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/1 the Crossroad
The Fundamental Difference Between Wise and Adler
A Study in Contrasts
By REUBEN BRAININ
The Wise-Adler controversy has gnipped the imagination of American
leaders opposed each other so openly and ruthlessly. Reuben Brainin
on world Jewish questions, analyses the significance of Dr. Wise and Dr
of two definite tendencies in American Jewish life.
Jewry,
one of
Seldom have two Jewish
the greatest living authori-
Idler, as the personifications
THE EDITOR.
T HK clash of opinion between Rabbi Stephen
S. Wise and Dr. Cyrus Adler with regard
to the Jewish World Congress marked a
crossing of swords between two definite tenden
cies in American Jewish life. 'The Wise-Adler
conflict transcends the scope of the personal,
though the differences in their views stand out the
more sharply because of the contrast between the
personalities of the two protagonists.
Stephen S. Wise, an Americanized Jew of Hun
garian birth, has the sense of solidarity with world
Jewry in his blood ; Cyrus Adler is an American
Jew, a native Arkansan, with a genuine interest
in world Jewry. From these points the views of
STEPHEN S. WISE
Impulsive, restless, irrepressible,
nnatically independent. . . .
> men depart to describe their widely dif-
[ aths. And to the historian, the student of
I life, this difference is fundamental. In
II 'Vise has an impulsive, restless, irrepres-
Janatically independent character, while
'. N a man of system, of calm caution, a lover
tistical accuracy.
more deeply we delve into the contrast
1 ,V\ ise and Adler the more fascinating the
t ies we make.
.hi s son, Wise. America impresses itself
n as the new' world, the continent of youth,
uopean in him is ravenous for the impos
sibilities inherent in this new’ country. His
capacities strain for action. The few short
' °f American Jewish history fail to corn-
respect. He feels that he stands at the
1e - rig
i!> e the view's and discipline of Temple
Emanu-El itk him—he is disinclined to submit t<
the tide of Marshall—he creates his own Frci
Synagogue. Perhaps the same cause lies behind hi
creation of the American Jewish Congress in op
position to the American Jewish Committee
Similarly, he established the Jewish Institute (
Religion because he is neither able nor willing i
bow before either the Jewish 1 heological Semir
ary or the Hebrew l nion College. A vital!
forceful personality, brooking no restraints, or
zig-zag course
is
American Jewish Congress in o|
position to the American Jewish Committee
Similarly, he established the Jewish Institute of
Religion because he is neither able nor willing to
i mm i . *’, m j n .
illy
, P, „ one
whose strength is doubled in combat.
His career travels a colorful
with amazing ups and down that defy all logic.
His opinions are unmistakably stamped with his
individual reaction to men and things. He was a
Tampion of Weizmann and now opposes him;
Te defended Zangwill and later fought him; a
brother-in-arms to Clarence Harrow, he shares
he views of the reactionary Hamilton Fish; a
: oe of Jewish parasitism, he is none the less fanat-
cally hostile to the Jewish colonization movement
n Russia; once in the forefront of militant anti-
German agitation in America, he today professes
in aggressive pacifism; he upholds individual lib
erty, yet frequently has demanded a literary or
lramatic censorship. Many other such inconsist-
incies could be enumerated. Often they represent
imultaneous phases of a too fertile imagination,
ometimes they are merely consecutive points of
dew. Rut despite this unpredictable, often illog-
cal attitude of Wise’s toward Jewish and world
irohlems he is a creator, one who demonishes and
milds, who is carried away or roused to indigna-
ion by the currents of his time.
Adler is the trustee of the Schiff-Warburg-
Harshall-Lehman dynasty. To this group and its
jews he concedes the right of leadership. He has
|ways been the successor. He is the successor of
Wessor Schechter at the Jewish Theological Sem-
nary. He is the successor of Louis Marshall in
he American Jewish Committee. He is the suc-
essor of Marshall and Warburg in the Jewish
Agency. In a sense he is the librarian of the
Marshall group, the systematic collector of docu
ments the student of archives. Adler was and
as remained the academic spokesman of his group,
le substantiated the position of a Schiff or a , ar ‘
mail invested it with historical material. Never
id he found anything—with a single exception:
e established the Jewish Historical Society of
merica His inclinations are archeological. W hen,
ianv years ago-long before Dr. Wise ever
lought of it—he visited Palestine and Egypt his
rimary interest lay in the yesterday of these lands,
ogether with Allen Ramsay he wrote a book.
Told in the Coffee House, a collection of Ori-
mtal tales. This was his sole excursion into the
eld of belles-lettres. ......
Adler’s principal work is, characteristically, his
DK. CYRUS ADI.ER
. . . Possible complications frighten him.
thorough going biography of Jacob Schiff. For
years he rummaged in the archives and correspond
ence of the Schiff family (he says, I believe, that
he went through more than eight thousand let
ters). Adler studied at Johns Hopkins LDiver
sity, where he obtained his doctor’s degree. For
some years he acted as librarian at the Smithson
ian Institute at Washington. His life runs in a
straight line, with few deviations and no contra
dictions. Fo his mind contention is a waste of
time. He has not fought for the many honorary
positions he occupies in dozens of organizations and
institutions; they are his due for his long years
of service. His attitude toward Judaism is relig
ious; he has little understanding for Jewish na
tional thought. Perhaps because even in his Jew
ishness he is first and foremost the archeologist—
or, in any case, the lover of archives.
Thus we have Cyrus Adler, who adds to the
traditionless American Jewish tradition, and Ste
phen S. Wise, who is attracted by the great prob
lems of world Jewry. Wise is a Wilsonian in the
Jewish sense, adapting the late President’s stand
on American affairs. He would have American
Jewry intervene irr the life and work of European
Jewry and even take over its leadership. He is
unafraid of entanglements.
Adler is, so to speak, an adherent of the Monroe
Doctrine. The problems in which he took so
active an interest, though the Joint Distribution
Committee of the American Jewish Committee,
were forced upon him. Unlike Wise, he did not
seek them. He is content with the arrangement
that Centralverein of Germany, the Alliance Is
raelite of France, the Jewish Hoard of Deputies of
England, the American Jewish Committee in
America should each administer its own affairs.
To Wise these bodies are evidence of a shtadloneth
policy. He is convinced that they do not repre
sent the Jewish masses of Europe or America.
I am almost tempted to say that Wise repre
sents the democratic trend in Jewish life and
Adler the autocratic. That would be hyperbole;
for Wise’s democratic stand is but a gesture—a
gesture in which he believes, but which in the
final analysis is an illusion. Wise has the will to
great deeds. He would realize his plans in gigantic
dimensions. Probably he suffers because he must
content himself with Carnegie Hall instead of
Madison Square Garden for his sermons. He
wants an American Jewish Congress of truly dem
ocratic organization, but must do with a letter
head organization. Wise dreams of a huge Jewish
Institute of Religion that would overshadow' all
other Jewish seminaries, but he must be satisfied
with a miniature institution. Wise wants a great
international English-Jewish daily, but circum
stances transformed his project into a local weekly
paper. And soon down (Please turn to page 18)
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UTHERN ISRAELITE
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