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Page 6 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