PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Evening Star, Issue 9878, 14 December 1895, Page 2 (Supplement)

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Under the-' title of the ' Ahstralosfah Hebrew' there : has' been r issued at Sydney a weekly paper ol twenty pages ; fdplscap'folip, which, according tQ the Pbaraoteristioiiitrdductory article froaa the peri of-its editor' (Mr Jacob Goldstein), who intends tPdisoard the impersonality pf orthodox journalism, has for its pivotal aims the establishment of " a mouthpiece for Judaism in the Southern Hemisphere ; to" institute a means for bringing about a closer uaiohand anber;dependen'ce between;'the. scattered Australaeian Jewish y congregations; to cultivate a feeling of com-' munity of ihteresb 7 arid falcial pride among the growing' numbers' df hativ ; e-bortt l 'and : immigrant Jewish- colonists j tp (stimulate* the ideals and "'to"'give vdibe and form to those noble aspirations which spring l spohi ; taneotis'ly iri every JeWish boul. In matters religious its tprie will be liberal but): orthodox withal; ' Under the apprdpriate : heading of A Gracieftil Tribute '> the editdr; publishes a letter, breathing nothing but ; goodwill, frOtri 1 the pen of Mr Q.C., the wdll-kndwn pblitido-ecohomistj of Sydney, who says 'ttiUf cdia ":— \* I doubt if' any Jew realises hpw ihteiesting. his race and his ceremonies are to the educated Gentile. It.is not drily that your ritual and your ceremonies teach back into remoteantiquity, but that the most exraordinary permanence and vitality of your traditions make the symbols and beliefs of other churches appear the growth of yesterday. Religious belief is, no doubt, largely a matter of race; and even the uninitiated Gentile knows that there have been developments in Judaism whioh, perhaps, Jews have been at times unwilling to reobgniso, just as the greatest branch of the Christian church, the success of which is principally due to its adaptability, boasts, in its motto of ' Semper Eadem,' of its immobility and insusceptibility of change. But, independently of raciiil differences and unmodified by historical development, there remains in every living faith which gives a rule of life to persons of intelligence one or more essential truths, the knowledge and right estimate of which iB of incalculable value to a community., ."■ . . We may

not always agree with your conclusions or approve your methods, but in so far as you succeed in your endeavor to present us with a vivid picture of the spiritual and intellectual forces of Hubraism" you will aid in building up a nobler type of citizenship in this new couutry." The editor has succeeded in enlisting the services of such recognised leaders of Jewish thought as Rabbi Davis (Sydney), ])t Abrahams and Rabbi Lsnzer(Melbaurne), Attorney-General Isaacs (Victoria), Rabbi G'oldreich (Ballarat), while his dramaticrand mtisical columns are controlled by critics of acknowledged standing. With such aids aud assistance, and with a clientele embracing! every colony of the Australasian group, there is every reason for believing that so long as the ' Australasian Hebrew' acts up to its ideals, whioh are certainly lofty ones, it will enjoy a large measure of success, and its influence extend beyond its communal connections.