Cuts in the budgets of institutions of higher learning can only mean that the Russian scientist arriving in Vienna today who knows that his colleague of yesterday is jobless in Israel is not likely to choose it as the place to make his future.” That somber warning, in light of currently high dropout rates at Vienna, was voiced by Jewish Agency Treasurer Leon Dulzin in an address to the United Jewish Appeal 1978 Study Conference here last night.
Referring to social problems, Dulzin said: “The inadequacies of yesterday’s resources created our problems of today, and the inadequacy of today’s resources will just as surely create the hardships and problems of tomorrow.” Speaking of the Agency’s two-fold task of rescue and helping to build Israel’s society in terms of housing, education, work, health and welfare, he paid tribute to American Jewry’s unflagging support and spontaneous generosity, from the first difficult days of the State of Israel.
Study Conference members have been able to visit underprivileged areas in Jerusalem and in Galilee development towns. Irving Bernstein, UJA executive vice-chairman, remarked: “There is a darker side to Israel’s social fabric, and Jewish leaders in the United States must be fully aware of this in order to help deal effectively with the short-comings.”
After a visit to the development town of Hatzor in Galilee, Gordon Zacks, UJA vice-chairman and Study Conference chairman, said that “The positive spirit among the residents of Hatzor has been a heartening experience. There are still many problems, here as in other development areas, which American Jewry consider it their responsibility to help solve.”
The Conference members visited Hatzor’s new metal plant with its sophisticated technology, and a brand new comprehensive school, one of the educational institutions set up by the Israel Education Fund with funds raised by UJA. The dearth of residents and skilled workers at Hatzor were among the problems the Study Conference heard about during the visit. Last week Conference members joined 50,000 Israelis in the annual Jerusalem March and visited high schools in Jerusalem established by UJA’s Israel Education Fund.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
