The sum of $1,072,000 was contributed to the United Jewish Appeal today by New York women who launched their 18th annual campaign for the UJA with a rally in the morning attended by more than 2,500 at the Sheraton-Astor Hotel and with two luncheon meetings during the day.
Principal speakers at the rally were Edward M. M. Warburg. UJA president, and Semah Cecil Hyman, Israel Consul General in New York William Rosenwald, general chairman of the UJA, was a principal speaker at one of the luncheons. Mr. Warburg emphasized the vast scope of the needs which must be met through the 1956 campaign. After describing the plight of the 500,000 Jews in 20 countries who must be helped through the United Jewish Appeal this year, he underscored the peril of the 45,000 North African Jews who are striving to escape to Israel this year.
“I feel that we must return as individuals and as communities to the crisis standard of giving which we reached when Israel was fighting for its existence eight short years ago,” he stated. Referring to the arms which are being provided Egypt by the Communists, Mr. Warburg said; “The Egyptians have received a gift that begets death. We are not asked to give a gift in kind. We are asked by the people of Israel only to make a gift of life.”
Mr. Rosenwald pointed out that this year is nationwide United Jewish Appeal campaign is really two separate campaigns. The organization seeks to raise $105,283,000 to meet Jewish needs throughout the world, and it also seeks a Social Survival Fund for resettlement and rehabilitation. “The Special Survival Fund will serve two purposes,” he declared. “It will help us insure the survival of the 45,000 North African Jews who are fleeing for safety to Israel, and since it will enable us to meet the total cost of refugee care when they reach Israel, the Fund will also enable the people of Israel to concentrate all their resources and energies-on their own security.”
Consul General Hyman, in outlining the problems confronting the people of Israel today, emphasized that they had but one international goal–peace with their neighbors and with all the world. “We believe that the surest guarantee of peace is a strong Israel,” he said, “and we seek the right to buy arms in your country only to sustain our strength and to discourage any dreams of a cheap and easy conquest at our expense.”
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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.
