The importance of providing religious guidance for the 4,000 Jewish students in the universities and colleges of Philadelphia was stressed here last night at a dinner by Dr. Thomas S. Gates, president of the University of Pennsylvania, and Chaplain Rev. W. Brooks Stabler. Over 200 Jewish leaders of the city attended the affair, held at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel. Dr. Cyrus Adler, president of Dropsie College, presided.
Dr. Gates told of efforts to influence the 13,000 students at the University of Pennsylvania. He pointed out, however, that religious groups are left with the responsibility of furnishing students with religious and moral guidance. He spoke highly of the Jewish student house on the Pennsylvania campus and urged the Jewish community to increase efforts along these lines.
Rev. Stabler was emphatic in urging increased Jewish activity on the campus. Youth today, irrespective of faith, was facing many conflicts, he said. He congratulated the Jewish community on its decision to employ a full-time chaplain and called upon all Jews to strengthen work in universities.
Over $4,000 was raised at the dinner for Jewish religious activity in Pennsylvania colleges. Dr. and Mrs. Gates contributed $250.
Rabbi Simon Greenberg, who has served as spiritual adviser to the Jewish student body in this city for the past seven years, touched on the value of this association to the young men and women engaged in higher studies here. A kosher dining room, Rabbi Greenberg explained, is only one of the facilities placed at the disposal of Jewish students at Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania.
During the past year a number of Jewish students have come to these institutions from Germany— young men and women brought up in the spirit and the tradition of the old Jewish communities, he declared, and stated that they are grateful for the service. Before the opening of the students’ house in connection with Temple University, Rabbi Greenberg said, hundreds of petitions came in annually asking for such a rallying place for Jewish students there.
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.
