The 
 
 Renaissance 
 of Judaism 
 
 A Senes;of Sermons 
 
 by 
 
 Rabbi Joseph Silverman, D.D. 
 
 Bloch Publishing Company 
 NEW YORK 
 
 1918
 
 The 
 
 Renaissance 
 of Judaism 
 
 A Series of Sermons 
 
 by 
 
 Rabbi Joseph Silverman, D.D. 
 
 BLOCH PUBLISHING CO. 
 NEW YORK 
 
 1918
 
 3S3LF 
 
 .URL 
 
 fiit 
 
 DEDICATED 
 TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 REV. DR. GUSTAV GOTTHEIL 
 
 RABBI OF TEMPLE EMANU-EL 
 1873--19O3
 
 Sf;lF 
 Annex p'm ' 
 
 tj 11 U 
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF JUDAISM
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 I The Renaissance of Judaism . . 9 
 
 Preached on December 22, 1917 
 
 II A Revival in Temple Emanu-El . 25 
 
 Preached on January 5, 1918 
 
 III Duty and Part of the Youth in the 
 
 Revival 39 
 
 Preached on January 19, 1918 
 
 IV Shall We Surrender Judaism? . 55 
 
 Preached on February 2, 1918 
 V Revival of the Jewish Home . . 71 
 
 Preached on February 16, 1918 
 
 VI Revival of Sabbath Observance . 83 
 
 Preached on March 2, 1918 
 
 VII Revival of Jewish Festivals . . 97 
 
 Preached on March 16, 1918 
 
 VIII Revival of Jewish Idealism . . .Ill 
 
 Preached on April 6, 1918
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF JUDAISM 
 
 "The hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me 
 out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst 
 of the valley which was full of bones. 
 
 "And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones 
 live? And I answered, O, Thou Lord God, Thou knowest. 
 
 "Again He said unto me, prophesy upon these bones and 
 say unto them, O, ye dry bones, hear the word of the 
 Lord! 
 
 "Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones. Behold! I 
 will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. 
 
 "So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath 
 came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet, 
 an exceeding army." 
 
 (Ezekiel XXXVII, 1, 8, 4, 5, 10.) 
 
 This is a sublime vision, portraying the 
 death and the restoration of ancient Israel. 
 It refers to the time of Israel's captivity in 
 Babylon. Its national life was gone, its 
 temple lay in ruins, its chief leaders and 
 prophets were dead, discredited or dis- 
 couraged. Faith had given way to despair; 
 Jehovah in many instances had been dis- 
 placed by idols. Both physical and spiritual 
 death had destroyed the nation and its re- 
 ligion. 
 
 The Prophet Ezekiel realized his im- 
 9
 
 potence to arouse the people from their 
 spiritual lethargy, and to restore them to 
 their patrimony. It was quite natural, 
 therefore, that he should experience the vi- 
 sion in which his people seemed as lifeless 
 and incapable of resuscitation as a valley 
 of dry bones. He had heard the people say 
 of him, "Doth he not speak parables?" He 
 had seemed to them only as one with a pleas- 
 ant voice and nothing more. But now he 
 was to realize that he had power to revive 
 dry bones, to resuscitate the dead and dead- 
 ening souls. 
 
 The vision of the dry bones and the in- 
 terview with God are subjective. The 
 Prophet really asks himself, "Can these dry 
 bones, these dead souls live? "Can Israel be 
 revived? Can Judaism be reborn?" As the 
 text says, "Through the voice of God," the 
 thought came to him, that as only through 
 the spirit can the body live, how much the 
 more can the soul only be revived through 
 the spirit of God. 
 
 The sequel is known to students of Jew- 
 ish history, that during the reign of Cyrus 
 Israel was permitted to return to Palestine 
 
 10
 
 and, through the help of Ezra and Nehemiah, 
 aided by the Prophets of the Exile, was 
 freed from its idols and other forms of 
 heathenism, and that Judaism was restored 
 to pristine power and glory. 
 
 There have been several crises in the de- 
 velopment of Judaism, crises that threatened 
 our ancient faith with extinction. The next 
 great breech occurred when Israel came into 
 contact with Greek culture. New and unex- 
 pected conditions were presented to the Jew, 
 and his religion, as well as his social life, re- 
 ceived a shock under which both staggered. 
 Hellenism, with its touch of Occidentalism, 
 its active life of game and sports, and its 
 iconoclastic tendencies, marred the ancient 
 ideals of Israel's religion. The conflict be- 
 tween the old and the new was bitterly 
 fought and ended in sects; the Sadducees, 
 the Pharisees, and Essenes. But Judaism 
 survived, for the Spirit of the Lord lived in 
 the hearts of the people and sustained its 
 Faith. 
 
 Soon after occurred the second downfall 
 of Jerusalem, and under its ruins were 
 buried all that remained of the ancient na- 
 il
 
 tional religious cult the altar, the sacrifices, 
 and the priestly functions. Again the lead- 
 ers of Israel saw the vision of the field of 
 dry bones. But into these bones was 
 breathed the spirit of God by the new 
 Prophet Jochanon ben Saccai. The na- 
 tionality of Israel only was destroyed; its 
 zeal for the law and enthusiasm for the faith 
 lived. And this zeal rebuilt schools and 
 synagogues in all parts of the world and re- 
 established the House of Israel. 
 
 Again it was found that there is no death 
 where God lives. The breath of divinity in- 
 stills spirituality in man and restores his 
 manhood, his divine aspirations and moral 
 excellence. Many Jews were attracted to 
 Greek literature and philosophy, and many 
 others to Arabian science, philosophy and 
 poetry. When the Jewish scholars were 
 hampered in the Orient by persecution, they 
 migrated westward to Spain and France, 
 and there revived both the science and 
 philosophy of Judaism and created a school 
 for Jewish, Greek, and Arabic theologians, 
 poets, philosophers, and scientists, to whom 
 both Bible and Talmud were sacred, but no 
 
 12
 
 fetich. This was a period of Jewish renais- 
 sance, in which reason vied with faith, tra- 
 ditional conservation with iconoclasm, ra- 
 tionalism with mystic cabalism. And over it 
 all was the wonder working resuscitating 
 spirit of God. 
 
 This golden era of peace and fertility in 
 Israel was, however, not destined to con- 
 tinue long. The Spanish Inquisition 
 brought new trials and stimulated persecu- 
 tion throughout Europe, save in free and 
 cultured Holland. The Jew pined in the 
 Ghetto, his life seemed extinct, his progress 
 was checked. Again the vision of dead 
 bones scattered through all the Ghettos of 
 Europe. The real divine spirit in Israel, 
 however, was not dead; it only slept. When 
 the prison walls of the Ghetto were opened, 
 the Jewish soul stepped forth ready to 
 breathe in the new life of the world. Men- 
 delssohn is the prophet of this new renais- 
 sance, breathing new life into Israel to revive 
 it by his philosophy, by a rational faith and 
 practice, by his translation of the Pentateuch 
 into German, by carrying the world's best 
 culture to the Jew of the Ghetto. 
 
 13
 
 This revived Judaism in time came to 
 America, and took root in the new soil, and 
 has lived for over a century under various 
 interpretations, doctrines, and practices. All 
 honor to leaders like Wise, Lilienthal, Ein- 
 horn, Hirsch, and Gottheil, who in this land 
 breathed the spirit of reform into Judaism 
 and preserved it and enhanced its value. 
 
 But later events have proven that Reform 
 has its limitations, limitations which were not 
 foreseen by our leaders and teachers of a 
 generation ago. They builded for their 
 times and we to-day must meet new condi- 
 tions. For fifty years or more the animated 
 struggle between Orthodoxy and Reform 
 kept alive the religious fervor. But now 
 that that struggle has ended, now that the 
 old antagonism is no more, an era of dead 
 calm has set in which is fatal to religious 
 progress. The danger of reform begins 
 when it has nothing more to reform in doc- 
 trine or ritual or practice, when it realizes 
 that it has reached the end of progress. 
 
 What has happened to modern Judaism 
 is simply this, that in the past century ef- 
 forts have been directed to building up an 
 
 14
 
 external Judaism, beautiful synagogues, 
 new rituals and forms, edifying music and 
 sermons. But the inner Judaism, the 
 spiritual side of our faith, did not receive 
 adequate attention. And now it transpires 
 that all that beautiful fabric which was un- 
 doubtedly necessary at the time, and still 
 serves a certain purpose, is inadequate to 
 cope with modern conditions of materialism, 
 scepticism, commercialism, religious indif- 
 ference, and the pleasure-seeking proclivity. 
 Let me name some of these various con- 
 flicts that we are facing. First, the Sabbath 
 against commercialism. Which is about to 
 win? Look around you and ask where are 
 the men? The answer is, in the clutches of 
 commerce, industry, and worldly pursuits. 
 Second, conflict between our religious ser- 
 vice and the social world. Where are our 
 women? The answer is, following the lead 
 of fashion wherever it carries them on the 
 Sabbath or at other times. Third, conflict 
 between our religious belief and scepticism. 
 Where are the college students of the day? 
 They are chasing after the vague theories of 
 Nietzsche and Bernard Shaw. Fourth, con- 
 
 15
 
 flict between our faith and religious indif- 
 ference. Where are the children? Answer, 
 permitted and encouraged by indifferent 
 parents, they are following their own pur- 
 suit of pleasure. 
 
 Confess it, you loyal men and women of 
 our faith, that Judaism presents to-day what 
 it did in the days of Ezekiel, in the Greek 
 period, in the Roman period, in the Spanish 
 Inquisition, in the era of later reconstruction 
 a field of dry bones, synagogues appear- 
 ing like sepulchres that harbor only the dead 
 fragments of a once great faith, or like mu- 
 seums in which are treasured religious an 
 tiquities. The House of Israel presents in 
 large measure a house of dead souls instead 
 of the great living spiritual force that once 
 was. 
 
 I do not mean our Temple merely. This 
 dead and deadening aspect of Judaism is 
 general, even in congregations, who through 
 sensational preaching occasionally draw a 
 large crowd. We could also attract a mixed 
 multitude here if we chose to pander to the 
 sensation and curiosity seekers. 
 
 A learned rabbi, it is related, found that 
 
 16
 
 his congregation was at times listless dur- 
 ing his sermons. Therefore, he resorted to 
 this device: He took three red balls in his 
 pulpit, and when the attention of his congre- 
 gation lapsed, he juggled with the balls. 
 The people then woke up, nudged one an- 
 other, and smiled. Then said the rabbi, I 
 have it now. When I speak to you seriously 
 on the condition of your souls, you are list- 
 less and indifferent. But when I make a 
 fool of myself in the pulpit, you look up and 
 are attentive. 
 
 Sensationalism in the pulpit is a danger- 
 ous expedient, and is itself an admission of 
 the decadence of a religious spirit. It is no 
 remedy for our present evils. 
 
 What, then, is the panacea for the ills of 
 Judaism? What can revive these dead 
 souls? Not our broken and crippled Sab- 
 bath, not our conventional services or per- 
 functory compliance with traditional cus- 
 toms, not our religious schools alone, good 
 as they may be, not the mourners' Kaddish, 
 nor the annual revival on Yom Kippur, not 
 even modern educational and social acces- 
 sories that we have borrowed from our neigh- 
 
 17
 
 bors. These are all parts of the dead bones, 
 cast into discard by the lost souls of Israel. 
 
 We to-day again hear the word of God 
 spoken to Ezekiel: "Son of man, can these 
 dry bones live?" And we hear the definite 
 answer, "Behold, I will cause breath to enter 
 into you, and ye shall live." 
 
 Can the dead souls in Israel live again ? I 
 believe they can. What has been done so 
 often in Jewish history can be done again. 
 Nothing is impossible with God, but without 
 Him failure is inevitable. 
 
 What Israel needs to-day is a new sense 
 of God. The people have lost their God 
 and are worshipping idols, namely, money, 
 pleasure, power, fame, popular applause. 
 They put their trust in princes and the sons 
 of man. 
 
 Secondly, Israel needs to-day a new sense 
 of the dignity of man, of his relationship to 
 God through the spirit. Men are catering 
 to the requirements of the flesh, and are ne- 
 glecting the conditions of their souls. What 
 profit to a man if he gain the whole world 
 and lose his own soul? 
 
 18
 
 Third. Israel requires a new sense of the 
 meaning, necessity and power of prayer. 
 The people have become so materialistically 
 minded, that they rely only on physical 
 remedies, and eschew the importance and 
 value of prayer as a means for spiritual re- 
 suscitation for comfort, strength, patience, 
 and hope. 
 
 Fourth. Israel needs a new sense of con- 
 secration to the ideals for which our faith 
 has always stood, a consecration such as 
 Israel faced at Sinai when it said, "We will 
 hear and we will obey." The Marranos have 
 never saved Judaism. They saved them- 
 selves and bartered their faith for a mess of 
 pottage. Lecke has truly declared of Chris- 
 tianity, "martyrdom is the seed of the 
 church." This thought applies to our faith. 
 The martyrs of Israel, those men who sacri- 
 ficed themselves, have saved Judaism. The 
 men who are going to the battlefields, at the 
 risk of their lives, will save America and 
 humanity. We need such stalwart men and 
 women in Israel to-day, who possess the 
 courage of their conviction, and who will 
 care more for Judaism on the Sabbath than 
 
 19
 
 for chance speculation, or a passing amuse- 
 ment ; who will care more for their faith than 
 for the social prestige of an antisemitic 
 neighbor. 
 
 Fifth. But more than that, we need 
 the missionary spirit in Israel, a spirit that 
 has done so much for Christianity. Our 
 neighbors have learned much from us; let 
 us at least learn from them how to create a 
 religious revival, how to carry our religion 
 to our people, to arouse them to understand 
 its beauty and power, to teach them that as 
 Moses has said, the law of God is the one 
 great distinction of Israel, its knowledge 
 and its glory. Who will be a missionary in 
 Israel? Who will help us create a Jewish 
 revival ? 
 
 When the spirit of God will again enter 
 the dead souls of Israel and revive them, giv- 
 ing them a new sense of God, of the power of 
 spirituality, of the force of prayer, of con- 
 secration, of the martyrdom to conviction, 
 and above all, a missionary spirit, then will 
 the modern renaissance of Judaism have set 
 in. Then will we have a revival of Sab- 
 bath observance, a revival of the interest of 
 
 20
 
 young people, a restoration of the Jewish 
 home, a renewal of parental example and au- 
 thority, a re-establishment of the synagogue 
 as the center of the congregational life and 
 activity. There will then follow a revival 
 of Jewish culture, of Jewish idealism, of 
 Jewish ethics, together with the creation of 
 fellowship and a new solidarity in Israel. 
 Then it will appear to all that the dead bones 
 of Israel live again and stand upon their feet 
 "an exceeding great army." 
 
 There are encouraging signs that this 
 renaissance of Judaism is on the way. The 
 reaction of the war has set in. At first, the 
 war had a blighting effect upon faith and 
 idealism, and people thought the foundation 
 of religion and civilization had been de- 
 stroyed. But now we realize, that the world 
 needs religion more than ever, and that peo- 
 ple are again returning to their God for 
 comfort and help. And so will Israel yearn 
 again for God saying, "I thank thee, O 
 Lord, that Thou hast afflicted me. It has 
 been my salvation." 
 
 There is, secondly, a new awakening in 
 Israel, due to the sense of common suffering 
 
 21
 
 which has resulted in a new unity for relief. 
 The success of the eleven million dollar fund 
 for the relief and welfare work of Israel in 
 connection with the war, will have permanent 
 results that will manifest themselves in a 
 united people, consecrated to God and hu- 
 manity. 
 
 Thirdly, there is a greater activity in syna- 
 gogal and Jewish communal life throughout 
 the country. There seems to be a stirring 
 among the dead bones and a resurrection is 
 foreshadowed. 
 
 Fourthly, there is a greater interest mani- 
 fested to-day in Israel among those whose 
 souls are aroused to the necessity of the day 
 to awaken those who are still asleep. 
 
 Fifth. The capture of Jerusalem by the 
 British, and the hope entertained by many 
 of a regenerated Palestine has put new life 
 not only into Zionism, but into many faint 
 hearts who had lost all hope of a revival of 
 Judaism. 
 
 Sixth. Large bodies of intelligent men 
 like the Intercollegiate Menorah Societies, 
 which are holding a convention in this city at 
 present, are creating a new interest in Juda- 
 
 22
 
 ism and Jewish communal problems, and 
 bidding fair to recruit a new corps of Jewish 
 leaders from our best men and women of 
 the colleges and universities. This is one 
 of the most encouraging signs of the times, 
 exhibiting a missionary spirit that will make 
 for Jewish renaissance. 
 
 Let us take new heart therefore over these 
 gratifying evidences of the recuperative 
 powers of Israel. Judaism is not dead. It 
 may be asleep, but its heart is awake. Let 
 us as a Congregation do our part. Let us 
 inaugurate a renaissance in our own midst, 
 by being true to our name and our watch- 
 word Emanu-El, "God with us." If God is 
 with us, no one can prevail against us. 
 
 23
 
 A REVIVAL IN 
 TEMPLE EMANU-EL 
 
 "I shall not die but live and declare the works of the 
 Lord." 
 
 (Psalm CXVIII, 17.) 
 
 These words are indicative of the fact that 
 the revival in ancient Israel at the dedication 
 of the second Temple was not to be a mere 
 nominal resurrection, but rather a strong, 
 useful, and progressive vitality. The Tem- 
 ple was to be not merely a meeting house for 
 Israel but was to stand as evidence of Is- 
 rael's great active soul. The Temple was 
 not to be an idle or empty place for mere 
 mechanical worship but a school for Israel's 
 teachings, for the translation of religion into 
 actuality. In other words the revived relig- 
 ion of Israel was to be part of the life of 
 Israel. And the Temple of Jerusalem was 
 to be the source of inspiration for such an 
 intensive testimony to the presence and 
 power of God. 
 
 And when finally the Temple of Jerusa- 
 lem fell and Israel was scattered, every syna- 
 gogue, built wherever the exiled Jews as- 
 
 25
 
 sembled, became a center for Jewish life. 
 In the diaspora the synagogue with its ritual, 
 its Bible reading, its sermon, and its religi- 
 ous school, became the stronghold of Israel. 
 Judaism stood or fell with the synagogue. 
 It was the barometer of Jewish vitality. It 
 was the source of Israel's inspiration, the end 
 of all his solicitude. Israel Abrahams in his 
 "Jewish Life in the Middle Ages," thor- 
 oughly describes the great and important 
 part the synagogue played in the life of 
 Israel, claiming that the Jewish quarter 
 grew up around the synagogue which was 
 then the center of Jewish life locally (in so- 
 cial, civil, and political aspects) as well as 
 religiously. 
 
 We are now constrained to ask, what is 
 the position of the synagogue in the life of 
 the Jew to-day? And the answer is not al- 
 together satisfactory. The synagogue has 
 lost its former place of importance and in- 
 fluence. Due in part to the necessities of 
 modern complicated life, many institutions 
 of an educational, social, and charitable na- 
 ture have been divorced from the synagogue 
 and its activity has been mainly concentrated 
 
 26
 
 upon religious service and institution. But 
 even in this narrower field the synagogue 
 does not wield the influence it formerly did. 
 For many people it has lost all significance. 
 
 The problem before us is to restore the 
 synagogue to the proper place it should oc- 
 cupy. 
 
 Whereas the rehabilitation of the syna- 
 gogue is the paramount need of to-day, the 
 line of action for Temple Emanu-El is clear. 
 Emanu-El should take the lead in this 
 renaissance of the synagogue, by creating a 
 revival in its own midst. Prosperous as our 
 congregation has been in point of member- 
 ship and material conditions, successful as 
 it has been in the contribution it has made to 
 Judaism in this country, there is no doubt 
 but that it can improve its spiritual asset and 
 become a greater force in the religious de- 
 velopment of its members and in the pro- 
 gress of Judaism in general. Something is 
 lacking in the inner life of our Congregation. 
 
 A story will illustrate. 
 
 After a great revival had taken a certain 
 city by storm, a well-known scape-grace of 
 the town applied to a church for member- 
 
 27
 
 ship. The committee, knowing his reputa- 
 tion, advised that he wait a month and pray- 
 erfully consider the matter of his fitness. 
 At the end of the month he returned and 
 was asked to give his experience before the 
 entire church. He arose, solemnly turned to 
 the minister, deacons and audience, and said : 
 "Fellow sinners, daily for a month God has 
 admonished me not to feel badly, if I did 
 not get into this church, for He had tried for 
 twenty years and was not in yet." The 
 moral of the story is plain. A church cannot 
 hope to convert others unless it has been con- 
 verted itself. A synagogue cannot hope to 
 lead people to God unless it has God in its 
 own midst. I believe that when this Temple 
 was founded, seventy-three years ago, God 
 was with the Congregation, and the men who 
 gave the name Emanu-El (God with us) 
 to this Congregation, did it out of the sin- 
 cerity of their hearts. They believed in God, 
 they walked with God, they obeyed His 
 law. Their religion was a reality. And, 
 therefore, they founded this Congregation 
 and wrote this Preamble to the Constitution : 
 "To perpetuate Judaism and uphold the be- 
 
 28
 
 lief in and worship of one God, the Emanu- 
 El Congregation has been established." 
 
 This preamble gave definite, cogent pur- 
 pose to the Congregation, and in a measure 
 was for many years the ideal which guided 
 it. The struggle for Reform, the improve- 
 ment of the ritual, the removal from one 
 building to always a better one, the creation 
 of the Religious School, the encouragement 
 given to Jewish charitable and educational 
 institutions, the practice of patriotism and 
 civic duties and the participation in all pub- 
 lic movements for general relief, as well as 
 for the welfare of city, state, or nation, all 
 tended to the furtherance of a comprehensive 
 interpretation of that preamble, to wit: the 
 perpetuation of Judaism and the promotion 
 of the belief in and the worship of one God. 
 I believe that the first generation of this 
 Congregation did its full duty, as it under- 
 stood it, in carrying out the laudable purpose 
 for which the Temple was established. 
 
 But there came a time when the old text 
 of the Scripture was verified, "And Jeshu- 
 run waxed fat and he kicked," that is to say, 
 there came a time when worldly interests 
 
 29
 
 absorbed the attention of this Congregation 
 to the detriment of its original purpose. In 
 the course of the last fifty years the old ideal 
 has been lost sight of on the part of many 
 has been ignored and on the part of some 
 has been contradicted by their words and 
 needs. The Congregation as a whole has 
 done little to uphold the purpose for which 
 it was established, namely "to perpetuate 
 Judaism and to uphold belief in and worship 
 of God." Do they worship God? If so, 
 when and where? Those certainly do not 
 worship God in the synagogue who are 
 studiously absent on the Sabbath and holy 
 days. Do they worship God, and uphold 
 belief in Him in their home ? Can a fair per- 
 centage of those who observe no Sabbath or 
 holy days testify, that they uphold the wor- 
 ship of God in their homes? My experience 
 and observance in many families would com- 
 pel me to testify in the negative. Do mem- 
 bers of the Congregation seek to perpetuate 
 Judaism through the Religious Schools 
 which they have neglected and even to this 
 day ignore? Do they perpetuate Judaism 
 through the congregational activities? The 
 
 30
 
 Emanu-El Sisterhood and Brotherhood, 
 which have for years solicited members from 
 the families of the Congregation, have com- 
 plained in vain of the lack of active workers. 
 
 I am not unmindful of the fact that there 
 is a saving remnant in the Congregation, as 
 there is in every congregation, that does its 
 full duty. And it is to that saving remnant 
 that Emanu-El owes its present existence 
 and whatever prestige it has secured. It is 
 to such a saving remnant, that Israel owes 
 its preservation throughout its two thousand 
 years of trials and emergencies. 
 
 I believe the time has come to put an end 
 to this status of indifference. I believe that 
 the whole Congregation should perform its 
 full duty. Every member of this Congre- 
 gation assumes a duty upon being elected, to 
 fulfill the purpose laid down in the preamble 
 of the Constitution, to wit: "to perpetuate 
 Judaism and to uphold the belief and wor- 
 ship of Jehovah." I believe the time has 
 come for a great revival in Temple Emanu- 
 El, for a revival in which every member and 
 every home affiliated with this Temple 
 should take a part. We should end at once 
 
 31
 
 and for all this state of indifference to the 
 Temple, as well as to Judaism in general. 
 Members of the Congregation should learn 
 that they have not only rights but duties, 
 duties that are concerned in upholding the 
 honor and usefulness of the Temple and in 
 making it an instrument of service to Juda- 
 ism and Israel. The duty of a citizen to his 
 country consists not merely in paying the 
 taxes but in obeying the laws and in serving 
 the country in war and peace. Similarly the 
 duty of a member of a Congregation does 
 not end with the payment of the yearly mem- 
 bership fee, but includes service of the high- 
 est order consecration to the Temple and 
 the cause it represents. Our country de- 
 mands one hundred per cent of patriotism. 
 That indicates what I mean by a Revival 
 in Temple Emanu-El, the replacing of the 
 one per cent. Judaism that many members 
 possess by one hundred per cent. Judaism. 
 We have hyphenated Jews, that is, Yom 
 Kippur Jews, race Jews, cosmopolitan 
 Jews, emancipated Jews, Jews-at-heart, 
 cEarity Jews, Unitarian Jews, Christian 
 Science Jews, Free Thought Jews, etc. 
 
 32
 
 A revival in Emanu-El means that we must 
 convert all these hyphenated Jews into real 
 Jews. 
 
 Let it not be said that when people be- 
 come wealthy, they lose their religion. I 
 know that in several conspicuous instances 
 this charge is untenable. But perhaps these 
 conspicuous instances constitute the excep- 
 tions that justify the charge. I am not 
 ready to grant even that. I believe there is 
 much pent up religion in Emanu-El. It 
 shall be pent up no longer. It shall find 
 a vent and express itself. Let us institute 
 a revival marked by attendance at ser- 
 vices, by Sabbath observance, by increase 
 of the Religious School, by greater interest 
 and co-operation in the welfare of the Tem- 
 ple and all its activities, and by greater par- 
 ticipation in the movements making for the 
 general advance of Israel, by the study of the 
 Scriptures and the history of Israel, by ob- 
 servance of the festivals and holy days, by 
 instituting some form of home religion, in 
 short, by perpetuating Judaism and up- 
 holding the belief in and worship of one God. 
 
 Such a revival will benefit not merely the 
 
 33
 
 congregation as a whole, but every family 
 and every individual. A religious revival 
 must react on the home and the individual, 
 for no one can enter into a religious revival 
 without very soon experiencing a decided 
 spiritual improvement. A religious revival 
 is a moral tonic a spiritual stimulus which 
 leaves the possessor richer in mind and heart, 
 gives him a broader outlook upon life and 
 makes him more contented and happy. 
 
 But the revival will not end at the doors of 
 Emanu-El or in the soul of its members and 
 the heart of its homes. It will extend be- 
 yond those precincts. When once our mem- 
 bers are aroused to the importance and 
 necessity, to the value of a revival for 
 Emanu-El and its members and homes, they 
 will think of those who are less fortunate 
 than we in the direction of opportunity for 
 religious or spiritual uplift. 
 
 There are a hundred thousand Jews in 
 this city too poor to belong to any syna- 
 gogue, and too busy trying to earn a liveli- 
 hood to organize themselves into congrega- 
 tions, even if they had the means. There 
 are two hundred thousand Jewish children 
 
 34
 
 not receiving any religious instruction at 
 all, because their parents are either too poor 
 or too indifferent to provide it for them. 
 The Sisterhood and Brotherhood are or- 
 ganized for such and other purposes, and 
 are conducting free religious schools and 
 free services. But the work is limited, ow- 
 ing to lack of funds. This Congregation 
 should open branch synagogues and schools 
 in several parts of the city, where the con- 
 gestion creates pressing needs. Several 
 large Christian Churches, like Trinity and 
 the Collegiate Church, have branch churches 
 or Chapels, and it is high time that our Con- 
 gregation developed the missionary spirit 
 and carried its message outside its own doors 
 to Jews who are willing to receive it. We 
 must perpetuate Judaism beyond our own 
 Temple. That would be the greatest evi- 
 dence of a Revival. 
 
 A Revival in our midst will be of benefit 
 to Judaism at large which needs the example 
 and leadership of Emanu-El. I say this in 
 all modesty, but advisedly, for it is a fact 
 that Emanu-El has initiated many reforms 
 
 35
 
 that have been later adopted by other con- 
 gregations. And if we take the lead in 
 creating a general revival in our Congrega- 
 tion, that will manifest itself in unmistak- 
 able forms, it will not be long before the 
 contagion of such a good example will 
 spread far and wide. 
 
 My friends, in the Ethics of the Fathers, 
 it is said: "The day is short, the work is 
 great, and the laborers are sluggish; the re- 
 ward is much and the Master of the House 
 is urgent." This saying may apply to the 
 task of Revival that is before us. The time 
 is short, the work is great, and the laborers 
 are sluggish. Who will help in this work of 
 reviving Emanu-El? Who will join a Re- 
 vival Committee and lend a hand in this 
 laudable effort? Awake, O Emanu-El, and 
 remember what your fathers and forefathers 
 have done. Perpetuate this Temple and aid 
 the cause of Israel. O Emanu-El! thou re- 
 pository of sacred traditions, of sweet mem- 
 ories, arise from thy lethargy, and take thy 
 place in the forefront of the battle for Is- 
 rael's faith. Be not the pall bearers of Is- 
 rael's faith. Be captains and workers in the 
 
 36
 
 vineyard of the Lord, so that Emanu-El 
 may say, as did ancient Israel, "I shall not 
 die, but live and declare the works of the 
 Lord!" 
 
 37
 
 DUTY AND PART OF THE YOUTH 
 IN THE REVIVAL 
 
 "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord and 
 great shall be the peace of thy children." 
 
 (Isaiah LIV, 13.) 
 
 The Prophet Isaiah, in speaking of the 
 restoration of ancient Israel, indicates how 
 that revival of Judaism which took place 
 after the rebuilding of the Temple might be 
 made permanent. He realized that that 
 generation would pass away, and he looked 
 to the future. Over two thousand years 
 ago, the wise sage sensed the principle that 
 is common property to-day, that the future 
 lies in the hands of the youth, that the proper 
 education of the youth is the only guarantee 
 for the salvation of the world. 
 
 This thought is borne out by a tradition 
 found in the ancient history of Israel. It is 
 related that, when God gave Israel the Law 
 on Sinai and they promised to obey, He 
 demanded a guarantee that they would 
 never forsake their law. And Israel an- 
 
 39
 
 swered, "Let Heaven and Earth be our 
 witnesses." But the Lord refused to accept 
 such a guarantee. "Then let the virtues of 
 our forefathers, their good deeds, be indica- 
 tive of what we will do," said Israel. Again 
 the Lord refused. "Then let our prophets 
 be surety," cried the people. "But prophets 
 may differ, or may prove false, and therefore 
 can not serve as assurance of the permanence 
 of your faith," said the Voice from Heaven. 
 "Then," said Israel, "let our children whom 
 we shall teach the law, be our pledge that the 
 faith will not depart from our midst." And 
 the Lord accepted this pledge which is re- 
 flected in the words of Scripture, "In the 
 place of thy sires shall be thy children." 
 "From the mouth of babes and sucklings 
 the Lord will receive new strength." 
 
 The history of Israel attests the value of 
 that pledge. The "children" have saved 
 Israel and perpetuated Judaism. Abraham 
 placed his reliance on Isaac, Isaac on Jacob, 
 and Jacob on his twelve sons. Joseph, the 
 Hebrew lad, is taken from prison, becomes 
 the viceroy of Egypt, and is then by force 
 of his virtue, intelligence, and power enabled 
 
 40
 
 to save the embryonic nation of Israel from 
 destruction during the famine and to place 
 it in a position for future development. The 
 crafty Pharaoh of four hundred years, later 
 feared not the old Hebrews, bent under their 
 tasks, but the young men, and therefore, he 
 sought to destroy the male children. Moses, 
 the lad, beheld Israel's dire plight and from 
 his youthful soul that rebelled against the 
 enslavement of his people, came forth the 
 great liberator. The old generation of the 
 wilderness, beyond the hope of redemption, 
 died in the wilderness, but Palestine was con- 
 quered and redeemed by young Israel. Jo- 
 shua and Caleb and the majority of Israel's 
 later leaders, began their successful careers 
 as young men. Samson is a judge at fifty; 
 David, the youngest of Jesse's sons, was a 
 youth when he slew Goliath and delivered 
 Israel. When still a young man he was an- 
 nointed King of Israel. Isaiah and Jeremiah 
 prophesied at twenty. Ezekiel received the 
 word of God at thirty. The youthful and 
 strong Maccabees saved Israel Trom the 
 Syrians and restored the Temple. And 
 after Rome destroyed Jerusalem, Israel's 
 
 41
 
 faith was saved by the young men who stud- 
 ied in the school at Jamnia under Jochanon 
 ben Saccai. 
 
 We could continue thus to trace the his- 
 tory of Israel and prove that in every gen- 
 eration the burden rested upon the young to 
 accept the law and carry it intact to the next 
 generation, and that young Israel in the past 
 has not been recreant to its duty. It was not 
 tempted by bribe, or intimidated by threat or 
 terrorized by sufferings. It bore the stings 
 of ridicule, the pains of torture, the hard- 
 ships of persecution, the ostracism and mis- 
 fortune of antisemitism with an exemplary 
 spirit of martyrdom. All honor to young 
 Israel of past generations, to those stalwart 
 young men and women who broke many a 
 lance for our cause and aided in the preserva- 
 tion of our faith. 
 
 But what about young Israel of to-day? 
 We are facing one of the greatest problems 
 in the history of Judaism, namely, how to 
 check the defection of young men and 
 women from our ranks and cause them to 
 realize the duty they owe to Israel and the 
 part they can perform in the revival of Juda- 
 
 42
 
 ism. This evil is not of to-day, but has been 
 growing for the past two generations at 
 least. It is due, firstly, to the irreligious 
 tendency of the day which is reflected in 
 many books and periodicals, as well as in 
 conversation and public addresses. There 
 exists a spirit of mocking in holy matters, 
 as Bacon says, which makes for irreverence 
 in the young. It is very often indulged in 
 by teachers and professors in schools and 
 colleges, who thus insidiously sow the seed 
 of irreligion in the minds and hearts of pup- 
 ils and students. 
 
 Secondly, I find that the young have been 
 falsely trained to follow the fashion of the 
 day, to note the prevailing currents of 
 thought and action, and to trim their sails 
 accordingly. And religion is not fashion- 
 able, especially not in Jewish circles. Hence 
 the young people look askance at religion 
 as not an essential part of the accomplish- 
 ments or equipment of the modern man and 
 woman ! 
 
 Thirdly, young people, as a rule, possess 
 only a superficial education. They have re- 
 ceived a veneer of intellectual attainment, 
 
 43
 
 only enough to cover up a native, crass ig- 
 norance. They possess that little learning 
 which is a dangerous thing. They have 
 scanned some pages of Spencer, Darwin, 
 Huxley and Nietzsche, and are able to prate 
 glibly of the Unknown and Unknowable 
 and to defy any professor of religion to 
 prove the existence of God, or the authen- 
 ticity of the Scriptures. 
 
 Fourthly, it has become a notorious fact 
 that young people regard religion as un- 
 necessary for success. They have become all 
 too practical, and tell us nonchalantly that 
 the most successful, the greatest scientists, 
 artists, philosophers, merchants, and states- 
 men have been irreligious. And when we 
 point to such great men, like Gladstone, 
 Mendelssohn, Washington, Montefiore, and 
 innumerable others, they turn a deaf ear 
 and claim that those shining examples, com- 
 bining religion and success, are exceptions. 
 
 But the most lamentable cause for the de- 
 fection of the young in our times, especially 
 in Israel, is undoubtedly the lack of parental 
 example. When fathers and mothers are 
 
 44
 
 irreligious, very little can be expected of 
 their children. 
 
 In the face of these trying difficulties the 
 problem of the synagogue of winning young 
 Israel back to the faith is herculean. It 
 cannot be solved by casting the burden alto- 
 gether on the minister, though it is pre- 
 eminently his office to teach religion. It is 
 idle to blame him for the shortcomings of 
 this skeptical and materialistic age, for the 
 evils of a faulty and superficial education 
 of the youth, for the fact that religion is 
 not fashionable, that it is not regarded as 
 necessary for success, and that many parents 
 set a woeful example of irreligion and indif- 
 ference, instead of devotion to our sacred 
 cause. 
 
 We cannot hope to reform the world, to 
 convert all parents to religion, and to 
 change conditions in schools and colleges 
 that would eliminate scoffing teachers and 
 professors. We cannot hope to induce so- 
 ciety to make religion as fashionable as lec- 
 tures on political economy and social science, 
 and to teach the world that success, minus a 
 
 45
 
 regard for a higher spiritual life, is not suc- 
 cess. 
 
 But the case of young Israel is neverthe- 
 less not beyond remedy. Several methods 
 of attacking the defection are open to us. 
 First is recognition of the fact that the 
 young can be influenced through their in- 
 intellectual and their social proclivities. 
 Man is developed through his thoughts and 
 sentiments, and in any religious revival these 
 must be touched. Currents of thought and 
 action should be created that would tend to 
 lead the young back to the synagogue. You 
 cannot force them back. You must lead 
 them by the things that attract the mind and 
 the emotions. The social engineer under- 
 stands this principle and applies it in the im- 
 provement of the crowd. This principle has 
 also been acted upon in the establishment of 
 neighborhood settlements, Young Men's 
 and Young Women's Hebrew Associations, 
 and similar agencies. 
 
 As society is now constituted, currents of 
 thought and social life lead our young peo- 
 ple away from the synagogue. Our leaders, 
 without reflection on them be it said, are not 
 
 46
 
 social engineers, and, therefore, have un- 
 consciously permitted the young people to 
 drift away from the synagogue for their 
 intellectual and social requirements to the 
 lecture hall, dance halls, club houses, libraries 
 and other places of instruction and enter- 
 tainment. The problem before us is to con- 
 nect such avenues for intellectual and social 
 life with the Temple, by creation of a Tem- 
 ple Centre, in which there should be ample 
 opportunities for the play of thought and 
 social instincts. I have often advocated this 
 Temple Annex, and do so again with this ad- 
 ditional argument, that, religion must ally 
 itself to modern appliances for influencing 
 the minds and sentiments of the young. It 
 may cost several hundred thousand dollars 
 to establish a proper annex to our Temple, 
 but every dollar thus expended is an invest- 
 ment and every moment lost is adding an- 
 other nail to the coffin of modern Judaism. 
 
 A second method of attack is to awaken 
 young Israel to the duty it owes to itself and 
 to Israel. 
 
 Let j T oung Israel take to heart the text, 
 "Let all the children be taught of the Lord 
 
 47
 
 and great will be the peace of thy children." 
 This applies firstly to the individual. It 
 means that religion and peace or religion and 
 a successful life go hand in hand. For re- 
 ligion is "a tree of life to those who seize 
 hold of it." Religion invests life with a 
 broader and nobler outlook than merely the 
 material. For the young man and woman 
 starting out to make a career, religion is an 
 asset that will be a source of intellectual, 
 moral, and spiritual power. Let the youth 
 of our day be earnestly advised of this rela- 
 tion of religion to success. Let them be 
 shown that religion is not a philosophical 
 speculation or superstition, but a moral in- 
 fluence that has a direct bearing on indi- 
 vidual welfare. Faith is a supreme power 
 that ultimately makes for righteousness, re- 
 conciles us to many trials and creates an op- 
 timistic spirit that is of great spiritual value 
 in an emergency. In the present world's 
 crisis, it is religion that sustains many people 
 with the unfaltering trust that the right will 
 prevail. Let young Israel accept that faith 
 and increase its courage, staying power, and 
 hope of success. 
 
 48
 
 Then there is, moreover, a duty that 
 young Israel owes to the whole house of Is- 
 rael. You should not separate yourselves 
 from your own people. We ought to feel 
 proud of the origin of the history of Israel, 
 its people, its heroes and martyrs, its litera- 
 ture, its faith. "Look to the rock whence 
 you were hewn." America is proud of the 
 American patriots, and points to them with 
 a glow of satisfaction. Americans are proud 
 of their constitution, their democracy, their 
 liberties. Young American Israel, know 
 you not that the American Constitution is 
 of Hebraic origin, that Israel was the first 
 people to stand for civil liberty and religi- 
 ous freedom? Know you not, that the pio- 
 neers of America were influenced by the 
 spirit of the Bible and especially of the Mo- 
 saic code? Know you not, that Judaism is 
 the source of all the greater religions of the 
 civilized world, that our Bible has influenced 
 human thought and civilization more than 
 any one book in all literature ? This pardon- 
 able pride in Israel's achievements and con- 
 tribution to humanity ought to lead young 
 Israel to a hearty espousal of its cause. 
 
 49
 
 If your father and mother were both dead, 
 and, years after, you had found a document 
 which they left and it had been brought to 
 you, would you not read it; would you not 
 try to decipher it, and have some one explain 
 it? And if your parents had in that last 
 document, which was their last will and tes- 
 tament, ordered certain things to be done, 
 would you not try to perform them? An- 
 cient Israel is your ancestor ; it has left you a 
 sacred document, the Bible, a sacred religion, 
 Judaism. Will you not read that Bible and 
 keep their religion? Will you not treasure 
 that heritage of old? And when you find 
 that it is useful for to-day and highly es- 
 teemed by the world, it should be both your 
 duty and your pride to accept this Bible and 
 practice this faith of your fathers. Thus 
 the heart of the fathers will be turned to the 
 children, and the heart of the children to the 
 fathers. Thus the mantle of Elijah will fall 
 on Elisha, and the parents and children, 
 teachers and pupils, will be united in the 
 worship of God and the practice of love to 
 man. 
 
 50
 
 But what, we are asked, can young Israel 
 specifically do in furtherance of the revival 
 of Judaism? The very desire to further 
 this cause is already an accomplishment. 
 And it will stimulate activity in the direc- 
 tion of co-operation in the religious school 
 and young people's societies and Jewish 
 charities. Young Israel, your part lies espe- 
 cially in the furtherance of the interest of 
 the synagogue! Let me remind those of 
 young Israel who stood upon this holy plat- 
 form on the day of Shabuoth and accepted 
 the law of God with the resolution to keep 
 it, that that resolution was made with the 
 firm conviction that Judaism was part of 
 your life and was to be a leaven in the de- 
 velopment of your character and your 
 career. That holy occasion should not be 
 lost sight of. You are and should feel that 
 j^ou are a part of the synagogue. You can 
 keep the Sabbath and holidays. You can 
 attend the religious services. And when you 
 have thus gained an inspiration for your own 
 lives, you can carry it to others. 
 
 I have said that Emanu-El needs mis- 
 sionaries. And who is better equipped than 
 
 51
 
 young Israel to become missionaries in this 
 great cause? 
 
 Young Israel, make this Temple your 
 own. In very truth it is yours. It will be 
 your inheritance. The present leaders will 
 pass away and you must stand ready to take 
 their places. You are the reserve army of 
 Israel. When the front lines have fallen 
 at their post of duty, your lines must move 
 forward to take their places. You must fill 
 up the breach in the ranks. 
 
 Therefore, my young friends, I bid you 
 to realize the imperative duty of the hour, 
 to train yourselves for your present as well 
 as your future work, for your God and your 
 people. Become torch bearers of Israel's 
 faith. The light that you car,ry will illumine 
 your own souls and will aid in dispelling ir- 
 religion, scoffing, barbarity, and inhumanity, 
 and bring nearer a new era. 
 
 Young Israel, you are the advance guard 
 of a new civilization. When this war has 
 been fought and won, when peace has been 
 established and reconstruction has begun, 
 you will enter a new world of greater 
 thought and action than has ever existed. 
 
 52
 
 You can prepare yourselves for that greater 
 day, by now espousing the ideals of your 
 faith, Truth and Justice, Liberty, Equal- 
 ity, and Peace, for that will be the slogan of 
 the reconstructed world. When you have 
 been taught of the Lord, your peace will be 
 great and eternal. 
 
 53
 
 SHALL WE SURRENDER 
 JUDAISM? 
 
 "They who builded on the walls and they that bear bur- 
 dens with those that loaded, every one with one of his 
 hands wrought in the work and with the other held a 
 weapon. For the builders, every one had his sword by his 
 side and so builded." 
 
 (Neh. IV, 17-18.) 
 
 Nehemiah, a great leader of ancient Israel, 
 about the year 444 B. C., had obtained per- 
 mission from the King of Persia to rebuild 
 the walls of Jerusalem, in order to make the 
 city and the Temple, as well as the people, 
 secure. But the Samaritans, jealous of the 
 return of the Jews to their former home, 
 threatened to prevent the rebuilding of the 
 walls. The intrepid leader, Nehemiah, how- 
 ever, was undaunted, and he armed his build- 
 ers. As the text says, the men built with 
 one hand, while with the other they held a 
 weapon. Some had a sword beside them; 
 others a spear, always ready with which to 
 defend themselves. But they never ceased to 
 build. It was not long before the Samari- 
 tans, seeing the readiness of the Jews for de- 
 fense, retired, and the work of building the 
 
 55
 
 wall was completed without further inter- 
 ference. 
 
 This story teaches the valuable character- 
 istics of an intrepid leader, who is not intimi- 
 dated by difficulties while engaged in an im- 
 portant work. As Nehemiah prepared him- 
 self for building the wall and at the same 
 time for defense against the attacks of the 
 enemy, who sought to prevent the work, so 
 every one must act if he wishes to succeed 
 in any important engagement. Every one 
 must be equipped with the trowel and the 
 sword: the one indicative of an instrument 
 for labor ; the other of a weapon for defense. 
 
 It often happens that, whilst one is en- 
 gaged in a great reformatory task, his mo- 
 tives are impugned, his method is criticized, 
 his purpose is belittled and questioned. And 
 if this process of hampering the reformer 
 does not avail, his plans are attacked in gen- 
 eral, as well as in detail, and every possible 
 obstacle is put in his way. The envious 
 Samaritans are not all dead. They raise 
 their heads everywhere, and are ever ready 
 to carry on their selfish, destructive work. 
 Hence, it is necessary to be provided with 
 
 56
 
 the trowel and the sword, unless one is will- 
 ing to relinquish his task and surrender to 
 his foes and be recreant to his duty. The 
 great men of history, who fill the halls of 
 fame are immortal; they were builders and 
 fighters. 
 
 The trowel and the sword held by a person 
 at the same time, constitute a symbol of mili- 
 tant progress, and may serve to indicate the 
 militantly progressive spirit of Israel. The 
 Jews under Nehemiah caught the spirit of 
 their brave leader. This was not accidental, 
 but rather in line with that determined, self- 
 reliant, aggressive spirit that marked the 
 Jewish people. 
 
 Abraham exhibited that resoluteness for 
 work and defense when he left his father's 
 house, city, and country, to build a new na- 
 tion in a strange land. The same impulse 
 for advance actuated Moses to become the 
 liberator and re-organizer of his people. 
 That defensive belligerency was also mani- 
 fested by Mordecai and Esther, by the Mac- 
 cabees, by Hannah and her seven sons, and 
 by innumerable stalwart sons and daughters 
 in Israel, who would not bend the knee to 
 
 57
 
 idols, nor surrender any of their cherished 
 beliefs or ideals. 
 
 Israel has been called "the miracle of his- 
 tory," because it has preserved itself despite 
 all attacks, whilst many other nations have 
 fallen under similar burdens. Judaism may 
 be called the miracle in the history of re- 
 ligions. Whilst many religions have come 
 and disappeared, Judaism still remains ; and 
 it remains intact, because it was always a 
 militantly progressive religion. Religion to 
 be successful must be a builder and a fighter. 
 It must build up the spirit within and fight 
 aggression from without, especially the ag- 
 gression of infidelity, error, ignorance, in- 
 tolerance, and prejudice. 
 
 The ancient rabbis built a wall around the 
 Jewish faith; that is to say, they added line 
 to line, precept to precept, law to law, cere- 
 mony to ceremony, as is explained in the 
 Jewish writings, in order to protect the 
 Torah. The Talmud says, that this building 
 of a wall around the Torah is as if a man had 
 a precious garden, around which he built 
 many fences, so that if the outer fence was 
 destroyed, there would be still other fences 
 
 58
 
 to protect the garden. But the walls of 
 Judaism have been gradually broken down 
 of late years: first, the dietary laws; then 
 the strict Sabbath laws; then the Sabbath 
 itself. Later the home ceremonies went by 
 the board one by one; then the Synagogue 
 ritual was continually shortened. The He- 
 brew language was gradually replaced by 
 German, then by English or some other 
 vernacular, until now Hebrew is regarded 
 by some as an intrusion in the ritual, whereas 
 it formerly was there by right. The funeral 
 ceremonies have been curtailed. The Min- 
 yan service has been reduced from seven 
 days to three, or two, or one, and often it 
 is omitted altogether. The Kaddish is still 
 said; but many of the modern children re- 
 gard it merely as a custom rather than an 
 outpouring of the human heart to God and 
 a memorial for the dead. Thus, the walls, 
 the fences of Judaism, have been gradually 
 impaired. In the cases of some of our breth- 
 ren, these walls have been entirely broken 
 down. There are some who have destroyed 
 their religion altogether. I mean they have 
 surrendered their own faith and become 
 
 59
 
 atheists, or ethical culturists, or embraced 
 another religion. Such apostacy might have 
 been expected in ancient times, in the face of 
 persecution, when men and women were 
 threatened with death by fire, unless they 
 abjured their faith. Then there might have 
 been some excuse for apostasy. But to learn 
 that in free America, or in some of the other 
 enlightened countries of Europe, conversion 
 is occurring amongst Jews to an alarming 
 degree, passeth human understanding. 
 
 No wonder the House of Israel laments 
 tfie defection in its ranks. It feels humili- 
 ated, stung to the quick, when it realizes that 
 some of its own sons and daughters have 
 turned traitors to their faith. There is an 
 ancient parable that describes this condition 
 and feelings of Israels. It runs as follows: 
 The wood remonstrated with the iron and 
 said: "Why do you cry so loud when you are 
 struck? When I am struck, I hardly utter 
 any but a very low sound." "Your case is 
 different than mine," replied the iron. 
 "When you are struck by an axe, for in- 
 stance, you are struck by that which is not 
 of your own kind. But when I am struck 
 
 60
 
 by the hammer, I am struck by my own kind 
 hence my piercing cry." 
 
 When children turn against their parents, 
 then is the hour of deep parental woe. When 
 a friend proves treacherous, then is the time 
 of keen pain and despair. When Israel's 
 sons and daughters are disloyal, criticize 
 their own faith, then is the time for protest 
 and lamentation. But when adults in Is- 
 rael turn apostates, then surely does Israel 
 feel the agony of an almost mortal wound. 
 
 But the humiliation becomes more 'ag- 
 gravated when we learn on what grounds 
 some seek conversion to the dominant faith. 
 If only one of those converts could say con- 
 vincingly that he became converted because 
 of conviction, because he had seen the error 
 of Judaism and the truth of another faith; 
 if only one of them could truthfully say that 
 Israel erred two thousand years ago, and 
 that it is now time for Israel to acknowledge 
 its error, there might be some solace for the 
 defection in Israel, painful as it would be for 
 the faithful. 
 
 But no. The apostates can excuse their 
 action neither on the ground of conviction, 
 
 61
 
 nor the error of Judaism. They stand 
 charged, that they seek the dominant faith 
 only because of convenience and self-inter- 
 est. They sell their birthright for a mess of 
 pottage; they sell their God for gold; they 
 barter their better self for pelf. 
 
 Some claim an excuse for their apostasy 
 that one religion is as good as another; that 
 religion, after all, is accidental, and that if 
 they had been born of Christian parents, 
 they would have been Christians. There- 
 fore, they claim, they will become converted 
 in order to correct the accidents of birth, that 
 at least their children might not be handi- 
 capped by a faith that is unpopular. Others 
 are bold enough to claim that they desire by 
 conversion to escape the prejudices and dis- 
 crimination of anti-Semitism, on the plea 
 that they desire to meet the world on equal 
 terms. Still others make a great pretense of 
 liberalism, and claim that the world ought to 
 have only one religion, and since that is de- 
 sirable, the minority should surrender to the 
 dominant faith. Complete assimilation as 
 a basis for universal brotherhood is their 
 plea. 
 
 62
 
 All these so-called reasons are mere soph- 
 istry. Firstly, is one religion as good as an- 
 other? Our answer is that Christianity is 
 just as good for the sincere Christian as 
 Judaism is for the true Jew. As Lessing 
 says in Nathan the Wise: "Was dich zum 
 Christen macht, macht mich zum Juden" 
 The religion in which a man believes is the 
 best for him, because it is the basis of his 
 character and is the means of his salvation. 
 But this principle does not hold good for 
 the apostate who changes his faith as he 
 would his coat, in accordance with the so- 
 ciety he wishes to enter. The mercenary 
 apostate has no religion but selfishness; no 
 God but an idol to which he prostrates him- 
 self. 
 
 Secondly, does the apostate insure the wel- 
 fare of his children by providing through his 
 apostasy that the children should be born 
 in the environment of the dominant relig- 
 ion? This is problematical. There are cases 
 on record of children who, having learned 
 that their parents were apostates, returned 
 to Judaism when they were able to judge 
 for themselves. This is due to the fact that 
 
 63.
 
 Jews are a race, not merely a religious com- 
 munity, and that through racial character- 
 istics the Jewish spirit often maintains it- 
 self. It has been noted that once a Jew al- 
 ways a Jew, and that many an apostate re- 
 canted on his deathbed and died with the 
 "Shema Yisroel" on his lips. 
 
 Thirdly, I ask, does it betoken liberalism 
 on the part of the apostate to claim that he 
 is furthering the millenium by seeking to es- 
 tablish only one religion? The sophistry 
 here is clear, when we realize that the crea- 
 tion of a universal religion is an impossibil- 
 ity. Differences of religion are due to vary- 
 ing conceptions of the Deity, of duty, ethics, 
 of ceremonialism, rituals, Bible interpreta- 
 tions, etc. If one possesses the true spirit 
 of religion he will be liberal toward all faiths. 
 
 Fourthly, I ask, does the Jewish apostate 
 escape the ills of anti-Semitism? He may 
 meet with a certain kind of formal respect. 
 But at heart no one admires a renegade, and 
 if anti-Semitism pursued him before, it cer- 
 tainly will not permit him to escape after 
 conversion. When it becomes known that a 
 convert adopted another faith not from con- 
 
 64
 
 viction, but from mercenary or some other 
 ulterior motives, the apostasy acts as a boom- 
 erang, and the anti-Semitism which he tried 
 to throw off recoils upon his own head with 
 doubled force. 
 
 Is the apostate right in regarding it a mis- 
 fortune to be a Jew? The answer depends 
 on the term "misfortune." To many Juda- 
 ism has been an asset, a source of spiritual 
 strength which could be found for the true 
 Jew in no other religion. And even if the 
 survival of Judaism is coupled with some in- 
 convenience at times, or even embarrassing 
 becomes instead of a hindrance, an incentive 
 for the cultivation of the courage of his con- 
 viction. Can any Jew regard it as a misfor- 
 tune to be descended from the prophets of 
 Israel, from the makers of the Bible, from 
 the first preacher of that monotheism which 
 a great part of the world to-day acknowl- 
 edges. Disraeli, at the acme of his career, 
 took a pride in referring to his Jewish origin 
 and did not regard his relation to the Jewish 
 people as a misfortune. 
 
 The apostate's plea that he believes in 
 thorough assimilation with the country in 
 
 65
 
 which he lives in order to carry out the idea 
 of perfect nationalism or cosmopolitanism is 
 also untenable. Cosmopolitanism has refer- 
 ence to social and civic or political affilia- 
 tions. Every good government recognizes 
 the possibility of patriotism coupled with in- 
 dependence of religious convictions and 
 practice. No good government insists on 
 assimilation to the extent of a surrender of 
 an individaul's conscientious religious prin- 
 ciples or scruples. When the Jewish convert 
 seeks to excuse his apostasy on the plea of 
 perfect assimilation, he makes himself guilty 
 of sophistication for the purpose of befud- 
 dling the issue. 
 
 Thus we see that the arguments of the 
 apostate fail because the following points are 
 established. 
 
 1st, that one religion is not as good as an- 
 other, unless coupled with sincere belief 
 therein. 
 
 2nd, that the apostate does not insure the 
 welfare of his children by his conversion. 
 
 3rd, that one universal religion is impos- 
 sible, and that liberalism means toleration of 
 all religions. 
 
 66
 
 UN! 
 
 4th, that the renegade does not escape the 
 evils of anti-Semitism. 
 
 5th, that it is not a misfortune to be a Jew, 
 and 
 
 6th, that assimilation does not require sur- 
 render of faith. 
 
 But the case against the apostate is still 
 stronger when we consider the fact that a 
 few years ago the late Bishop Potter op- 
 posed establishing a Christian mission on 
 the East Side to convert the Jews, because 
 he held that such an act would be an insult 
 to the intelligence of the Jews and because 
 the Jews could take care of themselves. 
 Other great non-Jews have time and again 
 expressed their esteem for the religion of 
 Israel, and have admired the consistency of 
 the Jew and his martyrdom for conviction 
 in the face of great trials. 
 
 Instead of surrendering our faith because 
 of anti-Semitism or hardship in breaking 
 down prejudice, there is every reason why 
 a Jew should be faithful to his Judaism. 
 We should remain Jews, 
 
 Firstly. Because no religion has yet been 
 established that is superior to it. 
 
 67
 
 Secondly. Because the belief in one God 
 and His law is fundamental to all monothe- 
 istic religions, and this thought has been 
 taken from Judaism. 
 
 Thirdly. Because we are Jews for the 
 sake of principles, not worldly gain. We are 
 like servants who serve their master without 
 Ihe expectation of reward. 
 
 Fourthly. Because if we did desire 
 worldly recognition, we could find it better 
 by remaining true to our faith than by re- 
 nouncing it. 
 
 Fifthly. Because Jews can be better citi- 
 zens by being better Jews ; because they will 
 win the respect of mankind by sacrifices for 
 God and humanity. 
 
 Sixthly. Because Judaism still has a 
 great mission in the world. The war has 
 proven how all ideals of religion, of culture, 
 and civilization have failed in a world crisis. 
 Something is wrong with the world's relig- 
 ions, with civilization. Perhaps Judaism 
 possesses some panacea for the ills of man- 
 kind. 
 
 This is a time to stand firm this time of 
 world carnage, when the world is combative, 
 
 68
 
 nation fighting against nation and all are 
 learning the art of war; this is the time for 
 the Jew to be staunch. Stand by your God, 
 your race, your country, your religion, your 
 rabbis, your Bible, your prophets, your prin- 
 ciples, and ideals. Whilst the world is all 
 agog is not the time to leave the tried and 
 true moorings of our ancient faith. Let us 
 remain Jews, for we can help bringing about 
 the millenium of universal peace with liberty, 
 equality, and fraternity for all nations. 
 
 Just at this crucial hour of the world his- 
 tory, more than ever, is the time to cling close 
 to the ancient moorings. Surrender not one 
 title of Israel's faith. We need a militant, 
 progressive Israel to-day. We need Ezras, 
 Nehemiahs, Mordecais, Esthers, Maccabees, 
 who were inspired to lead the people. As- 
 cend the broken walls of your faith, O Israel. 
 Repair the breaches. Like the builders and 
 fighters of old, take a trowel in one hand and 
 a sword in the other. Rebuild the spiritual 
 walls and fight against the enemy from 
 within, as well as against the enemy from 
 without. And from God will come the 
 victory for the faithful. 
 
 69
 
 REVIVAL OF THE JEWISH HOME 
 
 "Unless the Lord build the house, in vain labor those 
 who build on it." 
 
 (Psalm CXXVII, 1.) 
 
 The implication in this text is, that despite 
 great efforts many fail to build a real home, 
 a Jewish home, and that they fail because 
 they have no God in their minds or hearts. 
 
 The stability and comfort of the tradi- 
 tional Jewish home whose praises have been 
 voiced by Heine and other writers, notably 
 also by Israel Abraham in his "Jewish Life 
 in the Middle Ages," have sprung from the 
 love of God which permeated the husband 
 and wife. 
 
 I have sometimes been asked to describe 
 definitely what a Jewish Home is. In what 
 respect does it differ from any other home? 
 There is only one answer : a Jewish home is 
 one built up by Jews, true Jews, who believe 
 in God and practice the Jewish religion. 
 Those who are Jews in name only, who have 
 no faith and no regard for the synagogue, 
 
 71
 
 may build themselves a home, a gilded man- 
 sion, if you please, but it will not be a Jewish 
 Home. To be more specific, I would say, 
 that a Jewish home is characterized not so 
 much by special visible forms as by a dis- 
 tinctively Jewish spirit, a spirit of reverence 
 for God and for sacred things, as well as of 
 loyalty to the house of Israel, to certain Jew- 
 ish ideals, purposes, and interests. By way 
 of illustration, let us ask, what constitutes 
 an American Home? Not the American 
 flag or pictures of Washington and Lincoln 
 that one may find there, but rather a spirit 
 of patriotism, a love of our country, its laws 
 and free institutions, its people, its heroes, 
 its history, literature, the high resolve to do 
 one's duty to country in the home or out- 
 side thereof. In the present national emerg- 
 ency, it is the spirit of devotion in the home 
 to conservation of food and fuel, to neces- 
 sary economy, to a grim determination to 
 be brave and make sacrifices, to urging on 
 the volunteer, to helping the soldiers at the 
 front, to aiding all our countrymen and 
 allies to win this war for humanity; it is all 
 these characteristics combined that consti- 
 tute an American Home. 
 
 72
 
 Now, if in such an American home we find 
 also a certain Jewish spirit that manifests it- 
 self in reverence for God and things sacred, 
 as well as loyalty to Israel, we have the be- 
 ginnings of a Jewish Home. Such a Jewish 
 spirit would mold the thoughts and feelings 
 of its members and condition many of their 
 acts. It would, firstly, induce the father and 
 mother of the family to voice the command 
 of Jacob to his household to "put away the 
 strange gods from their midst." Like 
 Hezekiah they would seek to break down the 
 heathen altars that are practically found in 
 many so-called Jewish Homes. Strange 
 gods and heathen altars in Jewish homes? 
 It is incredible. Yet it is a fact. Would 
 you expect an American home to halt be- 
 tween two flags? How long do you expect 
 a Jewish home to endure that halts between 
 two gods, that worships at two shrines, that 
 flirts with other religions? 
 
 A true Jewish spirit would change that 
 hybrid aspect of religion in the home and 
 foster a love for some tangible forms of 
 Judaism. In the traditional Jewish home 
 there may still be found the Mezuzah on the 
 
 73
 
 doorposts, the Sabbath lamp, the Hanukkah 
 lamp, the Kiddush cup, the Shield of David, 
 Biblical or other Jewish pictures, a Hebrew 
 calendar or Yahrzeit tablet. These symbols 
 or emblems of Judaism could be made to 
 serve a definitely spiritual purpose to-day, 
 even in a home permeated with the modern 
 spirit. And there is urgent reason why the 
 Bible and some books on Jewish history 
 and literature should be found in every Jew- 
 ish home, why these should be read and dis- 
 cussed there. And there ought to be a re- 
 vival of some forms and ceremonies, either a 
 prayer at stated times, or the proper induc- 
 tion of the Sabbath on Friday night, the 
 home celebration of Purim, Hanukkah, 
 Passover, and Sukkoth. Those who remem- 
 ber the spirit of festivity and holy joy that 
 pervaded the former Jewish home on the 
 Sabbath or a holiday, will yearn for a re- 
 vival of those ceremonies that breathed new 
 life into the family and brought its members 
 closer together, as well as nearer to God, to 
 Israel, and Humanity. 
 
 I believe in modernism to a certain ex- 
 tent. I believe, also, that we have permitted 
 
 74
 
 our homes to be secularized too much. Secu- 
 larism is the curse of the modern Jewish 
 home. Let me give you an instance of this. 
 I have seen the old-fashioned six-pronged 
 Sabbath lamp fitted up with electric bulbs, 
 and on Friday night, instead of filling the 
 lamp with oil and lighting the old-fashioned 
 taper, the master of the house presses a but- 
 ton and six flaming electric lights herald the 
 Sabbath. But the effect is not the same. 
 The flavor of antiquity is missing, the tie 
 that bound us to the olden days is broken 
 by that rude grafting of modernity upon a 
 quaint, beautiful, old custom. 
 
 But this is only an indication of how secu- 
 larization of the home has gradually driven 
 out the former Jewish spirit. You hear no 
 Hebrew word in many homes, and no Jewish 
 melody. Everything Jewish is taboo. No 
 Bible, no prayer book, no Jewish magazine 
 or paper, can be found in a secular home of 
 the ultra-radical Jew. And with the loss of 
 the Jewish spirit much of the loyalty to 
 Israel, its ideal, its purpose, and interest, 
 has passed away and fidelity to synagogue 
 and Jewish institutions has been impaired. 
 
 75
 
 It is no wonder then that even the beauti- 
 ful ceremony of remembering the dead by 
 the recital of the Kaddish, a custom that has 
 been honored by the deepest sentiment of 
 the heart, has also been touched by the sacri- 
 legious hands of the radical skeptic. 
 
 But the greatest harm of the all too rapid 
 secularization of the Jewish home has been 
 done to the young. The older people have 
 still lurking in their souls some of the an- 
 cient afflatus of religion and Jewishness. 
 But the younger generation who are brought 
 up in secularized homes have no opportunity 
 of breathing the real spirit of Judaism. You 
 cannot create the same spirit for the young 
 in a school or the synagogue. Religion is 
 in the first instance a matter of the home, of 
 the family. And the child inherits his re- 
 ligion as he does his family and the family 
 name and reputation. He breathes in his 
 religion by virtue of the religious spirit that 
 pervades the home and by force of the re- 
 ligious examples he sees there. The child 
 is not born a Jew, but is made a Jew by the 
 Jewish home in which he is brought up and 
 trained. The Jewish home is the Alma 
 
 76
 
 Mater of the Jew. Israel Abrahams in his 
 Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, while 
 speaking of the effects of persecution on 
 Judaism, says, 
 
 "Home religion became an etiquette, a 
 provincial code of manners against foreign 
 intrusion. Then, with the close of the eigh- 
 teenth century, came one touch of the mod- 
 ern spirit, and lo! the evil humours fled one 
 by one into the night and 'The Tree of Life* 
 revived, erect and expansive. For its roots 
 were fixed in the home, and the Jewish 
 Home, whatever its faults and limitations, 
 was never tainted with moral corruption." 
 
 Our ancient sages and rabbis understood 
 the psychology of Home influence, and 
 therefore they insisted on the practice of 
 home ceremonies. Therefore Moses com- 
 manded his people, "Thou shalt teach these 
 laws diligently to thy children and shalt talk 
 of them, when thou sittest in thine house, 
 when thou walkest by the way, when thou 
 liest down, and when thou risest up." Home 
 religion is the best religious instruction for 
 the child. 
 
 To-day, alas, we have this great and dis-
 
 tressing anomaly presented, that the child 
 is sent to the religious school where he is 
 taught his religion, and, when he goes home 
 he finds much of the instruction he received 
 violated. He is told to keep the Sabbath, 
 which he sees transgressed by his parents and 
 elders. The same is true with regard to the 
 holidays and the ceremonies of Passover, 
 Yom Kippur, Sukkoth, Purim, and Hanuk- 
 kah. The child is told to believe in God and 
 prayer, but in many cases he finds no God 
 and no prayer in his home. He is told that 
 Judaism has a mission to free the world from 
 idolatry and he finds idolatry, the worship 
 of Mammon, in his home. He is told to 
 love Israel, the Bible, Jewish history and 
 literature, the heroes and martyrs of Israel, 
 but in his home often these subjects are 
 scoffed at, and he is reminded by some elders 
 that we are living in the twentieth century 
 and must only revere Washington and Lin- 
 coln and not think so much of the Maccabees 
 and Mordecai and Esther. 
 
 That inconsistency between the secularized 
 Jewish home and the instruction of the 
 Synagogue and School is one of the sever- 
 
 78
 
 est blows to Modern Judaism. Israel Abra- 
 ham says of the ancient Jewish home: "It 
 was a haven of rest from the storms that 
 raged around the very gates of the ghettos, 
 nay, a fairy palace in which the bespattered 
 objects of the world's derision threw off their 
 garb of shame and resumed the royal attire 
 of freemen. The home was the place where 
 the Jew was at his best." 
 
 Yes, and we may add, the Jewish home 
 was the fortress of Israel, the citadel of 
 Judaism. There the Jew was safe from the 
 mailed fist and the cold world. There he 
 nurtured his faith and brought up his chil- 
 dren to love God and his family, his people, 
 his religion and humanity. No matter how 
 the world outside raged against him and 
 tempted him from his faith, in his home the 
 Jew recovered his poise. No matter how 
 Jewish children may have felt humiliated by 
 meeting aspersion against their faith and 
 people in the world outside, in the Jewish 
 home the children regained their self-respect 
 and strengthened their Jewish consciousness. 
 
 But what bulwark does the secular home 
 afford to Jewish children to-day who meet, 
 
 79
 
 perchance, with the flings of anti-Semitism 
 and the rebuffs of the ignorant and preju- 
 diced? It is no wonder that many of the 
 young drift from the ancient moorings! 
 When we lose the Jewish home, we lose the 
 antidote to the poison of prejudice, ridicule, 
 discrimination, and other forms of anti- 
 Semitism. 
 
 Our friends tell us to draw the people to 
 the synagogue and the children to the 
 school. But that is not the remedy for the 
 present emergency. It is beginning at the 
 wrong end. We are now preaching in 
 synagogue and school, but our preaching is 
 negatived and thus neutralized by the secu- 
 lar home. We must begin at the other 
 end and bring religion back to the Jewish 
 home, or all efforts of synagogue and school 
 will fail. The Jewish home is the source of 
 Jewish enthusiasm and loyalty. We must 
 revive the Jewish home and restore the altar 
 of our faith there, make of every father and 
 mother a priest and priestess ministering at 
 the family hearth. We must turn back the 
 hearts of the parents to the children and the 
 hearts of the children to the parents. 
 
 80
 
 When Israel fought against the Amali- 
 kites, the arms of Moses held up in prayer, 
 in order that Israel might prevail, were sus- 
 tained by Hur and Aaron. The modern 
 Rabbi is fighting secularism, anti-Semitism, 
 and irreligion, but in order that he may pre- 
 vail, the congregation and the home must, 
 like Hur and Aaron, uphold his arms. 
 
 In a word, the paramount duty of a con- 
 gregation that seeks the renaissance of Juda- 
 ism, is to revive the Jewish home. But in 
 order to accomplish this, God must be put 
 back in the Jewish home, and then will its 
 pristine beauty, and glory, its unity, joy and 
 peace be established. "Unless the Lord 
 build the home, in vain labor those who built 
 on it." 
 
 81
 
 THE REVIVAL OF SABBATH 
 OBSERVANCE 
 
 "The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath and ob- 
 serve it throughout all generations. It is a sign of an 
 everlasting covenant between me and the children of Israel 
 saith the Lord." 
 
 (Exodus XXXI, 16 and 17.) 
 
 In all synagogues throughout the world 
 this text is read at every Friday evening 
 service. Because of an appreciation of its 
 truth and importance it has been retained in 
 the Union Prayer Book. In addition to 
 that the Prayer book contains also these 
 significant words, "Oh, help us to preserve 
 the Sabbath as Israel's heritage from gen- 
 eration to generation, that it may ever bring 
 rest and joy, peace and comfort to the dwell- 
 ings of our brethren and through it thy name 
 be hallowed in all the earth." 
 
 And just as persistently as these passages 
 are recited, so are they violated. Israel pre- 
 sents no greater anomaly to-day than this 
 public, deliberate, flagrant inconsistency of 
 
 83
 
 professing to stand for the Sabbath and 
 then, by acts, of contradicting and nullifying 
 this profession. It is astounding that a re- 
 ligion should thus negate one of its funda- 
 mental principles in the very movement of 
 avowing it. We organize congregations and 
 build synagogues and splendid temples for 
 the preservation of Judaism and then delib- 
 erately destroy the Sabbath for which the 
 synagogues were built and which is necessary 
 for the salvation of our religion. 
 
 In vain are all synagogues and temples, 
 all religious schools, societies and classes, in 
 vain all preaching and teaching, unless we 
 have a Sabbath. The Sabbath is the corner 
 stone of Judaism, not its superstructure. 
 Without the Sabbath all efforts for the re- 
 habilitation of Judaism is like the ineffectual 
 flapping of a butterfly in the midst of a 
 cyclone. 
 
 "The Sabbath is the sign of an everlasting 
 covenant between God and Israel." That is 
 the all-important fact which we must keep 
 before us and bring home to our congrega- 
 tions. It is the embodiment of all that Juda- 
 ism stands for. It was so regarded by Moses 
 
 84
 
 and on that account Sabbath breakers were 
 threatened with the punishment of death in 
 the Mosaic code. Though perhaps this ex- 
 treme penalty was hardly ever executed, still 
 the Sabbath breaker was held in contempt 
 by ancient Israel and looked upon as a 
 traitor to our sacred cause. 
 
 And why? Because the Sabbath was re- 
 garded as a distinguishing mark of a Jew, 
 as an outward expression of his beliefs and 
 practices, of his loyalty to God and Israel. 
 When he violated the Sabbath it followed 
 that he practically denounced his former be- 
 liefs and defied God and Israel. 
 
 In interpreting the Sabbath as a link be- 
 tween God and Israel, it must be remem- 
 bered that the Sabbath, as a day sacred to 
 Jehovah, was a possession of Israel and dis- 
 tinguished Israel from other nations. Whilst 
 other nations kept their Sabbath in honor 
 of Saturn or another planetary deity, Israel 
 consecrated the day to Jehovah, to its con- 
 ception of the spirituality, unity and univer- 
 sality of God. 
 
 The Sabbath and Israel's conception of 
 God and religion are inseparable. Let us 
 
 85
 
 pursue this thought as follows: Judaism re- 
 gards God as an ever active cause of the Uni- 
 verse. God does not sit idly by and behold 
 the Universe work, but lives and acts in and 
 through it. Man shall imitate God. He 
 shall not be an idle being, indifferent to the 
 world about him, but an active being, identi- 
 fied with its welfare and processes of thought 
 and action. Yet man shall not lose his iden- 
 tity and become a slave to his own activity. 
 He shall complete each week's work in six 
 days and on the seventh declare himself free 
 from earth and rise upward to God by sanc- 
 tifying his soul. In this sense the Sabbath 
 became a visible, tangible protest against 
 slavery, materialism and idolatry. Further, 
 the Sabbath practically is a declaration of 
 freedom and spirituality as well as sancti- 
 fication to higher ideals, which are identical 
 with a recognition of Divinity. The Sab- 
 bath by ennobling man, by raising him 
 above the animal and lower passions, by 
 bringing recreation and sanctification, caus- 
 ing the godlike, the higher self, to reign on 
 earth, as God reigns throughout the uni- 
 verse, must certainly lead to only one result, 
 
 86
 
 that the Sabbath is an everlasting link be- 
 tween God and man, between God and 
 Israel. 
 
 This idea of the Sabbath as a link between 
 God and Israel becomes clearer and more 
 convincing when we compare it to some con- 
 ceptions of life. The Greek regards the 
 world as the highest existence, and loses his 
 identity therein. The Indian regards the 
 world as sin, a falling from grace, from 
 which state we should flee as from something 
 unclean. But the Jew neither shuns the 
 world, nor loses himself therein, but retains 
 his identity and individuality, for the Sab- 
 bath restores his spiritual balance or equi- 
 librium. Some have thought the conception 
 of the Sabbath to be a fleeing from the 
 world, a negation of all that is world or ma- 
 terial. That is the Puritan conception. But 
 according to Judaism the Sabbath symbol- 
 izes our regard for the world, in harmony 
 with our regard for God, the Master of the 
 Universe. Man should seek to accomplish 
 his share of the world's work in such a man- 
 ner as to gain the blessing of God and man. 
 
 Judaism contemplates the Sabbath as a 
 
 87
 
 means for the spiritual and moral develop- 
 ment of man, awakening in him a self-con- 
 scious-yearning for a higher life, dominated 
 by divine manifestation of intellect, feeling 
 and will, in fact, as a link between God and 
 the higher man and hence as a sign of the 
 covenant between God and Israel. The 
 prophets all conceived the Sabbath from this 
 lofty standpoint and insisted upon its proper 
 observance. Amos, Ezekiel, Jeremiah are 
 emphatic in their denunciation of Sabbath 
 desecration, but it remains for Isaiah to 
 sound the strong prediction that Israel's 
 final glory depends upon a proper regard for 
 the day. His insignificant call is as follows : 
 "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sab- 
 bath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy 
 day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy 
 of the Lord honorable, and shalt honor him, 
 by not doing thine own ways, nor finding 
 thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own 
 words, 
 
 "Then shalt thou delight thyself in the 
 Lord: and I shall cause thee to ride upon 
 the high places of the earth and feed thee 
 with the heritage of Jacob, thy father, for
 
 the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Is. 
 58, 14. 
 
 This idea of the Sabbath is borne out by 
 the Talmud, where we find such comments 
 as the following: "Whosoever observes the 
 Sabbath testifies to God's creation of the 
 world." "The Sabbath is balanced against 
 the whole law." "One who violates the Sab- 
 bath violates the whole law." "If one ob- 
 serves the Sabbath rigidly though he has 
 practised idolatry his sin is forgiven." (The 
 thought here is that Sabbath observance is 
 a negation of idolatry. ) "Whoever observes 
 the Sabbath has done as much as if he had 
 created it." (The thought is that he con- 
 tributes to preserve it. ) 
 
 To further teach the importance of the 
 Sabbath the Talmud has this beautiful leg- 
 end. "Two angels, one good and the other 
 evil, accompany every Jew on Sabbath eve 
 from the synagogue to his home. If the 
 Sabbath lamp is found lighted and the table 
 spread, the good angel prays that this may 
 be the case also on the following Sabbath 
 and the evil angel is compelled to say 
 "Amen." But if no preparations for the 
 
 19
 
 Sabbath are seen, the evil angel pronounces 
 a curse and the good angel is compelled to 
 say "Amen." The meaning is obvious; a 
 proper observance of the Sabbath in the 
 home gives it a festive and sanctified spirit 
 and turns all evil into good. With the Sab- 
 bath, God and peace enter the home and 
 prepare a good influence for the coming 
 week. 
 
 Some will perhaps recall the Friday even- 
 ing at home of their youth. The Sabbath 
 was welcomed with the Sabbath light, and 
 the father, returning from the Synagogue, 
 blessed his family. There were prayers and 
 wine for sanctification of the Day. Good 
 cheer and singing added to the enjoyment 
 of the festive evening hour. 
 
 With the Sabbath, God and peace enter 
 the home. And if this process is preserved 
 in every Jewish home, then will love and 
 peace reign throughout Israel. Said an an- 
 cient Rabbi, "If all Israel were to observe 
 two successive Sabbaths as they should be 
 observed, that is, by spiritual sanctification 
 and the worship of God at home and in 
 Synagogue, redemption would ensue at 
 
 90
 
 once." "If even one Sabbath were rightly 
 kept," said another Rabbi, "the Messiah 
 would appear." 
 
 Because the Sabbath was regarded of 
 such vital importance to Judaism, the law 
 enjoining it was by Moses placed in the Ten 
 Commandments, which stand as the embodi- 
 ment of all that is fundamental in Judaism. 
 Because the preservation of the Sabbath was 
 so important to the future of Judaism and 
 Israel its desecration was severely punished. 
 And thirdly because with a strict observance 
 of the Sabbath Judaism would prevail there- 
 fore in generations past Jews made great 
 sacrifices to preserve it. The enemies of Israel 
 who endeavored to destroy Judaism, realiz- 
 ing the strength and value of the Sabbath, 
 persecuted Sabbath observers. Antioch 
 Epiphanes issued decrees against the Jews 
 and declared the observance of the Sabbath 
 and every Jewish law to be a capital offence. 
 Many Jews suffered death rather than vio- 
 late the Sabbath, even by self-defence on 
 that day. The faithful became martyrs 
 while the weak gave up Sabbath observance 
 and were lost to Judaism. A second form 
 
 91
 
 of persecution consisted of the inimical and 
 sarcastic writings of Roman and Greek au- 
 thors against the Sabbath. Then came 
 Christianity and instituted Sunday as its day 
 of rest and worship, and the antagonism be- 
 tween the Jewish and the Christian Sabbath 
 became intense and bitter. It is unneces- 
 sary to pursue this antagonism further. It 
 exists to this very day and is patent to all. 
 Because of the dispersion of Israel through- 
 out the world, because of the almost univer- 
 sal acceptance of Sunday as a day of rest 
 and the conversion of Saturday into an im- 
 portant business day, the Jews have practi- 
 cally lost their Sabbath. And with Sabbath 
 desecration has come a corresponding weak- 
 ening of Judaism. 
 
 It requires no further argument to drive 
 home the thought that the preservation of 
 Judaism depends on the Sabbath. Surren- 
 der the Sabbath and all that is vital to Juda- 
 ism falls. We need the Sabbath in our time 
 to testify to Israel's fidelity to our cause. 
 The Sabbath makes the Synagogue. With- 
 out it the Synagogue stands empty and the 
 opportunity for public instruction and wor- 
 
 92
 
 ship is greatly impaired. We need the Sab- 
 bath to strengthen the religious conscious- 
 ness of the Jew and give him an ideal to up- 
 hold. We need the Sabbath to reinstitute 
 thereby religion in the life of the individual 
 and the home. We need the Sabbath as a 
 link between God and Israel. And finally 
 we need the Sabbath as a tie that unites all 
 Israel. The Sunday will not serve as a sub- 
 stitute. It lacks historical authority and can- 
 not borrow its sanctity from secular legisla- 
 tion. Instead of unifying Israel it would 
 serve to create a schism. 
 
 How then can we revive Sabbath Observ- 
 ance? That is the practical question before 
 us. It can only be done by united effort on 
 the part of all members and officers of the 
 congregation. Once let them be convinced 
 of the absolute necessity of Sabbath observ- 
 ance for the preservation of Judaism; once 
 let them realize the anomalous position of a 
 congregation that supports a vast Temple 
 only for ornamental purposes, and for a 
 camouflage religion; once let them compre- 
 hend what a stultification in the eyes of the 
 world it is for a congregation to open the 
 
 93
 
 doors of its synagogue for worship on the 
 Sabbath and then for the great bulk of the 
 Congregation to spend the Sabbath in un- 
 necessary business or in idle pursuits and 
 pastimes, and all officers and members will 
 unitedly give up Sabbath desecration and 
 rally to the upholding of our ancient insti- 
 tution. 
 
 If the elders will set an example of Sab- 
 bath Observance, it will be followed by the 
 children. Time was when every parent 
 brought his children to the synagogue and 
 taught them by precept and example to 
 know God and obey His law. Time was 
 when Jews practiced what they preached 
 and professed. Then they had a Sabbath 
 and there was no question as to the drawing 
 powers of the pulpit. We are fallen into low 
 straits indeed when God is no more an at- 
 traction in the synagogue, but when forsooth 
 congregations worship not God in the syna- 
 gogue, but a fine singer or a sensational ora- 
 tor. 
 
 Let Israel bestir itself. It needs refor- 
 mation, the very kind of reformation that a 
 Sabbath alone can give, namely, sanctifica- 
 
 94
 
 tion of the spirit, consecration to lofty ideals, 
 a surrender to God and all that is divine in 
 thought, feeling and act. Whereas the Sab- 
 bath is the link between Israel and God, let 
 us re-establish that link, and bind ourselves 
 again in thought and deed to our God. In 
 the words of Isaiah, let us turn away our 
 feet from the Sabbath, let us call the Sab- 
 bath a delight, the holy of the Lord honor- 
 able. 
 
 95
 
 REVIVAL OF JEWISH FESTIVALS 
 
 "These are the festivals of the Lord, even holy convo- 
 cations which ye shall proclaim in their se'asons." 
 
 (Lev. XXIII, 4.) 
 
 The festivals which are then enumerated 
 in the twenty-third chapter of the Book of 
 Leviticus are Passover, Shabuoth or the 
 Feast of Weeks, Succoth or the Feast of 
 Tabernacles, New Year and the Day of 
 Atonement. These festivals were intended 
 as special holy convocations or assemblies 
 that were to be proclaimed at their proper 
 seasons. There were no doubt weighty 
 reasons that led to the establishment of these 
 festivals. Some of the reasons have been 
 lost or become obsolete in the course of ages, 
 but some are still of enough importance to 
 be worthy of consideration to-day. 
 
 These festivals, especially Passover, Sha- 
 buoth and Succoth were originally agricul- 
 tural feasts for they occur simultaneously 
 with the harvests ; Passover with that of the 
 
 97
 
 first ripe corn; Shabuoth with that of the 
 first ripe fruits and Succoth with the general 
 fall harvests. It seems quite natural and 
 reasonable for an agricultural people to have 
 observed some kind of a religious festival 
 in connection with their harvests for the peo- 
 ple depended for food and other necessities 
 of life upon these harvests. They would 
 naturally rejoice and express their gratitude 
 to God at such seasons. And a commercial 
 people might still with propriety, as well 
 as sentiment, observe such harvest festivals, 
 for though they are not engaged in agricul- 
 ture or in cattle raising, they depend for 
 food as well as for the sale of their manufac- 
 tured products upon the soil and the farmer. 
 Hence they too may well observe the harvest 
 fastivals as seasons of rejoicing and thanks- 
 giving. 
 
 But the origin and idea of religious festi- 
 vals lies in human nature rather than in the 
 harvest. The latter only fixes the time or 
 season of the festival; the former furnishes 
 the motive underlying all religious public 
 services, Sabbath and festivals, namely the 
 fact, that religion is not merely an individual 
 
 98
 
 or private matter, but also a social or public 
 function. If every man lived for and by him- 
 self he might be led to express his gratitude 
 to God for life and sustenance only for him- 
 self. But as the head of a family, as a mem- 
 ber of society, the religious consciousness of 
 the individual grows larger and deeper. He 
 is grateful to God for the blessings of home, 
 of society, and he beseeches God to bestow 
 divine grace on his home, society and the 
 world. Believing, as we do, that the answer 
 to prayer and the benefit of worship is sub- 
 jective and not objective, it becomes neces- 
 sary for those for whose benefit the prayers 
 are offered to be cognizant thereof or to be 
 present. Therefore, in ancient times, when 
 sacrifices were still in vogue, it was custom- 
 ary for people to bring their own sacrifices 
 to the Altar. "They should not come empty 
 before the Lord" (Deut. XVI. 10.) Those 
 who had no large animal should bring a small 
 one and even a little flower carried in the 
 hand would suffice. The idea here is that 
 the spirit of devotion, the sincerity of the 
 heart is more important than sacrifice. The 
 sincere coming to the altar was the principal 
 
 99
 
 thing and brought results. The mingling in 
 worship with others was the important act. 
 
 The chief and most significant factor con- 
 nected with public worship on Sabbath and 
 Festivals is the benefit of common worship. 
 If to pray to God alone is beneficial, to pray 
 to him collectively is of greater spiritual 
 value. The psychology of public worship 
 has never been fully recognized by those who 
 content themselves with private worship. 
 Nor is the psychology of private worship 
 fully recognized by even them. The more 
 sincere and intensive is the devotion of the 
 individual in private, the more will he be 
 impelled to join his fellow-devotees in the 
 synagogue. The normal religious instinct is 
 also social in character. One who loves God 
 desires his fellow-men to love God. He who 
 worships God is willing to proclaim that 
 worship publicly. A devotee of God loves 
 his fellowmen and his co-religionists and can 
 not be absent from a public demonstration 
 in behalf of his God, of his religion and his 
 people. 
 
 And then comes the spiritual effect. In 
 common worship devotion is intensified. The 
 
 100
 
 focusing of many minds upon the same God 
 in an act of prayer increases the ardor and 
 enthusiasm and hence the intensity of devo- 
 tion, and thus the sanctification and conse- 
 cration of the soul to higher ideals are deep- 
 ened. Add to this the effect of a temple 
 dedicated to the worship of God, a prepared 
 ritual, impressively rendered with appropri- 
 ate sacred music and song, and there must 
 result an inspiration which is helpful and 
 lasting. Because in ancient times it was im- 
 practical for an agricultural people to have 
 large temples in various parts of Palestine, 
 it was ordained that the people, at least the 
 men, should go thrice a year to Jerusalem 
 to appear before the Lord in His holy place. 
 The lawgiver who enacted that law under- 
 stood the psychology of public worship and 
 there is no doubt that these religious pil- 
 grimages had a great moral and spiritual ef- 
 fect on the people. The men returned to 
 their homes, renewed in spirit, uplifted and 
 encouraged. They returned to their tasks 
 with greater zeal and ambition. They were 
 enabled to inspire their families with the 
 hallowed spirit they had received at Jeru- 
 101
 
 salem. Besides, these periodical gatherings 
 of the people in the holy city aided to unify 
 them and to keep alive the consciousness of 
 Israel's solidarity. 
 
 But the festivals have in times past been 
 even of greater service to Israel and Juda- 
 ism. They not only tended to preserve the 
 Jewish consciousness and the enthusiasm of 
 public worship, but also to preserve in the 
 minds of people the principal teachings of 
 Israel's faith and history. 
 
 In brief, Passover commemorates the 
 liberation of Israel from Egyptian bondage ; 
 Shabuoth, the giving of the Law at Mt. 
 Sinai, the birth of the nation and its organ- 
 ized religion; Tabernacles, the preservation 
 of Israel through its sojourn in tents dur- 
 ing the hardships of the desert. In addition 
 Purim and Hanukkah teach the preserva- 
 tion of Israel through the spirit of martyr- 
 dom. 
 
 We can not too highly value the great 
 benefits that these historic revelations of the 
 festivals have had upon Israel in times past. 
 They have periodically reminded the people 
 of their origin, their development, their great 
 
 102
 
 leaders and teachers, the sacrifices that their 
 heroes and martyrs have made for the sake 
 of their conviction. 
 
 Often when Israel was persecuted the sea- 
 son of Passover came in the nick of time to 
 bring a new inspiration of freedom, or Ha- 
 nukkah would reveal the fighting spirit of 
 the Maccabees and put new courage and a 
 new heart into suffering Israel. 
 
 These historic festivals reveal the fact, 
 that Israel is not an isolated insignificant 
 and negligible people nor an impotent, dying 
 people, but on the contrary a great, worthy, 
 strong, fighting people, battling not for con- 
 quest, territory or aggrandisement, but for 
 ideals, convictions, principles, namely, for 
 truth, righteousness, love and peace. 
 
 We have every reason to feel proud of Is- 
 rael's history and literature, of Israel's 
 heroes and martyrs, of its achievements in 
 peace and war. We can all share the an- 
 swer, that Disraeli gave in Parliament when 
 he was taunted with a slur upon his Hebrew 
 origin. "Yes," said he, "I am of Hebrew 
 origin, but let me remind the gentleman, that 
 when his ancestors were still barbarians, 
 
 103
 
 mine were kings and priests and prophets, 
 forebears of modern civilization/' The fes- 
 tivals will teach us that Israel was never 
 recreant to its God, its faith, even in the 
 darkest hour ; that it was patriotic and loyal, 
 humanitarian and peace loving. These 
 teachings of the festivals have helped to pre- 
 serve Israel. 
 
 But the festivals have even a greater value 
 for Israel and Judaism in the spiritual and 
 religious principles they represent. Pass- 
 over teaches the principle of liberty; Sha- 
 buoth, the value of law; Tabernacles the 
 duty of thanksgiving and rejoicing; New 
 Year, the worth of a new beginning for the 
 spiritual life; the Day of Atonement, the 
 blessing of purity and reconciliation. Thus 
 the ethical aspect of Judaism is presented 
 by its festivals and holy days, through the 
 teachings of Liberty,, Law, Gratitude, Re- 
 formation, Reconciliation. 
 
 Analyze all the religions of the world and 
 you will find in none a series of festivals that 
 inculcate in five terms the greatest teachings 
 of religion and civilization, the basic princi- 
 ples for the redemption of mankind. 
 
 104
 
 Judaism still lives, despite all criticism and 
 ridicule of its doctrines, despite apostacy and 
 materialism, despite dissension and differ- 
 ences as to creeds, Bible, forms and cere- 
 monies amongst its own devotees. And 
 Judaism has survived, because the Sabbath 
 and the important festivals have survived. 
 As long as the Sabbath and the Festivals 
 are kept, so long will Judaism live. And 
 as long as Judaism lives, so long will Israel 
 live. Israel's future depends on Judaism 
 and Judaism's future depends on the Sab- 
 bath and the festivals; on the Sabbath, be- 
 cause it is the link between God and Israel; 
 on the festivals, because they preserve the 
 memory of Israel's history and all that that 
 history teaches of Israel's glory, its heroes, 
 martyrs, patriotism and literature, on the 
 Sabbath and festivals, because they incor- 
 porate and inculcate public worship as well 
 as the essential ethical teachings of Liberty, 
 Law, Gratitude, Reformation and Recon- 
 ciliation of Truth, Justice, Righteousness, 
 Love and Peace. 
 
 If we are in earnest with the Renaissance 
 of Judaism, then it becomes imperative to 
 
 105
 
 re-institute observance of the festivals. The 
 ancient command "These are the festivals of 
 God, even holy convocations which you shall 
 proclaim in their seasons" is enjoined upon 
 our modern congregations. What is the pur- 
 pose of a congregation, if it does not include 
 in its program the observance of the festi- 
 vals ? 
 
 But that is where most of our modern con- 
 gregations fail. They have no program. 
 They merely exist, they vegetate, like so 
 many individuals. They have no definite 
 aim, they strive for no results, and naturally 
 they achieve none. 
 
 If a program were formulated, it should 
 include not only observance of the Sabbaths, 
 but also of the festivals. In these times when 
 it is difficult for many ; when it is almost im- 
 possible for some to observe the Sabbath, 
 it is desirable to create enthusiasm at least 
 for the festivals, for those five important 
 holy convocations of which we have spoken. 
 
 At present many confine their attendance 
 at public worship to one hour on the Day of 
 Atonement. That is no worship at all, and 
 instead of commendation, deserves the sever- 
 
 106
 
 est censure. To attend public worship one 
 hour in the year indicates no religious spirit 
 whatsoever, and is of practically little, if any 
 benefit to the individual or the house of 
 Israel. It may satisfy some hidden senti- 
 ment. The least that any Jew who does not 
 keep the Sabbath should do is to observe the 
 five principal festivals, for they have a spir- 
 itual, ethical and inspirational value. 
 
 Those festivals are like stations on the 
 road leading to some destination, stations 
 where one can refresh himself and rest be- 
 fore going further. In religion they serve 
 to check a tendency to spiritual apathy and 
 indifference; they have a direct bearing on 
 the life and spiritual striving of the indi- 
 vidual. They have a deep spiritualizing in- 
 fluence on the Jewish home. The festivals 
 especially were home feasts. Who can for- 
 get the Seder service on the first night of 
 Passover when the father led in the reading 
 of the Hagadah of which various members 
 of the family read portions? Who can for- 
 get the home festivity of Shabuoth, espe- 
 cially if a child of the family was confirmed. 
 Who can forget the family celebration of 
 
 107
 
 the Feast of Tabernacles, or the sanctity of 
 the home on New Year or the Day of Atone- 
 ment? Who can forget the joys and de- 
 lights of Purim and Hanukkah celebrations 
 in the Jewish home of former generations? 
 
 Often we have heard of late years, that we 
 have no festival like Christmas. But this is 
 an erroneous impression. All the Jewish 
 festivals are essentially home festivals and 
 are associated with such beautiful and in- 
 spiring ceremonies and customs as tend to 
 deepen the devotion, increase spiritual joy 
 and unite the family in love and peace. 
 
 If the festivals, with their attendant cere- 
 monies in the home, the school and the syna- 
 gogue, could only be revived throughout Is- 
 rael, what a wonderful renaissance of Juda- 
 ism they would create ! The Sabbath lights, 
 the Passover, the Seder Service, the Confir- 
 mants' festivity in ths home on Shabuoth, 
 the New Year's greetings, the breaking of 
 the fast on Yom Kippur in the home, the 
 masks and merriment of Purim, the Hanuk- 
 kah lights, with all their songs and sanctifi- 
 cation, with their good cheer and hospitality, 
 with all their love and charity would move 
 
 108
 
 the hearts of Israel, unite parents and chil- 
 dren, give to Judaism a new life and to Is- 
 rael a new hope. 
 
 Well then Emanu-El! Are you con- 
 vinced? If so, let us write into the Consti- 
 tion of this Congregation the ancient com- 
 mand, "These are the festivals of the Lord, 
 even holy convocations which ye shall pro- 
 claim in their seasons." Yes, proclaim them 
 and keep them in the synagogue, in the 
 school and in the home, and thus contribute 
 to the revival of our ancient faith. 
 
 109
 
 REVIVAL OF JEWISH IDEALISM 
 
 And God said unto Elijah, "Go and stand on the moun- 
 tain before the Lord." 
 
 (Kings XIX, 11.) 
 
 Elijah is one of the greatest characters of 
 the Bible, a child of nature, a man inspired 
 of God. He was a prophet who feasted 
 upon great ideals, whose life was devoid of 
 every taint of materialism or commercial- 
 ism, even of the ordinary precautions that 
 actuate most men. His greatest mission con- 
 sisted in battling against idolatry and hea- 
 thenism and in drawing the people away 
 from a sordid existence to a nobler and 
 higher life. He was an indefatigable cham- 
 pion of idealism and an uncompromising op- 
 ponent of all the gross materialism of his day, 
 whether he found it in high or low places. 
 He was the friend of truth and righteousness 
 and the inveterate foe of all hypocrisy and 
 evil. He was a giant in spiritual strength, 
 
 in
 
 a bulwark of rectitude, invulnerable in every 
 contest for truth, right and justice. Yet 
 notwithstanding all his energy, long suffer- 
 ing, patience, perseverance and buoyancy, 
 he finally succumbed under the many dis- 
 appointments that fell to his lot; gave up 
 the good fight for idealism and withdrawing 
 from the world of activity, strife, turmoil 
 and vexation, hid himself in a cave. Here in 
 obscurity he would rest, secure from all the 
 corruption of the world and all its mean and 
 unworthy motives that his heart abhorred. 
 Here he would be free from the dangers that 
 threatened him in the city and from the cruel 
 fate that had overtaken his colleagues. We 
 can infer all this from the anguish of soul 
 that he expressed in his reply to the reproach 
 of God, "What doest thou here, Elijah." 
 In the intense grief at his bitter disappoint- 
 ment, he cries out, "I have been very zealous 
 for the Lord, the God of hosts ; for the chil- 
 dren of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, 
 thrown down Thine altars and slain Thy 
 prophets with the sword and I, even I alone 
 am left and they seek my life to take it 
 away." (Kings XIX. 9 and 10.) 
 
 112
 
 Then followed the order from heaven, "Go 
 forth and stand upon the mountain before 
 the Lord." Elijah obeyed and beheld that 
 wonderful vision of storm, wind, earthquake 
 and fire, and learned that God was not in 
 the wind, the earthquake or fire that destroy, 
 but in the still small voice that is forever 
 building the universe and making for right- 
 eousness. 
 
 I interpret the command, "stand upon the 
 mountain before the Lord," and the vision 
 that followed, to mean, that Elijah was not 
 to be discouraged; that he was to leave the 
 valley of materialism, the lower planes of 
 sordid conflict and go up to the mountain 
 top of Idealism, to stand before the Lord 
 and follow the still small voice of God, the 
 dictate of conscience, the promptings of the 
 better nature of man that lead always up- 
 ward and onward to the highest goal. 
 
 We all have need of ideals to reconcile us 
 to the many disappointments of life. Ideals 
 are the buoys that keep us afloat upon the 
 tempestuous seas of earthly existence until 
 some unexpected help from without or 
 within us comes to our rescue. Ideals are 
 
 113
 
 the standards of excellence that we have set 
 for ourselves in character, success or hap- 
 piness. They give a lofty purpose to life, 
 direct and stimulate ambition and pride and 
 fortify us against the trials and vexations 
 that beset our paths. 
 
 But the greatest value of ideals is to be 
 found in the fact, that they constitute the 
 mainspring of permanent progress. Those, 
 of whose soul idealism has taken possession, 
 do not rest content with the realization 
 of any one goal. Every gain is to them but 
 a stepping stone to another. An ideal real- 
 ized creates in turn another ideal. There is 
 no limit to progress in the realm of idealism. 
 
 The same principle obtains in nations. 
 Ideals create them and keep them alive. 
 When nations cease to be actuated by lofty 
 and sublime purposes, they degenerate, as 
 do individuals, into selfish, pleasure or power 
 loving entities that in time lead to their de- 
 struction. Many nations have foundered 
 on that rock. The Empires of Alexander 
 and Napoleon are examples of the destruc- 
 tive influences of a national loss of idealism. 
 Germany of to-day has built up a Franken- 
 
 114
 
 stein in her militarism which is destined to 
 be her undoing. The greatest nations of the 
 world to-day, America, England, France, 
 Italy and Belgium are actuated by an ideal- 
 ism for the benefit of humanity that will 
 make them supreme. 
 
 Religions are subject to the same life-giv- 
 ing principle as are individuals and nations. 
 Religions, it may properly be said, depend 
 for their origin and progress on some high 
 ideal which, embodied in a creed, in laws 
 rituals and ceremonies, becomes so deeply 
 rooted in the thoughts, feelings and prac- 
 tices of a people as to excell all other pur- 
 poses in popularity and influence. And the 
 very life of a religion depends upon the 
 vitality of its visions or rather upon the 
 preservation of the spirit of idealism which 
 constantly looks forward to a higher goal 
 of excellence. A religion, even as a nation 
 or an individual, can not afford to rest con- 
 tent with any material achievement. Many 
 religions, just as nations, have died because 
 they lost their lofty outlook of spiritual 
 progress. The mythologies of the ancient 
 Greeks and Romans for centuries swayed 
 
 115
 
 men's beliefs and hopes; idolatry and poly- 
 theism have had their days of glory and in- 
 fluence. But they died in the grip of ma- 
 terial degeneracy. 
 
 Judaism succeeded in impressing itself 
 upon men's minds and in rising superior to 
 the sordid religions of antiquity because of 
 its singular and superior idealism founded 
 upon the holiness of God and looking to the 
 perfection of man. In any discussion of the 
 origin and permanence of Judaism, this 
 basic fact must not be overlooked, that ideal- 
 ism is its distinct and distinguishing char- 
 acteristic. In Judaism par excellence all ma- 
 terial forms, rituals and rites are secondary 
 to its ideal of human perfection. Judaism 
 is an interpretation of life and must there- 
 fore be as broad, as comprehensive as life 
 itself. It cannot be narrowly dogmatic; it 
 must be broadly progressive, even "elastic" 
 as has been facetiously remarked by a cap- 
 tious critic. Judaism is an outgrowth of the 
 needs of human nature and must constantly 
 correspond to those needs. Whilst forms, 
 ceremonies, institutions may become obso- 
 lete, Judaism remains ever new. As long 
 
 116
 
 as men live, as long as life lasts, as long as 
 the soul has aspirations toward better things, 
 so long will Judaism remain, because it rep- 
 resents those aspirations. 
 
 It is therefore possible to trace Judaism 
 back through more than three thousand 
 years of history, through the simple faith of 
 the Patriarchs, the complicated Levitical 
 Cult of the Mosaic Code, the Temple rites 
 of the ancient priesthood, the humanitarian- 
 ism of the prophets, the legalism, to wit, 
 rigid ceremonialism of the Talmudic period, 
 down to the Reforms of our own day and 
 to find, notwithstanding innumerable 
 changes and innovations of forms, the same 
 historic Judaism, the same philosophy of 
 the Universe and God, of life and man. In 
 short, Jewish Idealism, the very heart of 
 our religion, has maintained Judaism 
 through three thousand years of develop- 
 ment, with all its changes, destructive ten- 
 dencies and internal crises. 
 
 And this idealism has maintained Israel 
 despite persecution, discrimination, oppres- 
 sion and dismemberment. Israel survived 
 dissension in its ancient kingdom, the woes 
 
 117
 
 and strifes between divided kingdoms, Baby- 
 lonian Exile and later its precarious exist- 
 ence under various forms of government. 
 Israel survived because, whilst other peoples 
 fought for territory, commercial, industrial 
 and political power, Israel was buoyed up 
 by the hope of realizing its idealism for man 
 and mankind. Israel was sustained by the 
 principle underlying the words of Scripture, 
 "not by might and not by power 4 but by 
 spirit saith the Lord." 
 
 Israel had heard and obeyed the word of 
 God spoken to Elijah, "Go forth and stand 
 on the mountain before the Lord." In the 
 realm of idealism there is no defeat. He 
 whose only aspiration is for the best, the 
 highest, the purest, the noblest, is never lost. 
 Disappointment may come even to ideal- 
 ists, but it acts only as a spur to great effort. 
 That is the very nature of an ideal, that it is 
 invincible. You may destroy property, kill 
 people, but the ideal will live. In the pres- 
 ent war, brute force may destroy life and all 
 material things, but when the smoke of battle 
 is cleared away, then will arise, phoenix-like 
 from the embers of destruction, a new world 
 
 118
 
 based on justice and humanity, liberty, 
 equality and fraternity for all mankind. 
 
 Israel has died a thousand deaths, but its 
 Idealism has survived. No sword thrust or 
 shell can pierce an idea or an ideal. The 
 thunder of Sinai is heard above the carnage 
 of battle. While Jerusalem was in flames, 
 a Rabbi built a school at Jamnia and planted 
 anew the ideals of Israel. And so in every 
 city and hamlet of the world, where a Jewish 
 family took root, it planted its ideal and 
 built a school and synagogue around it. 
 
 But the world's materialism grew apace at 
 the same time and many people became en- 
 grossed by worldly interest and were swept 
 away from the moorings of a higher spiritual 
 life. No need specifically to analyze the 
 momentous crisis of religion. Materialism is 
 the world's greatest menace. It is sapping 
 all that is sweet and pure and dear to life, 
 all its nobler sentiments, its chivalry, its gen- 
 erous and almost prodigal unselfishness. 
 Men have become centered in themselves to 
 such a degree as to forget the world and 
 God. 
 
 Judaism has suffered in common with 
 
 119
 
 other religions from this universal evil. 
 Many Jews have been enticed from the faith 
 by the love of worldly interests. They have 
 descended into the valley of material temp- 
 tations are revelling in power, pleasure 
 and plenty, deaf to every higher prompting 
 of the soul. Therefore the Synagogues are 
 depleted whilst men gather in their busi- 
 nesses or clubs to follow a lower impulse 
 than their faith would dictate. Therefore 
 are the children drifting away from Israel's 
 ancient mourning. 
 
 We need a revival of Jewish Idealism, of 
 that idealism that made Israel proof against 
 the allurements of the worldly call, against 
 the pitfalls of irreligion, skepticism and in- 
 difference engendered by the temptations of 
 gold, glory and grandeur. To those of Is- 
 rael who sit in the recesses of spiritual gloom, 
 may there come the word of God that 
 reached Elijah in his dark cave, "Go forth 
 and stand on the mountain before the Lord." 
 Get thee out of the valley of materialism, 
 out of the lowlands of sordidness, the 
 marshes of sensual desires, and stand on 
 the heights of holiness, honor and hope. This 
 
 120
 
 idealism means in the first instance to "know 
 thyself." 
 
 The materialism of the day has blurred a 
 knowledge of the real self, of man's soul, 
 its grandeur, its sublimity, its possibilities. 
 The soul has been forgotten and overlooked 
 in the mad rush for wealth and pleasures. 
 We must teach men again to know them- 
 selves, to study the hidden essence of life, 
 that they may realize that it profiteth noth- 
 ing to a man to gain the world, if he lose his 
 own soul. To think lofty thoughts, to feel 
 nobly, deeply, to peer into the recesses of the 
 human heart, to draw from the wells of 
 human nature all that is pure and good, that 
 is to live, to develop, to grow, to be happy ; it 
 means to voice the prayer of the Scripture 
 "Create in me a pure heart and renew a right 
 spirit within me." 
 
 A true self-knowledge will open up to us 
 the next stage of Jewish Idealism, that is, 
 to know our fellowmen, to comprehend and 
 rightly practice the command, "Thou shalt 
 love thy fellowman as thyself." Material- 
 ism has bred selfishness, and selfishness has 
 led to cruelty and violence, the logical and 
 
 121
 
 bitter consequence of which has been war, 
 relentless, uncompromising war. When men 
 have looked into their deeper inward nature 
 and redeemed themselves from every brutish 
 taint, then will they be ready to treat their 
 fellowmen on the basis of equality and 
 equity. Then will they truly understand 
 and follow the words of the prophet: "He 
 hath told thee, O man, what is good, what 
 the Lord requires of thee, but to do justice, 
 to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy 
 God." Standing on such a spiritual height, 
 men will lose all hatred toward their fellow- 
 men, will turn swords into plowshares, 
 spears into pruning hooks, battle ships into 
 merchant vessels, forts and arsenals into 
 school houses and exchange the arts of war 
 for the arts of universal peace. 
 
 Jewish Idealism implied in the text 
 "Stand upon the mountain before the Lord," 
 indicates further that we should teach men to 
 know the universe. Those who grovel in 
 the valley never see the universe. Only on 
 the mountain does the whole panorama of 
 nature burst upon the view and reveal the 
 great mysteries that God has wrought. The 
 
 122
 
 materialism of the day has drawn men away 
 from a contemplation of nature and created 
 an artificial life from which the great uni- 
 verse is shut out. No wonder they know not 
 God, when they know not his handiwork. 
 You can not find God in a gambling den or 
 in the graft processes of unfair competition. 
 
 The ancients were naturalists, though they 
 possessed less scientific knowledge than is 
 at our disposal to-day. They knew the uni- 
 verse at first hand, because they came into 
 direct contact with the soil and felt their de- 
 pendence upon the elements. Therefore the 
 Psalmist could voice the sentiment contained 
 in the words "The Heavens declare the glory 
 of God, and the firmament tells of His han- 
 diwork." 
 
 We must teach men again to become stu- 
 dents of nature, to read the revelations God 
 has written in the twinkling stars, in His 
 footprints on the eternal sands, and in His 
 insignia on the everlasting rocks. Then men 
 will stand again on the heights between 
 heaven and earth, will marvel again at the 
 riddle of the universe, will try to compre- 
 hend the permanent Sphinx. Then will they 
 
 123
 
 be lifted out of their crass ignorance and be 
 edified by a spiritual illumination akin to 
 wisdom. 
 
 Jewish idealism means finally, that we 
 must teach the world to know God. "To 
 stand on the mountain before the Lord" sig- 
 nifies nothing less than through the knowl- 
 edge of self, that is, of the human soul, and 
 the knowledge of our f ellowmen and the Uni- 
 verse, to rise to a knowledge of God. The 
 idealist appreciates the smallness of man and 
 the greatness of Deity, He rises through 
 knowledge and purity to an understanding 
 of divinity. But the idealist goes further 
 and comprehends somewhat of the greatness 
 of man, of his spiritual possibilities when he 
 discovers his relation to God ; when, standing 
 on the mountain before the Lord, he beholds 
 his Creator, the Infinite One in whose image 
 he, the finite, was fashioned. To stand be- 
 fore God is to be cognizant each day, each 
 hour, that there we are in the presence of His 
 Majesty, the King of Kings, and that we 
 must so conduct ourselves as to be worthy 
 of standing in His presence (cf. Ps. 34). 
 
 We need the revival of such an Idealism 
 
 124
 
 that will cut to the very core of the evils that 
 beset Judaism, namely, materialism. Let 
 Israel, like Elijah, come forth out of the 
 valley of unworthy thoughts and purposes, 
 even of despair, and rise to the heights of 
 wisdom, purity and possible perfection. 
 
 The mission of Israel is not lost. Only 
 those individuals and peoples have no mis- 
 sion who have lost their ideals. Israel must 
 and will redeem itself, must and will retain 
 its ancient purpose to be a priest people, to 
 learn the law of God in order to practice and 
 to teach it to mankind ; to establish its ideals 
 of self-knowledge, of a knowledge of man, 
 of the universe and of God and thus to stand 
 always on the supreme heights before the 
 Lord. 
 
 125
 
 Ilillii 
 
 A 001378643 9