Article December 16, 1905 Issue

"Lest we forget."

ISIDOR JACOBS.

ONE of the principal points of interest to tourists traveling up and down the German Rhine, is the great "Denkmal" monument on the heights above Rudesheim. As one ascends the mountain from the village below, and reaches the grounds surrounding the monument, he cannot help being impressed by the grandeur, the awe-begetting magnificence of the scene which unfolds itself to view. Away below, like a veritable stream of silver, glistening in the early morning sun, flows the Rhine, winding its way around and between the background of high mountains. Impressed by the sight, we turn to the monument, looming up to its vast height before us, and see inscribed upon it the words of the song "Die Wacht am Rhein." This monument is called the "Denkmal," a German word which signifies "The Memorial," or, as Kipling would put it, "Lest we forget."

In thinking of this monument and these words, we are naturally led to consider the significance and purpose of the various monuments erected throughout the world. The one just mentioned is intended to commemorate the victory of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. Others throughout the world were similarly raised to celebrate great historical events, religious or otherwise, while many have been set up in honor of individuals who have left an imprint on the world's civilization through some great achievement. All these monuments have been erected for the purpose of keeping alive in the memory of man something that had been achieved or accomplished. This is also true of religious ceremonies, fast days, or feast days. These stand largely for memorial or remembrance,—"Lest we forget."

Every year, people of the Jewish faith, wherever dispersed throughout the world, celebrate the observance of the Passover, about the same time that many Christian sects meet to celebrate the anniversary of Easter and the Resurrection. These are but monuments to keep alive the memory of religious epochs in the world's history. On the annual recurrence of the Jewish Passover, from days immemorial, it has been the custom to have a narrative read in the synagogues, and in the homes of all Jewish people, giving in detail the history of the struggles, the trials, and tribulations of the children of Israel, in past ages, when they were held in bondage, also telling of the departure from Egypt, under the leadership of Moses. This narrative also details the wanderings of these people in the wilderness for forty years before reaching the promised land. It tells of their murmurings, their complaints, and how they forsook the worship of the one God to return to their idols, and how some even petitioned Moses to permit them to return to the slavery, with all its sufferings, from which they had been rescued. All this is set forth in detail year after year, so that old and young, from generation to generation, shall be impressed with the lesson, lest they forget what their forefathers had suffered, when they "forgat the Lord their God."

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