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Tfte Southern Israelite
Executive Office*: 161 Spring St., N. W.
i
Published In Atlanta Monthly by
THE SOUTHERN NEWSPAPERS ENTERPRISES. Inc.,
M. STEPHEN SCHIFFER, Managing Editor
Subscription Rates: 15 Cents Single Copy, 11.50 Per Year In Advance.
Entered as second class matter at the Postoffice at Atlanta, Ga.,
under the Act of March 3rd, 1879.
All communications for publication should reach this office not later than
1st and 15th of each month. |
The Southern Israelite Invites corresoondenc* and literary contributions, but
the Editor Is not to be considered as sharing the views expressed by the
writers except those enunciated In the Editorial columns.
L’Shanah Tovah Tickosevu
“May you be enscribed in the book of life for
A Happy New Year”
As each year fades into oblivion, each of us stops his daily
toils, to review his experiences of the past year in affairs Jewish
and otherwise. We weigh our actions on the scales of Life, pray
ing that the good may overbalance and overshadow the evil. In the
passing of time, we do not consider the significance of our deeds,
but act to suit our desires and comfort. Let us not forget that
we have something other than our happiness to live for. We have
our families, our honor, and our race. Surely, we would not wish
the hard-earned, respect reputation of our People to be blighted
by some selfish motive.
As this New Year is ushered in, let the spirit of moral obedi-
the hard-earned, respected reputation of our People to be blighted
ence and spiritual reverence abide within our hearts, for through
our outward expressions are our inward feelings exemplified.
To all our readers and friends, the staff of the Southern
Israelite expresses this wish for continued happiness and sus
tenance in the coming year. In the enjoyment of our treasures,
let us remember those who are responsible for our happiness, and
seek the blessings of Him, by whose kindness we were able to see
another year go into the making of an everlasting Jewish faith.
“Going Together"
The Scriptural reading for the New Year is of course calcu
lated to enhance the lesson and the message of the day for the
House of Israel in prayer assembled. One of the most pregnant
verses in the story of the Akedah, the binding of Isaac, is that
which describes how father and son proceeded on their way to Mt.
Moriah, “And they went both of them together.’' Were we able to
visualize properly the implication of these words, the New Year
would come to mean more to us, and all life would be cast along
more peaceful, more satisfying lines.
For what is implied in the words, “went both of them to
gether?” Abraham and Isaac, father and son, old and young, expe
rience and faith, accomplishment and hope, yesterday and tom-.r
row, past and future, going hand and hand, co-operating and sup.
plementing each other. Needless to say, each has its own point of
view, its own rights, its own functions and values. Fathers, strange
as it may seem to some of their sophisticated sons, have their rights
established by precedent, earned by effort, re-enforced by experi-
ence. On the basis of these the old may and must live their own
lives. They must be “true to themselves,” they must fashion their
careers in accordance with their own lights. Furthermore they
cannot live, they cannot even wholly fashion, the lives of their
children. They can advise, warn and seek to protect the young
against the dangers that lurk in the path of the inexperienced.
But no more! They cannot regulate the conscious life of the next
generation. Even the most loving parents, to use a comely illus
tration, cannot “cut teeth” for their young; that is something that
each individual must do for himself.
Likewise with the young. The vigor that is theirs, the hope that
they cherish, the visions they conjure up, the dreams that are theirs
and only their’s by virtue of their youth, they cannot share with
even the dearest among their elders. Tomorrow is as unquestionably
and exclusively their’s, as yesterday is the inalienable possession
of the older generation. Even as two centuries and epochs cannot
be parallel, so cannot the old and the young be identical. That is
why we speak of “conflict between old and young,” and that is why
we witness the sad results of the conflict.
And yet there must be, there IS a method of co-operation
between the generations, a mode of adjustment to each other of
old and young. From the standpoint of time, part of the lives of
both generations are contemporary. The father’s last years and
the son’s first do coincide. In the path of life parents and chil
dren can and do walk together. But to keep pace, they must each
adjust their gait to the other’s. Does the son lag behind in indif
ference or indecision? That will change for the better if the father
retard his steps apace. Does the father drag his weary feet, bur
dened with age, or perhaps to indulge in sweet memories? Let the
son slacken his pace and glimpsing the father’s ideals they will be
able to keep in step. Is duty spelled in different terms, do the de
mands of life come in varied accents, does ambition beckon to
them from different angles? Let them adjust their life and their
attitude to each other’s powers and needs, and mutual understand
ing will come, a method suitablewfor both, will be found.
Such is the message of Rosh Hashonoh for old and new, thf
oldest generation and the youngest. Let them “walk together,
learning from each other, catering to each other, co-operating "hh
each other, strengthened by each other. Thus will Yesterday and
Tomorrow be bridged by Today. The Past and the Future will find
their transition in the Present. There will need be no gap, no chasm
in Jewish life. Generation will dove-tail with generation and in
stead of a break in tradition there will be continuity which ha.
always been the source of Israel’s strength, the secret of the Je"
survival. God grant that in the year Five Thousand Six Hundr
Eighty-Nine, Jews the world over may learn the secret of co-operat
ing so that they may indeed walk together!'
