Two of America’s leading Torah sages urged an overflow crowd of more than 4000 Orthodox Jews “to maximize Orthodoxy’s new level of sophistication to reach the American Jewish masses, at the keynote session of the 57th national convention of Agudath Israel of America last Saturday night.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, dean of Mesivta Tifereth Jerusalem and chairman of the Council of Torah Sages, speaking by telephone hookup from his home, and Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetzky, dean of Mesivta Torah Vodaoth, said that Orthodox Jews “cannot sit back and bask in the glory of their achievements, but must seek to inculcate uninitiated Jews with Torah education and Torah values.”
In his keynote address, Rabbi Mordechai Gifter, dean of the Telshe Yeshiva of Cleveland, stressed that “Jews cannot be satisfied with living their lives by better standards than the rest of society. ” He urged that “Materialism not overshadow those inherent values which makes the Jewish nation unique.”
Rabbi Moshe Sherer, who was reelected president of Agudath Israel of America, charged the Knesset deputies who recently voted against an amendment to halt wholesale abortions in Israel with being guilty of importing obnoxious diaspora concepts into the Holy Land, an effort which will be vehemently resisted by Orthodox Jews worldwide.” He also told of Agudath Israel’s new projects for the spiritual rehabilitation of Soviet Jews and Iranian Jewish students as part of the movement’s “new thrust to tackle the mind boggling opportunities which Orthodoxy has to elevate Jewish life.”
NEW FOCUS STRESSED
The new influx of Soviet and Iranian Jews provoked an introspective look at Orthodoxy’s response to their arrival! Rabbi Haim Benoliel, a prominent Sephardic rabbi from New York, said that the presence of Iranian Jewish students in the United States vividly showed the extent “of how Ashkenazic Jews and Sephardic Jews can cooperate with one another. While we may feel estranged from each other by virtue of differences in customs, we have too much to gain from working together to continue in isolation.” He called for the establishment of bridges between the two groups in the U.S.
Prof. Aaron Twerski, dean of Hofstro Law School, chided well-meaning activists “who would rush in to help their Russian Jewish brethren without taking the pains to get to know them. He said, “The first step is to learn rather than teach. Let the Russian Jews teach us their unquenchable pride in being Jewish that survived a half century of spiritual captivity before we attempt to teach them their Jewish heritage. Then we must step in with brotherly concern After all, that which Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev could not accomplish with oppression, we should not do to them by indifference.”
In other actions at the convention, three international Orthodox Jewish leaders urged that the “spiritual revival of Russian Jews become the central theme of the forthcoming Sixth World Congress of Agudath Israel Jan. 7-13 in Jerusalem.” Rabbi Yehuda Abramovitz, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, said the world conclave of Orthodox Jews “will for the first time in 15 years embark on a complete review of problems facing Jews.” Rabbi Shraga Grossbard of Jerusalem, head of the Torah Schools in Israel, said that “Jewish education of young Jews will ultimately save Israel’s spiritual decline.”
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