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 •••• ■ ••••• ■••■•■■•■■••■•■■■■■•■•■•••■ •vv,....w New Year Greetings Season's Greetings INDIGO Becaity Salon VALERIE DE GALAN INC. "Fashions for Women" Individual Attention Given to Permanent Waves 19144 Livernois 11708 LIVERNOIS WE. 3-4738 UN. 2-1128 '1111111 11111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111111111I M .--.. Holiday Greetings Sincere Greetings ROSEDALE PARK To the Jewish Community RAY'S BARBER SHOP Gowns for All Occasions Men - Children's Haircutting . Scalp Treatments 10909 GRAND RIVER f:. 19218 W. McNICHOLS at Oakman Blvd. KEnwood 1-4444 WE. 3-4636 Holiday Good Wishes Holiday Best Wishes ROCHE JEWELRY & GIFT SHOPPE TAYLOR'S English Bone Chino 8" Plate NURSERY SALES Cup and Saucer Special Only $5.00 and Up - Baby Shoe Bronzing 12800 WEST CHICAGO 12059 GRAND RIVER TE. 4-1650 Bus. We. 3-8552 Res. Ty. 4-8215 Holiday Greetings New Year Best Wishes George McLean. Golf School THE PALMS STEAK HOUSE Individual Attention Lessons by Appointment "We Specialize in Steak Dinners 534 WOODWARD 4412 JOHN R. ST. WO. 3-3634 TE. 2-9385 at Reasonable Prices for the Whole Family" Sincerest Holiday Good Wishes • FOWLER-REEL CO. Successors to the F. L. Reeg Co. Designers and Engravers of LETTERHEADS Businesss - Cards ,Wedding Invitations - Business Announcements 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 2026:NeV.Grand River between Adams and Elizabeth WO. 2-4293 wish to function in a void, it must not permit the totality of Jewish living to become limited to worship alone. 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