“It is a sign of the times that a Zionist forum is being held in what was once a strongnold of, speaking moderately, non-Zionism,” said Dr. Julian Morgenstern in the course of an address delivered here Thursday, January 10. The occasion was a forum conducted by the local Zionist District to acquaint Cincinnatians with the plans of the Jewish Agency and the union consummated between the Zionist and non-Zionist groups in New York City. The forum was held in the Rockdale Temple, whose rabbi is Dr. David Philipson, the dean of American Reform rabbis, and for many years an active opponent of Zionism.
Rabbi Samuel Wohl, president of the local Zionist District, acted as chairman. The first speaker was Dr. Emanucl Gamoran, president of the National Council for Jewish Education. He enlogized the pact whereby Jews of differing opinions acted for the common good and saw a new hope for Palestine in what he termed the “shidach” between the two groups. He humorously pictured the Zionists as the “chussin” and the non-Zionists as the “Kalleh” The one thing that puzzled him, though, was the identity of the “shadchen,”
Dr. Morgenstern, who is president of the Hebrew Union College and one of the seven commissioners appointed by Mr. Louis Marshall to act with the Zionists, answered Dr. Gamoran that the “shadchen” was a condition, or rather, a change of conditions that caused a growing urge for Jewish unity. “The world-wide Jewish problem,” he stated, “cannot be solved by any one group in any one country. The upbuilding of Palestine is one of the ways for world Jewry to find its place in modern life. Palestine is a challenge to the Jews of the world. A challenge to build, to do, to create something for the everlasting good of mankind.”
The last speaker of the evening was Rabbi James G. Heller. He expressed the point of view of those Zionists who, while welcoming the coming of the non-Zionists, still saw the possible danger in the union of two groups with such fundamental differences. To the Zionist, he pointed out, the Jew is a racial and cultural entity that has tried to lead a separate and distinct life among the nations. Palestine they see as the physical symbol of that difference, as the radiating force of that life. Already Palestine has revitalized Jewish life in the rest of the world. The non-Zionists, however, see the Jew as differing in no wise from the rest of mankind, except in religion. Rabbi Heller saw this as an insurmountable difference, were it not for the fact that the non-Zionist attitude is changing and the gap is being bridged.
The interest of the Jewish public in (Continued on Page 4)
the Jewish Agency was proved by the large attendance present and by the many questions that were asked.
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