The Denver Jewish news., 1919-12-24


within the radius of his loving in
fluence. They will treasure the mem
cry Of his friendship. we gratefully
recall his rare gifts of heart and mind,
mis- wisdom, his learning, his intense
love for Judaism. his slowing enthusi-
asm over the greatness of his people,
his literature. his deep reverence, his
fine, lofty idcafism, his saintliness, his
spirituality. Nor will we ever forget
his sparkling wit, his abundant good
humor, his deep human sympathy, his
broad tolerance, infinite patience, and
even his '.sneaking fondpess for min
eral water" and for the reading Of
novels, good and bad. His good nature
bubbled over at all times even when
he talked of the most weighty mat
.ers. His brilliant sallies, the flashes
of humor with which he illumined his
DISCOURSE. be the subject never so abb
struse, made his lectures in the class
room an endless delight. In the words
of Jacobs: "Schechter made Jewish
theology human"
Perhaps the most beautiful, the most
compelling trait of his character, the
fairest strand in all his splendid make
up, was his humanitarianism. His. love
and sympathy could be appreciated by
all. Even the plain man could under
stand what noble heart beat in Solo
mon Schechter. His love Of human
kind was. doubtless responsible for his
fine and broad tolerance. He evident
ly, believed with the Scotch poet: "A
man is a man for a that and a that"
Hence he had no patience with the
distinctions that men make, the bar
riers they throw up to keep brethren
asunder.
The founding of the United Syna-
COG was largely an attempt to, undo
tile evil of division artificially created
by men who are fond of party labels
and party standards. Schechter was
no partisan. Like the other great
teachers who. influenced the life of
Philadelphia Jewry, Isaac Leeser and
SabatO Morals, he preferred to be
Known as a Jew, pure and simple. He
aspired to be the cOnciliator. of the
various parties in Jewry. He was
quick to preceive that the chief dan
ger to Judaism lay in lack of unity
and solidarity. ''The ultimate goal at
which we are aiming he wrote in
his preface to his last book Seminary
Addresses" lis union and peace, in
/ A r,t.a ,;.,l,
| | am thinking is not one of mere or
eanization-the union we are in need
of is one of principle. and the rccog-
milton Of vital facts decisive in our
past and Indispensable for our safety
in the future, by which alone Israel
can hope for name and remainder
upon the earth. The longer 1 live
in this country the more 1 am con-
vinced that it is only such thOro
and hearty union which will enable us
to deal with the great problems, spir-
itual and otherwise, confronting us.
Parties come and parties go, but the
word of our God shall stand forever.
And so shall Israel"
l
about that truly great man, that with
his vast book learning and knowledge
Of men and affairs he combined II
clear sense of the practical. He was
not merely the mystic, tho there was
much of the mystic in his spiritual
makeup. He grasped practical situa-
lions and championed practical issues.
BY creating the United Synagog he
was the. master-builder of Israel's
unity. What Isaac NJ. Wise did for
Solomon Schechter undertook to do for
the Orthodox and Conservative forces
in Israel--a task far more difficult.
1hd beginnings he laid down. He did
it wisely, with statesmanlike far-sght-
cdness, The platform. of the. United
Synagog is based on traditional Juda-
ism, and is broad enough to embrace
all who are in essential agreement
with our faith, as 1t developed his
torically in Bible and Talmud.
The progress of the United Syna-
cog has borne out the wisdom of the
founder. From small, weak organi-
zation of some thirteen congregations
it has, in the seven years of its exist
ence, grown into u body of 100 CON
gregations in, the United States and
/ Canada, Woman's League comprising
about eighty affiliated s1sterhOods, sew
eral branch organizations in the larg-t
er cities of the Union, besides num-
her of individual members, rnbbis. pro-
fessors in Jewish institutions of high
or learning, and others. The COM
iuunities to which the message of the.
United Synagog is brought eagerly