The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1915-02-06
RABBI HELLER
ON PROHIBITION.
tRepubllshed by request.l


a large and appreciative congre
I cation Friday evening of las
week at Temple Sinai in New Or
leans on the subject: "Prohibitiol
in the Light Of Judaism"
DR.. Heller said in part that
"The battle for and against pro
| hibition is raging fierceiy in ou
days; prohibition has been sc0g
ing victory after victory, until i
seems within sight of securing
complete domination over this
country.
"The saloon has been a stencil
in the nostrils OF our public and
private life. 1t Is, to say the
least, one of the taproots of vice
and crime; it poisOns our politics,
it ruins thousands OF the most
promising careers, It fosters the
social wee, 1t desolates uncounted
homes. Beyond most other men
the tragedies of lntemperance, the
devastatlons of drink are brought
home to the minister whose heart
must ache with the many gener.
ous, gifted, aspiring souls that are
wrecked in the maelstrom of alec
hollc frenzy. Under these condi.
tiOns, how can one help sympa.
thiziDg with the men who are
swept from their moorings of ex
perlence and sober sense by their
honest indignation al the whole.
sale destruction of homes and
souls? How can one approve OF
the short-sighted, cold hearted
policy of those who, in their greed
for profit, have been 50 backward
in rendering aid for the control
OF the drInk-ev
elm controversy where all the
moral forces, where deIestation of
vice, compassion for the weak.
sympathy with innocent suffering
seems arrayed on one side, while
on the other side there are the
moDeyed hosts of selfish greed, in
such controversy it requires mo
raj courage Of high order to es
pouse the apparently baser side;
and yet, there are intoxlcations of
passions. 100, the headinesses of
partisanship, which rush the best
meaning of men along in food
tides Of error and injustice.
"Our ancient national literature,
the Bible, the book that is written
with our peoples heart blood, as
well as out of mysterious iDspira
tions from the worlds Guide
above, this book is as sanely lofty
regarding the duty of temperance,
as it is in dealing with all other
problems of human conduct In
not one single passage does it
speak of fermented drink as
poison, as an unmitigated curse
that must be totally eliminated
from the life of the virtuous man
Prophet and Proverbist warn
against the drunkard; strong dis
implicit or open, is pro-
nonnced, whether upon the weak
Noah or the greedy Nabal, the
cruel Ben Hadad or the proud
Ahasver, when they become timer.
~ with wine''; the pbophet Rosea
recognizes clearly the intimate
between drunkenness
and every other voice. The priest,
when on sacred duty, is eDjoiDed
to abstain from drink; for the vir
Tue of total abstinence as practic
I'd by Nazarltes and Rechabites,
Dur sacred writer's entertain the
highest regard.
"Yet, as regards the ordinary
life, any unbiased reader OF Sa.
cred Writ cannot close his eyes to
The fact that, to the. ancient He
brew, wine, fermented wine, rank
ad high among the joys and b0oDs
Of existence. | say. fermented
wine against the absurd conten.
tions Of those who would wrench
the Bible word out of it's plain
and unmistakable meaning, as if
It's praise we're meant for grape.
juice and its condemnation for
wine. To the Palmist vine ranks
with bread and oil as a food that
rejolces the heart of man; the |
prophet Zacahariah sees no harm
in the new wine gladdening the
the same writer of Pro |
verbs who paints so wildly the
horrors of drunkenness, commends
wine, in another PASSAGE as an
antidote to the wretchedDess of
poverty and grief; the Bible has
40 more favorite symbols, even for
divine Providence, than the vine |
rard the.wine press, the cup the
nonse of Israel is the Lords vine-
yard; Gods Judgment is his wine.
press; the divine dispeDsaflons T
are His vintage; God himself is
my cnp;" life figures at the ''cup
If the Lord,n of sthc Lords right
1and" which aTunneth Over,o
sup which may be "cup of saliva
,ion," of .scons0lation" OF Of I