Catechism for Jewish Children: Designed as a Religious Manual for House and School

Isaac Leeser

1839

The Mosaic Religion in Particular

1. What religion do you profess?

I believe in the Mosaic Religion, which was revealed by the Lord; and I esteem the same as the true, pure, and unmixed word of God.

2. Are you firmly convinced of the truth of this belief?

I am firmly and completely convinced of the truth thereof, for the following reason: because the Mosaic Religion is based upon that celebrated revelation which God imparted in the immediate presence of a whole people, amidst extraordinary signs and wonders.

3 What is the peculiar distinguishing feature of the Mosaic Religion?

It teaches that there is but one God, and that He is incorporeal and indivisible; that is to say, that there exists no other being who has power to create any thing, or to destroy the least of those things which God has made. That this God does not possess a material figure like all those things which we can perceive by our senses, which are called corporeal or bodily substances; and that lastly, He cannot by any means be divided into different parts, being always the same, and not liable to change.

4 Whence is the name “Mosaic Religion” derived?

From Moses, the son of Amram, of the tribe of Levi, through whom God communicated his law to the people of Israel. So also teaches the Bible:

“Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, to whom I commanded on Horeb statutes and judgments for all Israel.” Malachi iii. 22.

5. Was not the Deity known and worshipped already before Moses?

Yes; for the patriarchs, and even before them Enoch and Noah, acknowledged the Lord God, and worshipped Him.

“Enoch walked with God, and was no more here; for God had taken him away.” Genesis v. 24.

“Noah was a righteous, upright man in his generation: Noah walked with God.” Ibid. vi. 9.

6. Who were the Patriarchs?

The original fathers of the Israelitish people, now called the Jews: these were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or Israel.

“And He (God) spoke, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Exodus iii. 6.

Credits

Isaac Leeser, Catechism for Jewish Children: Designed as a Religious Manual for House and School, 4th ed. (Philadelphia: I. Leeser, 1869), 6-7. First edition: Isaac Leeser, Catechism for Younger Children : Designed as a Familiar Exposition of the Jewish Religion (Philadelphia: Adam Waldie, 1839), http://archive.org/details/catechismforyoun00lees.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 6.

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Creator Bio

Isaac Leeser

1806–1868

Born in Westphalia, Isaac Leeser immigrated to the United States in 1824 and became a pioneering figure in American Judaism and a staunch advocate for religious freedom. He was an author, educator, translator, publisher, founder of the first Jewish Publication Society, editor of America’s first monthly Jewish periodical (The Occident and American Jewish Advocate), and cantor at Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia. Leeser was an observant Jew who opposed religious reform, yet sought to unify the American Jewish community. He popularized English-language sermons and created the first complete Hebrew Bible translation for American Jews.

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