The late Israeli Premier Golda Meir was remembered here yesterday as a woman who left the United States to become a leader of the Jewish people and a creative force for the entire world. This was how Mrs. Meir, who died Dec. 8 at the age of 80, was described by Allen Pollack, chairman of the coordinating committee of the Labor Zionist Movement, to more than 500 persons attending a memorial meeting for the Israeli leader at the New York Hilton.
The meeting was sponsored by the Labor Zionist Movement with the participation of the American Section of the World Zionist Organization, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the American Zionist Federation.
Pollack noted that Mrs. Meir left the Labor Zionist Movement in the U.S. to become a leader of Labor Zionism in Israel eventually expressing a “vision not only for the Jewish people, but for all mankind. ” He said that the best way to remember her is to seek the fulfillment of her dreams for Israel that it should not only be a viable state but also a Jewish State “based on social justice that will be at peace with its Arab neighbors.”
The program, which did not include a eulogy, as Mrs. Meir had requested in her will, comprised the reading of Mrs. Meir’s own words from her autobiography and speeches, the reciting of Psalms and the singing of EI Mole Rachamim. Israel was represented by Paul Kedar, the Israeli Consul General in New York. Pollack said that at the end of the shloshim period another memorial will be held by the Labor Zionist Movement.
600 AT WASHINGTON SERVICE
In Washington, a memorial service was held last Friday for Mrs. Meir at Adas Israel Congregation attended by some 600 people. The service, which was sponsored by the Israel Embassy, was attended by U.S. officials and diplomats, including Acting Secretary of State Warren Christopher, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Security Affairs Lucy Benson, special assistant to President Carter Edward Sanders, former Undersecretary of State Joseph Sisco and Washington Mayor Walter Washington.
The Israeli delegation was headed by Chanan Bar-On, in charge of the Israel Embassy in the absence of Ambassador Simcha Dinitz who, along with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance was en route to Washington from the Middle East. Among the diplomats was a representative from the Embassy of Kenya. The program included the reading from Mrs. Meir’s speeches and the recitation of EI Mole Rachamim.
In New York, Dr. Norman Lamm, president of Yeshiva University, announced the establishment of the Golda Meir Chair in Jewish History at the university. Lamm said the Chair is being made possibly by a $500,000 anonymous donation to the institution.
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