The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-01

Tho Attitude OF MOdorn judaism Toward
tho Founder OF Christianity.

~ 80 AahAAbN w n ~
dreds Of thousands OF piOus Christians
throughout the country listened In their
churches yesterday TO the more or less vehe-
ment denunCiatiOns by Thanksgiving orators
OF the 2udacicy OF the Jewish minority In inn
posing restrictions on the public manifesto
ton Of Christian feelings In an overwhelmingly
Christian commonwealth; this morning tens
OF milli0ns Of citizens. Christian and Jewish.
will read those denuncLatiOns from the pulpit
with mingled feelings Of bitterness and rage.
despair and r~spugnanoe. Hence tt Is time. 1
think. for this Christmas school celebration
question. which during the last decade or 30
has developed into a kind OF theological sea
serpent, to be tackled In the light OF modern
science and common sense. 30 that it may 20
hone away with. Onoeand FOR all. n tho 10000
progressive Jews OF the United States bad
an authoritative organ TO express their Inner
most feelings on the matter the iCe'e group
or irroliRlOus agiCatOrs and theological quacks
clustering about the pseudo orthodox rabbin-
tCal seminary on Amsterdam avenue would
In a jiny be swept away on the crest OF a
wave OF general Indignation and diSgust.
"A to the remaining 800. 600 Jews recently
arrived from east Europe. the overwhelming
majority Of them are kept too busy with the
struggle FOR daily bread and are too Ignorant
OF the intriOacies OF Sephardo-American
religious diplomacy to take notice OF fully to
understand the Christmas carol bubbles Of
the misrepresentstives Of the synagogue, the
conflicting Christmas ukases OF the Board Of
Education and the more or less a~nti-Jewish
indignation resolutions Of the Christian min
istry. Belonging 10 none Of these honorable
bodies, 1 will try to give to God. 1 mean His
earthly representative. Truth. my Offering OF
truth. abandoning religious Hypocrisy. human
stupidity and cOwardice 10 their well deserved
exposure in the cold OF the coming Christmas
night.
First OF sll. let me assure the sincerely re-
ligious Christian layman that the modern Jew
il slowly giving up the antipathy caused
mostly by fright. and horror and mingled
with IL. which his forebears felt for the name
Of Jesus. IL would take a volume to explain
the historical and Psychological foundation
for this curious chapter OF the religious pa
thOlOgy OF the Jew from the end Of the Sec
Ond century A. D.. when the Church. in its
triumph over paganism. tried to crush to
death its old mOther-the Palestinian syna-
ROEue OF Joshua ben Joseph and his apostles.
ShimeOn Of Galilee and Saul Of Tarsus-dOwn
to 1850 and lS4s when the EOddesseB Of Reason
and Liberty, triumphinR in their turn over
Jesuitism and Tyranny. opened the heavy
doors OF the dark Ghetto. first in France and
later on in central Europe. This being a
time OF peace on earth and good will toward
all men. I wish. instead OF lingering in the
dusty and saddening annals Of past religious
luNptNhtuNts W pAgHNAb w NHC AThuNh III NV
briefest possible form a symposium on the
attitude Of modern Judaism toward Jesus,
by some representative ewish theOlOgians.
philosophers and historians Of religion.
This symposium, which can be found in
its entirety in the appendix 20 the 1901 edi-
lion Of George CrOly's ~Tarry Thou Till I
Come" or -Salatheil. the Wandering lex
Dunk q wagnalIs Company. ought 60 be
read in silence by the Jewish school children
WhflQ tina Christian b0va and Uirla ara Rele-
brating the old pagan winter sOlstice festival
TO the tunes of Christian music and to the
words Of physiological hymns.
Honor to whom honor liz due. Let US then
hear what the foremost living Jewish theo-
Logan OF the United States. DIR. X. KOhler.
president OF the Hebrew Union College Of
Cincinnati. says about the founder or rather
central figure Of the Christian faith:
Jesus. the living man. the teacher and prac,Iser
OF the tenderest love for God and man, the paragon
Of piety. humility and self-surrender. whose very
Kaillngs were born Of OVERLOOKING goodness and
sympathy with the AFFLICTED. the Jews had no cause
10 reject. . . But lie was more than an Ordi-
nary teacher and healer of men. He went TO the
very core OF religion and laid bare the depths OF
the human soul. Is a Variable prophet. Jesus. In
such striking manner. disclalmed allegiance TO any
Of tho PharlSean schools and asked for no authority
but that Of the living voice within, while passing
Judgment on the law. In order 20 raise life TO a
None q Lssu : S,a"cs e.S luos % y
Na NSnv sAn ~ TsHnH W .u y :, Nu.u
unspeneS y.io,. e"I uous.o .. Ho
voce WnSn S.Sss IN sHsLs SSSu sSsn.: 49,
nIm .na, % tso sn naS' s"o ns ~. ms
SPEAKS ~ olu ~ y HnS a"u S'u nv
not lar from inc SlhguOm OF SOu.
Lar ma NOW crosa thu ocaan and Iiatan IN
"
the WORDS OF one Oh the MOST learned JeWlsn
theOlORians md aggressive critics of our time.
m NJ Er;adIaaudar Of Wanna.
u W. WIN
And Jesus himself. who was the starting point
of phe svnagogue of the MeaslanIc community
Who f,rtIlized and re,uvrnated Is by the subIimc
MessIanic ices, was procisImed as e,Vlno Neoeemer
because OF THIS rejuvensuon: as wei as because or
the redemption undertaken BY him ON the Palcs-
tInIan soil from the "uusupportable burdens" which
the PharIsee teachers imposed ON the people Matt.
S,II a
Always nIsno'' On 70 sLew
ns PERSONALITY ncLuulng I'll suas u oeauuiui'
lofty. sublime ana divine ana forcing overy one
20 alteration and lf-nObilizatiOn. This Dlvin .
.Son az Man" became the world ideal. and thia
sublime ideal has been originated I'm judaism
wNIcI, xtI rvrr he remembered "a haviu1 n..r
~.HSI.,,..a ~, pro,Icsnc. ,O hr,rw oor,r ...r .
pIouess"ou Wy ""AH "'" Au0" =
creation.