About 100 rabbis and lay leaders of the Reform movement, meeting under the auspices of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, voted yesterday to endorse Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Poor People’s Campaign,” designed to force Congress to take adequate action to combat poverty.
Rabbi Richard G. Hirsch, director of the religious action center, presented the Reform movement’s position paper on Dr. King’s campaign, to be initiated April 22nd in Washington. Dr. Hirsch recommended support in principle but was reserved about Dr. King’s method in carrying out his non-violent campaign In the light of pressure from black militants. “Should Negro militants somehow gain control of the vigil we are not prepared to give the endorsement carte blanche,” he said.
The participants to the conference on “The Right to Dissent” agreed nevertheless that Reform congregations in the United States should plan special programs for the kick-off date of King’s campaign “to demonstrate solid support” for the civil rights leader.
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.
