rds came
from among you, and the prophets who died for their faith. Whilst
living happily in the land of your fathers, you loathed to bind a
brother into slavery; upon your fields you left the tenth sheaf to
the poor and needy, and gave a hearing to anybody who spoke to the
people. Humbling yourself only before Jehovah, you said: 'We are all
alike in the eyes of our Father.' And when, in after years,
ill-fated, vanquished, covered with the blood of your sons who
defended the land of their fathers, you stood an outcast amongst
nations, and suffered from contempt and persecution, you yet remained
faithful unto your God and the memory of your fathers, and taught
other nations who suffered like you how to defend themselves without
weapons. The Lord hath made you intelligent, pure, and charitable, O
my people; but it is nigh two thousand years since you possessed the
one necessary thing on earth--a fatherland."

Here the voice of the speaker gave way, and he paused for a minute.
The crowd had caught his emotion, and a low tremor seemed to pass
through the people. A few subdued voices murmured:

"Let us listen! Let us listen! It is the writing of a true Israelite
who tells of the glory of his people."

They listened in silence, and Meir went on:

"Woe to the people who have no fatherland! The soul of the people
clings to the soil as a child clings to its mother's breast which
gives it nourishment, health, and relief from sickness. The Lord
ordained it thus; but the people acted against His will and tore your
soul, O Israel, from the soil to which it was attached. As an outcast
you went and knocked for charity at the very doors of those that had
despoiled you; your head bent down under laws from which your mind
recoiled; your tongue tried to imitate their speech, and the roof of
your mouth dried up in exceeding bitterness; your face darkened from
wrath and humiliation, and you lived in fear lest your faith and the
name of Israel should be obliterated from the face of the earth. Then
under torments and awful sorrows your greatness fell from you; your
sins and transgressions began to grow and multiply, and Jehovah your
Lord, looking down upon you said: 'Is this my chosen people with whom
I made the covenant of Truth and Grace? Can he not keep it except
with the words of his mouth, which do not agree with the deeds of his
hands? Does he see the covenant only in his offerings; songs,
prayers, and incense, and forget the high