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A report in Yiddish on the 1937 great assembly (Keneisia ha-Gedolah) of Agudat Israel which was held in Marienbad published by the Jewish Press Bureau. Kenesiyyah ha-Gedolah ("Great Assembly"), "the highest (political) authority of the association," is composed of representatives of the local branches of Agudat Israel. Each two hundred members may elect a representative to the Great Assembly. The first two Great Assemblies were held in Vienna in 1923 and 1929.
After the rise to power of the Nazis in Germany the policy of Agudat Israel to Zionist settlement in Palestine changed fundamentally. The third Great Assembly, held at Marienbad in September 1937, was influenced by the pressure of political events in Palestine and the Diaspora. It discussed anew its attitude toward the eventual creation of a Jewish state and cooperation with the Zionists. Ideologically the strict stand prevailed: "A Jewish State can only be founded on the law of the Torah being recognized according to the Torah. A Jewish State not founded on and governed by Torah principles... cannot possibly call itself a Jewish state." |
