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m the patterns that we now know them, but a fusion of the
best in all of them. Rationalism and progressive liberalism
will predominate; yet it will be warmed and enriched by the
fervor and color of traditional Judaism.
This new Judaism is being accelerated by the movement
to the suburbs. It has been estimated that 1,200,000 Americans
move to the suburbs every year, and a very significant part of
our young Jewish population is represented in the forty million
who now live there. The whole Jewish life is inevitably being
affected by suburban living. The young people are not able
to maintain three different types of “religion,” and they will
have to settle on the synagogue which will suit the majority.
They are. for the most part, college-bred and liberal in their
thinking, free from the fanaticism of their immigrant fore
bears. They are religious trail-blazers, striking out on their
own.
The future synagogue will be small, consisting of several
hundred families instead of thousands. This will enable the
rabbi and congregant to have an intimate and personal re
lationship. He will be their teacher in religion, their moral
guide, their counselor, and personal friend as well as com
munal leader.
I predict that the synagogue of the future will be a teach
ing synagogue, a Jewish academy, where the emphasis will not
be so much on moralizing as on instruction. There will be a
great expansion of Jewish education for adults as well as for
children, which will give our religiously lost generation a chance
to catch up with the content and meaning of Judaism.
I forsee the synagogue restored to its former centrality;
everything Jewish will take place within its confines. It will
again become the tri-part house it once was; the Beth Tefilah
(the house of prayer), the Beth Hamidrash (house of study),
and the Beth Am (meeting-house), patterned very much like
the old New England meeting-house of Colonial days.
1 forsee a closer, more friendly relationship between the
Synagogue and the Church. Today they are different, each
going its own way. Tomorrow, though still different, they
will walk and work together in mutual understanding, with the
heightened purpose that together they must combat the break
down in private and public morals and the anti-God philo
sophies.
As for anti-Semitism. I predict that it will abate in this
country. It may never disappear, because frustration, jealousy,
suspicion, the dislike of the different are all part of human
nature. Happily, the climate of American public opinion is
such that it will not tolerate open and overt anti-Semitism. Anti-
Semitism is a social cancer that devitalizes and destroys the
body politic that harbors it. As for social discrimination, an
emotionally secure Jew can ignore it.
Now, a final word about assimilation and intermarriage. I
believe that both are on the increase, and yet not enough to
be alarming or to threaten our survival. These are the in-
( vitable consequences of living in a free land where our children
mingle with those of other faiths. I believe, however, that,
with more intensive Jewish education and better home and
svnagogue influence, intermarriage will not increase appreci
ably.
I have tried fo project the picture, as I see it, of the American
Jewish community of the future. I believe in America. I am
optimistic about the future of the Jew and Judaism here. 1
believe that we have something very positive to contribute to
American thought and life. We are the heirs of a great prophetic
faith, whose basic concept is the dignity and the divinity of
man. It is the Jewish idea which underscore democracy and
gives dimension to the American vision. Our might and our
power as a people lie not in material achievements, but in
releasing to America the spiritual potential which is latent in us
as the heirs of moral covenent. With this vision before u",
let us face the fourth century confidently; and may God bless
America and all its people.
The Southern Israelite
Hartwell Garment Company
AND
Bellcraft Manufacturing Company
Manufacturers
MEN'S and BOYS'
WORK CLOTHING
SPORTSWEAR, PANTS, SHIRTS
and SPORT SETS
•
HARTWELL, GEORGIA
New York Office
350 Fifth Avenue
Empire State Bldg.
West Point Manufacturing
Company
Industrial and Clothing Fabrics
Martex and Fairfax Towels
♦
OPERATING DIVISIONS
Lanett Mill
Lanett, Alabama
I.angdale Millt*
West l*oint Utilization Co. Khawmut Mill
Fairfax, Alabama Shawmut, Alabama
Kiverdalc Mill Fairfax Mill
River View, Alabama Fairfax, Alabama
Langdale, Alabama
I>antuck Division
Fairfax, Alabama
Lanett Bleachery S:
Dye Works
Lanett, Alabama
♦
SUBSIDIARES
Dixie Mills, Inc.
LaGrange, Georgia
Columbus
Manufacturing Co.
Columbus, Georgia
Cabin Crafts, Inc.
Dalton, Georgia
Wellington Sears Co.
65 Worth St., N. Y. 13, N. Y.
Equinox Mill
Anderson, S. C.
Chattahoochee Valley Railway Company
West Point, Ga.
General Office: WEST POINT, GEORGIA
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