Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

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M ASMID MASMI PUBLISHED BY The Students Organization of the Yeshiva College NUMBER III JUNE, 1931 Faculty TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 Nationalism and Religion- Message ■ ' The End of Days - Child Life Board of Editors Editorial My Isle • Hugo Mantel 7 Hyman Muss, Pres., S. O. Y. C. 8 A. S. Guternian 9 Eli Levine 13 15 16 Virgii and Lucretius Books Orthodoxy vs. Reform Lewisohn ' s View on Marriage- The Dual Character of the Jew- Our Times Reflected Classification -Louis BarishnikofF 17 Ernest Raphael 18 Hugo Mantel 23 -Louis BarishnikofF 25 Hugo Mantel 26 Hugo Mantel 27 Winter Thought Goethe and the Jews- Executive Council This and That — Louis Engelberg 28 — A. S. Guterman 30 Jacob Agushewitz 31 33 News Athletic News J. Kaminetsky 34 34 L. Izenstein 35

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M ASMI D FACULTY BERNARD REVEL. Ph.D President SHELLEY R. SAFIR, Ph.D.- .....Dean and Professor of Biology BERNARD DRACHMAN, Ph.D ■ Instructor in German JEKUTHIEL GINSBERG. M.A Assistant Professor of Mathematics ABRAHAM B. HURWITZ. M.A.. Instructor in Physical Education MOSES L. ISAACS. Ph.D Instructor in Chemistry RAPHAEL KURZROK. M.D., Ph.D Lecturer in Physiology ERASTUS PALMER, M.A Professor of Public Speaking JACOB R. SILVERMAN. Ph.D Instructor in Physics SOLOMON GANDZ, Ph.D. . Librarian JOSEPH GLANZ, B.S Laboratory Assistant ASSOCIATED FACULTY HENRY E. GARRETT. Ph.D Psychology Assistant Professor of Psychology, Columbia University CHARLES F. HORNE. Ph.D. .. English Professor of English, College of the City of New York ISAAC HUSIK. Ph.D....... Philosophy Professor of Philosophy. University of Pennsylvania SOLOMON LIPTZIN, Ph.D German Instructor in German. College of the City of New York NELSON P. MEAD. Ph.D History Professor of History, College of the City of New York JOSEPH PEARL. Ph.D Latin Associate Professor of Latin, Brooklyn C. C. N. Y. SOLOMON A. RHODES. Ph.D ..French Instructor in French. C. C. N. Y. JOSEPH T. SHIPLEY, Ph.D . English Instructor. School of Edu cation. C. C. N. Y.

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M A SM I D Nationalism and Religion By Hugo Mantel When the Uganda plan was brought up at the Zionist Congress in 1904 at Basle, the delegates were divided into two camps. The one was unhesitatingly in favor of establish- ing colonies anywhere, as long as Jewish eco- nomic conditions would thereby be mitigated. The other was opposed to any permanent colonization outside of Palestine. Even a temporary abode was objected to lest it might divert attention from the ideal of making Palestine the Jewish homeland. This division may be said to have been based on the degree of influence that religion had on the various factions of Zionism. The Eastern Europeans, though they might have abandoned religion, were still under the spell of the hope for a Messiah who would lead the Jews to their ancient land. The Western Europeans had been less impressed with reli- gion and they consequently felt no profound attachment to a strip of territory in Asia Minor. Their problem was Jewish suffering and they wished to solve it by settling the Jews in a distinct territory — regardless of its geographical position, though Palestine was preferred. The conflict fortunately ended with a com- plete victory for the Eastern Europeans. Pales- tine remained the center of Jewish hopes and activities. Thus religion won over economic expediency. But it was only in this respect that the in- fluence of religion was supreme in the Zionist Organization. In almost all of the other aspects, religion remained disregarded. Reli- gion, it was held, is a private matter; Zion- ism is concerned with the establishment of a national home for the Jews; the State cannot go hand in hand with the Synagogue. The European nations have shown the incompat- ibility of Church and State. The Church, it was claimed, is concerned with the other world, while the State deals with this world. Time has shown the fallacy of this atti- tude. Zionist leaders have come to realize that Judaism cannot be divorced from Jewish nationalism. In this respect we are different from the European nations. They had to banish the Church from the affairs of the State, for while their political, economic and social institutions had been the result of their natural development, religion had come to them from without. Among Jews, however, religion had always been the moving force. Their original problems were religio-moral ones; their political, social and economic in- stitutions had been based upon religion. The Jewish state has never been separated from the Jewish religion. Jewish nationalists, moreover, make their appeal for the sympathy of the world not a plea for mere preservation; the rejuvenation of the Jewish culture is their aim. The Jew- ish creative spirit is as youthful and as vigor- ous as ever; it is far from having had its final say. A national home, it is believed, will allow for a natural blossoming of this spirit. Diaspora Jewry, too, will benefit by Jew- ish political independence m Palestine. Theii prestige will rise both within and without. The healthy and spontaneous culture in Pa- lestine will inspire Jews all over the world for greater creativeness. Jewish nationalists, therefore, m.ust take two things into consideration. In the first place, that Jewish personality has been reli- gious in character. Religion has ever been the hub around which the wheel of Jewish history and culture has centered. Secondly, that whatever is lofty and noble in the West- ern religions has its roots in the Jewish reli- gious expression. They must note, too, that as Western civilization is progressing on scien- tific and mechanical lines, it is more and more in need of religious inspiration. That the Jews have their great opportunity in provid- ing for this need, needs no further discussion. Moreover, we cannot overlook the fact that Jewish nationalism without Judaism has no future at all. We cannot, for one thing, gloss over the spiritual aspect of nationalism. That G-d, the Torah, and Israel are united is no mere maxim but an historic fact. A Jew cannot permanently rid himself of reli- gion, try as he may. Jewish radicals have turned out more Ba ' ale Tshuvah, complete or half-baked, than the radicals of any other people. And those that did not have the courage to avow their return publicly, showed an unusual amount of uneasiness.