The March 31 issue also included the paper’s new Friday Forum, which featured lengthy essays on a variety of topics, including pieces on “real Jewish history,” the threats posed by Christian missionaries, the arrival of eastern European Jews in Philadelphia and capital punishment in the Jewish religion.
Rabbi Edward R. Kandel of Temple Israel of Wynnefield tackled the always controversial topic and, after much debate, came out in support of capital punishment.
“To label the death penalty ‘immoral according to our tradition’ is like implying, God forbid, that our Torah and Talmud are immoral because they believe in the principle that ‘he that killeth a man shall be put to death,’” he said, citing Leviticus.
Thanks for Reading
As this is the last issue of our 130th anniversary year, this also marks the final Flashback feature.
Over the last 12 months, we’ve explored a different year each time, examining how the paper’s look, news coverage and advertising has changed since 1887. We hope you’ve enjoyed it.
