Leaders of Reform Judaism to Launch $2,365,000 Drive in U.S.

A decision to raise $2,365,000 for the maintenance of Reform Jewish institutions in the United States in 1951-52 was adopted here last night at a meeting of national officers of the Combined Campaign of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Dr. Samuel S. Hollander, of Chicago, general campaign chairman, said that intensive preparations were going forward for local campaigns in 350 communities in the United States and Canada in which Reform synagogues are located. He emphasized the vital role of religion on the home front during the present crisis. Isider Coons, executive vice-chairman of the drive, cited a 55 percent increase in maintenance income over the last two years.

Dr. Maurice N. Eisendrath, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, stated that Reform Judaism now stood on the threshold of an era of unprecedented opportunity and challenge. “In the face of current fears and anxieties, of grave uncertainties and doubts,” he said, “we must bring courage and reassurance to troubled mankind and give positive moral and spiritual leadership to those who turn to us for guidance.” Dr. Nelson Glueck, president of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, said: “American Judaism must be as deeply rooted and as intellectually self-supporting and self-reliant in America as it once had been in ancient Babylonia and in other countries in the past history of the people and religion of Israel.”