The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-10-01

ing, have chosen to identify yourself
with the house Of Israel; that indeed
spiritual ease and inertia not TO speak
OF manifold material and social ad-
vantagcs, would accrue to you = { you
forsook this house and severed yourself
from the brothcrhood--tlint It Is easier
and pleasantier by far to so with the
majority: that. although knowing his
full we'll realizing that from q worldly lls
you choose this day to enter boldly the
house Of Israel's God, to renew here
your pledge of loyalty and Of love TO
Him, to acknowledge His sovereign
power, His grace and His mercy, to as
sumo anew, for another year, charge of
that banner of truth and knowledge
TIM is 1srael's glory and 1usti-
ication on the pages OF the
worlds history. Do you ever try to an
alyze this feeling. to get at the causes
that underllc this Jewish consciousness,
10 answer the question why am Z a
Jew?'' 5 III
Let me attempt to answer for YOU,
that in the year that Is coming there
may he with Won a definite conception
of the high IDEAL by which your life
should be guided.
There arc four reasons, out Of many.
which J will give to you, The first IS the
bond of blood, the tie Of tradition. Of
early training and of ENVIRONMENT am
my fathers child, and mytfaith drew
mat my mothers breast, LIE holds Tor
lis few dearer things than the sainted
memory of beloved parents. me sons
which a loving fat her and mother teach
to n child during the tender Years Of
childhood are impressed lndellbly7 upon
the tablets of the heart. Though the
finger Of love isf5as sofas the velvet
nap OF the rose leaf. and Its pressure
as light as the gossnmer OF dreams yet
tho trace that It leaves on the white
pages Of the child mind remains
through the years. The yoice4of loves
doctrines may be as low as the whisper
OF the summer zephyr to tho nodding
blades OF the dew-gemmed grass. yet its
echoes linger In the soul when childhood
has long ceased to be, and tho dear
voice that spako sshushed In the endless
silence of the grave RELIGION Is deeply
bedded in sentiment, and there Is no
more beautlful,.no better fonnda ton for
the structure Of faith than the fact that
when the little feet took their, first
hating steps upon lifc's highway, The
mind and heart were guided under
parental direction to seek and acknoWl-
edge the source or all life
y 1T mans relations with God can bo
made tho more sacred by extraneousS cir
cumstance--it is 30 done by the fact
thnt the man first saw his God through
the eyes of his parents This Is true OF
every faith,8lt applies to the Pagitn, the
Mohammcdan, the buddhist md the
Christian. rs we'll ms to the Jew. Tie
Is my God and ] will declare Ills praise
the God of my father and I will exalt.
Him" Tho sloYe-shincd memory of par
ents Is the ark, wherein rests tile seed
of faith, md the path wherein children
follow In the footsteps of their parents
is one 1,ordcred with radiant-hued flow
ers. whose color and whose frasrance
are among the loyeliest and ost precious
treasures of existence. t,5f
5sB Accidental Element.
But as beautiful and sanctined as y
this beginning Of religious afilliatlon, u
is after all but an accidental clement,
and were II To be the only cause, then
were religion weak indeed, But In Judrl
aism this accidental element is y made
essential through the processes OF rea-.
son and reflection. All your after life
and experience prove that he basic prini
tciples which yolT father gave yon were
correct. Yon realize in your own life
that what yourifaiher taught Is true, and
the path on which he$led you Is the
Fight one. Your reason 50 ~ ms IL nAS