The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-15

NaH"N#
them stIll. To torm him an "arrested de-
velopment' IL TO beg the question; q de-
yelopment he unquestionably is, and the
very thing he complains Of Is that Chris
tians will not take the trouble to note tho
process and its outcome. They do not rec
ognize that he was denationalizcd to be-
come international and cosmopolitan that
In losing Palestine he gained the earth,
and that just as the Babylonian captivity
cured him Of idolatry, so his world-wander-
ing Is teaching him the catholicity and
breadth OF sympathy which lay at the basis
Of Jewish prophetlsm. There Is, in truth,
as Prof. IsAACs says, no blunder more
egregious han to consider Jewish his
tory synonymous with biblical history.
The Old Testament tells simply of
Jewish beginnings. The Jewish ex-
odus did not end with the departure
Of the Israelites from Egypt. From the
downfall Of the Kingdoms Of Israel and
Judah the deportation and migration of
the Jews have Como on until this day. The
same hux and progress are discernible in
their inward as In their outward history.
No one Is competent to discuss Judaism
who is capable of such an anachronism as
tospeak ofthe prophetism of the patrlarchs,
or of the rabbinism Of MOSES, or of the
Judaism Of the Judges. One should not at
tempt to handle the subject who Is not
familiar with the distinct stages or phases
In the evolution of the Jewish religion;
not only from ABRAHAM to MOSES, and
from MOSES to EZRA, as stages with which
Christian theologians are supposed to be con-
versant, but also from EZRA to JocHANAN
BEN ZAocA1, who founded the school from
which Talmudism sprang; from the sagcs
Of the Talnud to the medieval rabbis with
whom the rabbinical era began and finally
from MA1MoNIpEs and his successors. with
the development of local codes and customs
which became the orthodoxy of their age,
epoch contemporary with the French revolu-
ton, on the one hand, and the birth of the
American republic On the other. By him
who has thus studied 1t, modern Judaism
is perceived to be the product Of continuous
growth.
What, then, of Judaism's future7 Prof.
IsAAcs submits that the jews persistence
on the stage of human effort is not likely
to weaken as the ages advance. The odds
are very far from being as much against
him as they were; there are those who think
that in certain countries the odds are in his
favor. 1t is certain that the world is ceas-
ing to be a battle ground Of creeds, and that
in the struggle for existence the jew has
more auxiliaries than ever before. Never
theless, 1t Is acknowledged that the
ultimate phase of Judaism battles inquiry
no less than the ultimate phase of human
progress. Prof. IsAAos cites two opinions,
both of which he describes as purely spec
~ulative, and to neither Of which does he
avowedly subscribe. The one provision sees
the future Of Judaism In q rehabilitated
Jewish State, having Jerusalem for its
capital. This State will prove. It is hoped, a
court Of arbitration for the nations, diffus-
ing peace and happiness throughout the
universe. The other forecast finds Juda-
ism's future not, indeed, in the absorption
of the Jews by the environing nations, but
rather in the spiritual absorption of the
nations by the Jews, the thorough per-
meating of mankind by the spirit of Juda-
ism already manifested successfully in
Christianity, Mohammedanism, and the de-
ism of those who recognize God, virtue, and
Immortality. In the view Of these enthu-
siasts the resultant religion will not be
different in spirit from the declaration of
the Pentateuch, which is reasserted by the
Christian Gospel and finds its echo in the
bibles of many creeds: "Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as myself" When, in a word,
the nations shall have reached the heights
of perfect brotherhood Judaism's future
will have dawned.