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to try and forget, kept his student
audience enthralled. Expounding
on piety, study and humility, he
observed, “that the really nice
thing about humility is the pride
you could take in it.”
Dr. Rivkin is 38 years old. He is
professor of history at Hebrew
Union College, and the author of
“Leon de Modena” and the "Kol
Sakhal.” He has taught at Dropsie
College, John Hopkins University
and Gratz College. He was born in
Baltimore, Maryland, and he
comes from an ultra Orthodox
family, who themselves considered
him, in his youth, to be fanatic.
By his own statement he had nev
er eaten in a public place, not
even a hard boiled egg, until he
was about 25.
Because Dr. Rivkin is such a
masterful teacher and has such a
keen insight into history, he was
able to show us with great clarity,
the spiralling pattern of history,
and that the history of the Jewish
people is unique only in that it is
not unique, but has always been
interwoven and interlocked with
whatever culture it happened to
come in contact with; and that
when that culture began to die,
creativeness was at a standstill
there, for both Jew and non-Jew
alike. He also proved to us that
the persecution of the Jewish peo
ple throughout history was not be
cause of any religious ideology,
but was a symptom of inner de
cay and impending collapse of that
country which was attempting to
destroy them. While one Christian
country was attacking them, an
other Christian country, in a dif
ferent stage of development, would
welcome them. Also that the three
great religions, Islam, Christian
ity, and Judaism, have survived
because they are all based on the
same premises; One God, revealed
scripture, and individual salvation.
No one of them could win over
sizeable adherents from the oth
ers, because basically it had no
more to offer.
With the rise of Capitalism, there
was also a rise of rationalism.
There was a shift from a revealed
source of authority to the Laws of
Nature. Authority not from God
and Scripture but through the
mind’s greater understanding of
nature. Dr. Rivkin will not ac
cept anything which is contrary
to the laws of nature and which
negates the equality of all men.
He states, “The Jew can never
free himself without freeing Man
kind.”
Rabbi Arthur J. Zuckerman, our
second lecturer and member of
the faculty, impressed us with his
sincere and unswerving faith.
Rabbi Zuckerman is Hillel Direc
tor and Lecturer in History at
City College of New York, also
instructor in Jewish history and
religion at Hebrew Union School
for Education and Sacred Music.
Himself a graduate of City College,
he was ordained a rabbi by the
Hebrew Union College and receiv
ed an Honorary Doctor of Divinity
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Viennese recipes and ideas, and
later during our lectures, laugh
ingly contagiously and happily at
the wit and humor that was so
intrinsic and pervasive a part of
our Institute and of our people.
Dr. Weinstein’s scant and scratchy
notes on his prescription pad, ab
solutely and thoroughly illegible
to anyone but himself and poss
ibly a pharmacist, who I’m sure
would promptly fill it, were all
the notes he needed to make the
hilarious introductions of the chair
men of each session, who in turn
introduced our faculty. Having a
different chairman to introduce
each lecture was a particularly ef
fective means whereby we all got
to know each other.
While varying in some detail,
the daily programs of most Ins
titutes follow the same basic pat
tern. Students and their families
usually arrive in the afternoon of
the first scheduled day. After
dinner the first lecture and dis
cussion usually takes place, follow
ed bv a period of getting acquaint
ed. The mornings from about 9 to
12 and the evenings from 8:30 till
the last question is asked, is de
voted to lectures and discussion.
The afternoons are given up to
whatever recreation or sports act
ivity you happen to be interested
in. In the evening lectures and dis
cussion are followed by social
hours, coffee klatsch and appro
priate entertainment.
B’nai B’rith is aware that studv
and learning is a basic tradition of
Judaism and one of the principal
causes for the survival of the Jew
ish people. In our time, however,
study on the part of adult Jews
has been neglected. We have de
voted our efforts mainly, to the
education of the young, failing to
realize that we can’t do this ade
quately if we, ourselves, are con
fused. This failure is all the more
serious in the light of the chal
lenge, now confronting Judaism.
For this respect the Institutes of
Judaism are dedicated to the in
spiration of respect for our relig
ious heritage and to the critical
study of the entire panorama of
Jewish life and thought.
The teachers who are recognized
leaders in their field are drawn
from every segment of Jewish life
in the attempt to present the
diversity of Jewish life and
thought. Its goal is to meet the
need among American Jews for a
dispassionate understanding of the
many ideological expressions in our
midst. In this respect, our Institute
was an overwhelming success.
Our theme was “Challenges to
Modern Judaism.” Dr. Ellis Rivkin
was our first lecturer. Dr. Rivkin
who looks like a mere slip of a
boy, with almost his first sentence
completely endeared himself to us,
with what you can only describe
as “a Yiddishe tamm”. His draw
ings, done in air, his dissertation
on dates, which he refuses to re
member, except for 1666, which
he insists is euphonious and a nice
date, even if not significant, and
1492, a date he resolves each year