The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-07

Israel" and Rabbi Pizer Jacobs of Hunts- Vile went to the pulpit and began hts remarks which constituted the principal address of the occasion.
 Rabbi Jacobs found his text in Micah iv .And it shall come to pass in the last days. that the mountain of the house Of | God shall be established in the top Of | the mountains and shall be exalted above | the hills, and people shall flow into 1t and many nations will come and say: Come ye let us go up to the mountain of the | Lord to the house of the God of Jacob. and he will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths; and they shall. beat I their swords into plough shares and their spears into pruning hooks, verify all the nations walk every one in the name of | his God, and we shall walk in the name of the Lord our God forever" etc, etc. | Lessons from the Prophet Micha. | Beautiful and inspiring are these words of the prophet Micah, said Rabbi Ja- cobs. The prophet pictures to us time when the God of Israel shall be exalted on earth, when there shall be one God and one way for all men and peace shall reign supreme. To bring peace on earth | Rome gave the world the institution or law; Greece the art of painting ana | sculpture; Judea the gift of Goo, re- | ligfon. And what a gift Is that. ho" priceless it's blessing It makes life com plete and our memory immortal. It gives reason to birth and existence. IL IS | the divine rosary on whose thread IS l strung the priceless beads Of love ana everlasting happiness. Through 1t the soul manifests it's divine creation. and l brings into play those faculties that l make man the noblest work of God
 And it is this gift that has called this beautiful temple into existence, whose conservation we are now celebrating ana ! for which nothing has been spared to render it most fitting and memorable.
 There is a particular thought that ev- | cry consecration of a new house or wor- | ship calls up in the minds of it's adher- ents It reawakens In us our allegiance | to our faith; it recalls to our minds the words of the prophet, 'Verily all the na- tions walk everyone in the name of his God; and we shall walk in the name Of | the Lord, our God, forever and ever | The flame of faith may burn low in our hearts during the expressing vicissitudes of life and in the great absorbing de- | mands made upon our minds in a mate riaiistfc age. But only an occasion is needed and the fiickeriDg light biazes | forth anew in our souls in full splendor and radiance. ~
 And so on the occasion of this dedica- | ton, we feel to renew our allegiance to Judaism and for what should we renew | this allegiance? Is it because of duty | to the past? Is it because we owe our ex- | istence today to our ancestors who have cfung. to their faith even in the face of death, whom nothing could daunt or in-
 timidate, but over whom faithfuihess and trust in God alone held sway? Is it be-
 cause of their steadfast and noble Ad-
 herence to the teachings of their fathers,
 and for the sacrifice made for their cause? Is it then but a sense of grati- tude? That indeed were noble. as d son l would cling to the teachings of his moth- | CT in later days because she gave him
 life and reared him and because she was | simply mother.
 But there is something more than a
 mere sense of duty and gratitude for
 which we should renew our allegiance
 to our faith. Is it because of the intrinsic l value of Judaism itself as religion and
 because of its teachings? What does Ju-
 daism teach? Judaism teaches a univer-
 sal religion: that God is the father of all
 and all are equally responsible and wor-
 thy. God knows no distinction of creed
 of this ism or that. The good and the
 true and the upright are equally His
 And how Is 1t that Judaism teaches a
 universal religion? Because Judaism lays
 greater stress on moral principles than
 on religious doctrines it emphasizes the
 ethical sentiments of life above dogma Motive Like Scarlet Cord.
 This Is the motive that runs through
 the prophets writings like a scarlet cord desire kindness not sacrifices' Lei
 justice flow as the waters and righteous
 ness as mighty stream. This is the keynote the founders of Judaism strike
 in all their utterances. To them Judaism
 meant life. kind and just life, service
 service that makes for the good of others
 outside oneselves, kind words that dc
 not take the spirit of life away, but
 stimulate US and make life brighter and
 fuller and worth the living. To them il
 meant duty, the keeping of another's
 life as beautiful and as pure as when
 1t first came into this world, and guard
 ing it on to higher reaches of thought
 and feeling and action; to them 1t meant
 the proper adjustment of ourselves. of
 oun possessions of our pleasures and our
 powers to lives of others.
 And rightly in the scale of morals did
 Judaism lay down justice to be the guid-
 ing principle fin determining our rela-
 tions with our fellowmen. Justice--justice
 tempered by mercy. but not by unjust
 mercy: for mercy, which is not just
 ceases to be virtue; indeed it ceases
 to be moral when its sweetness causes
 bitter remorse to spring up therea fter
 and brings continued harm and injury to
 the giver Mercy Is not itself, that oft
 looks so: pardon is still the nurse of
 second woe we find only too often true.
 Forgiveness Is only noble as long as it
 does not encourage wrongdoing, as long
 as the wrongdoer is not permitted to con
 tinue to the injury of others We show | mercy most when we are just. We show
 mercy to him most who, answering one
 foul wrong lives not to act another
 And it is this lofty conception of jus tice so emphatically taught by Judaism that makes her most tolerant of all other religions Judaism has never interfered
 with the lives and thoughts of other re- ligions. For man is more than his creed. He is above his particular belief
 l Such are the teachings of Judaism. They cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea. They are as broad as hu-
 manity. And for this religion is this
 temple dedicated tonight. Glorious in- deed is the foundation upon which it
 stands Glorious indeed Is the inscrip-
 tion of its cornerstone. Beth Or. the
 House of Light The house of truth of justice and mercy. When laid upon | such a foundation and upon a corner | stone. surely then in later days, many people will go and say, come ye let us
 go up to the mountain of the Lord, to | the house of the God of Jacob. Let then
 Israel walk in the name of the Lord, | their God forever and ever Let the | words of the prophet read this morning l be inscribed on the tablets of Israel 8 heart that shall bind them forever in l allepfaUce unto their God God Snoka