Intermountain Jewish news., 1926-04-01

nay text the words from Isaiah, In the
future shall Jacob yet take root Is.
rnel shall blossom and bud and shnll
nj the world with fruitage."
II Is now thirteen years since read
my last paper In this lodge. The sub
irct then was on the Kchllla Idea Cor
the Central Jewish CounclD as force
in modern Judaism. At that time | al.
yocatcd and pointed out the necessity
Of such an institution. Its force and the
part 1t could and must play in local
Jewish life. II was at that time bit.
terly opposed by some Of the conserva.
tlycs in this lodge. At the conclusion
of my reading heated discussion fol
lowed with reference to my views and
this debate was not concluded until the
subsequent meeting Of the lodge.
Meyer Friedman. Of blessed memory,
was the leader Of the group who vigor-
ously opposed any Kchilla or Kehilla
Idea. They saw no necessity for the
uniting Of the various Jewish agencies
into central group or organization.
However. the Kchilla was formed dur.
ing the following year and is still
functionlng as vital force in this
community. II may be interesting 10
add that Meyer Friedman became n
convert to the Kchilla Idea and there
after an ardent worker in its councils.
The Kehilla Idea is one of the forces in
Israel which shall present discuss.
At the outset, permit me To observe
that the great forces in Judaism today
ar not different than the forces in jew.
ish life during all the ages. except that
In modern life these forces assume. per-
haps. different extcriors. new forms,
and create apparently new problems
and iSSues After some consideration
of the subject. am led to the conclu-
sion that while the great forces and
tendencies in Israel in the past have
been affirmative and positive. that such
Is not the case at the present time. An
examination of the great tendencies
will disclose that they are conspicuous
as forces only by their weaknesses, and
ineffefrctivenesS.
Rabbi Abba Hillel silver has said
that there have been four great ten
decies In Jewish life through the ages,
namely: Prophecy. Legalism, Mysti-
cism and Nationalism. 1t is apparent
that we are today no longer the priests,
legaliStic students of the Torah, or
spiritual philosophers, such as our fore
fathers have been. and consequently
these forces are great in n negative
sense. that is. in heir absence from our
modern life. The nationalistlc tendency
Is practically the only affirmative force
in Jewish life at the present time and
this we shall shortly analyze.
If l were to designate the leading
forces In modern Judaism I would men,
tion the six following: "a Religious,
C2) Educational. go Cultural, (4) Fra
ternal and Social 90 Solidarity, Ke-
hillah and Federation, and 90 Ma
tionalistic.
I. RELIGIOUS
Religion has been the prime force In
Israel throughout all the ages. In
modern times, however. our religion has
been divided into two main branches
First, Traditional Judaism, and second,
Reformed Judaism. Traditional Juda-
ism has in turn been divided into Strict
Orthodoxy and Conservative Judaism.
Leo y. Levy, n former president of
the Constitution Grand Lodge of our
order. has said: The Reformed
Movement, whether well or ill-adyised
as policy, unquestiOnably grew out of
the pureSt motives. The jew has in
every age been distinguished for untir-
ing and restless energy. Amidst perse-
cution he had no time for reform. All
his strength and resources were hus-
banded to meet and ward off hostile
assaults from without In America,
lA'N'N'AF Nv was blill'Nl fllllltlN Ilft
from persecution, and the innate powers
of the jew We're directed to self-im-
prOyement. e. Unfortunately what
was conceived in such laudable spirit
has been carried to most unwarranted
limits"
Horace NJ. Kallen, writing In the
McnOrah journal for April, 1925, states
that there are three trends in Modern
Jewish Religion. He says the first is
confined to the body of the poor indus
trial workers and the ghetto dwellers
who inhablt the congested portions of
the larger cities. In the lives of these,
Judaism tends to be no more than a
survival worn down Uncertain instances
to certain dietary intolcrances. and an
occasional Kaddlsh for the dead.
They are not members of synagogs or
temples; they have no interest in the
transmission of Judaism to their chill