The Jewish outlook., January 27, 1905, Page 3, Image 3

About The Jewish outlook. (Denver, Colo.) 1903-1913

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ing up of Jewish life in small communi
ties, a heartier co-operation of all or
ganizations of national scope, the gather
ing of Jewish statistics for religious,
civil and economical purposes, the
speedy endowment of the Hebrew Union
College and the paramount influence of
the union as the highest representative
body of the American Jews, was enthu
siastically resolved upon, and your exe
cutive board was given authoritative
instructions to work out these momen
tous issues.
The college has now a subscribed en
dowment fund of over $400,000. The
union has the largest enrollment of con
gregations since its establishment thir
ty-one years ago. As successor to Drs.
Wise and Mielziner to the presidency
of the Hebrew Union College, Ur. Kauf
man Kohler, of New York, has been se
cured. The grand missionary work of
reorganizing congregations and Sabbath
schools in small communities was en
trusted to Rabbi George Zepin, who in
one year has built up the Jewish life of
sixty communities, comprising five thou
sand souls.
In the academies of old it was custom
ary to recall the life and labors of the
great and the good who worked in the
cause of Judaism. We may fittingly
follow this custom and remind this rep
resentative gathering that a number of
our choicest spirits have been called to
their eternal rest since last we met.
The great scholar and teacher, Prof. Dr.
M. Mielziner, for twenty-one years the
guide of young students in Talmud and
rabbinical literatures, and for three
years the acting president of the He
brew Union College, died February 19,
1903, and was buried with official honors
from the Plum Street Temple in Cincin
nati, on the 22d day of February.
Three members of the executive board,
Louis Gans and Albert F. Hochstader
of New York and Benjamin F. Teller of
Philadelphia, men of eminence in their
chosen vocation and of high character
in the Jewish world, are no more. Two
members of the board of governors, the
ever-loyal Abraham Bloom, of Cincin
nati, and the great preacher of Temple
Emanuel, Dr. Gottheil, were called to
their heavenly reward. We sincerely
mourn the loss of such faithful servants
of God, whose life and work added to
the glories of American Israel and in
spire the living to emulate their noble
examples.
Of all institutions that bring just
pride to the American Jew, the Hebrew
Union College should be the foremost.
It is the perpetual light of knowledge
that spreads the truths of our Torah.
Upon recommendation of the board of
governors your executive board appoint
ed a committee to consider the advisa
bility of putting up a new college build
ing upon a suitable site, which shall be
THE JEWISH OUTLOOK
adequate for all college purposes and a
monument to the congregations of the
union. It devolves upon the council
here assembled to ratify this action and
to devise ways and means for raising the
necessary funds.
The Union of American Hebrew Con
gregations aims to be the highest repre
sentative organization of American Jews.
Ever since Napoleon assembled the San
hedrin of Jewish notables to learn the
attitude of Jews and Judaism which they
would assume towards the government if
enjoying religious liberty, representa
tive bodies of the best thought of Jews
and Judaism have risen in every country
to uphold the highest institutions of re
ligion, to advance the intellectual and
moral welfare of Israel, and to champion
the civil and religious rights of patri
otic Jewish citizens. This humane work
of advancing and building up the reli
gious and civic character of American
Jews is the matchless work w'hich the
Union of American Hebrew Congrega
tions has been doing during the thirty
one years of its useful existence.
Through the Hebrew Union College and
the 110 rabbis graduated therefrom, the
educational and religious work is ad
mirably carried on. Through our board
of delegates on civil and religious rights
the civil and political interests of native
and immigrant Jews are safe-guarded;
through the committees on circuit
preaching and circuit organization, Jew
ish education is made accessible to every
community, no matter how small or re
mote from large cities.
One hundred and thirty congregations
comprising about 13,000 members consti
tute the membership of the union. The
increase of congregations during the last
two years is nineteen.
According to our secretary’s report the
endowment fund of the union is now
$271,260.90, which includes all collec
tions of the I. M. Wise Memorial Fund.
The annual income from dues from con
gregations may be safely figured at
$13,000, and from investments, $12,000.
Annual expenditures for the college are
over thirty thousand dollars.
The annual reports of Chairman
Simon Wolf of the board of delegates
and civil and religious rights are al
ways rich in fruitful endeavors to main
tain the liberty of American Jewish citi
zens and to make clear the duties of
those in authority to protect their rights
at home and abroad. While the Kishi
neff protest was not officially the work of
our board of delegates, as in my judg
ment it might have been, yet our chair
man, with unflagging zeal, was one of
the workers who, together with the late
lamented Leo N. Levi, framed this his
torical document and stirred the Ameri
can citizens to endorse the same in
righteous wrath. The overthrow of
Russian autocracy will be the last echo
of the voice of Kishineff.
On November 18 and 19, 1903, the
board of delegates met in Washington
to lay before the President of the United
States and the Department of State the
continued disregard on the part of cer
tain foreign governments of the pass
port when presented by American citi
zens of Jewish faith. So successful has
this informal petition proven that our
government, through its ambassador, has
brought the matter before the new Rus
sian minister of the interior from whom
the whole world expects a favorable rec
ommendation to the czar of Russia. The
interpretation of the immigration laws
which often work hardships of Jewish
immigrants has through the agency of
Chairman Wolf, often been modified in
favor of the victims of religious perse
cutions. There is no doubt but that the
immigration question will soon require
the combined wisdom of the American
Jews to prevent the framing of national
laws which might prove inimical to the
Jewish immigrants.
In carrying out our movements for the
growth of Jewish life in small communi
ties the literature published by the Sab
bath School Union has been of inestima
ble benefit. While the union is as yet
not an organic part of our organization
we have always recognized its valuable
assistance in promulgating Jewish edu
cation by giving it financial assistance
from time to time.
The survey of the work of the union
in all its varied departments shows that
much has been achieved in the past two
years. We have entered upon the devel
oping period in the life of the union,
which up to date has been built upon
the sure foundations erected by our pio
neers. The financial crisis is safely past.
The equipment of the American rabbi of
the present and future generations has
been securely entrusted to that able
champion of progressive Judaism, Dr.
Kaufmann Kohler, and his scholarly fac
ulty. The new college building we hope
will soon he an accomplished fact.
The report of committee on perma
nent organization recommended the fol
lowing officers: For president, Judge
Philip Stein of Chicago; vice president,
I. W. Bernheimer of Louisville, Ken
tucky; secretary, Lipman Levy of Cin
cinnati ; assistant secretary, Adolph
Freund of Detroit. On motion duly
made and seconded, the report of the
committee was unanimously adopted.
S. J. Slattery Chrle Irvin* Jae. Flockhart
A. J. Pierce Alex. Glen
THE CHRIS IRVING
PLUMBING AND
HEATING CO.
TELEPHONE] Uli.
1709 California St. DENVER, COLO.
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