Chaim Herzog, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, declared yesterday that despite the hostility toward Israel in the General Assembly he does not feel alone because he knows that behind him is the heroism of the Israeli people and the support of the “great American Jewish community.” He praised the effectiveness of American Jewish leaders. “We (in Israel) feel it every day,” he said.
Herzog spoke to some 100 persons, many of them leaders of American Jewish organizations, at a luncheon in the “Succah in the Sky.” on the roof of the 50-story Grace Building in midtown Manhattan. This is the fourth year the succah called “the world’s highest,” has been erected on the building owned by the firm of Benjamin Swig, Jack D. Weiler and Robert H. Arnow.
The Israeli envoy, who came late to the luncheon, noted that he was delayed because Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger was addressing the General Assembly. “I would be the last to leave before Dr. Kissinger finished and I had the opportunity to congratulate him,” he said.
The luncheon yesterday was hosted by Weiler, his son-in-law, Arnow, and his son, Alan G. Weiler. The chairmen for the event were Rabbi Emanuel H. Rackman, of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue and Rabbi Harold H. Gordon, executive vice-president of the New York Board of Rabbis. During the rest of the week the succah will host children from the Ramaz and Riverdale day schools and fund-raising events for the United Jewish Appeal, Israel Bonds and the Religious Zionists of America.
Charlotte Jacobson, chairman of the American Section of the World Zionist Organization, told the gathering that since the Yom Kippur War, Jews have learned that “it is not enough to live for ourselves.” She said. “We have to be responsible for the totality of the Jewish people.” Rabbi Sol Stein, president of the New York Board of Rabbis, compared the succah to the skyscraper it was on, noting that a skyscraper provides security by its facade but a succah’s security comes from within the people inside of it. He said the strength of the Jewish people comes from within itself.
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