The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-01-01
SERMON ON IMMORTALITY.
Rev. d.. {. n. Calisch al Beth bhaba
Synagogue Last kis1t.
DOCTRINE OF BODILY RESURRECTION
The Jews Once Believed in That But Now
the Speaker Accepts the Belief in the
Spiritual Immortality Advanced by
Maimonidcs. the Philosopher.

rev. III T.. \. AtiHch, VI i,''h
Aha0a Synagogue delivered most IN
struciiyo sermon last night on "immor-
ahty ana kesrfi ection, taking Tor ms
text the fOiloS ne.
For thy salvation I hope, o Cod
GcneSis Xix, T.
But now tina. n Is dead / am
going 10 him, tut he VIII not return TO
me III. Samuel xii. q
When the dust Will return 70 the earth
as Il was. and the spirit VIII return 10
God who gave u. "--lsCcicsiastcs xii, Z.
Jbe fan text OF the able discourse Is as
follows:
II has come 20 pass most appropriately
that. OF this series Of sermons on the
!ewish belief. this one on Immortality
SHOULD occur on New Years eve. II IS
time when mems thoughts are, almost
subCorsciously and even IN tho midst or
ievity. directed 10 that Old yet ever new
thome. the tiight o. time and the un-
certainty of mortal existence. The mid
night moment will witness the death or
child Of time. The chimes that ring
the "witChing hour Will Toll the kneil
OF an ended existence inc cemetery OF
eternity will open TO receive tho corpse OF
another year. ana IN the volumes OF the
reOns VIII 'iunis be wait against eighteen
hundred and ninety-scVen.
With this train OF thought rs inVOiun-
tarly almost tho thought OF our own
mortality associated. We diner from %
year IN pUnt OF existence IN this only
that 10 the twelve month hXed ana
certain limit Is set. 10 our lives the enc
NAV come Ut any moment. we 81 at the
couch OF tho siding year. ana we realize
tha: some day we too shall be lald low
y IS now. and 10 our bodily being VIII
"nf,s' be writ, as IN an hour or TWO 10
WI be TO the year. But we Know thdl
time does rot cease whom the year is
dead. for the year IS but an arOitrdi|
conception OF human thought that JIG
stands but as q concrete token OF an an
stract existence that the years come ana
H.. FnI
wheel their heightened way into uDtold
cycles and unmeasurCd periods ana yet
back of them all is that when we can
Time Eternity. Everlasting ness-God, 10
whom "a thousand years are but as yes
terday' ana ai the cnfles aeons but us
y dream that dies at the opening gay
Thus too. 90 VIC fed that when that
ma hour for us does come, tnat Whth
the moment of mortal dissolution Is nsh'
when .he silver cord rs about 70 be torn
loose" shat then II Is with us as with the
years, bodies are born and bodies PERISH
mortal frames are formed ana nourlsh
and flower and fade. mat generations go
and generations come. that those on earth
. now are but n handfd compared TO those
who have gone 10 sleep within her bosom
vet all these have been and are but the
visible token of an Invisible existence
that though millions OF lives nave peeh
lived and finished yet the absolute LIE
lives on forever. that each perishing oody
held q spark of that Llfe. Tor It's Drle1
spell. and when that dust returned 10
the earth as IL was. tho spirit returned
unto its Source in the untramTneled Icc-
dom OF its imperishable vesture.
II is with this hope o. immortality that
man has in every GPe SOftCned his sorrow
and healed his hurt and made more toll
cradle the agOnizing hour OF mortal part
ing The faiths OF men have emphasized
this hone with more or less distinctncss'
and as men believed. so have they Deen
consoled. 10 needs TO more than mention
To say that. with others, Judaism mas
taught the hope O. immortal lie. IL mas
been urged, that this doctrine IS not at
nll clearly enunciated IN the Ola les-
lament. This is true In the fentateuch
there Is 10 direct and explicit statement
nor even anything which might DC con-
strued into a reference TO II. excepting
the passage at the death bed Of Jacob
when he is giving his last blessing 70 ms
sons lie had been telling TO odch tle
career that Law before nm; Mheh' as
though death tapped an imp1uenJ 1901 aI
his side and he felt his strength leaving
him. In the midst OF his prophetic blessing
nc gathers his remaining vlgor ana ciltS,
Tor Thy salvation do hope, =, God'
Genesis Xix, IS
But this does by no means lead TO the
inference that The doctrine OF immOridillY
was not held by the ancient J1Ws. IL
were passing strange indeed II people
who had been living for several centuries
among the Egyrtlans. where this thousht
preservation of the mortal body by elaoo-
rate embalmng 60 such an extent III
deed that often tho living were neglected
that the dead might be provided tOr) IL
were strange that they should have re-
nfained unaffected by their environment.
II Is possible That the silence OF Moses
on this topic may have been, not only
because the doctrine was 50 well estaD-
lBhcd that IL LeedeO no emphasis, but as
well as a decided protest against the
~ n IsgNnffqu thought lpN.
TIE l0wgiver Of the desert was above
Ali a man lar more practical thah theorel-
10. He recognized that he was dealing
witt distressing conditions in TINS ne,
and re sought To meet and overcome
them, screnclY CONSCIOUS mat those VINO
hive snobly can die braVely and meet the
final hour as calmly as zone who wraps
the drapery OF his couch about MN ana
lies down TO pleasant dreams.
As we advance IN the scriptural canon
the references 10 immortal life become
more and more pronounced, more aIIect
and explicit. David refers 10 II IN ian
guage that cannot be misunderstood:
when. the child for whom he had tasted
and prayed having died. he ceases MS
vigil and his plea. and TO the enquiries or
his servants answers, ne tthe lau) belhS
dead, cannot return to me- but am gong
20 him" Ql. Samuel xii. 80 In the
Psalms Proverbs. job, Daniel, and nc
ciesiastcs the references are frequent ana
clear In the Rahhnic and Talmudic lit
erature the doctrine IS frequently itltIItu
TO In terms that leave no room for doubt
as TO its prevalent acceptance. the phrase
"olam habO" meaning literally the
world 70 come" has no other connotaton
than that of the world. or life, that Is 10
come when this life is ended II may sale
~ Se asserted that at no time IN us MS
tory has there been period When the
hope Of immortal life was OF an accept
ed doctrine Of jewish belief
AZ TO the condition or mode or That
IA - Or as u
lived jewish teaching Is. as a rule. wisely
silent AL detailed descriptions OF hea-
ven ana he'll. or paradise ana purgatory,
The manner Of bliss that is reserved for
ire redeemed or punishment that Is IN
store Tor the damned. all the glowing
pictures and lurid tales, must all be put
Pigments OF the nhant0sy. the "baseless
fabric" Of the imagination No traveller
has eve returned from that fartne IT shore.
ana 10 uCne mas Dcen Nouchsaied the
knowledge our very belief IL but an UNI
demonstrated hCTe a glorious heart-satis-
fyinC hope. vet 20 whose realization none
hastens spontaneously save the ne
weary. the disappointed. the cow1rd, ana
the insane
Time was when tho Jews believed in the
doctrine 81 bodily resurrection. and the
more orthodox do believe so still TO-DAY
But as early as the thirteenth century
Mafnonidcs tho great Jewish phioso-
nhor. substitutes the doctrine OF spiritual
immortality tor tnat or the resurrection
" the dead because the Immortality %
the soul appeared TO him rtre rational
ana moro acceptable 10 the thinking
man The passage from Ecclesiastes txii..