Problems concerning the spiritual life of American Jewry were discussed here at a three-day conference arranged by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in cooperation with the United Synagogues of America and the Rabbinical Assembly of America. More than 200 delegates from all sections of the United States and Canada attended the parley.
Addressing the gathering, Alan M. Stroock, chairman of the board of directors of the Jewish Theological Seminary, called for the launching of a positive program for American Jews. “It is no derogation of the primary place of Jerusalem and the land of Israel in the Jewish ritual and Jewish faith,” he stated, “to say that our main hope for contributing to the rebirth of civilization centers today not in Isreal, but in America.
“While the land of Israel remains the center of Jewish religion and sentiment, the finger of destiny seems to point to us in America as those who must try to do for our time what the Babylonian sages, Maimonides, and the Polish, Lithuanian, and German rabbis did in theirs.
“Because we are in America, the most powerful of all Republics, because we are exposed to all forms of doctrine, and because here in the West we can turn with admiration and love toward the ancient home of the Prophets, there is hope that we may develop an understanding of human values, a mode of life, and above all human relations, which–based on the great traditions of Scripture–will show a way for mankind and become a modern ‘Guide for the Perplexed,'” Mr. Stroock pointed out.
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