A proposal that the Rabbinical Assembly of America, central body of Conservative rabbis, sponsor a Jewish commentary on the whole of the Bible was made here today at the 63rd annual convention of the organization.
Dr. Bernard Mandelbaum, provost of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, described such a commentary as the first essential in a program to restore education and especially the educated lay leader “to their rightful position in our congregations. ” He also called for the introduction of a new ceremony, Ab Mitzvah, which would require of layman a rededication to the duty of Jewish study and observance at the age of 40.
In his annual presidential report, Rabbi Theodore Friedman, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth El, South Orange, N. J., called for a “new unity” of the Jewish people. This unity is of paramount importance today, Rabbi Friedman said, because “the old image of the Jew and Judaism projected and maintained by the church over the centuries, seems destined to fade. ” This will mean that “we will be called upon to participate in a religious dialogue totally unlike any that took place in the past,” 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.
