The problem of the Jewish community in every large city, such as Chicago. is two-fold, Dr. Solomon B. Freehof, of K. A. M. Congregation, told members of the Community Council of the Jewish Charities of Chicago, who honored him at a farewell luncheon held at the Standard Club. He will retire in August to go to Congregation Rodof Sholom in Pittsburgh.
“First the community must have decent mutual respect between the various Jewish groups,” Dr. Freehof said in his talk on “The Chicago Jewish Community in Retrospect.” “Secondly, it is necessary to conquer the vast mass of irresponsible and unaffiliated Jews.”
Using the Chicago community as the “perfect example.” Dr. Freehoff decried the fact that the Jewish community only seems able to come together on special occasions and then immediately breaks up into its various component parts. This, he declared, is true not only in Chicago but in all large American cities.
“There is nobody who can speak for the Chicago Jewish community. In every great. American city the groups of Jews are just a milling mob. We have no Jewish community.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.