The second and third sessions of the symposium on “Religion Tomorrow” today featured the meetings of the thirty-third council of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and its affiliated brotherhoods and sisterhoods.
Charles P. Kramer, of New York, president of the National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods, presided during the morning session at the Hotel Stevens.
“The idea of this symposium,” Mr. Kramer said, “is to guide us in revaluating our religion to meet the conditions of tomorrow, and this on the possible theory that present-day conditions cannot be met in religious interpretations of yesterday and today.”
Mr. Kramer introduced Dr. Leo M. Franklin, of Detroit, who spoke on “Jewish Contributions to the Idealism of the Twentieth Century.”
The distinct contribution of the Jew, said Dr. Franklin, to the life of today has been in the field of ethics and religion, and it behooves us to inquire a bit more closely as to the special character of his gift.
“The Jew has conceived a universe who soul and center is God,” Dr. Franklin stated. “This conception of God at once carries with it the idea of law, of order, and of a unity as the controlling factors alike of the natural moral world.”
Rabbi Solomon Foster, of New-ark, N. J., led the discussion which followed Dr. Franklin’s address.
EVENING SESSION
Mrs. Maurice Steinfeld, of St. Louis, president of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods, presided this evening at the third and concluding session of the symposium.
“In the old Jewish concept of religion,” she said, “it was regarded as an integral part of life, and inasmuch as the synagogue was considered the tangible symbol, the interpretation of this ideal, the synagogue attained a position of preeminence.”
Mr. Adolph Rosenberg, of Cincinnati, spoke on “The Synagogue and Its Opportunities.”
“In the task of bringing religion to bear decisively upon the problems of our work-a-day world,” he declared, “the Synagogue must play its traditional role of teacher to the House of Israel.”
Dr. Joseph Rauch, of Louisville, Ky., delivered an address on “What Part Is Jewish Education Destined to Play in Our Survival?”
“Once the religious schools will be restored to priority of significance in Jewish life,” he asserted, “we shall not be wanting for men and women who will restate for us our sacred heritage so that it will be as meaningful for us as it has been for our ancestors.”
SCHOOL PROBLEMS
Earlier in the day, speaking before the assembly of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods, Dr. Emanuel Gamoran, educational director of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, discussed “Contemporary Religious School Problems.”
“One of the most constructive forces in American Jewish life,” he stated, “is the Jewish religious school, and there is much that the members of the Sisterhood can do to keep it constructive and make it creative.”
Samuel B. Finkel, of Boston, was elected president of the Brother hoods yesterday. Other officers elected were:
First Vice-President, Wilford M. Newman, Chicago; Second Vice President, S. Herbert Kaufman; Third Vice-President, Jesse Choen, Brooklyn; Treasurer, Allen V. De ford, Washington; Executive Secretary, Arthur L. Reinhart, Cincinnati.
Rabbi George Zepin of Cincinnati, Ludwig Vogelstein of New York and Roger W. Straus of New York were elected honorary members of the executive board.
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