PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION THE view of Judaism set forth in the following pages is one likely, I believe, to commend itself to a large number of English-speaking Jews. It lies midway between the orthodoxy which regards the Shulchan Aruch, or at least the Talmud, as the final authority in Judaism, and the extreme liberalism which, setting little store by the historic sentiment as a factor of the Jewish consciousness, would lightly cut the religion loose from the bonds of Tradition. The present volume, then, may fairly lay claim to novelty. Almost all the expositions of Judaism which have hitherto appeared in England have been written from the rigidly conservative standpoint. Of these the two hand-books of my much-respected teacher, Dr. M. Friedländer, are notable examples. Something, though far less, has been done to familiarise the public with the conception of Judaism which stands at the other extreme. It has found an able champion in my friend Mr. C. G. Montefiore, whose essay, entitled Liberal Judaism, was published almost on the very day that this book was finished. But thus far no attempt has been made to elucidate systematically the intermediate position, and to give a comprehensive account of Jewish belief and practice as they are conceived by men of moderate views. |