Rabbi David Lefkowitz of Dallas, Texas, was re-elected president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis at the concluding session of its 41st annual convention. Rabbi David Phillipson of Cincinnati was named honorary president, Rabbi Morris Newfield of Birmingham, Ala., vice-president; Rabbi Felix A. Levy of Chicago, recording secretary; Rabbi Isaac E. Marcuson of Macon, Ga., corresponding secretary; and Rabbi James G. Heller of Cincinnati, treasurer.
To the executive board for 1930-1932 were elected Rabbi Frederick K. Cohn of Omaha, Rabbi Samuel M. Gup of Providence, Rabbi Irving Reichert of New York, Rabbi Max Reichler of Brooklyn, Rabbi Jacob Singer of Chicago and Rabbi A. J. Feldman of Hartford.
“Brazil is destined to play an important role in the future history of Jewry,” declared Rabbi Isaiah Raffalovich, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in an address on the conditions of Jewry and Judaism in South America. “It is a painful, but nevertheless true fact that there is practically no religion among the Jews in Brazil,” he said. “With few exceptions all comers have discarded the ancient traditions, and since they are unaffected by a modern spirit of Judaism, we have the disheartening spectacle of a religionless Jewry.
NO RABBI IN ENTIRE COUNTRY
“There being no rabbi in the whole of this vast land, it is natural that from Moranos in Amazonia to the smallest Jewish settlement in the South, they should turn to us for assistance.”
Dr. Raffalovich was sent to Brazil in 1923 by the Jewish Colonization Association and has succeeded in winning the confidence of the officials so that 20,000 Jews have entered that land in seven years.
He described Jewry in Rio de Janeiro as of three classes: affluent Jews from Western Europe of little use to Judaism because of their slender connection with Jewish matters; a large community of Oriental Jews, Moroccan, Levantine and Syrian, who are essentially of an apathetic nature, and lastly the live and active section of Russo-Polish and Roumanian groups, newcomers, imbued with present-day Russian Jewry’s conceptions.
JEWISH COMMUNITY SLOWLY FORMING
After describing his work at ports of entry, in long journeys to scattered communities and in organizing schools, Dr. Raffalovich said, “It is being patent to all observers that gradually, slowly, but surely, a Jewish community is growing and forming itself in Brazil. Every observer testifies to the notable change in the moral and spiritual life of Brazian Jewry. Zionist societies are flourishing.
“Amidst the spiritual chaos, which is probably the inevitable characteristic of a conglomeration of Jews, hailing from every part of the world, each one moved by the sole desire of attaining material prosperity, it is indeed a great satisfaction to perceive an undoubted tendency even for religious organization. It should be the concern of every Jew that this new home should be a Jewish home.”
The committee on resolutions declared that Jewish unemployment was a fundamental problem and the Conference moved for cooperation with other groups to effect a solution. The conference also voted to interest American Jews in the establishment of a synagogue in Havana.
FOSTER ALONE RESPONSIBLE FOR ADDRESS
The conference voted its approval of the footnote to the conference lecture of Rabbi Solomon Foster of Newark, N. J., declaring that he alone was responsible for the ideas expressed in the address. Rabbi Foster had said “Zionism with its nationalistic philosophy has increased anti-Semitism,” that “Zionism has diverted funds that were needed in our American Jewish life” and that “Judaism and Christianity cannot be possibly reconciled.” He also cited what he termed many indications of demoralization among American Jews.
Rabbi Franklin of Detroit, speaking on the problem of bringing the unaffiliated Jews into religious organizations criticized circuit preaching which he termed “extensive rather than intensive.” He deplored the loss of opportunity in allowing the B’nai B’rith to carry on the work of the Hillel Foundations. Rabbi Franklin saw a crying need for religious work in the West and in rural communities to save the Jews.
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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.
