New York State Official Urges Jews to Work for Restructuring of Urban Community

A New York State official has urged the Jewish community to redirect its resources away from the “shadow-boxing of anti-Semitism” and to bend its efforts to restructure the urban community as a whole. Dr. Jack Sable, director of the New York State Office for Community Affairs, spoke at the opening of the annual convention of the Yeshiva University’s Women’s Organization here.

He called for the establishment of an “umbrella” organization sponsored by all Jewish agencies and educational institutions that would function as a “human renewal agency.” He said it should concern itself with elderly Jews who cannot leave the inner city due to limited finances and contacts; with strengthening afternoon and all-day educational programs for thousands of youngsters who want a secular and spiritual education; caring for religious institutions which do not have the resources to continue their operations; and expanding cultural life for those who cannot travel long distances to major centers of entertainment.

A former president of the New York City Board of Education charged today that proponents of community control of public schools were trying “to drive from the school system principals and teachers of the Jewish faith to make way for the selection of Black replacements.” Mrs. Rose Shapiro claimed that the school decentralization issue had caused a “religious polarization” in the city and alleged that anti-Semitism was at a “critical level” because civic leaders had not cried out earlier against extremists in the Black Power movement.

In delivering her charges in a speech at the convention, she urged the Jewish community to support teachers, supervisors and parents, both Black and white who are the victims of Black extremists. She said that “while meeting the legitimate demands of the Negro community we should not surrender to blackmail.”