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It is
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EEG EAECK COLLEGE
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Cords and sfi‘fie‘hgphen
c
fair guess that sgmg-of
you,- Zplke
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7
.
‘
,
7
Stakes
youlj.
‘
me, negre recentlsr been
If so, it may have 'stzpuck you that the habits of BritiSh
on holizjay.
holiday—makers are findergéing
phange;
‘
An ever increasing number are' ~
r
spending their? holidays,
caravans
c‘olours.‘
,t
ad that they, British coufitryaside is at this season
a‘nd ten‘ts,
of the year
all sizes, Shapes and ~
reason ‘fpr this isl'of course” inpréased mobility than‘iis
‘et‘lrewn
Ogie
the motor—c‘ar.‘
with cafavang and tents
Alt‘uany
the Same
.
for-‘9.
of‘
But anothei: éeésdnhay- we-l‘i‘bg “thé desiré of
'ur-banise‘d population
‘and to lead
fioielfi of Boarding-houses, but in
n01} i-n
113i)
while
get‘ééi
fafzi‘ax'laix'as ‘poss‘ible
a‘flmorie pri»mi*t.ij}¢"=1‘ifé,
as, o‘he'flsees togajy;
‘r‘igo
Biblé menticgns thém freqfien’b1z5Mana
béck
closef‘
Htofi‘he dawfi of
{Phere ‘15 an “ivnterg‘st'égg example
tradit;ofia:;1y appointe‘d to be
Vt'he
‘5L:.th
chapter of Isaiah;
lre‘laé.
9h
't‘higs‘
nature,
of much‘
‘teindis,
history!
n'rhe
bfthat
(Sf
usingrit as a
the‘
Haftarah
sabbath, mhigh
‘talgé'n
'VTkgerne they‘rano’ny'm'ous
‘
such "a éomtyfofiplace in
fihé‘lifej of our ancestors Phat ithé "Eropfiets were 'fofid
metaphors
150
and
'Elhe'fien'bwlvés-
”
from city civilisaf'idn,
rate qéra’valhs, Qbihougp'g‘biia;:different
‘ki‘nc-i
\‘ouI-t
Prophej: of t‘hé
.
mm“
Exile
\
desci-ibes the glorious futurei fihivch; he fé‘reeees for the, Israelirbes whgn
théy return
fret}:
Babylonia t‘o‘their homé hountry; andihelikens thé néw
“Jerusalem t‘o‘a ten‘t ‘ti‘ch, Will have] to flat enlarged to acoommbdat‘e“ its
vaét ‘pOplilation, pf Returning singles and, no doubt, afi everéihéi’easifié
flood of proselftes‘ as @511. So‘ he says? "Engarge the place of ‘yghr
'
'
“
‘
‘jbént
~
,,
and
let‘t’h‘ve
étir'téins “of Sign?
nof ba‘ck; Igfigfipen‘hyour?
Let us concentrate
056's“
our."
and
thbugvhlté
hébitations bé stretched out; hold
V
‘sr'drga‘ngthen: your'sta'kgs‘.""
'
:
on the Iasi
{Sax-t
of‘that “verses,
"vThé
"
wt
z
larger the tent, the deeper must“ you sink the stakes into the ground if
it is to stand up to the wind;
if it
is»
it is to
as; it.
was to
1mg purfiosé of firm me‘taplhqr is to poifit
if the new Jewiéh Gomnofl'édik'hh is )to benan enlarged conmfinity,
,Dewte‘I-oe-Isaiah's‘ "listeners.
out “that
That much. is ob§ziousmto us
‘
But“
to gather in all sqrts and conditioné' of Jews and Gentiles,
:
if:
play a bigger role inhuman history, then it must more than- ever
see to it that its 'own Spiritual foundatnionsva're deeply and securely lair].
So "unders’godd‘, hthgmetaphor é-pgaks to us
contemporary relevancé.
among us, and
‘
.
Or;
1am
Thefe afie
‘a‘cr'o‘ss
m1“) ‘ofipositge
thi‘nkifig eépecially of
the one hand there are those who'se
13p}:
‘intereLS'h
the‘ cerllturie‘s‘with
tgndencies
’09
{a
be encountered:
L‘i'foérarlfiewish community.
in religion tends
.to
be
Igimited to sfich things as prayer," wtnfshi‘pv, observanée'afid' inpwledge of
Jewish
v'
trad.ition.,‘~
and
They
1091:
to‘
Judaism for fiefsopal spiritual satisfaction
emotionalgéereuxjity.
I
They are therefore less céflcepned
with the mission of Jewry to the world at large; they have li'fitie efithusiasm
for interiafith-afiivities or fihéwinning of proselytes; and tzhey‘ do not
“easily? see the 'relexiapce‘of Seeking" to influence social and poii‘fiéal life,
Which seems t9 them En aétiirih'f'beionging 130‘ thé‘ peripherypifi not beyond
'
the boundary, of the proper proVince of religion.
‘
Their ‘stakes may be
strong, but theiricords are short.
'On 'the (fiber:
hand there are thqee who ax"; mbfe
jwdaism has to oEfer to the
worm
Wc’voncerned
wha‘fi
thanzwilth 'what it has to offer to themé
They are the people with a keén‘fiociai c‘onscience‘ who afiplaud
judaism as long as it speaks with a universalisfifiac voice, as loing‘as it
participateé in, the general intellectual debates of the day, as, long as
sglvess.
‘
it promoteé good éi-tizenship and sociél’ servicet,‘ as long is it c’cintribu’ces
‘
conspicuously to the struggle for justice and peabe and welfare in hfiman
’
~
They tend to get impafiient if fioo much émphasis seems to be
giveh, and too much time devotéd, to prayer and nbtual and the study
soéigfiy,
";
of thé Jewisfi past, ‘All that seems tb phem more or less beéide the pointgli
Let.us get on,,they say, with the reél job. Their cords may be long, but
their Stakgs do not go very deep.
What I am therefore trying to say is that we need In Liberai Judaism
a proper balance between these two attitudes,-or rather a combinatioh
Of what is positive in both.
There ié little merit in deepening our
Jewish heritage within ourselves if we fail to seeithat we hold it on
trust for mahkind, thafi we have a responsibiliti to inject its Values.
(rs»“
as a redemptive force into fihe life of human society.7 But there is also’
little xxzug mérit in brandishing univeréalistic slogans and proclaiming
univerfialistic ambitions if we laék the knowledge whiéh gives real contentK
to the slogans and'if fig 1aék the étrength which may enafile us t9 realise?
the ambitions. 0n thg facezof it tpere may be’no obvibus Eonnectionr
between lighting Sabbaty candles and world peaée, or between studyifig
Hebrew texts and social justige.
But the confiegtion is real, and t6
perceive it is‘to have reaéhed'reiigioga maturity. ‘By steeping ourselves‘
in Jewish tradition we
pose
V
ourselVes to a whélé netwofik of subtlé
influenées whicfi help to make us the sort of pebple who haVe thexf
~ipc1inatfon éhd the ability to live conscientiofisly, to act
and to 1abour~for“the betterfient of soéiemy.
fesponsil,
fhat i§nwby our aim just
aiways béhdgepen bur‘Jewish”rooteaness and at the same time to broaden
our Jewish vision; to lengthen qur cords and to strengthen our stakes;
to do fihié and hot t6 leave thg other undone.
Only a Jewishly s£rong
Jewish communigy is able to make a real contribumion to mankind; and
only a Jewish communifiy inteni on making a contribution fio mankind
desérves to survive.
_