New England Council of Welfare Funds Urges American Jewish Committee Rejoin Conference

A resolution urging the American Jewish Committee to rejoin the American Jewish Conference was adopted at the tenth annual conference of the New England States region of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, held in Springfield, Mass. over the week-end. The conference, which met at the Hotel Sheraton here, was attended by 100 delegates from sixteen states in the six-state region.

Citing the “remarkable progress made in the various communities in this region in bringing about united and cooperative action,” the conference further urged that “where community councils, welfare funds and federations now exist, such efforts be extended. In those communities where no organizations now exist, immediate steps should be taken to inaugurates representative, democratically operated community bodies.

Another resolution pointing out that “the unanimous opinion of all Jews in America favors the abolition by Great Britain of the so-called ‘White Paper,'” requested the United States to “use its good offices with the British Government in order to abrogate the White Paper and to open the doors of Palestine to unrestricted Jewish immigration.”

Sessions arousing considerable interest among delegates were those dealing with central community organization and civic protection. The community organization session was addressed by Philip Bernstein, Director of Field Service for the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds. He suggested the formulation of principles which should underlay the democratic operation of local community organization. In this way, he pointed out, could be met current Jewish responsibilities arising out of the political and relief problems of Jews overseas, mobilization of resources to win the war, Jewish participation in peace proposals, and internal Jewish development.

The sessions on civic-protective work were addressed by Maurice B. Fagan, executive director of the Anti-Defamation Council of Philadelphia, Herbert Ehrman of Boston, and Rabbi Abraham Feldman of Bartford. The delegates considered the need for representative community agencies in each city to handle civic-protective problems, at the same time cooperating closely with national Jewish agencies. Two meetings of executives of the region considered needs of families and children in the current war period, and community understanding and participation in welfare funds.

Chairmen of the sessions were Herbert L. Cohen of Bridgeport, regional president; Raphael Mutterperl of New Bedford; and Bernard Kopkind of New Haven.