Opening Address of the Jewish Women’s Congress

It is my pleasant duty, as chairman of the local committee, to extend to you all a hearty welcome to our city and to our Congress, the first Jewish Women’s Congress. It was with some misgiving that I accepted a position on the general committee on Parliament of Religions, realizing that it was a new departure for the Jewish woman to occupy herself with matters pertaining to religion. But I felt that in the Parliament of Religions, where women of all creeds were represented, the Jewish woman should have a place. I was fortunate enough to secure a committee thoroughly in sympathy with me, all its members believing that, on an occasion on which women and men of all creeds are realizing that the ties that bind us are stronger than the differences that separate, that when the world is giving to Israel the liberty, long withheld, of taking its place among all religions, to teach the truths it holds, for the benefit of man and the glory of the Creator, the place of the Jewish woman should not be vacant. [ . . . ] To the women of the general committee on Religious Parliament, representing all sects and creeds, our appreciation is due for the interest they have always felt in our work. Could the good-will entertained for each other by the members of the general committee be disseminated in the entire world, there would be no need of a Parliament of Religions; for each was desirous not merely to be just, but generous, in her treatment of others. I hope the same spirit may characterize all the congresses. To the women at the head of the Exposition, all women owe homage. The President and the Vice-President of the Woman’s Branch of the Auxiliary must ever pose as goddesses of liberty for the women of our century, the one in material, the other in spiritual things, gaining for all women the full privilege of exercising their talents and capabilities. Our papers are not intended to startle the world as literary efforts, but we wish seriously to consider problems that are to be solved, in order to help along the great work of bringing men nearer together, to be co-workers in a world requiring the best efforts of all.

In our “Souvenir,” a collection of the traditional songs of our people, we pay our tribute to the work and worth of those of our faith who have lived and suffered, making it possible for us to have our faith in this land of liberty. We pay our tribute to the traditions of the past, which were dear to our forefathers, who, however oppressed and unhappy, sang these songs. They were their staff and their stay. From the Ghetto they resounded, they raised them to a spiritual plane which no walls could encompass. Chanting the prayers and singing the songs uplifted them, so that they forgot their misery. And we in this land of liberty and prosperity, in this Columbian era, should not forget the deeper tones struck in days of adversity. [ . . . ]

To those who are not of our faith, to many of whom we are bound by ties of love and friendship, as strong as those of faith, we bid a hearty welcome, and invite them to take part in our discussions and be frank with us. Perhaps, in this wise, we may overcome some of the inherited prejudices unfavorable to us, and if we cannot gain sympathy, we may at least command respect. [ . . . ]

And let us, above all things, remember that we are children of many mothers, that we have different points of view, different methods of reasoning. Let us be just to each other, give to each one the same patient hearing that we ask for ourselves. Let those of us who have orthodox views, believe that the radical views may be as sincere as our own; those of us who are radical, believe the others just as honest as ourselves, so that harmony and peace may mark our going as our coming.