A Book of Jewish Thoughts
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111111111 ' V "i .'' WmMmHB •' HhHrHBBHHnrS SKIMP! ®IKH1$ Sat '".•""".'.' •""''.'' ^TrWWBiWIrTlinifllrnf BHNBEHmBDbKvEb':' THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES YbO%) A BOOK OF JEWISH THOUGHTS A BOOK OF JEWISH THOUGHTS SELECTED AND ARRANGED BY THE CHIEF RABBI (DR. J. H. HERTZ) HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE CAPE TOWN BOMBAY 5680—1920 c ) t2G TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 2092916 PREFATORY NOTE ' I 'HIS Book of Jewish Thoughts brings the message * of Judaism together with memories of Jewish martyrdom and spiritual achievement throughout the f ages. Its first part, I am an Hebrew ', covers the more important aspects of the life and consciousness of the Jew. The second, ' The People of the Book ', deals with Israel's religious contribution to mankind, and touches upon some epochal events in Israel's ' story. In the third, The Testimony of the Nations ', will be found some striking tributes to Jews and Judaism from non-Jewish sources. The fourth part, ( The Voice of Prayer ', surveys the Sacred Occasions of the Jewish Year, and takes note of their echoes in the Liturgy. The fifth and concluding part, 'The Voice of Wisdom ', is, in the main, a collection of the deep sayings of the Jewish sages on the ultimate problems of Life and the Hereafter. The nucleus from which this Jewish anthology gradually developed was produced three years ago for the use of Jewish sailors and soldiers. To many of them, I have been assured, it came as a re-discovery of the imperishable wealth of Israel's heritage ; while viii PREFATORY NOTE to the non-Jew into whose hands it fell it was a striking revelation of Jewish ideals and teachings. I can pray for no better result for this enlarged Library Edition. Grateful acknowledgement is due to the authors, translators, and publishers, for their courteous per- mission to reprint selections from their works ; to Dayan H. M. Lazarus, M.A., and Miss Elsa Linde, for various useful suggestions ; and to the Revs. J. Mann, D.Litt., S. Lipson, and I. Livingstone for help in the preparation of the Index of Subjects. J. H. H. London, 1920. TABLE OF CONTENTS I AM AN HEBREW 1-50 Ye are my Witnesses: Isaiah; Jacobs; Aguilar . 3 I am an Hebrew : C. Adler ..... 4 The Good Fight: Eleazar of Worms . ... 5 Every Israelite Holds the Honour of His Entire People in His Hands : Talmud ; Montefiore . 6 The Paths of Life: Eliezer hen Isaac; Asher ben Yechiel 7 In the Old Ghetto: Philipson ; E. G. Hirseh . 10 The Jewish Woman: M.Lazarus; Hertz; Talmud . 11 The Jewish Mother: Szold Lucas 12 ; .... Religious Education : Cohen ; Book of Morals ; Mora is 13 The Sacred Tongue: Joseph . .14 The Hebrew Language : Schechter ; Szold . 15 What is Culture ? Hertz ...... 16 The Student of the Torah : Jelliuek ... 17 Bar Mitzvah Prayer : Artom ..... 18 On the Threshold of Manhood: Proverbs; Ethics of the Fathers . .19 A Father's Admonition : Maimonides ... 20 What Makes a Man a Jew? Joseph ... 21 'I Believe': Margolis 22 Judaism a Positive Religion : Schechter ... 23 The Mission of Israel: II. Adler; Kohler . 24 Tolerance: Gabirol ; Midrash ; Crescas ; Mendels- sohn 25 ; Talmud Our Heritage : Josephus . .27 Our Fathers : Ecclesiasticus ..... 28 The Obligations of Heredity : Dubnow ; Hertz . 30 31 Zedakah—Charity : Jacob ben Asher ... 32 Zedakah—Justice : Geiger ...... The Jewish Poor : Schechter ; Abrahams . 33 At 'The Old People's Rest', Jerusalem: E. N. Adler 34 : Singer 35 Sharing the Burden Talmud ; ... ; TABLE OF CONTENTS pages The Duty of Self-Respect : Achad Ha'am 36 Anti-Semitism: Nordau; Schechter; Nordau; Dis raeli ; Hertz ; Hagadah ; Isaiah . 37 The Jew as a Patriot : E. Lazarus ; Goldsmk 40 The Jewish Soldier : Lucas 41 The Jew's Love of Britain : H. Adler 42 43 To England : Raskin ..... Judaism and the Jew in America : Harris ; Kohut 44 The Deluge of Fire : Hertz 46 The Healing of the Nations : Joel ; Isaiah ; K Daily Prayer Book .... 47 The Messianic Hope : Mendes ; Malachi . 48 The Vision of a United Humanity : Isaiah ; Joseph 49 Trust Ye in the Lord for Ever : Isaiah 50 IT. THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK . 52-128 Israel Immortal: Jeremiah ; Halevi ; Ecclesias Midrash 53 The Eternal Riddle : Raskin . 54 The Secret of Israel's Immortality : Graetz 56 The Book of Books : Heine 57 The Bible : Levi ; Zangsvill 58 A Jewish Version of the Bible : Schecbter ; Fried- lander ; Sulzberger; Leeser ; H. Adler; Trans- lators' Preface ; Rashi ; Ecclesiasticus . 60 Israel the People of Revelation : Halevi ; Geiger 64 There is no God but God and Israel is His Pro- phet : Zangwill ....... 65 Moses : Heine 66 The Prophets : Jacobs ; Shemtob ; Darmesteter J. Lazarus ........ 67 The Talmud : Deutsch 69 Jewish Literature : Abrahams 71 The Work of the Rabbis : Biichler . 72 Israel's History Never-ending: Magnus; Zangwill 73 The : Jacobs Halevi Meaning of Jewish History ; ; Gaster 74 The Hallowing of Jewish History : Dubnow 75 Israel's Martyrdom : Zunz ; Graetz . 76 Under the Roman Emperors : Josephus ; Fuerst 77 In Mediaeval Rome : Hertz ; Steinschneider . 79 The First Crusade : Kalonymos ben Yehudah 80 ; TABLE OF CONTENTS xi PAGES The Second Crusade : Ephraim of Bonn ... 81 Jewish Suffering : Heine . 82 The Jews of York : D'Israeli .... 80 The Expulsion from Spain : Frnnkl .... 86 The Exodus : E. Lazarus 87 A Song of Redemption : Gabirol .... 89 Shylock : Joseph ........ 90 On the Eve of the Re-settlement in England : Manasseh ben Israel ...... 91 Jewish Emancipation: S. R. Hirsch; Rothschild . 92 The Jewish Question : J. Lazarus ; Franzos ; Stein- schneider ; Zunz . .93 The Jews of England : Zangwill .... 94 Welcome of the Hebrew Congregation, Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.A., to George Washington . 95 British Citizenship : Hertz . ... 96 The Russian Jew : I. Friedlander .... 97 Yiddish : Zangwill Wiener 98 ; ..... Russo-Jewish Education : I. Friedlander ... 99 Passover in Old Russia : Antin .... 100 The Pogrom : Dymov 101 Under the Romanoffs : Wolf ; E. Lazarus . .106 Soldiers of Nicholas : Antin ..... 107 Bontzye Shweig : Peretz ...... 109 The Watch on the Jordan: Imber . .117 The Tragedy of Assimilation : Schechter ; Achad Ha'am 119 The Valley of Dry Bones : Ezekiel . 121 Palestine: Munk 122 The Last Corpses in the Desert : Byalik . 128 Zionism: Herzl Wolf; Abrahams 124 ; .... The British Declaration on Palestine : Herzl Jewish Chronicle Hertz 125 ; ..... Judaism and the New Judea : Herzl ; Saadyah Schechter; Noah; Hertz; Eichholz . 127 III. THE TESTIMONY OF THE NATIONS 130-I86 World's Debt to Israel : Abbott ; Cornill . 131 Israel and His Revelation : Arnold . .132 Israel, Greece, and Rome : Renan ; Wagner ; Lotze 133 What is a Jew? Tolstoy 135 Xll TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGES The Book of the Ages : Harnack ; Scott. ; Whitman 137 The Bible, the Epic of the World : Frazer Stevenson Froude ; ..... The Bible in Education : Huxley ; Goethe The Bible and Democracy : Wyclif; Huxley Nietzsche ....... The Hebkew Language : Renan Rebecca's Hymn : Scott ..... Moses : George ....... The Burial of Moses : Alexander . Israel's Psalter: Dow; Rhys; Cornill . The Psalms in Human Life : Prothero The Spacious Firmament on High : Addison . God, Our Help in Ages Past : Watts . The Living Power of the Jewish Prophets : Jowett Proude ........ The Book of Jonah : Cornill ; Goethe Job : Carlyle Fronde ; ..... Ecclesiastes : Ellis ...... The Book of Esther : Stanley ; Whittier The Talmud : Robinson ..... The Humanity of Jewish Wisdom : Gorky The Pharisees: Huxley; Box; Herford . The Jewish Prayer Book : Biddle . In a Synagogue: Eliot ..... The Torch of Jewish Learning : Beaulieu During the Crusades : Strindberg . The Expulsion from Spain and Portugal : Lecky A Protest against the Auto-da-fe of September 20 17<11, Lisbon : Voltaire. The Bible in Elizabethan England : Green . For the Emancipation of the Jews: Macaulav Ignorance of Judaism : Eliot ; Blake ' ' They are Our Elders : Beaulieu . The Jewish Cemetery at Newport Lonsl'ellow The Jew as a Citizen : Roosevelt In the East End of London : Schreinei The Russian Agony : Milyukov ; Lecky Tolstoy Schreiner ..... The Blood Libel—British Protest . Jewish Nationalism : Eliot ; Sykes . A Jewish National Home: Balfour. TABLE OF CONTENTS xm PAG ES Israel's Preservation : St. Jerome . 185 Israel and the Nations : Twain . 186 IV. THE VOICE OF PRAYER: THE JEWISH YEAR 189- On Prayer and Praise : Pliilo ; Zohar On Morning Service : Shulchan Aruch At the Dawn I Seek Thee : Gabirol Morning Prayers : Daily Prayer Book Bachy Adon Olam : Abrahams; Carvalho . Adon Olam and Modern Science : Haffkine The Shema : Hertz ; Zohar ' The Soul Thou Hast Given Me is Pure : K tiler The Merit of the : Fathers Levy ; Abrahams The Kaddish: Kompert ; Wisdom of Solomon ; D;ianiel The Holiness of : Home Jacobs ; Disraeli Kindling the Sabbath Light : Raskin Lecha Dodi : Alkabetz ; Achad Ha'am Sabbath Prayer : Zohar .... The Sabbath : Salaman .... Prayer before the New Moon : Daily Prayer Book The Seder : Raskin ..... Israel's Watch-night : Joseph . Passover and Freedom : Hertz ; Joseph . 'Addir Hu': Gottheil ; Talmud The Feast of Weeks : Psalms . A Self-denying Guild: Joseph; Daily Prayer Book Akdomus : Nehorai ..... The Bible : Rosenfeld .... The Sepher Torah : Haffkine . Religion and Morality : Daiches Symbols and Ceremonies : Jung Custom in Religion : Gottheil . ' ' In Accordance with the Times ; S. R. Hii> Faith : Singer ...... Ode to Zion : Halevi The Eternal City of the Eternal People : 11 ertz Isaiah ....... New Year : Moise ..... Written and Sealed : Baalshem ; Joseph . The Shofar : Maimonides ; Deuteronomy ; Psalms My King : Moses ben Nachman .... xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS i The Lord is King, the Lord was King, the Lord shall be King for Ever and Ever : Kalir 229 If not Higher : Peretz ..... 230 Day of Atonement : Gottheil ; Ecclesiasticus . 234 The Message of Yom Kippur : Hertz 235 'Forgiven': Yomtob of York .... 237 Confession : Gabirol ...... 238 Yom Kippur Meditations ; Bachya ; Gabirol . 240 The Infinite Mercies of God : Exodus ; Talmud 248 Brotherhood : Hertz Ezekiel 244 ; .... Atonement Promise and Admonition : Isaiah . 246 Lord, Thine Humble Servants Hear : Yehudah 248 God that Doest Wondrously : Mosheh .