Bernard G. Richards, Veteran Zionist, Honored on His 75th Birthday

Bernard G. Richards, veteran Zionist leader who has been active in American Jewish life for more than 50 years, was tonight honored at the Hotel McAlpin by more than 300 Jewish leaders on the occasion of his 75th birthday.

Louis Lipsky, chairman of the American Zionist Council, who served as toastmaster, lauded Mr. Richards’ contributions, citing his work as executive secretary of the Jewish Community of New York for five years, as executive director of the American Jewish Congress in the first 18 years of its existence, and as a member of the executive of the Zionist Organization of America in its early years.

In his reply, Mr. Richards called for greater attention by American Jewry to the development of their own cultural and spiritual values and warned against the dangers of too great a concentration on the problems of fighting anti-Semitism. While agreeing that American Jewry might properly look to establishment of an exchange of moral and spiritual values with the new State of Israel, Mr. Richards asserted that “history will not be hurried.”

“The Israelis will not send us back packages of culture in the same containers and packing cases in which we ship them food for their hungry and materials for their industries, ” he said. “Before sending us these precious moral possessions Israel will first try, if not to balance its budget at least to balance its other exports against imports.”