A comprehensive plan of reorganization for Avukah was outlined here by Rabbi Samuel Blumenfield, registrar of the College of Jewish Studies of Chicago, at the fourth session of the student Zionist society’s convention yesterday.
The plan, in six sections, was a direct answer to the challenge made in an address by Sam Maron, president of the Cleveland graduate chapter of Avukah, who spoke on “What Is to Become of Avukah?”
Rabbi Blumenfield’s suggestions are as follows:
1.—Avukah must be integrated.
2.—Local chapters must be given right to expression of opinion.
3.—There must be direct contact between national and local officers.
4.—The national office must send instructive literature to locals.
5.—There must be periodical reports by the locals to the national office for an exchange of ideas.
6.—The national office must correlate the locals with a common aim in their approach to undergraduates.
LISTS UNDESIRABLE FACTORS
“The time has come,” Rabbi Blumenfield declared in presenting his suggestions for a revised organization, “to stop patching and to rebuild.”
He pointed to the various factors which he contends are “making Avukah what it should not be.” These he listed as organizational weakness, uncertain membership, lack of aim, the society’s position on the university campus and the type of member in the society.
In order to eliminate these weaknesses in the organization, Rabbi Blumenfield said that Avukah must approach the subject from a purely Zionist angle. It is incumbent upon the society, he emphasized, that it show Zionists that Avukah can do Zionist work.
He urged that undergraduates be approached from the personal angle, with emphasis on what they can do for themselves as Jews rather than what they should do. Training Avukah members in Jewish and Zionist work, in an effort to show them that Zionism is the only way out of the Jewish problem, was also advocated by Rabbi Blumenfield.
Smaller cultural groups were suggested by the Chicago educator. These would have Zionist ideas hammered into them after the proper foundation had been laid.
Rabbi Blumenfield deplored the fact that only three-tenths of one per cent of Cleveland Jews are Zionists, with the same ration prevailing everywhere. He urged an active campaign of propaganda to offset this poor showing and suggested that through lectures and literature Avukah can help revitalize Zionism in America. He expressed confidence that to this end the Zionist Organization of America will help financially.
Following Rabbi Blumenfield’s address, the convention adopted a resolution creating the office of cultural director, who will work under the direction of the organization’s president. The society, by this resolution, is to be divided into geographic divisions, with each region having a sub-director responsible to the national director.
JEWISH SECURITY
Rabbi Edward L. Israel, president of the Seaboard Zionist Region and rabbi of Har Sinai Temple, Baltimore, speaking at the opening session, declared Palestine is the only country that offers the possibility of Jewish security.
“Zionism is not necessarily the answer to anti-Semitism in the world, but it is certainly the only strength that the Jew can achieve,” he asserted. He emphasized the development of the labor movement in the Holy Land.
Declaring you in Russia and Germany has shown itself to be ruthless, Rabbi Samuel Blumenfield, registrar of the College of Jewish Studies, Chicago, urged Avukah to join with “other liberal student forces” to combat extreme tendencies to either the right or left.
AVUKAH A MEDIUM
“It is the purpose of Avukah,” he pointed out, “to serve as a medium between American civilization and the civilization now being created in Jerusalem.”
Rabbi Barnett R. Brickner said:
“We cannot all go to Palestine, but we should live a minimum of the maximum Jewishness.”
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.
