and technical
institutions have been established, and many of the forces have been
started that make the foundation for a permanent settlement. This
conscious effort can not have been put forth in vain. Palestine
represents the goal of our endeavor. And any settlement after the war
that has in view the general problems involved will be forced to take
cognizance of the just hopes that we Jews place in the future of that
country and the just rights that the Jewish people believe they
possess and have acquired there. The form in which such rights shall
be expressed is not a matter for discussion at present. The fact alone
is of importance. In the past the world has applauded the fight made
by the Poles for their national existence; it has followed with
interest the Greek War of Independence, the Italian striving for
unity, the Irish endeavors for racial autonomy, and the Alsatian
effort after independent expression. It must and will appreciate and
esteem the attempt made by the Jews to re-fashion their anomalous
status and to re-create the statehood that they lost nearly two
thousand years ago.

_The Collapse of Principles Held Sacred by the Jews_

Our concern, however, in the present world conflict goes further than
our own immediate affairs, and meets those interests which we have in
common with the rest of humankind. Much as we deplore the wanton
destruction of property, much as we bewail the reckless loss of life,
we mourn especially the diminution of ethical standards and the
perversion of our whole outlook on life. For this means the lapse of
much for which our own teachers have stood, the forfeit of many a
principle which has been dear to the Jewish heart. Let me touch
lightly upon three points out of the many that come to mind.

First of all, what we must deplore most is the defiance to law and to
its reign which has become so marked a characteristic during the
present war. The agreements arrived at in conventions, the bases of
treaties, the binding character of compacts, and the sanctity of
engagements--all seem to have been thrown into one melting pot. The
mere fact that the expression "a scrap of paper" has become a
household word, bandied about by orators and scribblers, shows the
distance we have descended into the abyss. The whole structure of our
international relations seems to have fallen to the ground and the
labored work of centuries to have been undone in a few months. Now,
the Jews have been fro