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The Southern Israelite
Reform Judaism
By EDGAR F. MAGNIN
Rabbi of Temple B’nai B’ritb, Los Angeles, Calif.
The Reform Jew regards religious liberty as a right. It is his
comnction that not even his co-relig'onisls may interfere with that right.
Being a Liberal, he believes that all men have a right to their own
thoughtful religious interpretations; and if he is a propagandist at all,
it is that all men may follow the d : ctates of their religious conscience.
Where Jezvs attempt to force upon their co-religionists any inter
pretation, or irtual, or philosophy of Jennsh life that is counter to their
convictions, then that right is violated. As for example, no Jew has
the right to deny his brother the privilege of interpreting Judaism
nationalistically; but the corollary is likewise just, namely, that the
nationalist Jew has no right to coerce the Liberal Jew into compliance
with the former’s creed.
The Balfour Declaration very specifically includes this modifying
clause: “It being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which
may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing, non-Jelvish com
munities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews
in any other country.” When Unionists accepted the Balfour Declaration
with enthusiasm, it was presumed that they also accepted this clause.
Unfortunately this has not been the policy of the Unionist organiza
tion; and therefore, it is in a spirit of friendly protest that beginning
with the following article on “Reform Judaism” by Rabbi Magnin, there
will appear in The Southern Israelite each issue for several months,
various articles on Reform Judaism by distinguished rabbis of America
and England. Next issue will be an article by Rabbi Morris M. FcucrRcht
of Indianapolis, Ind., on “Hatikwah and Reform".
RABBI LOUIS WOLSKY, Philadelphia.
4 f
Technically speaking, Reform Judaism
is only a little over one hundred years old.
It began in Germany, and while it has
spread to various parts of the world, it
has attained its greatest potency in the
United States.
Reform Judaism was the logical and
psychological result of definite historic
causes. It was the product of modernism.
The growth and development of scientific
research succeeded scholasticism and ob-
scuratism. Accurate observation and
logical analysis took the place of super
stitious beliefs and practices. In the
political world, democracy drove out the
despotism of kings and emperors while in
the economic world, industrialism and
metropolitan life with its complexity* and
greater freedom came into their own. The
invention of the steam engine and the
telegraph made for less isolation and
parochialism. Education became wide
spread with the improvement of the print
ing press.
In such a world, tolerance was hound
to grow and the Jew was regarded in
a better light. I say this despite the fact
that some will remind me of the vast
amount of intolerance that still exists in
the world. The fact remains that unfor
tunate as this may be, the Jew is in the
main better off than he was in the past
and the proportion of thinking and
humane Gentiles is increasing year by
year. Everything must lx* judged com
paratively.
In such a world Ghetto standards were
compelled to give way to modern think
ing and living. Mendelssohn’s translation
of the Pentateuch into German marked
the beginning of the decline of Yiddish in
Central Europe. Greater freedom and
recognition endowed the Jew with the
ambition to become more like his neigh
bor. Secular education caused him to
challenge some of the beliefs and practices
that had been handed down unquestioned
through the centuries. Incidentally some
of them were not Jewish in their origin,
but had been grafted upon Jewish culture
by unconscious imitation of the nations
amid whom the Jews lived, and had be
come so much a part of their own life
and practice that their origins were for
gotten and they came to be looked upon
as sacred.
\\ hen one considers the rapidity with
which conditions affecting the political,
cultural and economic life of our people
changed, it is little wonder that in the
period of transition some mistakes were
made. Revolution is never as wholesome
as evolution. Chaos is ofttimes the result
of suddenly changing historic circum
stances.
Many Jew's became assimilationists.
This was not the fault of Reform
Judaism. It had no place in the philoso
phy of the movement. Reform, itself,
possibly ran to extremes here and there.
It unconsciously imitated Protestantism
and removed from Jewish life a certain
amount of the traditional element that
should have been retained. This of course
was most natural and the hostility and
opposition of the Orthodox rabbis, a per
fectly natural and justifiable position
from their point of view, probably en
couraged the early Reformers to assume
extreme positions.
Be this as it may, Reform had to
suffer. Judaism was confronted with
the choice of standing still and rotting,
or going forward. The children would
not and could not live like their great
grandparents. Reform Judaism made it
possible for the modern Jew to remain
loyal and faithful to the basic teachings
and practices of Judaism, without at the
same time forfeiting his intellectual self
respect, or causing him to appear like an
Oriental or a mediaeval person. Little
wonder that Judaism is more alive in this
country today than it is in Europe, or any
other part of the world. This is an un
disputed fact that will be substantiated by
any impartial traveler who has taken the
trouble to observe Jewish conditions
abroad.
We began this article by stating that
technically Reform Judaism is a little
over one hundred years old. The fact is,
as every student of the Jewish religion
well knows, that Reform Judaism began
when Judaism first saw the light of the
world. Judaism itself is the product of
revolution. 1 he Prophets reshaped early
pagan Hebraic beliefs. They rid Hebrew
life and thought of many primitive and
crude beliefs and practices. They altered
the entire GikI conception. They empha
sized the ethical note in religion and
lifted it to new heights.
After the Exile, Ezra the scribe and
his associates made many changes. This
was the period, in fact, when Judaism
first saw the light of day. Ezra’s atti
tude and that of those who surrounded
him were more conventional and formal
than that of the prophets. They com
bined the ethical with the ceremonial and
brought about a harmonious blending of
the two, essential and suitable for their
own day and age.
The sages quoted in the Talmud and
their successors made other changes.
The y modified the laws to meet new’ con
ditions. These scholars were not the
orists. They were practical sensible men.
1 hey kept Judaism in line with common
sense. They, too, harmonized it with the
conditions of their own day and age.
1 he Jewish philosophers of the Middle
Ages challenged many an old belief and
on the other hand attempted to synthesize
Judaism with the thinking of the Middle
Ages. Some of them did it with great
delicacy, .others more boldly. Some w'ere
bitterly criticized by their more conserva
tive contemporaries; others were recom
mended. Most of them were criticized in
certain quarters and praised in others.
Ghetto Judaism of the last few hundred
years had its ixietic and colorful side, but
it did not represent the purest oift-
t lowering of the Jewish spirit. It must
he admired in the light of the martyrdom
and sacrifices of our people, the cruelties
they endured, the many handicaps set in
their way. But Ghetto life was cramp
ing and narrowing. Without freedom,
and constantly trembling for his safety,
the Jew could not be at his best. De
prived of secular education and cut off
from the main currents of world thought,
his thinking like his activities was
cramped and crude.
All credit to him for his courage, faith
and loyalty. These are no mean virtues.
They in themselves prove tl
faith that can beget them a>
despite everything designed
out. But we repeat. Judai
Ghetto was more picturesqu.
Poor human beings struggk
make a bare living and in n, ,t ant ,,
of their lives and those of th. chMrr.
cannot but fall back upon a ccr ij n n«
ure of superstition and primitiv. >racti<
The more honor and credit to them f r
whatever standards of excellence tl.n
were capable of maintaining!
But the hands of the clock cannot U
held back, and so when tin li^lu ,.f
modern civilization percolated into t!
Ghetto, it was the beginning of a new
point of view for the Jew. Blinded hy
the rays of the sun he was dazed and
could barely see a few' paces ahead ..{
him. He staggered and groped for a
clearer vision. Hence the defects in h>
life and religious practices immediately
following the exodus from mediaevalhm
and persecution.
Reform Judaism in its modern form ha-
done very well considering its youth and
the circumstances of its origin. It need
make no apologies to anyone. It has heo
the only salvation for our people wh<
would retain their Jewishness and at the
same time live like Occidentals. I predict
a future that will fully justify the visions
of Hirsch, Geiger, Einhorn and Isaac M
Wise. Some changes, of course, will have
to be made. I for one feel that more "
mysticism and traditionalism properly
practiced and interpreted will do u> n*
harm. Reform Judaism must become lc"
negative and more positive. It i- not ai
excuse to doff the garments of Jewish
ness at the will and whims of every
person. It requires more of discipline and
should impose more obligations if it is 1
command the respect of its follower'
These and other changes will take plan
from time to time. But fundamentally,
is right. Life must move on. Kehgioii.
like every other expression of Human
thought and feeling, must prog re"
Judaism is not afraid to progress
Judaism does not fear mixlern scitno
nor the attempt to persecute those "h
contribute to the wealth of human knowl
edge. We “welcome all truth, whether
shining through the annals of
revelations or reaching us thf
seers of our own time”,—one of
liest pasasges of our Union I ray'
Judaism has stood the onsl.u
every age and clime. It is like
beaten by the waves through >
centuries, yet unmoved and i tl1
foundations are secure.
It is like one of the giant Sequ
California—old and yet ever rem
youth, whose foliage change -
passing years. Yet it stands tlx.
rooted in the ground, never to
or uprooted by the storms
the elements. And like the gia.
it is beautiful to behold, anil ,*■
upward toward God and the