Evening star., 1933-04-09

Egypt, When ne smote the
i i Egyptians and delivered
our houses"
Thus the Old Testament relates the
origin of the Passover, a celebration
ordained by the Lord that Jews might
not forget His power and their deliv-
erance from bondage. But tomorrow
evening, when the holiday begins with
the first Seder. thousands of Jews the
world over will remember other things
also: the plight of Israel in Germany
and Eastern Europe, perhaps, or the
progress of Israel in Palestine. And
assuredly, many will call to mind the
comparatively recent birth of a move
ment destined, it is hoped. to bring Is
rael and the synagogue into real and
abiding reunion.
History, too lazy to be original, Is
rewriting an old chapter in Jewish life.
Two thousand years ago Jews massed
in the synagogue at TiberiaS to spend
a Sabbath declaiming against the des-
potism of Rome: today foremost rabbiS
everywhere use the Sabbath to awaken
their congregations to the despotism or
chicanery of politicians. Two thousand
years ago 'the singing and the playing
of the Levites rose above the stir of
the vast multitudes in the court of
the Temple: today music has returned
to the synagogue and voices of men and
women-even Gentle voices-blend in
trained chorus with the sound of the
organ.
Recently Beth El congregation of
Great Neck, Long Island, dedicated its
new synagogue, a beautiful Gothic
structure. 1t has completely equip
ped gymnasium, swimming pool,
theater, many club rooms. In common
with hundreds of other synagogues and
temples throughout the country, its
congregation spends more time and
money on educational and recreational
activities than on performance of re-
1igious ritual. The Brooklyn Jewish
Center, the Temple on the Heights in
Cleveland, the Sharai zadeck congre-
cation in Detroit, the West Side Jewish
Center in New York City, the Reform
congregation in Chicago among many
others, rival universities and "Y" in
stitutions in the completeness and
variety of their physical equipment.
Some Protests Made.
There are Jewish voices that rise in
protest at this state OF affairs The
ultra orthodox ssee profanity in the
swaying of Jewish youth to saxophone
and banjo almost in the shadow of the
holy ark of the covenant. They look
with horror upon barred heads at wor-
ship. upon women smoking in club houses
beneath the same roof that echoes the
chant of prayer, upon prayer books
shortened and so twisted, in their eyes
as to make them almost undistinguish-
able from those of the Gentiles. Some
among them may even lament over
children who, almost within sight of the
tablets that expressly forbid it, fashion
craven images" of clay under the
guidance of art teachers.
In this apparent dwarfing of purely
religious to secular activities the cynical
see sacrifice of the spiritual to the
commercial spirit, a bowling down to
mammon and the great god advertising,
an interest less in religion than in the
manufacture of a toothsome coating for
it. The people will not go to religion.
they say, SO religion is coming to the
people-and leaving God behind.
But the modern, university-bred
rabbi, who can discourse with equal
felicity on Talmud, democracy or
Tammany Hail. has an answer to these
critics. He rests his case on the ne
cessity for reintegating religion and
life. He points out that the earliest
history of the synagogue reveals it as
not only a center for worship, but the
center of Jewish culture and social life
as well. He recalls that the very word
synagogue" Greek in origin, means
no more than meeting place" He
points out that the age-old tradition of
the synagogue has been such that in
German and Yiddish it is called
Echule, or school. And If he is so minded
he will quote Talmud to show that Of
the three historical functions of the
synagogue-as house of prayer, house
of assembly and house of study-the
last is agreed upon as the holiest.
He will admit that in certain in
stances the '.side shows have swallowed
the circus; that gymnasiums, ball
rooms and swimming pools have tended
of the synagogue. He sees, readily
enough, that the ecstatic dance of
David before the Ark in the Temple
at Jerusalem is a different thing from
the jazz steps of today. But he looks
upon the entire problem of 'non-re-
ligious" activities as one OF administra-
tion rather than principle. The syna-
gogue. in the eyes of every Jew but the
complete assimilationist, is place not
only where Jews may foregather, but
where their Jewishness should be in
creased religiously and culturally.
Local conditions, the character of the
congregation, and above all the spiritual
strength of the congregations leader
ship, will determine whether elaborate
recreational equipment will lead toward
that goal.
Synagogue in Renaissance.
The synagogue then is in kind OF
renaissance, a movement to reatta1n
the dominance over Jewish life once
held by the synagogues of ancient and
medieval times. The renaissance was
born almost with the times that called
forth its need. The fury for liberty,
equality, fraternity, let loose by the
french Revolution swept Europe during
the first decades Of the nineteenth cen
tury, and in the sweeping leveled ghetto
walls that had stood four centuries or
more. Rights so long lost to them
that they had been forgotten in every
thing but prayer, were now granted the
.Jeys-the rights to citizenship, the
choice of occupation to live where they
would, to mingle with Christians in the
schools and in the world of business.
It was natural that this new freedom
should press upon the old loyalties anc
the old traditions of many Jews. The
New World made insistent demands upon
the time ordinarily devoted to the Sab
bath. Superstitions and legends, nur-
tureQ IN SneltOS N11ele eiIc PdSSliS Va
time was marked only by the greater
or lesser hostility of the world outside
could no longer survive the breeziness
of the worlds market places. The sense
of unity, heretofore enforced by out
ward pressure, was now to some extent
loosened. and the communal life Of the
ghetto synagogue was no longer suf-
ficient for the thousands of liberated
Jews.
In Berlin and elsewhere there wa!
growing I'D a generation that had be-
gun to ignore the synagogue alto
gether, while their elders were giving
no more than lip service to the ritua
and prayers. In an attempt to revita
lie the religion for the new generation
and to make the synagogue an lnstl
tuition meaningful to Jew who mlgh
want to be a German as well as Jew
the reform movement was born witt
the founding of the Berlin Reform