How healthy is Jewish community life around the world? This assessment will be one of the by-products of an important conference being held in Jerusalem, Aug.13-17, according to Charles H. Zibbell, president of the International Conference of Jewish Communal Service. More than 500 Jewish community professionals from every continent and scores of countries will be gathering in Jerusalem for formal and informal dialogue dealing with major issues facing the Jewish community. “Every Jewish community is facing major problems.” Zibbell noted, pointing out that the nature of the problems differs from locality to locality:
In Europe, there are many communities in Africa, particularly South Africa, must deal with issues of race and politics. Soviet Jewry must deal with problems of basic freedom and overt anti-Semitism.
“This conference will give us an opportunity to compare notes and to try to assess what we can do to help each other more effectively,” Zibbell stated. “We especially want to explore the relationship of each separate community to Israel and to the Jewish people as a whole.” Zibbell, who is the associate director of the Council of Jewish Federations, indicated that a new trend he has noted in recent years is the increased importance for Jewish community professionals to take a more active leadership role in shaping their community.
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.
