TENTH CONVENTION OF CANADIAN FEDERATION
The Tenth Convention of the Federation of Zionist Societies of Canada was held in Montreal, the end of November, and the supporters of the movement are highly lated at its success. Mr. Clarence I. de Sola, the President of the Federation, occupied the chair during the convention and as this completed his ten years of office as President, the event was made the occasion of a great demonstration in his honor, which was participated in by a host of people, including leaders of Jewish communities and congregations and societies of every part of Canada. Mr. de Sola, some months ago, announced his intention of retiring from the Presidency because he considered that after having filled the office for a decade, it was the turn of somebody else, more especially as the duties of the office were exceedingly onerous and he desired to be relieved of the burden. But he was urged so strongly to retain the position that he finally consented and was unanimously re-elected for an eleventh term, after he had received a pledge that a special bureau committee of six of the principal members of the executive would assume all the office work and relieve him of all work of a detail nature, and thus considerably lighten the burden of the Presidential office.
On the Sabbath preceding the opening of the Convention, there was a united Zionist service held in the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue on Stanley street, Montreal, in which the Rev. Meldola de Sola, Rev. Dr. Herman Abramowitz and Rev. I. de la Penha participated. The Zionist delegates attended in a body and the leading members of nearly every Jewish congregation in the city were present, with the result that the Synagogue was crowded. Rev. Meldola de Sola spoke in favor of
Zionism because it was creating a deeper interest in Jewish literature, Jewish history, Jewish teachings and in the Hebrew language, thus promoting a revival of Judaism.
Rev. Dr. Herman Abramowitz, of Mc-Gill College avenue Synagogue, drew a parallel between the attitude of Laban and his sons towards Jacob and the attitude of most of the modern nations towards the descendants of Jacob.
In the afternoon there was also a Zionist service in the Cadieux street Synagogue, where Rabbi Hirsch Cohen preached.
The first business session of the Convention was called to order promptly by President Clarence I. de Sola, at eight o'clock Saturday evening. The session was mainly occupied with preliminaries.
On Sunday morning, the reports from the branch societies, numbering over fifty, were submitted; Mr. Clarence I. de Sola then delivered his annual presidential address.
On Sunday afternoon there were a large number of telegrams and letters read from Zionists throughout the world, including Herr Wolffsohn, Dr. Max Nordau, Sir Francis Montefiore, Bart., Dr. Gaster, Dr. Harry Friedenwald, Dr. H. Pereira Mendes, Dr. J. L. Magnes, Herr Jakobus Kann, of the Hague, Holland, Prof. Otto Warburg, Dr. J. Bodenheimer, etc., etc. The first question taken up at the Sunday afternoon session was Mr. de Sola's request that the Executive should be so reorganized as to relieve the President of many of the burdensome duties of his office, as he said that neither he nor anybody else could reasonably be expected to retain office if an unreasonable share of the work was put on his shoulder. It was finally resolved to form a committee