XXVI. An Humble Faith. Lord, my heart is not haughty nor mine eye lofty, neither do I exercise myself in matters too high for me.-Psalm cxxxi. 1. OI, then, say: Judaism is the perfect religion? I confess my inability to understand how any religionist who has looked about him with an unprejudiced mind, can lay "the flattering unction to his soul" that his is the only true, or the best religion in the world. What do we know of other faiths, beyond the merest outside, and in many cases hardly that much? By what process can we probe the soul of a Buddhist, when he, weary with this life's aimless struggles, cries out for Nirvana? or the heart of a Mohammedan, when he makes his seven circuits around the Caaba? How can a Jew fathom the awe with which a Christian looks up into the pale face of his thorn-crowned Redeemer, to whom he owes all the relief he has from an everlasting death that is worse than the most miserable of earthly lives? On the other hand, how can a Christian feel what passes in the soul of a Jew whenever he hears or repeats the old battle-cry of his creed: Hear, O Israel? Has he ever heard it fall from a parent's dying lips? Does he even know of the thousands that rushed into the flames hurling their defiance by the same word into the faces of their murderers? The most that we can justly say is: My religion pleases, satisfies me best; and the least that others can ask of us is: Prove by conduct what thy faith can do for the best of mankind. H E that is down need fear no fall; the He that is low, no pride; He that is humble ever shall Have God to be his guide. G. G. XXVII. JT Hatred the Destroyer. Hatred stirreth up strifes; but love covereth all sins.-Prov. X. 12. Envy, Lust, Hatred-these three are forerunners of death. -The Pharisees. It is T is forbidden to an Israelite to bear hatred towards his neighbor. Because of the hatred of his brethren for Joseph, our forefathers were exiled in Egypt, where finally they became enslaved. And so our Rabbis taught: It is written: "Thou shalt uot hate thy brother;" meaning also, thou shalt not injure him, thou shalt not revile him, thou shalt not ill-use him. All these things the Law demands. Nay, more. added in thy heart;" whence follows that we may not carry hatred concealed within our bosom, even when it results in no external act. In respect to punishment, the sin of hatred stands on the same level with the three chief sins, idolatry, immorality, and the shedding of blood. Because of these sins the first Temple was destroyed. But why was the second Temple destroyed? We know quite certainly that at that time the Holy Law was observed and works of piety were done. But a boundless hatred raged between the various parties, even against those that were quite spotless both in morality and in the Law. Only those that openly break the laws may one hate; that is to say, one may endeavor to procure their punishment according to the Law, nothing further. But let the accuser always remember the earnest warning of our teachers: Three men are hateful unto the Lord. 1. He that speaks other than he thinks; 2. He that is able to bear witness in favor of another, and fails to do so; 3. He that appears as a single witness and accuser of a fellow-man (since the law has laid down the rule that only two witnesses may do so). RABBI ACHAI, EARCH thine own heart. What paineth thee? In others, in thyself may be; All dust is frail, all flesh is weak; Be thou the true man thou dost seek. (VIII. Century). XXVIII. What Righteousness Includes. The mouth of the righteous man is a well of life.- The labor of the righteous tendeth to life. UT true justice includes love. Certainly the Jewish principle of righteousness does. Does love prompt you to rescue your fellow-man from danger and distress? Justice does more. It holds you responsible for the sin and suffering of your brother. The unfortunate has a claim upon your help. It is your duty to be an eye to the blind and an arm to the helpless. You cannot, in spite of all commandments, love your enemy, but you are enjoined by the law of justice to aid him when he is imperiled. Judaism stands for justice, which is the life of the nations. Christianity stands for love, which is the concern only of individuals. And as long as humanity has to work out its salvation on the stage of history, justice must be the principle of ethics, justice in the higher sense, which includes love and tends to holiness. K. KOHLER. Be faithful to thy trust, and disappoint not the man who relieth upon thee. O son of society, examine thy heart, call remembrance to thine aid, and, if in any of these things thou findest thou hast transgressed, take sorrow and shame to thyself, and make speedy reparation to the utmost of thy power. XXIX. Cause no Stumbling. Thou shalt put no stumbling-block before the blind. -Leviticus xix. 14. ME are bound to do all that in us lies to make our fellow-man find his true personality, and assist him in his endeavors to express it in his life; in no way must we be the cause of our brother's straying from the right to the wrong path by our casting a stumblingblock in his way. Neither by our speech nor by our conduct towards him must we stagger his faith in the eternal validity of Right and Truth. The more conspicuous our place in society, and the more weighty our words and actions, the more must we be on our guard as to their effects on our surroundings. To scandalize a fellow-man without necessity is an indirect attack upon his spiritual life, just as slavery, contempt and flattery are direct ones. We, therefore, must never treat the faith and convictions of a fellow-man in a manner justly offensive to him, much less deride them. By such treatment we never shall improve any. one; by mere mockery we shall never convince him of his errors, never lead him to the truth; if it does not make him cling the more stubbornly to his errors, he may, at last, become a confirmed skeptic, and answer back our ridicule of what was once holy to him with an open contempt of all else that claims our reverence as "holy unto the Lord." THOU who over moving worlds presides, SAMUEL HIRSCH. Whose voice created and whose wisdom guides, O'er darkling man in pure effulgence shine And cheer the clouded mind with light divine. 'Tis thine alone to calm the pious breast With silent confidence and holy rest; From Thee, great God, we spring, to Thee we tend, |