A contrasting picture of the crisis in other countries and the suffering of the Jewish population there and the economic prosperity enjoyed by Palestine was presented by Rabbi Wolf Gold, president of the American Mizrachi Organization in his message to the sixteenth convention of the organization which opened here yesterday.
Two hundred delegates and their guests from many parts of the country were present at the opening of the convention which will continue for four days at the Hotel Statler here.
The optimistic portrait of economic conditions in Palestine was re-etched from first hand observation in the addresses of Rabbi Meyer Berlin, president of the World Mizrachi Organization and of Rabbi Judah L. Fishman, president of the Palestine Mizrachi.
All three speakers emphasized however that the political situation is far from satisfactory. Rabbi Berlin asserted that the political situation will remain unsatisfactory so long as the doors of Palestine are not open to free immigration. He called upon the convention to demand free immigration to Palestine.
“Palestine is no longer a land of tears and desolation. It is a land of happiness and joy,” Rabbi Berlin said.
Rabbi Fishman stated that “no power in the world will prevent us from rebuilding Palestine. We are not afraid of the British or of the Arabs. We are afraid of our Jews. If we want a Jewish Palestine we must have the Mizrachi build it not with words but with work.”
The convention was formally opened by Max M. Yellen, chairman of the arrangements committee. The delegates were welcomed by Henry F. Jerge, president of the City Council; Isaac Manch, president of the local Mizrachi, and Ruth Orenstein, president of the local Zionist body.
Rabbi Eliezer Silver, president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, declared that the “orthodox Jew should be the one to take charge of the building up of Palestine.”
Sessions will be suspended over the Sabbath and resumed on Saturday night. Rabbis attending the convention will occupy local pulpits at Sabbath services.
“Palestine is the only country in the world where the Jews suffer no unemployment; where people are not pessimistic,” declared Rabbi Gold, after he had painted a dark picture of the Jewish position in other lands as being made doubly miserable by the economic crisis and anti-Semitism.
Expressing gratification with the granting of 4,500 immigration certificates to Palestine for the current six months period, Rabbi Gold gave a statistical report of various developments in Palestine.
In the last two years, he pointed out, 20,000 dunams of land were planted with orange groves, making a total of 63,000 dunams of land devoted to orange growing, representing an investment of $40,000,000. Palestine oranges are constantly finding new markets at good prices.
He tsressed the growth of building operations, pointing out that in Tel Aviv alone 65,000 square metres have been built up at an approximate evaluation of $1,000,000.
Industry too is showing progress, he reported, declaring there has been a rise in the establishment of large and small factories.
Discussing the political situation, Rabbi Wolf Gold expressed gratification with the attitude displayed by the High Commissioner, Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope, which has resulted in the elevation of Jewish prestige.
The inner Zionist situation presents a totally different picture, he said. The crisis on the one hand, the inner quarrels on the other, have tended to disrupt the movement. The fund-raising machinery of the entire Zionist movement has been ruined, he asserted. The situation of the Mizrachi organization is particularly bad, he said. Now when our duties have become greater, our means of meeting them must be strengthened.
He devoted considerable time to a discussion of the educational system in Palestine and expressed the urgency of arousing orthodox Palestine to an interest in the problems of education. The Mizrachi, he said, must strengthen its position in the Palestine Jewish National Council which now supervises education. He emphasized the need for re-introducing the religious spirit into Palestine and into education in particular.
Rabbi Gold scored the Jewish Agency for the “blow to the spirit of religion, since the death of Louis Marshall. For this reason alone, the Mizrachi should be pleased that education has passed from the control of the Jewish Agency, he said.
In this connection, Rabbi Gold proposed to the convention and offered for consideration to the next Mizrachi World Congress, which will take place next summer, that efforts be made to induce the Agudath-Israel, the extreme orthodox group, to enter the Jewish Agency. Rabbi Gold explained that in inducing the Agudath Israel to join the Jewish Agency, the orthodox elements would be strengthened in their efforts to introduce a greater religious spirit in Palestine undertakings, particularly with reference to education.
Rabbi Wolf believes that since it was possible for Zionists and non-Zionists to form the Jewish Agency together, so it is possible for the Zionist Mizrachi and the non-Zionist Agudath Israel to find a common meeting ground in the matter of religion.
The Mizrachi has 8,000 pupils in its schools, which include two gymnasiums, two teachers’ seminaries and a trade school.
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