Article Regarding the 1949 Agudath HaRabbonim Convention

February 11 1949

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THE NATIONAL JEWISH POST
Friday, February 11, 1949
 
Rabbi Eliezer Silver Averts Orthodoxy Split
 
One of the stormiest conclaves of the year was the recent convention at Lakewood, N. J., of the Agudath HaRabbonim, the European-educated Orthodox rabbis of the country.
 
A rupture between the older and the younger factions was only averted after an all-night session when the old guard, headed by Rabbi Eliezer Silver of Cincinnati, eked out a small majority.
 
Reporting the convention, the DAY'S Rabbi N. Gordon states that a peace bid by another Orthodox rabbinical group was cold-shouldered by the rigid Agudah presidium.
 
One of the most fiery speeches of the convention was delivered by a relative youngster, Rabbi Pinching Teitz of Elizabeth, N. J. He sharply assailed the laxity of other rabbis, citing as an example the assertions by Boston's reform rabbis that Judaism has no objections to planned parenthood. (This happened during the birth control rumpus in Massachusetts.)
 
Rabbi Teitz proposed that the title "rabbi" ought to be entirely abandoned by the Agudah members and left to others, and adoption of the title "Dayan" (judge) by those who really know their Torah.
 
Another blow-up occurred when the Resolutions committee asked the convention to greet "The State of Israel and Its Ministers."
 
The old guard objected that an Orthodox group dare not extend greetings to officials who oppose Jewish law, and proposed an amendment which would confine the greeting to "The Jewish Government." Rabbi Yudel Gershon, a son-in-law of Rabbi Eliezer Silver, started to speak against the amendment, but was shushed midway in his talk by his father-in-law. The amendment passed.