Page:Jews and Judaism (Morris Jastrow).djvu/5

 HE task which I have taken upon myself this morning, or perhaps it would be more correct to say, which circumstances impose upon me, is, I feel it, a difficult one. I do not refer to the fact that the term of office for which I was elected and accepted the position of Lecturer in this congregation, being about to expire, and having declined a re-election, I stand here for the last time in my official capacity. It was for very definite reasons that I accepted the trust when, without the least solicitation on my part, it was offered me, and it is for equally definite reasons that I now feel myself impelled to relinquish it. Except to give expression to the natural pang of regret one feels at severing any relations which have been of a pleasant nature, and to the promptings of appreciation towards those who have harbored the very best of intentions, this is not a subject to be touched upon here. But it would be an injustice both to you and myself were I to part without indicating, as clearly and plainly as I can, my views on a subject in which we are all, no matter where we stand, interested, if not concerned—one that surely needs all the light that can be thrown upon it, from whatever quarter it comes—namely, Jews and Judaism, or, more precisely, the relation in which the two stand to one another. It is to this task that I have reference, and you will agree with me that to speak of Jews and Judaism is a difficult task. It is also a delicate one, and were it not that it would be more than cowardly to shrink from a duty, no matter how difficult and delicate it be, I would probably not have chosen to discuss this subject from this spot. Naturally, the views which I am about to unfold will not be shared—at least in their entirety—by the honored leader of this congregation, but this is, if anything, one reason more why there should be no doubt as to my own position, and the close personal relation in which I stand to your guide raises this duty to a necessity. The esteem in which he stands he has gained for himself through his sincerity