(Jewish Daily Bulletin)
Various recommendations formulating the policy of the Central Conference of American Rabbis were contained in the report on the president’s message made public by Dr. Abram Simon, chairman of the committee on Rabbi Louis Wolsey’s message, following the thirty-eighth annual convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis held at Cape May, N.J.
The committee urged upon the incoming executive that it prepare, as a part of the campaign of enlightenment for Christian and Jew a positive statement on the adequacy of Judaism for the modern Jew and on the relations between Judaism and Christianity. This statement, which is to be issued in the form of a tract is to be viewed as the platform of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
“We endorse with special earnestness the President’s protest against the efforts of a missionary society to convert Jews to Christianity in connection with the recent Buda-Pesth Conference.” the committee stated in the report.
“The attempt to bring Jews into the Christian fold by discrediting Judaism is almost as old as the Church While the violent methods of the Middle Ages of enforcing its creed, have been abandoned in modern times, the determination to lure Jews from ancestral faith has persisted to this enlightened day. As a reflection upon Judaism carrying with it the implication of the inadequacy of its message, to the world, we deem it our duty vigorously to resent it.
“We would remind the Christian world that Judaism was the mother Faith, that the Church largely owes its Bible and its conception of a spiritual God to the Jew, that it still gathers inspiration from the Hebrew Prophets.
“We would also remind the missionary society that we are not mindful of the present sceptical drift of the modern age, nor are we neglecting the religious needs of our own people.
“We take this occasion to state that genuine tolerance is shown not by members of one religion seeking to persuade others to forsake their ancestral creed, but rather to aid those of divergent creeds to live up to the highest ideals of their respective religions.
“In this spirit, the Conference would express its gratification at the growing number of Christian organizations and representative men engaged in promoting Good Will between Christian and Jew, and here declare that at all times it is eager to participate in such commendable effort,” the committee declared.
The committee also recommended to the Executive Board a generous policy of subvention to further the work of Jewish scholars. A recommendation of special interest to the Executive Board is the one urging the new administration to prepare its future program “with special reference to the authoritative studies of such vital themes as the God idea, the election and mission of Israel the efficacy of prayer and subjects of similar import.”
The committee also endorsed the recommendation of the president that a presentation of the theology of the Union Prayer book be included in the program for next year.
The recommendation that the Conference give its endorsement to the contemplated creation by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations of a Bureau of Information on Social Justice was also approved.
The committee further urged that each of the members in his individual capacity “not only seek to enrich his learning, but also stimulate the support of Jewish seminaries and educational institutions, and make active propaganda for the creation of foundations which would offer financial support for Jewish scholarly endeavor.”
The report of the committee also declared: “The Conference points with pride to its initiative in securing a paper on Social Justice on the program of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in St. Louis in 1925 and to the latter’s adoption of our social justice program. In order that this work may be the more fully developed, the committee recommends that a paper on Judaism and Social Reconstruction be referred to the Executive Board for consideration.”
ORGANIZE RELIGIOUS TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATIONS
Steps are being taken to organize State and District Jewish Religious School Teachers’ Associations under the auspices of the Department of Synagog and School Extension of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
One hundred and six rabbis throughout the country have been approached to cooperate in this work. A conference of the rabbis was held in connection with the meeting of the Central Conference of American Rabbis held at Cape May last week.
A religious school convention will be held in Pennsylvania in the Fall. Arrangements for this convention are being taken care of by Rabbi B. Benedict Glazer, regional rabbi for Pennsylvania.
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.
