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The Orthodox Union Story Introduction For the American Torah community-adherents to the Jewish faith as handed down through the ages - the founding of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America was a watershed event. From that time, Sivan 17, 5658 of the Jewish calendar (June 8, 1898) to now, that Union has been central to American Orthodox Jewry's response to the challenges of the times. The centenary soon to be marked prompts focused awareness of historic forces at play. Too, there comes fresh realization that the launching of the Orthodox Union was itself an outgrowth of prior chapters of North American Jewish history-and that the Orthodox Torah-observant Jew in America of today is heir to what was striven for by their predecessors through a century-indeed, more than a century-of New-World, newage life. New World new age-it is within the epochal sweep of what these terms signify that the story of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America is framed. Seen in relation to the phenomenon that is America and the stupendous new-age refashioning of man and his world, the significance of this instrumentality is impressive. The labors of the organizational process, the continuous sequence of involved personalities, the ups and downs of effort and accomplishment, the varying levels of public impact and impress on daily life-all stand out as pregnant with meaning when recognized as addressed to a time and place so new to the experience of humanity, and so mighty in the shaping of human affairs. For those loyal to the covenant made at Sinai to have ventured to rally in this setting, to have made place in this clime and time for the heritage of timeless Purpose-therein is to be seen an endeavor whose every detail, however seemingly prosaic, takes on deep consequence. The world that presents itself at the eve of the centennial of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America is far different a place from that of a century before. So, too, did that world differ from what had preceded it in turn, from whence emerged the experiences that, in the course of time, led to the birth of American Torah Jewry's banner-bearing force. Within a transformed global scene stands a transformed Jewish world. Of yesterday's Jewish world, nothing of its physical composition remains; what exists now is new-built. But the domain of the Jewish spirit-that, thank God, has endured: vital, fruitful, as living a force as ever. The Torah of today is the Torah everlasting of all our yesterdays. The Torah way-the daily and seasonal observances, the code of living, the Siddur, the stored treasures of Torah learning - is, as in all the preceding generations, alive and well in the life of every Torah-loyal Jew. In setting forth the course of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, varied aspects of its history and development will be considered. It is a panorama of continuous change, yet there is no need to treat theological change, as might be the case with accounts of other religious groups. Reflected in this book's pages are constant vast changes-in events, idea patterns, molding of new life circumstances to the Torah way, in application of tenets and principles to new situations, policy stance, mode of action, and expression. Withal, the basis of Jewish life (belief, practice, heritage) - this is unchanged and unchangeable. Exploration of many sources and deep delving into records written and unwritten have gone into the preparation of this book. It is not, however, intended as a formal history. The aim, rather, has been to bring to the reader a sense of what transpired over the years as manifest in the career of the Orthodox Union-with preceding glimpses of the earlier experience of Jews on the New-World scene-and an idea of the meaning of this story to Jews (and others) of today. It is hoped that what follows in the course of this book brings the reader a strengthened sense of being personally an integral part of a profoundly significant historical process. |
