The Juf of Chicago Has Sent $4 Million to Israel to Help in the Resettlement of Ethiopian Jews

The Jewish United Fund (JUF), Chicago’s major Jewish philanthropy, has sent $4 million to Israel expressly for the purpose of resettling Ethiopian Jews and will continue to send additional millions this year for resettlement and other humanitarian programs in the Jewish homeland, it was announced. The funds were sent on January 2, after the JUF Board unanimously approved a request from the United Jewish Appeal.

“JUF for years has funded the resettlement of Ethiopian Jews in Israel just as it has helped to resettle the millions of Jewish refugees who preceded them,” said JUF president Charles Goodman. “But with the increased number of arrivals in recent months and with Israel’s economy now is such a precarious state, our Board unanimously and wholeheartedly endorsed the immediate transmittal of these additional funds.”

The monies will have to be raised by the 1985 Jewish United Fund-Israel Fund campaign, now underway. According to JUF-IF general chairman Sheldon Mann, the 1985 JUF-IF goal was increased by $4 million to accomodate the “extraordinary circumstances and problems of resettling in Israel more than 10,000 Ethiopian Jews who suffer from centuries of persecution as well as from malnutrition, disease and the trauma of family separation.” Thousands of the new immigrants to Israel are parentless youngsters. “Israel is fulfilling her place in history as a sanctuary for all the oppressed and persecuted among our people,” Mann said. “Israel’s acceptance of the Ethiopian Jews at a time of great internal crisis is a courageous example of heartfelt concern that merits the approval of the entire world.”

Mann said that donations to the resettlement effort whould be sent to “Operation Moses” at the Jewish United Fund, Room 500, One South Franklin Street, Chicago, IL 60606.