More than 1,000 Jewish social workers from all parts of the United States will discuss various aspects of Jewish communal life in this country at the 58th annual meeting of the National Conference of Jewish Communal Service which opens here next Sunday. More than 80 sessions are scheduled during the four-day gathering.
The keynote address, to be delivered by Isador Sobeloff, executive director of the Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit, will deal with re-adaptation of existing Jewish communal services to meet the new social needs the shifting of Jewish population from the cities to the suburbs has created. In addition to covering every area of Jewish communal service on the domestic front-religious and cultural, vocational guidance, care of the aged, group work, community centers, child care, family services, health and rehabilitation, community relations – the conference also has scheduled sessions to discuss major overseas needs and problems.
Two sessions will be devoted to exploring the forces within the Jewish community and in American life today which make for increased participation of the synagogue in Jewish community services. During these sessions, the discussants will analyze the sociological and ideological factors which enhance the role of religious groups in Jewish life here, appraise the respective roles of the rabbi and the Jewish communal worker and examine the special characteristics which distinguished the American Jewish community from Jewish communities of Europe.
The extent and nature of discrimination against Jews applying for admission to colleges and professional schools, and the reflection of this discrimination in problems of vocational counseling and placement, will be covered in the session devoted to “Problems and Methods of Combatting Discrimination.” Several of the sessions will be devoted to overseas problems – refugees, immigration, indemnification of Jewish victims of war and persecution, and communal welfare in Israel.
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