The Denver Jewish news., 1920-07-14

ed to the so-called new cults. l am
| thinking Of that increasing number of
! the sons and daughters of Israels
household who adopting and processing
yeti would seem-irretrievably lost
| to Judaism because they have per-
mitted themselves-Or shall l better
say-because we have permitted them.
to slip into the depths Of utter indif-
ference to and denial of all religion.
To me, it seems that there Is far
greater danger to the Jew In this
negative and. much more in this an
tagOnistic attitude toward all religion
than there is in the adoption by a
handful of our people of some form OF
faith other than our own.
I'm the denial of all religion. some
thing infinitely more treacherous is
involved. Religious ANARCHY is the
root of moral anarchy. ana where there
is moral anarchy, there will he disre
spcct alike for the law Of God and
man.
I'VE need not cOncetle the truth Of
the charge made by our foes that the
ranks of the enemies to organized so
ciety are in undue measure recruited
FROM amongst our people. In fact. we
may definitely deny and disprove that
Dat r.,, I,nt ~
close our eyes to the fact that there
are many thousands of men and women
horn of Jewish parentage whose self,
respect. whose social usefulness. and
the character of Whose citizenship
would be immeasurably heightened II
upon them might he laid the inspiration
Of Jewish idealism and TINT obligation
to righteousness Which fealty to .Iuda-
ism implies.
1--WE do not eXaggerate when we state
it us deplorable fact that I'm practical
ly all Of our great cities, the number
of the unsynagOgued Is far greater
than 1t should be. BY the unsyna-
gogued we mean not merely those who
are not officially Affiliated with the
synagOg and whose names do not APP
pear upon the roster of membership
in some Jewish organization. hut we
mean that vast and. l fear, that in
creasing number of persvns who feel
themselves to be beyond the power Of
the synagog to influence.
"Of these, there are Two classes ::
those who imagine themselves to he
synagog and those who seem to fall
below that level Among the former
are many of the students and the grad
yates of our great colleges and uni
versities, to whom. let it be said in
all humility, we have been far too iu-
different heretofore. Sporadic efforts
Mt bringing the message of Judaism
to these men and women who are des-
tined to be the leaders of the coming
days have, it is true. been made and
in the last year or two. these efforts
have been somewhat intensified.
mot only the Jewish Student Con-
gregation, but the Memorial Society.
the Jewish Chautauqua Society. and
other agencies of high purpose have
directed themselves with more or less
earnestness to the task of guiding re-
| ligiOusly the young men and the young
women In our great institutions of
learning But the time has come when
we must apply ourselves more and more
earnestly to this very important work.
AS we succeed in gaining the full and
| firm allegiance to our cause of our
educated men and women. or as we
fail to obtain that allegiance, the jew
ish life of the future will he strength
ened or weakened. For it stands to
reason that the educated man will
normally win in his community. place
of leadership If his attitude is that
of the cynic and the skeptic. if he is of
those who deny and defy the synagog
md its teachings, the community of
which he is part will unquestionably
reflect his attitude.
But If. on the contrary. the men and
| the women who in virtue of their scho.
lastic training and of their ability to
think clearly and of their right to lead
are deeply imbued with the religious
shirt. If they have been made to feel
during their college years that the he.
ginning of wisdom is in very truth the