“The miraculous is happening, and Israel is going home at last.”
This was said by the Rev. Dr. Henry Merle Mellen, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church here, in an address at the services of Beth Israel Temple. Dr. Mellen recently returned from a winter spent in foreign travel, and was invited in as guest speaker.
“The Zionist movement,” he said, “is receiving the approval of prophecy, the counsel of great Jewish minds and the spiritual support of all who wish Israel well. Theodor Herzl was a real modern prophet and deserves honored recognition in the future history of a nationalized Jewry.
“From all parts of Europe, exiled Jews are recatching his splendid vision of a positive and definite country and government. Anti-Semite movements are causing the wrath of man to praise God.
‘PEACE BE UNTO YOU’
“Let the high-minded Jews throughout the world give serious thought to Zionism lest Israel fail of what may be one of its greatest opportunities since the Dispersion. To that end, may both Jewish and Gentile Zionists unite in prayer and effort. Here will East and West meet indeed. Here, if nowhere else, Jew and Gentile may stand together and repeat the simple but historic greeting and blessing: ‘Peace be unto you. Unto you Peace.'”
Dr. Mellen offered a vivid picture of contrast in modern Rome. “From the Palatine Hill in Rome imperial dominion,” he said, “the observant tourist beholds a panoramic picture of ‘the glory that was Rome.’
“Conspicuous in the picture are the Coliseum and the Arch of Titus. And almost as conspicuous is the modern synagogue of the Jews. The guide who conducted us over the historic mount, after pointing out the Coliseum and the Arch of Titus, simply said, referring to the synagogue, ‘voila La Juif.’
GLORY THAT WAS ROME
“There was prophetic poetry in that simple statement. The Coliseum built under the Emperor Vespasian by 100,000 Jews brought as captive slaves to Rome was eight years in erection. It was intended to commemorate Rome and dishonor the Jews.
“The Arch of Titus still carries the stone pictres of the seven-armed candlestick and the table of shewbread, intended likewise to signalize the passing of the Jewish nation in the destruction of Jerusalem.
“But both Coliseum and Arch are passing monuments of an imperialism once believed to be invincible. They are but tombstones of forgotten glory. The synagogue is living side by side with the ruins of ancient Rome. Behold the synagogue! Nestling there alive and vocal of a race and religion that will not die!
“It is a fine picture of Israel’s Perpetuity in history. The synagogue of Rome is an imperial testimony to the right of the Jew to be, nd influence the world.” amid the gostly ruins of ancient
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
