Our New York Letter

The Sentinel, April 29, 1927.

On May 2 a national conference of Orthodox Jewish congregations in the United States and Canada will be opened in New York City. The initiative in calling this conference came from the Yeshiva Building Fund, the organization which has raised over two million dollars for the erection of a Yeshiva college to house in eight magnificent buildings the Yeshiva, named after Rabbi Isaac Elchanan, for the training of Orthodox rabbis, and a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The step was taken in connection with the festive ceremonies on the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone for the first group of buildings of the Yeshiva on May 1.

These festivities are a significant event in American Jewish life and indicate a tremendous change in the component elements of the Jewish community. It was not long ago that the terms “Orthodox,” “immigrant,” and “poor Jew” were considered synonymous. Now, in every Jewish community in this land there are considerable groups of Orthodox Jews whose capacity for leadership in economic, civil and cultural life is admitted. When the leaders of this movement decided to use the occasion when Orthodox leaders will meet for the ceremonies attending the laying of the cornerstone, for an attempt to unite Orthodox congregations into a national body, it is an effort which has to be followed with arresting interest. Word has gone abroad that this effort may result in the creation of an opposition of Orthodox Jews to the so-called “rule” of the liberal element in American Jewry.

Whether the fight between Orthodox and Reform will be renewed under present conditions is highly doubtful. The days of the early conflicts are, it seems, gone, never to return. The liberal movement has had a long time to prove its worth and it can now be judged not in the heated atmosphere of fanaticism on one side and revolt on the other, but in the light of historic facts, achievements or failures.

Whatever one’s view may be on Orthodox Judaism under present-day conditions, the fact remains that there is a vast number of Orthodox Jewish congregations, with a membership not accurately recorded, which are continuing Orthodox traditions. Whether the trend common to these congregations is one of militancy, as claimed by some of their leaders, or one of passive resistance to all assaults of changing times, a feature characteristic of Judaism in past ages, is a matter which cannot be determined with any measure of accuracy.

The claim has been made that there are between two and three thousand Orthodox Jewish congregations on the North American continent. When these groups are united and express their will with regard to things Jewish, what will this Will be? It is a matter which leaves room for interesting speculative thought. The fact is that, according to the latest figures, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, representing the Reform congregations in the United States, has a membership of 279 congregations which have in turn an individual membership of 53,960 people. The United Synagogue of America, which represents the so-called Conservative trend in American Judaism, has a membership, it is stated, of 226 congregations with a total membership of about 33,000. The union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, an organization started about 30 years ago, but whose development has been rather slow, also has a membership of 150 congregations. This leaves a margin of several thousand congregations, unaffiliated with one another and unorganized, each group confined to the interest of its local importance and totally unguided in matters of national interest and significance, such as Jewish education.

To endeavor to organize these bodies is a herculean task. It is perhaps an attempt to move a slumbering giant. Those of the Yeshiva College Building Fund who have undertaken it deserve praise for their courage and vision.

The proceedings and decisions of this conference ought to be watched with abiding interest by all who take an active part in the life of the Jewish communities throughout the country.