GIFT OF Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/bookofjewishthouOOhertrich A BOOK OF JEWISH THOUGHTS \f A BOOK OF JEWISH THOUGHTS SELECTED AND ARRANGED BY THE CHIEF EABBI (DR. J. H. HERTZ) n Second Impression HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW COPENHAGEN NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE CAPE TOWN BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS SHANGHAI PEKING 5681—1921 TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 44S736 PREFATORY NOTE THIS Book of Jewish Thoughts brings the message of Judaism together with memories of Jewish martyrdom and spiritual achievement throughout the 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 IsraeFs religious contribution to mankind, and touches upon some epochal events in IsraeFs 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 pai-t, ^ 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 PAGES I. 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 ; Montefioie . 6 The Paths of Life: Eliezer ben Isaac; Asher ben Yechiel 7 In the Old Ghetto: Philipson ; E. G. Hirsch . 10 The Jewish Woman : M. Lazarus ; Hertz ; Talmud . 11 The Jewish Mother : Szold ; Lucas . .12 Religious Education : Cohen ; Book of Morals ; Morals 13 The Sacred Tongue: Joseph 14 The Hebrew Language : Schechter ; Szold . 15 What is Culture ? Hertz 16 The Student of* the Torah : Jellinek . .17 Bar Mitzvah Prayer : Artom 18 On the Threshold of Manhood : Proverl)S ; 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 : H. Adler ; Kohler . 24 Tolerance : Gabirol ; Midrash ; Crescas ; Mendels- sohn ; Talmud 25 Our Heritage : Josephus 27 Our Fathers : Ecclesiasticus ..... 28 The Obligations of Heredity : Dubnow ; Hertz . 30 Zedakah—Charity : Jacob ben Asher ... 31 — . Zedakaii Justice : Geiger ... .32 The Jewish Poor : Scliechter ; Abrahams . 33 At 'The Old People's Rest', Jerusalem : E. N. Adler 34 : Singer Sharing the Burden Talmud ; ... 35 ; TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGES The Duty of Self-Eespect : Achad Ha'am 36 Anti-Semitism: Nordau; Schechter; Noidan ; Dis- raeli ; Hertz ; Hagadah ; Isaiali . .37 The Jew as a Patriot : E. Lazarus ; Goldsmid . 40 The Jewish Soldier : Lucas ..... 41 42 The Jew's Love of Britain : H. Adler ... To England : Raskin 43 Judaism and the Jew in America : Harris ; Kohut 44 The Deluge of Fire : Hertz ..... 46 The Healing of the Nations : Joel ; Isaiah ; Kings ; Daily Prayer Book . .47 Messianic : Malaclii 48 The Hope Mendes ; ... The Vision of a United Humanity : Isaiah ; Joseph 49 Trust Ye in the Lord for Ever : Isaiah . 50 II. THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK . 52-128 Israel Immortal: Jeremiah ; Halevi ; Ecclesiasticus ; Midrash 53 The Eternal Riddle : Raskin ..... 54 The Secret of Israel's Immortality : Graetz . 56 The Book of Books : Heine 57 The Bible : Levi ; Zangwill 58 A Jewish Version of the Bible : Schechter ; Fried- lander ; Sulzberger; Leeser ; H. Adler; Trans- lators' Ecclesiasticus 60 Preface ; Rashi ; ... 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 Meaning of Jewish History Jacobs ; Halevi ; ^ Gaster 74 The Hallowing of Jewish History : Dubnow . 75 Israel's Martyrdom: Zunz ; Graetz ... .76 Under the Roman Emperors : Josephus ; Fuerst . 77 I Mediaeval Rome : Hertz ; Steinschnoider . 79 The First Crusade : Kalonymos ben Yehudah . 80 ; TABLE OF CONTENTS xi PAGES The Second Crusade : Ephraim of Bonn ... 81 Jewish Suffering : Heine 82 • 83 The Jews of York : D'Israeli .... 1 86 The Expulsion from Spain : Frank .... 87 The Exodus : E. Lazarus . ... 89 A Song of Redemption : Gabirol .... 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- 93 schneider ; Zunz 94 The Jews of England : Zangwill .... 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 .... 100 101 The Pogrom : Dymov ....... Under the Romanoffs : Wolf ; E. Lazarus . .106 Soldiers of Nicholas : Antin ..... 107 109 BoNTZYE Shweig : Peretz ...... 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 . .123 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 OP THE NATIONS 130-186 World's Debt to Israel : Abbott ; Cornill . 131 Israel and His Revelation : Arnold . .132 Israel, Greece, and Rome : Renan ; Wagner; Lotzo 133 What is a Jew? Tolstoy 135 xii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGES The Book of the Ages : Harnack ; Scott ; Whitman 137 The Bible, the Epic of the World : Frazer ; Stevenson ; Froude 138 The Bible in Education : Huxley ; Goethe . 139 The Bible and Democracy : Wyclif ; Huxley ; Nietzsche 140 The Hebrew Language : Eenan . .141 Rebecca's Hymn : Scott 141 Moses : George 143 The Burial of Moses : Alexander .... 146 Israel's Psalter : Dow ; Rhys ; Cornill . 147 The Psalms in Human Life : Prothero . 148 The Spacious Firmament on High : Addison . 149 O God, Our Help in Ages Past : Watts . 150 : The Living Power of the Jewish Prophets Jowett ; Froude 151 The Book of Jonah : Cornill ; Goethe . 158 Job : Carlyle ; Froude 155 EccLESiASTES : Ellis ....... 155 The Book of Esther : Stanley ; Whittier .156 The Talmud : Robinson 157 The Humanity of Jewish Wisdom : Gorky . 158 The Pharisees: Huxley; Box; Herford . 159 The Jewish Prayer Book : Biddle .... 160 In a Synagogue : Eliot 161 The Torch of Jewish Learning : Beaulieu . 162 During the Crusades : Strindberg .... 163 The Expulsion from Spain and Portugal : Lecky . 166 A Protest against the Auto-da-fe of September 20, 1761, Lisbon : Voltaire 170 The Bible in Elizabethan England : Green . .171 For the Emancipation of the Jews: Macaulay . 172 Ignorance of Judaism : Eliot ; Blake . .173 'They are Our Elders': Beaulieu . .174 The Jewish Cemetery at Newport : Longfellow . 175 The Jew as a Citizen : Roosevelt .... 176 III THE East End op London : Schreincr . 176 The Russian : Tolstoy Agony Milyukov ; Lecky ; ; Schreiner ........ 178 The Blood Libel—British Protest .... 181 Jewish Nationalism : Eliot Sykes 183 ; .... A Jewish National Home: Balfour. 184 TABLE OF CONTENTS xm PAGES Israel's Preservation : St. Jerome . • . 185 186 Israel and the Nations : Twain .... IV. THE VOICE OF PRAYER : THE JEWISH YEAR ...;.... 189-268 On Prayer and Praise : Philo ; Zohar . 189 On Morning Service : Shulchan Aruch . 190 At the Dawn I Seek Thee : Gabirol . .191 Morning Prayers : Daily Prayer Book ; Bacliya . 192 Adon Olam : Carvalho . .193 Abrahams ; Adon Olam and Modern Science : Haffkine . 195 The Shema : Hertz ; Zohar 196 ' ' The Soul Thou Hast Given Me is Pure : Kohler 197 The Merit op the Fathers : Levy ; Abrahams . 198 The Kaddish: Kompert ; Wisdom of Solomon ; Daniel 199 The Holiness of Home : Jacobs ; Disraeli . 201 Kindling the Sabbath Light : Raskin . 202 Lecha Dodi : Alkabetz ; Achad Ha'am . 203 204 Sabbath Prayer : Zohar . .... The Sabbath : Salaman 205 Prayer before the New Moon : Daily Prayer Book 205 The Seder : Raskin 206 Israel's Watch-night : Joseph 207 Passover and Freedom : Hertz ; Joseph . 209 ' • Addir Hu : Gottheil ; Talmud . .210 The Feast of Weeks : Psalms 211 A Self-denying Guild : Joseph ; Daily Prayer Book 212 Akdomus : Nehorai 213 The Bible: Rosenfeld 213 The Sepher Torah : Haffkine 214 215 Religion and Morality : Daiches .... 216 Symbols and Ceremonies : Jung .... Custom in Religion : Gottheil 217 * ' In Accordance with the Times : S. R. Hirsch . 218 Faith: Singer 219 Ode to Zion : Halevi 220 The Eternal City of the Eternal People : Hertz ; Isaiah ......... 223 225 New Year : Moise 226 Written and Sealed : Baalshem ; Joseph . 227 The Shofar : Maimonides ; Deuteronomy ; Psalms 228 My King : Moses ben Nachman xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGES The Lord is King, the Lord was King, the Lord SHALL BE King for Ever and Ever : Kalir .