Officials of the Government of Belgium, civic and welfare leaders and Jewish community leaders participated in cornerstone laying ceremonies for the new wing of the Jewish Home for the Aged here. Queen Elizabeth is patron of the Home.
Speakers included Israel’s Ambassador Gideon Raphael, Brussels Chief Rabbi Kahlen-berg, Louis Kraft for the Joint Distribution Committee and the Claims Conference and Simon Haim, a leading Brussels merchant who contributed 5, 000, 000 Belgian francs ($100, 000) to the wing. The balance is being provided by the JDC, the Claims Conference and the Brussels Jewish community. Total construction costs are estimated at $440, 000.
The new wing will have 60 beds to help ease the problems of the aged among Brussels Jewry. They are estimated to constitute 12 percent of the total Jewish population, a percentage slightly higher than that of the aged in the total city population.
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