National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council Records

The National Community Relations Advisory Council (NCRAC) was founded on March 19, 1944 by the Council of Jewish Federations. Its purpose, to improve and safe-guard Jewish communities at home and abroad, to nurture and pursue the ideals of democratic pluralism in the Bill of Rights, and to foster American support for the State of Israel.

To bring its goals to fruition, the NCRAC committed itself to the ideals of equality, freedom, justice, and opportunity. Seeking to defend Jewish communities from anti-Semitism, they sought to establish dialogue with other ethnic, religious, and cultural groups.

The organization reasoned that, by ensuring and developing mutual respect across diverse groups of Americans, each would be allowed to develop freely while participating fully within as citizens of the United States. They also argued that--by being active in their non-Jewish communities, and advocating for the ideals mentioned above--they were upholding the tenets of Judaism and maintaining Jewish tradition.

At the September 9, 1944 inaugural Plenary Session, the representatives of various Jewish organizations established the aims and objectives of the NCRAC: to study, analyze, and evaluate the policies and activities of the national and local agencies; to ascertain the areas of activities of these organizations and to conduct an inventory of their projects; to serve as a co-ordinating and clearance agency for projects and policies, to eliminate duplication and conflict of activities, and to recommend further projects to member agencies; and to seek agreement on and formulate policies.

The Council itself is comprised of independent community councils from across the nation. These councils convene annually as a legislative body, known as the Plenum. At these plenary sessions, issues are debated and policies created in order to provide organized action by the various community councils across the country. Additionally, there are numerous committees and task forces that specifically address areas of concern for the Jewish community.

In the 1960s, the organization was renamed the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC). In 1997, the name changed anew to the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA).

These papers are the creation of the officers and staff of the NJCRAC in carrying out their duties and assignments, in particular two of its executive directors Isaiah Minkoff and Jordan C. Band.