Eight hundred American cities and towns raised $2,169,892 in the 1934 United Jewish Appeal of the Joint Distribution Committee and American Palestine Campaign, it was announced yesterday by Rabbi Jonah B. Wise, one of the co-chairmen of this humanitarian fundraising effort for the relief of Jews of Germany and other lands and the settlement of Jews in Palestine.
Of this sum—which is expected to be considerably increased from the proceeds of deferred campaigns in a number of cities—cash received on pledges by the end of last month amounted to $1,683,907.
WARBURG ON BODY
Besides Rabbi Wise, the other officers of the campaign include Felix M. Warburg, national chairman, and Paul Baerwald, Louis Lipsky and Morris Rothenberg, cochairmen. Isidor Coons and Robert Silverman served as national campaign directors.
The largest amount was raised in New York City, where subscriptions totalling $808,861 were obtained by a committee whose officers were I. Edwin Goldwasser, Nathan Straus and Ira M. Younker, co-chairmen; Paul M. Rosenthal, treasurer, and Mrs. Roger W. Straus, chairman of the women’s division. In addition to New York City, other large cities participating in campaigns included Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Kansas City, Mo., Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Indianapolis and Cleveland.
The records of the United Jewish Appeal for the past year, Rabbi Wise stated, show that 162 communities that had not responded to any appeal for overseas Jewish aid since 1926, had participated in the United Jewish Appeal.
Praise is given in the announcement of the work of the Junior Division of the Joint Distribution Committee which, it says, made substantial progress through a practical and well directed program to which Miss Pauline Baerwald, chairman, has given the utmost in personal attention and personal direction.
The Junior Division has demonstrated its real value as a genuine asset to the Joint Distribution Committee by enlisting the enthusiastic aid of purposeful youth groups in a number of new and important key cities in 1934. The participation of these young men and women in our campaigns not only produced a substantial sum of money, but stimulated the senior leaders and workers for successful appeals. In addition to the campaigns held, the second annual Religious School Roll Call when completed will embrace approximately 300 cities and towns.
Acknowledgment is also made to the “cooperative efforts” of the American Christian Committee for Refugees, which, it is stated, did much to stimulate successful community appeals.
National Jewish agencies cooperating with the United Jewish Appeal are praised in the announcement. These included the Council of Jewish Women, the Federated Jewish Women’s Organization, the Temple and Synagogue Sisterhoods, the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Rabbinical Associations and the national bodies sponsoring these temples and synagogues which all graciously cooperated with the United Jewish Appeal to bring the campaign to the favorable attention of their local bodies.
Deferred campaigns are now being conducted in New Orleans, Galveston, Texas; Canton, Ohio; and Monroe, La. Buffalo will inaugurate a campaign February 24.
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