The 37th biennial council of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations closed tonight with a banquet at the Hotel Statler at which scheduled speakers were Hendrik Willem van Loon, the author; James Marshall, president of the New York City Board of Education, and Rabbi Emil Leipziger, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
The banquet followed the closing business session this afternoon at which resolutions were adopted looking towards strengthening of Jewish religion in the United States.
At a symposium this morning addressed by representatives of national Jewish organizations, Morris D. Waldman, secretary of the American Jewish Committee, declared that the challenge of the present crisis made it vital that “the present heterogeneous mass called American Jewry “become one cohesive Jewish community and that the “present Babel of tongues give way to one coherent voice.”
“To shape and build the structure of this community and preserve its ideals is the exalted task and sanctified privilege of the synagogue,” Waldman said.
Our way of life, Waldman said, involves not only a belief in “the freedom of the spirit for every man regardless of origin, creed or color, the freedom to think and speak one’s thoughts, freedom of conscience, freedom to labor and move about,” but also the actual practice of those beliefs.
“Moreover,” he said, “democracy is not a static concept; it is a dynamic process. It is not a being but a becoming. It is not a finality but a continuous evolution. Once it is accepted as static, it is lost. It is the difference between a tree, rooted in the ground and growing with the seasons, and a tree smitten at its roots by disease or violence, stunted and destined to decay.
“And, because religion, Jew and America are identical in interest, religion and the Jew, too, cannot be static. Religion is not an unchangeable set of dogmas; it is an evolutionary process, a continuous marching forward and upward toward God. This dynamic character applies to Christianity and Judaism alike and to all religions whose basic principles are the same. They each follow their particular road onward and upward, but the roads are in the same direction and lead to the same ultimate destination.”
Looking forward to the end of the present conflict, Waldman declared: “This war will have to produce a different kind of peace, just and equitable treatment of minorities, a greater internationalism, freer trade, more extended financial and commercial cooperation, universal good neighborliness and a limitation of national sovereignty in every country when and where national sovereignty threatens to encroach upon the rights of other nations. Above all, out of this war must come not national self-determination, but human self-determination. More even than in 1917 must we see this war as a war to make the world safe for democracy, discredited though that slogan has become to a tragically disillusioned world.
“To instill these truths into the consciousness of humanity is the task of the church and synagogue. This is the contribution that all religion is making to the status of mankind including the status of the Jew as an indestructible part of mankind.”
Others on the speakers list were Sigmund Livingston, chairman of B’nai B’rith’s Anti-Defamation League; Rabbi Morton M. Berman, Chicago, of the American Jewish Congress; Fred Butzel, Detroit, of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds; B.C. Sherman, New York, of the Jewish Labor Committee, and Robert P. Goldman, president of the Union, who presided.
Yesterday the meeting approved recommendations of the Union’s survey committee including a dues increase, increased development of interfaith institutes, seminars and laymen’s groups; greater support of youth work, and establishment of traveling exhibits of books and ceremonial objects and establishment of a national magazine. A resolution was adopted paying tribute to Rabbi George Zepin, retiring as secretary of the Union after 35 years.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
