Ranking New York City and State officials officially opened the 10th annual national Jewish Heritage Week at ceremonies at City Hall Thursday. It will be celebrated here from May 11 through May 22.
The general theme, announced by State Attorney General Robert Abrams, will be "A Salute to Liberty, Freedom and Justice for All" in connection with the centennial celebration of the Statue of Liberty.
Abrams, who is chairman of the Jewish Heritage Week Advisory Council, noted that the famed Statue in New York harbor has symbolic meaning to the 17 million immigrants who passed through Ellis Island, just to the north of the statue. He said "a special component" of Jewish Heritage Week "will focus on the Jewish immigrant experience and the contributions they have made to this country and society."
He said that curriculum material on the history of Ellis Island and the Jewish immigrant experience would be distributed to New York public and private schools with a combined student body of over one million.
Mayor Edward Koch of New York and City Council President Andrew Stein presented proclamation on behalf of the city. Greetings were extended by City Comptroller Harrison Goldin, Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins, Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden, Mayor Shlomo Lehat of Tel Aviv, and Deputy Consul General of Israel Herzl Inbar.
The Sixth Annual Sam Levenson Memorial Awards honoring the late humorist and one-time New York high school teacher, who was instrumental in initiating Jewish Heritage Week, were presented to the New York public school system and the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York (BJE).
They were accepted on their behalf by Mayor Koch, School Board Chancellor Nathan Quinones, and Alvin Schiff, executive vice president of the BJE. A special award was given to Abrams for his 10 years of leadership in developing Heritage Week programs and his role in introducing it.
A candlelight ceremony was held in memory of the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. Other officials participating in the ceremonies at City Hall included Peggy Tishman, president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of (JCRC) of New York.
Jewish Heritage Week, initiated by the JCRC in 1977, is co-sponsored by the JCRC and its 51 member organizations, the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York, and the New York City Board of Education.
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