Dr. Morgenstern, Long Opponent of Political Zionism, Now Favors a Jewish State

Something of a sensation was created here by the Jewish Post carrying in this week’s issue an interview with Dr. Jilian Morgenstern in which the head of the Hebrew Union College, long known as an opponent of political Zionism, declared that not only is he not terrified by the prospect of a Jewish state in Palestine, but that he “would not be disturbed, even pleased a little bit, by a Jewish Commonwealth.”

In his interview given to Gabriel Cohon, editor of the Jewish Post, Dr. Morgenstern admits that he was at one time very strongly anti-Zionist, but has undergone a change of opinion and is now a non-Zionist with “a sympathetic understanding and appreciation of Zionism.” His annual message at the opening of the new term of Hebrew Union College next month would be devoted to this subject, he said.

Speaking about the policies of American Zionists, Dr. Morgenstern is reported as expressing opposition to their emphasis on Jewish nationalism in this country. He sees in the empasis on Palestine the imperilling of the normal development of a strictly American Judaism. “If our American Judaism which we are in the process of building is based on a program of Jewish nationalism, then as a corollary it must be destructive for the Jewish community of America,” he said. “I am intensely opposed to centering everything in American Jewish life on nationalish and I regard it as exceedingly dangerous, for it runs contrary to the fundamental principles of Americanism and American institutions.”