Evening journal., 1907-08-21
ROSENTHAL ON
THE DUTY OF JEWS
Says They Should be Tue
Americans and Upright
Citizens
MAKES PLEA FOR JUSTICE

At the laying Of the corner stone Of
the Synagogue of the Adas Kodesch
congregation on Sunday. the Rev. Isl
dore Rosenthal, OF Lancaster, Pa, who
is a past president of the Improved
Order B'nai Birth, spoke as follows:
Mr.. President of the Adas Kodesch
Congregation, chairman OF the building
committee, members Of the congrega-
ton, ladies and gentlemen:
1T affords me, indeed the greatest
pleasure to be with you on this, prob
ably the most auspicious afternoon
which the Israelites Of the city of Will
mington have ever celebrated II is
an occasion which you will long re-
member, because il is the entering
wedge OF a greater and a larger re-
ligious life for all of you. The prev
ious speaker has referred TO the an
clent Biblical injunction, and thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, with all thy soul, and with all
thy might.
but he has given you an interpre-
tation for the Hebrew word might
which means, with thy money and with
thy strength; and if your subscrip-
tions, which many of you have given
this afternoon is a witness of anything,
IL is that you are prepared at the be-
ginning, through It all and unto the
end to sustain the movement which you
have now begun, and to maintain it
with your hearts, with your souls, and
with your might
Personally, / represent a wing of
Judaism which is not like the one
which you espouse
1T has been called Reformed Juda-
ism while yours has been dubbed
Orthodox Judaism
But ! am willf . to admit that there
is only one Judaism, and that is the
Judaism which worships the God of
Israel who has protected us up until
the present day where we dwell in
contentments in equality. and in safety,
under the stars and stripes, the en-
blem Of freedom, OF the United States
of America.
And, while we say there is only
one Judaism, we say it<h the confident
hope that that Judaism which has been
maintained through blood and through
untold suffering for thousands of years,
is still sufficient for us and for our
children until the crack of doom. Here
in America we ask no more privileges
than the other people, we receive no
more, but we claim the right as human
beings to worship our God as our ideals
Of the heart and soul demand. And
today you are laying a corner stone
in the city of Wilmington as Jews,
which shall mark for you beginning
toward realizing the truths and ambi-
tions Of that sacred religion.
'"rhe mere gift of money toward this
building, though it be cemented in love
and in benehcence, means nothing
compared with what this temple really
stands for, Jew and Judaism.
I'VE have been so long maligned, so
long ridiculed by all the nations of
the world, that it will be a lasting les
SON to the world, If you, many of whom
came from a country where the Jews
have not had the privilege of citizen
ship, prove TO the American Republic
the value and the result of the main
tenance Of the truths of a religion.
Never mind what the other people may
say, never mind how the world may
criticise you, your language, or your
looks, they must admit that the noblest
heritage that they have ever received
are the scriptures of the Hebrews, the
flesh and bone Of the Jewish people
"As such then, we are about to dedi-
cate temple to the God Of Israel. A
temple which of old stood forth for
three things. A house of prayer in the
| first instance, prayer universal, prayer
to God for the good and evil which we
receive from His hands and prayer
as the spontaneous outburst of the soul.
But prayer is not the limit Of any re-
ligious element. Israelites, prayer is
only one means by which mankind
evidences its inferiority to a Being Who
created the world and gave us birth.
The main object of religion is to train
men and women that they shall be true
and honest, pure. benevolent and good /:
and the main object of the Jewish re-
ligion today in this free country of
America is to train up true American
citizens of the Jewish faith who shall
maintain their standards of virtue,
throw the gauntlet down to the world
and say we have a religion which
makes men and our Temple stands for
men and for women with living hearts,
true souls and noble ideals
IT makes no. difference to me what
creed man espouses, what God he
worships, in what form he prays, my
! first question is. What kind of men do
you produce, honest men or dishonest
ones'2 The name of this congregation
| is the Congregation Adas Kodesch, the
! Assembly of the Sanctihed. and the
ASSEMBLY of sancthcation. according to
Hebrew terminology, means sanctihca-
ton in the assembly of the just. Now
let me tell you that all your charity,
all your donations and your benevo-
lence mean absolutely nothing; there
is no word in the Hebrew language for
charity, the word Zedokah means JUS
tice. and let this temple stand for JUS
tice. The world, the working man, the
laborer, do not cry for charity. Men
today ask simply for justice. Let your
corner stone stand for justice. Let the
rivers flow in common with justice
and If the world needs justice, we will
have within our walls equality and
Righteousness, the heritage of all man
kind, and justice. the ideal shall flow
like a mighty stream, alike for rich
and poor. we'll dressed and poorly
dressed, working man and capitalist
equality and justice between all men,
and II the men who join this congre-
cation will work for that particular
ideal, many of the problems confront
ing this country will be removed.
~