JEWISH knowledge to me is valuable in the sense in which the word "knowledge" is employed in Hebrew. For "to know" in Hebrew (yada) does not merely mean to conceive intellectually, but expresses at the same time the deepest emotions of the human soul; it also means to care, to cherish, to love. It is remarkable indeed that the only Hebrew expression which in any way approaches what in modern languages we call religion is daath elohim, the knowledge of God. It is no less remarkable that the fundamental concept formulated by one of the greatest thinkers who proceeded from Jewish loins, by Baruch Spinoza, is amor Dei intellectualis, "the intellectual love of God," that is, the mental and yet emotional conception of the Supreme Power that rules the universe. If I were to wish for anything, it would be for an amor Judaismus intellectualis, "an intellectual love of Judaism," not shallow love and hollow self-complacency that cover every sin. We want to be frank about our Judaism, we want to be clear about our faults, we want to remedy our faults whenever we can, but at the same time we want to have the sympathy that goes with knowledge.—From a Menorah Address by Professor Israel Friedlaender.



Days of Disillusionment

BY SAMUEL STRAUSS



WE are at present witnessing an instance of the truth that a great crisis is always a test for genuineness. Since August 1st a number of things seemingly vital have come tumbling to the ground as mere inflated delusions or comparative trifles formerly viewed out of all perspective. Men are beginning to realize that they have been deceiving themselves, and the immediate effect is disappointment.

What profit will be derived from it all is as yet merely a matter for speculation. Not yet have men been able to think of the conflict in other than negative terms, to see in it other than despair, crippled industry, a fall from civilization, all that belongs on the debit side of the ledger. But there is also a credit side: and to realize that the effects of war are positive as well as negative is by no means to condone war, but only to accept it as a fact.

History teaches us to expect that the positive result of this struggle will be in the nature of a physic—a dissolving away of delusions, and simultaneously a bringing into relief of some essential facts. This clearing of the ground will not wait until the war is over; it has already begun, though men are yet but half-conscious of it, and then only in the guise of profitless disillusionment. This state of mind is understandable enough. The spectacle of thousands going out by trainload to settle differences through slaughter has been a terrible shock. Individuals, having progressed beyond that stage, had assumed that collectively, too, men must share the same aversion to so illogical a method as murder for the solution of differences. This assumption has had root in a justifiable belief in the world's attainment to a higher plane of civilization. The quality of to-day's culture may not be so fine as that of Judaea, of Greece, or Rome, or of the Renaissance, but surely in no period of history has its extent been so great. Never had the entire world been nearer denationalization, never had the economic interdependence of nations been more complete. Jingoism has seemed obsolete, cosmopolitanism had seemed the ideal, as the horizon of an increasing number of individuals broadened out, and prejudice gave way before enlightenment. But now this assumption is suddenly discovered to be mere delusion, and at once much scorn is heaped upon "our alleged civilization." How much justification there is for disappointment over the failure of culture to influence action is difficult to determine. There is much confusion of thought on this point. To conclude that because nations go to war, individuals have therefore made practically no advance from the original state of barbarism is absurd. What should be clear is the danger of generalizations from the individual to groups of the individual—two psychologically different entities. It may be that even as communities we have progressed more than we believe, as some future reaction to this war may indicate, but what is brought to the surface now is the old fact that the progress of groups of men is at snail's pace, however men may forge ahead as individuals.

This refreshed realization is by no means of negative value. It is rather a positive benefit, and should be fixed in the minds of all men who are striving collectively for various ends. For political parties, socialists, suffragists, all and sundry reformers, this realization should be the starting point from which to readjust programs when the cataclysm is over.

For the Jewish people this realization is peculiarly significant. Though the outlines of the general situation the world over are as yet indistinct, some problems of the Jews have already been brought out into sharp relief. Like the rest of mankind, the Jew has had his eyes cruelly opened, and the clear boundary between truth and delusion which this war has made should be stamped upon his memory, to remain vivid after negative feelings of wrongs and disappointments have been forgotten.

The Delusion of Assimilation

IN the past hundred years, the Jew has had more reason than at any time since the dispersal to consider himself assimilated in all save the Slav countries. Not that anti-Semitism had disappeared; but it had seemed to be, and indeed is, so much less important when viewed against the background of the Jew's positive advance to light and freedom. Explained more recently as a survival of many prejudices which do not die overnight, including the old religious differences, physical and mental antipathies, economic jealousies—the force of anti-Semitism was not only weakened by the increasing breadth of vision, the cosmopolitanism on which the world has plumed itself, but dwarfed by the achievement of the Jew himself. He has come out of his Ghetto; softened by a more liberal attitude on the part of his individual neighbor, he has largely laid aside his resentment and his hostility. There was a feeling that adaptation and assimilation had advanced so far that the Jew, by his own progress and with the consent of his neighbor, had become a citizen of his community, differentiated from the rest, if at all, only by what he chose to keep of his religious belief. Those who have most zealously argued for assimilation as the sole solution of the Jewish problem have had little need of late to push their gospel further; the process seemed to be taking excellent care of itself. But after all, it was not real. A drastic crisis like the present one was required to brand it as delusion. The attitude of the occasional individual was construed as the attitude of the entire community. This has been a double-edged delusion. The Jew has not judged himself as a community in relation to his neighbor, and he has misjudged his individual neighbor as a community in relation to himself.

It takes two sides always to make up the full truth, but from both sides, from the Jew and from his neighbor, there is circumstantial evidence in the events of the past five months that gives abundant support to this conclusion.

In this time of crisis the world has thrown aside its pretense, honest and well-intentioned pretense though it may have been, and revealed its underlying feeling toward the Jewish people. Suddenly, without any absolute change in their status, the Jews are singled out and set apart. Special inducements are held out for their support. The Czar, though this was reported upon dubious authority, addresses his "beloved Jews;" a non-commissioned Jewish officer is recommended for the Order of St. George; Dreyfus is decorated in France, his son made Lieutenant; Austria issues a special appeal to the Jews of Poland; an English Jew voices England's hope of their loyalty; in Germany anti-Semitic newspapers suddenly announce their discontinuance.

The Test of Jewish Patriotism

IT is not a new story. Doubt of the Jew's place in time of war has been continuous. Through the centuries there has been report that he has dodged his war tax wherever he could, that he bought soldiers to fill his place in the ranks, that as financier he offered his gold without scruple to the bitterest foes of his own fatherland. How much of this is based on blind prejudice is beside the point. What is important is the effect that this doubting attitude has had on the Jew's normal impulse to render patriotic service. The Jew to-day who feels most keenly the cause of Germany, or of France, or of England in this war, who most unreservedly throws in his lot with his compatriots, glorying in a privilege long withheld, moved to an intense fervor of patriotism, cannot but be disheartened at the spectacle of his neighbors as in one way or another they give evidence of their lack of faith in him.

Why this feeling of distrust? How has it been engendered, what are its roots? Again the answer is to be found both with the Jew himself and with his neighbor.

As far as the present situation is concerned, the Gentile world has had lying dormant in its subconscious mind the notion that the Jew was inferior, and by its own action it has kept this subconscious notion alive. For while the world has admitted the Jew to its political life, while it has modified much its religious and its economic prejudices and jealousies, it has not broken down every barrier. Without fully realizing its attitude, it has still held the Jew to be different and of lower quality. The Jew's neighbors have had an honest sort of delusion about their attitude toward the Semite; because they had discovered the individual Jew, and taken him, as it were, into the arms of their community life, they have fancied that all prejudice, even toward the Jew as a class, had become obsolete. Here again there is evidence of the fact that feeling toward Jews as individuals has been mistaken for feeling toward the Jews as a race group.

This delusion has its base in something more fundamental, to which may be accredited perhaps the distrust against which the Jews have been battling for centuries. It is not the stranger who inspires continued suspicion, for he soon ceases to be a stranger, but it is the wanderer and the gypsy. There is imbedded in human nature a distrust of shifting things and a respect for what is long established in any one place, and it is in the wandering class that the Jew is placed in spite of all talk of assimilation. He has had no point of departure and hence no place of arrival. The French have crossed over the Channel and become Englishmen; one would hardly know that the Romans still live on in the Tyrol; but the Jew has always remained Jew, for he has no established place from which to come and whither to return.

"A People Without A Home"

NOT only have the Jews been looked upon by others as a people without a home; subconsciously they have always regarded themselves as such. To-day a gigantic fund is proposed for the relief of the Jews affected by the present war, by the very ones who have argued most persistently for adaptation and assimilation. Yet this is a relief fund not for Belgian Jews, nor French Jews, nor German Jews, but for all Jews irrespective of the side on which they fight. The Jews are not thinking of themselves in terms of citizens or subjects of this or that country, but only as members of the Jewish race, who have no unity save as members of that race. It is the surest indication that beneath all self-delusion the Jews have subconsciously realized themselves as a homeless people, men without a country. Is it strange that the rest of the world should regard the Jew as alien when he cannot but hold himself as such?

It would seem that this argument leads along a straight path towards Zionism as its conclusion. But practical Zionism, like all other programs of reconstruction, must await a time which will admit of reconstruction, and that is not the present. It may be that when this war is concluded, world conditions will have so completely changed that Zionism and its geographic program will no longer be the answer to the problem of Jewry. All that is certain of it now is its uncertainty. But the spirit of which Zionism is the expression, and which has made of it more than a mere experiment in colonization, still remains, emphasized by the self-realization to which the Jews have been brought in the present conflict.

The Persistence of the Jewish Faith

IN every crisis, even in those which have swept whole nations from existence, the Jew has always found himself with one inalienable possession—his faith. There is something mystifying about the persistence through so many vicissitudes of a religion which commands respect from neighbors who see in it a powerful inspiration, while the Jew himself, especially the Jew more fortunately placed in the general community, endeavors so often to cast it off as outworn and impracticable. It is the Jew himself who has misled the rest of the world into a delusion. He has seemed to consider himself, and the faith with which he is bound up, inferior. In his endeavor to take on the color of his environment, he has sought to lay aside all that was old, and of this the religion of his fathers was a part. But a faith as strong and as far-reaching as Judaism cannot be dropped out of the life into which it has been ingrained, and hence the Jew has been hard put to cover it up, to hide it, or to attempt its modification to fit the fashion in religions. The inevitable reaction on the non-Jewish part of the community has been a feeling of mystification, and, following on that, suspicion and distrust.

It is this which has undermined confidence in the Jews as a people—their negation of that which is their valuable heritage. For Judaism is not merely tradition, a thing to be reverenced as a relic; it is a thing to be put to everyday use. This practical and vitalized Judaism is the real salvation for which the Jews have been groping, all the while under the delusion that it was anywhere but near at hand. Such a rejuvenated faith would mean an end of that homelessness which is accountable for much of the Jew's displacement in the world's life. And though the remedy has been intimate to him these many years he has failed to make positive use of it. It is true that the Zionists have been striving for a geographical base for Judaism. But a geographical base is never more than an outward expression of a people's unity; it is an excellent starting point, but as an end in itself it is nothing. The Jews had a geographical base for their start; thereby they were enabled to build up a unified result, the Jewish spirit. It is this which, if recognized as a positive fact, will take from the Jew his feeling of homelessness, and from his neighbor the notion that the Jew is a member of a tribe forever unestablished and purposeless. It is around a spiritual core that the Jews as a people must build, around that central force which has thus far held them intact.

The Spiritual Service of the Jew

AND never has there been a time, it would seem, when not only the Jews themselves but the world at large were so ready for this reconstruction. If in the very near future, as seems probable, the Jews are again to play a prominent role in history, it will be more largely through the pressure exerted by the world outside than through their own initiative. Men are coming more and more to need what the Jewish people, under certain conditions, are peculiarly qualified to bestow. The period of materialism now undoubtedly coming to a close has brought with it a heavy burden of discontent, and there has been a turning from tangible comforts, a reaching out for spiritual consolation. Under the rule of enlightenment religion has gone away, and the world begins to feel its lack. One may not prophesy that religion is soon to return, but the suggestion of its coming is in the air. What the Jew will then be able to furnish may now be an open question, but the great fact of his religion is undeniable. It should be remembered that only in things spiritual has the Jew been able to render world service; in material progress he has been able to do little more than march with the rank and file. Should the Jew again lead in the world, it must be in a time when the things of the spirit are paramount in men's desires. With the hope that such a time is near at hand, the Jew should retrim his lamp, in the faith that it may help to illuminate much that had fallen into darkness.



Three University Addresses

I

PRESIDENT ARTHUR T. HADLEY of Yale University

Before the Yale Menorah Society, October 14, 1914



IT is a great pleasure for me to speak to the Menorah Society, and a double pleasure when I see beside me the Menorah emblem, the emblem of light, "the outward and visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace." Jewish history is embodied in a great literature, and a literature which is worthy of deep and earnest study. It is the common heritage of all mankind, and should be studied by every man who lays claim to culture and education.

By studying the literature of the Jewish race, men at Yale and elsewhere can do a great work for the learning and for the inspiration of our country; especially can this Society do a noble and inspiring work. History is in large measure made by the study of the literatures of ancient races. What was it that waked Europe during the dark ages from her apathy and ignorance but the discovery and the revival of the Greek and Latin classics by enthusiastic scholars? In the various centres of learning at the end of what we call the "dark ages," we find groups of earnest young men devoting themselves to this study, and in these groups we find the influence which roused Europe from her period of intellectual torpor.

Classics are the literatures which thus make history; which serve the needs of all peoples, voicing truths of universal application. And though it is to the Greek and Latin that the name classics has been often confined, yet the Hebrew classics are being recognized more and more as worthy of a place beside if not above them. Interest in the Jewish classics never utterly perished. Throughout all ages the theologian kept alive his interest in those writings; but there is something of more than mere professional interest in these studies, something which closely touches every man's development and experience.

It is not for me to attempt to say what these writings mean to humanity. Biblical writings are far above any individual praise. But I may with propriety say the reading of the Hebrew writings in English has meant much to me personally. As a boy I read fewer books than do youngsters of the present day, and among them the Bible was one of extraordinary interest. I read the Psalms and Isaiah as wonderful poetry, and turned to the Bible as to a storehouse of historical literature.

Hebrew history has been of great importance in the early history of our country. The early settlement in America was due to the same causes as the settlement of Canaan by the Hebrews. To the Pilgrim Fathers the Old Testament was a supporting hand and a guide for them in all matters. They took the Jewish theocracy as their model of government and, in the measure that they patterned after a good model, they achieved good results. So largely are the early history and institutions of the United States a copy of Jewish institutions that the spirit of the American people both before and after the Revolution cannot be fully understood without a knowledge of Hebrew literature. These early settlers were imbued with spirit and desire for the best in life by reading the Bible. It was their one book, and "a man of one book makes a strong man." And perhaps it is the Old Testament rather than the New Testament the knowledge of which is of greater consequence for the best understanding of the peculiar conditions of the early American people.

Therefore I welcome your Society first because it represents something which has done much for learning in our great centres of learning, the universities; and second, because as Americans, Jewish history means much to us in understanding the early development of our own country.

II

CHANCELLOR ELMER E. BROWN of New York University

Before the Menorah Society of New York University, May 12, 1914



IT seems to me that it is not only of value to the Jewish students, but to the whole university, that there should be a body here devoted to the study of Jewish tradition, Jewish literature and Jewish history. You are emphasizing something that is of permanent value to your associates here in the University who are not of the Jewish race and the Jewish faith. The Christian Church finds in the Jewish Scriptures some of the finest and most precious of the things it cherishes from the religious point of view. Our civilization in these occidental countries is deeply indebted to the history and the literature of the Jewish race. From time to time that indebtedness comes to stronger expression, and we may expect that in the future the sense of that indebtedness of our whole people to that which is the immediate concern of the Menorah Society will be more keenly felt.

If you go back in the history of this country you will find a time when our New Englanders were especially indebted to what they as Christians called the Old Testament. There was a time in Colonial days when the earlier portions of this literature exercised a mighty influence over these new commonwealths. As you read the history of New England you cannot help being profoundly impressed by the influence of the Hebrew literature upon the life of the seventeenth century. The names and references to the Jewish people are all interwoven with New England history. I was thinking of a curious illustration of this fact only a short time ago. You know the old poem of "Darius Green and His Flying Machine" that has come into astonishingly new popularity in modern times. It contains, you will recall, an enumeration of the brothers of Darius, and four of the five names are taken from Hebrew history. The appearance of these Jewish names in such large numbers is coincident with a reappearance of Hebrew spirit in our Colonial times, all modified of course by Christian tradition, but presenting a most important and essential ingredient of the time. This apparently trivial illustration simply shows that which is to be found in our whole culture. It is profoundly significant in regard to our American culture.

So it seems to me that the Menorah Society has work of two kinds—to bring together our Jewish students on a higher plane of sentiment, and at the same time to put new emphasis, in all parts of the University, on the invaluable things which the Jewish race has contributed to the civilization of the world. So I feel that I may look to you of this organization to bring to New York University a new emphasis upon these great things which are the common heritage of our scholastic society. I trust that you will feel that there is a genuine warmth and a genuine interest in the welcome that I extend to you,—not a welcome to the University alone, but a welcome to this new service in this University, in which every movement such as this has work to do for the good of all.



III

PRESIDENT CHARLES W. DABNEY of the University of Cincinnati

Before the Cincinnati Menorah Society, November 19, 1914

STANDING as it does for the study of the history and culture of the Jewish people, and for the advancement of their ideals, the Menorah Society is welcomed to the University of Cincinnati. This University, of all institutions, should welcome every such organization. The University of Cincinnati claims to represent the idea of the democracy of the higher education, the equality of opportunity for the highest culture in its latest form. The American idea is that the university should be as free to all cultures as our country is free to all races. Standing for this idea more distinctly than any other type of institution among us, the American state university has been called the characteristic institution of the republic. But the municipal university is destined to democratize the higher education even more completely than the state university. The state university makes the higher education free to all who can come to it, but the municipal university takes it to the poorest citizen at his home.

For these reasons, if for no other, we should welcome the Menorah Society into our midst. As I was just informed that the national convention of the Intercollegiate Association is about to take place, let me, on behalf of this University, say to you, Mr. Chancellor, as the representative of the national organization, that we are glad to extend an invitation to your convention to meet in our halls.

There are special reasons, too, why we should welcome the Menorah Association here. We believe that the University and its members need this Society for several reasons. In the first place, a great democratic institution like this can grow only when all the races bring into it their peculiar customs and ideals. I believe the non-Jews need it as well as the Jews. It takes varied elements to make up the democracy, and America, and Cincinnati, and its University all need the spiritual resources of the Jew. I am impressed with the statement of the purposes of the Menorah Society as explained by the Chancellor in the address to which we have just listened.

He tells us first of all that its object is to promote the study of the history of the Jewish race. Your ancient books are the sources of all history; in fact, I cannot conceive of the study of history unless it begins with, or takes up very early, these great historic books of the Bible. They furnish the Ariadne's thread for the wanderer through all history; they are the fountain head also of the philosophy of history. The old Jewish historians always took the teleological view of the world and looked from the effect back to the cause, interpreting human events in the terms of God, the designer, the creator, and the governor of the world. In fact, their great contribution to history was this doctrine of God's hand in human events.

The Jew had also, it seems to me, throughout his whole history, a special talent for theistic truth, for those verities that are eternal. With an insight and a power almost surpassing all other men, he discovered truths which have ever been, and always will be, essential factors in all religion. The first of these ideas is his conception of Jahveh, not only as a sovereign, powerful, and terrible Being, but as a personal, holy, righteous, and good Father, "who pitieth his children." Your Bible, however, nowhere tries to prove the existence of a God; it everywhere assumes it. "It is the fool who says in his heart there is no God," declares the Psalmist.

For the same reason, your great books are the world's text book of comparative religion. I cannot conceive of any one studying religions without going to them, for above all others the Jewish religion is original. For these and many more reasons, we hold that the history, religion and philosophy of the Hebrews is fundamental and indispensable for the student of these subjects—in fact, for all students of the humanities.

It was the Jew who discovered conscience, also, and produced in due time an order of men who made themselves the conscience of their nation. Moses first formed a law declaring the word of God and teaching men their relations to God and to each other. Other nations have had priests and augurs who received the oblations of the people and gave them advice about their affairs, but the Jewish nation was the first to produce real prophets who dared to denounce the sins of the people and remind them of their duty as men and nations. What the world needs today is another line of such prophets.

To the young men assembled here tonight, I would say, therefore, it is your duty to study the history, philosophy and theology presented in these ancient Scriptures, and thus inform yourselves how to instruct this great democratic people. Be prophets like the prophets of old to guide the people into the truth!

The Jews were the first people to uphold the sacred character of patriotism, the patriotism of principle, not of mere power, the patriotism that teaches that it is not might that makes right, but right which makes might. How sadly the European powers need to learn this lesson today! Only "righteousness exalteth the nation" and gives it the power and the right to lead in the world. If nations would seek righteousness as a means of winning leadership, they would never need to go to war, and the exercise of might would never be necessary.

Because this Society proposes to study the great history and literature which teaches these things, we give it a welcome tonight, and pray that the light held up by the Menorah may shine not only for the people of Cincinnati, but for the people of America, and the world, that all the nations may be guided into that righteousness which leads to Peace.



The Menorah Movement

BY HENRY HURWITZ

Chancellor of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association

I

THE MENORAH MOVEMENT is now in its ninth year. Starting at Harvard University, where the first Menorah Society was organized in October, 1906, the idea spread to other colleges and universities in various parts of the country. Societies arose at Columbia, College of the City of New York, Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Minnesota, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri. Before long a common desire was felt for closer relationship and co-operation. This led to the holding of two intercollegiate conferences early in 1912: one, an eastern conference, at Columbia University, in January, with delegates from six Menorah Societies, and another, a western conference, at the University of Chicago, in April, where also six Societies were represented. As a result of these preliminary gatherings, the first national convention of Menorah Societies was called at the University of Chicago, in January, 1913. Delegates of twelve Menorah Societies from universities in both the East and the West came together, and seven other Societies were heard from. At this national convention, the Intercollegiate Menorah Association was formed.

In a period of less than two years since this first convention, the number of Societies has grown from nineteen to thirty-five. There are Societies now at the following colleges and universities: Boston University, Brown, California, Chicago, Cincinnati, College of the City of New York, Clark, Colorado, Columbia, Cornell, Denver, Harvard, Hunter, Illinois, Johns Hopkins, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York University, North Carolina, Ohio State, Omaha, Pennsylvania, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Radcliffe, Rutgers, Texas, Tufts, Valparaiso, Washington, Western Reserve, Wisconsin, and Yale. New Societies are in the process of formation at several other universities.

This development of the Menorah movement has from the very beginning been a natural, unforced growth. The Intercollegiate Menorah Association makes no effort to organize new Menorah Societies; its policy is rather to encourage and assist the efforts of students who, wishing to join in the movement, have undertaken on their own initiative to organize Menorah Societies at their colleges and universities. Hence every Menorah Society is the result of a spontaneous desire among students to organize for Menorah purposes.

The first Menorah Society started with sixteen members. Now the total membership of Menorah Societies approximates 3,000. The Menorah idea is firmly implanted in leading colleges and universities throughout the country, from Massachusetts to California.

II

EVERY Menorah Society is organized to promote at its college or university the study of Jewish history and culture and contemporary Jewish problems. First of all, the Menorah Societies aim to spread a knowledge of the Jewish humanities—Jewish literature, religion, and ideals—and of their influence upon civilization. In other words, the Societies aim to promote a true appreciation of the spirit and achievements of the Jewish people, from ancient to modern times. Particular study is made of contemporary conditions and problems, and of the ways in which Jewish culture may not only be conserved but advanced. To this end, the Menorah Societies strive to inspire the Jewish student with an intelligent and spirited devotion to Jewish ideals, and with the desire to develop and contribute to the community what is best in his Jewish character and endowment.

Thus, in endeavoring to promote knowledge, culture, idealism, the Menorah Societies are in keeping with the university spirit which has helped to call them into existence. The Societies are an expression of the liberality and freedom of American universities. Membership is open to all students and instructors. College and university authorities have heartily welcomed the Menorah Societies, have aided them in carrying out their objects, have enhanced their influence among the students at large, and have been most generous in recognizing the definite contribution which the Societies make to the intellectual and idealistic life of their universities.

Not only the university authorities, but the graduates, too, and other public-spirited men and women outside of the universities, have warmly welcomed the Menorah Movement. They see in it the expression of a spontaneous and earnest desire on the part of growing numbers of Jewish students for Jewish knowledge and idealism, for a realization of the Jewish noblesse oblige; they see, too, that this movement is bound at the same time to help bring about a more just and liberal attitude on the part of university men and women in general toward the character and ideals of their Jewish fellow-citizens.

Through the encouragement and generous support provided by a Graduate Advisory Menorah Committee, under the chairmanship of Justice Irving Lehman of New York, the Intercollegiate Menorah Association is being helped materially in carrying out its objects.

III

WHILE the purposes of all the Menorah Societies are identical, they are free to carry out these purposes in any ways they choose, along lines that best suit their local conditions and are in keeping with the academic and liberal character of the organization. Certain activities, however, are followed in common by most of the Societies.

To begin with, it may be stated that all of the Menorah Societies strongly encourage their members to take the regular courses in Jewish history and literature wherever such courses are a part of the curriculum and are devoted not so much to technical learning as to a liberal and humane study of Jewish culture. Where such courses are not offered—and it is unfortunately true that many institutions are deficient in this regard—the Menorah students are creating a demand which, it is hoped, will be met in time by the offer of appropriate courses. It is even hoped that a number of the leading universities will eventually have special Chairs in Jewish history and culture.

Meanwhile, however, whether to supplement or to take the place of regular courses, the Menorah Society enables its members—or, rather, all the members of the university who so desire—to pursue their interest in Jewish studies in less formal manner. Thus, the Societies have lectures on Jewish subjects by members of the faculties, or by men from outside their universities. In this connection, the Intercollegiate Menorah Association has been of considerable service to the various Societies. The Association has established the Menorah College of Lecturers, consisting of a number of Jewish scholars, publicists, and religious leaders, who have undertaken to lecture (for love) before the Societies. Their lectures, which are generally followed by informal discussions, are, as a rule, open to the whole university, and are often held not merely under the auspices of the Menorah Society, but also in conjunction with some department of the university, or with some other student organization. At times, the Menorah lecturers are invited by the university authorities to address the whole student body at assemblies and convocations.

At other Menorah meetings, the members themselves present papers and carry on discussions upon Jewish topics of historic and literary as well as current interest.

Not content, however, with such lectures, papers, and discussions, most of the Societies provide their members with opportunities for intensive and systematic study. Study groups are formed, under the leadership of older students or of competent men from outside the universities, for the purpose of regular study in Jewish history, religion and literature, or contemporary Jewish conditions and problems, or the Hebrew language, or any other special field of interest. The work of these groups is carried on along the lines of a regular class or seminar, though, of course, with less rigor and formality.

IV

AS an incentive to original investigation on the part of the students, several Menorah Societies have been enabled to offer prizes to their universities for the best essays on Jewish subjects. Thus, at Harvard, since 1907, through the generosity of Mr. Jacob H. Schiff, of New York, the Menorah Society has offered an annual prize of $100 for the best essay written by any undergraduate on some approved Jewish subject; and similarly, at the Universities of Wisconsin and Michigan, through the generosity of Mr. Julius Rosenwald, of Chicago, the Menorah Societies are enabled to offer prizes of $100 each to their Universities upon the same terms. (Menorah Prize Essays will be printed from time to time in this Journal.) One or two other Societies have been enabled to offer smaller prizes. All of the Societies are anxious to be of similar service to their universities, and it is hoped that the Intercollegiate Menorah Association may be enabled next year to offer prizes open to the undergraduates of all American colleges and universities. This should help materially to stimulate Jewish study among students throughout the country.

Perhaps the most essential requirement for carrying on Jewish study is an adequate supply of books. Except at the larger institutions, there has been a notable lack of Jewish books at American colleges and universities, mainly, no doubt, because Jewish studies as a whole have been neglected. The Intercollegiate Menorah Association has fortunately been able to remedy these conditions to some extent at the institutions where Menorah Societies exist. With the assistance of the Jewish Publication Society and a number of individuals, the Association has sent Menorah Libraries of Jewish books to the various Menorah Societies. These books are for the use not only of Menorah Societies, but of all the students in their universities. That the Menorah Libraries have helped the work of the Societies, and have added appreciably to the library facilities at the various institutions, is abundantly shown by the gratitude expressed both by students and authorities.

Yet the work of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association has only begun. Its field is almost unlimited; and with constantly growing membership, both of undergraduates and of graduates, with the increasing encouragement and support from men and women in all parts of the country, the Association is gathering strength for enterprises that must prove beneficial not to universities alone, but to the community in general. Thus, the Menorah Journal is launched this year in response to a desire not only on the part of the students, but of men and women throughout the country who have been wanting such a Review of Jewish life and literature in America. Other literary enterprises are contemplated for the future. Besides syllabi for the study groups, pamphlet essays, and similar facilities designed especially for students, one large scheme in mind may appropriately be mentioned here as of interest to all the readers of the Journal, namely, the plan for the Menorah Classics. These are to be the selected treasures of the literature of the Jewish people, from the Bible to Bialik, printed in attractively handy form, with translations and notes designed for the general reader as well as for students. In this way, it is hoped to place the gems of the great store of Jewish literature within the reach of all.

V

THE work of the Menorah Societies is not designed to make Jewish scholars of the members. It is meant to gratify their desire to understand their heritage, to stimulate them still further to study that heritage, to help them realize the honor and the responsibility they share as the heirs and trustees of Jewish tradition. And though the earnest work of Menorah Societies partakes largely of the spirit of the class-room and the lecture-hall, the pursuit of Menorah aims expresses itself incidentally in sociable ways as well. Smokers, dinners, pageants, literary and dramatic evenings, testify to the pleasure which the members find in their association together for Menorah purposes.

Menorah Societies, however, do not assume the character of social organizations. Menorah Societies are all-inclusive, not exclusive; they promote democracy, mutual respect, and understanding between different types of Jewish students who have often in the past retained toward one another the prejudices of their elders. The Menorah fellowship expresses and promotes the common sentiment of all students who have come to appreciate Jewish knowledge and ideals, who accept their common Jewish heritage and Jewish hopes. In other words, where in the past snobbery and spinelessness were not lacking among Jewish students at our universities, there has grown up now a spirit of democracy and of manly frankness, which has not escaped the observation of older men, both within and without the universities.

But these qualities in the Jewish students of to-day have merely been revealed by the Menorah movement. The movement has definite moral purposes of its own. The Menorah idea embraces not merely the study but the enhancement of the Jewish heritage. And this requires not moral enthusiasm alone, but vision and action. To accomplish their full purposes, the Menorah Societies endeavor to inspire their members with the will to throw themselves into the heart of Jewish life, to join hands with other men in the active effort to advance its interests and solve its problems.

While this participation in Jewish life must be the personal outcome of Menorah enthusiasm and activity—as indeed has been proven already among students and graduates—the Menorah organization, as such, maintains its non-partisan character. A Menorah Society is neither orthodox nor reform, neither Zionist nor anti-Zionist, but rather an open forum for presenting and discussing every point of view, a forum hospitable in true academic spirit to the open-minded pursuit of truth.

VI

IN sum, the Menorah movement represents an organization and an idea. If the organization has grown in extent and importance beyond the fondest expectations, it is because the idea, conceived by students and carried out by them, has found a welcome home in the American university. And one of the reasons why the Menorah idea has seized upon the imagination and caught the heart of the university man is because it appeals both to his independence of mind and his pride. A Menorah Society imposes no dogma, no ceremony; the independence of thought so dear to the bosom of youth is given full scope. A Menorah Society aims, first of all, to satisfy an aroused intellectual curiosity with respect to the past and present and possible future of the Jewish race.

But the real source of Menorah strength lies far deeper. Consciously or unconsciously, from the very beginning of his affiliation with a Menorah Society, the Jewish student responds to a call within himself of noblesse oblige. It is pride of race—not vanity or brag, but a pride conscious of its human obligation—that animates Menorah men and women throughout the country. Knowledge and service, which may be regarded as the very cornerstones of Jewish idealism, constitute the twin motives of the Menorah movement.

The Menorah movement is the answer of the Jewish academic youth to the challenge of American democracy. American institutions give us the opportunity to develop all our capacities in freedom. The endeavor of Menorah men is to preserve and enhance, for America and for mankind, the best in us that may flourish in freedom, our Jewish heritage and endowment.



From College and University

Reports from Menorah Societies

[It is not planned to have reports from all the Menorah Societies in any single issue of the Journal. A complete list of Menorah Societies may be found on the inside of the front cover.]

University of California

THE California Menorah Society has begun its fourth year under most promising auspices.

The first meeting of the year, on Monday evening, August 31, was the finest ever held by the Society. It had been announced before the entire student body at the University meeting in Harmon Gymnasium, and all interested were invited to attend. Eighty men and women of the University were present. The theme of the meeting was the Menorah Idea. Mr. Samuel Spring, Harvard, '09, a former member of the Harvard Menorah Society, spoke on "The Menorah and the Community from a Graduate's Standpoint;" Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin of Stockton, now a graduate student in the University, spoke on "The Menorah and the Rabbinate," and the chief speech of the evening was delivered by Dean D.B. Barrows on "The University and the Menorah." Professor Barrows greatly approved of the organization and characterized the California Menorah Society as the most, useful student organization on the campus.

The second general meeting of the Society, held on September 28, was devoted to the topic of Immigration. Professor Ira B. Cross, of the University Economics Department and of the State Industrial Accident Commission, delivered an excellent address on "Streams of Immigration, Past, Present and Future." Mr. R. J. Rosenthal, of the California State Commission on Immigration and Housing, spoke a few words on the Jewish side of the question. A selection from Mary Antin's "The Promised Land" was read. Appropriate literary and musical selections were rendered. About fifty-five members were present.

On Monday evening, October 12, a Study Circle meeting was held. Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin conducted a discussion on "Dominant Notes in Jewish Poetry." Among the poems read were the Song of Deborah, the 23d Psalm, the Wine Song of Gabirol, selections from Emma Lazarus, and "The Jewish Soldier" and "The Sweatshop" of Rosenfeld.

At the general meeting of the Society on Monday evening, October 26, Rabbi Jacob Nieto of San Francisco spoke on "The Modern Viewpoint of the Bible" to an audience of over sixty, including several non-Jews, who were so favorably impressed with the meeting that they declared their intention to be present at future Menorah meetings. Rabbi Nieto's talk stirred up a great deal of discussion among the members. The first chapter of Isaiah and the Song of Moses were read, and there were musical selections.

On Monday evening, November 9, Mr. Harry Hart, Assistant City Attorney, led a discussion in the Study Circle on "Early Jewish Philosophers."

The last general meeting was held on Monday evening, November 30. Professor William Popper gave a most interesting talk on "Jewish Education," in which he traced the history and methods of Jewish pedagogy through the Biblical, post-Biblical and Talmudic periods. Musical and literary numbers were rendered, the "Menorah Quartet" making its debut at this meeting. The attendance was about sixty, of whom ten were non-Jews.

The constitution of the club has been revised to meet the expanding needs of the Society. Three standing committees now exist. The executive committee, composed of the four elected officers and three other members elected by the general body, will be the administrative arm of the club. The club's policy is largely determined by this committee. They decide what business is to be brought before the club members, and they set in motion all innovations looking to the betterment of the club.

The membership committee, composed of a chairman, appointed from the three elected executive committee members by the President, and nine other students, selected from the different colleges of the University, has the duty of increasing the membership roll of the Society. This committee began active operations in the summer. California being a State university, its student body is made up almost entirely of residents of California. Hence through the assistance of Rabbis in different sections of the State, the committee has been enabled to get in touch with many of the newcomers to the University this fall. To them, as well as to the old members of this Society, a circular letter was sent. The aims of the Menorah were briefly outlined, and the dates of monthly meetings stated; the office hours and location of several members of the Society during registration were named, and all freshmen were advised to consult with them for any information or aid desired.

In this way the committee has been able to reach newcomers at the University and impress them with the Menorah idea before the entrant's viewpoint has been beclouded by any false attitude toward a Jewish organization on the campus. After the college year has begun, the committee scours the campus for those Jewish students who have not yet been enlightened as to the work of the Menorah. The California Society does not bow down before numbers, but it feels that the benefits of the Menorah should be enjoyed by the largest possible number of Jewish students.

Upon the third committee, however, the Social committee, which plans the programs, rests the major responsibility for the Club's success. Taking the Harvard plan as a pattern, the California Menorah has created what is for the present called the Menorah Study Circle. This meets bi-weekly. On the other hand, a general meeting of the Society as a whole is held every month. These general meetings are more popular in nature, for the many elements of the Jewish body must here be conciliated, as well as those of non-Jewish faith who are interested in the purposes of the Menorah. Due to the complex and many-sided character of the Jewish student group, a concession to the various interests must be made in the form of a cultural-social program for the evening. Lecturers are secured; informal discussion is encouraged; musical and literary programs are arranged—all, of course, in the effort to present in attractive form such cultural material as the diverse elements in the body of Jewish students can absorb.

The Study Circle meetings have a different viewpoint. They are of a more specialized nature. Through them the serious phases of the club's activity are furthered. The personnel of the Circle is made up of those who are seriously interested in the distinctly intellectual work of the Club. The demand for the Study Circle arose spontaneously from these students. A faculty member, or Rabbi, or outside scholar, is occasionally asked to present an address. Discussion follows. Jewish literary, religious, economic and social problems are thus handled.

The recent arrival of the Menorah Library has greatly pleased the members. The books will be a great aid in the work of the Society. The attention of all the students in the University is being called to the Library by a statement in the Daily Californian and by other means. Efforts are now being made to introduce a Menorah prize for the best essay on a Jewish subject. LOUIS I. NEWMAN

University of Cincinnati

THE University of Cincinnati Menorah Society was organized on April 25, 1914. Our first task was to place the Society in the right light on the campus, to emphasize the absolutely unsectarian, academic, cultural nature of a Menorah, and the fact that membership is "invitingly open to all the members of the University," irrespective of creed or sex. We accomplished this by continuous announcements in the University News, by the open character of our meetings, and by the actual composition of our membership.

Though we organized late in the year, we succeeded in having several large meetings at which addresses were delivered by men who are authorities in their respective subjects. At the initial meeting, preliminary to organization, Dr. David Philipson, '83, spoke, and Dean F. W. Chandler of the College of Liberal Arts cordially welcomed the Society. The first meeting after our organization was addressed by Professor Julian Morgenstern of the Hebrew Union College, who spoke on "The Judaism of the Future." Addresses at subsequent meetings were delivered by Mr. A. J. Kinsella of the Greek Department of the University of Cincinnati on "The Greek and the Semite in the World's Civilization;" by Dr. Edward Mack, Professor of Old Testament at the Lane Theological Seminary, on "The Influence of Hebrew Literature on the World's Thought and Literature"; and by Rabbi Louis L. Mann of New Haven, Conn., on "Christian Science and Judaism." These meetings had an average attendance of seventy.

Among the meetings held so far this year the most important was on the evening of November 19th. Chancellor Henry Hurwitz of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association delivered an address on the purposes of the Menorah movement, to which President Charles W. Dabney of the University responded, heartily welcoming the Menorah Society to the University and extending a cordial invitation to the Intercollegiate Menorah Association to hold its next annual Convention at the University. (The address of President Dabney is printed above, page 47). Dr. David Philipson spoke on the significance of the Menorah, and lighted a large Menorah on the platform. Music was rendered by the Girls' Glee Club. Dean F. W. Chandler sent the following greeting:

"With the modern drift of attention away from the classics and away from the Bible, it behooves those of us who would count as the friends of culture to welcome every effort to stimulate interest in either. The Menorah Societies which are finding a place in our chief universities have assumed a laudable task. They are striving to hold before the minds of the youth of this land the fine ideals of the ancient Hebrew literature. In such efforts they should be encouraged by Jew and Gentile alike. For we are all heirs of Hebrew tradition; we are all brothers engaged in a common undertaking. We believe it to be our duty to learn from the past whatever is best, to the end that we may enrich with that knowledge the present and the future. We welcome therefore all that the Menorah Society can give us of inspiration toward making the most of our heritage. We rejoice that through this agency we may be kept constantly aware of what a great people has contributed to our civilization."

The Cincinnati Menorah Society is delighted that the Association has accepted the invitation of President Dabney to hold the next Convention at this University. Preparations are now being made for the Convention and for the entertainment not only of the delegates but of all Menorah men and women who will come. We ardently hope to welcome a large number of our fellow-Menorah members.

It will be of interest to relate that, after reading a copy of "The Menorah Movement," Miss E. McVea, Dean of Women and Assistant Professor of English, suggested the following three subjects for twenty-page essays in one of her English classes: "The Contribution of the Jew to Civilization," "The Integrity of the Jewish Race," and "Zionism."

Early in the year Mr. Louis D. Brandeis of Boston spoke under the auspices of the Menorah Society at a meeting open to the whole University upon "The New Science of Efficiency"—the subject being chosen at the request of President Dabney. In introducing the speaker President Dabney expressed the indebtedness of the Faculty to the Menorah for the pleasure of having Mr. Brandeis at the University.

ABRAHAM J. FELDMAN

College of the City of New York

DURING the past year the Menorah Society of the College of the City of New York has made very important gains. First, in numbers—from 165, reported at the last Convention, we have increased to 327. There are still about 500 Jewish students who are not yet members, and these we intend to gain over. Second, in prestige—from a position of mere toleration we have gradually risen to the position of the recognized and accepted exponent of Jewish culture in the College, and as such we have set the College its standard of a cultural society. Third, in influence—we have inspired a large number of students, including many who for some reason or other have not yet become members, with a lively interest in things Jewish and a serious desire for collegiate Hebrew instruction. At present the College lacks such instruction; but we hope before long to report progress in remedying this condition. Meanwhile we are attracting the favorable attention of a considerable number of the alumni—men who in their college days would not or could not join the Menorah Society. This is indeed remarkable; that old graduates, who never knew the Menorah, should manifest toward it the highest interest and approbation is a most eloquent sign of the influence of the Menorah idea.

Our plan for the organization of the graduates as associate members is the same as Harvard's. But their dues are disposed of in a different way: out of the two dollars one goes to our Library Fund, and the other is sent to the Menorah Journal as the associate's subscription, for we feel that this is the best way to keep him in touch with Menorah activities. This system has a further advantage in that it spreads the Journal everywhere.

There were held during the past year thirty regular meetings and lectures—one each week. At the meetings the average attendance was 36, at the lectures 155. The principal lecturers were: Professor M. M. Kaplan, "The Menorah Idea"; Professor Richard Gottheil, "Jews in Various Lands"; Mr. Jacob H. Schiff, "Zionism and Jewish Nationality"; Professor A. Marks, "Persecutions of the Jews in the Middle Ages"; Rev. Dr. David de Sola Pool, "Jewish Education"; Professor Israel Davidson, "Hebrew Literature"; Rev. Dr. M. A. Hyamson, "The Mishnah"; Rev. Dr. Harry S. Lewis of London, "The Jews and Democracy"; Rev. Dr. H. P. Mendes, "Traditional Judaism"; Professor Stephen P. Duggan, "Tradition as a Static and Dynamic Force"; Rev. Dr. Stephen S. Wise, "What's Wrong with the Jew?"

There were four courses taught. The average attendance at a course was 16. Rabbi Nathan Blechman led the course in "An Extensive Study of the Bible," Professor M. M. Kaplan taught "Essentials of Judaism," and Rabbi Samuel Margoshes gave the course in "Jewish Philosophy and Literature." At the request of a number of students a course in "Elementary Hebrew" was also given for a time.

Two social meetings were held during the year. The first was a reception in the vestry rooms of the Temple Beth-el tendered us by the Menorah Society of Hunter College (formerly Normal), in recognition of our help in the organization of their Society. The second was a "smoker" held at the College in the Faculty lunch-room. The guests of the occasion were Professor Israel Friedlaender of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Professor A. J. Goldfarb of the College, and Rev. Dr. D. de Sola Pool.

For the first semester this year, four regular Wednesday evening meetings have been scheduled, four public lectures, six study circles, and four courses. The courses—"Modern Movements in Judaism" (one hour), "Elementary Hebrew" (two hours), "Post-Biblical History" (one hour), and an "Extensive Study of the Bible" (one hour)—will be conducted by Rabbis Stephen S. Wise, J. L. Magnes, Max Reichler, Rudolph Grossman, Maurice Harris, C. H. Levy, H. S. Goldstein, and A. Robinson. The study circles, which will meet once a week, under the leadership of Dr. Joseph I. Gorfinkle and Dr. A. Basel, will read the "Essays of Ahad Ha-'Am," Schechter's "Studies in Judaism," the "Book of Job," the "Book of Jeremiah," "Pirke Aboth," and the "Five Scrolls."

With the respect and co-operation of the student body, the faculty, and the alumni, the prestige of our Menorah bids fair to increase until, it is hoped, it will not be exceeded by that of any other City College organization.

GEORGE J. HOROWITZ

Cornell University

THE Cornell Menorah Society has this year issued a prospectus which has met with much favor among undergraduates, graduates and faculty, and has been very helpful in our work. It contains an explanation of "The Menorah Idea," accounts of the history and activities of both the Cornell Society and the Intercollegiate Association, and the address of President Schurman of November 24, 1913, by which he welcomed the Menorah Society to the University. There is also included, besides the general program for the year, the announcement of the Cornell Menorah prizes. These are three prizes of $25.00 each, offered by the Cornell Menorah Society to all the undergraduates of the University for (1) the best essay on any subject relating to the status and problems of the Jews in any country; (2) the best essay on any subject relating to Jewish literature in English; and (3) the best essay or poem in Hebrew.

The first meeting of the year, on October 7, was very successful. It was attended by more than eighty students and several members of the faculty. The meeting was devoted to an exposition of the purposes and ideals of the Menorah movement. Professor W. A. Hurwitz and Professor Hays spoke very enthusiastically of the accomplishments and the hopes of the Cornell Menorah Society. About thirty new members were enrolled, bringing our membership list up to one hundred. This number includes five members of the faculty and about a score of graduates. Several men who had come to the meeting to scoff stayed to enroll. The subsequent meetings have also been well attended. Our organization is gaining greater and greater prestige on the campus.

In the plans for this year, the work of study circles has been particularly emphasized. As compared with two circles last year, meeting more or less irregularly, we have at present six circles meeting very regularly and doing really splendid work. More than half of our members are now enrolled in one or several of these circles. The subjects of study are: (1) Elementary Hebrew, (2) Advanced Hebrew, (3) The Bible, (4) Jewish History, (5) Sociological Problems of the Jews, and (6) Zionism. Though we have been feeling very keenly the need of suitable syllabi and text books, each circle has chosen the texts considered most suitable and available for its purpose. Most of the men have bought their own text books, and have subscribed to various Jewish periodicals. Thus, the beginners in Hebrew are using Manheimer as a text; the members of the advanced Hebrew circle are also using the Bible as a text and have each subscribed to the Hatoren (a Hebrew monthly of New York). The Bible circle is also using the Bible as its text, and the Hebrew and Bible circles contemplate procuring jointly several Jewish Commentaries, like those of Rashi and Kimchi, for general reference in the University Library. The circle in Zionism is using Professor Gottheil's book, and the members have each subscribed to The Maccabaean. The history circle has recently decided to use Dubnow's Essay as a text. It may be mentioned here that the books of the Menorah Library are receiving very good circulation and the standard reference works, such as Graetz, Ginsburg, Schechter, and others, have been of great value to the members of the study circles in their work. It is hoped that a number of Jewish periodicals may also be made available in the University Library.

It is planned to hold meetings of the Cornell Menorah Society in conjunction with one or two other university organizations for several lecturers whom we expect through the courtesy of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association. One meeting in particular that is planned for the future may be noted. Annually, in February, occurs what is known as Farmers' Week in Ithaca. During the week thousands of farmers from all over the country visit the College of Agriculture, where a most elaborate program is arranged for their benefit, consisting of lectures, demonstrations, exhibits, and addresses on the various phases of agriculture and country life. Last year, Mr. Joseph M. Pincus, Editor of The Jewish Farmer, addressed a large audience under the joint auspices of the Menorah Society and the College of Agriculture on "The Jew as a Farmer." The lecture was illustrated with a fine selection of lantern slides, and the meeting as a whole was very successful. In planning for the coming year, we have tried to emphasize even more strongly than last year our part in the program for Farmers' Week. Mr. Pincus has kindly consented to come again, and probably we shall also have Mr. Leonard G. Robinson, General Manager of the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society, who will speak on "Jewish Agricultural Co-operative Associations."

We are now trying to make arrangements for our Society to take care of an exhibit which will show by charts, photographs, and other suitable material, the activities of the various Jewish agricultural organizations and the progress of Jewish farmers in America within recent years. It may be of interest to add that as a direct result of the Menorah meeting last year during Farmers' Week, one of the students was appointed by the Extension Department of the College of Agriculture to go out with an "educational train" during the summer and carry on certain extension work among the Jewish farmers of New York State.

LEON J. ROSENTHAL

Harvard University

THE opening meeting of the ninth year of the Harvard Menorah Society was held on October 13, 1914. The meeting was the largest in the history of the Society, over 150 men being present. The purposes of the Society were explained to the new men by the officers, and Le Baron Russell Briggs, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, extended a welcome in behalf of the University. He said in part: "I was present at the foundation of the Harvard Menorah Society in 1906, and was very much impressed by the fine earnestness of the leaders. If I were a Jew, I would be so proud of the history and traditions of my race that I would welcome the opportunity that this Society offers. For this reason I have always taken a great interest in the Menorah Society."

The plans for this year include as usual a series of fortnightly lectures by men of learning and prominence. Among the speakers for the first half year are Dr. Cyrus Adler of Philadelphia, Professor Richard Gottheil of New York, Mr. Samuel Strauss of New York, Dr. A. A. Neuman of Philadelphia, Dr. Martin A. Meyer of San Francisco, Dr. D. de Sola Pool and Dr. S. Benderly of New York. In addition, there are planned three study circles, each of which will meet every alternate week. One of these circles is to be devoted to Jewish history, another to the study of the Hebrew language, and the third to the consideration of modern Jewish problems.

The prospects for this year are even brighter than ever before. The enthusiasm is as great as it has ever been, and the membership will undoubtedly exceed all past records.

It is of interest to note that more and more members of Menorah Societies at other Universities all over the country continue their Menorah activities in our Society when they come to study in the graduate departments of Harvard University.

ISADORE LEVIN

Hunter College

THROUGH the influence of the Menorah Society of the College of the City of New York, a Menorah Society was formed at the Normal College of New York (for women), with the approval of the Dean, in May, 1913. Owing to the change of name of the College, it is now known as the Hunter College Menorah.

During the first year of its existence, under the leadership of its first President, Miss Selma Blechman, and the hearty support of its members, the corner-stone for its present greater work was laid. A program of lectures was planned to be held on the third Friday of every month. The lectures were to cover the several periods of Jewish history from ancient to modern times. This was done with great success.

This year, in addition to the lectures, the Society is planning to give courses in (1) Hebrew, (2) Jewish History, and (3) the Bible. This project has met with the hearty approval of both the President and the Dean, and the Menorah hopes to enter soon upon active work in these subjects.

A word about the membership of the Hunter Menorah must be said. When the Society started it had a membership of one hundred, of whom ninety were active members. It now has about twice that number, with an active membership of one hundred.

The Society has acquired such repute that students who are not members attend the lectures and are very enthusiastic about them. Indeed, the Hunter College Menorah sees before it a very rosy future.

At the recent Bazaar given by the College Athletic Association for the Red Cross Relief Fund, the Society had a booth and sold appropriate articles, like brass Menorahs, books and small Hebrew scrolls, objects of Jewish art, and candy and almonds from Palestine, thus adding a considerable sum to the Fund. Besides, the members have contributed over $100 for Jewish relief in Palestine.

JULIA MITCHELL

University of Michigan

IN 1910 a group of Jewish students at the University of Michigan formed a society and assumed the Menorah name. After a rather checkered course of three years, marked by misunderstood ideals and activities not always well-considered, the organization suddenly became more alive to the consideration of the vital problems which had been the ultimate excuse for its existence. A few men, sacrificing personal ambition for the common welfare, spurred the Society on to more serious and genuine work.

The rejuvenated Menorah Society enjoyed this period of prosperity only for a few months when a new organization for Jewish spiritual development at the University was formed. It calls itself the Jewish Student Congregation, and its aim, as distinguished from the Menorah goal of cultural research, is purely religious. The weekly prayer meeting, marked by sermon and ceremony, is now offered to the Jewish students in addition to the weekly study circle of the cultural society.

However true or untrue may be the oft-repeated statement that the Menorah has blazed the way for the Congregation, it still remains a fact that the new organization was not confronted with the difficulty of gaining a following, such as the parent Jewish society had experienced. Though the attendance of the Congregation shaded off quite considerably the last few months of its first year, there were always enough to show their appreciation by their presence at the services and to guarantee the continuation of the services in the future. One noteworthy fact calls for special mention here—a certain group of students seemed to be more religious than devoted to cultural interests. Only a few of this class, however, were really inspired by a religious zeal; for there were some who expressed this preference because there still rankled in their thoughts the stigma which a few thoughtless pioneers had allowed to attach itself to the Menorah in the early days of its formation.

That the Congregation would appeal to a certain number was evident from the first. The Jewish service was fraught with that sociable spirit which became more lacking in the Menorah the more it devoted itself to its primary motives of research and investigation into Jewish history, culture and ideals. Though there unquestionably exists a strong feeling of fellowship in the Menorah, it cannot compare with the atmosphere of fraternalism in a religious meeting.

Moreover, the student can come to the Congregation to relax. He can sit back passively and draw inspiration from the service. But a Menorah meeting is virtually a class-room lacking a few formalities. There the student must actively discuss the problems placed before him; he must earnestly dig for the Pierian waters before he can hope to quench his thirst.

The average Jewish student comes to Michigan wofully ignorant of matters pertaining to Judaism. Many of them have been reared in small towns, where the efforts of parents to train their children in Jewish ways, if tried at all, barely passes the first two or three pages of the "Siddur"; while those who have been raised in the city are generally the victims of the lax system of Jewish training prevalent there. At the most they have only a superficial knowledge of Jewish culture, of the great Jewish movements of the past and present. The Synagogue or Temple represents to the mind of the average Jewish student all that there is in Jewry; and so, while he will readily and voluntarily support a movement for the establishment of the Jewish church, he will have to be persuaded to help or join an organization devoted to Jewish culture. For in the latter case he must first be made to understand that there are other vital forces in Israel than the Jewish church as it stands to-day in its conventional form.

The Menorah at Michigan faces the problem of attracting that element, forming the big majority of the student body, which, though it proudly upholds the high scholastic standard generally credited to the Jewish student, still has its eyes closed and its brains dulled to many of the vital Jewish problems which press for solution. With the co-operation of the Intercollegiate Menorah office, the Society is gradually molding the sentiment of the individual student toward a more intelligent and favorable attitude. That the Menorah is already a vital force on the campus may be seen from the work being done, the zeal and enthusiasm displayed by the officers and members, many of them among the University leaders. Those who formerly scorned or stood aloof, including some who were in the position to mold student sentiment, have begun to show a sympathetic interest, bordering in many instances on actual participation.

The Jewish Student Congregation does not conflict in any way with the Menorah Society. There is room for both on the campus. Each has its own purpose. Menorah members participate in the conduct and the services of the Congregation.

JACOB LEVIN

University of Minnesota

JUDGING from the interest and enthusiasm displayed at the opening "get together" meeting, arranged especially for the benefit of new arrivals at the University, the Minnesota Menorah seems certain to make this year the most successful in its history. The meeting, which follows an established custom at Minnesota, was well attended by both students and alumni, and enabled both elements to become better acquainted. The early part of the evening was devoted to a general reception; this was followed by a short entertainment, and then a very interesting discussion of Menorah ideals and duties by various members of the faculty and alumni.

The plans of the Society this year look more than ever before to an intensive study of Jewish subjects by the students themselves. Although various outside speakers will be asked to address the Society, the bulk of the work will rest with the student body.

DAVID LONDON

New York University

THE New York University Menorah Society is unique in its make-up and in the form of its administration. The Society is really two organizations within the one university. This dual composition is necessitated by the division, geographically, of New York University into colleges in the downtown section of New York City, and into colleges in the far uptown section of the Bronx, the distance between these divisions being some twelve miles. It has therefore been found necessary to organize one Menorah Society at University Heights, the Bronx section, and another at Washington Square, the downtown section.

Each of these Societies has its own officers, and each is active in its own section. The Executive Councils of both Societies meet jointly as a Board of Governors at least once in two months. This Board directs Menorah work pertaining to the whole University, at the same time considering the problems arising in the work of each Society.

The University Heights chapter is the older, having been organized December 22, 1913. Its membership is about 75 at this time, and an increase to 100 is expected by the end of the present academic year. Formed by the zeal of some twenty-five men, and looked upon at its inception with indifference by the college community, it has made itself respected at University Heights and has become, young as it is, an institution in the college life.

Its work during the first half-year was directed chiefly to the internal strengthening of the Society, the increasing of its membership and the institution of smooth working machinery of administration. At the same time, however, the Society offered a number of valuable lectures which attracted wide interest. Among the speakers of that half-year may be mentioned Professor Israel Friedlaender, Dr. Madison C. Peters, and Dr. Theodore F. Jones of the faculty.

The activities of the University Heights Menorah Society for this year are extensive. It has arranged a program of lectures, among which may be mentioned the following: "The Talmud," by Dr. Clifton H. Levy; "The Jew in English Literature," by Dean Archibald L. Bouton; "The Jews in Medieval Spain," by Dr. D. de Sola Pool; "Conservative Judaism," by Dr. Jacob Kohn; "Historical Beginnings of Christianity," by Dr. A. H. Limouze; "Reform Judaism," by Dr. Isaac Moses. Besides these lectures, some meetings are devoted to discussions by members of such subjects as Zangwill's "Melting Pot," "Zionism," and others of current interest.

The Society does not limit its work to these meetings. It conducts regularly, every Thursday evening, classes in elementary Hebrew and in Post-Biblical History, and on Tuesday afternoons a class in Advanced Hebrew and the reading of Hebrew Literature. The Thursday evening class in Hebrew is under the direction of Dr. Max Reichler. The course in History is divided into several periods, and as the course proceeds to a new period in the history a different instructor takes the class. Among the men giving the course are Dr. M. H. Harris, Dr. Reichler, Dr. Moses Hyamson, and Dr. Joseph Gorfinkle. The class in Advanced Hebrew is conducted by Mr. Max Kadushin of the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Through the kindness of the Jewish Publication Society of America and the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, and by its own additions, the Society has placed a collection of books in the University library, which, according to the Librarian's statement, is used more frequently than is any other collection of books placed in the library by a society.

All these activities have caused favorable interest on the part of the student body, faculty, and college authorities. Aside from these academic efforts, the Society has made its members feel something of a social friendliness toward each other and has brought together men who might otherwise not have come in contact at all.

The Society at Washington Square promises an exceedingly good future. At the present writing it is only several weeks old, but it already has a membership of over one hundred and fifty. Judging from the strong beginning it has made, it is bound to become a factor in its section of the University.

CHARLES K. FEINBERG

Ohio State University

THE year 1913-14, the fourth year of the Menorah at Ohio State University, proved to be the most successful in its history. In accord with the nature and purpose of our organization, we strove to be academic, sociable and non-sectarian, and accomplished this end, even beyond the expectations of the more optimistic. During the year the Society carried on a lecture course in Biblical History, by Professor Morgenstern, of the Hebrew Union College, in such a creditable manner as to attract attention even outside the University. The lectures of Dr. Israel Friedlaender and Dr. H. M. Kallen met with similar success, and after their lectures at the University they addressed large audiences at our local Temples.

The new University library opened its doors this year, and we are greatly indebted to our beloved friend, Mr. Joseph Schonthal, of Columbus, for placing upon the shelves a set of the Jewish Encyclopedia; and to the University, the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, and the Jewish Publication Society for books and periodicals. The trustees of the University considered our proposition for the establishment of a chair in Jewish History and Culture, but it was agreed that conditions were not yet ripe for this move. These several undertakings, in connection with the entertainments, held the members steadily interested throughout the year. The bi-monthly meetings, the programs of which were made up by the members themselves, were inspiring and beneficial.

A successful close was marked by a "Farewell Banquet" to the seniors, among whom were several of our best workers—pioneers of our Society. Of the guests present, only our old friend Dean Orton made an address. He was greatly impressed with the work of our Society, and assured us that the faculty is in full sympathy with our aims.

With the passing of a good year we are looking forward to a still better one, and are predicting a big year for Menorah work. Such men as Dr. J. Leonard Levy, Dr. Washington Gladden, Dr. Moses J. Gries, Prof. I. Leo Sharfman, Dr. David Philipson, and Dr. Louis Wolsey are among the speakers this year.

Our program committee has been working up attractive plans, and expect to carry out discussions and studies in Jewish history, literature and problems. The social part of our program is taken care of as the year progresses, and forms only so much of our work as is justifiable to keep the members together.

The Ohio State Menorah takes this opportunity of extending its best wishes to the other Menorah Societies and of expressing its perfect readiness to co-operate with them. The members will eagerly welcome the first number of the Menorah Journal, both for its own sake and as a means of strengthening the bonds with the other Menorahs.