Jews in Underdeveloped Lands Reported Facing “spiritual Deterioration

A six-point program for wider Jewish education for “unaffiliated Jews, in the United States and abroad, who might otherwise become bereft of faith, religiously disfranchised and morally bankrupt,” was urged here today at a meeting of the board of trustees of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations by Dr. Maurice N. Eisendrath, president of the Union.

Rabbi Eisendrath, who just returned from a global trip, reported that 1,500,000 Jews living in the underdeveloped areas of the world face “spiritual deterioration.” He called upon the board of trustees of the Reform Jewish movement to take immediate positive steps “to prevent this catastrophe.”

In suggesting the adoption of a program of overseas religious aid, he emphasized that “vast numbers in Asia, Africa and the Western hemisphere face religious extinction simply for lack of spiritual leaders, informed teachers, adequate information, and material aid which they desperately need and desire in order to follow their faith.”

The program recommended by Dr. Eisendrath is: 1. Distribution of religious educational literature and other related materials to Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand: 2. Recruitment of rabbis and religious school teachers for service in congregations around the world; 3. Encouragement of rabbis by their congregations to undertake preaching missions and give spiritual guidance outside the United States.

Also, 4. A special overseas loan fund to subsidize incipient or impoverished congregations whose income cannot meet the needs of their communities; 5. Scholarship funds with which to train potential rabbis and teachers from other countries to enable them to return to their native lands as qualified religious leaders; 6. Information service for the unaffiliated Jews of all countries with a view to encompassing them within the scope of synagogue life.