The Orthodox, Conservative and Reform branches of American Judaism which are members of the Synagogue Council of America, have finally agreed on a joint declaration of support for Jewish day schools. In what Rabbi Irving Lehrman of Miami Beach, president of the Synagogue Council, called ” a development of historical significance,” the three branches of Judaism issued a call for increased aid to Jewish day schools by the Jewish communities, especially the Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds. The three branches, which are coordinated by the SCA, heretofore disagreed on aid to the day schools.
The SCA statement noted that ” Federation and Welfare support for Jewish day schools remains by and large woefully inadequate,” but conceded that there has been an increase in such aid in some communities. “There are, however, glaring exceptions to this trend,” it stated, “notably in the New York area.”
Calling on the Federations and Welfare Funds to give Jewish education “the highest priority,” the SCA declared: “We are aware of the many demands on Federations and Welfare Funds and we commend them for all they do for the many varieties of Jewish institutions in their respective communities… We urge them to recognize that the day school offers some assurance that there will remain in the United States a viable Jewish community for these other institutions to serve.”
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.
