November 27, 1914
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, commonly known as The Joint, is founded with the merger of the Central Relief Committee and the American Jewish Relief Committee in response to fears of threats to Jewish communities in many areas of the globe during World War I.
Destruction and population displacement caused by World War I are generating needs among Jews in many parts of the world during the war, and American Jewish leaders determine that it is necessary to coordinate and consolidate all relief efforts.
For example, after an urgent plea for funds to support the Jewish community in Palestine in August 1914, American Jewish leaders, led by Louis Marshall and Jacob Schiff, quickly raised $50,000 and delivered it to Jews in living there.
On October 24, 1914, a meeting at Temple Emanu-El in New York decided to establish a unified relief organization made up of representatives of many American Jewish organizations. The conference released a statement pledging that national Jewish organizations and U.S. Jewish communities would provide relief for Jews in Europe and Palestine harmed by the war. The meeting participants decided that “all Jews of every shade of thought, irrespective of the land of their birth, are solemnly admonished to contribute with the utmost generosity to the fund which must be gathered to meet this superlative need. The committee recognizes the economic distress which now bears heavily on all.”
The JDC’s primary objective remains to aid Jews worldwide in a timely and collective fashion. The Joint operates in more than 70 countries and contributes to the scaffolding of Jewish peoplehood.
