A resurgence of religious forces is the only cure for a situation in which the world is “becoming a panic-stricken mob,” Prof. Louis Finkelstein, provost of the Jewish Theological Seminary, declared today in opening the Seminary’s Conference on the Better Understanding of Judaism, attended by some 300 rabbis and heads of congregation and temple sisterhoods.
“What we are facing is the death of a civilization,” Dr. Finkelstein declared. “….The world is not, as is often said, descending into barbarism, for barbarism is, after all, a social order, even though of a primitive type. A truer analysis of the situation will show that, as in the fifth century, the world is becoming a panic-stricken mob, in spite of the common misery, every man’s hand is against his brother.”
Other speakers were Prof. Isaac L. Kandel of Teachers College, Columbia University, and Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser. Rabbi Israel H. Levinthal was principal speaker at a dinner session over which Henry H. Hendricks presided. Eight round table discussions were conducted during the afternoon.
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