The president of the YM & YWHA answered a protest by 15 local rabbis against the Y remaining open on the Sabbath, by declaring today that the institution’s new policy of keeping open from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturdays “will not conflict In any way with Sabbath services.” President Alex Fisher termed the new Saturday program “unique.” He said there will be more emphasis on “spiritual values, sports will be non-competitive and the snack bar will be closed.”
The rabbis, including one Reform and six Conservative, charged that the Y “in its cultural and social programs has progressively reduced the Jewish element, moving further and further away from identification with Judaism.” They also complained that the Y’s snack bar does not observe the dietary laws.
Mr. Fisher said he welcomed help from the rabbis to improve the Y program if it “doesn’t have enough spiritual content.” He declared that the Y wanted to service young Jewish people “in a meaningful way and keep them from the trouble some are getting into on Saturdays” at Yorkville, Toronto’s “hippie” area.
Mr. Fisher said that he and the Y Board had surveyed some 70 YMHA programs in the United States where Sabbath programs are in effect. He said only one branch of the Y was open on Saturdays, for children 12 and under because “we are overwhelmed on Sundays and many of these children have little to do on Saturdays.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
