Reform Judaism should make a “great effort” to win back to Judaism those who have become indifferent to it and also offer the Jewish faith to the “spiritually homeless” outside the Jewish community, Rabbi Bernard J. Bamberger, former president of the Synagogue Council of America, declared last night.
Speaking before 400 delegates and visitors from 20 countries attending the conference of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, Rabbi Bamberger said it was also urgent that Reform Judaism undertake a re-thinking and re-statement of Jewish theological principles and beliefs and evolve a new form of Jewish piety based on Torah and Avodah (faith and work).
The delegates, after hearing a report on the work of the World Union with the United Nations, approved a resolution calling for greater support of the Union’s work with UNICEF. The delegates also elected Dr. Solomon Freehof of Pittsburgh as president, succeeding the Hon. Lily Montagu, who was named honorary vice president.
Previously the delegates approved a resolution to transfer the headquarters of the World Union to New York City and another resolution to continue holding the biennial conferences outside the United States to maintain the international character of the organization. The resolution expressed the hope that the next conference would be held in Israel. An expression of sympathy with the arms of World Refugee Year was contained in another resolution.
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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.
