The San Francisco call., 1896-12-21
RABBI A|ETO
At PALO ALTO
Talks to Students in the
Stanford University
Chapel.
Universal Charity the Theme
of a Plea to Men Of All
Creeds.
Welcomes the Growth of a Spirit of
Tolerance in the Churches of
To-Day.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CAL, Dec.
20.-At the invitation of the faculty of
Stanford University Rabbi Jacob Nieto
addressed the students this morning. He
took as the subject of his address uni
versal Charity" The following is synop-
sis of his remarks:
This world OF ours, old as 1t is, has never
witnessed the realization of Its ideals, nor ex-
perienced the consummatfon OF its hope in an
IDEAL To assume the contrary would stigma
ii our efforts, feeble our thoughts, unprogres-
siye, our ambitions defnable, our aspirations
limited; in short to human thought as stag
nant pool, a veritable quagmire of decaying
and decayed brain matter. But humanity is
a vast ocean of life in which myr1ads OF stru%-
Cling organisms are constantly germlnating
and reproducing newer and better. IDEAS
Growth, continuous and never ending is the
law of this universe, and that " hich is true
of the universe at large is true OF man or any
portion or junction of his organism. Even as
from the clashing of the waves of ocean new
forms of life are produced so from out the
conflict of human emotions there emerge at
all times pure and ha1lowed thoughts destined
for eternal life through the new ideals born OF
them.
The color and texture of the petals Of
flower greatly depend upon the nature OF the
soil that nourishes the tree and upon climatic
environment. So the quality of mans
thoughts--the flowers OF his intellect-are reg
ulated in great measure by the nature OF his
education and his environment. l say, In
great measure, for even as you cannot make
the rose tree bear corn SO Is It impossible to
expect a brain to accomplish work that its
structure does not permit. BY all means
known TO him the gardener strives to produce
q perfect flower, the stockraiser perfect
horse and idealists have sought efficient and
effective means to produce perfect human
being. But the experience of the horse
breeder has demonstrated that there has been
always room for improvement in the best spe-
cimens that he has obtained. The experience
of man has shown that the human mind has
never yet conceived an ideal but that it has
occurred that after man has begun to arrange
the actions of his life in conformity to the
IDEAL YET further and more perfectly deyel-
oped form of his ideal has arisen.
The ideal of "Universal Charity" like all
other ideals, was in its germ state rud1mentary
in outline and form, its moving power feeble,
its awakening force weak. Egoistic in its
first inception, following the rule OF universal
law it became at length altruistic. Starting
in the hopes and desires of the individual, 1t
became quickly National and then by the
gradual processes of development, universal.
Offspring OF emotions and sentiments the
reverse of itself, like all germs it was forced
to struggle for existence dependent upon that
strength which it had derived from its parent
thoughts. Liberty in its embryo state is the
offspring OF two desires-freedom from
oppression and vengeance on the oppressor.
No sooner has the yoke been thrown OF, how
ever, than that desire receives a new and
hallowed impetus. The dreams of retaliation
which in the cold darkness of despair seemed
bright and warm, become despicable and
loathsome, and the justice of taking vengeance
upon the enemy darkens into a lurid picture
of barbaric cruelty. Inhuman conduct has
been the germ of all humane laws and cher
ished plans of contemplated revenge have
melted into ethical principles. The odlous-
ness of repaying their oppressors in kind has
impressed itself upon the minds of liberated
peoples, and souls that hungered for revenge
yearned to share their heavenly lot with less
favored races. Convinced ry comparison of
the con ntradictoriness of their vicious intent
and the lofty principles they had striven to
vindicate, they had transformed themselves
from demons of revenge into angels of mercy.
That the world to-day eherishes this, the lof-
tiest and noblest of ideals, is The greatest as
surance of the growth of intelligence that ex-
lists. All other ideals are comprised in 1t and
the practice of the virtues necessary to its
operation. 1t is a religion in itself
all religions and ethical teaching taken
together. Tolerant of all and oppress-
ing none, justice to all without envy or
the armored soldiers of the medieval church
may, through the terror of their warlike ap-
pearance, have forced upon people creeds
that were odious. The bristling front of
equipped armies may have compelled the ac-
ceptance of comfortless dogmas, but the pious
and gentler aspect of universal charity" at
tracts while it strengthens and infuses hope
and courage into respondent hearts.
The history of the development of human
thought and conduct-of the growth of ideals
the thoughtful student may readily discover
in the Bible. Unfortunately for humanity at
large nearly all the sects that have adopted
the Bible as the basis of their religious and
moral teachings have considered a collection
of books more sacred than human life and
happiness. Their 1nsistence upon the unal-
terability OF its enactions have tended to de-
feat the end for which they assert man was
created. Man has been asked to unreservedly
accept all the statements contained therein as
Qn10a
under the altered conditions of to-day by the
law OF 1000 years ago. BY this action they
have defined and limited the wisdom and
power of the Infinite and held in bondage hu-
man minds. Judaism accepts no such lin.
itatton. The scope of the operation OF any
law must be regulated in accordance with the
the Talmud, Everything according to the
needs OF the times"
In the minds of those rough and ready
philosophers, "Man created in the image of
God whose wisdom has no limit must neces.
sarily as to his mind res emble his maker"
He must be possessed of an elasticity OF
thought, power tor comprehending all
things. Even as in the progress of his bodily
growth his form changes, so in the expansion
of his mind must his thoughts undergo a
change.
Tolerance of adverse opinions or conflicting
religious ideas betokens state of magnani-
nifty hardly to be expected of the early
centuries OF the present era. How much the
less would we expect ideal tolerance of men
who lived over 1000 years ago. Yet, this
growth OF the spirit OF tolerance is to be found
in the Bible. Jehovah, the God of Abraham
the individual, becomes through Moses the
God of Israel the nation, and through the
breadth of mind of the second Isaiah the God
of all the earth-the universal God. The father
and protector of Adam becomes the father of
the frst-born Israel, and through Malachi the
father of all mankind.
All children do not adopt the same mode of
greeting their parents, and SO men should be
permitted to approach their father in heaven
as their natures prompted them.