Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-01-21
A FAREWELL SERMON

dent. Us. f. Examiner.
A FAREWELL SERMON
Delivered by r. abb Shreiber to Hi
| Congregation.
| Rev. DR.. Shredder delivered his fare.
we'll sermon last Friday night before 9
very large audience, at the Synagogue
The Doctor spoke on the "Duties Of the
Modern Rabbi" taking for his text the
words of Balaam, who had blessed
Israel, although he was hired by the
King of Moab to curse them. Following
is synopsis of the interesting sermon T.:
In an age like ours, which is swayed
by the most ardent desire after knowl-
edge, when a world of thought and SEN
timent, in which our fathers lived, is
taking leave of the children, the duties
of the Rabbi are different from what
they have been. Like the seer Of Moab,
he has to look at Judaism from the stop
of the mountains" from a high and
broad standpoint, and not from narrow
view. While he may encourage congre-
gational divisions according to religious
differences, he should not lose sight of
Israel's mission as the banner bearer
of ethical monotheism and cos
mopolitan humanity. This mission
was not concluded eighteen centuries
ago, nor is it closed in our days. We
cannot afford to lose our identity, to
recklessly surrender our historical con-
tinuity and be absorbed by the followers
of the daughter religion of Judaism.
We most emphatically claim our mission
as representatives of religion, whose
two daughters, Christianity and Islam,
are indebted to her for everything. But,
alas, the many absolete forms and cere-
monies of Judaism are used as arguments
against our claim to be missionary peo-
pie. These reproaches must be
silenced by the modern Rabbis by
their efforts to break down the
cyclopean walls of Talmudism, and to
destroy the citadel of the Thalchan-
Aruch, behind which the Judaism of
the middle ages sought shelter, and
which even to-day threatens the kernel
of our religion to be lost amidst the rub
bish of thousand now senseless usages,
which might have answered a purpose in
the Orient or in the Ghetto only. Then,
and then only, we too can exclaim with
Balasm: "There is no superstition in
Jacob and no witchcraft in Israel" But
this duty is difficult one, and therefore
the lot of the reform Rabbi is not envia-
BILE. The Rabbi, who values principles
higher than persons, performance of
duty higher than perfidious policy, who
would rather take up, with all he treas.
ures near his heart, the pilgrim staff than
immediate at the altar of feeting popular
ity, principles and character, in short,
the minister who pours his very heart
blood in his sacred calling has a rocky
road to travel.
Reform Judaism is like our good
warrior" it has a principle in which it
lives. 1t cannot yet rest on its laurels.
Its great men, while at all times willing
to cooperate in all directions, where
principles we're not at stake, preferred
rather to stand alone. than sacrifice their
very spiritual life to the moloch of cheap
popularity, bought at the cost of man
hood and character. A charge brought
against Reform Judaism, is it's aggres-
siveness. This charge is true; but so is
the pioneers work at first. His sturdy
axe cuts down the mighty oak of a
thousand years; his reckless daring
blasts the rock-Nature's original fast
ness. And yet his destructive work is
necessary. All great and beneicent
movements of human progress are
aggressive in their first stage. So did
the mission of Moses begin by aggres
sion, and his whole career, his constant
attack upon the Heathenish propensities
of his contemporaries was but typical of
the aggressive spirit that animated the
leaders of the Jewish Reform movement
from the times of Abraham Geiger,
my sainted teacher, to this very day.
While would not dare to compare with
| Moses, in some respects my work among
you was not quite unlike his. have
found on my arrival here an orthodox
congregation. Every one of you know
that / have done my best to scatter the
seeds of enlightenment and progress
among you, not without hard struggle.
How far 1 have succeeded is a question
for the future impartial Jewish historian
TO decide. While my mission vas neces-
sarily destructive on the one hand, it
was also constructive. Through my per-
sonal efforts the membership of the con-
gregation has more than doubled, the
Sabbath school is in good working order,
l have been instrumental in starting the
Hebrew Ladies' Aid Society and the
Young Mems Hebrew Association. Hav.
ing fought the battles and removed the
stumbling blocks, my successor will have
easier work.