With Galina and Valery Panov occupying the places of honor at their first public appearance in the United States. 600 leading members of the New York Jewish community participated last night in a dinner inaugurating the first United Jewish Appeal and Federation of Jewish Philanthropies Joint campaign in the Grand Ballroom of the New York Hilton. The drive, which will cover New York City, Westchester and Long Island, supports humanitarian agencies aiding needy Jews in Israel, in other countries around the world, and locally.
The dinner guests, who Joined In tribute to the former leading dancers in Leningrad’s famous Kirov Ballet for their heroic integrity and courage in a two-year struggle to emigrate from the Soviet Union to Israel, each pledged contributions of at least $18,000 to the philanthropic effort initiated last night.
Presiding over the proceedings were dinner chairman William J. Levitt and UJA-Federation Joint campaign chairman Lawrence B. Buttenwieser. Speakers included Avraham Harman, formerly Ambassador of Israel to the United States and now president of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; William Rosenwald, president, Preston Robert Tisch and William Wishnick, vice-chairmen, and Herbert Tenzer, a board member, of the UJA-Federation Joint campaign.
In a dramatic entrance as the dinner started, the Panovs were escorted to the dais by a party including Laurence A, Tisch, chairman of the UJA Federation joint board; Buttenwieser; Mrs. Clive Barnes, wife of the New York Times dance critic and a leader in rallying support for the Panovs in their fight for emigration; and Maxim Gershunoff, the Panovs’ impresario and interpreter for the evening.
DIMENSIONS OF TASKS AHEAD
Levitt explained that the UJA and Federation Joint campaign, merges into one appeal the separate annual fund-raising drive conducted in New York for 35 years on behalf of New York UJA, which supports six major humanitarian agencies engaged in worldwide activities, and for 57 years on behalf of Federation, whose 130 beneficiary agencies provide 95 percent of the metropolitan area’s Jewish-sponsored health, social and recreational services.
” think that none of us minimizes the dimensions of the Job that lies ahead of us,” Levitt said. “It involves a greater measure of help to Israel’s people than we have ever given before. We see them today in the grip of International tensions and economic pressures that are almost unbearable. And yet, the great humanitarian work in which we and Israel’s people are partners–the work of bringing in thousands of immigrants from Russia and other areas of the world–goes on without interruption.
“Tonight, we will guarantee that the stream of migration will continue to roll toward freedom. At the same time, we will be coping with Jewish needs in other areas of the world, where our agencies stand as the only guardians against hunger. illness, and almost every other form of human deprivation. The same task faces us here at home in our own city, where the suffering of the Jewish aged and the Jewish poor provide us with a daily reminder that, In the midst of our affluence, there are thousands of our neighbors who desperately need our help.”
Describing the creation of the UJA-Federation Joint campaign this year as “something of enormous significance for the future, something unique and monumental in the annals of New York Jewry,” Buttenwieser declared; “We are now at a crossroads. Unless we realize that the inspiration of history must be translated into the action of today and tomorrow, we will not keep faith with our heritage or continue to progress towards the human goals we hold dear, the road we now take, the response we make to human need here and abroad, these will determine our generation’s place in the history of Jewish survival.”
The primary objective of fund-raising efforts in the 1975 UJA-Federation Joint campaign, which officially began last night, Is the regular fund which will provide the basic support for both UJA and Federation. Donors also have the opportunity to contribute to the Israel Emergency Fund, which goes in its entirety for UJA’s humanitarian programs in Israel. Unless otherwise Indicated, contributions go into the regular fund.
PLANS FOR A JEWISH HALL OF FAME
Plans for the creation, under the auspices of UJA-Federation, of a Jewish Hall of Fame of Greater New York were announced at the dinner by Preston Robert Tisch. Its purpose, he said, is “to honor those who stand at the pinnacle of their careers, who have brought pride and glory to our New York Jewish community and who deserve a permanent kind of recognition for their achievements.”
Prof. Oscar Handlin of Harvard University, distinguished as a sociologist, author and educator, has accepted the chairmanship of a Hall of Fame committee that is now in formation and already includes a number of illustrious individuals in the arts, sciences and professions.
Tisch stated that further details will be made public as the project develops. It is expected that the names of the first living members to be inducted into the Jewish Hall of Fame will be announced approximately a year from now at the opening dinner of the next UJA-Federation Joint campaign.
Levitt and Meshulam Riklis, as the chairmen of the coordinated UJA-Federation campaigns through which the New York Jewish community responded to the humanitarian emergency that erupted with the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War were presented with awards by Buttenwieser.
The Panovs’ current stay In New York, where they are preparing for an American tour that is part of the launching of a new career as international ballet stars, is under the auspices of UJA Federation.
CITY HALL WELCOME
Today, the Panovs received an official welcome to the city from City Council President Paul O’Dwyer. He presented the key to the city to the Panovs at a City Hall reception that was attended by members of the City Council; Kings County District Attorney Eugene Gold, chairman, and other officials of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry, and leaders in the Jewish community.
CORRECTION
Due to a typographical error the new president of the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism was Identified in the Nov. 22 issue of the Dally News Bulletin as Mrs. M. Milton Terry. Her correct names is Mrs. M. Milton Perry.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
