American Jewish Congress. Northern California Division

Biographical Information

The American Jewish Congress (AJC) was founded in 1916, and reorganized in 1920 and 1938. The groundwork for the Northern California Division was laid in the 1930s by Rabbis Saul White of Beth Sholom and Elliot Burstein of Beth Israel when they organized a boycott of German goods. The Division was officially founded in December 1943. The AJC's mission shifted somewhat over the years but the core was the promotion of "Jewish rights and freedom" within the U.S. and the support of the "Jewish Homeland." The organization's Civil Rights stand broadened over the years from a concern for Jewish Rights (American Jewish Yearbook, 1922) to the "elimination of all forms of racial and religious bigotry" (American Jewish Yearbook, 1995) and was referred to by one member as a Jewish ACLU. One of the AJC's primary money making activities was the sponsoring of tours of Israel and Jewish themed tours to other cultural and religious sites around the world.

The Northern California Division grew tremendously under the leadership of Executive Director Ephraim Margolin (1960-1964) and Divisional Director Joel Brooks (1967-199?). In 1960 Ephraim Margolin, Yale educated lawyer and former Israeli Supreme Court Clerk, was recruited as both the West Coast Director of the AJC's Commission on Law and Social Action (CLSA) and Executive Director of the Northern California Division of the AJC. Margolin worked to expand the AJC's base, increasing membership and promoting the creation of numerous local chapters. Margolin recruited a number of the emerging leaders in the progressive legal community to the AJC including Joe Grodin (later an AJC President). The AJC's Law Commentary published the first articles by a number of lawyers who would later become nationally prominent. Margolin held annual retreats with AJC members and leading legal authorities including the Attorney General which led to a number of major legal cases on employment, housing and church/state issues. The AJC was instrumental in the drafting of the first Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) legislation and filed 30-40 briefs in progressive cases expanding out from the National AJC focus on Church/State issues. Margolin stepped down as director in 1964, but later served as President and remained active in the legal activities of the AJC and the CLSA. In 1967 Joel Brooks became Northern California Divisional Director. Under Brooks the AJC expanded rapidly and branched out into a variety of service areas. The Experience Reserve Bank (ERB) was founded in 1969 to give free management and technical assistance to minorities, new immigrants, and veterans interested in owning and operating their own businesses. The Legal Assistance to the Elderly Project, established in 1974, provided free legal and social services on a non-sectarian basis to San Francisco's elderly poor. The AJC's Committee on Law and Social Action (CLSA) filed friend of the court briefs and worked on a variety of legal and social action issues. The AJC was also at the forefront of struggles on the behalf of both Soviet and Ethiopian Jews. Brooks, whose former service included a stint in the Israeli Army and work with a number of other Jewish agencies, liked the idea of doing things differently. He is proud of having recruited Hal Lipset, the nation's number one private eye (inventor of the martini microphone, authenticator of the Watergate Tapes, and head of a number of law enforcement associations), as President of the Division. The AJC was the only Jewish organization with which Lipset was involved. Brooks also lectured as an expert on the Black Jews of America.