82	The Story of the Jewish Defense League

bmerciful and gracious, thou too, be merciful and gracious. bJust as the Almighty is called righteous, thou too, be righte- bous. Just as he is abundant in goodness, thou too, be abun- bdant in goodness. Just as the Almighty is called Holy, thou btoo, be holy.’

b“This call to holiness, the seal of the Jew, is that in which bwe take pride. The commandments of the Torah, which are bthe means to reach this holiness, these difficult but beautiful bcommandments are part of the Jewish heritage which also bcalls for Hadar. The Shabbat, which imposes upon the Jew bthat immense self-discipline to turn away from thoughts of bmaterial gain and give himself over for one complete day to bsomething higher, to contemplate that his material prosper- bity is dependent upon the will of G-d.

b“The laws of kashrut, which elevate man from the animal band which raise his base instincts for survival through eat- bing, to a spiritual plane.

b“The laws of ritual purity, which take the most driving binstinct within man, that of sex, and elevate it to the greatest bconcept that has ever been created—love.

b“All these add to the pride, to the Hadar that we feel in bbeing Jewish. But perhaps Hadar reaches its zenith when we bcontemplate with a mixture of broken-heartedness and yet bglorious pride, the stubborn refusal of the Jew to give up his bfaith either to the swords of our enemies or to their blan- bdishments.

b“The list of Jewish enemies seems endless: Pharaoh, As- bsyria, Babylonia, Haman of Persia, Antiochus of the Greeks, bHadrian of the Romans, Christian fanatics throughout bEurope and Asia Minor, Muslim fanatics in North Africa band the Middle East, and finally, the twin horror of our own btime, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. These stand as a bcontinual threat to the survival of the Jewish people, a threat bwhich has been met by us in stubbornness, strength of bpurpose, and a tenacity which creates within us Hadar.

b“Is it not clear, then, why we have such self respect and bdignity in being Jews? We believe that the Jew with his rich band magnificent record of civilization and culture, with his bmagnificent talent, is an intellectual monarch and a cultural b