The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-03-11

will likely be more md more congregations
With nothing distindiycly jewish about thom;
Hebrew will doubtless be ultimately dropped
altogether ~ a ieaturc Of religious services,
and no forms or ceremonies Will BE- permitted
Tor which they do not SEQ som" good
modern reason. They Will ndopt Sunday for
their worship. such IA II may be. Aitcr
while thoy will lose moro AMI more eNoh u
the inHuenccR Of German ana jewish descent
Then intcrmarriage with those Of other initis
VIII follow. and that can result only in the mcrE-
ing and disappearance Vi tho Jtw. 50 lar as
those nrr concerned who are born and rerrcd ON
American soil now element Ol inm grafton
Will constantly como from abrOad, but that Viii
40 through the same process; and meantime,
the world stands not still beyond the borders Of
the United States The process that has been
zone through hero VIII not TAIL ia OthuI hnJs,
Though II may not be 50 speedy -
Meantime the present generation continues
it, war about reform. Entire congregations. ny
have stated, have already rcachcd point at
which there Is nothing further worth coDieud-
ing about. Take. for instance, in New YORK,
the Futh Avenue congregation, tho Temple
Emmanuel. The services there consist OF lew
hymns. brief prayers Ol general charaat r.,
reading from the Pcntateuch. and n sermon.
Tho congregation sits us IN tho ordinary Chris
tan church, with uncovered heads. iamIlirs
t9gthcr in family pews. quiet and dccorou5.
There IL "a fine choir. n Handsome religious cdl-
nee, the service begins at me usual hour Tor
such thing. and lasts about the same time is
the ordinary church service. There is alsu-
lutoly nothing peculiar about IT, except that
some Of the hymns and prayers ana the read
Ing from the Scriptures are in Hebrew. ana
that the chapter of the Pcntateuch IS read from
a parchment scroll instead Of n bound volume
But until tho station Of this congregation Is
rcached, the agitntion will not cense and the
gen ration that has been chiefly troubled 10y II
Will die out while IL is IN progress.
That there is no breaking up into scots with
definite differences OF forms ana ceremonies Is
owing to various cnus"s. nut chicny 70 the met
that none Of thcsc forms aud none OF these OBJ
scrv,tnrcs possess sufficient lmpOrtanccto mike
men rally around tuCm and abide 10y them.
Nothing will permanently satisfy any mind OF
average intelligence uninfluCnced 10y carry as
ISOLATION or long habit save their entire over
ft ~ It Ia
discard them. TO break up, as has frequently
happened. the only result would be that very
soon in the severed portions the old struggle
would DC removed and carried on ns before, the
orthodox growing less orthodox, and the re-
formers more advanced ia thcir notions Of re-
\ natural inquiry is But is this entirely and
purely u cOnlict over forms. or docs It Involve,
also 10 some extent. qurstio OF doctrine and
principles Of boiiei and II SO. to what extent p
Dogma is undoubtedly involved ~ some de-
gree but 1t II only colMtcrally No essential
principle Of belief has hocn made directly the
object cltAcr Ol discussion or dissenaiun but
there are two or three which certainly have
been drawn Into the conflict 10y impl alton.
ono lon. settled article ol the JtWsh creed has
been the belief in the coming Of II future Mes
sihh. who was To b. ~ personal redeemer. ana
with whose advent me Juwisn people should 10
restored to Llsir kingdom IN the llov Land; ;
and the hHstenlng OF that event IA imliored IN
various prayers and hymns that lur q long time
had been q part OF thu reguinr orthodox service.
These puss,l.C the r'iOrm"rs have sought 10
oNpun.,c. and. as upon all 9th q points. nave
met with "a tul"ious rrslstin'r. rom
the orthodox. Here. then. nn undouhod
question OF doctrine scems coIidi rally in
vowed and to sullr est nt II MAY Doe 80. The
doctrine of the Ncssi ah has not iiSeu D., u
dirrtly the subject OF ,umtrOsDrsy. tut ruliatnr-
ally Il undouyt NY solms IT, be- involved IN the
conflict over the prayers. And YET tuat ,ohifp-
Nrr~s furnishes ~ Iudl catlOn 81 the .Nirnt 81
the belief IN thr doetrine. II is not entertained
10y ans OF IN" rrilrmcrs. who cun.iruc the ap-
pare t pr dion IN tho Prophets OF the coming
OF a red rcmrr IN a ngurutiNe sense. They do
not n.lleNe tina, d personal T. sdecmer il over u
@ n 9TH hi
They believe uni.lterlngly TINT Messiah VIII
come some day, and may como any. But
OF "a lass US orthodox a. tnai, there are few IA
th' United suites. nh's cW Ia Germany. Dou"l-
lsS IA other 'uunirirs The proportion n greater
hui IN America. ~ has been SAID 50 often "a, %
have become huchn"y'd tit not oniy 40 ihe
jews no. believe IN return to Palestine and y
restoration ol their kin-dpn. hut they would
reiis L. take part IN II II tncy hhi the oppor-
tuniiy. The resistance on the pnlt II the Or
uOloN in American cungr -EntlOn- 10 the pro-
posed mod ncniion OF the PRAYERS was in truth
based upon "a dlsin sllnat4un 10 change ot any
kind and from "a general dlstrust the reiorin"rs
ami desire 10 conccde nutnlni. Ia their wish, =.
The prayers being in Hebrew. understood by
few anu well Understood 10y hardly any their
inconSruD was not 50 slarin.. ~ misht other
Al. thcr principle " faith tina, is collat rally
Involved in the controversy over tho ritun IS
the belief in the divine authors ZAP 10 IN Nii
u. inm"ni. ana in revelation rs there NARRATED.
II the Old Testament II merely human poetry
and philosophy. inspired by nothing save IN"
Nrr OF = mus and history. moro or l'ss dubious
and unnuthcnticat'd. a. the advanced r'iurm-
crs believe the many ohseryHnrrs enduring to
the present day that are based upon passages IN
tho Books Of Moses, are entitled 10 very differ
ent consideration from what they should re-
ccNc II those passages arr. rs the orthodox
believe. direct cOumunlcati Uns from God. tx
prcssivc of his will. Here there IL clearly in
Vowed n principle Of belief u the highest
importance; but, like that Of the Messiah. II
is only coilaterally SO; It has never been made
the subject Of congregational discussion or
some reformers who have not gone the length
Of aNDWing their disbelief in the divine origin OF
Tie Old .sttmcnt. draw Nm" dl-tinrii9no on ms
point. Without committing themselves dis
tIn'tly upon tho main question, they Say q. ut.
oven suplusing the dire TONS contained IN the
Docks Of VI lscs Tor The social and religious GOV,
eminent of the Hebrews 10 have pro'eeded
from divine dictaiion or inspiration, they were
evidently designed solely with a Wow Ia the
temporal condition of the jews MS II WAS nj that
time. and they Ia no way 20 TO tlr essentials 81
the religion and. amid different circuust.n -
may be uttered accordingly, Al the tuio those
commands We're pro- lnimed the jews were u
nation 10y themselves. were the only people pro-
Tossing the pure monOtheistic belief. and wore
surrounded by idol w9rshpping peoples
guilty OF All manner OF harharons and Immoral
practices from whom 1t was necessary 70 keep
tn"m separated 10y numerous marks OF distinc-
ton IN dress. laws, customs and oiSrrNan -
That is ali changed now, and II was obviously
never contemplated that the directions iien
prescribed should not change likewise. All the
mnute rules relating 10 the pr Stilood ana me
suriirnl offerings. and those appertunlng T.
the Jubilee year, 4 only cunnot b- ui served To-
day. hut actually nave not been since the up
turning If the Jewish State. Even tine most OF
tnpdoX do not dream of restoring them, nor DO
they think them essential to the rrlig ion.
Equally unes-cntlal are the other cOmlun ls
surh uH those rotating TO the animals tIUt may
and may not be cuten 10 the Observance Of tn"
festivals. and the wearing Of q irinGod garment
rs "a constant reminder ot their God. On this
prin 'iuln. the rclOrnl"rs ought logically, To sss
nothing objectionable IN lntermHrril.sc hy the
young poope of the rising generation with
thnss b. whom thuir hearts take fancy in other
faiths; but very few 70 quite tnut far as yet.
although II is true that where the reiormers op-
pose intermnrrlage, It Is not on the ground TINT
their creed iOrblds II. but rather ON grounds II
convenience and cNpedlrn'y and Tor fear OF
discussions and unhapplness.
Some of the forms and ol 'sorynncos that tho
roformers have been describing are has 81
either wholly or mainly on rdhnlnicul authors
". such ns tho fast days and most of the refine
mrnts and terhuicalti"s about the Strengthening
Of animals Tor food and the observance OF tho
sabbath. In regard to these, tn RS Is merely
difference OF opinion between the refprmrls
Hnl the orthodox as to the weight 10 bee
given to-day to tho rabbinical synOls of
the past and 10 the dlsta and views
Of rahbinigl scholars ms found in the Talmud
and other works, all this fabric Of tho rahhs
tho reiorners declare themselves prepared To
repudate so far rs their opinions condemn II.
They assert that it has no authority and that the
views # Tahhini al scholars Of the past have no
preference over those of the scholars of to-day.
Tho test Of reason will be applied 10 them, and
the palm ba given TO those that b ~ stand that
tost In rejecting tho Talmud, they ARE only
4