Reform Congregations Are Urged to Make Up Union’s $100,000 Deficit This Year

Vogelstein Describes Situation in Message to Congregation Presidents (Jewish Dally Bulletin)

A message to the presidents of Reform congregations affiliated with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations urging them to cooperate with David A. Brown and the “flying squadron’ in aiding the Union to obtain the necessary funds needed to meet its budgetary demands was issued by Ludwig Vogelstein, chairman of the Executive Board of the Union. In his message Mr. Vogelstein declared:

“The Union is facing a grave danger which can be overcome only by the most serious effort. Mr. David A. Drown has devised a method of meeting the difficulty. The Alumni of the Hebrew Union College have volunteered their assistance in carrying out this plan. My object in writing is to tell you about the situation and the plan.

“In two months we will close our fiscal year with a prospective deficit of $100,000 We now owe the bank $70,000. The country is crying for more Rabbis and more Jewish teachers and more educational facilities. Shall we find this need or neglect it? No matter who fills the need, the Jews of America must pay for it. Survival will be the reward of the party that has vision and is capable of making sacrifices.

“In November, two hundred and seventy-nine large meetings will be held in as many congregations throughout the length and breadth of this land One of these meetings is to be- held in your city. We hope your congregation will have both the vision and the courage to realize what is at stake. We want this meeting to be a success. We hope you will help us set the stage for an event that will be worthy of the cause and that will make a strong impression on the rising generation.

“The assistance of your congregation in this magnificent undertaking is deeply appreciated but I think you will agree with me that your membership is not persuaded of the value of these national institutions for our peaceable existence in America. No one has given more than he can afford and it is a matter of simple arithmetic to realize that unless we can meet tile present crisis and persuade tile memberships of our congregations to give more generously, we will have to close the doors of our institutions. The object of these meetings throughout the country is to take the burden from your shoulders and to soared information among the ultimate givers so that they may realize that the cause for which we stand is (Continued on page 4) Many classes are being opened in order to train Jews to become skilled workers.

In the field of ideology, the campaign of the Party has been very successful and the powerful and widely-branched Zionist mass-organizations have been broken up both in regard to organization and ideology. Clericalism is influential among the Neptune and the rich peasants and is frying to regain its hold among the Jewish masses, but they no longer have any confidence in it. Not only the Jewish workers, but also a large section of the artisans, the peasants and the women are being actively drawn to the anti-clericalism fight. During the recent Jewish Holy Days, the self-conscious sections of the artisans in all the towns and villages refused to take any part in the observance of the Festivals.