Letter II
On the Formation of a Union of the Congregations of
Israelites in the United States
By Mr. A. A. Lindo, of Cincinnati
Having in Letter I. endeavoured to show the
unreasonableness, under existing circumstances, of expecting that
through the individual efforts alone of the respective Synagogue
authorities, the important duties obligatory on every Jewish community
can be effectually performed; and thence concluding, that the proposed
meeting of ministers and laymen, would resolve to recommend the
formation of a Union <<605>>of the congregations as a means by which all our
wants might be supplied: it may be presumed that the meeting, publishing
its proceedings and resolutions, will resort to steps for inducing the
congregations to take the matter into their hands; when, it may be
hoped, those of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, will unite to
commence forming the Union, and invite the other congregations to join
it.
On so extensive a measure, questions, in the shape
of doubts, &c., will probably suggest themselves to many; such as, “The
principles upon which to base the Union;—Its objects;—The means by which
to attain these objects;—and the effects the union may be expected to
produce on our community.” We will endeavour to anticipate these
questions, not by entering into every detail upon so many points, but by
a few words on each; and few as they will be, we trust they will suffice
to convince one and all of the practicability of the measure; the
manifold benefits that will accrue from it; and consequently impress the
obligation it lays us all under to endeavour to promote it to the utmost
of our ability and power.
The principles upon which to base the Union of the
Congregations, claim to be first considered.
It cannot fail to have been perceived that the
obligation we are under to maintain the religious unity of the nation,
forms a prominent feature of Letter I.
The Jews in the States, as elsewhere, are bound by
a code of laws which, regulating our religious institutions,
observances, &c., is received by the whole nation and preserves its
integrity;—we cannot condescend to notice, as exceptions, the very few
that have taken upon themselves to innovate upon these established laws.
The propriety of never losing sight of this
principle, is too self-evident to need being farther insisted
upon.—Nothing will tend more to the promoting of peace, harmony, and
good feeling among our communities in these States; to their progressing
in improvements of all kinds, and to their being regarded with respect
and esteem by their brethren in other countries, as well as by the
people among whom they dwell;—it may therefore be permitted to suggest
that, at the very outset, the following be announced as the principles
constituting the bases of the Union:—
- That no Congregation assuming to itself to
deviate from the religious institutions, forms, and observances
received by the whole nation of Israelites, be admitted into the Union
until they discontinue a course which, whilst it cannot be productive
of prejudicial effects to themselves, compromises the sacred trust
committed to our Nation.
<<606>>
- That the body charged with carrying out the
objects of the Union cannot, itself, attempt or authorize such
deviations.
- That the same body be not empowered to interfere
with the internal government of the several congregations; its
functions having reference altogether to general measures conducive to
the well-being of the whole community of Jews in these States, and to
the maintaining of the religious unity of the Nation.
To the greater portion of our coreligionists, we
shall not urge farther the necessity, under present circumstances, of
resorting to the decisive course now suggested; they will at once
perceive it to be a wise provision, calculated to allay the
apprehensions of some, and to render hopeless the expectations of
others, who mistakenly consider that our condition would be bettered by
inroads upon our present religious forms and observances, overlooking
that, through the uniformity they induced, our people have presented to
a wondering world the unparalleled spectacle of a nation preserving its
existence and identity, notwithstanding its terrible vicissitudes, that
would have annihilated any other.
We deem ourselves bound, however, to spare no pains
to those of our community, who, taking erroneous views of our own actual
position, disregarding certain significant signs of the times around us,
and not weighing duly our responsibility to God and man, appear
unconscious what our destiny imperatively exacts of us. We will strive
to convince them how greatly the divine purposes to the whole human
race, through our instrumentality, maybe impeded by their yielding
themselves up to the too-prevailing disposition of the age, to consider
everything ancient as worthless. We would warn them that what they might
consider slight and unimportant innovations upon our established forms
and observances, would inevitably lead to evils they would be the first
to experience and deplore, of which an astounding and instructive
instance shall be given.
That we have been selected from, among all nations
for purposes connected with the divine economy, is not exclusively the
belief of Jews, because explicitly announced in the Scriptures, but
being strongly corroborated by the whole course of our history and that
of other nations, its truth has been forced upon those even who would be
disposed to dispute it but for the eventful proofs that support it.
Those purposes were of no less importance than to
redeem mankind from the withering effects of idolatry;—to civilize them,
by softening the heart and humanising the disposition;—to teach them to
know their God, their relation and duties to him;—to impress them with
righteous principles, and instill into them benevolent feelings to<<607>>wards
each other, and towards every other living thing, over which dominion
has been given to man.
Those great truths and righteous principles that,
without fear of contradiction, it may be affirmed, would never have been
discovered by man, his beneficent Creator vouchsafed to reveal and
embody in his Law committed to our keeping, with the declared intention
that through us, his chosen people, its light might be dispensed to all
the other families of the earth.
Grievously as many of our forefathers had sinned,
there have never been wanting, even in the worst periods of our history,
faithful stewards of so sacred a trust; and from the termination of the
Babylonish captivity to this day, that character, with scarcely an
exception worthy of notice, may justly be claimed by the whole nation;
witness the hundreds of thousands that have perished since rather than
betray it.
The awful responsibility attached to that trust has
been for ages fully recognised by our people; a proportionate anxiety
has, consequently, been always evinced to preserve, in their utmost
integrity, the books in which are recorded these truths and principles;
and for that purpose the maintaining of the religious unity of our
nation has been ever considered an indispensable requisite.
The efforts of the spiritual guides of the nation
to maintain that religious unity have proved most successful; for our
people have long held the even tenor of their way, turning neither to
the right nor left, but exhibiting always the same features, while all
around them has been constantly and for ever changing.
The comparing of this constancy with the mutability
of all earthly and human things, is well calculated to confirm the
belief, that the truths and principles entrusted to us, are of divine
origin; for the explicitness with which they are announced proclaims
divine wisdom, as providing for that constancy, by excluding all
pretexts for sectarians and schismatics disturbing the peace of our
people.
There has been, notwithstanding, an exception, and
a notable one, to the foregoing remark:—one involving consequences to
ourselves and to the world at large that may well excuse the devoting to
it some portion of our space.
From the period of our people being led captive to
Babylon, the mission of the nation has progressively developed itself in
various unmistakable effects on the nations with whom we have been
unavoidably brought in contact. Idolatry, through that intercourse with
the gentile world, received a shock that has prepared the way for its
total overthrow eventually.
<<608>>
This, which could not escape the notice of our
people at the time, probably suggested to a portion of them, who, under
the leadership of an individual, were disposed to make inroads on
certain of our religious forms and observances, the idea of converting
the gentiles. Those that first acted upon the idea, appear to have held
latitudinarian principles, such as were then and would now be deemed
innovations on our religious institutions.
Again, as a warranty to their opinions and
practices, they professed to believe their leader to be the Messiah,
without, however, assigning to him a divine nature.
Insisting still on the immutability of the Mosaic
law, they adhered strictly to its tenets and requirements. They believed
in the one and only God; preserved the rite of circumcision; abstained
from forbidden meats; observed the Sabbath on the seventh day, and
celebrated the usual national festivals; but confessing, contrary to the
belief of the mass of the nation, to the actual advent of the Messiah,
and innovating on certain of our established religious practices, caused
them to be at once classed by the rest of the nation, as sectarians and
schismatics.
They were at first distinguished by the
denomination of Nazarenes, in reference, possibly, to the reputed place
of their founder, and subsequently as Ebionites.
On investigating the origin and progress of
Christianity, we find that what, originally, could be deemed no other
than a Jewish sect, continued during one hundred years and upwards, to
adhere to the Mosaic tenets and institutes; by that time many gentiles
had joined them but the rite of circumcision and abstinence from
forbidden meats proving barriers to a more general influx of converts,
they were dispensed with, not, however, by or with the concurrence of
the original Jewish sect, which continued to adhere to them, but by what
might now be properly considered an entirely distinct sect from them.
This soon led to the gentiles’ predisposition to
polytheism, their proneness to philosophise on the divine essence and
government, operating to give rise to dogmas and speculative
interpretations of the divine economy, which the Jewish sectarians
beheld with unconquerable aversion; for they would not admit of the
divinity of him whom they had not been unwilling to receive as the
Messiah. A mortal like themselves; they utterly repudiated the dogma of
a triune God! and resolutely maintained that the old [covenant] had not
been superseded by a new dispensation.
These, which had become the favourite and
fundamental tenets and doctrines of the great body of gentile converts,
distinguished now by <<609>>the appellation of Christians, placed the original
Jewish sect in the awkward predicament of consorting with neither Jews
nor Christians.
Through the persecutions they encountered from the
latter, as “Judaising Christians,” and from the Romans, as “Jews,” they
finally became extinct, some reluctantly joining the church, and others
uniting themselves again to the Synagogue.
Such was the fate of those who doubtless acted
conscientiously, but certainly unwisely, when they made light of
separating themselves from the great body of the nation.
Were the evils attending their ill-judged step
confined to themselves?—No!—Nor have its consequences been visited upon
our nation alone; for we have only to turn to the pages of history to
learn what have been our sufferings, and of those likewise not of our
creed, through the endless perversions and torturings from their
obvious sense, the plainly expressed tenets and doctrines of the
Scriptures have undergone.
The reprehensive character of the remarks made on
the foregoing notable instance of sectarianism among us, might appear to
justify the charge brought against our nation, of entertaining the idea
that it is exclusively under the care of the Supreme Being; all other
nations being left to shift for themselves as best they might.
Had this charge been confined to avowed
disbelievers in a divine revelation, it would scarcely deserve notice
here; but being joined in by Christian ministers, professing to believe
in such a revelation, causes no little surprise; since, by concurring in
the narrow views taken of the Divine economy by disbelievers, they
contribute, in no small degree, to confirm them in their disbelief.
Surely, Christians must feel, when they charge us
with entertaining so ridiculous a notion, that it was totally
groundless. They must know it would be at variance with the whole tenor
of Jewish teachings, derived from their Sacred Books, and with that
promise to the Patriarchs, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed.” This single passage of the Bible ought to suffice to
set the matter at rest; we know, however, that it will not, nor will
what is urged throughout the whole of these letters; for we are
perfectly aware of the motive for continually trumpeting forth to the
world a charge so totally void of truth, and we deem it, consequently,
our duty not to allow the occasion to pass without a few words from us
in vindication of the truthfulness of the Word of God, which is directly
attacked by the daring assertion, that the old has been superseded by a
new dispensation, the motive for indulging in the charge against us.
<<610>>
The sacredness of the cause, and its importance to
the world at large, would justify the seizing upon every occasion,
boldly to confront these attacks, were it even irrelevant to the subject
immediately before us, which it is not, but on the contrary, as will be
shown, bears upon it in an extraordinary degree. The objects are, to
induce a numerous attendance at the proposed meeting, and, subsequently,
the formation of a Union of the Congregations, both which will be better
promoted by placing the motives for each on the highest ground. The
course we are pursuing is precisely with such an intention; we therefore
hesitate not to claim for its full development the patient attention of
our coreligionists.
We will first quote from Gibbon, an avowed
disbeliever in a Divine revelation, who, treating, in his Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire, of the Jews and their institutions, says, “In
the admission on of new citizens, that unsocial people was actuated by
the selfish vanity of the Greeks, rather than by the generous policy of
Rome. The descendants of Abraham were flattered by the opinion that they
alone were the heirs of the covenant, and they were apprehensive of
diminishing the value of their inheritance by sharing it too easily with
the strangers of the earth. A larger acquaintance with mankind extended
their knowledge without correcting their prejudices, and whenever the
God of Israel acquired any new votaries he was much more indebted to
the inconstant humour of polytheism than to the active zeal of his own
missionaries.”
It is extraordinary enough to find, just before the
passage quoted, another that might have furnished the author with a
solution of that apparent want of zeal he seems to consider censurable;
referring to our Laws, he says: “With the other nations they were
forbidden to contract any marriage or alliances, and the prohibition of
receiving into the congregation, which in some cases was perpetual,
almost always extended to the third, to the seventh, or even to the
tenth generation. The obligation of preaching to the gentiles the faith
of Moses, had never been inculcated as a precept of the Law, nor were
the Jews inclined to impose it on themselves as a voluntary duty.”
True! undeniably true, most industrious historian!
but still this proves not that the Jews think God’s providence is
exclusively bestowed on them; nor that the sublime truths and moral
precepts entrusted to them are not intended for the whole human race.
These truths and moral precepts were certainly not
commanded, nor intended to be enforced “by the sword, the rack, and the
stake,” nor were mankind to be entrapped into an acknowledgment of their
Creator <<611>>by such insidious means as are now practised to seduce us to
abandon our faith, means which our historian would have been the first
to condemn; but there were other and sufficient modes provided, by the
Divine Lawgiver, for his people’s accomplishing the mission upon which
He sent them, as shall be shown in due time.
We shall now turn to the concluding passage in the
Reverend H. H. Milman’s History of the Jews, in verification of our
statement, that Christian ministers, unwittingly it maybe, but not less
certainly, assist unbelievers in a Divine revelation, to strike at the
root of that revelation.
The reverend gentleman says:—“This, however, we may
venture to assert, that true religion will advance with the
dissemination of knowledge; the more enlightened the Jew becomes, the
less credible will it appear that the Universal Father intended an
exclusive religion, confined to one family among the race of man, to be
permanent; the more evident, that the faith which embraces the whole
human race within the sphere of its benevolence, is alone adapted to a
more advanced and civilized age.”
We really cannot compliment the reverend gentleman
with having, any more than Mr. Gibbon, formed just notions on the Divine
economy and its workings, as disclosed in our Sacred Books, in our
history and in that of other nations. What does he mean by true
religion? Dare he insinuate that the religion given at Sinai, by the
Deity himself, is not a true religion? Will he maintain that the truths,
moral precepts, and just principles it embodies are destined to perish?
Will he contradict the declaration of Omnipotence that those truths,
precepts, and principles shall endure for ever, and consequently the
religion, likewise, which is based upon them, to become the standard for
the guidance of all mankind? If the reverend gentleman intended not to
enter into so awful a controversy with his Maker, what becomes of his
meaningless expressions and assertions?
We suspect that the faith the reverend historian
had in his mind’s eye when he wrote the quoted passage is not exactly
the faith which Jews have divine authority for believing will eventually
become the universal religion of this globe.
In support of Jewish principles and opinions, on
this and other points touched upon in the reverend author’s History of
the Jews, countless passages from our Scriptures might be adduced; we
refrain from appealing to any at present, reserving to ourself to make
ample use of them in our next, intended to be devoted to giving a brief
exposition of the Divine plan for the government of man, as disclosed in
our Sacred <<612>>Books; by which will be perceived the mode laid down for
accomplishing the mission of our nation, and the consequently gross
ignorance of it, betrayed by the Jewish sect alluded to, when they
separated themselves from the great body of their people;—the
ridiculousness of the charge that vanity actuates us, to suppose our
nation is exclusively under the care of the Universal Father!—the
mistake the reverend gentleman labours under, in imagining that the
religion given at Sinai was, altogether, applicable and intended “to be
confined to one family among the race of man;”—and in reference to the
opinion he evidently entertains, that the faith he holds is intended to
supersede ours, and to become the universal and permanent religion of
the human family, we are bound to tell him, that such an opinion is at
variance, not only with the teachings of our Scriptures, but of those
others likewise deemed authority by Christians: we confine ourself to
referring to the 1st Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, chap. 15.,
verses 24 to 28, as conclusive evidence of the correctness of Jewish
opinions.
This passage, to our limited faculties, plainly
indicates that the faith the reverend gentleman believes will be
spiritual, is destined to experience the fate of all sublunary things.
We should not be surprised, however, that the ingenuity so often
displayed to force the meanings of our Scriptures to suit Christian
views and purposes, will be employed to give to this passage in Paul’s
epistle, an interpretation quite different from its obvious meaning.
A. A. Lindo
Cincinnati, 29th January, 5609.
Letter From Mr. S. Bruel, of Cincinnati.
Reverend Sir,—
With much pleasure I read in your Occident of last
Kislev the leading article,—A Call to Israelites,—the spirit and
tendency of which must animate every considerate person; in a word, the
subject in question, together with the letter of the Rev. Dr. Wise,
should be hailed with pleasure by every pious member of Israel, and I
trust will act as a stimulant among our various congregations and arouse
them to action. Your note on this most important undertaking holds out
an inducement to any individual to express his opinion; I humbly submit
mine. Should you view this in a favourable light you may make such use
of them as your valuable periodical affords. I venture this at some
risk, not having consulted any one, but am fully persuaded that a union
of all the congregations in this country could easily produce a vast
<<613>>amount of usefulness, and would do so if but a practicable plan were
submitted for their serious meditation.
The beginning of all things should be attended with
the fear of God; to fear God is to love Him, and be obedient to his holy
will and commands. Our sages advise us עשה לך
רב והסתלק לך מן הספק Procure thyself an instructor, that thou
mayest not be in doubt. I would suggest that a competent person be
elected as a Chief Rabbi, assisted by three Dayanim. The selection of
this body to be composed of men of tried moral character and sterling
abilities. Doubtless such can be procured to establish a school or
college, over which the Chief Rabbi shall have the entire control,
assisted by the Dayanim, for the purpose of educating the youth of our
persuasion in all the elements of literature, but above all to inculcate
the true doctrine of our religious law and government on a sound basis;
to receive a limited number of young men who are already advanced in
their education, for the purpose of being prepared for the ministry, who
would be valuable assistants to the establishment, and ultimately prove
useful teachers in any place where they may be chosen to sojourn.
Theology being their chief study, they would become competent pastors to
the flock over which they may be called to preside. The Chief Rabbi
shall be responsible for the qualification of those to whom he may grant
the diploma of the college, he shall be prepared to answer every
שאלת חכם in the Union, if endorsed by
the elders of a congregation, or addressed to him from any Shochet to
whom he has granted Cabala, and to answer all questions of law to all
women.
The Rev. Dr. Wise has truly remarked in his letter,
They who are not thoroughly acquainted with marriages and divorces
should have nothing to do with them; this is of consequence, and I would
remain silent if what has already occurred in our midst did not affect
the community at large. The law of God has been offended by an illegal
marriage, the issue of which may be spread far and wide. What guarantee
has society against the infection of an incestuous connexion, which even
the tenth generation cannot purge? This alone is sufficient to show the
necessity of placing marriages under the guardianship of a Chief Rabbi.
The union most desired should be a permanent one, every congregation
contributing $100. I am led to believe that there are 40 congregations
in the Union, which would yield $4,000; each congregation to have a vote
in the election of the Chief Rabbi, and his three associates; for every
additional $100 which a congregation may contribute yearly, they shall
have the privilege of sending a young man to be prepared for the
ministry. At a moderate estimate, we may
<<614>>calculate that each
congregation have yearly 15 marriages, which, at $1.50 each, would
amount to $900. The fees of the שוחטים
and every legal investigation, &c., would produce $100. It is to be
supposed that in a country so large as ours 200 boarders would be
obtained whose parents would be willing to pay $150 yearly for a
mercantile and classical education; this would realize $30,000 which,
together with a proportionate number of day scholars, would contribute
largely towards the support of the establishment.
In reviewing this matter it is but reasonable to
presume, that from a revenue of from $30,000 to $40,000 yearly, men of
the most eminent qualifications as teachers could be amply remunerated,
rent of the premises, and all other necessary expenses paid, and yet
leave a net surplus to pay the interest accruing for the capital which
may be advanced for this object. Such being the inducements now
submitted, no reasonable man should neglect the opportunity to avail
himself of the advantages offered, but rather feel proud in furthering
an institution of so high an order, in preference to all others.
In making the above estimate I do not presume to be
correct. Should each congregation give only $50 per annum, marriage fees
as above being $600, and Shochatim fees, &c., only $400 a year, still
would this yield $3000 per annum, and this revenue alone would be
sufficient to pay the Chief Rabbi $1000, and three associates $666 each.
I hope this rough sketch will be sufficient to call
attention, and have confidence that you will further the object by your
able co-operation in your journal. I trust you will accept this in the
spirit it is offered. With regard to union of system in our worship,
that must be approached with caution; a good ministry would go far to
attain that object; whatever may be the result of your contemplated
meeting in New York should it be beneficial, will meet with my hearty
concurrence.
The House of Israel daily pray the Father of all to
unite us in one band, to perform his holy will with an upright heart,
such is my wish.
Samuel Bruel
Cincinnati, January 8th, 5609.
Letter of Dr. Wise.
Rev. Sir:—
I respectfully inform you, and the readers of your
magazine, that I visited last week Parshath Yithro, my German
brothers in New York, in order to hear their opinion on the proposed
unity of all the Congrega<<615>>tions. I delivered a lecture in the Synagogue,
Shaaray Shamayim, to a very crowded house, in which I plainly discussed
the subject under consideration. In a private meeting of my friends,
being too numerous to mention each name, it was resolved, that W. K.
Frank, Esq., the President of said congregation, should call a meeting
of the Boards of all the German Kehilloth, which he readily did
with a praiseworthy zeal. The meeting of the Boards of the three German
Congregations took place Sunday evening (February 2d). Mr. Frank was
elected Chairman and Mr. Danziger Secretary. Rev. Dr. Lilienthal
addressed the meeting on the subject in impressive terms, and introduced
me to the assembly, to the majority of which I was an entire stranger. I
laid open to their view the present condition of Judaism, the disease,
as also the remedy. After a full debate, the following resolutions were
unanimously adopted:
- Resolved, that the present condition of Judaism
must not be left to remain any longer in its present unhealthy
position; if we are not to run the risk to be divided in sects, or to
pave the way for indifference and infidelity.
- Resolved, that a convention of delegates of all
congregations, whose duty it will be to unite the bodies they
represent in a concert of action, to establish a Jewish press, to
supply the youth with school and good reading books, either those
written by Israelites, or are purified from Christian interpretation,
if the production of non-Israelites, so as to insure an harmonious
progress of Judaism, ought to be held.
- Resolved, that these Boards will recommend the
subject to their respective Congregations, and they will endeavour to
induce them, at the next general meeting, to elect delegates for such
convention.
- Resolved, that Dr. Wise be requested to come to
this city before the general meetings take place, to discuss the
question again before the public.
I was perfectly astonished at the joyful welcome
which was bid to our proposition of union, and I found the gentlemen
composing these three boards all zeal and enthusiasm for the cause of
Israel. High praise is due to all these gentlemen.
I met in New York three gentlemen from Cincinnati,
viz., Mr. Lewis Abraham, Mr. Elias Myers, and Mr. Frederick Lindo, by
whom I was told that the people did not fully understand my call in the
Occident; wherefore I take this occasion to explain my views more fully.
I thought, in the first place, to convoke a meeting of all pious and
learned men to deliberate on a plan to unite the Congregations; but I
find now that everything this first assembly might have done can be
<<616>>done
by the public press. I therefore call now upon all Congregations to
elect, at the next general meeting, a delegate for each Congregation,
and to inform Rev. Mr. Leeser of the result of their election; and as
soon as twenty delegates are elected, Mr. Leeser is to appoint place and
time of the first convention. As this election can best take place on
Passover next, the first number of the Occident that appears after
Passover may communicate the result of the elections, and announce also
the time and place of the first convention.
The first convention is to draw up a constitution
for this body, and set forth how far they can go, and what is to
constitute their principal problems. The end and aim of this body must
always be to unite, to instruct, and to elevate. Reform questions of
Synagogues shall only then be discussed, if petitions of Congregations
bring the subject fairly before the same. In a circular, which will
reach all the Congregations, the necessity and utility of such a
convention will be described in more particular terms. I think the first
convention will have to do enough with the constitution of this body,
with a thorough plan for our press, with a plan for good schools and
schoolbooks, for means to organize our ministry, and to create an
authority to decide in religious questions, during the recess of the
convention, &c. But it is not for me to prescribe what this body shall
do.
I understood, moreover, that some persons, in
different places, have discovered two points to oppose, not me, but the
plan of union. They said I agitate the Jewish body; for the sake of
getting an office, and farther, they aver that I am a reformer.
ישפט ה׳ ביני וביניכם, I will never
accept any salaried office from this convention; my motives are honest,
and I will not give up the plan, whatever may be said or thought, till I
have tried everything that can be tried. You aver that I am a reformer,
to prejudice the people against this sound plan; to be sure, I am a
reformer, as much so as our age requires; because I am convinced that
none can stop the stream of time, none can check the swift wheels of the
age; but I have always the Halacha for my basis; I never sanction
a reform against the Din. I am a reformer, if the people long for
it, but then I seek to direct the public mind on the path of the Din;
but I never urge my principles upon another, nor do I commence to start
a reform in a Synagogue.
“But why do you cry out against me; speak to the
people that they may go on;” convince them of the stand-still
principles, let them send delegates that represent those views, and the
no-reform principle will carry the day. This convention will be the
expression of the public views; whereas, I am only one man, and I cannot
alter these views.
<<617>>
Why do you cry against me? do you call me a
reformer, because I educated here a hundred children to become pious
Jews? or because I elevate the House of the Lord to a place of worship
and devotion, so that every one goes there and seeks the Lord? or
because I have brought my people so far, as it is in no other
congregation, to observe strictly the Sabbath of the Lord, to send all
their children to the Hebrew school, and to attend to every meeting in
the House of the Lord? Do you therefore call me a reformer? Yes, to this
end I am a reformer, and I fear there are many reformers of this kind
needed in the United States; and to produce and encourage such we will
meet in a general convention.
I trust that the people will be convinced, that the
proposal is an honest and pious one, that the better thinking class will
exercise all their influence to realize this plan of union and progress,
that they will induce their respective congregations at the next general
meeting to elect delegates for the first convention, to elect honest
men, men of truth, piety, and knowledge, who represent the expression of
their respective congregations; and we will go on and erect a memorable
monument in the history of Israel, and effect that our children and
grandchildren may still look upon it with confidence; that the House of
Israel may have a solid centre to maintain its sacred faith, to justify
and develop our principles before the eye of the world and may our
fountain be blessed.”
Isaac Wise,
Rabbi of Albany
Albany, Feb. 14th, 5609. |
