A plea for “closer examination of our own separate heritages” together with”our joint heritage as expressed by the American spirit” was delivered tonight by Roger Williams Straus, co-chairman of the National Conference of Jews and Christians, in accepting the American Hebrew Medal for the promotion of better understanding between Christian and Jew in America.
Speakers at the presentation, made in the C.C.N.Y. auditorium, were Henry Morgenthau, former Ambassador to Turkey; prof. Carleton J. H. Hayes, of Columbia University; Dr. S. Parkes Cadman, of the Central Congregational Church; Dr. Frederick B. Robinson, president of City College, and Rabbi Isaac Landman, editor of the American Hebrew, who made the presentation.
Dr. Hayes declared that “what has saved us as a nation in the past from despotism and the denial of human liberties is primarily our religious, cultural and racial pluralism.” He added that “could there have been in Germany an active and representative national conference of Jews and Christians, it might have helped to insure a united front against pagan totalitarianism and in defense of the liberties not only of particular religions and races but of mankind.”
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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.