The Holy Bible in its present form does not promote “the poetry of life,” according to Rabbi H. Pereira Mendes, minister emeritus of the Spanish-Portuguese Congregation, 99 Central Park West, who stepped into his old pulpit Saturday morning in celebration of his eighty-second birthday.
Dr. Mendes, who retired as active rabbi in 1920, revealed in his sermon that the ensuing fourteen years were the “most active and wholesome in my career.”
“I understood my retirement in the Bible sense. It meant only retirement from ritual duties and routine work of a rabbi. I took it to mean an opportunity to assume the higher duties of the ministry.” he said.
The 82-year-old minister revealed that he has been working on a revision of the Bible and Prayer Book which will enable parents to give their children a better religious background.
“I want to make the Bible promote the poetry of life and the human ministry. There are many passages in the Bible which through mistranslation have been distorted. It is my aim to supply supplementary notes with reasons and authorities to make it possible for all to understand.
“With regards to the Prayer Book, I find few parents understanding the value of home worship or family prayer. The book should provide this,” he declared.
Only congregations of individuals use it, the rabbi maintained. It is not a factor in the development of childhood character, he said.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
