Saturday, January 11, 2014

JUDAISM EVOLVES....past 150 years #3

Continuing  with  Professor  Cherry's  lecture:

SEVERAL  DECADES  AFTER  THIS  PROCESS  OF  EMANCIPATION  REALLY  BEGINS, WE  HAVE  ANOTHER  PHENOMENON  CALLED  "THE  HASKALAH"  WHICH  IS  JEWISH  ENLIGHTENMENT.  THE  EUROPEAN  ENLIGHTENMENT  BEGINS  A  HUNDRED  YEARS  EARLIER.  BUT  WITHIN  THE  JEWISH  COMMUNITY  THE  HASKALAH  BEGINS  WITH  A  SMALL  BAND  OF  EUROPEAN  JEWS,  FIRST  IN  FRANCE  AND  GERMANY  IN  THE  EARLY  19TH  CENTURY.  THEN  EXPANDING  TO  EAST  EUROPE  TOWARDS  THE  SECOND  HALF  OF  THE  19TH  CENTURY.   AND  THESE  'MASKILIM"  FROM  THE  WORD  "HASKALAH"  -  THESE  ENLIGHTENED  ONES,  THEY  WERE  READY  TO  EMBRACE  THE  FRUITS  OF  MODERNITY.

IF  THE  GATES  OF  THE  UNIVERSITIES  WERE  THROWN  OPEN  TO  THEM,  THEY  WANTED  TO  LEARN,  NATURAL  SCIENCE,  MATHEMATICS,  FOREIGN  LANGUAGES,  FOREIGN  LITERATURE,  HISTORY,  ARCHEOLOGY,  ANTHROPOLOGY,  SOCIOLOGY;  THEY  WANTED  THOSE  THINGS  THEY  WERE  NOT  ABLE  TO  LEARN  IN  THE  TRADITIONAL  JEWISH  EDUCATION,  WHICH  FOR  THE  MOST  PART  WAS  TALMUD,  TALMUD,  TALMUD,  AND  THEN,  TALMUD  COMMENTARIES,  AND  TALMUD  COMMENTARIES,  AND  TALMUD  COMMENTARIES.  ALL  OF  A  SUDDEN  THIS  NEW  WORLD  OF  KNOWLEDGE  WAS  AVAILABLE  TO  THEM.  THEY  WERE  VERY  AGGRESSIVE  IN  PURSUING  THIS  NEW  WORLD  OR  UNIVERSE  OF  KNOWLEDGE.

EUROPEAN  LANGUAGES,  EUROPEAN  LITERATURE  WERE  STUDIED.  NATURAL  SCIENCE  BECOMES  MORE  POPULAR,  AND  OTHER  ACADEMIC   SUBJECTS,  EVEN  WITHIN  THE  JEWISH  EDUCATION  SYSTEM  THERE  WERE  CHANGES.  LESS  TIME  WAS  DEVOTED  TO  THE  TALMUD  AND  TALMUD  COMMENTARIES,  AND  MORE  TIME  WAS  DEVOTED  TO  THE  BIBLE  AND  JEWISH  ETHICS.  NOW  THAT  THERE  WAS  MORE  INTERACTION  BETWEEN  JEWS  AND  GENTILES,  THE  RABBIS  DID  NOT  WANT  THE  JEWISH  COMMUNITIES  TO  BE  PERCEIVED  AS  IN  ANY  WAY  LESS  ETHICAL  SENSITIVE   THAN  THE  GENTILE  NEIGHBORS.

NOW  THE  MASKILIM,  PROPONENTS  OF  THE  "HASKALAH"  -  THEY  ENCOURAGED CERTAIN  REFORMS  THROUGHOUT  THE  JEWISH  COMMUNITIES.  AMONG  THEM  WERE  ALSO  THE  REFORMS  PROMULGATED  IN  THE  "EDICT  OF  TOLERANCE,"  MAINLY  TO  MOVE  THE  JEWISH  LABOR  POOLS  INTO  DIFFERENT  AREAS.  WHILE THEY  HAD  BEEN  CONCENTRATED  INTO  COMMERCE  AND  FINANCE,  THE  JEWISH  LABOR  POOL  SHOULD  BE  DIVERSIFIED  AND  INCLUDE  AGRICULTURE  AS  WELL  AS  CRAFTS.

OTHER  REFORMS  THAT  THE  MASKILIM  WERE  PROMOTING  INVOLVED  HAVING  SERMONS  IN  THE  SYNAGOGUE  SERVICES.  NORMALLY,  THOUGH  THIS  IS  SURPRISING  TO  CONTEMPORARY   JEWS,  NORMALLY,  UP  UNTIL  THE  19TH  CENTURY  THERE  WERE  ONLY  SERMONS  BY  RABBINICAL  FIGURES  TWICE  A  YEAR;  AROUND  PASSOVER  AND  ON  THE  SABBATH  BETWEEN  ROSH  ASHANA  AND  YOM  KEPUR.  OTHERWISE  PEOPLE  WOULD  GO  TO  THE  SYNAGOGUE  AND  THEY  WOULD  DOVAN  AND  PRAY  THE  DAILY  PRAYERS  AND  HOLIDAY  PRAYERS,  AND  THEN  GO  HOME  AND  EAT.

BUT  IN  ORDER  TO  MODEL  THEMSELVES  LIKE  THE  PROTESTANT  CHURCHES  IN  GERMANY,  WHERE  THE  CLERIC  OR  PASTOR  WOULD  GIVE  AN  EDIFYING  SERMON  IN  GOOD  GERMAN;  THE  MASKILIM  ALSO  WANTED  DEMANDED  THAT  THEIR  RABBIS  START  GIVING  SERMON,  AND  NOT  ABOUT  TRADITIONAL  LEGALISTIC  THINGS  ABOUT  THE  HALAKAH,  AND  WHAT  YOU  CAN  OR  CAN  NOT  DO  ON  THE  SABBATH,  BUT  ABOUT  SPIRITUAL  EDIFYING  MATTERS,  TO  RAISE  UP  OUR  SPIRITUAL  LEVEL,  AND  AWARENESS  OF  GOD'S  PRESENCE  IN  OUR  LIVES  AND  IN  THE  WORLD.  AND  FURTHER,  THE  SERMON  SHOULD  NOT  BE  DONE  IN  YIDDISH,  THE  TRADITIONAL  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  JEWS,  BUT  IN  THE  VERNACULAR,  IN  THIS  CASE  IN  HIGH  GERMAN.

ALSO  THEY  SAID  SYNAGOGUES  SHOULD  HAVE  GREATER  DECORUM.  THIS  WORD  "DECORUM"  WILL  COME  UP  AGAIN  WHEN  WE  TALK  ABOUT  THE  REFORM  MOVEMENT.

IN  TRADITIONAL  SYNAGOGUES  YOU'VE  GOT  KIDS  RUNNING  BACK  AND  FORTH,  YOU'VE  GOT  PEOPLE  TALKING  DURING  SERVICES  EVEN  TODAY,  MORE  SO  SEVERAL  HUNDRED  YEARS  AGO  FROM  WHAT  I'VE  BOON  TOLD  AND  FROM  WHAT  I'VE  READ.  THE  PROTESTANT  SERVICES  WERE  MUCH  MORE  "BUTTONED-UP"  AND  THEY  DIDN'T  HAVE  THE  CHILDREN  TALKING,  CERTAINLY  THERE  WERE  NO  ANIMALS  RUNNING  AROUND;  DON'T  KNOW  IF  THERE  WERE  ANIMALS  RUNNING  AROUND  IN  JEWISH  SERVICES,  BUT  YOU  GET  THE  IDEA,  THE  JEWISH  SERVICE  WAS  NOT  WELL  ORCHESTRATED  IN  THE SENSE  OF   HAVING  EVERYONE  IN  THEIR  PLACE  AT  THE  RIGHT  TIME,  AND  EVERYONE  ELSE  BEING  SILENT.  THERE  WAS  MORE  OF  A  FREE  FLOW  IN  TRADITIONAL  JEWISH  SERVICES.  BUT  IN  ORDER  TO  EMULATE  THE  PROTESTANT  WAY  OF  WORSHIP,  DECORUM  WAS  PROMOTED.

NOW  BY  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  19TH  CENTURY  THE  HASKALAH  HAD  MOVED  TO  EASTERN  EUROPE  AND  RUSSIA,  AND  WE  BEGIN  TO  SEE  NOT  SO  MUCH  CHANGE  IN  THE  SYNAGOGUE,  WE  BEGIN  TO  SEE HOW  THE  MASKILIM  BEGIN  TO  UNDERSTAND  JUDAISM,  AND  THE  HISTORY  OF  JEWISH  PRACTICE,  AND  THE  HISTORY  OF  JEWISH  THOUGHT.

RATHER  THAN  GOING  INTO  HOW  THE  HASKILAH  UNFOLDED  IN  EACH  EUROPEAN  COUNTRY  AT  DIFFERENT  TIMES  IN  THE  19TH  CENTURY,  LET  ME  JUST  EMPHASIZE  THAT  THE  HASKILAH  HAD  A  DIFFERENT  SET  OF  CHARACTERISTICS,  AND  A  DIFFERENT  INTERNAL  DYNAMIC,  DEPENDING  ON  WHETHER  WE  ARE  LOOKING  AT  FRANCE  OR  GERMANY  OR  HUNGARY  OR  THE  PALE  OF  SETTLEMENTS  IN  THE  UKRAINE,  AND  WHITE  RUSSIA  AND  FATHER  EAST  TO  RUSSIA  ITSELF.  SO  IT  REALLY  DEPENDS  ON  THE  INTERNAL  DYNAMICS  TO  UNDERSTAND  THAT  PROCESS  OF  HASKILAH  OF  ENLIGHTENMENT  IN  EACH  INDIVIDUAL  COMMUNITY.

AMONG  THE  MASKILIM   IN  GERMANY  THERE  WAS  ALSO  A  DESIRE  TO  USE  THESE  NEW  UNDERSTANDINGS  AS  A  RESULT  OF  THE  SECULAR  EDUCATION,  AND  TO  USE  THEM  TO  PRESS  FOR  CERTAIN  REFORMS  WITHIN  JUDAISM  ITSELF.  NOT  JUST  ABOUT  THE  SERVICE,  NOT  JUST  ABOUT  MORE  DECORUM,  BUT  ALSO  CHANGING  CERTAIN  TRADITIONS,  AND  MODIFYING  THEIR  UNDERSTANDING  OF  THE  HALAKAH,  AND  OF  TRADITIONAL  JEWISH  LAW.

THESE  CHANGES  BEGAN  IN  THE  SYNAGOGUE  AS  I'VE  DESCRIBED.  CHANGES  ON  THE  GROUND  PRECEDE  THE  MORE  IDEOLOGICAL   JUSTIFICATION  FOR  THOSE  CHANGES.  BUT  BY  THE  TIME  WE  GET  TO  THE  1820s  WE  REALLY  HAVE  A  SMALL  GROUP  OF  ENLIGHTENED  JEWS,  WHO  WILL  EVENTUALLY  BECOME  THE  LEADERS  OF  THE  REFORMED  MOVEMENT.

SO  ONE  OF  THE  THINGS  THEY  STARTED  OUT  BY  SAYING  WAS  ORDER  AND  DECORUM  SHOULD  INDEED  PREVAIL  IN  THE  SYNAGOGUE.  THEY  ALSO  EMPHASIZED  SERMONS  SHOULD  BE  EDIFYING  RATHER  THAN  LEGALISTIC,  AND  DELIVERED  IN  THE  VERNACULAR.  BUT  THEY  SAID  MORE  THAN  THAT.

THEY  SAID  SYNAGOGUE  SERVICES  WERE  TOO  LONG.  THERE  WERE  TOO  MANY  WORDS.  AN  AVERAGE  SATURDAY  SERVICE  CAN  LAST  FOR  2  AND  1/2  TO  3  HOURS.  AND  SO  THESE  REFORMERS  SAID,  "YOU  KNOW  WHAT,  LET'S  SHORTEN  THE  SERVICE.  NOW  THE  ONLY  WAY  TO  SHORTEN  THE  SERVICE  IS  TO  TAKE  OUT  LARGE  PORTIONS  OF  THE  TRADITIONAL  THINGS  SAID."  THIS  UPSET  THOSE  WHO  WERE  MORE  TRADITIONAL  IN  THE  CONGREGATION,  AND  GREATLY  UPSET  THOSE  WHO  WERE  TRADITIONAL  BUT  NOT  PART  OF  THE  CONGREGATION.

THEN  THE  REFORMERS,  LOOKING  AT  THINGS  GOING  ON  IN  PROTESTANT  CONGREGATIONS,  WANTED  TO  INTRODUCE  MUSIC,  SPECIFICALLY   ORGAN  MUSIC.  NOW  MUSIC  HAD  NOT  BEEN  PART  OF  THE  JEWISH  SERVICE  SINCE  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  TEMPLE  IN  THE  YEAR  70.  WELL  NOT  ENTIRELY  TRUE,  FOR  DURING  THE  MIDDLE  AGES  WE  SEE  ALL  KINDS  OF  MUSIC  DEVISES  BEING  USED.  BUT  BECAUSE  MUSIC  HAD  BEEN  SUCH  AN  INTRICATE  PART  OF  TEMPLE  SERVICE  WHEN  THE  TEMPLE  WAS  STILL  STANDING,  IT  WAS  FELT  AS  IN-APPROPRIATE   FOR  THERE  TO  BE  MUSIC  DURING  THE  INTERIM  PERIOD  BEFORE  THE  TEMPLE  IS  REBUILT.

BUT  NOW  WE  BEGIN  TO  HAVE  THE  IDEOLOGICAL  CONSEQUENCES  OF  EMANCIPATION.  THE  REFORMED  JEWS  STARTED  SAYING,  THIS  EARLY  GROUP  STARTED  SAYING,  "NOW  WAIT  A  SECOND,  IF  WE'RE  GERMAN  JEWS,  AND  WE  WE'RE  NOT  LOOKING  FORWARD  TO  THE  RE-ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  STATE  OF  ISRAEL,  AND  THE  RE-BUILDING  OF  THE  TEMPLE,  THEN  WHAT  DIFFERENCE DOES  IT  MAKE  WHETHER  OR  NOT  WE  HAVE  MUSIC.  WE'RE  NO  LONGER  HONORING  THE  LOSS  OF  THE  TEMPLE  BY  NOT  PLAYING  MUSIC,  FOR  WE'RE  NOT  LOOKING  FORWARD  TO  REBUILDING  THE  TEMPLE."
SO  ONE  OF  THE  THINGS  THAT  HAPPENED  IS  MUSIC  WAS  INTRODUCES  AND  THE  HOUSE  OF  WORSHIP,  OF  THESE  EARLY  REFORMED  COMMUNITIES  ARE  CALLED  TEMPLES.

SO  TODAY  IF  YOU  DRIVE  THROUGH  A  CITY  YOU'LL  SEE  SOME  JEWISH  HOUSE  OF  WORSHIP  CALLED  -  TEMPLE-BETHEL  OR  TEMPLE-BETHON.  AND  THERE  ARE  OTHER  JEWISH  HOUSES  CALLED  CONGREGATION  YAHUDAH  OR  CONGREGATION AHLOT,  THEN  SOME  CALLED  SYNAGOGUE  BETHAL,  SYNAGOGUE  BETHON.  WELL  ACTUALLY  THERE  IS  A  DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  A  TEMPLE  AND  A  SYNAGOGUE. ALMOST  ALL  THE  TEMPLES  YOU'LL  BUMP  INTO  ARE  REFORMED  INSTITUTIONS,  BECAUSE  THEY'RE  NOT  LOOKING  FORWARD  TO  THE  TEMPLE  BEING  REBUILT  IN  JERUSALEM  AND  THE  RE-INTRODUCING  OF  ANIMAL  SACRIFICES,  BUT  THE  TRUTH  IS  I  DON'T  THINK  MANY  JEWS  ARE  LOOKING  FORWARD  TO  THE  RE-INTRODUCING  OF  ANIMAL  SACRIFICES  IN  THE  TEMPLE.

BUT  NEVERTHELESS,  IT'S  PART  OF  REFORMED  IDEOLOGY  THAT  THEIR  NOT  LOOKING  FORWARD  TO  THE  TEMPLE  BEING  REBUILT  AND  THE  RE-INTRODUCTION  OF  ANIMAL  SACRIFICES.  SO  THEY  CALL  THEIR  HOUSE  OF  WORSHIP  TEMPLES.

IN  THE  MORE  TRADITIONAL  COMMUNITIES  AND  MORE  TRADITIONAL  CONGREGATIONS  THEY  TEND  TO  NOT  USE  THAT  WORD  TEMPLE,  BECAUSE  THEY  CONTINUE  TO  PAY  AT  LEAST  LIP-SERVICE,  TO  THE  IDEA  THAT  EVENTUALLY  IN  SOME  MESSIANIC  FUTURE,  THERE  WILL  BE  A  TEMPLE  REBUILT.  WHETHER  THAT  TEMPLE  IS  UNDERSTOOD  AS  BRICK  AND  MORTAR,  OR  AS  THE  TEMPLE  OF  GOD  IN  YOUR  SOUL,  THAT'S  UP  TO  THE  INTERPRETIVE  CAPACITIES  OF  EACH  INDIVIDUAL  WORSHIPER.

....................

TO  BE  CONTINUED

DID  YOU  CATCH  IT?  NEAR  THE  END!  PROFESSOR  CHERRY  DOES  NOT  THINK  MANY  JEWS  ARE  LOOKING  TOWARDS  ANIMAL  SACRIFICES  BEING  DONE  AGAIN.  I  GUESS  NOT,  FOR  IF  SUCH  A  THING  WAS  EVER  TO  HAPPEN  BEFORE  JESUS  RETURNS,  YOU  CAN  BET  THE  ANIMAL  RIGHT  GROUPS  WOULD  BE  OVER  THERE  TO  STOP  IT,  TO  BURN  DOWN,  BLOW  UP,  TRASH,  ANY  SUCH  STRUCTURE  AND  ANY  PHYSICAL  KILLING  OF  ANIMALS  IN  SOME  RITUALISTIC  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONY.  THE  ANIMAL  RIGHT  GROUPS  WOULD  NOT  STAND  FOR SUCH  RELIGIOUS  CUSTOM  TO  EVER  BE  DONE,  AND  PROBABLY  THE  SECULAR  STATE  OF  ISRAEL  GOVERNMENT  WOULD  NOT  ALLOW  IT  EITHER.  FAR  TOO  MANY  PEOPLE  DO  NOT  REALIZE  THE  STATE  OF  ISRAEL  IS  VERY  SECULAR,  NOT  RELIGIOUS  AT  ALL.  MOST  OF  ITS  PEOPLE  ARE  SECULAR,  NOT  RELIGIOUS.  IT'S  ONLY  A  VERY  SMALL  MINORITY  OF  JEWS  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND  THAT  ARE  RELIGIOUS,  AND  A  BUNCH  OF  RELATIVELY  SMALL  GROUPS  OF  CHRISTIANS,  SOME  AS  FANATICAL  IN  TEACHING  AS  SOME  SMALL  JEWS  SECTS.

Keith Hunt

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