A growing indifference to Jewish identification and an increasing ignorance of Jewish values pose a “deepening crisis” in American Jewish life, Dr. Joachim Prinz, president of the American Jewish Congress, declared yesterday, addressing 500 leaders of the organization.
The meeting marked the launching of an “American Jewish Congress Month” proclaimed by a number of mayors and governors in various parts of the country. Purpose of “American Jewish Congress Month” is to focus attention on the activities of the organization in the fields of civil rights, civil liberties, Jewish culture and support to Israel; an intensive membership drive will also be undertaken during the month.
Dr. Prinz said that the AJC must meet “the challenge and opportunity offered by the freedom which Jews enjoy in America and other democratic lands of the West” and must combat the indifference of Jewish identification. He also described three other areas of responsibility which the American Jewish community faces today. He listed them as:
1. The strengthening of Israel and the protection of Jewish rights around the world, with particular emphasis on efforts to secure for Jews behind the Iron Curtain the right to continue their Jewish tradition and to assure their continuity as part of the Jewish people.
2. A “revitalization of the Zionist idea” to arrest the “decline” of the Zionist movement in America by creating an American-oriented Zionist group “uniting all those forces in the American Jewish community committed to the idea of Israel as the central element in the concept of Jewish peoplehood.”
3. Full participation in the effort to make the promise of equality, which America offers to all its citizens, come true for those citizens who because of race, religion or national origin are denied it.
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.
