Faithfully Yours opens a window on the American Jewish History of the last century. In forty years of rabbinical correspondence (1917-1957), Rabbi Samuel S. Cohon, Professor of Rabbinics at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati (the seminary of Reform Judaism), covers the developments in the religious, the political and the social lives of Jews and their contemporaries.
Faithfully Yours
Selected Rabbinical Correspondence of RABBI SAMUEL S. COHON during the years 1917-1957 with some 2007 commentaryBy Baruch Cohon KTAV PUBLISHING HOUSE, INC.
Copyright © 2009 Baruch Cohon
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-60280-019-9Contents
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................xiiiAREA: THE JEW IN THE WORLD1 COMMUNAL AND INTERFAITH RELATIONS..................................................................................................................12/12/19-Rabbi Henry Berkowitz, Philadelphia, PA-Federation of Synagogues.............................................................................31/ /30-anonymous-The Jew and Christmas (published)...................................................................................................75/23/32-Joseph Frey, St. Louis, MO-New Testament in synagogue........................................................................................912/20/33-Gilbert Harris, St. Louis, MO-Seminar for interfaith clergy.................................................................................129/26/42-Irwin Grossman, Butler, PA-Sale of war bonds on Saturday.....................................................................................146/15/43-Isaac Rosengarten, New York, NY-Peace covenant at Mt. Sinai..................................................................................151/4/44-Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld, Washington, DC-Proposed synagogue reorganization....................................................................171/9/45-Rabbi Maurice Goldblatt, Indianapolis, IN-Membership in a congregation........................................................................2412/14/45-Elliot E. Cohen, New York, NY-"Must the Jews quit Europe?"..................................................................................2811/17/48-Rabbi Morris A. Gutstein, Chicago, IL-Chicago Jewish history................................................................................3011/23/48-Rabbi Richard C. Hertz, Chicago, IL-Chicago Jewish history..................................................................................311/4/51-Rabbi David Max Eichhorn, New York, NY-Jewish missionizing....................................................................................3411/3/52-Sylvan Lebow, New York, NY-Brochure for college students.....................................................................................369/1/54-Julian Levine, Pontiac, MI-Naming a Reform temple.............................................................................................381/24/56-Rabbi Jakob Soetendorp, Amsterdam, Neth.-....................................................................................................39a) CCAR decisions on halachab) Rabbi's Manual2 ZIONISM............................................................................................................................................439/20/33-Samuel B. Finkel, Boston, MA-Zionism and anti-Zionism........................................................................................451934-anon.-Relation of Zionism to Reform.............................................................................................................512/15/35-Rabbi Louis Wolsey, Philadelphia, PA-Labor Zionism and CCAR..................................................................................522/21/38-Louis Rittenberg, New York, NY-Partition of Palestine........................................................................................588/18/46-Dr. Julian Morgenstern, Cincinnati, OH-Palestine situation...................................................................................595/9/52-Rabbi S. H. Baron, New York, NY-Proposed primer on Judaism....................................................................................613 ANTI-SEMITISM......................................................................................................................................676/30/34-Rabbi Philip F. Waterman, Grand Rapids, MI-False documentation (reply published 1938, titled "Why Do the Heathen Rage?").....................699/19/38-Rabbi Alvin Luchs, Davenport, Iowa-Distorted Talmudic references.............................................................................978/18/39-Rev. J. S. Dallman, Chicago, IL-Hate book endorsed in Christian magazine.....................................................................99AREA: THE JEW AND HIS FAITH4 RELIGION, GENERAL..................................................................................................................................1039/ /34-"E.J."-Why Organized Religion? (published)....................................................................................................10511/ /34-"L.S."-Has Modern Science Banished God?".....................................................................................................1091/ /35-(continued)-What is left of prayer?"..........................................................................................................1135/9/45-John H. Greening, Galway, NY-Universal fatherhood of God......................................................................................1176/6/45-John Sinclaire, Short Hills, NJ-Problem of evil...............................................................................................12112/18/45-Rev. John Wargelin, Minneapolis, MN-Judaism and Christianity................................................................................1225 JUDAISM............................................................................................................................................1277/1/17-7/20/17-Council of Jewish Women, Chicago, IL-Bible study for women's groups...................................................................1299/11/35-Bernard Brown-Chicago, IL-What is a Jew?.....................................................................................................1331/14/41-Edward P. Wintner, Boston, MA-Future life in Jewish belief...................................................................................1341/28/46-Levi Mossman, Urbana, Iowa-Calendation for Day of Atonement..................................................................................1373/25/51-anon., Los Angeles, CA-Questions prompted by Cohon's book....................................................................................13810/28/51-Rabbi Steven S. Schwarzschild, Fargo, ND-...................................................................................................1421) Conversion2) Gentile wives of synagogue members3) Herberg's Judaism and Modern Man2/ /54-Rabbi Robert I. Kahn, Houston, TX-Mystic poem on 72-letter Name...............................................................................1454/28/54-Rabbi Joshua Trachtenberg, Teaneck, NJ-Jewish scholarship in US, last 300 yrs................................................................14712/17/54-Rabbi Robert I. Kahn, Houston, TX-Freedom of the will.......................................................................................1501/27/55-Am. Jewish Congress, New York, NY-Books that influenced Jewish life..........................................................................1526/18/55-Rabbi Bernard Zeiger, Riverside, CA-Bequest for Jewish music.................................................................................1542/20/57-Dudley Kalloch, MD, Santa Monica, CA-Ebionites in relation to Disciples......................................................................15610/30/57-Prof. M.A. Halevy, Bucharest, Romania-Sources of specified prayers (inquiry in French; translation follows).................................158-96 THE RABBINATE......................................................................................................................................16311/17/43-Selective Service, NY-Rabbinic ordination titles............................................................................................1652/20/45-Arnold Schlossberg, Roanoke, VA-Communal privileges of rabbi.................................................................................1664/6/50-Policy Statement For HUC-JIR faculty-Wording of diploma for HUC-JIR...........................................................................1687 THE REFORM MOVEMENT................................................................................................................................1711/ /22-anon., Chicago, IL-Uncovered heads in worship (published).....................................................................................1731/4/24-Dr. Samuel Goldenson, Pittsburgh, PA-Future of Reform Judaism.................................................................................1754/15/24-Rabbi Theodore Lifschitz, Lexington, KY-Torah Service on Erev Shabat.........................................................................1772/ /25-Rabbi Samuel S. Kaplan, Tulsa, OK-Dedication of a Torah Scroll................................................................................1811929-Rabbi Philip S. Bernstein, Rochester, NY-Suggested additions to holiday services................................................................18312/10/34-Anna Oxenhandler, Detroit, MI-Daily afternoon service.......................................................................................1861/16/35-Isaac W. Bernheim, Pasadena, CA-Reform Church of American Israelites.........................................................................1883/ /35-anon.-Wings of Judaism (published)............................................................................................................1905/ /35-anon.-Shall we change Sabbath to Sunday?......................................................................................................1927/5/35-Rabbi Robert I. Kahn, Houston, TX-............................................................................................................1961) Pupil attendance at Sabbath services;2) Religion and healing;3) Friday evening Torah reading.10/21/35-Rabbi Marius Ranson, East Orange, NJ-Right of atheist to be confirmed.......................................................................19810/11/36-Rabbi Philip W. Jaffa, Phoenix, AZ-Chanting in Reform services..............................................................................2011/9/39-Maynard D. Follin, Dunedin, FL-Future of the Jew in America...................................................................................2034/2/40-Dr. Louis Finkelstein, New York, NY-"Reform Judaism" article for NCCJ book....................................................................2066/13/40-Rabbi David Max Eichhorn, Tallahassee, FL-"Confession of Faith" in Jewish ritual.............................................................2099/15/43-Rabbi Felix A. Levy, Chicago, IL-A Sukot dedication service..................................................................................21511/28/43-Rabbi Solomon B. Freehof, Pittsburgh, PA-..................................................................................................2171) Apostate, 2) Authority, 3) Customs4/ /45-anon.-Reform Judaism and H.U.C. (published)...................................................................................................2257/30/45-Rabbi Abraham L. Feinberg, Toronto, Canada-Rosh Hashanah Shofar on Sabbath...................................................................2278/31/45-Rabbi Lou H. Silberman, Omaha, Nebraska-Ceremony for return of repentant apostate............................................................2286/25/46-Shulamith Malkin, Chicago, IL-Reform beliefs-5 topics........................................................................................2302/2/47-A. Grau, Daytona Beach, FL-Date for Confirmation Service......................................................................................2327/5/51-Rabbi Jay Kaufman, New York-Counting women for a minyan.......................................................................................23311/27/51-Rabbi Morton Applebaum, Flint, MI-Place of non-Jewish mates in congregation.................................................................2353/24/52-Rabbi Leon Kronish, Miami Beach, FL-Reason for revision of prayer Sim Shalom.................................................................2374/1/52-Rabbi Harold Waintrup, Abington, PA-..........................................................................................................2391) Proselytes; 2) Closing Ark; 3) Sefirah12/11/52-4/24/56-Mrs. W. H. Hoffman, Danville, VA-A 1 1/2 year correspondence on changes in Reform ceremonies........................................24012/30/53-Rabbi C. Melvyn Helfgott, Charlotte, NC-Regulation of cemetery..............................................................................24912/29/55-Morris Goldhamer, Pittsburgh, PA-Platforms of Reform Judaism................................................................................2518 THE SYNAGOGUE: ITS PURPOSE, PRACTICE AND ARCHITECTURE..............................................................................................25510/ /34-anon.-Has the Synagogue outlived its usefulness? (published).................................................................................25710/19/34-Rabbi Eugene Hibshman, Altoona, PA-Bar Mitzvah and status of a Jew..........................................................................2602/22/37-Rabbi Herman E. Snyder, Springfield, IL-Art works in the temple..............................................................................26112/11/38-Rabbi Jacob Singer, Chicago, IL-Age of confirmands..........................................................................................2626/17/53-Rabbi Robert I. Kahn, Houston, TX-Ceremony of dedicating an Ark..............................................................................26312/13/53-Rabbi Sidney H. Brooks, Omaha, Neb.-Placement of a Ner Tamid................................................................................2659A FAMILY LIFE: MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, MIXED COUPLES....................................................................................................2695/10/23-Rabbi Joseph Baron, Davenport, IA-The rabbi and intermarriage................................................................................2719/20/34-Rabbi David Alexander, Akron, OH-Get and remarriage..........................................................................................2729/20/34-Rabbi A. J. Feldman, Hartford, CT-Ring in marriage ceremony..................................................................................2752/19/35-Rabbi Maurice Goodblatt, Roanoke, VA-Get.....................................................................................................2774/15/37-Rabbi Jacob Singer, Chicago, IL-Couple married by Christian minister.........................................................................2786/10/37-Rabbi Louis L. Mann, Chicago, IL-Conversion for the sake of marriage.........................................................................2799/4/41-Rabbi Morris Graft, Roanoke, VA-Double marriage ceremony......................................................................................28112/30/41-Chaim S. Bilgray, Chicago, IL-Lack of Get invalidates wedding (Hebrew text, translation follows)............................................2824/9/42-Rabbi Abraham Shusterman, Baltimore, MD-Consecrating mixed marriages..........................................................................28710/22/42-Rabbi David Alexander, Akron, OH-Jewish ceremony for civilly married........................................................................29011/25/42-Rabbi Morton Fierman, Washington, DC-Wartime wedding prior to conversion....................................................................2913/12/43-Rabbi Beryl D. Cohon, Brookline, MA-Friday evening wedding ceremony..........................................................................2933/12/47-Rabbi George Fox, Chicago, IL-Choice of officiant for wedding................................................................................2942/22/48-Rabbi Sidney Ballon, Columbia, SC-Ethiopian Jew marrying black Southerner....................................................................2961/28/52-Rabbi Maurice Goldblatt, Indianapolis, IN-Temple wedding for Christian Scientists............................................................2983/25/54-Rabbi Samuel H. Baron, New York, NY-Get by a Reform rabbi....................................................................................30110/25/54-Rabbi Elbert L. Sapinsley, Fort Carson, CO-Marriage succeeding a divorce....................................................................3029B FAMILY LIFE: CHILDREN, NAMES, ADOPTION...........................................................................................................30510/19/33-Rabbi Felix A. Levy, Chicago, IL-Renaming infant for Jewish identity........................................................................3071939-Mrs. Davidson, Cincinnati, OH-Feminine names for Avraham Leib...................................................................................3085/5/41-Rabbi Leo Lichtenberg, Wichita Falls, TX-Plagiarism by a confirmand...........................................................................3091/28/42-Rabbi Irving F. Reichert, San Francisco, CA-Baby-naming ceremonies...........................................................................3113/17/44-Rabbi Mendel Silber, New Orleans, LA-Status of child of female proselyte.....................................................................3133/20/49-Rabbi Joseph Rauch, Louisville, KY-Name for infant in honor of State of Israel...............................................................3145/9/50-Baptist Seminary, Kansas City, KS-"Adoption" in New Testament.................................................................................3142/14/52-HUC-JIR, Cincinnati, OH-Rear children in Judaism AND Christianity?...........................................................................3172/5/53-Rabbi David Hachen, Parris Island, SC-A modernized Pidyon haBen...............................................................................3183/10/55-Rabbi Leon A. Jick, Boston, MA-Adoption law based on religious heritage......................................................................3219C FAMILY LIFE: DEATH-RELATED ISSUES................................................................................................................3251/26/24-Rabbi A. J. Feldman, Philadelphia, PA-Jewish burial for a Christian Scientists...............................................................3277/31/29-Rabbi Max C. Currick, Erie, PA-Jewish graves in non-sectarian cemetery.......................................................................3295/30/35-Rabbi Maurice Goldblatt, Roanoke, VA-Time of tombstone setting...............................................................................33110/2/41-Rabbi Norman H. Diamond, New Castle, PA-Burial in Christian cemetery.........................................................................33212/8/42-Audree Kepner, Manhattan, NY-Servicemen buried at sea........................................................................................3335/20/47-Rabbi Jos. Rauch, Louisville, KY-Mrs. Brandeis' burial on Shavuot............................................................................3343/17/48-Rabbi Milton L. Grafman, Birmingham, AL-Prospective apostate requests Jewish burial..........................................................3351/20/50-Rabbi Harry W. Ettelson, Memphis, TN-Euthanasia..............................................................................................3376/19/50-Rabbi Leon Kronish, Miami Beach, FL-Yizkor recited within the year of death..................................................................3386/9/52-Rabbi Raphael H. Levine, Seattle, WA-Transfer of grave to Masonic cemetery....................................................................33910/8/52-Rabbi Jos. Rauch, Louisville, KY-Daughter's ashes in mother's grave..........................................................................34212/9/52-Rabbi Robert I. Kahn, Houston, TX-Tombstone dedication.......................................................................................34312/30/52-Rabbi Maurice Goldblatt, Indianapolis, IN-Rabbi's role in burying a non-Jew.................................................................3451/1/53-Harold A. Zelinkoff, Wichita, KS-Yahrzeit on anniversary of death, not of burial..............................................................3461/8/54-Rabbi Martin B. Ryback, South Norwalk, CN-Preservation of life despite agony..................................................................3483/21/55-Rabbi Morton M. Applebaum, Akron, OH-Delayed funeral; disposal of ashes......................................................................3509D FAMILY LIFE: HOUSEHOLD ISSUES....................................................................................................................35312/3/45-Georgia State Woman's College, Valdosta, GA-Grace at meals...................................................................................3553/24/48-Rabbi Harold B. Waintrup, Steubenville, OH-Hebrew motto for art needlework...................................................................35610 TECHNICAL RESPONSES (T'shuvot)...................................................................................................................3575/19/24-Rabbi Jonah B. Wise, Portland, OR-Treatment of burned Sefer Torah............................................................................35910/26/34-USDA, Washington, DC-Cleavage of views on Kashruth..........................................................................................36111/28/34-Rabbi Philip Waterman, Grand Rapids, MI-Shehitah and humane slaughtering....................................................................3651/24/41-Emil Huttner, Charleroi, PA-Burial of child of Gentile mother................................................................................3685/17/49-Rabbi Barnett R. Brickner, Cleveland, OH-Monogamy, chastity, sexual morality.................................................................37011 TEXT INTERPRETATIONS.............................................................................................................................37310/12/37-Fr. Enoch R. L. Jones, Jr.-Gilroy, CA-God as Father in Jewish concept.......................................................................3751/4/45-F. E. Hirsch, St. Paul, MN-Elijah being fed by ravens.........................................................................................3774/20/48-Rev. Charles D. Kean, Kirkwood, MO-Psalms 22 and 31 in ancient Temple usage..................................................................3795/13/48-Rev. O. D. Priddle, Hamilton, Ont. Canada-Hebrew names of God................................................................................3806/16/48-Rabbi Ferdinand M. Isserman, St. Louis, MO-Was Lev. 19:18 limited to Israelites?.............................................................38210/12/50-Prof. Alonzo J. Wearner, Lincoln, Nebraska-.................................................................................................3841) Manner of writing on Tablets of the Law2) Interpretation of word lo in Decalogue3) Interpretation of shavti in Psalm 231/2/56-Rabbi Israel J. Sarasohn, Corsicana, TX-Ger shaar.............................................................................................3868/ /56-Dr. Henry R. Pearcy, Normal, IL-Creatio ex nihilo-yesh mey-ayin...............................................................................390APPENDIX.............................................................................................................................................3933/9/43 ff-Berea, KY-Letters from the daughter of a Mixed Marriage....................................................................................395
Chapter One
Communal and Interfaith Relations
INQUIRY
Congregation Rodeph Shalom Philadelphia, Pennsylvania February 12, 1919
Rabbi Samuel S. Cohon Chicago, Illinois
Dear Friend and Colleague:
The overwhelming success of the recent drive conducted in this city for the Federation of Jewish Charities has created the long hoped for opportunity to bring forward the proposal to create a Federation of the Congregations.
Our membership of 2800 has been increased to between 30,000 and 40,000 through ten days' effort and the revenue from $200,000 to $900,000. I have spoken from my pulpit on the logical sequence as it should affect our religious and educational endeavors.
Yesterday at the meeting of the Philadelphia Board of Jewish Ministers I proposed that a Committee be appointed to prepare a definite plan of action.
I am writing to you to secure your kind cooperation by giving us the benefit of your experience in Chicago along these lines. Would like to know just exactly how your Federation is organized, what has it done, the methods used, and what it aims to accomplish. Whatever guidance you may be able to give us will be very greatly appreciated.
Mrs. Berkowitz joins me in cordial greetings. Very kindest regards to your dear wife.
Faithfully yours [signed] Henry Berkowitz
RESPONSE
Zion Congregation Chicago, Illinois February 19, 1919
Dr. Henry Berkowitz Rodeph Shalom Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dear Dr. Berkowitz:
It is encouraging to know that you are organizing a Federation of Synagogues in your community. Though Chicago was first to make the experiment, it will undoubtedly derive great benefit and encouragement from Philadelphia's example.
Our work has been considerably retarded by the war. With so many rabbis in the army, it has been difficult to secure the services of a capable chaplain to minister to the inmates in the penal institutions and hospitals in and around Chicago. People generally have been little disposed to heed the quiet call of our Federation at a time when the country calls them so loudly to war duties. The apathetic attitude of Dr. Hirsch and Dr. Gerson Levi has not helped matters either. However, despite these difficulties we have made some progress. The first year of the Federation's existence was naturally occupied with questions of organization and general planning. Last summer, the Federation acted as host to the Central Conference of American Rabbis. This spring, the newly elected Board of Directors expects to manage a city-wide campaign for funds for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. We are trying to solve the question of establishing a Normal School for Chicago, by conducting several classes in History, Religion, etc., in conjunction with the Teachers' Association. A Committee on Chaplaincy is raising funds, and will soon commence its regular activities. At Mr. Israel Cowen's suggestion, the Federation is trying out a plan for conducting a Sabbath noon-hour service in the Loop, to accommodate the business men. Several other lines of endeavor are under way and will take definite shape in the near future.
The general plan of the Federation is set forth in the address which I delivered before the First Annual Spring Conference on Religion and the Synagogue [the Kallah]. The concrete form of our organization is described in the enclosed constitution, which was drafted by the Rabbinical Association and adopted by the delegates from the various congregations called together to form the Federation. You will notice that while I pleaded for a Federation of Reform Congregations, the constitution opens the door to all congregations. As a matter of fact, only the more liberal congregations have joined us. The strictly orthodox elements still keep at a distance.
With cordial greetings from Mrs. Cohon and myself to you and to Mrs. Berkowitz, I am
Respectfully yours,
INQUIRER'S REPLY
Congregation Rodeph Shalom Philadelphia, Pennsylvania February 28, 1919
Rabbi Samuel S. Cohon Chicago, Illinois
Dear Friend:
I thank you for your prompt reply to my recent communication and your ready helpfulness in the matter of organizing a Federation of Synagogues. I appreciate the trouble you have taken to write me in detail on this subject, and to send me the very helpful material enclosed in your letter. I will return the article as soon as I shall be able to secure a meeting of my Committee and have placed the whole subject before them.
With cordial greetings from me and mine to you and Mrs. Cohon, as ever
Faithfully yours, [signed] Henry Berkowitz
INQUIRER'S REPORT
Congregation Rodeph Shalom Philadelphia, Pennsylvania April 29, 1919
Rabbi Samuel Cohon Chicago
Dear Friend:
I am pleased to report to you that a meeting was held yesterday by representatives of the Board of Jewish Ministers and of the Federation of Women's Organizations, which resulted in the first steps towards the creation of a Federation of Synagogues.
I presented your paper which was heard with deep interest. I thank you very much for the same and return the copy enclosed. The notes on the Constitution of the Chicago Federation I am retaining for further guidance.
With sincere appreciation of your kindness and with cordial greetings to you and your dear wife.
Faithfully yours, [signed] Henry Berkowitz
Re: 2/12/19 letter on Federation of Synagogues
Organizing city-wide Jewish fund-raising activities was obviously easier than organizing synagogues, in 1919-and thereafter. At that time, it took a federation such as Cohon pioneered in Chicago to begin building standards for Jewish schools by training teachers, a function that later devolved on Bureaus of Jewish Education. Always interested in Klal Yisrael-total Jewry-above individual movements, he was disappointed at the reluctance of Orthodox and Reform representatives to sit together. He also organized the Kallah, mentioned in this letter, another first in American Jewish community life.
See Letters on Chicago Jewish history, p. 31-33.
INQUIRY
January 1930
Union Tidings Cincinnati, Ohio
To the Editor:
What attitude should modern Jewish youths take toward Christmas? Should they interpret or rationalize the significance of Christmas to suit the Jewish conscience? Should Jews send Christmas gifts, or receive them? To what extent, if at all, should Jews celebrate Christmas or practice any Christmas customs?
RESPONSE
Published in Union Tidings vol.X #1, January 1930
THE JEW AND CHRISTMAS
In reply to your questions regarding the relation of modern Jewish youths to Christmas, let me draw your attention to the chief function of Holy Days. They serve as the means whereby religions express themselves and whereby they attract the hearts of their followers. Jewish Holy Days, for example, represent Jewish religious ideals. By observing them, men are drawn to Judaism. The same applies to Christian Holy Days. They translate into concrete form the beliefs of Christianity. Their observance naturally tends to draw the hearts of people to the Christian Church. Christmas, though greatly commercialized in our day, and considerably secularized, forms no exception to the rule. It has been vested with rich symbols and poetic imagery in order the better to attract young and old to the Church. Christians should observe this as well as their other Holy Days, as an expression of their loyalty, and derive from them whatever joy they bring.
Jewish youths, like their elders, obviously have the privilege of sharing in the rich heritage of Judaism, with its own festivals and ceremonials. Each sacred season brings them a new message of faith and devotion. At this season of the year, for example, Hanukkah comes to cheer us and to fill us with renewed determination to preserve our holy religion in its purity. The story of the heroic struggle of the Maccabees against the encroachment of Greek religious customs, comes to us with a challenge to Jewish loyalty.
With cordial regard for the beliefs and practices of our neighbors, we have to discipline ourselves to stand our own ground. The mutual good will which we should zealously cultivate, should prompt us to take as our guide, the words of the prophet Micah: "Let all the peoples walk, each one in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever."
From this standpoint, little can be said in favor of "reinterpreting Christmas to suit the Jewish conscience." By its character and origin, this Holy Day represents ideas and traditions diametrically opposite to those of Judaism. Christmas, as the name indicates (the "Mass of Christ"), is universally observed by the Christian world as the festival of the birth of Jesus Christ. This fact remains unaltered by the circumstance that for several centuries other dates were believed to mark his birth (such as November 17, January 6, March 25 and 28, April 19 and 20). Neither does it matter that December 25 was observed by some pagan peoples before it was taken over by the Church for the nativity of the Christ. For all practical purposes the twenty-fifth of December has, for the past sixteen centuries, been sacred as one of the chief Holy Days of the Church, marking the birth in the flesh, of the "Son of God." The Jewish conscience will have to be pretty elastic to admit a festival in honor of the birth of a God-man or man-God. We worship God as Spirit, One and Unique, who can be represented by neither human nor any other likeness.
Furthermore, Judaism is not so poverty-stricken in festive occasions as to go aborrowing new ones from other religions. We have had the pleasant custom of observing Hanukkah as a "feast of lights" since before our neighbors learned to illumine the Yule tree. Like Hanukkah, so Purim has been an occasion for sending gifts ("shalach mones").
In case Jews receive gifts for Christmas from Christians, they have to accept them as tokens of friendship. Jews, in turn, may extend good wishes to their Christian neighbors and even send them gifts in honor of their Holy Days. But under no conditions have Jews any consistent ground for giving and receiving Christmas or Easter gifts among themselves, or for decorating their homes with the symbols of these seasons. Rather than seek justifications for celebrating Christian festivals, let us observe our own sacred seasons in cheer and joy, and thus strengthen our loyalty to our own faith.
Re: Jan. 1930, THE JEW AND CHRISTMAS
During Cohon's days as a congregational rabbi, some of his members got into a discussion about Christmas and the Christian savior. One man, a local merchant, stated that he had just one objection to Jesus: "He should have had a brother born in July." Certainly both Christmas and Hanukkah became much more commercial since then.
Public and private attitudes and policies surrounding the familiar "December dilemma" took several turns since 1930. Among these were celebrations in public schools which went from totally Christian to non-sectarian Winter assemblies with many stops in between, as different cities approached the church-state separation issue. Also displays in parks and public buildings attracted some controversy. Chabad menorahs joined decorated pine trees. More recently Kwanzaa appeared. Cohon's call to "observe our own sacred seasons in cheer and joy" remains eminently valid.
INQUIRY
The letter is missing, which asked "a few minutes' thought" to the suggestion that "a revision of the New Testament" be incorporated into the Bible of the Synagogue, with the purpose of reconciling Jew and Christian, and as a means of holding "within the faith" those Jews who now seek to escape their identity.
RESPONSE
Hebrew Union College Cincinnati, Ohio May 23, 1932
Mr. Joseph Frey, Editor The Modern View St. Louis, Missouri
My dear Mr. Frey:
The question which you have propounded demands more than "a few minutes' thought." It affects the character and well-being of Judaism, and, therefore, calls for most careful consideration. Propositions of similar nature have been made from time to time, to incorporate the New Testament, in whole or in part, into the sacred writings of the Synagogue, but without success. The chief reason for the failure with which such attempts are bound to meet is the absolute incompatibility of the very idea of "gospel" and a "New Testament" on the one hand, and of Judaism on the other. The object of the Gospel is not, as some modern apologists think, to set forth the ethical teachings of Jesus or of Paul, but to proclaim "the faith in him crucified." The heart of the Gospel is the message that salvation came to a sin-burdened world through the crucifixion and resurrection of the Christ. The idea is borrowed from the mystery religions of antiquity and is alien to the spirit of Judaism as a religion which aims at the ennoblement and sancification of the lives of men on earth through faith in God and deeds of loving-kindness and justice. Furthermore, as the adjective in the name New Testament indicates, this body of Christian literature was set up in place of what, to Christians, became the Old Testament. Its teachings in great part proceed from the assumption that the Torah, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa are merely preparatory to the dawn of the New religion which began with Jesus. Obviously, Judaism cannot reasonably be expected to assent to such an assumption.
The incorporation of the New Testament or of any of its component parts into Judaism would mark a break with the past, which would be all the more tragic in view of the fact that the nineteen centuries of Christianity have fully justified the attitude of our forefathers toward the claims of the New Testament regarding the messiahship and supernatural character of Jesus. At a time when the leading New Testament scholars in all parts of the world have come to recognize the justice of our position, our retreat and surrender, whether for the mess of pottage called "good will" or for currying favor with our Christian neighbors, would amount to a cowardly betrayal of a great tradition of intellectual integrity. The Jewish people would have little to gain from such action. The only part of the New Testament that might at all be considered, is its ethical teachings. But these are derived from Jewish sources: from the Bible, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, as well as from early Pharisaic or Rabbinic teaching. A reading of Gerald Friedlander's Jewish Sources of the Sermon on the Mount will make this point clear. The degree to which the New Testament is indebted to Jewish sources and to which it is paralleled by Rabbinic conceptions may be seen from the four encyclopedic volumes of the Christian scholars Strack and Billerbeck: Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrash. There is nothing worth-while in the ethical teachings of the New Testament, which we do not have in our own literature. For us to turn to the New Testament for these things is like having wholesalers whose stock is full, buy their own goods from the retailers to whom they sold it in the first place.
(Continues...)
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