Menorah

“ May I express the hope that the Menorah Societies will direct the gaze of their members to the land of promise and the land of the prophets, where the inspiration of Judaism has always come and whither the hopes of Jewry have always turned. Living as I do, in the reflection of Palestine as well as in the shadow of the Pyramids, I am very conscious of the need for a continued Passover from the ideas of the various Egypts that beset the Jewish people to the message that calls us, in spirit if not in body, to the land of our fathers. ”

“ We have this year more members than ever before, and they are enthusiastic. But it is not in numbers alone that we must put our trust. We should never worry—I know that some do—when the Menorah has a small meeting if only it is successful. I think that we never had a better meeting than when Dr. Kallen addressed fourteen members two years ago. Isaiah's prophecy concerning the Shearith Yisrael, the remnant of Israel, applies to [331] our Menorah problem. The few will redeem the many; they will uphold the ideals and culture of the Jewish race. ”

“ 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. ”

“ But in the experience at Michigan we have a concrete illustration of the spur to religion which Menorah men derive from their participation in Menorah work.
The ideal of the Menorah Societies is a non-partisan ideal. We do not stand for Zionism or anti-Zionism; we do not urge the acceptance of reform Judaism or conservative Judaism or orthodox Judaism; we do not favor the German Jew as against the Russian Jew, or vice versa, nor do we appeal to one social class as against another. We want the Menorah ideal to be broad enough to include every Jew. ”

“ A voice is crying to us out of our own midst. We do not hear; for our ears are sealed as with wax. The Menorah Societies, which now are to be found in most of our institutions of higher learning, have set themselves the task of bringing our Jewish students to a consciousness of their own past, to a knowledge of their history as members of a great historic people, and to a just appreciation of the teachings of their religion. It is only the knowledge of what we have tried to be that will make us realize fully what we are and will enable us to see what our future may be. ”

“ 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;" ”

“ When a thorough knowledge of the text was acquired, discussions and studies of different phases and movements in Judaism were taken up. In this work the Menorah Library proved an especially valuable aid.
While our Society is not a religious organization, it endeavors to surround our work with ethical and religious aims. The Society tries to be here for the Jewish students what the Y. M. C. A. is in a measure for our Christian fellow-students, and we can say that it has succeeded in its endeavor. The relation of the Menorah Society here with the Y. M. C. A. is one of heartiest co-operation. ”

“ A real need of our Menorah, and probably of other Menorahs, is some extra incentive to induce the writing of Jewish papers. The establishment here of a Menorah Prize would, we feel confident, work wonders in stimulating interest in Jewish problems. ”

“ A later meeting was devoted almost entirely to a lively as well as an intensely interesting discussion of Zionism.
The Western Reserve Menorah Society may well look forward to a banner year. Having overcome the obstacles that face every new organization, we are now prepared and eager to carry on the aggressive work of the Menorah. Passing as we are through a period fraught with epoch-making events, an endless number of problems spring up on every side, each one clamoring for attention. ”

“ That function, indeed, becomes increasingly important as the Menorah Societies multiply in number and influence throughout the country. In this special appeal to Menorah members, however, the Journal will be more than a news medium; it will supply important material for study and discussion, and stimulate thinking and active effort in behalf of Menorah ideals. And inasmuch as the furtherance of Menorah ideals means the advancement of American Jewry and the spread of Hebraic culture, the Journal should appeal to every one in America who sympathises with these purposes. ”

“ THE beginning of the academic year 1915-1916 marked the adoption of a new policy in the history of the C. C. N. Y. Menorah Society. During the past five years, Menorah activities have been mainly extensive, the purpose being to interest as large a number of students as possible. But now that the Menorah has come to exert such a wide influence in C. C. N. Y., greater prominence is being given to work of a more intensive nature, and emphasis is laid on the quality rather than the quantity of the membership.
Our program of Menorah activities may be divided into extensive work and intensive work. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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, [68] sacrificing personal ambition for the common welfare, spurred the Society on to more serious and genuine work. ”

“ 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 [55] presenting and discussing every point of view, a forum hospitable in true academic spirit to the open-minded pursuit of truth. ”

“ TAKEN in a general sense, it is evident that the Menorah or seven-branched candelabrum, being the distinctive lamp or light of the ancient Hebrews, serves more distinctively than would the classic torch or the conventional oil lamp to represent Hebrew enlightenment. Our aim being to spread the light of Hebraic culture, it is clearly fitting that we should employ the Hebraic lamp. It should be more effective, too, inasmuch as its light is sevenfold, and our efforts are illuminated with a sevenfold splendor. ”

“ Chairman of the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs
THE formation at Harvard University on October 25, 1906, of the first Menorah Society is a landmark in the Jewish Renaissance. That Renaissance, in which the Society is certain to be a significant factor, is of no less importance to America than to its Jews.
America offers to man his greatest opportunity—liberty amidst peace and large natural resources. But the noble purpose to which America is dedicated cannot be attained unless this high opportunity is fully utilized ”

“ The Menorah Societies are to be congratulated upon their new venture in issuing the Journal, upon which I wish them every success. It is to be hoped that the Menorah Journal will help the Jewish student to understand what Judaism means and what as Jews we should strive for to become useful and worthy citizens of this country. We shall have to face increasing problems because of the deplorable war in Europe, which so tragically affects our co-religionists there, and it will require much devotion and understanding on our part to properly deal with the conditions which will necessarily arise. ”

“ THE fifth session of the Convention was a luncheon in the Hotel Gibson, attended by the delegates, university students and graduates in Cincinnati, and members of the Faculties of the University of Cincinnati and the Hebrew Union College. Prof. I. Leo Sharfman, President of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, was the Toastmaster. Chancellor Hurwitz spoke for five minutes upon the purposes and progress of the Menorah movement. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Our Society has grown from a mere handful to an enthusiastic company, so that we have from fifty to seventy-five, and even a hundred, attending our regular meetings. I give this fact simply to show what a profound influence the work of the Menorah has been, what an influence it necessarily must have in the future, in promulgating Jewish culture, Jewish thought and ideals. ”

“ I am not sure I agree with that because when a reasonable observer sees a menorah what would she or he think of except the miracle of the oil, or of the holy candelabrum in the Jewish Temple, and of the Jewish Festival of Lights. Moreover, although the religious impact of a menorah standing alone was debatable, at least by the members of the Supreme court, we have found that the combination of a menorah with a creche communicates a clearly sectarian message. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Menorah Society comes to the University with a challenge and defies us to ignore at our peril that which Judaism has contributed to civilization and which we have derived from it. We have derived our own religion from it, and that spirit of Puritanism which was so closely connected with the settlement of the new world.—From an Address before the Cornell Menorah Society by President Jacob Gould Schurman of Cornell University. ”

“ 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 ”

“ To this I will add only one single word of the Rabbis: "The whole Torah exists solely for the sake of the ways of peace." This ideal of peace has been the guiding star of Israel for which the Jew has prayed morning, noon and night, and I trust that the young men of the Menorah will be true to that which the Menorah typifies, and will assist in the spreading of its light by upholding the reign of law, the reign of love, and the reign of peace. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It should be noted that in 1903 a Jewish literary society was founded at the University of Minnesota which was later changed to a Menorah Society and is now one of the constituents of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association. ”