Germany is not the only land where justice is found wanting, declared Rabbi Samuel H. Goldenson at a meeting of the New York Lodge No. 1, B’nai B’rith. “When people cease to exercise a free intelligence, when they cease to be sympathetic, when they cease to have a moral will, is it any wonder then that there is so much poverty, so much crime?” asked the rabbi of Temple Emanu-El.
“In my student days at the university, I remember learning the economic law: in order to prosper in business a merchant must buy in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest. (Unfortunately,” the speaker added, “this law of economics is applied to human relations. And when you take human beings and buy and sell them like so much merchandise, then you create injustice.”
The rabbi pleaded for more unbiased thought, sympathy accompanied by action and moral will that would denounce the wrongs of society.
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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.