At a record-smashing tribute to the people of Israel and Foreign Minister Abba Eban, the Chicago Jewish United Fund announced it has reached the $23.5 million mark. The tone of commitment was set by Alvin W. Conn. 1974 JUF general chairman, who left a hospital bed for this occasion. The meeting last week, attended by 1100 people who gave several standing ovations to Eban, was chaired by JUF Special Gifts chairman Franklin E. Horwich. Eban was introduced by Major Gifts chairman Lester Crown.
Raymond Epstein, 1973 JUF general chairman, a vice-president of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and president of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, conducted a fast-moving team of campaign leaders who covered each contributor at more than 100 tables from dais to balcony with strategically placed microphones in only 45 minutes.
A highlight of the evening was the announcement by Chicago’s Jewish Welfare Fund president Robert L. Adler of a gift of $1 million from the Welfare Fund Endowment Fund and an announcement by Jewish Federation president Hamilton M. Loeb, Jr. of a gift of $1 million plus a long-term loan to the United Jewish Appeal of $3 million from the Federation Endowment Fund–a special $5 million total dollar cash package.
In saying good by to JUF executive director James P. Rice at O’Hare Airport, Eban observed that the meeting had been "the most impressive and ardent Jewish meeting I’ve addressed in many years." The $23,500,000 mark reached by the JUF at the 1974 campaign Inaugural Dinner exceeded by more than $3 million the total raised in the entire year of 1973 or any prior year. The meeting–the largest fund-raising meeting in JUF history–began on a solemn note with the 1100 people present saying Kaddish for Israel’s fallen, led by Rabbi Herman E. Schaalman of Emanuel Congregation. Joseph S. Winston is associate executive and campaign director.
The Netanya town council approved a suggestion to re-name two of its streets "Richard Nixon Boulevard" and "Holland Street" in appreciation of the friendship and aid given to Israel by the President of the United States and The Netherlands.
Sofia Lerner, daughter of famed Moscow activist Prof. Alexander Lerner, and her husband, Boris Levin, have been granted exit visas by Soviet authorities, it was reported today in New York by the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry. The SSSJ also reported that Moscow activists’ phones have been disconnected with other Soviet activists.
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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.
