Coordinating Committee Functions in Hartford’s Jewish Community

(News Letter from Hartford)

The most important step in recent years to bring about a better understanding among the various Jewish organizations of the city is the formation of the Hartford Jewish Committee, proposed by Rabbi Morris Silverman at the annual meeting of the United Jewish Charities recently. Miss Annie Fisher, a district superintendent of schools of Hartford, was named president.

Another important step was the consolidation of all Talmud Torahs under the leadership of Dr. George H Cohen, assistant United States District Judge in the Federal District Court of Connecticut.

Both the United Charities and the Children’s Home have recently become members of the Community Chest, each receiving allotments for the disbursements of the year.

The Home for Children, which is now conducting its drive for $100,000, was started many years ago and the first building purchased eight years ago. Prior to being included among the agencies of the Community Chest, it was supported exclusively by Jewish people, of whom there are more than 25,000 in this city. Although the chest meets the running expenses of the institution, totaling $33,000 annually, it cannot meet the cost of the new building and for that reason the fund is being sought among Hartford Jewry. The canvass was endorsed by the president of the Community Chest.

PLANS FOR NEW BUILDING

The plans for the new building show that attention has been paid to the particular needs of the institution. There will be well-ventilated class rooms, a music room, dining room, bed rooms and shops for manual raining, besides a library and gymnasium.

The Emmanuel Synagogue, under the leadership of Rabbi Silverman, recently completed its new building, which includes a College Club, a Bar Mitzvah Club, and adds the facilities of its fifteen class rooms to a Religious School accommodating more than 380 children, 80 of whom are high school students. The College Club is especially active and is planning to create a fund to furnish college scholarships. The Club holds frequent discussions and uses the Jewish Daily Bulletin for subjects.

Construction on the new Temple Beth Israel will soon start, it is believed. The Temple was founded in 1887 and its present building was enlarged at times.

The most prosperous Jewish farmers in America and perhaps in the world are in the County of Hartford. There are also Jewish farmers in the state who because of poor soil, inadequate capital, lack of transportation facilities and scientific methods, are not wresting a livelihood from the soil.

Between these extremes are more than 500 good farmers and many more who live on farms in and near Hartford but who are not farmers. The Jewish farmers have contributed materially to the development of Connecticut’s most spectacular agricultural enterprise.

Especially on the farms in Hartford County, the Jews have made their mark. The first of these farmers had worked in Norwich. Conn., in the woolen mills. They rebelled at being confined to close work and turned to farming, migrating to Hartford Country. Other Jewish groups in this region turned to tobacco growing. The management of these farms is on a modern basis. There are more than 1,000 families on farms in this vicinity and they number more than 5,000 men, women and children.

1,539 JEWISH FARMERS IN CONNECTICUT

Of the more than 6,000 Jewish farmers in the United States between 1904 and 1924, more than 1,539 were in Connecticut. The number of loans made on land owned by Jewish farmers was greater than in any other state.

Many of these farms find a means of extra income during the summer months by taking boarders. During that part of the season the Jewish population increases in the state to more than 200,000. It is estimated that Jewish farmers in Hartford and neighboring towns own more than 75,000 acres of land valued at more than $6,000,000. The number is increasing steadily.