The Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston reminded Jewish parents here again today that the Boston Jewish community has been united in its opposition to release time religious instruction programs in the public schools. The JCC issued the reminder in taking note that new efforts were underway to revive the program.
The JCC statement noted that in 1947 the United States Supreme Court ruled that such programs, as practiced in Illinois, were unconstitutional but that in 1952 the high court ruled that such programs were legal, if they were not conducted on public school premises and if parents voluntarily choose to enroll their children for such instruction.
The JCC cited its recommendation in 1949 to the Boston Bureau of Jewish Education that it should not provide facilities for such education on grounds that such programs were “neither adequate religious education nor sound Americanism.” At that time, the JCC stressed that ample facilities for Jewish religious education were available for all Jewish children in Boston in after public school programs and on Saturdays and Sundays.
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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.
