INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF JEWISH COM-MUNAL SERVICE

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF JEWISH COM-MUNAL SERVICE , international body originating as an informal gathering of Jewish social workers who attended the First International Conference of Social Work in Paris in 1928. The International Conference of Jewish Communal Service evolved slowly as an unplanned meeting of representatives of organizations and countries. A second informal conference was held in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1932 and a third one in London in 1936. The sessions were not recorded. The fourth assembly was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1948. Like the preceding conferences, it was held in conjunction with the International Conference of Social Work. While informal meetings continued to take place together with the biannual International Conference of Social Work, a decision was reached in 1964 to establish a permanent planning committee for an independent conference of Jewish communal workers. This group organized the fifth conference of Jewish Communal Services in Jerusalem in 1967, which voted to hold sessions, in Jerusalem, every four years. In 1994 it changed its name to World Council of Jewish Communal Services (wcjcs), holding subsequent conferences in 1998 and 2003 with a stated aim of strengthening Jewish life and community both in Israel and the Diaspora.

bibliography:

P. Glikson (ed.), Jewish Communal Services; Preliminary Survey… (1967); International Conference of Jewish Communal Service, Jerusalem, 1967. Official Programme… (1967). website: www.wcjcs.org.

[Joseph Neipris]