A call to American Jewry to “transform itself from an amorphous aggregate into an organic comunity,” in order “to escape the fate that has befallen German Jewry,” was sounded here last night by Prof. Mordecai M. Kaplan of the Jewish Theological Seminary, in an address opening the Up-State New York Regional Conference of Jewish Social Agencies.
“American Jewry,” he warned, “is exposed to attack from without, and subject to demoralization from within.”
Stating that the Jewish community of this country is “far from being healthily and creatively adjusted to American life,” Prof. Kaplan said it “has not even learned what it means to become an integral part of the general population without surrendering its own individuality.”
“Only a democratically constituted community which will reckon with and coordinate all Jewish interests and activities will enable us to achieve the kind of adjustment to American life that will spell economic integration and cultural individuality.”
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