The Denver Jewish news., 1921-10-05
Ascending the Mount Of
Transition
BY JOEL. BI..AU

| unto the children of Israel. And when
thou hast seen it. thou also shalt he
gathered unto thy people. rs Aaron
Thy brother was gathered" (Num.
xvii, 12-I3.)
DO what we will try to forget as
we may philosOphisc as deeply as we
cam: : Mount Abarim looms up on
our landscape terrifying and mon
strOus. We are not morbidlyy pre-oc-
cupicd with death. We do not border
our whole life with black fringe.
On the whole the normal man faces
the inevitable with calm spirit. Never
thclcss. we get moments CT horrible
qlialms. when our whole nature
squirms at the thought of death. And
then the dark mountain stands before
us like n mcnacing finger pitilessly up
raised to point to che ineScapable end
ing of all joy. and all beauty. and all
greatness. Moses and Aaron. you and
I, my brother. are travelling towards
Mount Abarim without being able to
rctard the rate of our journey by an
hour or n minute. How this Thought
outrages at times our sense of life. of
Justice. We sway between feelings OF
pity and anger-pity with ourselves
and the whole helpless race of NOR
tails; anger against the Overruling
providence that ordered our existence.
We understand only too well the
mOurnful emotions that prompted n
certain rabbi to say: ALAS, chat so
much beauty must he swallowed up In
the dust: but this is not all. Dis
gust at the ugliness of death X our
dominant emotion; its corruption gives
the lie to our beautiful words where
with we would embellish 1t: its foul
ness crops out from under the very
turf beneath which we have laid 1t
away. Oh. Mount Abarim, terrible
mountain, we press our hands against
our eyes. but we cannot banish the
sight of thee. Oar inner eye sees
sees, sees =. -
-Rut tho moment We appeal to the
| inner eye. we have the power to trans
form our vision, to sublimate it. Then
| our first vision of death appears one
sided. Mount Abarim. terrible noun
tain. dark at its base. has II mystic
light shed upon its summit. which
transiigurcs and glorifies its very
darkness. If Mount Abarim is the
image of our destiny, 1t tokens forth
cur loom and doom not alone hut also
our bliss and last blessedness. And.
surely this second vision is better and
truer than the first. All we need Is
TO translate the name of the noun
tain into English i'm order to grasp
its comforting message to us who
often look upon it with dread to us
who often look upon it with dread,
to us whose beloved have gone up to
the mountain and been lost there for
| ever.
First. Har ha-Abarim. Englished.
mcans-Mount of Transition, We
must school ourselves to deny the
reality of death, wholly hnd une-
quivocally. There is no death: there
is but transition from one state into
another. We do not pass away. we
pass on. There is life beyond life.
anu IL Is iit. nv
say This world is an antcchamber
from which we pass into the palace
prepare yourselves in the antechamber
in order to gain admission into the
palace" Beautiful as the antecham-
Der may be. the glory of the palace
cclipses it, and beautiful as life ON
the hithcr side may be. life beyond
offers far greater glories. which eye
hath never seen, but which the soul
may foresee. Live in the soul; live
in spirit; deny the reality of the life
of flesh, and it will not be difficult to
deny the reality of death and to realize
the promise of the souls immortality
even while you are here on earth
For in the soul we have our real be-
ing; and the best preparation for the
after-life is to keenly realize our
spiritual essence which death cannot
destroy; which out of death emerses
purified like white flame out of black
smoke. Verify, like smoke the flesh
passes away, but like flame the soul
rises upward to seek the way of ever
lasting Light.
Secondly, Har ha-Abarim, translat-
| ed precisely. means-the Mount OF
| Those who Pass on! That is TO say,
we are not alone in death, tho we are
often alone in life. Numerous is the
company of the living, still more nu-
nerous is the company of the ever
! living. Divided is the house of the
| living, but united in an unknown ana
incomprehensible destiny is that other
mansion of God-the mansion of the
dwelers in eternity. One long process