Basic developments in Jewish communal service were discussed here by a panel of experts at the general session of the 53rd National Conference of Jewish Communal Services.
These developments were described as changes in the location, age and economic status of the Jewish population; a substantial drop in levels of fund-raising for national and overseas needs without a corresponding decrease in local and capital fund campaigns; increasing emphasis on more adequate personnel despite a shortage of qualified applicants; an increasing concern with Jewish program content, and the growth of central planning for local services, particularly in the fields of care for the aged and in synagogue-center relationship.
In a discussion on securing children against prejudice, Dr. Isador Chein, director of the commission on community inter-relations of the American Jewish Congress, declared that “the basic disease is in our society and not in our children. The basic remedy, therefore, must be social, not individual. Every gain on this front adds to the security of our children.”
In a session on the status of social work in Israel, Dr. Marion Hutari, director of the first school established in Jerusalem, praised the World Federation of YMHA’s and the National Jewish Welfare Board, who, in cooperation with the Department of State, send social workers to Israel as consultants and teachers. Hilda Myerowitz, of Baltimore, who spent a year as case work supervisor in Israel, told the session that “social work in Israel is considered the means of helping newcomers achieve a level of living that makes them independent of public aid and will help them make a contribution to the economy of Israel.”
Marcel Koversky, executive director of the Pittsburgh Jewish Family and Children’s Service, was elected president of the conference. Other new officers elected were: first vice-president, Philip Bernstein, associate director of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds; second vice-president, Judah Pilch, executive director of the American Association for Jewish Education; treasurer, Nathan Bennett, director, Council of Fraternal and Benevolent Societies; secretary, Myer Fichman, executive director, Jewish Centers Association of Los Angeles.
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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.
