Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/27

 The Jewish Religion

9

Judaism completely from a knowledge However, with children of the customary

alone.

this

period

religious

school

oi

understand

age it is almost a sufficient achievement to have taught the Bil)lical It is not period in a constructive, even though elementary manner. only the period of Israel's beginning and first growth, l;ut also the ^'et we shcnild foundation period of our knowledge of Judaism. and unless the supernever forget that it is only the foundation structure of the later history be erected upon this foundation, there We must never will be no complete nor perfect edifice of Judaism.

sight of

lose

the

fact

that in the religious

school

we merely begin

study of Judaism, which should go on steadily throughout the If we realize this clearly and insist thereon Jew's entire life. that

we

strongly,

and women

will

undoubtedly come

in

men

time to hold our Jewish

until long after the usual period of

religious school at-

Then at last we will be able to look forward confidently tendance. and proudly to a full and authoritative knowledge of Jewish history and of Judaism on the part of our Jewish men and women. Meanwhile, if now in our religious schools we can accomplish a little more than mere instruction in the history of the early Biblical period, if we. can, at least, throw out a few hints about the life, thought, and teachings of the rabbis in the Palestinian period, and thereby acquaint the children somewhat with the spirit of Judaism which obtained in that momentous period, we will have taken an important step

forward. t

The Sources of Jewish History Naturally the chief source for the history of the Biblical periods

the Bible itself.

is

But the Bible

is

a large work,

comprising, according to Jewish tradition, twenty-four books,

Jewish literary activity extending over approximately a thousand years. Actually the Bible is not so the product of

much

a

least

the

mere book, remains

as

it

thereof.

a

is

It

national

can

literature,

readily

be

'

or

seen

at

that

the various parts and books of the Bible, written at different times,

under different conditions, and by different authors,

are naturally of unequal value for the study of Jewish history. it

off

We

can never, therefore, take the Bible

word

for word,

and

feel confident that

in

hand, read

we have

thus