The Southern Israelite. (Augusta, Ga.) 1925-1986, October 04, 1929, Image 36

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Page 36 The Southern Israelite T* THE TERMS OF THE MORRIS PEAN LOANS ARE SIMPLE AND PRACTICAL ANI) FAIR—IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO HAVE HAD AN ACCOUNT WITH THIS COMPANY TO BORROW For rnch $50 or f ruction borrower! you agree to de posit $1.00 per week in an account, the proceeds of which may he used to can cel the note when due. De posits may he made on a weekly, semi-monthly or monthly basis as you pre fer. EASY TO PAY w 1-,-kly Depoall Loan for 50 WrrkN * 1OO $ 2.00 $ 200 $ -t.OO * .TOO $ 6.00 * 400 $ 11.00 * 500 $ 10.00 $ I ,ooo $ 20.00 $5,000 $100.00 MORRIS PLAN Savings Certificates Earn you 5%. Huy them on the weekly, semi-monthly or monthly plan. We have always cashed them on demand. THE MOKKIS PLAN COMPANY OF GEORGIA 66 Pryor Street, IN. E. RESOURCES OVER $1,000,000.00 □31!........ Williams Bros. Lumber Co. 934 Glenwood Ave., S. E. Phone*—Day, IVy 1032—IVy 4711 Building Material “We Manufacture Everything That 1* Needed to Build a House” W. M. GARVIN SHEET METAL WORK (.utters, Pipes, Tin Roofs, Ventilators, Skylights GENERAL TIN WORK Furnace and Hoiler Pipes Renewed IVy 4040 157 Edgewood Avenue, S. E. WILLIAMS-FLYNT LUMBER CO. Hetail Dealers in LUMBER ANI) BUILDERS’ SUPPLIES 250 Elliott, N. W. IVy 1093 Wedding Invitations, Announcements and Visiting Cards Sum pies and Prices Upon Request L. I). SPECHT ENGRAVING CO. 329 Peachtree Si., N. E. Best Wishes To Our Friends and Patrons For the New Year HOTEL ARAGON ATLANTA, GEORGIA One of the Leading Down Town Hotels One Minute from Everywhere H. A. TISDEL, Manager Has Judaism Outgrown Ceremonialism By RAPHAEL BRADWIN The following optimistic treatment of one of the problem,, < modern Judaism, coming as it does from the pen of one 0 f our younger writers, is an indication that these problems will fall U]t , good hands and upon able shoulders. It is recommended as highl worthy of your reading. The booklet. “The Ceremonies of / U( ^ ism,” referred to, may be had from the National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods, Merchants Building, Cincinnati, Ohio. —Editors Note Symbols and ceremonies are ideas and ideals crystalized. From the prim itive savage to the most advanced thinker of today, man has painted pictures of his ideas and has fash ioned his ideals in stone and bronze. From the naive scratches of the pre historic cave-dweller to the sublime word-pictures of a Milton and a Keats seems a far cry; yes, far in technique. Yet the scratches of the one were to him as much an expression of his aims, his hopes and his aspirations an the imagery of the others was to them the noble expressions of noble sentiments. The language of to-day is but the picture talk of yesterday, both symbols of human experiences; and one of the most profound of all hum an experiences is that of religion. Every religion from the crudest worship of stick and stone to the lof ty idealism of Judaism has found ex pression in symbol and ceremony. In deed every organized human effort has found the symbol and the cere mony an indispensable factor in its development. The college with its songs, its mottoes, and its colors; the secret society with its ritual and re galia; the slate with its seal; and the nation with its flag give abundant evidence of the power of the symbol as a rallying point. Religion Needs Symbols By far more important than in all these is the place of the symbol and the ceremony in religious life. For religion, with its metaphysical ab stractions and lofty ethical aspira tions cannot live in the lives of the masses without the symbolic expres sion of its affirmations. It is not too much to say that organized religion without ceremonies and symbols is unthinkable. In recent years, men have been wont to condemn, and not without cause, the religious ceremonialism be cause of its too great emphasis upon form to the detriment of the inner spiritual life. But in their desire to rid religion of its impediments, they have deprived it of its soul. As we draw farther and farther away from the Ghetto, the intense spirit that per meated its narrow confines became ev er more flabby and colorless. In the eager attempt of the emanci pated to clean Judaism of the Ghetto taint, the work was done none too carefully but only too well. With the stain, also the warp and woof of the Jewish pattern was rubbed away. The Judaism that once affected Jewish life in all its completeness to-day is but the faint echo of its former viri lity. It has lost much of its warm ap peal to the Jewish heart, and has be come emotionally barren and intellw tually cold. Men Swayed by Hearts Whatever may be our intellectual reaction to the Judaism of the Ghetto it cannot be denied that its greatest strength lay in its power to evoke a profound emotional response in its ad herents; and whether we like it or not, men are swayed by the heart# The head but rationalizes what the heart dictates. More and more, this psychological truism is penetrating the conscious ness of our religious leaders and guid ing in their program of religious edu cation. The re-introduction and re vitalization of the ceremonies and symbols of Judaism, by careful and intelligent selection, is but the first sign of the awakening to the need* of the time; and it is indeed a health ful and inspiring sign of the time to see what an active, nay, leading part the Jewish laymen are taking in this work of rehabilitation. During the past year, the Reform Jewish laity, which is organized un der the name of the National Fede ration of Temple Brotherhoods Un ion of American Hebrew Congrega tions, undertook an extensive educa tional program for its members and Jewry at large. Beginning with » comprehensive survey of the needs in Jewish life, now published in a book. “The Voice of the Jewish Laity," the lay readers have made a brave at tempt to understand the problems and to meet the needs disclosed by this study. In their organ, “The Brotherhood Monthly,” they began a campaign t acquaint their members, some 20,000 of them, with the meaning and signi • eance of Judaism, its symbols ar.d ceremonies, its ideas and ideals. series of articles on the symbols *n ceremonies in Jewish life from t t dawn of Judaism to the present day was written by Prof A. Z. !«*>“ of the Hebrew Union College »" furnished the text for their wor <■ instruction. Articles by others °P* up other vistas of Jewish U e 0 public eagerly seeking enlighten on subjects so closely interwoven the pattern of their lives. n “The Ceremonies of Judaism In order to widen the S P ^ their educational activities an cularly to acquaint American *> with the Ceremonies and important in Jewish life 0 „ ot h er - the Federation of Temple ^ hoods collected the articles w t Prof. Idelsohn on the subj^m^ beautiful booklet entitled contrib0 . monies of Judaism. J “ ff* tion is especially si ^. ^^bol and religions are so rich 1 ceremony as is Judaism. (Continued on Ua£ e