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The Southern Israelite
Page 3
THE VOICE OF AMERICAN JEWRY
America has long been known as the
Land of Organization; and the Jews
have, proportionately, more organiza
tions than any other racial group in
the country. The Jews from Lemberg
are quick to form a Lemberg Relief
Society; the Jews of Lithuanian origin
organize a Lithuanian-American so
ciety; then there are innumerable oth
er types of religious, social, fraternal,
economic and cultural groups to which
Jews belong.
Some psychologists have reasoned
that this Will-to-Organization is a
symbol of the restlessness which the
j ew feels; he wants to identify him
self with as many closed societies as
possible in order to shield himself
from a world which he subconsciously
feels is hostile. Forced gregariousness
with fellow-Jews over many centuries
may also be the power that has caused
the formation of the endless Jewish
societies that now exist. It is also pos
sible that the Jew has a highly social
instinct.
Whatever benefits may have ac
crued to the Jew from his affiliation
with one society or another, his or
ganizing tendency has done immense
harm to the Jewish body politics, ac
cording to the views of those who
most concern themselves with the
problem. Because American Jews have
split themselves into so many parties,
factions, elements and interests they
have made impossible a united Jewish
opinion in the highest sense of the
word. Because too many have sought
to be leaders within the smaller circle,
the wide field of Jewish welfare has
remained unmanned. It is true that
there are perhaps three or four out
standing leaders in American-Jewish
life today, but any opinion that they
express is actually a personal observa
tion and does not carry the weight of
organized public opinion.
There are a few organizations which
are the most important potentially
tor the American-Jewish public. They
are, without any reference to their
comparative standing, the American
Jewish Committee, the American Jew
ish Congress, the B’nai Brith, the
Zionist Organization, and the Union
American Hebrew Congregations.
And yet, an opinion from the leader
of any one of these organizations does
not denote the support of the Jewish
public.
Believing that this phase of Amer
^an-Jewish life is one of the most in
Portant in contemporary Jewish lif.
writer presented the problem t
several men in each of the above-mer
!° ne( Bodies. It is interesting to not
,, a ‘ person interviewed thougl
at his particular organization coul<
should, deal with every phase c
Amencan-Jewisb life> When ifc wfl
ti /! e out ^at obviously this pai
sent organ * zat i°n does not reprt
e rest of American Jewry, th
£! n ;°n interviewed replied that his oi
Thf. f tlon . deserves such recognitioi
son C ^ n Jewish Committee list
ca on f t u 6 ^ oremost names in Amer
Concrro 3 ^ 0ard; American Jewis
ocra^ SS presu mably the most den
ratlc of the national Jewis
4/i Analysis of a Contemporary
Jewish Problem
By JOSEPH SALMARK
Descnbing the various organizations now existing that presume to repre
sent different elements in American-Jewish life, Mr. Salmark very thoroughly
and directly presents the problem of one unified body that would actually ex
press the voice of the community.
Neither blaming nor praising any particular existing institution, Mr. Sal-
mark approaches the problem from an analytical point of view, and presents a
situation which, although not immediately alarming, is one that merits the at
tention of every Jew interested in the perpetuation of the highest traditions of
American Jewry.
—The Editor.
bodies; the B’nai Brith membership
includes the most substantial elements
in the Jewish community; the Zion
ist Organization propagandizes an
ideal to which the great majority of
Jewry has given allegiance; the Union
of American Hebrew Congregations
represent the most powefTully or
ganized Jewish religious group. These
were some of the characterizations
applied to their organizations by the
individuals interviewed.
The fact remains that each group
is distant from the others; has little,
if any, contact with the others. As a
result, we have had some of the most
absurd situations in American-Jewish
life within recent years. Not long ago
there was a tragic situation involving
the fundamental interests of American
Of JO/tPU /uvcrmAn Oi: Ito. M. Pranklin
Oi: Abram /imon
Or David Pwiuivon Dr. 14. G. twttow
Dr. /ton.
Vt JrBWARD N. CAlt/tH Dlt WlUlAM ftO/lNAU R.AB8I LOU>/ WoIfl Y
Memories of other days will be recalled on Thursday morning, June 27th,
by eight Past Presidents of the Central Conference of American Rabbis in a
symposium at its 40th Annual Convention of June 26th-July 1st in Detroit,
Mich. The eight former presidents and the present president are:
Top row: Doctors Joseph Silverman, Honorary Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El,
New York, N. Y.; Leo M. Franklin, Temple Bethel, Detroit, Mich.; Abram
Simon, Washington Hebrew Congregation, Washington, D. C.
Center row: David Philipson, Rockdale Avenue Temple, Cincinnati, Ohio;
H. G. Enelow, of Temple Emanu-El, New York; Joseph Stolz, Temple'Isaiah
Israel, Chicago, Ill.
Lower row: Edward N. Calisch, Beth Ahabah, Richmond, Va.; William
Rosenau, Eutaw Place Temple, Baltimore, Md.; Louis Wolsey, Rodeph Shalom
Philadelphia, Pa.
Jews. The incident promised the
resurrection of the blood libel. There
upon at least ten statements were is
sued by as many different persons at
tacking the creators of the incident
and demanding apologies and restitu
tions both recklessly and irresponsibly.
Obviously this was a situation which
demanded tact, statesmanship and
calm, combined with vigorous dignity.
The stories which the press carried
made the incident look like a farce,
with a host of Jews scrambling for
the most favorable publicity.
Another factor in the disunity of
Jewish life is the multiplicity of
money-raising campaigns with which
the Amercan-Jewish community is be
sieged. It is possible and probable that
each drive has a meritorious purpose,
but it is inevitable that each of the
funds should suffer as a result of the
great number of them. Occasional
suggestions have been made for a na
tional Jewish community chest. Those
who favor this solution declare that
fund-raising would become more scien
tific, would involve less inconvenience
to the contributors, and would actu
ally raise sufficient to cover all needs.
But such a prospect is far off in the
horizon until some central organiza
tion can actually represent American
Jews.
The voice of American Jewry can
become a powerful instrument for
good in the hands of the Jewish com
munity, was the statement made by
this writer to the leaders of Jewish
organizations he interviewed. Have
you any steps to suggest which will
hasten the weeding out of all the
“static” so that one clear, resonant
“voice” may be heard? That was the
question asked of them.
Some were frankly discouraged.
They declared that there was too
much difference of opinion among
Jews to make possible any unified
body representing all of American
Jewry. They pointed to the history of
the American Jewish Congress to il
lustrate their point. This organization
started out as the ideal body to which
the entire community had been look
ing. Every possible faction was rep
resented when it was inaugurated
more than a decade ago. But since
then, though performing admirable
service, it has lost its multiparty char
acter. Here was an instrument that
might have made possible a united
Jewry, but it failed. This, then, was
the experiment which proved the im
possibility of a united Jewish public
opinion, this person argued.
Another point of view was that it
would be dangerous for Jewry to have
a single, unified expression. Some de
clared that this would result in a mis
understanding of the American-Jewish
position by non-Jews. It would be in
terpreted as an institution similar to
the Methodist Board of Morals, Tem
perance and Prohibition, according to
the opponents of the idea. Non-Jews
would interpret such a unified body
as a political manoeuvre by the Jews,
which attitude would result in con
siderable harm, was their view.
The Zionists were the most hopeful.
Declaring that the platform of Pales
tine gave American Jewry a basis for
unity, they said that through ipiited
work for Palestine a unanimity of
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