The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-09-19

But what IS our present duty in this land
which protects and encourages the mind and
heart oil man to pursue iii peace the path which
soul and reason point out to them? True is il
that the high ideals OF the inspired fathers OF
the republic have not yet peeu reached PREM
dice and hatred meet US ON the streets and sur
round our hon1es-but our country, blessed OF
heaven may IL ever remain-ln the glorious
lines OF its constitution makes us here factor
ana power Tor good to all our people. and our
DUTY IS to make each house of israels God
house OF prayer tor all the nations Teaching
truth aud dispeling the ignorance of our race.
our religion. our services. our hopes, from
when we have so ioag suffered. Ia this West
ern land We should stand as a bulwark against
which the waves OF prejudice ana bigo,ry shall
Deaf In vain; nay. before which they shalt roll
backward and backward, washing with purified
waters, the waters of peace and brotherhood,
the ground DER which they fow.
Call not upon the wood and stone to teach.
rely not upon gold and silver, which has no
breath OF life. Le. not Judaism be rs an idol,
put make II factor In the midst of the people
among whom you dwell by making ii the lisht
OF your homes. the guide OF your daily walks,
that God may dwell in the pure temple of your
souls. ana before Him all fssh will be silent in
reverence. Remember that the Jew without
Judaism is o nouentity. 1, is his religion which
gives him dignity. That is his claim upou the
ages past and the ages yet 10 come-thc one
coru running through the world without break,
and still stretching into the future to guide his
pathway. When he voluntarily reiinquishes
his hold. no matter what his country or
nationality may be, he becomes but
as floating particle, assimilatiug
with neither the oil nor water
rooted neither in the valley nor on the mountain
SIDE The Jew, so boru, may be iaithless To his
history, may deplore the accident OF birth
which attaches him, even in name, TO its peo-
pie; psy disregard, despiss everything belong
ing to IT; yet to tho world he Is still Jew, and
ior MS sins ana shortcomings our entire people
are held responsible. For it is a fact, peculiar
to US alone. in all countries. that the sin OF the
most degenerate Of our race, who knows moth
ing OF our religion and cares naught Is visited
upon the entire people. paraded as class fail
Ing and the moral status of our community,
This will continue until the mind of man, re-
leased from traiitionary bonds OF wilfuli blind
ness, becomes just and generous enough to ad-
mt that the status OF birth, the force of training,
the bent OF mind and the natural instincts OF the
animal show alike in Jew and Gentle. In the
meantime 1t rests with all our people whose
hearts leap upward to the level of our faith, to
draw strictly and accentuate the line between
Judaism and the Jew, that the purity of our re-
lgion shall not be suliied through the short
eomings OF any to whom its name may be at
taehed either rightfully or wrongfuily Aud
how can this be done? By each one OF you IN
your Individual capacities. in your new temple,
In your homes, in your daily walks and associa-
tons. Judaism il a virfle force. 1t is o religion
OF meaning. OF action and purpose 1t is not
elastic. IL cannot be made conformable to
mans desires, nor lightly change as his
convenience dictates. We can ignore il,
find it burden and cast it off,
but the change Is in ourselves and not in it.
Judaism must be Judaism, and what is not
Judaism is something else-for no man nor set
OF men have any right or title to alter or amend
its laws and teachings and call their crea-
individual member of this congrega-
ton. resolved to preserve and ex-
tend the true principles OF Judaism. you may in
Joy approach your God today. rejoicing that the
Populations of a strong, enduring wall of faith
have been we'll laid, weeping not for tho
vanished temples of the past With the daughters
of Israeli OH whom SO much depends, the women
OF Israel who have ever gorified its history with
their faith and purity, resolved that the Jewish
homes, over which they preside as guardian
angels, shall ever continue the adjunct of
the synagogue, illuminated by the sabbath
lights OF virtue and piety, you may indeed
dedicate this house to God with an inspiration
OF confidence in its future. The word future
cOmprehends indeed q term indefinite beyond
the perception OF the human mind We shall
fall by the wayside as the many over whose
tOmbs We and our fathers have wept Butthe
great march OF eternal purpose will proceed. IL
is the underlying Will which shall animate the
diverse forces, till in their publication and unih-
cation the result shall be pronounced good and
the mission of our faith accomplished. Yet,
heeting and shadowy AS our individual powers
seem, though our existence is but as q dream,
enveioped in the clouds of uncertainty, passing
away as the zephyrs which touch our cheeks
and vanish, we wrong the immortal spark within
MS If we underrate the influence which, through
its possession, We are each capable OF exerting.
An influence Fastening in some degree the
eventual contamination OF that which We know
Is our souls lofty longing. but which none Of
US can satisfactorily construe into words and
ideas. 1t is not only the plants We cultivate in
our garden which yield grateful fragrance.
The wild flowers of the forest, blooming and
dying far from the sight and presence OF man,
sweeten the air around them when the balmy
spring awskens them to life. Ii is the essence
of beauty given to their kind in the worlds
creative harmony. 1t is only lost when they
are uprooted and destroyed. So, unless circum-
stances or human will curtail, suppress or an
initiate the high powers bestowed by heaven in
the breath of divinity, their capabilities, though
they find but = single expression in . human
lite, are calculated for some weight in tho
worlds gravitation towards perfection. There
fore let the ideal spirit OF Judaism-ths life Of
the bosom--the Lord in the holy temple of the
heart be infused into all the lessons OF the prac
teal observances to Which this house Is dedi-
Gated The one is required to perfect the other.
Both lose their powers when divorced.
And, oh. Universal Father, center of all that
lives and moves, spirit OF all good, u remnant of
thu people Thou hast preserved through al! the
throes of the worlds labor. through all the tur-
moil of the worlds sin, lay at Thy feet In this
solemn hour this Offering of a house devoted to
Thy service Before Thy altar we light the lamp
of hope, whose rays perpetual shall direct all ma
tions and all peoples to Thy presence. For this
house Is to Thee, oh Father, and to Thy children
of every race aud creed who accept
in truth Thy words. any house shall
be called house OF prayer for all
mankind" Grant that within these walls
lessons worthy of our work today may DO at all
times taught, that the glare and glitter of pop
ular example may never allure Us beyond the
line which Judaism may not pass and still pre-
serve its purity. May We all learn that the
spirit OF God rests not in wood and stone and
ornaments. but must be brought hither in the
hearts OF the worshippsrs Realizing that the
life of man il but A. the moving of . clocks
pendulum, may We perceive that the true value
of our lives rests in the influences We leave
after us. In that conviction may we be strength
ened in our individual efforts TO promote peace,
love and brotherhood among all Thy children.
"And may the words Of our mouths and Thy
meditations of our hearts be acceptable in the
presence, oh God-our Rock anu our Eedesmer."
Amen.
Mr.. Cohen's effort was a mastery one,
and was delivered with . moving elo-
quence His pious fervor made deep i'm
preston on those present, the solemn per-
Grafton producing a marked effect. Not
outstanding the solennity of the occa-
sion there was disposition TO applaud,
which the speaker earnestly repressed.