A Reform rabbinical spokesman sharply criticized President Johnson and Congress for falling to provide adequate funds for the domestic war on poverty while at the same time the United States was spending large sums of money on the war in Vietnam.
Rabbi Irwin M. Blank, of Tenafly, N.J., chairman of the committee on justice and peace of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, said, “In their unwillingness to throw the full weight of national treasure and personnel into the war against poverty. President Johnson and Congress are falling in their moral responsibility to the educationally and economically deprived of our country.”
Rabbi Blank said he felt “We must hold them responsible for adding to the desperation of our poor and the blight which infects our cities. History will judge them harshly for their continued failure to provide adequate funds and personnel for the war against poverty while pursuing fantasies in the Far East.” He implored both President Johnson and Congressional leaders to not only restore existing cuts in the poverty program but to vote and work for appropriate monies to meet the needs for programs and personnel.
The 1,000 members of the CCAR in the United States, serving more than 1,000,000 congregants, were urged to mobilize campaigns of public opinion in their communities to bring about a change in funds for the poverty program.
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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.
