It is not to be wondered at, says Mr. Jacob Fishman, in his daily column in yesterday’s “Jewish Morning Journal”, that Rabbi Schulman has come out with a criticism of Professor Charles Eliot’s speech delivered before the Harvard Zionist Society.
“This ‘leading light’ of Reform Judaism in America, Rabbi Schulman, a German Jew born in Kalvarie, Poland, gives a lesson in Americanism to one of the oldest and most tolerant Americans, Professor Eliot. No wonder. What could the poor Rabbi do? Professor Eliot in his speech destroyed all the absurd theories of a denationalized Judaism, which Rabbi Schulman and other rabbis are constantly preaching and which has so far driven their disciples either to apostacy or intermarriage. Since Eliot, a Gentile, tells us what a Jew must be and do, of course Rabbi Schulman must reciprocate and give Professor Eliot a lesson as to what constitutes 100% Americanism. The only difference is that, whereas Professor Eliot understands Jewish problems very well, Rabbi Schulman rehashes the outworn phrases of such ‘super-Americans’ as Stanwood Mencken. How original is Schulman’s fiery declaration that the ‘hyphen’ must be wiped out of American life!
“So far for the ‘arguments’ of Rabbi Schulman. His insinuation, however, that in Professor Eliot’s speech lurks the teaching of the Klan is certainly a piece of impudence. If there existed in this country an organized Jewish public opinion Rabbi Schulman would not be allowed to speak again from any platform until he withdrew his statements.”
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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.
