WHEN YE GLORIFY THE LORD, EXALT HIM AS MUCH AS YE CAN; FOR EVEN YET WILL HE FAR EXCEED: AND WHEN YE EXALT HIM, PUT FORTH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND BE NOT WEARY; FOR YE CAN NEVER GO FAR ENOUGH." Ecclesiasticus xliii. No. IV. THE JEWISH CLERGY IN ENGLAND. I. A FEW years since there appeared in a London periodical an article entitled "The Jewish Clergy," in which, in most admired disorder, were mingled some few truths with numerous errors-much inaccurate information joined to facts, which, without explanation, would naturally lead to misapprehension. Under the guise of amicable interest was discernible the malevolent spirit of depreciation. The writer had doubtless been "crammed," and, from his apparent. unacquaintance with his subject, it was evident that he was incapable of separating the chaff from the wheat-the false from the true. It will be my endeavour, therefore, to make clear some matters in relation to the constitution of the Jewish Synagogue. in this country, and also of the Jewish Clergy, which would appear to be misunderstood by those outside the boundaries of Judaism. The ministers of the Jewish Synagogue are commonly mentioned by non-Israelites as "priests" and "rabbis." This is a pardonable error. No Jewish minister is a priest unless he be descended from the priestly family of Aaron; nor a Rabbi, unless that theological degree be conferred upon him by a rabbinical authority. He is. not ex-officio either a priest or a rabbi; but he may be one or the other, or he may be both, or neither. If he be a priest he does not act officially in that capacity, the office of priest having ceased with the destruction of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem in the 70th year of the Christian era. A Jewish minister adopts the prefix "reverend” in conformity with the modern clerical custom. The "Children of Israel "are, upon divine authority, a "nation of priests, and a holy people;" and, by virtue of that high sanction, if otherwise duly qualified by learning, by moral and religious conduct, every Jew, whatever may be his social position, is possessed, by inheritance, of the sacred privilege of performing not only Divine service, but also, with few exceptions, every religious rite. It has been an occasional reproach to Jews that their clergy are, as a rule, men of humble birth. Even if this were true, it is an objection which comes inconsistently from Christians, whose first religious teachers were the fishermen of Galilee. Jewish ministers of religion of humble origin who have raised themselves to that honoured status by personal merit must be men possessed of many natural gifts, and a capacity for religious ministration. How honourable to Hebrew congregations who accept their spiritual teachings and guidance, despite their humble birth! It should not be forgotten that a large proportion of all congregations of worshippers, of all denominations, consists of, so called, self-made men, whose origin may have been even lower than that of their religious teachers, and who have most praiseworthily elevated themselves in the social scale by personal ability and persevering industry; and that some of England's most illustrious judges, and many popes of Rome, before whom emperors and kings were wont to bend the knee, have been men of humble origin. It has been admitted that, "taken as a whole, the members of the Jewish clerical profession are an exemplary body of men, whose behaviour the ministers of other religious sects would do well to emulate, and that, for the most part, the Jewish clergy resident in London are well-bred gentlemen, and, despite their humble birth, can lay claim to being as thoroughly au fait with the regulations of good society as the highest aristocrats in the land." What more should be required of them as regards their social character? It is likewise freely acknowledged that, "as a rule, the metropolitan Jewish clergy are fairly educated, although the ministers of several London synagogues know little else than Hebrew." This assertion is very wide of the fact. I am acquainted with no metropolitan Jewish minister who has not received a sound, although, perhaps, not a classical education. But there are many members of the acting Jewish clergy who are as highly cultured as the best educated among the Christian clergy; and many who possess a larger amount of scriptural and classical knowledge than many Christian clergymen. It would be unfair to point to individuals in illustration, but it may be confidently averred that in this country, on the continent of Europe, in America and Australia, there are Jewish ministers whose general academical and theological attainments may vie with those of the most learned Christian theologians of any age; and of |