Part 15

It is therefore a highly laudable endeavor undertaken by the Intercollegiate Menorah Association to arouse the dormant spirit of self-respect in the academic Jewish youth, to stir in him the ambition to study and know this matchless history and literature, and to kindle in his soul anew that idealism which made the Jew throughout all the ages endure and brave the onslaughts of the empires and churches and the persecuting mobs, so that even to-day he is as young and as vigorous as any of the youngest races and nations in the world.

_The Importance of Israel's Religion_

This past, I say, cannot but appeal to every high-minded American, whether Christian or Jew, and your study of it will certainly meet with our warmest support and encouragement. Only, in my opinion, one thing you need, young as your association is, young in years and young in experience, and that is, a full comprehension and keen realization of the subject you have in view and a wise and right direction towards it. No one doubts or questions the sincerity of your motives or the praiseworthiness of your aims and purposes when you place on your program the study of Jewish history, culture and problems, and the advancement of Jewish ideals, but you omit that which is most essential, which is the all-encompassing force and factor of Jewish life, the real, peculiar and genuine product of the Jewish genius--religion. We have got a religion which, as has been put by Matthew Arnold, has fashioned four-fifths of the world's civilization. In omitting the idea, as expressed by Matthew Arnold, of the power that maketh for righteousness, in declaring your movement as being altogether non-religious, you run the risk of making of your endeavor an inevitable and certain failure.[G] Let me quote to you from an address delivered recently before a Jewish society in London on "Israel and Medicine" by Professor Osler, sentences that are remarkable and worth repeating. He says:

"In estimating the position of Israel in the human values, one must remember that the quest for righteousness is Oriental, the quest for knowledge, Occidental. With the great prophets of the East--Moses, Isaiah, Mahomet [he might have included Jesus of Nazareth], the word was 'Thus saith the Lord.' With the seers of the West, from Aristotle to Darwin, it was 'What says nature?' Modern civilization is the outcome of the two great movements of the mind of man, who is to-day ruled in heart and head by Israel and by Greece. From the one he has learned responsibility to a Supreme Being and love for his neighbor, in which are embraced the law and the prophets. From the other he has gathered the promise of Eden, to have dominion over the earth in which he lives."

Now let me add to this that whatever the Jew claims or possesses of culture he has borrowed from the nations and civilizations around him, whether it be architecture, the art or the mode of writing, philosophy and science, the modes of social and industrial life, all of which he has taken and assimilated into his own life.

Not so with his religious truth. This is all his own, his peculiar and genuine contribution to humanity. Thereby he has given human life its eternal value, its purpose, its goal and hope for all time.

Now it seems to me that you may as well expect of the blind to depict for you his impressions of the prismatic glories of the rainbow, or of the deaf to orate on the beauties of a Beethoven symphony, as to expect of one who lacks the sense of religion, the spirit of faith, to expound, or even to understand, the ideals of the Jew, whose history throughout the past was but one continuous glorification of the only one God, by the master works of its hundreds and thousands of men of learning and the unparalleled martyrdom of the whole people, and whose future is humanity made one by the belief in the only one God and Father. Therefore, let me give you, delegates and members of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, the advice to continue as you started, as an academic, cosmopolitan association, yet at the same time let it be linked to the synagogue of each city as the center of the faith. Let your watch-word be true to the symbol of קומי אורי "arise and shine," and give light to all the nations. Let your inspiration and your power of enlightening the world ever come fresh from the sanctuary of faith, as of yore, and you will not only be all the more honored for this loyalty to the spirit of the past and the spirit of the American people which is religious, but the sweetest delight that comes from the classic world of beauty will reflect only the brighter light of the holiness, the beauty of holiness, that comes from Israel's one God.

PROF. I. LEO SHARFMAN

We want all that is worthy in the Jewish past to be made a potent force in the American life of the present. You men and women who are students at our universities cannot perform your full duty to your universities unless you add to the richness of the university life, to the variety of its content, to its genuineness and versatility. And in the larger American community we Jews cannot perform our full duty unless we place at the disposal of our country the best fruits of the Jewish spirit. Our Menorah allegiance, then, rests on the foundation of Americanism. And insofar as, through the Menorah movement, we are succeeding in uniting by a common bond men and women who have been brought up under a great variety of circumstances and conditions, we are increasing the democratic spirit of our universities and of the larger life beyond the academic gates. Within the universities, too, the broadening effect of the Menorah idea is not limited to the student body. I can bear witness from personal experience that the university authorities, both faculty members and administrative officers, are not merely tolerating, or even mildly accepting, the work of our Menorah Societies in their midst, but are themselves being led to a better understanding of the place which the Jewish problem occupies in the larger problem of their universities and of the American community for whose service they are training the youth of the land.

_Menorah and Religion_

I have said that the aim of the Menorah movement is the study and advancement of Hebraic culture and ideals. The culture of a people is but the permanent expression of its ideals in the various activities of life. Religion constitutes one of the most important of human activities, and we in the Menorah Societies are fully cognizant of its fundamental importance. Indeed, we recognize that the ideals of the Jewish people are perhaps expressed more truly, more profoundly, more eloquently in our religious literature than in any other manifestation of the Jewish genius. We should not be charged with excluding religion, merely because we aim to include more than religion in our purposes and activities.

I happen at the present time to be teaching at the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. We have there a Menorah Society, devoted to the general object to which all our Menorah Societies are devoted. We listen to speakers and engage in discussions on Jewish history, Jewish literature, Jewish religion, and current Jewish social, economic and political problems. Side by side with the Menorah Society there exists a Jewish Student Congregation, a body of men and women of which I feel it a privilege to have been one of the organizers and to be a member at the present time, which devotes itself entirely to religious activity, to regular weekly worship. The two organizations do not conflict in any way. It is significant that about ninety-five per cent, if not more, of the members of the Michigan Menorah Society attend regularly the services of the Jewish Student Congregation. Unfortunately, not so large a percentage of the members of the congregation attend the meetings or are members of the Michigan Menorah Society. In the course of time, the relationship between the two organizations will doubtless be adjusted more satisfactorily. But in the experience at Michigan we have a concrete illustration of the spur to religion which Menorah men derive from their participation in Menorah work.

The ideal of the Menorah Societies is a non-partisan ideal. We do not stand for Zionism or anti-Zionism; we do not urge the acceptance of reform Judaism or conservative Judaism or orthodox Judaism; we do not favor the German Jew as against the Russian Jew, or vice versa, nor do we appeal to one social class as against another. We want the Menorah ideal to be broad enough to include every Jew. We do not exclude religion as such from the scope of our interests; we but exclude any insistence upon a particular sect or branch or kind of Judaism. We avoid all partisan activity which may tend to disorganize our Jewish students, which may tend to divide them. That is all.

_A Plea for Tolerance_

I believe that what we need in our universities, what we need in the Jewish community, is more insistence upon Judaism and more light upon the inspiration which Judaism can bring us, and less insistence upon the particular kind of Judaism which you or I or some one else may consider the acme of truth. Indifference to religion and not error in religion is the great danger of these modern times. If we really want religion, if we want to stir again the Jew's traditional passion for religion, if we want to inspire once more the Jew's genius for religion, let us try to understand all aspects and all manifestations of it, let us bend our efforts to a renaissance of religious influence. The future of the Jew in this country will not be determined by the theories or the practices of any one group or sect of Jews. The result will be a composite result, to which the reform Jew and the Zionist, the orthodox Jew and the anti-Zionist, will alike contribute. Let us leave it to the growing generation to determine for itself the content of the theory of life best suited to the future destiny of the Jew. At least, within our university walls let us be tolerant, let us be liberal-minded, let us listen to and understand every man's point of view.

MR. HURWITZ

In the free and honest expression of adverse views which we have heard to-night, this, indeed, has been a characteristic Menorah meeting. It may fittingly be closed by a word from one of our staunchest friends, one of our staunchest friends because he is an ardent and public-spirited Jew and a patriotic American, Justice Irving Lehman of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, the Chairman of the Graduate Menorah Committee. He addresses this word to the convention:

"I am very sorry that I am unable to attend the convention of the Association this year. I feel that during the past year we have made some progress upon which you have reason to congratulate yourselves, but we must remember that our movement is still far from having the force and power which I think it deserves. We have a great and difficult task to perform if we are to succeed in bringing back to the Jewish youth a pride in their Jewish heritage and a knowledge of their Jewish past, and I know that such work is worthy of all effort. I trust that your convention may possess the spirit and the wisdom necessary to further the work, and I wish to renew to you my assurance of willing co-operation."

II. The Luncheon

_The fifth session of the Convention was a luncheon in the Hotel Gibson, attended by the delegates, university students and graduates in Cincinnati, and members of the Faculties of the University of Cincinnati and the Hebrew Union College. Prof. I. Leo Sharfman, President of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, was the Toastmaster. Chancellor Hurwitz spoke for five minutes upon the purposes and progress of the Menorah movement. President Abraham J. Feldman of the University of Cincinnati Menorah Society expressed gratification at the honor accorded to his Menorah Society by the Convention and appealed to the graduates and prominent members of the community present for support in the work of the Cincinnati Menorah Society. The other speakers were Dean Joseph E. Harry of the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Moses Barron, Representative from the University of Minnesota, Dr. Louis Grossmann of Hebrew Union College, Dr. Samuel Iglauer, graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Walter M. Shohl, graduate of Harvard University, Dr. Kaufman Kohler, President of Hebrew Union College, Prof. Julian Morgenstern of Hebrew Union College, Dr. H. M. Kallen of the University of Wisconsin, and Dr. David Philipson of Hebrew Union College. Following are somewhat abridged reports of the speeches:_

DEAN J. E. HARRY

I did not know that I was going to be called upon today, or I should certainly have tried to fortify myself, as the old darky in Virginia said when his master sent him down to another part of the plantation to see if the rebels were fortifying the place: "Massa, they am not only fortyfying it; they am fiftyfying it!"

I am glad that our Chancellor here to my right said that the speeches were to be brief. I think that an after-dinner speaker who makes a long speech ought to have about the same punishment that the member of parliament mentioned when he introduced a bill, "The only way to stop suicide is to make it a capital offense, punishable by death."

But I have always tried to avoid redundancy of expression. I would never say a "wealthy plumber," nor a "poor poet," nor for that matter a "poor professor."

"Vessels of wrath, we pedagogues; Better we were dead, Who, by the wrath of Peleus' son, Must earn our daily bread."

Nor would I say an "interesting Menorah Association meeting." That they are interesting goes without saying, if we can judge from the one we had last night.

I am exceedingly interested in real culture, and being an American, and knowing, as I do, what the Jews in America can do for the advancement of learning, of knowledge and of the humanities, I am interested in the Menorah movement, which will tend to bring this about; and it is when we reflect upon the war in Europe today, with all its sickening horrors and what that means to culture (we can hardly comprehend it yet), what an obstacle to learning, that we may exclaim with that old bibliophile, Richard de Bury:

"O pacis auctor et amator altissime! dissipa gentes bella volentes quæ super omnes pestilentias libris nocent."

And by "libris" he meant culture.

DR. MOSES BARRON

Minnesota brings its greeting to the Intercollegiate Menorah Association as one of the very earliest Menorah Societies. It was really originated in 1903, when a handful of students in the University found it desirable to satisfy certain longings by taking up the study of Jewish history and literature. Some of us had found that it was of little avail to cry over the ashes of the past, and we thought that it would be much more proper to try and study the history, the literature, the ideals of the past for the inspiration to be found there, which might better fit us to cope with the problems of the present and the future. Our Society has grown from a mere handful to an enthusiastic company, so that we have from fifty to seventy-five, and even a hundred, attending our regular meetings. I give this fact simply to show what a profound influence the work of the Menorah has been, what an influence it necessarily must have in the future, in promulgating Jewish culture, Jewish thought and ideals.

DR. LOUIS GROSSMANN

I am reminded by our Chairman of the time when he was still a student at Harvard, in the earliest days of the Menorah movement, when I addressed the Menorah Society there. It was in the room of the Chancellor, unless I am mistaken, and there were a number of students. They were grouped about, some in chairs, some sitting on the floor, some perched on window sills, while others improvised seats on the furniture. I felt myself patriarchal in the midst of these young men. It was a remarkable scene and it was a remarkably helpful evening, helpful and refreshing to me. The pulses of youth always beat high and I caught the elation of it. Who would not have been touched by it? Some of these young men have since become leaders in thought and action, and I am not surprised.

Let me make a confession as to that evening. I not only felt a thrill but made also some observations. These young men had their ideals, but they had also their difficulties. And they spoke of them. We had an exchange of thought and of candor such as comes to a man in the ministry and to a teacher of students but rarely. They told me of their doubts. Young men, serious young minds, always will have their doubts. They want to earn their convictions. I hope the day will never come when young men will not insist on seeing things. These young men were quick-witted and ready with repartee and counter-argument, and I saw in each eye a glint of an ideal. The debate was strong, but the ideals were stronger.

_The Power of Ideals_

Ideals are pulses that beat in their own way. An ideal is a fact of the soul; it is more than a definition or an argument. An ideal is always very certain and nobody wants to disprove it, nor can.

I notice the Menorah Association has for its aim the cultivation of ideals. It is natural that young men, with red blood in them, should hold dear the precious dreams of what might and should be. As I look upon ideals now, through the perspective of years, I see they have both strength as well as limitations. But I know that, however much life and experience challenges them, they are the best force in us. I respect and value them so much that I deplore the waste of the least of them. An ideal is a moral ambition, a great wish of a true, even if a bit naive, soul. And it should have the right of way.

Every work in life implies stern necessity and a fine wish. I am reminded of a bridge in Berlin which the Germans have built with inimitable art and truth. There are four groups, each at a corner. On one an elderly man stands erect and writing. It is History, stern and real. At his side stands a boy, lithe and graceful. There are ideals just as much as Law in the affairs of men. On the other side of the bridge stands another symbol of the two forces in Life: a man carrying a bundle, a bent man, who has borne the brunt of the pioneer days, and next to him also a youth. Commerce, however sordid, still implies morality and the generous side of man. On the third side stands the solemn figure of Religion, sober and haggard, the symbol of Faith and martyrdom. And the young man, next to it, seems sprightly and strong. Why must Religion be interpreted as dispensing comfort alone? Should it not also give strength and joy? In the last corner stands Pestalozzi, the teacher, and a boy looks up into his kind face. We crave for action and capability more than for knowledge and facts. And we crave for love more than for truth, and the real truth brings affections and enthusiasm.

In the meetings of your Association you speak often of ideals, you speak of them fervently. But ideals are not merely academic. They are personal. An ideal becomes yourself, if it is yours at all. It is a dynamic force within you. It pervades your whole being. It is an unseen but a very telling strength. It directs you, and it sends you on your errand of life. You cannot rest satisfied merely to know your ideal and to speculate about it. It is the engine of warfare in your career. Study ideals, not to contemplate and analyze, but to emulate them and to fill yourself with them. You have work to do. And work is more insistent than philosophy. You have work to do which no one else can do for you, or may do for you. An ideal is your Self at the highest power.

You with fresh energies, you with the clear eye of healthy youth, you with unoppressed hearts, you at the beginning of life, you should go at your work splendidly, directly, forcefully. The real idealist is a man of action, of untiring activity. Do things and you verify what you plan. You have the privilege of youth. Have also the pride of youth. Keep it sweet, but keep it also strong.

DR. SAMUEL IGLAUER

The Menorah Society appeals to me as a college graduate not only for many of its positive virtues but also for some of its negative merits. It is not in any sense a social organization, and above all it is not a secret society. Now I have my own peculiar views about secret societies in universities, and I do not believe that they tend to promote college spirit and college unity. It has been well said that in these societies those who are in any particular societies are brothers, while every one else who belongs to another society, or to no society whatever, is just a step-brother. To my mind that is not a good spirit in an American institution.

It seems to me that, having in this city a Hebrew Union College with a gifted faculty, we should establish at our University a Department of Semitics. Since the University is a public school, an institution supported by public taxation, it certainly could not affiliate directly with a sectarian institution, but I see no reason why the professors in the Hebrew College, if they are not already overworked like the students, should not be able to conduct courses at the University itself, and I believe such courses would promote the Menorah movement more than anything else you could do. I think you would attract students from far and wide to the University of Cincinnati, and you would thereby achieve one of the ends for which you are working.

MR. WALTER M. SHOHL