Leaders of the American Jewish community need not feel any restraint in encouraging Jewish youth to “invest their lives in Israel out of a desire for complete fulfillment as Jews, “Rabbi Israel Goldstein, former Jewish Agency treasurer, declared here today at the four-day 50th anniversary convention of the Rabbinical Assembly of America. Dr. Goldstein added that “Israel needs chalutzim from America for their qualitative even more than their quantitative value.”
Turning to the forthcoming World Zionist Congress, the Zionist leader expressed the opinion that the effects of the decisions reached in Jerusalem this December will be far reaching for both the Zionist movement and Israel. The objective of Zionism cannot be said to have been attained until the Jewish state is “firmly on its feet,” be continued, and in the coming struggles a “tried and seasoned” Zionist organization will prove useful.
The argument that Zionists outside of Israel should not interfere in Israel problems is “hardly tenable,” Dr. Goldstein said. It is natural and proper for an American Jew to express his predilections with regard to problems in Israel, he stated, adding that “the only point at which interference must, of necessity, stop is the right to vote in Israel.”
The Rabbinical Assembly proposes to initiate a nationwide movement for Sabbath observance, Rabbi Max Arzt, a past president of the Assembly, announced today. “The restoration of the Sabbath will restore our spiritual equilibrium and mental equanimity,” he said. “It will stregnthen the weakened foundations of the home, turn the hearts of parents to the children and the hearts of children to their parents.”
At a special Golden Jubilee celebration at Carnegie Hall here tonight 18 members of the Assembly were awarded citations in recognition of 40 years of outstanding service to the rabbinate. Dr. Louis Finkeletein, president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, delivered the principal address.
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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.
