Liberal Jewish religion is failing to give American Jews a deep sense of human destiny and the strength of identification that distinguished their forefathers, Dr. Sidney Morgenbesser of Columbia University said today at the first B’nai B’rith institute of Judaism held here at Camp B’nai B’rith. Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist were included by Dr. Morgenbesser in his definition of the forms of liberal Jewish religion.
Addressing an overflow group of men and women, the Columbia professor charged that religious liberalism underestimated the value of ritual and was unable to hold the intellectuals. He called for a religious approach that would help American Jews live up to the ideals of the prophetic tradition in his attitude toward social problems and which would inspire them continually to increase the scope of their service to society and mankind.
The B’nai B’rith Institutes of Judaism are directed by the department of adult Jewish education of B’nai B’rith. More than 30 such B’nai B’rith institutes have been scheduled in this country and abroad this season, eight of them at Camp B’nai B’rith.
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.
