The Denver Jewish news., 1919-03-05

liar ideas, mucn more tlulluly express
ed, under the pens of the Greek and
Roman philosophers.
And now, let us revert to the actual
needs. cares and aspirations of mod
ern humanity, and chiefly to those who
have the best right to speak Ill its
name. What has hecn for IL century
the great subject of inquiry. the great
care of modern economists and moral
lists. the great effort of modern in
ternal legislation? 1t has been TO pro
tect the poor and the weak against
overwork and against Insufficient
wages to insure against illness and Old
age: to raise their standard Of life
by better housing better clothing. bet
ter food and better education to put
some limitation to the possibility OF
monopolizing public wealth and necc%
sary commodities in the hands OF n
few powerful tyrants, in other worcs,
an endeavor to effect social justice.
Ever now, in the conference of Paris.
or of Versailles, a special committee
has been appointed to try and estab-
lish certain rules of social Justice ap-
plicable to all civilized nations So
here you have one of the two idea!s
of the prophets that the world is try
ing to carry out, and Isaiah would
be quite in his place il he had Il scat
in that committee of the quai dOrsay
And what is the other object on
which. since about forty years, SO
| much ink has been spent in time of
peace and. alas, during these last four
years of war. 50 much blood split? 1t
| is to try to put an end 10 tina. III
tolerable state of so.called armed
peace" which fatally always leads TO
armed war;" which has Strewn the
world with hatred with havoc. with
misery. with millions of widow and
of orphans, with cities reduced to
ashes. fields turned into stony deserts,
whole populaticps dragged from their
homes into exile. and forced lnbof. as
| In the times of Pileser. Scnna-
cherih and Nebuchatlucssar 1t is also
to organize someh'm and somewhere II
tribunal of nations. II l'ague or society
OF peoples. II lasting and real. not II
sham and prccarious peace, enforced
| by some supreme council and some ct-
| fective police force, so ns to enable the
poor remu inders of mankind to breathe,
to readiust. to rebuild, their shattered
homes. and to mend their scathcd gar
ments. to live, TO work. to thrive and
to love. That is the aim for which
twenty civilized nations are at present
uniting their efforts: that is the great
message that The President of the
United States 'ins proclaimed TO the
world, and that is also the second ar
ticle of faith. the second moral prn-
ciple Of the old prohpcts of Israel.
and here again the prophets Micah and
De,ltero- Isaiah would he entitled to
the Paris Conference.
Ladies' aud gentlemen. l have said
enough to prove that not only there
can be no contradiction, no friction,
whatever between the ideals Of civil
zation and the moral principles Us they
are accepted by modern Europe, ahii
by modern America, and the essence
of Judaism. but that, on the contrary,
those very principles which today
guide humanity. those principles which
dominate and inspire the thought and
action I the lofticst minds in man-
kind, are precisely those which have
lccn proclaimed more than two thml-
sand five hundred years ago by your
spiritual aud bodily ancestors by the
founders of the religion which you
have preserved in its integrity since
those days. Not that 'lcny that u
great part of the teaching of the
prophets has been incorporated in 9TH
cr crceds. especially in those that have
originated in our own: but. without
entering into any detail nor in any
controversy. should like to point ont
that the gospel, for instance, having
developed in II period of general dcS-
pondcncy, Of infinite Woe and almost
Of despair has, siuce that time, kept
up. consciously Or not thruous the cen
turies an underneath spirit Of rcsis-
nation. II spirit of remuneration con
ecrIing this lower world, spirit oi
exclusive interest Tor the mli>cux.
cred country" beyond the grave. aud
of exclusive hope in sanctions OF AN
other life. This tendency is very far
from what would call tallow me 10
coin the tcrm) the rcalistir McallshI
of our pruphets it is also rgrt far
from the actual tendencies of civilized
humanity. Our old prophets. as well
us the leading minds. the leading think