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By
The Rev. S. M. Isaacs, New York.
It
may be averred, without the, fear of contradiction, that those who
attempt to write for the public good, have a very onerous, and at the
same time an ungrateful task to perform. The versatility of man’s mind
is so great, the intellect so complex, and the desire so varied, that
the finest pens have become corroded, the greatest philanthropist
wearied, the most chaste scholar disheartened, from pursuing a good
cause, seeing the neglect with which their sentiments have been treated,
the scorn with which their admonitions have been regarded, and the
apathy with which their effusions have been received. If this position
holds good with pleasing subjects and erudite scholars, how overpowering
does it become when the dissertation is trite, the author humble. Yet
even with this disadvantage, which meets us at the starting-point, we
would still buckle on our armour to fight the battles of the Lord, not
to please the “vox populi,” nor for fame, but from the holy desire
of benefiting the house of Israel, and from a latent wish that when we are
gathered to our fathers, and our earthly troubles have ceased, posterity
may be enabled to give us credit, if not for ability, at least for zeal
in the cause of our venerated religion.
We
have assumed a task to adduce what the Synagogue has been in the days of
yore. We perceive clearly from our collateral records, that it was a
fabric raised to the service and glory of the Eternal God; a fane
erected to teach man his duly; a shrine where the broken-hearted in
spirit might luxuriate in comfort; a spot where the troubled conscience
might invoke its Maker, and hear the soul-composing word, סלחתי
“I have pardoned.” We can readily trace accounts of the existence of
places appropriated for the purpose of daily and regular worship far
distant from Jerusalem; and there exists no doubt but that the holy
prophets used prayers when at Damascus, Shilo, Bethel, and Jericho, at
which latter place especially there was an assemblage of them, called
Sons of the Prophets. We find that Daniel was cast into the lions’ den
on account of his persisting in the practice of praying with his face
towards Jerusalem, three times every day. In fine, it is evident that
the practice of praying at stated periods must have been established at
that time, nay, even before it; King David’s expression, “evening,
and morning, and noon, will I pray,” seems to imply not only a
constant disposition to invoke the Deity, but a regularly established
daily custom.
On
examining the records of Nehemiah and Ezra, we clearly perceive the reorganization of a system which had previously existed, and
the complete establishment
of the Synagogue and its appurtenances. In addition to the daily
prayers, pulpit instruction was the chief medium on which the priest
relied for the improvement of the people. The prayers then composed and
arranged, handed down to us from a long list of pious ancestry, continue
in use amongst us to the present day, although the devout spirit with
which our forefathers paid their oblations, the sincerity in which they
addressed their Maker, the simplicity in which they discharged their
heavenly duties, these appear to have ceased with the saints of
antiquity. The Synagogue in days of old was in reality what it avowed to
be, God’s house, where souls congregated to commune with their Maker;
where the spirit, disenthralled from its coating of clay, feasted on
kindred spirit; where youth was instructed, ignorance enlightened, vice
reproved, virtue rewarded; where the priest instructed male, female, and
child; and where the collective body felt that they were in the presence
of their Maker; where prayer was not lip service, but, like the devotion
of Hannah, an emanation from the heart, the outpouring of gratitude, and
the supplication for divine aid.
Such
was the Synagogue; what is it now? Alas! for the sake of Israel, would
that we could assert that it retained its pristine vigour, that it
preserved its healing qualities, or that it continued its wonted
benefits. No! shame on the age; it his become a temporal building, the minimum
God, the maximum man. All ostentation and display,
self-aggrandizement, and empty honour; a place where the devotee would
be great, instead of being as lowly as the hyssop; a resort for fashion
in lieu of a spot for humility; a mart for the sale of bad passions,
instead of a shrine consecrated to the best feelings of human nature; a
place to be seen by the earthworm, instead of a spot to be heard at the
Fountain of glory. Such to our branding shame and national disgrace is
the Synagogue. We know that these accusations against the Israelites of
America will be deemed severe and insulting; but the precept, “Thou
shalt reprove thy neighbour,” must be our apology. Let us analyze our
system, examine it to the very core, and we shall be ready to ejaculate,
We deserve this reproach; we are playing with the shadow and disregard
the substance; we value the casket, and despise the gem; we cherish the
husk and scorn the kernel. The prophetic charge, “not with might, nor
with power, but with my spirit,” appears to apply to us. We would ask,
Does this spirit manifest itself in our Synagogues? We enter our shrine
when half the service has been recited by the paid minister, and a few
so-called bigots; and even then there must be no engagement abroad, the
atmosphere most be clear; should it chance otherwise, then of course God
must wait our leisure. Others there are, and many such, who appear only
at the confirmation of a son, or the betrothment of a daughter; when
convalescing from sickness, or after the death of a relative; but the
duty of being there at all times and seasons, whenever the portals are
open for divine service, that duty is left for our poorer brethren to
discharge; for the worldling says: “they require God’s assistance,
we think ourselves independent of the Omnipresent;” and proclaim with
the ungodly, “My own power and industry, have obtained me this
wealth.”
And
even if we are in a religious mood, how do we perform our sacred
obligations? All our thoughts, our words, our deeds, are temporal; true,
we fold the divine law in our arms, paying great sums for that honour;
we imprint a fervid kiss, according to usage, saying, ישקני
מנשיקות
פיהו “Let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth.” This is all outside show,—the admonition of the
prophet is still applicable to us: “Those who handle the law do
not know me.” Instead of being grateful on such occasions that this
child of heaven remains in our possession, it scarcely employs a passing
thought; even while the minister reads, we are engaged in reflecting who
shall have our blessing, and who shall be slighted; we consume the time
that should be devoted to pure religion, to make complimentary offerings
for our friends, taking every care that those who are not our visiting
friends shall not have our benedictions. This display exists when we are
in a happy mood; but how stands the case when our passions are aroused,
from some imaginary slight, some caprice or whim? Then we must give vent
to our feelings by manifesting to every one in the Synagogue that we are
angry; then we make no offerings. Again, when the law is deposited
within its ark, then we depart, leaving a few religiously-inclined to
finish the service. Other evils there are, which, in their tendency,
destroy the very appearance of solemnity: we allude to the system of
returning thanks to men for honours received; to the exchanging of
salutations; to our analyzing every thing that passes within our view;
to the continual disorder prevailing by running in and out; to our eyes
being continually employed gazing on the tenants in the galleries,
instead of contemplating our deplorably sinful condition. We never heave
a sigh in prayer, nor shed a tear in gratitude; in short, our whole
system is a cold ceremonial, a religion of dollars and cents; we are
neither impressed with the saving efficiency of our faith, nor awed by
its soul-composing object. True it is, that whilst there is much to
censure, there is something to approve, in the zeal and attachment, with
which some few cling to their heaven-born duties; but shall we stop to
commend individuals when the collective body transgresses? shall we,
sycophant-like, flatter the exterior when the heart is festering through
sin? The whole system is out of course, and unless something be speedily
done to arrest the evil, the fabric preserved from the ruins of
antiquity, the polity guarded against the sacrilegious hands of
innovators, must eventually, from our culpability, nay, criminal
neglect, crumble into fragments.
In
order to adduce proofs that our assertions are facts, let us scan the
surface of our system, for our receding pages warn us not to dive deep
into the heterogeneous ocean. Much has of late been written of the fatal
effects of mixed marriage, and the necessity that exists of placing the
transgressor in the position he has selected for himself, not on the
borders of our polity, as our law decrees, but without the pale of
Judaism; and this dreadful course is recommended, on the plea of the
necessity to guard the court of God’s house. We see no reason for
objecting to this ostracism, provided that we act in other matters on
the like principle. Our public course is a sufficient guarantee that we
have ever supported the like doctrine, but we hold a principle that,
“righteous acts should be pursued;” and whilst we give the honours
of the Synagogue to the public violators of the Sabbath, we see no
reason to strain the law to meet a particular case. Our Synagogue
legislation should be uniform and consistent; it should not be the
mighty dollar, but the great God, that should influence us in our
religious system. Oh, how frequently have we felt the blush of shame, to
see men called up to hear the law read to them, not for the sacred
purpose of improving them; but for the sole aim of extracting a few
dollars from their purse, when, perhaps, a few moments after they have
descended from the reading-desk, they would hasten to their place of
business, to purchase or sell, write or barter, thus sacrificing their
souls at the shrine of error, satisfying their pliant conscience that
they have achieved some good by being, called up to hear the law read,
when the very fact is perhaps registered against them at the bar of
unerring Justice. We would ask, Can a system of Synagogue polity be
sound which depends on so precarious a footing? Can it be right thus to
deceive and flatter the evil-doer? No; unhesitatingly we would venture
to assert that no rational mind can be found, which, on employing its
reasoning faculties, will state that this is good government—that it
carries out the noble principle to deter vice, to encourage virtue. It
can neither be justified by the Bible, nor by the golden rule of common
sense; but from beginning to end it is a crude, undigested system, which
can only be approved by a few devotees who still worship the golden
calf, and who, serving at the shrine of mammon, forget the duties they
owe to the God of Israel. These, in their equanimity of disposition, do satisfy
themselves that they must adopt every means to enrich the treasury.
Shielded by this plea, the Synagogue has become a register-office for
the dead, who are disturbed from their repose whenever the living feel
an inclination to re-awaken bygone scenes, and call their great
grandfathers back to earth, that their names may be emblazoned forth to
the world as a grateful progeny. If such is the Synagogue, far, far
better to remodel it on the principle on which it was founded, בית
תפילה “a house of prayer,” to
diffuse light, to extend its sphere of usefulness, and to render it a
spiritual building, not for innovation, but for improvement; not that we
would use the pruning-knife to cut out a portion of the liturgy, but we
would repair that which has suffered through the ravages of time, and
which satisfies the carnal desires at the expense of the soul.
Let
us then adduce what the Synagogue should be: in a word, it should be a
house of prayer and praise; the temporalities of the Synagogue should be
discussed and regulated in the trustee-room, certainly not within the
precincts of that shrine consecrated to God and his glory, in that fane
where “the prayer of the poor in spirit, as, wrapt up within himself,
he poureth forth his meditation before the Eternal,” is heard and
granted; and until that be effected all our boasted improvements die on
the ear. But how is this desideratum to be effected? how are we to pay
our minister, sexton, and other expenses? Nothing can be more simple, if
we are determined to arouse ourselves manfully to the task, and resign a
few of the toys and playthings which still continue to gratify our
beclouded reason. We allude to the long string of offerings, and
“memento mori,” which now consume the time that. should be devoted
to prayer, and disturb the mind which should be engaged in devotion. If
we will but give up a portion of these, and permit ourselves to be taxed
pro rata for the support of the Synagogue and its appurtenances, then
great and lasting benefits would ensue. We knew that this proposition
will startle some who look upon us as orthodox. “What! give up that which custom has rendered sacred?” Yes,
we would place all our errors on the shrine of duty; we would abridge
the offerings to three at the utmost; and the long string of השכבות
(prayers for the dead,) which now waste the time, we would abridge to a
reasonable length; and recite them on suitable occasions only.
Semi-annual meetings should be held to obtain a
revenue pro rata; and the offerings made should be devoted for their
legitimate objects, to comfort the desponding, to give warmth to the
cold, and clothing to the naked. Adopting this plan, we shall not have
to depend on every wind that blows for support; but our system will be
sound and satisfactory, and our Synagogue devout and holy. Other
improvements, which are vital to our best interests, such as the
necessity of causing all those who worship to attend Synagogue at the
commencement of the service, and remain to the conclusion, and other
matters, these we leave to those who, as presidents and trustees, should
be the conservators of order, as they are especially appointed guardians
of the horse and courts of God; to them is confided the noble task of
rendering their communities great and happy. Adopting this principle in
its various ramifications, our miniature temples will be called בתי
תפילה יקראו
לכל העמים
“houses of prayer amongst all people,” not as they are now
considered, a mixture of religion with a stolid love of the world. Now
these two, like oil and water, cannot flow together, having no affinity
with each other. Religion is not satisfied to hold divided empire over
the mind; it must have an undivided and entire dominion to regenerate
the heart, by cleansing the springs of thought, purifying the desires,
embellishing each emotion, irradiating each affection, and quickening
the senses in spirituality of taste. Henceforward, then, let our houses
of worship be “houses of prayer and instruction;” let us as members
of covenanted mercy discontinue that baleful system which has actually
banished the religious teacher from the temple, and sacrilegiously
exchanged his solemn functions for the operatic display of profane song
and its ignorant concomitants, whereby our prayers have, alas! too often
degenerated into vain outpouring of words; and, instead of producing
praise of the Lord, have become rife in mockery. Let us as Jews look for
posterity’s weal, and as
“Sure
as day succeeds the night,
There comes a time of truth and light.”
New
York, Nissan 3d, 5605.
NOTE
by Editor.—Our reverend correspondent has touched (though in rather
stronger language than we should have employed) upon a subject of which
we have frequently spoken in private conversation, and which we have
once urged in a communication to our congregation. the proposition was
rejected, we think, for no other reason than the fear of innovation of
any sort entertained by some members. We are glad that the subject has
been publicly broached; and Mr. Isaacs only anticipates us, as we had
intended to write upon the same before long. We will merely add, that in
all useful and lawful reforms the Occident and its editor will be
found to be as deeply interested as any one can possibly be; and we
state at the same time that when all that is now defective in the
Synagogue is remedied, it will go a great way towards destroying utterly
the rage for useless changes, with which, unfortunately, many are now
affected.
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