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THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

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Jewish University Student Replies to Editorial
"Representation or Misrepresentation"

(Communicated)

Columbia University,

New York, March 15, 1917.

Editor The Jewish Chronicle,
314 Peter Smith Building,
Detroit, Mich.

Sir:
In your editorial of March 9th un-
the caption "Representation or Mis-
representation," you take the position
that the apportionment of delegates to
national organizations was unjust and
unfair from the point of view of the
Rabbinate, especially of the reform
wing.
You are right when you say that em-
. phasis has been laid upon the demo-
cratic character of the representation,
but it was not "purely based upon
. numbers." An express provision was
made in that section of the elections
plan relating to national organizations
that "recognition shall be accorded to
representatives of Jewish religion and
,scholarship."
Perhaps the yeligious organizations
were not accorded a just representa-
tion in that plan of elections upon
which your editorial opinion was
based. But as you arc no doubt
aware, the plan of elections has since
been revised and the Union of Amer-
, ican Hebrew Congregations has been
accorded the maximum number of
delegates.
The fact, however, remains that em-
phasis has been laid on the demo-
' cratic character of the representation
•—on numbers. A Jewish Congress

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based on democratic principles has
been the aim of the great majority
of Jews in this country, and if those
democratic principles have manifested
themselves in this plan of elections,
as you admit they did, the majority of
the Jews are satisfied.
Assuming a prophetic tone, you say,
'' his cry for democracy will be the
undoing- of American 1 srael—," and
you infer that numbers were never
a token of supremacy in Israel. I do
not• know what, according to your
conception, "reading Jewish history
aright" would mean, but I do recall
having read in the Bible such pas-
sages "Kol Hamon k'kol Shaddai,"
"The voice of the multitude is the
voice of God," and "Acharey Rabbim
l'hattos," "The majority shall be fol-
lowed: ,
It seems to me that you have mis-
interpreted the role of the prophet in
ancient Jewish life. The prophet was
a leader but not a dictator. He led
the multitude, he was their spiritual
guide, but he did not force his zed/
upon them. Democracy has been the
essence of Jewish life from its very
inception. It is the Jewish people
who is credited by the world as hav-
ing first conceived of the principle of
a democracy.
It ill-becomes a responsible man
living in this republic, the exponent
of democracy, to denounce democracy.
The world is abandoning the bureau-
cracy in favor of democracy. The
Jews have all through their historic
past had democracy. Shall they now
go backwards?
Respectfully yours,
SAMUEL CAPLAN.

Editor's Note.—If Mr. Caplan, whose
communication is printed herewith, will
refer to our recent issue, he will see that
the points made in his letter were in the
main answered in our editorial cap-
tioned "Representation and Religion."
He is mistaken in believing, however,
that our objection to the plan of rep-
resentation as first outlined, was
based on the thought that it was "un-
just and unfair from the point of
View of the rabbinate, especially of the
reform wing." We do not think of
the Jews in this connection as divided
into reform and Orthodox classes,
but only into religious and non-
religious groups.
Mr. Caplan has been somewhat un-
fortunate, we believe, in attacking our
attitude toward democracy by citing
what he calls Biblical quotations. His
first citation "Kol Hanlon k'kol Shad-
dai" is in fact not Biblical at all.
(Continued on page 6)

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