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THE SOUTMEIN ISRAELITE
Friday, Sept. 9, 1955
Our Sincere Best Wishes for the Holidays
FRED WORRILL ADVERTISING
215 Glenn Building — WAlnut 7551-2
CREATORS AND PRODUCERS OF DIRECT MAIL
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
Judge Jesse M. Wood
SUPERIOR COURT
CORDIAL GREETINGS
Judge J. M. C. Townsend
Court of Appeals, Ga. State Capitol
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ATwood 8537
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Conservative Judaism
A vital phenomenon in the Southern religious scene
within the last few decades has been the growth of Con
servatism Judaism. This American Jewish Committee
release tells of a book on the subject.
The Conservative movement in
Judaism has contributed greatly
to American Jewish life “by of
fering a pattern of adjustment”
accepable to American Jews of
East European descent, Dr. Mar
shall Sklare, study director of
the American Jewish Committee’s
Division of Scientific Research,
reports in a book, "Conservative
Judaism: An American Religious
Movement,” just published by the
Free Press of Glencoe, Ill.
The moving idea behind the
Conservative movement is an ar
dent desire "for the survival of
Jewry as a recognizable entity
in American society,” Dr. Sklare
states. He writes that critics of
both the Reform and Conserva
tive movements often fail to real
ize that these were not an attempt
to break with Judaism, but to
make it more acceptable to Jews
living in contemporary America.
Thus the Reform movement in its
origin, says Dr. Sklare, was an
effort to keep within the Jewish
community those Jews from Wes
tern and Central Europe whom
the 19th Century enlightenment
might have drawn completely
away from any Jewish identity.
Conservatism performed a similar
function for these East European
immigrants and their children,
who increasingly felt a contradic
tion between their American cir
cumstances and the Orthodoxy
familiar to them from the old
country.
Writing as a 4 social scientist
rather than as a theologian, Dr.
Sklare has applied social science
techniques to illuminate the Con
servative movement and its role
within the broader context of Am
erican life.
As indicated in his preface, Dr.
Sklare’s book is a revision of a
doctoral thesis begun at Columbia
University several years before he
came to the AJC. His findings,
and conclusions, are his own and
are not to be attributed to the
American Jewish Committee.
The study is comprehensive,
covering all aspects of Conserva
tism from its role in the commu
nity to the rabbinate, ideology,
and social activities in the local
synagogues.
In broad outline this is the au
thor’s picture of the develop
ment of American Jewish relig
ious life:
Jewish history in America may
be conveniently divided into three
periods: the 17th, 18th and early
19th centuries, when the Seph
ardic influences was dominant;
the second and third quarters of
the nineteenth century, when
Jews from the German cultural
areas in Europe predominated;
and the period since 1880, during
which there was a large immigra
tion of Jews from Eastern Europe.
Some Sephardim remained af
filiated with their Orthodox con
gregations, while others assimil
ated into the general population.
The Jews from the German cul
tural area remained loyal to Ju
daism, while responding to the
pulls of the Enlightenment and
American life, by means of the
Reform movement. The East Eu
ropeans, the largest Jewish immi
grant group, tended to retain
their Orthodox affiliations — at
least in the early years. Those
who moved up the social and
economic ladder, as many soon
did, tended to move away from
Orthodoxy but remained hostile
to what they regarded as the ex
tremes of Reform. Conservatism
came to fill the gap.
Within the last two or three
decades, many East Europeans
have joined Reform temples; but
Conservatism , remains as the
unique contribution and charac
teristic religious expression of tho
East European group.
Summing up the present status
of the three movements within
Jewish religious life, the author
concludes:
“Already some students of Jew
ish life feel that Reform, Con
servatism and Orthodoxy have
outlived their usefulness — that
they are divisive forces in the
Jewish community. Although it
is conceded that these divisions
have been expressive of deep so
cial or ideological fissures, some
state that growing homogenity
offers the possibility for the
emergence of a distinctive ‘Am
erican Judaism’ which will re
place the traditional groupings.
These prognosticators state that
this development will usher in a
great new period of Jewish life.
They state that progress is being
hampered by religious separatism.
Whatever tho merits of their case,
it does seem true that if Conserv
atism has had ‘an historic mis
sion’ in terms of preventing the
complete alienation and religious
disorganization of the East-Euro-
pean derived Jew, that task has
been completed. Perhaps Con
servatism will not rest upon this
accomplishment but will come to
play a new and as yet unforesee
able role in the Jewish life of the
future.”
Dr. Sklare is a sociologist who
studied at Northwestern Univer
sity, the University of Chicago,
and Columbia University where
he received his PH.D. He is also
a graduate of the College of Jew
ish Studies, Chicago, and has
taught sociology at the City Col
lege of New York. At present he
is a study director of the Divi
sion of Scientific Research, Am
erican Jewish Committee, pion
eer American organization com
bating bigotry, protecting the civ
il and religious rights of Jews
and advancing the cause of hu
man rights everywhere.
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