The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-05-18
PFFoRM OF JUDAISM.
r.I, adIer's Opinion of the Liberal
3IOVemen ia Israel.

LARGE that it packed Standard hall to its
,,tn,oet capacity. The subject of the
Jisonssion was "Reform in the Jewish
and Christian churches" The lecturer
said "Of all the forces in society there
is none more conservative than religion.
No oninion is as strenuously maintained
as religious opinion, no institution is so
slow to yield as a religious institution.
How powerful, then, must be the cur
rent OF liberalism when its influence is
already seen in the church and in the
synagogue in the attempt made to re-
concile religion and reason. How inter
esting is such a movement Let us di-
vide our subject into two parts, namely:
liberal Judaism and liberal Christianity,
and let us take the former as our theme
for to-day" Beginning with the asser-
ton that the liberal movement among
the Jews had begun in Germany and that
its leaders have been almost exclusively
Germans, the lecturer gave brief and
comprehensive sketch OF the rise and
progress of Jewish reform. He described
in graphic words the terrible prosecutions
inflicted upon the Jews in the middle
ages. their maSsacres. exiles and Oppres
sions, and said: The theory of the
Christian church, carried out by the
I CHRISTIAN Tul6ISs WAS Llidl III lut blliit vi
the cruciixion of Christ the Jews for
feited all rights to existence" Referring
| to their social and political Ostracism, he
| added Nothing was left them but
| the petty traffic of the pedlar or the dis
| honorable calling of the money lender
4 The Jew of the middle ages has been
held up to modern chivalry as an object
/ of loathing 1t is but a trick of the
I DhiligfInal bp 1or,r1N-oA M
/ his sight and then led him out to taunt
and deride him. 1t Is most wonderful
| that, with all the trials and hardshps
| they endured through centuries of re-
! lentless persecution, they preserved their
/ purity unsullied. 1t was their religion
which enabled them to do this, and it
was this religion which made the COM
mon bond that held them together, scat
! tered as they were TO the four corners of
the earth. The Jews walked through
history as in a dream; war ragged, EN-
pires fell, customs changed but it was
I nothing to them, they preserved their
iron stability and remained changeless.
At the end of the last century, however,
new feeling came over mankind with
the new birth of poetry, philosophy and
! humanity, and the hand of fellowship
was at length extended to the Jews.
Mendlessohn, the author OF Jewish re-
form, began the work with his translation
of part OF the bible into German, a
step which the rabbits were not slow to
perceive would be followed by many
other Innovations The emancipation OF
the Jews of France, brought about by
the labOrs of men like Able GregOire
and Mirabeau. came soon after, and the
victorious French armies carried liberte
egalite, fraternite, into the ghettos OF
Germany. The services of Jewish sol
diers on the battle field of Waterlood
and Leipsic sealed with blood the cove
nant Of the new emancipation for all
time to CONT. This new state of things
changed their attitude-they lived no
longer in the past as they had done in
the darker days. They began to take an
interest in the present. Great changes
were needed to bring Judaism into har-
mOny with the new conditions, and their
history Is the history of the reform
movement" DR.. Adler referred briefly
TO the salient points in the reformation,
namely, the educational work and the
reform in public worship. lie alluded
to the introduction of choirs, organs and
sermons into the synagogue and to the
establishment of the carly temples, es-
pecially that of Jacobson in Hanover,
and the Leipsic temple, of which the now
veteran DR.. Zunz was rabbi and the com
poser Meverbeer the musical director.
He spoke next of the new legislation in
the science of Judaism, begun by a bra
ham Geiger and his cO-wOrkers, and con-
tinued Changes were made not only
in eXrerua1s, but doctrines long esteemed
fundamental were boldly challenged.
Patriotism was the lever of reform. The
Jews said, If we belong to the father
land, to return to Palestine were treason,
to expect the Messiah is useless so these
ideas were abandoned. They said, If
we are to mingle with the world, the
dietary laws which were intended TO keep
us separate and distinct must go;' so
they were abolished. And when 1t was
said that these rest on the talmud, 1t was
answered, Then the talmud must go
Or on the bible, Then the bible must
go, too Even so important an ordi-
nance rs the rite of the covenant was
called in question, and other equally fun
| damental POINTS If YOU ask, then, what
remained of Judaism, this remained {:
| First, the belief in the monotheism of
/ the prophets; and second. the Messianic
mission of the Jewish people These are
| the pillars of the reform movement to-
day. What these reforms did was this :
They cleared Judaism of the eXternals
which had grown up around 1t during
the dark ages of persecution, they sim
pliied its doctrines, they purged Its
ceremonies, they cut off many tasts and
feasts, aud waged manful warfare against
superstition. They raised the moral
level of the people Their mission was
to emancipate religion from the thraldom
of the past, and to fix it firmly in the
present The first they did; did they
accomplish the second? 1t were I'M
grateful to blame those who have done
so much with not doing what they could
not accomplish We cannot deny that
the movement at present lacks magnetism
and vitality. The old leaders are pass
ing away, and their successors have not
even scholarship. True, they have hand
some temples and impressive ceremonies
but such outward pomp is often the slgr
of inward decay. II is not sufficient tC
cut off a few PRAYERS here and there, and
remove few obnoxious passages OF the
liturgy if what remains is equally re-
mote. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob nc
longer aroused any enthusiasm IN the
breasts of the people, and as to the story
of the Red sea, why even the chlIdreI
in the nursery have ceased to believe 1t
The contrast between profession ano
practice, too, is striking. Look at the
wealthy reform Jewish merchant in hi'
counting house on Sunday, discoursine
on the sanctity Ol the Sabbath, and OBJ
iecting to any change in its observance
forgetting the saying of the old rabbi:
that the Sabbath was made for man, anC
not man for the Sabbath. Is this con
shifting the needs of the time? The
people are tired of hearing of the Geedi
Of Moses and Joshua; there are live
practical questions which demand treat
ment in these times. As for ourselves
we. in this work, are related neither L
Iudaism nor to Christianity for us TIT
time has come to unite for those urgen
practical purposes which demand GU
attention. In conclusion, DR.. Adle
referred to the attacks made upon hin
kin the public prints, and said " wore
tn the reformers. That their leadln:
Linen should join in the hue-and-cr.
against us is ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, no
Efsr us but for them, as showing theI
weakness. On what plea can they re
sist the new methods tried now to &C
complish what they have attempted AM
failed to accomplish? Our sole crime
difference of conviction from theirs.
implore them not to lessen the value c
conviction, which is the alpha and omeg
of morality. / implore them to remen
her their years and dignity and the tria
-. Which thew were beset when the