A member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D. NY), “beseeched” the more than 200 members of the Rabbinical Council of America attending the organization’s midwinter conference to keep American Jews aware and informed of the urgent need to help Ethiopian Jewry in their quest for freedom.
“We have the responsibility and the power to do this,” said Ackerman who visited Ethiopia two months ago. “American Jews cannot sit back on their hands.” He urged American Jews to raise money to help the Jews of Ethiopia.
Rabbi Louis Bernstein, president of the Rabbinical Council, reported that Orthodox synagogues have responded enthusiastically, and Rabbi Joel Tessler of Beth Sholom Synagogue in Washington reported that in Washington area synagogues, for example, there has been “a tremendous outpouring” of funds to help Ethiopian Jews.
At an earlier session, Bernstein called on Orthodox Jews throughout the U.S. to become more involved in the national United Jewish Appeal and in local Federations. He said involvement now is more important than ever before because “Federations have become the center organization in Jewish community life and the influence of the religious community has to be felt.”
Bernstein said that Orthodox Jews must attempt to obtain more funds from Federations for Jewish education. He said that “Orthodoxy had actually grown in the U.S. and that in the Jewish community the only birth rate that is increasing is among Orthodox Jews. As time goes on there will be an even higher percentage of Orthodox Jews. We must be active in Federations to obtain our fair share.”
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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.
