1, 000 Jewish Leaders Attend Interfaith Rights Rally in Washington

Rabbi Uri Miller, president of the Synagogue Council of America, urged last night at an unprecedented interreligious convocation here that Americans consider the legislative processes involved in civil rights as a reflection of “our moral development.”

More than 5,000 Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish leaders attended the interfaith meeting in the Georgetown University, assembled to dramatize for Congress their united support of the civil rights bill passed by the House and now bogged down by a Senate filibuster.

“The American people have been delinquent in putting into practice the principles of the EmancipationDeclaration, ” Rabbi Miller said. “We cannot tolerate intolerance either morally or practically. Civil rights legislation is basic to our progress; it is basic to the moral principles upon which this country is established.”

The convocation launched an intensive and renewed effort by major religious groups in the United States not only to push for passage of the civil rights act but also to develop a sharper awareness on the part of church and synagogue members throughout the United States of the need for individual moral commitments in support of the legislation: More than 1,000 Jewish religious leaders were among those who attended the interfaith meeting.

Meanwhile, theological students of the three faiths began today their tenth day of a quiet vigil at the Lincoln Memorial which was organized on an around-the-clock basis for continuation until the civil rights bill becomes law.

A two-day meeting of more than 100 Jewish business and professional leaders, convened by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, opened here tonight top lead for immediate passage of the civil rights legislation now before the Senate. The group will confer with Administration and Senate spokesmen and will meet, individually, with their home-state Senators.