A request by Isaac Allen, grand master, that a spot be selected near New York as a training ground for Chalutzim or pioneer workers in Palestine featured the opening here tonight of the 24th annual convention of the Order Sons of Zion. Delegates from 30 cities in six different states were in attendance.
“If we could prepare 50 young men a year as pioneer workers, the organization would certainly be doing something worth while,” said Grand Master Allen. “The fact that such a farm area would be in the vicinity of New York would afford us an opportunity to bring out to the farm hundreds of people interested in Palestine. We would show them the methods used in training Chalutzim for pioneer life. Next to a personal visit to Palestine no better form of propaganda for Zionism could be conceived.”
Allen also urged the convention to go on record as favoring a boycott against Germany. He requested the convention to call upon the Mandatory Government to open the gates of Palestine “for our stricken German brethren, and for all Jews fleeing from persecution, regardless of the capacity of the land for absorption.” He urged the delegates to go on record for a Jewish minority on both sides of the Jordan in Palestine.
Jacob Kaplan, of Newark, grand secretary, reported that despite financial conditions there was a sigificant increase in the Order’s Insurance Reserve Fund. He also told of the increase made in cultural work during the year. Among his recommendations was one that the Order establish an employment bureau to enable member employers to contact unemployed members.
A memorial was offered for the late Josef Barondess, former Nasi of the Order.
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.
