The Denver Jewish news., 1925-09-17
RABBI JUDAH ARYEH, CHHEERFUl
Seventeenth CENTURY PHILOSOPHER
By RABBI SAMUEL II. GORDON,
Temple Israel, Salt Lake City

II is erroneous TO think that Reform
Judaism is the product Of the 10Th
Century. There have been Rabbls all
/ through the ages who have made II
/ their task to show that Judaism must
grow. that II must adjust Itself to Its
environment that II must progress.
such man was Judah Leon ia
Mwlcna the great Italian Rabbi who
lived from 1871 to 1913.
| A remarkable man was this Rabbi
Judah Aryeh, or Leon dn Modena He
was n man with two cxteriors. who
throughout his life, never revealed
what was inmost In his heart who did
not dare to trust TO anyone II manu-
script hearing his name. A man who
performed his manifold duties as n
Rabbi. and then turned upon the Tai
mudic system and its founders with
wrath He spurned the centuries old
firmly founded truths, but believed in
alchemy. astrology. and necromancy
mands our admiration and sympathy
and yet repulses us.
Modcnn came from a very prominent
family which migrated from France to
Italy. His grandfather. X. Mordecai
ben Isaac ben Moses was very dis
iinguishcd physician who was given
the title of Knight Of the Golden
Fleece" hy Charles V. He lived In
Bologna. where he attained repu-
tation not only because of his medical
skill but also because Of his scholarly
atainments.
But let MS turn to Modena and the
most interesting fact about his life
In spite of his great learning and noble
character he was unable to curb his
passion for gambling. When but n
youth Of 13 he wrote a pamphlet in
Hebrew dcnouncing card playing which
was so rampant among the Jews of
his day. The pamphlet called -,c -,c
Turn from eriD is noteworthy
for its style and treatment of the
theme, not to speak of the remarkable
sclfrcvelations which it contained.
But, unfortunately, we find that
Modcna himself fell Il victim to the
evil which he so nobly denounced in
his youth. His life full of trials and
| vicissitudcs weighed him down. He
tried TO get nway from the world and
It's realities. And the thing which ap-
pcaled to him. and which seemed TO
satisfy that longing was card-playing.
He lost huge sums of money, which he
badly needed for the support of his
family. He was, however. truthful
man and never denied his shortcom-
ines and his mistakes He constantly
bcmoaned the fact that the c,c-7 cr:i,
tthe stars of heaven ensured
him, causing him TO so back
to the gaming table, when he had fully
| determined never 10 return to it again
-- -
| He relates how in 16O1 X. Joseph
| Fardo. wealthy man. conceived the
ldcn of writing II commentary on the
Torah This was to be in the form
of compilation of all the commen-
I iarics that had already been written
Modcna WIS asked to do the work. He
gathered twcnty-seven compositions and
from these he picked the simplest
those which he thought would serve
the needs of the layman. "And in.
truth, if had finished 1t. il would
have been fine work" said Leon. He
did not make much progress due to
his gambling, and Joseph Fardo took
the commission ont of his hands.
Durin. these years, however means
of subsistence were not wanting to Leon
Modcna. In fact there were times
when his income was high. But. Try as
he would. he could not curb his passion
! and lust for card-playing. Often
would he lose large sums of money
which he could hardly spare for such
n purpose In 1928 the elders of the
Jewish Congregation in Venice (wherc
Modcna was RabbD became alarmed n
the prevalence of gambling among the
Jews Of the city. They issued
accommodation against card play
ing which was to I've in vogue for six
years. At the request of number of