error of many of the spokesmen for the cultural or historical\nunity of Jewry of denying or even minimizing the potency of religion\nas a factor in Jewish survival. Indeed, he everywhere recognizes that\nthe primary or motor force in the organization of the Jewish\ncommunity, which is the concrete expression of Jewish solidarity, is\nreligious, springing from the desire for public worship. But while\nreligion is the underlying factor, it is not the only factor. There is\na sane coordination of the leading aspects of Jewish life, a clear\ngrasp of the relationship between them.\n\nFinally, the work is significant because it seeks to represent the Jew\nin all lands, to paint Jewish life in all its diversity. Mr. Cohen, an\nEnglishman intimately acquainted with conditions in his own country,\ntravelled extensively on the continent in preparation for his task.\nBut his knowledge of American conditions was derived from study of\nAmerican books and newspapers, and from correspondence, instead of\nfrom personal experience. This accounts for such minor lapses, with\nregard to American conditions, as the statement that the Jews are\n\"excluded from . . . the principal hotels on the east coast of the\nUnited States\" and hence \"take their holiday in the well-known resorts\nof central and southern Europe\" (p. 110). On the whole, however, the\nattempt to describe Jewish life in all its diversity, as it is lived\nby Jews in all lands, is crowned with marked success, and the author\nhas ample justification for his claim that he has brought \"within the\ncovers of a single book the fullest description yet attempted of all\nthe main aspects and problems of Jewish life in the present day.\"\n\n\n_The Various Aspects of Jewish Life_\n\nA MORE detailed statement of the scope and plan of the work may best\nbe given in the author's own words. \"First, a General Survey is\npresented, showing the dispersion and distribution of Jewry in its\ncountless manifestations, its diversity of composition in political\nand spiritual respects, and the solidarity that unifies its disparate\nelements. Then follow five main sections, in each of which a leading\naspect of life is investigated--the social, the political, the\neconomic, the intellectual, and the religious. Under the Social Aspect\nare set forth the growth and constitution of the community, the\ncharacteristics and customs of the home, social life and amenities,\nmorality and philanthropy, and racial and physical conditions. Under\nthe Political Aspect are related how one-half of the people acquired\ncivil equality, how the other half is still suffering in bondage, and\nwhat services Israel has rendered to so many countries in both their\ngovernment and their defence. Under the Economic Aspect are reviewed\nthe different spheres of commercial, industrial and professional\nactivity in which Jews are engaged, the contrasts of material welfare\nand predominance of poverty, and the ceaseless currents of migration\nfrom the lands of bondage to the havens of refuge. Under the\nIntellectual Aspect are considered the advance made by secular\neducation among the Jews, the nature of their national intellectual\nproducts in modern times, and the contributions they have rendered to\nthe progress and culture of humanity. Under the Religious Aspect are\ndescribed their ecclesiastical organization and administration, their\ntraditional faith and observance and the growing divergences\ntherefrom, and then the drift and apostasy that are assuming ever more\nalarming proportions. Finally, the resultant tendency of all the\nforegoing manifestations is examined under the National Aspect, the\nstrength of the forces of assimilation and absorption is contrasted\nwith the inherent force of conservation, and the realization of the\nZionist ideal is urged as the most effective means of ensuring the\nperpetuation of Israel\" (pp. viii-ix).\n\nThe purpose of the author is thus seen to be, first, to present the\nfacts of Jewish life, and secondly, to offer an interpretation of\nthem--\"to depict the variegated life of the Jewish people at the\npresent day in all its intimacy and intensity, and to trace the\nevolution that is being produced by modern forces\" (p. viii). He is\nmore successful in the first of these objects than he is in the\nsecond.\n\nHis shortcomings in interpretation, however, are negative rather than\npositive; they are due to omission rather than to commission. There is\ninadequate consideration of the philosophy of Jewish life; external\ndescription has crowded out internal analysis; the point of view is\ntoo largely objective. While, for example, the conclusion is reached\nthat Zionism is the only permanent and adequate solution of the Jewish\nproblem--with which we do not disagree--insufficient stress is laid\nupon the distinctive Jewish obligation in the Diaspora; the Jewish\ncontributions to general culture and progress which the author\nenumerates with such concreteness and detail are not distinctively\nJewish contributions. Even if Zion is the ultimate destiny of the Jew,\nhe must, in the meantime, justify his separate existence among the\nnations; if he is to remain a Jew as well as a citizen of the world,\nhis contribution must be that of a Jewish citizen; in addition to the\ngeneral obligation of his citizenship, he must fulfil the special\nobligation of his Jewishness. But these deficiencies of\ninterpretation, like the inadequacies of description arising from the\nimpossibility of treating exhaustively so large a field within so\nnarrow a compass, but reflect the inherent limitations of the task set\nhimself by our author.\n\n _University of Michigan._\n\n[Illustration: Signature: I. Leo Sharfman]\n\n\nJEWISH STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS\n\n_An Excerpt from Israel Cohen's Book, \"Jewish Life in Modern Times,\"\npages 105-106:_\n\n\"It was not until the last quarter of the nineteenth century that the\nJewish students at any of the principal seats of learning were\nnumerous enough to form a society of their own. The first\norganization was founded in 1882 in Vienna by Jewish students from\nRussia, Rumania, and Galicia, who entitled their society _Kadimah_,\nwhich means both 'Eastward' and 'Forward,' as an indication of the\nideal of a resettlement in Palestine which they advocated. Since then,\npartly as a result of the advance of Zionism and partly as a result of\nthe anti-Semitic attitude of the general students' corps on the\nContinent, separate societies have been formed by the Jewish students\nat almost every university at which they number at least a dozen, and\nare now found in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Switzerland,\nFrance, and Holland. Some of these societies owe their existence\nsimply to the exclusion of Jews from the general corporation, and they\nadopt a passive attitude on Jewish questions, but the majority are\nanimated by the ideal of Jewish nationalism and actively foster the\nZionist cause. The Jewish nationalist societies in Germany are grouped\ninto two organizations, the 'Bund J\u00fcdischer Corporationen,' founded in\n1901, with a membership of over 600 (graduates and undergraduates),\nand the smaller, 'Kartell Zionistischer Verbindungen,' founded five\nyears later, with a membership of 250. The Zionist students' societies\nin Holland were federated in 1908, but those in other Continental\ncountries pursue an unattached existence. Established to assert and\npromote the principle of Jewish nationalism, these corporations have\nnevertheless adopted all the methods and conventions of German\ncorporations; they each have their distinctive colors, and they hold\n'beer evenings' at which the students sing spirited songs in swelling\nchorus around tables which they bang with their beer-mugs, presided\nover by officers who are accoutred in a gorgeous uniform and armed\nwith a sword that does duty alternately as chairman's hammer and\nconductor's baton. But their songs tell not of Teuton valor but of\nJewish hope, breathing the spirit of a rejuvenated people. Besides\nthese convivial gatherings the members cultivate the study of Jewish\nhistory, literature, and modern problems, and also practice fencing so\nas to be prepared for any duel in which they might be involved in\nvindication of the Jewish name. The Jewish societies at the\nuniversities in English-speaking countries are not, like the\nContinental corps, the inevitable product of an unfriendly\nenvironment, but voluntary associations for the study of Jewish\nquestions and for social intercourse. The Jewish students in England,\nand to a less extent in the United States, join the societies of their\nuniversity; but their racial sympathies prompt them also to fraternize\nwith one another. Thus, Oxford has its Adler Society and Cambridge its\nSchechter Society, whilst at both universities there is also a Zionist\nSociety. Moreover, in the United States, 'Menorah' societies for the\nstudy of Jewish history and the discussion of Jewish questions have\nbeen formed at twenty-five Universities and organized into an\nIntercollegiate 'Menorah' Association with over 1000 members.\"\n\n [There are now 37 Menorah Societies, with an\n approximate membership of 3,000.--ED.]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[B] R. TRAVERS HERFORD: _Pharisaism, Its Aim and Method_. London,\nWilliams and Norgate; New York, Putnam. $1.50. (Any of the books\nreviewed in this article may be ordered through THE MENORAH JOURNAL.)\n\n[C] HARRY S. LEWIS, M.A.: _Liberal Judaism and Social Service_. New\nYork, Bloch Publishing Co. (The Lewisohn Lectures.) $1.00.\n\n[D] LEON SIMON, Editor: _Aspects of the Hebrew Genius_. Essays by\nElkan Adler, Norman Bentwich, H. S. Lewis, S. Daiches, A. Wolf, H.\nSperling, M. Simon, M. H. Segal. London, Routledge. $1.00.\n\n[E] ISRAEL COHEN: _Jewish Life in Modern Times_. New York: Dodd, Mead\n& Co. $3.00.\n\n\n\n\nThe Symbolism of the Menorah[F]\n\nBY HYMAN ASKOWITH\n\n\nAFTER the severe and constantly-expanding test of nearly a decade, the\nfounders of the first Menorah Society may be permitted to felicitate\nthemselves on their choice of the name. For it was far truer of the\nMenorah than it is of most organizations that the choice of a name was\nof vital moment, and the founders were impressed by a number of\nconsiderations which we can all fully appreciate even today. They were\nbent upon choosing a name which would not deter any Jewish student\nfrom enrolling under it with avidity; which would not excite\nopposition from any source; which would command respect and reverence,\nincreasing respect and reverence, both from the University public and\nthe general public; which would be voluntarily adopted by similar\nsocieties in other Universities in preference to any other that might\nbe suggested; and finally, a name with enough charm and euphony and\nsignificant symbolism to stand constant repetition, to bear living\nwith day by day, and all the while grow in our imaginations and yield\nnew beauteous meaning through the years.\n\nFrom a descriptive standpoint, it would be difficult to find a more\nappropriate name for a University society devoted to Hebraic culture\nthan the name Menorah. For there is hardly another available word in\nthe entire range of Hebraic history and learning which is so freighted\nwith sentiment and so symbolic of all that Israel stands for.\n\n\n_The Most Expressive of All Hebraic Symbols_\n\nTAKEN in a general sense, it is evident that the Menorah or\nseven-branched candelabrum, being the distinctive lamp or light of the\nancient Hebrews, serves more distinctively than would the classic\ntorch or the conventional oil lamp to represent Hebrew enlightenment.\nOur aim being to spread the light of Hebraic culture, it is clearly\nfitting that we should employ the Hebraic lamp. It should be more\neffective, too, inasmuch as its light is sevenfold, and our efforts\nare illuminated with a sevenfold splendor.\n\nThe word Menorah, it is worth noting, is among exclusively Hebrew\nwords the only one which would be readily understood by any\nconsiderable number of people aside from students or readers of\nHebrew. It has been made familiar to all by the representation of the\ncaptured Menorah on the Arch of Titus (see _Frontispiece_).\n\nAccording to the Bible, the original Menorah was of divine pattern. It\nwas ordained by God in his instructions to Moses for the sacred\nparaphernalia of the Holy Tabernacle (_Exodus_ XXV, 31 _et seq._). The\nMenorah was thus among the first instruments or tokens of the Hebrew\nreligion, and the only one which in any sense is in our possession\ntoday--the only one which can be perpetuated. The divine pattern is\nstill with us and we are repeatedly modeling new copies from it. The\nMenorah is today, therefore, the most expressive of all concrete\nsymbols of the Hebrew race and religion.\n\n\n_A Favorite Object of Metaphor and Poetic Sentiment_\n\nA HALO of symbolism--almost kaleidoscopic in its manifold\nbeauty--surrounds the Menorah in Hebraic literature and tradition.\nBoth the single light or candle, and the distinctive combination of\nseven, are the favorite objects of metaphor, interpretation, and\npoetic sentiment. In the Bible the word \"ner\" (\u05e0\u05e8)--candle or\nlight, embodied, of course, in the word Menorah (\u05de\u05e0\u05d5\u05e8\u05d4)--is\nused metaphorically in many significant senses. God is a\nlight--enlightening, comforting and honoring his people. The rational\nunderstanding and conscience are lights which search, inform, direct\nand judge us. A profession of faith is called a lamp, which renders\nmen shining and useful and instructors of others. The last two\ninterpretations certainly cast an appropriate reflection on our choice\nof Menorah.\n\nFor the number 7, as we all know, the ancient Hebrews had a singular\nfondness, attributing to it a magic potency. This may have arisen from\nthe traditional story of the seven days of Creation, and the\ninstitution of the Sabbath--without a doubt the most important of\nHebrew institutions. This certainly enhanced the reverence for the\nnumber 7, which soon became the most sacred Hebrew number, bearing\nnearly always the connotation of holiness and sanctity or mystic\nperfection. The acts of atonement and purification were accompanied by\na sevenfold sprinkling. There were seven trumpets, seven priests that\nsounded them seven days around Jericho, seven lamps, seven seals, etc.\nThe seventh day was the Sabbath, the seventh year was the Sabbatical\n(still observed to the well-earned emolument of our professors in the\nUniversities), and seven times seven years brought on the Jubilee. The\nseventh month was the holiest month of the year (which we appreciate\nnow by regarding September as an auspicious month in which to return\nto college studies). The number seven soon came to be used also\nconventionally as an indefinite or round number, indicating\nabundance, completeness, perfection.[1] Cicero calls seven the knot\nand cement of all things, as being that by which the natural and\nspiritual world are comprehended in one idea.\n\n\n_The Manifold Symbolism of the Seven Lamps_\n\nBE that as it may, our ancestral learned men seem to have found no end\nof significant meanings in the seven lamps of the Menorah. Generally\nit was held to represent the creation of the universe in seven days,\nthe center light symbolizing the Sabbath. Again, the seven branches\nare the seven continents of the earth and the seven heavens, guided by\nthe light of God. According to Philo and others, the seven lights\nrepresent the seven planets which, regarded as the eyes of God, behold\neverything.[2] The light in the center, which is especially\ndistinguished, would signify the sun, as the chief of the planets.\nWith this was combined the mystic conception of a celestial tree, with\nleaves reaching to the sky and fruit typifying the planets.\n\nThere would be little difficulty, of course, in extending this\nsymbolistic catalogue ad infinitum. We could easily and perhaps\nprofitably select Seven Wonders of Hebraic history or achievement,\nseven great epochs in the development of Hebraic culture, seven great\nleaders of the race, etc. We might also say that the seven lights\nrepresent the seven chief studies which make up a liberal\neducation--the Trivium and Quadrivium of the Middle Ages,\nsubstantially the foundation of the university curriculum of today[3].\n\nThe words \u05d9\u05d4\u05d9 \u05d0\u05d5\u05e8, \"Let there be light,\" just above the Menorah on our\nseal, are not only reminiscent of the first great word of God,\npregnant in meaning for humanity, but stand also for the purpose of\nthis Society--the relighting of the Menorah in order that it may shed\nits ancient lustre and once again illumine the minds of men with the\nglory and uplift of Hebraic ideals.\n\n[Illustration: REPRODUCTION (ONE-FOURTH THE SIZE OF THE ORIGINAL) OF\nTHE MEMBERSHIP SHINGLE OF THE HARVARD MENORAH SOCIETY, ADOPTED IN ITS\nFIRST YEAR\n\n(1906-07)]\n\n\n_The Symbolism of Palm and Olive Branch_\n\nTHE seal as originally drawn for the Harvard Menorah Society (see\naccompanying illustration of membership shingle) bears two or three\nother symbols which deserve a word of interpretation. Below the\nMenorah appears the so-called Star of David--lately revived by the\nZionist movement as the only exclusively Jewish figure or geometric\nsymbol of any national meaning. Entwined below the seal proper are an\nolive branch and a date palm, both of which are intimately associated\nwith the history of the race in Palestine. They are the two most\ncharacteristic trees of the promised land, and provided the chief\nstaple foods of the Hebrews during their occupation of the country.\nThe olive, moreover, gave the oil with which the Menorah was lit.\nThere is also much fascinating symbolism in the olive tree and the\npalm. Both are evergreens--standing for the persistency of the Hebrew\nrace. The date palm, we are told, has a slender and very yielding\nstem, so that in a storm it sways back and forth but does not break;\nand throughout its length it bears scars showing where leaves have\nfallen off. Could anything be more beautifully expressive of the\ncareer of the Jewish nation? Finally, the olive branch has always\nstood for peace--one of the most cherished and distinctive\nHebraic ideals; and the palm has always stood for intellectual\nachievement--and who would deny the palm to the race that\ngave the world its Bible and all that it stands for?\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Hyman Askowith]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[F] This article is based upon a paper delivered at the Seventh Annual\nBanquet of the Harvard Menorah Society last May.\n\n[1] _Cf._ Gen. vii, 2; xxi, 28-30; I Kings xviii, 43; Deut. xvi, 9;\nEzek. xl, 22; xli, 3.\n\n[2] _Cf._ Zech. iv, 10.\n\n[3] In the form in which this paper was read before the Harvard\nMenorah Society, the following paragraphs of a more local interest\nwere added at this point:\n\n\"And it certainly adds to the eternal fitness of things that there\nshould be just seven letters in the word MENORAH, just seven letters\nin the word HARVARD, and just seven letters in the word SOCIETY;--the\nwhole name of the society thus forming three times seven, or a\nmajority.\n\n\"That there is something much more Hebraic in Harvard than the mere\nmechanical coincidence of seven letters in the name, is well known to\nevery one who is at all aware of the part played by Hebrew ideals in\nthe founding, organization and early history of Harvard. The fact that\nHarvard took root in Hebraic culture and traditions is a welcome and\ngratifying encouragement to this effort to replant the Hebraic\ninfluence on Harvard ground.\"\n\n\n\n\nThe Decennial of the Menorah Movement\n\n\nTHE Menorah movement enters upon its decennial with the beginning of\nthe present academic year, the first Menorah Society having been\norganized at Harvard University in 1906.[G] From this Society with an\noriginal membership of sixteen, the Menorah movement has grown\nthroughout the country so that at the close of the last academic year\nthere were Societies at thirty-seven colleges and universities with a\nmembership of some three thousand. Every Society has arisen upon the\ninitiative of the students themselves, inspired by a desire to pursue\nthe objects embodied in the Menorah. In January, 1913, the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association was formed for the purpose of\nmutual encouragement and co-operation among the several Societies, and\nalso to carry out enterprises beyond the scope and power of any\nindividual Society--such as the publication of THE MENORAH JOURNAL.\n\nOn the threshold of the decennial, and especially since the present\nnumber of the JOURNAL will come into the hands of many new students\nand readers, it may not be amiss again, in brief terms, to review the\npurposes of the movement.\n\n\n_The Three-Fold Purpose of the Menorah Organization_\n\nTHE Menorah Societies have been organized by the students in response\nto their desire first of all to know more about the history,\nliterature, religion--in a word, the culture and ideals of the Jewish\npeople, and the conditions and problems which confront the Jews in the\nworld today. Being thus educational in primary purpose, every Menorah\nSociety is open to all the members of its university who have an\ninterest in Jewish life and thought. And inasmuch as the great\nmajority, if not all, of the students who have such an interest in\nJewish knowledge and Jewish aspirations are themselves Jews, the\nMenorah organization cherishes the second purpose of strengthening the\nJewish idealism and _noblesse oblige_ of the Jewish students, so that\nby understanding and carrying forward their Jewish inheritance they\nmay become better men and women by becoming better Jews. And from this\nmoral aim there flows still a third purpose, that of patriotic\nservice to the Republic; for by enriching the common treasury of\nAmerican culture and ideals with the spiritual resources of the Jewish\npeople, the educated Jews of the country may serve America to the\nprofoundest degree. Animated thus with the spirit and broad purposes\nof our universities, the Menorah Societies have been warmly welcomed\nand generously assisted by the university authorities.\n\n\n_The Distinction Between Menorah and Other Student Societies_\n\nTHE purposes of the Menorah movement will appear in greater relief\nby comparison with the objects of other types of Jewish\norganization--social, political, religious--that have arisen at our\ncolleges and universities. The Menorah Societies are all-inclusive,\nnon-partisan, non-sectarian. Hence they are to be distinguished in the\nfirst place from the exclusive social organizations, such as the Greek\nletter or Hebrew letter fraternities. Being rather educational in\nspirit and purpose, the Menorah Societies make no social test for\nmembership, nor do they pursue any convivial activities except such as\nare deemed desirable for the most agreeable and efficient pursuit of\nthe Menorah objects. Again, the Menorah Societies are clearly\ndistinguishable from the Zionist Societies, which were united last\nJune in the Intercollegiate Zionist Association of America; whereas\nthe Zionist Societies are devoted to a specific political program in\nconfronting the so-called Jewish Question, the Menorah Societies,\nbeing non-partisan, are neither Zionist nor anti-Zionist, but\nperfectly free and open forums for the discussion of all points of\nview. The Menorah membership consists of men and women of divers\nconvictions, as well as of those who have not yet made up their minds\nbut come to the Menorah for enlightenment and inspiration. Finally,\njust because the Menorah appeals to every student who has a liberal\ninterest in Jewish life and thought--to every Jewish student\nparticularly, whatever his present beliefs and ideas--the Menorah\nSocieties are not to be regarded as specifically religious\norganizations. Therefore the observance of religious services and\npractices is left to those students who desire them, individually or\nin appropriate organizations, such as the Jewish Students'\nCongregation organized recently under reform auspices at the\nUniversity of Michigan. The Menorah Societies are neither reform,\nconservative nor orthodox but broadly inclusive of all elements.\n\n\n_The Catholicity and Comradeship of the Menorah_\n\nINDEED, next to the Menorah idea--the sum of Menorah purposes--the\npeculiar strength of the Menorah Societies lies in this catholic\nspirit which determines the Menorah \"open door.\" Thereby the Menorah\nSocieties are enabled to perform more and more an incidental but most\nimportant service apart from the objects to which they are formally\ndedicated. With the growth of various Jewish organizations in our\nuniversities--which, whatever the opinion as to their value and\npropriety, tend to divide the Jewish students rather than to unite\nthem--a most important service performed by the all-inclusive Menorah\nSocieties is to bring the students together, in spite of their various\ndifferences, on a common high plane. As stated over a year ago in the\nAssociation's book on _The Menorah Movement_: \"Where, as in almost all\nlarge universities, there are Jewish students of diverse antecedents,\nit is one of the most important functions of a non-partisan\norganization like the Menorah Society to bring all classes and parties\ntogether upon an academic plane, in order that they may learn each\nother's points of view, in order that their prejudices against one\nanother which are founded on misunderstanding and snobbishness may\nwither away, and in order that they may pursue in generous comradeship\nthe knowledge of their common tradition and the hope of their common\nfuture.\"\n\n\n_The Graduate Phase of the Menorah Movement_\n\nIT is becoming increasingly evident, moreover, that such a unifying\nforce is called for outside of the universities among the graduates\nand other educated Jews; and it is hoped that through the graduate\nphase of the Menorah movement, this need may be subserved by graduate\nMenorah groups in various communities. To quote once more from _The\nMenorah Movement_: \"Such graduate Menorah organizations, while\nacademic and non-partisan in their nature, like the university Menorah\nSocieties, might yet, if properly constituted and conducted, be of\npractical as well as of ideal service to their communities. They could\nbring together, upon the lofty basis of Jewish idealism, men of\ndifferent views in the community, who approach practical Jewish\nproblems in different, sometimes in mutually antagonistic, ways.\nDevoid itself of any sectarian or fraternal or political bias, a\ngraduate Menorah organization should be ideally fitted to serve as a\nkind of intellectual clearing house of the Jewish community, and thus\npromote on all sides a deeper understanding of one another, a clearer\nvision of the common problems, a greater concord in Jewish life.\"\n\nIn any event, it is hoped during the present year to bring the\ngraduates and other public-spirited Jewish citizens into closer touch\nwith the activities and aspirations of the students. At the fourth\nannual Convention of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association to be\nheld during the coming midwinter recess, the idea of graduate Menorah\ncommittees and other forms of possible graduate association with the\nMenorah movement will be carefully considered.\n\n\n_The Year Ahead_\n\nIT may be added that at this Convention, which promises to be the most\nimportant thus far held by the Menorah Societies, there will also be\ngiven a full review of the activities of the Menorah organization\nsince its inception and a survey of the present opportunities and\ndemands for Menorah work throughout the country. More and more\nemphasis will be laid upon the quality of accomplishment of every\nMenorah Society; upon the active participation by all Menorah members\nin one phase or another of Jewish study and labor; and, in general,\nupon an even greater utilization of the lectures, libraries, study\ncourses, and other means provided for the accomplishment of Menorah\nends.\n\nIn this terrible time for Jewry, amid the general catastrophe, when\nhundreds of thousands of Jewish young men are offering their lives\nheroically in the contending armies, the members of the Menorah\nSocieties in this favored country cannot but enter upon the new year\nwith a solemn sense of added responsibility. More than ever in this\ndecennial year of the Menorah movement is intellectual and moral\nconsecration to Jewish ideals demanded of Jewish students in America.\n\n Henry Hurwitz, _Chancellor_\n I. Leo Sharfman, _President_\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[G] It should be noted that in 1903 a Jewish literary society was\nfounded at the University of Minnesota which was later changed to a\nMenorah Society and is now one of the constituents of the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association.\n\n\n\n\nMenorah Notes and News\n\n\n=The International Students' Reunion=\n\nTHE Intercollegiate Menorah Association was represented at the\nInternational Students' Reunion, which was held in connection with the\nPanama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco, the\nUniversity of California, and Leland Stanford University, under the\nauspices of Corda Fratres Association of Cosmopolitan Clubs, from\nAugust 16th to 21st, 1915. Intercollegiate Vice-President Milton D.\nSapiro read a paper at the session in the Civic Auditorium, San\nFrancisco, on \"The Purposes of the Menorah Movement,\" submitted by the\nChancellor. Dr. Horace M. Kallen, of the University of Wisconsin,\ndelivered a discourse at the session at Stanford University on \"The\nHebraic Spirit.\" The following is an abstract of his address:\n\n\n_Dr. Kallen on \"The Hebraic Spirit\"_\n\n\"A people's spirit is its character, considered not as a cluster of\nqualities, but as a spring and form of action--action that expresses\nitself in social institutions, in political and economic organization,\nin art, in religion and in philosophy; in short, in all that\nexpressive part of human life we call culture. A people's culture is\norganic. However varied its form and media, the varieties springing\nfrom a single source possess an identical and unique quality which is\nthe quality of that source. They express and reveal it, as generative\npower, a force of creation, having good or evil bearing upon the\nresidual civilization. The process of such revelation is a people's\ntotal history; just as the process of revelation of an individual's\ncharacter is his total biography. To find the Hebraic spirit we must\nseek its substantial development in the culture and ideals of the\nJewish people--in the unfoldment, in the history of their common\nattitude toward the world and toward man, in their theory of life.\n\n\"The Jewish theory of life involves three fundamental conceptions,\ninterdependent, and forming a unit which has no near parallel in\ncivilization.\n\n\"The first of these conceptions defines the nature of God. What is\nsignificant about it is the fact that it makes no distinction between\nGod and Nature. God is Nature and Nature is God. The two are related\nto each other as a force and its operation, and what difference there\nexists between them is a difference in completeness and\nself-sufficiency, not in kind. God reveals himself thus in and as the\ncause of Nature, the whirlwind, the process of life and decay, the\ndevelopment of history. His essence is Change, Force, Time. There is\nhence no Hebrew word for eternal; God's attitude is everlasting. That\nis, that which changes yet retains its identity, as a man changes from\ninfancy to manhood, yet retains his identity.\n\n\"God is one, all-inclusive, everlastingly creative. In consequence,\nthere exists a real distinction between God and man, such that the one\ncannot be defined in analogy with anything human. Neither wisdom, nor\ngoodness, nor justice apply to him; yet the goodness, wisdom and\njustice of man depend upon him. Man is a finite speck set over against\ndivine infinitude. His life is a constant struggle for survival with\nforces which have each an equal claim on divine regard with man. Man's\nsalvation, herein, consists in knowing these facts, in understanding,\nusing them, and guarding against them. The fear of the Lord, sings the\nchorus in Job, is the beginning of wisdom, and to depart from evil is\nunderstanding.\n\n\"To depart from evil is to act as a social being, to be righteous.\nRighteousness is acknowledgment of the value and integrity of other\npersons. It is the application of justice in all fields of human\nendeavor, particularly in fundamental economics. Thus the three\nhistoric constitutions of the Jewish state, the Covenant, Deuteronomy\nand the Levitical code, are all directed toward making impossible\nother than natural inequalities within the state. Their intention is a\nsocial democracy; and all Jewish law, departing from this fundamental\nintention, aims, under various conditions, to realize it. The\nprophets, from Amos to Isaiah, preach it; and men like Ferdinand\nLassalle, Karl Marx, Jean de Bloch, simply enhance their tradition.\n\n\"The Hebraic spirit carries the principle of democracy beyond the\nindividual to the group. Men having a common ancestry, history,\nculture and ideals, living a common life, have definite contribution\nto make to civilization as a group. They constitute a nationality and\nthe principles of justice that apply among individuals must apply\nequally among nationalities. Hence Hebraism, through its prophets,\nformulates the conception of an internationalism, consisting of a\nco-operative democracy of nationalities, under conditions of universal\npeace. The great Isaiah, who flourished in the fifth century B. C., is\nthe first to formulate this national vision. His people have never\ndeparted from it. In terms of it, they have been the foremost\nprotagonists of a constructive internationalism, in every land and at\nall times. Recently, as they have begun to find that their service to\ncivilization as a people grows more and more impaired by the Diaspora,\nthey have formulated a program of national reconcentration in\nPalestine, and of the free development there of Hebraic culture and\nideals such as all European peoples carry out in their own homelands\nof their culture and ideals. This program is called Zionism. It is the\npractical and most expressive incarnation of the Hebraic Spirit.\"\n\n\n=California Menorah Society=\n\nTHE California Menorah Society met on Monday evening, August 30th, for\nits first meeting of the college year. There was an attendance of 125.\nMr. Louis I. Newman gave a short talk on the aims of the Menorah\nmovement. Milton D. Sapiro, first President of the California Menorah\nand now the second Vice-President of the Intercollegiate Menorah\nAssociation, spoke on the history of the movement, tracing the\ndevelopment of the Menorah idea and the formation of the\nIntercollegiate body; and in closing he presented Stanley Arndt, now\nPresident of the Society, with a bronze Menorah, which is to be handed\ndown from President to President each year. President Arndt, in\naccepting the Menorah, said that it suggested the great problem that\nthe Jews are now facing. The great question at the present time is\nwhether this Menorah will be a mere symbol of the past glories, the\npast achievements of the Jews, whether it is to be a mere monument of\na dying race, or the living emblem of a living race, the soul of a\nliving people. As an exponent of the latter doctrine, he introduced\nDr. Horace M. Kallen of the University of Wisconsin, Intercollegiate\nMenorah Lecturer.\n\nDr. Kallen spoke on \"The Jews and the Great War.\" He pointed out that\ndemocracy in its essence was the liberation of individuality; that by\nbeing most one's self, a person or a nation does the most for his\nneighbors. First of all, therefore, we should know ourselves. Dr.\nKallen then took up the condition of the Jews in Russia. He discussed\nthe frightful persecutions there as the result of a great anti-Jewish\nconspiracy to cover up the graft, the corruption and the inefficiency\nof the government. He spoke on the great drive of the Jews from the\nPale by the military authorities and then the drive back again by the\ncivil authorities. This, he pointed out, involved not only a Jewish\nproblem, but a great international one besides. The second phase of\nthe Jewish question was that of a free Jewish life in Palestine. There\nthe Jewish colonists have practically an autonomy of their own; they\nhave established a Jewish stage, Jewish art, Jewish music; and the\ncolonies were founded upon a social democratic basis, upon the same\nfundamental conceptions of social democracy that the Hebrew Prophets\nhad preached. Dr. Kallen concluded with a plea for the Jew's double\nresponsibility. The Jew commits a crime hot only as a citizen but as a\nJew. The Jews who in length of service to the world are surely an\naristocracy must carry this responsibility.\n\nIn the discussion which followed, Professor Simon Litman of Illinois,\nwho was present, took part.\n\nA Menorah prize of $50. was announced at this meeting. The judges will\nbe Professor William Popper and Dr. Martin A. Meyer of the Semitics\nDepartment of the University, and Judge Max Sloss of the Supreme Court\nof California.\n\nA musical program, followed by an informal reception to the new\nmembers, completed the evening.\n\nN. M. Lyon, the Treasurer of the Intercollegiate, formerly of\nCincinnati, is now a student at California and a member of the\nCalifornia Menorah.\n\n\n=Dr. Kallen on the Pacific Coast=\n\nBESIDES his address at the opening meeting of the California Menorah\nSociety and other informal talks with the students, Dr. Kallen\ndelivered a series of three addresses at the University of California,\nunder the auspices of the Department of Philosophy, on the general\nsubject: \"The Hebraic Tradition in Europe.\" On August 31st, he\nlectured upon \"The Rise and Significance of the Hebraic Tradition\"; on\nSeptember 1st, \"Hebraism and Democracy\"; and September 2nd, \"Hebraism\nand Art.\"\n\nOn August 30th, Dr. Kallen met a company of graduates and other\npublic-spirited Jewish citizens in San Francisco at luncheon and\nexplained the purposes and activities of the Intercollegiate Menorah\nAssociation.\n\nDr. Kallen addressed the Menorah Society of the University of\nWashington in Seattle on August 14th, on \"The Jewish Question and the\nGreat War.\" He also met at a dinner a company of graduates and other\npublic-spirited Jewish citizens in Seattle, and explained to them the\npurposes and activities of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association.\n\n\n=Dr. Harry Wolfson of Harvard=\n\nHARRY AUSTRYN WOLFSON, the author of the articles on \"Jewish Students\nin European Universities,\" published in the first two numbers of the\nJournal, has been appointed Instructor in Jewish Literature and\nPhilosophy at Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard\nlast June in the field of Semitic Philology, his thesis subject being\n\"Crescas on the Problems of Infinity and Divine Attributes.\"\n\nDuring the ensuing year he will give the following courses:\nPost-Biblical Hebrew, Jewish Aramaic, Jewish Literature and Life From\nthe Second to the End of the Seventeenth Century, and An Introduction\nto Medieval Jewish Philosophy.\n\n\n=Cornell Summer Meeting=\n\nON August 8, 1915, the Cornell Menorah Society held a meeting for the\nsummer students. There was an attendance of about 50, both Jews and\nnon-Jews. Rev. Dr. H. P. Mendes, of New York, gave an address on\n\"Bible Ideals in Modern Times,\" and Professor Frank Carney of Denison\nUniversity, Professor of Industrial Geography in the Cornell Summer\nSchool, spoke on \"The Inorganic Basis of the Hebrew Contribution to\nthe World.\" Professor W.A. Hurwitz of Cornell spoke briefly on the\nscope of the Menorah movement, and Dr. L. L. Silverman played Kol\nNidre on the violin.\n\n\n=Hunter Menorah Society=\n\nTHE Menorah Society of Hunter College, in New York City, begins its\nthird year with a marked increase in the enthusiasm and the number of\nits members. A program dealing with various phases of Hebrew culture\nhas been planned for the regular monthly meetings, comprising lectures\non the Bible, the Talmud, Medieval Hebrew Poetry, Modern Hebrew\nLiterature, Hebrew Music, and Hebrew Art. In addition, the Society\nhopes to present a pageant and a reception to freshmen in February\n(for Hunter College admits two classes during the year). The lectures\nwill be preceded by refreshments, and the singing of Hebrew songs by\nthe Menorah Glee Club.\n\nBesides the regular monthly meetings, the Society is organizing\ncourses in conversational Hebrew, Bible Study, and Zionism--the first\nto meet weekly, the others on alternate weeks.\n\nIt is also hoped to have a general informal meeting every week to\ndiscuss modern Jewish problems in connection with the reading of\nvarious newspapers and periodicals.\n\n\n=College of the City of New York=\n\nTHE Menorah Society of the College of the City of New York closed its\nactivities during the past year with a very interesting meeting held\non May 20, 1915. Rev. Dr. H. Pereira Mendes spoke on \"Jewish Ideals of\nPeace,\" and he was introduced by the new President of the College, Dr.\nSidney Edward Mezes, who presided. Dr. Mezes has come to City College\nfrom the University of Texas, and it is gratifying to note that he had\nalready been made familiar with the Menorah work through the Texas\nMenorah Society.\n\nThe new year was opened with a forum meeting on September 21st, in the\nMenorah alcove, when the Chancellor addressed a number of new men as\nwell as old, upon the significance and the increasing scope of the\nMenorah movement. The week beginning October 3rd will be known as\n\"Menorah Week\" at the College. On Monday, October 4th, the study\ncircles will meet for the first time; on Tuesday there will be another\nmeeting of the Menorah forum; on Wednesday a semi-annual smoker will\nbe held in the City College Club; and on Thursday, Mr. Marcus M.\nMarks, President of the Borough of Manhattan, will deliver a lecture\nto the student body under the auspices of the Menorah Society.\n\n\n=Fourth Annual Convention=\n\nIMPORTANT matters touching the development of Intercollegiate\nactivities, the work and membership of the constituent Societies, the\nassociation of graduates with the Intercollegiate body, the problems\nand plans of THE MENORAH JOURNAL, will be among the subjects presented\nfor discussion and decision at the Fourth Menorah Convention, to be\nheld during the coming mid-winter recess. The precise days and place\nof the Convention will shortly be decided by the Administrative\nCouncil, in accordance with Article II, Section 4, of the\nIntercollegiate Constitution. In addition to the business sessions\nthere will also be a formal dinner and an academic session devoted to\nthe reading of papers by eminent scholars. It is hoped that a large\nnumber of Menorah men and women from all parts of the country will be\nable to attend. Further details will be published in the next number\nof the JOURNAL.\n\n\n=Informal Gathering of Menorah Officers=\n\nON June 21, 1915, there was an informal gathering at the headquarters\nof the Intercollegiate Association, 600 Madison Avenue, New York City,\nof Menorah officers who happened to be in New York. There were\npresent, besides the Chancellor, President I. Leo Sharfman,\nVice-President Abraham J. Feldman, and Secretary Charles K. Feinberg\nof the Association, President Stanley Arndt of California, President\nJacob Rubinoff of Pennsylvania, ex-President Leon J. Rosenthal of\nCornell, ex-President George J. Horowitz, President Moses H. Gitelson,\nTreasurer Herman I. Trachman of College of the City of New York,\nPresident Bernard J. Reis of New York University (Washington Square),\nex-President Samuel Sussman of Columbia, President Sarah Berenson,\nVice-President Babette Reinhardt, Treasurer Minnie Weiss, and\nSecretary Ernestine P. Franklin and ex-Secretary Julia Mitchell of\nHunter, and Dr. H. M. Kallen of Wisconsin.\n\nThere was informal discussion of the activities of the various\nSocieties, the progress of THE MENORAH JOURNAL, the program of the\nnext Intercollegiate Convention, and the development of the graduate\nphase of the Menorah movement.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nObvious punctuation errors repaired.\n\nThis text uses both today and to-day. Also used were Roumania and\nRumania.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE MENORAH JOURNAL\n\n[Illustration]\n\n VOLUME I December\n No. 5 1915\n\n\n Frontispiece: Theodor Herzl Etching by Hermann Struck\n\n The Menorah THEODOR HERZL\n\n The Present Crisis in American Jewry ISRAEL FRIEDLAENDER\n\n Our Spiritual Inheritance IRVING LEHMAN\n\n Adam Prometheus, and Other Lyrics LOUIS K. ANSPACHER\n\n Sholom Asch: The Jewish Maupassant PERCY B. SHOSTAC\n A Menorah Prize Essay\n\n Liberalism and the Jews JOSEPH JACOBS\n\n What Is Judaism? MORDECAI M. KAPLAN\n\n University Menorah Addresses\n\n Activities of Menorah Societies\n\n * * * * *\n\n =PUBLISHED BY THE INTERCOLLEGIATE MENORAH ASSOCIATION=\n =600 MADISON AVENUE NEW YORK -:- -:- -:- 25 CTS. A COPY=\n\n\n\n\nINTERCOLLEGIATE MENORAH ASSOCIATION\n\nFor the Study and Advancement of Jewish Culture and Ideals\n\n\nOFFICERS\n\n Chancellor\n HENRY HURWITZ\n 600 Madison Ave., New York\n\n President\n I. LEO SHARFMAN\n University of Michigan\n\n First Vice-President\n ISADORE LEVIN\n Harvard University\n\n Second Vice-President\n MILTON D. SAPIRO\n University of California\n\n Third Vice-President\n ABRAHAM J. FELDMAN\n University of Cincinnati\n\n Treasurer\n N. MORAIS LYON\n University of California\n\n Secretary\n CHARLES K. FEINBERG\n New York University\n\n\nTHE ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL\n\n Boston University: Maurice Horblit\n Brown University: Ismar Baruch\n Clark University: Max Smelensky\n College of the City of New York: G. J. Horowitz\n Columbia University: M. D. Hoffman\n Cornell University: Leon J. Rosenthal\n Harvard University: Ralph A. Newman\n Hunter College: Sarah R. Friedman\n Johns Hopkins University: Millard Eiseman\n New York University: Charles K. Feinberg\n Ohio State University: Samuel Lesser\n Penn State College: J. K. Miller\n Radcliffe College: Anna Rogovin\n Rutgers College: Louis B. Gittleman\n Tufts College: Philip Marzynski\n University of California: Louis I. Newman\n University of Chicago: David Levy\n University of Cincinnati: Abraham J. Feldman\n University of Colorado: Morris Baskin\n University of Denver: Jacob Butcher\n University of Illinois: Sidney Casner\n University of Maine: Lewis H. Kriger\n University of Michigan: Jacob Levin\n University of Minnesota: Moses Barron\n University of Missouri: J. L. Ellman\n University of North Carolina: Albert Oettinger\n University of Omaha: Jacques Rieur\n University of Pennsylvania: Jacob Rubinoff\n University of Pittsburgh: A. Jerome Levy\n University of Texas: H. J. Ettlinger\n University of Washington: Roy Rosenthal\n University of Wisconsin: H. M. Kallen\n Valparaiso University: Florence Turner\n Western Reserve University: Benjamin Roth\n Yale University: Reuben Horchow\n AND THE OFFICERS\n\n Office of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association\n 600 Madison Avenue, New York\n\n\n\n\nTHE MENORAH JOURNAL\n\n _Published Bi-monthly During the Academic Year By_\n _The Intercollegiate Menorah Association_\n _\"For the Study and Advancement of Jewish Culture and Ideals\"\n 600 Madison Avenue, New York_\n\n\n _Editor-in-Chief_\n HENRY HURWITZ\n\n _Associate Editor_\n I. LEO SHARFMAN\n\n _Managing Editor_\n H. ASKOWITH\n\n _Business Manager_\n B. S. POUZZNER\n\n\n_Board of Consulting Editors_\n\n DR. CYRUS ADLER\n LOUIS D. BRANDEIS\n DR. LEE K. FRANKEL\n PROF. FELIX FRANKFURTER\n PROF. ISRAEL FRIEDLAENDER\n PROF. RICHARD GOTTHEIL\n DR. MAX HELLER\n DR. JOSEPH JACOBS\n DR. KAUFMANN KOHLER\n JUSTICE IRVING LEHMAN\n JUDGE JULIAN W. MACK\n DR. J. L. MAGNES\n PROF. MAX L. MARGOLIS\n DR. H. PEREIRA MENDES\n DR. MARTIN A. MEYER\n DR. DAVID PHILIPSON\n DR. SOLOMON SCHECHTER\n HON. OSCAR S. STRAUS\n SAMUEL STRAUSS\n JUDGE MAYER SULZBERGER\n MISS HENRIETTA SZOLD\n FELIX M. WARBURG\n DR. STEPHEN S. WISE\n\n * * * * *\n\n VOLUME I DECEMBER, 1915 NUMBER 5\n\n=CONTENTS=\n\n PAGE\n\n _Frontispiece_: THEODOR HERZL _From an Etching by Hermann Struck_\n\n THE MENORAH _Theodor Herzl_ 261\n _Translation by Bessie London Pouzzner_\n\n THE PRESENT CRISIS IN AMERICAN JEWRY _Israel Friedlaender_ 265\n\n OUR SPIRITUAL INHERITANCE _Irving Lehman_ 277\n\n ADAM PROMETHEUS, and OTHER LYRICS _Louis K. Anspacher_ 282\n\n SHOLOM ASCH: THE JEWISH MAUPASSANT _Percy B. Shostac_ 285\n _A Menorah Prize Essay_\n\n LIBERALISM AND THE JEWS _Joseph Jacobs_ 298\n\n WHAT IS JUDAISM? _Second Paper_ _Mordecai M. Kaplan_ 309\n\n UNIVERSITY MENORAH ADDRESSES 319\n\n INTERCOLLEGIATE MENORAH NOTES 322\n\n ACTIVITIES OF MENORAH SOCIETIES 324\n\n INDEX _to Volume I of THE MENORAH JOURNAL_ 333\n\n * * * * *\n\n 25 cents a copy. Subscription, $1.00 a year; in\n Canada, $1.25; abroad, $1.50\n\n _Copyright, 1915, by The Intercollegiate Menorah\n Association. All rights reserved\n\n Entered as second class matter January 6, 1915, at the\n New York Post Office, under the Act of March 3, 1879_\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n =DIEGES & CLUST=\n =20 JOHN STREET=\n =NEW YORK CITY, N. Y.=\n\n * * * * *\n\n =Manufacturing Jewelers\n for the Leading Colleges\n Schools and Associations=\n\n_=Class, Fraternity, Club and Society Pins, Medals and Badges, Loving\nCups, Plaques and Trophies of All Descriptions, Diamonds, Watches,\nJewelry, Silverware.=_\n\n * * * * *\n\n =FOR=\n =KOHUT SCHOOL= =BOYS=\n =254th St. & Independence Ave. Phone 367 Kingsbridge=\n =Riverdale-on-Hudson New York City=\n\n_An Ideal Boarding and Day School_\n\nALL DAY IN THE COUNTRY\n\nUnexcelled Advantages of Refined home Physical training, and outdoor\nsports under rigid supervision\n\nResident Masters and House-mother\n\nIndividualized attention in the class-room\n\nGardening, Manual Training\n\nBible Study and Elementary Hebrew\n\nFor Booklet, Address at School\n\n=HARRY J. KUGEL, Principal.=\n\n\n=KAMP KOHUT, A Boys' Summer Camp at Oxford, Maine. Under the personal\ndirection of GEO. A. KOHUT, Ph.D.=\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Jews of Russia and Poland\n\n=A Bird's-Eye View of their History and Culture=\n\n =By Israel Friedlaender, Ph.D.=\n Professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America\n\n=12^o. With a Map. $1.25 net=\n\nA popular account of the Polish and Russian Jews whose Pale of\nSettlement is the battleground of Teuton and Slav. It elucidates the\nproblem of Russian Jewry which, at the termination of the world\nstruggle, will claim alike the attention of statesman and\nhumanitarian. It interprets the complex psychology of the Russian Jew\nwho is becoming an important factor in the life of America.\n\n_ALL BOOKSELLERS_\n\n =G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS=\n =NEW YORK, 2-6 West 45th Street LONDON, 24 Bedford Street=\n\n * * * * *\n\nKindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n=Until January 15, 1916=\n\nThe Menorah Journal will present as a special gift to all new and\nrenewing subscribers (on request) a copy of the Portrait of Theodor\nHerzl from the autographed etching by Hermann Struck (the frontispiece\nto this issue), printed on art paper, and admirably suited for\nframing. The Portrait will be sent, carefully wrapped, to any address\ndesired. Present subscribers may secure this gift by remitting now for\nan extension of their subscription for one year, regardless of the\ndate when their present subscription expires. For each subscription\nsecured from friends, moreover, we will gladly send a copy of the\nPortrait either to the subscriber or the sender. Give specific\ninstructions, and address The Menorah Journal, 52 Vanderbilt Avenue,\nNew York.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n=You Would, Wouldn't You--?=\n\nIf you knew that there was a tiny little book, just large enough to\nslip into your pocket, that you could read through in a few\ntrolley-car or train rides--and when you got through have an\nintelligent, broad, philosophic grasp of the entire history of the\nJews--not just a lot of names and dates, you know, but the big vital\nfacts that count and that you can remember and talk about, and never\nbe embarrassed by ignorance,--and best of all, if you could get a\nlittle wonder book like that for just 40 cents, you'd send for it\nquick, wouldn't you?\n\nWell we have just such a book, all ready for you--Paul Goodman's\nlittle \"_History of the Jews_\"--in the Temple Classics (the little\nbooks, you remember, that made Shakespere famous)--beautifully bound,\na joy to handle, and a greater joy to read. Just write your name and\naddress on this ad, tear it out, and mail to The Menorah Journal, 52\nVanderbilt Avenue, New York (with 40 cents in stamps for each copy you\nwant--you can have as many as you like--they make dandy little\ngifts,--we'll send the other copies direct, if you like, to the\naddresses you give us).\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n[Illustration: Kranich & Bach]\n\n_Ultra-Quality_ Pianos _and_ Player Pianos\n\nThe Choice of Cultured Musicians\n\nOf all the beautiful possessions with which the refined home is\nadorned, none other is so indicative of the owner's culture and\nmusical taste as a GRAND Piano. Those first impressions of\ndiscriminating taste, instantly aroused by the simple beauty of the\nKranich & Bach Grand, are confirmed and enhanced by the exquisite tone\nof this matchless instrument.\n\n[Illustration: Small Grand\n\nPrice $700\n\n(Freight and handling added)\n\nDeferred Payments Practically at Your Convenience.]\n\nWords can convey little conception of the artistic superiority of the\nKranich & Bach Small Grand. Although only 5'4\" long it produces, in a\nmanner almost unbelievable, all the magnificent qualities of tone that\nmake \"grands\" infinitely more satisfying than \"upright\" pianos. With\nits new full-tone scale and the marvelous \"Isotonic Pedal,\" this\nsuperb instrument IS the Small Grand leader of the world--_supreme and\nincomparable_.\n\n _Golden Anniversary Booklet Mailed on Request._\n KRANICH & BACH, 233-243 E. 23d St., New York\n\n * * * * *\n\nKindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers\n\n * * * * *\n\n\nA WAR-TIME BOOK BARGAIN\n\n =The Greatest Word Master in All Literature=\n\n =Six Attractive Cloth-Bound Volumes to a Set=\n\n =Good Bible Paper, Large, Clear Type, Gold\n Decorations, Duotone Illustrations=\n\n[Illustration: Photograph, Greatly Reduced]\n\nIMPORTED HUGO SETS\n\nBuy these sets today\n\n=$1.60=\n\nThe European War in destroying the book market of England made\npossible this great opportunity for you. Nelsons, the famous Bible\npublishers over-stocked with new editions, turned to this country for\nbuyers, and sold the sets for the mere cost of paper and binding. 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Work this for all\n you are worth between now and January 15th, and you\n will add a substantial sum to your financial\n resources. _You_ need the money--and _we_ need the\n subscriptions. The indubitable fact that lots of men\n and women in your neighborhood really need THE MENORAH\n JOURNAL makes the prospects for both of us exceedingly\n bright.\n\nCash in! The chance is yours for the asking and the taking.\n\nThe time is short. Every day you let go by means money lost. Write to\nTHE MENORAH JOURNAL, 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, for sample\ncopies, terms, etc.--but meanwhile read the announcement (in the front\npages) of the good things THE JOURNAL will have in 1916,--and begin\nseeing your friends _at once_.\n\n_P. S.--Ask about the special Prizes and Cash Rebates when you write_\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n =ALL HUMAN KNOWLEDGE\n SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN\n IS _CONCENTRATED_ IN=\n\n THIS\n ONE\n MIGHTY\n BOOK\n\n Ask The\n Standard\n\n It\n Never Fails\n\n=THE FUNK & WAGNALLS=\n\n=New Standard Dictionary=\n\n\n=KNOW WHAT THE WAR-WORDS MEAN=\n\n Burgomaster\n Reservist\n Contraband\n Mobilize\n Mitrailleuse\n Moratorium\n Armistice\n Armageddon\n Belligerent\n Entente\n Dreibund\n Enfilade\n Neutrality\n Landsturm\n Landwehr\n Cossack\n\n=Every Word used in War or Peace is fully defined in the NEW Standard=\n\n\n=The World's Great Wonder Book--=\n\nIt gives accurate, concise, and the most recent information on every\nWord, Name, Place, Person, and Thing; on every Phrase, Term, and\nExpression in the living English language--on everything alive that\ncan be spelled in English.\n\n\n=Lavish Expenditure to Make It Superior--=\n\nIt cost nearly $1,500,000 to complete; for nearly four years 380 of\nthe world's foremost editors and specialists labored upon it\nunceasingly.\n\n\n=A Reference Work Beyond Comparison--=\n\nThere are over 3,000 pages; 7,000 pictorial illustrations, including\nmany beautiful colored plates; it defines 450,000 terms, many\nthousands more than any other dictionary. It is the only dictionary\nthe contents of which are arranged in one alphabetical order--an\nimmense time-saver.\n\n\n=Most Authoritative Dictionary--=\n\nSix months after publication 75,000 copies had been sold; it is the\ndependable authority in all branches of the United States Government,\nin Courts of Law, in the leading Universities and Colleges, and in the\nPublic Schools. In commercial life the NEW Standard is popularly\nrecognized as the _one_ dictionary that never fails.\n\n\n=A Superb Christmas Gift=\n\nFor the home, the school, the business and professional office, no\npresent can be more useful or acceptable than this handsome volume; it\nwill serve for years to come as a constant and valuable reminder of\nthe giver.\n\n\n=Send for Descriptive Booklet--_FREE_=\n\nSign the coupon and mail it to us so that we may send you by mail\ninteresting information regarding this peerless work, with\ndescriptions of the different beautiful bindings, prices, and easy\nterms of payment.\n\n=FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers, NEW YORK=\n\n\n=U. S. 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GILSON, Vice-President WALTER CHANDLER, Jr., General Manager\n\n * * * * *\n\n[Illustration]\n\n =The Only Grand Prize\n (Highest Award) given to\n Dictionaries at the\n Panama-Pacific Exposition\n _was granted to_=\n\n =WEBSTER'S\n NEW INTERNATIONAL=\n\n =For Superiority of Educational Merit.=\n\nThis _=new=_ creation answers with _=final=_ authority all kinds of\npuzzling questions such as \"How is _Przemysl_ pronounced?\" \"Where is\n_Flanders_?\" \"What is a _continuous voyage_?\" \"What is a _howitzer_?\"\n\"What is _white coal_?\" and thousands of others.\n\n=More than 400,000 Vocabulary Terms. 30,000 Geographical Subjects.\n12,000 Biographical Entries. 6000 Illustrations. 2700 Pages. The only\ndictionary with the divided page--a stroke of genius.=\n\n[Illustration]\n\n=REGULAR and INDIA-PAPER EDITIONS.=\n\n=Write= for specimen pages, illustrations, etc. =Free=, a set of\nPocket Maps if you name this paper.\n\n =G. & C. MERRIAM CO.,\n Springfield, Mass.=\n\n * * * * *\n\n =Member of American Museum of Natural History=\n\n =B. B. Amrom=\n\n =Collector and Expert Repairer of=\n\n =Antiques=\n\n Chippendale, Sheraton, Heppelwhite, Adams,\n Jacobean Furniture, Works of Art and\n Decorations, Sheffield Plate,\n Bric-a-Brac\n\n Pewter Historical Plates, Door Knockers and\n Curiosities\n\n _=Jewish Domestic and Ceremonial Objects=_\n\n INTERIOR DECORATOR\n AND UPHOLSTERER\n FINE CABINET WORK\n\n =728 Lexington Ave. New York=\n =Telephone--Plaza 854=\n\n * * * * *\n\nKindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n =Hotel Cumberland= New\n York\n\n[Illustration]\n\nS. W. CORNER BROADWAY AT 54TH STREET\n\n\"Broadway\" Cars from Grand Central Depot\n\n * * * * *\n\n=Kept by a College Man=\n\n=Headquarters for College Men=\n\nTen minutes' walk to forty theatres.\n\nRooms, with bath, $2.50 and up. New, modern and fireproof.\n\n=Special Rates for College Teams and Students=\n\n H A R R Y P. S T I M S O N, M a n a g e r\n\n=The Cumberland does more college business than any other New York\nHotel=\n\nHEADQUARTERS FOR STUDENTS\n\n * * * * *\n\n=\"THE MENORAH MOVEMENT\"=\n\nA book of 180 pages (paper bound) giving a full account of the origin\nand development of the Menorah movement which has now extended to 35\ncolleges and universities throughout the country. The book contains\nalso addresses by many university heads and leaders in American Jewry.\n\nOnly a limited number of copies remain from an edition of 5,000. While\nthey last copies may be procured on request by those who send in their\nsubscriptions to The Menorah Journal directly to the office of the\nJournal, 600 Madison Avenue, New York.\n\n * * * * *\n\nHOTEL LENOX\n\n=Corner Boylston and Exeter Sts., Boston, Mass.=\n\n * * * * *\n\nKindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers\n\n * * * * *\n\nColumbia\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDouble-Disc Records\n\nThe finest silver thread of music spun by the wizard bow of Ysaye--the\ntears and feeling in the tender depths of Fremstad's noble voice--the\nsheer magnificence of a thrilling orchestral _finale_--all these\nelusive tonal beauties are caught and expressed in Columbia Records,\nfrom the faintest whisper to the vastest tidal wave of sound.\n\nVolume--TONE--feeling--the most delicate shading of a theme are\nperfectly preserved and supremely present in every Columbia Record--an\nexquisite tone-perfection that does not vanish with use.\n\nYou can test these exclusive qualities in a series of home recitals\nsuch as no concert audience is ever privileged to hear. Arrange your\nfirst recital _to-day_.\n\n =Columbia Graphophone Company=\n =Woolworth Building, New York=\n\n =_Prices in Canada Plus Duty_=\n\n[Illustration: _Grafonola 110_\n\n_Price $110_]\n\n[Illustration: Columbia\n\nNote the Notes]\n\n * * * * *\n\nKindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers\n\n * * * * *\n\n[Illustration: signature: Dr Theodor Herzl\n\n_From an Etching by Hermann Struck, Autographed by Theodor Herzl._\n\n_Reproduced from the Original by Courtesy of the Berlin Photographic\nCo._\n\n _Frontispiece_\n THE MENORAH JOURNAL\n _December, 1915_]\n\n\n\n\nTHE\n\nMENORAH JOURNAL\n\n VOLUME I DECEMBER, 1915 NUMBER 5\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nThe Menorah\n\nBY THEODOR HERZL\n\n_Translated from the German by Bessie London Pouzzner_\n\n\nDEEP in his soul he began to feel the need of being a Jew. His\ncircumstances were not unsatisfactory; he enjoyed an ample income and\na profession that permitted him to do whatever his heart desired. For\nhe was an artist. His Jewish origin and the faith of his fathers had\nlong since ceased to trouble him, when suddenly the old hatred came to\nthe surface again in a new mob-cry. With many others he believed that\nthis flood would shortly subside. But there was no change for the\nbetter; in fact, things went from bad to worse; and every blow, even\nthough not aimed directly at him, struck him with fresh pain, till\nlittle by little his soul became one bleeding wound. These sorrows,\nburied deep in his heart and silenced there, evoked thoughts of their\norigin and of his Judaism, and now he did something he could not\nperhaps have done in the old days because he was then so alien to\nit--he began to love this Judaism with an intense fervor. Although in\nhis own eyes he could not, at first, clearly justify this new\nyearning, it became so powerful at length that it crystallized from\nvague emotions into a definite idea which he must needs express. It\nwas the conviction that there was only one solution for this\n_Judennot_--the return to Judaism.\n\nWhen this came to the knowledge of his closest friends, similarly\nsituated though they were, they shook their heads gravely and even\nfeared for his reason. For how could that be a remedy which merely\nsharpened and intensified the evil? It seemed to him, on the other\nhand, that their moral distress was so acute because the Jew of to-day\nhad lost the poise which was his father's very being. They ridiculed\nhim for this when his back was turned--many even laughed openly in his\nface; yet he did not allow himself to be misled by the banalities of\nthese people whose acuteness of judgment had never before inspired his\nrespect, and he bore their witticisms and their sneers with equal\nindifference. And since, in all other respects, he acted like a man in\nhis senses, they suffered him gradually to indulge in his infatuation,\nwhich a number of them soon began to call by a harsher term than _id\u00e9e\nfixe_.\n\nHe continued, however, with characteristic persistence to develop one\nidea after another from his fundamental conviction. At this time he\nwas profoundly moved by several instances of apostasy, though his\npride would not permit him to betray it. As a man and as an artist of\nthe modern school, he had, of course, acquired many non-Jewish habits\nand his study of the cultures of successive civilizations had left an\nindelible impress upon him. How was this to be reconciled with his\nreturn to Judaism? Often doubts assailed him as to the soundness of\nhis guiding thought, his \"id\u00e9e ma\u00eetresse,\" as a French thinker calls\nit. Perhaps this generation, having grown up under the influence of\nalien cultures, was no longer capable of that return which he had\nperceived to be their redemption. But the new generation would be\ncapable of it, if it were only given the right direction early enough.\nHe resolved, therefore, that his own children, at least, should be\nshown the proper path. They should be trained as Jews in their own\nhome.\n\nHitherto he had permitted to pass by unobserved the holiday which the\nwonderful apparition of the Maccabees had illumined for thousands of\nyears with the glow of miniature lights. Now, however, he made this\nholiday an opportunity to prepare something beautiful which should be\nforever commemorated in the minds of his children. In their young\nsouls should be implanted early a steadfast devotion to their ancient\npeople. He bought a Menorah, and when he held this nine-branched\ncandlestick in his hands for the first time, a strange mood came over\nhim. In his father's house also, the lights had once burned in his\nyouth, now far away, and the recollection gave him a sad and tender\nfeeling for home. The tradition was neither cold nor dead,--thus it\nhad passed through the ages, one light kindling another. Moreover, the\nancient form of the Menorah had excited his interest. When was the\nprimitive structure of this candlestick fashioned? Clearly the design\nwas suggested by the tree--in the centre the sturdy trunk, on right\nand left four branches, one below the other, in one plane, and all of\nequal height. A later symbolism brought with it the short ninth\nbranch, which projects in front and functions as a servant. What\nmystery had the generations which followed one another read into this\nform of art, at once so simple and natural? And our artist wondered to\nhimself if it were not possible to animate again the withered form of\nthe Menorah, to water its roots, as one would a tree. The mere sound\nof the name, which he now pronounced every evening to his children,\ngave him great pleasure. There was a lovable ring to the word when it\ncame from the lips of little children.\n\nOn the first night the candle was lit and the origin of the holiday\nexplained. The wonderful incident of the lights that strangely\nremained burning so long, the story of the return from the Babylonian\nexile, the second Temple, the Maccabees--our friend told his children\nall he knew. It was not very much, to be sure, but it served. When the\nsecond candle was lit, they repeated what he had told them, and though\nit had all been learned from him, it seemed to him quite new and\nbeautiful. In the days that followed he waited keenly for the\nevenings, which became ever brighter. Candle after candle stood in the\nMenorah, and the father mused on the little candles with his\nchildren, till at length his reflections became too deep to be\nuttered before them.\n\nWhen he had resolved to return to his people and to make open\nacknowledgment of his return, he had only thought he would be doing\nthe honorable and rational thing. But he had never dreamed that he\nwould find in it a gratification of his yearning for the beautiful.\nYet nothing less was his good fortune. The Menorah with its many\nlights became a thing of beauty to inspire lofty thought. So, with his\npractised hand, he drew a plan for a Menorah to present to his\nchildren the following year. He made free use of the motif of the\neight branching arms projecting right and left in one plane from the\ncentral stem. He did not hold himself bound by the rigid traditional\nform, but created directly from nature, unconcerned by other\nsymbolisms also seeking expression. He was on the search for living\nbeauty. Yet, though he gave the withered branch new life, he conformed\nto the law, to the gentle dignity, of its being. It was a tree with\nslender branches; its ends were moulded into flower calyxes which\nwould hold the lights.\n\nThe week passed with this absorbing labor. Then came the eighth day,\nwhen the whole row burns, even the faithful ninth, the servant, which\non other nights is used only for the lighting of the others. A great\nsplendor streamed from the Menorah. The children's eyes glistened. But\nfor our friend all this was the symbol of the enkindling of a nation.\nWhen there is but one light all is still dark, and the solitary light\nlooks melancholy. Soon it finds one companion, then another, and\nanother. The darkness must retreat. The light comes first to the young\nand the poor,--then others join them who love Justice, Truth, Liberty,\nProgress, Humanity, and Beauty. When all the candles burn, then we\nmust all stand and rejoice over the achievement. And no office can be\nmore blessed than that of a Servant of the Light.\n\n\n\n\nThe Present Crisis in American Jewry\n\n_A Plea for Reconciliation_\n\nBY ISRAEL FRIEDLAENDER\n\n\n[Illustration: _ISRAEL FRIEDLAENDER (born in Russia, 1876), attended\nthe Universities of Berlin and Strassburg (Ph.D., 1901); called to the\nJewish Theological Seminary in 1903, where he is now the Sabato Morais\nProfessor of Biblical Literature and Exegesis. Professor Friedlaender\nis not only the author, editor, and translator of a number of\nscholarly works but his wide observation of Jewish life in various\ncountries, coupled with his broad historic knowledge, have enabled him\nto write and speak on present Jewish problems with exceptional\nauthority and insight, as for example in his new book, \"The Jews of\nRussia and Poland.\" His lectures before Menorah Societies have been\nparticularly stimulating and have made him a great favorite with\nUniversity students._]\n\nVARIOUS occurrences of recent date have revealed a rift in American\nJewry which if not healed in time is likely to result in a permanent\nschism. The agitation centering around the question of a Jewish\nCongress is not the cause of this rift; it is rather an effect or a\nsymptom betokening the profound difference of opinion and sentiment\nwhich at present divides the Jews of America. In the realignment of\nAmerican Jewry which this struggle is calling forth, the Zionists and\nthe non-Zionists of this country--the former centering around their\nlocal organization, the latter represented by the American Jewish\nCommittee--have been taking opposite sides. Those of us whose Judaism\nis broad enough to embrace with equal loyalty the ideals of Zionism\nand the interests of American Judaism, cannot but view with the\ndeepest concern the possibility of a permanent conflict between these\ntwo sections of American Jewry, a conflict fraught with the gravest\nconsequences, not only for the Jewish cause in this country in general\nbut also for the Zionist movement--a conflict, moreover, in which no\nvictory achieved by either side can be anything but a Pyrrhic victory.\n\nThe situation is one that demands careful thought and delicate action.\nOnly a few of us are in a position to influence the course of events\nby acting, but many of us may help to clarify the situation by\nthinking. A correct diagnosis is an indispensable preliminary to a\ncure, and it is only by finding out whether the issues underlying the\npresent struggle represent a chronic and perhaps irremediable\nconflict, or are rather the effect of an acute and therefore curable\nmisunderstanding, that a proper solution may be discovered and\nproposed. It is from this point of view that an attempt is here made\nto analyze the present situation in American Jewry, to trace the\ncauses which have produced it, and to point out the consequences which\nare unavoidable unless a remedy be applied in time.\n\n\n_The Two Issues in American Jewry_\n\nTO my mind there are two fundamental issues which separate the two\ngroups in American Jewry from one another. They may be expressed in\nthe following terms: 1, _Diaspora versus Palestine_; 2, _Religion\nversus Nationalism_.\n\nWithout any desire to lose myself in philosophic subtleties, I shall,\nfor the sake of brevity, adopt the Hegelian language and explain the\ndevelopment of these issues on the principle of _Thesis_, _Antithesis_\nand _Synthesis_, i. e., of the initial prevalence of one extreme, of\nits yielding subsequently to the opposite extreme, and of the final\nharmonization of the two in a higher unity, combining the essential\nfeatures of both. I shall endeavor to point out that the Synthesis\nforms the ground on which both parties may cooperate, without\nsacrificing an iota of their respective convictions.\n\nThe first issue, expressed in the formula \"Diaspora versus Palestine,\"\nhinges on the question as to whether the Jewish people finds its best\nopportunities for development in the Diaspora, i. e., as an integral\npart of the nations in whose midst it lives, or, away from the other\nnations, as a separate entity, on its own soil in Palestine.\n\n\n_The Rise and Fall of \"Diaspora Judaism\"_\n\nWHEN modern Jewry, after the isolation of centuries, suddenly emerged\nfrom the Ghetto to seek a place in the sun in the midst of the\nChristian environment, the thesis adopted by it was _Diaspora_.\nConsumed with the desire for emancipation, for sharing the benefits\nand attractions of the new life around them, the Jews discarded the\nhope for an independent national existence in Palestine, which had\nbeen their lode-star throughout the ages. _Diaspora_ as opposed to\n_Palestine_, and as exclusive of it, became the slogan of emancipated\nJewry. The Jewish religion was refitted to harmonize with this new\nstriving for material and cultural progress. Reform Judaism arose, the\nmain object of which was to break down the previous separateness of\nthe Jews; and the theory of a \"Jewish mission\" sprang into life, not\nas a spontaneous growth of Jewish tradition, but as a forced hothouse\nproduct of practical life--a theory which proclaimed that an isolated\nJewish existence in Palestine was subversive of the very essence of\nJudaism, that the mission of the Jewish people was to propagate\nmonotheism among the nations of the earth, and that this mission could\nonly be carried out in the Dispersion, in the midst of the nations\nwhich were to be the objects of that mission.\n\nAs time progressed, however, the \"Diaspora\" thesis gradually lost its\nforce. Emancipation failed to fulfill the ardent hopes attached to it.\nThe nations refused to allow the Jews to participate fully and\nunrestrictedly in the general life of the country. Anti-Semitism,\nmanifesting itself in the crude form of hatred, or under the subtle\nguise of prejudice, turned, in many cases, the liberties previously\ngranted to the Jews into a scrap of paper. On the other hand, the\ndangers of this extreme Diaspora Judaism, at first little thought of,\nbegan to loom larger and larger. The rush for emancipation threatened\nnot only to disrupt the unity of the Jewish people throughout the\nworld, which had been maintained during the ages of suffering and\npersecution, but it also led large and important sections of Jewry to\nassimilation, that is, to complete absorption.\n\n\n_The Antithesis \"Palestine\" and Its Inadequacy_\n\nAS a protest against the thesis \"Diaspora,\" its opposite came to life,\nthe antithesis \"Palestine.\" Political Zionism sprang into being,\nloudly proclaiming that emancipation was a failure; that Judaism had\nno chance of life in the Dispersion, and that the only salvation of\nJewry lay in being transferred to Palestine. _Zionism or assimilation_\nwas the alternative placed before the Jewish people. All efforts of\nJewry, as the last attempt to escape annihilation, were to be focused\non the obtaining of a publicly and legally assured home in Palestine.\nAll Jewish endeavors in the Diaspora were deprecated, because\nconsecrated to a cause which was foredoomed to failure.\n\nIt was not long before the antithesis, too, began to reveal its\ndeficiencies. The difficulties of reaching the Zionist goal very soon\nproved far greater than had been anticipated in the blissful ecstasy\nof the Zionist honeymoon. The ultimate consummation of the national\nhope receded further and further before the longing gaze of the Jewish\npeople, and no longer held out an immediate remedy for the pressing\nneeds of suffering Jewry. The conviction also gradually gained ground\nthat, even under the most favorable of circumstances, Palestine could\nonly harbor a fraction of the Jewish, people, and that the vast bulk\nof Jews would still remain in the lands of the Diaspora. Zionists who\nwere looking reality in the face could not accept the view of the\nextremists, who were ready to save a small portion of the Jewish\npeople at the cost of abandoning to its fate the enormous majority\nthereof.\n\n\n_Opposing Ideals Fused Into Spiritual Zionism_\n\nAS a result, a new formula asserted itself: Diaspora _plus_ Palestine.\nIt was the combination between the two extremes of Diaspora existence\nand Palestine existence. This synthesis, generally called Cultural or\nSpiritual Zionism, proclaimed that Palestine was indispensable for\nthe continuation of Judaism, for it was the only spot where the spirit\nof Judaism, undisturbed by conflicting influences, could develop\nnormally and unfold all its hidden possibilities, and the only bond of\nunity which could save the scattered members of the race from falling\nasunder into disjointed fragments. The Diaspora, on the other hand, as\nthe dwelling place of the overwhelming majority of the Jewish people,\nhad problems of its own which clamored equally for solution.\n\nHence the Jewish task became a double one: the Jews in every country,\nwhile participating to the full in the life of their environment--for\nthe return to the Ghetto was neither desirable nor possible--had to\nendeavor to secure a maximum of elbowroom for the development of their\nown section of Jewry, while as part of universal Israel they had to\nkeep up their contact with the Jews throughout the world and labor\nwith them for the realization of the common Jewish hope, that of a\nspiritual center in the historic land of Judaism. _Diaspora without\nPalestine_ was impossible, because without the refreshing breath of a\nhealthy Jewish life in Palestine it was bound to wither and dry up.\n_Palestine without the Diaspora_ was equally impossible, because it\nlacked the backing of the people as a whole, and was in danger of\nbecoming a petty and obscure corner in the vast expanse of the Jewish\nDispersion, a sort of Jewish Nigeria.\n\nThis synthesis was not a pale cast of thought, the flimsy product of\nan imaginative brain. It had its prototype in the actual facts of\nhistory. For during several centuries preceding the dissolution of the\nJewish state, Palestine was the spiritual center of Judaism, in the\nsense just indicated. The Jews outside of Palestine were superior, not\nonly in numbers, but also in wealth and influence, to those of\nPalestine. The Jews of Egypt, and the same applies to other countries\nof that period, were closely associated with the cultural and material\naspirations of their environment. Philo was one of the most\nillustrious representatives of the Hellenic culture of his age; these\nDiaspora Jews even found it necessary to translate the Holy Writings\ninto Greek. Yet they were, at the same time, loyal to Palestine. They\npaid their Shekel, they made their annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem,\nand looked upon the Holy Land as the spiritual center of all Jewry.\n\n\n_The Second Issue: Religion vs. Nationalism_\n\nTHE other fundamental issue on which Jewish opinion is divided is\nclosely associated with the preceding one; it hinges on the formula\n_Religion versus Nationalism_. From its earliest beginnings down to\nthe time of modern emancipation, Judaism represented an indissoluble\ncombination of nationalism and religion. Though ultimately intended to\nappeal to the whole of humanity, Judaism was essentially a _national_\nreligion. Its bearer was a national community which zealously guarded\nits racial purity, and its external manifestations assumed the forms\nof a national life. Again the Jewish people was, first and foremost, a\n_religious_ nation. Its sole reason for existence was, in the belief\nof every one of its members, \"to know the Lord\" and to make Him known\nto others. A Jew who did not believe in the fundamentals of the Jewish\ncreed or who did not observe the fundamentals of the Jewish ceremonial\nwas as much of a monstrosity as the Jew who denied the common racial\ndescent of the Jews in the past, or their common national destiny in\nthe future.\n\nThe departure of the Jews from the Ghetto and their entrance into\nmodern life marked a turning point also in this direction. Filled with\nthe desire of becoming part of the nations in whose midst they lived,\nmodern Jews were ready, and thought they were compelled, to deny the\nnational character of Judaism. The Jews were now labelled as Germans\nor Frenchmen of the Mosaic persuasion, who were divided from their\nfellow-citizens by the purely spiritual affiliations of religious\nfaith--the same affiliations which divided the Christian population.\nHere, too, Reform Judaism was quick to meet the demands of practical\nlife. It began to chop off all the elements in Judaism which betrayed\na national character, both in the domain of doctrine and of practice,\nthough it halted half way, and down to this day still acknowledges, in\nflagrant contradiction with its own theory, a number of rites and\nceremonies which bear an unmistakable racial imprint.\n\nThis transformation of Judaism, or rather this transformation of\nJewish terminology--for, in many cases, it was merely a question of\nterms--was greatly stimulated by the development of nationalism in\nWestern Europe, where the structure of the modern state excluded, or\nwas thought to exclude, a diversity of nationalities, while the\nprinciple of religious toleration left enough room for a variety of\nreligious beliefs. As a result, those Jews who lost their religious\naffiliations were bound to feel that they were outcasts in the\nreligious community of Israel: they became either _konfessionslos_ or,\nby a curious perversion of logic and conscience, became members of the\ndominant faith.\n\n\n_The Rapprochement of Religionists and Nationalists_\n\nTHE thesis \"Judaism as Religion\" was followed by the antithesis\n\"Judaism as Nationalism.\" It is interesting to observe that the\nantithesis came from the Jews of Eastern Europe who, in their\noverwhelming majority, were adherents of strict orthodoxy. Those Jews\nof Russia and Poland who had drifted away from their religious\nmoorings were neither psychologically nor physically in a position to\nabandon Judaism: psychologically, because they were too strongly\nsaturated with Jewish culture and Jewish associations to tear\nthemselves away from the influence of Judaism; physically, because\nthey were excluded from participating in the life of the environment\nand were forced to remain within the fold. Living as the Eastern Jews\ndid in compact masses, they found it easier, both in theory and in\npractice, to emphasize the national aspect of the Jewish community. As\na result, a doctrine sprang up which looked upon Jewry as an\nessentially racial or national entity, in which religion was merely\none of the many passing phases of its historical development. If among\nthe champions of the thesis \"Religion\" there were Jews who celebrated\nthe Ninth of Ab as a holiday because it marked, in their eyes, the end\nof Jewry as a nation, there were, among the others, the adherents of\nthe antithesis \"Nationalism,\" Jews who arranged entertainments on the\nDay of Atonement, as a public protest against the religious character\nascribed to Judaism.\n\nHere, too, however, the synthesis was gradually paving its way, and\nthe formula \"Religion _plus_ Nationalism\" was supplanting the thesis\n\"Judaism as Religion\" and the antithesis \"Judaism as Nationalism.\" The\nreligionists, that is, the believers in the purely religious character\nof Judaism, began to realize the devastating effect of their doctrine\non Jewish life and development, while the nationalists, without\nsacrificing their convictions--for religion, least of all sentiments,\ncan be forced on modern men--began to appreciate the overwhelming\ninfluence of the Jewish religion as a historic factor in the life of\nthe Jewish people, and were ready to acknowledge the difficulty and\nthe danger of squeezing an officially nationalistic Jewry into the\nnarrow frame of the modern _Nationalstaat_.\n\nThis mutual _rapprochement_ resulted, gradually, in a tacit\nagreement--an agreement far more durable than a legal compact, because\nfounded on sentiment rather than on law--which implied the recognition\nof Judaism as composed of Religion and Nationalism, but left\nsufficient room to include the two extreme types of Jews: those whose\nloyalty to Judaism was entirely fed from the fountain of religion, and\nthose whose devotion to Judaism was altogether grounded in race\nconsciousness.\n\n\n_The Growth of Diaspora Judaism in America_\n\nTHIS development, which may be traced in various countries of modern\nEurope, nowhere assumed such huge proportions and such striking\nmanifestations as it did in America. The struggle, hinging on the two\nopposite doctrines, was nowhere else so well defined and nowhere else\nfraught with so many tangible consequences as in America, for the\nreason that American Jewry, as no other Jewry in the world, was made\nup of two different elements, sharply divided in their traditions and\nassociations, as well as in their mental and psychological complexion.\nThe Jews hailing from the lands of emancipation in Western Europe, who\nare conventionally, though not quite accurately, designated as German\nJews, brought over with them the theses _Diaspora_ as against\n_Palestine_, and _Religion_ as against _Nationalism_. The immigrants\nfrom Eastern Europe, the children of the Ghetto, who with equal\ninaccuracy are termed Russian Jews, carried with them the antitheses\n_Palestine_ as against _Diaspora_ and, as represented by the\nextremists among them, _Nationalism_ as against _Religion_. The\nfanatics of Diaspora Judaism and of Judaism as a pure faith are to be\nfound exclusively among the \"German\" Jews. The radical adherents of\nPalestine and of Jewish nationalism are recruited entirely from the\nranks of \"Russian\" Jews.\n\nThese issues were of particular and immediate significance for the\nJews in this country; for America has, in less than one generation,\nbecome the second largest center of the Jewish Diaspora, and bids fair\nto become the first, instead of the second, within another generation.\nNo other country in the world offers, even approximately, such a\nfavorable combination of opportunities for the development of a\nDiaspora Judaism, as does America: economic possibilities, vast and\nsparsely populated territories, freedom of action, liberty of\nconscience, equality of citizenship, appreciation of the fundamentals\nof Judaism, variety of population, excluding a rigidly nationalistic\nstate policy, and other similar factors. It is no wonder, therefore,\nthat in no other country did Reform Judaism, as the incarnation of\nDiaspora Judaism, attain such luxurious growth as it did in America.\nIt discarded, more radically than in Europe, the national elements\nstill clinging to Judaism, and it solemnly proclaimed that Judaism was\nwholly and exclusively a religious faith, and that America was the\nZion and Washington the Jerusalem of American Israel.\n\n\n_The Opposition: The Palestinian Sentiment of Russian Jews_\n\nON the other hand, the emigrants from Russia brought the antithesis on\nthe scene. They quickly perceived the decomposing effect of American\nlife upon Jewish doctrine and practice, and they became convinced more\nfirmly than ever that Diaspora Judaism was a failure, and that the\nonly antidote was Palestine and nothing but Palestine. The\nnationalists among them beheld in the very same factors in which the\nGerman Jews saw the possibilities of a Diaspora Judaism, the chances\nfor organizing Jewry on purely nationalistic lines. Nowhere else,\nexcept perhaps in Russia, can be found a greater amount of Palestinian\nsentiment, as well as a larger manifestation of a one-sided Jewish\nnationalism, than is to be met with in this country.\n\nThis conflict of ideas became extraordinarily aggravated by numerous\ninfluences of a personal character. The division between the so-called\nGerman Jews and the so-called Russian Jews was not limited to a\ndifference in theory. It was equally nourished by far-reaching\ndifferences in economic and social position and in the entire range of\nmental development. The German Jews were the natives; the Russian Jews\nwere the newcomers. The German Jews were the rich; the Russian Jews\nwere the poor. The German Jews were the dispensers of charity; the\nRussian Jews were the receivers of it. The German Jews were the\nemployers; the Russian Jews were the employees. The German Jews were\ndeliberate, reserved, practical, sticklers for formalities, with a\nmarked ability for organization; the Russian Jews were quick-tempered,\nemotional, theorizing, haters of formalities, with a decided bent\ntoward individualism. An enormous amount of explosives had been\naccumulating between the two sections, which if lit by a spark might\nhave disrupted the edifice of American Israel, still in the process of\nconstruction.\n\n\n_The Promise of Union and Harmony_\n\nAND yet, not only was the conflict averted, but the impending struggle\ngave way to hearty and extensive cooperation, such as cannot be\nwitnessed elsewhere in the whole Jewish world (one recalls\nparticularly the analogy of England) where East and West seem never to\nmeet. As the two sections came into closer contact with one another,\nthey learned to understand one another and to appreciate their\nrespective points of view. This cooperation was not founded upon the\nflimsy framework of political expediency. It was grounded in that\nsynthesis of Jewish life which combines in a higher unity the\nessential elements of the doctrines formerly believed to be exclusive\nof one another. The German Jews, while emphasizing the needs of\nDiaspora Judaism and anxious to build up its largest manifestation in\nAmerica, learned to appreciate the quickening and ennobling effect\nupon the Diaspora of a normal Hebrew life in Palestine, and became\ninterested in the regeneration of the Holy Land. The Russian Jews, on\nthe other hand, though laying particular stress on the possibilities\nof Judaism in Palestine, put their shoulder to the wheel and were\nready to assist in rearing the great structure of Judaism in America.\nThe so-called religionists, while looking upon Judaism as a faith,\nwere yet disinclined to repudiate the purely nationalistic Jews, whose\nenthusiasm and devotion they admired even though it flowed from a\nsource they did not officially acknowledge. The so-called\nnationalists, basing their Judaism on race consciousness, realized\nthat a common foundation of Judaism in this country could only be laid\nalong the lines of religious affiliation.\n\nThis cooperation found tangible expression in the recent participation\nof American Jews in the upbuilding of Palestine, a participation which\none will vainly look for in a similar group (I am not speaking of\nisolated individuals) in other countries. The same desire for a better\nunderstanding was further embodied in the movement toward Kehillah\norganization, which, though centering around the Jewish religion,\nstill clearly implied the national element in Judaism.\n\nThere was every reason to hope that this cooperation, which had been\nso happily inaugurated between the two sections, would become more\nintimate and more extensive, and that the interaction of the\nheterogeneous elements of American Jewish life would resolve itself\nin a great and strong harmony. America bade fair to become an ideal\nJewish center, where the practical wisdom of emancipated Jewry and the\nidealistic intensity of Ghetto Jewry would be merged in one united\nJewish community, fully conscious of its duty as the future leader of\nthe Jewish Diaspora and acknowledging its indebtedness to the center\nof all Jews in the land of our Fathers.\n\n\n_The Old Conflict Revived_\n\nSUDDENLY, however, a reaction seems to have set in, which threatens to\ndisrupt the harmony hitherto prevailing. This reaction, which is\nfraught with grave consequences for the future of American Judaism no\nless than for the Zionist movement, dates from, or at least coincides\nwith, the struggle centering around the Haifa Technikum. This is not\nthe place to enter into an analysis of that momentous issue. It is\nenough to state that the bond of unity was disrupted with rude hands,\nand the old conflict hinging on the issues of Diaspora and Nationalism\nbroke out with new fury. Again we see Diaspora Judaism pitched against\nPalestinian Judaism, and Religion against Nationalism. Reason has\ngiven way to passion, and discrimination to generalization. The Jews\nof the new Palestine, who have given of their life-blood to the\nrejuvenation of our homeland, are sweepingly declared to be\n\"anarchists,\" while, on the other hand, American Jews who, with\nsingle-hearted devotion, have been the builders of the great Jewish\ncenter in the New World, are contemptuously sneered at as\n\"assimilationists.\"\n\nIn this mood of distrust and prejudice, American Jewry was overtaken\nby the great crisis resulting from the World War, and the disharmony\nprevailing between the two factions soon found tangible expression in\nthe struggle over a Jewish Congress. The two elements of American\nJewry were clearly divided on the issue: the German or native Jews,\nrepresented by leading members of the American Jewish Committee, were\nopposed to the calling of a congress, while the Russian or immigrant\nJews, speaking largely through the Zionist organization, clamored for\nit.\n\nFrom what has preceded I believe it may be safely concluded that this\ndemand for a congress on the one hand, and the opposition to it on the\nother, are not rooted in diametrically opposed and deeply implanted\ntheories of Judaism but are rather the expression of different moods\nor temperaments. The immigrant Jews who were directly concerned in the\nwar, since its horrors affected their homelands and the kin they left\nbehind, and who were impulsive and sentimental, felt the burning need\nof crying out in their despair, and were ready to face the\nconsequences which might result from this outcry. The native Jews,\nwhose sympathy with their far-off brethren, profound though it was,\ncould hardly, in the nature of the case, be more than indirect and\nwhose accustomed reserve and self-restraint enabled them to judge the\nissues more calmly, shrunk from the risks which in their opinion were\nimplied in an open protest of the Jewish people before the inflamed\npublic opinion of the non-Jewish world. It is not my intention, nor is\nit my function, to render judgment in so momentous an hour on an issue\nconcerning which Jewish opinion is diametrically yet honestly divided.\nBut it is necessary to point out that whichever side may be in the\nright: serious as may be the dangers of holding a congress or not, the\ndangers involved in a split over this question are incalculably more\nserious. Such a split may not only result in permanent and perhaps\nirreparable injury to the Jewish cause in America and to the Zionist\nmovement in this country, but may also, by aligning the two sections\nof American Jewry against one another, spell nothing short of disaster\nto the Jewish people as a whole. The stakes involved in this conflict\nare infinitely greater than the issue which has given rise to it.\n\n\n_The Structure of American Judaism Endangered_\n\nSO far as American Judaism is concerned, the practical results of this\nstrife between Zionists and non-Zionists in America,--to leave aside\nall theoretical considerations,--may prove to be fatal. It will reopen\nthe gap between the two elements of American Jewry which had been\nalmost filled. The work of American Judaism has been done by both\nelements. Prominent non-Zionists and even anti-Zionists have\nfrequently and gratefully acknowledged the debt which American Israel\nowes to the cooperation of the Zionists. The institutions of American\nJewry depend to a large extent for their existence upon the\nnon-Zionists, who may now by the force of reaction be driven into\nanti-Zionism. But the progress of these institutions just as largely\ndepends upon those who are Zionists. The withdrawal of the Zionists\nfrom American Jewish work--and such withdrawal may become a moral duty\nfor the Zionists who are loyal to the movement and respect their\nconvictions--might mean a complete standstill in the life of American\nJewry. Perhaps there are a few among us who are skeptical about the\nfate of American Judaism, and who therefore see no harm in hastening\nits disintegration. But those of us who are profoundly concerned about\nthe future of the two and one-half million Jews who are now in\nAmerica, and of twice that number who may one day be here, cannot but\nview with the utmost anxiety the danger of wrecking what promises to\nbecome the greatest Jewish center in the history of the Jews since\ntheir dispersion.\n\nAs for the Zionist movement, one cannot help doubting whether Zionism,\neven if it succeeded in defeating its opponents, would thereby obtain\nits object. I am not speaking of the very considerable material injury\nwhich the movement will suffer from the indifference and hostility of\nthe other side. I am rather thinking of the dangers incurred by\nZionism itself if, having repulsed the so-called classes, it becomes\na one-sided movement of the masses. Of course, no Zionist can be\notherwise than deeply gratified by the prospect of Zionism becoming a\ncause of the people, but unless it manages to preserve the balance of\npower within the Jewish community, it will be exposed to risks from\nanother source. Zionism is beset with so many difficulties that it\ndare not burden itself with problems extraneous to it. The injection\nof political or economic issues into the movement is fraught with\nincalculable consequences for the future of the movement in this\ncountry. These issues are so extensive in their bearings and so vital\nin their manifestations that if superimposed on the delicate structure\nof Zionism they may crush it, never to rise again.\n\nZionism must, therefore, remain neutral. While including all Jews, it\ndare not identify itself with any section of them. It dare not be\neither a movement of the classes or of the masses. While holding\nscrupulously aloof from the issues which divide modern Jewry as part\nof modern humanity, it must keep its eye fixed on one point, the\nsecuring of a Jewish center for the Jewish people as a whole, in which\nthe ills that afflict humanity may be cured in the prophetic spirit of\njustice and righteousness.\n\n\n_A Plea for Peace and Cooperation_\n\nTHE practical conclusion of these considerations is clear. It is a\nplea for reconciliation, for a return to that Synthesis which was on\nthe point of becoming the common ground of all American Israel.\nAmerican Judaism needs peace to carry out the great task confronting\nit. Zionism is no less in need of peace in order to gain the hearts of\nthose whose hearts are still Jewish. The very possibility of a\nconflict has bred a spirit of suspicion and unfriendliness which falls\nlike a blight upon every attempt at united action. The non-Zionists\nmay succeed in defeating their opponents; they can never dispense with\nZionism which is a driving force in American Jewish life. The victory\nmay perch on the banners of the Zionists but they can never forego the\nassistance of the non-Zionists who still form the backbone of American\nJewry. Representing the common longings of the Jewish people\nthroughout the world, Zionism should serve as a leaven, quickening and\nstimulating the Jewish activities of this country, and rescue them\nfrom the greatest danger of Diaspora Judaism, the danger of\nprovincialism, of falling away from the main body of universal Israel.\nIn the particular situation confronting us Zionism ought to assert the\nclaims of Palestine, in addition to those of the Diaspora. But the\nZionists cannot replace the present agencies of American Jewish life,\nnor can they dispense with the cooperation of the non-Zionists. Such\ncooperation, based on the synthesis _Palestine plus Diaspora_, would\nbe of equal benefit to both parties. Zionism and non-Zionism have only\none real enemy: it is Assimilation, which preaches the suicide of\nJudaism. But all those who are concerned about the preservation of\nJudaism, in whatever shape or by whatever means, have the right to be\nrecognized, if not as fellow workers in Zion, at least as fellow\nworkers in Israel.\n\n\n_The Supreme Test for the Jews of America_\n\nLASTLY, if cooperation and harmony between the Zionists and the\nnon-Zionists be permanently needed for the welfare of American\nJudaism, they are needed a thousandfold now when the catastrophe which\nhas overwhelmed the ancient centers of Jewry has turned the eyes and\nthe hopes of the whole Jewish world toward the Jews of this country.\nEver since the Jews of Russia, fleeing from the wrath of the\noppressor, began to wend their steps toward these hospitable shores,\nthoughtful European Jews have been looking upon America as the future\ncenter of the Jewish Diaspora. And as time progressed, as the numbers\nand the energies of the Old Jewish World assembled more and more in\nthe New, American Jewry has been steadily advancing toward this\nexalted position of Jewish hegemony. But what, in the natural course\nof events, might have been the fruit of slow and gradual ripening, has\nnow been thrust upon us as the sudden result of the World War.\nCrippled European Jewry is now looking, and will look more and more,\nto the Jewry of America not only for comfort and support, but also for\nlight and leading, for spiritual advice and guidance, and the Jewry of\nAmerica, the only Jewry of consequence unscathed by the world\nstruggle, cannot but assume the responsibility.\n\nNor is the Jewry of America at liberty to choose. There is an ancient\nJewish legend which, with a subtle touch of sarcasm, tells us that\nwhen the Lord, having descended upon Mount Sinai, was about to bestow\nthe Torah upon the Jews, the latter, shrinking from the obligations\nimposed by it, made an attempt to refuse the proffered gift. Thereupon\nthe Lord lifted the mountain over their heads and angrily exclaimed:\n\"If ye accept my Law, well and good. If not, ye shall be crushed on\nthe spot!\" And the Jews, yielding no less to the promptings of duty\nthan to the dictates of wisdom, quickly recanted and declared: \"We\nwill do and obey!\" American Jewry will either be the leader of Jewry\nor it will not be. Let it fail to respond to the great call of\nhistory,--and it will unfailingly relapse into the obscurity and\nsluggishness of its former parochialism. This great world crisis will\nbe either the making or the unmaking of American Jewry, and no Jew\nwhose mind is unclouded by the ephemeral passions of party strife can\ndo aught except ardently pray that the Jews of America may emerge in\ntriumph from their supreme test.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Israel Friedlaender]\n\n\n\n\nOur Spiritual Inheritance\n\nBY IRVING LEHMAN\n\n\n[Illustration: _IRVING LEHMAN (born in New York, 1876), educated at\nColumbia (A.B., 1896; A.M., 1897; LL.B., 1898). Justice of the Supreme\nCourt of New York; associated with a number of Jewish institutions,\nincluding the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Y. M. H. & Kindred\nAssociations. Justice Lehman has taken a particularly keen interest in\nJewish University students, and as Chairman of the Graduate Menorah\nCommittee since the formation of the Intercollegiate Menorah\nAssociation, he has been generously helpful in promoting the ideals\nwhich the Menorah movement embodies. Devoted Jew and public-spirited\nAmerican, his personal example has been an inspiration to Menorah men\nall over the country._]\n\nIF a Jew of the Middle Ages, or even a Jew living to-day in almost\nmedieval conditions in Poland, were present to-night,[A] he would\ncertainly say, \"What sort of a conference of rabbis is this, at which\na layman is presiding, another layman is to speak on 'The Religion of\nthe Hebrews,' and a third layman is to speak on a social movement?\"\n\nTo the old-time Jew a conference of rabbis meant a conference of men\nlearned in the law and its authoritative interpretation in the\nTalmud--men whose duty it was to teach this law and who would confer\namong themselves upon the application of its abstruse and technical\nrules to the daily needs of their congregations. But they could\nrecognize no questions and no problems not fully covered by that law;\nconsequently they could recognize no right in any person not an\nauthority on that law to take any part in such a conference except to\nask for the advice of the rabbis appointed to teach the law. That was\nthe attitude of our ancient leaders, and it met with the full and\nunqualified approval of the Jewish laymen, because it fulfilled all\nthe requirements of our medieval condition. Until recent times we were\na people apart, living among the nations of the world, but not a part\nof them. We had no right to join in the general civic life. Our life\nconsisted in the memory of a national past and in the dreams of a\nnational future. So far as the present was concerned, we were perforce\ninterested only in the maintenance of our identity and in the\npreservation of our ancient law, so that we might be in a position\nsome day to realize our dreams and to re\u00ebstablish our national state,\nfounded on this ancient law. Deprived as we were of all right to live\nin the present, we could justify our existence and continuance as a\nseparate people and a separate religion only by laying stress on the\nimportance of our ancient law, and striving to hand it down, pure and\nunaltered, to future generations. Therefore in those days the rabbis\nwere naturally our only leaders, and their right to leadership\ndepended solely upon their knowledge of the law. The observance of the\nTorah embraced all the limits of the life of the Jew.\n\n\n_New Opportunities and New Obligations_\n\nTO-DAY all this has changed. The Jew of to-day is living in the\npresent, and the observance of the minuti\u00e6 of Jewish law is to the man\nactive in civic and business life of slight if any importance.\n\nInconceivable as it would be to a medieval Jew that at a conference of\nJewish rabbis a layman should preside and laymen should make formal\naddresses, it would be equally inconceivable to such a Jew that among\nthe laymen who might make such addresses, there could be a professor\nat a great university, a worker in the general social activities of\nthe city, and a judge. These changed conditions, this wide life now\nopened to the Jews, have produced new problems, and we demand of our\nrabbis, if they are indeed to remain the teachers and leaders in\nIsrael, that they help us solve these problems.\n\nAs soon as opportunities were offered to us, we eagerly grasped them.\nWe are too eager, too ambitious, too practical a people to continue to\nlive in dreams of the past and visions of the future, when the present\nis thrown open to us. We have definitely and forever discarded the\nconcept that we are a peculiar people, the \"chosen of the Lord,\" in so\nfar as that concept cuts us off from free participation in the life of\nthe nations among which we live, or from serving in the cause of the\ngeneral advance of humanity. We have demanded the opportunity to\nexercise civic rights, and as those rights have been granted, we have\nrecognized that the opportunity confers also an obligation--the\nobligation to exercise those rights in no narrow spirit, but for the\nbenefit of the whole people of which we are now a part.\n\n\n_Why the Jew Remains a Jew_\n\nAS a result of this change, we no longer take our Judaism for granted,\nbut day by day perforce are asking ourselves three questions: What\ndoes Judaism mean, and why are we Jews? Will the maintenance of\nJudaism be of benefit to the countries in which we live and to\nhumanity at large? How can Judaism be maintained, since now we not\nonly live among the nations of the world, but the individual Jew has\nbecome a part of these nations?\n\nWe have discarded, as I have said and as I firmly believe, the\nancient concept that Judaism means membership in a peculiar people,\nthe chosen of the Lord, except possibly in the sense that we have a\npeculiar obligation imposed upon us to demonstrate to the world the\npower and worth of a spiritual ideal. We Reform Jews have discarded\nthe view that in any literal sense the Lord revealed himself unto\nMoses and gave unto him the tablets of stone. The words \"Hear, O\nIsrael, the Eternal is One, the Lord is One,\" are still dear to us,\nbut many who call themselves Jews deny even the existence of a\npersonal God. Why then do we still remain Jews, why do not those\nso-called Jews, who deny the existence of the Lord, frankly join the\nranks of so-called universal philosophers while the rest of us join\nthe Unitarians?\n\nThe answer comes not only from our heads, but from our hearts. Most of\nus could not renounce Judaism because deep down in our consciousness,\naside from reason or logic, we know we are not as other men; we know\nwe are Jews. We hear the cry of the suffering in Belgium and we answer\nto that cry because we are men and nothing human is alien to us,--but\nwhen we hear the cry of the suffering Jew in Poland and Palestine,\nthen the true Jew answers that cry as the cry not only of a fellow\nhuman being, but as the cry of a brother.\n\n\n_A Nation Founded on a Spiritual Ideal_\n\nIS Judaism then a matter of race? Are we after all and regardless of\nour beliefs and special obligations, a peculiar people, perhaps even a\nseparate nation? The answer to this question lies, I think, in the\nstudy of our history. For centuries past the Jew has been persecuted,\ndriven from one country to another, despoiled, massacred, and at best\ndespised and forced to live in the Ghetto clothed in the badges of\ndisdain. All of this the Jew has suffered and yet survived and kept\nhis religion intact; willing at all times to remain a man apart\nbecause he knew that in the past the Jews had been a nation founded on\na spiritual ideal; because his tradition taught him that on the slopes\nof Mount Sinai, the Lord had entered into a covenant with his\nfathers--and not only with them stood there that day, but also \"with\nhim that was not there that day\" but who came after them; and that by\nvirtue of this covenant, Israel became unto the Lord a kingdom of\npriests and a holy people; and because the value of this tradition,\nthe force of this spiritual ideal was greater to him than the\nsecurity, the right to live and work freely among his fellow men,\nwhich he could have obtained only by discarding his Judaism.\n\nDuring all the centuries since the dispersal, the Jews have had a\ncommon history, a common tradition, a common spiritual ideal, and they\nhave survived by reason of the force of this common inheritance. It is\nthis common inheritance of a past founded on a spiritual force that\nto-day, in my opinion, constitutes Judaism.\n\n\n_America Demands Adherence to our Spiritual Ideals_\n\nRACIAL Judaism is in one sense, but in the sense of a race that has\nstood for a spiritual ideal and is bound together by traditions of the\nvalue of that ideal, and not simply a race that is bound together by\nties of common descent. At all times and in all places a Jew meant not\nmerely a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not merely a\ndescendant of the people who once ruled over the promised land, but\none who considered himself bound by the covenant of his fathers, at\nleast to the extent that he would be true to his spiritual ideals,\nwhatever these ideals might be. Judaism is in that sense a racial\nreligion, but it is and at all times must be a religion and not simply\na race. True, we now differ among ourselves as to the content of our\nreligion. True, many of us now deny that that covenant which has kept\nalive our race and religion was ever in fact made, but we cannot deny\nour history and our past. We cannot deny that by virtue of the\ntradition of that covenant our fathers considered themselves under a\npeculiar obligation, and that by virtue of that tradition they sought\nto become a kingdom of priests and a holy people.\n\nThat tradition at least is our own heritage, and he only is a Jew who\nrecognizes the force of spiritual ideals, and by virtue of that\ninheritance also for himself assumes the obligation involved in being\na member of a nation of priests and a holy people.\n\nIf that spiritual concept and not merely race constitutes the basis\nand the essential content of Judaism, then surely the question of\nwhether the maintenance of Judaism will be a benefit to the country in\nwhich we live answers itself. In all civic matters we must work and be\nas one with our fellow-citizens, but America demands that each citizen\ngive to its service the best of which he is capable.\n\nSince Judaism means the recognition of a peculiar obligation imposed\nupon us by our past; since Judaism is founded upon a spiritual\nideal,--adherence to our ancient faith and endeavor to live up to our\npast must be to us a source of greater moral and spiritual\nstrength--strength that we must bring to the service of our country.\n\n\n_The Spiritual Value of a New Zion_\n\nOUR problem then becomes really one of how we can maintain Judaism and\nkeep it alive now that it has become a part and not as formerly the\nwhole of our lives. Some say that this can be done only by recognizing\nthat we are not simply a racial religion but actually a nation, and\nthat we must re\u00ebstablish that nation and its capital upon the hills of\nZion.\n\nThis is neither the time nor the place to discuss such a matter. For\nmyself, I wish to say that if in the country where through our fathers\nthe world first learnt the value of spiritual ideals, where it was\nprophesied that \"the law shall go forth from Zion and the word of the\nLord from Jerusalem--\" and \"nations shall no longer lift up sword\nagainst nations neither shall they learn war any more,\" a community of\nJews shall be again established who shall represent and contribute to\nthe fulfillment of the prophecy, such a community would be from a\nspiritual standpoint a living force to keep Judaism alive throughout\nthe world.\n\n\"_Nationally We Are Americans and Americans Only_\"\n\nBUT I wish also to state that I cannot for an instant recognize that\nthe Jews as such constitute a nation in any sense in which that word\nis recognized in political science, or that a national basis is a\npossible concept for modern Judaism. We Jews in America, bound to the\nJews of other lands by our common faith, constituting our common\ninheritance, cannot as American citizens feel any bond to them as\nmembers of a nation, for nationally we are Americans and American\nonly, and in political and civic matters we cannot recognize any other\nties. We must therefore look for the maintenance of Judaism to those\nspiritual concepts which constitute Judaism.\n\nAnd it is the duty of our rabbis in the present just as it was in the\npast to lead us and strengthen us in our Judaism. A conference of\nrabbis to-day properly recognizes that Judaism consists no longer in\nthe minute observances of the law; that the Jewish people are asking\nfor the inner meaning of their religion, and not for dry formulas. In\nall humility as a layman, I say to them that the Jewish people again\nneeds to be taught that what the Lord requires of them is \"to do\njustice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with their God.\"\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Irving Lehman]\n\n _I AM very much pleased with the excellence of The\n Menorah Journal, which grows better with every number.\n It is conceived in a fine spirit and has a high\n educational value for the Jewish young men in the\n universities throughout the country._\n\n _The American spirit and the Jewish spirit are in\n entire accord, in fact they supplement one another.\n The Puritan ideals of democracy which lie at the\n foundation of our Government were derived principally\n from the Jewish ideals of democracy, and I cannot\n imagine any American being less an American for being\n a good Jew. On the contrary, he will be a better\n American for being a good Jew, more ready at all times\n to make every sacrifice for his country in peace and\n in war.--Hon. Oscar S. Straus, in a Letter to The\n Menorah Journal._\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[Footnote A: This address was delivered at the opening session of the\nEastern Conference of Reform Rabbis, Temple Emanu-El, November 7,\n1915, at which Justice Lehman presided.]\n\n\n\n\nLyrics\n\nBY LOUIS K. ANSPACHER\n\n[Illustration: _LOUIS K. ANSPACHER, poet and playwright, whose most\nrecent plays, \"Our Children\" and \"The Unchastened Woman,\" have won\nrecognition for him as one of the most original and powerful\ndramatists of the present day. Born in Cincinnati in 1878, and\neducated at City College of New York, and Columbia University (A.M.,\nLL.B.), he occupied the vestry pulpit of Temple Emanu-El, New York,\nfor several years, and has lectured on ethics and the drama. A volume\nof his poems, to be published soon, will show more completely the\ndepth and resourcefulness of the lyric power revealed in the\naccompanying verses. The portrait is from an oil painting by\nFranzen._]\n\n\nAdam Prometheus\n\n\nI\n\n In olden books 'tis written,\n That he that would discern\n The secret'st truth of things\n Lost paradise eterne.\n He was the first that fed\n On fruit that knowledge brings;\n Exiled from joys, he fled\n And flaming swords did burn\n Behind his path, which led\n To miseries.\n\n\nII\n\n Great God, vouchsafe me truth:\n For I am one that smitten\n With the deep mystery of things,\n In learned lore uncouth,\n Out of pure wonder sings\n In harmonies.\n\n\nIII\n\n Great God, forfend the tooth\n Of deep remorse, and stings\n Of joys that I did spurn:\n Oh, spare the gnawing ruth\n Of memories' torturings,\n Yea proudly did I turn\n From earth to snatch at wings\n To soar and ne'er return\n To life's lees.\n\n\nIV\n\n Great God, I too am cursed;\n A destiny from birth,\n Of all dread fates the worst,\n Drives me unrestful, flings\n Me from my Eden bliss,\n Over a barren earth,\n To impious search for things\n Whose heart is an abyss.\n I too am one that clings.\n In lust for a knowledge kiss,\n Upon my knees.\n\n\nV\n\n Great God, I've given o'er\n My paradise of ease,\n Allowed my soul to soar\n To mysteries high or deep\n At the world's core;\n Oh, quench its ardent thirst,\n Its hunger, God, appease:--\n Or if Thou dost ignore\n The soul that Thou hast nursed,\n Then smite me as I leap,\n And let Thy rages roar\n On me as in the first\n That fell on sulphur seas.\n Yea, down Hell's sliffy steep\n Thy molten lightnings pour\n Till darkness be immersed;\n Yet know I will not creep\n Though all Thy thunders burst\n In penalties.\n\n\nMy Psalm of Life\n\n I cannot grow as men would have me grow,\n By ordered plodding to a life complete;\n Climbing the path with slow and heavy beat\n Of tedious footsteps from the world below.\n I cannot like a visible circle flow\n Until by measured compass I can meet\n The place I started from with weary feet.\n That proudly point the obvious path they go.\n Ah no,--mine be the instinct given to trust\n That all will in the outcome fall aright.\n Like a migrant swan still wandering since I must,\n I'll fill a life's full cycle in my flight:\n Though I soar into the clouds or sink to dust,\n My orb will come around; I'll reach my height.\n\n\nThe Vocal Memnon to the Sphynx\n\n The sands of time drift round me, and within\n There is the knell of passing and decay:\n The sun-smit vastness of the world doth weigh\n Upon my riddling soul like hidden sin,\n And bids it speak. Thou desert art my kin!\n I crumble to thee, waning day by day;\n But I am cursed with questions that betray\n The end of life before death's hours begin,\n My eyes are staring, yet their sight is blind.\n My ears are hollow, yet they hear no sound.\n My knees are buried and my body sinks.\n The stars weave fates that they themselves unwind,\n Traversing the same cycles round and round;\n While I sit gazing at the silent Sphynx.\n\n[Illustration: Louis Anspacher]\n\n\n\n\nSholom Asch: The Jewish Maupassant\n\n_A Menorah Prize Essay_\n\nBY PERCY B. SHOSTAC\n\n\n[Illustration: _PERCY B. SHOSTAC, born in 1892, in New York City,\nwhere he attended the Ethical Culture School and High School; graduate\nof the University of Wisconsin (1915), where he was an active member\nof the Wisconsin Dramatic Society and contributed frequently to the\nWisconsin Play-Book. He is now teaching English at the University of\nKansas. The present Essay was awarded the Wisconsin Menorah Prize for\n1915._]\n\n\nI\n\nTHE MAN AND HIS WORK\n\nIT was in the little parlor of a four-room New York flat. The room was\nfurnished sparsely: a table and a few chairs of bamboo, a long row of\nbooks on the yellow floor along one wall, some Chinese ornaments and\nplants, a few Russian embroideries, a rich Persian covering on the\ncouch, and candles--many candles burning and flickering on their rest\nof saucer or glazed clay candlestick. Our hostess seemed part of her\nroom; she was a Russian Jewess, decidedly Oriental in type, rare in\nher beauty and still more rare in her personality and charm.\n\nSholom Asch sat opposite me smoking his cigarette and sipping his\ncoffee--a big man of thirty-five, with broad shoulders and a frame\nsturdy and substantial; thick black hair, a high forehead, a\ncharacteristically Jewish nose, a firm mouth, a little black\nmoustache, and deep brown eyes--eyes that at times would seem to be\nunaware of anything surrounding them, yet one felt that they saw\neverything and understood everything. His complexion was that of a\nruddy boy, yet his large handsome features had the sensitiveness which\nclassed him unmistakably as an artist.\n\nHe was talking in Yiddish. His voice was soft and his sentences\nfollowed each other in musical cadence and beauty.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\"YES,\" Asch was saying, \"he was the best Jew I ever met. I always\nthink of him as 'The Light of Damascus.' I was in Damascus last year.\nThe most beautiful city in the world! The houses on the winding\nstreets are centuries old. The people seem older than the houses. For\nhours I stood in the market-place watching the camels and the asses\npass by. Some had the dust of the desert on their feet and some had\nmud and dirt. Each went slowly on its way with its turbaned rider\nsitting still as a figure of stone on its back.\n\n\"Through the kindness of a friend we entered a house on one of the\nstrange streets. Like most of the old houses its front was plain and\nunattractive. We went through a court and on to a balcony overlooking\nan enclosed garden. Such a garden I had never seen! It seemed a\npicture transported from the 'Thousand and One Nights.' In the center\nwas a fountain of extraordinary workmanship, so inlaid with gems that\nafter the water had gushed out it seemed to splash down again in a\nshower of ruby and amethyst. About the fountain were palms and fig\ntrees. The flowers were more wondrous than the jewelled water or the\nmany-colored mosaics of the walls and arches.\n\n\"On the grass sat a grey-bearded Mohammedan. He smoked his hookah in\nsilence. Suddenly we heard voices. Three young women came from the\nhouse and bathed in the fountain. Their lord and husband sat stoically\nand smoked. They laughed and played in the splashing waters. And as I\nwatched this old man and these beautiful women, I thought myself back\nin the ancient Damascus, in the city that I had thought was dead for a\nthousand years.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\"THAT evening I was walking in the city. Suddenly I saw a light before\nme. To my surprise it was an electric bulb--the only one in Damascus.\nIt was fastened to the head of a donkey and illuminated a painted\nadvertisement attached to his back. By following the wires I found\nthey led to a large wholesale warehouse. It hurt me to find this\nelectric light in Damascus. I was still more hurt when I found that\nthe man who had installed it was a Jew, a Russian Jew who had come to\nthe city some years before.\n\n\"The next day I visited a shop where hammered gold and silver, for\nwhich Damascus is famous, was sold. With the permission of the\nproprietor I went upstairs to the workroom. What I saw there I shall\nnever forget.\n\n\"I found myself in a long but very narrow room, dimly lighted by a few\ndirty windows. In two long rows in front of two long tables sat fifty\nor sixty little girls huddled so close together that they touched one\nanother. Each child was bent over the table and each held a little\nhammer. She was tapping on a piece of metal. The tapping was\nnever-ending--a sharp clicking sound like the falling of hail. The\nchildren never spoke nor smiled. Near me sat a little girl. She was\nnot more than eight years old. Her hammer had stopped tapping and her\neyes were closed. She was asleep. The girl next to her, evidently her\nelder sister, seeing the foreman approach, pinched the child sharply.\nShe opened her eyes and dully began her tapping. As I left this room\nof darkness my eyes were wet with tears.\n\n\"I found out that only little girls were employed in this industry:\nthat they began when eight or nine years old. When they were sixteen\nthey usually were dead from the metal that had entered their lungs.\nThe children were mostly Jewish, for you must know that when the Jews\nbecome part of a slow Eastern civilization they sink yet lower and\nbecome yet more phlegmatic and listless than the people among whom\nthey have settled. I was indignant and asked if nothing was being done\nto remedy this terrible evil. Then I was told that there was one man\nwho was devoting his life to freeing these children. It was the Jewish\nmerchant who used the only electric light in Damascus. He gave every\ncent he earned to this work. He maintained an industrial school for\nJewish children and was trying to interest the Jews of the world in\nthe movement. And then I blessed this man's electric light. I think of\nhim always as 'The Light of Damascus.'\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nAND thus Sholom Asch talked. I cannot reproduce his words; I have only\ntried to give the spirit of them. He talked in the finished style of a\nMaupassant, with all the imagination and all the strength of that\ngreat master. I saw then, before I had read his work, that his title\nof \"The Jewish Maupassant\" was not extravagant. And I saw also that\nhere was an artist with human sympathy immeasurable, and yet not\nlacking sensuous imagery and elemental strength and beauty.\n\nSholom Asch was born and brought up in a little town in Poland,\nKuttnow, near Lodz. His father was a merchant on a small scale. He\nbought sheep and oxen from the peasants and shipped them to be\nmarketed in Lodz, in Germany, in France. He rode about the country and\nsometimes took Sholom with him, whom he loved especially because he\nstudied so well. Sholom liked the sheep and the cattle, and he loved\nthe melancholy Polish landscape--mystic, fearful.\n\nHis father was a healthy, normal, honorable Jew; not fanatical but\ndeeply religious. He was philosophic toward life, he cared nothing for\nmoney and was content without it. His mother, on the other hand, was\nnervous and worldly. She was dependent on the externals of life and to\nher no money was misery. There was a big house with much food, many\nnew clothes, much hospitality, and many big brothers and sisters;\nsomething like eleven children. The ceremonies of the Jewish faith\nwere observed beautifully, the holidays kept happily. There was\nsubstance and spirit.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAND Sholom absorbed this atmosphere of the old religious rites, and\nthe paganism of the cattle and nature, and spoke little. When he was\nsix he was sent to the Jewish school. This was in session from eight\nin the morning until five in the evening. He and the other children\nused to watch the sun shine on certain spots and know the time. How\nthey waited for the moment of freedom, little knowing how well one of\ntheir number was to picture for the world each intimate emotion and\nthought of their imprisoned souls.\n\nOne day a peasant came to his house and Sholom went with him on his\nwagon. That was a wonderful day; he played hookey. The next day the\nrabbi, who believed in corporal punishment, expressed his views on the\nmatter of absence.\n\nAsch was extremely clever at learning the Talmud and the old history\nand philosophy of the Jews. He learned to reason from the Talmud and\nto-day he says, \"Art is logic. There must be an 'Urkraft' (elemental\nstrength) behind a man's work.\" And if there is one outstanding\ncharacteristic of Asch's work, it is this elemental, this passionately\nstrong and elemental vein.\n\nMax Reinhardt, whom Asch calls \"Ein Dichter im Theater,\" loves Asch\ndearly. In his Deutsches Theater, the most artistic and best equipped\ntheatre in the world, he produced Asch's _God of Vengeance_. This was\na marked success and is still a most popular play in Germany, Russia,\nand in the Yiddish theatres of New York. Asch was only twenty-four\nyears at this time. From this play he made much money and a whole\nvillage was made happy an entire summer.\n\nSince then his income from his writings has increased steadily. Much\nof his work is now translated into Russian and German, but as yet not\ninto English. The income from his translations far exceeds that from\nhis Yiddish publications, and he is able to support his wife and four\nchildren in ease and comfort. Although he has been to America a few\ntimes during the last six years, it is only several months ago that\nhis wife and children arrived from Poland and he settled here\npermanently.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAN important happening in the history of Jewish literature occurred in\nthe beginning of April. Perez, the intellectual father of the new\nmovement, died. Asch and Perez were deep friends. Of all living\nwriters Perez has had most influence on Asch, both as writer and as\nman. When Asch brought him his first story, Perez gave him a volume of\nhis poems. He said of Asch, \"A bird is breaking through the shell--who\nknows, is it an eagle or a crow?\" It proved to be an eagle. Perez was\na revolutionist, a poet, a dramatist, the defender of the weak, the\ninspiration of the talented. A little story of his, \"Bonchi the\nSilent,\" about a Jewish workingman who never complained and who took\nall his misfortunes as a matter of course, whose desires and hopes\nwere so thoroughly crushed out of him that on reaching Heaven and\nbeing asked by God to request what he desired most, he said, \"I want a\npiece of white bread every Friday\"--that story, more than any one\ninfluence, caused the formation of the \"Bund of the Russian\nRevolution.\" It made the _intelligenzia_ of Russia feel that it was\ntheir duty to teach the workingman to demand the earth.\n\nAnd now since Perez's death, on Asch's shoulders has fallen the\nresponsibility of being the greatest Jewish writer living to-day. He\nis assuming the added duty of revolutionist as well as artist. For the\nserious Jewish writer is a sort of rabbi to his people. Ethically he\nstands for the old Jewish ideals. To these Asch has added the beauty\nof paganism and the vision of anarchistic communism.\n\nIn Paris once he came to a meeting of Zionists. He spoke against the\nZionist idea and was not listened to with great deference. Another\nwriter, Abraham Raisin, coming in shouted, \"Hear! Listen to a great\nJew.\" Asch was given the floor and finished the speech.\n\nAsch feels that only now is he beginning to drop his Jewish past as\nmaterial for his work. He is going out into the future: he is becoming\nimpressed with a vision of the America to be--the ideal democracy. And\nhis work is showing it. He is planning a poetic industrial drama, he\nis finishing a gripping war play. His deep understanding of the\nindustrial slavery of our times is shown wonderfully in his novel,\n_Motke the Scamp_, which is now appearing in serial form in the New\nYork Yiddish _Forward_. He begins with Motke's infancy. His mother's\nmilk is sold to the rich man's baby; Motke is cheated of everything.\nPicture after picture of sordid Polish ghetto life follows--intermixed\nwith wood and river sunshine as only Asch can do it. One feels the sun\nresting eternally over all, while man with his laughter and tenderness\nand pain struggles toward perfection.\n\n * * * * *\n\nASCH is becoming an exposer and a prophet, but with great beauty of\nstyle and purity of emotion. He is decidedly modern, decidedly\nRussian, decidedly Hebraic, and eternally universal. He is bringing\nthe message of beauty and freedom to the American Yiddish working man.\nAsch is not a socialist; he is a real individualist. With a sincere\ncontribution to the happiness of the world he believes that every\nhuman being is entitled to all the joy of the world, no matter what\nform his contribution may assume; shirts, street cleaning, cooking, a\npainting, dishes, a poem. He does not preach eight hours and a dollar\nmore, he demands joy in labor. He wants people to play--to be happy at\ntheir work. He demands freedom in one's personal life and beauty in\nmind and body. He is an industrialist plus an artist.\n\nAsch has traveled through Russia talking on various subjects to Jewish\ngatherings, not for money but for love of his race. He has visited\nPalestine, but with a keen interest in the growth and development of\nthe Jew--not from a nationalistic standpoint but from a world point of\nview.\n\nAnd this is why he admires America--because it brings to him a vision\nof a perfect race, the result of the mixture of all races,\nperpetuating the fine traits of all. He is immensely interested in\nthe public school. He believes in democracy and thinks we have it in\nAmerica.\n\nFor artists, however, he says this country is not good. The newspapers\nin Europe, he says, print what Tolstoi eats and how he sleeps. Here\nRockefeller is the national hero. The artist here lacks artistic\nobstinacy; he succumbs to money, he leaves starvation and his _Kunst_.\n\n * * * * *\n\nASCH loves Shakespere above all other writers; he is his master. For\nmonths he went each night to the Berlin theatres and often, with his\neyes shut, would listen to the words and cadences of Shakespere's\nlines. _Hamlet_ he considers the greatest play ever written.\n_Midsummer Night's Dream_ and _Romeo and Juliet_ are two of his\nfavorites. From the ghost scene in _Hamlet_ he can trace Maeterlinck\nand all the modern mystics. He says that Shakespere is universal in\nhis appeal and that his work in translation, when done by a master\nlike Schlegel, takes on the peculiar flavor of the tongue and people\ninto which it is translated and loses none of its intrinsic worth.\n\nHe loves Gogol and Tolstoi. _Faust_ is one of his favorite dramas. He\nloves the old masters Greco and Rembrandt; among the moderns, C\u00e9zanne,\nPuvis de Chavannes, Manet. In opera he does not care for Wagner, but\nhe is very fond of _The Magic Flute_, of _Madame Butterfly_, of\n_Pagliacci_. He loves music and the theatre. Asch reads in many\nlanguages, German, French, Russian, Polish, Hebrew, and a little\nEnglish. But to everybody he talks in Yiddish. He has no ear for other\nlanguages except English, which he says is like his mother tongue!\n\nIn the spring Asch goes out to the country and works, in the summer he\nloafs, in the winter he lives among his friends. He writes all the\ntime, being chock full of energy--for work, for love, for friendship,\nfor happiness. As he says, \"I am thankful to God for three things:\nfirst that he gave me life, second that he gave me my talent, third\nfor my love for you\" (this to whomever the lady happens to be).\n\nLike all the artists he is erratic, original, attractive, all-seeing.\nBut unlike most he has much strength of character and a brilliant\nlogical faculty that makes him check up his personal relations. He has\nmuch affection in him and a great honesty and integrity which wins him\nadmiration and respect, and he has many friends among many kinds of\npeople in many parts of the world.\n\nSholom Asch is a philosopher, a novelist, a poet, and a dramatist. He\nloves the clouds and the sea, he truly loves mankind. Always through\nall he writes one feels a deep and elemental strength, an elemental\nbelief in nature and truth. He is not ahead of his time; he is rather\nan interpreter and inspirer of his own day. This makes him the happy\nperson that he is. He is greatly honored in Russia and in Germany, and\nby all writers in Europe.\n\n\nII\n\nASCH AS A NOVELIST AND SHORT-STORY WRITER\n\nWITH this brief sketch of Sholom Asch the man, I shall turn to a\nconsideration of a few of his most important works. As Sir Walter\nRaleigh, the eminent English critic, has said, the best way to form a\njudgment of an author is to quote his good passages. Accordingly I\nhave been as liberal as space would allow in my insertion of\ntranslated passages. The most recent works, mentioned in the early\npart of this essay, I shall not treat, as it was impossible for me to\nprocure them at the time of writing. I shall take up each work\nindividually before making generalizations.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_DIE J\u00fcngsten_ is a novel by Asch in which he tries to portray the\ncharacter and the influences at work on the younger generation of Jews\nin Russia. The plot can be simply set forth. The younger generation is\nrepresented by five characters of three social classes. Mery Lipskaja\nis the daughter of a well-to-do Jewish manufacturer--in other words,\nshe is of the middle or bourgeois class. She has completed her\n_gymnasium_ (high-school) education and has absorbed the prevalent\nideas about women and emancipation, and a desire for higher education,\nfor a broader life, for St. Petersburg. Kowalski is an artist. He,\nlike Mery, is not interested in the class struggle; all that vitally\nconcerns him is his art and \"living.\" David and Rahel Lazarus are the\nchildren of a physician who is giving his life to the people of the\n\"Grube\" or ghetto. They have grown up among the suppressed and\nimpoverished Jews and they are filled with the spirit of the\nrevolution; David actively and Rahel passively. Mischa, the cousin of\nMery, is a member of the middle class. He has become aware of the\nconditions in the Grube and his struggle lies between his middle class\nenvironmental influence, which includes his love for Mery, and his\ndesire to join the revolution.\n\nAt the beginning of the novel Mery has just returned from the\n_gymnasium_. She is oppressed and dissatisfied with her provincial\nsurroundings and longs to go to the university at St. Petersburg.\nMischa, in love with Mery, has also just completed work at the\n_gymnasium_, and they plan to go to St. Petersburg together. The\nartist Kowalski now comes to the little south Russian village and soon\nMery is in love with him. Mischa is much distressed and suffers\ngreatly. Kowalski leaves, promising to meet Mery at St. Petersburg.\n\nThe second part of the novel opens with Mischa and Mery in St.\nPetersburg. The climate does not agree with Mery and Mischa arranges\nthat they go to a Finnish village. Here they grow very dear to each\nother and Mischa is about to propose when Kowalski melodramatically\nappears. Kowalski and Mery now give expression to their love. Mischa\nreturns to St. Petersburg but cannot pursue his studies because the\nrevolutionary disturbances have closed the university. Kowalski and\nMery return to St. Petersburg soon after and are admitted to the\nbohemian life there. Kowalski meanwhile has become famous. The lovers\ngradually grow apart and when the revolution breaks out Mery returns\nto her home for safety, leaving Kowalski never to see him again.\nMischa has returned home also. After a massacre of the Jews in the\nGrube in which Rahel, the sister of David, is outraged, he sees that\nin marrying her lies his only means of becoming one of the Jews whom\nhe was so desirous of helping. So despite the fact that he still loves\nMery and she is now willing to be his wife, he marries Rahel. Mery\nafter a period of restlessness in the little town returns to St.\nPetersburg to join the bohemian group there.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE outstanding excellence of the novel lies in its characterization.\nThe characters live before us and we see the workings of their minds\nand emotions with remarkable clarity. The mental struggles of Mischa\nbetween his love for Mery and his desire to help the oppressed Jews,\nalways inhibited by inherited powerlessness to act; the carefree,\nart-centered, egotistical Kowalski; the adolescent romanticism and\nsympathetic insight of Mery; the cynically idealistic and\nself-sacrificing Dr. Lazarus--these constitute the real substance and\nartistic worth of the book. The pictures of contemporary Russian\nJewish life are of marked interest, especially to the western reader.\nThe following passages are descriptive of the Grube or ghetto and\ncharacterize the condition of the poorer Jews in the towns throughout\nRussia:\n\n \"The sun seldom shone into the valley. Old people lost\n their vision early and the percentage of child\n mortality was enormous. But even those who remained\n alive under these conditions were weak, sick, half\n crippled people; impoverished figures with crooked\n legs, large heads and weak arms crept through the\n streets.\n\n \"And in spite of everything the inhabitants never left\n their grave (Grube) and made no attempt to find a\n better, more healthy home. A sort of sick love bound\n them to their unfortunate homes, and like a curse it\n rested on each who was born in the valley--that he\n could not free himself from it and that until the end\n of his days he must eke out his sad existence there.\"\n\nAfter the massacre Mischa walks through the Grube:\n\n \"The murmur of prayers re-echoed to his ears. From the\n little windows of the synagogue came the soft gleam of\n candles. He entered. Deep as in a cellar, as miserable\n and abandoned as themselves, lay the little house of\n prayer of the wretched inhabitants of the Grube. The\n walls were bare. The Ark of the Covenant was hung with\n only a piece of coarse linen. In front of the broken\n 'altar' stood an old man in a torn prayer shawl and\n prayed before the small penny candles. The room was\n full of worshippers, all inhabitants of the Grube.\n Their prayer was a groaning, and sighing, and\n screaming, out of tormented hearts. It rose up to the\n low ceiling and hung over them all like a heavy black\n cloud.\"\n\nAnd then Mischa knew his people:\n\n \"He felt his strength to bear everything; sorrow and\n misery and persecution. He saw his people doing the\n work of servants through the centuries, from the\n farthest past to the present day. He saw the bare\n walls of the synagogue, the wretched Ark of the\n Covenant, he heard the sad melody of their prayers\n which grew to despairing screams. . . . He had the\n feeling that he was with his people in a large ship.\n For eternities this ship was on a voyage of searching.\n It landed at harbors always new and strange: Egypt,\n Palestine, Babylon, Arabia, Spain, at Turkey, at\n Holland and Russia. And to-day is also a test day for\n the Jews. And also this day will end, and many, many,\n but the ship will always sail on, will carry them all\n to new harbors into the farthest future.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nBEFORE leaving _Die J\u00fcngsten_, I cannot refrain from translating two\npassages concerning Kowalski--the first his longing for the open\ncountry after his long stay in St. Petersburg, and the other his\nremarks on clouds:\n\n \"St. Petersburg had become sickening to him. For\n loneliness he longed, for solitude. Solitude, with his\n brush behind the mountains, in the deep woods. To see\n every day sun, mountains, and water! The water that\n pushes blocks of ice before it, and to see the cloud\n shadows which camp on the wide snow fields. To live\n again in the little room with his comrade the\n Lithuanian peasant with whom he studied in the\n academy! To have no money. To eat bread; much good\n black bread with honey which his comrade's father\n would send from the village. For whole days to wander\n about and paint clouds!\"\n\nMery discovers him at work, and looking at his painting he says:\n\n \"Everything is clouds--the warmth that I feel, the\n warmth-- . . . and do you see the pride that such a\n cloud has, the pride, the formality? 'The cloud is no\n small thing,' my fat professor used to say. It is no\n small thing to paint a cloud, for then one must feel\n eternity. As lovingly as a girl's body must one model\n a cloud. And warmth and pride must come to expression.\n To paint a cloud means to step into Heaven, into the\n middle of Heaven and to see a new world which we do\n not know here at all. Such a nobody as I wishes to\n paint a cloud, a Heaven--wishes to have seen God and\n create Him anew with his little art! That is an\n impudence, isn't it?\n\n \"There you see what I have painted. It is nothing--it\n is worthless--something is lacking.\" He looked\n amusedly at the picture. \"Love is lacking. So it is as\n my professor with the fat belly loved to say, 'To\n paint a real cloud one must love.' Yes, yes, to be\n able to create something good one must be in love\n or--do you know what? Or to feel a great sin in one's\n soul. Yes, yes, with a burning sin in one's heart one\n can create big things. When one has entirely\n fallen. . . .\"\n\n * * * * *\n\n_BILDER aus dem Ghetto_ is a series of sketches dealing with Jewish\nlife. Many Jewish characters are pictured in dramatic situations but\nwith very little plot. The characters are all poor; fishmongers,\nchildren of the Ghetto, a Jewish farmer, two mothers, an old married\ncouple. A few typical plots follow.\n\n\"Ein Eilbotte\" is really a prose poem describing a sunrise, a storm,\nand the reappearing sun--more properly perhaps a series of paintings,\nof symphonic word canvases. Let me translate the opening passages:\n\n \"Behind the town ruin which stands on a small hill\n like a national monument, flaming and fiery rises the\n red of the morning and floods with its glow the gray\n clouds that hang in the horizon. It brings a son of\n the sun into the world. The day tears itself from the\n lap of the mother Night.\n\n \"In the little town life is beginning to stir. Here\n and there one sees a peasant wagon on which the dew\n drops of the night are still hanging. Here and there a\n Jew, eyes heavy with sleep. The show windows and house\n doors are for the most part locked. For many of the\n inhabitants the day has not yet begun. . . . This day\n shall be like yesterday, like to-morrow.\"\n\n A storm rushes over the woods. The storm comes like a\n mighty giant that wishes to swallow the world or it\n seems as though God himself were spreading out His\n black mantle: \"The end of the world! Neither heaven\n nor earth, neither beginning nor end! Black, ominous,\n dull, empty. . . . Suddenly Heaven opens for a\n second. . . . A blinding light has torn the clouds.\n Stabbed by a flaming dagger the giant dies--a confused\n moaning fills the air. It rains.\" But the storm passes.\n \"The Heaven is clear and blue as if nothing had happened.\n The air is clearer and purer, the earth washed clean\n by the water.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\n\"DIE Mutter.\" It is in a little Hebrew school in a small town in\nRussia. The rabbi has gone to say the evening prayer, leaving the\nsmall boys to study. Instead they begin to talk of various subjects.\nMothers are discussed and each boy praised his most highly. One pale\nlittle chap with large eyes says, \"My mother also . . .\" and then stops.\nOne of the boys laughs uncontrolledly and then there is an\nembarrassing silence. The teacher returns. The little Josek, however,\ncannot keep his attention on the book:\n\n \"The 'crazy Trajna' stands life-like before him. Out\n there at the well she stands. . . . He sees her\n plainly. . . . All too well he knows that dirty\n sun-burned face plowed through by a thousand wrinkles,\n those great blood-shot eyes with the swollen, sore\n lids. . . .\n\n \"He remembers her, yes, he remembers. . . . He was\n still a little boy then, when the teacher carried him\n to school in his arms. He cried then and hung tightly\n with both hands to the apron of his mother.\n\n \"Mother! . . . this woman his mother?\"\n\nAnd so the emotions of the boy are set forth in memories telling us of\nhis mother before she was insane and now, when she is known to all\nthe village as the \"crazy Trajna.\" The time when he found her insane\nis described. It was raining and he was hurrying home from school.\nSuddenly he sees his mother near his father's house:\n\n \"There at the corner she stands. . . . Trembling for cold\n she seeks protection under any roof. . . . The boy stands\n as rooted to the ground, without turning his gaze from\n her. The water flows in streams from his coat. She has\n turned her glassy eyes on him. Slowly as though\n following some inner force she comes closer to him. He\n is not able to move from the spot; something\n unspeakable gleams in those glassy eyes. . . .\n\n \"Now he feels in her the mother. . . . His heart beats as\n though to break. Always closer to him she comes. A hot\n wave of blood flows through all his limbs and rises to\n his head. He trembles as in fever.\n\n \"Suddenly all fear leaves him. He assumes a waiting\n position and looks directly into her eyes.\n\n \"Now she stands close before him. She looks at him.\n Away! These eyes! this look! He wishes to fall weeping\n into her arms. . . . To weep, yes, to weep . . . to weep\n and to kiss.\n\n \"He is in the impulse to carry out his purpose when\n she suddenly takes his hand. With a quick push he\n tears himself from her embrace and runs away as\n rapidly as he can.\n\n \"It seems as though she ran after him with\n outstretched arms and blowing hair, always faster and\n faster, always grasping more heavily. It seemed to him\n as though he heard her terrible voice, hoarse with\n weariness, calling 'Joselle,' 'Joselle' . . .\"\n\nThe father has taken a new wife and the \"crazy Trajna\" is no longer a\nmember of the household but is driven about the streets. And as he\nleaves the schoolroom this evening, Josek is consumed with indignation\nand sorrow and resolves not to flee from his mother the next time he\nmeets her. On his way home he meets her. The tears flow from her eyes;\nwhen she embraces him he again runs away. But that evening he steals a\nplate of meat from his home and brings it to her. That night he does\nnot sleep. The next noon, coming home from school he sees Trajna\nstanding near the well surrounded by street urchins:\n\n \"One pulls her bonnet from her head. Another jerks at\n her apron. A third tears the prayer book from her\n hand. Some boys cry loudly,\n\n \"'Hurrah! The crazy one, the crazy one!'\n\n \"She looks at her son in surprise. Josek can stand it\n no longer; he goes to his mother and with his fists\n drives away the urchins that torment her.\n\n \"They have run away. Without saying a word Josek\n reaches out both his hands. His face is deathly pale.\n His eyes gleam with fever. The boys laugh. . . . Their\n loud calls press themselves to his ears. . . . Another\n moment and the hands of his mother reach around him as\n in a cramp.\n\n \"The 'crazy one' hugs him, kisses him, now laughing,\n now crying. Suddenly she clutches him and begins to\n dance with him. 'Hurrah! Hurrah! The crazy one is\n dancing with her son!'\n\n \"Josek casts a confused glance at the urchins. He\n draws himself together, tears himself from the embrace\n of his mother with a quick movement and runs away. He\n does not even think of the cap which remains in her\n hand.\n\n \"Even from a distance he hears the calls, 'Hurrah!\n Hurrah! The crazy one dances with her son!'\"\n\n * * * * *\n\n\"DER Wunderrabbi.\" He is a very stupid shepherd boy. He will not learn\nhis Hebrew lessons nor prayers. When in the fields he often feels near\nto God--and whistles. He is taken to the synagogue on a holiday. His\nparents are ashamed of him. He cannot repeat the prayers from the\nprayerbook, yet he feels a great desire to praise God. To the\nconsternation of his parents he walks to the altar, and placing two\nfingers in his mouth he voices his praise in a loud, shrill whistle.\n\n \"All stand as though struck by lightning. Who dared to\n whistle in this holy place? The father is about to\n grasp the boy and lead him out, the people clench\n their fists threateningly. But the rabbi turns from\n his place at the east of the synagogue and asks in a\n loud voice, 'Where is the saint? Where is the\n miracle-worker who destroyed the evil forces hanging\n above us, who bored through heaven that our prayers\n might easily penetrate the black clouds to the throne\n of God?'\n\n \"There is no sign of the miracle-worker. He has\n slipped out of the house of prayer and with his shoes\n and stockings over his shoulder is running as fast as\n he can toward the village.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\n\"EIN J\u00fcdisch Kind.\" She is about to be married but will not comply\nwith the Talmudic law requiring married women to cut off their hair\nand wear wigs. She loves her hair and will not part with it. She is\nmarried. Weeks go by and her husband is ostracised. He and his wife\nhave become more and more estranged and they speak to each other\nhardly at all. One day he comes home and with loving words induces her\nto let him cut off her black braids.\n\n \"When Chanele awoke the next morning, she looked at\n herself in the mirror that hung opposite her bed.\n Terror seized her and she thought that she had become\n mad and that she lay in the hospital. On the table\n near her bed lay the dead braids. The soul that had\n lived in these braids when they were on her head was\n dead, and they reminded her of death . . . She hid her\n face in both her hands and heart-breaking sobs filled\n the quiet room.\"\n\nAnd there are other \"Wortbilder\" which I shall not treat. This book of\nsketches shows Asch at his very best. For the form--one without plot\ndealing with character and nature description--is decidedly fitted to\nthe elemental, passion-laden flow of his style. It is a great wonder\nto me that these gems of artistic word portraiture have not yet been\ntranslated into English. In my opinion they rank equal in worth with\nthe similar work of Daudet, Maupassant, Tchekoff and Turgenieff.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_DAS St\u00e4dtchen_ is also a book of sketches. In this, however, the\ndifferent high points--the Sabbath eve, the holidays, the marriage\nceremony and others in Russian Jewish village life, are treated.\nCharacter is not emphasized, although one man appears through all the\nsketches. The book does not come up to _Die Bilder aus dem Ghetto_.\n\nAsch is essentially a dramatist. In his sketches, in his novels and in\nhis stories, the dramatic point of view is not lost. His plays\nconsequently always move, are always full of action and tense\nsituation. The same elemental strength and purity of emotion that is\nfound in his prose is always present in his dramas. In the concluding\npart of this essay, I shall touch upon five of his plays in the order\nof their importance.\n\n EDITORS' NOTE--_The third and concluding part of Mr.\n Shostac's prize essay, dealing with Shalom Asch as a\n Dramatist, will appear in the next issue._\n\n\n _THOSE of us in England who know how much harshness\n and injustice the Jews have had to suffer will join in\n your hopes that after the war some means may be found\n of permanently ameliorating their lot. You may feel\n the more sure of our sympathy in this because, as you\n know, England is the European country in which, since\n Oliver Cromwell sanctioned their return nearly three\n centuries ago, the Jews have been best treated, being\n freely admitted to all posts of power and honor, and\n not exposed to any sort of social disparagement. They\n have held places in our Cabinets and been among the\n most eminent lawyers and judges. Such a one was Sir\n George Jessel, the famous Master of the Rolls. We have\n no more patriotic citizens, nor more generous\n benefactors to works of charity and to public purposes\n supported by private liberality. With those members of\n the race who have suffered injustice or violence in\n other countries, there has always been a warm sympathy\n in Great Britain._--_Viscount Bryce, in a Letter to The\n Menorah Journal._\n\n\n\n\n=Liberalism and the Jews=\n\nBY JOSEPH JACOBS\n\n\n[Illustration: _JOSEPH JACOBS (born in New South Wales in 1854), one\nof our leading scholars and men of letters; managing editor of the\nJewish Encyclopedia; author of many authoritative books on Jewish\nsubjects, including \"Jews of Angevin England,\" \"Studies in Jewish\nStatistics,\" \"Jewish Ideals,\" etc. The present article is adapted from\na chapter in Dr. Jacobs' forthcoming book which will deal\ncomprehensively with the contribution of the Jew to modern progress._]\n\nTHE eighteenth century was the era of the \"benevolent despots,\" like\nFrederick II, Joseph II, Catherine II, who adopted the ruling\nprinciple of the Welfare-State--that the object of government should\nbe the good of the people--but considered that it could only be\ncarried out for the people, not by them. The weakness of the principle\nconsisted in the difficulty of securing a heritable succession of\ncapable benevolence, and the collapse of Prussia at Jena and of Joseph\nII's well-meant but unreflective reforms led, in the nineteenth\ncentury, to the triumph of the principle first enunciated in America\nand carried out in France--of government for the people by the people.\nThe transition to the next stage, from religious toleration to\nreligious liberty, is marked, as regards the Jews, by the tolerance\nedict of Joseph II, in 1781, which for the first time threw open\nservice in the army to the Jews and placed them to some extent on the\nsame level with other dissenters from the State-Church of Austria.\n\nBut this was still toleration and not liberty, and it was soon cast\ninto the background by the full religious liberty granted by the\nFrench Revolution in 1791, in imitation of the American constitution\nof 1787, which entirely separated State and Church. The granting of\nfull religious liberty to the Jews had previously been advocated by\nMirabeau, and though Rousseau's influence, which was all-important in\nthe Revolution, still retained a touch of Genevan intolerance, Jews\ncame within his religious requirements for citizenship by their belief\nin Providence and in future rewards and punishment. It has to be\nremembered that in spirit, if not in will-power or influence, Louis\nXVI was of the school of the benevolent despots, and it was he who\nsigned the edict of November 13, 1791, which for the first time in\nEuropean history placed Jews on the same level as the adherents of all\nother creeds as regards civil and political qualifications. Holland\nwas appropriately the first country to grant the same religious\nequality to its Jews.[B]\n\nThe French Revolution, from our present standpoint, is the more\nremarkable inasmuch as it is the only great European movement on which\nJews had absolutely no influence, direct or indirect, owing to their\ninappreciable numbers and insecure position in the chief centers,\nParis, Lyons, and Marseilles. The Revolution principles spread into\nthe neighboring countries with the advance of the French arms. In\nVenice, the walls of the original Ghetto, from which all the rest\nreceived their name, fell at once on the entry of Napoleon's troops.\nNo wonder they welcomed with fervor the victories of the French\ntroops; we can catch, in Heine, echoes of the enthusiasm with which\nNapoleon was acclaimed the Liberator.\n\n\n_Napoleon's Recognition of the Jews_\n\nNAPOLEON'S own attitude was not so uniformly friendly to Jews. On his\nway back from Austerlitz in 1805 he learnt at Strassburg of the wide\ndistress caused in Alsace by the exactions of certain Jewish usurers\nin that province, and on his return to Paris issued edicts directed\nagainst the Alsatian Jews, restricting their usurious activity. It is\nfair to add that these enactments were obviously directed against the\nusury of the Alsatian Jews, and not against the Jews in general, since\nthey were specifically declared not to apply to the Jews of Bordeaux\nin the South or Northern Italy, then under Napoleon's control. It\nwould indeed have been against the whole tendency of his career to\nhave made the Jews an exception to that principle of the \"carri\u00e8re\nouverte aux talents,\" which was the key-note of his whole policy, as\nit is logically to all war-lords. It was by no accident that similar\nindifference toward the creed of their soldiers, or civil servants,\nwas shown by William the Silent, Wallenstein, Cromwell, William III,\nand Frederick the Great.\n\nNapoleon's attention having thus been drawn to the Jewish Question, he\nproceeded with characteristic energy to solve it by summoning to Paris\na representative assembly of the Jews of France, Germany and Italy,\nwho should determine on what terms Jews could be admitted into a\nmodern Country-State, which had been freed from the shackles of the\nmedieval Church-State and only recognized a certain prerogative in the\nChurch to which the majority of Frenchmen belonged (the Concordat of\n1802). After summoning an assembly of Jewish Notables for a\npreliminary inquiry, in 1806, a more formal Sanhedrin was summoned in\nthe following year, to which twelve test questions were\nsubmitted,--among them, whether the French Jews could regard France\nas their Fatherland and Frenchmen as their brothers, and the laws of\nthe State as binding upon them. Further points were raised as to\npolygamy, divorce, and mixed marriages; other questions related to the\nposition of Rabbis and the Jewish laws about usury.\n\nAll these problems were decided to the satisfaction of Napoleon,\nthough some of them aroused much searching of heart among the more\nstrictly orthodox. The outcome legally recognized that there was\nnothing in Jewish law or faith which prevented its adherents from\nbeing legitimate and full members of a modern State which, at that\ntime, practically recognized Catholicism as the State-Church. The\nsignificance of the decision was far-reaching not alone for the Jews\nbut for the whole European State system; it was a practical\nrecognition that the Country, not the Faith, was the foundation of a\nnation and thus gave the final blow to the conception of a\nChurch-Empire, which had upheld the contrary principle. It was not\nwithout significance that simultaneously the Emperor of Austria agreed\nto the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.\n\n\n_Liberalism Draws the Jews to Its Ranks_\n\nBUT though the Jews had had no influence on the French Revolution and\nno share in Napoleon's revolutionary reorganization of West Europe,\nthe benefit they reaped from both movements was second only to that of\nthe serfs. For the Jews and the serfs were the two most oppressed\nclasses under the feudal system still surviving. And so the Jews\nimbibed with enthusiasm the libertarian principles of the Revolution\nand the \"open career\" administration of Napoleon. They threw off with\navidity most of the shackles which prevented their joining in general\nEuropean culture, and Jewish parents of means immediately began giving\ntheir sons and, what is more, their daughters, the secular education\nwhich would adapt them to the careers now seemingly open to them, as\npublicists, lawyers, and civil servants. When the reaction came, under\nthe Holy Alliance, with its attempt to revive the Church-State and the\nclosed career of prerogative, Jews everywhere in Western Europe joined\nthe Liberal forces, from whose triumph alone they could hope for a\ndispersal of the clouds which once more obscured the sun of liberty in\nwhich they had basked for a few short years. Jews soon ranked among\nthe intellectual leaders of continental Liberalism, and from 1815 to\n1848 exercised an appreciable influence on the course of public\nopinion. In particular a brilliant band of Jewish litterateurs in\nGermany helped to mediate between French Liberalism and German public\nopinion, and practically led the movement known as Young Germany,\nwhich opposed the cosmopolitan tendencies of the eighteenth century to\nthe narrow nationalism of the Reaction and advocated the Revolution\nprinciples of liberty, equality, and fraternity, as against the\nrevival of the claims of Authority and Privilege by the Holy Alliance.\nBoerne and Heine, Hartmann and Saphir, Jacoby and Karl Marx, are\nrecognized by friends and foes alike as among the leading influences\nwhich led ultimately to the downfall of Metternich and his school.\n\n\n_The Salons of Jewish Women and Their Liberalizing Influence_\n\nTHEY were aided in their Liberal tendencies by a remarkable group of\nemancipated Jewesses, who introduced into Germany the vogue of the\npolitical Salon after the manner of Madame Roland and Madame de Sta\u00ebl.\nThey were mostly from the Berlin Circle, which had arisen around Moses\nMendelssohn, and carried his tendencies towards rationalism and\nculture to extreme limits. His two daughters Dorothea and Henriette,\nand their friends Henriette Herz and Rahel Lewin, created salons to\nwhich were attracted some of the more liberal spirits of the cultured\nworld of Berlin. Dorothea Mendelssohn ultimately married Friedrich von\nSchlegel and became one of the Muses of the German Romantic School.\nPublicists of distinction like Wilhelm von Humboldt and Friedrich von\nGentz formed, with Dorothea and others of her circle, a \"Bond of\nVirtue\" (Tugendbund) which according to all appearance was named on\nthe principle of _locus a non lucendo_. Rahel, \"the little woman with\na great soul,\" as Goethe called her, was even a more striking\npersonality. She numbered, among her friends, men of such different\ntypes as Schelling and Schleiermacher, the Prince de Ligne, and\nFichte, Schlegel and Gutzkow, Prince Louis Ferdinand, Frederick the\nGreat's nephew, and Fouqu\u00e9, Gentz, and the Humboldts, and she finally\nmarried Varnhagen van Ense. She was the first to appreciate, in its\nfull extent, the multiform genius of Goethe, and helped the rise to\nfame of Boerne, Heine, and Victor Hugo. She was undoubtedly the most\nstriking personality among the women of her age in Germany, and she is\nnowadays regarded as one of the chief forerunners of the Feminist\nmovement.[C]\n\nThese salons had an air of cultured Bohemianism, which attracted many\nmen of rank in Mid-Europe who were beginning to be repelled by the\nexactions of social gathering in which all associations were\ndetermined by armorial bearings. A similar salon was held in Vienna by\nBaroness von Arnstein, in whose mansion all the diplomats of the\nCongress of Vienna met as on neutral ground. Such gatherings, while\nhelping to liberalize good society in Mid-Europe, also brought the\nposition of Jews to the notice of the ruling classes and, in many\ncases, aroused a determination to repair their wrongs. You cannot\naccept a man socially yet refuse him the most elementary rights\npolitically.[D]\n\n\n\n_The Liberal Leadership of Heine and Boerne_\n\nTHE Revolution of 1830 brought into European prominence the two most\nbrilliant members of Rahel's coterie, Ludwig Boerne and Heinrich\nHeine. Both had made their mark as litterateurs in the preceding\ndecade, but Boerne's \"Letters from Paris\" and Heine's \"French\nConditions\" (contributed to the _Augsburger Zeitung_) drew the\nattention of all liberal Germany to the new hopes aroused by the\ndownfall of the absolutist monarchy in France. Henceforth they were\nthe dominating voices in arousing among the German Liberals the hope\nof similar liberty, while in France itself they helped to make known\nto French culture the deeper currents of German thought and\nliterature. In particular their brilliant wit and incisive sarcasm set\nthe tone for the feuilleton literature of all Mid-Europe. By their\nvery isolation they were enabled to regard men and affairs with a\ncertain detachment, and both wrote with an iridescent insolence which\ncan only be described by the Jewish technical word _Chutzpah_.\nTreitschke complained of their frequent irreverences and flippancies\nbut in both respects Heine, \"the wittiest Frenchman since Voltaire,\"\nwas merely following in the footsteps of his predecessor, and Boerne,\nlike Diderot, knew that the most effective weapon against authority is\nsarcasm.\n\nUnder the leadership of Heine and Boerne a whole school of liberal\njournalists arose in Germany and Austria, many of them Jews like\nSaphir and Hartmann, and they gave a tone to Mid-European journalism\nwhich has lasted to the present day. They thus helped to\ninternationalize Liberalism of the French form, with its rather vague\nand indefinite strivings after liberty, equality, and fraternity, as\ncontrasted with the Liberalism of the English type dominated by Jeremy\nBentham, which aimed at constitutional, economic, and social reforms\nof a definite character. Young Germany, as represented by Heine and\nBoerne, left the latter type of Liberalism severely alone.\n\nYet in the struggle for constitutional liberty, which led to the\nrevolutions of 1848, Jews took a considerable part on the more\npractical side. Everywhere during that critical year Jews had a hand\nin the upheaval against absolutism.[E]\n\n\n_Among the Conservatives: Stahl and Disraeli_\n\nBUT Jews were not altogether unrepresented among the Conservative\nforces, counting indeed two of the chief leaders, F. J. Stahl in\nPrussia and Benjamin Disraeli in England. Disraeli's is the better\nknown name, but it is probable Stahl was equally influential. Stahl is\ndescribed by Sir A. W. Ward in the Cambridge Modern History, xi. 395,\nas \"the intellectual leader of the conservative aristocratic party and\nthe most remarkable brain in the Upper Chamber. . . . He largely supplied\nthe ruling party with the learning and wealth of ideas on which to\nfound their claims. Their organ was the _Kreuzzeitung_, and the party\nwas called by its name.\" Bluntschli calls him, \"after Hegel the most\nimportant representative of the philosophical theory of the State. He,\nin many ways, advanced political science by his dialectical and\ncritical ability in founding new points of view.\" (_The Theory of the\nState_, p. 73). But Stahl's historic influence will probably rest on\nhis connection with Bismarck at the formative period of his career,\nwhen the future chancellor was also a member of the _Kreuzzeitung_\nparty.\n\nDisraeli's career and influence is far better known and need not be\nfurther adverted to in this place. The fact that both were converts\nhas little significance from our present point of view, since many of\nthe Jewish leaders on the Liberal side had also adopted Christianity.\nIt is more pertinent to remark that one cannot trace their\nconservatism to their Judaism since there was everything in the Jewish\nposition of their time to range Jews on the Liberal side. Stahl and\nDisraeli are, therefore, to be regarded merely as examples of Jewish\nability. There is nothing specifically Jewish in their influence\nunless we regard the socialistic strain in Disraeli's conception of\n\"Young England\" as a part of the Jewish sympathy with the \"under dog,\"\nwhich can be attributed to their own experiences and to the traditions\nof the Prophets.\n\n\n_The Contribution of the Jews to Socialism_\n\nCERTAINLY we find a strong Jewish participation throughout the\nsocialistic movement which, from its inception up to the present day,\nhas been largely dominated by Jewish influences. Although modern\nsocialism can be traced back to St. Simon, the whole movement would\nhave collapsed at the death of the master but for the organizing\nability of Olinde Rodrigues and the religious enthusiasm of his\nbrother Eugene. A practical turn was also given by their cousins,\nIsaac and Jacob Pereire, who, as bankers, had thought out the best\nmeans of carrying out the principles of the school into practical\nlife. An extension of the facilities for banking would lower the rate\nof interest and therefore leave more to be distributed to the workers,\nwhile the development of railways would reduce the cost of\ntransportation and thus lower the cost of living and raise real wages.\nAccordingly the Pereires devoted themselves, with religious\nenthusiasm, to creating the Credit Foncier, and later the Credit\nMobilier, and were the chief agents in developing the railway system\nof Northern France, incidentally making themselves multi-millionaires\nin the process, though they never lost their enthusiasm for the\nsocialistic ideals.[F]\n\nMost of these left the St. Simonian Church when it diverged into the\nsexual vagaries of Enfantin, though one of his creeds was, \"I believe\nthat God has raised up Saint Simon to teach the Father (Enfantin)\nthrough Rodrigues.\" Felicien David the musician, however, accompanied\nEnfantin on his epoch-making journey to Egypt, during which he\nimplanted the idea of the Suez Canal in the minds of Mehemet Ali and\nFerdinand de Lesseps, and Gustave d'Eichthal devoted his enthusiasm\nand energies to creating, out of the ideas of St. Simon and Enfantin,\na new religion which should revert to the socialism of the Prophets,\nwhile denying or ignoring, like them, any other life than this. It is\nsaid that he consulted Heine as to the best means of founding such a\nreligion. \"Get crucified and rise again on the third day,\" was Heine's\ncaustic reply. The socialistic tone of J. S. Mill's _Principles of\nPolitical Economy_, which differentiates it from its Ricardian\npredecessors, is undoubtedly due in large measure to his intercourse\nwith d'Eichthal. Enfantin's vagaries, while they destroyed any direct\npractical outcome for St. Simonism, drew wide attention to its views,\nand Jews helped to spread them throughout Europe, Moritz Veit\nperforming that function in Germany, and M. Parma in Italy. The\ncosmopolitan position of Jews is seen at its best in such\npropagandism, and it is not surprising that they should have been\nattracted by views of which the kernel is in the Prophets of Israel,\nwhom indeed Renan, in his _Histoire d'Israel_, brilliantly\ncharacterized as socialistic preachers.\n\nThe later stages of socialism in Europe were, as is well known,\ndominated by Karl Marx, who based upon Ricardo's \"iron law\" of wages\nthe imposing edifice of _Das Kapital_, for long the gospel of advanced\nsocialism. The brilliant Ferdinand Lassalle introduced its principles\ninto German politics, and the most recent stages of German socialism\nhave been controlled by the opportunism of E. Bernstein, while among\nits most prominent leaders have been V. Adler and Paul Singer.\n\n\n_The Struggle for Political Emancipation_\n\nTHIS participation of Jewish intellect and sympathies with the Liberal\ncurrent in European politics made Jewish emancipation a part of the\nLiberal creed throughout Europe. Jews were fighting for themselves in\nfighting for the general liberties, and their position in the\nforefront of the struggle was thus justified by the representative\nprinciple at the root of modern Liberalism. Jewish disabilities were\nthe last stronghold of the old Church-State conception, and the\nstruggle on the side of the Reaction to retain this fundamental\nprinciple was the more intense. If Jews were granted full civil and\npolitical rights it could no longer be contended that Christianity was\na fundamental principle of the State (or, as the English _obiter\ndictum_ put it, \"Christianity is a parcel of the common law\"). Hence\nthe extreme violence of the defense which seems, at first sight, out\nof all proportion to the interests or numbers involved. Thus the\nstruggle was as embittered in Switzerland as anywhere, though the Jews\nthere only constituted a handful, and the traditions of the country\nwere in favor of toleration.\n\nFrom this aspect the fight in England is typical. As soon as the\nCatholics had obtained emancipation in 1828 (the Jews had stood aside\nin order not to complicate the question), Jewish emancipation became\npart of the Liberal creed, and the struggle was waged in Parliament,\nor rather in the House of Lords, for the ensuing thirty years. England\nwas the home of toleration, and her Toleration Act, passed as early as\n1689, formed the third stage in the European progress towards\nreligious liberty. Yet the more conservative elements in English life\nfought against the removal of Jewish disabilities because it meant the\nvisible proof of the secularization of English politics. It is perhaps\ncharacteristic that the Tory resistance was mainly broken down by\nDisraeli, of Jewish, and by Lord George Bentinck, of Dutch, descent.\n\n\n_The High Tide of Liberalism_\n\nWITH Jewish emancipation in England Liberalism reached its acme about\n1860. Complete civil and religious liberty was gained for Jews\nthroughout Western Europe during the next decade,--in the German\nconfederation and in Switzerland, 1866, in Austria and Hungary, 1867,\nand in the German Empire, 1871, while even in Spain the expulsion\norder was practically repealed and toleration, if not liberty, was\ngiven to Jews there in 1869. By that time Liberalism, both in the\nFrench sense of liberty and equality before the law and in the English\nsense of constitutional government and free-trade, had gained its\nfullest triumph and had spent its force. Its negative work had been\nmost valuable; it had freed the human spirit from intolerable shackles\nand thrown into the lumber-room the clogging survivals of medieval\nfeudalism. But to the human spirit thus freed it had little\ninstruction to give of a constructive kind; its slogan seemed to be,\n\"Go as you please,\" or, to use its own formula, \"laissez faire,\nlaissez aller.\" It was rather superficial in its treatment of national\nand social forces and made no appeal to the more generous imaginative\nemotions. It was inevitable that a reaction should set in if only to\nfill the void. Nationalism which had given vitality to France under\nNapoleon, and in Spain, Russia and Prussia had brought down his\ndownfall, was opposed to Liberal cosmopolitanism. Protection to native\nindustry, which had, only for a moment and in England, lost its hold,\nreplaced free trade, and the strong individualism of \"Manchestertum\"\nwas drowned in the rising flood of Collectivism, whether in the more\nformal guise of socialism or in the vaguer tendencies of philanthropy.\nIn none of these currents of opinion had Jews a prominent voice\nexcept, as we have seen, in the latter, though there they were mainly\neffective in opposition and criticism.\n\n\n_Bismarck and the Forces of Reaction_\n\nALL these tendencies, which may roughly be summed up as the\nCounter-Revolution, found a home in victorious Prussia and a voice in\nOtto von Bismarck, its representative statesman. As we have seen, his\nviews on the nature of the State had been influenced in his formative\nperiod by F. J. Stahl, and his socialistic sympathies may possibly\nhave been aroused by Ferdinand Lassalle, but he was of too independent\na character to submit much to external influences, and the tendencies\nhe represented, Junkertum and Militarism, were entirely opposed to\nJewish Liberalism. For some fifteen years he found it convenient to\nwork with the National Liberal party, to which all German Jews\nbelonged, and among whose leaders the most prominent were two Jews,\nEduard Lasker and Ludwig Bamberger. But in 1878 he broke with the\nparty and let loose the forces of \"Anti-Semitism\" as a means of\ndiscrediting them. The movement, thus encouraged by Bismarck, soon\nspread to Austria and was transformed in Russia into the pogroms of\n1881. In France the Royalists and Jesuits conceived hopes of reviving\nthe Church-State and adopted anti-Semitism as a means of discrediting\nnot alone Jews but also Protestants and other opponents of\nCatholicism. Their adherents, the French nobility, were especially\nembittered against the Jews by the bankruptcy of the Union G\u00e9n\u00e9rale, a\nbanking establishment in which all their money had been placed in the\nhope of wresting the control of French finance from the hands of the\nRothschilds. Their chief hope lay in getting control of the General\nStaff, by filling its posts with young men of noble birth, trained by\nJesuits. In order to attain this they schemed to remove all Jews and\nProtestants from the Staff and thought they had found a rare chance in\ntheir perverse persecution of Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Their scheme\nrecoiled on their own heads, and the final result of the Dreyfus\nAffaire was to break the alliance of clericalism and militarism, at\nleast in France.\n\nThe Dreyfus Affaire was specially significant as bringing into play,\nat one time, all the forces that have given vitality to anti-Semitism.\nThe New Nationalism, based not on Country but on Race and fostered by\nchauvinistic anthropologists as well as historians; the revived\nChurch spirit, which sees in the National Church not so much the\nguardian of Christian truth as a spiritual bond of national unity; the\nNew Collectivism which sees in capitalism the chief anti-social force,\nand the revived militaristic spirit which glorifies war as the\nregenerator of the nation; all these movements combine to regard the\nJew--considered as alien, infidel, capitalist, and pacificist--as the\nrepresentative enemy. All the reactionary forces regard a revival of\nthe medieval Church-State as both the means and the end of their\nstrivings, and naturally find the position of the Jew, both\ntheoretically and practically, one of the chief stumbling-blocks in\ntheir way.\n\n\n_Church-State versus Welfare-State_\n\nIT remains to be seen whether the ideals of religious and political\nliberty, which have been gained through so much blood and tears, will\nbe preserved intact against the rising forces of the Reaction and\nCounter-Revolution which are, at bottom, an attempt at a revival of\nthe Church-Empire. The slogan \"One God, one king, one people,\" has\nagain been raised, and armies that are nations in arms are in movement\nto the cry. Anti-Semitism is largely the result of this reaction, and\nwhile it is dominant in the councils of certain nations Jews must once\nmore take up their r\u00f4le of martyrs to the wider truth. Nowadays\nhowever they do not fight alone, and it is scarcely possible that in\nWestern Europe and in lands dominated by Western European ideals they\ncan be reinterned into their ghetti. But the Colossus of the North\nstill retains the medieval ideal of the Church-Empire, and while that\ncontrols Russian State policy Jews will have to suffer, in All the\nRussias, indignities and disabilities from which they have been freed\nin the lands of true civilization and religious liberty.\n\nThe ideal of the unified Church-State has been shattered by the\nassaults of modern criticism and the growth of true religious liberty.\nBut the conception of all the citizens of a compact territory animated\nby the same ideals still retains its attraction; only the unification\nnowadays is with regard to the goal rather than to the roads that lead\nto it. In other words, the Welfare-State (interpreting Welfare as\nspiritual as well as material) is taking the place of the Church-State\nof the Middle Ages and of Reformation times. What then is to become of\nthe separate churches or religious bodies which are found in profusion\nin modern States? That is the sole ecclesiastical problem which the\nmodern statesman has to face. Except among the extreme parties, such\nas the Ultramontagnes, the obvious solution would seem to be that\ngiven by the modern Federal constitution in which each State (in this\ncase Church) has a corporate life of its own over which it has\nautonomous control, except in any case where this conflicts with the\ngeneral Federal ideals. The Jewish Synagogue may rightly claim its\nplace among these churches within the State as having its part in\npromoting the general welfare.\n\n\n_The R\u00f4le of the Jews in European Progress_\n\nOWING to their medieval disabilities Jews, though sharing as we have\nseen in the higher life and in the commerce of Europe, were yet kept\nin a kind of enclave in each of the European nations, and thus acted,\nboth intellectually and economically, as a separate body with\ndistinctive tendencies caused by their isolation and disabilities.\nAccordingly we are able to estimate roughly the part taken by the Jews\nas a body in the various movements which have made European\ncivilization what it is to-day. In all these movements (except\npossibly one, the French Revolution) the Jews have contributed towards\nEuropean culture while sharing in it themselves. Their monotheistic\nviews and liturgic practices were the foundation of the medieval\nChurch, both in creed and deed. By their connection with their\nbrethren in the East and their tolerated existence, both in Islam and\nin Christendom, they helped towards that transmission of Oriental\nthought, science and commerce, which had so large an influence on the\nMiddle Ages and led on to the Renaissance and the Reform, in both of\nwhich movements Jews had their direct part to play. So, too, in the\nstruggle for religious liberty and in the different stages of\ntoleration which lay at the root of political liberty, Jews had their\npart to play, and when freed from their shackles by the French\nRevolution took a leading r\u00f4le both in Nineteenth Century Liberalism\nand in the Collectivism which has now replaced it.\n\nBut when fully emancipated, Jews no longer acted in the European world\nof ideas collectively but as individuals, often choosing opposite\nideals and in most cases applying the talents thus let free to objects\napart from the general political or religious movements of the time.\nGreat as has been the influence of Jews in their collective capacity\non the development of European thought and culture up to the present\nday, it is possible that their influence as individuals, during the\npast fifty years, has been even more extensive though less\ndiscernible, owing to the absence of any general direction to Jewish\nintellectuality.\n\n[Illustration: Signature: Joseph Jacobs]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[Footnote B: It is perhaps worth while remarking that one of the most\nprominent leaders on the Jewish side in Holland, Herz Bromet, had\nlived as a free Burgher in Surinam for a long time, and that the\nexample of America, especially New York State, was adduced in favor of\nthe movement. (Graetz xi, 230-1).]\n\n[Footnote C: See Ellen Key, \"Rahel Lewin.\"]\n\n[Footnote D: Similar salons were held later by distinguished Jewesses\nlike Countess Waldegrave, in London, and Madame Raffalovitch in Paris;\nand the Rothschilds have, throughout, made their houses centers of the\nmost cultured influence.]\n\n[Footnote E: No adequate or connected account has yet been given of\nthe part taken by the Jews in the revolution of 1848. Incidentally a\ngood deal of information is contained in the last volume of Georg\nBrandes, _Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Literature_, vi, \"Young\nGermany.\"]\n\n[Footnote F: They got their altruistic tendencies from their family\nconnections. Their uncle Jacob Rodrigues Pereire (1750-80) was the\nfirst teacher of deaf mutes.]\n\n\n\n\n[_The second in a series of articles on The Meaning of Judaism_]\n\nWhat Is Judaism?\n\nBY MORDECAI M. KAPLAN\n\n\nWHAT is Judaism if not an ethical monotheism? The answer is that it is\nnot an \"ism\" at all, despite the last syllable in its name. It is a\nliving soul or consciousness; it is the soul or consciousness of the\nJewish people. We are not interested in names, and we should not\nquibble about terms; it is reality that we are after. We want to know\nwhat is involved in being a Jew and living a Jewish life. The main\nreason for our finding fault with the usual presentation of Judaism is\nthat it does not enlighten or inspire us. If the term Judaism does not\ndirect our minds at once to the living energy that operates in the\nJewish people, if it has not the power to launch us upon the stream of\nIsrael's active thought and spiritual striving, then it is a word\nwithout content, and had better be deleted from our vocabulary. We did\nwell enough without it until very recently, and should it prove an\ninsuperable obstacle to the solution of our spiritual problems, we\nshall have to throw it into the scrap-heap of obsolete terminology. We\nshall begin to call our religion \"Jewishness\" instead of Judaism. The\nformer designation has at least the advantage of connoting\nconsciousness, and nothing is so important for understanding the\nessence of any religion as the identification of it with a form or\nstate of consciousness. If Jewishness will mean to us Jewish\nconsciousness and not merely \"gefillte fisch\" or some other Jewish\ndish, it will serve our purpose.\n\nLet us not lose sight of the main issue in these discussions. We Jews\nrefuse to have our life quest confined to the satisfaction of our\nmaterial needs. Our souls are hungry; and whether we call it\nJewishness or Judaism, what we want is religion that will help us get\nour bearings in the world, that will keep down the beast in us and\nspur us on to worthy endeavor in the field of thought and action.\nUnder normal conditions we should find all this in the faith of our\nfathers. But, unfortunately, all that most of us know about that faith\nis what we acquired from some old-fashioned \"rabbi\" who taught us when\nwe were small children and who made us recite Hebrew by the page. At\nhome our parents would insist upon our conforming to routine\nobservances and ceremonies which meant nothing to us. When we grew\nolder and occasionally asked questions about the Bible, we met with\ncold and evasive replies. No wonder that later on, when we entered\nthe academic world, we grew accustomed to look upon Judaism as out of\ntouch with the realities of life, and far removed from the elemental\nneeds that agitate the masses of active, enterprising humanity. We\ncould see no connection between the few humble ceremonies in our homes\nor in our synagogues with the social, political and industrial\nproblems upon which was riveted the attention of the men of light and\nleading. To most of us the faith of our fathers seemed little more\nthan a medley of needless restraints, other-worldliness, and hostility\nto all progress.\n\n\n_Religion Indispensable to the Human Race_\n\nBUT a change has come over us. We have begun to realize that Judaism\ncould not have transformed the spiritual history of mankind, as it\ndid, if it were the negligible and insignificant thing we thought it\nwas. We have been unable to discern its true character, because we did\nnot know how to probe beneath the outward and often unattractive\nsurface which it presented to us in the limited circle in which we\nmoved. We have begun to surmise that the Jewish life we are familiar\nwith is nothing more than a devitalized fragment of what, under\nauspicious circumstances, becomes a life that is spiritually\nhealthful, joyous and invigorating. We have at last learned to take\ninto consideration the inevitable difference in mental scope and\noutlook that must mark two generations, one of which had its life\nformed amidst the oppressive atmosphere of Eastern Europe, and the\nother in the bracing atmosphere of America. This being the case,\nnothing could be more unreasonable than to expect that the spiritual\nheritage be transmitted from father to child with ease and\nnaturalness. But who is in a better position to smooth out the\nroughness and overcome the angularities--father or child? Should we\ndemand of our elders, who are burdened by numerous cares, and whose\nlives are for the most part hurried and difficult, that they adapt\nthemselves to our attitude of mind? Is it not meet that we, who still\nretain the plasticity of youth, make advances? Without surrendering an\niota of our own individuality we might cultivate that sympathetic\ninsight that would reveal the inestimable worth of our spiritual\nheritage. Not merely reverence for the past, but a regard for our own\nfuture prompts us to achieve a proper understanding of Judaism.\n\nIt is well to realize at the outset that the problem of religion is\nnot confined to the Jews alone. Every great world-faith experiences\nnowadays the throes of transformation and readjustment. Mistaking them\nfor the final struggle, the believer wrings his hands in despair over\nthe impending doom, and the doubter contemplates a religionless future\nwith a great deal of glee. But both will be disappointed in their\nreckoning. Religion, as we shall see, is entirely too inherent in\nhuman life to be dispensable. The belief that it has served its\npurpose in the evolution of the race, and that it can only survive as\na troublesome vestige in the organism of human society, is based upon\na misunderstanding of its function. In view of the deeper insight into\nhuman nature that has been acquired of late, as a result of the\nprogress made in psychological and social research, there is good\nreason to believe that a better understanding is not far distant.\nThese investigations have not merely led to new theories about\nreligion, but have essentially changed the method of approach. They\nhave rendered superfluous the subtleties and refinements of\nmetaphysical arguments. A new reservoir in human nature has been\ntapped, and discovered to be the inexhaustible fount of religion.\n\n\n_The Adaptation of Judaism to Changing Conditions_\n\nTHIS new way of looking at the problem of religion gives promise of\nhelping us also to get a better comprehension of Judaism. We shall\nfind by means of it that there is much more substantial nourishment to\nthe faith of our fathers than can be obtained from the tabloid form in\nwhich the textbooks mete it out to us. The previous article on \"What\nJudaism Is Not\"[G] did not argue that Judaism could forego such\ndoctrines as the unity of God, the brotherhood of man and similar\nprinciples, or that it should glory in remaining vague and\ninarticulate. The main objection to the ordinary way of conceiving\nJudaism was that it lacked the means of preventing its teachings from\ndegenerating into dull platitudes. But if Judaism is essentially the\nself-consciousness of the Jewish people, these doctrines will be\nviewed as some of its characteristic expressions. As such they\nforthwith become instinct with life. To be a religious Jew,\naccordingly, means not merely to profess the unity of God in cold\nphilosophical fashion, but to live over again by means of thought and\nsymbol the divine intuition, the backslidings, the temptations, the\ndefiance, the threats, the tortures and the final victory implied in\nthe \"Shema Yisroel.\" The Jew who does not thrill with exaltation when\nhe sings the world's most stirring paean, \"Hear, O Israel, the Lord is\nour God, the Lord is One!\" is either ignorant or has the blood of a\nfish.\n\nWhether Judaism is an ethical monotheism or the consciousness of\nIsrael is not merely an academic question. These two conceptions\nrepresent widely divergent ways of dealing with the practical problems\nof self-adjustment to the novel situation with which Judaism is\nconfronted. Whether the one or the other view shall prevail will make\na difference in the fight for existence. We protest that if Judaism\nwill be armed with nothing stronger than the conventional platitudes,\nit must succumb. By knowing itself for what it really is, Judaism will\nmuster new heart and strength. The need for self-adjustment is not of\ntoday; Judaism has been going through that process ever since it saw\nthe light. But during the past hundred and fifty years, Judaism has\nbeen wrestling with the problem of self-adaptation which both the\nredistribution of Jewry and the incursions of materialistic secularism\nhave called into being. In this comparatively short period of a\ncentury and a half, Judaism has lived through all that the other\nreligions have experienced within the last three or four centuries. If\nwe were to compare the different stages in the process of Jewish\nself-adjustment we should find them analogous to those through which\nEuropean religion in general has passed. These different steps in the\nprocess seem to have been unavoidable because they are the concomitant\nof the natural development of the human spirit. A review of the\nsalient phases in the self-adaptation of religion to the changing\nconditions of life and thought will throw light upon the significance\nof that vital method of viewing Judaism which has of late worked its\nway into Jewish life--for the most part unawares.\n\n\n_The Storm and Stress Period in Religion_\n\nWHEN we refer to the self-adjustment of religion to modern conditions,\nour concern is not with the vast hinterland of ignorance and\nsuperstition that is still inhabited by large numbers of the\nunthinking of all creeds, Jewish as well as Christian. The destiny of\nreligion is, primarily, in the hands of those who are in the vanguard\nof intellectual progress, and as long as its place in their lives is a\nproblematic one its future is uncertain. Since the days of the\nRenaissance, religion has practically been busy adjusting itself to\nthe ever enlarging human experience. It was otherwise during the\nmiddle ages, when the men of intellect threw the weight of their\ninfluence on the side of tradition and authority. They devoted their\nmental powers to the support of truths that were accepted at their\nface value without further scrutiny and analysis. All the resources of\nintellect were spent in interpreting the few facts they had in their\npossession. Many centuries elapsed before the cry was raised for more\nfacts; but when, at last, the cry was answered, and new knowledge\nconcerning the world in which men lived began to pour in, the\nfoundations of tradition were shaken. Since then the religion of the\nintellectuals has no longer been marked by the naivet\u00e9 and\nself-assurance of its earlier years. Its existence has been one of\nstorm and stress. It has resisted all attempts to crowd it out from\nthe new world that man has conquered for himself, and in order to be\naccorded a place in that world it has submitted to considerable change\nand self-adjustment. We may note three distinct stages in these\nefforts of religion to accommodate itself to life, corresponding in a\nlarge measure with the great thought movements of the eighteenth, the\nnineteenth, and the twentieth centuries respectively.\n\nThe first stage in the process was the rationalistic. With Copernicus\nand Galileo defeated by the Vatican, with Descartes having to defend\nhis orthodoxy, it seemed to the English and French philosophers of the\neighteenth century that the only way man could save his spiritual\nnature from falling a prey to animalism or materialism was by\nconsigning to destruction the special forms in which religion existed\nin the established faiths. The dreamers and the visionaries of that\nday, who were moved by a sincere desire to further man's higher life,\nentertained the hope that natural religion would revive with the\ndownfall of revealed religion. But human events have taken a different\nturn. Life does not adapt itself to preconceived logical systems. The\nrationalistic method of adjusting religion to life failed because it\nwas based upon a false reconstruction of the rise and growth of\nreligion. However logical and plausible such a reconstruction might\nhave appeared, the fact that it could not be verified by study and\nobservation of religious phenomena invalidated the practical\ninferences drawn from it.\n\n\n_The Failure of the Rationalistic School_\n\nALTHOUGH by that time science had made sufficient strides to know how\nfutile it was to reconstruct fact by means of reason, the territory of\nreligion was still considered exempt from the need of resorting to\nexperience. The thinkers of the rationalistic age were to a certain\nextent still under the dominance of the medieval regard for abstract\nreasoning, and applied it to man's spiritual existence. They reasoned\nthus: The human being is naturally gifted with an intuition that\nenables him to discover for himself the truth about God and his\nrelation to the world. If man had only been left alone and had not had\nthe stream of his ideas muddied by outside interference, he would have\ncontinued professing a religion that would have been both pure and\nsimple. But human depravity did not permit the natural religion of\nprimitive life to continue. The fanatics with their delusions and the\npriests with their love of power distorted man's primitive faith in\nGod. They invented dogmas and practices by means of which they could\nhold the masses in subjection. In course of time these extraneous\nelements came to be looked upon as the main content of revealed\nreligion. The various established faiths and revealed religions were\nlittle more than wilful fabrications that were bound to crumble before\nthe onslaughts of reason. Thus, by bringing the established cults into\ndisrepute, men like Voltaire and Hume hoped to restore religion to its\noriginal state of purity and simplicity, bare of all artificialities\nof forms and institutions.\n\nHowever superficial the rationalistic method may appear to us, nothing\nbut supercilious ingratitude could prompt us to disparage the service\nit has rendered. The rationalists are the men to whom the world is\nindebted for being the pioneers in the work of breaking down the\nimpassable barrier of hatred and disdain which divided the followers\nof one faith from those of another. Rationalism began to lift the\ncurse of intolerance and persecution which lay heavily upon the human\nrace. No one who values the freedom to live his own life in his own\nway should cast aspersions upon the influence of that school of\nthought. Though they argued erroneously about the nature and essence\nof religion, we must not forget that they emancipated the human soul\nfrom the shackles of spiritual bondage.\n\nOn the other hand, our gratitude to them cannot blind us to their\nsuperficiality and inexperience in the matter of religion. Nineteenth\ncentury thought, with its emphasis upon historic development, exposed\nthe fallacies and weaknesses of the method they employed to interpret\nreligious phenomena. The distinction between natural and revealed\nreligion was an arbitrary one, and the conception of priestly\nfabrications a mere figment of the imagination. Historical research\nhas established that all the great world faiths or revealed religions\nhave followed laws of development that have been in accord with the\ncircumstances and mentality of those who professed them, and in that\nsense have been perfectly natural. Instead of being the product of\nfraud and wilful deceit, the established religions were seen to be the\noutcome of a healthy enthusiasm and deep sincerity. The limitations of\nknowledge and experience, which marked the earlier expressions of\nreligious life, were, from the historical point of view, more than\natoned for by the inner worth and sincerity that had prevailed in\nformer days. In fact, so far did the historical conception change\nmen's attitude that, upon finding themselves sophisticated and torn by\ndoubt, they looked back longingly to former ages, when religion had\nbrought inward calm and serenity. As a consequence of this reaction to\nthe disintegrating tendencies of eighteenth century rationalism, a\nrenewed appreciation for the religion of the past made itself felt\namong the circles of the cultured, particularly those of Germany and\nEngland, and the institutions in which the spirit of the past clothed\nitself were given a new lease of life.\n\n\n_The Historic Method Is Found Wanting_\n\nTHE adoption by religion of the historic method thus represents the\nsecond stage in its process of self-adjustment. It now appealed to\nman's natural desire not to allow his past to sink into oblivion.\nNothing is so humanizing as memory. He that is engrossed only in the\nfuture and would make it the only standard of value, he who has no\npatience with anything that interferes with practical utility--and\nmemory is certainly a source of such interference--lacks the main\ningredient of humanity and has something beaverish about him. Thus\ntaught the historical school during the nineteenth century, and the\nrationalistic ideal that would have destroyed the established faiths\nno longer held sway.\n\nBut while the historic method stemmed the tide of rationalism, it\nfailed to give back to religion its native vigor. It removed forever\nthe stigma of insincerity that was attached to the origin and\ndevelopment of the dominant faiths; it illumined the past and\nincorporated it into man's spiritual life; but it was unable to\nrestore to religion its most important function, that of shaping the\nfuture. The fundamental paradox which the historic method harbors, and\nwhich has prevented it from contributing adequately to the process of\nadjustment, is the fact that the spiritual experiences of the past,\nwhich it asks us to love and revere, were at the time of their\nenactment not memories, but vital responses to immediate and pressing\nneeds. In the past religion dealt with its own present. That at all\ntimes the past did play an important r\u00f4le cannot be denied; but in all\neffective religion it can only be a means to an end. The historic\nmethod, on the other hand, succeeds in nothing but in revitalizing the\npast for its own sake. It provides no guidance for the future. A\nreligion must not only write history--it must make history. This is\nwhy the historic method has been found wanting and has had to be\nsupplemented by a new method of adjustment, which for want of a better\nterm we may designate the socio-psychological.\n\n\n_The New Way--the Social and Psychological Viewpoint_\n\nBUT little attention has so far been paid to this new method of\nself-adjustment. Though it is still inchoate and uncrystallized, it\nforms the best part of every endeavor that makes for the\nrehabilitation of religion. The remarkable feature about the new mode\nof adjustment is that it did not come about directly, through a desire\non the part of the teachers of religion to make good the inadequacy of\nprevious methods. It was arrived at indirectly from a source that at\nfirst seemed hostile, and to some extent is still considered so,\nnamely, social science. Not alone religion, but government and\neducation, as well as history, economics and psychology, have been\nrevolutionized as a result of the new way of approaching the problems\nof human life. So recent is the change that we have hardly had time to\nappraise it. The modern point of view toward human society has worked\na change in all our thinking, comparable only to the one which\nresulted when the true purport of the concept \"evolution\" became\napparent. The human race has lived through the forces generated by\nsocial existence without having been aware of them, even as it went on\nliving for thousands of years without knowing the numerous forces that\nwere latent in the earth, air and sea. It will probably take a much\nlonger time for man to estimate at their worth the forces that are at\nwork in social life than it took him to perceive the forces that\ndominate the physical world.\n\nWith all that, it is now generally established that the study of any\nphase of human life, whether for theoretical or for practical\npurposes, must be based upon the recognition that man is not merely a\nsocial animal, as Aristotle put it, but that his being more than an\nanimal is due entirely to his leading a social life. In opposition to\nthe older point of view, which prevailed in the more materialistic\nschools of thought during the nineteenth century, social science has\nproved that the forces that operate in human life are not merely those\nthat are derived from the physical environment, but also those which\nare of a mental character. These psychical forces operate with a\nuniformity and power in no way inferior to those of the physical\nworld. Social science is gradually accustoming us to regard human\nsociety not merely as an aggregate of individuals but as a psychical\nentity, as a mind not less but more real than the mind of any of the\nindividuals that constitute it. The perennial source of error has been\nthe fallacy of considering the individual human mind as an entity\napart from the social environment. Whatever significance the study of\nthe mind, as detached from its social environment, may have for\nmetaphysical inquiry, it can throw no light upon the practical\nproblems with which the mind has to deal--problems that arise solely\nfrom the interaction of the individual with his fellows. The\nindividual human being is as much the product of his social\nenvironment as the angle is of the sides that bound it.\n\nThis new method of studying mental life both in the race and in the\nindividual has revealed not merely the true significance of religion,\nbut the way in which it functions and the conditions which affect its\ncareer. We now know that those phenomena in life which we call\nreligious are primarily the expression of the collective life of a\nsocial group, after it has attained a degree of consciousness which is\nanalogous to the self-consciousness of the individual. When a\ncollective life becomes self-knowing we have a religion, which may\ntherefore be considered the flowering stage in the organic growth of\nthe tree of social life. The problem of religious adjustment is at\nbottom that of maintaining in a social group the psychical or\nspiritual energy which expresses itself in beliefs, ideals, customs\nand standards of conduct. Accordingly, when a religion is passing\nthrough a crisis, what is really happening is not so much that certain\naccepted truths or traditional habits are threatened with\nobsolescence, as that the social group with whose life it has been\nidentified is on the point of dissolution. Whatever interest we have\nin the cultivation of the spiritual life must go towards conserving\nthis kind of social energy. To have roses we must take care of the\ntree on which they grow, and not content ourselves with having a\nbouquet of them put into a vase filled with water. This newer\nconception of the religious life is fraught with far-reaching\nconsequences, some of which we shall have to point out in a later\narticle.\n\nIn Judaism we encounter the same three stages in the process of\nself-adjustment, though less clearly defined, by reason of much\noverlapping. What is known as the Haskalah movement represents the\napplication of the rationalistic method to the spiritual problems of\nJewish life. Having taken place in Russia, it was bound to be delayed\nin its coming for nearly a century. It received the first setback in\nits career when the pogroms broke out in the early \"eighties,\" and the\nRussian Government inaugurated its policy of hounding and repression.\nThe type which the Haskalah movement produced is the \"Maskil,\" a man\nwho curls his lip at ceremony and tradition, who lacks a sense of\nhistory and dabbles in cosmopolitanism. Not having had the courage to\nbe thoroughgoing in his principles, or realizing that it was futile to\nbe so, he tolerated what was distinctively Jewish so long as it was\nkept indoors and withdrawn from public gaze. In practice, however,\n\"Haskalah\" moved in the same direction as eighteenth century\nrationalism which made for the abrogation of the historic faiths.\n\n\n_Judaism in the Rationalistic and Historic Stages_\n\nCONTEMPORANEOUSLY with the rise and development of the Haskalah\nmovement in Russia, Jewry in the German-speaking countries tested the\nvalidity both of the rationalistic and of the historic method. The\nReform movement was at first, like the Haskalah movement, little more\nthan a diluted cosmopolitanism. A typical case is that of David\nFriedlander and his friends, who began by reforming the worship in\nharmony with modern ideas and the changed social position of the Jews,\nand ended in offering to accept Christianity, if they would not be\nrequired to believe in Jesus and could be exempted from the observance\nof certain ceremonies. Influenced by the general reaction against\nrationalistic tendencies and by the rise of Jewish Wissenschaft, the\nReform movement has had to reckon with the historic method of\nadjustment. But that influence has not been strong enough to overcome\nits early rationalistic bias from which it suffers to this very day.\n\nThe historic method was applied with far more thoroughness and\nconsistency by the advocates of Historical Judaism. Zunz, Frankel,\nGraetz, Herzfeld, Luzzatto and Joel drew the line between adaptation\nand assimilation. They laid down the principle that it was fatuous to\nspeak of a religion adjusting itself when it breaks so completely with\nthe past as to be unrecognizable. In our anxiety to have Judaism\nconform to the needs of the age, we must take care lest we create an\naltogether new religion and label it Judaism. Intellectual honesty\ndemands that we give due heed to the principle of identity, so that\nthe sameness in our Judaism and that of our fathers be greater than\nthe difference between them. They therefore applied themselves to the\ntask of reconstructing the past by dint not of logic and\nphrase-mongering, but of patient, plodding search after facts strewn\nin the most out-of-the-way by-paths of literature, with the\nconsequence that they discovered an impassable gulf between the\nJudaism of history and the Judaism of the Reform movement. We shall\nnever be able to discharge fully our debt of gratitude to these Jewish\nscholars and historians who have given us, in place of a few vague\nand detached memories, a past rich in content and inspiration. But\nwhat they did was only to lay the foundation of the Judaism of the\nfuture. A foundation affords poor shelter against the hail and sleet\nof a bleak wintry day. Of what avail is it to keep on forever hugging\nthe cold foundation stones, when we should be engaged in building the\nhouse of Israel?\n\n\n_Judaism and the Jewish Soul_\n\nAS soon as we begin to experience the need not merely of giving\nconsent to certain abstract truths or of contemplating the past, but\nof helping to build the house of Israel as a means to our spiritual\nwell-being, Judaism enters through us upon the third stage in the\nprocess of self-adjustment. This is the case with all those who rebel\nagainst the pulverizing and granulating tendencies of Judaized\nProtestantisms which ignore the \"Kenneseth-Israel\" in the effort to\nmete out salvation to the individual soul. This is true of all who\nrefuse to allow Judaism to provincialize itself by applying for\nnaturalization papers wherever it finds a habitat. To this class also\nbelong those who see in Zionism not what its opponents make it out to\nbe, a sulking, sullen Chauvinism, but a method of regeneration to\nwhich Judaism has been led by divine intuition. Dr. Schechter, who has\ncontributed to Judaism the concept of catholicity, has this to say of\nZionism: \"While it is constantly winning souls for the present, it is\nat the same time preparing us for the future, which will be a Jewish\nfuture. Only when Judaism has found itself, when the Jewish soul has\nbeen redeemed from the Galuth, can Judaism hope to resume its mission\nin the world.\" How significant the apposition in which the author\nplaces Judaism and the Jewish soul! What a pity to spoil a poetic\ninsight of that kind by applying to it so barbarous a term as\nsocio-psychological. Yet in that insight is echoed the modern\nconception of religion as the self-consciousness of the group, a\nconception which the very conditions of life have forced the Jew to\nadopt. Whatever vitality Judaism still displays may be traced to a\ngeneral presentiment that it is a social mind and not a system of\nabstract truths. We should not, however, permit such a principle to\nremain merely a vague presentiment. The task that devolves upon us is\nto render articulate both in theory and in practice all that is\nimplied in the intuition that Judaism is the soul of Israel.\n\n EDITORS' NOTE.--_Prof. Kaplan will continue to develop\n his conception of the true meaning of Judaism in\n articles to appear in subsequent issues._\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[Footnote G: In _The Menorah Journal_ for October, 1915.]\n\n\n\n\n=University Menorah Addresses=\n\n _The following addresses indicating the attitude of\n University authorities towards the Menorah movement\n may be considered as supplementary to the University\n Addresses printed in Part II of_ THE MENORAH MOVEMENT\n (1914) _and in the first number_ (_January_, 1915)\n _of_ THE MENORAH JOURNAL.\n\n\nPROFESSOR ALBERT L\u00c9ON GU\u00c9RARD OF THE RICE INSTITUTE\n\n_Before the Rice Institute Menorah Society, November 29, 1915_\n\nIT is my privilege to welcome the Menorah Society in the name of the\nnon-Jewish element and of the Faculty of the Rice Institute. When I\nwas requested to do so, I accepted at once and with pleasure. I am in\nhearty sympathy with the purpose of the Menorah Society. I am a\nteacher of French; but I should consider myself unworthy of my calling\nif, behind the words of a foreign language, I did not attempt to show\nthe civilization of a people, their soul, their ideal. Now, what I am\nattempting to do for French, the Menorah plans to do for the\ntraditions, the problems, the aspirations of the Jewish race. And\nalthough I believe that the people which gave to the world Saint\nLouis, Joan of Arc, Calvin, Descartes, Pascal, Rousseau, Pasteur,\nVictor Hugo has left its imperial imprint upon the whole of modern\ncivilization, yet I cannot but be conscious of the prior and higher\nclaims of that strange family of whose blood Moses, Jesus and Spinoza\nwere born. Judaism and Hellenism, said Renan, are the twin miracles of\nhuman history. The artistic and philosophical primacy of the Greeks is\nnot so striking as the religious primacy of the Hebrews. The worship\nof beauty is a less vital element than the undying quest for\nrighteousness. The whole fabric of our culture rests on those\nJudeo-Hellenic foundations. And surely a university would be false to\nits name if it did not include among its courses the study of Jewish\nliterature and Jewish history. The Rice Institute is young, and will\nnot reach its full stature for many a decade; all branches of\nknowledge cannot be taken up at the same time. But the place which\nJudaic studies ought by right to have in the curriculum will be at\nleast indicated and kept in mind by your Menorah Society.\n\nI heartily welcome the Menorah because, open to Jews and Gentiles\nalike, it will help us break down the barrier of prejudices which\nstill separates the two elements. I have seen with my own eyes the\ntragic effects of such prejudices: I was in Paris at the time of the\nDreyfus case; I have seen how they warped the thought of scholarly\nmen, like Houston Stewart Chamberlain; I have read with horror of the\nRussian pogroms. You, who have suffered for ages under the fierce\ncontempt and hatred of fanatics, you who have at last reached this\nhaven of democracy and justice, let not the lesson of past sufferings\nbe lost; do not forget your brethren still in bondage; and your\nbrethren are those who are persecuted, all the world over, even as you\nwere persecuted. You ought to be foremost among those who labor for\nequality and freedom. We have a right to count upon you in the fight\nagainst all prejudices--prejudices of race and color, of class and\ncountry, of caste and religion. The emancipated Jew must be an\nemancipator.\n\nI welcome the Menorah Society because, though devoted primarily to the\ntradition of your people, it does not look exclusively towards the\npast. Be rightly proud of the most unique and entrancing tradition in\nthe history of the world. Cherish it, hold fast to it, as a title of\nnobility. The world has no respect for the man who does not respect\nhimself in his forefathers. The call to American citizenship does not\nin the least imply the duty of forgetting that you are Jews: it is the\nbest Jews that will make the best Americans. But do not be hypnotized\nby your past; be worthy of your ancestors by continuing their spirit\nrather than aping their habits. Think of the problems of to-day and\nto-morrow. Apply to human affairs your Biblical test of righteousness.\nThen you will find that, with a slightly different coloring perhaps,\nyour aspirations are ours; our diverse evolutions, after centuries of\nestrangement and conflict, tend towards the same goal; and in the\nMenorah I see a sign of the coming harmony of sects and creeds, each\nremaining passionately attached to its own past, but all working in\ncommon towards the same future.\n\nFinally, I cannot drive away from my thought the shambles of Europe.\nYour co-religionists are fighting under all the belligerent flags, as\nbravely, as loyally, as their fellow-citizens of a different creed;\nand they have suffered more heavily in Poland than even the Belgian\nmartyrs. When one thinks of the carnival of murder to which the\nidolatry of territorial, political patriotism has led, one cannot but\nwonder whether the Jewish people throughout the world might not afford\nan example for all to follow. In Judaism we have tradition, culture\nand race dissociated from any special habitat or from any political\nform; and this nation without a land, this nation without a king, is\ndeveloping, prospering, unconquerable. I wonder whether the\nterritorial state, which has led to such monstrous aberrations, is not\na last idol and doomed to disappear as an ethical factor; and whether\nthe future might not belong to universal, interpenetrating\ncommunities;--freely expanding, untrammelled by physical boundaries,\nunable to use force, and free from the fear of force, communities of\nwhich Judaism to-day might be the prototype. But I do not want to\ndwell at any length on a mere hypothesis or perhaps on a flight of\nfancy. I have said enough, I hope, to convince you of my hearty\nsympathy with the work of the Menorah Society. May it long\nprosper--an increasing element of strength in our Institute!\n\n\nPROFESSOR PHILIP B. KENNEDY, DIRECTOR OF THE DAY DIVISION OF THE\nSCHOOL OF COMMERCE, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY\n\n_Before the New York University (Washington Square) Menorah Society,\nNovember 3, 1915_\n\nI AM very glad to be present this morning at the opening meeting of\nthe Menorah Society. I believe that any people should make the most of\ntraditions which they have behind them. Personally, I always feel more\nconfidence in a man of any race when he stands up for the best of his\nrace traditions.\n\nThe Hebrew race is a very ancient one and should contribute to the\ncivilization of this country. Students of this race who are in our\ncolleges are the ones who may rightfully take the lead in making these\ntraditions count.\n\nThe Menorah Society, I believe, is proceeding along the right lines. I\nhope to learn more of the work of this Society as it continues its\nwork in the School of Commerce; and I am especially glad to have the\nopportunity of being with you at the beginning of the year. I trust\nthat the year will be a very successful one. Personally, I shall\nattempt to back up the Society in every way that I can.\n\n\nDEAN ALFRED E. BURTON, OF MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY\n\n_Before the M. I. T. Menorah Society, October 22, 1915_\n\nTHE Menorah Society has appealed to me especially because of its high\npurpose. We who are not of the Jewish race realize what an important\nfactor the Jews have been in civilization. Jewish culture has played\nan important part particularly here in the foundation of New England.\nPuritan life and thought drew its chief inspiration from the Old\nTestament. From the earliest times Jewish men have, been leaders in\nscience and letters. Among the Americans and the English there is a\ngrowing tendency towards a better appreciation of Jewish ideals.\n\nIt is important that all Jewish men have pride in their race. If you\ndon't, others will not. Some Jewish students do not seem to realize\nthat they have a great inheritance. Many Jewish students with whom I\nhave talked have been inclined to self-depreciation, and they also\nfelt that everyone was against them. In contrast, Irish students have\nalways impressed me with their self-confidence.\n\nBring non-Jewish students to your meetings. Try to increase your\nmembers. I shall do all I can to foster and promote your work. I would\nalso urgently advocate a joint Menorah banquet between Harvard and\nTechnology. This banquet would not only tend to tie Technology and\nHarvard students closer together, but would be of great benefit to\nyour Society.\n\nThe study of Jewish culture and ideals will help you to think of other\nthings than those immediately connected with your school work, and it\nwill, furthermore, instill in you a feeling of dignity for your\nheritage.\n\n\nREV. ANSON PHELPS STOKES, SECRETARY OF YALE UNIVERSITY\n\n_Substance of Address before the Yale Menorah Society, October 27,\n1915_\n\nMR. Stokes spoke of three reasons why Jewish students of the right\ntype were welcome to Yale University:\n\n1. _They showed themselves capable of the highest scholarship_; the\nlarge number of prize awards won by Jewish students was evidence of\nthis. The speaker expressed the hope that some of the Jewish students\nwould go in for scholarly life careers. With so many Jewish students\nof high scholarship it seemed strange that relatively few pursued\ngraduate studies outside of the various professions.\n\n2. _They made their contribution to the life and thought of a\ndemocratic American university._ A university like Yale is, he said, a\nmelting pot of democracy. One of its main advantages is that it brings\ntogether Orient and Occident, North and South, Catholic and\nProtestant, Christian and Jew, and makes each understand the point of\nview of the other.\n\n3. _The presence of Jewish students at the University tends to attract\nto Yale gifts in the interest of Semitic studies._ The contribution of\nJudaism to religious and ethical ideals was so important that no\nuniversity could afford to fail in supplying adequate courses of\nSemitic instruction. Several recent gifts to the University in the\ninterest of Jewish scholarship from prominent Jewish citizens\nindicates that they had been impressed with the fair treatment of\nJewish boys at Yale. He spoke with appreciation of a recent gift of a\nrabbinic library of several thousand volumes of large value.\n\nMr. Stokes spoke with much appreciation of the Menorah Society because\nof what it was doing in bringing together Jewish students in the\ninterest of high intellectual and ethical ideals, and hoped that it\nwould not forget that its mission was not only to interest Jewish\nstudents but also Christian students in Jewish culture.\n\n\n\n\nIntercollegiate Menorah Notes\n\nFourth Annual Menorah Convention\n\n\nAt the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa., on Monday,\nTuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, December 27, 28, 29 and 30, 1915.\n\n\n_Announcements_\n\nAll members of Menorah Societies are cordially invited to attend the\nConvention. Though the right to vote is enjoyed only by duly\naccredited Representatives and Deputies of constituent Menorah\nSocieties, all Menorah members may be given the privilege of the floor\nat the business sessions. Graduates also, especially former members of\nMenorah Societies, are invited to attend.\n\nAll business sessions, unless otherwise indicated, will take place at\nCollege Hall, University of Pennsylvania.\n\nA reception will be given to the delegates and other Menorah members\nby a Committee of graduates and leading Jewish men and women of\nPhiladelphia, at the Y. M. H. A., on Monday evening, at 8.\n\nBy invitation from the President of the Dropsie College, Dr. Cyrus\nAdler, one of the meetings, the \"Scholars' Evening,\" will be held at\nThe Dropsie College, corner Broad and York Sts., Philadelphia, on\nTuesday evening, December 28, at 8.15 P. M. This meeting will be open\nto the public.\n\nThe Convention Dinner, at the Hotel Adelphia, Philadelphia, on\nWednesday evening, December 29, at 6.30 P. M., will be open to\nRepresentatives and Deputies, all other Menorah members, all\ngraduates, and invited guests. Menorah members who desire their\nfriends to be invited will please send their names and addresses\nimmediately to the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, 600 Madison\nAvenue, New York. The subscription will be $3.00 a cover.\n\n\n_Program_\n\n MONDAY, December 27.\n\n 10. A. M. Opening session. Submission of\n credentials by Representatives\n and Deputies, and written reports\n of their respective Menorah\n Societies (unless previously sent\n to the Chancellor of the Intercollegiate\n Menorah Association);\n payment of Society dues to the\n Association for 1916; seating of\n Representatives and Deputies;\n presentation of the applications\n of new Menorah Societies for admission\n into the Association and\n action thereon.\n\n 1. P. M. Informal luncheon to delegates\n and visiting Menorah members.\n\n 2. P. M. Presentation of reports of Intercollegiate\n Officers for 1915, covering\n (1) roster of Menorah Societies\n and census of Menorah\n members; (2) extension of the\n Menorah movement during 1915;\n (3) the Menorah College of Lecturers;\n (4) Menorah courses of\n study and syllabi; (5) Menorah\n Libraries; (6) Menorah Prizes;\n (7) The Menorah Journal; (8)\n Menorah Classics; (9) Graduate\n Menorah Committees; (10) The\n graduate phase of the movement;\n (11) Relations of the Menorah\n with other organizations, etc.\n Questions regarding the activities\n of the Association and the policy\n of the Administration during\n 1916.\n\n 8. P. M. Formal reception to the delegates\n and visiting Menorah students,\n given by University alumni of\n Philadelphia at the Y. M. H. A.\n\n\n TUESDAY, December 28th.\n\n 9.30 A. M. Discussion of the Intercollegiate\n reports submitted the previous\n afternoon, with special reference\n to The Menorah Journal. Resolutions.\n\n 1. P. M. Informal luncheon.\n\n 2. P. M. Discussion continued of the Intercollegiate\n reports, with special\n reference to the question of the\n affiliation of graduates with the\n movement. Resolutions.\n\n 8. P. M. \"Scholars' Evening\" at The Dropsie\n College. Papers by Professor\n Max L. Margolis of The Dropsie\n College, Professor Israel Friedlaender\n of the Jewish Theological\n Seminary of America, and Professor\n Julian Morgenstern of the\n Hebrew Union College. Informal\n memorial to the late Dr.\n Schechter by President Cyrus\n Adler of The Dropsie College.\n\n\n WEDNESDAY, December 29th.\n\n 9.30 A. M. Submission of 10 minute oral reports\n of Menorah Societies by\n their respective Representatives\n or Deputies, in summary of the\n written reports previously submitted.\n\n 2. P. M. Discussion of the activities and\n problems of the Menorah Societies\n and the ways in which\n Menorah work may be still further\n advanced in the Colleges\n and Universities of the country.\n\n 4. P. M. Election of Intercollegiate Officers\n for 1916.\n\n 6.30 P. M. Convention Dinner at the Hotel\n Adelphia for Representatives and\n Deputies, all other Menorah\n members, graduates, friends and\n invited guests. Toasts.\n\n\n THURSDAY, December 30th.\n\n 9.30 A. M. Discussion continued of Menorah\n activities in Colleges and Universities.\n Resolutions.\n\n 2. P. M. Unfinished business.\n\n\n=Items of Interest=\n\n\n_Death of Dr. Schechter_\n\nSolomon Schechter, President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of\nAmerica, died suddenly on November 19. Dr. Schechter was a member of\nthe Board of Consulting Editors of THE JOURNAL, and from the first an\ninspiring friend of the Menorah movement. THE JOURNAL was shortly to\nhave received his promised article. Endeavor will be made in an early\nissue to give worthy appreciation of Dr. Schechter as scholar and\nhumanist and Jewish leader. Meantime, it may be noted that several of\nhis leading works are to be found in Menorah libraries: \"Studies in\nJudaism\" and \"Aspects of Rabbinic Theology.\" Attention may also be\ncalled to Dr. Schechter's last book, published only recently, entitled\n\"Seminary Papers and Addresses.\"\n\n\n_Relief of Jewish Students in Switzerland_\n\nMenorah members have sent the following amounts through the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association for the relief of Russian Jewish\nstudents at present in Switzerland: $38 from the University of\nPennsylvania; $23.50 from the University of Valparaiso; $18 from The\nJohns Hopkins University; $9.50 from Temple University (Philadelphia);\nand $6 from the University of North Carolina. The students at Harvard\nsent approximately $100.\n\n\n_Syllabus of Jewish History_\n\nBy special arrangement with the University of London, the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Association has been enabled to provide\nMenorah Study Circles with a Syllabus of Jewish History from\nMendelssohn to Herzl, prepared by ten Jewish authorities in England as\nan Extension Course of the University of London.\n\n\n_New Menorah Societies_\n\nNew Menorah Societies have been organized since the opening of this\nacademic year at a number of Colleges and Universities, including\nAlabama, George Washington (Washington, D. C.), Rice Institute\n(Houston, Texas), Temple, Vanderbilt, and Washington (St. Louis).\nMenorah Societies are now in process of formation at a number of other\nUniversities.\n\n\n_The Graduate Phase_\n\nA Graduate Menorah Society was organized last year in Scranton, Pa.,\nwith Dr. Elias G. Roos as President.\n\nA number of former members of the Menorah Society of New York\nUniversity organized last month into \"The Menorah Alumni of New York\nUniversity,\" with Louis Weinstein as temporary President.\n\nA Graduate Menorah Society has recently been formed in Montgomery,\nAla., with Harry Weil as President.\n\nA Graduate Menorah Advisory Committee has been formed in Cincinnati,\nwith Mr. S. Marcus Fechheimer as Chairman.\n\n\n_Joint Menorah Meetings in New York_\n\nContinuing the pleasant practice originated last year, the Menorah\nSocieties in New York--at the College of the City of New York,\nColumbia University, Hunter College and New York University, in\ncompany with the newly organized \"Menorah Alumni of New York\nUniversity\"--held their first joint meeting of this year in the\nAuditorium of Hunter College, the Hunter Menorah acting as hostess. It\nwas a most successful meeting, with an attendance of about 700 Menorah\nmembers and friends.\n\nMiss Sarah Berenson, President of the Hunter Menorah, introduced the\nChancellor as the chairman. The speakers were Miss Tamar Hirschensohn\nof the Hunter College Faculty, and Mrs. Benjamin S. Pouzzner,\nRadcliffe, 1912. Miss Hirschensohn drew a comparative picture of a\ngreat Hebrew friendship celebrated in the Bible, that of David and\nJonathan, and notable friendships in the Greek and Latin\nclassics--Achilles and Patroclus and Euryalus and Nisus. Mrs. Pouzzner\nspoke upon the Jewish women of the German Salons of the eighteenth and\nnineteenth centuries. The Chancellor read communications to THE\nMENORAH JOURNAL from Viscount Bryce and Hon. Oscar S. Straus (see\npages 281 and 297). After the speaking the Hunter Menorah held an\ninformal reception for the members of the other Menorah Societies.\n\nThe next joint meeting of the Menorah Societies of New York will be\nheld at Columbia University on Sunday afternoon, December 26. The\nprincipal speaker will be Mr. Louis Weinberg, artist and lecturer at\nthe Metropolitan Art Museum and the College of the City of New York.\nThe subject will be \"Culture and Nationalism.\" Besides the members of\nthe Menorah Societies in New York, members of Menorah Societies at\nother Colleges and Universities home for their vacation are invited to\nbe present. It is hoped also that a number of delegates from various\nparts of the country to the Menorah Convention which meets the next\nmorning in Philadelphia will be able to attend.\n\n\n\n\nActivities of Menorah Societies\n\n\n=Clark College=\n\nTHE third year of the Clark College Menorah Society opened on\nSeptember 24 with every Jewish member of the college present. The\nmembership is larger than ever before, and all things forecast a most\nprosperous year, one which will be fully in keeping with the decennial\nyear of the Menorah movement.\n\nA program has been made by the executive committee and the subjects\nfor the year have been mapped out, as follows:\n\n (1) Jewish Literature;\n (2) The Messiah Idea in Jewish History;\n (3) Aspects of Hebrew Genius;\n (4) Jewish History;\n (5) Stories and Pictures;\n (6) The Haskalah Movement;\n (7) Songs of Exile;\n (8) Judah Ha-Levi;\n (9) Zionism;\n (10) Ahad Ha-'Amism;\n (11) The Bible as Literature;\n (12) The Jewish Language;\n (13) Reform vs. Orthodoxy;\n (14) Nationality and the Hyphenated American;\n (15) Anti-Semitism;\n (16) Justice and Mercy.\n\nThese topics are assigned to the various members of the Society and\nreports are given at the meetings. Discussion follows usually and\ngreat interest has been manifested by all members.\n\nThe second annual banquet of the Society is to be held in January and\nplans have already been under way for the past few weeks, efforts\nbeing made to hold a banquet surpassed by no other Society in point of\nstirring interest for the Menorah among all the students and faculty.\n\n ISADOR LUBIN\n\n\n=College of the City of New York=\n\nTHE beginning of the academic year 1915-1916 marked the adoption of a\nnew policy in the history of the C. C. N. Y. Menorah Society. During\nthe past five years, Menorah activities have been mainly extensive,\nthe purpose being to interest as large a number of students as\npossible. But now that the Menorah has come to exert such a wide\ninfluence in C. C. N. Y., greater prominence is being given to work of\na more intensive nature, and emphasis is laid on the quality rather\nthan the quantity of the membership.\n\nOur program of Menorah activities may be divided into extensive work\nand intensive work. At the basis of the extensive work are the public\nlectures which are intended not only for Menorah members but for the\nentire student body. The first of these public lectures was held on\nOctober 7 when Dr. Sidney E. Goldstein of the Free Synagogue delivered\nan enthusiastic and inspiring address on \"Social Service and the Jew\"\nbefore an audience of over 150 students. At the suggestion of Dr.\nGoldstein a number of students present volunteered to form a group for\nthe study of social problems in the Jewish community of New York City\nin connection with actual social service work. The second public\nlecture, held on October 21, was delivered by the Hon. Marcus M.\nMarks, Borough President of Manhattan. Over 200 students were present,\nand about 150 more were turned away after the doors were shut.\n\nThe weekly forums constitute the second part of the extensive work of\nthe Society. At these Forums, talks followed by discussions are given\nby members of the Faculty, Menorah alumni and others. The first Forum\nmeeting of the semester, with which Menorah activities were formally\nopened, was held on September 21, and was led by Chancellor Henry\nHurwitz, who spoke on \"The Meaning of the Menorah Movement.\" Other\nForum speakers have been Professor William B. Guthrie of the\nDepartment of Political Science; Professor John P. Turner of the\nPhilosophy Department; Mr. George J. Horowitz, an ex-president of the\nMenorah; Rabbi Aaron Robison, Director of the Y. M. H. A.; Mr. Isadore\nBerkson, an alumnus and ex-president of the Menorah; Professor H. D.\nMarsh of the Philosophy Department; and Mr. Julius Drachsler,\nSecretary of the School of Jewish Communal Workers.\n\nThe study circles comprise the intensive work of the Menorah and\nconstitute its most important activity. At these study circles a group\nof not more than ten students come together once a week for one hour\nto study and discuss questions of Jewish interest. The work in the\nstudy circles is done entirely by the students themselves. Up to the\npresent, eleven study circles have been organized and these meet\nregularly every week. Some of the subjects taken up are: Modern Jewish\nMovements, Current Events in Jewry, Schechter's \"Essays in Judaism,\"\nPresent Day Problems in Judaism, Jewish Biography, The Philosophy of\nAhad Ha-'am.\n\nIn addition to all these activities, \"regular\" meetings of the Society\nare held. On the evening of October 6 the annual smoker took place at\nthe City College Club, with Mr. M. S. Levussove of the Faculty, Mr.\nJulius Hyman, an alumnus, and Chancellor Hurwitz among the speakers.\nOn October 23 George J. Horowitz read an interesting paper on \"Judaism\nand Christianity,\" which was followed by a spirited discussion. On\nSaturday evening, November 13, there was held a joint meeting of the\nstudents of the day college and of the evening college for the purpose\nof organizing a Menorah Society among the students of the evening\ncollege. Professor I. Leo Sharfman of Michigan addressed the meeting\non \"A Few Facts About the Menorah.\" The men of the night college were\nvery enthusiastic about the idea of the Menorah and the prospects of a\nsuccessful Menorah among them are very favorable.\n\nThe membership of the C. C. N. Y. Menorah is constantly growing,\nalthough in every case application for membership is always\nspontaneous and voluntary.\n\n WILLIAM E. AUSTIN\n\n\n=Hunter College=\n\nSINCE its first meeting of the season, the Hunter College Menorah\nSociety has more than trebled its membership. Ten per cent of the\nentire student body have joined our ranks. We hope for even greater\nmembers before the end of the year. Our freshman \"At Home\" was\npronounced the most enjoyable welcome to freshmen given by any\nsociety. A large audience, including several members of the Faculty,\nattended our first regular meeting, which was addressed by Professor\nIsrael Friedlaender of the Jewish Theological Seminary.\n\nBetween our regular meetings, we hold weekly noon-time Forums.\nBesides, the three study circles organized by the Society meet weekly\nand are attended by between twenty and twenty-five members. The\nSociety arranged for the very successful joint meeting of all the\nMenorah Societies in the city, which was held at Hunter on Sunday\nevening, November 21, with an attendance of about 700.\n\nThe members of the Society have shown their appreciation of the\nprivileges arising from membership not only by voting almost\nunanimously to double the annual dues but also by undertaking a\ncatalogue, on the basis of subject matter, of the contents of books\nwhich might be of interest to students of Hebraic culture. This work\nwill cover finally, we hope, all such books in English and the leading\nmodern foreign languages and should prove a lasting help to students\neverywhere.\n\n ERNESTINE P. FRANKLIN\n\n\n=Johns Hopkins University=\n\nA DISTINCT Menorah revival has taken place this year at the Johns\nHopkins University. Having for several years led a rather aimless and\nnomadic existence, the Menorah Society has at last affiliated itself\ndefinitely with the University. At the beginning of the present\ncollegiate year, application was made to the authorities of the\nUniversity for permission to hold meetings in one of the college\nbuildings. The permission was very graciously granted, and, in\naddition, the Dean of the Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Murray Peabody\nBrush, accepted our imitation to say a few words of welcome to the\nJewish students at the inaugural meeting of the Society for the year\n1915-16.\n\nThis meeting was held in McCoy Hall, on the evening of October 18, and\nwas comparatively well attended. Dr. Brush, in a talk that was brief\nbut to the point, congratulated both the Menorah Society and the\nUniversity upon the closer relations into which the two organizations\nwere entering. The University must benefit, he said, from all student\nactivities not directly connected with the curricula of studies, as a\nmore unselfish love for the institution is thereby fostered in the\nstudent. The Menorah Society must prove of advantage to us, as\nstudents, in that it tends to broaden our outlook and encourages us to\nenter fields of study that we might otherwise never approach. Finally,\nthe Society fulfills a definite purpose for the Jewish students in\nparticular by keeping fresh in their minds all the great ideals and\nachievements which distinguish their history. The Dean closed his talk\nwith a hearty welcome from the authorities of the University to the\nJohns Hopkins Menorah Society. Dr. Brush was followed by the\nChancellor of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, who urged the\nassembled students to give the Society a strong impetus this year, now\nthat it has definitely found a habitat in the University. He explained\nthe need that is filled in the life of the student by the Menorah\nSociety, and outlined a mode of conduct for the Hopkins organization.\n\nIn accordance with Mr. Hurwitz's suggestion, a study circle, aiming to\ntake up modern Jewish history since the time of Moses Mendelssohn, was\nformed on the spot. The Society has been fortunate enough to procure\nthe services of Mr. Elias N. Rabinowitz, a member of the Semitic\ndepartment of the Johns Hopkins University, as leader of the study\ncircle. The group consists of close to twenty students and meets\nweekly in one of the rooms of the University library. It bids fair to\nprove of genuine good to the students interested in it.\n\nAt the second meeting of the Society, November 1, the speaker was\nRabbi Eugene Kohn, of Baltimore, whose interesting talk on \"The\nElements of Stability and Progress in Judaism\" elicited warm\ndiscussion. The Society hopes to have regular monthly meetings, for\nwhich attractive programs have been arranged by the Executive\nCommittee.\n\n AARON SCHAFFER\n\n\n=New York University=\n\n(University Heights)\n\nFORMED in December, 1913, forced to cope at first with many opposing\nand discouraging elements, the New York University Menorah Society at\nUniversity Heights has rapidly mounted the ladder of success and has\nentered upon a banner year. We have set two great aims before us for\nthis year: first, to make the Society strong internally, and,\nsecondly, to bring the purposes and ideals of the Menorah movement\nbefore the alumni of New York University.\n\nVarious plans are being utilized for the fulfillment of the first aim.\nThe Executive committee succeeded during the summer in getting\ntogether an excellent list of prominent men to lecture before the\nSociety on current topics of Jewish interest. A prospectus was issued\nin the first week of the college year, containing, in brief, a\ndiscussion of the Menorah Idea, a history of the Intercollegiate\nMenorah Association, a resume of the New York University Menorah\nSociety, a speech by Chancellor Elmer E. Brown delivered before the\nMenorah Society, a word about Associate membership and about Menorah\nPrizes, and the program for the year. Using this prospectus as a means\nof introduction to those unacquainted with the movement, a vigorous\ncampaign was conducted by a well organized committee to increase the\nmembership. A doubled membership in two weeks was the result of this.\nAnother means towards getting the new men to join was the Freshmen\nReception, held on October 14, at which Dean Bouton of the College of\nArts and Chancellor Hurwitz were the speakers. This reception proved a\ngreat success.\n\nBesides attending the regular bi-weekly lectures of the Society, each\nmember is urged to join one of the eight study circles in modern\nJewish History and Hebrew (elementary and advanced). A well organized\ncommittee has charge of these study circles. It has been successful in\nsigning up nearly a hundred men. The study circles are conducted by\nseveral members who are also Seminary students and by several rabbis\nof the city. These study circles are proving of first importance in\nour general plans, because it is really in these that the men acquire\na little \"Jewish culture and ideals and an independence of thought and\naction in things Jewish.\" Several members of these classes have become\nso enthused with the newer Jewish spirit that they devote a good part\nof their time lecturing on Jewish topics to Young Judaean\norganizations and Young People's Synagogues in and about New York\nCity.\n\nTo stimulate still further individual research and study of Jewish\nproblems it has been decided to offer one or two Menorah prizes for\npapers on various Jewish topics. In order to raise a substantial\namount of money for that purpose two committees are working on\nseparate plans. One of these committees, by a special arrangement with\nthe Business Manager of THE MENORAH JOURNAL, has started a campaign to\nget two hundred subscriptions for THE JOURNAL, thereby netting the\nSociety fifty dollars for one prize. This committee, backed by the\nentire membership, is gaining speed daily, and looks forward to the\naccomplishment of its object before the Convention. Another committee\nis circularizing the alumni outside of New York City to get their\nsupport. The result of this work, though incomplete as yet, looks most\npromising.\n\nThe above is a brief resume of our year's plans. We realize the\nimportance not only of having plans but of carrying them through\nsuccessfully, as we are determined they shall be. The work is being\ndone systematically, not by one man nor by two or three men, but by an\nefficient, earnest executive committee backed by almost every man in\nthe Menorah Society. It is our aim to tell a pretty tale at the\nIntercollegiate Menorah Convention.\n\n M. A. STAVITSKY\n\n\n=Ohio State University=\n\nOUR annual freshmen reception this year saw very little of the\nconventional \"stiffshirt\" formalities, nor did it hear much of the\nhoney-soaked praises of Jewish loyalty and patriotism. Instead of this\nwe had a simple, all-student affair where everyone found satisfaction\nin merely meeting and getting acquainted with the rest of the Jewish\nstudents. A short talk on the purpose of the Menorah, several\nselections of Jewish music and refreshments made up the rest of the\nprogram. This year's Freshmen, both men and women, are especially\npromising for the Menorah.\n\nAt the second meeting the members displayed an excellent Menorah\nspirit by adopting a resolution to include the subscription fee of THE\nMENORAH JOURNAL in the membership dues and thus making the JOURNAL\nreceivable by every member as a matter of course.\n\nAt a later meeting there was a lecture by Professor Brooder of the\nSociology Department on \"The Anthropology of the Jew,\" which was\nfollowed by a general discussion. At another meeting the writer read a\npaper on the Jewish Congress movement.\n\nOur meetings have thus far been unusually well attended and highly\nspirited. It must be admitted, however, that the work was rather\nspontaneous and not the product of previous planning. This is to be\nremedied soon by a plan, now under consideration, systematizing the\nentire year's work.\n\n SAMUEL LESSER\n\n\n=Radcliffe College=\n\nTHE Radcliffe Menorah, which was organized in December, 1914, did not\naccomplish very much last year; there was no study circle, although\nattempts to form one were made, and the members did little or no\nconcerted work. This year, however, a much stronger group spirit is\nbeing shown. A study circle in Jewish history, lead by Dr. Harry\nWolfson of Harvard, has been formed; and a petition for a regular\ncourse in Jewish Literature has been drawn up.\n\nWe have had two lecture meetings. At the first, Mr. Henry Hurwitz\nspoke on the imperative need for concerted action among American Jews\nin the attempt to ameliorate the conditions among the Jews of Europe.\nHe said the Menorah Society should ultimately help towards this\nconcerted effort by bringing home the realization of the conditions to\nJewish young men and women who, through lack of interest or education,\nhave not yet become conscious of them. At the second meeting, Dr.\nKaufmann Kohler, President of the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati,\nspoke on Reform Judaism: its history, meaning, and purpose. Reform\nJudaism has its being, stated the speaker, not in the desire of the\nJew for an easier, less irksome mode of cooking and praying, but in\nhis acute need of adapting himself to the manners and customs of the\ncountry in which he lives. Not only is the spirit of Judaism not lost,\nit is reinforced through the casting off of the form which might\nobscure it. At the same meeting, Mr. Frederick F. Greenman, President\nof the Harvard Menorah, spoke about the possibility of co-operation\nbetween the Harvard and Radcliffe Societies.\n\nWhile there are few new members of the Radcliffe Menorah, it is\nexpected that the year will be an active one.\n\n RUTH JANE MACK\n\n\n=Tufts College=\n\nTHE Menorah Society of Tufts College began its activities for the\nthird year with an enthusiastic reception to the Freshman class. A\nmarked increase of enthusiasm came along with the new members. Our\nSociety, which three years ago began with four members, has now a\nmembership of sixty, all enthusiastic about the Menorah work. A\nshingle has been designed and adopted. A Menorah prize which was\noffered last year for 1915-1916 was announced at the first meeting and\nit looks as if a keen competition will take place. Courses have been\norganized in Jewish History, Philosophy and Bible study, the feature\nof the study circles being that a different member conducts each\nmeeting and the man who obtains the highest mark (each student being\nrated by the presiding member) will receive a prize of a set of books.\nAll in all, the outlook is for the most successful year in the history\nof the Tufts Menorah.\n\n H. L. KATZ\n\n\n=University of Illinois=\n\nTHE Illinois Menorah is looking forward to a most successful year,\nwith efficient officers, enthusiastic members, and the usual interest\nand co-operation of the Faculty members. A definite attempt is to be\nmade to foster a spirit of friendliness and co-operation among all the\nJewish students.\n\nThe year was formally opened on October 10 by a reception to the new\nstudents. After an opening talk by President Karl Epstein, the\nstudents were addressed by Professor E. C. Baldwin, Dr. Jacob Zeitlin\nand Mr. Samuel Abrams, a former president. The meeting was attended by\n110 students. At later meetings Dr. David S. Blondheim spoke on \"The\nJewish Congress,\" Dr. Simon Litman on \"The Jew of To-day,\" and\nProfessor B. H. Bode on \"The Hyphenated Jewish-American.\"\n\nThe work of our Menorah is augmented by the Menorah Study Circle,\nunder the leadership of Mrs. Simon Litman. The class is doing\nintensive work in Jewish post-exilic history. Throughout, the bearing\nof our past history upon present day problems is emphasized. Judging\nfrom the enthusiasm of the members of the class, the Study Circle is\ngoing to become a permanent feature of our Menorah activities.\n\n ANITA LIBMAN\n\n\n=University of Michigan=\n\nSOMEONE once said that he could lift the world if he could find a\nplace to stand on. The Menorah Society at Michigan is still working to\nrear a strong foundation which will bear the weight of a large and\nbeautiful superstructure.\n\nOur Society began its current year with a \"Teruah Gedolah.\" The\ntrumpet blast was sounded loud and long: and the children of Israel\ncame out from their tents. Through advertisement in the _Michigan\nDaily_, through posters and personal contact with the students on the\ncampus, a large attendance was procured for the first meeting.\nProfessor Sharfman was on hand to inspire enthusiasm into the men and\nwomen. An excellent musical program had been provided for. The meeting\nwas highly successful and brought tidings for a banner year. Some\npreviously discordant strings were brought to the proper tune. There\nhad been some friction between the Students' Congregation and the\nMenorah last year. This friction arose for two reasons: first, some\nMenorah men felt that the Congregation was \"cutting out\" the Menorah,\nthat the Congregation was entering upon the Menorah's field of action.\nOf course, there is absolutely no reason for such an objection. The\nMenorah supplies the intellectual needs of the Jewish students; the\nCongregation exists for religious inspiration only. True enough, the\ntwo overlap to a small degree; but not sufficiently to be termed\n\"encroachment.\" The second reason was a technical one. The Menorah men\nwere greatly vexed because the time of the Congregation conflicted\nwith our time. The Menorah began at 8 P. M. on Sunday evening; but the\nCongregation did not adjourn often until 8.15 or 8.30. The\nCongregation itself was not to blame, for they could not always\nforesee that a Rabbi would become so overheated in discussing the war\nsituation that he would ignore the element of time in the make-up of\nour universe. At the beginning of this semester we determined to put\nan end to all friction, though trivial, between the two organizations.\nThere is no worldly reason for discord between the two Jewish\norganizations. We held a consultation with the President of the\nCongregation who assured us of all possible support; and in turn the\nMenorah assured the Congregation of support. Indeed, the Menorah\nconceded a point by moving our meeting time fifteen minutes; and the\nPresident of the Congregation, who is also a Menorah member, was given\nthe floor at the first meeting to enlighten the audience on the\nmeaning of the Congregation to student life. A goodly number of\nCongregation men and women are Menorah members and _vice versa_. The\ntwo organizations are now working in entire harmony and we are\naccomplishing the more for it.\n\nOur second meeting was held on October 31. Professor Leroy Waterman,\nthe new head of the Semitics Department, led the discussion with an\naddress on \"The Religious Problems of To-day in the Light of Early\nJewish History and Literature.\"\n\nOn November 28, Mr. Fred M. Butzel, an alumnus of Michigan and\nPresident of the United Jewish Charities in Detroit, led the\ndiscussion with a talk on \"Some Tendencies in the Social Work of the\nJews.\" Through the Intercollegiate Menorah Association we were enabled\nto procure Professor Edward Chauncey Baldwin of the University of\nIllinois to speak before us on December 12 on \"Job.\" Also through the\nAssociation we expect to have Professor Julian Morgenstern of the\nHebrew Union College.\n\nWe have this year more members than ever before, and they are\nenthusiastic. But it is not in numbers alone that we must put our\ntrust. We should never worry--I know that some do--when the Menorah\nhas a small meeting if only it is successful. I think that we never\nhad a better meeting than when Dr. Kallen addressed fourteen members\ntwo years ago. Isaiah's prophecy concerning the _Shearith Yisrael_,\nthe remnant of Israel, applies to our Menorah problem. The few will\nredeem the many; they will uphold the ideals and culture of the Jewish\nrace.\n\nBut no matter how successful the semester will be, we shall only be\nable to say that we have added but one stone to the pedestal which is\nto be the permanent and deep foundation of the Menorah at Michigan.\n\n ABRAHAM J. LEVIN\n\n\n=University of Minnesota=\n\nWITH an attendance that broke all records, and a display of enthusiasm\nand interest that augurs well for the Society, the Minnesota Menorah\nopened its year of activities on October 1, with the annual\n\"Get-Together\" reception. During the evening, members of the freshman\nclass were introduced to members of the Faculty, alumni and upperclass\nmen and women. A short program entertained the assembly, which was\nfollowed by a brief address by President H. W. Davis, expressing the\naims and purposes of the Society.\n\nFollowing the plan adopted last year of centralizing the subjects of\nstudy and discussion, our Program Committee has for this year again\ndivided the work of the Society into two divisions. The first semester\nwill be devoted to a presentation and discussion of some of the Jewish\nproblems, viz., anti-Semitism and certain social, economic, and\nreligious problems, while the second semester will be devoted to\nproposed solutions of these problems through Zionism, Socialism,\nAssimilation, etc. Students and representative members of the\ncommunity will alternate in the presentation of the various subjects\nto the Society. Greater emphasis than ever before will be given to\ngeneral discussion by all the members of the Society at each meeting.\n\nAfter careful consideration, the Minnesota Menorah has decided to\nwithdraw its campaign to bring the Intercollegiate Convention to\nMinnesota this year, yielding in favor of the East and Philadelphia.\nWe wish, however, to thank the members of the Administrative Council\nwho had pledged us their support, and we take this opportunity to\nannounce that at this Convention Minnesota will earnestly urge the\ndelegates to fix the place for the Convention of 1916, and it is for\nthat Convention that Minnesota will put in its strongest bid.\n\n DAVID LONDON\n\n\n=University of Wisconsin=\n\nTHE academic year 1915-16 opened very auspiciously for the Menorah at\nWisconsin. Fully 100 attended the first meeting, at Lathrop parlors,\non October 4. Twenty-four new members were added, swelling the total\nmembership to fifty-six. President Charles A. Lebowsky welcomed the\nfreshmen into the Society, and explained the broad and liberal basis\nupon which the Menorah rested. Professor Dodge, Chairman of the\nMenorah Prize Committee, announced the Menorah prize of $100 (the\nlargest individual prize in the University of Wisconsin), and urged\nall members to try for it. The closing speech of the evening was given\nby Dr. H. M. Kallen, mentor of the organization. Dr. Kallen spoke on\n\"The Menorah Movement--Its Relation to Jewish Academic Life.\" After\nthe meeting a general mixer was held, refreshments served, and the\nmembers became acquainted with each other.\n\nAt the second meeting of the year, on October 18, Mr. Alexander\nAaronsohn of Palestine, brother of the famous agronomist, addressed an\nenthusiastic audience upon the subject of \"Jewish Colonization in\nPalestine.\" The speaker had but recently arrived from that land, after\nmany thrilling adventures, and his talk was most inspiring. Mr.\nAaronsohn emphasized the fact that while formerly, since time\nimmemorial, it has been the custom, and in fact the ambition, of every\nJew to return to Palestine that he might die there, to-day, it was not\nto die, but to live, that the Jew returned to the land of his fathers.\nAt the following meeting the Society discussed the Russian situation;\nMr. Zigmund Salit gave an interesting paper describing his own\nexperiences in that land of suffering. Mr. Milton Moses delivered an\noration on \"The Wandering Jew.\"\n\nOn November 15, Rev. C. A. Greenman, of the First Unitarian Church of\nMilwaukee, addressed us on a striking theme, \"The Relationship Between\nJudaism and Unitarianism.\" Other speakers to follow are Justice Hugo\nPam, of the Chicago Appellate Court, Rabbi Joseph Stolz, and Dr.\nHorace J. Bridges, of the Chicago Ethical Culture Society, besides\nmembers of our own Faculty.\n\nIn order to arouse even more enthusiasm for the Menorah idea, the\nexecutive committee has arranged to hold a number of informal dinners.\nSince these dinners are given primarily for members of the Society, no\noutside speakers will be invited. Short and snappy toasts will be\ngiven by members, the alumni will be called upon if any happen to be\npresent, and the Menorah Song will be rendered by the ensemble. If the\nfirst dinner proves to be successful, and there is every reason to\nbelieve that it will, these affairs will become an established part of\nthe Menorah program at Wisconsin.\n\n CHARLES A. LEBOWSKY\n\n\n=Western Reserve University=\n\nTHE opening of the scholastic year 1915-16 marked a radical change in\nthe policy hitherto followed by the Western Reserve Menorah Society.\nDuring the first few years of its existence membership was open only\nto the male students of the university and attendance was necessarily\nsmall. Interest in the Society itself began to dwindle until finally\nit became clear that some radical step would have to be taken if the\nSociety was to remain intact and worthy of the name.\n\nAccordingly, at a meeting of the executive committee held shortly\nafter the opening of college in the fall, it was decided that\nhereafter membership would be open to both the men and the women of\nthe university. Seventy-five students gathered for the opening meeting\nheld on October 24. At later meetings, Dr. Lamberton, of the Faculty,\nlectured on \"The Influence of Hellenism on Hebraic Culture,\" and Dr.\nDaniel A. Huebsch, noted art critic and lecturer, spoke on \"The\nNeglect of the Old Testament.\" Dr. Huebsch urged that inasmuch as the\nMenorah Society was devoted to Jewish study, it was the proper place\nfor a revival of interest particularly in Biblical literature and\nother Hebrew writings. These works were distinctively the Jews' own\nand should not be neglected by them as the younger generation was\ninclined to do. Both lectures were well attended and followed by\ninteresting discussions. A later meeting was devoted almost entirely\nto a lively as well as an intensely interesting discussion of Zionism.\n\nThe Western Reserve Menorah Society may well look forward to a banner\nyear. Having overcome the obstacles that face every new organization,\nwe are now prepared and eager to carry on the aggressive work of the\nMenorah. Passing as we are through a period fraught with epoch-making\nevents, an endless number of problems spring up on every side, each\none clamoring for attention. Upon the solution of many of these\nproblems rests the future welfare of the Jewish race. Having been\nawakened to a realization of the seriousness of the situation, the\nWestern Reserve Menorah Society will compass every effort to do its\nshare in the movement for enlightenment and progress.\n\n BENJAMIN F. ROTH\n\n\n\n\nINDEX\n\nTo Volume I of THE MENORAH JOURNAL\n\nJanuary--December, 1915\n\nAuthors' names in SMALL CAPITALS; Titles of Articles in _Italics_\n\n\n _Adam Prometheus, and Other Lyrics_ (Dec.) 282\n ADLER, DR. CYRUS, Greeting from, (Jan.) 3\n _Akiba, The Romance of Rabbi._ (Oct.) 227\n American Jewry, The Present Crisis in (Dec.) 265\n AMRAM, DAVID WERNER: _\"Paths of Pleasantness,\" The Study of the\n Jewish Law_ (June) 159\n ANSPACHER, LOUIS K.: _Adam Prometheus, and Other Lyrics_. (Dec.) 282\n _Arch of Titus, The_: A Poem (Oct.) 201\n Arch of Titus, The: _Frontispiece_ (Jan.)\n _Asch, Sholom: The Jewish Maupassant_ (Dec.) 285\n ASKOWITH, HYMAN: _The Symbolism of the Menorah_ (Oct.) 248\n _Aspects of Jewish Life and Letters:_ Reviews of Books (Oct.) 237\n BACON, BENJAMIN W.: From a Menorah Address (Apr.) 86\n BALDWIN, EDWARD CHAUNCEY: _The Jewish Genius in Literature_, (June)\n 164\n BENTWICH, NORMAN, Greeting from, (Apr.) 73\n BLATT, WILLIAM M.: _The Quality of Mercy: A Sixth Act to \"The Merchant\n of Venice\"_ (Apr.) 96\n BLONDHEIM, D. S.: Review of Herford's \"Pharisaism\" (Oct.) 237\n Book Reviews: _Aspects of Jewish Life and Letters_ (Oct.) 237\n BRANDEIS, LOUIS D., Greeting from, (Jan.) 4\n _A Call to the Educated Jew_ (Jan.) 13\n BROWN, ELMER E.: Menorah Address (Jan.) 46\n BRYCE, VISCOUNT: Letter from. (Dec.) 297\n _Call to the Educated Jew, A_ (Jan.) 13\n Colleges and Universities: _See_ Menorah Societies.\n DABNEY, CHARLES W.: Menorah Address (Jan.) 47\n _Days of Disillusionment_ (Jan.) 39\n _Decennial of the Menorah Movement, The_ (Oct.) 253\n _Duty of the Hour, The_ (Oct.) 202\n _Editorial Statement_ (Jan.) 1\n ELIOT, CHARLES W.: _The Potency of the Jewish Race_ (June) 141\n ESCOLL, MORRIS J.: _The Jewish Student in Our Universities_ (Oct.) 217\n _European Universities, Jewish Students in_ (Jan.) 26, (Apr.) 106\n FRIEDLAENDER, ISRAEL: From a Menorah Address (Jan.) 38\n _The Present Crisis in American Jewry_ (Dec.) 265\n GASTER, MOSES, Greeting from. (Apr.) 72\n GOTTHEIL, RICHARD, Greeting from, (Jan.) 5\n From a Menorah Address (Jan.) 32\n _The War from a Jewish Standpoint_ (June) 150\n Greetings (Jan.) 3, (Apr.) 72\n GU\u00c9RARD, ALBERT L\u00c9ON: Menorah Address (Dec.) 319\n HADLEY, ARTHUR T.: Menorah Address (Jan.) 45\n HALL, G. STANLEY: _Yankee and Jew_ (Apr.) 87\n Harvard Menorah Society Shingle (Oct.) 251\n _Hebraic Culture, The Twilight of_ (Jan.) 33\n HERZL, THEODOR: _The Menorah_, (Dec.) 261\n Herzl, Theodor, Etching by Hermann Struck, _Frontispiece_ (Dec.)\n _Hillel, \"Golden Rule\"_ (Apr.) 91\n HOROWITZ, GEORGE J.: _The Romance of Rabbi Akiba_ (Oct.) 227\n HURWITZ, HENRY: _The Menorah Movement_ (Jan.) 50\n _The Decennial of the Menorah Movement_ (Oct.) 253\n HUSIK, ISAAC: Review of \"Aspects of the Hebrew Genius\" (Oct.) 241\n HYAMSON, MOSES: _\"Golden Rule\" Hillel_ (Apr.) 91\n Intercollegiate Menorah Association Notes (Jan.) 70, (Apr.) 140,\n (June) 200, (Oct.) 257, (Dec.) 322\n Third Annual Convention (Apr.) 121\n Fourth Annual Convention (Dec.) 322\n _Israel and Medicine_ (June) 145\n JACOBS, JOSEPH, Greeting from (Jan.) 6\n _The Jews in the War_ (Jan.) 23\n _Liberalism and the Jews_ (Dec.) 298\n _Jew, Yankee and_ (Apr.) 87\n _Jewish Genius in Literature, The_, (June) 164\n _Jewish Problem Today, The_ (Apr.) 75\n _Jewish Race, The Potency of_ (June) 141\n _Jewish Student in Our Universities, The_ (Oct.) 217\n _Jewish Students in European Universities_ (Jan.) 26, (Apr.) 106\n _Jewish Student Organisations_ (Oct.) 246\n Jewish Worthies: _See_ Hillel, Jochanan ben Zakkai, Akiba.\n _Jochanan ben Zakkai_ (June) 173\n Judaism--_What Judaism Is Not_, (Oct.) 208\n _What Is Judaism?_ (Dec.) 309\n KALLEN, HORACE M.: _Nationality and the Hyphenated American_ (Apr.) 79\n Review of Lewis' \"Liberal Judaism\" (Oct.) 238\n KAPLAN, MORDECAI M.:\n _What Judaism Is Not_ (Oct.) 208\n _What Is Judaism?_ (Dec.) 309\n KOHLER, KAUFMANN, Greeting from (Jan.) 6\n LEHMAN, IRVING, Greeting from (Jan.) 7\n From a Menorah Address (Jan.) 25\n _Our Spiritual Inheritance_ (Dec.) 277\n LEONARD, WILLIAM ELLERY: _Menorah_: A Poem (Jan.) 20\n _Liberalism and the Jews_ (Dec.) 298\n _Literature, The Jewish Genius in_, (June) 164\n LOWENTHAL, MARVIN M.: _Zionism: A Menorah Prize Essay_ (Apr.) 111\n (June) 179\n MACK, JULIAN W., Greeting from, (Jan.) 8\n MAGNES, J. L., Greeting from (Jan.) 9\n From a Menorah Address (Jan.) 19\n MARGOLIS, MAX L.: _The Twilight of Hebraic Culture_ (Jan.) 33\n _Medicine, Israel and_ (June) 145\n _Menorah: A Poem_ (Jan.) 20\n _Menorah, The_ (HERZL) (Dec.) 261\n Menorah Addresses, Extracts from, (Jan.) 19, 25, 32, 38, (Apr.) 86,\n 120\n Menorah Addresses, Third Convention (Apr.) 121\n Menorah Addresses by University Authorities (Jan.) 45, (Apr.) 121,\n (June) 145, (Dec.) 319\n _See also_ Intercollegiate Menorah Association.\n _Menorah Movement, The_ (Jan.) 50\n _Menorah Movement, The Decennial of the_ (Oct.) 253\n Menorah Prize Essays:\n _Zionism_ (Apr.) 111\n _The Jewish Student in Our Universities_ (Oct.) 217\n _Shalom Asch: The Jewish Maupassant_ (Dec.) 285\n Menorah Societies, Activities of, (Jan.) 56, (June) 194 (Oct.) 257,\n (Dec.) 325\n _See also_ Intercollegiate Menorah Association.\n _Menorah, The Symbolism of the_, (Oct.) 248\n _\"Merchant of Venice, The\": A Sixth Act to_ (Apr.) 96\n MEYER, MARTIN A., Greeting from, (Jan.) 9\n _Nationality and the Hyphenated American_ (Apr.) 79\n NORDAU, MAX, Greeting from (Apr.) 72\n _The Duty of the Hour_ (Oct.) 202\n OSLER, SIR WILLIAM: _Israel and Medicine_ (June) 145\n _\"Paths of Pleasantness,\" The Study of the Jewish Law_ (June) 159\n PHILIPSON, DAVID, Greeting from, (Jan.) 10\n Poetry (Jan.) 20, (Apr.) 71, 96, (June) 158, (Oct.) 201, (Dec.) 282\n _Potency of the Jewish Race, The_ (June) 141\n POUZZNER, BESSIE L., translator: _The Menorah, by Theodor Herzl_,\n (Dec.) 261\n Prize Essays: _See_ Menorah Prize Essays.\n _Quality of Mercy, The: A Sixth Act to \"The Merchant of Venice,\"_\n (Apr.) 96\n _Romance of Rabbi Akiba, The_ (Oct.) 227\n SAMPTER, JESSIE E., _O Sweet Anemones_: A Poem (June) 158\n SCHECHTER, SOLOMON, Greeting from (Jan.) 11\n SCHIFF, JACOB H., Greeting from (Jan.) 11\n _The Jewish Problem Today_ (Apr.) 75\n SCHURMAN, JACOB GOULD, From a Menorah Address (Apr.) 120\n SHARFMAN, I. LEO: Review of Cohen's \"Jewish Life in Modern Times,\"\n (Oct.) 244\n The Decennial of the Menorah Movement (Oct.) 253\n SHOSTAC, PERCY B.: _Sholom Asch, the Jewish Maupassant_ (Dec.) 285\n SIMON, ABRAHAM M.: _Jochanan ben Zakkai_ (June) 173\n STRAUSS, SAMUEL: _Days of Disillusionment_ (Jan.) 39\n STRAUS, OSCAR S., Letter from (Dec.) 281\n STRUCK, HERMANN: Etching of Theodor Herzl, _Frontispiece_ (Dec.)\n Students: _See_ Jewish Students.\n _Symbolism, The, of the Menorah_, (Oct.) 248\n University Authorities, Menorah Addresses by (Jan.) 45, (Apr.) 121,\n 145, (Dec.) 319\n War, The Present:\n _The Jews in the War_ (Jan.) 23\n _The Jewish Problem Today_ (Apr.) 75\n _Nationality and the Hyphenated American_ (Apr.) 79\n _The War from a Jewish Standpoint_ (June) 150\n _What Is Judaism?_ (Dec.) 309\n _What Judaism Is Not_ (Oct.) 208\n WISE, STEPHEN S., Greeting from (Jan.) 12\n WOLFSON, HARRY: _Jewish Students in European Universities_ (Jan.) 26\n (Apr.) 106\n _Yankee and Jew_ (Apr.) 87\n ZANGWILL, ISRAEL: _For Small Mercies_: A Sonnet (Apr.) 71\n _Zionism: A Menorah Prize Essay_ (Apr.) 111, (June) 179\n\n * * * * *\n\n[Illustration: CARUSO & HIS HARDMAN PIANO]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n New York, April 13th, 1914.\n\nMessers. Hardman, Peck & Company, #433 Fifth Avenue, New York City.\n\nDear Mr. Peck:--\n\nThe five foot Hardman Grand which you have sent for my use to my\napartment is certainly a beautiful piano. I was surprised how your\nfactory was able to produce such a wonderful tone in such a small\nGrand.\n\nAccept my congratulations for your success.\n\n Sincerely,\n\nSignature: Enrico Caruso]\n\n_The New_\n\nHARDMAN Five-Foot Grand\n\nThe perfect small Grand Piano, exquisite in its artistic lines and\nmarvelous in tone.\n\n\n=Caruso=\n\nuses one himself and calls its tone \"wonderful.\"\n\n=Price, $650=\n\nWe cordially invite you to visit our warerooms and hear this marvelous\nlittle Grand, without placing you under any obligation to buy.\n\n=HARDMAN, PECK & COMPANY=\n\n =BROOKLYN STORE=\n =524 Fulton Street=\n =Near Hanover Place=\n\n(=Founded 1842=)\n\n =HARDMAN HOUSE=\n =433 Fifth Avenue=\n =Bet. 38th & 39th Sts.=\n\n * * * * *\n\nKindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n[Illustration: Steinway]\n\nSTEINWAY\n\nThe purchase of a Steinway for the home means the selection of the\nideal piano, tone and workmanship being of first importance.\n\nIt is the price of the Steinway which makes possible its supreme\nmusical qualities, but you will find that the Steinway costs only a\ntrifle more than many so-called \"good\" pianos.\n\nStyle V, the new Upright, and Style M, the smallest Steinway Grand,\noffer a special advantage in price. They embody all the distinct\nSteinway features, but, being of a reduced size to meet the\nrequirements of the modern home or apartment, are offered at very\nmoderate prices.\n\n_We shall be glad to send you, free, illustrated literature, with the\nname of the Steinway dealer nearest you._\n\n STEINWAY & SONS, STEINWAY HALL\n _107-109 East Fourteenth Street, New York_\n\n * * * * *\n\nKindly mention The Menorah Journal when writing to advertisers\n\n * * * * *\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nObvious punctuation errors repaired.\n\nPage i, \"321\" changed to \"322\" in table of contents.\n\nPage i, \"324\" changed to \"325\" in table of contents.\n\nPage vii, \"contributon\" changed to \"contribution\". (a distinct\ncontribution)\n\nPage 319, \"Leon Guerard\" changed to \"L\u00e9on Gu\u00e9rard\" (Albert Leon\nGu\u00e9rard)\n\nPage 333, \"Jan.\" changed to \"Apr.\" under the reference for \"Bacon,\nBenjamin W.\"\n\nPage 333, \"Jan.\" changed to \"Oct.\" under the reference for \"Arch of\nTitus, The: Frontispiece\"\n\nPage 333, \"70\" changed to \"56\" under the reference for \"Intercollegiate\nMenorah Societies\"\n\nPage 334, \"Maupaussant\" changed to \"Maupassant\" (The Jewish\nMaupassant)\n\nPage 334, the reference to page 145 under the \"Menorah Addresses by\nUniversity Authorities\" was deleted as the April edition has no page\n145 and the June edition has no such section. This was also deleted\nfrom \"University Authorities, Menorah Addresses by\" for the same\nreason.\n\nThis text uses both today and to-day.","title":"The Menorah Journal, Volume 1, 1915","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":161877}