THE COLOSSUS STILL STANDS
By MAURICE CROLL, M.D.
Still Stands this revered
Colossus
At the doorway to our land,
Our beloved lady with the
Burning torch;
Lighting the sacred pathway
To our land of freedom,
Symbol of a new life,
Of hope and liberty
• For the tired, the poor,
The huddled masses yearning
To breathe free"
That still come daily to
Our shores,
Seeking in desperation
A new way of life
Where hope and opportunity
Lives and flourishes
With understanding and the
God-given right to pray
In their own way
Without fear of persecution
Where freedom for everyone
Is their inherent right.
Here is a different land;
A land built with
Sweat and blood,
Founded on a solid rock,
Our Constitution.
"By the help of the tired,
The poor,
And even by the huddled masses."
Read well your Book of Life.
Welcome it! Nourish it! Gentle it!
Pray each year to inscribe
Your name in it.
Grow with it. Let it come
Into your heart,
For it is life itself,
For ninety-seven years
Our lady of love
Valiantly has stood her ground,
Wavering not one inch:
Stately,
Dignified.
But weary she is – tired,
Weather-beaten
On the outside.
But her faithful, unflinching heart
Beats steadfastly,
Booming out across land and sea
The full depth of her
Freedom, unsurpassed.
Here we live in a democracy.
A government by the people,
With ever-present growing pains –
But still growing.
A guideline to a happier,
Fuller life,
Our Constitution.
Let it become a part
Of your life.
In this exalted Book of Life
Each word has a meaning.
Here all men are equal
In their pursuit of happiness.
We care not what may be
The color of your skin.
We care only for the man
Who dwells within.
You may speak your mind freely
Without fear of retribution.
In time your vote (Citizen)
Is equal to any man
In this land.
No man can cross your threshold
Without your permission.
In matters of disputed areas
You will be judged by a
Jury of your peers.
Here the laborer with his
Two gnarled hands
Can sit in Congress with
The mighty industrialist
And reason together.
Democracy cannot be fully defined.
It must be lived,
Honorably and together
And then it grows by input
From all diversified groups
Acting together.
Here brother fought against
brother,
In a most vicious brutal blood-bath
So that the cancer of slavery
Could be eradicated.
Our lady of love
Still stands in all her glory
At the entrance to our land,
Lighting the pathway to our troubled
shores.
CREDITS:
' Emma Lazarus, one of the geniuses of American-Jewish poetry, wrote the poem,
"The' New Colossus." This immortal poem was engraved on the Statue of Liberty.
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning
To breathe free
Every school child should be required to learn this poem, and to visit the Statue of
Liberty (my children did).
Emma Lazarus died at the age of thirty-eight. What a fathomless loss of such a
genius. When you read her poetry, her portrayal of the word-pictures she conjures
up in the mind of the reader is soul-shaking — a lonesome outcry for the ravishing
pain of the Jewish peoples.
She was truly a daughter of Israel. She brings pride into my heart everytime I
read her poetry. It also brings sadness.
Credit:
The Jewish News
July 1, 1983
Purely commentary
Editor - Philip Slomovitz
BECAUSE THE SYNAGOGUE IS THE ADDRESS OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE...
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