Newspaper Page Text
Friday, October 19, 1956
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Page Three
The Rabbis Viewpoint By dr. Israel j. gerber
Congregation Contradictions
All Jewry Knows The Enigma Which Troubles The
Spiritual Leader of Temple Emanu-El, Dothan, Ala.
Confidentially, I’m stumped.
This is quite a confession for any
Rabbi to make, for people look
to us for the answers to eVery
problem and question. Frankly,
I’ve been bothered by a situation
ever since the beginning of this
year’s activities. What? Who? It’s
you! And your children! It’s your
actions and attitude toward our
Temple and things Jewish. And
I’m puzzled.
No one will deny that our
Temple is the center of our Jew
ish life and is the pride of every
Jew residing in and around Do
than, and worthy of our whole
hearted support. Unfortunately,
however, this is where we come
to a dead halt. The record speaks
for itself. And it is most confus
ing!
Did you ever run into a situa
tion where someone paid you for
an article in your store, and then
you had to plead with him to
take it with him? It sounds lu
dicrous, yet many in our com
munity occupy the same fastastic
position. They pay the Temple
to supply them with leadership
and provide various services,
among which are the educational
and spiritual. But they are play
ing the role of the customer who
pays for the commodity and then
refuses to use it.
They pay for Sabbath services,
but attend very irregularly, if at
all. They pay for adult educa
tion but refuse to read even as
little as two or three chapters of
the Bible a week. There are
Temple and other Jewish organ
izational meetings to attend, but
won’t unless they are fed. We
have a fine Religious School, with
devoted teachers, but it matters
little to them, if any, whether
their children learn anything or
not. It sounds unbelievable, but
do you knqw that a couple of
children wanted a guarantee that
there would be no more than
twenty minutes homework in
order to attend Hebrew classes?
It seems as though their time is
more valuable than yours and
mine.
Does it make sense? Of course
not! But there it is. A goodly
number of our members play golf,
take dancing lessons, attend club
meetings, football games, social
gatherings, play cards, and so on.
And they make time for it re
gardless of how tired they are
and at the wierdest hours. How
about Temple? Sure, when there’s
nothing else to occupy them.
We had a Sunday School teach
ers’ meeting last night and it was
unanimously agreed by all pres
ent that children reflect the at
titudes of their parents. How
true it is. If their parents don’t
go to the Temple, why should
they go to Junior Congregation?
If their parents are not interested
in adding to their store of Jew
ish knowledge, why should they
study in our Religious School?
And why should they be con
cerned with the serious things
in life? Their parents are not.
Throughout all this, I am com
pelled to look at this confusion
and contradiction exhibited with
in our Jewish communal life
from my own viewpoint. I have
come here for a specific reason.
If I must fight and cajole and
argue and remonstrate to do that
for which the community has
asked me to come to Dothan
then I must ask myself whether
it is worth it. And frankly, I
do not enjoy the role of the fire
and brimstone preacher, who de
lights in constantly castigating
his congregants. Furthermore, if
in the final analysis I am not
to be used for what I was brought
to Dothan, then I am here under
false pretenses. Self-respect
would not allow me to continue
on this basis.
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Nashville Prepares
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NASHVILLE — The hometown
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president of the National ZOA,
will be host November 2-24 to
th^ Southeast Region Zionist Con
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One of the principal speakers
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