Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-11-06
BELIEF OF THE JEWS
RABBI CALIsCH breaches ON
THIS INTERESTING SUBJECT.
MUST HAVE PATH IN GOD.
This the Underlying Principle of
the Ancient Faith Which Ii the
Same To-Day That II Was Many
Centuries Ago.

The Jewish Faith" formed the subject
of Rabbi Z. n. Calisch's sermon at Beth
Ahaba Synagogue last night. A large
congregation heard the very interesting
discourse. which was based on GeSesis
XIV, 6: Abraham believed In God, and
1t was accounted to him for righteous
ness
The speaker said the average non-Jew
was densely ignorant Of what was the
belief OF the Jew. Those who did lay
claim TO knowledge would say that the
Jewish religion was to-day precisely the
same as 1t was 1000 years ago. 1t was
the religion Of the Old Testament as
Christianity was that OF the New: but
that the Old Testament, and conss-
quently with 1t. Judaism, was super
seeded by the New; that twas crude
and primitive in its belief of the nature
of Deity, and was. at best, but pre-
lminary training of man for the adj
vent of the New Dispensation; that II
should have been discarded 1900 years
ago. but that the Jews, in wilful and
stubborn blindness, refused to do as
God had wished in the matter of the
substitution of their faith. and for this
had been singled out as the objects OF
Gods wrath and made to serve as the
horrible example" Of mankind.
Because OF this commonly accepted be-
lief OF the non-Jewish world the
speaker wished to emphasize. first, that
Judaism was by no means dead; on the
contrary, II was the vitalizing influence
directly in the lives OF over 100000
a
IL was dead but because It was stronger
than death and that torture that was
worse than death.
THE CHANGED CONDITIONS.
Secondly, emphasis was laid upon
the fact that while in essentials and
fundamental principles 1t was the same
as OF old, yet in non-essentials IL was
by no means identical. In olden days
men dwelt in caverns or tents or in the
Businesses of the mountains to protect
themselves from the violence Of the ele-
ments and of wild beasts. To-day men
live in houses of wood and stone ana
marble and granite, that are enriched
with treasures of art and beauty ana
made subservient to every luxury Dy
the fruit OF mechanical genius and Skill
But" continued DR.. Calisch, whether
in ancient days or to-day, in tent or in
marble hall in cavern or I'm palace, there
is the same idea of habitation and or
protection from elements and beast.
Thus in Judaism have there been central
ideals forever unchanged, truths as I'M
mutable as everlasting truth ITSELF Dut
conceptions of these truths ana result
ant practices and doctrines have varied
through the ages. Judaism mas never
been a completed creed. but a continuous
in
TODAY vet. can one put the finger upon
it and say. Here is the limit; now is
the faith perfect and consummate.' From
the living parent trunk Of its undying
principles have bloomed and Powered the
conceptions and practices Of each age,
that have faded and fallen TO give way
in the circling seasons Of mans ever
widening moral acquisition to newer
conceptions and practices. as the leaty
garment of the self-same tree Is discard
ed and renewed year after year.
BELIEF IN GOD.
"Among these truths the first to be
nut forward is belief in God. The thought
of God has never been absent from the
Jewish people; they are, in truth, the
'God-intoxicated' ones of men,"
The necessity of belief in God as the
basis of life and of moral action was
emphasized. mo life" said the speaker
sis truly lived. no matter how pure II
may appear TO be. that does not baVe the
religious motive back Of it, Many peo-
ple say, 1t don't matter whether man
believes or not If he acts right
s'But It does matter. 1t is the concern
of society. for society's ultimate safety
depends upon it. II the moral structure
of society is built upon the motive quick
sands of selfishness and expediency, thea
II will sink to destruction as inevitably
as the material edifice in the physical
quagmire.
If men conform to outward honesty
through fear Of the law or the displeasure
of men. then when these are removed,
as removed they sometimes are, do not
greed and rapine and violence and all
the unclaimed passions revel In a wantoh
inst that shakes the fabric of society unto
it's very foundation? What moral cata-
clvsms has not the world witnessed IN
this direction! But when mems actions
shall be pedestaled upon the sure and
everlasting basis of belief, then shall
mems actions be forever securely just
for the motive of them never ceases"
THE subject of THE Attributes OF God
- 1Iis relations 10 Men" will be taken