The qualities of Judaism in its commitment to the “moral ideals of our ancestors,” Bernard M. Baruch told B’nai B’rith here tonight, “are more needed today than ever.”
He told the 115th annual meeting of the Jewish organization how his father cherished those Jewish ideals and taught them to his sons. In 1880, Mr. Baruch said, his father, who had been a surgeon in the Confederate Army, wrote the Hebrew Benevolent Society of South Carolina, Baruch’s birthplace, the following message:
“Instruct your children in the Law and the precepts of Judaism so that they might have an ethical foundation for their lives. At the same time instill in them a sense of civic responsibility and a love for their country so that they might be useful citizens.”
Mr. Baruch added that “no one has done more to preserve our dual heritage–the morality and ethics of the Bible and the ideals of American democracy–than you of B’nai B’rith. The reason for your success and stature lies in the fact that you are deeply committed to the moral ideals of our ancestors, and you have never compromised on your love of country.”
Mr. Baruch was presented with the B’nai B’rith President’s Medal by Philip M. Klutznick, president of the 400,000-member organization, citing him for “his creative wisdom, his sense of public service and his philanthropy and humanitarianism.” A message from President Eisenhower lauding Mr. Baruch’s services to the United States was read at the banquet.
Earlier, the annual meeting of B’nai B’rith endorsed a resolution asking that the right of asylum for refugees be made a principle of international law. It recommended that a declaration to this effect be drafted by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The resolution also urged that a UN declaration “recognize the vital interests of all states granting such asylum, specifically by guarantee that the United Nations will assist such states when their economies might be endangered by a large influx of refugees.”
The B’nai B’rith board of governors yesterday selected the period of May 25-29, 1959 for the organization’s triennial convention in Jerusalem. It is the first time in B’nai B’rith history that its convention will be held outside the borders of the United States.
The convention will formally end Israel’s tenth anniversary celebration. It will be the largest single group of visitors to Israel, involving more than 1,500 delegates from the 36 nations of the free world where B’nai B’rith has affiliates.
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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.
