The Evening Service (Union Prayer Book, I, 231-240), was read by Rabbi Samuel H. Goldenson.

Rabbi Leo M. Franklin welcomed the Conference to Detroit and to Temple Beth El with the following words:

With all the pride that a mother feels when her son, grown to maturity, returns to the home of his childhood, robust and honor-laden, the community of Detroit rejoices in the homecoming to this city, after a quarter century of high achievement, of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Some there are among you, my colleagues, and one or two among the members of this congregation, who yet recall how, during a session of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations held in this city in the parlors of the old Russell House, there was brought into being, under the inspiration of our immortal leader, Isaac M. Wise, this organization, destined to become, after the lapse of a quarter of a century, the largest and the most influential rabbinical body in the whole world. The Conference is but one of the fruits of his genius, whose name and memory we delight to honor, but it is by no means the least of his works.

As the American rabbinate has grown in numbers and in power, this Central Conference of American Rabbis has not only come to represent a bond of unity among the teachers themselves, but the unifying spirit, of which it has stood sponsor, has so influenced the congregations of this land that, praying the same prayers from its Union Prayer Book and singing the same songs, as they shall, from its Union Hymnal, sharing the same hopes and the same ideals as, under the guidance of highminded men, they do, American Jews, united in spirit, stand as the defenders of those principles of truth and righteousness for which our fathers, through all the centuries, have dared to die and live.

Not empty and formal, therefore, are the words of welcome which, in behalf of this congregation and community, it is my privilege to speak to you. We esteem it a privilege, rare and rich, that you have chosen to come here for the celebration of your Silver Jubilee. As history counts time, a quarter of a century is but a brief space.

Yet for American Israel these last twenty-five years have been epoch-making and deciding. While they have run their course, the Jew in America has been steadily coming into his own. Out of the ghetto and the Judenstrasse he has emerged, the man, free in body, free in mind, and free in spirit-the American citizen indeed, but for all that intensely and unchangeably the Jew.

The finding of his better self has been in no small part due to the influence of the men who are gathered in this holy house tonight. Little doubt have I that the deliberations of this Jubilee convention will add their quota to the debt under which the Jew of America already stands to your honorable body. God grant that it be so. We in Detroit shall

be the more pleased if every hope that your hearts cherish shall be brought nearer fulfillment, and if every ideal that you hold dear shall become more nearly realized during your deliberations in this city. We give you welcome, then, to our city, to our Temple, to our homes and to our hearts. The host shall rejoice if the guest shall prosper in our midst. Our Baruch habbo is hearty and sincere. Berachnuchem mibbeth Adonoi. Sincerely we greet you with blessing in this house of God.

Rabbi William Rosenau, Vice-President of the Conference, responded:

Most cordial is the welcome which has just been addressed to us, the members of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, about to convene in annual assembly for serious consideration and earnest debate. Such greeting merits more than passing recognition. Anticipating the ready proffer of this community's hospitality, the Executive Board has made just provision for an official response. To have been appointed spokesman of this large body of teachers, for the expression of its appreciation, is an honor I prize most highly.

This is the third time Detroit has opened to the Central Conference of American Rabbis the doors leading to its homes and hearts. Our first meeting within these gates took place July 9, 1889; our second, June 29, 1903, and our third, today, on this, a more than ordinary historical occasion in the life of our organization.

Careful observation and exhaustive scrutiny are not needed to note the many changes for the better which have in every respect been wrought here in this city of the lakes-since last we pitched our tents in its midst. The municipality, celebrated for its prosperity, has been made more prosperous; well known for its beauty, has been made more beautiful; and, far-famed for its culture, has been made more cultured. In the very marked growth of the general community, the Jewish community has participated. In recent years Detroit Jewry has not only increased in point of numbers by dint of natural causes, but has also expanded in Jewish influence through the wisdom of rabbinical leadership and communal activity. We rejoice in the progress you, our hosts, have made. We congratulate you upon your every achievement.

Having been fortunate enough in the past to enjoy your hospitality, and, having learned of your steady strides forward, it is but natural that we should delight to come hither again. In fact, there is no city in all America more fitting as meeting place for the Silver Anniversary of the Central Conference of American Rabbis than is Detroit, where the Conference was given birth. I well remember the hour when on July 9, 1889, in the old Russell House, one of our number rose and submitted to the Rabbis assembled the proposition, previously circulated, for the organization of this, our body.

As I contemplate the entrance of the Central Conference of American Rabbis on its career, by no means at that time promising security and permanence, the Central Conference assumes a marked resemblance to Jacob, our Patriarch. Like Jacob it is a wanderer sent upon a path fraught with obstacles and dangers. Many wanderers before Jacob had been overwhelmed by misfortune. Also many Conferences, before the Central Conference, could not endure amid an ever-varying Jewish milieu and Jewish outlook. Luckily for us, however, like Jacob, the Central Conference came at the start of its journeying, to a Beth El—the Beth El of Detroit. Here too, the Central Conference had dreams amid the inspiring influence of a genuinely Jewish atmosphere. It faced perplexing problems. It espoused worthy aspirations. It cherished fervent hopes. It looked toward blessed accomplishment. In a word, it pledged itself to Jewish organization, Jewish order, Jewish uplift, Jewish stimulation and Jewish potency. What else could the nobility and firmness of its resolution bring to the Central Conference than the promise given

(Behold, I (God" הנה אנכי עמך ושמרתיך בכל אשר תלך :to Jacob

am with thee and will keep thee in all places whithersoever thou goest".

Since that memorable day, when the Conference first came to Beth El in Detroit, the Conference has made good. We can say this without fear of contradiction and charge of boastfulness. The Conference has grown to a membership of more than two hundred Rabbis united in a common cause

How good" מה טוב ומה נעים שבת אחים גם יחד,and demonstrating

and how beautiful it is for brethren to dwell together in unity". It has aroused among its constituents thoughtful research and literary activity. It has come to the assistance of the superannuated Rabbi. It has recognized and encouraged scholarship among Jews here and abroad. It has helped in the protection of civic and religious rights of Jews. It has issued under separate cover devotional literature, a variety of timely treatises and three tracts. Thus it has given beauty to the divine service, discipline to religious education and a better understanding of Jews and Judaism among non-Jews. Every subject which the Conference at its meetings discussed, was treated with fearlessness, but not without due regard for Jewish precedent and Jewish tradition.

The path of the Conference, like that of the patriarch Jacob, was also fraught with hardship. Although all of us are willing to forget and forgive the misrepresentations to which the Conference was frequently exposed at the hands of many of our coreligionists, we can not help but recall these hardships in our desire and right to prove the Conference's achievements. Moreover, because of the prestige the Conference has won for itself by its faithfulness to useful service, like Jacob of old in the case of Laban, the Conference has turned many a foe into friend.

Now, after twenty-five years of blessed activity, it seems as though

there comes to us the command, as it also came to Jacob:

nby pip

Arise, go up to Beth El and dwell there" אל ושב שם ועשה שם מזבח לאל

and make thee an altar unto God". In obedience to that command, we are here once more at Beth El in Detroit. Here we shall dwell for the next week. Here we hope to succeed in building, by means of our deliberations and resolutions, an altar monumentalizing our service and declaring the glory of God. Here we trust we shall be inspired to meet the needs of the future, as we were inspired twenty-five years ago to meet the needs of the past.

Yes, we trust that we shall be inspired to meet the needs of the future! With these needs we are compelled to reckon. The future of American Israel, it should be remembered, is not a repetition of old tendencies and a reproduction of former accomplishments. Conditions have greatly changed in American Jewry. Far be it from me to convey the idea that the Jew's philosophy is different today from what it was a quarter of a century ago. That is still and shall ever be the same. The firm conviction

The grass" יבש חציר נבל ציץ ודבר אלהינו יקום לעולם :is mine, that

withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God endureth forever". However, there is also no denying that new conditions have brought with them new problems, and new problems call for a new emphasis. The spirit of the times demands that together with the accentuation of the Jewish truth and the Jewish idealism, we must betake ourselves to the application of the Jewish truth and the Jewish idealism to social betterment. For the furtherance of such policy, the Synagog must therefore, in addition to a

be a בית המדרש,and House of Study בית תפלה ,House of Prayer

Jewish Social Center, D. This phase of its activity does not make the Synagog less Jewish, but more Jewish. The Tabernacle of antiquity, the Temple of old, and the Synagog in later times, each was the center, the heart, of all the Jewish life. Only as the Synagog proves itself such, can it have a place in the larger present social organism and in the equation of an united humanity. I believe that we wish to enjoy recognition for Judaism's distinct contribution to the solution of the problems besetting mankind. I believe that we are here not for entertainment and cameraderie, but to work for such recognition. Only in the proportion in which Judaism makes its social influence felt, can Judaism expect to hold its own. And again, only in the proportion in which the Central Conference helps in the Jewish socialization of the world, along with other lofty purposes, can the Central Conference of American Rabbis prove a factor for good to American Jewry.

May God grant us the stimulation to help the further development and to make real the wider usefulness of the Jewish truth, the Jewish philosophy and the Jewish life. We would be benefited, and benefit in turn, by this and every subsequent meeting of our organization as we have been

benefited by gatherings in previous years. Ours is the purpose, as well as the prayer, not to see God's word depart from our mouths, the mouths of our children, and the mouths of our children's children.

The Annual Message of the President was read (see Appendix A), and upon motion was referred to the Committee on President's Message, to be appointed during the course of the Convention.

Memorial Addresses in honor of the following members of the Conference who had passed away during the year, Rabbi Solomon H. Bauer of Chicago, Rabbi Henry J. Messing of St. Louis, and Rabbi Isaac L. Leucht of New Orleans, were delivered by Rabbis Joseph Stolz, Samuel Wolfenstein and Edward N. Calisch respectively (see Appendix E). Adoration and Kaddish (Union Prayer Book, I, 48-51), were read, the latter participated in by all the members of the Conference in memory of their departed colleagues. The benediction was pronounced by Rabbi Sigmund Hecht.

A reception was thereupon tendered the members of the Conference in the vestry room of the Temple by the Detroit community.

WEDNESDAY MORNING, JULY 1, 1914

The Conference assembled in the vestry-room of Temple Beth El. The President, Rabbi Moses J. Gries, occupied the chair. The opening prayer was delivered by Rabbi S. G. Bottigheimer. To the roll call the following ninety members answered present during the course of the Convention: