REPORT OF THE FIFTY-SECOND YEAR OF THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA 1939-1940 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA OFFICERS PRESIDENT J. SOLIS-COHEN, Jr., Philadelphia VICE-PRESIDENT HON. HORACE STERN, Philadelphia TREASURER HOWARD A. WOLF, Philadelphia SECRETARY-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MAURICE JACOBS, Philadelphia EDITOR DR. SOLOMON GRAYZEL, Philadelphia HONORARY VICE-PRESIDENTS ISAAC W. BERNHEIM1 Denver REV. DR. HENRY COHEN2 Galveston HON. ABRAM I. ELKUS1 New York City Louis E. KIRSTEIN2 Boston HON. JULIAN W. MACK2 New York City JAMES MARSHALL3 New York City HENRY MONSKY3 Omaha HON. MURRAY SEASONGOOD1 Cincinnati HON. M. C. SLOSS1 San Francisco REV. DR. JOSEPH STOLZ' Chicago HENRIETTA SZOLD3 Jerusalem TRUSTEES MARCUS AARON1 Pittsburgh PHILIP AMRAM1 Philadelphia EDWARD BAKER2 Cleveland HART BLUMENTHAL3 Philadelphia FRED M. BUTZEL3 Detroit J. SOLIS-COHEN, JR.1 Philadelphia BERNARD L. FRANKEL3 Philadelphia LIONEL FRIEDMANN" Philadelphia REV. DR. SOLOMON GOLDMAN1 Chicago REV. DR. NATHAN KRASS2 New York City SAMUEL C. LAMPORT2 New York City HON. LOUIS E. LEVINTHAL1 Philadelphia 1. Term expires in 1941 2. Term expires in 1942 3. Term expires in 1943 677 678 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK HOWARD S. LEVY' Philadelphia REV. DR. LOUIS L. MANN2 Chicago SIMON MILLER* Philadelphia EDWARD A. NORMANS New York City CARL H. PFORZHEIMER2 New York City DR. A. S. W. ROSENBACH3 Philadelphia FRANK J. RUBENSTEIN3 Baltimore HARRY SCHERMAN2 New York City REV. DR. ABBA HILLEL SILVER1 Cleveland HON. HORACE STERN3 Philadelphia EDWIN WOLF, 2ND1 Philadelphia HOWARD A. WOLF1 Philadelphia PUBLICATION COMMITTEE HON. LOUIS E. LEVINTHAL, Chairman Philadelphia REV. DR. MORTIMER J. COHEN Philadelphia J. SOLIS-COHEN, JR Philadelphia DR. SOLOMON SOLIS-COHEN Philadelphia REV. DR. H. W. ETTELSON Memphis REV. DR. LOUIS FINKELSTEIN New York City REV. DR. WILLIAM H. FINESHRIBER Philadelphia BERNARD L. FRANKEI Philadelphia FELIX N. GERSON Philadelphia DR. NATHAN G. GOODMAN. Philadelphia DR. SOLOMON GRAYZEL Philadelphia REV. DR. MAX D. KLEIN Philadelphia REV. DR. FELIX A. LEVY Chicago DR. JACOB R. MARCUS Cincinnati DR. ALEXANDER MARX New York City SIMON MILLER Philadelphia ALBERT MORDELL Philadelphia REV. DR. JULIAN MORGENSTERN Cincinnati REV. DR. ABRAHAM A. NEUMAN Philadelphia REV. DR. DAVID PHILIPSON Cincinnati DR. JOSEPH REIDER Philadelphia DR. A. S. W. ROSENBACH Philadelphia Dk. ABRAM L. SACHAR Champaign REV. DR. SAMUEL SCHULMAN New York City DR. EPHRAIM A. SPEISER Philadelphia DR. SHALOM SPIEGEL New York City REV. DR. SIDNEY S. TEDESCHE Brooklyn EDWIN WOLF, 2ND Philadelphia DR. HARRY A. WOLFSON Cambridge SCHIFF LIBRARY OF JEWISH CLASSICS COMMITTEE DR. SOLOMON SOLIS-COHEN Philadelphia Dk. Louis GINZBERG New York City DR. JACOB Z. LAUTERBACH Cincinnati DR. ALEXANDER MARX New York Citjr REV. DR. DAVID PHILIPSON Cincinnati REV. DR. SAMUEL SCHULMAN New York City 1. Term expires in 1941 2. Term expires in 1942 3. Term expires in 1943 THE FIFTY-SECOND ANNUAL MEETING OF THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA The Fifty-second Annual Meeting of The Jewish Pub- lication Society of America was held on Sunday evening, May 12th, 1940, at the Dropsie College, Broad and York Streets, Philadelphia. The meeting was called to order by the President, Mr. J. Solis-Cohen, Jr., at 8:30 P.M. Upon motion duly made and carried, it was voted to approve the minutes of the Fifty-first Annual Meeting as printed and distributed in Volume 41 of the American Jewish Year Book. The President announced the appointment of the follow- ing Nominating Committee: Messrs. Lionel Friedmann, Chairman, Edwin Wolf, 2nd., and Philip Amram. The Treasurer of the Society, Mr. Howard A. Wolf, read his ninth annual report, and upon motion made and unani- mously carried, the report of the Treasurer was adopted and ordered printed in Volume 42 of the Year Book. Judge Louis E. Levinthal, the Chairman of the Publi- cation Committee, read his second annual report which was approved and ordered printed in Volume 42 of the Year Book. The President, Mr. J. Solis-Cohen, Jr., read his seventh annual report, which was accepted by acclamation and ordered printed in Volume 42 of the Year Book. The Nominating Committee, reporting through Mr. Edwin Wolf, 2nd., recommended the re-election of Mr. J. Solis-Cohen, Jr. as President for his eighth consecutive term, and Justice Horace Stern as Vice-President for his twenty-eighth consecutive term. 679 680 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK They also recommended the election of the following Trustees for a term of three years: HART BLUMENTHAL* Philadelphia FRED M. BUTZEL* Detroit BERNARD L. FRANKEL* Philadelphia SIMON MILLER* Philadelphia DR. A. S. W. ROSENBACH* Philadelphia FRANK J. RUBENSTEIN* Baltimore HON. HORACE STERN* Philadelphia EDWARD A. NORMAN New York City The report was unanimously adopted. Upon motion, memorial resolutions on the death of Doctors Cyrus Adler and Israel Davidson were ordered printed in the forthcoming Year Book. The President then explained that the major part of the Annual Meeting was to be devoted to memorializing the part which the late Dr. Cyrus Adler had played in the work of the Society, and he asked the Vice-President, Justice Horace Stern, to preside at this section of the Annual Meeting. In a brief introductory statement, Justice Stern eulogized the work of Dr. Cyrus Adler on behalf of the Society.He then introduced Rev. Dr. David Philipson who spoke on "Cyrus Adler and the Bible Translation." Justice Stern noted that Rev. Dr. Samuel Schulman had been asked to speak on "Cyrus Adler and the Classics Committee", but illness prevented Dr. Schulman from being present. Mr. D. Hays Solis-Cohen read a paper which his father, Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen, had written on "Cyrus Adler and the Publication Committee." Simon Miller, President of the Society for 20 years, read a paper on "Cyrus Adler and the Hebrew Press." *Re-elected JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY 681 Mr. Harry Schneiderman, the Editor of the American Jewish Year Book, read a paper on "Cyrus Adler and the American Jewish Year Book." It was unanimously voted that the papers be printed in the current issue of the Year Book. Respectfully submitted, MAURICE JACOBS Secretary At the meeting of the Board of Trustees, called after the Annual Meeting, the following Officers were unanimously elected by the Board for the year 1940: Treasurer: HOWARD A. WOLF (10th term) Secretary and Executive Director: MAURICE JACOBS (5th term) Editor: DR. SOLOMON GRAYZEL (2nd term) Respectfully submitted,. MAURICE JACOBS Secretary 682 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK TREASURER'S REPORT SUMMARIZED COMBINED INCOME STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1939 COMPARED WITH THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1938 ESTIMATED BUDGET Revenues 1938 1939 1940 Dues $37,263.60 $36,838.29 $38,000 Donations 336.92 448.75 500 Sales—Hebrew Press 24,713.34 32,723.35 35,000 Sales—Jewish Publication Society 22,672.36 22,454.87 25,000 Interest 498.74 207.82 200 Total Revenues 85,484.96 92,673.08 98,700 Expenses , 95,106.16 92,056.54 100,230 Income 616.54 Loss 9,621.20 1,530 From Funds 12,705.86 1,500* Net Income 3,084.66 616.54 30 *To be borrowed from funds to finance new equipment for Hebrew Press. The summarized income statement shows that the Society operated on a well-balanced budget during 1939. The budget laid out for 1940 includes installation of new equipment at the Hebrew Press, part of the cost of which is to be financed by borrowing from the funds; the loan to be repaid through the results of more efficient operation of the Press. The balance sheet shows that the inventories have been built up to adequately service increasing sales and memberships, and at the same time the liabilities of the Society have been reduced. Our stock of books and our plant is now in condition to handle vastly in- creased membership at very small additional expense. Respectfully submitted, HOWARD A. WOLF Treasurer JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY 683 COMPARATIVE COMBINED BALANCE SHEETS December 31, 1939 December 31, 1938 Assets Cash $ 442.69 $ 1,010.85 Accounts Receivable 15,481.64 15,455.92 Inventories Publications & Work in Process $24,046.46 $18,111.79 Classics Fund Publications 695.50 774.90 Paper 1,064.58 25,806.54 768.56 19,655.25 Investments Cash Un-invested 100.00 603.13 Securities 25,188.13 25,288.13 31,585.00 32,188.13 Plant, Equipment, Furniture, etc 2.00 2.00 Prepaid Publication Costs 1,376.71 2,814.58 Prepaid Insurance 60.20 117.59 68,457.91 71,244.32 Liabilities Accounts Payable 6,358.16 10,754.08 Customer's Deposits.. 2,775.86 1,013.92 Fund Accounts 28,292.28 35,751.22 Reserve for Completion of Unfinished Publica- tions 6,826.81 6,081.23 Surplus 24,204.80 17,643.87 $68,457.91 $71,244.32 684 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT FOR YEAR 1939 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :— I take great pleasure in presenting my seventh Annual Report as President of your Society, a review of the work of the Jewish Publication Society during its fifty-second year. It is always a privilege for a chief administrative officer to report a year of progress, and I can truthfully bring that sort of a report to you, as the year 1939 was a "good year" for our Society. With the Golden Jubilee adequately celebrated at the end of 1938, we again turned to the important business of the Society, the publication and distribution of Jewish books in English and planned a program of six books for 1939. These six books were very well received. Publications: THE SHIP OF HOPE, from the German of Ruben Rothgiesser, translated by Felix N. Gerson, was a book about young people which offered a ray of hope to those of our faith who saw nothing but darkness ahead.