termarrying with
members of other sects, unless they espouse the Jewish faith.(1420)
Israel's particularism, says Professor Lazarus,(1421) has its universalism
as motive and aim.

Chapter LVIII. The Synagogue and its Institutions

1. Every religion, as soon as it attains any degree of self-consciousness,
aims to present a convincing form of truth to the individual and to win
adherents in increasing numbers. Nevertheless the maintenance of a
religion does not rest upon its doctrines, which must differ according to
the intellectual capacity of the people and the prevailing views of each
age. Its stability is based upon those forms and institutions which lend
it a peculiar character, and which express, symbolically or otherwise,
definite ideas, religious, ethical, and historical. For this reason many
exponents of Judaism would entirely discard the idea of a systematic
theology, and insist on the observance of the ceremonial laws as the one
essential. In following tradition in this manner, they forget that the
forms of religious practice have undergone many changes in the course of
time. In fact, the vitality of Judaism lies in its unique capacity for
development. Its ever youthful mind has constantly created new forms to
express the ideas of the time, or has invested old ones with new
meanings.(1422)

2. The greatest and, indeed, the unique creation of Judaism is the
Synagogue, which started it on its world-mission and made the Torah the
common property of the entire people. Devised in the Exile as a substitute
for the Temple, it soon eclipsed it as a religious force and a rallying
point for the whole people, appealing through the prayers and Scriptural
lessons to the congregation as a whole. The Synagogue was limited to no
one locality, like the Temple, but raised its banner wherever Jews settled
throughout the globe. It was thus able to spread the truths of Judaism to
the remotest parts of the earth, and to invest the Sabbath and festivals
with deeper meaning by utilizing them for the instruction and elevation of
the people. What did it matter, if the Temple fell a prey to the flame for
a second time, or if the whole sacrificial cult of the priesthood with all
its pomp were to cease forever? The soul of Judaism lived indestructibly
in the house of prayer and learning. In the Synagogue was fanned the holy
flame which kindled the heart with love of God and fellow-men; here were
offered sacrifices more pleasing to