A symposium on the state of Jewry fifty years ago and today was conducted by the Judaeans Sunday evening at the Hotel Astor. Rabbi M. H. Harris, of Temple Israel, who recently celebrated his seventieth birthday, was guest of honor. Hon. Samson Lachman, president of the organization, acted as chairman. About three hundred were present.
Speaking briefly on Judaism and elements in the population then and now, Dr. Harris pointed out a diminution of religious fervor and the development of the nationalistic Zionistic movement as among the most significant changes within Jewry. Population has increased from 225,000 in 1880, to 4,225,000 in 1930, he declared. The Jews are continuing to make contributions to civilization, Dr. Harris stated. “Just so long as we continue to make these contributions, the epitaph of Israel will not be written.”
Dr. Harris was succeeded by Felix Warburg who spoke on Jewish social life then and now. Mr. Warburg wittily described the social life of 1880 and paid stirring tribute to Julia Richman and Lillian D. Wald, two Jewish women he described as leading, one in educational reform, the other in trained nursing and settlement work. A comparison of the two years 1880 and 1930 found neighborliness a quality that is dying out, the professionalizing today of what were amateur ventures then, a general state of affluence today and a possibility that the machine era will affect the younger generation. “There is a danger that our younger generation will be machinemade,” Mr. Warburg declared. “Let us try to keep the individuality of the family, to remain interested in Jewish things, in the beautiful things our parents and grand-parents were interested in.”
Speaking on the Jew in business, the professions and public life, the Hon. Marcus M. Marks found that where in 1880, the Jews formed a recognized group, today they are blended through every stratum of the general population, and their accomplishments are rated as those of the mass rather than of a Jewish group. Jews today do not concentrate in any profession or business, Mr. Marks asserted. Their ratio in every business or vocation is two in thirty, except for murderers and other major criminals where the ratio is less than one in thirty. Another of his findings is the absence of any solid Jewish vote.
Dr. Lee K. Frankel, speaking on the charities, prophesied that within the next generation or two the need for charities will disappear. The assumption by the state of community responsibilities, as old-age pensions, widow’s pensions, etc., the growth of higher economic standards and the decline in Jewish population through a declining birth-rate will result in a constantly diminishing need, he stated.
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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.
