Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-25
THE AMERICAN JEW.
Proud of Their National Name and
Of Their Country.
TIE PRESENT And FUTURE OF THERACE
An Address Last Evening by Rev.
Henry Birke,witz of Philadelphia.
THE RABBIS' CHOOLS

Rev. Henry Birkewitz of Philadelphia
lectured last night at the Eighth Street
Synagogue on THE Task of the American
Jew" Mr.. Krauskoff of Philadelphia was
| to have spoken, but being i'll, his place was
taken by Mr.. Birkewitz He was intro
duced by President Lyons. The lecturer
said that the audience had his sympathy
| in it's disappointment, but he would ame
iorate it's regret by bringing news that Mr..
Krauskoff was better. In leading up to the
| consideration of the important question he
| called attention to the awakening of the
| American Jew to consciousness of him
self The Jews had been segregated in
colonies according to nationality. They had
| gathered together by reason of national
| affinity. They had coalesced for charitable.
social and religious purposes. In the cities
| they had been especially divided. There
were German Jews, Polish Jews, Portu-
guese Jews. &c. But he thought they were
| fast breaking away from these lines. All
| appearances indicated this. The stress of
| life forcing this fusion, and in the
| new south and the new west the lines had
| well nigh been obliterated. American Jews,
| who had adopted this land as their land,
had outgrown petty Ideas of narrow and
so-called patriotism and had outlived petty
| restriction. They had disentangled them
| selves from the maze of petty conceits
which had bound them for long. English
was their mother tongue. They had as
Simulated the customs of this land and had
been imbued with the thought life of the
| new world. They were part of the indus
trial, social and economic life Of the coun-
try.
| Proud to BE Americans.
II there was one thing of which they
were prouder than another, 1t was that
they were full of Americanism. This had
been attested by the long, faithful and sim
| cere fealty to the laws of the land by the
Jews in every state, village and hamlet
They not only had all the externalities Of
manner, speech, SC, but they had the
principle. Americansm was not an exter-
nality. but principle. Liberty had cele-
| brated an immortal victory. Looking back
over the whole great career of the Jews
| a religious people. he said that they had
been the witnesses of the trials and tribu-
lationS of the world and now stood looking
at the results of victory. To have outlived
| the persecution of petty princes and petty
principalities was Israels reward. Under
all the trials of his career, Israel had never
faltered. In our days liberty had come
| and, like a footsore and weary Patriarch
the Israelite comes to find himself reborn
| an American" The term American Jew
had a grander meaning and a higher sig
| nihcance than ever American character
was the result of a conflict of civilization
of many modes of life. and the American
| character was a profoundly religious one.
He drew well-detined line between the
sacred and profane, but his reverence for
| sacred things was great.
| Judaism of the Future.
| Mr.. Birkewitz spoke of the Judaism Of the
future as 1.-The religion which offered the
| greatest inspiration. happiness and hope"
| He believed in pushing forward The past
had his updying reverence He did not be-
| lieve in cutting off from it, as that would
| be race suicide, and would be throwing
| away the best gems in the spiritual express
| sion of human life. However. the present
| was our field of action. They were TO lead on
| in the twentieth century, and all the prob
| lens which were now agitating our civiliza-
| ton would find their solution according to
| the eternal principles of right as laid down
| in those old scriptures of Israel. The
American Jew has a task. 1t Is a vast re-
| sponsibility. They should not live alone.
| but should live for those ideas for which the
name of Jew Is a synonym.
Mr.. Birkewitz then said he would drop
| from the cloudland of idealism to the cold
plain of realism. What is the task of the
American Jew? How much do your chill
dren know of the great and glorious past
| of their race? They would bring the
blush of shame to our cheeks by their stam-
mering and faltering inability to respond.
The lecturer said that it was dense ignor-
| ance which was responsible for the preju-
| dice of the world at large against the Jew,
and where 1t was not due to ignorance 1t
was the result of rank malice. He advised
| his people to be honest with themselves, and
not to let their synagogues beg for attend
| ance. Many of the Jewish organizations
walton of the race could not be brought
about by balls and parties or by an occa-
| sional lecture. The Jew was caricatured in
print and on the stage, by every comic
paper and by the press in general and by
| the whole literature of the age. This show
ed that the world still ranked with the lie
| that the Jew of today was responsible for
| the crucifixtion of Christ, the founder of the
Christian religion. The spirit of American
| fair play must be appealed to, and they
| must demand to be judged individuals
| and rot as whole. This could not be done
by an occasional lecture sermon.
The Work of Education.
Preachers were mere talking machines
and their results were not commensurate
| with their patience and industry. You
could neither lecture nor legislate man
| into religion. 1t could only be done by ed
ucation. The task of the American Jew
| was teaching task. At present the re-
| ligious schools were merely tolerated and
were looked on as nuisance that must be
put up with. The child had to be driven to
one of them, and when he got there, true
to his home training. he proceeded to man.
ifest the greatest contempt for the rabbis
and the rules. In many cases the child left
his manners at home. The sentiment of the
home seemed to the speaker to be against
the school. They mad been toying with re-
form when they had been recaSting PRAYER
books and ceremonials. Reform did not
mean destruction of anything, but reach
ing down into the vital principle and re-
newal of the thing. They wanted more gem
uine reforms than they had had. He would
cast no aSpersionS on the generations pass
ed. They had performed their duty, and
had his gratitude. The task of the present
generation was an educational one, and
should begin with a reform of the school
life. 1t was a mistake to think that the ed
ucation of the person was complete when
confirmation had been passed. The work of
the mind had but then begun. The lecturer
then closed with a strong plea for Jewish
support for the Chautauqua course.
Gen. Grants TeleGrnpher Burned to
Death.