Synagogue Eternal Protest Against
Separating Sacred, Secular Activities
By DR. SAMUEL BELBIN
President of Yeshiva University
While the possibility exists for
one to be a good Jew indivi-
dually even if he does not at-
tend the Synagogue, he cannot
be a part of the religious Jewish
Community unless he is actively
identified with it.
The entire concept of Jewish
community has its origin in and
draws its vitality f r om the
Synagdgue. God's name is sanc-
tified, our Rabbis tell us, only
through community association.
In the Talmud the concept of
"Tzibur" is mentioned only with
reference to the Synagogue, for
it is only when we join our fel-
low-Jews in Synagogue worship
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS-69
Friday, September 11, 1953
and activity that we affirm the
I peoplehood of Israel.
Judaism does not recognize
two independent spheres of duty
and activity. It does not charac-
terize the duties that man has
toward his fellow-man and to
the community at large as sim-
ply moral or social obligations.
It cannot be satisfied with
other-worldliness alone and re-
gards what is of this world as
secular. It rather emphasizes
that the community, to be vital
and constructive, must be vested
with holiness and sanctity.
Such holiness and sanctity can
exist only where both commu-
nity living and the daily life of
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the individual are endowed with
spiritual elements:
Tradition has never separat-
- ed the concepts that are in-
herent in the words Bet
H.atfilah. The first, freely
translated, means a commun-
ity house; the second, a house
of prayer. The traditional
Synagogue is both of these—
an eternal protest against the
separation of the secular and
the sacred in community ac-
tivities.
This spiritual, yet this-world-
ly character of the Synagogue
as a symbol of the Jewish com-
munity is made possible through
the Torah. Fundamental to the
religion of Israel is the concept
that "the ignorant cannot be
pious." The Synagogue was,
from its beginnings a House of
Study in which instruction in
the Torah—the way of Jewish
life—was an organic and indi-
visible part of worship.
Our Sages sought to preserve
this ideal even in their legisla-
tion. A community, according to
Jewish law, may transform a
House of Worship into a House
of Study, although it may not
reverse the process, f o r the
sanctity of the latter ig greater
than that of the former. Thus
our sages recognized, as we
must, that methodic instruction
in the law and moral precepts
of the Torah is the foundation
of Judaism.
What of the Synagogue in
America? The main problem
that faces traditional Judaism
on this continent is not, al-
together, the lax4ty in attend-
ance at Synagogue services—a
serious enough complaint. It is
rather the unfortunate fact that
Judaism in America has become
the Judaism of the Synogogue
only; the fact that the entire
religious life of American Jewry
has become centered about
Synagogue worship. One's loy-
alty to Judaism is no longer
judged by his entire mode of
living, but by his association
and identification with a House
of Worship. True, traditional
worship is a vital part of the
totality of Judaism, but the
ritual and service of the Syna-
gogue, divorced from practice of
Judaism in one's private life, is
not a sufficient spiritual force
to preserve Judaism and the
Jew.
A major of fort must be
made to re-institute the theme
of Bet Ha-Midrash in the con-
cept of Synagogue; to make
the Synagogue once more the
institute of religious educa-
tion; to make instruction in
the Torah an organic part of
worship and its most prominent
feature. It is through what
may be called community
learning that the creative
function of the Synagogue can
be revealed.
The Synagogue has maintain-
tained its centrality in Jewish
lif e because it endeavored to
channel the daily activities of
the individual through instruc-
tion and worship. It was a spirit-
ual dynamo which radiated the
light of Torah to every Jewish
home. If the Synagogue does not
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wish to function in a void, it
must not permit the totality of
Jewish living to become limited
to worship alone.
Happy Holiday Greetings
Hebrew Courses at U. of Texas
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Wish All Their Relatives and Friends
A Most Joyous New Year
Best Wishes to Our
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JOE MOCERI
Courses in the Hebrew lan-
guage and literature are now
underway at the University of
Texas, in Austin, it was an-
nounced at the offices of the
World Zionist Organization in
New York. The courses were
made possible by contributions
from the Department of Culture
and Education of the World
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Bnai Brith Hillel Foundations.
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