Faithful and Free: Collected Speeches and Lectures about Jews and Judaism

One may consider this work a sort of memorial book that captures the history of the Jews and Judaism in our century. It does not narrate stories but reports; it presents personages about whom I was asked to speak concerning either the end or the apex of their lives; it presents notable men who are perfectly positioned to illuminate the characteristics of German Jewry in this period, with regard to level of education, creative contributions to the public spirit, and the way it conducts its life; it relates events and depicts longer processes involving the position of the Jews as well as the thoughts and atmosphere to which they gave rise; it presents the movements, aspirations, and trends that shape the Jews’ own domain, their religious and communal life. Although I am the orator whose words are recorded here, this book is not about me or my speeches, but about the exemplary human beings, the significant events, and the intellectual movements about whom and about which I was called on to speak.

Since my own person has been a matter of complete indifference to me at these and all other public events, I may now ask the reader warmly and sincerely to ignore me; this book may offer description or judgment, instruction or admonition, and the reader ought to focus always on the content and not on the author.

Public addresses, born of the moment, are here united and given permanence. To the extent that they convey authentic traits of our time to the future, nothing in them could be changed; but speeches that merely propose thoughts that want to be instructive in the future, I reviewed critically to remove from content and expression the sharpness or mildness demanded by the moment. Since the three speeches delivered at the synods are here printed precisely according to the stenographic record, the indications of applause could not be suppressed; they are of immense material significance; it is important—not for the orator, but for the issue that is being presented—at which point approval was expressed; because, as the applause resounds, the orator’s thoughts are appropriated by the assembly and cease to be his own. For that reason, the words of thanks delivered by Dr. Löw¹ on behalf of the assembly are also added; they convey very clearly the mood of the synod, its relationship to the president, and, much more important, the mode of its assent to and approval of his concluding speech.

The same intention governs the addition of the letter by Dr. Michael Sachs;² its comment about the historic significance of [my] speech [about him] makes it an important historic document in its own right, because speech and response are thus moved [away from the personal] into the realm of general significance. Since, unfortunately, we do not have a full biography or even a mere sketch of the character of this unforgettable man, the inclusion of [his] letter is meant to serve as a small contribution in that direction; the same thought governs the inclusion of my preface to [his book] Voices from the Jordan and Euphrates, which attempts to combine festive speech and eulogy.

The other occasions for the addresses and lectures as well as what they refer to either emerges from their content or is explained in the notes. What was familiar and known to the listeners who gathered around the speaker for a particular address, may now be very remote to many readers and needs to be explained. In the speeches about Mendelssohn much was excluded due to the time limits; these are now being added; but so as not to disturb the construction of the thoughts, the additions appear in the notes, which are thereby recommended to the kind attention of the reader.