Failure by mankind to accept religion as a supreme guide to human conduct has brought the world to the brink of chaos, Samuel Rothstein, president of the United Synagogue of America, declared today at the organization’s biennial convention.
“We cannot say religion has failed,” Rothstein said in an address to 1,000 convention delegates, representing 420,000 Conservative Jews. “We are the ones who failed to translate religious precepts into a spiritual force strong enough to guide the affairs of mankind.” Rothstein pointed out that the United Synagogue is progressing toward this end by mobilizing American Jewry en “behalf of the preservation and extension of Judaism. He expressed the hope that the delegates would give Jewry renewed zeal in serving American democracy, rebuilding Palestine and would express Judaic principles in daily living.
Rabbi Albert I. Gordon, executive director of the United Synagogue, declared that Palestine Jews endow their American brethren with heightened dignity and self-respect by demonstrating that the social and religious principles of Judaism are as valid today as In {Biblical times, “This example stirs American Jews to renewed belief in themselves and in the enduring vitality of the Judaic philosophy,” he said.
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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.
