Leon Dulzin, chairman of the World Zionist Organization Executive, called on Jews throughout the world to support Israel in the upcoming hard months of peace negotiations. In his Rosh Hashanah message, Dulzin said:
“In our struggle for the peace that will give us security, we will need the assistance of the entire Jewish people. I am confident that the nation that in the last 30 years derived a sense of security and pride from the existence of the State of Israel will this year stand with us courageously and in readiness for any necessary sacrifice.”
He referred to aliya, absorption and Jewish education as the Zionist Movement’s prime challenges during the coming year. Calling the “dropout” phenomenon among Soviet Jews nearly “a national calamity,” Dulzin observed that efforts must be invested to cut the rate of dropouts, free Jewish brethren in the Soviet Union and Arab lands, and “help to fulfill the Zionist dream.”
He stressed, “We shall continue this year, too, our fight for our brethren in Arab lands and in the Soviet Union….We shall not rest until all the ‘Prisoners of Zion’ will be free and every Jew in the Soviet Union who wishes to leave for Israel will be able to do so without hindrance.”
FOCUS ON JEWISH EDUCATION
Dulzin called on international Jewry, the Zionist parties and the Jewish organizations to make Jewish education one of their major goals. Reporting that only 20 percent of Jewish children in the world receive any Jewish education, he observed that it is imperative that a turning-point in this field be reached during the coming year. To this effect, he revealed that a world center for Jewish education is due to be established during the coming year.
Dulzin also emphasized the importance of “Project Renewal,” the five-year plan to eradicate sub-standard housing in Israel, as a special focal point for Jewish efforts throughout the world. He added that the Jewish Agency pledges to grant wider authority to local Zionist federations and to enhance the prestige of Israel’s “shlichim” abroad.
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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.
