The public meeting held under the joint auspices of the Y. M. C. A. and Y. M. H. A. in the Bijou Theatre, Wednesday night, was termed by Mayor Walker as “the most forward step I have ever recognized in our community.” The meeting, announced as a “symposium on the challenge of youth.” was in the interests of the campaigns of the two organizations now being conducted for funds aggregating $8,000,000.
“Nothing could be better for our community than this foregathering of Jew and Gentile in the interests of young Hebrews and young Christians. There is no question in my mind that both have always been aiming at the same purposes, that both have a deep devotion to humanity and a keen appreciation of youth.”
Addresses were also made by Dr. Stephan S. Wise. Cleveland E. Dodge, president of the Y. M. C. A., and Joseph M. Proskauer, president of the Y. M. H. A.
Mr. Dodge said that lack of normal home life and satisfactory living accommodations together with the insistent pressure of commercialized recreation had emphasized the need of young men in New York for a constructive social and recreational program.
Mr. Proskauer said the challenge of youth was a demand for the right to the enjoyment of the normal life of youth. Huge organizations of commerce and industry, he declared, with the intricate complexities of city life, had “crushed out the old ways” by which young men had been developed into sturdy manhood.
“While we have rightly poured millions into hospitals and other relief-giving institutions, we have done little for organizations that prevent sickness, misery and crime by the development of virile, upstanding young men.
“That is the function which the Young Men’s Christian Association and the Young Men’s Hebrew Association should and must perform.” Mr. Proskauer said.
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.
