85-member U.J.A. Young Leadership Mission Leaves for Overseas Study

A group of 85 young American Jewish communal representatives from all sections of the United States left on an El Al plane tonight to participate in the fourth annual Young Leadership Mission of the United Jewish Appeal. They will make an intensive three-and-a-half week survey of immigration absorption needs in Israel, and refugee aid programs in France and Italy.

Membership in the mission, which is led by Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman, UJA executive vice-chairman, is by invitation to men and women in the 25-to-40 age group who have demonstrated leadership potential in their home communities. The mission members come from 28 cities throughout the United States, and each member is paying his own way.

In Israel, and later in Europe, mission members will see at first hand the immigrant aid programs of the Jewish Agency and the life-sustaining programs carried out by the Joint Distribution Committee. The mission will spend 17 days in Israel, with the main objective of studying the concurrent problems of resettling and absorbing the continuing mass inflow of newcomers.

Rabbi Friedman pointed out that the young men and women of the mission are representative of a body of more than 7,500 young leaders throughout the country. “This is the generation that will be the American-Jewish leaders of tomorrow,” he said. “Their first-hand survey of the overseas humanitarian responsibilities of the American-Jewish community and their discussions with leaders of Israel and in Europe, will provide them with a deeper understanding of the work that lies ahead, and a fuller dedication to it.”