U.S. Jewry Pledges Support to Government Program Against Bias in Jobs

Organized religious Jewry in the United States today pledged “whole-hearted” support of the Federal Government’s program of fair employment practices. The pledge was voiced here by Rabbi Julius Mark, of New York, vice-president of the Synagogue Council of America, which embraces organizations representing Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jewry in the United States.

Rabbi Mark was one of the principal speakers at a meeting today of 500 religious leaders, representing the nation’s major church groups, to discuss ways of implementing the national equal job opportunity program. The meeting was summoned by the President’s Committee on Government Contracts, of which Vice President Richard M. Nixon is chairman. More than 30 Jewish leaders participated in the proceedings.

The synagogues of America, said Dr. Mark, “again pledge themselves and their resources to advance the fair employment practices program of our Government, until complete employment integration is realized throughout the country.” He stressed that “the Synagogue Council and its constituent organizations will continue to urge the rabbis and religious Jewish lay leaders in their local communities to lend every cooperation to the President’s Committee on Government Contracts and all those agencies responsible for the implementation of fair employment policies.”

“It is only through the implementation of such programs, as a part of the ideals of our religious and democratic traditions, that we can ever hope to evoke the forward vision of American leadership towards the achievement of a new world in which all men shall enjoy the fruits of their labors in peace, in human dignity and in freedom,” said the statement read by Rabbi Mark on behalf of all Jewish participants.