Lewis H. Weinstein Elected Chairman of Presidents’ Conference

Lewis H. Weinstein of Boston was today elected chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. He was the unanimous choice of the 18 presidents of Jewish organizations that at comprise the Conference.

The 18 organizations whose principal elected officers comprise the Conference are American Israel Public Affairs Committee, American Jewish Congress, American Zionist Council, American Trade Union Council for Histadrut, B’nai B’rith, Hadassah, Jewish Agency for Israel, Jewish Labor Committee, Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A., Labor Zionist Movement, Mizrachi Hapoel Mizrachi, National Community Relations Advisory Council, National Council of Jewish Women, National Council of Young Israel, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, Union of American Hebrew Congregations, United Synagogue of America, and Zionist Organization of America. The President of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds participated as an observer.

Mr. Weinstein, who is chairman of the National Community Relations Advisory Council, succeeds Rabbi Irving Miller, president of the American Zionist Council, as Conference chairman. He will be the first chairman to serve in that capacity since the Conference expanded the scope of its concern last September, from American-Israel matters exclusively, to issues affecting Jews in other lands throughout the world. The Conference has been preoccupied since then with the problem of the situation of Jewish life within the Soviet Union to which all the participating Jewish organizations gave a very high priority.

Other predecessors of Mr. Weinstein in the office have been, in order of incumbency, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel; Philip M. Klutznick and Label A. Katz, respectively former and present president of B’nai B’rith.