The New York herald., 1872-09-15
LEXINGTON AVENUE SYNAGOGUE.

What Jewish Reform Means-NOt the
Destruction OF the Old, but Its Renova-
ti0n and Improvement-Sermon by the
Rev. DIR. Heubsch.
At the Lexington Avenue Synagogue the sermon
was preached yesterday by Dr. Heubsch His dis
course was based upon Isaiah, H., 10, and was
designed to impress upon those VINO are halting
between two opinions and doubling whereunto
these reform movements will lead, that the two
camps into which the professors Of religion are
divided are not hostile camps. Many are in difh-
Guilty to decide which party is right, and hence
they keep aloof from both and care nothing at all
for religion. To those persons he addressed
himself especially, and remarked that the
camp of Israel is 0ne that the old is not superseded
by the new, but Is merely supplemented, and that
the one is as necessary to the life and comfort Of
The other as Is the succession of the seasons from
year to year. In illustration of this proposition
DR.. Heubsch supposed family mansion in which
three generations of men are living. Grandpa and
grandma built the house years ago and in the style
Of their age. But now the frosts OF old age gather
ON their brows, and as they sit by the cosey fire.
place they think and talk the past. They live
exclusively in the recollection of former years, in
the glory OF departed days. The busy cares Of life
no more disturb or annoy them. These have been
nit aronna ay after Gay a1 cheeu and conten 0
the consciousness that they are caring for their
family to the best OF their ability. Beyond them
and farther away from the warm heartbstOne are
THE CHILDREN JOYOUS AND GAY
in the innocence Of childhood They have not begun
to care about heat or cold, about Winter Sum-
mer. How different the thoughts of these three
generations OF beingsl But are they different fami-
aesP Certainly not. They are one household still.
The aged Live in the past They remember when
this house was built and every irregularity in its
construction serves only to enhance It's beauty and
ne discovers Inconsistencies and inharmonies in,
the Old homestead, and he says to himself, though
1t was well suited to the age in WHICH II was built
those days yet the progress OF this age has shown
how 1t may be improved and made more light and
SMes sa s whn bn sS0ua the sons
which has the recommendation of long usage and
venerable years, or should he not rather make
the spirit Of the age and are not at variance with
the spirit Of JudaismS He makes the necessary
improvements, while the old people shake their
were better than these, But When the work is
nn% more light s and cheerful than it was before
has not been anu torn DOWN is S'U substantially sian
that war Warmed them mot Of yore burns % as brightly hil
as ever on the hearthstone. What is rellgonS 1t
Is the divine flame which warns the soul when the
frosts OF life gather around it, 1t Is the light that
guides us through the darkness Of night and the
shadow Of death. 1t was given by our Heavenly
Father and was carried through the desert by our
ancestors. TWAS
THE PILLAR OF FIRE BY NIGHT
which, being brought into Palestine made that
land the Holy Land. 1t is that divine flame which,
in every place OF exile and in every time OF perse
cution, has enabled Israel to bear up and to make
for themselves home even among strangers. Is
Israel dividedi No. We are one household Of
faith still, said the Doctor. Let the work OF i'm
prOvement and renovation go forward, and when
It Is completed the ancient building will stand
forth In more beautiful proportions that 1t has
yet presented to the world. The Olden
time has always shaken its head at
every enterprise OF It's younger and more active or
spring. Yet every new age and epoch has been but
the messenger OF God, who, like jeremiah H., 6),
had mission to root out, to pull down, to destroy
to throw down, to build up and to plant. The
Doctor then gave several illustrations OF the de-
veopment Of religion and OF intellectual culture, in
despite OF opposition from those who were ulti-
matey brought to acknowledge that the new was
an Improvement upon the old. He showed also
that our conceptions OF heaven and earth have un-
Gergone great changes in the progress OF ages,
while heaven and earth remain Just what they were
and where they were, while we misconceived OF
them. The Doctor then showed that the rising
generation had much more need to be guarded
against the evils arising from exuberance OF JOY
and gadness rather than OF temptation and suffer
ing. The days OF religious persecution are ended,
and IN our freedom and ease there Is danger that
we shall forget God. He exhorted the young OF the
congregation to plant such heavens and earth as he
had described and the old people to wait, and they
should see the edifce enlarged beautihed and made
cheerful. and not DESTROYED