In paying tribute to Mrs. Felix Fuld, Freeholder Philip Lindeman, Isaac Lowensten and A. J. Diamond at a dinner in Fuld Hall of the Y.M.-Y.W.H.A. last night, more than 450 representative Jewish citizens heard earnest pleas to forego hysterical or panicky reaction to any current manifestations of anti-Semitism, and to concentrate rather upon developing their sense of Jewish consciousness.
The principal plea was voiced by Rabbi Solomon Goldman, who was the main speaker at the event which marked fifty years of the Y.M.-Y.W.H.A. in this city, and the start of a week’s celebration of the opening of the present building at High and Kinney streets a decade ago.
“USED TO IT”
Declaring that “anti-Semitism doesn’t worry me; I’m used to it.” Rabbi Goldman maintained that “what we must emphasize in the present crisis is not anti-Semitism, nor Hitlerism, nor the spread of Nazism, but rather what is the manner of reaction to it. For the first time in eighteen centuries, we are showing ourselves actually panicky and hysterical because we’re afraid and not prepared. Our ancestors shrugged their shoulders and looked with contempt upon any manifestations of anti-Semitism.”
In asserting that the “Jewish center was a recognition of the common aspirations and unity of our people,” Harry L. Glucksman, executive director of the National Jewish Welfare Board, declared “the solution of our difficulties is not to be found in pleasing our Christian neighbors or excelling them in politeness, but is essentially a problem of inner emotional adjustments.”
BAMBERGER SENDS $5,000
The dinner paid $10 a plate, the proceeds to be devoted to the institution. A highlight of the occasion was the announcement by Michael A. Stavisky, toastmaster, that Louis Bamberger has paid $5,000 for his ticket and that through the efforts primarily of Harry A. Braelow the sum of $3,500 was realized through publication of a souvenir journal.
The audience paid its tribute to the late Felix Fuld by rising for a moment. Mrs. Fuld was in attendance throughout but asked to be excused from speaking. Freeholder Lindeman and Lowenstein, who is clerk of the Board of Education, reviewed their many years’ service in behalf of the Jewish Center Movement. Lindeman was the first president of the local Jewish “Y” a half century ago. Dimond was unable to attend.
Other speakers included Samuel I. Kessler, present head of the “Y” and Dr. A. G. Robinson, its executive director. Rabbi Charles I. Hoffman delivered the opening prayer. The principal feature of the 85-page souvenir journal was a comprehensive history of “Y” endeavor during the past fifty years, written by Nathan Kussy, local lawyer and playwright.
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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.