Dr. Goldmann Urges ‘closest Attention’ to Fate of Soviet Jewry

Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Zionist Organization and of the World Jewish Congress, today expressed the hope that the year 5720 may be “a year of fruitful achievements both for the Jewish people and for Israel.” He added that the Jewish people “faces the vital task of strengthening the foundations of Jewish life throughout the world, a task which must be accomplished first and foremost by developing Jewish education and by strengthening the attachment of Jewish communities to Israel.”

In his Rosh Hashanah statement Dr. Goldmann stressed the great problem of securing opportunities for a full Jewish life for Soviet Jewry which “merits the closest attention of the Jewish people.” Turning to Israel he expressed his hope that the young state “may succeed in its endeavor to speed the integration and economic absorption of the close to one million immigrants who arrived in the country during its first decade of independence, and in assisting Jewish immigrants from various countries whose only salvation is Israel.

“May the New Year be one of successful efforts of great achievements and of full cooperation between Israel and World Jewry and may this cooperation help to solve the manifold problems which face the Jewish generation of today,” Dr. Goldmann concluded.

Mrs. Rose Halprin, acting chairman of the Jewish Agency, reviewed in her Rosh Hashanah message the Agency’s activities for the year past emphasizing that the Jewish Agency has been instrumental in the reception and initial absorption of some 30,000 new arrivals and helped to transfer thousands of immigrants from the weather-beaten ma’abarot to permanent dwellings.

“Recognizing the inequality of opportunity inherent in the poor educational and vocational background of immigrants from Middle Eastern countries, the Agency has made available more than 70 percent of all openings in the Youth immigration program to youngsters from North Africa and other Oriental communities and set aside special scholarships for those who can be expected to profit from education beyond the elementary grades,” she said.

MRS. HALPRIN STRESSES NEED FOR ALLEVIATING UNMET NEEDS IN ISRAEL

“However,” Mrs. Halprin continued, “despite gratifying progress in every area of the rehabilitation program, the Jewish Agency at the threshold of 5720 views with grave concern the remaining backlog of unmet needs which will have to be alleviated in the year to come. There are still almost 100,000 persons in ma’abarot who have suffered sub-standard housing conditions for up to eight years. There are more than 130,000 new comers in agricultural settlements established during the past decade who have not yet become fully self-supporting due to lack of equipment and livestock. In addition, there are some 11,000 social cases still awaiting rehabilitation.

“The extent to which the Jewish Agency will be able to deal with these problems in the months to come will depend first and foremost on the gifts of American Jews who through the United Jewish Appeal have supported the Agency’s rescue and resettlement program with unfailing generosity. On behalf of my colleagues on the executive of the Jewish Agency and for myself, I wish to express my deep sense of appreciation and gratitude to all those whose contributions enable us to continue this life-saving work. May the coming year be a year of health and happiness for all of them and a year of peace for Israel and for the world,” Mrs. Halprin concluded.

Other Zionist leaders who issued Rosh Hashanah greetings today included Rabbi Irving Miller, chairman of the American Zionist Council; Abraham Redelheim, president of the Zionist Organization of America; Dr. Miriam K. Freund, president of Hadassah: Dr. Harris J. Levine, president of the Jewish National Fund of America; Meyer L. Brown and Louis Segal, president and general secretary, respectively, of the Farband Labor Zionist Order; Clara Leff, president of the Pioneer Women, and others.