Rabbi Brickner Urges Spiritual Leaders to “clarify Direction” of American Judaism

A proposal to convoke a meeting of Jewish intellectuals in the United States–“writers, economists, sociologists end philosophers”–to “clarify the direction” which American Judaism is taking was made here by Rabbi R. Brickner, of Cleveland, in a guest column in the Yiddish daily newspaper, The Day.

Asserting that there is need for a “thorough re-evaluation of our status as Jews in America,” Rabbi Brickner wrote: “What we urgently need is an assemblage of thinkers who shall clarify the direction which our Judaism takes. I call upon American Judaism, especially its spiritual and cultural guides–Reform, Conservative and Orthodox–Deconstructionist, Yiddish-speaking, Hebrew-speaking and English-speaking–to meet together and take counsel. We badly need a meeting of minds to formulate the basic principles of Jewish life in this generation.”