“The state of Israel cannot become a seat of world-wide religious authority,” Rabbi Abraham L. Feinberg stated here at a dinner tendered him by his congregation. More than 500 members of the congregation and leading representatives of the Jewish and non-Jewish communities here attended the function at which Dr. Nelson Glueck, president of Hebrew Union College, was the principal speaker.
The statement by Rabbi Feinberg came as a reply to the Rabbinical Council of America which announced recently that it would seek recognition of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel as the supreme religious authority for all Jews. Indicating that such a move would be resisted by Liberal Judaism, Rabbi Feinberg said: “Jews in every land have the right and duty to fashion Judaism on the background of their own environment, with a maximal tie to tradition. Liberal Judaism labors with faith that the Jewish spiritual genius can function anywhere on earth, however conscious it may be of rootage in ancient Palestine, and reliance on today’s Israeli republic.”
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.
