Rabbi Abraham J. Feldman of Hartford, president of the Synagogue Council of America, in testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee, urged Congress today to enact the mutual assistance program proposed on May 21 by President Eisenhower.
Rabbi Feldman, appearing as spokesman for all major American Jewish religious groups, said the United States, as the wealthiest nation, has a clear moral obligation “to administer our material wealth and technical skills as a public trust given us by the Creator for use in the service of mankind” to bring “hope and help to millions of people in the underdeveloped parts of the world.”
The Synagogue Council president expressed “profound concern” over the motive of “self-interest” and “foreign policy” which he suggested seemed the sole justification for providing aid to “the nearly one billion people in Asia and Africa who are fighting the age old scourges of poverty, disease, and ignorance.” He said he welcomed the separation of non-military economic assistance from military needs in President Eisenhower’s last proposal to Congress.
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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.
