One of the major themes of my teaching to our people at Central Reform Temple, and to all of you here at Emmanuel Church, is the importance of history as a source of spiritual truth and guidance. History, its chronicle and commemoration, and its enduring meaning and message, is a fundamental dimension of both Judaism and Christianity. The Hebrew Biblical foundation that both of our faiths share, teaches that God works through human history. The primary focus of our Scriptures is historical narrative. The events, progress, and personalities that shape history–whether global, national, communal, and even our own personal experiences–are clear revelations of God’s presence and will in the world and in our lives. We believe that the good and noble people and events in human experience have been instruments of God’s blessing, love and mercy. And yet, we also know that the evils of history, the sufferings and injustice we have inflicted upon each other, have also been signs of our failure to heed God’s will – not of Divine responsibility for suffering, but rather our human culpability for the tragedies of our past. We have been given both a clear set of moral and ethical imperatives in Torah and Gospel, as well as the innate free will to make our choices, collectively and individually, to either follow God’s law of love and justice and peace by choosing good and life or by choosing evil and death, and bringing upon ourselves, our world, and our children, the consequences of pain and suffering that have, sadly, largely marked the chronicle of human experience.

It is in this context of a spiritual understanding of history and commemoration, that we mark this morning the historical milestone anniversary of the 100th year–on this very day–of the end of the First World War. Indeed, our regular annual observance of Veterans Day is, of course, based on the original remembrance of the Armistice that, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month – of that fateful year of 1918, brought to an end the “war that would end all wars”.

The popular fascination with the legacy of the “Great War” endures a century later, because it was the first major global conflict of modern times – an international event perhaps second only in scope to the medieval Crusades up till that point. Its breadth and reach were made possible by the revolutionary advances of technology and communication that ushered in the 20th century. And ultimately, the continuing historical and political impact of the War is that it embodied and unleashed all the forces and dynamics of territorial and nationalistic conflict that are still shaping history to this day. All of the challenges our world has confronted since November 11, 1918 –- and which still constitute the daily headlines a century later–have their roots in that singular event…and in the tragically failed way its end was left unresolved by both the victors and the vanquished.

Now for us here, in a spiritual context, the political and military aspects of the War are not nearly as compelling as its cultural and social dimensions. From the perspective of America and its allies, this was indeed a great moral crusade –- sincerely viewed by most people at the time as a sacred and noble act of resistance…a cosmic confrontation of good over evil, of justice and freedom over tyranny and oppression.  We have only to consider the idealistic- and even romantic — aura that the war, and eventually, its remembrance, exerted on the popular imagination…through the monuments, art, poetry and music that came to reflect its symbolic legacy. The history of this congregation, Emmanuel Church, and this very building are indeed replete with this symbolism. As we know, the beautiful Leslie Lindsey Memorial Chapel commemorates the tragic loss of the young couple of this parish who, on their honeymoon, perished in the event that precipitated America’s entry into the War – the unprovoked 1915 sinking of the civilian ocean liner the Lusitania by German torpedoes. The classically characteristic War Memorial Windows in the Main Lobby poignantly evoke the loss of a generation of America’s, England’s and France’s brightest and best young men, reflected in the beautiful and noble faces of the figures of Saints Michael and Gabriel. And the symbolism that these angelic figures, clad for battle in armor, flank the Seals of the allied forces, proclaims the certainty of the sacred nobility of their cause. On the adjoining wall, in a testimony of continuing reverence, are inscribed the names of the heroes who served and who made the Supreme Sacrifice – including First Lieutenant Samuel Pierce Mandell, 2nd, in whose memory today’s Service music is dedicated by his proud family. And always… emblazoned on monuments and cenotaphs, stained glass windows and bronze memorial plaques in the squares and houses of worship of countless cities and towns throughout the United States, Great Britain, France and Belgium, and in the sprawling military cemeteries–with row on row of white crosses and stars that dot the landscape of western Europe, the Motto: Pro Deo et Patria… for God and Country.

Now we in 2018 have been sufficiently schooled –- and scarred –- by the continuing conflicts that originated in 1914-1918, to temper our romantic vision of the Great War and of militarism in general. The horror and inhumanity of the advent of modern chemical and aerial warfare, and the unprecedented loss of both military and civilian life in those four catastrophic years, casts a pall over the rosy hue of poppies. The Armistice that was signed exactly a century ago within this very hour, did not end all warm nor make the world safe for democracy. So many of the trials facing our own far more dangerous world today, grew out of the entrenched hatreds, rivalries and vindictiveness that prevailed at that time, and have festered ever since:

The Second World War, a mere 21 years later, was the direct progeny of the First. The Holocaust was also directly rooted in the Great War and the Armistice of 1918, which left Germany, still driven by a sense of superiority and dominant destiny, primed to seek a scapegoat for its defeat and humiliation. How tragically ironic that the events that formally inaugurated the terror that would end in genocide, unfolded exactly 80 years ago this very day as well – the desecration and destruction of the 1500 synagogues of Germany and Austria by Nazi mobs on November 9-11, 1938–the pogrom known as Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass.”. And as we consider the continuing echoes of 1918 and 1938, can the tragedy in Pittsburgh be far from our minds?

And speaking of today’s echoes, we know that the ongoing conflict between the United States and Russia; the rivalries threatening the survival of the European Union; the intractable hostilities in the Middle East; and the global tensions surrounding China’s emergence as a superpower – are all the direct legacies of the First World War.

And yet, while remaining clear-eyed, critical and ever vigilant regarding the worst forces that shaped that and every armed conflict, there remains the heartfelt idealism that inspired so many noble, promising, young men–and, for the first time, young women – to enlist and leave the safety and comfort of their homes and families – to go “over there… and to defend the ideals of freedom, liberty and democracy that they believed were sacred and worth sacrificing for.

The geopolitical issues that drove the Great War may have been more complex than that, and the competing national, territorial and economic agendas certainly exploited and manipulated this idealism. But the fact remains that our Nation today could sorely use some of the selfless devotion and unifying dedication that burned in the hearts of so many of those young people a century ago:  a noble, grateful, and inclusive patriotism – not an arrogant, exclusionary nationalism.

And friends, let’s always be clear that we dare not hand over true patriotism–love of flag and country – to the mischief and distortions of bigots and supremacists who would claim our national heritage as their own.

At this tragic time in our Nation and our world, we are beset from within and without by violence and extremism, racism, and anti-Semitism and the very same pretensions to nationalistic greatness and dominance that drove both world wars. We must hope and pray, but we must also work and sacrifice for a patriotism that proclaims our country’s truest and noblest ideals:

That every human being is created equal–and endowed by our Creator with unalienable natural rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That this Nation must always be One – not torn between blue and red – under our God of Peace – with liberty and justice for all…for all!

And with that Biblical consciousness of history, reminding us that all of us have been strangers and slaves in many lands of Egypt,  we must embrace the strangers, the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” who today are seeking the same blessings here that every one of our families came to these shores in search of… and which our brave and courageous veterans fought and sacrificed to defend.

Friends, I want to conclude these reflections now with a prayer — the Prayer for Peace from the Reform Jewish tradition. And in a symbolic act of remembrance and tribute, I will read this passage from my grandfather’s military issue Jewish Prayer Book, published by the United States War Department in early 1918. It was presented to him as he shipped out to go “over there” — along with his fellow recruits who received their own Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, Protestant hymnals or Roman Catholic missals–all bound in regulation khaki – and designed to fit in the breast pockets of their uniforms.  This cherished heirloom has remained a sacred relic in my family, and it is a profound and deeply emotional privilege for me to read from it today, of all days: Sim Shalom, tovah, u’vrachah:

Grant us peace, Thy most precious gift, O Thou eternal Source of peace, and enable us to be its messenger unto the peoples of the earth. Bless our country, that it may ever be a stronghold of peace, and its advocate in the council of nations. May contentment reign within its borders, health and happiness within its homes. Strengthen the bonds of friendship and fellowship among the inhabitants of all lands. Plant virtue in every soul and may the love of Thy Name hallow every home and every heart. Blessed be Thou, O Lord, Giver of peace.

Amen!