A year-long celebration of the 70th anniversary of the nation’s first federation, which was established in this city, was inaugurated here at the 69th annual meeting of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston.
Lauding the leadership role of CJP as the forerunner of 218 Jewish federations, welfare funds, and community councils, and more than 2,000 non-sectarian community chests throughout the country, keynote speaker Philip Bernstein, executive director of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, declared that “philanthropies will play a pivotal role in strengthening Jewish life throughout the world in 1965.”
Citing the need for “initiative, flexibility, courage, and quality of excellence, ” in planning and programing, he outlined as federation goals for the immediate future; the conquest of disease; the assurance of dignified living for the aged; the preservation and enrichment of family life; the development of purposeful leisure-time activities; the preservation and enrichment of Judaism; the assertion of leadership in the current civil rights struggle; the strengthening of American democratic traditions; the rehabilitation of shattered Jewish communities abroad; and the building of a new vibrant society in Israel.
Mr. Bernstein, noting that German reparation payments will end in 1965, that redemption of Israel bonds has already begun, and that intergovernmental aid has changed from grants to loans, stressed that federation responsibilities to Israel will loom largest in 1965.
Benjamin Ulin, outgoing CJP president, also underlined the continuing need for increased community support of the CJP’s vast network of local, national, and overseas agencies. He issued a stern warning against complacency. “We must guard against getting tired and soft and taking too much for granted, ” he said. “We should always remember that people are dependent on our giving; young and old people; people who will hope or despair; people who will be rescued or abandoned; people who will live or die; people, not just 201 amorphous agencies are involved.”
Prominent business executive and communal leader Sidney Stoneman was elected president of the CJP for 1964-65. Other newly elected officers are: David Kane, Philip W. Lown, David R. Pokross, Irving W. Rabb, George Shapiro, Roger P. Sonnabend, and Mrs. Nehemiah H. Whitman, vice-presidents; Bernard D. Grossman, treasurer; Norman B. Leventhal and Mortimer Weiss, associate treasurers; Howard Rubin, secretary, and Arnold R. Cutler and Mrs. Ferdinand Strauss II, associate secretaries. Highlight of the meeting was the naming of Abraham Goodman as general chairman of the 1965 Appeal.
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.
