The Chief Rabbi of the British Commonwealth called today for an immediate meeting of Jewish leaders and educators in the free world to deal with “the critical problem of intermarriage” through the adoption of a comprehensive program of Jewish education. Addressing the mid-winter conference of the Rabbinical Council of America at the Brunswick Hotel, Dr. Immanuel Jacobovitz characterized as “of catastrophic proportions,” the increase in intermarriage among Jewish college youth in this country and Great Britain. He said it amounted “to over 30 percent of marriages of all Jews.”
Rabbi Joseph Karasick, president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations warned that if the mounting rate of intermarriage were not reversed “the whole fabric of the Jewish structure will suffer irreparable harm and damage.” The problem, Dr. Karasick said, “constitutes a grave challenge to the continuity of the Jewish community and a serious menace to the survival of traditional Judaism.”
Support of the proposed world conference on Jewish education was pledged by Rabbi Abraham Koolyk, chairman of the conference, who asserted that the “widespread availability of quality education is the only bulwark for the retention of Jewish identity.”
Rabbi Jacobovitz recommended an Anglo-American exchange program of rabbis, educators and lay leaders to “pool and enrich their experiences by regular exchange visits between the two countries.” He said he was currently discussing with two prominent American Jewish educators, organization on a wide scale in Britain of Jewish educational projects along American lines.
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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.
