Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-21
FACTS AND FICTIONs.
Rev. DIR. Z. G. Hirsch Tell. Some of them
About the Jews

| Facts and Fictions About the Jews was
| the subject of a lecture delivered last evening
at the Eighth Street Temple by Rev DIR. L. G..
4 Hirsch of Chicago This the fifth lecture
/ IN the course which is being given under the
| auspices of the United Hebrew Charities and
special interest was attached il because of the
\ position i'm the Jewish world Of the distin-
| guIshed lecturer of the evening. Although
! comparatively a young man, DR.. Hirsch is ed
! itor of the Reform AdUocdte a weekly journal
| Published in Chicago in the interest of re-
| formed Judaism; he is professor in the Uni
| versity of Chicago, and in addition finds time
TO be At the head Of one of the largest Jewish
congregations in this country. The spacious
| synagogue occupied by this congregation is to
| be still further enlarged in order to furnish
| the seating capacity which a membership of
| over 2,OoO demands DIR Hirsch has given the
influence OF his eloquence and his intellect to
the cause of the liberal movement, and is rec
ognized leader in what il known as the pro-
Gresslve party. His synagogue IS one of the
few in the country where services are held on
Sunday instead of on Saturday His fame as a
scholar a preacher and refOrmer is wide
spread, and large audience assembled last
evening to hear his lecture.
ARE THE JEWS REALLY KNOWN?
He said that in recent years much to the re-
greet Of those most concerned. discussion has run
wide and vehement the Jews. Are they
really known? They have been before the
world these many thousand years. and STILL it
must be said, they are az little understood as If
they were recent Corners on hIstory's stage.
They built the pyramids, mingled with the PhR-
nlclans, fought with the Assyrians and Baby
lonians, met the PersIans brushed against the
Greeks. combatted with Romans and then
belted the earth in their mgrations. And yet
their true character Is but little understood,
their mission but half conceded. For most men
the Jews are distinct race. Much as this APP
peals to the conceit of some Jews themselves,
much as this view seems TO corroborate Darwin
IAN doSmatIcs, IT must tie put down. unless Sc
rlousiy modified. as one of the tctIons which
unfortunately are lowered with too long life.
hacial purity OF blood and unmixed racial ped
Isree Is not the privilege of the Jew little as
1t Ii that of any other set of men. The facts
abound which prove that all times non-H Hebrew
elements were absorbed. The biblical records
evidence this. The jews are not and have not
been exclusive, would be an aristocracy Of
the blood To speak of the Jews as a race is
permissible only when words are not used In
their strict construction.
NOT A POLITICAL NATION.
Nor are the Jews. observed the speaker, a po-
litlcal nation They were at one time such.
They were forced in the middle ages to remain
a separate political community by themselves.
They had no country which they were allowed
TO cali their own Russia brutaly and other
governments legally constitute their Jewish
subjects foreigners on soil which they have
inhabited these many centuries. What consti-
tures a nation? Racial affinities? Certainly not
II they did as shown before, the Jews. not con-
shutting q of their own, have In their
veins the same ingredients rs their Eeighbors.
Unity of religious creed? No. modern nations
are not religious. The nation is the outcome
of au historical process, resulting In sameness
ut of self COZ
ness one of u larger whole to which in the
economy OF history has come one and the same
task. The Jews have shared the brunt OF
those historical labors which have re-
suited in making the Germans Germans, the
Frenehmen Frenchmen. There is such thing
the national soul. That soul Is the
emerge tic principle in the modern Jew. He is
a German 70 the core In Germany; he is Amer
lean In America. The Jews are not a political
nation OF their own
With the removal of these two misconcep-
tons others fall 10 the ground. The Jews are
held 10 he endowed with a special adaptabiiity
for Commerce and 20 be afflicted with CORE
sIoAdlnS dissemination for manual labor and
aGrIc ulturai pursuits. If the Jews by nature
were merchants what OF it! Is not commerce
mighty lever Of civilization? Do not in its
wake Hover high yirtues-thst of hospitality,
+. l.. which the wC:id learned to appreciate IN
consequence of the Semitic commercial enter
prIses.
THEIR NATURAL BENT.
But the fact is if the Jews have had any nat
uraI bent II was for agriculture and for manual
labor. Its ancient literature is proof convinc-
ing to this fact All the poetic figures are
drawn from life devoted to the tiliing of the
soil. And a people vino could think II God as
"a worker and who instituted the sabbath day
tor the benefit of the working classes are GER
tainly free from ayersions TO manual occupa-
tons Christian legislation forced the jew
into commerce. Inc canon of the church
compelled hin, for the sake of saving the con-
scIencc of the Christians, to develop into a
money lender. and. Tor ALL the wealth OF the
jew and his financial genius Is a matter largely
Of ythlcal fiction. The Jew is not the natural
usurer. Shylock Is not a Jew. He is the type
o. the Syrian creditor. The Jews IN the mid
die ages did not control the money
do so today. Documents, tax rolls
drawn by non-Jews Tor purposes of
exrortion. have come TO Light, showing that the
jews in tine middle ages did not command the
fabulous wealth attributed to them. They do
not command il today. The inherent vuigarity
of the jews their love o. display, is another
fiction. 1t Is due to the assumption that the
Jews are oriental What would Americans say
ii Dickens American Notes were held to be a
photograph OF national manners? The Jews
are TO-DAY religious community Their social
life differs not from that OF their nelghbors.
Their religious mission is to spread the knowl-
edge of the one God-an idea which includes
the fullest ethical life OF the individual and
society Judaism is Ill far international as
IL breaches humanity which is larger than any
one nation. The Jew mas rendered grand SER
vices to humanity, more bv his suffering than
by his contributions TO the sciences and the
arts The Jew Will live until his ideal will have
been realized-God be one and humanity one
and redeemed