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T HI IOUTIIBN IBBAELITI
Friday, February 4, IMC
ILVER
INING
By DR. SAMUEL SILVER
(A Seven Art* Feature)
What do you know, a Yiddish
writer told his readers some time
ago, I met a Reform rabbi who
knows Yiddish!
The rabbi re
ferred to was
the distinguish
ed dean of the
New England
r a b binate, Dr.
Abraham J.
Feldman of Con
gregation Beth
Israel, Hartford.
The Yiddish
writer sho u 1 d
not have been astonished that a
Reform rabbi knows Yiddish.
Most of them do. There was a
time when 'that may have been
a phenomenon. But for many
years the mastery of Yiddish by
Reform rabbis has become as
commonplace as the mastery of
English by Orthodox ones.
Indeed, men like Dr. Feldman,
with his rich Jewish and Zion
ist background, have been the
leaders in Jewish religious to
getherness. When he was head of
the Synagogue Council of Amer
ica, Dr. Feldman argued, as he
•till does, foe greater Jewish
unity.
So Right T• tow”
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Of course, the three Jewish
groups still have their differ
ences. It is well for special em
phasis to be offered by the three
groups, referred to by a young
ster recently as Reform, Conserv
ative and “Orthodontists.”
There is one matter, among
others, however, that links Orth
odox and non-Orthodox rabbis
in the United States. And that is
the problem of Bar Mitzvah.
This same Dr. Feldman men
tions the problem in his most re
cent book, “The American Re
form Rabbi,” a series of superb
talks which he delivered to the
student body of the Hebrew
Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion. In giving the students
the distilled wisdom he has ac
cumulated over the course of a
glistening career, Dr. Feldman
said: “Some good has resulted
from the reintroduction of the
bar mitzvah . . . Some children
study more Hebrew . . . There is
also the momentary exaltation of
the boy . . . But then . . . there
are . . . the social aspects . . .
which often become shameful to
the point of being scandalous.”
This is the age of the Bar Mitz
vah. And the parties do take the
people far from the realm of re
ligion. The jokes are also be
coming legion. The latest is about
the father who took the whole
NEW ISSSUE
IN ENGLAND
Validity of
Marriages by
Reform Rabbis
LONDON (JTA) — Sol Teff,
president of the Board of Dep
uties of British Jews, was author
ized by tne Board s executive
commiuee to “engage in appro
priate consultations witn various
religious, Jewisn bodies in Bri
tain mat nave disagreed aoout
the religious validity oi ceriam
marriages.
tne Bondon Beth Din, the
Manchester Beth Din and several
individual Orthodox rabbis have
ruled that Keiorm and Liberal
marriages were invalid from the
point of Halacha (Jewish law).
Mr. Teff had asked the Boards
executive committee to consider
the implications of the public
controversy in the Jewish com
munity “concerning the validity
of certain marriages.” The execu
tive committee agreed that the
Board, as the representative body
of all Jews in this country, hold
ing different religious views, was
not a suitable forum for the dis
cussion of religious issues.
However, said Mr. Teff after
the meeting, “the Board is very
seriously concerned about pro
nouncements and incidents that
may adversely affect the cohesion
and unity of the community.” The
executive committee, he con
tinued, agreed “that I, as presi
dent of the Board, make certain
approaches and engage in appro
priate consultations with a view
to the maintenance of harmony
in the community, which must
be the Board’s main concern.”
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Bar Mitzvah crowd on a safari
in Africa. The elephant proces
sion was held up because “there’s
another Bar Mitzvah ahead.”
I think, however, that the com
ments of Dr. Feldman and others
are having their effects. I think
I discern a diminution in the ex
cesses of the Bar Mitzvah parties.
True there are still way-out re
ceptions, but for the most part,
the celebrations are more sub
dued.
What is miraculous is the way
that American Jewry has taken
to the Bar Mitzvah ceremony. It
has reached proportions un
dreamed of before. And it is
about time that stress be put on
the positive aspects of it, also
mentioned by Dr. Feldman. Be
cause of Bar Mitzvahs a lot of
boys become acquainted with
their traditions and lore who
otherwise would have not done
so. Because of Bar Mitzvahs
thousands of people attend wor
ship services which otherwise
they would ignore. Because of
Bar Mitzvahs the sight of the
Torah is more widespread than
would have previously been
deemed forseeable. Because of
the Bar Mitzvahs, too, many non-
Jews have been exposed to Jew
ish ceremonials and preachment.
Indeed. I like to tell about the
Christian youngster, in a Long
Island town, who each Saturday
attended a Bar Mitzvah service
and when asked by his father
what he wanted for his 13th
birthday plaintively replied: “A
Bar Mitzvah.”
True, extremes are still visible.
But they are not as numerous
as before. Let’s hope that the day
will come when the excesses will
be as rare as a Reform rabbi who
doesn’t know Yiddish and an
American Orthodox rabbi who
doesn’t know English.
M
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