Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-08-09
Y. NJ. H. A.
Opening of the New ROOms-Rev. A
NJ. Edelman's Address.


NJ. Edelman's Address.
The new rooms of the Young Men s
Hebrew Association at No. rs North
Main street were opened last night and
the members of this prosperous society
were present in large numbers. The
rooms are elegantly furnished and the
society is pleasantly situated. After the
transaction of the regular business of the
meeting, Rev. A. M. Edelman spoke as
follows:
Mr.. President, Officers and Members Of the
Y. M. III. A.:
In appearing before you for the first
time to express to you my sincere and
heartfelt thanks for electing me as an
honorary member of your society, you
will permit me to address you with few
words upon the five virtues Of the human
mind as expressed upon the first
page OF our Holy Bible. In the
beginning God created the heavens
and the earth, and the earth
was without form and void, and darkness
was upon the face of the great deep. But
the spirit of God moved upon the face OF
the waters. Then God said, "Let there
be light" and there was light. And God
saw that the light was good, SO God di-
vided the light from the darkness, and
God called the light day, and the dark
ness he called night. 1t was evening"
it was morning-the first day. You will
perceive, my friends, that the word light
is here expressed five times with
in the the first five verses of the
very first page of that holy book.
"And God said, let there be light, and
there was light" And that God saw
that the light was good. "Then God di-
vided between the light and the dark
ness. and God called the light day, and
the darkness he called night. Our wise
men have said that these five-fold ex-
pressions of the word light in narration
of Gods creation stands against the five
great virtues of the human mind, viz !:
faith, virtue, knowledge, truth, and last,
but not least, the Torah, or Gods Holy
law. Such five-fold light recommend
to your special care, and such five.fold
light should always be your constant
watchword, because it will illuminate
your life's pathway like the shining sun
at is meridian height. What would the
world do if it had no light? What would
the earth be, with all its beautiful trees,
shrubs and plants; with its magnificent
flowers and fruits, with its hills and
beautiful valleys, in fact, with everything
that now gladdens the human eye and
enchants the human heart, if eternal
darkness would forever cover it? What
would even the giant majestic canopy OF
heaven be if the prince of the day, and
the king of the light, the sun, would not
shine in the center? Oh how sweet are
thou, light, to man. Thou precious
jewel from the hands of God, and thou
most noble pearl, crown of Gods crea.
tion for what would man be if he had
no light? Let Linn have all bis healthy
faculties, let him have the strength of
foot, the muscular arm, the iron fist, and
the brazen breast nay, let him have all
treasures, and all the riches of the world,
but take away from him that little light,
only that little eye-sight, and he is poorer
than the poorest beggar, and more help
less than the smallest child.
Our sages have compared the blind
with the dead. And eternal darkness,
on which no comforting morning dawns,
blindness, where the husband cannot see
his faithful wife, where the father cannot
see his only child, and where the true
friend cannot see his bosom friend
face to face is certainly great horror,
and who would not tremble at such a
miserable fate. Light was therefore the
first work of Gods creation, because, in
His kindness, He would not that any
thing of His creation should be without
light. And as light is the most illustri-
GUS work of God, 30 should the first
light, or, rather, faith in God, ever be
your first watchword to guide you from
the path OF darkness to everlasting light,
life and bliss, honor and glory.
The next watchword which advise to
your care is virtue. Virtue is morality
and righteousness. Virtue is power and
strength. Virtue is excellence and chas-
tity. Virtue, my friends, is a beacon
light in itself, whilst sin is darkness for
ever and ever. Sin is in alliance with
night and darkness. 1t shuns and fees
from light, and hides itself before the
eyes of man. But can it also hide itself
before God? Nay, it cannot. Murder
and sin will out, whilst virtue and
righteousness will, even in the darkest
night, kindle their own light. In the
garb of poverty, sickness and
death, it beams like bright shining
star. Virtue comforts the troubled
heart, and heals every bleeding wound.
Let therefore the light of virtue be your
second watch-word, for then you will
ever have both happiness and righteous
ness. knowledge, my friends, should be
your third watch-word. knowledge is
power and wisdom, just as faith and vir-
tue are two noble gifts from God so also
is knowledge a great boon from our
heavenly Father. This light of knowl-
edge is often called constant light, or a
perpetual light, which man, as a high
priest, is commanded to light up in the
temple of his own mind and conscience.
This great light of wisdom surrounds
him like beautiful garment, and adorns
his head like crown of precious jewels.
The wings of knowledge cover man with
glory and honor. and the genius of wis
dom will draw him towards the highest
regions of the most sublime and lofty
thoughts. Let therefore this noble gift
Of knowledge be your third watch-word,
to guide you safely towards the path of
great wisdom, towards faith in God, and
morality, and righteousness, towards all
mankind.
Light, my friends, also represents
4s X u. ..s1s N 2 z. s,f y -.