Delegates Weep As Silver Exclaims “carry On”

Many of the delegates wept during the course of the address by the next speaker, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver of Cleveland, when he described the sad plight of the Jews of Russia. Rabbi Silver was introduced by Chairman Stern as “one of the great, constructive thinkers and leaders in American Jewry.”

“We cannot determine for the Jews of Russia what they require most to satisfy their needs; we must consult with them and we must be guided by them,” said Rabbi Silver. “But as long as their needs are there, as long as their plight is as sad as it has been portrayed, as long as hundreds and thousands of them are without a livelihood, outlawed, defenseless, declassed, trade-less, tool-less, land-less, doomed to misery and annihilation, there is a sacred duty upon every Jew to utilize every means of relief, even those measures which only promise an ounce of human relief for their misery.”

RECOUNTS TRIALS OF RUSSIAN JEWRY

After recounting the miseries and tortures through which Russian Jewry has gone during the past fifteen years, Rabbi Silver said:

“But it will arise. By the grace of God, it will arise. Stalin and the Yevsektzia have not written the last chapter in Russian-Jewish history. Other days will come. The world is a wheel which revolves. And Russian Jewry, which outlived Muscovite Czarism, and in the midst of mediaeval persecution evolved a noble culture and noble way of living, will rise again triumphant over its present miseries and disabilities. But until that time and as long as they are sunk deep in the mire of want and privation, we must help them to tide over their day of wrath.”

Sketching the history of Jewish association with Palestine through the ages, Rabbi Silver said that to him it was amazing that today in the twentieth century, Jews should expect to rebuild their national homeland without bitterness, without struggle, without sacrifice, without betrayal.

“Friends, we want peace in Palestine, we hate war,” he said. “We despise exploitation. We wish to build our national home at the expense of no one. We are ready to make every sacrifice for peace, consistent with our national rights, internationally acknowledged. Israel loves peace. We are a patient race. At the feet of stern masters, we learned the wisdom and courage of patience. We have waited. While time rushed by us, while empires crumbled and nations perished, we waited. Twenty-five centuries ago we covenanted with eternity never to forget Jerusalem; we have not forgotten. We shall not now forget. What we have builded, others are now turning into ruins. Well, we shall build upon the ruins. We know how to build upon ruins. We shall carry on. We are a proud race—too proud to hate. We felt the keen edge of treachery before; of broken promises and unrequited trusts. We have been admonished not to put our trust in kings and in ruling powers; our faith is in our own invincible will. Only the defeated seek refuge in hate. We are the undefeated. We carry on. We sent to Palestine emissaries of peace, builders, planters, tillers of the soil, teachers of men—and not a bayonet among the ten thousand whom we sent to the Holy Land.

“They went there, they rebuilt a wilderness, they made straighter highways for human progress and brought light and healing of the sacred arts of peace. They have now been met with a sword. So be it. We shall carry on. Bring that message, friends, to your people. Tell them of this epoch of Jewish Renaissance; tell them with conviction, with warmth, unafraid, unhesitatingly. They will listen—they must listen. Tell them too of this Holy Union which American Israel today forged here—a union of enthusiasm, of devotion, of common council,