Intercollegiate Menorah Notes
Fourth Annual Menorah Convention
AT the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa., on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, December 27, 28, 29 and 30, 1915.
Announcements
All members of Menorah Societies are cordially invited to attend the Convention. Though the right to vote is enjoyed only by duly accredited Representatives and Deputies of constituent Menorah Societies, all Menorah members may be given the privilege of the floor at the business sessions. Graduates also, especially former members of Menorah Societies, are invited to attend.
All business sessions, unless otherwise indicated, will take place at College Hall, University of Pennsylvania.
A reception will be given to the delegates and other Menorah members by a Committee of graduates and leading Jewish men and women of Philadelphia, at the Y. M. H. A., on Monday evening, at 8.
By invitation from the President of the Dropsie College, Dr. Cyrus Adler, one of the meetings, the "Scholars' Evening," will be held at The Dropsie College, corner Broad and York Sts., Philadelphia, on Tuesday evening, December 28, at 8.15 P. M. This meeting will be open to the public.
The Convention Dinner, at the Hotel Adelphia, Philadelphia, on Wednesday evening, December 29, at 6.30 P. M., will be open to Representatives and Deputies, all other Menorah members, all graduates, and invited guests. Menorah members who desire their friends to be invited will please send their names and addresses immediately to the Intercollegiate Menorah Association, 600 Madison Avenue, New York. The subscription will be $3.00 a cover.
Program
Monday, December 27.
10. A. M. Opening session. Submission of credentials by Representatives and Deputies, and written reports of their respective Menorah Societies (unless previously sent to the Chancellor of the Intercollegiate Menorah Association); payment of Society dues to the Association for 1916; seating of Representatives and Deputies; presentation of the applications of new Menorah Societies for admission into the Association and action thereon.
1. P. M. Informal luncheon to delegates and visiting Menorah members.
2. P. M. Presentation of reports of Intercollegiate Officers for 1915, covering (1) roster of Menorah Societies and census of Menorah members; (2) extension of the Menorah movement during 1915; (3) the Menorah College of Lecturers; (4) Menorah courses of study and syllabi; (5) Menorah Libraries; (6) Menorah Prizes; (7) The Menorah Journal; (8) Menorah Classics; (9) Graduate Menorah Committees; (10) The graduate phase of the movement; (11) Relations of the Menorah with other organizations, etc. Questions regarding the activities of the Association and the policy of the Administration during 1916.
8. P. M. Formal reception to the delegates and visiting Menorah students, given by University alumni of Philadelphia at the Y. M. H. A.
Tuesday, December 28th.
9.30 A. M. Discussion of the Intercollegiate reports submitted the previous afternoon, with special reference to The Menorah Journal. Resolutions.
1. P. M. Informal luncheon.
2. P. M. Discussion continued of the Intercollegiate reports, with special reference to the question of the affiliation of graduates with the movement. Resolutions.
8. P. M. "Scholars' Evening" at The Dropsie College. Papers by Professor Max L. Margolis of The Dropsie College, Professor Israel Friedlaender of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and Professor Julian Morgenstern of the Hebrew Union College. Informal memorial to the late Dr. Schechter by President Cyrus Adler of The Dropsie College.
Wednesday, December 29th.
9.30 A. M. Submission of 10 minute oral reports of Menorah Societies by their respective Representatives or Deputies, in summary of the written reports previously submitted.
2. P. M. Discussion of the activities and problems of the Menorah Societies and the ways in which Menorah work may be still further advanced in the Colleges and Universities of the country.
4. P. M. Election of Intercollegiate Officers for 1916.
6.30 P. M. Convention Dinner at the Hotel Adelphia for Representatives and Deputies, all other Menorah members, graduates, friends and invited guests. Toasts.
Thursday, December 30th.
9.30 A. M. Discussion continued of Menorah activities in Colleges and Universities. Resolutions.
2. P. M. Unfinished business.
Items of Interest
Death of Dr. Schechter
Solomon Schechter, President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, died suddenly on November 19. Dr. Schechter was a member of the Board of Consulting Editors of The Journal, and from the first an inspiring friend of the Menorah movement. The Journal was shortly to have received his promised article. Endeavor will be made in an early issue to give worthy appreciation of Dr. Schechter as scholar and humanist and Jewish leader. Meantime, it may be noted that several of his leading works are to be found in Menorah libraries: "Studies in Judaism" and "Aspects of Rabbinic Theology." Attention may also be called to Dr. Schechter's last book, published only recently, entitled "Seminary Papers and Addresses."
Relief of Jewish Students in Switzerland
Menorah members have sent the following amounts through the Intercollegiate Menorah Association for the relief of Russian Jewish students at present in Switzerland: $38 from the University of Pennsylvania; $23.50 from the University of Valparaiso; $18 from The Johns Hopkins University; $9.50 from Temple University (Philadelphia); and $6 from the University of North Carolina. The students at Harvard sent approximately $100.
Syllabus of Jewish History
By special arrangement with the University of London, the Intercollegiate Menorah Association has been enabled to provide Menorah Study Circles with a Syllabus of Jewish History from Mendelssohn to Herzl, prepared by ten Jewish authorities in England as an Extension Course of the University of London.
New Menorah Societies
New Menorah Societies have been organized since the opening of this academic year at a number of Colleges and Universities, including Alabama, George Washington (Washington, D. C.), Rice Institute (Houston, Texas), Temple, Vanderbilt, and Washington (St. Louis). Menorah Societies are now in process of formation at a number of other Universities.
The Graduate Phase
A graduate Menorah Society was organized last year in Scranton, Pa., with Dr. Elias G. Roos as President.
A number of former members of the Menorah Society of New York University organized last month into "The Menorah Alumni of New York University," with Louis Weinstein as temporary President.
A Graduate Menorah Society has recently been formed in Montgomery, Ala., with Harry Weil as President.
A Graduate Menorah Advisory Committee has been formed in Cincinnati, with Mr. S. Marcus Fechheimer as Chairman.
Joint Menorah Meetings in New York
Continuing the pleasant practice originated last year, the Menorah Societies in New York—at the College of the City of New York, Columbia University, Hunter College and New York University, in company with the newly organized "Menorah Alumni of New York University"—held their first joint meeting of this year in the Auditorium of Hunter College, the Hunter Menorah acting as hostess. It was a most successful meeting, with an attendance of about 700 Menorah members and friends.
Miss Sarah Berenson, President of the Hunter Menorah, introduced the Chancellor as the chairman. The speakers were Miss Tamar Hirschensohn of the Hunter College Faculty, and Mrs. Benjamin S. Pouzzner, Radcliffe, 1912. Miss Hirschensohn drew a comparative picture of a great Hebrew friendship celebrated in the Bible, that of David and Jonathan, and notable friendships in the Greek and Latin classics—Achilles and Patroclus and Euryalus and Nisus. Mrs. Pouzzner spoke upon the Jewish women of the German Salons of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Chancellor read communications to The Menorah Journal from Viscount Bryce and Hon. Oscar S. Straus (see pages 281 and 297). After the speaking the Hunter Menorah held an informal reception for the members of the other Menorah Societies.
The next joint meeting of the Menorah Societies of New York will be held at Columbia University on Sunday afternoon, December 26. The principal speaker will be Mr. Louis Weinberg, artist and lecturer at the Metropolitan Art Museum and the College of the City of New York. The subject will be "Culture and Nationalism." Besides the members of the Menorah Societies in New York, members of Menorah Societies at other Colleges and Universities home for their vacation are invited to be present. It is hoped also that a number of delegates from various parts of the country to the Menorah Convention which meets the next morning in Philadelphia will be able to attend.