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5689 ROSH-HA-SHONA EDITION PAGE 47
Jews With a Conscience
Seattle Talmud Torah
By FRED BERGMAN, President of Seattle Talmud Torah
T HAS become a realization that in order for
Israel to live and carry on as a distinct religious
and cultural troup, only one remedy can be ap-
plied-Education. The question crops up: Why
talk about remedies? The answer to that is, that
particularly speaking of the state of affairs in Amer-
ican Jewish life, we have been sickly,, weak and
undernourished spiritually. Generally speaking, the
Jewish organism has been collapsible and in danger
of annihilation.
Of course when these dangers of decay are pointed
out to individual Jews or to any groups of Jews,
there immediately arises the over-confident type of
Jew, who with facts and figures will show you to
the contrary. He will point out the great strides
made by American Jewry. To substantiate these, he
will point specifically to the magnificent structures
which have arisen at costs running way into the
hundreds of millions, housing synagogues, temples
and social centers. To make his claim stronger, he
will point to the huge amounts raised in America
for various philanthropic and social enterprises,
thereby extolling the humanitarian side which can
be unequalled by any other people.
This sure is credible. It is however not sufficient
to exemplify Judaism. Further than that, let us not
forget that these virtues within us are but the ex-
pression of Jewish consciousness that flourished in
the past. We were inoculated with these in days
gone by, and even the materialistic and indifferent
environment which surrounds us has not yet been
able to abolish it totally. Is not the spirit on the
wane? Is it not a danger that even these little sparks
will gradually be extinguished?
If we are willing to look at Israel's problems from
a sane and practical standpoint, we must ultimately
reach the conclusion that "unless something is done
to stem the tide of destruction, assimilation, indif-
ference and all such vices, Israel will disappear from
the arena of life.
Of course we find many of Jewish origin who will
hail the day when Israel should vanish and be ab-
sorbed by the nations of the earth. Surely, this is
the quickest solution--much the same as the method
to heal one's sickness by killing him. Such we might
say would be an act of cowardice, and do we want
that History should brand Israel as a people of
Cowards?
The rank and file of Jewry, however, will state
unhesitatingly that the Jew must live forever, that
Judaism, so glorious and superior as a religion, cul-
ture and ideal, must be preserved. Then, however,
what is being done to accomplish that? Is it merely
because we give our individual consent that it must
survive, sufficient cause for its existence. By all
means no. Mere words oi praise without action are
meaningless and childish. We must deal with bare
facts. We have already grown out of our childish
state.
The same instruments used to bring Israel through
the ages must be applied today. The greatest of these
is KNOWLEDGE. Knowledge means light, and
without it we must be living in darkness. A Jew
with knowledge will not advance any fantastic
theories how Judaism can be preserved. He knows
the conditions of the past, and therefore will im-
mediately apply EDUCATION as the proper solu-
tion.
There is no secret to our existence up until now.
We are not a young inexperienced people. We are
the oldest living unit in the structure of races and
nations. Never mind a b o u t the argument that
American Jewry is different. It is all the same, and
in former times, Jews under the same circumstances
had to cope with similar problems as are facing the
American Jews.
Our task, my fellow Jews, is to build. Build so
that our future should be preserved. Build so that
our future will withstand all withering storms that
will endeavor to molest it. These views are held to-
day by the most leading Jews of America, and there
is none so blind who cannot see the problems before
US.
We must see that we create Jews with a con-
science. Not the kind of Jews that always throw
their chests out, bragging "I am a Jew and proud of
it." That gets us nowhere. Rather, the Jews with
a knowledge of that historic background based on
the Torah, the moral laws, and the literature created
through the ages, is the proper standard bearer of
our race.
The proper method is to start in from infancy,
.4