An appeal to Catholics and Protestants to join with Jews in a cooperative alliance of religious forces in the struggle to save Democracy was made by Rabbi Edward Israel of Baltimore today at the annual convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, in session here.
Discounting religious antagonism as a factor in anti-Semitism, Rabbi Israel declared this was not a “theological age” and that no one was naive enough to believe that even the most exemplary conduct on the part of Jews would remove antagonisms.
“Melting pot Americanism,” he said, “can only lead in such a world as we have to racial Fascism. We cannot deny our distinctive Jewish culture.”
Rabbi Samuel Wohl of Cincinnati urged launching of a “great preaching mission” to revitalize Jewish community life.
He said that Jews in the United States were “jittery and have reason to be.” He declared that “recent experiences have shown us that we can become a target for attack during political upheavals and especially in times of economic distress,” and added that “we need not have illusions that it cannot happen here.”
Rabbi Leon I. Feuer of Toledo, emphasizing the “dire need for factual data,” made a plea for Jewish economic reorientation. Citing the need for growing economic discrimination, he said vocational guidance must be undertaken under auspices other than the American Jewish Congress.
Rabbi Jonah Wise of New York declared Jewish secular agencies can not succeed without the aid of the synagogue.
Other speakers included Robert Goldman, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, who declared the synagogue must “come to grips with the realities of Jewish life today.”
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.
