Garrett Tower vol. 2 no. 1 1926

              The Garrett Tower
VOLUME II Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, III., May, 1926 NUMBER 1
Exchange Lectures on ..ludaism
By PROFESSOR SAMUEL COHON
The Garrett Tower
1. NATURE OF JUDAISM
THE common purpases of Judaism and
Christianity are well known, Gaing back
to. the history and literature of ancient
Israel as their common source, they share many
elements af doctrine, ethical idealism and even
ceremonial observance. My
task, in these lectures, will
therefore, be limited to. the
distinguishing characteristics
of Judaism.
The term Judaism appears
to. have been coined during
the Greek period in antithesis
to. the name Hellenism. It
denoted the religion of the
Jewish people, their ideals,
laws and customs. It repre-sented
the spiritual fatherland .
af the dispersed and fre-quently
harassed peapJe.
Whoever separated himself
from it, ipso facto, ceased to.
be a Jew. With the fall of the
Ghetto, in consequence of the
civic emancipation of the Jews
in western lands, the unique
atmosphere that preserved Jewish life was radi-cally
changed. A division arose between religious
loyalty and patriotism. Judaism signified far
many religian pure and simple. On the other
hand, the rising tide af nationalism led same
Jews, who. may have fallen away from the reli-gian
of their fathers, to. interpret Judaism as a
national culture. The Zionist movement is largely
the outgrowth of this view. A reconciliation of
these extremes appears in the thinking of those,
who, while cansidering Judaism as the many
sided expression of the Jewish spirit, recognize
religion as its dominant element.
These canflicting conceptions have led to. a
clearer understanding of Judaism in both its
national and universal aspects. Even those who.
see it as a religian anly admit that Judaism
derives its individuality from its vital union with.
the Jewish people. Unlike the ather autstanding
systems of religian-Buddhism, Christianity and
Mahammedanism-it centers not in any one great
personality, but in the Jewish
people, Judaism's holy days
are commemorative of J ew-ish
history rather than of
occurrences in the life of
any persanage like a Moses,
Isaiah, ar Hillel.
The inseparableconnection
between . Judaism and the
Jewish people can also. be seen
in the domain af ethics. Bath
Jewish and Christian ethics
aim at absoluteness, inward-ness
and universality. The
sanctification af life in all of
its relations constitutes their
common goal. But Christian-ity,
with aut overlooking sa-ciety,
centers its attention
primarily upon the individual
and upon his salvation. Gad-likeness
is manifested thraugh Jesus who Ioorns
as the pattern of goodness and true life far all
believers. In Judaism the 'center of gravity is the
Jewish people, Without ignoring the individual
and his moral and spiritual needs, it stresses the
wellbeing of society as the chief aim of all en-deavor
and rests its hope an the perfectibility of
the human race. Hence Judaism emphasizes not
grace alone, but grace graunded in righteousness.
The Divine attribute of Mercy is inseparably
associated with that of Justice.
And yet Judaism is universal in its aims.
Even as the individual founders of religion have
not kept their truths far their own exclusive
possession, so. Israel, the Servant of Gad of