Act 2.— The Holy Scriptures are the record of Divine Revelation and of the consecration of the Jewish people as the missionaries of the one God. In composition and literary arrange-, ment the Scriptures are only the work of men with the unavoidable limitations of their age.
Act 3.— The results of natural science are the best helps to the understanding of -the work ing of Divine Love the world, the Bible serv ing as girt..es to illustrate the working of Divine Power within us.
Act 4.—The Mosaic laws are intended for the training of the Jews of Palestine in their former surroundings; only the moral taws are divine; all social, political and priestly statutes, inconsistent with our modern habits and views, are to be rejected.
Act 5.— The Mosaic-Rabbinical laws on diet, purity and dress fail to imbue modern Jews with the spirit of, priestly holiness; their ob servance to-day would obstruct rather than en hance moral and spiritual elevation.
Act 6.— Israel's Messianic hope relates to the establishment of the authority of peace, truth, justice and love among men. No return to Palestine is expected, nor the reinstitution there of a Jewish state, nor of a worship con ducted by descendants of Aaron.
Act 7.— Judaism is an ever-growing, pro gressive and rational religion of modern civil ization and asserts the necessity of preserving identity with the great past of the Jewish nation.
Act 8.— Judaism hails the efforts made by various religious denominations toward remov ing the barriers separating sect from sect.
Act 9.— It is the duty of Jews to spread the knowledge of their religious truths and mission amongst Jews and non-Jews.
Act 10.—The present agitated state of ism is a period of transition from a blind belief in authority 'and exclusion to a rational and humanitarian conception of religion; the masses, therefore, should be enlightened as to the history and mission of the Jewish people and their social and spiritual condition elevated through press, pulpit and school.
The Central Conference of American Rabbis has, under the regime of its founder and first president, Dr. I. M. Wise (1889-98), and its second president, Dr. Joseph Silverman (1899 1903), formulated many decisions which have been put into practice by the people at large, the most important of which are the abrogation of circumcision for adult proselytes, permis sion to the rabbis to officiate at cremations, the interdiction of rabbis from officiating at inter marriages (between Jews and non-Jews), etc. The most important work of the conference has been the publication of the Union Prayer Book and Union Hymnal, both of which have become very popular and have been the means of bringing unity into the religious services of more than 200 Reform congregations and abolishing the many different rituals which had been a source of confusion in modern Judaism.
Of late years some Reform congregations have been holding Sunday services in addition to the regular Sabbath services and many peo ple have had grave fears lest this movement might lead to the substitution of Sunday for the Jewish Sabbath. The Central Conference of American Rabbis at its convention at De troit July 1903 allayed those fears by adopting a resolution to the effect that this Conference favors adherence to the historical Sabbath as the fundamental institution of Judaism, and that Sunday services, whenever held, must only be regarded as supplementary to the regular Sabbath services. The future of Reform Juda ism in this country is pregnant with great possibilities. It is to be shaped, in the main, by the Union of American Hebrew Congrega tions, the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Hebrew Union College (Cin cinnati, Ohio) presided over by Dr. K. Kohler, the successor of Dr. I. M. Wise, and by the graduates of this college of whom the older and more prominent are H. Berkowitz, Jos, Krauskopf, Louis Grossman, R. Grossman, M. Heller, David Philipson, Jos. Stolz, Jos. Silver man, Wm. Rosenau. Among other leading Reform rabbis of America may be counted E. G. Hirsch, K. Kohler, S. Sale, Leon Harri son, I. S. Moses, Abram Simon, S. Schulman, M. H. Harris, S. S. Wise and R. Grossman. It is hoped that the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (New York), will also add power and influence to progressive Judaism in America, notwithstanding its present conserva tive tendency. The main problem for the re formers of the future will be how to promote assimilation with modern conditions without sacrificing the integrity of Judaism.
Bibliography.— 'Reports of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations' ; 'Reports of the Central Conference of American Rabbis' 'Yearbooks of the American Jewish Historical Society); Philipson, 'Reminiscences of I. M. Wise; Grossman, 'Life and Writings of I. M. Wise); May, Max B., 'Isaac Meyer Wise, Founder of American Judaism' (1916); Philip son, 'The Reform Movement in Judaism' (New York 1907) ; Kohler, 'Settlement of Jews in North America': and 'The Jewish Encyclopedia.'