Rabbi Wise Warns Philadelphia Jewry Against Self-division

A solemn warning to Reform Judaism, if it is to survive, to recapture the fine traditions which were a part and parcel of Jewish life throughout the ages and to hearken to the counsel given world Israel by one of its greatest prophets—Theodor Herzl—was the message brought by Rabbi Stephen S. Wise to Congregation Keneseth Israel—the largest and one of the oldest Reform Congregations in America, with a membership of more than 1,100 families—on the occasion of the 86th birthday celebration this week.

“Would to God”, Rabbi Wise exclaimed, “we had preserved and cherished more of the things by which our grandfathers lived in the days of the Ghetto. Not all was impedimenta. Oh that the first 50 years of the Jewish Reform movement could be rewritten. Would that we could reclaim values that were lightly cast away. If we only knew and understood, we should have prized these values highly.”

Stressing the fact that Reform Temple Keneseth Israel was one of the first Reform Congregations i# this country, Rabbi Wise pointed to some of the errors which are costing Reform Judaism dearly. Jews of the Reform type, he declared, imagine that in order to enter into the full covenant of America they must tear themselves away from those who remain in the realm of orthodoxy. This, he said, is to be deplored. The case, however, he added, is not hopeless.

Classing Theodor Herzl with Maimonides, Spinoza and Mendelssohn, Dr. Wise added: “I warn you that unless you who think you are non-Zionists and you who think you are non-nationalists, unless you are guided by the ideas and the ideals that Herzl has given us, unless you are guided by his example and his influence, Reform Judaism will become a decreasing and dwindling influence in western Judaism.”

Decrying the attitude of those who view Judaism as a Church, Rabbi Wise stressed the fact that Jewish life is more than merely the Synagogue. Emphasizing that he preferred to use the word Synagogue instead of Temple, he explained that whereas Synagogue implies a house of worship and a house of learning, the term Temple carries with it “heathen and idolatrous associations.” Important as the synagogue is, the Rabbi added, not all of Israel is in the synagogue. “Multitudes of Jews”, he said, “are not in the synagogue, yet they are part of us. Keneseth Israel, which is another word for the Synagogue, implies all that is Jewish within and without the synagogue. I warn you solemnly”, the Rabbi added, “against dividing yourself from your fellow Jews. The time has come for a new understanding of Jewish brotherhood.”