CANADIAN JEWISH REV IE W
The Poetic Element in Religion
ibility of
� 1 �
By Elihu Starr el 8
D�o�mb�- I,;\9tt
Where shall we find a vision worthy of our uttermost devotion?
We want something that will satisfy our longings, something to do, and something to love. And we look for it in many places, hoping to find it. All around us there is constant activity, to supply the wrorld's demands, Men hurry to work in the morning, and return home at night tired. The next day the same, often little conscious that aught else exists; and moments of exaltation are few. It's a hard world and a practical world. A' livelihood must be assured�stubborn obstacles must be overcome�the business of the world must go on. The song of life seems lost in the clamor of materialism.
What shall we think of this grim quest of material things�of a world stricken by the consequences of the most devastating bloodshed in history, starvation, hatred with the seed of more war, and persecution in its wake�of a social order wherein many toil, and yet are hungry, while many of the good things of life, created by others, are consumed by idlers�and withal, of a spirit of illlberalism and intolerance of unpopular views?
Where are those qualities we somehow feel are ultimate and true, and which we all reverently mention? Where is meekness, selflessness, self-immolation? We feel that they are right, and yet there seems to be a famine of humility characteristic both of the individual and of the group. Where and how is the dedication to the things of the spirit working out in the actions of everyday life? One looks about, wandering from place to place, with eyes eager for the heights, yearning to give one's all to some worthy endeavor; and, as one searches, often the sentiment of the Preacher of old insists upon itself: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. The flood of materialism hold sway; we seek-here in vain. There is no place on the stormy billows where we can set our hope. And Youth flies from the ark of worldliness seeking a resting-place.
The flood sweeps on, but rising out of the deluge is the peak of a mountain. And at last the dove finds a haven on the mountain-top. Just as the mountain peaks transcend the flood, so do exalting moments transcend the din of the worldly bustle, and touch us in a singular and convincing way. We have all experienced tfeeir spell. As we stand on the top of a mountain, a vision of beauty is unrolled before us; with our ascent we leave behind the cares that fretted us, and amid the glories of nature the foolish fears of what may happen are lost. Even as the mountain air is purer, so are we then incapable of a low thought. We are thrilled, and feel that here at last is a. compensating moment, a moment of real and meaningful living.
And if we have the eye to see and the ear to hear, we may find it about us in many forms�and though varied, it is yet one. In the graphic and plastic arts we find the same splendors, touched with human feeling and imagination. We see the response of another soul, -and as we rise with it, we ourselves are Quickened. So also in literature. In another's unbosoming we may find some
light on our own difficulties. Strains of sweet music charm.ua, and stir centers that seemed dormant, kindling within us an enthusiasm and resolution almost heavenly. In our search for .what, is really worth while, we may well be confident of these experiences�profound, lasting, and peaceful joys, enlarging the heart, and running up into character. But most strikingly of all does it come to us in prayer. There are things we cannot say in prose and must utter in verse; there are feelings that verse cannot convey which music seems able to express; but there is something' even beyond music that becomes sensible and articulate in prayer alone.
Prayer is the heart of Religion. It is the highest exercise we are capable of: the articulation of our Iiv^esMn line, with our ideals. Life is founded on the vision of what we would do, and what we would be; and in prayer this vision becomes uniquely articulate. To pray is to talk with God, to feel ourselves in harmony with His universe, to draw inspiration and strength from Him who is not only the source of our strength, our Creator, but also Father and Friend, The sense of the nearness of God, and of communion with Him, enthralls us, awakening a nostalgia for the world beyond and for holiness. There wells up within us a new courage as we consecrate ourselves in prayer to the task of making less the gap between what we are and what we want to be. And, perhaps, even we, at times, may feel something of the glory of our poet when he exclaims:
"Apart from Thee, in midst of life I die;
And life in death I find, when Thou art nigh."
We may often hear it said: the exaltation of which you speak I have experienced at the concert; I have found it in good books, in the paintings of the masters, and so on. True, for it is there also. There is something which all of these whisperings have in common, and that is the poetic element: that certain appeal to the best that is in us. Poetry is as deep as life itself, at once its very reality and mystery, a spark of the Infinite! Poetry endures when all else fades; that it is which gives life purpose, and beauty, and glory. He who is attuned and has embraced it, has everything; he who heeds not the small voices and has not found it, has nothing.
What is so futile as an utterly unpoetic existence? A humdrum plodding with none of the radiance of Poetry to light and to lead. With Poetry, we have a full life; it stirs the imagination, rouses hidden energies, and stimulates the unfolding of our own selves, quickening our native originality to the expression of our own distinctive contribution.
We have been looking for something wdfth while, -something that really matters, and on the mountain-top� the poetic element�we have found it. There is one majesty in life, and that is the majesty of Poetry. 0, if we could but live on the level of these blissful moments.
If I were a teacher of art�an instructor in painting�and heard that one of the great old masters had in some miraculous way returned to life�was
(Ccntinvfd on page 33)
an interview prof, ortd warburg
By UUis FUher -
copyrighted 1921, bywl�h cocreiponeunc* bureau
One would be prone to discount the statement of ariy rep re* serrfative of the World Zionist Organization on the issues in the �so-called Weizman-Mack conflict that has resulted in the breach in American Zionism. But Professor Otto >Warburg, though now in this country as a member of the Keren Hayesod delegation in company with Nahunf Sokolow, Vladimir Jabotinsky and Alexander Goldstein, himself states that "psychologically" he is not far from the Brandeis position," and that he "cordially regrets the difficulties which have arisen between the two factions;" 4 . >
Professor Warburg is a scientist, whose attitude towards events is cold, academic, dispassionate and unprejudiced. He is therefore able to rise above internal conflicts. That during the storm and stress, of the world war he compiled a volume of '80,000 names of plants is significant.
All this introduction for the benefit of the sceptic who, without it, would be inclined to regard the professor's remarks as he would Mr. Lipsky's on the one hand, or Judge Mack's on the other hand!
"The whole question is not of principles," he said to me in his room at the Commodore. "It was more a matter of personalities. Both sides should have been less assertive and exacting."
"But it is not too late," he added, "and the Zionist 'Organization of America willing, an amicable arrangement, a so-termed "peace" could still be effected." . �
I wanted to be particularly clear on one, tojme important point: was this reconciliation to be reached by understanding or by agreement? Could peace be secured, in Dr. Warburg'^ opinion, by clearing away the smoke of battte, by clarifying issues�that would be "understanding"�or by concessions on either or both sides � that would be "agreement."
"The differences," he replied, "were not fundamental. The point has been raised as to whether the Keren Hayesod should-be purely a donation fund�that funds for investment purposes be obtained through other names. I myself should have been in favor of such a separation. But since the world Organization felt otherwise, I act the good soldier and abide by the decision.
"Furthermore," he continued, "money is needed for non-dividend-producing projects in Palestine (such money being commonly called donation) and money is needed for1 dividend-producing projects (investments). How each could be collected was a technical matter and not a casus belli. An organization must not split on a detail of management.
"But-4t must be borne in mind that there will come a time when the Keren Hayesod will become a donation fund only, a true crystallization of what Justice Brandeis would have it. The Zionist Organization will invest in the mortgage bank, in credit institutions, etc. Then after an initial period, they will become self-supporting, and no longer lean on the Keren Hayesod, which then would become a fund donated exclusively to the development of non-dividend-yielding activities, such as education, sanitation, immigration, etc."
"And how," I ventured, "if Justice Brandeis and his followers of the minority would ask for a change'in the statutes of the Keren Hayesod?" These, I was told, have been approved by the Congress at Carlsbad and could therefore be changed only by a Congress. "But statutes were subject to interpretation," the implication of the professor's words being clear.
Rumors to the effect that the European delegation is favorably disposed towards the conclusion of "peace" with the minority Zionists make these views of oneof the members of the Zionist delegation of particular interest. )'
My interview with Professor Warburg began with a discussion of the sums to be assigned by the Zionist Organization for various colonization projects in Palestine. The budget, as adopted by the Carlsbad Congress, held in September, has been cabled to this country but various discrepancies crept up in the interpretations of these versions, and I askeo! Professor Warburg fcr an exact account.
Hebegan by saying that among the first charges on the Zionist funds was the upkeep of the teachers and schools, and the maintenance of the Zionist Commission; and that when these "expenses were paid, the remainder was to be devoted to colonization and development purposes. For these reasons, and because the Zionists may have to incur sudden unexpected expenditures of a political nature in Palestine, the budget is necessarily undetermined. It will