“The friendly co-operation which now prevails among the representative Jewish organizations might be gravely impaired should the State of Israel invest the Jewish Agency or another voluntary Jewish organization with any powers resting within the domain of the state, “H.A. Goodman, chairman of the European section of the Agudas Israel world executive, said here tonight, addressing a public meeting.
“There now exists constant consultation amongst the Jewish representative bodies both in relations to the United Nations and on matters of restitution and on other political issues. “he said. “There is also increasing danger of anti-Semitism, without a doubt inspired by the renasence of German political independence. It is there fore clear that the representative Jewish bodies still have an important part to play in the defense of Jewish rights and liberties, and any effort that is made to afford preferential treatment to any of these bodies by the State of Israel will be a grave disservice to Jewish unity, “he declared.
Touching on dissatisfaction with recent developments in the party in Israel, Mr. Goodman said he hoped an early meeting could be arranged for Rabbi I.M. Lewin, Agudah leader in Israel, to meet with his European colleagues to achieve a modus vivendi. He added that it was now clear that there are two sharply-defined ideologies within the Agudah movement and that some effort must be made to achieve harmonious co-operation in the interest of furthering Orthodox Jewish life throughout the world. The “victory of secular nationalism might endanger the whole Jewish future, “he said.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
