The Phoenix Jewish news., 1961-10-20

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of Jewish history, Jewish wis
dom and Jewish aspiration to his
children unless he is in posses
sion of something himself n d
what does he have to hand down
if he has cultivated nothing with
! in himself?
The TRANSMISSION which some par
ents give to their children is water,
empty of any substance. The great
heritage and form of our people
was that It had not only the power
of endurance but also the power
of recurrence.
What is distinctive about the
Jew is that he has lived in many
centuries. He was present at the
rise of the Persian, the Babylon
ian, the Greek, the Roman and the
victim of many empires. He has
seen many tyrants but the m o s
magnificent part of his being is the
Jew is still here. He is here even
though he has gone through the
death chambers of the concentra-
ton camps and through the terri
Bile prosecutions to justify to the
world that he is what his n m
Israel proclaims = fighter with
God, for he has wreStled with
men and he has prevailed.
The power to prevail Is only be-
cause certain convictions kept that
endurance alive. 1t kept him alive
through the recognition of one
factor which became vital in his
heritage, and it was formulated
in the commandment: Thou shalt
have no other gods before Me-"
The covenant which the Jew made
with His God was to proclaim His
Oneness in the face of all opposi-
ton, and to hold to 1t with all his
might and main.
THE JEWISH people have fol-
lowed in the S t p S of Abraham
saying no to the idolatry of n e
world. They said no to the trinity
or orthodox Christianity. They said
no to the thinking of Mohammed
and his doctrine. They proclaim
ed with unique way the Sh'ma be-
cause it meant to them the full
fillment of way of life which was
important for man to realize. This
is the same proclamation which
the Jew faces today.
The great dilemma of the West
| ern World is how to fight the neg
ative through the positive. 7 h
Jew has not form d neg
ative groups to fight his enemies.
The Jew was proclaiming first
and foremost through the positive
means the belief he so deeply af-
firmed.
It was not that he fought idola-
try but that he proclaimed Sh'ma.
1t was not that he fought immoral
ity, but he made the morality of
the Ten Commandments the goal
of his life. And Ludwig LewiSohn
knew that the only answer to the
fight against the Soviet idolatry is
not through anti-communiSm but
through proclamation of a belief
in that covenant which will be the
battle-ground upon which the fight
will take place.
To pursue the truth and to ad-
here with firmness in the Jewish
ideal of ethical monotheiSlm and to
fight for the social and moral well
fare. the Jew will best accomplish
his end.
Just as an artist separates
himself to create and keep his
creativity and make il meaning
full and beautiful, SO the Jew has
separated from the communities
to m K his community, for
through the preservation of this
covenant and the community of
the covenant can there be the
fuIfillment of that place In his
tory which he has uniquely put
himself into and found the very
drive of his destiny.
How is the Jew to find his way
back? He is to find it by o recon-
mitment to the moral traditions OF
his people. There lies within each
of us the power to find the way,
for it is only through the way OF
the Torah will we be able to know
and fulfill the destiny for which we
have been called as a people.
WHAT Is THE most precious
thing in our Torah? Is it action or
study? The Talmud relates OF
course that the sageS would prefer
righteous action for Judaism is a
religion of righteousness. The sec
ond thought, decides however, that
the Torah, the study of it, was as
important since only from the
study of the Torah can there be a
righteousness of action and inten-
ton.
Ludwig Lewisohn relates how a
small band of Jews, after spending
time in Siberia, came back to Po-
land to find rubble in their homes.
They found their kin had been Gre
mated, the synagogue was in ruins.
A few of them went up stairs of a
destroyed house and found a few
Talmudic volumes, and there they
sat down to learn for this was the
way the Temple was restored after
it's ruins.
Those who saw the ruination of
the holy temple went to Yavna and
sat down to study. So did the few
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