A statement reaffirming endorsement of the Palestine labor movement by the last convention of the Rabbinical Assembly of America was made public yesterday by the Executive Council of the Assembly. The statement adopted at a meeting of the Executive Council last week follows:
“The Rabbinical Assembly of America reaffirms its official and authoritative endorsement of the movement in Palestine, adopted at the annual convention of the Assembly on July 5, 1934, at Tannersville, N. Y. That resolution read:
” ‘We express our hearty appreciation of the contributions of the labor movement, led by the Histadruth, to the rebuilding of the Jewish National Home in Palestine, and the advancement of the ideal of a cooperative commonwealth.
” ‘We furthermore urge a deeper consciousness of a more sympathetic attitude toward the rich traditional and religious heritage of Israel which is basic to the social idealism of the labor movement.’
“We believe that such reaffirmation is necessary at this time in view of the charges made against the Palestine labor movement in certain quarters.
DENY ATHEISM CHARGE
“The Histadruth is charged with stirring up class warfare. We believe that this charge is a cloak behind which reactionaries have taken refuge to attack those who strive to defend the rights of the oppressed.
“Another charge against the Histadruth accuses it of teaching and disseminating atheism. As religious leaders, we are, of course, strongly devoted to traditional Jewish religious concepts and forms. The resolution of our convention, quoted above, indicates our dissent with irreligion in Palestine or anywhere else. Nevertheless, we insist on our sympathy with the social aspirations of the Histadruth. In addition, it is a matter of record that the Histadruth and its affiliated organizations have been respectful of the traditional practices of their fellow Jews.
“However, we share with the Histadruth those religious ideas and ideals which recognize the sanctity and dignity of human life and which strive for the establishment of a society in which these ideals will be realized. We agree with the Histadruth that only through a cooperative commonwealth can such a society be established and these religious ideals be achieved.
“We see in the labor movement in Palestine the only instrument for obviating in that land the economic sins which have beset the modern world. As religious men we must give our whole-hearted support to the idealistic aspirations of the labor movement in the upbuilding of our homeland.”
Esther Bernard in 1800 translated into German a book of the Countess of Genlis.
Isaac Valentine founded in London the first Anglo-Jewish periodical.
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