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New Pattern of American Judaism May Emerge After War, Says Eisendrath, Uahs Director

May 6, 1945
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A new pattern of American Judaism may emerge after the war as a result of the events of the past few years, Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath, Director of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, said yesterday at a press conference here.

Rabbi Eisendrath based this observation on a nation-wide tour, which he has just completed, during which he visited 320 Reform congregations affiliated with the union, and on reports from Jewish chaplains serving with the armed forces. He said that while almost half of the chaplains are Reform rabbis, ninety percent of the Jewish servicemen are from orthodex families, and, as a result, “compromise” services and observances have been evolved which may lead to changed concepts after the war.

Discussing the American Jewish Conference, Rabbi Eisendrath asserted that there is “comparatively little interest” in the organization throughout the country, and attributed this to the conference’s “failure to reach out to the country.” He revealed that recently the UAHC protested to the conference its failure to clearly indieste in public statements on Palestine that the UAHC, although a member of the conference, has not taken action on the demand for the creation of a Jewish commonwealth in Palestine.

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