Birth of a New Judaism in America is Predicted at International Liberal Conference in London

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

The prediction that a new Jewish religion, differing as much from Reform Judaism as from Orthodoxy, will arise in America, was made by Dr. Julian Morgenstern, president of the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati, at the International Liberal Conference, the first international gathering of Liberal Jews ever held outside of the United States, which is taking place here. The conference, which was opened Saturday night, is attended by 150 delegates, representing Reform Judaism in Europe and America, of whom sixty are from the United States.

The purpose of the conference is to review the present status and problems of Liberal Judaism and to discuss the possibility of creating an International Liberal Union.

American leaders of Reform Judaism are playing a conspicuous role at the conference. Addresses which were listed to with keen interest on the part of the assembled rabbis were delivered by Rabbi Louis Wolsey, Rabbi Abram Simon, Rabbi Samuel Schulman, Dr. Julian Morgenstern, Dr. Maurice Harris and Dr. William Rosenau.

MONTEFIORE URGES QUESTION OF NATIONALISM BE AVOIDED

Claude Montefiore, leader of Liberal Judaism in Great Britain and president of the Jewish Religious Union in London in opening the conference declared that the gathering was not intended to be provocative. “We believe in continuous revelation applied to modern conditions, in adaptation of ancient doctrines to modern life,” Mr. Montefiore stated, adding, “it will be best to avoid all allusions to Jewish nationalism regarding which there are many differences among us.”

Tribute to the work of Mr. Montefiore in the field of Liberal Judaism was voiced by Rabbi Seligman, president of the Union of Liberal Jews in Germany, who stated in the course of his address, “Mere theoretical confession in a belief in one God is insufficient. We must evolve something that will be an expression of our own faith, not merely a negation of Orthodoxy. Liberal Judaism will bring a renaissance to Jewry similar to that brought under Ezra and Nehemiah.”

Rabbi Louis Wolsey, President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, speaking on the subject of ceremonials in the Jewish religion declared that these were not final or sacrmental.

The Sunday session of the conference was presided over by Rabbi Abram Simon of Washington, D. C., former president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, who maintained in his address that, “only Orthodoxy can afford to be cocksure. Liberalism must be fluid, not congealed. The trouble with Liberal Judaism is that it is too ‘high brow.’ There is no future for it unless it will touch the masses and the children and this it will never do if it will be merely an intellectualist religion.”

Rabbi Samuel Schulman of New York urged that it was “a mistake to emphasize those things which Judaism has in common with other faiths, which is merely offering the world a ditto.” Rabbi Schulman also declared his opposition to the idea that the Jews are a nation. “The possibilities of the synagogue have never been exhausted, in fact they have not even been grasped. Even a modern thinker like Wells speaks of the ‘Jew God’ not realizing that He is the God who created heaven and earth,” Rabbi Schulman stated. “Israel,” he continued, “is not a nation in any accepted sense of the term. Israel is an historic people with a unique mission, it is a community to which everyone is welcome. We must reject all ideas that nationality is based upon blood kinship. We must also establish that race is no obstacle to any one to accept our religion and become a member of the House of Israel.

OLD TESTAMENT SUFFICIENT, SAYS SCHULMAN

“The western world has never grasped the Jewish conception of God, it worships man not God, identifying man with God. The synagogue has rejected the notion of a concrete personal Messiah. The Old Testament is sufficient and needs no supplement,” Rabbi Schulman declared.

Lily H. Montague, one of the organizers of the conference, said, that the Jewish Religious Union in London hoped to cooperate with liberal congregations all over the world to form a union for furthering progressive thought in Judaism.

“We are deeply grateful for the kindness with which our plan has been received by our American leaders,” she said. “It sometimes occurs to the English readers of American papers that interest in synagogue life and attendance at synagogue services seem to come naturally to the average American Jew. Here it savors of an acquired taste. The American congregations seem to understand better than we do the significant part that social service plays in Jewish life,” she declared.