_Before the Rice Institute Menorah Society, November 29, 1915_
IT is my privilege to welcome the Menorah Society in the name of the
non-Jewish element and of the Faculty of the Rice Institute. When I
was requested to do so, I accepted at once and with pleasure. I am in
hearty sympathy with the purpose of the Menorah Society. I am a
teacher of French; but I should consider myself unworthy of my calling
if, behind the words of a foreign language, I did not attempt to show
the civilization of a people, their soul, their ideal. Now, what I am
attempting to do for French, the Menorah plans to do for the
traditions, the problems, the aspirations of the Jewish race. And
although I believe that the people which gave to the world Saint
Louis, Joan of Arc, Calvin, Descartes, Pascal, Rousseau, Pasteur,
Victor Hugo has left its imperial imprint upon the whole of modern
civilization, yet I cannot but be conscious of the prior and higher
claims of that strange family of whose blood Moses, Jesus and Spinoza
were born. Judaism and Hellenism, said Renan, are the twin miracles of
human history. The artistic and philosophical primacy of the Greeks is
not so striking as the religious primacy of the Hebrews. The worship
of beauty is a less vital element than the undying quest for
righteousness. The whole fabric of our culture rests on those
Judeo-Hellenic foundations. And surely a university would be false to
its name if it did not include among its courses the study of Jewish
literature and Jewish history. The Rice Institute is young, and will
not reach its full stature for many a decade; all branches of
knowledge cannot be taken up at the same time. But the place which
Judaic studies ought by right to have in the curriculum will be at
least indicated and kept in mind by your Menorah Society.
I heartily welcome the Menorah because, open to Jews and Gentiles
alike, it will help us break down the barrier of prejudices which
still separates the two elements. I have seen with my own eyes the
tragic effects of such prejudices: I was in Paris at the time of the
Dreyfus case; I have seen how they warped the thought of scholarly
men, like Houston Stewart Chamberlain; I have read with horror of the
Russian pogroms. You, who have suffered for ages under the fierce
contempt and hatred of fanatics, you who have at last reached this
haven of democracy and justice, let not the lesson of past sufferings
be lost; do not forget your brethren still in bondage; and your
brethren are those who are persecuted, all the world over, even as you
were persecuted. You ought to be foremost among those who labor for
equality and freedom. We have a right to count upon you in the fight
against all prejudices--prejudices of race and color, of class and
country, of caste and religion. The emancipated Jew must be an
emancipator.
I welcome the Menorah Society because, though devoted primarily to the
tradition of your people, it does not look exclusively towards the
past. Be rightly proud of the most unique and entrancing tradition in
the history of the world. Cherish it, hold fast to it, as a title of
nobility. The world has no respect for the man who does not respect
himself in his forefathers. The call to American citizenship does not
in the least imply the duty of forgetting that you are Jews: it is the
best Jews that will make the best Americans. But do not be hypnotized
by your past; be worthy of your ancestors by continuing their spirit
rather than aping their habits. Think of the problems of to-day and
to-morrow. Apply to human affairs your Biblical test of righteousness.
Then you will find that, with a slightly different coloring perhaps,
your aspirations are ours; our diverse evolutions, after centuries of
estrangement and conflict, tend towards the same goal; and in the
Menorah I see a sign of the coming harmony of sects and creeds, each
remaining passionately attached to its own past, but all working in
common towards the same future.
Finally, I cannot drive away from my thought the shambles of Europe.
Your co-religionists are fighting under all the belligerent flags, as
bravely, as loyally, as their fellow-citizens of a different creed;
and they have suffered more heavily in Poland than even the Belgian
martyrs. When one thinks of the carnival of murder to which the
idolatry of territorial, political patriotism has led, one cannot but
wonder whether the Jewish people throughout the world might not afford
an example for all to follow. In Judaism we have tradition, culture
and race dissociated from any special habitat or from any political
form; and this nation without a land, this nation without a king, is
developing, prospering, unconquerable. I wonder whether the
territorial state, which has led to such monstrous aberrations, is not
a last idol and doomed to disappear as an ethical factor; and whether
the future might not belong to universal, interpenetrating
communities;--freely expanding, untrammelled by physical boundaries,
unable to use force, and free from the fear of force, communities of
which Judaism to-day might be the prototype. But I do not want to
dwell at any length on a mere hypothesis or perhaps on a flight of
fancy. I have said enough, I hope, to convince you of my hearty
sympathy with the work of the Menorah Society. May it long
prosper--an increasing element of strength in our Institute!
PROFESSOR PHILIP B. KENNEDY, DIRECTOR OF THE DAY DIVISION OF THE
SCHOOL OF COMMERCE, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
_Before the New York University (Washington Square) Menorah Society,
November 3, 1915_
I AM very glad to be present this morning at the opening meeting of
the Menorah Society. I believe that any people should make the most of
traditions which they have behind them. Personally, I always feel more
confidence in a man of any race when he stands up for the best of his
race traditions.
The Hebrew race is a very ancient one and should contribute to the
civilization of this country. Students of this race who are in our
colleges are the ones who may rightfully take the lead in making these
traditions count.
The Menorah Society, I believe, is proceeding along the right lines. I
hope to learn more of the work of this Society as it continues its
work in the School of Commerce; and I am especially glad to have the
opportunity of being with you at the beginning of the year. I trust
that the year will be a very successful one. Personally, I shall
attempt to back up the Society in every way that I can.