Israel’s Premier Yitzhak Rabin today extended a warm welcome to American Jews who are planning to join the solidarity pilgrimage to Israel as participants of the United Jewish Appeal’s “This Year in Jerusalem” National Conference Oct. 24-31.
“The people of Israel draw strength from many sources,” Rabin said, “not least from the support of the great American Jewish community. The UJA’s ‘This Year in Jerusalem program is a unique expression not only in words, but in action, that the concerns of Israel’s people are the concerns of all Jewish people. We will welcome the solidarity pilgrimage of more than 2000 American Jews to Jerusalem during the UJA’s National Conference in October with a sense of great spirit and unity.”
Frank R. Lautenberg, UJA general chairman, said, “‘This Year in Jerusalem’ is more than a UJA slogan for 1976. Through our presence, our deeds, our commitments, we will be telling the people of Israel that our life is bound up with theirs, and that we are with them now and forever. The language of recent events is clear: he who threatens Israel, threatens every Jew.”
Efforts to mobilize the American Jewish community for the Jerusalem conference are being mounted in all regions of the country and through every division of the UJA. Different program options are available, combining the conference week program with UJA mini-missions which are designed to maximize community participation and enable individuals to experience the heights of Jewish creativity in Israel and abroad.
Highlights of the conference week will include a welcoming ceremony by citizens of Tel Aviv; a bicentennial celebration at Jerusalem’s Liberty Bell Park; seminars at Israel’s institutions of higher learning; a visit with the people of Israel in 100 towns and villages; concerts starring Israel’s greatest artists; and meetings with leaders in government, business, society and the Jewish Agency.
TWO GROUPS ON WAY TO ISRAEL
Meanwhile, two groups of American Jewish communal leaders representing the UJA National Women’s Division and Young Leadership Cabinet, departed for Israel this week to study the critical economic and social problems confronting Israelis today. “These two missions are going to Israel at a time of mounting hardship and growing isolation…to demonstrate American Jewish unity and help provide hope, spirit and togetherness for the people of Israel,” Lautenberg stated.
The Women’s Division mission will be led by Mrs. Harriet Zimmerman, National Women’s Division Chairman from Atlanta. The Young Leadership group will be led by Stanley Frankel of Detroit, Young Leadership Cabinet Midwest Regional Vice-Chairman, and his wife, Judy.
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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.
