The headquarters of the World Union for Progressive Judaism will be transferred from London to New York City in the near future, it was disclosed today at the eleventh world conference of the Union.
The Hon. Miss Lily Montagu, delivering her final presidential address, thanked the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and its president, Dr. Maurice N. Eisendrath, for offering facilities for the World Union in the UAHC headquarters in New York. Miss Montagu, who is 85, will relinquish the presidency during the conference and become honorary life president. She will be succeeded by Dr. Solomon B. Freehof of Pittsburgh.
Citing the development of Reform Judaism fostered by the World Union in many countries, including India, South America, Holland and Switzerland, Miss Montagu said that the “dawn of progressive Judaism was at last beginning to break through the religious mist” in Israel.
Rabbi Andre Zaoui, director of the International Institute of Hebrew Studies in Paris, told the delegates that the first graduates of the Institute would receive degrees next year. The Institute was founded by the World Union four years ago to replace the rabbinic colleges destroyed by the Nazis in Europe. He said students come not only from metropolitan France but also from North Africa and other countries.
Dr. Eisendrath challenged “those negators of the so-called exile” whether in Israel or elsewhere “who dismiss with a patronizing air the work” of the World Union. He told the delegates “I will match its creative development of the communities with anything that is being established in the Jewish world today.”
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.
