The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-02-11
GIVES LECTURE
 ON THE TALMUD
Mrs. Misch Says Conference May Realize Dreams
 > of Jews.

Talking under the auspices of the Bridgeport Council of Jewish Wom- en to an audience that filled the sun parlor of the Stratfield to capacity, Mrs. Caesar Misch, of Providence, R. l., gave @ most fascinating inter- pretation with interesting narratives of the '"Talmud," last night. The subject was somewhat of a relief in comparison with the intense discus stons on the war and reconstruction that form the basis of the themes of present day speakers. It awakened the eagerness and hopefulness of the most promising, most important era of the Jewish nation-the present time, when at the peace conference, the Jew may at last have his dream come true and be granted religious freedom all over the world.
 The Talmud simply means learn ing, Mrs. Misch told her hearers, and at the very earliest times, education and study was compulsory amongst the Jews, even when other nations did not require education for its peo- pie. She told how the children were taught from babyhood to manhood and how they studied at the various colleges in other cities than where they lived. The student in the old Babylonian days was the most hon ored members of Jewish society. The nation at all times gloried in her teachers and in their wise interpre- tations of the bible.
 Mrs. Misch spoke about the des- truction of the institutions of Jeru- salem and said that flor every col lege that was burned in Jerusalem, three were established in Babylon, and that when the tara was forgot ten in Jerusalem, it was again taught in Babylonia. Although the Jew had been prosecuted for centuries and centuries during the Ancient and i Medieval times and was compelled by other nations to give up the cherish ed books, he did not listen but clung to his Talmud and found even greater joy in its pages. There were times when those who possessed Talmud were put to death by the rulers, but
 the great sufferings made the Tal- mud more valuable and more holy and more necessary. This faith and strength kept them together through out the centuries.
 Having travelled extensively and having visited the old tombs of some l of the great Hebrew scholars while i in the Orient, Mrs. Misch was able | to present some very interesting mar
 ratves and illustrations of the old customs still existing in that part ot 1 the world.
 | The Talmud abounds iE parables | and many of the greatest writers 1 centuries ago, such as Dante and Mil
 ton, chose their themes for their
 works from the Talmud.
 l Concluding, Mrs. Misch said:
 Israel, although she has been mock
 ed and tortured, still remains faith
 ful to her law because her law is
 her only consolation. And now at the l peace conference it seems as if at last i religious liberty may be given the Jewish nation. During the wal
 there were times when a Rabbi would
 hold a cross before a dying Catholic { soldier-that was the time when re-
 ligion was true religion; and have we
 not all one father?" Speaking of the
 various meanings of passages in the l Talmud, Mrs. Misch said, that peace
 is described as the vessel in which
 Gods blessing are given to us ant 1 preserved by uS"