Scrapbook re: Rabbi Silver, his Family and Chofetz Chaim, 1963 - 1967

caption:
Text Reads:

EVERY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1963
THINKING Jewishly
BY REB SH'MUEL
THE LITTLE LIGHT
You will recall my column of last week, where I quoted at length from a speech by Rabbi A. Perilman of Temple Emanu-El in New York. This week I am relinquishing my column not to a Rabbi but to our own Meyer Goldberg, so that he might tell you why he is so interested in the Chofetz Chaim.

THE NER TAMID
by Meyer Goldberg
When I try to explain to myself why I have devoted so much interest during the past fifteen years to the problem of the survival of traditional Judaism, the little light (Ner Tomid) that is kept burning in front of the Holy Ark in the Synagogue, ap-pears before my eyes and I feel that some sort of Jewish flame flickers within me. Thanks to my contact with Rabbi Eliezer Silver, whom I consider a Jewish spiritual giant, this flicker has become a bright light to make me see the beauty of the tradi-tional Jewish way of life of my mother and father, to whose admonitions I paid little attention in my younger days.

Chofetz Chaim Dinner
 Just now I want to urge you to come to the Chofetz Chaim Community Dinner. We are not going to ask you for money at the dinner because we want you to be in a friendly mood. That is why we are letting you have the pleasure of listening to that G-d given voice of Cantor Sholom Katz while you are enjoying a delicious gourmet style dinner. Your presence at this dinner is important because the young Rabbi David L. Silver of Harrisburgh will tell you about "Why the Chofetz Chaim Type of Jewish Education." It is most important that you should learn that Chofetz Chaim is NOT what you think it is; so that when you are approached for a contribution in the future you will understand what it is about.

A Shift In the Wind
I feel that a shift in the wind of American Jewish life is taking place. The new breeze is bringing out the basic importance of intensive Jewish religious education. I feel that the problem of Jewish education is most important to Jewish survival in this country and all of us, no matter what shade of Judaism we profess, must unite to solve it.

The Jewish Day School is an important instrument in the symphony of Jewish Education. The traditional religious Jews are by nature equipped to play that instrument well. It is here where the pristine quality and glory of our religious heritage must be zealously guarded. Because it is from this source that all forms of Jewish life draw their sustenance. They are the roots from whence comes the nourishment of  Jewish groupings, Reform, Conservative, nationalists, philanthropists. This nourishment and all will [...] That is my reason for urging Jews to be vitally interested pedagogues who are both religious and modern at the same time.

[Photo Caption]:MEYER GOLDBERG

Towards the Future
Furthermore, I visualize that in the future many of our Jewish leaders, rabbis and heads of Jewish institutions, will come from the Jewish Day Schools. I do not look forward to large enrollments and I realize that the Day Schools will prove expensive. But when our survival as Jews is at stake every Jewish child enrolled in these schools should prove precious to us. It is also more vital than ever to preserve and expand the religious foundations of our society. The Day Schools will have to bear the major--if not almost exclusive—responsibility to in-sure that we are not raising a generation of materialistic pagans, dedicated to the pursuit of mundane success instead of service and to the worship of more happiness in place of idealism and faith. If the potential value of a citizen can be gauged by the intensity and comprehensive-ness of his education, then no segment of society can hold out a greater promise of influence and virtue than the product of [...]