U. J. A. National Conference Opens Today; Seeks $96,000,000 for 1963

The three-day national conference of the United Jewish Appeal–marking the 25th anniversary of the UJA–opens here tomorrow, with the participation of 2,000 delegates from all parts of the country, to map plans for the raising of funds in 1963 needed to aid Jewish newcomers in Israel and Jews in other lands.

A recommendation to adopt a $96,000,000 goal for the UJA’s 25th Anniversary Year campaign will be presented to the delegates. This will include $60,000,000 for the Regular Campaign, and $36,000,000 for the 1963 UJA Special Fund. A report prepared for submission to the delegates emphasized that “this is an attainable goal” and that “it is within the power and the financial means of American Jewry to raise this sum needed in 1963 for aid to 575,000 Jewish men, women and children who are dependent on it.”

The $96,000,000 goal includes the sum of $68,300,000 to be allocated to the Jewish Agency for Israel, Inc. to meet immigration and absorption needs in Israel. The allocation for the Joint Distribution Committee is $22,700,000. The remainder will go to the United Hias Service and the New York Association for New Americans.

The report emphasized that a total of $1,435,000,000 has been raised by the UJA during the 24 years of existence, and that “in addition to the generous outpouring of funds by American Jews, many non-Jews have supported the work of the UJA,” which was instrumental in saving 3,000,000 lives, resettling some 1,200,000 Jews in Palestine-Israel, and more than 300,000 in the United States and other countries in the Western world.

IMMIGRATION TO ISRAEL IN 1962 WAS SECOND LARGEST IN 11 YEARS

“The UJA’s 25th Anniversary Year, which coincides with the 15th anniversary of the establishment of Israel, should be one of the great campaign years in its history,” the report says. “Jews are on the move again; they have been on the move in increasing numbers for the past two years. In 1962, immigration to Israel was the second highest in the last 11 years. There are indications that it will continue at least at this rate in 1963. And Jewish refugees will continue to move into European countries, particularly France, and across the ocean to the United States and other lands.

“The Jews of America must seize the opportunity, often denied them before, to rescue every single Jew who is able to move from a land of oppression or poverty,” the report continues. “And having done so, American Jewry must make the rescue meaningful by providing the necessities for building new lives. In Moslem lands, UJA-supported programs must continue to provide the basic help necessary to life itself.”

1962 CAMPAIGN WAGED UNDER DIFFICULTIES, REPORT STRESSES

The 1962 campaign was a most difficult one, in light of the many “prohibitions” surrounding its conduct, the report stresses. “Most UJA givers now understand the reasons and problems involved,” the report states, “but it required a supreme effort on the part of all leadership–national and local-to get across the word-of-mouth campaign story personally in every community. Rarely has a group worked so hard and so continuously under the most adverse circumstances.

“The 1963 campaign promises to be, in effect, much like the 1962 drive. But it is also marked by areas of new need–such as in France, overwhelmed by the arrival of so many refugees from North Africa. And there is a big difference. The Jews of America understand the circumstances far better than they did in the first half of 1962. The long backward look stimulated by the celebration of UJA’s 25th Anniversary should bring them a new perspective on what has been, and can be, done.

“The 1962 campaign was a successful one, in view of the many problems to be overcome, but it did not reach its goal of $95,000,000. The 1963 campaign for $96,000,000 must not only meet the extra needs and provide funds to seize the opportunities offered; it must also try to bridge the gap created by a lack of funds to meet absorption needs adequately in 1962,” the report emphasizes.