A three-day convention of the National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods opened here last night with more than 500 Jewish laymen from all parts of the United States and Canada participating. The Federation comprises 237 Reform Temple men’s clubs with more than 42,000 members.
In a message to the convention, President Truman appealed to people of all faiths to join hands in seeking a return to religious principles. “If our civilization is to be saved and if world peace is to be attained, it will be by a revival of religious fervor and a more ardent practice of the teachings of God,” the President said.
Roger W. Straus, honorary president of the federate, and in the opening address that “the greatest peril” confronting the Western world was “the world-wide clash of two divergent beliefs: the Judeo-Christian philosophy and the crass materialism of communism,” Pleading for a return to the principles of their faith, he told the delegates that “free men can protect themselves against the most fanatical barbarism,” provided they “rededicate themselves at the wellspring of religion,” Other speakers included Rabbi Maurice N. Eisendrath, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and S. Herbert Kaufmanns, president of the national federation.
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.
