ALL JEWRY MOURNS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 930, 25 March 1930, Page 7

ALL JEWRY MOURNS

MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO EARL BALFOUR RABBI’S ELOQUENT ADDRESS "While the British Empire has lost one of its most d ietinguishecl sons, far-seeing, calm and courageous, to us Zionists he was the outstanding man of the age. We shall always think of h.m as the God - inspired instrument enabling us to work out our destiny and ofnat? r r 'B ht place in the comit y This eloquent tribute to the late Carl Balfour, acclaimed as the greatest friend of Jewry, was paid by the Rabbi. the Rev. S. A. Goldstein, in the course of a striking address at a largely attended memorial service in the Jewish Synagogue last evening. A deep gloom has been cast over the House of Israel by the death of Carl Balfour,” said the Rev. Goldstein, and we mourn today the loss of one \vho was regarded as the modern Cyrus, whose name became and always will be, a household word with us, for whom the rebuilding of Pales--11 no bas real meaning and significance. Many centuries had passed since the Cyrus of old proclaimed permission to the Jews to return to i alestine, and the sentiments of gladness were embodied in Psalm 126. The same joyful feelings animated Jewry when the late Carl Balfour. the Cyrus, as mouthpiece of Great ,

Britain. issued the notable Balfour declaration. This edict stated the British Government was favourable to the establishment in Palestine of a j national homo for the British people, i and gave an assurance that nothing would be done to prejudice the civil j and religious rights of existing non- j Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed! by the Jews in any other country. A new era of boundless possibilities and, to date, of remarkable achievements, dawned with this edict. Lari Balfour had blazed a new trail with the exhortation to ‘go forward , and make good.” ILe referred to the permanent work accomplished already, and added that with the enlargement of the Zionist platform and the introduction of the new Jewish agency, under Lord Malchett, new sources of revenue and strength would be tapped. The Rev. Goldstein went on to refer to their poignant sorrow at the death of Bari Balfour, who was the embodiment of qualities of heart and mind portraying man at his best The keynote of the late Earl’s utterances, and tho ideal from which he had never swerved. was that Palestine should be the national home of Jewry. This was reflected by his sentiments at the demonstration marking the conferment of the. Palestine mandate in Great Britain, and again on the ratification of the mandate at the League of Nations. To the last his enthusiasm had been an inspiration to Jewish leaders to unity and concentrated effort. The Jewish people hoped to redeem the debt of gratitude to the late Earl Balfour by practising the ideals he interpreted with such force and clarity.

Describing Earl Balfour as a great Englishman who had left the impress of his mind on post-war Imperial events, the Rev. Goldstein said people could not fail to be impressed by the rare combination of qualities which constituted his greatness. A manysided character, Earl Balfour was known as a high-minded, principled and cultured gentleman, a philosophical and analytical intellectual, a brilliant statesman, and a prominent leader in the League of Nations. When the times required a courageous and strong voice he raised it in no unfaltering manner. The dominant note of eulogies, to the memory from all shades of . political thought at Home was his life of unselfish devotion and faithful service to the Empire. ‘‘We, too, desire to pay our humble tribute to his memory, and we lay our modest wreath of immortelles bn his grave with a prayer. In the impetus we give to Zionism by our sustained ancl consistent effort, we have the most lasting monument we can erect to his memory.” Tho singing of the Jewish Anthem and the National Anthem concluded the service.