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THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

years the Jewish law was to that less persecution of the people who
of other nations as a star of inde- had budded Jerusalem, consecrat-
scribable glory shining through ed its temples, defended its al-
the clouds of a storm-rent sky up- tars, and made it the most sacred
on a sea of blood. spot of earth.
A 'wanderer in the. land of
Palestine was surrounded by
hordes of semi-barbarians. For Spain, the Jew had established
more than a thousand years the himself not only as a financial
Jews struggled to hold back the power. but had 'gained recogni-
tide of savagery and hate Nvhich Lion as a scholar and leader in all
encompassed their land. Their intellectual pursuits. Such were
armies were slaughtered, their his achievements that prejudice
cities burned, their temples dese- demanded his banishment. From
crated, their people led into cap- that moment the decline of the
tivity, their lands reduced to a Spanish Empire began—a decline
desert sown with the bones of which has continued until today
murdered millions. Yet, in spite Spain, and of all her posses-
of all, the j ew clung to the horns sions a nd power, is an object of
of his altar, cherished his temple, pity and scorn to the world.
and reverenced his God.
France expelled the Jew, but
The thousand year long trag- speedily found it necessary to re-
edy produced incomparable mar- call him to her borders. England
tial heroes, wonderful poets persecuted and banished the Jew
whose majestic verse thrills the by thousands. but she was coni-
ear and inspires the soul Of all polled to grant him the right or
who live today. It brought forth English citizenship.
Jewish women whose heroic sac-
The right of the Jew to live and
rifices will be the subject of song enjoy the privileges of other men
and story as long as men shall has finally been recognized in all
live who reverence the glory of civilized countries save Russia.
sacrifice.. No military chieftain There he is still the victim of ig-
ever surpassed Joshua. No king' norance, malice and sup6 -stition.
ever led an army' to battle with He is herded within the Pale:
reater heroism than Judas. Mac- civil rights denied hint; the door
cabetts. of the school house shut in the
Again and again were this.peo- face of his children. It has been
plc borne into captivity. Again in a war of extermination, and vet
and again they returned to their the Jew has survived. He is
temples and their homes. Until serving today with gallantry and
at last the tremendous power of distinction in the armies of Rus-
the Roman 'Empire scattered sia.
them into all lands.
Ile who seeks the cause of this
For two thousand years they persecution will find its roots
have been the victims of persecu- deep-seated in religious intoler-
tion. 'They have been impaled, ance, that evil spirit which once
thrown into dungeons, flayed set thegIvinist at the throat of
alive, burned at the stake, cruci- the Catholic; that lighted the fires
fied upon crosses, driven ',from of the auto-da-fe ; invented the
country to country and from land rack, the thumb-screw, the collar
to land. They have suffered and the wheel ; that deluged the
every species of cruelty which world with blood, - and filled the
could be inspired by the soul of caverns of hate with the bodies
perdition and worked out through of countless victims. For cen-
the malignant instrumentality of turies this fanatical fury sent the
man
'Christian forth to slaughter his
But the Jew rose superior to
"
fellow-Christian.
every ad,yersity. Hundreds of
Then came the spirit of Chris-
Years after' he had been expelled tian tolerance for t_ hristian,
from Egypt, he returned to that but its blessings were not extend-
land and became the controlling ed to the Jew. .\t last the sun of
force in its government. Ile like- intelligence rose above the hori-
wise became a counsellor at the zon of the night of ignorance.
Court of his Babylonian conquer- The age of reason was upon us.
or. In the lands of his captivity As wild beasts flee from,civiliza-
and slavery, his genius has made don, so did bigotry disappear be-
him indispensable in the counsels fore the light of learning, and yet
of his oppressor.
prejudice against the Jew surviv-
The persecution of the Jew in ed. Ills very prosperity aroused
the Middle Ages is one of the the latent_fire,s of religious and
anomalies of history. In the race hatred. Restrictive meas-
eleventh century Europe sudden- ures were adopted, and the perse-
ly became aflame with religious cution to which I have referred
fanatic;sm. The maddened popu- broke into flame. But notwith-
lace assembled in countless mul- standing all prejudice, and all
titudes. They marched forth, an persecutions, the Jew continued
undisciplined, half-armed mob, to survive until we have arrived
bent upon the recovery of the at a (lay when the j
brighter light is
I foly City. The insanity culmin T
penetrating the remotest part of
ated when thirty thousand help- the jungle of superstition and
less children, armed only with
driving from the world the wild
crosses, sought to invade the beasts of hate, 1 n1
4 every country
Holy Land, lost their way, and
where the Jew has1beengiven the
wandering from place to place. slightest opportunity, he has ris-
miserably perished.
en to positions of greatness and
The Crusades were inspired by power.
a desire to rescue from Moslem
Among the great statesmen of
rule the 'Holy City, the home of the last century must he included
Judaism. • Yet. singularly', - just Disraeli.. till English Jew. With
at the time the Christians were the wisest judges of the earth
pouring out their blood to tecover
stands the Jew. Rufus Daniel
the ancient capital of the Jews.
Isaacs, Lord Chief Justice of
they began a fanatical and merci-
England. I ligh in the list of the

great lawyers our own country
has produced is emblazoned the
name of Judah P. Benjamin, a
Jew. If you were asked who is
the greatest actress in the world.
your lips would instantly pro-
nounce the name of Sarah Bern-
hardt. What master of music is
entitled to greater eminence than
Anton Rubenstein, a Polish Jew?
In every avenue of learning the
Jew has made and maintained an
honorable place. We count them
among the greatest lawyers, our
most skillful physicians, our most
eloquent spe-ike-- -
have produced poems of match-
less beauty and exaltation. Their
artists have brought forth master-
pieces of canvas and marble. The
Jew in America occupies a con-
spicuous and honorable place.
I would impress, if possible,
upon the jewish people that this
land of liberty and equality is the
real Palestine. I do not believe
that Palestine is a piece of ground
marked upolf the surface of the
earth. Tie real Palestine is an
empire of the soul in which the
wings of ambition may be spread,
the aspirations of the heart real-
ized, the prophecy of greatness

I do not think the appearneces-
sary, and yet, at such a time as
this I cannot well refrain from in-
voking the highest patriotism for
this land of .-kmerica. I would
have every Jew realize that here..
is the first and only country that
has ever granted to him in its
full and complete sense absolute
equality. I would have him re-
member that here his synagogue
is as sacred as is the church that
stands beneath the - cross of the
Catholic or. that lifts its minarets
above the head of the Protestant :
that here all legal barriers as to
race and religion have been oblit-
erated : that the Jew's wife and
(laughter and the Jew's home are
his as sacredly and as safely as
they were when the great judges
of his people protected Palestine
with a sword of flame.
I would have him remember that
all avenues are open and that his
eager feet may run and win. Yet,
I know I do not need to appeal . to
the patriotism of the Jew. In the
present trying times when some
other races of men are being criti-
cised for disloyalty there has been
never a Jew between the Atlantic
and Pacific whose devotion to the-
cause of America has even for a
moment been challenged.
If our country were unhappily
to become involved in tlr Eur-
opean struggle, I believe and I
know that the Jew would be
found upon the ret"i:(t of hattie

fighting as valiantly as the man
of any other race. I believe and
I know that he would as willingly
expend his gold and as lavishly
pour forth his blood. His heart
is bound to no other country.
Ile does not pay the tribute of a
half-allegiance.
If I were to venture to a d v i se
I would say to the Jew : Out of
your , great history find an inspir-
ation for great acts. A vision of
the future comes before me. I
see your wonderful people al-
ready equipped in large measure
with financial strength and pow-
er, but I see beyond, the brighter
radiance of those days when the
exhaustless energy and boundless
ambition of the Jewish people un-
chained by race prejudice., unfet-
tered by adversity, shall produce
men and women whose nobility
of soul will force the approval and
respect of mankind.
From the Jewish race the Gen-
tile got his religion ; from its
sacred writings, his morals. The
Jew preserved to the world the
best part of our knowledge- - of
ancient history. The sublimest
examples of sacred poetry and the
tenderest expressions of exalted
devotion ever produced were from
the pens Of inspired Jews. ( )blit-
erate. the work of the Jew before
the Christian Era and you destroy
the old Bible and the Ten Com-
mandments. Strike out the work
of the Jew in the Christian Era
and you obliterate 'the New Tes-
tament. The Gentile's religion,
the fundamentals of his law, his
ideas of virtue, his precepts of
morality—all these he obtained
from the Jew. From the lips of
the son of a Jewess came the sub-
lime command: "Do unto others
as you would they should do un-
to you."
This is your land of America.
May we not all hope that here
will be de. • doped a wonderful
race of Ante cans which shall
combine the g ills of all peo-
ples and realize the 'sire of those
men who have dreame(
land
of justice, virtue .and equality, a
land where the strong shall not
strike down the weak, where the
cunning shall not overcome the
unwary, where opportunity is un-
bounded, and where _equity shall
be the rule of the heart and the
law of the State.
I sometimes dream of a repub-
lic in which the genius of man
shall have harnessed all the
forces of nature and made them
obedient to his \VIII : a republic in
which each citizen shall contrib-
ute to the general weal, and in
NV1, :di there shall be neither para-

(Cthitinued on Page 4.)

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