Jews have forgotten the meaning of their spiritual heritage in their emphasis on the ” gruesome reality” of anti-Semitism, Rabbi Julius Gordon of St. Louis declared tonight at a supper meeting of the National Advisory Committee of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, which is holding its 37th council at the Hotel Statler.
“We have forgotten the meaning of our spiritual heritage,” Rabbi Gordon declared. “There is only one reality in Jewish life today and that is anti-Semitism. All our pleas and protests, all our dreaming and doing are centered around this gruesome reality.
“Some of us have even reached the conclusion that only anti-Semitism can keep us alive, as if anti-Semitism were some benevolent society for the preservation of Judaism. Now I do not mean to ignore or minimize the tragic reality of anti-Semitism. I fully realize the unprecedented tragedy in Jewish life today.
“But it is my deepest conviction that no power and no force can drive us out of the world…I ask you to realize that Judaism is the source of our life and the length of our days. We sell faith to our people and you are asked to buy immortality. Once we realize this great truth, we shall find that even our suffering will become a challenge to living and greater achievement.”
The convention of the National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods this afternoon was devoted to a discussion of the Jewish Chataqua Society. Dean P. Malcolm Guess of University of Mississippi said the society was satisfying a renewed interest in religion on American university campuses. Arthur Strauss, Chicago, chairman of the J.C.S. executive committee, said the society would send speakers on Judaism to an audience of more than 200,000 in 200 universities this year.
Allyn M. Schiffer, New York, advised the brotherhoods to socialize or glamorize their religious programs, without losing dignity or solemnity.
Federal Circuit Court Judge Charles C. Simons, who was elected convention chairman of the UAHC last night, declared that Judaism would survive the present crisis. He declared “our place in America is of right and not of sufferance.” Rabbi George Zepin announced his resignation as secretary of the Union after 35 years of service and was elected honorary secretary.
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.
