Delaware Valley College - Cornucopia Yearbook (Doylestown, PA)

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THE GLEANER 191 Ebe Gleaner Salniatnrg BY ARTHUR M. SCHORR Rabbi Krauskopf, ladies and gentlemen, members of 4 the faculty, classmates and friends: Tho mortals, we are at times endowed with singu- larly thrilling and divine moments, by which life's bril- liancy is measured. How frequently have we been compelled to admit, that spoken words, even at best, are inadequate to ex- press our deepest emotions! At times when our supply of expression is exhausted and while we are groping for words that would but lend expression to our feelings, we are reminded of how Tennyson must have felt when he wrote: I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me! Friends, if ever there was an occasion of that kind it is today, when we as members of the '22 Graduating Class are celebrating the realization of a plan conceived by my fellow graduates and myself only three years ago. Celebrating Commencement Exercises in the past has developed a custom, however, analyzing our farewell occasion may be fittingly compared to a human inven- tory. In the spring of 1919 our class entered the National Farm School, in the hope that we could introduce more light into our lives. As a class, we represented a group of human specimens, coming from almost every walk of life, from widely varying environments, comprising prac- tically every human tendency. Yet foremost in the mind of every one of us was the one thought and concern, Panu Derech -Let us make a path. The road was very hard, untrodden, and Nature's obstacles were thrown in our way. By the process, sur- vival of the fittestf' fate has thinned out our ranks to thirty-nine. We have had to overcome the influences of a city upbringing and to accustom ourselves to new labors among hitherto strange environments and modes of living. But our enthusiastic determination, coupled with our close contact with Mother Nature and friendly

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192 THE GLEAN ER association with our instructors, re-enforced by the rigid guidance of our Director Ostrolenk, led us to victory. Yes, how well we remember that year of 1919, when the entire world, robbed of its flowering youth, was but slowly recovering from the inhuman monstrosities wrought by the most cruel menace of 111ankind-war. At last the people have learnt the tragic lesson that war is a curse at all times. The thinking few of the younger gen- eration have begun to appreciate the dire need of the rap- idly decreasing number of men and women who produce, who bring forth, who grow food and raiment for the hun- gry and needy harvester-the world-as compared with the non-essential class, who consume or unprofitably waste and squander the products of human toil. Hence our motto: The pen is mightier than the sword, yet mightier than either, and n1ore necessary, is the hoe. And so we hope for the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah: It will come to pass ' ' ' ' and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooksg nation will not lift up sword against na-- tion, neither will they learn war any more Graduation, the word reminds me of two sim- ilarly sounding words-grade and graduate measure.,4- The merchant or buyer grades the merchandise, and the pharmacist uses his glass graduate when dispensing the Elixir of Life, to see whether he has enough or too much of the life-giving and life-destroying elements. So is our graduation to-day a criterion to measure or grade the degree of ability with which we are fitted to enter a higher step. The name, Belshazzar will suggest to you the histori- cal handwriting on tl1e wall. While the king of Babylon was feasting with his courtiers, the hand appeared on the wall and wrote, Mene, mene, tekel, ufarsin -your na- tion was graded and found deficient--and the result was the downfall of Babylon. The same pair of scales that found a kingdom deficient are now registering an over- balance in our favor. And while we are today sailing on the great black boat of life, fortified by a preparation to enter into and interpret Nature's laws and secrets, do not let us forget our happy old Farm School, where bloomed our first flowers of knowledge, and where many life-long friends were gained, where so many happy hours were spent, and dear traditions were upheld: where earnest effort was rewarded and hard work always reigned supreme. Ever so far we may be drifted from these, Dr. Krauskopf's