Dr. Samuel Schulman, rabbi emeritus of Temple Emanu-El, New York, was elected chairman of the Synagogue Council of America at a meeting held Friday at the Harmonie Club. Rabbi Schulman succeeds State Senator Albert D. Wald to the leadership of this organization, which represents all factions of Judaism-Reform, Conservative and Orthodox-and is composed of six national organizations.
The election marks Dr. Schulman’s return to an active place in Jewish leadership. He has remained in the background since he and his colleagues, the late Dr. Hyman G. Enelow and Nathan Krass, were succeeded to the rabbinate of Temple Emanu-El February by Rabbi Samuel H. Goldenson. Dr. Schulman, a past president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, has been a representative of the Reform rabbinical organization to the Synagogue Council since its inception.
DELIGHTED AT HONOR
Interviewed after his election, Dr. Schulman expressed delight at the honor conferred upon him. He stated that the time has come “when we must recognize that this organization, which is unique insofar as there is nothing like it in any other country, should have what it deserves, a more prominent position in the leadership of American Jewry. Representing the whole of the American Synagogue, every shade of though in it, it had shown the possibility of mutual esteem and cooperation among the various elements in the synagogue, despite necessary divisions because of different interpretations of the spiritual heritage of Israel.”
JUDAISM A “RELIGION”.
Dr. Schulman made a plea for a greater place for the synagogue in American-Jewish life. “In this country,” he said, “it can be safely asserted that the average American thinks of Judaism and Jewish life as such, as a religion. He classifies it in his mind, as so many conferences and activities on all sides show, with Catholicism and Protestantism. The synagogue Council, which represents the whole of Judaism in this country, must be given a place in the leadership of American Jewry on occasions and on matters which concern the whole of American Jewry and world Jewry. In other words, by the refusal to recognize spiritual leadership in Israel and give it the place which belongs to it, American Jewry gives a very wrong impression to the country.”
Other officers elected were Rabbi Elia Margolis, first vice-chairman; Dr. David de Sola Pool, sec and vice-chairman; Ben Alzheimer, treasurer; Dr. Israel Goldstein, secretary, and Rabbi Jacob B. Pollak, secretary to the board. All the officers are residents of New York City.
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