ABSTRACT
In the religious consciousness of Judaism there looms as the first mark of its life a covenant by which God had consecrated Israel for its mission. The conditions are interdependent, for the dedication of Israel to God is synonymous with its existence. The Jewish people could not live were it to deny its purpose and justification of being, just as, on the other hand, the power of endurance and rejuvenation, by which it has defied every misfortune, makes its existence to-day the guarantee of an inner strength which can rise superior to the force of external circumstances. In ancient as well as in medieval times, the Jews have ever been active and creative, and by its union in the eighteenth century with a new-born civilization, the Jewish intellect has acquired renewed strength, and has developed into one of the great living forces of our age.
