Abtalion ben Solomon, Italian rabbi of the late sixteenth century, reverenced his teacher, Samuel Judah Katzenellenbogen, so much that he had his portrait painted and jestingly defended his action by quoting Isaiah: “And thine eyes shall see thy teachers.”
The Executive of the Committee of Jewish Delegations and of the World Jewish Congress has issued a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency which says the Jewish World Congress will be convoked next year.
“The decisions of the administrative committee of the American Jewish Congress,” the statement asserts, “do not in any way mean the abandonment of the idea of the World Jewish Congress, as the press has suggested.
NEGOTIATIONS END FEB. 1
“The decisions proceed rather from the desire to make the representation of world Jewry, which is to give effect to the World Congress, as all-embracing and representative as possible. This is the purpose of the negotiations with the American Jewish Committee, the B”nai B’rith and other Jewish organizations in America which have not till now declared themselves for the World Congress, and these negotiations are to be concluded by February 1, 1935.
“These negotiations are to show whether these organizations will join in the creation of a Council of Jewish Delegations. And then this Council will finally decide the convocation of the World Congress in a way binding upon all.
FAVOR CONGRESS
“It should be pointed out that all European Jewries and groups represented in the Committee of Jewish Delegations, as well as the American Jewish Congress as such, have already declared themselves always for the speedy convocation of the World Congress.
“If the negotiations in America lead to no result, the delegates of the American Jewish Congress returned in the elections, which will under all circumstances be held in America on April 28, 1935, designate the American representation to the World Congress.
WON’T ALTER DECISION
“This shows that the decisions of the American Jewish Congress and the prospective negotiations with the other American Jewish groups do not at all affect the Congress movement in Europe and the other overseas countries. The European representatives to the World Congress will be elected in accordance with the unaltered decisions adopted at the Geneva World Jewish Conference, which means, on democratic lines.
“The World Congress will be convoked in 1935. The Executive Committee will continue to make all preparations for holding elections in the various countries. The Executive Committee will of course welcome it if the Jewish organizations in America and in other countries, who still stand aside, can be won over to the idea of a democratically elected representation of world Jewry, which is today more necessary than ever, and which can only be fully realized by the World Jewish Congress.
Abtalion ben Solomon, Italian rabbi of the late sixteenth century, reverenced his teacher, Samuel Judah Katzenellenbogen, so much that he had his portrait painted and jestingly defended his action by quoting Isaiah: “And thine eyes shall see thy teachers.”The Jewish Daily Bulletin classified columns have been used most successfully. Try them for yourself.
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.
