The Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds (CJFWF) representing virtually all organized Jewish communities in the United States and Canada, will open its 38th annual general assembly here tomorrow. The 2,000 Jewish communal leaders serving as delegates will tackle an agenda based on Jewish needs at home and abroad. They will be addressed by Jewish leaders and national figures, headed by Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. Robert H. Finch and Dr. Daniel P. Moynihan, President Richard M. Nixon’s advisor on urban affairs.
The event will also mark the 75th anniversary of the Jewish federation movement which was established in Boston, this year’s host city, in 1895. There are presently 223 local Jewish federations, welfare funds and community councils serving 800 communities nationally associated with the CJFWF. The general assembly will convene Nov. 12-16.
One of its highlights will be the presentation of the CJFWF’s annual Shroder Awards, given in recognition of outstanding contributions by Jewish voluntary health and welfare organizations to local, national or international welfare. The 1969 winners are the Jewish federations of Montreal and Columbus, Ohio and the Joint Distribution Committee. Honorable mention has gone to Jewish agencies in Philadelphia and New Orleans, according to William Rosenwald, chairman of the Shroder Awards committee.
The CJFWF’s agenda was prepared in accordance with American Jewish priorities in the 1970s. Louis J. Fox, of Baltimore, president of the Council, listed these as: Meeting the problem of Jewish identification and commitment; intensifying social welfare aid in Israel where defense for survival requires the resources of the Israelis; assuring the highest qualities of excellence in Jewish communal involvement in the urban crisis in the U.S.; and developments affecting Jewish life in Europe and North Africa.
Secretary Finch will address the Nov. 14 luncheon session on “Human Goals in the 1970s.” Dr. Moynihan will speak on “The Urban Crisis–and the Voluntary Sector” on Nov, 15. Louis A. Pincus. chairman of the Jewish Agency, and Edward Ginsberg, general chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, will be the principal speakers at a general session Nov. 13 devoted to needs in Israel. Other speakers include Samuel Haber, executive vice president of JDC; Gaynor I. Jacobson, executive director of the United Hias Service; and Dr. William Haber, president of the American Ort Federation. They will compose a panel on overseas Jewish needs outside of Israel on Nov. 13. Council members are expected to raise over $263 million to serve local, national and overseas Jewish needs in 1969.
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