San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-02-07
"A JEWISH MAYOR
Lecture Delivered By Rabbi Elkin At
The Temple Friday Night.

Ell CONGREGATION last Friday evening
delivered the following forceful lecture
on the burning question of the hour:
We want our lady friends to decide
as to the truth of the following joke
which appeared a short time ago in
one of our papers. 1t read that if a
lover calls his beloved cat she will
feel complimented and the lover will
feel for many an hour the ecstacy of a
loving glance bestowed on him. But
hell itself has furies not to be compar-
ed to those of the elderly woman call
ed by that name which to the young
maiden has brought a rush of happi-
ness. Therefore it all depends whom
you call cat"
The same uncertainty and iubiquity
inheres to that word Jew" Suppose
the word was used in conversation
with a rich and prosperous Jew. The
latter would flatter himself that the
word was being used with that same
meaning with which one would pro-
nounce the name of the most prOmin-
ent figure and character of the new
Testament, not to say anything of the
characters of the Old Testament. But
suppose the word is used in cOnversa-
ton with a poor Jew. The latter
would naturally call up the meaning
of that word as he knows it from the
prosecutions which have driven him to
seek a refuge in this land of the free
and the home of the brave. Or if ac-
quainted enough with the refinements
of our modern civilization, he might
cOniure up in his mind that meaning
of the word jew" which our latest
dictionaries give to the verb, namely,
''tO OVerreach, to cheat. as in the SEN
tenCe to jew one out of a dollar In
.----'n w. - y Di+ia b1a
condition. Take for instance, myself.
Now l am not rich, neither am I exact
ly poor. When the word Jew" is
used in my presence, it is necessary for
me to know the person before | can
get at the meaning of the word. The
speaker may be sarcastic and | may
,-rti~'ietir enough to suppose he is
employing the word in an intelligent
way. In such a conversation I call
up to mind the names of the men who
have made religion for the world. Who
will blame me if the names come up
which are spoken with reverence from
the pulpit of the Jewish, Christian and
Mohammedan churches? What would
the churches of the world do without
the psalms of David and is not the
wisdom of Solomon current among the
proverbs of all nations? Has not
Renan told us that the prophets of Is
rael are the "soul-life" for all ages?
And did not preacher of this city
take a text from the Jewish prophet,
uahhakuk, to call attention to the
thought that a city falls through I'M
righteousness? Truly, wonderful is
the Jews" book when preachers of
modern times call attention to the
e Lat H1x he
consequences thereof by reference to
the destrution of Jerusalem by the po-
tentate of all Asia, Nebuchadnezzar,
whose ambition it was to make his
name a terror to the inhabitants of the
NileI
Remembering then what some Jews
have done for the whole world, we do
not consider ourselves selfish when we
hold out the proposition that the world
can very well pass by the other mean
ings attached to the word, and this
very justly. Remember that some of
our faults are not altogether of our
own making. You say to me, your" Cross
the creek" Jew has peculiar ways and
manners. True! But his peculiari-
ties should be reminders to you of
those refinements which the most
Christian king" of Russia practices
toward his Jewish subjects. But more
than, likely this very Jew, whose vote
is supposed to be corralled because a
Jew happens to run for mayor, Will
some day be owning his own business
and then he will have the right to
think of his name in terms which his
tory has placed side by side with
Moses and an Isaiah!
Now we hold that in consideration
Of the services rendered by Judaism
and further because some OF our faults
are not due to our own making, the
name is worthy of use far different
than that which is given to it when a
Jew happens to run for mayor in a
CITY. not ten thousand miles away from
us. We will not specify nor it there
any need. We will say that there is
little delicacy, not to use any harSher
word, shown in that stroke of genius
which runs that certain candidate
considers himself the Moses appointed
to lead this city out of the slum pinto
which it is correctly or incorrectly,
supposed to have fallen. Again there
is not much gray matter of the brain
used up in the thought that the cross
| the creek" Jewish vote is COrralled and
safe for a certain candidate.
Do my fellow citizens of San Anto-
Mo know that the Jewish vote of San
Antonio is a myth born inthe minds of
envy and jealousy? Has not the call
! for another candidate, non-Jew, been
| signed by some Jewish names? And
1 think this is eminently correct. We
| do not vote as Jews but as Americans.
But because we are Jews and worship
| the God who made the heavens and the
| earth, therefore do we the more believe
in the liberty and freedom of our
American citizenship. The Ten Com
| mandments written above this and the
constitution stand in very close
relationship. And the more will we
vote as Americans when Moses and
Washington are the center around
which revolves the most precious pos.
sessions of mankind, God, humanity
and liberty.
This last fact known to you all |:
enough to show you what is not ouI
purpose in speaking to you this even
ing in favor of any candidate. I be
lieve that all of you can read and thu
platform, the promises and the records
of the three candidates are before you
And you have shown that you will