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Last year we published several papers under this
general title, and we wish to speak again on the subject, to throw out,
as usual with us, ideas for reflection, more than from a view to exhaust
the matter in debate. We fancy indeed that the business and pursuits of
most men prevent them from thinking deeply on any topic; every day
brings its cares and its demands on their time; and hence public
business claims but rarely their attention, simply because it does not
concern them as much as their own affairs, not because they do not feel
at their heart the importance of things not immediately relating to
them. It is therefore evidently the task of a journalist to be
suggestive of thought in others; he is supposed to have more leisure
than his readers; and that he takes more pains to inform himself on the
subject of his publication than they they do; and hence, though he may
neither be nor claim to be wiser than they, it is to be expected from
him that he will survey the field carefully all round, mark the
prominent points, see where improvements are wanted, where defects ought
to be removed, and then tell his readers candidly what he has found in
the progress of his espionage. It is possible enough that he may not be
well received with his budget of complaints and faultfinding; he may be
accused of being what is vulgarly termed a croaker; he may be regarded
as prejudiced, or enamoured of a peculiar fancy of his own, as riding a
hobby on all occasions, and which he would gladly persuade others to
mount out of compliment to his example; but if he is possessed of any
honesty of purpose or <<374>>true moral courage, he must not be diverted from
his purpose, but go forward with a singleness of aim straight on the
path of his labours, speak out what he deems the truth, and urge again
and again what he has discovered in the way of remedial agents, till he
obtains a kind hearing, and a favourable reception for his ideas from
those for whom he works. We for our part do not crave applause, gladly
as we would be approved of by our friends; it is the cause of our
faith for which we have seized the pen; and hence we will give our
thoughts tongue; let the issue be what it may, nothing doubting that
fruits will result at some future day, though for the present all
efforts of the kind we are making should appear to be in vain.
Our readers must have observed no less than we, the
rapid increase of Jews in this country, and that daily almost new
accessions are made to our population; since nearly every ship which
arrives from the continent of Europe, and many a one coming from
England, brings over more or less persons belonging to our communion.
Places where the Jew was formerly a curiosity, have now among their
inhabitants some of our race; and the ideas which are our peculiar
characteristic, formerly heard merely to excite astonishment, now are
proclaimed from many pulpits in various and distant parts of the land,
and daily more teachers of the word will be demanded to expound the law
and the prophets to the faithful. Congregations are accordingly
multiplying, as settlements of Jews are augmented, and even in towns
where we have been for some years domesticated, more room is required
for the worshippers than the former houses of worship could afford;
hence the dividing of congregations is not altogether a matter of
caprice in many instances, but one of necessity; and there even where a
division took place in the first instance without necessity, and where
the void thereby occasioned was at first severely felt, but few years
elapse, and the places of those who absented themselves are more than
filled by the rising generation, and new comers. We might instance,
without being invidious, our own congregation. It is now eight years ago
since a part of our members and seat holders determined on forming a new
society with a different Minhag from ours, which being the Portuguese,
and they having been used to the Polish, did not so well suit their
views, although <<375>>many of them had been accustomed to it for years. The
separation was indeed painful to us as an individual and minister of the
congregation, for various reasons, since we deemed the cause alleged not
sufficient to warrant a secession, and preferred one strong united body
to a division into two weak portions. But barely had the new
congregation been organized than new accessions came to us from various
quarters; and when four years had elapsed, it was found necessary to
enlarge the number of seats to the utmost capacity of our building; and
the crowded state of the seats during the late festivals has caused
persons to speak of the probable necessity there would be before long of
erecting a new and larger Synagogue, so as to accommodate all those who
may desire to worship with us.
This idea, it is true, will not be realized in all
probability in a long time; still, its very suggestion makes good what
we say, that the increase of Israelites in this country is so great that
any secession is not likely to be followed by the destruction of any of
the congregations now existing in the large cities of the Union. And
whilst our own immediate community has prospered in the lapse of eight
years, the new branch has also increased in vigour and numbers, and it
will not be long before there will be consecrated a new and appropriate
house of worship which has lately been commenced, as we have just
learned from reliable authority.
A division also took place about a year ago in the
German congregation of Philadelphia, and we hear both the parts are
doing well in a congregational point of view. No doubt they will have to
struggle for some time to acquire proper strength and extension for the
effecting of useful measures; but with a firm resolve and perseverance
in good counsels, all difficulties will be readily overcome. The same
result as existing in distant congregations reaches us constantly. Thus
in Cincinnati, barely has a new Synagogue been consecrated, when we hear
that the old congregation speak of enlarging their building, it being
too small to contain the worshippers demanding admittance; and whilst
these two bodies already exist there, a third community has formed
itself, and worships apart in a place of its own.
At Albany also in the Synagogue Bethel under the
charge of Dr. Wise, the crowd was so great on Rosh Hashanah that many
had to remain in the entry, not being able to gain admittance into the
main building, and this <<376>>notwithstanding a new Synagogue was lately
consecrated there, as our readers already know. In Montgomery, Alabama,
as we see from the public papers, the festivals were celebrated with due
solemnity, thus evidencing that the new congregation established there
about a year ago, as we informed our readers at the time, continues to
pursue its godly course, marching in unison as witnesses of the divine
glory. From New York also we learn with much pleasure that the
Synagogues were crowded, some as we have heard to their utmost capacity,
with attentive and devout worshippers. Thus evidencing that in both the
seacoast and distant towns the same spirit has prevailed among the
people, at the time especially devoted to praise and prayer.
We do not say all this in the way of vain boasting,
to show to the world that we think ourselves righteous, and as having
discharged all our duty; for no one more than we is aware that a great
deal of evil exists among us, and it is on that very account that we
exhibit the above information to the public, to excite attention and to
ask their aid, under Heaven, to devise a remedy. We must again remind
the public that twenty-four years ago, as we said on a former occasion,
there were but five or six regularly organized congregations in the
whole Union; now there are more, nearly twice as many, in the city of
New York alone, and nearly every congregation in that place probably now
exceeds the whole number of Jews then there. Notwithstanding this great
increase; however, we have done little for Judaism or its propagation
since that time. It is true congregations have been formed, and
Synagogues have been built; in a few instances too, schools have been
organized; but all this has not made the religion of Israel accessible
to all; and the knowledge of the Hebrew has not been universally
diffused among the natives of this land, in the manner it might easily
have been done, had people been only earnest in their duty. Too many
persons have been, besides all this, allowed to drop off from our
communion, without the necessary efforts being made to restrain them; by
which we mean that they had not been so instructed as to place their
adherence to our faith upon some stronger ground than their being born
Jews,—a motive not always powerful enough to restrain the passions, and
to place a bar to the calls of interested views. The Israelites in this
country are on a different footing
<<377>>from those of almost any other on the
face of the globe. In no other, except in Australia, are they living in
many instances so isolated and removed from Jewish influence. Their
neighbours and all their associates are Christians, at least nominally,
though many of them cannot with justice lay much claim to a sincere
conviction or an extensive knowledge of their own faith. Even in the
larger towns where we mostly do congregate, we are in an exceeding small
minority, in comparison with the other inhabitants, and are surrounded
by influences totally hostile to the prosperity of our religion.
The churches are open weekly, and presided over by
men who have the reputation for eloquence; the Jew is invited by his
neighbours to attend, to be entertained and instructed by the fine
speeches of these public teachers. He cannot well refuse to go, because,
especially in isolated positions, it would look odd to be absent from
church when all his neighbours attend, and perhaps might result in an
injurious effect on his business; and in fact we have heard of instances
where such persons had seats in churches, and were regular attendants,
and contributed the same as the Christians to the expenses of the
establishment. Now we do not say that we should not listen once in a
while to a sermon from some Christian minister; without determining the
admissibility of our so doing on religious grounds, we will admit it, as
it has been done of late by men of piety and learning; but this does not
say that we should attend church regularly and at stated periods like
members of Christian societies, not to mention that it is sinful to be a
pew-holder and contributor towards the support of a worship which we
must deem erroneous. It is one thing to be charitable to the
non-Israelite; to be active in serving all creatures of God in their
distress; to know no difference of creeds when humanity appeals for aid;
but it is something very different to support a worship other than ours,
although we admit that Jews have always contributed towards building of
churches for the sake of peace and harmony with their neighbours. Be
this as it may, we contend that no Jew has a right to be a pew-holder in
a church, though he may have contributed to its erection, or to be a
stated attendant, thereby countenancing the idea that he is edified by
the religious instruction there imparted. He has no right to say that he
will listen merely to the <<378>>morality of the sermons, and leave the
doctrinal parts to pass for what they are worth. This is all sheer
nonsense; you cannot so separate the component portions of a sermon, nor
will any honest Christian minister so arrange his discourses as to make
the doctrinal subservient to the moral portion. He is bound to teach his
faith as he is authorized by those who gave him the commission to
preach; and we are yet to learn that there exists a single sect of
Trinitarians who do not put simple faith far above all moral acts in the
scale of merit. Besides it requires no small share of religious
knowledge to separate the two elements, morals and doctrines, in a
sermon; they are so intimately blended, that the former cannot proceed
without the latter; they must be based upon the admission of religious
truths at least they are so in all doctrinal sermons, and this justly,
as we think; and hence the admission of the necessity of morals, upon
the persuasion of a preacher, at once admits the correctness of the
foundations which he lays down, or in other words, the correctness of
his doctrines. Now to learn morals in this way is to claim that a Jew
can observe his religion sincerely by founding it upon Trinitarian
doctrines,—an absurdity which a child will hardly be guilty of in its
reasoning, should it reason at all; and yet upon such insufficient
grounds do some constitute themselves attendants at church, and still
say they are sound in faith.
Our remarks may savour of illiberality; we know
this well enough beforehand; and we are prepared to hear the question
asked: “Are we to remain without religious instruction? is it not better
that we obtain it from Christian sources than not at all?” And then we
shall be referred to the absence of pulpit instruction among us, as also
to the superior eloquence of the gentile ministers above our own.
Nevertheless we say, that Israelites should not attend stated meetings
at Christian churches, by which they might endanger their religious
conformity, or give the appearance of their defection to others. We will
state at once that no Jew or Jewess need at the present day be without
some knowledge of our religion; information is conveyed in so many
various ways, that the most isolated can acquire a large share, provided
they are only willing to seek for it; and it is precisely this point we
are aiming at, that is, to admonish all our
<<379>>readers to endeavour to
diffuse with an enlightened zeal the tenets of our religion amidst all
of the house of Israel who may be brought in contact with them; to
exhort in conversation, correspondence, and by whatever means that may
be accessible, all their friends to a profession of religion, so that no
one may be lost if their instrumentality can retain him in our
communion. Let every one who has books lend them to those who may not be
so fortunately situated, and as some may not be willing to read without
a certain previous preparation, let those who have the knowledge impart
some general outline of the contents, to induce the others to seek for
more particulars in the works themselves.
Any religious reading or any oral instruction, even
if defective in many particulars, is preferable to obtaining the
spurious kind obtainable from sectarian books or preachers, and on no
account can we acknowledge the propriety or safety of seeking from
Christian ministers a guidance to our duties. We will concede to them
superior learning and eloquence in many instances; but we would
seriously ask, For what purpose do they employ these gifts? Is it not to
teach and enforce their particular dogmas? or is it to teach pure
morality? But in truth, any man who maintains that Christians can safely
teach Israelites, must never have heard a Christian doctrinal sermon;
for all the lectures we have heard, (to be sure they were not many,)
contained much which one must forget before being truly benefited by
them.
This does not say that Christians could not be
aided in the pursuit of their religion by these means; but that they are
unsuitable for Jews, and that is all for which we are contending. It may
be, we will concede, that some one may hear pulpit lectures from
strangers without any injury to his faith; he may hear the trinity,
incarnation, and vicarious sacrifice, taught and enforced without having
his faith shaken; but, in the name of sound truth, where is the
necessity for his running the risk of confusing his mind with
incomprehensible doctrines, and striving against their taking possession
of his soul? And where again is the necessity that he must be
gratified by eloquence of a pulpit orator at so great a risk, for so
fierce a struggle? Eloquence is truly a noble gift, and that man is the
highest among his fellows who can sway them by the power of his words;
still it is not necessary to teach us our duties, for they are plainly
written down <<380>>in the Bible, and require no such great efforts to expound
them. We do not mean to assert that one can know the whole extent of his
religion by simply reading the Bible in a translation without note or
commentary; for there is much comprised therein which we have received
more clearly in the tradition from our fathers. But in the absence of
Jewish teachers, should an Israelite be so unfortunate as to live alone
and without the means of consulting a teacher, he can at all events
learn from his Bible that we are enjoined to believe in ONE GOD, without
beginning and without end, who is the Creator and Ruler of the universe;
who rewards the good and punishes the bad. and whose providence watches
over all. Farther, he will find therein the history of his people from
their origin to the rebuilding of the second temple; how their crimes
were punished, and how they were blessed when they obeyed the Lord; he
will also learn that we are bound to observe the Sabbath, as a token
that God created the world—not that we shall keep the first day of the
week as a memento of something not alluded to therein; he will find the
institution of the festivals not observed by other societies; the
abstaining from various kinds of food permitted by the customs of other
churches; and in brief, the whole system of Jewish doctrines and
actions.
Where then can be the necessity for his going
weekly or monthly and hear these matters all denounced or explained away
by an eloquent pulpit lecturer Will this increase his chance of
salvation? his own contentment of mind? May not one of two things result
thence: either that he may imperceptibly adopt the erroneous ideas of
the speaker, or reject all revelation concerning which he hears so
beautiful an exposition totally at variance with what his simple Bible
teaches him, and which he recollects it to have been what his sainted
mother taught him in his early youth? Do not tell us that such cases do
not occur; we know not indeed from the confession of men that they have
experienced such events; but the probability is that many a derangement
of mind, many a reckless course of infidelity had no other commencement;
for that mind must be firm indeed which can drink in dissentient views
day by day without being influenced by them in the least; and we contend
that the smallest impressions produced in this way, unless they be
merely moral in their nature, must be injurious.
<<381>>
The absence of eloquent Jewish preachers is
certainly an evil; and no one can feel it more deeply than one who has
made some efforts to apply a remedy thereto. But they are not altogether
wanting, and every year new men arrive among us to supply some vacant
pulpit whence to proclaim the words of the living God to the thirsting
multitude. Look back on what has been accomplished within the last
quarter of a century, and you must acknowledge that something has been
done. We were without proper models; the ancient Derasha books
had gone imperceptibly out of date; Christian sermons were not safe
precedents to copy; the audiences were not used to a popular exposition
of the truths of religion; our education moreover had not been of that
high scholastic order which the clergymen of Christian sects had enjoyed
for so long a period, before polite literature became accessible to us.
And what has been the result? Men from the ranks of the people, upon
being called for, have stood forth as the champions of their faith; and
toiling hard amidst poverty and other adverse circumstances, earning
their daily bread as laborious teachers or yet more laborious Rabbins,
they have astonished modern Europe with the depth of their words, with
the irresistible force of their native eloquence, and they have proved
that the fire of the ancient prophets is not extinct in Israel.
Make it then apparent that you want men of high
thought and of noble intellect to lead you; treat your teachers in such
a manner that they can devote themselves with pleasure to their calling:
and you will not have long to wait before your own sons and other near
connexions will apply themselves to the labour of winning souls to
Heaven. Christians know better than we do how to encourage their
ministers; they respect them as divine messengers; they listen to their
words with profound deference; and even defend them when they prove
themselves unworthy of the high trust reposed in them. Now we do not ask
for Jewish teachers of the people the same ease of living, the same
submissive respect, and certainly not an exemption from exposure and
condemnation when their conduct deserves it, it being against our genius
to treat any set of men after this fashion. But surely no one can say
that it would be correct to allow a worthy man to struggle with
straightened circumstances <<382>>whilst he devotes days and nights to your
improvement; to compel him to look with a dread upon the future
prospects of his helpless wife and children, if you have it in your
power to cheer his heart with brighter hopes and fairer prospects; to
treat him with that insolence and overbearing tyranny in either
individuals, congregations or officers as to make him feel his
subservience, and that he is eating your bread; or to magnify every
foible as though it were a great crime he had been committing. And yet
how many a poor minister among us has had to sutler all this and more
too; and notwithstanding this, people wonder that so few great minds are
willing to become Synagogue officers under such circumstances, and that
those who do offer themselves are very often not such as are qualified
by a thorough education for so noble a position as that of spiritual
leader of a respectable congregation. We are glad to confess that much
has been achieved herein too by way of reforming the evil, and with
God’s blessing more will be speedily accomplished. But people must not
expect impossibilities, and rest satisfied with a gradual improvement in
the personnel of the ministry, till they become all that can be
asked of them.
One thing, however, must be carefully considered in
this respect, and this is the establishment of schools where such an
education might be acquired as to fit the scholars to be called to the
ministry when vacancies should occur hereafter, and until this be done,
we shall always have the spectacle presented to us of our seeking for
our teachers among adventurers who come hither in search of office, in
place of our seeking for those whom we might delight to honour by
placing them at our head. In saying this we would not, God forbid, cast
a slur upon the good and learned men, who now preside over many
congregations in this country; but we wish to insist that it is only the
goodness of God who directed the choice of the people so that no injury
has resulted to our faith from the utter want of system in our
appointments. We say of this, that it is not to our taste, and that it
ought to be altered, and that both for the sake of the ministers and the
people; and we. say, if so much has been effected with a defective
organization, how much greater would the good have been, had we had a
different mode of proceeding. It is truly consolatory to find that we
have progressed so well; but much remains to be done, and we insist
<<383>>upon
it that the people have much in their own power, and that the means are
at hand to do it, provided only they are properly applied. Who can doubt
that by a proper combination religious observance might be promoted, and
education immeasurably far advanced? Who says that we should not be more
respected if we all adhered more to the law and defended more each
other’s rights and interests? We deem it superfluous to adduce
arguments to establish what is so self-evident, and rest content for the
present with the bare statement of facts and opinions we have presented,
and we hope that at length our words may find entrance into the hearts
of the people, and that our aspirations may not always remain “pious
wishes” merely.
We beg our friends to excuse the desultory and
unfinished state of our remarks, and hope that they will supply any
deficiency in argument and connexion which they may discover, and we
promise them that we will recur to this important subject before long,
our time being so limited this month, that we have not sufficient
leisure to discuss it as we would have wished.
(To be
continued.) |
