UV/31 IT J JVJ 
 

 
 7TOT 
 
 (Sikkaron Moshe) 
 
 BORN, 1805, GAILINGEN; DIED MAUCH 14, 1841, BUCHAU. 
 
 Cll 
 
 BY 
 
 DR. E. SCHREIBER, Rabbi. 
 TOLEDO, O.
 
 Hi: K. >V/, ,-, iln ,
 
 BIOGKAPHV OF 
 
 RABBI MOSES BLOCK 
 
 DR. EMANUEL SCHREIBER. 
 
 DKO ID 
 
 "There is no age without men li'..e 
 Samuel." The genius of humanity 
 never fails to produce representatives 
 of great spiritual movements, men 
 needed for the realization of new 
 ideas. This great historical truth ap- 
 plies particularly to the history of 
 .1 udaism of the last one hundred years. 
 After the death of Moses Mendels- 
 sohn Judaism had to pass through a 
 crisis the like of which it has only 
 seen in the time of the Maccabaes. 
 The political reaction in Prussia after 
 the overthrow of the Corsican Titan 
 made the civil and political condition 
 of the Jews most deplorable. The 
 better educated Jew had to face the 
 painful alternative of foregoing all 
 hope of honorably devoting his tal- 
 ents to the government or to for- 
 swear the religion of his fathers. 
 Many were too weak to resist 
 the temptation, and sold their birth- 
 right for a mess of pottage. While 
 we i-annot excuse such apostasy, it 
 cannot be denied that Judaism in the 
 officinl form in which it presented 
 itself was not of a character to in- 
 sp ra with enthusiasm the new gen- 
 eration, bred under the most refining 
 
 influences of classical Hellas and 
 Rome, so as to make them prefer the 
 glory of martyrdom to the crown of 
 civic honors. 
 
 There was on the one side the spir- 
 it of the Encyclopaedists, of Voltaire, 
 and of the French Revolution mak- 
 ing war on every form of religion. 
 On the other side German Judaism 
 was officially under the baneful 
 influence of Polish rabbis, Polish 
 teachers, Polish chazanim (cantors), 
 Polish Darshanim (preachers), Polish 
 Cheders (so-called "schools"), Polish 
 disorder, Polish noise and lack of de- 
 corum in the service of the syna- 
 gogue, and Polish fanaticism and re- 
 sistance against every innovation. 
 Men like Moses Sofer,* who warned 
 his offspring against touching Moses 
 Mendelssohn's translation of the 
 Pentateuch, said in full earnest, 
 
 bn minn p ^IDK cnnn 
 
 (All innovation is prohibited 01HQ 
 
 and utterly objectionable), possessed 
 the controlling power in Juda'stn. 
 
 '\ he contrasts between cosmopolitan 
 rationalism and belief in tradition, 
 
 S.< [Ribbi MOSE DESSAU] 'Yo'
 
 the conflicts between the philosopher 
 Mendelssohn* and the orthodox Jew 
 Mendelssohn,-]- were too glaring to be 
 equalized by a sentimental piety of 
 which the new generation knew very 
 little. The generation reared under 
 the influence of Mendelssohn's legal- 
 ism refused to lead a double life. 
 If reason is free, they claimed the 
 right to be free. If Judaism is less 
 than reason, then it is a stranger 
 in the world of modern thought. 
 Indeed, Mendelssohn's own children 
 and thousands with them, who cared 
 more for a heart-appeasing, soul- 
 stirring religion than for a Jewish 
 commonwealth and its Palestinian 
 national laws, left the storm-beaten 
 flaff, inscribed with the immortal 
 
 O ' 
 
 truth: "Hear, oh Israel, the Eternal 
 is One." Do we not find analogous 
 cases today? Do we not see how, 
 under the very eyes of orthodox 
 parents, their Jewish sons and 
 daughters are swelling the ranks of 
 
 D ~ 
 
 Ingersoll and his partisans?* The 
 few liturgical reforms which are in- 
 troduced in some synagogues in 
 obedience to aesthetic wants failed 
 
 *As a philosopher Mendelssohn be- 
 lieved In natural religion, denied revela- 
 tion, miracles, and condemned soulless 
 ceremonialism. 
 
 fAs a Jew Mendelssohn insisted on tin- 
 eternal validity of every Mosaic rabbini- 
 cal law. 
 
 JAM those Russian Jewish nihilists, 
 who yearly disgrace American Judaism 
 by celebrating wild orgies on the Day ol 
 Atonement are sons of ultra-orthodox 
 parents. 
 
 signally to cure a disease which was 
 eating into the very heart of Juda- 
 ism. To this must be added that 
 the better element was disgusted 
 with the aping of protestantism, lack 
 of substance and vitality, the shallow 
 moralizing tone of the new preach- 
 ers, the superficial views of Judaism 
 which not a few of them scattered 
 among the multitude. It may in- 
 deed be asked, how could better 
 things have been expected at that 
 time? The great facts of Jewish 
 ',:i.<t<>ry were not yet clearly known, 
 the philosophy of Judaism was pro- 
 portionately vague and uncertain. 
 No Jewish author of consequence 
 had undertaken to write the annals 
 of his coreligionists; chaotic confu- 
 sion reigned in their chronicles. To 
 know what Judaism is it is of the 
 utmost necessity to ascertain in the 
 first instance what it has been. 'I hi 
 past will prove the index to the 
 future.* 
 
 This was one of the most critical 
 epochs in the checkered history of 
 Israel. Was then Judaism doomed 
 to death? Was it preserved during 
 the persecutions of centuries at the 
 price of the precious blood of so many 
 martyrs and heroes in order f> 
 die now of inanition? Could it only 
 thrive and flourish in the darkness of 
 the ghetto but not bear the refresh- 
 ing and emancipating influence of 
 
 a very graphic description of this 
 period in Jost's "Das Judenthum uud 
 seine Sekten," III, pp. 833, 334, and es- 
 pecially 335,
 
 the nineteenth century. No, a hun- 
 dred times no! \\ 7 hen the night is 
 at its darkest the sun's reviving light 
 is nearest. In those trying days the 
 science of Judaism was born. It be- 
 came the savior who consoled weep- 
 ing Judaism in the words of the pro- 
 phet to the mourning Rachel, "Cease 
 crying, for there is reward for thy 
 woik, and thy children will return 
 unto thee." 
 
 Two men arose, Leopold Zunz and 
 Abraham Geiger. The former was 
 the founder of a science of Judaism, 
 the latter was the founder of a 
 scientific theology of Judaism, and 
 laid the basis of the reform on the 
 adamantine rock of science. 
 
 Around the standard whioh Geiger 
 bad unfurled a bright galaxy of 
 earnest and courageous rabbis and 
 other brilliant intellects of modern 
 Israel soon gathered. They, one and 
 all, agreed with him in the main prop- 
 osition, a desire to reconcile science 
 and life (Wissenschaft \ind Leben 
 in Einklaug zu bringen). They 
 were nearly all young men fresh 
 from the universities,, profoundly 
 versed in Hebrew and rabbinical 
 lore, zealous lovers of their religion, 
 equipped with the elements of an- 
 cient and modern culture and anx- 
 ious to harmonize the conflicting 
 claims of both in their private lives 
 and public stations. Many of them 
 underwent severe trials for the sake 
 of their convictions. They were de- 
 % nounced by their opponents (in those 
 days a religious antagonist was as a 
 
 rule a personal enemy), to the gov- 
 ernments as demagogues, revolution- 
 ists, dangerous foes of monarchy a. 
 s. f. Every attempt was made by the 
 orthodox party to prevent the gov- 
 ernment from sanctioning the elec- 
 tion of these men as rabbis.* They 
 were subjected while in office to 
 numberless petty annoyances, and 
 even actual force was employed to 
 check their growing popularity. 
 Geiger for instance was thrown into 
 an open grave by a fanatic while of- 
 ficiating at a funeral in the city of 
 Breslau (1842); Abraham Kohn was 
 poisoned in Lernberg by the Polish 
 Jews (1849); Aaron Corin was re- 
 ceived by a volley of stones when 
 entering the yard of the synagogue 
 in Ofen, and was bitterly cursed 
 while preaching in Arad. Leopold 
 Loew and Einhorn underwent similar 
 experiences in Hungary. 
 
 People in our days have absolutely 
 no comprehension of the almost in- 
 surmountable difficulties those pio- 
 neers of Reform -Judaism bad to con- 
 tend with. They had to fight not 
 only against stublo.n unreasoning 
 and hence unreasonable orthodoxy, 
 but against the large number of Jew- 
 ish atheists, or rationalists, who cried, 
 Orthodoxy or no Judaism! We all, 
 at least we Reform-rabbis, know 
 that even today in this enlightened 
 age, in this free and progressive 
 country, thousands of Jews can be 
 
 *In Germany even today no rabbi can 
 enter upon his position without the sanc- 
 tion of the government.
 
 found who hold exactly the same 
 false and absurd opinions. "Why, 
 our great men of the ethical culture 
 societies still rehash this old non- 
 sense. Whether they are right who 
 claim that the ethical culturists 
 themselves are not sincere in making 
 such statements (statements which 
 are not at all complimentary to th^ir 
 boasted "superior" intellect), we are 
 not prepared to decide. Certain it 
 is that vhenever men become lead- 
 ers of movements and parties they 
 are liable to say things which they 
 would have left unsaid had nit p<>!i 
 cy directed their expressions. We 
 allude as unum pro multis to a lec- 
 ture delivered by Felix Adler on 
 the Pittsburg platform of Reform- 
 Judaism. We were not surprised 
 that our orthodox Jewish and Chris- 
 tian press hailed with joy the con- 
 demnation of Reform-Judaim by 
 the eloquent professor and disciplo 
 of Samuel Adler and Abraham 
 Geij/er, But we are not quite sure, 
 whether the fact that consistent, 
 radical Reform -Judaism is about the 
 only religious factor of which ethi- 
 cal culture has every reason to be 
 afraid had nothing to do with this 
 peculiar alliance between t-thical cul- 
 ture and .Jewish orthodoxy a^ 
 Reform -Judaism. It reminds one of 
 the alliance between Ammon and 
 Moab against Israel of old, or, to use 
 a mo; illustration, of the alli- 
 
 ance between JI'-puMican Fram 
 despotic : against Germany. 
 
 "Politics make strange bed-fell- 
 
 One of the old soldiers in this army 
 of progressive rabbinism is the sub- 
 ject of our sketch, Rabbi Jf - - 
 Block of Buchau, whose early demise 
 is a great loss to the cause of Re- 
 form-Judaism. 
 
 Moses Bloeh was born in 1805 in 
 Gailingen in the district of Baden. 
 His friend, Rabbi Leopold Schott of 
 Randegg. who published shortly 
 after Bloch's death a necrologue* 
 divides his life into four periods. As 
 a boy he as well as his parents con- 
 sidered the study of the Talmud the 
 goal and ideal of human knowl- 
 edge and research. Thus he was 
 initiated into the mysteries of the 
 Halacha and Agada by teachers in 
 Gailingen and Endingen in the can- 
 ton of Aargau. It is needl - 
 say that young Bloch studied assid- 
 uously and most /.ealously. For it 
 was one of his characteristics to do 
 whatever he did with all his heart 
 
 PI jlfcO -^ s was tne ru ^ e i" those 
 days his teachers were very orthodox. 
 In fact they knew nothing different. 
 After two years' sojourn in Fn- 
 dingen young Moses at the age of 
 fifteen wont to Karlsruhe. Here be- 
 gan the second period of his life. 
 
 Many a prominent reform-rabbi of 
 Germany (Joseph Kahn, Trier and 
 others) studied the Talmud under the 
 auspices of Jacob Ettlinger (later 
 rabbi of Altona), in Karlsruhe, which 
 was then quite a center of rabbinical 
 Here young Bloch entered 
 upon th'- M-rond period of his life. 
 
 N<>. :'.2 ami .V, [ :
 
 In bis fifteenth year he studied the 
 Talmud and Bible, the Jewish relig- 
 ious philosophers and the new He- 
 brew literature. With greatest at- 
 tention and assiduity he heard the 
 lectures of the profound scholar and 
 famous chief rabbi, Asher Loew. It 
 goes without saying that it was no 
 easy matter to master these studies 
 in those days, when every branch of 
 knowledge was aquired in the Jeshi- 
 ba in an auto-didactic manner and 
 without system. And yet the Jeshi- 
 ba of olden days was far more than 
 the theological seminaries of the pres- 
 ent the fountain at which gigan- 
 tic minds and heroes of deep thought 
 and profound learning have acquired 
 that immense erudition and astonish- 
 ing knowledge of Talmudic lore for 
 which the reform-rabbis of Germany 
 in that classical period were cele- 
 brated. Bloch \\i\s so enthusiastic 
 and ambitious for his chosen calling 
 and for the acquisition of higher cul- 
 ture that in order to quench his thirst 
 after knowledge he devoted night 
 as well as day to the uses of study. 
 He soon was recognized as one of the 
 most prominontl?acAurMH (students), 
 was considered an excellent />///,//- 
 //.-/, i. e., well versed in the intrica- 
 cies and argumentations of Talmudic 
 
 o 
 
 controversy. It is needless to say 
 that to be master (Charif) in this art 
 was regarded in the light of a great 
 distinction. Bloch wrote good He- 
 brew, was also a fine Biblical scholar, 
 made himseif quite familiar with the 
 classics (Schiller, Goethe, Klopstock, 
 
 Leasing a. s. f.), and studied his- 
 tory and the natural sciences. He also 
 attended the higher classes of the 
 lyceum, and found time to read med- 
 ical works, for which he always 
 manifested a great partiality. During 
 this period of his life he was almost 
 hyperothodox in the practice of the 
 Jewish religious ceremonies. Every 
 burden of the latest casuists was 
 most scrupulously observed by him. 
 He saw in those observances the only 
 means to the attainment of the tru 
 ideal of an Israelite. Asceticism 
 carried out to its utmost extent- 
 was to him the only guarantee of 
 Godliness. He would lay two- 
 kinds of 7V//////?, abstain from 
 reading a German book on the 
 Sabbath, from eating or drinking on 
 the eve of the new moon, etc. Were 
 it not for his kindness of heart he 
 would have been capable at that 
 s*age of his life of persecuting fanati- 
 cally every Jew who did not observe 
 the religious ceremonies. But he was 
 genial in his social intercourse, and 
 possessed the love and respect of his 
 teachers, <-OHUII iHtons, and all tin se 
 who knew him. It is doubtful wheth- 
 er a student was ever more popular 
 in a strange city than was Moses 
 Bloch in Karlsruhe. 
 
 In 1825 Bloch followed his teacher 
 Ettlinger to Mannheim. Here be- 
 gins the third period of his life. For 
 here he prepared himself for the uni- 
 versity and here he met with his 
 future wife, who exercised a bene- 
 ficial influence on his intellectual de-
 
 6 
 
 velopment. After a sojourn of one 
 year and a half in Mannheim he en- 
 tered the University of Heidelberg. 
 There he studied philosophy, history, 
 philology and orientalia under 
 Paulus, Ehrhard, Daub, Schwartz, 
 Abegg and others. But he found 
 time to continue his rabbinical studies 
 under Solomon Fuerst*, district-rabbi 
 at Heidelberg, where he was no 
 doubt greatly influenced in favor of 
 progress and reform. After receiving 
 his rabbinical diploma from Fuersi 
 he went to Wuertemburg, passed 
 his examination in Stuttgart (1829) 
 and was appointed rabbi at Oberdorf, 
 O. A. Neresheim. In 1834 he was 
 promoted to the rabbinate of Buchau, 
 O. A. Riedlingen. 
 
 Now commenced the fourth and 
 most important period of his life, his 
 public activity as rabbi, preacher, 
 theological scholar and reformer. 
 Baden's loss was Wuertemberg's 
 gain. Bloch's great Biblical, Talmud- 
 ical, philosophical and historical 
 scholarship coupled with enthusiasm, 
 tact and amiable social qualities 
 made him influential and beloved not 
 only in his congregation, but in 
 the synagogue of Wuertemberg. 
 This organization was composed of 
 thirteen congregations. 
 
 \Vuertemberg was the first 
 man state where the civil and 
 
 *Hui.dreds of rabbis who studicii in 
 Heidelberg owed a debt of gratitude to 
 Ibis noble teacher in Israel. J-'m-rst \\;i- 
 
 bornln Mannheim, IT'.'-.'. If:- MM 
 rabbi In Bayretith. 
 
 ions circumstances of the Jews were 
 regulated by the government. The 
 law of April 25, 1828, which declared 
 the Jews citizens of Wuertemberg 
 decreed also the appointment of an 
 ecclesiastical body (Oberkirchenbe- 
 hoerde), and made German sermons 
 on the Sabbath and holidays obliga- 
 tory. The sermon was in fact made 
 one of the most important functions 
 of the ministers. Confirmation and 
 a reformed ritual were also intro- 
 duced into the synagogue through 
 the instrumentality of this ecclesi- 
 astical body. Like every innovation 
 these reforms met with opposition at 
 the beginning, but were later hailed 
 with respect. 
 
 This spirit of reform made a great 
 change in Bloch. From an ascetic 
 follower of the old traditions he de- 
 veloped into a critic who investi- 
 gated the historical reasons and 
 motives of the growth of Judaism. 
 He was an able contributor to Gei- 
 ger's "Zeitschrift facr Juedif/ic 
 Theologie^ (See his articles on the 
 "Holidays" a. s. f. vol. IV), and took 
 part in the first rabbinical conference 
 in the interest of reform, held in Au- 
 gust 1837 in Wiesbaden. This con- 
 ference was called by Geiger and 
 was att.-ir'fil hy I )rs. Geiger, Kohn, 
 of 1 1 '>IICIIIMIIS; Mayer, of Stuttgart; 
 Blorh, of Biiclmu; Wasserman, of 
 Mii.-hriii<rf ii; \VaiMifr. of Mannheim; 
 Herxheimer, of Brrnl>ur<r; Aub, of 
 Br\ r.-utlr. Stein, of Burirkunstadt; 
 Giittmjtn, of U-(lsvit/.; l.ocwy and 
 Weolisler, of Fuerth; Friedlaender,
 
 of Brilon, then eighty years old; 
 Gruenebaum, of Landau; Hess of 
 Eisenach came too late; Selz and 
 Xeubuerger of Uehlefeld sent ex- 
 cuses, but declared their sympathy. 
 While we cannot chronicle great 
 tangible results of this conference, 
 the mere fact that the most intelli- 
 gent and cultured rabbis of Germa 
 Ly had assembled to discuss subjects 
 pertaining to a reform of Judaism 
 was in itself a result of important 
 consequence for the future. True, 
 their orthodox opponents ridiculed 
 it, saying that nothing was done. 
 The samp thing was said by the or- 
 thodoxy after every similar assembly 
 in the last fifty years. But it was, 
 to say the least, a proof of courage 
 and self-denial that those rabbis were 
 not afraid to attend such an assem- 
 bly which was called together for 
 the purpose of advancing the cause 
 of progress and reform among the 
 Jews. Loevy, Guttman, Kohn, Blocb, 
 Wechsler, Herxheimer and Aub are 
 complimented by Geiger in his letter 
 to Jacob Auerbach (August 22, 
 1837), for their zeal and activity. It 
 was resolved that practical ques- 
 tions should be discussed in the Zeit- 
 schrift and that the rabbis should 
 give their opinions and final votes 
 on them. Loewy, Mayer and Stein 
 were appointed a committee to pub- 
 lish a home prayer-book in accord 
 with the demands of the times. The 
 report spread by the orthodoxy that 
 the members of the conference were 
 ordered by the government to dis- 
 band proved, of course, ui.true. 
 
 By his attendance at this confer- 
 ence and his contributions to Gei- 
 ger's Zeitechrijt, which was consid- 
 ered in those days an heretical pub- 
 lication, Bloch had boldly taken 
 sides with the reformers and pro- 
 claimed his championship of the prin- 
 ciples of the historical-critical school 
 of progressive rabbinism. This school 
 advocated ' the progressive develop- 
 ment of Judaism, and tried to prove 
 historically the origin and growth of 
 the Jewish ceremonial law. By this 
 critical method it was easily shown 
 how a great many of the ceremonies, 
 customs and usages of the Jews and 
 their raison cf etre in certain cir- 
 cumstances had outlived the sphere 
 of their usefulness in our age and 
 amidst occidental surroundings. Rs- 
 form is nothing new, as changes have 
 taken place in all ages and climes 
 in accord with the demands and ex- 
 igencies cf the t'mes. On account 
 of the dispersion of Israel among all 
 nations their religious institutions 
 were by no means free from non- 
 Jewish influences. It was in partic- 
 ular pointed out where reform was 
 needed. This system is justly des- 
 ignated as historical-critical, based 
 as it is on scientific research and in- 
 vestigation. 
 
 It goes without saying that Bloch 
 lost some of his former friends 
 through his change of front. But 
 while he regretted this fact he was 
 too honest to change his con- 
 viction and principles. As is usual 
 in such cases exaggerated reports of 
 his radicalism and of his neglect of
 
 the Jewish observances were spread 
 abroad. It was with sarcasm he 
 answered those heresy-hunters in a 
 well written Hebrew poem, of which 
 the first etanzn reads thu->: "Your 
 father Abraham despised the idols 
 For lie said 'Thi-ru'-h my father had 
 taught me falsehood.' Had not 
 Abraham listened to the teachings of 
 his deluded generation, everyone 
 would bend his knee to idols even to 
 this day. But the righteous pilgrim 
 
 left his home he did not know 
 
 his father nor did he recognize his 
 bio.hers." 
 
 Bloch took part in the councils re- 
 garding the new order of the syna- 
 gogue and assisted in the edition of 
 text books for rr-liuious schools. In 
 Jost's"Israeliti{>c/te Annalen" he jus- 
 tified his advanced ideas on the doc- 
 trine of the Messiah. In 1838 heassist- 
 edin the examination of candidates for 
 the office of rabbi, which well illus- 
 trates the esteem in which he was held 
 by the government. As a preacher he 
 has shown great talent and what is 
 better, enthusiasm ;u.d honesty of 
 purpose. He lived and died for bis 
 calling- When his wife, knowing of 
 hi-i treacherous disease (consumption), 
 i>egged him not to preach so con- 
 stantly he, well awHrr of his danger, 
 answered: '! would rather die than 
 live without fu.'fi ling mv duty.'' I It- 
 knew that his end was near at hand. 
 To those who offered him consolation 
 he said: "SpMr^ this for my wife and 
 children." lit- w.-i* not afraid of 
 death and he expressed this sentiment 
 in a touching poem.* 
 
 Jost's Antialen (1841, No. 33). 
 
 As a husband and father Moses 
 "Bloch was a model. He devoted his 
 leisure hours only to his family. His 
 wife assisted him in his labors, but 
 for only six yenrs were they permitted 
 to enjoy the blessings of married 
 life, their engagement having lasted 
 eight years. A tretcherous fever 
 ended the u=eful career of a man 
 who would have shed glory and 
 lustre over the cause of Judaism. 
 One of his son?, Gottlieb Bloch, is 
 well versed in Hebrew rabbinical 
 literature,* and has been mainly in- 
 strumental in the establishment of 
 the reform congregation in Toledo, 
 over which be presides. 
 
 Moses Bloch has left in manuscript 
 a number of sermons from which we 
 make the following extracts: 
 
 Jn a sermon dedicating the new 
 synagogue at Buchauf (August 30, 
 1839), he said: "It was a custom in 
 olden times to ask pardon in a 
 synagogue before leaving it for the 
 purpose of giving it over tj other 
 uses. We will do so now in a form 
 more in accord with our ideas than 
 that used by our forefathers. We 
 therefore do not a^>k whether we des- 
 ecrate this temple by taking leave 
 of it today. But we do ask whether 
 we have not off ended against ourselves 
 within its wall by our unseemly bo- 
 haviorinthe sanctuary? Was God in 
 
 We wish the majority of our Ameri- 
 can rabbis were as learned in Jewish 
 literature as this Uyrnan. 
 
 finis is the only published sermon of 
 Bloch.
 
 our heart whenever vie uttered bis 
 name with our lips? If so then we have 
 not been direlict in our duties of 
 reverence in this house. In compar- 
 ing the new temple with the old we 
 see in its beautiful forms symbols of 
 the better civil and social condition of 
 modern Israel. For while churches 
 were situated in the most prominent 
 streets, their steeples reaching to- 
 waHs heaven, the synagogue stood in 
 a hidden corner, like a widow with 
 her orphans weeping in her sorrow 
 and humbly bowing her face to 
 earth. Now, however, that people 
 begin to recognize in the Jew the 
 mor^l man honor is given to Israel's 
 Go'l and glory to his worship, and 
 our temple stands triumphant on 
 the corner of prominent streets of 
 tlie city and proclaims loudly: 
 
 (Praise ye God in his sanctuary)." 
 This verse is the inscription in Hebrew 
 and German over the entrance of the 
 tt inple in Buchau,* this being the 
 only synagogue in the world which 
 possesses a regular church belfry. 
 The sermon continues: "Oh that our 
 fathers and the fathers of our Chris- 
 tian brethren could arise from their 
 g aves and be witnesses of the love 
 v Inch their children manifest today 
 in the presence of the father of all 
 creation .... We build houses of God 
 in order to edify ourselves, we con- 
 secrate synagogues in order to con- 
 secrate ourselves. If we desire to 
 
 *The temple in Toledo, Ohio, bears the 
 same inscription over its entrance. 
 
 9 
 
 find God here it is necessary that we 
 should have sought him before. 
 Whosoever enrers these halls without 
 being worthy of God's service before 
 he enters will Imrdly leave them a 
 servant of God. If one should come 
 here torn by doubts, poor in 
 hope and faith, in order to have per- 
 formed a miraculous cure we would 
 pity such an unfortunate one because 
 of his blindness. 
 
 We have not built a miracle work- 
 ing temple. We could not and would 
 not if we could.... The gates of the 
 synagogue are open even to the hyp- 
 ocrite, but the portals of mercy are 
 shut to him. .. .Take, oh God, this 
 house under thy powerful protection, 
 guard it from destruction, guard it 
 from desecration of its holy offices 
 by ourselves. May it never be wit- 
 ness of cant and fawning sanctimo- 
 nv; may never false sacrifices, which 
 are an abomination in thy eyes, be 
 offered here." 
 
 Fifty -five years ago it ivas certain- 
 ly a manifestation of great courage 
 and independence to thus arraign 
 hypocrisy and false pretense. But 
 Bloch bad both courage and prin- 
 ciple. 
 
 From a sermon preached in Bu- 
 chau on Sibbath J'Tn (before tlie 
 ninth day of Abj, we cull the fol- 
 lowing passage: 
 
 "It is a disease of long standing 
 in Israel which has caused it to lo.'e 
 taste and sense for those things 
 whicli are its ovn, which are useful 
 to it, and it has caused Israel to de-
 
 10 
 
 nounce the water which flows from 
 its own wells, and to extol only the 
 water which flows from other springs. 
 Strange food only is palatable to the 
 dwellers in Israel*. . . .Like the peo- 
 ple of Sodom they are atflicted with 
 blindness. . . .There was the city of 
 God but God did not dwell therein; 
 there stood the temple of God, but 
 only the name made it such. The 
 father's house stood open but the 
 children did not enter to receive the 
 father's love, but to grieve him by 
 their iniquity. The holy city, once 
 the city of righteousness and truth, 
 became a den of murderers (Isa. 1, 
 21). The moat prominent people 
 were as wioked as the lowest, self- 
 ishness and inclination guided their 
 actions, while virtue and duty were 
 empty phrases. The weak and the 
 innocent were forsaken by tha great. 
 For such evil deeds as cried to 
 heaven they wanted to atone by 
 means of sacrifices and prayers; from 
 the wrong they inflicted on man they 
 wished to be absolved by the priest; 
 the blood of animals was to atone 
 for the blood shed in the name of 
 God; the impurity of the soul be 
 expunged by lip service and cere- 
 monies. 
 
 The true, conscientious and sin- 
 cere servants of God, who proclaimed 
 
 *These words are particularly true and 
 applicable In this country. Let a Chris- 
 tian preacher say something in a J-\\i!i 
 t-:nple and the Jews will go wild over It. 
 Let their own rabbi -inn- tliinir. 
 
 say it even better, and they hardly h'-;ir. 
 
 the pure word of God, were ridiculed; 
 the prophets who warned and ad- 
 monished in the name of God were 
 scoffed at. Noble Isaiah spoke the 
 truth unreservedly and openly, and 
 for doing this he comp'ains that no- 
 body cared to hear him. When he 
 attacked most mercilessly the weak 
 points of the people, he was perse- 
 cuted. But he trusted in God, and 
 in the consciousness of his victorious 
 cause he exclamed, "Whosoever says 
 that I was mistaken, let him prove 
 jt." The prophet Jeremiah fared 
 still worse. Amos, who poured out 
 the vials of his wrath against im- 
 moral and Icentious princes, was 
 ordered out of the country; but he 
 was not afraid of the mighty ones in 
 the land, and God was with him, but 
 the people were not with u-od. Thus 
 Israel hastened its inevitable decline. 
 They saw with open eyes the abyss 
 before them, but were deaf to the 
 signal of danger. But who is more 
 blind than he who does not want to 
 see, and more deaf than he who does 
 not want to hear? 
 
 Thus it is today with the house of 
 Israel ... It is true, Israel has learned 
 to know its transgressions, but has 
 it forsaken them? This is a ques- 
 tion which we cannot satisfactorily 
 answer. Israel has suffered more 
 than any other people on the face of 
 the globe, our history is fuller of sad 
 experience than any other history of 
 nnunns. In every calamity we have 
 returned to God, but no sooner is 
 the calamity over than our humility
 
 is also gone. The god of Israel is 
 to Israel only a helper in need, but 
 in joyful times Israel does not care 
 for God's friendship. 
 
 We often hear learned men of today 
 in their arrogant vanity arraign the 
 former generations because of their 
 worship of idols, because of their 
 faith in the efficacy of sacrificial of- 
 ferings and because of their ridicule 
 of the prophets whose office and duty 
 it was to warn, to admonish and to 
 chastise in sermon and speech. Oh, 
 that our dead could arise from their 
 graves and answer th^se reproaches 
 of the present! In imagination we 
 hear them now, and in their name we 
 speak to the present generation. 
 Look to yourself before you judge 
 others. D'TIX 131L"P 'a'.TN'i -pVP CIB'P 
 You of the present day aie in posses- 
 sion of the accumulated experience 
 of almost twenty centuries; you have 
 the benefit of the knowledge, wisdom 
 and science of the olden times and of 
 the new age with the thousands of 
 witnesses numerous teachers have 
 collected and written for you. But 
 where is your wisdom? Where is 
 your virtue? In what do you show 
 yourselves better than we were? 
 Suppose ihe prophet should appear 
 today, would lie not arraign you also 
 for devoting your whole lives anil 
 ambitions to materialism and enjo^ - 
 ment? Read the sermon contained 
 in the first chapter of the enthusiastic 
 Isaiah and \ou will find that if every 
 reproach does not touch you, it is not 
 due to your greater virtue but to the 
 
 11 
 
 change of times and circumstances. 
 Would you of today persecute your 
 prophets less should they tell you an 
 unvarnished tale of your deeds and 
 desires, as they did in former days? 
 Would you decry and revile them 
 less today if they should venture to 
 touch without gloves the sore spot of 
 your religious and moral life, as is the 
 duty of every physician who intends 
 to heal the sick and cure the halt? 
 That you are no better than your 
 progenitors in this respect you have 
 shown by your actions towards your 
 present teachers, who only strive to 
 repeat the words of the old prophets.* 
 You would spare them no hostility 
 nor bitterness, were it not that God's 
 providence protects the teacheis of 
 every religion from insult and mal- 
 treatment,-^ while the old prophets 
 were given up by the worldly powers 
 to the wrath of the people. What 
 then ju^t'fies you in elevating your- 
 selves above the generations of yore? 
 
 *Bloch alludes to the disapproval by 
 his congregation of a sermon on "Fraud 
 and Cheating" delivered by him. Very 
 few are the rabbis in this country who 
 undergo such experiences, for they are 
 shrewd, therefore seldom preach but 
 srivf lectures ta which have 
 
 nothing to do with the .Fi-wish pulpit. 
 In this way they naturally will offend no- 
 body and please son;". \Yh<- 
 of a .lew being offended by a lecture 
 on Snowllakes." ''Sanitary Plumbing" 
 or "Evolution." 
 
 f Bloch evidently refers to the fact that 
 in \Yuertemberg the rabbis were govern- 
 ment ollieials and consequently pro- 
 tected.
 
 12 
 
 Have you a country to lose through 
 your evil deeds? Have you a nation 
 which you could degrade bv your ob- 
 stinacy and opposition to justice and 
 truth? Have you a holy city, a holy 
 temple which you could destroy by 
 means of your misdeeds? And thus 
 these old generations would keep on 
 answering you and silence your 
 boasting vanity. 
 
 Now tell me, brethren, have we 
 reason to cease our mourning for the 
 destruction of Jerusalem and of the 
 temple? Are we satisfied in claim- 
 imr that tin- evils for which our an- 
 
 o 
 
 cestors suffered have vanished among 
 us?.... Not yet is the stigma re- 
 moved from us that we hear without 
 heeding, that we see without under- 
 standing, that the heart of Israel is 
 rendered up to the god of material- 
 ism and sensualism (f^l"). Not yet 
 are we purified from all uncleanli- 
 ness. Not yet are we able to change 
 the fast of the fifth month into a fes- 
 tival of joy in accord with the words 
 of Sachariah, because the conditions 
 of this consummation require that we 
 Move truth and peace,' therefore they 
 are not yet fulfilled. Our prayer, how- 
 ever, is that God may liHsten the ad- 
 vent of this glorious time of joy." 
 
 In a confirmation service of 1836 
 Hindi said among other thin ITS: 
 
 He who believes in God only be- 
 cause nobody ought to live without 
 God; he who is a .lew because ho 
 has no other choice, he is compar- 
 able to a man adorned with costly 
 jewels who but sighs under his very 
 
 splendor, for while distinguishing 
 
 him to the eye it oppresses him If 
 we do not recognize from conviction 
 what we have been taught from earlv 
 youth, then we are simple slaves of 
 habit and custom. A. religion which 
 
 O 
 
 we only profess without comprehen- 
 sion, is for the Jew what the red mark 
 is on the back of the sheep simply 
 a sign of the owner. 
 
 The children of the rich have no 
 advantage over the children of the 
 poor, &o far as true happiness is Con- 
 cerned, provided they have received 
 from tlieir parents a good education 
 and are imbued with the idea that 
 whatever happens has been sent by 
 God for their good." If you have reli- 
 gion and fear of God you may ex- 
 claim with the pious singer: 'Though 
 father and mother have forsaken me. 
 God will be my protection.' KMT\ 
 calling and vocation has its tempta 
 tions; every trade has its tricks !>-. 
 means of which advantage and ga"i 
 invite you to practice dishonesty. 
 Take care and beware of such tei- 
 rible wrongs, lest ye iall on this slip- 
 pery path. Fear God, who is om- 
 niscient. If you please him it is well 
 with you, you will acquire the high- 
 est gain; if you displease him no 
 wealth and no worldly riches can 
 ease your burdened conscience.... 
 you would be lo*t for time and eter- 
 nity, and no finite influence would 
 be able to rebuild what you have 
 destroyed with your own hands. 
 Therefore come, children, listen to me ; 
 I will teach you the fear of God so
 
 that you may remain in the state of 
 innocence, notwithstanding that you 
 leave the state of childhood. This 
 blessing consists in that you may 
 everywhere and at all times publicly 
 acknowledge your confession of to- 
 day, that you are proud of the name 
 Jew not only in words but in heart, 
 that you become servants of God, 
 Israelites in whom he shalTglory 
 
 tKDns' ID -IPX Sx-i&r 
 May this hour be ever present in your 
 minds, guard you from the pitfalls 
 of sin, from violation of morality, 
 and from desecration of the name 
 Jew. For me this day finishes my 
 duties with you, but your duties be- 
 gin. You leave our small school in 
 order to enter the school of life, which 
 is often very stormy. But if you heed 
 the lessons which 1 have tried to in- 
 culcate in you, you need not fear 
 fate and even evil cannot do you 
 harm." 
 
 In a sermon on Levitic II, verse 
 44, "And ye shall sanctify your- 
 selves and be holy" Bloch shows 
 himself a preacher without fear who 
 is not timid in conviction nor hesi- 
 tating in chastizing moral shortcom- 
 ings of the gravest nature, sins and 
 vices which modern moralists pass in 
 silence. He said among other things: 
 
 "Sanctity consists in elevation 
 over sensuality. If religion does not 
 bear high fruit, if it does not ennoble 
 man morally, if it does not raise his 
 human dignity then so far is it from 
 being a sanctification for him that it 
 becomes a burden which weighs him 
 
 13 
 
 down. And while our religion does 
 not encourage total abstinence, does 
 not teach that man can become a 
 favorite of God by sacrificing his 
 body (as I have explained in my ser- 
 mon on the "Nazir"), it is none the 
 less the aim of Judaism that mmi 
 should control his sensuality, govern 
 his desires and appetites. Only in 
 so doing is man capable of lifting 
 himself from animalism to Godliness." 
 
 The following arraignment of the 
 superficial argumentation of "athe- 
 ists" and "rationalists" strikes home 
 forcibly even in our enlightened 
 age of "agnosticism" and "ethical 
 culture." 
 
 "Who can approve of the despot- 
 ism of reason which proclaims from 
 the housetops its philosophy, so- 
 called, its followers hoping by so do- 
 ing to be considered wise people. 
 Why? Is this such a difficult accom- 
 plishment? Who is not 'smart' enough 
 to say, 'I do not believe this or that, 
 or, I do not believe in anything.' 
 The Hottentots say the same thing. 
 Hence they must be regarded as 
 great philosophers by those enlight- 
 ened sceptics who deny everything. 
 And yet they are but poor Hotten- 
 tots! How foolish is the heartless 
 joy with which our infidels proclaim 
 their doubts and unbelief, offering a* 
 it were their poisen to healthy if ig- 
 norant youth. It seems to me this 
 betrays weakness rather than strength 
 of rnind. I am afraid it is the result 
 of a stricken, anxious conscience 
 which seeks support in the numerical
 
 14 
 
 Strength of a desired constituency. 
 The absurdities, the superstition and 
 bigotry which have been added 
 to our religion by people with- 
 out authority are most distasteful to 
 roe. I hate these excrescences from 
 the bottom of my heart. But let us be 
 careful not to throw away the kernel 
 with the shell (tftw in it tlem Hade 
 auszuschuetten). Holinesss is the 
 principal purpose of our religion, 
 holines-s in the elevation of our human 
 dignity by means of religion, sancti- 
 ty of our morals, sanctity of our con- 
 duct. Let us remove the fetters of 
 animal sensualism from Israel, let us 
 strengthen the dominion of the divine 
 in man over the low appet'tes and 
 desires of his earthly part/' 
 
 In a second sermon on the same 
 subject he enters more fully into de- 
 tails and freely discusses local vices 
 and social abuses with a courage and 
 independence which we seldom meet 
 in the modern pulpit of this free re- 
 public. In spite of the boast of free 
 speech made by the young men who 
 occupy many a prominent pulpit in 
 our congregations and read essays 
 on "sanitary plumbing," "evolution," 
 "Browning"' and other trivial mat- 
 ters (which are more ably discussed 
 in our magazines) whi! > -^Mect 
 
 to deal with moral question!, convert 
 
 tin- temple into a It -ctnre-liall, and 
 deprive the pulpit of :;mate 
 
 function. < >f ( ur.-'- tliry know what 
 
 ioinir. In the first place 
 
 <}] reading of the so-called pliil"Hiph- 
 
 ical essays is an easy thing owing 
 
 to the large number of period it-alb, 
 magazines, newspapers and encyclo- 
 pa'dias containing such essays. In 
 the second place it pays better from 
 a business point of view and is the 
 easiest road to cheap popularity. 
 For if it does not always please, it 
 does not displease. Now it goes 
 without sayiug t that a sermon which 
 recalls men to their moral duties will 
 not please everybody, certainly not 
 the men or women who feel that the 
 words of the preacher have struck 
 home. A discourse, however, on 
 philosophical systems or historical 
 movements will not brush against 
 actual weakness or present human 
 failings. He who covets above all 
 else both the peace and comfort of 
 his own position, and seeks mainly 
 the cheap admiration of his generous 
 flock will travel this road. It will 
 most directly land him in the port of 
 popularity. But he who like Bloch 
 does not look upon the mission of a 
 rabbi as a mere bread and -butter 
 business will not preach only to 
 please. He takes the prophet Isaiah 
 as his pattern and believes that the 
 preacher's office is to "call aloud, not 
 to hold back, and to reproach the 
 people because of their transgres- 
 sions and sins." True, these preach- 
 ers had Mum-times a rocky road to 
 travel. They were n./t perhaps 
 
 n, flogged or imprisoned like 
 Isaiah. Micali or .len-inijih, 'hut they 
 certainly did not enjoy tin- > 
 popularity of , modern 
 
 TS." The pulpit is either su-
 
 perfluous or it is called to talk, and 
 that without uncertain sound, on the 
 responsibilities of human life. Abol- 
 ish it altogether if there is no room 
 for it in this capacity! That sermon 
 which pleases least and arouses the 
 strongest opposition is generally the 
 truest. It must have struck home. 
 The outspoken courageous pulpit 
 may not always be harvesting rich 
 fruits of populnrity, but in the long 
 run it will serve the people best. 
 
 In this second sermon on sanctity 
 and morality, L)r. Bloch said: 
 
 "Religion and morality comple- 
 ment each other. He who is strictly 
 moral is at the same time religious 
 in the broad sense of the word; 
 and nobody can be religious who 
 is not at the same time morally 
 pure in action and thought. It is 
 paganism, not Judaism, to compromise 
 with morality. We often hear it 
 said, 'This man is religious but his 
 moral life is not what it ought to be.' 
 This is just as foolish as if we said, 
 This is a very good man but his 
 heart is very wicked.' Morality is 
 not an adopted orphan on which re- 
 ligion mercifully takes pity. No, it 
 is religion's twin sister. It is proof 
 of an utter misunderstanding and 
 misconception of the word 'morality,' 
 if people claim that the difference of 
 station in life and of age have to bo 
 considered in its practice. There is 
 no privilege exempting anyone from 
 the dictates of morality. And yet it 
 is surprising how careless many so- 
 called religious people are of the 
 
 15 
 
 rising generation, as if youth were 
 an excuse for licentiousness. I 
 touched upon this sore spot six 
 months ago, and I would not speak a 
 second time on this subject were it 
 not for the deplorable fact that the 
 sacrifices to immorality and licen- 
 tiousness are beginning to be alarm- 
 ing. I know that today as well as 
 half a year ago my good intention 
 will be misunderstood and even pur- 
 posely misrepresented; but aside 
 from the call of duty is the appreci- 
 ation of the truly good and pious Is- 
 raelites,and this indemnifies the honest 
 and sincere servant of God in his 
 .thankless task. Look at the conse- 
 quences of an immoral life enerva- 
 tion, loss of good name and las.t but 
 not least the fearful unhappiness of 
 those innocent children who come 
 into the world without parents to 
 love and care for them. The name 
 of father, which should be a prayer 
 to every child, can never be pro- 
 nounced by the innocent lips of 
 these poor infants without bringing 
 the blush of shame to th^ir cheeks. 
 They may speak this holy name in joy 
 or in sorrow and nobody will answer. 
 Oh, these poor sheep without a 
 shepherd! Abandoned by their father, 
 their mother's shame, these unfurt- 
 unates grow up neglected, physical, 
 intellectual and moral care ab^-nt. 
 And yet today as once before, 1 must 
 repeat that half the blame lies in the 
 thoughtlessness with which the edu- 
 cation of children is conducted. 
 With open eyes or worse, with eyes
 
 16 
 
 purposely blind parents let their 
 children do what they will. Therefore 
 their children evince no reverence 
 for them and do not obey them. The 
 parents are not the masters but the 
 slaves, yea the tortured slaves of the 
 children for whom they labor hsird 
 day and night. But* the parents 
 simply reap the fruit they have sown, 
 the fruit of their false education, and 
 pay back with enormous interest the 
 capital of their folly. King David 
 never reprimanded his sons, therefore 
 they inclined to sin. 
 
 Man with his propensity for evil 
 can become a dangerous mem- 
 ber of society if he does not en- 
 joy the benefits of a good education. 
 Therefore a public school educat on 
 is the most urgent need of the hour. 
 This benefit ought to be taken ad- 
 vantage of with sincerest gratitude 
 by every parent who cares in the 
 least for the happiness of his child. 
 How sad then is the perverseness of 
 many fathers of families in our midst 
 who consider it a veritable gain when 
 their children miss school for half a 
 day. Worse than this, in order to 
 miss school with impunity the child 
 is actually taught by his parents to 
 invent all sorts of lies and excuses. 
 Do we not see to our great sorrow 
 how parents employ every imagina- 
 ble device in order to effect a dismissal 
 of their children from school before 
 they have attained the legal age? It 
 is shameful that fathers and particu- 
 larly mothers in time of school ex- 
 aminations virtually storm the offices 
 
 of the school inspectors as a mob be- 
 sieges a bakery in time of fanv.ne. 
 And all this in order to deprive 
 their offspring of the benefits of edu- 
 cation.* All this is bad seed pro- 
 ductive of poisonous fruit, a sin of 
 the parents for which the children 
 suffer. May the day soon come of 
 which the prophet said, 'God will 
 turn the heart of parents to their 
 children and of children to their pa- 
 rents. JT3N 3^ Tl'Vll Amen." 
 
 In a sermon delivered February 
 10, 1828, in Kappel, '\Vuertetnberg, 
 on the text, "And Israel saw the 
 great work which God did upon the 
 Egyptians and the people were afraid 
 of God and they believed in God" 
 (Kxodus chap. 14, 31), Bloch siid 
 the following good things. 
 
 'It is common experience that 
 many people enter the halls of light 
 and salvation only through the por- 
 tals of darkness and misery. So it 
 was in gray antiquity, so it is today. 
 For mankind, so far as weakness is 
 concerned, remains nearly the same 
 in all ages and climes. The great 
 tokens of love and kindness shown 
 by Jehovah to Israel made little im- 
 pression upon them. But the chas- 
 tizing hand, the destructive power 
 of God caused them to fear him. 
 After the terrible punishments they 
 exclaimed 'God is great.' But ju*t 
 as little as a father wishes to be 
 dreaded by his children instead of 
 being loved by them, so little does 
 
 *As a rule the boys went peddling or 
 engaged in the cattle busln-
 
 God wish for the slavish fear of those 
 whom he saves from sorrow. Our 
 sages beautifully remark: 
 
 n-pB> onoiN Dnxi D'u unta -P wo 
 
 (Thy creatures perished in the sea 
 and you want to sing hymns of 
 praise?) If calamity and sorrow is 
 the only reason for recognition of the 
 love of the Most High, then recogni- 
 tion is of little moral value. It is 
 not favorable to humanity that so 
 few people lift up their eyes to God, 
 until they have been hurled from 
 their heights into the depth of misery 
 and are utterly unable to rise by 
 their own efforts. Then of a sudden 
 man becomes religious; he grows in 
 piety and weakness at the same time. 
 Then from belief in nothing to faith 
 in everything is only a short step. 
 Today he does not believe in God, 
 tomorrow if circumstances require it 
 he will believe in God and in all the 
 saints. So it was with ancient Is- 
 rael. First these small narrow-mind- 
 ed people exclaimed in dismay, 'Let 
 us return to Egypt-' Trust in God 
 had fallen below zero. But as soon 
 as they were delivered from the 
 abyss of despair and could again 
 freely lift their heads lo, and behold 
 
 they believed not only in God but 
 in his servant Moses. But what 
 should we expect of such one-day 
 flowers? As soon as there was a 
 dearth of water, all their boasted fear 
 of God and respect for his prophet 
 departed. Now you may say theso 
 were slaves just freed from their 
 
 17 
 
 chains. But pray, how is it in this 
 respect among the free sons of our 
 enlightened a<:e? I)o we not usually 
 enter light through darkness'' Only 
 affliction causes us to look up 
 to God; only through his help 
 comes our faith. Many among us 
 are so great in their own eyes that 
 they do not believe in the greatness 
 and power of God until they have 
 become small indeed and quite pow- 
 erless. Such faith however is but 
 fear of the wrath of the Almighty, is 
 not elevation but degradatio 
 bowing down in cowardice. But 
 why should the present generation 
 with its experience and accumulated 
 knowledge of so many thousmd 
 years not attain a higher standard of 
 civilization, culture and dignitv as 
 men and Israelites than did our an- 
 cestors after their delivery from 
 slavery? This will be clear to us 
 when we bear in mind the every -day 
 life of the Israelite. All he cares for 
 is materialism. 'How can I better 
 my financial affairs?' This is the only 
 question which interests him. This 
 is his thought when awake, his 
 dream when asleep. Higher, ideal 
 things do not exist for him. He 
 only thinks of God when in trouble. 
 Is it then any wonder that the people 
 have no true conception of God? To 
 the one he appears simply as a rich 
 capitalist of whom he expects 
 aid in financial embarrassment; to the 
 other as a physician whose skill may 
 cure him of some bodily pain. 
 
 But this is all wronir. \Ve ought 
 to serve God in joy, gladness, and
 
 18 
 
 while we are in possession of the 
 good things of life. 2> 21C21 T :L"Z 
 Then and then only Israel would be 
 in truth 'holy peopleV 
 
 In a sermon on the eighth com- 
 mandment "Thou shalt not steal," 
 delivered November 5, 1836, we find 
 the following passages, particularly 
 interesting because of the great cour- 
 age of the preacher in enunciating 
 them. Among all the lectures and 
 sermons which we have seen in the 
 wel ve years in this country and 
 there ;irc more sermons published 
 here than in Europe not one treated 
 on the important subject of cornmer 
 <-ial honesty."" 
 
 "The best commentators on the 
 eighth commandment are they who 
 have been themselves, by their inno- 
 cent credulity and inexperience vic- 
 tims of the crafty and artful tricks of 
 those in whose honesty they had 
 faith. They know best what the 
 words 'Thou shalt not steal' mean 
 who have had to pay dearly to their 
 teachers \vh> :>y the way generally 
 belong to the upper strata of society 
 and who at the end of their appren- 
 ticeship have come to the conclusion 
 that 2::n S^ had a wider and br 
 meaning than is usually accepted. 
 They have learned that many a busi- 
 !ian flipping tin- reputation of 
 
 a rig' . st, charitable 
 
 airl fairdcalmg man in the light of 
 
 Id stand 
 victed of Yibited in the 
 
 ;y In this 
 
 eighth commandment, a thief in dis- 
 guise, a wolf in sheep's clothing. 
 This apprentice will prove to us by 
 bitter experience that those thieves 
 are the most dangerous who under- 
 stand how to evade the arm of jus- 
 tice, slipping like eels through the 
 meshes of the law's net and hiding 
 their iniquity under the flag of an 
 honest face. Is the murderer who 
 kills by slow poison more excusable 
 than the one who strikes with the axe 
 at the head of his victim? Does he 
 who robs his fellowmen by cheating, 
 forgery, false pretenses, lies, tricks, 
 fraudulent failures and other means 
 contained in the text ^ooks of crime 
 break in a less degree the eighth 
 commandment than the burglar who 
 breaks at night into your house and 
 steals your property? The one is 
 robbed in the darkness of night and 
 the other in the darkness of his inex- 
 perience. We think the latter kind 
 of theft is worse. 
 
 Against the burglar we can use 
 precaution, but who can <niard him- 
 self against a treacherous friend who 
 takes mean advantage of our trust- 
 fulness. How can the dove guard 
 against the nrtful serpent? Tl; 
 trayal of tha trust of our fellowmen 
 is justly condemned by ourold - 
 as Mil- utal and moral theft.' They 
 say 'It is forbidden to steal the con- 
 fidence of a man be he Jew or hea- 
 then." In fact an honest man will be 
 more mortified by such a theft than 
 by the theft of property. And yet, 
 while it is deemed a lisfraco to be a
 
 burglar there are any number of 
 Jews who claim that the eighth 
 commandment is not broken by 
 fraudulence, lying, denying, abet- 
 ting theft and other acts of deceit. 
 The commercial language has other 
 and euphonious names for this kind of 
 stealing. Cheating is called 'taking 
 advantage of an opportunity,' deny- 
 ing is styled 'proper precaution,' 
 'keeping stolen goods is called 'con- 
 cealing what one knows,' a 'word of 
 honor'is merely a pretty phrase which 
 none of the parties take seriously, 
 and 'thou shalt not steal' means only 
 'thou shalt not be a house breaker.' 
 There are those who in order to alle- 
 viate their conscience for having 
 made a beggar of many au honest 
 man, give alms to beggars and strike 
 their breast in the synagogue. Some 
 of these Jews try to find an excuse 
 for their thievish proclivities by dis- 
 criminating between their corelig- 
 ionists and gentiles, taking advan- 
 tage of the passage iniD V 3 TWO (If 
 a heathen makes a mistake in busi- 
 ness you may profit by it), for the 
 purpose of defrauding a non-Jew. 
 Such acts are contemptible. Sup- 
 pose a rabbi in the heat of passion, 
 perhaps while irritated by the great 
 wrongs afflicting the persecuted 
 Jews, uttered this unfortunate sen- 
 tence in the time of heathendom? 
 Why do these thieves not follow the 
 injunctions of Maimonidesand numer- 
 ous others of our ^a^es and teachers 
 
 B 
 
 who implicitly prohibited fraud 
 whether committed against Jew or 
 
 19 
 
 gentile? But alas, these hypocrites 
 use the laws only for their advantage 
 and gain, and translate scripture to 
 suit their avarice. But the fate of 
 such people is most deplorable. 
 They do not reap the rewards of their 
 dishonesty. The fate of those who 
 build their fortunes on the ruins of 
 their defrauded and robbed fellow- 
 men is most sad, worse than that of 
 their victims. For as the prophet 
 Jeremiah exclaims, 'He who acquires- 
 wealth by dishonest means %ill 
 loose it in the midst of his days.* 
 And when the last hour of his earthly 
 career strikes at least two witnesses 
 will testify against him; one is God, 
 who knows all things, the other is his 
 conscience which will rise as a merci- 
 less accuser against him. The sinner 
 cannot deny his transgressions; they 
 are written on his conscience. The 
 stolen money clings to his hands, 
 his house is full of it, his medicine is 
 bought with it, the prayer-book on 
 wnich he offers his soul to the All- 
 merciful, the garments in which he 
 will be buried, the costly monument 
 on which the words, 'Lo thou shalt 
 not steal' ought to be engraved, the 
 inheritance which he leaves his 
 children, all are the reward of theft. 
 Would it not be far better if lie 
 had left less to his children and died 
 a righteous man? Would it not 
 have been far better for him to re- 
 ceive a charity burial and have de- 
 parted from life an honest man? 
 Then it could have been said of him, 
 He would rather die a poor man
 
 than enjoy unrighteous riches; he 
 left no money to his heirs but he left 
 to them the heritage of a good name 
 and the value of a good example, 
 which is preferable to a large inher- 
 itance burdened with the curses of 
 ruined, cheated, robbed and defraud- 
 ed men, women and children who 
 will accuse him before the throne of 
 judgment for his sins against 
 2U:n vh 'thou shalt not steal'." 
 
 In a sermon on Pharaoh's dream 
 tuber 30, 1837, delivered in 
 Kappel) Block said among other 
 things: 
 
 "Our religion is free from that form 
 of prejudice which would have it 
 that man cannot evade his destiny. 
 No; we endorse the taltnudical saying 
 "S'"'? Sf9 pK Israel does not believe 
 in luck, stars,* fate, or destiny; God 
 alone is our ruler. ... If a man should 
 say, 'I shall do absolutely nothing 
 in this or that emergency, 1 shall 
 turn no hand to avert this or that 
 calamity, but leave it entirely in the 
 hands of God, come what may,' etc., 
 let us beware of seeing in such words 
 piety, religion and unconditional fear 
 of God. Resignation is good, but 
 we must first do our utmost t<i H\ ert 
 misfortune or, at least, to mitigate it. 
 To say: ni-r pryz 2 en n c-I... t 
 God do whatsoever lie, (It-ems right"), 
 is cer'ainly comforting. Hut it is not 
 seldom that thi- ]> 1 by 
 
 hypocrites in order to palliate their 
 indolence or recklessness. They are 
 
 * Masol literally means star. 
 
 ashamed of their inactivity and there- 
 fore give it the color of piety and sanc- 
 timoniousness. Yet such perversity 
 is a sin against God and against self. 
 It murders man's ambition and is 
 disobedience to God, who sends bur- 
 dens not that we should succumb 
 to their weight, but that we may 
 test our moral strength thereby. We 
 have our years of plenty and our 
 years of want as they in Egypt had. 
 Let nobody say, 'If God did not in- 
 tend that I should spend today all I 
 possess he would not have given it 
 to me.' No; God entrusts our be- 
 longings to our wisdom and insight. 
 Else why would he have ordered 
 that in winter the fields should be 
 bare and dreary while in summer 
 they are full and blessed. Only 
 when we have done our very best 
 and are yet unable to save for a 
 rainy day may we conscientiously 
 exclaim, 'Those that trust in God 
 will not be ashamed. Whenever our 
 own strength is at an end, the mercy 
 of God, which is endless, will show 
 itself. Happy is he who trusts in 
 God'-" 
 
 From a sermon on Gen. xviii. 20 
 23 on Abraham's prayer for So- 
 dom (N'o\ emlier '5, Is:) 1 .), delivered 
 in Buohau), which we consider one of 
 Bloch's best efforts, we cull the fol- 
 lowing pas.-ages: 
 
 "Translated into occidental phrase- 
 ology this chapter conveys the fol- 
 lowing idea: No matter how large 
 the number of the wicked nor how 
 small that of the righteous people,
 
 there is nevertheless hope for a place 
 wherein will be glorified the few good 
 men because of the example they 
 set and because of the influence they 
 exert. Better that a thousand sin- 
 ners go unpunished than that one 
 innocent man be injured in his right, 
 was the burden of Abraham's suppli- 
 cations. Abraham's true greatness 
 was his unselfishness. If a man is 
 only good for himself and his imme- 
 diate family, then he cannot yet be 
 styled a righteous man. His so-called 
 goodness is nothing but egotism, 
 selfishness and narrowmindedness. 
 Not to injure or disturb others is, to 
 be sure, right; but it is no more than 
 our bounden duty, and by no means 
 a meritorious virtue. He who does 
 no evil has not therefore done good. 
 By letting others do as they please, 
 be it good or evil, he has done noth- 
 ing for humanity. The most worth- 
 less of fellows, who cares for others 
 no more than for himself, does that 
 much. The man who claims to be 
 pious, but secludes himself from the 
 world, does nothing for or against 
 that world, and proves by this his 
 indifference or contempt for those 
 with whom he will not have inter- 
 course. We justly blame the rich 
 who use their wealth and treasures 
 for their own pleasure and enjoy- 
 ment only. How much more does 
 he deserve our unmitigated contempt 
 who, over conscious of his moral 
 wealth and virtue, raises himself 
 above others, not thereby to lift them 
 up to his standard, but to look down 
 
 21 
 
 upon them! The Midrash has the 
 following to say on the subject, 'A 
 wise man, well versed in the intrica- 
 cies of Jewish lore, who when some- 
 times accosted by an orphan or 
 widow to decide a case for them, 
 would answer, 4 I have no time, I 
 must study.' Of him God says, 'You 
 have destroyed the world'. (Rabba 
 Exodus, chap. xxx. D'ODt^D) What 
 would we think of a physician who, 
 called to give advice m case of dan- 
 gerous sickness, would excuse him- 
 self saying, 'I have to study.' And 
 so, even so, are some of our pious 
 men like a tree of thorns in the des- 
 ert, towering high but giving neither 
 shade nor fruit. What an absurdi- 
 ty! To believe in God, but to be of 
 no benefit to man! It is certainly 
 cheaper to serve God than to serve 
 the poor. But God despises ^uch 
 servants, who only serve themselves, 
 and expect even for that service a 
 great reward. The truly pious men 
 in Israel ought to take Abraham as 
 their model, and serve others." 
 
 In a sermon (February 57, 1836, 
 delivered in Buchau) on a text 
 from Ezechiel, "Speak to the house 
 of Israel, that they may feel ashamed 
 of their sins," we rea<]: "They may 
 well be ashamed of their fins, for in- 
 deed these sins are disgraceful, be- 
 cause their origin is the polluted 
 source of evil passions. These are 
 selfishness and egotism, which make 
 money their god, the strong-box 
 their temple, bow down before it, 
 and pray to it. The egotibt reveres
 
 22 
 
 his God most when no sacrifices are 
 demanded of him. The least gift to 
 charity appears to him like a painful 
 abridgement of his means for per- 
 sonal gratification. Whenever he is 
 asked to contribute something for a 
 temple he is frightened. For he 
 sees in the temple an enemy to the 
 only god he worships; namely, his 
 money. Such people will tell you 
 that principle restrain* their gener- 
 osity because they do not believe 
 in alms-giving to temples. Do not 
 believe them. They try to hide their 
 selfishness, sordidness, narrowmind- 
 edness and egotism under the broad 
 cloak of so-called infidelity and 
 atheism. They are no atheists; 
 those who call themselves such be- 
 believe in a God, not in the God of 
 Israel, but in the golden calf. It is 
 very easy to appear 'enlightened;' it 
 is also very cheap. Their claim to 
 be more charitable than others is 
 hollow pretense and mockery. They 
 certainly make money by the per- 
 formance and get cheap advertise- 
 ment as 'philanthropists.' It is sham, 
 show and false pretense. 
 
 And, after all, what does all se'f- 
 ishness amount to? You cannot eat 
 more than your appetite craves, you 
 cannot wear more than one coat or 
 one pair of shoes at a time. And 
 whether they who inherit your wealth 
 will thank you for having been 
 known all vour lifetime as a selfish 
 
 * 
 
 man i* a question which cannot be 
 ared. 
 
 Aii'l, in tl:.- <-n<l, .-v.-r\ contribu- 
 
 tion to a good public cause ought to 
 fill even the most selfish with a feel- 
 ing of joy in the consciousness of 
 duty well performed." 
 
 Following is an extract from a 
 Passover sermon (Buchau, March 30, 
 1839) on the text: "I am the Lord 
 your God, who brought you out of 
 the land of Egypt to be your God." 
 
 "Israel's history of the Exodus 
 from Egypt is the first lesson show- 
 ing how the force of tyranny in the 
 end is instrumental in its own de- 
 struction, and how oppression at last 
 is righted. Israel was the first op- 
 pressed nation. Its history begins 
 with a demonstration of the consol 
 ing fact that every wickedness com- 
 mitted by man against humanity will 
 be punished. Since nations have 
 suffered from the despotism of un- 
 just rulers, have sighed under the 
 iron yoke of tyrants, have been 
 robbed of their right and liberties, 
 they have looked upon Israel's re- 
 demption from Egyptian slavery us 
 an encouraging sign that servitude 
 of man is hateful to God. The same 
 God who redeemed Israel from the 
 bondage of Egypt will ultimately 
 help all his children and save them 
 from unjust oppression and misery. 
 ....This festival commands us to 
 impress upon our children the mean- 
 ing of liberty within the limits of 
 law. . ..But it also teaches us' that 
 Israel's mission is freedom, and that 
 a slavish fear in religion or in poli- 
 tics is unworthy -)f a moral man. 
 Our religion is rooted in religioua
 
 and political liberty. Therefore it 
 could only become the possession of a 
 free people. Israel had first to be 
 freed from bondage before it could 
 be made worthy of the blessing of 
 the Ten Commandments. Many en- 
 emies of Israel reproach us with pos- 
 sessing a slavish submission. To this 
 we can proudly answer: Our relig- 
 ion is not the cause of our submis- 
 sion. Wherever that is found it is 
 the result of conditions which op- 
 press and crush the Jewish spirit, the 
 consequence of a sin committed 
 against the Jew by his bitter ene- 
 mies. This charge ought to burden 
 the conscience of those who make 
 it, not ours. If the Jew is accused 
 of cringing and fawning, his relig- 
 ion is not responsible for that. Wher- 
 evr the Jew has been treated like 
 a worm he has perforce kissed the 
 dust. But wherever he is permitted 
 to live unmolested there he proves 
 his manhood, conscious of his Juda- 
 ism, conscious of his dignity as a 
 servant of God who cannot be the 
 slave of man." 
 
 In a sermon on Succoth (Septem- 
 ber 26, 1836) Block ingeniously 
 claims that the reason why the feast 
 of booths is so little celebrated is be- 
 cause in an age of luxury people 
 hate to be reminded of the simplici- 
 ty of life as symbolized by the tent 
 and tabernacle. Another reason is 
 given; that is, that Israel is no longer 
 an agricultural people. 
 
 In a sermon on jnivo y'i?n deliv- 
 ered in 1836 in Kappel, Bloch said: 
 
 23 
 
 "Forourgeneration with its changed 
 conditions these precepts and Jaws 
 appear to be a dead letter without 
 living application. The men of 
 science and not teachers of religion 
 hnve nowadays to watch over the 
 physical welfare of man. But to the 
 priest and teacher of religion is as- 
 signed the more difficult task of 
 guarding over man's spiritual wel- 
 fare, to cure moral diseases and to 
 decide what is pure or impure in the 
 body politic of a community, state or 
 nation. 
 
 The physician of the soul will also 
 find different symptoms of diseases 
 which are apparent not only in the 
 body, but in the surroundings of 
 man, in his house and garments. The 
 state of a sick soul and a diseased 
 spirit is worse than sickness of the 
 flesh. Just think of Isaiah's descrip- 
 tion of such a state: 'Woe, sinful 
 nation, people laden with iniquity, 
 seed of evildoers, children that are 
 corrupt ! They have forsaken the 
 Lord, have incensed the Holy One 
 of Israel; they are gone backward.' 
 Can there be a more dangerous poi- 
 son than sin? (.'an there be a more 
 terrible disease than that which makes 
 him loathe the joys of virtue, makes 
 him forsake God, makes him depart 
 from the way of righteousness! 
 Therefore the prophet says: 'With 
 the disease of your soul your whole 
 body is diseased.' Why will ye be 
 stricken yet more? Every mind is 
 sick, every heart is faint. From thp 
 sole of the foot even unto the head
 
 24 
 
 there is no soundness in it; but 
 wounds and bruises and putrefying 1 
 sores; they have not been closed, nor 
 bound up, nor mollified with oil. 
 (Isa. 14-7.) Thus the physician of 
 the soul has to engage in the most 
 difficult and most noble art, to find 
 a cure for the leprosy of a sinful 
 heart. I say most difficult art. be- 
 cause he has the thankless task of 
 finding out the disease, of discover- 
 ing it under the hypocritical sem- 
 blance of health. If a person hurts 
 his finger he cries, woe, woe, because 
 of his pain. But let his soul be pol- 
 luted with the poison of fcin, let his 
 heart be consumed by the fires of 
 passion, he will simulate health, ami 
 shun every remedy offered him by 
 religion. Is it not difficult to heal 
 when the wound is concealed, the 
 pain denied? And yet sin is the 
 disease of the soul, wickedness is the 
 leprosy of the heart. 'Oh, if I only 
 could regain gocd health, could get 
 rid of this or that bodily pain,' is the 
 cry and prayer of all those afflicted 
 with some physical disease. But 
 how seldom do we wish to be cured 
 from the ills of the heart and soul! 
 And yet sin lurks before the door 
 and there is no man living who can 
 say 'I have never sinned.' The 
 physician who can cure leprosy of 
 -. PS to In- railed a priest 
 of the most holy God. I wish that 
 you would value higher a healthy 
 soul than a healthy body, and that 
 you would ohev the instructions and 
 precepts of tli f the soul 
 
 just as strictly as you obey those of 
 the physician of the body. 
 
 Let a physician declare a disease 
 as contagious and dangerous and 
 everybody will shun the patient, and 
 the fiat 'unclean' will rob the sick 
 man so afflicted of pity and human 
 aid. But let a physician of the soul 
 dare to warn his congregation of the 
 danger of contagion arising from 
 keeping company with incorrigible 
 sinners and chronic evildoers and his 
 word will hardly be heard. The 
 boundary line between the pure and 
 impure is most carelessly overstepped, 
 as if the health of the soul were a 
 valueless charge. Instead of thanks 
 and rewards the priest receives scorn 
 and sneers. 
 
 And yet the physician of the soul 
 has the duty of seeing the patient 
 though he may not call him, for he 
 does not consider himself sick. In 
 fact the more the patient refuses 
 spiritual medicines the more is it 
 needed, and in God's name the phy- 
 sician has to pronounce 'clean' or 
 'unclean,' as the case may be. It is 
 his duty to watch most carefully 
 over the soal of those under his care, 
 to cleanse the impure, to keep the 
 pure from contagion, and to decide 
 in acc.or i with scriptural ordin 
 
 If the poison of sin and corruption 
 has taken full possession of a man, 
 if the leprosy of wickedness and evil 
 fills every thought and sentiment of 
 this unfortunate to such an extent 
 that there is absolutely no room for 
 g tod, no redeeming feature at all in
 
 him, thea everybody will naturally 
 shun him, his example is no more 
 contagious, or as scripture puts it, 
 'If the leprosy has spread over the 
 whole body, then the man is clean.' 
 Kin lino T3i) 1an VMS which means 
 that there is no danger of contagion. 
 He is known bv his color. If even 
 gray hair and old age have no power 
 to bring the evildoer to his senses, if 
 he continues in his sinfulness in the 
 winter of his life, then every hope .is 
 lost, the color of death does not 
 leave him. 
 
 :inix NDBI jmn inx-n pS inn ym -\yw 
 
 In the garments, in the houses, the 
 leprosy is visible. Do we not see 
 the vanities and follies of men, par- 
 ticularly in their apparel and home? 
 Is not many a garment unclean in 
 spite of its splendor ? Everybody 
 desires to shine by the outward ap- 
 pearance of his dress. The dress 
 makes the man, we are often told. 
 The garment is made to cover not 
 only the nakedness of the body but 
 that of the soul. Show, sham, out- 
 ward appearance are to give a sem- 
 blance of respectability and to cover 
 the emptiness of heart and mind. 
 'Impure' is in such cases the decision 
 of the priest. Where dress betrays 
 vanity, shallowness, the ridiculous 
 hauteur of those who wear it, where 
 the high price and cut of a garment 
 are criterions for the estimate of men 
 and women, there everything is sham, 
 false, counterfeit, 'impure.' Fine 
 dresses bought with stolen money, 
 and gorgeous residences built by 
 
 25 
 
 means of fraud, theft and cheating 
 are unclean, impure, an abomination 
 in the eyes of God. And the priest 
 and the religious teacher must have 
 the courage to say so even at the 
 risk of losing popularity. 
 
 Ob, beware of impurity, of that 
 moral leprosy which poisons heart 
 and mind. Such diseases are just 
 as contagious as the bodily ilia. 
 They are transmitted from parent to 
 child and grandchild by means of 
 blood and education. They are a 
 curse from generation to generation ; 
 the moral impurity of the fathers 
 clings to the children like leprosy and 
 is ahno-t impossible to eradicate. 
 Be, therefore, pure before God 
 and men." 
 
 Now this may be considered too 
 strong and perhaps not high toned 
 enough to suit the tastes of our mod- 
 ern dudes and dudines. It may not 
 be good policy to say such things 
 from 01 r pulpits. 'We are sure if 
 Bloch would have been guided by 
 confederations of diplomacy he would 
 hardly have spoken in this strain. 
 But this style of preaching is cer- 
 tainly a nearer approach to the ideal 
 of our great prophets than the present 
 so called American Jewish pulpit, 
 with its essays on subjects which do 
 not belong to the pulpit. There are 
 of course some honorable exceptions 
 to the rule, there are yet rabbis 
 and the more learned ones at that 
 who have the courage and ability to 
 tell the people not what they want 
 but what they need, thus saving our
 
 26 
 
 pulpit from a decline. Let us hope contribute eomewhat toward a 
 
 that the presentation of these ex- healthy reaction in the direction of 
 
 tracts from Rabbi Moses Block's ser- reform. 
 
 mons, delivered sixty years ago, will 
 
 THE FOLLOWING PUBLICATIONS CAN BE OBTIANED 
 DIRECTLY FROM THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Reformed Judaism and Its Pioneers 
 
 A Contrition to its History. 
 
 BY DR. EMMANUEL SCHREIBER, 
 
 Rabbi, Toledo, O. 
 (400 pages), reduced $1.50. 
 
 Dr. I. M. Wise, of Cincinnati, who read a few chapters of the 
 liad the following editorial in his paper, The American Israelite, of 
 March 11, 1892: 
 
 "Dr. Scbreiber's book, 'Reformed Judaism,' has left the press and will be 
 out in a few days, It is actually a history of the birth and rise of Modern Juda- 
 ism in Germany and England. Besides Dr. Stern, in Frankfort on the-Main, 
 aod before him Dr. Jost, in 1S45, both of whose works are Incomplete, no one has 
 given us a connected history of this important topic. We expect Dr. Schreiber 
 has done It, as he masters the entire material, and is not prejudiced against it as 
 Dr. Qraetz was, and the writer of the chapter on America in the addition to 
 Lady Magnus's book. We are to get in good English a history of the birth and 
 rise of Modern Judaism." 
 
 I )r. K. Kohler, New York, says: 
 
 '"I have .1 to the work on Reform Judaism by Dr. Schreiber and 
 
 recommend the same in view of the many interesting facts concerning the his- 
 tory of the reform and the reform pioneers it contains to all friends of reform 
 and progress. H
 
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