Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-02-26

the legislation OF Moses. Parents
had no right to dispose OF the lives ol
their children, and in the case ol
"the stubborn and obstinate son.
the father had to lay the case before
the elders of the city. A father had
no right to disinherit son. AnC
what striking examples of parental
love and filial affection do we find in
the life histories of Abram, Isaac,
Jacob, Joseph, Jephtha and David,
who, when hearing of the death oi
his unnatural son, Absalom, who
plotted and conspired against him,
nevertheless exclaimed: ooh, that ]
had died in thy stead, Absalom, my
son, my son!"
Most characteristic in this connec-
tion is the comparison of the love OF
God to Israel with the deep
affection of parents for their
children: "Can a mother for
get of her sucking baby, and be
merciless against her own flesh and
blood. Just as little will God forget
of Israel" "God Furnishes him whom
He loveth like a father who wants to
better his son." Gas a father is mer-
ciful towards his son, so God takes
pity on those who venerate Him."
Justly children are considered q
blessing by Judaism. Hence the
sanctity of the family relations and
the purity of the home life among the
Jews from the very earliest period
of their history. The more
the surrounding neighbors and the
nations of antiquity made their
temples gathering places of un-
bounded license and lewdness, the
more jealously did our ancestors guard
the virtue of their wives and chill
dren. How could they bring it over
their hearts to offer up their beloved
sons for human sacrifices, and to give
over their wives and daughters to
shame? Judaism thus became a
family religion. Jehovah is con-
ceived of as the husband Of the peo-
pie. "Israel shall be his true and loyal
spouse. The children of Israel are
children. The image of Jehovah is
that Of the ideal patriarch. Like the
patriarch, he is the head of the spir-
itual family of Moses, the law-giver,
the Judge and the guardian of domes-
tic purity. Among the most striking
pictures Of the Bible, which mark the
covenant made by God with Israel on
Sinai, is the representation of be-
trothal. 1t extols the bridal love of
faithful Israel, even as it reproaches
the chosen people for forsaking their
God and attachment to the wor-
ship of idols. Thus the prophet
Hosea introduces Jehovah as saying:
Contend against your mother, con-
tend, for l am no more her spouse,
nor is she my wife," And the day of the
triumph of the true religion is thus
predicted: "And I shall wed thee
unto me forever, and l shall wed thee
unto me in justice, and righteousness,
in mercy and kindness, and l shall
wed thee unto me in faithfulness and
thou shalt know God. On that day
thou shalt not call me any more, my
master, but thou shalt call me, my
husband. Thus the idea of Jehovah
sprang from the soil of the family,
and the conception Of deyine father
in heaven was derived from the
analogy of the noblest Of
morai institutions on earth.
And this noble family and housewife
was veritable tower of strength to
our ancestors during their long and
checkered history. 1t was the only
ray of light amid the long dreary
night of middle ages, warming their
heart like a cheerful fire, when the
icy cold Of Indifference and the fall
ing blizzards of hate tried to poison
and embitter their life in the Ghetto.
To this family life we owe our i'm
perishability and vitality, to the good
mothers of Israel, to the faithful
guardians of the Jewish home, we
are indebted for the most remarkable
fact of our very existence after
so many centuries of persecu-
tions and expressions unparalleled
in the annals of human history. And,
thank God, this jewel and treasure is
still unsullied, and to-day, as in the
past we can point with pride to the
Jewish home, be it hut or a palace,
and exclaim: How beautiful are thy
tents, oh, Jacob; how sweet is thy
home-life, oh, Israel! To-day as in
times of yore, our people participate
in the joys and sorrows of fellow crca-
lures. The legislation of Lycugurg per-
tains only to the physical life, to the
improvement of the body at the ex-
pense of the heart. Every nobler SEN
timent must be wiped out. Pity, mercy,
love of parents, children, all
must be eradiciated as human
weakness and foibles, because "the
race must remain Spartan" always
prepared for war. To this idol even
the sanctity of the marriage vow had
to be sacrificed. The legislation Of
Moses, however,. while paying due
requard to the physical development
of the Hebrew race, did not sacrifice
to this consideration the spiritual and
moral improvement Of the nation.
While, therefore, some people may
admire that Spartan mother, who,
when informed of the death
of her son in the battle
field, heroically exclaimed: "For
that have born him ?" We say that it
is higher and nobler ideal to live,
to watch and to work for the material,
mental, moral amelioration and
elevation of the human race
and to hasten the fulfllment of
the sublime mission assigned to
Israel in the words addressed to onr
pioneer and pathfinder Abraham
"ThrNpgh thee and thy seed shall be
blessed all the nations Of the earth"
Amen.
--
ANAHEIM.