A New York stock broker and philanthropist has stimulated the distribution of $213,000 to 34 New York City Jewish day schools for facility and equipment rehabilitation. Concerned about the physical disrepair of the yeshivot, Joseph Gruss approached the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies and toured the 34 schools with Federation representatives.
Federation obtained $100,000 from various donors and Gruss matched that money with another $100,000. A friend of his contributed the rest. Individual grants of between $2,500 and $10,000 were allocated to the schools by a special committee composed of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveichik, the Talmudic scholar, Rabbi Emanuel Rackman of the Fifth Ave. Synagogue and Dr. Alvin I. Schiff, executive vice-president of the Board of Jewish Education.
The schools were chosen for assistance because they had the greatest need. The money is being used to improve safety, health and sanitation conditions as well as to purchase necessary equipment. One grant enabled a Brooklyn girls’ yeshivah to buy four buses to transport its students to and from school. Lacking bus transportation the girl students had been subject to street harassment. However, despite the assistance the grants are providing. Gruss told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that more money is needed to upgrade the physical facilities of the area’s day schools.
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.
