The Denver Jewish news., 1923-02-07
Our Letter from Nelu York
The Jubilee of "American Judaism and the Universal Re
e;on.-Reform Jewry's Panocea.-Jews sh World in
Russia: Done by Jelos Others?
BY GershOn Agronsky

lege becoming the leading American
academy of theology" which will ad-
vance the coming of the day Of the
universal religion"
Not word of warning Is sounded
! here of the loss of vigor suffered by
a suggestion of remedy calculated to
restore that virility. Others ttnbbi
Frisch of this city. Rabbi LefkowitZ of
Dallns) do complain of ',.piritual i'm
povorishment" and cry out for 'in-
tensifcatiOn. n revival, n renaissance of
the spirit that was in our fathers. hut
not the American Hebrew for whom
universal religion represents the treat
ment of Reform ailments. and the most
pressing of present-dny needs.
This view of universal religion as
the panacea for present-tlay evils is not
the American Hebrews innovation.
Rabbi Isaac NJ. Wise, the founder of
years ago and 1t is being preached dur
ing this convention. Thus DIR. Marius
Ransom of Albany is reported to have
told the Congregation at Temple Eman-
uel Sunday that the time has come
for revision and improvement of
Israers Bible" that the Christless an
tagonism of Christianity and Judnism
of sixteen centuries can he wiped out
In our day by the adoption of Il revised
life of Jews. in which. on the one hand.
the Christians will abandon the New
Testament slnnder against the Jews
and. on the other hand. the Jew will
accept the Jewish ethics Of Jesus
The Moscow dispatch last week that
lIewish institutions I'm the Ukraine were
mot receiving their share Of the relief
funds contributed by the American Gov
ernment and people gave rise to u dis
cussion OF the merits Of the agreement
between the Joint Distribution com
mittee md the Aemrican Relief Adj
mlnistration. Recaptiulated, the charges
reported by the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency correspondent were that GER
tain Jewish children's homes in Zhi-
toner, Bertlicher and other places
were not receiving any supplies from
the American Relief Administration
stores: that rations supplied to some
of these institutions are insufficient
that non-Jewish institutions are main
tnined in districts thickly populated
by Jews: that there is no American
Relief Administration feeding in the
district of Ekaterineslav, where the re-
ports says 10000 Jews are in need of
immediate aid.
Passing from the concrete charges TO
things less concrete. it is asserted that
the vnlue of the food parcels purchas-
ed here for sufferers in Russia and
the Ukraine have fallen in value; that
in view of this fact it would be more
advisable, perhaps. to send money in
stead of food. the transfer of the mon
ey involving possible expenditure OF
two instead of the nine, per cent,
charged by the YidgescOm, tthe ALL
Russian Jewish Public committee.)
1
Some of these charges. it is true.
are frivilous. 1t is neither surprising
nor new that in n suffering and i'm
proverished country certain institu-
tiuns should not have all the equip
ment that is needed. This charge as
well as the accusation that the Ara is
not maintaining kitchens in places
where there are large numbers of suf-
fering Jews. might well be dismissed.
no matter how cojcnt the appeal. The
to this latter accusation. 1t states that
great us the need may be in sections of
the Ukraine. it is not comparable to
other regions. Limited. to all. in its
funds. it must operate where the need
is grentest. And the Ara makes vet an
other reply. which. if accepted as final,
should end all discussion. 1t states
that the Soviet authorities have Op-
posed its attempts to extend the work
into districts more thickly populated
with Jews on the ground that the need
there is not as great as in other places.
The conclusion to be drawn from all
these statements is that by virtue of
the fact that the Joint Distribution
committee had decided to use the Ara
as the best channel for carrying relief
to Jews, an anomalous situation has
developed. Instead of feeding Jews.
Jewish money has, in the words of the