A Book of Jewish Thoughts. Various
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THE HEBREW LANGUAGE
THE Hebrew language is the great depository of all that is best in the soul-life of the Congregation of Israel. Without it we will become severed from the great Tree which is life unto those that cling to it. Hellenistic Judaism2 is the only one known to history which dared to make this experiment of dispensing with the Sacred Language. The result was death. It withered away and terminated in total and wholesale apostasy from Judaism. Let us not deceive ourselves. There is no future in this country for a Judaism that resists either the English or the Hebrew language.
S. SCHECHTER, 1904.
THERE is a vast storehouse filled with treasures. The key, the Hebrew language, is in our guardianship. Have we a right to throw the key into the ocean of oblivion? More than that: when we have ceased to be efficient guardians of our treasures, of what use are we in the world? I fear that in the case of such flagrant dereliction of duty, the twentieth century will have in store for us not a Ghetto, but a grave.
HENRIETTA SZOLD, 1896.
WHAT IS CULTURE?
NOT what a man has—knowledge, skill, or goods of life—determines his culture, but what a man is: culture is not so much mastery of things as mastery of self. And only that nation can be called cultured which adds to or, at least, broadens and deepens the spiritual assets of mankind; which introduces some distinctive note into the soul-life of the world; which teaches humanity a new angle of vision towards the Infinite; and by its living and, if need be, by its dying, vindicates the eternal values of life—conscience, honour, liberty.
Judged by this test, some of the littlest of peoples—Judea, Greece, Elizabethan England—stand foremost among cultured nations, champions of the sacred heritage of man. Judged by this test, many a poor Jew, though he be devoid of the graces, amenities, and comforts of life, is yet possessed of culture. An ancient language, a classical language, a holy language, is as familiar to him as his mother-tongue; saturated is he with the sublimest of literatures, which hallows his life and endows him with high faith and invincible courage.
Sympathetic appreciation of this indomitable type, this harmonious albeit rugged personality, might well be taken as a touchstone of a man’s mentality, culture, and humanity.
J. H. HERTZ, 1915.
THE STUDENT OF THE TORAH3
IF one asks a student to-day why he studies, he will at once, in spite of his youth, give a very practical answer. He mentions the profession for which he is preparing himself, and through which he will obtain a lucrative office or a comfortable position in life.
It is entirely different with those who expended their time and powers on the study of the Talmud. They wished to derive no profit from their studies; not to use them, as a Mishna teacher says, ‘as a spade to dig wherewith nor as a crown wherewith to aggrandise oneself’. ‘Say not’, exclaims the Talmud, ‘I will study the Torah in order that people may call me Sage or Master, but study from pure love to God, to cleave more closely unto Him through the knowledge and understanding of His word.’ Day and night did they bury themselves in the study of subjects that had nothing to do with social life or with gain; often they became engrossed in the investigation of laws of sacrifices and purification, although these had long since grown obsolete. They desired nothing but knowledge, understanding, illumination. Where is there another people on earth among whom studies which aimed only at truth and the development of the spiritual life were cultivated with such pure, devoted, and selfless love as in Israel?
A. JELLINEK, 1882.
BAR MITZVAH PRAYER4
O MY God, and God of My Fathers,
On this solemn and sacred day, which marketh my passage from boyhood to manhood, I humbly venture to raise my eyes unto Thee, and to declare with sincerity and truth that henceforth I will observe all Thy commandments, and undertake to bear the responsibility of all mine actions towards Thee. In my earliest infancy I was brought within Thy sacred covenant with Israel, and to-day I again enter as an active responsible member the pale of Thine elect congregation, in the midst of which I will never cease to glorify Thy holy name in the face of all nations.
Do Thou, O Heavenly Father, hearken unto this my humble prayer, and vouchsafe unto me Thy gracious blessings, so that my earthly life may be sustained and made happy by Thine ineffable mercies. Teach me the way of Thy statutes, that I may obey them, and faithfully carry out Thy ordinances. Dispose my heart to love Thee and to fear Thy holy name, and grant me Thy support and the strength necessary to avoid the worldly dangers which encompass the path lying before me. Save me from temptation, so that I may with fortitude observe Thy holy Law and those precepts on which human happiness and eternal life depend. Thus I will every day of my life trustfully and gladly proclaim: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one!’
BENJAMIN ARTOM, 1868.
ON THE THRESHOLD OF MANHOOD
MY son, keep the commandment of thy father,
And forsake not the teaching of thy mother.
Bind them continually upon thy heart,
Tie them about thy neck.
When thou walkest, it shall lead thee;
When thou liest down, it shall watch over thee;
And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light,
And reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
To keep thee from the evil woman.
PROVERBS 6. 20–4.
RABBI Hanina5, son of Dosa, said: ‘He in whom the fear of sin comes before wisdom, his wisdom shall endure; but he in whom wisdom comes before the fear of sin, his wisdom will not endure.’
Rabbi Eleazar6, son of Azaryah, said: ‘He whose wisdom exceeds his works, to what is he like? To a tree whose branches are many, but whose roots are few; and the wind comes and plucks it up and overturns it upon its face. But he whose works exceed his wisdom, to what is he like? To a tree whose branches are few, but whose roots are many, so that even if all the winds in the world come and blow upon it, it cannot be stirred from its place.’
ETHICS OF THE FATHERS.
A FATHER’S ADMONITION
FEAR the Lord the God of thy Fathers and serve Him in love, for fear only restrains a man from sin, while love stimulates him to good. Accustom thyself to habitual goodness, for a man’s character is what habit makes it. The perfection of the body is a necessary antecedent to the perfection of the soul, for health is the key to the inner chamber. Measure