REPORT OF THE FORTY-NINTH YEAR OF THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA 1936-1937 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 MAURICE JACOBS, Philadelphia EDITOR DR. ISAAC HUSIK, Feasterville HONORARY VICE-PRESIDENTS ISAAC W. BERNHEIM1 Denver REV. DR. HENRY COHEN2 Galveston HON. ABRAM I. ELKUS1 New York City HON. S. W. JACOBS2 Montreal Louis E. KIRSTEIN2 Boston HON. JULIAN W. MACK2 New York City HON. MURRAY SEASONGOOD1 Cincinnati HON. M. C. SLOSS1 San Francisco REV. DR. JOSEPH STOLZ1 Chicago TRUSTEES MARCUS AARON1 Pittsburgh DR. CYRUS ADLER1 Philadelphia PHILIP AMRAM1 Philadelphia EDWARD BAKER2 Cleveland HART BLUMENTHAL3 Philadelphia J. SOLIS-COHEN, JR1 Philadelphia BERNARD L. FRANKEL3 Philadelphia LIONEL FRIEDMANN1 Philadelphia DR. JULIUS GRODINSKY2 Jenkintown REV. DR. NATHAN KRASS2 New York City SAMUEL C. LAMPORT2 New York City HON. LOUIS E. LEVINTHAL1 Philadelphia HOWARD S. LEVY2 Philadelphia HON. WM. M. LEWIS1 Philadelphia 1. Terms expire in 1938 2. Terms expire in 1939. 3. Terms expire in 1>J4O. 847 848 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK REV. DR. LOUIS L. MANN2 Chicago SIMON MILLER3 Philadelphia CARL H. PFORZHEIMER2 New York City DR. A. S. W. ROSENBACH3 Philadelphia FRANK J. RUBENSTEIN3 Baltimore DR. FRANK I. SCHECHTER2 New York City HARRY SCHERMAN2 New York City REV. DR. ABBA HILLEL SILVER3 Cleveland HON. HORACE STERN3 Philadelphia A. LEO WEIL1 Pittsburgh EDWIN WOLF, 2ND1 Philadelphia HOWARD A. WOLF1 Philadelphia PUBLICATION COMMITTEE DR. CYRUS ADLER 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. WM. H. FINESHRIBER Philadelphia BERNARD L. FRANKEL Philadelphia FELIX N. GERSON Philadelphia DR. NATHAN G. GOODMAN Philadelphia DR. SOLOMON GRAYZEL Philadelphia DR. ISAAC HUSIK Feasterville REV. DR. MAX D. KLEIN Philadelphia HON. LOUIS E. LEVINTHAL Philadelphia DR. ALEXANDER MARX New York City SIMON MILLER Philadelphia REV. DR. JULIAJI MORGENSTERN Cincinnati REV. DR. ABRAHAM A. NEUMAN Philadelphia REV. DR. DAVID PHILIPSON Cincinnati DR. JOSEPH REIDER Philadelphia DR. A. S. W. ROSENBACH Philadelphia DR. ABRAM LEON SACHAR Champaign DR. FRANK I. SCHECHTER New York City REV. DR. SAMUEL SCHULMAX New York City REV. DR. SIDNEY S. TEDESCHE Brooklyn EDWIN WOLF, 2ND Philadelphia JEWISH CLASSICS COMMITTEE DR. CYRUS ADLER, Chairman Philadelphia DR. SOLOMON SOLIS-COHEN Philadelphia DR. ISRAEL DAVIDSON New York City DR. LOUIS GINZBERG New York City DR. JACOB Z. LAUTERBACH Cincinnati DR. ALEXANDER MARX New York City REV. DR. DAVID PHILIPSON Cincinnati REV. DR. SAMUEL SCHULMAN New York Citv 1. Terms expire in 1938. 2. Terms expire in 1939. 3. Terms expire in 1940 THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA The Forty-ninth Annual Meeting of the Jewish Publica- tion Society was held on Sunday, May 9, 1937, at 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 Forty-eighth Annual Meeting as printed and distributed in Volume 38 of the American Jewish Year Book. The President announced the appointment of the follow- ing Nominating Committee: Judge William M. Lewis, Chairman, Bernard Frankel and Lionel Friedmann. The Nominating Committee recommended the election of the following as officers and trustees of the Society, and the report was unanimously approved. President: Mr. J. SOLIS-COHEN, JR.* Vice-President: HON. HORACE STERN* TRUSTEES (for three years) HART BLUMENTHAL* DR. A. S. W. ROSENBACH* BERNARD L. FRANKEL* FRANK J. RUBENSTEIN* SIMON MILLER* HON. HORACE STERN* REV. DR. ABBA HILLEL SILVER* The report of the Treasurer, Mr. Howard A. Wolf, was distributed, and upon motion made and unanimously car- ried, the report of the Treasurer was accepted. Dr. Cyrus Adler read a specially prepared Minute on the late Judge Simon W. Rosendale, who presided at the original convention in 1888 which brought the Jewish Publication Society into being. By unanimous vote, the Minute was accepted, with instructions that it be spread upon the minutes of the Annual Meeting, and a copy sent •Re-elected. 850 AMERICAN JEWISH YKAR BOOK to the family of the late Judge Rosendale. The Minute is printed below. .Mr. J. Solis-Cohen, Jr., President, read his annual message, which is printed below. Upon motion by Doctor Adler, unanimously carried, the report of the President was accepted, and thanks expressed for his splendid work during the past year. The President then introduced the speaker of the evening, the Rev. Dr. Mortimer J. Cohen, a member of the Society's Publication Committee. Doctor Cohen's talk is printed below. At an informal discussion following Doctor Cohen's ad- dress, Mr. Simon Miller, a former President of the Society, Judge Louis E. Levin thai, a member of the Board of Trustees, and Dr. Cyrus Adler commented on the fine work the Society had accomplished during the past year. Mr. Isaac Hassler urged the Publication Society to issue a magazine of its own. After considerable discussion, the matter was referred to the Board of Trustees, who will give careful and thorough consideration to Mr. Hassler's recommendation. Upon motion the meeting was adjourned. 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 ensuing year of 1937 : Treasurer: HOWARD A. WOLF* Secretary: MAURICE JACOBS* Editor: DR. ISAAC HUSIK* Respectfully submitted, MAURICE JACOBS. •K.-.tif, tH. Secretary JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY 85) TREASURER'S REPORT SUMMARIZED COMBINED INCOME STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1936 COMPARED WITH THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1935 ESTIMATED BUDGET Revenues 1935 1936 1937 Dues $19,795.30 $23,593.16 $27,000.00 Donations 569.95 228.55 250.00 Sales—Hebrew Press. 24,717.23 22,295.89 22,350.00 Sales—Jewish Publi- cation Society 14,724.58 19,224.10 22,000.00 Interest 612.48 612.48 600.00 Publication costs de- frayed by funds Erlanger No. 2.... $3,748.66 I Gitterman 1,500.00) $5,248.66 Total $60,419.54 $71,202.84 $72,200.00 Expenses $57,939.99 $66,945.82 $71,800.00 Net Income 2,479.55 4,257.02 400.00 $60,419.54 $71,202.84 $72,200.00 We believe the above summary reflects the present healthy condition of the finances of the Jewish Publication Society of America. Because of the favorable trend of income from Dues and Book Sales, your com- mittee has budgeted 1937 expenditures to cover some increased pro- motional work. Respectfully submitted, HOWARD A. Wou\ Treasurer 852 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK COMPARATIVE COMBINED BALANCE SHEETS December 31, 1935 December 31, 1936 A ssets Cash 8 2,381.34 $ 5,816.83 Accounts Receivable United Synagogue of America $ 7,299.02 $ 7,114.22 Other Accounts 15,158.92 22,457.94 9,074.77 16,188.99 Inventories Publications and Work in Process 15,467.08 15,789.22 Classic Fund Publications 699.25 16,166.33 768.85 16,558.07 Total Current Assets 41,005.61 38,563.89 Investments 40,866.42 38,626.42 Plant, Equipment, Furniture, etc 2.00 2.00 Prepaid Royalties and Honorariums 1,975.00 2,435.12 Prepaid Insurance. 62.30 80.62 83,911.33 79,708.05 Liabilities Accounts Payable. $ 1,999.44 $ 3,570.60 Customers' Deposits. 1,066.26 222.37 Fund Accounts 55,031.17 49,358.77 Reserve for Comple- tion of Unfinished Publication 1,700.00 1,000.00 Surplus 24,114.46 25,556.31 $83,911.33 $79,708.05 JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY 853 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT FOR YEAR 1936 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : Tonight we are assembled to inaugurate the 50th year of The Publication Society, to give a report of our steward- ship in the past, and to talk over our plans for the future. A few years ago, when my predecessor insisted on re- linquishing the duties of office and when, in a rash moment, you elected me as his successor, I felt that a "five-year plan" for the Society was in order. The first year was devoted to a study of the problems of the Society; the second year to formulating plans to increase its activities and influence, enlarge its membership, secure work for its Press and carry on the splendid heritage created by its founders and developed by its officers and trustees for close to a half century. The third year was devoted to gradually adopting some of the suggestions and recommendations made not only by our professional advisers, but also by our members and friends at a very interesting panel discussion held in this auditorium. The fourth year, which just closed, was an extremely anxious one for your officers, as it was to test whether our efforts would be successful to "streamline" this useful Society without in any way deviating from the aims of its founders. I take pleasure in reporting to you at this meeting the results accomplished, and you may draw your own conclusions as to the worth of our endeavors:— Publications: An effort has been made to improve the physical appearance of our books, to use a better grade of paper and type; in some cases illustrations, and to have the entire format more attractive. At the same time the Pub- lication Committee has made a definite attempt to offer books that would have an appeal to the different types of readers comprising our Jewish public, such as volumes on history, biography, commentaries, folk tales and poems.