An Existential Danger: Anti-Religious Education

The Frierdiker Rebbe: “prevent the destruction, G-d forbid, of the religious life of tens of thousands of Jewish children” * “must stir his conscience and peace of mind until he has exhausted every means at his disposal to prevent this terrible outrage” * The JDC: “the only way to deal with the problem is to apply pressure on the Jewish Agency in Israel” * “informally and unofficially you may be in a position to exercise a great deal of influence” * Saving Jewish Children

In the summer of 1949, a few months after the Israel’s Independence War concluded, the Israeli government expanded the “Youth Aliyah” project, aiming to bring to Israel tens of thousands of Jewish children mainly from Arab countries, and integrate them into the secular Israeli society.

Upon arriving in Israel the children were placed in secular schools where their Jewish identity was stripped away, with the parents unaware of the tremendous spiritual damage that was being inflicted on their children.

In Elul 5709 the Israeli government dispatched Mr. Moshe Kol, the director of the “Youth Aliyah” to Morocco to convince the parents to send their children to Israel.

The Frierdiker Rebbe somehow got wind of this plan months earlier, and worked tirelessly to prevent the children from suffering in the hands of the anti-religious educational system in Israel, in various channels, both via expanding the Chabad educational institutions and by establishing a board to spearhead the efforts in Israel.

In this installment we present the communication of the Frierdiker Rebbe with the American Joint Distribution Committee with regards to this issue.

These fascinating documents are part of the JDC Archives (which were digitized and uploaded online, thanks to a grant from Dr. Georgette Bennett and Dr. Leonard Polonsky CBE).

The Danger Facing The Jewish Children

On Sivan 18 5709 [June 15 1949] the Frierdiker Rebbe wrote a letter to the heads of the JDC, Mr. Edward Warburg (Chairman) and Dr. Joseph Schwartz (Head of European Division), with each receiving a personal copy of the letter in Yiddish and an English translation (a similar letter in Yiddish was printed in Igros Kodesh Vol. 10 p 202ff):

I have been deeply shaken by recent reports from reliable sources concerning the fate of tens of thousands of Jewish children from North Africa, about to emigrate to the Holy Land. These children, whose parents are deeply religious, and who have been brought up and bred in a strictly religious environment, now face the danger of being placed in the care of anti-religious educational groups, with the excuse that religious organizations lack accommodation.

I trust that the organization which you head is aware of this situation, and that it will therefore surely and immediately seek, and with G-d’s help find, the necessary steps to eliminate the threat to these children without delay.

Needless to say, that whatever the formalities involved or decisions made by the persons responsible for this threatened injustice, same must and can be overruled in order to prevent the destruction, G-d forbid, of the religious life of tens of thousands of Jewish children, a matter which would certainly have serious repercussions also upon the physical and moral welfare of the Yishuv.

An innermost consideration of this problem by any honest and right thinking person must stir his conscience and peace of mind until he has exhausted every means at his disposal to prevent this terrible outrage.

My experience and observations over a period of many years concerning your public work give me the best hopes that you will once again demonstrate the profound consideration with which such a problem must be dealt, and that will take immediate steps to save these children from the danger of being compulsorily and violently torn from all that is dear and sacred to them, as well as to their parents and ancestors, so dear and sacred, in fact, as to call for actual self-sacrifice.

I remain awaiting your early and gratifying reply.

May the Almighty help you and grant you success in your work.

Blessing you materially and spiritually,

JDC: We Have Been Concerned About This Problem

On July 1 1949 [Tamuz 4 5709] Mr. Joseph Schwartz responded to the Frierdiker Rebbe:

This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 18th of Sivan, 5709, in which you write about the children from North Africa emigrating to the Holy Land.

We have been concerned about this problem for some time. The fact of the matter is that our responsibility is limited to the North African and European scene and at the present time we have no way of injecting ourselves into the situation in Israel.

On the European scene and in North Africa we are making every effort to see to it that children who come from religious homes shall be housed in suitable religious environments and that they shall not be turned from their traditional manner of living. When the children reach Israel, however, our responsibility must cease since it is the Jewish Agency that has complete and sole responsibility for the resettlement of immigrants in Israel.

I have discussed this matter with Rabbi Herzog, with the late Rabbi Meir Berlin and with a number of other religious personalities both in and out of Israel and I have indicated to them that the only way to deal with the problem is to apply pressure on the Jewish Agency in Israel and to press for larger allocation of funds to religious organizations for the establishment of necessary homes for these children. They have agreed that this is their only recourse and I know they are doing their utmost to achieve the necessary results.

I wish it were possible for me to be able to say something of a more positive nature on this subject, but I am sure you will understand that because of the setup we have it is impossible for us to take any further action in the matter.

With kind regards and best wishes,

Do Something Informally and Unofficially

Pirsum Rishon: The Frierdiker Rebbe received the letter and responded a few days later, on Tamuz 8 5709 [July 5 1949], in the following letter, published here for the first time:

Your letter of July 1st, reflecting your very personal approach to the problem of the religious upbringing of the North African children emigrating to the Holy Land, has deeply gratified me. I was further pleased to hear that this is the general policy of the JDC in its refugee and rehabilitation program.

I appreciate your position, but in view of the seriousness of the situation I wish to underscore that while officially you may not be able to encroach upon a situation that lies outside the JDC sphere, I do believe that informally and unofficially you may be in a position to exercise a great deal of influence in the appropriate quarters where decisions concerning this problem are made. While I have approached them direct, I feel that you could give effective stimulus to the matter along these lines. I sincerely hope that you will do all you can in the matter,

With all good wishes and blessings,