The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-02-15
DIR. CoTTHEIL,s SUCCESSOR.

According to recently printed reports,
1t seems probable that another popu-
lar pulpit in New York will soon be-
come vacant, and the manner in which
1t will be filled may have an effect on
large part of the community even
outside of the metropolis. The Rev.
Gustav Gottheil, it has been said, will
give up his active work in the Temple
EMANUEL, where he has been in charge
for little over twenty-five years. and
make room for a younger man. and one
who is physically able to attend to the
manifold duties of the office. The con-
gregation is the one after which
hundreds of smaller ones fashion their
course, and changes in the ritual or
service which theA Temple Emanu-El
might adopt would be quickly initiated
DR.. Gottheil represents the moderate
reform class of Judaism, which had it's
origin in the United States under the
leadership of the Rev. Drs. Isaac NJ
Wise, David Einhorn, and Samuel
Hirsh the main object being to make
Judaism attractive to the rising genera
ton, to substitute English for Hebrew,
to teach the law rather than the let
ter, and to eliminate from the ritual
the features which were essentially
Oriental and out of place in this
country. 1t was a hard fight and it
took many years before some Jewish
congregations would consent to
change by which men and women
might sit in the same pew and not in
separate parts of the building. 1t took
long time also to introduce choirs
and congregational singing, and hun
dreds of good and worthy men severed
their connection with congregations to
which they had contributed for years
when the rule was adopted that men
must remove their hats in the syna-
gogue. The adoption of the English
prayer book, doing away with the
second feast day and RELOCATING to the
archives the Oriental praying scarf and
other ritualistic paraphernalia, were ali
slow and labored steps which led to the
Reformed Judaism as it Is expounded
now in the Temple EMANUEL and
many other houses of worship in New
York and throughout the country.
While the reform movement was In
progress a new party came to the sur
face which went many steps further
than the original reformers. They |
advocated the disuse of the Hebrew |
even in the few short prayers which |
are familiar to all Jews; they favored |
the abolition of the most sacred rites |
and ceremonies, and pointed to the |
been retained by the trainers of the re-
=
of observance in the nineteenth centu- |
ry They preaced rationalism, morality, |
ethics, humanity, and may other things |
but not Judaism. They advocated the |
destruction of the venerated landmarks |
which generations of Jews had suffered !
to maintain, and finally argued in favor
of abolishing the Jewish Sabbath and /
opening the synagogues, converted by /
them into lecture halls, only on Sunday |
In the opinion Of these radicals, |
Judaism has accomplished it's purpose,
and the next step should be to wipe out !
all barriers which exist between the !
people of the ancient faith and other |
creeds. No more lighting the Sabbath
lamp, no more continuation of the chill
dren, no more repeating the Schema
Yisroel no more rising to praise the
Lord in the Kadisch for the dead, and
no more of anything that the Jews have
held dear and sacred. They evidently
did not believe that the maintenance of
the forms and ceremonies which they
were doing away with were responsible
for the survival of Judaism, despite
its prosecutors, or if they believed it,
they thought that the forms could be
dispensed with because Judaism had
outlived itself. They probably doubted
that the family love and harmony
which was a source of Jewish strength
at all times and under all circumstances
was the result of the very customs,
usages, and ceremonies which they
,alled fashioned" and tout of date"