The Jewish Community Council of Utica has issued a public statement condemning the Joint Defense Appeal of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and the American Jewish Committee for having conducted a fund-raising campaign in this city without prior notification and clearance of the council and in conflict with the launching of the local United Jewish Appeal.
The statement was signed by Samuel L. Leventhal, president of the council; H. Robert Rosenblum, chairman of the appeal, and Mrs. Florence Sitrin, chairman of the council’s budget and finance committee. It charged that the JDA action “struck at the heart of this principle” of “orderly, democratic and responsible processes” and declared that “such an irresponsible method of fund-raising is reverting to the law of the jungle and can only lead to anarchy and confusion in campaigning.”
The community council’s position was supported by the Utica Lodge of B’nai B’rith. Seymour Levine, its president, stressed the lodge’s support of the United Jewish Appeal of Utica and declared that “for the record it should be known that the Utica Lodge of B’nai B’rith had nothing to do with the Joint Defense Appeal campaign started last Monday and disavows any connection with it.”
The statement of the community council officers declared that the issue would be considered at the next meeting of the executive council of the Jewish Community Council.
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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.
