The most important problem facing the Jews of Central America is that of “conserving our children for our religion and for our people, ” Eric Heineman,president of the Jewish Communities of Central America, asserted tonight at the close of the seven-day convention of the communities here.
He told the 100 delegates and hundreds of guests at the assembly that their participation in the convention “manifests not only your sense of responsibility but also your serious preoccupation with the destiny and survival of Judaism in this country.”
Mare Turkow, representative of the World Jewish Congress in Latin America, warned the delegates that Zionism and Judaism were indivisible, and that “we cannot permit its division into Zionists and anti-Zionists,Those voicing this theme are anti-Semites who countenance Nazi activities on this continent. “
Chaim Borkow,Jewish Agency representative here and organizer of the convention, said that efforts to eliminate the principle that Israel was the “inspiring center of life of all Jews” tend to “undermine the base which has sustained us and to deny the national future. “
Aaron Gafni, commercial attache of Israel, told the delegates that one result of the convention would be to keep the youth of the communities “within our people, ” He said he hoped that relations of Jewish communities with the State of Israel and the Jewish religion would be permanently conserved.
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.
