Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-19
Ancients Were Without Hope.

The ancients did not know such hope,
with their fatalism. their dream of a
golden age in the long ago. whose hap
piness and glory. because of the wrath of
their whimsical gods, they could never
more regain.
1T was the hopeful spirit Of Israel's
prophets that set at naught such per-
nICtOus doctrines, pTOClaiming one spirit
ual God as the just righteous and mr.
Cifu! ruler of the earth. and man the child
of God. free to go from strength to
strength. from darkness to light. Not
backward. they declared should mankind
gaze in vain regret. Onward leads the
way toward happy goal. to be attained
by obedience to Gods law, pure thinking
and noble doing. In the eve there shall
ne light God. justice, civilization will
triumph in the end.
1T is this spirit of hopefulness that
Israel has bequeathed to humanity; and
in and through the spirit we ourselves
have lived and endured throughout the
ages.
without this hopefulness that proved
undying, without this magnificent Op-
timism that asserted itself. aSain and
again. when the outlook seemed darkest;
without this childlike faith that could
pray in hopeful resignation, at the very
moment when the monster of persecution
perpetrated its most fendish and das
tardly deeds tell me, friends, what would
have become of the Jew in every cline
and age?
4
good cheer today because ii is needed in
age that. while justly boasting of its
light and progress. its achievements and
triumphS has also its dark sides and Seri-
problems. | bring it to you because
there prophets of evil who predict the
eventual assimilation of the Jew. the grad
ual deCadence and death Of Jewish life and
practice. They forget or do not know that
however many Jews may prove faithless
however many weddings may fall by the
waysidc. Judaism is deathess Judaism
with its sublime ideals that even today are
far from being realized. with its message
OF universal peace and brotherhood through
Justice and righteousness, with its eternal
verities that are basic to the very life and
existence Of society
''They forget or do not know that Juda-
ism, time and again. has safely passed
through many dark crisis and faced cOndi-
lions equally as serious as any that may
confront US now. Even our prophets of
old had ample occasion to denOunCe the
sinful, materialiStiC tendencies of their CO.
religionists. Yet they never wavered in
their hope for a happy future. Ancient
and medieval Jewish literature records in
not few instances. the waning OF the re-
ligious spirit. Yet centuries rolled by and
Judaism and the Jew emerged safely de-
spite continued persecution from without
and untoward conditions within. ready and
willing to perform their God appointed
mission in the service Of religion and hu-
manity,
Coming nearer home. let me say to you
that thirty-ive years ago we heard the
same fears expressed as we occasionally
here and elsewhere. dealt with the same
religious problems and attempted to correct
the same evils and shortcomings that per-
pick us now. Yet each recurring year
marked a distinct advance in our congre-
gational life, spiritually and materially,
thanks to that healthful religious under
current. called Jewish self-consciousness
flowing on necessarily, despite any DIS
turbances on the surface; thanks to the
devotion of scores of good men and women
In our midst: thanks to the enthusiasm of
intrepid leaders. still with us today or gone
to their reward And among the latter as
closely and more or less prominently iden-
titled with our congregation. / cannot but
lovingly remember in this solemn memorial
hour the names of Henry King Henry
Wolf and Max Goldsmith. of blessed mem
oryi
"A generation and more has come and
gone, with its successes and failures its
varied conditions. neither wholly light nor
darkness. fet year alter year. on this Sab
bath of Sabbaths came to you the same
sweet message. In the eve there shall be
light! Judaism lives: it cannot die! And
We who cleave unto the Lord your God We
are alive, all Of you. this day Yes alive
IN your hopes. strengthened by a mighty
awakening of the Jewish spirit all over the
land; alive, | trust. TO your duties TO the
necessity on the part of every one to strive
10 equal nay. excel. your neighbOrs in
moral life and conduct: alive to the solemn
responsibilities in the great constructive
work before us.
The elders. one by one, are passing
away The future OF Judaism rests with
the young Prepare yourselves for the
TASK. O sons and daughters of Israel so
tnat when the evening sun OF your elders
ilfe sinks low their last moments may be
bright with the sweet assurance that their
sacred legaCies safe in their children's
keeping