Herzl Dreamed and Israel
Gained Hope of Redemption
Hebrew, the Prophets°Tongue,
A Living American Influence
By ROBERT SEELAY
By TINA LEV ITAN
The wheels of the railway train were
beating out a staccato of hard sounds upon
the metal rails which re-echoed "He's a
Jew! He's a Jew!" with evenness and regu-
larity. 'Theodore Herzl trembled, moved
about, opened his eyes and stirred a little.
Then into his ear came the hammering words,
actual and not dream-like, "He's a Jew", utter-
ed by one passenger to another.
With the hissing "Jhid" of the Russians, and
the frighening "Hep, Hep" of the Germanics,
France has now made its contribution to the
Trilogy of hate. That concludedthe consolidated
ann. of all the bigots of Europe toward Israel.
Israel appeals for a Messiah that does not ar-
rive and hopes for a Palestine to be created in
the midst of barbaric Europa. In the meantime
Israel awaits death and decimation.
Herzl avoided all eyes. His thoughts revolved
as in an anaesthetic vapor.
What is it that makes man wish for an ex-
change of thought? Whatever it may be in ori-
gin our cultured friend Herzl yielded to the
same instinct. He transmitted his thoughts and
expected their return to him in words.
Pathetic as it is and humiliating to the high .
mind, Herzl too talked and "heard", from beings
Of fact and fancy.
"I am Palestina", came a voice and our
friend unconsciously smiled. "I first saw Earth
when it broke from Mother Sun, an insignifi-
cant chunk, whirling off independently into
space, only to find that a magnetic power placed
it where it is and holds it within the orbit.
"I chose a zone of Earth upon which I bes-
towed my name. Out of the rainbow I sliced
colors which I embodied into soil and produce.
With my hands I shaped the rolling hills and
moulded the sloping terraces; and beneath the
soil I placed the seeds for wine, fruit and sus-
tenance.
"Then appeared my son, Abraham. Dignified
in form, stalwart and strong, black hair adorn-
ed his head and his beard cascaded in fullness.
He possessed human courage over animal brav-
ery. His manner was all grace and a majestic
appearance. Then followed the dutiful Isaac and
his spouse Rebecca, Jacob the Devout with Leah
and Rachael and their sons. Thus was laid the
firmness of Israel and the foundation of Pales-
tia".
Herzl rose and mirrored himself. He paid
no heed to the others, the mimicking and the
abuse. The man who presumed in the past that
Israel Will be assimilated and be lost and for-
gotten forever already felt solidly the self-re-
liance that is the mainstay of Israel.
Hebrew is thousands of years old, yet it is very much
alive today. The language of the Bible is being spoken today
not only by students learning the language, but by thousands
of people in Israel. Throughout the long night of Jewish
wanderings, Hebrew always remained alive even if not spok-
en. Jews wrote commentaries without number on the Bible
THEODORE HERZL
"I am Abraham", he mused, as he saw his
image. It is I", he repeated over and over
again. ''Beautiful land", he continued, "and I
have never seen it, nor have my people or my
forebears for two thousand years.
Herzl now saw Israel, in all his historic trag-
edy, wending his way to the land of Abraham.
Mournfully he greeted in his mind and 'imagin-
ation the returning "tribes", the remnant of a
proud people. Israel rests his hand forlorn on
his breast, his eyes to the ground, his face wan.
A shadow of Moses, Solomon and David. Only
a monosyllable, framed in a sigh, escapes his
lips. He is weighted with sorrow but he senses
the hope of a return—a tortured body, a dejected
mind but still a triumphant Man. Herzl speaks,
almost aloud, his own mind reflecting the smile
torture and degradation. At last he hears a faint
voice, "Abraham, I have tarried too long."
YOUNG LILIENTHAL SPEAKS :
Israel Proclaims Unit
y of Man
EDITOR'S - NOTE: The following are excerpts from an ora- they are one, that they have one
tion delivered 31 years ago by David Lilienthal, then a senior loving Father.
at DePauw University, in a six-state-wide collegiate oratory
contest. It was reprinted last spring in Liberal Judaism, organ
of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, as a timely
note on the occasion of the admission of the state of Israel
.••
into the United Nations.
*
*
*
The most baffling force in
history is the Jew. His very or-
igin wrapt in the purple of ob-
scurity; his strange mission
down through the years never
yet spelled out; his destiny still
unknown—he stands as the
great enigma of the world. He
remains the unsolved riddle of
antiquity; and amid today's
world convulsions, the torch-
bearer of a faith, mysterious,
inextinguishable.
The meaning of his tragic na-
tionality is beyond human ken.
For the story is not a blending
of defeat and victory, but rather
one of cumulative vanquish-
ment.
And yet, however fatal may
have been the tale, the Jew en-
dures. His very
persist e n c e is
t h e sublimest
racial paradox.
History, we say,
pictures the rise
and fall of na-
tions; yet the
Jew, though
flung far, re-
mains essential-
ly the same.
No less amaze
Lilienthal ing than his
tragedy and his persistence is
the unconquerable faith of the
Jew. Every national catastrophe,
every racial calamity, every pe-
riod of enslavement, every bloody
butchery has been fed the torch
he lifts against the sky. Nations
have died; philosophies have
given place to larger concep-
8—THE JEWISH NEWS
Friday, September 23, 1949
IliT
tions of truth; religions grown
effete, yet through all the years
of change the Jew has continued
bowing his head in the .solemn
celebration of the Passover, and
breathing out across the world
his prayer of faith, "Next year
in Jerusalem."
Thus runs the tragic, persist-
ent story of the Jew. But what
of him today, when the drunken
earth lifts to heaven the scream
of charging soldiery, mingling
with the wail of starving women
and children? Through all time
the paragon of sufferers, he is
today one of the most pitiful
victims of all this orgy of blood
(World War I—Ed.) A citizen of
every belligerent nation, he is
in the army of every country
now at war.
No wonder that an age-old
shroud of mystery gathers about
the thoughtful Israelite; no
wonder he lifts the cry Jews in
every age have lifted: "Why has
my nationality been delivered
from the greedy maw of time?"
The Jew will help establish
enduring harmony, because uni-
ty is the major tenet of his re-
ligion, therefore of his life. The
creed of divine unity, "Hear, 0
Israel, the Lord thy God is One,"
is the eternal foundation of his
spiritual temple.
In the Unity of God, the basic
principle of his religion, we
find also the dominating idea
of the Unity of Man, of his
common brotherhood and com-
mon Fatherhood, the true basis
of democracy.
and Talmud in Hebrew. Prob-
lems of philosophy, physics,
mathematics, on all subjects to
fall within the scholar's realm,
can be found recorded in a mas-
tered perfection of the Hebrew
language.
It is a mistaken notion to
assume that only of recent times
is Hebrew again regaining
something of the importance
it held. Anyone with a sense of
history and language cannot
but be thrilled to hear the ma-
jestic sounds and sylldbles of
the language spoken some 35
centuries ago, today spontane-
ously and majestically roll off
_the tongues of , little Israeli
children.
* * *
IN EARLY COLONIAL Amer-
ica, Hebrew was a favorite sub-
ject of study. To the early
Americans the Hebrew language
was something very living.
The Bible was the one familiar
book being read morning, noon,
and night and everywhere its
words kindled a sparkling en-
thusiasm. These early colonists
found in it a strong analogy
between themselves and the Is-
raelites seeking freedom in the
Promised Land. America was
called "The Promised Land," the
Pilgrims were referred to as
"our happy Israel in America."
* * *
THE EVERY DAY SPEECH
of New England was the lan-
guage of the Bible and this in-
fluence of the Hebrew language
has found its way into Ameri-
can speech to this, day.
The study of the Hebrew lan-
guage occupied a prominent
position among the New England
clergy, the main profession for
which our earliest institutions
of higher education were
founded.
It is interesting to note that
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and
Johns Hopkins have been teach-
ing Hebrew without interruption
since their inception. After the
Revolutionary War, education
generally was shifted from a
religious to a political basis.
*
* *
BIBLICAL INFLUENCE had
helped not a little in favoring
and strengthening opposition to
the parliamentary claim. The
contest with England hinged
upon construing of language,
the meaning of statutes, the
essence of practice and customs.
The t w Adams, Madison,
and Jefferson and their brethern
were at home in the field. They
knew the Bible and were emi-
nently capable in the exposition
of all its justifications for re-
bellion.
They were the victors over
their antagonists across the
waters, because they were the
more powerful in elevated dis-
cussion. Several decades before
the Declaration of Independ-
ence was made, the abhorrence
of monarchy expressed in the
Bible was made the great
watchword of the American
people — "Proclaim lib e r t y
throughout the land unto all
the inhabitants thereof", and
was inscribed, on the Liberty
Bell.
Today we do not know
whether or not history has de-
creed that Israel, now restored
after 2000 years .of exile, should
give another Bible to the world.
It is certain that humanity may
look to a new efflorescence of
Jewish culture on the old soil
of Israel. Americans generally
and American Jews in particular
would do well to prepare them-
selves to share in this great
religious-cultural heritage which
in the years to come will grow
in world significance.
o9e if 3or
R oih —naihanalt
By I. ZAAC
{Copyright 1949, JTA, Inc.)
Reducing worries: A Jew came
to the rabbi shortly before New
Year's sighing that he had no
money to properly provide for
the holidays.
"I have six children and they
are in rags and I must get new
suits for them for the holidays
and I've got other worries. My
wife needs an operation and
that will cost $200, and there
are other worries, too. I need
five hundred dollars to pay the
mortgage on the house. Oh, rab-
bi, so many worries, one worry •
after the other."
"Calm yourself,'; said the
rabbi, °'God will provide."
"How can I calm myself r
asked the man.
"Well, I'll show you. How much
money will you need to take
care of these various obligations
you have enumerated?"
The man thought a moment
and said: "A thousand dollars
would take care of all of them.'
"See," said the rabbi, "already
you have reduced all your wor-
ries to one worry—that of get-
ting a thousand dollars."
Rosh Hashanah's Universal Theme
By DR. MAEANNA CHESERTON-MANGLE
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the
children of Israel, saying, in the seventh month, in the first day
of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing
of trumpets, and holy convocation." (Lev. XXIII:23-25).
With these words the observance of Rosh Hashanah, the
Jewish New Year, was ordained. Unlike most Jewish holidays,
which commemorate some
torical or seasonal event, Rosh
age men and women. The right-
Hashanah has a universal sig-
eous are immediately granted
nificance. It celebrates the an-
life, the wicked condemned. to
niversary of the Creation, which, death.
according to the Jewish calen-
The fate of the others hangs
dar, occurred 5,709 years ago.
in the balance until Yom Kip-
And from the depths of his
Down through the ages, pun, when, if they merit for-
being comes a sure reply: "This Rosh Hashanah has been ob- giveness, they are "inscribed"
gruesome night shall have an Served as a Day of Judgment for a bounteous year. From this
end. The day toward which my
—a time when God, seated on belief stems the traditional
fathers yearned draws nigh. the throne of mercy, hears greeting among Jews on Rosh
The ideals of my scattered peo- men recount their deeds, and Hashanah: "Leshanah Tovah
ple shall prove the saving spirit avow their sins. Tikasevu V'tehatem"—"May you
of the word, and lead to univer-
Rosh Hashanah marks the be- be inscribed and sealed for a
sal brotherhood and peace ever- ginning of the High Holy Days, good year."
lasting."
a 10-day period of repentance,
Jews observe Rosh Hashanah
It is the Mission of the Jew to ending with Yom Kippur, the by abstaining from their daily
help establish among men, as Day of Atonement. According to occupations and participating in
the inexorable principle of all the Talmud, the Lord opens religiouS services. A distinguish-
life, the law of Unity. The mis- three books on Rosh Hashanah, ing feature of these services is
sion of the Jew is to teach the one listing the names of the the blowing of . the "Shofar," a
reunion, the
refraternizat.ion completely righteous, one list- primitive type of trumpet, made
and internationalization of man- Mg the wicked and the third from a ram's horn.
kind; to make all men feel that .containing the names of aver- Ceremonies in the home also
stress the outlook for the New
Year. On the eve of the holiday,
the Kiddush (sanctification
prayer) is recited, and the fes-
tive lights are kindled. As a
symbol of the hope which char-
acterizes the obserVance of Rosh
Hashanah, a piece of sweet ap-
ple is dipped in honey, to the
accompaniment of the words:
"May it be God's will to grant
us a good and sweet year."
The lesson, of Rosh Hahanah
is one of humility and hope.
Aithotizh God is merciful and
recognizes that it is human to
err, He expects His children
to be penitent.
The spirit of self-examination
and rededication to the way of
God, which characterizes the
age-old observance of Rosh Ha-
shanah, finds expression in our
observance of the civil New
Year, when Christians similarly
reflect on their actions of the
past twelve months and resolve
to live a better life in the year
ahead.
Editor's Note: Dr. Cheserton
Mangle, a non-Jew, is associated
with the Religious Press Com-
mittee.