City Hall Ceremonies Herald First ‘jewish Heritage Week’

An unprecedented program to encourage improved inter group harmony in the city’s public schools and in the entire community was announced today in ceremonies at City Hall. A poster display of photograph graphically depicting the Holocaust, prepared by the Federation of Jewish Fighters. Camp Inmates and Nazi Victims, provided a dramatic backdrop as Mayor Abraham D. Beame issued a proclamation designating April 18-23 as “Jewish Heritage Week” throughout the school system.

Plans for Jewish Heritage Week, to be sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC) in cooperation with the New York City Board of Education, include a variety of educational and cultural events designed to make non-Jewish students aware of the history, culture and important contributions being made to the city and the nation by the Jewish community.

Participants in the City Hall ceremony included Richard Ravitch, JCRC president, who accepted the Mayor’s proclamation; Bronx Borough President Robert Abrams, chairman of the Jewish Heritage Week, who presided; Board of Education President Robert Christen and Chancellor Irving Anker, who spoke on behalf of the city school system; and the noted humorist and former teacher Sam Levenson.

Others who took part in the City Hall event were political, educational, civic and communal leaders representing the various ethnic groups in the city. On hand also was Ivette Rivera, of Christopher Columbus High School, who represented a delegation of 30 public school students who were due to leave tonight for a one-month exchange visit to Israel. Abrams said Jewish Heritage Week will now become part of the annual school calendar.