Is the second floor of your house twenty degrees hotter than the first floor? Are you, too, trying to keep cool at those 100 degree baseball tournaments, pouring water over the heads of any red-faced child you see panting by you? Are you attempting to find the best 4th of July schedule involving fireworks, a parade, and perhaps a beach? Good times if you have air-conditioning.
The 4th of July marks the celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. Even my favorite all-American holiday cannot stop me from pointing out a Jewish connection. This is a simple matter as Jews have played many roles in American culture.
One powerful example is Emma Lazarus, the Jewish woman from New York who wrote the sonnet
The New Colossus to raise money to bring the Statue of Liberty to America. It speaks to not only the welcoming of immigrants, but the difficulties they will face in coming to our country. Please click on the link below to learn more about the intriguing life of Emma Lazarus.
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Emma Lazarus
Happy 4th
Education Director Emily Ascher
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