(Ron) 1913 Catholic Enclopedia
Helen Willis hhiwater@BRIGHT.NET
Wed, 29 Jul 1998 11:06:25 -0700 (00901753585, 35BF64A1.2BEB@bright.net)
HELEN:
This is from the Knight of Columbus web page's copy of the Catholic
Encyclopedia of 1913, which is available at:
http://www.texas-knights.org/
I sure that even Ron can see that his church says that since about 200 AD
almost all Jews have followed the Talmud. Besides the obvious antisemitism
towards the end of this piece, there are a couple of factual errors that I
caught on a quick read. There is still a lamb sacrificed for Passover on the
Day of Preparation. It's shank bone is part of the Passover meal and the
modern Chassids are some of the most Talmud obsessed Jews going. I do think
that in the 1700's the Chassids did have a period of looking more at the
Torah, but they never rejected the Talmud. The ancient Chassids were the
founders of the Pharisees, so to say thay were more involved with the Torah
than the Talmud is silly since the neither of the Talmuds had yet to be
written. And I believe that Reform Jews are still circumcised.
Helen Willis
hhiwater@bright.net
>From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia entry on "Jews as a Religion"
I snipped the first two sections because my e-mail coundn't handle anything
that long.
(3) Judaism since A.D. 70
While Christianity thus asserted itself as the new Kingdom of God, the Jewish
theocracy, guided by leaders unable "to know the signs of the times", was
hastening to its total destruction. The Romans came, and in A.D. 70 put an
end forever to the Jewish Temple, priesthood, sacrifices, and nation, whereby
it should have become clear to the Jews that their national worship was
rejected of God. In point of fact, Judaism, shorn of these its essential
features, soon "assumed an entirely new aspect. All the parties and sects of
a former generation vanished; Pharisees and Sadducees ceased to quarrel with
each other; the Temple was supplanted by the synagogue, sacrifices by the
prayer, the priest by any one who was able to read, teach, and interpret both
the written and the oral law. The Sanhedrin lost its juridical qualification,
and became a consistory to advise people in regard to the religious duties.
Judaism became a science, a philosophy, and ceased to be a political
institution" (Schindler, "Dissolving Views in the History of Judaism"). This
new system, treated at first as simply provisional because of the surviving
hope of restoring the Jewish commonwealth, had soon to be accepted as
definitive through the crushing of Bar- Cochba's revolt by Hadrian. Then it
was that Rabbinical or Talmudical Judaism fully asserted its authority over
the two great groups of Jewish families east and west of the Euphrates
respectively. For several centuries, under either the "Patriarchs of the
West" or the "Princes of the Captivity", the Mishna "Oral Teaching" completed
by Rabbi Juda I, committed ultimately to writing in the form of the Jerusalem
and Babylonian Talmuds (see TALMUD), and expounded by generations of teachers
in the schools of Palestine and Babylonia, held undisputed sway over the
minds and consciences of the Jews.
In fact, this long acceptation of the Talmud by the Jewish race, before its
centre was shifted from the East to the West, so impressed this Second Law
(Mishna) upon the hearts of the Jews that down to the present day Judaism has
remained essentially Talmudical both in its theory and in its practice. It is
indeed true that as early as the eighth century of our era the authority of
the Talmud was denied in favour of Biblical supremacy by the sect of the
Karaites, and that it has oftentimes since been questioned by other Jewish
sects such as Judghanits, Kabbalist, Sabbatians, Chassidim (old and new),
Frankist, etc. Nevertheless, these sects have all but disappeared and the
supremacy of the Talmud is generally recognized. The most important religious
division of Judaism at the present day is that between "Orthodox" and
"Reform" Jews, with many subdivisions to which these names are more or less
loosely applied. Orthodox Judaism included the greater part of the Jewish
race. It distinctly admits the absolutely binding force of the oral Law as
finally fixed in the "Shulhan Aruk" by Joseph Caro (sixteenth cent.). Its
beliefs are set forth in the following thirteen articles, first compiled by
Maimonides in the eleventh century:
I believe with a true and perfect faith that God is the creator (whose
name be blessed), governor, and maker of all creatures; and that he has
wrought all things, worketh, and shall work forever.
I believe with perfect faith that the creator (whose name be blessed) is
one; that there is no unity like unto his in any way; and that he alone
was, is, and will be our God.
I believe with a perfect faith that the creator (whose name be blessed)
is incorporeal, that he has not any corporeal qualities, and that
nothing can be compared unto him.
I believe with a perfect faith that the creator (whose name be blessed)
was the first, and will be the last.
I believe with a perfect faith that the creator (whose name be blessed)
is to be worshipped and none else.
I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the prophets are
true.
I believe with perfect faith that the prophecies of Moses our master
(may he rest in peace) were true; that he was the father and chief of
all prophets, both of those before him and those after him.
I believe with perfect faith that the Law, at present in our hands, is
the same that was given to our master Moses (peace be with him).
I believe with perfect faith that this Law will not be changed, and that
no other Law will be revealed by the creator (blessed be his name).
I believe with a perfect faith that God (whose name be blessed) knows
all the deeds of the sons of men and all their thoughts; as it is said:
"He who hath formed their hearts altogether, he knoweth all their
deeds".
I believe with a perfect faith that God (whose name be blessed) rewards
those who keep his commandments, and punishes those who transgress
them.
I believe with a perfect faith that the Messias will come; and although
he tarries I wait nevertheless every fay for his coming.
I believe with a perfect faith that there will be a resurrection of the
dead, at the time when it shall please the creator (blessed be his
name).
With regard to the future life, Orthodox Jews believe, like the
Universalists, in the ultimate salvation of all men; and like the Catholics,
in the offering up of prayers for the souls of their departed friends. Their
Divine worship does not admit of sacrifices; it consists in the reading of
the Scriptures and in prayer. While they do not insist on attendance at the
synagogue, they enjoin all to say their prayers at home or in any place they
chance to be, three times a day; they repeat also blessings and particular
praises to God at meals and on other occasions. In their morning devotions
they use their phylacteries and a praying scarf (talith), except on
Saturdays, when they use the talith only. The following are their principal
festivals:
Passover, on 14 Nisan, and lasting eight days. On the evening before the
feast, the first-born of every family observes a fast in remembrance of
God's kindness to the nation. During the feast unleavened bread is
exclusively used; the first two and last days are observed as strict
holidays. Since the paschal lamb has ceased, it is customary after the
paschal meal to break and partake as Aphikomon, or after-dish, of half
of an unleavened bread cake which has been broken and put aside at the
beginning of the supper.
Pentecost, or the feast of Weeks, falling seven weeks after the Passover
and kept, at present, for two days only.
Trumpets, on 1 and 2 Tishri, of which the first is called New Years's
feast. On the second day they blow the horn and pray that God will bring
them to Jerusalem.
Tabernacles, on 15 Tishri, lasting nine days, the first and last two
days being observed as feast days. On the first day they carry branches
around the altar or pulpit singing psalms; on the seventh day, they
carry copies of the Torah out of the ark to the altar, all the
congregation joining in the procession seven times around the altar and
singing Ps. xxix. On the ninth day they repeat several prayers in honour
of the Law, bless God for having given them His servant Moses, and read
the section of the Scriptures which records his death.
Purim, on 14 and 15 Adar (Feb.-March), in commemoration of the
deliverance recorded in the Book of Esther; the whole Book of Esther is
read several times during the celebration.
Dedication, a feast commemorative of the victory over Antiochus
Epiphanes and lasting eight days.
Atonement Day, celebrated on 10 Tishri, although the Jews have neither
Temple nor priesthood. They observe a strict fast for twenty-four hours,
and strive in various ways to evince the sincerity of their repentance
(see JEWISH CALENDAR).
Reform Judaism, which traces back its origin to Mendelssohn's time, is
chiefly prevalent in Germany and the United States. It has very lax views of
biblical inspiration and bends Jewish beliefs and practices so as to adapt
them to environment. It is a sort of Unitarianism coupled with some Jewish
peculiarities. It disregards the belief of the coming of a personal Messias,
the obligatory character of circumcision, ancient Oriental customs in
synagogue services, the dietary laws which but few reform Jews observe out of
custom or veneration for the past, the second days of the holy days, all
minor feasts and fast-days of the year (except Hanukha and Purim), while it
uses sermons in the vernacular and adds in some places Sunday services to
those held on the historical Sabbath Day, etc. Nominally, for all, the
Sabbath is the day of rest; but only a small number even of the Orthodox Jews
keep their places of business closed on that day, owing to the commercial
demands of modern life and the police regulations usually enforced in
Christian lands concerning the ordinary Sunday rest. Intermarriage with
non-Jews is generally discountenanced even by Reform Jewish rabbis, and as a
fact, has never been frequent, except of late in Australia. Of late, the use
of Hebrew has been revived particularly in Palestine Jewish colonies, and a
number of Jewish journals and reviews are published in that tongue in the
East and in certain countries of Europe. Yiddish, or Judeo-German, is by far
more prevalent, and is used in the large cities of Europe and North America
for weekly and daily papers.
The Yeshibas, or high schools of Talmudic learning, where the time was
exclusively devoted to the study of rabbinical jurisprudence and Talmudic
law, have been partly replaced by seminaries with a more modern curriculum of
studies. In 1893 Gratz College, thus named from its founder, was started in
Philadelphia for training religious school-teachers. Young Men's's Hebrew
Associations, begun in 1874, now exist in nearly all the large cities of the
United States. Of wider import still is the development of the Sabbath
schools which are generally attached to Jewish congregations in the same
country. The recent Zionist movement claims a passing notice. Since 1896 the
scheme for securing in Palestine a legal home for the oppressed Hebrews has
rapidly taken a firm hold of the Jewish race. To many, Zionism appears as
calculated to bring about the realization of the old Jewish hope of
restoration to Palestine. To others, it seems to be the only means of
obviating the impossibility felt by various peoples of assimilating their
Jewish population and at the same time of allowing it the amount of freedom
which the Jews consider necessary for the preservation of their individual
character. By others again, it is regarded as the practical answer
to the anti-Semitic agitation which has prevailed intensely through Western
Europe since 1880, and to the lack of social equality, which Jews repeatedly
find denied them, even in countries where they possess civil rights and
attain to high political and professional positions. Since 1897 Zionism holds
annual international congresses, counts numerous societies and clubs, and
since 1898 has a Jewish Colonial Trust. There is no Jewish Church as such,
and each congregation is a law to itself. Owing to this, the ancient
distinction between the Sephardim and the Askenazim continues among the Jews.
As of yore, the Sephardim, or descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jews,
readily organize themselves into separate congregations. Even now, they are
easily distinguished from the Askenazim (German or Polish Jews) by their
names, their more Oriental pronunciation of Hebrew, and their peculiarities
in synagogue services.
(4) Judaism and Church Legislation
The principal items of church legislation relative to Judaism have been set
forth in connection with the history of the Jews. There remains only to add a
few remarks which will explain the apparent severity of certain measures
enacted by either popes or councils concerning the Jews, or account for the
fact that popular hatred of them so often defeated the beneficent efforts of
the Roman pontiffs in their regard. Church legislation against Jewish holding
of Christian slaves can be easily understood: as members of Christ, the
children of the Church should evidently not be subjected to the power of His
enemies, and thereby incur a special danger for their faith; but more
particularly, as stated by a recent Jewish writer: "There was good reason for
the solicitude of the Church and for its desire to prevent Jews from
retaining Christian slaves in their houses. The Talmud and all later Jewish
codes forbade a Jew from retaining in his home a slave who was uncircumcised"
(Abrahams, "Jewish Life in the Middle Ages"). The obligation of wearing a
distinguishing badge was of course obnoxious to the Jews. At the same time,
Church authorities deemed its injunction necessary to prevent effectively
moral offences between Jews and Christian women. The decrees forbidding the
Jews from appearing in public at Eastertide may be justified on the
ground that some of them mocked at the Christian processions at that time;
those against baptized Jews retaining distinctly Jewish customs find their
ready explanation in the necessity for the Church to maintain the purity of
the Faith in its members, while those forbidding the Jews from molesting
converts to Christianity are no less naturally explained by the desire of
doing away with amanifest obstacle to future conversions.
It was for the laudable reason of protecting social morality and securing the
maintenance of the Christian Faith, that canonical decrees were framed and
repeatedly enforced against free and constant intercourse between Christians
and Jews, against, for instance, bathing, living, etc., with jews. To some
extent, likewise, these were the reasons for the institution of the Ghetto or
confinement of the Jews to a special quarter, for the prohibition of the Jews
from exercising medicine, or other professions. The inhibition of
intermarriage between Jews and Christians, which is yet in vigour, is clearly
justified by reason of the obvious danger for the faith of the Christian
party and for the spiritual welfare of the children born of such alliances.
With regard to the special legislation against printing, circulating, etc.,
the Talmud, there was the particular grievance that the Talmud contained at
the time scurrilous attacks upon Jesus and the Christians (cf. Pick, "The
Personality of Jesus in the Talmud" in the "Monist", Jan., 1910), and the
permanent reason that "that extraordinary compilation, with much that is
grave and noble, contains also so many puerilities, immoral precepts, and
anti-social maxims, that Christian courts may well have deemed it right to
resort to stringent measures to prevent Christians from being seduced into
adhesion to a system so preposterous" (Catholic Dictionary, 484).
History proves indeed that church authorities exercised at times considerable
pressure upon the Jews to promote their conversion; but it also proves that
the same authorities generally deprecated the use of violence for the
purpose. It bears witness, in particular, to the untiring and energetic
efforts of the Roman pontiffs in behalf of the Jews especially when,
threatened or actually pressed by persecution they appealed to the Holy See
for protection. It chronicles the numerous protestations of the popes against
mob violence against the Jewish race, and thus directs the attention of the
student of history to the real cause of the Jewish persecutions, viz., the
popular hatred against the children of Israel. Nay more, it discloses the
principal causes of that hatred, among which the following may be mentioned:
The deep and wide racial difference between Jews and Christians which
was, moreover, emphasized by the ritual and dietary laws of Talmudic
Judaism; the mutual religious antipathy which prompted the Jewish masses
to look upon the Christians as idolaters, and the Christians to regard
the Jews as the murderers of the Divine Saviour of mankind, and to
believe readily the accusation of the use of Christian blood in the
celebration of the Jewish Passover, the desecration of the Holy
Eucharist, etc.; the trade rivalry which caused Christians to accuse the
Jews of sharp practice, and to resent their clipping of the coinage,
their usury, etc.; the patriotic susceptibilities of the particular
nations in the midst of which the Jews have usually formed a foreign
element, and to the respective interests of which their devotion has not
always been beyond suspicion.
In view of these and other more or less local, more or less justified,
reasons, one can readily understand how the popular hatred of the Jews has
too often defeated the beneficent efforts of the Church, and notably of its
supreme pontiffs, in regard to them.
Jewish Religion. NATHAN, Religion, Natural and Revealed (New York, 1875);
TROY, Judaismand Christianity (Boston, 1890); MENDELSSOn, Civil and Criminal
Jurisprudence of the Talmud (Baltimore, 1891); LEVIN, Die Reform des
Judenthums (Berlin, 1895); HIRSCH, Nineteen Letters, tr. (New York, 1899);
FRIEDLANDER, The Jewish Religion (2nd ed., New York, 1900); LAZARUS, Ethics
of Judaism, tr. (Philadelphia, 1901); MORRIS JOSEPH, Judaism as Creed and
Life (New York, 1903); SCHREINER, Die jüngsten Urtheile über das Judenthum
(Berlin, 1902); MONTEFIORE, Liberal Judaism (New York, 1903); LEVY, La
Famille dans l'Antiquité (Paris, 1905); SCHECHTER, Studies in Judaism (New
York, 1896); IDEM, Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology (New York, 1909).
FRANCIS E. GIGOT
Transcribed by Bob Mathewson
>From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright © 1913 by the Encyclopedia Press,
Inc.
Electronic version copyright © 1997 by New Advent, Inc.