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No. II.
To
the Editor of the Occident.
Reverend Sir:
In
a note which you appended to
my last letter (p.
494), you wished me to point out the dogmas of
Judaism, as received among us, which are opposed by
nature and history. I must, however, at present
respectfully decline doing so, but I shall do it
when I come to the respective points, and not
before; as it would be venturing too much to state
them merely, without giving at once full reasons for
my dissent, which I cannot well do until I have
proceeded to a point where I can properly state
them, and hope to be correctly understood. Let me
now enumerate, in the first place, those ideas which
are opposed neither by nature nor by history.
Judaism is based upon four leading ideas, and has,
therefore, four principles, with which all
doctrines, dogmas, maxims, ceremonies, and
observances, must correspond as consequences with
their respective causes, otherwise they must be
rejected as anti-Jewish and foreign to our system.
These four principles are:
1.
There is but one God, who is the Creator, Preserver,
and Ruler of the universe; an absolute, pure, and
eternal Spirit; the primitive Life, Power Intellect,
and Love; who has revealed himself in the Bible, in
all nature, and in all history, as the All-wise,
Omniscient, Omnipresent, Almighty, Immutable, Most
<<542>>Holy, Most Gracious, Most Benevolent,
All-Just, and Most Merciful God.
2.
Man is the image of God, and is therefore not only
endowed with all the superior capacities which are
the necessary qualifications of an image of the Most
High, and bound in duty to develop them to the
utmost extent; but he is also immortal in this
respect, in quality of his being made in the image
of his Creator.
3.
Man is accountable to God for all his deeds, for
which he is rewarded or punished here and hereafter.
4.
God has chosen the people of Israel to promulgate
through them these divine and sublime truths to
mankind at large.
These four truths are plainly announced in the
Pentateuch, re-echoed by the Psalmist, and by all
and each of the Prophets nature and history do not
merely not contradict them, but they are the living
witnesses, they bear the strongest evidence, to the
verity of all these four dogmas; and every Jew
believes them, and defends them with his life,
liberty, and property; and when he ceases to do so,
he has ceased to be a Jew.
I
shall not enter upon philosophical evidences, to
prove the correctness of these main dogmas,* because
I deem it not necessary; you will take them for
granted; but if objection should be raised against
them, I shall always be ready to give satisfactory
evidences. I shall only take under consideration the
consequences of these principles.
The consequences of the first are of immense
importance. There is not only no religion without a
God, but also no moral law, no virtue, no real
humanity, no hope, nor real existence. If this
universe has no moral government, then there is no
reason for man to submit to the government of laws;
and morality and virtue are nothing but the selfish
inventions of selfish man, to suit his convenience,
to satisfy his vain imagination to the detriment of
the freedom of all others. If we cannot trust in God
what hope have we in the
time of danger, sickness, adversity, and death? If
we do not <<543>>admit the existence of a spirit,
there can be no real existence; for all matter
constantly changes its internal and external
structure.
Our first principle gives a complete basis for
religion, an undoubted reason for morality, a
holiness and sublimity to virtue, confidence in all
conditions of life, and hope even in death, and a
reasonable solution of the existence of all things
in the wide universe. Our views about right and
wrong, about morality and immorality, about virtue
and vice, are altogether derived from our views with
regard to God; wherefore it is by no means a matter
of indifference, what one thinks relative to God.
Our doctrines about God, as the Bible gives them,
are therefore the best, because they are the truest
and the most sublime, and the best foundation for
religion and morality. The Islam, no less than
Christianity, could not avoid copying our doctrines,
and what they added to them, only disfigures the
perfect and exalted ideas of the Bible: The duties
derived from our first principle are innumerable,
but they are chiefly expressed in the first three of
the ten Commandments.
Our second principle is of the same importance with
the first. If I am an image of God, endowed with all
the superior capacities necessary for my position as
such, I must exert all my power to develope them
fully. I must develope my affection so as to love
all men, all nature, all that is truly great and
perfect, and thus I shall learn to love God; I must
develope my intellect to such an extent as to know
God’s creation, to understand as much of his wise
designs as I can comprehend, so that I may know of
God all that He has permitted me to know of Him; I
must develope my mental liberty to the extent of
enabling me to rule over all my animal instincts,
passions, and desires, so that I may be governed by
none but by my God, by love, and by reason. But this
development can be accomplished only by a long
practice of reasoning, study, and temperance;
wherefore I am in duty bound to act in this manner.
Every man is an image of God; and consequently I am
bound to regard every man as such, to esteem and to
love him; and this is the mother of all social
virtues.
<<544>>
Our third doctrine teaches us the great duty, as our
eminent Mendelssohn said, to learn how to die, to
withdraw as much as possible from carnal enjoyments,
from the desire of possessing great riches, of
living an extravagant life, of having power and
dominion over others; but we should devote to our
common occupations, no more time than is really
necessary to enable us to obtain our own support and
that of our family all other time belongs to our
eternal portion,—our spirit. Maimonides says: “We
should eat, drink, and sleep, in order to strengthen
ourselves for the performance of our duties;” for
all carnal enjoyments are of momentary duration,
while the treasures of our spirit are everlasting.
These three dogmas are the sources of all human
duties, as you will readily admit; and every one who
lives according to these principles and their
logical consequences is a good, pious, and honest
man. But the peculiar duties which we have to
perform as Jews, are comprised in our fourth
principle. As God has chosen us to promulgate his
divine will to all mankind, we are bound to adhere
firmly to his word, to guard it with our life, to
practise it amidst danger, to advocate it, though
opposed by a whole world, and to teach it by acts
and words wherever we live. We must adhere to our
nation, because God has chosen the whole as his
people, and maintain our distinct nationality in a
religious respect all over the globe, until all
mankind have received our sacred message.
You will perceive that there is nothing in these
four principles, and their logical consequences,
which is opposed to sound common sense, to any true
science, a even to the views of any one Israelite.
And still if you do not succeed to prove that they
are incorrect, or that Judaism has still other
principles, I shall succeed to prove that the
reformers have a full right to demand reform and
progression. I conclude my letter with the old
proverb כל מחלוקת שהיא לשם
שמים סופה להתקים.
Truly yours,
ISAAC M. WISE, D. D. |
