The fostering of sound inter-group relationships by local Jewish Community Relations Councils, and the development of effective programs to this effect, was urged at a three-day regional conference of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds held here. One hundred and fifty delegates and community leaders from 25 major cities in 12 southern states attended the parley.
A resolution adopted declared that programs to deal with inter-group problems have become a community responsibility and that each community should have and instrumentality through which the various forces of the Jewish community can jointly deal with their community relations on a planned and purposeful basis. ” The resolution also called for close and “harmonious” cooperation between local and national community relations agencies and the utilization by the local community “of all resources and services available locally and on the regional and national level in carrying out its responsibility. “
Sherman Kaplan, president of the Jewish Welfare Federation of Dallas, addressed the conferees and emphasized the fact that, despite the increases in fund-raising, the community achievement had failed to meet the total health and welfare needs. “The needs far outstrip the funds we raise,”he said. Max O. Laster, president of the Jewish Community Council of Richmond, Virginia, pointed out that welfare needs of both large and small communities are essentially the same and lauded the role of the central federation as a year round community planning service and fund-raising instrument.
In a session on the continuing needs of Israel, Label A. Katz of New Orleans, newly elected president of B’nai B’rith, who recently returned from Jerusalem, declared “American Jewry has a continuing responsibility for Israel’s needs–to help provide housing, schools, education, and vocational training. Even if immigration ceased for three years, the internal economic needs would still be as great, ” he said.
Morris Jaffe. president-elect of the Southern States Region of the CJFWF, reviewed the achievements of the Jewish communities in this country during the last 15 years and emphasized the need to mobilize maximum aid to meet the growing Jewish demands in Europe, Israel and in this country.
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.
