arly Jewish significance. It promises universal peace, an age of justice and of righteousness, an age in which all men will recognize that God is One and His Name is One. But this glorious age will come about through the regeneration of the Jewish people, which in turn will be effected by a man, a scion of the house of David, sent by God to guide them on the road to righteousness. The people chosen by God to be His messengers to the world will then be able to accomplish their mission of regenerating the world. This was the Messianic hope proclaimed by the prophets and sages, and this is the Messianic hope of most Jews of today, the difference between the various sections being only a difference in the details of the hope. Thanks to the freedom always accorded to the interpretation of Jewish dogmas, these differences cannot create schisms in the Jewish camp, and every faction, each in its own way, is contributing its portion toward the realization of this great and glorious ideal of the Jews. 85 APPENDIX THE MESSIANIC HOPE IN THE JEWISH The Messianic hope finds its fullest and noblest expression in the Jewish prayerbook. The sublime aspirations of the prophet, the speculations of the sage and philosopher, the fancies of the mystic, and the imaginary flights of the homilist are the themes elaborated by the religious poet. At times he sings of prophetic universalism, again of exclusive nationalism. One tells of the coming of a personal Messiah, a scion of the house of David, who shall work wonders in Israel's behalf, and confound its enemies. Another speaks of God as the Redeemer, of a theocracy characterized by perfect righteousness and peace. One paints the sublime picture of Isaiah, the highest ideals of the most advanced humanity; another gives a minute description of the feast prepared for the righteous after the resurrection. Everywhere, in one form or another, the hope finds fervent expression-in the daily prayers, the prayers for Sabbath |