Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

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MASMID ;. Alma MatejT I When wliiinsii-, plastic ailolcsccnt years Arc gravely stilled lo manliooil ' s talm reserve; When, out of season, rizzleil age would serve A iloying feast of gloomy sullen fears . . . When sparkling laughter haply disappears And vain attempts to light a smile unnerve; When life is reft of eager, glowing verve And earth remains a dismal vale of tears — Yet is such grief more sweet than any draught That blissful ignorance would have us breathe, Far more serene than leisure winds that waft The soul along and give it folly ' s wreath: For there is joy to hearts that sadly weep Unknown to lightsome breasts that, waking, sleep... II So, Alma Mater, you have bid us sip From out the brimming cup that knowledge fills A sweet ambrosial wine-drink which instils With sun-kist glow life ' s drab apprenticeship; — Though first it seemed too bitter to our lip And seemed to grip us with convulsing chills We drank it down, and learned of joyous thrills .That grew more pleasing with its tightened grip... When soon thru life we take our varied course- - No longer fed from Alma Mater ' s hand — Our eyes shall often turn upon the source Of all that helped us erst to understand . . . For with the past there is a mystic bond Through wisdom ' s soul — to hea ven and beyond. by Bernard Dov Milians

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MASMID Judaism and JModern Thought Dr. Erich Gutkind Editors Note: Di Grakind, an exile from Nazi Germany, is at present Professor of Philos- ophy at the New School for Social Research. Dur- ing the coming year, he will be associated with the Philosophy Department of Yeshiva College. The article which follows is the text of a lecture delivered recently by Professor G ilkind before the Yeshiva College Alumni Association. The Jewish people today face one of the darkest and most critical periods in their long and suffer- ing-laden history. There have been persecutions before, but never have they assumed such world- wide proportions. Previous persecutions were in most cases confined to a single country; today this fiendish gospel of hate is preached everywhere. However, the greatest danger facing Judaism to- day is not this exiernal danger. On the contrary, those familiar with Jewish history know that, in the past, persecution and oppression have served to strengthen and fortify Judaism. The appalling danger which threatens the Jews today is not ex- ternal, but internal. It comes from within them, from within their own midst. It is the danger of forgetting the great Jewish truths, of desiring to dissolve themselves into the surrounding world, of desiring to strip themselves of Judaism. Ths great peril is assimilation. The Jew will ever remain a minority. But those who fear to belong to a minority misunderstand the essence of Juda- ism. He who has not the courage to remain in the minority, and, in fact, in a very weak minor- it) ' , cannot be a Jew. The Jew must have the strength to stand alone if necessary. That is how the history of the Jews began. Abraham heard the call of God and prepared to leave the house of his fath er and the land in which he lived. And he dauntlessly set himself up against the whole world. However, a minority need by no means be weak. The strength or weakness of a people does not depend upon its number. It depends upon its character. The stronger the nner life of such a group, the more inconquerabk- they are. The stronger the truth which binds a group of men together, the more invincible they are. The weak Jewish minority was stronger than mighty Egypt, stronger than Assyria and Babylon, stronger than the powerful Roman Empire. This people, small in numbers, has outlived all these mighty empires. It has outlived the kingdoms of the middle ages and the empires of modern times. It stands unvan- quished. The secret of its endurance lies within it. It is the inherent character of the Jewish people, not its external means of power, This strength is based on the fact that we trust in truth. We must believe that, in the final analysis, truth is stronger than any other power; a viewpoint that is, to be sure, not shared by a great part of humanity. Many believe that there is no truth at all, or else that truth is no power. In our times, a mighty con- flict is raging in the world: What is the basis of existence — Truth or Vitality? Powerful move- ments have arisen teaching that everything de- pends only on vitality. A philosopher like Nietz- sche teaches that the lie can promote life better than the truth. Many believe that the basis of our existence cannot be ttuth but that it is a ques- tion of vitality. The basis of existence is biol- ogical or, we might even say, zoological — Race and Blood. The Jewish belief is that a world which is to endure can be built only upon truth. All other attempts lead, in the end, only to catas- trophe. The greatest danger to Judaism, we have said, comes from the midst of Judaism itself. It is the question: Can the modern man still be a Jew. ' Is Judaism obsolete? Does it still fit in with the times? Does it not hinder our development? The question is: How can I, in our times, remain a Eighl