Preservation of “social agencies in the era of social transition we are now living through” was stressed by Louis E. Kirstein, president of the Associated Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, in an address before the “Big Givers” luncheon of the Worcester Community Chest campaign here yesterday.
“We are in the midst of a social transformation,” Mr. Kirstein said. “We are so close to it that it is impossible for us to appreciate the full magnitude of the change. I am confident that if we have the wisdom and the will we shall come out of this period with a healthier society and with a more enduring structure than we had before 1929. But the process is a slow one and it involves great strains and stresses.
“Social change is inevitable whether we like it or not. The transformation is in process. What I am anxious for, what I am pleading with you as businessmen, is to make sure that the change is an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary one. And if the change is to be evolutionary, then these social agencies are indispensable as a means of easing the tensions and the frictions which always accompany periods of great economic and social change. Certainly, if nothing else, intelligent and enlightened self-interest makes it imperative that we businessmen see this clearly and make it possible for our social agencies to maintain their efficiency during these critical days.”
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.
