Presidents of the Major Rabbinical Groups Discuss Jewish Education

The presidents of the three major American rabbinical groups today expressed common concern about the need to strengthen Jewish education, speaking in a symposium held here at the annual conference of B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation directors.

Rabbi Israel Miller, of the Rabbinical Council of America (Orthodox), Rabbi Jacob Weinstein, of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform), and Rabbi Max Routtenberg, of the Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative), agreed that pluralistic Judaism “is here to stay” and that theological differences separating branches of Judaism should not deter common efforts to promote Jewish identification. Each Rabbi endorsed the “ecumenicity” of the setting as a welcome first step toward closer relationships among Jewish elements. Rabbi Weinstein commented that such joint discussion of mutual problems “has been a long time coming.”

The 85 Hillel rabbis at the conference vigorously applauded when Rabbi Routtenberg deplored efforts toward “fragmentizing Jewish youth on the college campus.” The Hillel directors have been critical of “institutional competition” amond the three bodies, and have warned that “divisiveness threatens to spill over into the campus community. “Rabbi Routtenberg said that Jewish students, in their intellectual quest for modern relevancy in Judaism, “couldn’t care less about the theological hair-splitting and ritual differences.” He said that “enclaves” that might isolate Jewish students from the rest of the college community were neither possible nor desirable in America.

Rabbi Miller said “the mood of Orthodoxy is changing from the belligerent negativism” of an older generation under the impact of modern life to a “cautious optimism” about Jewish survival. Rabbi Weinstein stressed that the remedy to ineffectual Jewish education among teenagers would not be found in “crash programs” of extensive day schools or missionizing non-Jews to replace assimilating youth, but in mobilizing “the community’s resources for a long, upward and expensive battle.”

Rabbi Jay Kaufman, B’nai B’rith executive vice-president, summarizing the symposium, urged the three leaders to continue the momentum developed at today’s meeting. He stressed the need for congregational bodies to recognize “a continuing obligation to college students” by accepting the Hillel movement as their representatives on campus. He said that B’nai B’rith does not want the Hillel Foundations to become “another and separate branch of Judaism.”