But we cannot afford to stop at this point. Knowing what Judaism is not, is only half-knowledge, and therefore quite dangerous. We must apply ourselves anew to the task of pondering over the problem of Judaism. We may indulge to our heart's content in lauding the past when one could be a Jew without troubling his head about the question, "What is Judaism?" We may sigh in regret for those days when a Jew upon being asked about his religion was able to reply, "I have no religion; I am a Jew." The danger of the entire economy of the Jewish soul going to pieces is too imminent to permit us to lull ourselves into that blissful unconsciousness, the praises of which Carlyle sang quite consciously. We are treading the narrow ledge of a precipice. Men like Zollschan, Ruppin, and Theilhaber have pointed out the awful chasm that threatens to engulf us. It requires not a little courage to maintain our nerve and avoid being seized with the vertigo. But courage alone is not enough. We must take into account the narrowness of the path and tread over it warily. _We Must Face the Real Problem of Judaism_ WE Jews must do some very hard thinking, of a kind, perhaps, that we have not been called upon to do before. That task dare not be shirked. We must not give in to that tendency which breaks out whenever we have something very difficult to do, of turning to anything except that which we know demands peremptory attention. A task that is thus neglected revenges itself by haunting us and upsetting whatever we undertake. Instead of giving to the problem of Judaism the careful deliberation that it requires, we get busy with a thousand and one things, whereby we hope to escape the need of concentrated attention. We have become fussy and fidgety. We are divided into committees and sub-committees. In place of clearness of thought we have a confusion of tongues. Our case illustrates the truth which Pascal enunciated, that most of the evils in the world can be traced to the inability of a person to sit in his room and think.