Part 17

SURELY there is a mine for silver, And a place for gold which they refine. Iron is taken out of the earth, And brass is molten out of the stone. Man setteth an end to darkness, And searcheth out to the farthest bound The stones of thick darkness and of the shadow of death. He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn; He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock; He overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out passages among the rocks, And his eye seeth every precious thing. He bindeth the streams that they trickle not, And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; Neither is it found in the land of the living. The deep saith, It is not in me: And the sea saith, It is not with me. It cannot be gotten for gold, Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. Whence then cometh wisdom? And where is the place of understanding? Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumour thereof with our ears, God understandeth the way thereof, And He knoweth the place thereof,

And unto man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.

JOB 28. 1‒4, 9‒15, 20, 22‒3, 28.

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RABBI TARPHON[87] said: The day is short, and the work is great, but the labourers are idle, though the reward be great, and the Master of the work is urgent. It is not incumbent upon thee to complete the work; but neither art thou free to desist from it. Faithful is thine Employer to pay the reward of thy labour. But know that the reward unto the righteous is not of this world.

ETHICS OF THE FATHERS.

* * * * *

_REMEMBER also thy Creator in the days of thy youth, or ever the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them: or ever the sun and the light, and the moon and the stars be darkened, and the clouds return after the rain; and the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit return to God who gave it._

_This is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man._

ECCLESIASTES 12. 1‒2, 7, 13.

NOTES

THROUGHOUT this Jewish Anthology the unit of selection is the Jewish _thought_. Abridgement has therefore been unhesitatingly resorted to wherever condensation helped to make the thought stand out in clearer light. Utmost care has, however, been taken that such condensation in no way obscures the original meaning of the Author.

The bibliographic notes are intended for those who may desire to extend their acquaintance with Jewish books. Only such sources as are available in English and are within possible reach of the ordinary reader have been indicated.

In the Scripture selections, wherever the rhythm and beauty of either the Authorized Version or the Revised Version could be retained, this has been done. In the majority of cases, however, the quotations are from the more faithful Jewish Version. The numbering of the Bible verses is according to the Hebrew text.

ABBREVIATIONS:

J. Q. R. = Jewish Quarterly Review (Old Series). J. P. S. = Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia. J. E. = Jewish Encyclopedia. This standard reference work should be consulted for fuller information on the authors, sources, and subjects brought together in this book.

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3. Jacobs: ‘The Typical Character of Anglo-Jewry,’ J. Q. R., 1898.

Aguilar: _The Spirit of Judaism_, chap. viii. A. S. Isaacs’ _The Young Champion_ is a biography of Grace Aguilar for young readers. J. P. S., 1916.

5. For Eleazar of Worms, see M. Joseph in _Jews’ College Jubilee Volume_, 1905.

6. Montefiore: From a Sermon preached before the Jewish students of Cambridge University. ‘Individual offences bring shame not only upon the persons who commit them, but upon the entire race, which, says an old writer, like a harp-string, has but to be struck at one end and it vibrates throughout. This has been the fate of Israel in every age; and the world’s habit of identifying the race with the shortcomings of the individual seems to be ineradicable. Public transgression――transgression which involves the whole House of Israel――is in a special sense branded as a _Chillul Hashem_, as “a profanation of the Name” just as good deeds, done publicly, which reflect lustre on all Israel, are praised as a _Kiddush Hashem_, “a sanctification of the Name”.’ (Morris Joseph, _Judaism as Life and Creed_. 3rd Edition. Routledge――an excellent book that should be in every English-speaking Jewish home.)

7‒9. For other specimens of Jewish Moralists see _Hebrew Characteristics_, published by the old American Jewish Publication Society, 1872; and I. Abrahams, ‘Jewish Ethical Wills,’ in J. Q. R., 1891.

10. Philipson: _Old European Jewries_, J. P. S.

11. Lazarus: Quoted in Nahida Remy, _The Jewish Woman_. (Bloch Publishing Co., New York.)

The Jewish Home――Cf. Morris Joseph on the question of intermarriage. ‘Every Jew should feel himself bound, even though the duty involves the sacrifice of precious affections, to avoid acts calculated, however remotely, to weaken the stability of the ancestral religion. It is true that occasional unions between Jew and Gentile do no appreciable harm to the Jewish cause, however much mischief they may lay up, in the shape of jealousy and dissension, for those who contract them, and of religious confusion, for the children. But a general practice begins as a rule by being occasional. Every Jew who contemplates marriage outside the pale must regard himself as paving the way to a disruption which will be the final, as it will be the culminating, disaster in the history of his people.’

12. Szold: ‘What has Judaism done for Woman?’ in _Judaism at the |[Chicago]| World’s Parliament of Religions_, Cincinnati, 1894.

Cradle Song: quoted in Schechter, _Studies in Judaism_, i, 1896. ‘The Child in Jewish Literature.’ Another version in I. Zangwill’s _They that Walk in Darkness_ is as follows:――

Sleep, my birdie, shut your eyes, Oh, sleep, my little one; Too soon from cradle you’ll arise To work that must be done.

Almonds and raisins you shall sell, And Holy Scrolls shall write; So sleep, dear child, sleep sound and well, Your future beckons bright.

Brum shall learn of ancient days, And love good folk of this; So sleep, dear babe, your mother prays, And God will send you bliss.

For the Yiddish folk-song see Wiener, _History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth Century_, New York and London, 1899; and Kurt Schindler, ‘The Russian-Jewish Folk Song’, in _The Menorah Journal_, New York, 1917. ‘The Russian Jewish folk-song has grown and was reared under the greatest oppression, and the grimmest tyranny that a race ever went through. By this very oppression it has become tense, quivering, abounding with emotion; in its melodies the Jewish heart is laid open, and it speaks in a language understandable to all. Its songs have an elemental appeal――they represent the collective outcry of a suffering, unbendable race.’ (Schindler.)

13. Cohen: Preface, _Children’s Psalm Book._ (Routledge.) The following words recently written by America’s leading educationist are of deep significance:――‘Education the world over was at first for a long time almost solely religious, and, while it was once a master-stroke of toleration to eliminate it from the school, in doing so we nearly lost from our educational system the greatest of all the motives that makes for virtue, reverence, self-knowledge and self-control. Now we are beginning to realize the wrong we have committed against child-nature and are seeking in various ways to atone for it.’ (G. Stanley Hall, in Introduction to L. Grossmann’s _The Aims of Teaching in Jewish Schools_, Cincinnati, 1919.) Cf. the chapter on Religious Education with Bibliography in M. Friedländer, _The Jewish Religion_, second edition (P. Vallentine).

Morais: in _Abarbanel’s School and Family Reader for Israelites_, New York, 1883, a book well worth reprinting.

14. Joseph, _The Message of Judaism_ (G. Routledge), ‘Hebrew and the Synagogue.’

15. Schechter: _Seminary Addresses_, Ark Publishing Co., Cincinnati, 1915. These addresses of eloquent wisdom contain the ripest thoughts of that great scholar. In 1870 Peretz Smolenskin, then the foremost neo-Hebrew writer, proclaimed: ‘The wilfully blind bid us be like all the other nations. Yea, let us be like all the other nations, unashamed of the rock whence we have been hewn; like the rest, holding dear our language and the honour of our people. We need not blush for clinging to the ancient language with which we wandered from land to land, in which our poets sang, and our seers prophesied, and in which our fathers poured out their hearts unto God. They who thrust us away from the Hebrew language meditate evil against our people and against its glory.’

20. Maimonides: Some scholars question the Maimonidean authorship of this Admonition.

22. In _Year Book of Central Conference of American Rabbis_, 1904.

23. _Aspects of Rabbinic Theology_, p. 76.

24. Adler: _Anglo-Jewish Memories_, p. 272.

25. Gabirol: Probably the very earliest enunciation of Tolerance in Western Europe.

27. _Against Apion_, concluding paragraphs. Ecclesiasticus: Written originally in Hebrew by Simon ben Jeshua ben Sira, who flourished in Jerusalem in the second century, B.C.E. Translated into Greek by the author’s grandson, who resided in Egypt between 132‒116. The Hebrew original was lost for over 1,000 years, and was re-discovered in the Cairo Geniza by Dr. Schechter in 1896.

28. The change from the Revised Version in the second line is according to the newly-discovered Hebrew original. _Their name liveth for evermore_; the phrasing of the Authorized Version has been restored. These five words have been chosen by the Imperial War Graves Commission as the inscription for the central monuments on the cemeteries in France and Flanders.

30. Dubnow: _Jewish History_, J. P. S., chap. 12. Dubnow’s sketch is a brief, philosophical survey of Jewish History.

Hertz: From Presidential Address, Union of Jewish Literary Societies, ‘On “Renaissance” and “Culture” and their Jewish Applications’.

32. Geiger: _Judaism and its History_, I, 2.

33. _Aspects of Rabbinic Theology_, p. 112.

34. _Jews in Many Lands._ J. P. S.

35. Singer: _Sermons_, i. ‘Judaism and Citizenship.’ (Routledge.)

36. Achad Ha’am: _Selected Essays_, J. P. S., 1912. ‘Some Consolation.’ A number of those original and thought-compelling essays have been republished in the series _Zionist Pamphlets_, 1916 & 1917. The words ‘The Duty of Self-Respect’ are the title of a paper by the late F. D. Mocatta.

37. Nordau: Address at First Zionist Congress, Basle.

Schechter: _Seminary Addresses_. ‘Higher Criticism――Higher Anti-Semitism.’

38. Disraeli: From Preface to _Collected Works of Isaac D’Israeli_.

39. Hertz: From Reply to ‘Verax’, _The Times_, November 29, 1919. Recent anti-Semitic attacks in the Press recall Steinschneider’s comment: ‘When dealing with Jewish questions it is not necessary to be either logical or fair. It seems one may say anything of Jews so long as it brings them into contempt.’

40. _An Epistle to the Hebrews._ Letter 4. Republished by the Federation of American Zionists, 1900.

41. These stirring lines were written during the Boer War.

42. Dr. Adler continues: ‘Here we are spared the most distressful sight, the revival of odious religious prejudices and pernicious racial antipathies.’ These words would require some qualification to-day.

43. _Songs of a Wanderer_, J. P. S.

48. ‘Why am I a Jew?’ North American Review. A similar thought is expressed by the same writer in his Address at the Chicago Parliament of Religions: ‘There is a legend that when Adam and Eve were turned out of Eden, an angel shattered the gates, and the fragments flying all over the earth are the precious stones. We can carry the legend further. The precious stones were picked up by the various religions and philosophies of the world. Each claimed and claims that its own fragment alone reflects the light of heaven. In God’s own time we shall, all of us, fit our fragments together and reconstruct the Gates of Paradise. Through the gates shall all peoples pass to the foot of God’s throne. The throne is called by us the mercy-seat. Name of happy augury, for God’s Mercy shall wipe out all record of mankind’s errors and strayings, the sad story of our unbrotherly actions.’

49. _Judaism as Creed and Life._ Book III, chap. x. Book III is the best modern presentation of the ethical life under the aspect of Judaism.

II

53. Lucas: _The Jewish Year_, Macmillan, 1898. Every one of Mrs. Lucas’s admirable versions of the principal mediaeval Jewish hymns quoted in this book are from the above volume.

58. Levi: See Miss Helen Zimmern’s monograph on ‘David Levi, Poet and Patriot’, in the J. Q. R., 1897.

59. Zangwill: ‘The Position of Judaism’. North American Review.

60. Schechter: _Seminary Addresses_. ‘Higher Criticism――Higher Anti-Semitism’.

61. Sulzberger: From Address at the Decennial Meeting of the J. P. S.

Leeser: Preface, _The Twenty-four Books of the Holy Scriptures_.

62. Adler: From a Sermon, ‘This Book of the Law’.

63. Rashi: On Exodus vi. 9. _Scripture must be interpreted according to its plain, natural sense_――an epoch-making pronouncement in the history of Bible exegesis. Though he is not the author of this canon of interpretation, Rashi is the first seriously to attempt its application. ‘Rashi deserves the foremost place which the judgment of Jewish scholars generally accords him. He has two of the greatest and rarest gifts of the commentator, the instinct to discern precisely the point at which explanation is necessary, and the art of giving or indicating the needed help in the fewest words.’ (G. F. Moore.)

64. Halevi: _Cusari_, ii, 56. Translated by H. Hirschfeld under the Arabic title _Kitab Al-Khazari_ (Routledge), 1905.

Geiger: _Judaism and its History_, I, 3.

67. Jacobs: _Jewish Contributions to Civilization_, J. P. S.

Shemtob: A remarkable anticipation by over three and a half centuries of the modern view of the rôle of the Prophets.

Compare with the two other selections on the Prophets the following by Felix Adler:―― ‘Either we must place nature uppermost, or man uppermost. If we choose the former, then man himself becomes a mere soulless tool in the hands of destiny, a part of a machine, the product of his circumstances. If we choose the latter, then all nature will catch a reflected light from the glory of the moral aims of man. ‘The Hebrew Prophets chose the latter alternative. They asserted the freedom of man; and the general conscience of mankind, despite all cavilings and sophistry to the contrary, has ever responded to their declaration with a loud Amen. They argued, to put their thought in modern language, that we may fairly judge of the whole course of evolution by its highest outcome, and they believed its highest outcome to be, not mere mechanical order of beauty, but righteousness.

‘The Hebrew Prophets interpreted the universe in terms of humanity’s aspirations. They believe that the ends of justice are too precious to be lost; that, if righteousness is not yet real in the world, it must be made real; and, hence, that there must be a Power in the world which makes for righteousness.’

68. Darmesteter: _Selected Essays_, translated by Jastrow, N.Y., 1895.

Lazarus: _The Spirit of Judaism_, New York, 1895.

69. _The Literary Remains of Emanuel Deutsch_, 1874. _The Talmud: Two Essays by Deutsch and Darmesteter_, J. P. S., 1911.

71. _Chapters in Jewish Literature_, J. P. S. Preface.

73. Magnus: _Outlines of Jewish History_, J. P. S., p. 333.

74. Jacobs: _Jewish Ideals and other Essays_, 1896.

Halevi: _Cusari_, ii, 36.

Gaster: Presidential Address, Transactions of Jewish Historical Society of England, vol. viii.

75. _Jewish History_, concluding paragraph.

76. Zunz: _Synagogale Poesie des Mittelalters_, chap. ii. ‘Leiden.’ This wonderful presentation of the Sufferings of the Jews in the Middle Ages has been translated by Dr. A. Löwy in _Miscellany of Hebrew Literature_. First Series, 1872; and has been republished in the ‘Library of Jewish Classics’, Bloch Publishing Co., New York, 1916.

77. _Antiquities of the Jews._ Book xviii, 8.

80. Dean Plumptre, _Lazarus and other Poems_.

82. Heine: The following is a more literal version by Nina Salaman:――

Break out in loud lamenting, Thou sombre martyr-song, That all aflame I have carried In my silent soul so long.

Into all ears it presses, Thence every heart to gain―― I have conjured up so fiercely The thousand-year-old pain.

The great and small are weeping, Even men so cold of eye; The women weep and the flowers, The stars are weeping on high.

And all these tears are flowing In silent brotherhood, Southward-flowing and falling All into Jordan’s flood.

83. _Curiosities of Literature_, vol. ii.

86. Abarbanel’s _Reader_.

87. _Poems of Emma Lazarus_, _New York_, 1889, vol. ii.

89. _Songs of Exile_, J. P. S., 1901.

90. From ‘Jewish Ethics’ (M. Joseph) in _Religious Systems of the World_, London, 1892.

91. ‘Vindiciae Judaeorum’, i. 7, in L. Wolf, _Manasseh Ben Israel’s Mission to Oliver Cromwell_, 1901.

92. Hirsch: _Nineteen Letters of Ben Uziel_, 16th Letter (Funk and Wagnalls) New York, 1899.

95. J. E., vol. xii, 348.

96. Hertz: ‘Lord Rothschild: A Memorial Sermon.’

97. _History of the Jews in Poland and Russia_ (Putnams), 1915, conclusion.

99. _Past and Present: A Collection of Jewish Essays_, chap. xvi, Ark Publishing Co., Cincinnati, 1919.

101. ‘What is a pogrom? Better than any abstract definition is a concrete record taken haphazard of an actual pogrom. Orscha is a town of 14,000 inhabitants, half of them Jews. On October 18, 1905, the news of the proclamation of the Constitution reached Orscha. On the 19th the general strike stopped; Jew and Christian embraced; the houses were hung with flags, a service of thanksgiving was held; processions filled the streets. In the evening the Mohilev police officer Misgaib entered the town, and the rumour ran round that a patriotic demonstration was to take place and the Jews to be beaten. On the 20th, drunken men gathered to take the official’s orders. On the morning of the 21st, the peasants entered the town armed with axes and guns. “The village authorities have sent us; whoever does not come will be punished. We are to do whatever is ordered.” At one o’clock a priest exhorted the crowds of the faithful to purge their city of the aliens, and the cry arose, “Long live absolutism! Down with the mayor, who has sold the town to the Jews”. The first murders followed. The house of a rich Jew was stormed. Without the soldiers fired, a priest held service, and a band played the national anthem; while within eight men, women and children were tortured to death. The appetite was only whetted. At six o’clock the peasants begged the police for more orders, more work. They were told to wait till daylight; the darkness might encourage the Jews to resist. On the same day twelve Jewish youths came from Shklov to help their brethren. They were met at the station and murdered, and for seven hours every man that passed mutilated or insulted their dead bodies. The massacre became general. The 23rd was given up to plunder. At mid-day the Vice-Governor spoke to the crowds: “Children, it is enough. You have had three days’ amusement, now go home and sing ‘God save the Czar’”. The pogrom at Orscha was typical of the 690 greater and lesser pogroms which took place that October.’ (H. Sacher on ‘Die Judenpogromme in Russland’. _Jewish Review_, i.)

106. Wolf: ‘_The Legal Sufferings of the Jews in Russia_.’

Lazarus: First appeared in ‘_Songs of a Semite_’, New York, 1882.

_Each crime that wakes in man the beast, Is visited upon his kind._