Wise

Nothing gratifies a successful man so much as the knowledge that his son will follow in his footsteps; to have what one has clone copied by a new generation is the last, the decisive caret of success. Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, marching nervously from wall to wall of his Manhattan study, was talking to some reporters; his intelligent face reflected more emotion than the topic, casually considered, seemed to be worth:

"It would be idle to deny that I had devoutly hoped my son (James Waterman Wise] would give his life to the Jewish ministry. . . . But he has withdrawn from the Jewish Institute. . . . Seeing that scruples stand in the way, the only decent thing for him to do is what he has done, no matter how much I regret it. ... He graduated from Columbia in 1921, when he was 19 ... went to Cambridge . . . wrote "Liberalizing Liberal Judaism." ... I had reason to believe that he was qualified to render services of no mean order through the rabbinate. ... I must admit in all candor that there seems to be a growing number of college graduates whose religious faiths are shattered. . . . What is to become of these young people? It almost seems to me as if another and supplementary ministry would have to be established. . . . My son a rabbi ... I had earnestly hoped . . . That is over. . . ."