Conservative and Reform Jews throughout the nation were urged by their leaders today to contribute material and financial support to alleviate the suffering of the people of Biafra, the break-away eastern province of Nigeria which is ravaged by starvation and disease.
Henry N. Rapaport, of Scarsdale, president of the United Synagogue of America, called on the members of its 825 affiliated Conservative congregations to join with others of all faiths to aid the Biafran victims. “As a religious organization we are not concerned with any political factors but entirely for humanitarian considerations we cannot remain silent and neutral,” he said.
Rabbi Levi A. Olan, of Dallas, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Reform rabbinical group, urged Reform rabbis in the U.S. and Canada to mobilize their congregations for immediate funds “to be used to buy relief for the stricken refugees” of Biafra. “We join all humanitarians whose conscience has been aroused by the desperate situation in Biafra,” he said.
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