The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1916-09-25
Don't Touch
Law Of
Moses
That's Answer of Rabbi to
Plan to Boil Down Ten
Commandments
JEWS AGAINST CHANGE
" kshNsrH W. PAYNE

~ KENNETH W. PAYNE
NEW YORK. Sept. 2s.-
sehould any church sbbrsvi-
ate the ten eommsndmentsf
Most certainly MOI"
This 10 the dictum Of Or.
samuel Sehulman. president ~
the central conference Of Amor
lean rabbIs. and himself rabbi
Of the great temple Bethel In
New York.
He rakss u - . result Of
the proposAi 70 boil down the
ten commandments given BY
God to Moses thousands of
ysars ago.
The proposal. to be considered
By the convention OF the Protest
ant Episcopal church In st. Louis
In October. Is stirring opposition in
many quarters. Tho Episcopalians.
many OF them. urge that brcvisy In
the form Of the commandments II
going 10 result in added emphasis
- their meaning.
Qualified 70 Speak
- Rabbi Schulman, as member OF
Ne board OF editors of the English
Translation OF the Bible for the
vynagogue and as q noted contrib
futor to Jewish religious literature.
ID Ia position 10 discuss most
authoritAtively the scheme 10 cut
out parts Of the commandments
The question A. to whether the
original form OF the ten command.
ments was the shortest one" he
said. "is OF course not 4 new one.
II II the opinion OF many represen-
tatives Of the critical school. but
there cannot be any absolute Ger
tainty In the matter.
ehersness Shows untrvthfuiness
II should venture to say that
the very captivating character of
the simplicity OF the short form.
which II used A. an argument for
It, n . PROOF Of It's untruthsui-
ness, I should rather assume that
the complete symmetry Of this
form which we. SO to speak. would
naturally expect. II rather an arti-
fetal result of our own theorixing
! believe the longer form 10 the
original form.
~The variations OF the wore-
1no In Exodus and oeutsron-
omy srs we'll known and, with
rsepect TO the fourth COM
msndment concerning the Sab
bath, are most important. For
they give . complete theory Of
the Sabbath. The one IN Exc
due emphasizes the Sabbath
~ IN Institution for God, and
the one In Deuteronomy en-
phaslxes II ~ IN institution
for man, teaching the demo-
cratic dignity Of sII human
beings and their equality In
being entitled TO weekly day
of rest.
For teaching purposes in the
modern Jewish Sunday school we
give the commandments in an alb
brevfated form to the very lowest |
grades, but as soon as the children
are old enough we make them
memorize the commandments in
their present form.
Je.ws Wouldn't Change Them
As TO whether II is advisable
for any church 10 shorten the COM
mandments certainly would say
no. CERTAINLY THE JEWISH
CHURCH WOULD NOT THINK
OF SUCH A THING,
TN the so-called additions which
are assumed by those who propose
the change TO have been made to
the shorter form OF the command
.uents, there are contained very
important points OF doctrine and
fundamental truths Of religion.
For example. to the Jewish relig
ions conscience the second com
mandment prohibits the dedifica-
tion OF anything in nature and even
Of any human form or any human
example in life. To say that the
commandment Is limited TO the
words thou shalt have no other
gods before me- would mean quite
q mutilation OF the present form OF
the commandment and destruc.
tion in great measure OF much OF
its spirit"
In this paper tomorrow
Bishop Chas. D. Williams OF
Michigan, doubtless the leader
Of the Episcopal church In
America, will tell what he
thinks OF the proposal to cut
down the substance OF the ten
commandments
BREAKS ARM TRYING
m EnllAl IS nMATTVD