The Southern Jewish weekly. [volume] (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1939-1992, 1940-06-14
Which Way,
America?
Continued from Page Three)


the interventionist? Which road
will America take in this dark
hour, this hour Of grave decision?
There is no more important ques-
ton in our time than this.
do not intend to plead the
cause of either the isOlatiOnist or
the interventiOnist. What 1 want
to do and what hope to do is to
set forth the attitude with which
every right thinking American
man and woman must approach
this problem in order that the fl
nal decision may rest on grounds
that are truly moral and ethical
and spiritual.
Hillel has already given us the
key to the solution of our prob
lem in his precept: I'm a place
where there are no men, strive
thou to be a man." In a world
where there is only greed and
selfishness and a callous disregard
for the welfare of the individual,
let at least this great nation of
ours act with honor and with I'M
selfishness and with courage.
What does it mean to be a
"man" in the sense in which Hill
lei used that word? What does
it mean to "act with cOurage"
There are many men who, be-
cause of their desire for adventure
or for sensual qualification, de-
part from the path of reason. 9th
ers, afflicted with mental lazi-
ness or a dislike for the unplea-
SAINT, never find that path. The
truly courageous man never devil
ates from the path of reason,
even though the walking therein
be unpleasant. He never shuts
out the voice of conscience, even
though it bring him suffering and
sorrow.
To be truly courageous is to give
up all considerations of personal
gain or less and to seek that way
of life which will advance the COM
mon good. There are those who
confuse courage with blind Obed-
fence or with recklessness and
bravadO. To follow the will of the
mob requires no courage, either
in time of peace or in time of
war. To hearken to the fanfare
of the willy prOpagandist when the
bugles blow and the drums beat
requires no courage. Outlines, the
individual who refuses to Succumb
to the psychology of the war-drum,
who endureS social OStraciSm and
cries of Coward" and Stacker"
because morality and religion
teach him that war is cruel and
inhuman and unciviliZed and in
decent, exhibits the highest type
of courage. True courage is not
rooted in physical prOwess or in
mental subservience. The courage
which is genuine grows out of a
reasoned conviction of what con-
stitutes the goal of humanity and
out of an imprisoned determine
ton to work toward that goal un-
ceaSingly.
True courage is based on the
premise that he who seeks for
the really true and the really good
will never finch nor tire. It re-
quires that one must risk the tenn
porary antagonism of his so-called
friends and neighbors, who have
not found the path of reason. It
means that one must maintain that
integrity of the spirit which char
acterizes the true hero, not the
pseudo-hero who wins medals be-
cause of his wholesale butcher
ings of his fellow-men, but the
man who wins for himself not only
the scorn of those who think less
deeply and feel less keenly than
does he here on earth but also the
love of One who looks down from
the heavens and sees and knows
and understands.
"In a place where there are no
men, strive thou to be man."
He who sees clearly and feels
deeply and acts rightly knows that
some fools will dub him a "radi-
CAL" Others more kindly dis
posed, will name him "cynic." Still