The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-05-04

the prayers OF antl-Chrlstian people,
except that one missed the mention of
Christ in them. They were certainly
not the prayers of anti-religious or
rndevout people. A religious air
pervaded the Temple.
The strangest fact about the SER
vice was that twas occurring, not on
Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, but
on the Christians Sunday! What
has happened among the Jews to
bring about this changei When I
spoke, in the morning, at the break
fast table, of going to the syna-
gogue to worship, my daughter-in
law replied that / could go there
on Saturday only. 1 looked again
at the Sunday notices, in the Tribune,
where l found this announcement:
Emanuel Temple-Dr Gottheil will
lecture, this morning, at IL o'clock
on Free Thought and Judaism"
Why the word 'lecture" instead of
sermon was used l do not know.
Possibly the Doctor felt that 'lecture"
was a filter word for what to him was
not holy, but secular day.
There seemed to be two pulpits on
the platform. The Doctor entered
and took the lower one. He wore no
gown. He gave out no text. His
face is an exaggerated type OF the
Jew. His hair was white and he
presented venerable, dignified ap-
pearance. His utterance was at the
beginning low and indistinct. He
was earnest, very earnest at times,
and he displayed considerable power
of voice, but he has serious defects
as a speaker. lost many of his
words, whole sentences even.
But my readers will be more inter-
ested in what this distinguished
Rabbi said than in the things which
| have written about him. What
opinion did he express regarding
thought and Judiasm?"
He had had recently, he remarked
conversation with an acquaintance
on the subject of free thought. This
acquaintance had excused himself
from attendance at Emanuel Temple
on the ground that he was "Free-
thinker" "What," he was asked, "do
you mean by a Free-thinker?" 81
mean" he answered, "thdt l am abso-
lutely free to think as l please; abso-
lutely untrammelled by any Bible, or
authority, or creed. II then asked
him" continued the speaker, ''if he
meant by Free-thinker that he was
nothing" The acquaintance replied,
II am an Atheist. IGNORE all belief
in things supernatural"
/ observed that I did not see why
that should keep him away from
Emanuel Temple. "Why," he re-
piled, show can a thinker be
Jew?" ''Look at me-" l answered.
81 am Free-thinker. All the fac
ulties of my mind enjoy the utmost
liberty to accept or reject whatever is
offered to them, and yet in every fibre
of my being am jew"
Opening his subject by narrating
that conversation, Dr. Gottheil siren
uously argued that "every person
should, in the true sense of the word
be a free thinker-that none of us
should be asked or expected to be-
lieye anything that seems unreason
able" He said the term Free think
er was invented in England two
hundred years ago, and did not then
signify an Atheist. 1t did not at first
mean anything worse than Deist.
1t was applied particularly to those
who had withrawn from the estab-
lished church, and from a belief in
the Scriptures. Pointing to the front
of the Temple, he said, 'Those doors
yonder were not purchased by man
made creed, nor by any kind of fet-
tiers. Every one is welcome here who
can say Il am a Jew" or Il am jew
ess" Exactly what it means to say
81 am a jew" or 81 am Jewess,"
whether it expresses more than con-
fession of belonging to the Jewish
nationality, he did not say. One who
says | am a Universalist, or Presby-
terrain, acknowledges an acceptance
of the Universalist or Presbyterian,
doctrines, and has, therefore, a creed.
Does it imply belief in the Jewish
religion to say'1 am jew" or 81 am
Jewess?" If SO, then the words in
clude the idea of religious creed.
But DR.. Gottheil seemed anxious that
the congregation should understand
that Emanuel Temple required of
its members no creed whatever; that
the Free-thinker was as welcome
there and as much belonged there as