Modern Women Have Learned Teamwork, Says Mrs. Goldfarb

On January 30, when the whole country will celebrate the birthday of President Roosevelt, the Jewish women of our city will have an added reason to mark this day not only with a red but with a golden letter. For it is also the birthday of Mrs. David E. Goldfarb, president of the Federation of Jewish Women’s Organizations, president of the Mt. Neboh Sisterhood, honorary president of the New York State Federation of Temple Sisterhoods, executive board member of the American Red Cross, and so on and so forth. For the list of her dignities, her offices, and her activities are too numerous to be retold in detail.

Mrs. Goldfarb is a New Yorker born and bred and she shares with the city of her birthday a sparkle, a vitality, an energy, and an enthusiasm that have made her a true leader of New York’s womanhood. As a student in Hunter College, of which she is a graduate, she showed her talent for leadership as well as for distinctive personal performance. She was class president and, deeply musical, she not only led the graduating class in their exercises, but won wide acclaim as a soloist. Soon after she married a brilliant young lawyer whose consciousness of civic duties inspired him to do much for the neighborhood in which he and his young bride had settled. Finding in her an able and willing helpmate, they founded the first free religious school on Washington Heights. Out of this school, an important congregation, Mt. Neboh, finally developed, and the Mt. Neboh Sisterhood, of which Mrs. Goldfarb was and still is the president and guiding spirit, ranks foremost among the Jewish Sisterhoods of our city.

CONTINUED ACTIVITIES

For many years Mr. and Mrs. Goldfarb worked hand in hand for the furtherance of every worthy civic and philanthropic cause, giving special attention to educational problems and the guidance and the moral training of the growing child of our city. When five years ago Mrs. Goldfarb was widowed, she did not forsake the work in which she and her husband had achieved such signal success, but honored his memory in continuing to devote herself to the service of her fellow-citizens. Her only son grown up and a lawyer, she gave herself fully to the manifold duties and demands made upon her, and whenever something especially important and difficult is to be accomplished, one turns to Mrs. David E. Goldfarb and her never failing zest.

Combined with the graciousness of her manner and the charm of her personality, this zest and enthusiasm, ingrained in her nature, have always assured her a triumphant success. On December 3 she was chairman of the Jewish Day for the Blind under the auspices of the New York State Department of Social Welfare, Division of the Blind, and this Jewish Day was one of the most successful of the entire series; when the United Jewish Appeal needed the help of New York’s womanhood, Mrs. Goldfarb was made chairman of “The Night of Stars” at the Yankee Stadium, and the glamor of this “Night of Stars” was due to her and her work. Thus one could continue indefinitely to enumerate what she has done, but her outlook and point of view are perhaps best revealed in her own words. Speaking of the modern woman and her work, she says smilingly. “One thing women have learned: To forget all smallness, all little jealousies, all bickerings and all backbitings. Our modern women work together beautifully in a spirit of true cameraderie, eager only to serve, united by the common endeavor to help in the betterment of social conditions. To create this attitude and to foster it is the work and the proudest achievement of the Federation of Jewish Women’s Organizations. The modern woman forgets herself in the service of mankind.”

Nothing better and nothing truer can be said of Mrs. Goldfarb herself and her work, and January 30 will, therefore, be a double holiday for all those who ever came under the influence of her gracious personality.