The times., 1901-04-07

MED that the very large mass of educated
! Jews I'm this country in so far as they
have any aflliation with the synagogue
. belong to the Reform wing. But at the
! same time, it must not be forgotten that
there is a very large body of orthodox
/ and conservative Jews, whose number has
! been greatly increased during the last
! twenty years through the influx of Rus
sian. Galician. and Roumanian Jews. 1t
would be outside of my province We're
( to attempt to criticise either the work or
/ the results of Reform Judaism in this
country. But it is a question in the minds
| even of some of the leading Reformers
/ themselves how far success has been at
/ tained in developing the religious senti-
ment Of their people in the direction of
pure Thesm uncolored by any Jewish
or. as they call it, Oriental observances.
They themselves confess that the Sunday
service movement has not developed as
they had hoped it would. and number
Of them feel that in weakening the hold
which specific Jewish observances have
always had on the Jewish people. they
are doing away with one of the most
powerful incentives to the rekindling of
the religious flame among the Reformed
Jews.
Reform Judaism without some centrif-
ugal force is bound to continue on the
road it has once taken. The logical out
come of the principles formulated at the
Pittsburg conference is a gradual de
velopment into an ethical Theism with
out any distinctive Jewish coloring. The
leader of advanced Reform Judaism in
this country has recently said that Juda-
ism must he recast along the lines of
universal ethical reIigion; that then all
distinctive Jewish elements of the syna-
gogue symbolism will pass away, and that
such denatonalized Jewish temple will
seek a closer alliance with Unitarianism
and Theism. and with them. perhaps IN
a few decades, viii form a new church
and a new religion for united humanity.
That such a tendency is inherent In Re
form Judaism is seen also in the forma-
tion of the Society of Ethical Culture in
New York. The leader of this movement
is the son Of = former prominent rabbi
of the leading Reform congregation in
this country. In seeking to bring out
the underlying ethical principles of Ju-
daism. he has gone entirely outside the
pale Of the ancient faith and the move
ment would not concern us here were it
not that nearly all the members (at least
of the parent society in New York; are
Jews, whose evident desire it is not to
be recognized as such. at least so far as
religious ceremonies and social afilia-
tions are concerned. The society does
does not even bear the name Jewish. but
with a certain leaning toward liberal
Christianity tries to find basis for the
morality and ethics of the old synagogue
outside the sphere of supernatural relig-
ion. While the Ethical Culture Society
has been quite power in certain lines of
charitable and educational work it may
reasonably be questioned whether ii has
any future as q form of church organi-
zation. The inborn longing of man for
some hold upon things which are super
natural viii lead many Of it's members to
seek satisfaction elsewhere. That they
will seek ii in the Jewish synagogue is
hardly probable, seeing how the racial
and other ties have been broken or at
least greatly Ioosened. They or their
children will glide rather into some form
of the dominant church. possibly. in the
swinging of the pendulum into some or
thodoX form Of that church. / cannot
help quoting the words of an intelligent
outside observer Of the Jewish question
the Right Hon. James Bryce. Member of
Parliament: If Judaism becomes mere
y Theism, there viii be little to distin-