Denver Jewish philanthropic circles are in an uproar of protest following the charge of A. H. Radetsky, local business man, that hundreds of aged, orthodox Jews were starving rather than eat food not prepared in accordance with the strict dietary laws. Mr. Radetsky’s statement was made before the School Board in a petition asking for the use of two portable schoolhouses in the building of a new institution, the Jewish Home for the Aged, of which Mrs. Radetsky is president.
The Beth Israel Home for the Aged offers the same haven for old and indigent Jews, as the kitchen is run according to strictly dietary laws, declared Miss Katherine Cauman, secretary of the Central Jewish Aid Society of this city. Mr. Radetsky’s letter said that his use of the term “starvation” was in the sense that the persons in question would rather starve than eat food which they believed had not been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the dietary laws.
The Jewish charities of the city administer to every needy person, said Max Schayer, a leader of the Aid Society. “There are no starving Jews in Denver.” Mr. Schayer, Prof. A. D. H. Kaplan of the University of Denver, and other prominent Jews here feel that the Beth Israel Home for the Aged makes unnecessary the contemplation of the new home for those who wish to observe the kosher laws. Large numbers of the community support this feeling.
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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.
