The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-08-02
RABBI MYERS
ON RITUALISM
Favors Form and Tolerates
the Use of Church
Organs.
=" Judaism Versus Paganism !"
! & Treated in Graceful and
Il. +. Eloquent Style.
The New Minister Decidedly in Favor
.....: of Orthodoxy as oOnserver

=: Forceful, polished. eloquent and witty
and sarcastic by turns Ra bbi Isidor Ny
;ers delivered his first lecture in this City
at the Bush-street synagogue last evening
!: to- a: large. conFregation. In colloquial
language the celebrated lecturer made a
=. decided hit with: his audience, their very
.conntenances rejecting his mood, with all
:: the gradations- lying between the grave
and the humorous limits.
: :. judaism vs.. Paganism" was the sub
-: jeet of the lecture, md IL was handled IN
a manner indicat We not only of a pro-
found acquaintance with doctrinal re-
.Iigon, but OF ethics and contemporaneous
history, sacred and: profane.- DR.. Myers
believed that it was a strict adherence to
the cardinal. uenets of Judaism on the part
of the faithful atall times and under the
most unfavorable conditions that had
: minimlzed the spirit of paganism in the
: world. 49,
~Paganism," he declared, "may always
be distinguished by this one thing-it is
utterly devoid of sympathy and pity for
the suffe rings of nybody. 1t still exists,
and wherever you find man who will
stand by and witness the suffering OF q
man or an animal without an attempt to
alleviate the torture before his eyes, or
who will himself wantonly cause others
: to bear pain and sorrow, there you will
find the old pagan spirit as well devel-
oped as in+Driml i've times. The fact that
it is met with less than formerly is wholly
owing TO The war that has been waged on
it by the Jews.
1t is perfectly ironical for the Swiss
Government TO declare that the Jews are
crEel to animals. Why, before society
for the prevention of cruelty to animals
. was ever organized, thousands OF years
ago, he principles on which they all are
founded. were recognized and carried out
by the Jews individ uallY wit hout any So
cieties. The irony is more noticea Die
when / draw your attention 10. the fact
that many OF the So called Christian ma
tons. strlI permit men. to stand upin a
ring and: bang one another about until
they are forced: to cease f1om exhaustion
or one of them. IS conouered-'knocked
out j believe they call it. :;
- THE battle is not ended yet by any
means There is. too much paganlsm in
the world yet for us 10 rest Idly on our
arms, contented in the thought that all is
wei. But as surely as there is God In
Israel, a Just and powerful God, the day
Will come when his teachin s, inculcated
into. the minds and hearts of mankind
through the medium of the Jewish re-
lgion, will bring surceaSe OF ID all. ~
Upon being in terrogated at the close of
+ hislecture Rabbi. Myers asserted that he
teaches pure RI bbinical Judaism. He did
not believe in.the al clifton of the phy lac
fiery: or any of the so-called reforms in the
church.#;To has mind the ritual of the
: orthodox religion had done much good,
as in a: concrete form II tended to keep
abstract truths before the eyes of beIiev-
*ers; thus causing them to dwell in thought
I more on the ethical or spiritual part of
;. the faith. ...>., 49,
:. i. ,As. regards: the use of organs in
churches, + do not think. they do any
HARM: 1t 'is.a rather harmless innovation
and does not have tendency to work any
change worthy of note and [ simply say
not hing about it. L am willing to state,
however, that If The. matter was left en-
tirely to me would not have organs used
in the churches"
Prior TO the lecture, the cantor, Rev. D.
:: Meyerson; delivered the regular sermon
of the evening in the Hebrew tongue P.
Stern: the president of the synagogue,
and P. A. Altmyer, tue vice-presdent, sat
% in th-ir official positions TO the right and
left of Rabbi Myers when he delivered his