The 62nd annual meeting of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, at its session here, went on record voicing sharp opposition to any attempt to inject the practice of sectarianisms in the nation’s public schools. The conference warned that the principle of separation of state and church, “was being questioned, challenged and undermined in many quarters.”
A comprehensive report dealing with the question, was submitted to the session: This report voiced sharp opposition to Bible readings, religious holiday observances in the public school systems and to the released time program of religious instruction. The report emphasized that the Central Conference was strongly devoted to the principle of separation of church and state and that the rabbis were opposed to the observance of Jewish as well as Christian holidays in the public schools as “improper, illegal and unconstitutional.”
Dr. Nelson Glucek, president of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion maintained that while American Jews must continue to have also spiritual bonds with Israel, they also must continue “to grow as an integral part of the American scene in sturdy and creative self-reliance.”
In his address, which highlighted the evening session of the meeting of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Dr. Glueck called on American Jews to join forces with Americans of other faiths” in safeguarding the democratic ideals and principles.”
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.
