The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-09
THESABBATH oRTHE JEWS.
sHzLL IT BE TRANsFA HIRED FROM
AITURDAY To sUNDAY7

Ossvps.,eu AmeuE Jews Aroused by the Pre-
pe.ai er Rabbi Gries or Cieveiand-Opinions
e. nabsis or Various LcsnisEn or . subject
ef Vast 1mpsrtsnce to judaism In America.
Jevs all over the United States are discussing
the latest proposal to transfer the Jewish Sab.
bath from Saturday to Sunday. Hitherto only
one congregation, that led by DIR. Emil @. Hirsch
Of Chicago, has closed its doors on Saturday and
observed Sunday alone as tho Sabbath. jewish
congregations In several cities, including Now
York. Philadelphia, Louisville, Boston, 81. Louis,
Pittsburg, Baltimore and Cleveland. have held
~earyiocs on Saturday and also opened their
temples on Sunday. 1t isin Cleveland that an
attempt Ia being made now to transfer the Sab
batn nom Saturday TO Sunday officially. The
proposal comes from Rabbi Moses J. Cries, who
is 80 years old, and q graduate Of the Hebrew
Union College In 1889. On Dec. IL he deliv-
ered his irst lecture urging the change to Sun.
day, and followed II on Dec. 10 by q second and
fuller plea for mis- idea. This is now published
IN full in several jewish papers. He says that
neither tho jewish Sabbath nor the Christian
Sunday IL divine In It's origin. In one of-his lee
ture he expressed his views thus:
o"The conviction is growing with me, 1t has
been growing with mo from year to year, that
AZ n impossible for us to teach. our children. the
mon and women Of the future, and to roar them
to q Sabbath which shall be sacred to them, be-
cause, though we teach them week by week In
tho religious school, .tn tho home, our teaching
q undermined by your precept and your OK.
ample, and tho child is 4 taught not to honor. but
70 desecrate the Sabbath. 1 ask you the quos.
ton: Shall we halt content with tho conditions
as we find themi Shall we be satisfied with an
historical Sabbath unobserved. q Sabbath which
q no sabbath at all I Or. shall we boldly go ON
to q changed / have no faith in sham religion.
i have no faith in q public p~retence. have no
faith In an insistence upon a Sabbath as a d.
vine historical Sabbath. which is, at the same
time, o Sabbath without q thought Of rest or
worship, without one spark OF holiness Men
and women and chIldren-1 do not exaggerate
the truth-do not to-day keep the Sabbath
either according to tho law of God or in the
spirit Of tho fourth commandment. Far better
an en-. TO such hypocrisy-let us BIO more honest
with ourselves-let us have at least ono day,
morning and afternoon and evening. which We
shall give to rest and to. holy aspirations and to
divine purposes"
As Rabbi Grier 10 q graduate OF the Hebrew
Union College, of which DR.. Isaac M. Wise 10
che President, much interest was felt In DIR.
wise's opinion on the subject. His opinion is
expressed in AN editorial in tho american Is-
Vdeiite OF Dec. 80, which concludes as follows:
"a rabbi In Israel takes upon himself the
solemn duty to teach. expound, promulgate. and
preserve Judaism intact as taught by Abra-
ham, Moses, and the prophets, as tho history
and literature OF Israel presents and reflects
Il. Any argument based upon the ever.chang-
ing tenor of criticism. science. or philosophy.
antagonizing the Judaism Of 5000 years Of
evidence is eo'vtro null and void for the rabbi
In Israel; for he has not the duty to justify
what is just now called science or philosophy;
his duty Is TO teach, eXpound, promulgate. and
preserve Judaism. II he cannot do that 1t be-
comes his duty as an honest man to step down
and out"
dox, conservative, and reform. in New York.
The Rev. DR.. II. Perelra Mendes OF the Por.
'u sTSs g fSnS q Ra6Si G 2neHst Sermon as1a Is that Saiu the
Sabbath Day is not of divine origin. l do not
Of. divine origin than are any Of the laws OF mo.
rality, which are declared in the Bible to be so
gard so. II DR.. Cries considers that there has
never been and never can DO any communities
-ISenc 20 Which weh lr we call G spds't then f he i Is in that
condition Of mind in which 30 many, Of us are.
That m is to !. say; he g : may b. r. and ndu doubtless sa% es is, a
eincerity goes. But he Is not a spiritual man.
J. say this with no unkind meaning. l mean
simply that he Is not conscious of the spiritual
ceiye and does receive divine impressions from
Septivity. The days OF God speaking to men
woman: will testify.
SuCn men as MOSES anu the prophets OF
old were in that condition of receptivity and
tho messages they received have come down to
rs. ,,d From II. the n scientific tsss standpoint ape int revelation ion
everyday result of spiritual development. This
EE pay be su e t /, &C ,I%;5 not ns easily grasped by every
IF we deny that there has been or can be
any divine communication to men, then we are
philosophy that morality is simply II question
Of conventionelity. If tho fourth command
the fifth. sixth. seventh. eighth, ninth, or tenth.
Society would be in a sorry condition If it en-
suggest, that these commands are deserving
of obedience only because society chooses To SO
higher standard of authority than the dictum
b dries is in error also as to his ideas of
the computation of time. Tho division into
seven days is the natural result OF any obser-
walton Of the quarters Of the moon. Tho sev.
day for spiritual recreation or renewal and
etrengthening OF spiritual powers and pereop-
Eie his hearers with the question of Sunday wor-
ship being wrong, Not even the ,strictest or
for he himself worships on that day as on all
days, What the Hebrews object to Is that
tity, at the expense of the seyenth-day sabbath.
And the practical reason Is because 1t amounts
% dsy s sebtsi Oh a .nS a lorioall SF, u the S' d InG Sst orisin
of any of the commands in the Bible.
Hs sDe; sr aes t i IN Wi sTrss in 81 fG Gss: tRst that ia tb ws
We stand TO witness that God has interfored.
does interfere, and Will always Interfere in hui
man affairs, and that He has not called human
tty into existence and left it to guide itself.
For its own, guidance, II history teaches us any
thing, would mean human ruin.
u Cries is also in error in putting 80 much
stress upon the regrettable fact that so many
ertheless break that law. All educated men,
without any exception. presumably make for
ton any number of intelligent men do not vote
for righteousness. And they know it. / hope
DR.. Cries will pardon me II / say, and ! say it
in all kindness, that he Is committing the great
est error in the whole matter In forgetting that
religion, and especially the preaching OF relig-
ion, Is o question, OF spirituality. If he does not
fealize this, and Is not conscious or never has
been conscious of the spiritual union possible
between God and man, then he fails To appre-
ciato the highest beauty, the highest power or
force. and the highest privilege of every Jew
fish or Christian minister"
The Rev. DIR. Gustav Gottheil of Temple
Emanuel said: II do not share the view that
Judaism stands or falls with the question OF
the Sabbath. Its foundations are deeper, broad
or. and stronger than the observance of "A day.
and surely safer than the question of which
- Aa- ,,ah m ha nhaarpah IplaiS,n could W.