Declaring that the Young Israel organization is “insurance for the preservation of our religion,” Moses H. Hoenig, in his presidential report to the Council of Young Israel’s annual convention here, recommended that Young Israel take the initiative in organizing a planning commission for Orthodox Jewry.
The commission would do research and plan for the future so that “things would not be conducted haphazardly,” Hoenig said. Among the members of the commission would be Prof. Nathan Isaacs, General Sessions Judge Otto A. Rosalsky and Dr. Bernard Revel of Yeshivah College.
Mr. Hoenig was reelected president of the organization.
SUPPORT MIZRACHI
Resolutions were adopted to campaign for measures making possible Sabbath observance, pledging support to the Mizrachi organization in increasing religious observance in Palestine, urging the Mandatory Power to liberalize Palestine immigration, demanding that Hebrew teachers be religious, hailing the increased use of Hebrew, expressing sympathy with the German Jews and calling for support of the anti-Nazi boycott.
Other resolutions deplore the fact that the Kashruth Association “is controlled by interested rabbis,” and express sorrow at the death of Shmarya Levin.
Irwin Steingut gave greetings from Governor Lehman.
In his report, Hoenig pointed out that the economic distress which is “sorely trying” young people today works particularly hard on Orthodox Jews because they cannot accept jobs obliging them to work on the sabbath. The Young Israel sabbath committee, he said, has made it possible for sabbath observers to take civil service examinations scheduled for Saturday, on Saturday evening.
He reported that the employment bureau organized by Young Israel attracts 10,000 applicants anually. “Only about twenty-five per cent of the Jewish employers cooperate with us,” Hoenig said, “and the result is that we place one out of every four applicants….Careful investigation shows that if Jewish employers did cooperate, we could unquestionably obtain a job for every sabbath observer in New York.”
He deplored the “rapidly declining” influence of the Torah in Palestine, and declared that “the basic principles of our religion such as kashruth and the sabbath are openly desecrated in public institutions.”
Hoenig urged that Young Israel “lend every possible aid to stem the tide of irreligion” in the Jewish homeland.
He proposed that a surcharge be added to the price of kosher meat to pay for kashruth enforcement and to support yeshivas and religious Hebrew schools.
“Kashruth is a community problem,” he said, “and the community should benefit by it. We have made a beginning by trying to analyze the ingredients of various food articles in order to ascertain their kashruth. The public must realize that these matters cannot be delayed any further. The enrichment of a few to the detriment of the large populace should not be tolerated.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
