The National Association of Torch Clubs, Inc., the purpose of which is to promote a better understanding among the men of all professions and to promote the free interchange of opinions and cultural growth among them, should revoke the charter of the Delaware Torch Club for anti-Jewish prejudice shown by the latter when it first invited the Reform rabbi of Wilmington to join and then denied him membership. This is the demand made by Rabbi Victor Emanuel Reichert in the leading editorial in this week’s “American Israelite”.
“There were no objections to the rabbi’s character or professional standing”, says Rabbi Reichert. “But it seems that the professional men of this community in Delaware do not want Jews or indeed any but native-born denizens of the State of Delaware to belong to its Torch Club. Jews are not unfamiliar with such bigoted and mediaeval discriminations. They are used to ‘lower’ as well as ‘higher’ prejudice. The rabbi in question will easily be able to survive this rebuff.
“But it seems to us that The Association of Torch Clubs, Inc., should take an emphatic stand in this negation of the very ideals to which it is by its own constitution committed. It has a clear-cut opportunity to hit religious intolerance and hit it hard. No self-respecting Jew can continue to remain a member of any local unit of the Torch Club knowing that religious prejudice is tolerated by the organization in Delaware. The National Association of Torch Clubs, Inc., should revoke the charter of this Delaware Torch Club. Anything short of this will be a tacit indication to the general public that the Torch Club is willing to give its sanction to unenlightened and un-American religious discrimination.”
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.
