Governor Lehman tonight called on the Jew to “do his full share” in the fight of religion “to rescue the world from barbarism and destruction.” He addressed more than 800 persons attending a meeting at the Jewish Theological Seminary opening the seminary’s semi-centennial celebration.
Seeing threats of war, economic distress and intolerance as the three leading problems facing present day civilization, he declared that the spirit of religion was the only force which could be depended on to meet these problems effectively. He urged Jews and Christians to turn to the Bible for guidance and inspiration in the solution of social problems.
Sol M. Stroock, chairman of the seminary’s board of directors, paid tribute to Supreme Court Justice Brandeis on his eightieth birthday and to the late Louis Marshall, who would have been eighty and who preceded Mr. Stroock as chairman of the board. Other speakers were Dr. Cyrus Adler, president of the seminary, who presided, Lewis L. Strauss, chairman of the semi-centennial committee, and Mrs. Felix M. Warburg, honorary chairman of the women’s committee.
Governor Lehman spoke after he had been given a reception in the seminary’s lounge. The reception committee included Dr. Adler, Mr. and Mrs. Warburg, Mr. and Mrs. Stroock, Judge and Mrs. Irving Lehman Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Hendricks and Mr. and Mrs. Edgar J. Nathan Jr.
Lauding the Jewish leaders who founded the seminary “where great rabbis might teach and young disciples come to learn,” Governor Lehman expressed the belief that knowledge of Jewish tradition would bring to the Jews “a healthy sense of self-respect and increased spiritual strength.”
Today, he warned, “the world is faced with dangers which threaten civilization itself.” Pointing out that in some parts of the world moral values are held to exist by fiat of the state, the governor asserted that “it is today the function of religion, both Jewish and Christian, to hold aloft the torch which it has received.”
He decried intolerance, repression, individual ruthlessness, the world armament race and threats force as argument in international relations, declaring that “again we face the spectre of war, war with all its ghastly suffering, its breeding of hates and its sowing of seed for future war.”
Describing the message and meaning of religion, as exemplified by the Bible, he declared that “it is this combination of justice and mercy and humility before God which the world needs today.” He held religion “a natural ally of all those who would seek to bring about a real brotherhood among men” and declared:
“Let us not underestimate what the religious people, regardless of creed or sect, might accomplish were they to work together for justice and mercy in the spirit of divine love.”
“Perhaps,” he suggested, “the Nazis proscribed the Jews because instinctively they may have known that men of faith…would inevitably be dangerous enemies to a government which spurns as unmanly the ideals of justice, mercy and divine love. Perhaps the badge of shame which that government is trying to pin upon the Jews will in the future be seen as a badge of honor.”
Mr. Stroock said that “Brandeis and Marshall, each in his own way, received and cherished the heritage of Israel and each made more secure the foundations which had been laid.” He lauded Mr. Marshall as “a Jew in every fiber of his being.”
Dr. Adler reviewed the development of the seminary since its inception and told of the benefactions that had made its expansion possible. He said it has graduated 300 rabbis in its history.
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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.
