“More than ever before, the best of knowledge and of skills are demanded to help solve the varied problems which confront us,” declared Felix M. Warburg, noted Jewish leader and philanthropist, in addressing the students of the Graduate School for Jewish Social Work, at the eight annual convention of the school on Monday.
Mr. Warburg, who is Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Graduate School, addressed a large assembly of faculty, alumni, incoming students, and communal leaders.
Emphasizing the importance of giving consideration to all communal needs, Mr. Warburg stated: “In these times of unemployment, when committees are formed, when councils meet and when city administrators and boards of estimate worry,— constructive, sound suggestions are needed; and how few there are among the social workers who will think long enough, deeply enough and practically enough to evolve anything but general statements. Some people will say ‘Accelerate public work.’ Others will say, ‘Build houses so the working classes may have cheaper living quarters’. Others will say ‘Expand manufacturing to employ more people’, disregarding the question of whether there would be customers when the articles are finished. These problems call for wide-awake, thorough people; not sermonizing with beautiful words, but sympathy, understanding and knowledge.”
Commenting further on the present depression, Mr. Warburg said, “How many are the disappointments when young people who are properly prepared are jumped over the heads of those not so prepared, leaving the latter dissatisfied, disgruntled and under the impression that they are the victims of prejudice or injustice. These people need skillful handling. They need also educational and recreational outlets to soften the blows they received and lighten the burdens which life has placed on them.”
Mr. Warburg expressed regret that budgetary requirements had forced reductions in these directions. “Yet,” he said, “food, clothing and shelter must come first even though, as I have already said, man cannot live by bread alone. We can only hope that the social service which goes with these elementary needs is of a kind to make up in a measure for the reduction of educational and recreational opportunities. Such service cannot be rendered by untrained workers. The best training is none too good under such conditions.”
Dr. Max Weinreich, Director of the Jewish Scientific Institute in Vilna, Poland, who is now a visiting lecturer at the Institute on Human Relations at Yale University, reported on conditions of Jewish life in Poland. He stressed the importance of a continuing active interest on the part of American Jewry in the problems of Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. The struggle to achieve economic stability and independence has become greatly intensified because of present world economic conditions. If ever European Jewry needed the helpful cooperation of Jews in America, this is the time. He emphasized further the need for this interest in order to keep alive the rich cultural and traditional heritage of East European Jewry. He spoke at length on the work of the Scientific Institute over which he presides and which is collecting folklore and other scientific data about Jewish life throughout the ages in all parts of the world.
Dr. M. J. Karpf, President and Director of the School, welcomed the students. He emphasized the challenges which present conditions were bringing to the profession of social work. He indicated that these should not lead to pessimism and discouragement regarding the future, but should rather serve as a stimulus for greater application and devotion to the problems confronting us and to the people who are in need of the benefits which social service, in the hands of trained professionally minded people, can bring.
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.
