One of the most unsavory rackets conceivable is yearly mulcting thousands of New York Jews and Christians—mostly Jews—of untold hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The racket lurks under the protecting folds of the Jewish religion and is legalized by a city ordinance.
The racket diverts money from those who need it most—the destitute and starving—into the well lined pockets of unscrupulous gangsters and bogus rabbis.
The Department of Public Welfare is well equipped to handle charity frauds by its powers of investigation and revocation of license.
BALKED BY ORDINANCE
The Department can crush all charity rackets except one. That is a racket incorporated as a religious organization.
Article 18, Section 196 of the Code of Ordinances, states that “no person, organization . . . shall solicit money . . . except upon a license issued by the commissioner of public welfare. . . .”
But here is the hitch. Section 199a says: “This ordinance shall not apply to any corporation organized under the Religious Corporations Law. . . .”
That is where the racket comes in. A group of persons takes out a charter as a Jewish congregation. Inserted in the charter is a
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.
