There is a need for American Jewry to strengthen bonds with counterpart communities throughout the world, according to Charles Zibbell, associate executive director of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds. Zibbell, speaking to some 600 professional workers at the 76th Annual National Conference of Jewish Communal Service, also called for positive programs to increase immigration of Jews to the United States.
Zibbell said that in strengthening Jewish communities in all countries, communal programs must be examined as to their effect on Jewish family structure, the unity of the Jewish community, and on helping younger Jews to identify as Jews. Also necessary for stronger world-wide Jewish communities is a better understanding by Israelis of Jewish life outside Israel, Zibbell said.
Dr. Arnulf M. Pins, executive director of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, New York City, told the conference that the Yom Kippur War shattered many myths which had existed in the Jewish world before last October, as well as giving new perspectives on issues and problems which many Jews faced.
“The sudden and dramatic events of last year and their multiple consequences have also resulted in both a feeling of pessimism and concern and a new sense of urgency about the problems of Israel and the Jewish people,” Pins said. He called for greater effort and commitment on the part of professional communal workers to make the challenges into opportunities for developing a stronger American Jewish community.
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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.
