The Jews who control the production of motion pictures are called upon to do their own reforming, both for the good of mankind and to avoid the danger of spreading censorship, in a sermon preached here by Rabbi David J. Seligson to the Beth Judah Congregation, Ventnor.
“Let us demand,” he said, “through our national and local organizations, that the sons of the prophets, Messrs. Goldwyn, Mayer, Lasky and Company, be less concerned with profits and more sensitive to the prophetic responsibility which is theirs as Jews. The whole House of Israel is involved in their behavior. They cannot be absolved of their responsibility.”
Dr. Seligson declared at the outset that “to those of us who are familiar with the history of censorship, particularly when it has been undertaken by religious authorities in the past, a censorship of any kind is dangerous.”
“What guarantee do we have that the church will not extend its program to include all fields of artistic and literary endeavor?” he asked. Church authorities have been known to object to nudes in art museums. Who can tell but that our friend “The Thinker,’ Rodin’s famous sculpture, will have something serious to think about when he is faced with the prospect of being driven out of house and home? Most of us would object strenuously to any censorship which would command us in regard to our esthetic or cultural tastes.”
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.
