An ovation greeted President Hofrat Samuel Stern when, at the annual general meeting of the Council of the Budapest Jewish Community, he announced that the Minister for Education and Worship, with the sanction of the Regent, had ordered the convocation of the new national assembly of the so-called “Congress Jewry.”
One of the chief results expected from the assembly, which is being convoked in order to create new statutes and new forms of organizations, is the equality of the Jewish religion with other religions practised in Hungary.
A topic that received considerable attention in Mr. Stern’s report was the wave of conversions, lately the fashion in Hungary. He praised the steps taken by the presidency of the community for strengthening religious activities and checking wholesale desertions from Judaism.
DESCRIBES SITUATION
The international situation of Jewry was also described by Mr. Stern, who expressed warmest sympathy for sorely-tried German Jewry. In discussing the lot of Jews in Hungary be pointed out that the Kultusgemeinde was exerting every effort toward safeguarding and developing the possibilities of professions for Jewish youth.
An outstanding feature of Stern’s speech, also, was his analysis of the reform movement which has lately come to the fore. He declared that today a breaking away from tradition was not what was required. On the contrary, he maintained, at this time it was necessary to foster conservatism. In this connection he recalled gratefully the sermon of Bishop Desider Balthazar, delivered recently in the Goldmark Hall of the Community House, entitled “The Humanitarian Ideal of the Old Testament.”
In recognition of the necessity for an increased emphasis on conservatism, the presidency, Stern disclosed, had prepared the statute concerning the reform of the synagogue districts and the formation of commissions to consolidate the Jewish religious faith. With the last object in view, two new Jewish preparatory schools had been opened last autumn.
LAUDS GROUPS’ WORK
The president referred in appreciative terms to the work of the Fencing and Athletic Clubs under the direction of Dr. Friedrich Parkany and also the central Committee for the aid of Hungarian Jewish students studying abroad, under the direction of Dr. Karl Wilhelm.
In conclusion Mr. Stern emphasized the unswerving patriotism of the Hungarian Jews, who are continuing in the traditions of Wilhelm Vazsonyi and Max Szabolzci, precursors in the fight for equality.
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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.
