While scholars were thus busy preparing the way for a new theory of
Judaism based on the facts of its history, no efforts were made to press
the needful work of practical reform. Indeed, the hostile attitude of
the temporal rulers discouraged any such undertaking. The influence
of Metternich swayed the councils of the German princes. The King of
Prussia had broken the promise of constitutional government which he
had given to his people in the hour of need. The power of the Triple
Alliance was prepared to crush out the faintest stirrings of political
or religious liberty wherever they appeared.
In 1830, however, the revolution in France swept away a second time the
throne of the Bourbons, and changed the face of affairs. The courage
of the liberal party revived everywhere; the bonds of despotism were
relaxed; a spirit of resistance to oppression arose, and grew in
intensity from year to year, until it at last found vent in the
convulsions of 1848. The Jews felt the prophetic promise of a better
order of things, and roused themselves to renewed exertions.
We have indicated in a previous article that the cause of political and
of religious emancipation, so far at least as Germany was concerned,
advanced in parallel lines. In 1831 Gabriel Riesser addressed a
manifesto to the German people on the position of the Jews among them.*
It was a clear and forcible presentment of the case. The style is
dignified, free from the taint of undue self-assertion, and equally free
from misplaced modesty. He did not petition for a favor; he demanded a
right. He disdained all measures of compromise; he dared to treat the
question as one of national importance; he asked for simple justice,
and would be content with nothing less. The German people rewarded his
manliness with their confidence,** and under his able leadership the
struggle for emancipation was finally brought to a triumphant close.
* Ueber die Stellung der Bekenner des Mosaischen Glaubens an
die Deutschen aller Confessionen. Riesser's Works, II.
** He was elected Vice-President of the first German
Parliament that met in the Pauls-Kirche in Frankfort.
In 1835 Abraham Geiger, then Rabbi of Wiesbaden, began the publication
of a "Scientific Journal for Jewish Theology," and with the appearance
of this periodical the Reform movement entered into its present phase.
It was the purpose of Geiger and his coadjutors to prosecute the work of
religious renovation on the basis of the science of Judaism. This is
the distinguishing feature of the modern school of Jewish Reform.
But, before we proceed to sketch the principles of these "scientific
theologians," let us rapidly advert to the brief series of events that
mark the outward development of the new school.
Around the standard which Geiger had unfurled a body of earnest men
soon collected, who agreed with him in the main in desiring to reconcile
science and life (_Wissenschaft und Leben_). They were mostly young men,
fresh from the universities, profoundly versed in Hebrew and rabbinic
lore, zealous lovers of their religion, equipped with the elements of
ancient and modern culture, and anxious to harmonize the conflicting
claims of both in their private lives and public station. Many of them
underwent severe privations for their convictions' sake. They were
distrusted by the various governments, without whose sanction no Jewish
clergyman could enter upon his functions, and were made to feel, in
common with other Liberals, the displeasure which their measures,
moderate though they were, had provoked in high quarters. They were
subjected to numberless petty annoyances, and even downright force
was employed to check their growing popularity. With the accession of
Frederick William IV., the Ultramontanes and the party of retrogression
in the Protestant Church completely gained the ascendant. Covered by
the shield of royal favor they offered the most audacious insults to the
conscience and common-sense of the people, the right of free speech was
impaired, the press was shackled, while the most abject superstitions
were openly encouraged. The holy coat of Jesus, exhibited at the
cathedral of Treves, attracted hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, and
the fame of the miraculous cures it had effected was diligently spread.
But the very violence of the extremists provoked a determined opposition
among the intelligent classes. National unity and individual liberty
were loudly demanded, a German Catholic party was formed with the avowed
object of reorganizing Catholicism on the basis of the modern State.
Free religious congregations began to crop up here and there, which,
though feeble as yet in their organization, were properly regarded as
significant of the spirit of the times. On the waves of the turning tide
the young Rabbis were carried along. They were ardent patriots;
they too, were eager to see their religion wedded to the progressive
tendencies of the age. The sympathies of the most enlightened of their
brethren were cheerfully extended to them, and high hopes were founded
on their success.
In 1844 they were sufficiently strong to meet in convention. Disclaiming
the functions of a religious synod, they assumed the character of a
scientific body, assembled to promote the objects of truth in their
special department. The discussions were indeed intended to secure
harmony of sentiment and action, but the resolutions adopted were
binding neither upon the members themselves nor upon the congregations
they represented. Three times these conventions were repeated at
Brunswick, Frankfort, and Breslau.
In 1845 a new congregation was formed, called "The Reform Association of
Berlin," which was recruited from the extreme left wing of the liberal
Jewish party. This congregation became noted for the introduction of a
Sunday service, a measure which eventually compelled them to entirely
abandon the Jewish Sabbath. Samuel Holdheim, the ablest exponent of
radical Judaism, was selected to be their preacher.
Thus far had the Reform movement proceeded, when, in 1848, the
incidents of a great political revolution crowded every other issue into
comparative insignificance. The fall of Metter-nich before the intrigues
of the camarilla and the fury of a popular uprising, the humiliation
of the king of Prussia, the convocation of the national parliament, the
Baden insurrection,--these were the events that absorbed the interest
of the public. Political incompetency on the part of the leaders
precipitated the catastrophe of the revolution, and the hopes of the
German people were again doomed to disappointment. Soon the reaction
set in, a dreary period of stagnation followed, and the efforts of the
friends of freedom were paralyzed.
The Jewish Reformers were stricken down by the general reverse that had
overtaken the liberal party, nor have they since been able to recover
from its stunning effects. Two revolutions, those of 1830 and 1848,
mark the growth and the decline of "scientific reform." Within the past
thirty years a number of prominent reformers have been called to this
country, and to them is due the spread of the movement in the United
States.
The difficulties which confronted them here were of the most formidable
kind. The great bulk of the Jewish emigration to the United States were
originally drawn from the village congregations of the Fatherland, and
were by no means fair specimens of the intelligence and culture of the
Jewish race. While they displayed the qualities of energy, perseverance,
and thrift, and soon acquired wealth and influence in the commercial
world, few only were fitted to appreciate a movement so thoroughly
intellectual in its bearings as that which the reformers came to
propagate amongst them. The mere externals of reform were readily
adopted, but its spiritual essence escaped them. Accordingly, the
development of Reformed Judaism on American soil presents no novel or
striking features for our consideration, and it may appropriately be
treated as a mere offshoot of the German stock.