The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-01-26
JEWS GROWING LIREr.r
Orthodox Hebrews A1.rs
spread of Modern ideas.

"A
spread OF Modern ideas,
New York Special
distinguished rabbi of f,b;caao a.
hev. DIR. Hirsch, has abandoned tl,a
ancient Hebrew custom of HOLDING service
OF the synagogue on the last dav of ,ha
week, and has adopted Sunday a. the dav
OF worship. The Rev. DIR. Kleiherc of
New Haven, opens his synagogue on sat.
urday, but his congregations then arc
small In comparison with those &c ,Io
sundays he delivers lectures He maj
tains that the holding of svnagogua sar-
wees on Sunday is not detrimentaI r.
Judaism. Rabbits Gottheil and Koh,as
OF this city, deliver Sunday discourse
In the Chapel Emanuel and The
synagogue Bethel, for the benaf;, of
those Hebrews who cannot attend
the Saturday services. Drs faoohs
OF the = Mai Jeshurun. who is nres;dant
OF the New York board of Jewisb ,,,;,,is'
lers, Is opposed to Sunday lectures. and
says that the orthodox people could not he
iiiuuced 10 abrogate the law of Moses for
the keeping of the Sabbath DIR, silver.
man, Or. kohler and Dr. Mendez agree
:. Win Df. jacobs statement, and hold that
.le seventh commandment is the corner
stone OF Judaism. Ii is fact however
mat many of the leading members Of
orthodox congregations here and else
Where are strongly in favor of Sunday leo
lures, ana even Sunday religious services
IN the.synagogues. At the recent confer.
ence between the Jewish and Christian
MINISTER'S In Chicago, the Sabbath aues-
.oh was brought under discussion, but
the raDbls stood up for the law maintained
by their predecessors since the time
OF Moses. The Rev. DR. para;ra
Mendez, who is minister of tbe
Spanish and Portuguese synagogue in this
city is seeking 10 bring about a Systematic
organization of all Hebrew congregations.
ne says that new era has opened up for
JUDAISM, which must now act in unison
all over the world. Each congregation
must be left free TO govern itself, but all
congregations could be held together as
one body, governed by the supreme law of
the Bible, and represented by delegates
chosen to central Hebraic senate. About
q fortnight ago report on the question of
the ritual of the synagogue was made bv
the committee appointed at the Central
Rabbinical conference in Cleveland. The
following quotations will show its pur-
port:
1.-The Sabbath and holiday PRAYERS will
De so recast as TO be in accordance with
the modern conception of Judaism. so that
While retainingthe striking and the typi-
cal sentences in the Hebrew the greater
part of the service will be in English.
Special forms of prayer will also be added
for special occasions, such as marriages,
funerals, combinations, passover celebra-
tons, ETC."
But the authority of the Rabbinical con-
ference to adopt this project is denied by
many of the congregation. The Rev.
Gottheil, of this city, has recently given
his view of the present position of Juda-
ism in the United States. He holds that a
new Judaism is being built up; that this is
time for religious reformations, and
that the faith of every Jew should be
grounded in reason. He says that the
Jews have no authorized creed in the
Christian sense of the word creed, and
that no council can possess the power of
exercising religious authority OF trying
any Jew for heresy. Some of the ques-
tions now under debate among the Jews of
the United States are highly interesting to
men of every creed.