The Denver Jewish news., 1923-09-27
Free Church in a Free Land
To Preserve Idealism Be 1t Judaism Amercanism or
Ought Else, 1t Must Be Lived, Rather Than Recited
This Is the Law of Its Survival Says Rabbi Zepin,
Secretary of the Union of American Hebrew Con-
gregatiOns.
BY RABBI GEORGE ZEpIN,

of Judaism. Professionalism and Cath
olicism in America? The answer is
the value of its contribution of Ameri-
can life and idealism.
America is an entity in the process
of creation. 1t is not n thing fixed
forever. incapable of change for good
or i'll. 1t is not something whose pres
ent is pale reflection of the past and
whose future is expected to he dull rep
etitiOn of perfect present. The glory
of America is It's future. Its hope and
promise make ample amends for n beau
tiful bnt imperfect present. When we
say. 1--WE love America" we do not mean
Americas skyscrapefs. or machinery or
battleships. Either we mean America x
Ideals or the thing we love is indeed
paltry 1t is not the cash register that
spells the status of our civilization. hut
the urge gin mans heart for telling
the truth. The peoples of the past
and the religions of the past have made
their contributions. to the sum of thcse
idens. ideals and aspirations. We who
are the heirs OF Judaism's past have
the proud consciousness that through
our ancestors we too have made our
icanism 1t Is undoubtedly true that
through Bible and history we have
made an unusually large and important
contribution The idealism which our
t.,.i
Idcalism cannot he liquidated. The
account cannot he ruled off. 1t cannot
bc wrapped in n parcel and hnnded
over. Judaism. like America. is after
all an attitude of mind. 1t can he fed.
moulded. starved. eradicated. accord
ing to one inexornbIe law. The pre-
serve ideaIism. bN 1t Judaism. Ameri-
cnnism or aught else, you must live It,,
rather than rccite 1t. This is the law
of its survival.
In the hest sense Of the word. Amer
ica is the product and previous possess
sion of those that moulded it and of
their descendants. 1t grew out of the
hest aspirations of many peoples. many
races. many beliefs. Its present growth
Is fed by streams that had their rise
in distant lands and civilizations and
religions. If these streams are to con-
tinue their life giving waters. trs
sources must bc kept pure and the
courses unobstructed.
We Jews constitute one of these
..streams of influence. And we have
resting upon US, the duty and privil-
cge of continuing our contribution to
American civilization. This contribu-
,ion as said above is to he made--not
by reciting it. hut by living it. To
live il, you must cherish it. To cherish
it. YOU must know it. To "knOw" in
this day of conflicting appeals is n
complicated matter. To know requires
organization.
There are many people in our day
who look askance upon organization as
religion. Spiritually they say cannot
he achieved en- masse. Religion is n
matter of individual attainment. The
soul that sinneth cannot escape no mat
tor how large the multitude of them
that pray. The aim of religion should
be the regeneration of the individual
soul. the achievement of spirituality by
each human being. This plea for in
dividualism cannot be gainsaid. Never
the less. there are other viewpoints.
A clever Frenchman has defined mar
riage as "selfishness for two" And
something of this definition inheres in
the religion of John Bunyan, whose
here leaves wife and child behind in the
mad rush for the rewards of religion
There is such n thing as too much
irdividualism in religion. Religion, to
he sure. Is II matter of individual
growth. but the progress of democracy
would have been altogether vain if we
should by any construction of terms
seek to escape the obligation of helping
others. The essence of religion and
democracy is one lin that it implies the
cooperation of all to help each indi'
yidual attain his own personality
There is virtue also in organization.
1t ii not true that great thought
breathed upon the ambient atmosphere
will spread like circles in the water
until they reach infinity. 1t is not
true The theory ignores the static
in the atmosphere. In'a certain day
and generation n hero names Moses
announced two basis laws of life. Ont
was. Thou make no grayer images
,,,
gree of the human race. A group OF