The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas is an organization dedicated to serving as the public affairs voice of the local Jewish communities of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

and

the Dakotas The Dakotas is a collective term for the U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota. It has been used historically to describe the Dakota Territory, and is still used for the collective heritage, culture, geography, fauna, sociology, econo ...

. The

Jewish Community Relations Council A Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) is a locally based Jewish organization that carries out "action agendas on behalf of and in the name of the local Jewish communities." Councils may aim "to represent the consensus of the organized Jewish ...

(JCRC) fights anti-Semitism and prejudice, advocates for Israel, provides Holocaust education, promotes tolerance and social justice, and builds bridges across the Jewish and broader communities.

Early history

The organization now known as the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas first took shape in 1938 as the Anti-Defamation Council of Minnesota, soon renamed the Minnesota Jewish Council under the leadership of Samuel Scheiner. Scheiner reviewed reports of anti-Semitic incidents, fighting against hate-filled leaflets and anti-Jewish remarks, while also attempting to expose discrimination by real estate agents and employers who attempted to subvert anti-discrimination laws. The rise of anti-Semitism in the 1930s—from the American Nationalist group the

Silver Legion of America The Silver Legion of America, commonly known as the Silver Shirts, was an underground American fascist and Nazi sympathizer organization founded by William Dudley Pelley and headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina. History Pelley was a form ...

, or Silver Shirts, to a volatile gubernatorial political campaign in 1938 with an overtly anti-Semitic campaign against Elmer Benson—galvanized the state's Jewish community to action. Through the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the group continued to combat rising interreligious and intergroup tension while also raising concern over employment discrimination directed against Jews. In Autumn 1946, an issue of ''Common Ground'' by Carey McWilliams, titled "Minneapolis: The Curious Twin" asserted that "Minneapolis is the capitol of anti-Semitism in the United States. In almost every walk of life, 'an iron curtain' separates Jews from non-Jews in Minneapolis." By 1947, the City Council of Minneapolis banned the dissemination hate literature and Minneapolis mayor Hubert H. Humphrey ordered an assessment of "intergroup relations" led by a collaboration of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&n ...

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

, and the Minnesota Jewish Council. By 1952, overt anti-Semitic acts were on the decline. After the State of Israel was established in 1948, support of this new Jewish state was integrated into their work. By 1959 the group changed its name to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota (JCRC).

Modern activism

When Samuel Scheiner retired in 1974, new director Morton Ryweck ushered in a new era, merging with the local B'nai B'rith

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

(ADL) to form the JCRC/ADL. Ryweck retired in 1991. The 1970s and 1980s saw a rise of advocacy work as part of the Soviet Jewry Movement. By 2013 the JCRC of Minnesota and the Dakotas became independent of ADL. Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas continues to monitor and combat violations of

church-state separation The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...

in public schools, work to promote legislation to answer the needs of the underprivileged in Minnesota, and works as part of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition. Its Tolerance Minnesota project provides diversity and Holocaust educational resources for parents and teachers.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.minndakjcrc.org * Finding aid to th
Jewish Community Relations Council records
at th
Minnesota Historical Society
* Finding aid to th
Jewish Community Relations Council records
at th
Upper Midwest Jewish Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries
1938 establishments in Minnesota Jews and Judaism in Minnesota Non-profit organizations based in Minnesota Jewish organizations based in the United States Jewish organizations established in 1938 Jews and Judaism in South Dakota Jews and Judaism in North Dakota