Dr. Maxwell Abbell, outstanding Jewish communal leader of Chicago, made a gift of $110,000 to the Jewish National
Fund, according to an announcement today by Dr. Harris J. Levine, president of the Jewish National Fund. This is the largest single contribution ever received from an individual by the JNF.
The negotiations for the project that is to bear the name of Dr. and Mrs. Maxwell Abbell, were conducted by Mendel N. Fisher, executive director of Jewish National Fund, who stated that a substantial part of the $110,000 was made available in cash and in the form of an irrevocable bequest in favor of the JNF. Under the terms of the agreement that was signed by Dr. Abbell and Mr. Fisher, the Jewish National Fund undertakes to carry out a project in Jerusalem in the form of a housing settlement.
A deeply religious Jew with an interest in current Jewish problems, Dr. Abbell has devoted much of his time and money to a great variety of Jewish organizations. He was vice-president of the Zionist Organization of Chicago; member of the board of governors of the National Planning and Campaign Committee of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. In 1950, he was elected president of the United Synagogue of America, the central organization of Conservative congregations throughout the country. He is an active and devoted member of the executive committee of the Jewish National Fund in Chicago. Recently, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America conferred upon Dr. Abbell the honorary degree of Doctor of Law.
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