Prof. Wolfson, discussing the philosophy of Maimonides, declared that, “contrary to a popular misconception, Maimonides was not a mere philosophic alchemist who played at transmuting Scriptural verses into Aristotelian metaphysics. He was a philosopher of great originality and tremendous power, who left a lasting impression upon the history of thought in the past and who may still serve us as a guide in the perplexities of our own time.
“The pith of Maimonides’ philosophy is to be found in his scientific conception of the universe, which he made the basis of religion as a way of believing, and in his altruistic conception of society, which he made the basis of religion as a way of living.”
RAMBAM ‘ABOVE RACE’
“Because Moses Maimonides was a man of genius, belonging to the breed of the world’s supermen, he is, in a sense, above race,” asserted Dr. Abba Hillel Silver. “Nevertheless, there are visible in his way of life, as well as in the pattern of his thought certain broad distinctive contours which we like to associate with classic Jewish quality. Maimonides is for us the consummate Jew, the comprehensive epic product of Jewish life at its best.”
Rabbi Jung, who offered the concluding prayer, declared that “those aspects of Rambam’s teaching which are most attractive to modern man—his insistence on interdenominational friendship, his passionate love of enlightenment—are due not to any infusion of outside lore; they grow out of the Halacha, the Jewish law.”
“In Maimonides the individual Jew sees himself writ large,” Prof. Louis Finkelstein said. “If we did not know that Maimonides lived and moved about the earth in the flesh, we might readily suppose that his life history was an allegorical representation of the trials and tribulations, the aspirations and achievements, the hopes and frustrations of his people.”
Messages were read at the meeting from Louis Calderon, Spanish Ambassador to the United States; James H. Ryan, Bishop of Modra, rector of the Catholic University of America; Dr. H. W. Dodds, president of Princeton University; Dr. Harry Woodburn Chase, chancellor of New York University; Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, former Secretary of the Interior and president of Stanford University; and Dr. Frederick B. Robinson, president of City College.
A musical program was also presented. Artists included Emanuel List, Metropolitan Opera House; Mme. Helena Mara, formerly with the Dresden Opera House; Cantor Siegfried Philip, and Arpad Sandor, pianist.
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.
