the tenor of this discussion, and present this at the next Convention. Seconded.

Rabbi Foster-I rise to support the amendment of Rabbi Stolz. The Committee has certainly done its best, and presented us with the fruits of its most earnest and conscientious labor. It is therefore more reasonable to expect improvement in the manuscript from the revision of a new Editorial Committee than if we refer it back to the original Committee. Furthermore, the Committee has practically admitted that it was not unanimous, and that in a way we have before us majority and minority reports. This, too, should indicate the advisability of submitting this manuscript for revision to a new Editorial Committee.

Rabbi Wise-I am heartily in favor of this or any other plan which will defer the publication of this Handbook from year to year. I do not care what you do with this manuscript as long as you guarantee never to print it. I have not seen the manuscript myself, but if it be at all as Dr. Kohler has described it, then its acceptance by this Conference would mark the complete surrender of our Liberal Jewish movement to Conservatism, a Conservatism which makes absolutely no concession to us, and which despises Liberalism for its lack of faith. We have no quarrel with Orthodoxy at all. We have long given up the position of anti-Orthodoxy. Would to God that Orthodoxy were a hundred times stronger than it is. Nevertheless we do represent a certain Jewish constituency, and that constituency is Liberal. There may be some people who want a Milah service, but that does not compel the whole of Jewry to do the thing they do not believe in. We must not be constantly making concessions, which win the respect of none, but only the scorn of all. I would sooner tear out my tongue than say one word against Orthodoxy. But that should not constrain us to prepare a Handbook for those Conservative Jews who may in time become Liberal, or who can not be Liberal themselves, ever though they belong to Liberal congregations. Let us be dis tinctly and unequivocally Liberal, and let us put nothing int the Handbook to which we can not fully subscribe as Liberal

Vote was taken upon the amendment offered by Rabbi Morgenstern. The amendment was lost.

Vote was taken upon the amendment offered by Rabbi Stolz. The amendment carried. The original motion, as thus amended, was then put and carried.

Rabbi Enelow read his paper on "The Significance of the Agada" (see Appendix F). The discussion was led by Rabbi Kohler.

The Conference then adjourned.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION DAY

THURSDAY MORNING, JULY 2

The Conference assembled at 10:00 a. m. prayer was delivered by Rabbi Adolf Guttmacher.

The opening

A sketch of the minutes of the preceding day was read and after minor corrections was approved.

The temporary Committees of the Convention were announced by the President. (See page 13.)

The report of the Committee on Religious Education was read by the Corresponding Secretary, in the absence, because of illness, of the Chairman of the Committee, Rabbi Abram Simon.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

To the President and Members of the Central Conference of American Rabbis:

GENTLEMEN: The Committee on Religious Education begs leave to present the following brief report:

I. Religious education has made forward strides in the past few years. The results of such progress ought to be more available. The symposium, in which leaders of five national religious organizations will participate, will afford a splendid medium for the ascertainment of the progress made within the past two decades. I believe that each member of the Conference will welcome a summary of the five papers to be presented. In view of this, I suggest that the Executive Board consider the advisability of publishing a digest of the above.

II. Especially marked has been the development of auxiliaries to religious education. The stereopticon has justified itself in the religious school. Several firms have unusually large lists of slides which require some modifications to make them wholly acceptable in our Jewish schools. We appreciate the offer of Messrs. Moore and Hubbel of Chicago to make

an exhibit of their collection in connection with the one under the supervision of Rabbi Zepin.

Messrs. Funk and Wagnalls have made good their promise to reproduce the one hundred and twenty-eight Jewish pictures selected from the Jewish Encyclopedia by a special committee of The Temple Religious School of Cleveland, O. Such lists ought to be sent to every member of the Conference.

III. Last year's suggestion to utilize the services of the Extension Course of the Teacher's College of Cincinnati will be given its first trial. If it proves successful, we recommend that the Teachers' Institute be made a permanent feature of Religious Education Day.

Respectfully submitted,

ABRAM SIMON, Chairman.
SIMON R. COHEN,

LOUIS GROSSMANN,

GEORGE SOLOMON.

Upon motion, the report was received and taken up seriatim. Recommendations I and II were read and adopted. Recommendation III was read and on motion referred to the Executive Board.

Rabbi Foster-The report uses the expression, Sunday School, in several places. I believe this is a term we should avoid, not only because many of us have no sessions upon Sunday, but even more because the time has come when we should differentiate our religious instruction from all other similar work. The term, religious school, would be far more appropriate.

Upon motion, the phraseology of the report was ordered changed in this particular. The report, as amended, was then adopted as a whole. The thanks of the Conference were ordered extended to Messrs. Funk and Wagnalls, of New York City, and the teachers of The Temple Religious School, of Cleveland, for their cooperation with the Committee in its work.

The symposium upon the recent progress in religious education was then begun. The speakers, in their respective order, were Dr. Henry F. Cope, representing the Religious Education Association; Rabbi J. L. Magnes, of the Bureau of Education of the New York "Community"; Rabbi William Rosenau, of the Correspondence School of the Jewish Chautauqua Society; Rabbi Louis Grossmann, of the Teachers' Institute of the Hebrew Union College, and Rabbi George Zepin, representing the Department of Synagog and School Extension of the Union of

American Hebrew Congregations (for the addresses, see Appendix H).

At the conclusion of the symposium the regular order of business was again taken up. The report of the Committee on Descriptive Catalog was presented by the Chairman, Rabbi George Zepin.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON DESCRIPTIVE CATALOG

To the Central Conference of American Rabbis:

GENTLEMEN: Your Committee appointed to prepare an annotated book list for a Jewish Religious School begs leave to report as follows:

The Committee finds that there are three general classes of books which should be represented in such a library. The first class consists of reference books on all subjects pertaining to Jewish Religious Education. The second class consists of fiction, travel and biography, intended for children's reading. The third class is made up of text books for use in school room and private instruction.*

The Committee has devoted its attention to the first of the three classes during this season. We have collected a list of about 300 reference books on various themes pertaining to Jewish lore. The volumes are almost exclusively in English. After the list was compiled it was submitted to the members of the Hebrew Union College Faculty for further suggestions along various special lines. The list is quite complete at the present time.

The members of the Committee have undertaken to annotate five volumes a month during the working season. About fifty volumes have been completed during the months of May and June. It will take the best part of another season to prepare the remainder of the list of reference books.

The books of fiction and the text books will probably number about 200 to 300 and will in all probability take an additional season's work.

While the list of reference books is herewith submitted, together with the annotations thus far prepared, it is the opinion of the Committee that neither the list nor the annotations should be printed in the Yearbook until both are completed.

Respectfully submitted,

LOUIS BERNSTEIN,
АВВАНАМ СBONBACH,
LOUIS I. EGELSON,

H. W. ETTELSON,

JACOB H. KAPLAN,

DAVID LEFKOWITZ,

JOSEPH RAUCH,

GEORGE ZEPIN, Chairman.

Volumes that are apt to prove of especial value to Religious School

teachers will be indicated.

The report was adopted and ordered printed in the Yearbook. The report of the Committee on Census was presented by the Chairman, Rabbi Jacob D. Schwarz.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON CENSUS

To the President and Members of the Central Conference of American Rabbis:

GENTLEMEN: The Committee on Census was given the task of gathering a census of the number of Jewish children of school age in the United States.

This undertaking is extremely important and necessary because of its connection with the general problem of Jewish Religious Education, one of the vital issues with which the Central Conference is concerned. The gathering of statistics to determine the number of children within and without our religious schools, is perforce one of the indispensable steps to the proper consideration and solution of this problem. While it may be true that the Conference is not prepared to cope adequately with the situation as a whole, the facts and figures which define the magnitude of the problem and reveal as it were the "lay of the land," will constitute a valuable preparation for the constructive work which must follow.

When this Committee was created in accordance with the recommendation of the Committee on Religious Education, the suggestion was made that the required information be secured through the public schools, and that this be done by enlisting the cooperation of the Rabbis who are members of the Conference, in their respective communities. The plan suggested was simply to have the principals in the various schools take note of the number of Jewish absentees on Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur. These figures, when tabulated, would furnish an approximately correct report of the number of Jewish children of school age.

In preparing to carry out this plan, your Committee encountered a number of difficulties. The cities in which there are members of the Conference are comparatively few in number. It was considered wise to limit the inquiry at the outset to cities of not less than 10,000 inhabitants. Of the 32 cities in the state of Ohio having a population of more than 10,000, there are members of the Conference in only 7, and of the 537 cities in the entire country having a population of more than 10,000, there are members of the Conference in only about 125. To what extent the cooperation of the Rabbis who are not members of the Conference could be counted on, is problematical. In the large number of cities where there is no Rabbi and where the application of this method would depend upon finding an accommodating layman, the success of the plan would be still more doubtful. In view of these considerations, therefore, the plan as determined upon by your Committee resolved itself into an inquiry by mail. A letter