The World Congress of the Agudath Israel, Orthodox organization, concluded its sessions here with an appeal to the Jews throughout the world not to abandon the sacred Jewish traditions.
The congress urged all Jews, particularly religious Jews, to come to settle in Israel and to invest in the economy of the Jewish State. It sent a message of good hope to Jews in the countries behind the Iron Curtain and in the Moslem states declaring that “redemption is near.”
The congress emphasized the determination on the part of the Agudah to fight for the annullment of the Israeli law providing for compulsory non-military service for Orthodox Jewish women. The Israel Government was called upon “not to ruin Jewish families and not to split the Jewish nation” over this issue.
The congress also appealed to the Israel Government to take action to guarantee Jews access to the Wailing Wall, the Tomb of Rachel and other Jewish Holy Places now inside Jordan-held territory.
Other resolutions asked the Israel Government to enforce strict observance of the Sabbath in Israel; to enforce laws against the breeding of pigs in Israel; to enforce laws against the selling of non-Kosher meat by Jews in Israel; to forbid all post-mortems, even for scientific purposes; and to ban certain missionary practices in Israel.
The congress also adopted resolutions protesting the ban on schechita in existence in some countries. It called on world Jewish organizations to fight the proposed revision of the calendar which is now under discussion at the United Nations. It urged Jewish communities and organizations to uncover Jewish war orphans and to return them to Judaism.
The congress went on record as protesting against the arming by Western Powers of the Arab states as long as they are still at war with Israel. It called on the Agudah central committee to establish religious schools in memory of the 6, 000, 000 Jews annihilated by the Nazis in Europe.
A central council of 70 members with London as its seat was elected by the Congress. It also elected an actions committee of 65 members, of whom 30 will reside in Israel, 17 in Europe, and 18 in the United States, Canada and other countries. A world executive committee of 11 members was also elected. The headquarters of both the actions committee and the world executive will be in Jerusalem. Rabbi I. M. Levin was elected chairman of both the actions committee and the world executive. It was decided that five members of the executive should reside in Jerusalem, three in London and three in New York.
The congress expressed regret that the Poale Agudah, the labor group of the Agudath Israel Organization, decided to conduct its own policy with regard to matters concerning Israel. Under such conditions, the Poale Agudah can not belong to the Agudath Israel World Organization, the congress indicated.
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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.
