“There is need of anchorage and of a feeling of security. The Jew can find such anchorage only by integrating himself into the life of his group.”
This warning was laid down by Dr. Emanuel Gamoran, educational director of the Commission on Jewish Education, in an address explaining the objectives of the Jewish religious schools.
“It makes no difference whether we conceive of ourselves as essentially a religious group or a cultural group,” he declared. “If we conceive ourselves to be a religious group, we must remember that religion with us never meant a divorce from life, which it sometimes seems to mean to those who use the term.
“Certainly, if we think of ourselves as a cultural group, and if we are true to Jewish history, we must recognize that our culture is essentially a religious culture.
“It includes, however, a great many other elements. It includes art and literature and music and ways of life—in short, the life of a people dedicated to the search for higher values.”
Dr. Gamoran asserted achievement of happiness depends upon recognition that “it is our first duty to be true to ourselves.”
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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.
