More than 1,200 persons paid $75 each to attend a concert tonight paying tribute to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra arranged by the American Fund for Palestinian Institutions in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria as part of its 1948 drive for $1,217,000. The Fund is headed by Edward A. Norman.
Addressing the gathering at a dinner which followed the concert, Eliahu Epstein, Israeli envoy to Washington, emphasized that the victory of Israel “was not due mainly to material weapons, but primarily to the spiritual and moral impulses which animated our people and which gave them the inspiration to fight for the most cherished treasures in life: liberty and independence.”
Epstein pointed out that by paying tribute to the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra the audience was paying tribute as well “to the entire spirit of a people who labor and fight not for a mere existence, not for bread alone, but for a complete life that will enable them to contribute to world civilization in science, in the arts, in literature, language.” He lauded the activities of the Israeli Orchestra in keeping the morale of the people in Israel high throughout the crucial year of the war, by visiting the battlefronts and isolated settlements, and risking their lives to play under fire.
The concert program included selections by Arthur Rubinstein, Gregor Piatigorsky and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Charles Munch. Norman told the guests that the beneficiaries of the American Fund for Palestininian Institutions include five institutions for theatre and music, two conservatories of music, eight institutions for literature and language, seven welfare agencies, eight agricultural schools and training agencies, eight vocational training institutions, eleven teachers colleges and secondary schools, twenty-two theological schools, five relief agencies, one hospital for mental diseases, three museums, three libraries, three research institutes and two physical training agencies.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
