The B’nai B’rith board of governors today voted a record budget of $4,887,000 for youth activities for 1966 in view of “the threat of attrition in Jewish communal life if religious and cultural activities of Jewish youth are neglected.” The new budget was an increase of $215,000 over the 1965 budget and represented 42 percent of the $11,500,000 B’nai B’rith will spend on a national level for all its activities next year. The figure does not include an estimated $5,000,000 in locally financed activities.
Rabbi Jay Kaufman, B’nai B’rith executive vice-president, cited the spiral of increased enrollment of Jewish youths in college and the need to keep pace. An estimated 400,000 Jewish collegians must be served by Hillel foundations by 1970, he said. He revealed that 275 colleges have requested Hillel facilities. A total of 254 colleges are now served by Hillel.
On the teen-age level, the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization will have to serve 100,000 young people by 1970. B’nai B’rith Vocational Service now handles 40,000 annually in groups and as individuals in 22 cities and has long waiting lists. The board moved to accelerate proposals for a $10,000,000 endowment fund for expansion of youth activities voted last May at the international convention in Tel Aviv. Maurice A. Weinstein, of Charlotte, N. C. was elected to a three year term as chairman of the B’nai B’rith International Council.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
