The American Jewish Congress has protested the “insensitivity” of the National Institute of Health (NIH) in scheduling a National Conference on Medical Research Principles on Oct. 3, the second day of Rosh Hashanah, and asked that the date be changed.
In a letter to Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW)–who will speak that day–and Donald S. Frederickson, director of the National Institute of Health, AJCongress president Howard M. Squadron declared:
“We find it astonishing that federal government agencies should display such insensitivity to the American Jewish community and specifically to those many members of that community who would normally be invited to attend such a conference. We are especially appalled that this decision was apparently made with full knowledge that it would conflict with one of the most awesome and austere religious holidays of the Jewish year.”
Squadron said that when the AJCongress called the offices of the two agencies about changing the date, “we were informed that this matter had been the subject of much deliberation, and that at the time the date was fixed those responsible for calling the conference and scheduling its proceedings were fully aware of the conflict with the Jewish religious holiday. It must be presumed, therefore, that they were aware as well that this would preclude participation by many, if not most, members of the Jewish community. Nonetheless, we were told, it was decided to go ahead as planned because of ‘difficulty’ in finding another date.
This response, Squadron’s letter added, “reflects a callous indifference to the religious sensibilities of the American Jewish community. It is inconceivable to us that similar considerations would ever induce HEW and NIH authorities to convene a conference on comparable religious holidays of other religious faiths; for example, Christmas or Easter. We are certain that some other way would be found to hold the conference without doing violence to the convictions of the religious community.”
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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.
