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State Cleveland Has Approval of Zionists Here

March 5, 1935
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New York Zionist headquarters has approved establishment of the new Cleveland Zionist District of which Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver is president, it was announced here today.

The New Zionist District in Cleveland was organized as a result of a split in Zionist ranks here. The new group is directed by an executive board of thirty members and has a membership of more than 1,000.

SEES QUARREL ENDED

In accepting the presidency, Rabbi Silver said, “I am convinced that there is room for more than one Zionist District in Cleveland. I believe that the ‘family squabble’ that created the need for the new district is now settled.

“This organization will not be a one-man group, the group of a clique, nor will it be run by three or four people with no interest in its accomplishments. I would rather smash it into bits than have it become anything but what it is supposed to be—an organization to work for Zionism.”

ZOA TO INVESTIGATE CLEVELAND SPLIT

A resolution calling for appointment of a committee to consider the situation in Cleveland Zionism was adopted by the administrative committee of the Zionist Organization of America at its meeting last Sunday, it was announced yesterday. The resolution reads:

“The administrative committee of the Zionist Organization of America, in session assembled at Hotel Astor, New York City, on Sunday, March 3, 1935, after due consideration of the present controversy between Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver and the leaders of the Cleveland Zionist District, expresses its resentment at the unwarranted and unfortunate aspersions and attacks publicly made by Rabbi Silver, impugning the integrity of the Cleveland Zionist leadership, and the Committee hereby declares a breach of discipline of the Zionist Organization of America, the attempt to establish, without sanction or authority, a new Zionist District in Cleveland.

“The Administrative Committee does moreover hereby express and avow its complete and unequivocal confidence in the integrity, the loyalty and devotion of the Zionist leaders of Cleveland District, who have, for more than a decade, given of themselves, of their time, thought, energy and resources, to the strengthening and development of Zionist endeavor and Jewish culture and education in Cleveland and in the State of Ohio, in a measure that makes them representative of the finest ideals and traditions in the Zionist movement in America.”

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