A heated discussion took place at the meeting of the Board of Jewish Deputies held here today when the questions of relief for the Jews of Russia and the Jewish famine victims of Bessarabia were brought up in the report of the Committee for Foreign Appeals, presented by Ernst H. Schiff.
In accordance with the resolution of the Board at its last meeting, the report said, the Committee considered the report of the Joint Foreign Committee on February 6 on the situation of the Jews of Russia, and in particular the statement that it was “possible to help the Russian Jews by providing them with the means of strengthening and extending the remedial agencies already established in the country. Much remains to be done in the way of increased support to communal institutions, such as hospitals, popular kitchens, creches, and children’s homes.” The Committee also considered reports that supplies of matzoth were urgently needed for the Jews of Russia for the forthcoming Passover.
After a full discussion, the Committee unanimously resolved that it was inopportune for an appeal to be issued by the Board. They noted that appeals were already before the Community from the Chief Rabbi, the Federation of Jewish Relief Organizations, and other bodies.
The President reported that in view of the reports that had been laid before him of the urgent need of relief for the Jewish sufferers from the famine in Bessarabia, he had as President of the Board signed with the President of the Anglo-Jewish Association a joint appeal to the Community. The Committee endorsed the President’s action and resolved to recommend to the Board that £50 be voted towards the Appeal from the Committee’s Fund.
A. S. Diamond, in moving the reference back of paragraph one of the report, which was defeated, the report being accepted, said that he was dissatisfied with the view of the Committee that the time was inopportune for an appeal to be issued by the Board, because the Community had already before it an appeal from the Chief Rabbi and from the Federation of Jewish Relief Organizations. The Relief of the Jews in Russia should be undertaken by the Foreign Appeals Committee and not left to the Federation, he argued. At the last meeting the spokesman of the Federation said that his organization needed the help of the Board, and in his view the Board should have some control and share in the Federation’s appeal.
B. S. Straus, who supported the reference back, said that in his view the Committee should not refuse its help in collecting funds for a desirable cause because there was another organization already collecting. The ex- (Continued on Page 4)
D. Weitzmann supported the reference back on the ground that the Board must help in the work. Why did they not do something for the Jews in Russia? he asked.
The president said that if they referred to paragraph two of the report they would see that the Committee for Foreign Appeals was helping the Jewish sufferers in Bessarabia. The question of an appeal for the Jews in Russia depended on whether the money raised would reach the Jews in that country intact. He could assure them that he knew as a fact that only 50 per cent of the money raised would reach the Jews of Russia, owing to the arrangement of the exchange by the Russian Government.
An open challenge, the correspondent learns, will be made by the Federation of Jewish Relief Organizations to B. S. Straus with reference to his statement that fifty per cent of the collections made are spent by the Federation on administration. According to a statement made by the Federation, the Federation’s administration expenses for 1928 are below twenty per cent.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
