Cyrus Adler Pleads for $75,000 Toward Jewish Publication Society Fund

(Jewish Daily Bulletin)

A plea for an additional $75,000 to furnish a working capital of $100,000 for the Jewish Publication Society was made Sunday night by Dr. Cyrus Adler at the fortieth anual meeting held at Dropsie College. He, Judge Horace Stern and others had obtained the first $25,000 conditional upon securing the full sum, Dr. Adler stated.

In his annual report, Dr. Adler pointed to the fact that at the end of December 1927, the indebtedness of the Society was in the neighborhood of $60,000 with more than $80,000 outstanding from previous years. In 1927 this indebtedness was reduced by $20,000. Since January of this year there has been a further reduction of $8,000.

Dr. Adler reported that during 1927 there were distributed 25,000 volumes to members of the Society and an additional 25,000 volumes were sold. The English translation of the Bible by the Society was the best seller.

Since the creation of the Society forty years ago, 138 titles were published with a distribution totalling approximately two million. Of these, 140,000 were the Bible. In addition to the work done for the Society, the Hebrew press executed orders for the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Hebrew Union College, Dropsie College, Brown University, Harvard, and the United Synagogue of America. Dr. Adler termed the press “a distinct addition to the Jewish cultural life of America, not yet fully appreciated.” He characterized the society as “one of the most potent factors in the educational movement of the Jewish people of America.

Louis Golding, English novelist, spoke on creative art in Jewish life. Simon Miller, president of the Society, was unable to attend the meeting because of illness. Dr. Adler presided.