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The Southern Israelite Page 55 / hat / Found Judaism To Be t of Servian by Aime Patliere, of the Liberal Synagogue, Paris, the Free Synagogue, Carnegie Hall, Next' York, X. Y„ when lie teas in America recently. a child of Israel, and Israel to which God has spoken, which He made a covenant, .it 1 found Judaism to be. We Revelation. And that is the of Jewish history, the fact the whole story rests. That is i a el is the people which heard of God and with which God oivenant, so that it now stands ness of God in the world and tiie witness of God for me. And of that covenant, it feels that not, it cannot die. Even when has lost faith in Revelation, he t he has the duty of living, of . of keeping his individuality the nations. A fact, stronger than negotiations, my brothers, and «.pite of you and iti spite of all, •nipeK >oti to remain Jews. light of that great fact, I and that Judaism is not at all a i. which would necessarily suppose 'tie conception, something which it certain hours as a kitid of addi- life, gives it for a moment a mate form, and vanishes a moment No; Judaism is tiie very life of w, lile of the body and life of the d. 1" 'th individual and social, all ruled sciplined by that covenant made by ' I ■ -rd and his ancestors. i t time ago, I accompanied to the a boy, whom I had the honor of ’ for his Bar Mitzvah, and in a M iice of tho venerable parchment, "«‘w Mich a young child bent over 1 • l " old thing and with his fresh and voice the words repeated on lay in all the Synagogues of the I thought of those who ask me for '"'tion of their Judaism: of the I here it is: it is that child v< r the holy scroll: on a Sabbath reading in his turn the weekly . and taking upon himself, in the "t his young soul, the redoubtable i God’s covenant. It is the small lengthening the long chain of the tradition. There you have, in a and poetic form an exact defini- Judaism, more eloquent than all ■ ’logical formulae that could be "ill s a>' perhaps, “The reasons \"ii state are beautiful; but we are Bings, not saints by any means; always faced with the painful ' cs of life. Of course, we do not 1 denying the Judaism of our but we would prefer it to be inmate to our strength and not ' under its weight, as the mountain v weight of which God, according Midrash, threatened Israel when ♦ He offered it the Torah.” I answer you. Beware of a Judaism which would re quire no effort, which would compel no sacrifice. It is not the Judaism of God's covenant. Beware of a Judaism which would make the religious idea universal, but which would destroy the individu ality of Israel. That has nothing in common with the Judaism of your fathers. Israel is not a little church, not a little religion; Israel is a historical reality, whose existence in the world bears testi mony to divine revelation. What is a Jew? Not only is he one who believes in God, but also one who has faith in Israel and in its ideals. For Judaism binds its children to the past, but turns them at the same time towards the future. Through the love of Zion it awakens in their hearts the messianic hope. My friends, do not let us injure the tradition of Israel by re ducing it to a single idea, even were it to be that of the one God. It is much more than that. It means a complete transformation of mankind, a complete religious and social, individual and family regeneration, changing the relations of nations and those of men lx»th among themselves and with their Creator, and event with nature in itself. That is the salvation of mankind. There is the great hope which Israel keeps for the world; for the time will come when, once again, the voice of God will issue from the new Jerusalem. That is the wonderful story of God’s people. That is what I found Judaism to be. A legend tells us that before the throne of the Eternal is the book of fate, open for each people. An angel, in charge of that book, turns the pages as time goes on. And there is also before the Lord a book for God's people; and the guardian angel of Israel turns the pages one by one. In that book, the last sheets, those of the messianic times, are sealed with a triple seal, and the angel himself has never looked upon their mystery. But. before the messianic pages, there are, in the book of Israel’s fate, white sheets, which the angel, pen in hand, is ready to fill. Those white sheets, O my friends, in the story of your people, are being kept for you. Fill them worthily! FREDERICH GUNDOLF, prominent literary figure and professor of history at the University of Heidelberg in Berlin, was the recipient of the famous Lessing prize, valued at 15.000 marks, now award ed for the first time by the municipal government of Hamburg. —♦ nr // ith Our Jewish Artists (Continued from Page 13) has done the illustrations for '••wish books. He also does illustrations for "Kinder Jour- Noar” and is one of the con tributors to "Young Israel", the month ly magazine for Jewish children pub lished by the Union of American He brew Congregations. The Modern Conv cnicn t H ay That Gives You Quicker and More Satis- factory Results. Knoxville Power & Light Co. Vaumled 1890 Alex McMillan Co. REALTORS LEASES REAL ESTATE FIRST MORTGAGE LOANS FIRST MORTGAGE 6% BONDS PROPERTY MANAGEMENT INSURANCE Resources Over $4,500,000 First Floor General Building KNOXVILLE, TENN. 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