The 80-member United Jewish Appeal mission to Israel left for home this week-end after spending ten days studying conditions in Israel and touring new immigrant villages as well as collective settlements and industrial establishments. Speaking in the name of the group just before it emplaned, William Rosenwald, general chairman of the UJA, said that the communal leaders on the delegation would make the greatest efforts to raise all the funds needed in Israel for immigration and development.
At a dinner he gave for the group on the eve of its departure, Premier David Ben Gurion told them “if the Jews of the United States do their best, the best will be done here for the survival, the glory and the pride of all Jews.” Present at the dinner in Jerusalem were Chief Rabbi Isaac Halevi Herzog, members of the Cabinet and of the Jewish Agency executive.
During the affair, the Premier personally presented each member of the study mission with a memento of his visit to Israel. The gifts, from the israel Government, were olive wood plaques on which had been mounted the insignia of the Israel armed forces in silver and the name of each recipient.
Mr. Rosenwald, in a brief address, hailed the partnership between American Jews and the people of Israel in helping distressed and persecuted Jews find a new home in Israel. “We are going home,” he said, “to spread the story of heroism, devotion self-sacrifice and a vision of a freedom-loving people and the dignity of man.” Zalman Shazar, acting chairman of the Jewish Agency executive in Jerusalem, lauded the mission as one of the best to come to Israel.
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.
