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Youth Convention Criticizes Parents for Lack of Jewish Spirit

August 22, 1961
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Delegates to a national Jewish youth convention here today criticized their parents for failing to give them a more adequate Jewish background. “It is a sad commentary on current status of the Jewish home that the only way young people can fulfill their needs for Jewish identification, or to find out what Judaism has to offer them is to join organizations.” said a committee report presented at the 38th annual convention of Aleph Zadik Aleph, the boy’s division of the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization.

This alleged parental disinterest, the report said, “leads among other things to confusion on the part of youth as to which branch of Judaism they wish to follow, if indeed, they wish to follow any. It is certainly true that many parents cannot be looked to for guidance. Their allegiance to a particular branch of Judaism, as often as not, stems from a variety of factors — least of which are conviction and under standing.”

Another committee report presented today sounded a warning against intermarriage. “Aside from very real problem of assimilation which could result from intermarriage,” the report stated “facts are clear that marriages in which partners are of different faiths are headed for potential trouble, particularly once children arrive and the question of their religious training arises.”

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