Anglo-jewish Association Endorses Move to Bring Marranos Back to Judaism

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

The action to assist the Marranos in Portugal to return to Judaism was endorsed by the Anglo-Jewish Association at its meeting held yesterday.

Leonard G. Montefiore, President of the Association, presided.

Joseph Prag moved the recommendations of the Executive Committee arrived at at the Conference with the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in London with regard to financial assistance to the Marranos in Portugal be accepted. The recommendations, which were passed, stipulate that subject to similar sums being voted by the Elders of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue £ 100 be granted by the Anglo-Jewish Association towards the initial costs of the Oporto plan outlined in Lucien Wolf’s report and subsequently £ 50 a year for five years towards the annual expenditure under the scheme. and that the President, the Chairman of the Executive Committee, O. F. D’Avigdor Goldsmid and E.N. Adler be appointed delegates to a provisional committee of the members of the Sephardic communities and of the Anglo-Jewish Association with power to co-opt others who may be interested in the scheme. Mr. Prag stated that the Association had received a letter from the Alliance Israelite informing it that the Chief Rabbi of France, M. Israel Levi. was empowered by the Alliance to be its representative in any work for the development of the Marrano plan.

With regard to the grant made to the Evelina de Rothschild school in Palestine it was stated that the school at present received 1 1/4% of the amount spent on it from the Palestine Government. The opinion was expressed that that was entirely inadequate and it was decided to write a letter to the Minister of Education with the request to raise the grant to £ 300 a year, which would be in accordance with the support given by the Government to the Zionist schools.

L.G. Montefiore reported on behalf of the Jewish Colonization Association. The Ica, he said, had gradually been taking up again the work of establishing Jewish farmers in the Argentine. More immigrants had been sought, particularly from among refugee families who were anxious to be settled on the land.

“The Ica hopes in the course of 1926 to settle something like 200 families in its Argentine colonies,” he said. “The work has to proceed slowly, partly because it is necessary that only those who have some previous training or show a real desire for agricultural life should be established in the colonies and partly because the wooded nature of the country entails a good deal of preliminary work.

“There were several cases of striking success among the more recent immigrants. The religious instruction in the Argentine is being taken over more and more by the colonists themselves. Through the efforts of what is in effect a local Jewish Religious Education Board, over 3,000 children are receiving religious instruction.

“In Russia they have a program of settling 300 families during 1926. Up to the 20th of June about 120 families were successfully established. This new settlement is of course an addition to the old Ica colonies in Russia which now contain some 37,000 persons. The other usual branches of the Ica work, the trade schools and the loan banks are progressing normally,” the report stated.

“Owing to the financial crisis in Poland, the chief and most urgent need has been the provision of cheap credit. The American Joint Foundation which administers the combined fund of the Joint Distribution Committee and the Ica for this particular purpose has given $300,000 to the various loan banks. The number of these has risen this year from 197 to 256 with a membership of some 76,000 people. They hope to go on steadily increasing the number of these loan banks,” Mr. Montefiore stated.

“In Bessarabia,” concluded Mr. Montefiore, “conditions have improved here and there is every prospect of a good harvest.”