Rabbi Mordecai Kirshblum, president of the Religious Zionists of America, called on the movement last night to aid American Jewry which he said was being “continuously undermined” by the forces “of assimilation and disintegration.”
Rabbi Kirshblum spoke at a conference opening the 60th anniversary celebration of the organization attended by some 600 Orthodox rabbis and lay leaders. He also told the conference that religious Zionists “must engage in an intensive drive to re-educate American youth to the basic values of traditional Judaism, Zionism and its spiritual implications and the need for an affirmative and dynamic Jewish philosophy for contemporary living. “
He also urged the movement to ‘assume the heavy responsibilities of setting up all day schools in all communities” in the United States and he warned that “philanthropy, charity and tourism are insufficient by themselves to forge and erect the needed bridges between Jewry in Israel and in the United States.”
The religious Zionist leader appealed to the Soviet Government “to permit its Jewish population of over 3, 000, 000 to prepare fully for the observances of Passover by allowing them to bake matzohs for the holiday, ” He said Passover was “symbolic of the eternal Jewish striving for liberty” and that it was “fully consonant with the Russian claims for religious freedom for all of its autonomous nationalities.”
Rabbi Kirshblum added that if the Russian authorities could not establish facilities for the baking of matzohs, they should at least open their gates to the importation of these Passover products from the United States. “The American Jewish community is willing, able and ready to supply matzohs for their Russian brethren on a people-to-people basis if the Russian Government would issue the import licenses, ” he said.
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.
