More Jews Involved in Jewish Life

Some 500 Labor Zionist leaders, scheduled to attend a leadership conference this weekend at Grossinger’s, will be told that “there is ample evidence that there is more involvement on the part of American Jews in Jewish life today than in recent years.” This view will be presented by Dr. Judah J. Shapiro, president of the Labor Zionist Alliance, in his address at the opening session tomorrow night.

In remarks prepared for the session, he states that there is more enrollment in Jewish courses in all types of schools, more contributors to various Jewish campaigns, more children are receiving a Jewish education and there is more interaction of American Jews with Israel.

Citing various statistics on involvement of Jews in Jewish life, Dr. Shapiro notes that about 500,000 Jewish youths receive some kind of Jewish education in various schools. Of these, some 70,000 students are enrolled in all-day Jewish schools. More than a thousand courses in Jewish subjects are offered at American colleges and universities, he states, and about 20,000 American Jewish youths spend the summer in Israel in organized and volunteer programs.

But, Dr. Shapiro adds, Jewish organizations are finding it very difficult to obtain qualified Jewish personnel to sustain the increased activity in Jewish life, and notes that there is a division in Jewish life. The division is similar to that of a time when Jews were divided between Hasidim and Mitnagdim–the former expressing fervor as against those with total cold logic. “The challenge of our time,” he continues, “is to combine within each individual those two qualities.” Dr. Shapiro is professor of Contemporary Jewish Thought at the School for Jewish Communal Service, Los Angeles, and is editor of the Jewish Frontier.