The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1908-05-10

the Ghetto Imprisonment. Now &
sound the slogan Of Hebrew nationality
and TO insist that Palestine alone can b
our home-there only is the possibility To-
Jewish development and lifs-is not onl!
70 justify the Ghetto regime, nay als'
to invite # again.
! We are told, too. about the atheistle, tbs
| agnostic, the nonobseTvant the ortho-
| dox, and Reform Jew, having no COM
! mon religious bond and standing TO
| gether only because Of the common blood
flowing in their veins This is dOubly
! false. There is no adjective that can dis
| tineuish Jew from Jew. The agnostiC
and atheistic Jew is a contradiction Ia
| terms. The American and the Jew must
| be God-intoxieated No man viewing
the unmeasured extent and richness OF
our country's unlimited resources and
Spiritual hegemOny can be true citizen
without reverently bowling before the In
disputable evidence OF a Divine PTovi-
dence therein contained. To deny or
doubt the existence of God of itself ex-
cludes one from the fold Of Judaism.
II am the Lord thy God who brought
thee out of the land of Egypt is the
first word of the divine revelation TO
Israel. Sh'ma Jisrael Hear, o Israel
the Lord thy God. the Lord is one, is
the watchward that has been and must
DO uttered by every Jew. Not a common
blood but an uncommon, lofty. never
relinquished ideal is the unifying influ-
ence that binds Jew to Jew. Not because
the same blood flows in his veins as in
mine but because he lives and tolls and
suffers for the ideal which is hallowed by
the conservation Of our ancestors and is
the inspiration of my life. does my heart
bleed for the devoted victim OF Russian
ant-Semitlsm.
There again is the wonderful parallel
between the American and the Jew.
There is no such thing as American
blood. Our citizenship is recruited from
all nations and races He who came but
recently from the Old World, but has
made HIS home here. assimilating the at
mosphere. traditions. and ideals of Amer
lea, is as truly American as the descend
ant of the Continental soldier. There is
no tie of blood, but fusion OF spirit and
ideals. This is the potency of American
solidarity; this the effectiveness of jew
ish unity
Finally We hear the agOnizing wall of
hopeless dependency, bearing the sad
tidings that not only is the Old World
closed to the refugee from Russian bar
barism. but our own land is about TO
close its doors, pointing to the late Dill
lingham- Gardner bin as proof Many of
you before me perhaps recall how IL was
on the eve Of the passage of this bill
when American Israel awakened to the
fact that il would unfortunately bear
most heavily on the refugees from OTien-
tai religious persecution that kilograms
of protest poured in from Jewish organi-
cations in every section of the country
The bill was lost This was a double
tribute to the American sense Of fairness
and to the character of the jew Tn
willing 10 go counter to the time honored
tradition that our land should be a har-
Dor and haven for all victims OF persecu-
ton, recognizing that the Jew always
has been a most desirable citizen, and is
both willing and able 20 care for his
needy, Congress needed our cry. men
ace, this? An assurance rather that as
long as America endures and American
ism lives the Jew need have no fear.
The crOwding of thousands into our sea
port cities. growing till it is fast beCOm-
ing a fostering sore, is indeed a menace.
Il Is this that invites the use OF the sur
geon's knife in the shape Of restrictive
immigration laws. IF as wise physicians
we treat the disease, recognizing that
If the congestion is scattered and the ele-
ments diffused through the system. and
full, free circulation maintained. perfect
health follows. surgery will be unneces-
sary. This is the problem We have 10
solve Vast and intricate but no more
difficult or impossible than many q knotty
question Israel has answered In the past.
II We solve this distribution problem
rightly, there is room and opportunity.
aye, we may also add, need here in Amer
lea for all the millions of Israel
Thus. in briefest. barest outline have l
striven to place before you the thought
OF America and its possibilities for the
Jew" In conclusion. let me add that our
organization can and should vastly help in
indicating, and, 10 a large degree. realiz-
ing these possibilities. Every community
should have a B. B. lodge. composed of
the entire Jewish constituency. Not as
an opposition movement, but as an aid
and complement to the synagogue I am
firmly convinced of the truth so iorcibly
expressed by a former president Of the
G. c. a. r. and indorsed by that body,
that Religion is the tie which unites the
Jew, and the synagogue Is the unit of it's
expression In thirteen years of active
work in the interests of our order |
have invariably found that wherever a
B. B. lodge was organized or existed. the
synagogue gained in strength. Engaged
In our synagogaI activities. we are ike the
artist painting picture. Those standing
apart and behind can better observe the
Effects Of proportion, light and shade.
This is the province of our lodge Let us
'eturn 70 our homes determined 10 bring
)uT brethren into our ranks. there to
teach them the blessings of our beloved
country and awaken them TO its posi-
Dilities for the Jew. Gcd forbid that by
nsistence on the separate ethnic char
gcter of Israel and the necessity of a re- |
urn to Palestine we should re-enact the !
tragedy Of Moses dying on the threshold |
II the promised land.
May our consideration tonight reveal /
he glorious truth that America is the /
Promised land-Washington the New Je- |