K TH E E THI C S OF T H E HALA AH . " Y . B PROFESSOR J ACOB . LAUTERBACH T HEORY AND PRACTICE . The p r ogr ess of mankind along the lin es of ethical p erfec tion lea ding toward the go al of a united humanity has been accomplished by two distin ct processes : the process o f conceiv ing high ethical ideals an d the equ ally importan t but neverthe n f less disti ct p rocess o their application to life . E thical ideals v an d m e m — e are first concei ed expressed by so e gr at ind proph t, On e . priest or t acher ly afterward do the people , striving for m m m m e e e oral i prove ent , ak thes thical concepts the b asis of n m a m law a d enact ent . Thus they ende vor to ake the ideal real . on e n ma t The process , by a fiction of la guage , y be called theore I n m e . ical , the oth r practical the ethods whereby each process m m its ff atte pts to acco plish results there is great di erence . The method of the one consists in so expressing the great ethical men m as . e ideals to inspire to achieve the Th other process , k n e - n n see i g to apply th se ideals to every day livi g , e deavors to create a practical discipli ne whereby to train men in the oh m n . difie rence in servance of the sa e ideals This co stitutes the , n m every age , between the uttera ces of the great oral leaders e i e m and th practical , leg slative d crees of the law akers . Both m e m m n n ethods of proc dure , co ple e ti g each other as they do , are of equal importance for th e accomplishment of the ethical m n an perfection of a . I f the prophets d seers of mank ind give n m e us the ideals that guide our co duct fro afar , like lighthous s o n m n for m l . u a the pro o tories of life the lawgivers and j udges , t in n in g their practical rules and decisio s , place our han ds the humble candles whereby we see how to make the very necessary n daily steps of life . And th e great j our ey toward the goal of m n m m a united hu a ity is ade up of these hu ble steps . 2 RAL AB B I CENT CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN R S . m m m In Judais , which ai s to acco plish the eth i cal and reli ious man g perfection of , we observe the same inte rplay of these . I m two processes n one i portant respect , however , the progres s of these two processes in Judaism differs from that in any other h m m n m m m I istoric ove e t for the oral i prove ent of mankin d . n m m n m every other ove ent radical cha ges have taken place , fro m m in n ti e to ti e , both the ethical co cepts as well as in thei r n n application . I t ofte h appe ed that the practical endeavors succeeded in realizin g the ideals to such an extent as to make m n these ideals beco e antiquated . The people h avi g outg rown e n in the old ideals , new ideals had to b co ceived order to lead me n m . I on to further p rogress n Judais , however, only the p ractical application of the D ivin e principles chan ged from m m n ti e to ti e . C ertai practices and laws which for one period served as the expression of the ideal became antiquated in a nd n . I another period had , therefore , to be ab an do ed n its m m m ff outward for s Judaism ch anged from ti e to ti e . At di er m an d f n m and r c ent ti es di fere t places , new custo s new p a a m i e l tices were dopted to express the sa e religious d a s. But in its ideals a nd fun damental p rinciples Judaism h as not h a m m its t changed . I t s re ained the sa e throughout his ory . The ideals as well as the fun damental pri nciples l aid down by the God - i n spired teachers a n d prophets of old are of etern al n m value . They express D ivi e truths that have neither beco e antiquated n or h ave they been surpassed by any teachings of m other religious syste s . The prophetic ideals are still the lofti man m est ideals which has conceived , and the funda ental prin ci le s m m and s p of Judais , its laws of orality righteou ness , are n still the highest pri n ciples that h ave ever bee taught . PROPH ETs AND RABB I S . aim was For Judaism to achieve its great , it therefore only necessary that the formulation of its high ideals and noble p ri nciples should be followed by e ndeavors at their practical l application in daily life . This actua ly took place in the course m - n of the history of Judais . First the prophets , God i spired me n n and , gave expressio to the highest ideals of love peace , 3 CE NTRAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN RABBIS . an d n an d n j ustice righteous ess , held aloft the visio of a perfect m n humani ty an d a true brotherhood of a . Then followed the legislators an d teachers of the law who seriously se t themselves m n the task of aki g the prophetic ideals real , by applying the noble prin ciples taught by the prophets to the actual con ditions I in of life . do not refer to the Biblical legislators who , the in n various law codes embodied the Bible , e deavored to put I m n prophetic ideals to practical use . refer ai ly to those legis ’ lators and teachers of the law wh o were rightly considered the n m a nd true successors of the prophets , a ely , the rabbis teachers o f the Halakah . J EW ISH RAEBI S AND CHRISTIAN CRITICS These ancient Jewis h teachers h ave often been unj ustly eriti i e n n c s d by C hristia scholars . They have bee pictured as nar row - minded j urists a nd pedantic formalists who did not p rogress n n n alo g the li es laid dow by the prophets . Instead of cherish ing and developin g the ideals of the prophets they are said to h ave retrograded an d to h ave m arred the beauty of the pro h p etic religion by the legalistic settin g which they gave to it . a n Their teachings , especially those of the Hal kah , are represe ted to be merely legalistic in character void of the spirit of true reli n n m m gio . They are sai d to co cern the selves erely with the out nn m ward conduct without regard to the i er otives . As a result of this criticism it h as become quite prevalen t amon g C hristian theologians to distinguish between the teachings of the p rophets a nd a nd n n c the teachings of the rabbis , to represe t rabbi i Juda ism as something different and i nferior to the religion of the prophets . m n m n n n These criticis s are b ased upo isco ceptio a d bias . They draw an altogether wrong picture of the an cien t rabbis and give a false characterization of the teachi ngs of the Halakah and n m - of rabbi ic Judais . The accusationof n arrow mi nded n ess does n ot apply to the ancient teachers of the Halakah as much as to m n find fli their oder critics , who it di cult to appreciate anything C n . C n n that is not hristia The hristia theologia s , despite their n a nd h nn m lear ing sc olarship , ca ot rid the selves of the prejudice 4 R CENTRAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN ABBIS . which they imbibed from the pole mical writi ngs of the New m s P Testa ent again t the harisaic teachers of the Halakah . With out a comprehensive knowledge of Rabbinic literature and with a n n n out thoroughgoing understa di g of the Halakic teachi gs , they proceed to j udge the entire Halakah by the few quota tions found in the works written by opponents of the Halakah m . S a n and ene ies of the Rabbis uch procedure is u critical , n n a d n . A m a m u scientific u just s y be expected , the j udg ents b m and I arrived at y such ethods are erroneous false . t is ab so lutely wrong to speak of the Judaism of the Rabbis as essen tiall m n o h y different fro the religio of the p r p hets .