Njcrac Plenary Delegates Told of Guideline on Issue of Drop-outs

A statement intended to guide the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council in responding to the issue of Soviet Jewish immigration and noshrim (drop-outs) was read to delegates at a closed session of the NJCRAC plenary meeting in Miami Beach last week.

The statement, prepared by NJCRAC chairman Theodore R. Mann and read by executive vice-chairman Albert D. Chernin, noted that the problem “has been under careful examination by an ad hoc Inter-Organizational Committee” that includes the presidents and executives of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, HIAS, Joint Distribution Committee, National Conference on Soviet Jewry, United Israel Appeal, United Jewish Appeal and NJCRAC. The statement added that serving “as a technical advisory committee” to the Inter-Organizational group, has been the Committee of Ten which comprises the executive directors of the American organizations and includes Israeli members from the Jewish Agency, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry.

The statement referred to a NJCRAC meeting held on Dec. 20, 1976 at which Mann and Chernin sought guidance on the issue from NJCRAC member agencies. According to the statement, the participants in the Dec. 20 meeting, who included NJCRAC officers, “carefully examined the problems and alternative options” and concluded that “one thing is clear: there is agreement by leaders in Israel and the United States that Jews desiring to leave the Soviet Union genuinely should have freedom of choice as to where they wish to go.”

CONSENSUS IS TO MAINTAIN STATUS QUO

The statement said: “The consensus, which was virtually unanimous among NJCRAC national agencies, was that any decision to modify existing procedures should be postponed. The feeling was that such action would be premature in light of anticipated discussions between the United States government and the Soviet Union and our hope that the plight of Soviet Jews will figure prominently in those negotiations.

“The group recommended to the NJCRAC chairman and executive vice-chairman, as members of these committees, that they encourage the Inter-Organizational Committee and its Committee of Ten to defer action on any of the proposals now before them.

“It was recognized that the effect of this position is to maintain the status quo at the present time, and thus it was also recommended that in the event that there is a move within the Committees to reach a decision, the NJCRAC chairman and executive vice-chairman should oppose at this time any fundamental modifications of existing procedures in regard to the problem of noshrim.”