Zionists Launch Education Work in American Jewry

A nation-wide movement for solving the problem of Jewish education in America will be launched by the Zionist Organization of America. A special and independent agency is to be created which will cooperate with existing Jewish educational agencies for the promotion of all aspects of Jewish education, coordinating their activities and offering them various forms of aid and service.

Announcement of this action was made by Louis Lipsky, Chairman of the Zionist Organization of America, after a decision reached at a special meeting of the Administrative Committee of the Organization. Mr. Lipsky announced further that a Provisional Committee for the new enterprise is already in process of formation and that a national conference, at a time and place to be made public shortly, will be convened for the purpose of officially launching the movement and constituting the new organization. A number of leading figures in public Jewish life in America have already accepted membership on the Provisional Committee and from many quarters enthusiastic endorsement and offers of cooperation have been received, Mr. Lipsky announced.

“In initiating this action in the interest of Jewish education,” Mr. Lipsky stated in his announcement, “the Zionist Organization desires to be of service to the American Jews in the tremendously difficult problem of transmitting to the young their Jewish cultural heritage and of conserving the positive Jewish cultural values among all the members of our people. Needless to say, there is no desire and no intention to dictate curricula or impose educational policy on any group or institution.

“The problem of Jewish education in the United States has always been a subject of deep concern to the Zionist Organization of America. Involved in this problem is the future of our movement, as well as the integrity of the Jewry of America. Some years ago, the Organization conducted a special Department of Education. At present also, the Organization bears moral and financial responsibility for a number of educational activities, including Young Judaea, Avukah, the Hebrew weekly, Hadoar, Hatoren, and others.

“The feeling has gained ground, however, that the time has arrived to create an agency for Jewish education which will aim to extend and coordinate Jewish educational work of every sort, including Talmud Torahs, youth organizations, educational work among adults, work on behalf of the Hebrew language and literature, publication of books and periodicals, etc.

“An organization is contemplated which will, in the first instance, through systematic propaganda, seek to arouse a sense of responsibility of Jewish communities throughout the country for Jewish education. The organization will not compete with existing agencies; on the contrary, its work will be to cooperate with them and coordinate Jewish educational activities for greater efficiency,” Mr. Lipsky’s statement declared.

Among those identified with the new movement are Israel Matz of New York, who established the Matz Foundation for Hebrew Literature, Elias Gottfried, Treasurer of the Histadruth Ivrith, Solomon Lamport of New York, Jacob Goell of Brooklyn, Irma Lindheim, Hermann Conheim, treasurer of the United Palestine Appeal, Isaac Meister, Treasurer of the Zionist Organization of America, Bernard Semel, Honorary Secretary of the Jewish Educational Association, Abraham Spicehandler, Dr. Nathan Ratnoff, President of the American Jewish Physicians Committee, Dr. Israel J. Werbsler, Secretary of the American Jewish Physicians Committee, Dr. Joseph Krimsky of Brooklyn, Morris Sapir of Brooklyn, Philip Wattenberg, Jacob Ginsburg of Philadelphia, Michael Stavitsky of Newark, N. J., Judge Jacob M. Moses of Baltimore, Louis Topkis of Wilmington, Judge William Lewis of Philadelphia, Judge Jacob Lourie of Boston, Prof. Nathan Isaacs of Harvard University, George Gordon of Minneapolis, Prof. Gustave Klausner of St. Louis, Sol. C. Kraus of Philadelphia, Charles Rosenbloom of Pittsburgh, Archibald Silverman of Providence, Louis A. Freed of Houston, Texas.