Vyborg Jewish Congregation
News
A Historic Day: The Founding of the Central Council of Jewish Congregations in Finland
On Thursday, April 13, a conference was opened in Helsinki for the purpose of unifying the Jewish congregations of Finland. Representing Vyborg were the chairman of the congregation, Mr. Moses Kaplan, and the congregation secretary, Mr. Abraham Wainer.
The idea of unification is by no means new. Its origin is linked to an individual who has concluded a—not particularly joyful—phase of their life in Finland. It is unnecessary to argue for the need for unification. It is enough to say that a Jewish population which, one wishes there were more, is counted at two thousand souls, is unable to point to the first year of its appearance (here). The Jewish historian who wishes to include the Jews of Finland in general history must, however, know where to look for historical documents. There is no doubt that the lack of an association greatly complicates this work. There are quite difficult questions that truly pertain to the existence of Finnish Jews; it simply may not have been possible to resolve them until now. An association would surely find its own path, especially considering the current zeitgeist and the individual who will be at the head of the association. A historical conference was already held in Helsinki in 1906 (the third conference of the Russian Zionist movement, December 4–10, 1906). The conference of 1933 is undoubtedly a great historical day for the Jews of Finland.
In the name of the Jewish Congregation of Vyborg, we wish all delegates luck and success in their endeavors.
Keren Hayesod at Work in Vyborg
The Vyborg congregation has continuously supported the construction work in Palestine through its payments to Keren Hayesod. These payments, however, have not been considered specifically Zionist, but rather work concerning all Jews, in which every Jew has a share. This past spring, during a visit by a Keren Hayesod delegate to Vyborg, payments were made—even with a certain degree of success—through the congregational council with the cooperation of Agudat Zion. After the delegate’s departure, when the results of the work were handed over in their entirety to the congregational council, it became apparent that the work had unfortunately been carried out in an extremely neglected manner; the bookkeeping was incomplete, and donation sums remained uncollected.
The new congregational council, alongside Keren Hayesod and led by Moses Kaplan and Moses Rosenberg, has set the renewal of Keren Hayesod's work as its first important task. With respectable thoroughness, they have for several consecutive days taken upon themselves the authority to collect old debts from the city and to establish a new payment system. Every member of the congregation is being given a new opportunity to fulfill their duty toward the Jewish people. At the same time, the new congregational council is performing a very important task by putting in order the previously neglected Keren Hayesod bookkeeping. Soon, a list will be published from which every donor can clearly see the total sum with which they have supported the sacred work of building Palestine over the past twelve years.
Our thanks to you!