University Menorah Addresses
The following addresses indicating the attitude of University authorities towards the Menorah movement may be considered as supplementary to the University Addresses printed in Part II of The Menorah Movement (1914) and in the first number (January, 1915) of The Menorah Journal.
Professor Albert Léon Guérard of The Rice Institute
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.
Dean Alfred E. Burton, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Before the M. I. T. Menorah Society, October 22, 1915
THE Menorah Society has appealed to me especially because of its high purpose. We who are not of the Jewish race realize what an important factor the Jews have been in civilization. Jewish culture has played an important part particularly here in the foundation of New England. Puritan life and thought drew its chief inspiration from the Old Testament. From the earliest times Jewish men have, been leaders in science and letters. Among the Americans and the English there is a growing tendency towards a better appreciation of Jewish ideals.
It is important that all Jewish men have pride in their race. If you don't, others will not. Some Jewish students do not seem to realize that they have a great inheritance. Many Jewish students with whom I have talked have been inclined to self-depreciation, and they also felt that everyone was against them. In contrast, Irish students have always impressed me with their self-confidence.
Bring non-Jewish students to your meetings. Try to increase your members. I shall do all I can to foster and promote your work. I would also urgently advocate a joint Menorah banquet between Harvard and Technology. This banquet would not only tend to tie Technology and Harvard students closer together, but would be of great benefit to your Society.
The study of Jewish culture and ideals will help you to think of other things than those immediately connected with your school work, and it will, furthermore, instill in you a feeling of dignity for your heritage.
Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes, Secretary of Yale University
Substance of Address before the Yale Menorah Society, October 27, 1915
MR. Stokes spoke of three reasons why Jewish students of the right type were welcome to Yale University:
1. They showed themselves capable of the highest scholarship; the large number of prize awards won by Jewish students was evidence of this. The speaker expressed the hope that some of the Jewish students would go in for scholarly life careers. With so many Jewish students of high scholarship it seemed strange that relatively few pursued graduate studies outside of the various professions.
2. They made their contribution to the life and thought of a democratic American university. A university like Yale is, he said, a melting pot of democracy. One of its main advantages is that it brings together Orient and Occident, North and South, Catholic and Protestant, Christian and Jew, and makes each understand the point of view of the other.
3. The presence of Jewish students at the University tends to attract to Yale gifts in the interest of Semitic studies. The contribution of Judaism to religious and ethical ideals was so important that no university could afford to fail in supplying adequate courses of Semitic instruction. Several recent gifts to the University in the interest of Jewish scholarship from prominent Jewish citizens indicates that they had been impressed with the fair treatment of Jewish boys at Yale. He spoke with appreciation of a recent gift of a rabbinic library of several thousand volumes of large value.
Mr. Stokes spoke with much appreciation of the Menorah Society because of what it was doing in bringing together Jewish students in the interest of high intellectual and ethical ideals, and hoped that it would not forget that its mission was not only to interest Jewish students but also Christian students in Jewish culture.