Does Death Face the Federations?

The Jewish Times of Baltimore, discussing the question of Jewish welfare funds in America, writes in an editorial as follow:

A vital question was raised recently by Dr. Mordecai M. Kaplan, head of the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, when he discussed the future of Jewish fund-raising activities in the United States. He predicted that the sources of income for Federations and Welfare Funds would dry up unless the leaders of these bodies, both nationally and locally, took steps to build up the morale of the contributors and to provide them with a sense of responsibility for what was being done. Dr. Kaplan believes that, despite the present seeming solidarity among Jews because of the tide of anti-Semitism, there is a rapid drifting away from the Jewish community. Contributors are less inclined than they were in previous years to give to causes which are gradually being absorbed by Federal, State and municipal agencies.

Federations would be unwise to ignore the point made by Dr. Kaplan. They must adopt a program of Jewish education which will consist not merely of teaching Hebrew or Jewish history, but which will give Jews in the community a sense of identification with the Jewish past and an eagerness to help mold the Jewish present. In Germany, too, Jews of means contributed to Jewish charity causes. But the time came when they had no personal relationship or emotional attachment to these enterprises. Bewilderment and desperation resulted when the revolution occurred.

In America such bodies as the National Council of Jewish Welfare Federations should undertake to build up a generation of prospective givers. These should be men and women who will understand the causes involved and who will contribute because they believe in them and not because they must accept grudgingly a community tax levied upon them.