A call for a conference of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations to be held in New York City, November 19 to 21 was issued by Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein, president of the Union.
The call is incorporated in a Yom Kippur message issued by Rabbi Goldstein to be read to Orthodox Congregations in the United States and Canada. In his message Rabbi Goldstein calls upon Orthodox Jews “to repair the breaches in the ramparts of the faith” and urges a religious revival.
“I have just returned from a tour through the Western States and have had the opportunity to observe the awful condition of Judaism, and I come back with a serious note of warning.” Rabbi Goldstein declares in his message. “I am by no means pessimistic, but I do feel that the time has come when American Jewry must set its own house in order. A religious revival is the need of the day.
“We must begin to provide for the needs here at home. We must take stock of our spiritual selves.
“Our religious ramparts are woefully weak. They must be strengthened. They must be strengthened not only in the West, but in the East, and everywhere throughout this country. These ramparts must be strengthened so that the unity of the Jewish People as a religious force may be preserved.
“The very first thing that has to be done is to strengthen our position educationally. In the big cities and in the smaller communities, every place where there are Jews. Jewish education and not a substitute there-for must be our first concern.”
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.
