The New York herald., 1871-02-19

Again upon an interviewing expedition, and a
strange one even for a HERALD reporter OF five
years. standing with large conversational expert
ence or nearly every phase OF American society,"
Bishops and gamblers, statesmen and murderers,
Inventors and .'unfortunates' had already conhded
my pen the task Of giving to the world their views
or themselves and their fellows, their hopes and
their fears, their purposes, their policy, or their
crimes. But real live Rabbi was sti stranger to
my notebook and as / walked though the thick
falling snow, in spite OF pretty thorough study.
extending over a couple OF months, OF the great
Jewish question, could not help letting fanciful
memories run away with nv reason, and l Won
derea how far the gentleman / was about TO see
would resemble
THE TRADITIONAL RABBI,
whose acquaintance / had made in boyhood and
adolescence, as | eagerly devoured supernatural
novels ana legends OF romance and delightful Ara.
bian tales. Would he have "a grzzled iron-gray
beard, flowing down TO his waist ~ And "bent.
attenuated formS'' And "wrinkled, careworn
face, dry and yellow as the old parchment chronicles
OF the Abbey OF ST. Stephenss And small, shining
black eyes, that looked from under shaggy pent
house browsr And as 10 his dress, would he be
atrired in '9ong, loose fur robe, connned al the
waist by leatnen girdle, to which hung by
silken cords inkhorn and stylusSn And, still
further. should fnd MIN In ''dmly lighted cham
Der, surrounded by alembics and retorts and nasks
OF precious drugs, poring over one OF many musty
tones, whose pages, it might be shrewdly guessed,
had been manufactured out OF the skins OF foully
slaughtered Christians, ana whose lore was inscribed
In the weird and difficult character OF the Cabala ~
And, lastly, would the door be opened to me. as
happened In similar 10 the good knight, Sir
Lancelot Dead ana Gone, by the rabbits daughter.
maiden OF a loyeliness so wondrous that 1t would
take many entire HERALDS to describe her, but
about whom the main features were that she owned
treasures in her own right, and was disgusted
with Judaism and sorcery, and wanted to become
q Christian-and marry Crusader
But, alas the rabbi that lived In the lmagina-
tions of many generations OF Christian men is as
extinct as the dragon or the unicorn, or the many
other strange creatures That enlven the records OF
chivalry. Entering ''brown stone irontn in a
fashionable uptown street, l found myself in a
comfortable but matter.of-facr American home; and
the doctors studyn seemed only the counterpart
OF the private haunt OF any ORDINARY welltodo man
o. Extraordinarily lighted, with walls OF hand
somely bound tones, re lleved here and there with
engravings ana portraits, and with neatly kept
writing table in the centre OF the room. And Doc
tor Gulhein himself-for was in the presence of
no less distinguished scholar than the first lecturer
of the Temple EMANUEL saw al once was simply
pleasant. hammered, thoughtful gentleman Of the
nineteenth century. AS / took my seat gave up
forever the hope OF seeing the Rabbi OF Romance in
the future, except as had seen him In the past
been contemporary OF Peter the Hermit should
not have been much more fortunate. The raboles
had teen dreaming about must always have been
rather difficult 10 meet WITH
.'lhe Jewish Church, l began .'seems to be agi-
tated Doctor. by The same restless spirit or inquiry
that is shaking all our other nineteenth century
falths?s
''Yes, certainly; bnt
OUR DIFFERENCES
have been in one way somewhat exaggerated. The
points involved are not argued with anything like
the heat and bitterness that have sometimes been
described, do they very deeply AFFECT the social
intercourse OF Jews among themselves Reformed
Jews ana orthodox Jews never forget that they are
the common children OF Israel, and though in the
synagogues certaln changes may nave been INTRO
duced they do not III any way touch the good feel
ing and brothefly kindness tEa have always marked
Us as q people,
'Dld YOU read the article in last Sundays HERALD,
Doctorf'
''Yes; and the Information 1t gave seemed to me
70 be substantially accurate. There WAS error,
posed were o! the mldest character. SO far IRON
that being the case some OF the congregations al
Berlin nave gone urlnerln practice, 1T auy rate
Than any OF US have dared 20 do here. Nhy, one of
them-tne Reform Association OF Berlin, formerly
under the guidance OF Dr. Althelm-even
ABOLISHED THE JEWISH SABBATH
and met IN thelr synagogueS on the Christian Sun
day. We have not reached that point here yet.n
''fhese GifereLces Doctor, tnen are more matter
OF Intellectual dissent than oil bitter controversial
suilet'
Eyes We assume that each congregation has the
right To adopt such mode OF worship as Is con-
genial 10 lts own intellectual position aud tastes,
long as that worship is consistent win and Is
OF JUDAISM
"How about the ceremonial law?'
''We look upon
THESE LEvITIoAL LAWS
as having simple reference TO the time and place
and circumstances under which they were promul-
gated-as beng purely of local aud temporary I'M
portance. About some OF them-the laws relating
think do, aud they have been long content, as
they were also obliged, to disregard them The
difference between US on that point now ls that
they look forward to a day wnen all that class OF
laws VIII be revived While we 40 not antic-
pate anything Of 59e kind or even see that
from such restoration OF The old system.
Besides these sacrlncal laws, Others sucn as
the laws OF Jurisprudence. have necessarily
been abandoned because tney are opposed to Ame-
rcan civilization. Indeed, all this species OF laws
bear on Their lace the evidence OF belonging to an
other anu a different age. We cannot consoien-
uously accept them, rs men OF intelligence, as bind
ing upon Us now, or as component and essential
This reform movement, then, does not interfere
with the essential truths or Judaism "
most certainly not. We OF the reform school
hold tue
part OF Judaism as deeply and reverentIy the
most blgoied orthodox congregation and the
movement IN which we are humby figuring is
pu ely result OF intellectual progress-a necessary
corolary Of tie advance which we have now made
III clvlliZation.n
"Do You think this movement has already attained
Its hnal goalfp
How can it ever reach a fnalityY The world is
ever moving. Circumstances change; the spirit oil
progress never sleeps In the future, as IN the past
the peculiar worship OF Tie synagogue Will no doubt
need revision: but one principle must always govern
sucn changestheir compatibility with the essential
truths oil Judalsm.u
"For instance, would you feel prepared TO
CHANGE YOUR SABBATH
10 the same day that observed by CnristiansYr
mo doubt .he present s. stem OF Jews and Chris
rans observing different days has many ana great
inconvenience. We do not believe in the peculiar
sanctity OF day more than another. AS they
SAID IN Berlin, the law Of the sabbath can
be kept IN the spirit upon any selected
day 1t need moi, he literally observed.'
But so long as the doctrine Of the Trinity Is man
tained by the majority OF Chrlstlans-that is, Of
course, the great doctrine are opposed to- we
cannot prudently consistently weaken our posi-
tion 10y yielding even non-essentia point. In the
abstract snould consider IL of no importance which
DAY we kept, 50 long the command OF the deca
log1e 10 Keep holy day IN seven was observed.
.sWhat body OF Christians do you regard your
selves nearest to'Yn
~ suppose the radical wing OF the Unitarians-
those VINO do not believe in the mediatorshIp in AM
way.n
.How do you feel about the
ETERNITY or PUNISHMENT