Between the Lines

The National Conference on Jewish Welfare which opens in New York tomorrow is the first attempt of American Jewry to consider ways and means of coordinating the many-sided Jewish welfare activities which cost American Jewry millions of dollars every year.

In Europe, where Jewish welfare work is concentrated in the hands of the communities and where it is conducted on special taxes collected with government aid, the problem of coordination does not exist. In Germany, the Jewish Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle, which operates along the same lines as the welfare funds in America, is an organized body with one united line of action for all the Jewish communities throughout the country. Similar is the case in Austria, where Jewish welfare activities are concentrated in the hands of the community council.

DIFFERENT IN AMERICA

Here in America we have no community system, nor have we any system of special taxation of Jewish citizens for Jewish welfare needs. The entire Jewish welfare work in the United States is being done on a voluntary basis. Each local welfare institution acts separately and rarely comes in touch with other similar organizations.

The purpose of the conference which opens tomorrow is to consider the means by which federated and unorganized groups may deal with the ever-increasing burden of responsibility for the Jewish welfare programs throughout the entire country and also to find a way how individuals may relate themselves to such programs.

JEWISH NEEDS ANALYZED

At the conference which opens tomorrow experts will analyze the present Jewish needs in America and the Jewish welfare facilities. The place of the Jewish federations and of the welfare funds will be widely discussed for the benefit of the many delegates who will gather from all parts of the country.

In addition to reports on Jewish welfare and cultural activities in America, the conference will also hear reports on the relief activities conducted by American Jewish organizations in Europe.

Neville Laski, our distinguished guest from England, will enlighten the participants on the aid given to Jews in Eastern and Central Europe. Dr. Joseph Rosen, head of the Agro-Joint in Russia, will speak on Jewish colonization in the Soviet Union where a quarter of a million Jews have been settled on the soil with the aid of American funds. Dr. Bernhard Kahn, European director of the Joint Distribution Committee, will speak on the problem of the Jewish refugees and of how general aid is given to the Jews in East European countries.

James G. McDonald, the League’s High Commissioner for Refugees from Germany, will address the conference on the problems which he is facing in his work.

The conference which opens tomorrow promises therefore to be one of the most colorful gatherings in American Jewish life. The importance of this conference is obvious to every Jew in America.