Page:The message of the hour - four sermons delivered on the new years' day, and the day of atonement, 5651-1890 (IA messageofhourfou00moseiala).pdf/46

 of our faith, the spreading of our truths, the sanctification of God's name among the nations, that through our actions we may kill the hydra-headed monster of prejudice and race-hatred still prevailing against the descendants of Abraham? Where are the Jewish libraries, high schools, seminaries and universities, established by our Jewish Astors and Vanderbilts? How piteously poor do the few attempts at a larger humanitarian work look in comparison with our wealth and numbers in this country. I mention with due respect the praise-worthy efforts made by collective bodies and by some large-hearted individual men and women our asylums and hospitals, which must live from hand to mouth, our theological seminary in Cincinnati, which ekes out a precarious existence, the manual training school in this city, the royal charities of Mr. Jacob Schiff, of New York, and last, but not least, the blessed work of the "Society for the Education of Jewish Orphans," created by the munificence of Mrs. Elisa Frank in our midst, who thereby has set a noble example of the true uses of wealth.

But I ask you, is this sufficient? Should not a city like this possess a Jewish library, offering ample information as well as living instruction, in the shape of lecture courses on the most vital questions of Israelitish life? Should not a Jewish community like this provide an institution where our daughters may receive as thorough and classical an education as in the best and most fashionable seminaries in the land, with the additional benefit of Jewish religious influence, and not leave the task of moulding the heart and mind of the wives and mothers of the coming generation, to the quiet proselytizing efforts of Catholic and Methodist schools? Nor should we overlook the dangers threatening the honor and faith of Israel in connection with the increasing immigration of brethren from lands of barbarism, political misrule, and religious darkness. If Christian associations go to the trcjuble of establishing missionary schools among them, shall not we, who are of their flesh and blood, take a warmer interest in their moral and intellectual welfare, and by patient toil, by kindly and brotherly treatment, win their confidence, their implicit trust, and raise them up to that level of American citizenship on which we stand?