Synagogue Council, Central Conference of Rabbis Issue Labor Day Messages

The Synagogue Council, representing Orthodox, Conservative and Reform congregations and rabbis in America and the Central Conference of American Rabbis today issued Labor Day messages stating that Jewish tradition for centuries has emphasized the duty and the dignity of labor and pointing out that this year, when America is engaged in a struggle for its way of life, recognition of the place and value of American workers in the defense of liberty is of special importance.

The message of the Synagogue Council, addressed by its president, Rabbi Israel Goldstein, to Mr. Adolph Held, chairman of the Jewish Labor Committee, which represents organized Jewish labor in America, stresses the fact that “Rabbinical organizations in America, in common with Protestant and Catholic bodies, have on numerous occasions declared views on the rights of labor which have reflected a social consciousness rooted in Biblical tradition.”

The message of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, issued by its Commission on Justice and Peace, expresses regret over the “prevalence of racial and religious discrimination against workers of minority groups,” and hopes that this evil will be abolished. “On this Labor Day,” the message says, “the Commission on Justice and Peace of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, moved by the prophetic traditions of Judaism which have inspired many champions of labor, greets the laboring men and women of America, hails the advances made by labor in the past decade and looks forward to further advances in the future.”