other, do justice to one another, help one another. Love thy neighbor as thyself, said a great Jewish savant, when he was asked to define the Jewish religion in a few words. When towards the close of the first Jewish State, the then reigning king wanted to turn the wrath of God from his nation he began with edicts whose aim was to ameliorate the condition of the workingmen, the poor, the oppressed, to protect the widow and the orphan. Christianity is an offspring of Judaism, and in so much as it is an improvement over paganism it is in as much an improvement in the conditions of the peoples it influences. As Christianity progressed, and came nearer to true religion, so did also the people professing Christianity progress, and their conditions have improved accordingly.
The Jewish religion is the highest and purest religion, and if we once learn to live and to act in accord with its principles, our physical life and our economical conditions will be the highest and the best. If we once succeed in organizing a Jewish community, a Jewish State, based on a Jewish religious foundation, and on Jewish religious principles, the labor problem, so far as the Jew is concerned, will be solved. For if we are children of God, then we are all brothers and sisters, and every one is entitled to his or her share of the worldly goods given to us as an inheritance by our Father; if we once learn to live in accordance with the commandment “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” we will then learn to live justly and happily. If we once realize our hopes, and return to Zion, the land of our forefathers, the promised land, we will then, and then only, realize the great principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. The Jewish ,workingman who spends some of his time in attending meetings where the labor problem, and where the conditions of the workingman are discussed, who reads, and studies about how to get his rights, should also read and study the great old book, the Jewish Bible, where he would
find the solution to this problem. He will then join the great host of Zionists, and then with joint efforts we will succeed in getting back our birthright, our glorious country, and we will organize a society based upon the noble principles taught and professed by our lawgivers and prophets, where we will live happily, justly and righteously. We will then be, as we were in the happy days of the past, a living example to the rest of the human society—how to live without strife, without hatred, without bloodshed—how to live justly, peacefully, every one under his fig-tree and olive-tree, where equality, liberty and fraternity will be no more an empty phrase, but an established principle.
Book Reviews
In the Gates of Israel, Stories of theGhetto and the Jews, by Hermann Bernstein.(New York: J. F. Taylor & Co), $1.50.
Mr. Bernstein, who has a facile, if not a convincing pen, has reprinted the stories that have delighted us in various publications and, frankly, the stories do not gain by re-publication in book form. Every author of short stories, before he or she seeks the publisher of collections, might well bear in mind the adage that is written over the portal of the Amsterdam marriage registration office—"Think before you begin." Collections leave room for comparisons—an odious art at the best.
There seem to be various opinions as to whether Mr. Bernstein is a sympathetic writer. The Jewishness of many of his characters cannot be questioned. What these doubts really amount to is this: Many readers of these eleven stories are in doubt as to whether the author has any message; and if he has what that message is. There is no message in this book; the author, as author, sees Jewish life objectively—material for sketches and stories. The raconteur is entitled to his position, and we are not entitled to ask him to suggest a moral or make the tag possible.