THE CANADIAN JEWISH fi*V!KW
8OTEMBEB SO, 1983
THEIR FIRST ROSH HASHONAH IN FRANCE, AND THEIR SECOND
By Motes A. Leovftt, Executive Vice-Cfiairman of Hie Joint Distribution Committee
It was the eve of Roah Haahonah 1962, the Jewish New Year 5723. Simon and his father came out of a basement room in a rundown tenement in Paris that was home for them, a mother and two sisters, crossed the wide boulevard and turned north. They walked a few blocks and entered a large apartment house. They climbed to the third floor and opened a door, not to an apartment but an improvised synagogue. This was where Simon and his father celebrated their first Rosh Haahonah on French soil.
This year Simon and his father have a newly opened synagogue; not a new one but better than the apartment they used last year. ^Gradually the memories of the last few months in Algeria are fading. Simon has found new friends. He is still bronzed from a vacation in summer camp. No longer does he roam the streets aimlessly. He has learned a trade and has found a job. And, equally important, Simon and his family were able to come out of their basement room and move into a decent apartment, all with help from the Joint Distribution Committee and its Jewish welfare agencies.
The newly opened synagogue is but one of some forty cultural and religious institutions being opened in all parts of France to accommodate the refugees. Not only are JDC and French Jewish leaders concerned with strengthening the ties of the refugees to the Jewish community, they are also concerned with the more basic needs of Jewish refugees, decent housing, jobs, medical care, and other welfare needs.
Every year since the end of World War II has seen a mass migration of our people, from Europe, from Africa, and from the Middle East The sudden swell of Jewish migration in 1962 has
changed the face of at least two Jewish communities. The Jewish community of Algeria has, for all practical purposes, disappeared, and the French Jewish community, which has grown from 350,000 to 500,000 within a two-year period, has become the fourth largest Jewish community in the world.
The Jewish population explosion in France has also doubled the number that have turned to JDC and JDC-supported agencies for assistance, from 28,000 in 1961 to 66,000 last year. Fortunately, the 100,000 Jews who came from Algeria were entitled to repatriation aid from the French Government. This was not true, however, of tens of thousands of other refugees who came from Tunisia and from other areas with little more than the clothing on their backs and the one or two packages they could carry. Even the Algerian refugees required assistance until repatriation grants came through.
During the year just past JDC has been called upon to help more needy Jews than at any other time since the close of the DP era in 1950, over 277,000. More than 98,-000 were aided in the Moslem countries; almost 98,000 in Europe; and over 84,000 in Israel. The remaining 6,000 were located in other parts of the world.
In Israel JDC brought hope as well as aid to almost 50,000 aged, ill, and handicapped immigrants through Malben. JDC also helped some 18,500 students, their dependents, and scholars associated with over 100 cultural and religious institutions in Israel; and another 16,000 who received vocational training in the JDC-supported ORT program.
Malben has helped the Health Ministry, city authorities, ano voluntary agencies in developing new facilities to benefit all the needy in Israel, not only the new-
comers. Malben has undertaken a joint psychiatric program together with the Ministry of Health to close down the sub-standard mental health facilities, develop new treatment centers, and train needed psychiatric personnel. In keeping with its policy to encourage older people to live independently in the communities, Malben has joined with the Welfare Ministry and the Jewish Agency to provide monthly grants to over 13,000 healthy aged who live outside Malben homes. It also assisted fifty Golden Age clubs, providing both funds and technical aid.
The greatest area of need was in the Moslem countries, as has been the case for many years. Victimized by rising Arab nationalism, subjected to crippling boycotts and expropriation, and ever in danger of physical harm, Jews' in most Moslem countries, where they have lived for hundreds of years, have given up hope of becoming integrated in the new Arab world. In several of the countries once large and thriving Jewish communities have virtually disappeared, leaving but a hard-core of aged, ill, and needy.
The exodus of Jews from Algeria resulted in the disintegration of the Jewish community and disappearance of its communal resources. Of the 7,000 who remained, some 1,500 to 1,600, nearly all of them aged and infirm, needed help. JDC attempted to fill the vacuum by sending in welfare workers to provide emergency assistance. They distributed cash relief and United States Department of Agriculture food packages.
Ten years ago Morocco, still under French rule, had a Jewish community of over 250,000. Today there are about 100,000 Jews remaining in that country and more than half of them are dependent on JDC for some form of as-
(Resort Advertisements are on Pages Four and Nine)
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The following Personal New Year Greetings, received to September 16, ore included here
5724 A HAPPY NEW YEAR 1963 Mr. �nd Mr*. H. Bejtel,
and family, 1577 Van Horn* Avenue,
Montreal, Quebec.
Extend to �// their rtlHrrei **4 fritndt Ihtir bett withti for tht Holy Dtyt.
sistance. As Jews leave the big cities, bound mainly for France, other Jews filter in from the outlying areas to take their places, and thus the number of Jews who depend on JDC remains about the same. The problems may even become more serious as many of the "internal migrants" arrive with disease that had been eradicated in the cities.
In Tunisia, which had over 100,-000 Jews a decade ago, there are now a little over 33,000 remaining. And of these close to 13,000 must still rely on JDC for aid. In Iran alone, of all the Moslem countries, the Jewish population has remained fairly stable in the past decade, about 80,000. More than 21,000 are beneficiaries of JDC programs.
In Europe JDC has been working in close partnership with the Jewish communities in rebuilding Jewish life and developing communal facilities. This program has been aided in large measure by generous grants from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. The program has yielded exceptional results and was responsible for the launching of fund-raising campaigns by many of the renascent European Jewish communities on behalf of North African refugees in France. These communities, members of the Standing Conference on European Communal Services, have already raised over $200,000 of a $715,000 goal.
All in all, some 89,000 needy Jews were helped in Europe, the bulk of them in France. There the greatest need was for housing, jobs, and other basic needs. In other European countries where Jewish communities had become more stabilized, the need was for strengthening communal and cultural and religious institutions.
A broad summer camp program throughout Europe provided opportunities for Jewish youngsters in small communities to establish contact with other Jewish youth. In France it took the youngsters off the streets and provided them with a healthful and pleasurable vacation. In North Africa the summer camp program offered still another opportunity for JDC to provide additional nourishment'and medical care for underprivileged Jewish children, as well as to give them a taste of camp life.
In Poland JDC still cares for
Resorts � New York
CANADIAN HOLIDAY AT GROSSINGER'S
Groesinger's is going: to hold a Canadian Holiday Festival October 10 to 14. It'll encompass the Teachers' Convention, October 10 - 11, and Thanksgiving, October 14. There'll be fun for all the family. There'll be ice skating on the outdoor artificial rink, golf on the championship course, tennis on the atf-w eat her courts, swimming in the indoor pool, and many other happy activities. This is a great chance for that much-needed autumn vacation with the family . . . However, if you're single, well have something special for you* too. That weekead, October 11-13, we're going to hold our Beachcombers' BaH for unattached fellows and girls � and remember: Monday, October 14, is Thanksgiving!
A HAPPY NEW YEAR 1963
Mr. tad Mr*. A. Bhrfich,
8063 Snuirt Avenue,
Montreal, Quebec.
Extend to til their rtlttha t*d frltmji thtir bill wltht� for tht Holy Dtyt.
5724 A HAPPY NEW YEAR 1963 Mr. and Mr*. Samuel Grot*,
�nd family,
1745 Cedar Avenue,
Wettmount, Quebec.
Extend to M thtir relftiret c*4 fricmlt
their but vuhfi for tht Holy Dtyt.
5724 A HAPPY NEW YEAR 1963 Mr. and. Mr*. Irving Honkkham,
end ion*, 22 Invcrmay Avenue,
Toronto, Ontario.
E*te*4 to M tktb rtltttrtt �n4 fri***, l�ii wUhti lor tht Holy Dtyt,
5724 A HAPPY NEW YEAR 1963 Mr. and Mn. William Kati,
�nd family,
1662 Surrey Cre*cent,
Town of Mount Royal, Quebec.
Extm4 to til their rtlttrvtt t*4 frienji thtir htit whfui for Iht Holy Dtyt.
Mr. and Mrs. Louis Fridhandler, of Yarmouth, N. S., visited his brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. A. D. Baron, of Montreal, Que.
Halifax Chapter of Bnai Brith Women met at the home of Mrs. Arnold Webber, 2170 Armcrescent East, Halifax, N. S., where arrangements were made for a garden party and hat show, at the home of Mrs. M. Strug, 1948 Park-wood Terrace. Mrs. B. Sheffman, 121 Connaught Avenue, was convener, with Mesdames H. Berall, 90 Ralston Avenue; and H. Gordon, 2411 Armcrescent West.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Nelson, of Utica, N. Y., and Mrs. Gus Schae-fer, of Long Island, N. Y., visited Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hanson, 531 Tower Road; Mr. and Mrs. George Martin, 508 Tower Road; and Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Hanson, 75A Rufus Avenue; all of Halifax, N. S.
B. R. Guss, Q. C., and Mrs. Guss, 70 Orange Street, Saint John, N. B., were in Banff, Alberta, for the annual meeting of the Canadian Bar Association.
J. J. Freedman, 47 Hillcrest Drive, Saint John, N. B., died on Thursday, September 5, at his office, of a heart attack. He was sixty-four years old. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Rose Selick Freedman; two sons: Dr. L. H. Freedman, 871 Anderson Drive,
almost half of the remaining Jewish population of 25,000. This is the only country in Europe, aside from France, where a substantial number of needy Jews must be helped. The JDC program includes cash relief to close to 3,000 family units a month; a feeding program; ORT vocational training, care of aged, child care, medical aid, and a loan fund. JDC also maintains programs in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and, to a lesser extent, in Greece, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia.
Apart from the three major areas of need, JDC programs extend as far off as Australia and Central and South America, where refugee communities still require some degree of help.
(Continued on Page Five)
Lancaster, N. B.; Bernard Freedman, 410 Clear View Row, Lancaster; two daughters: Mrs. Jerry Koven, 887 Anderson Drive, Lancaster; Mrs. Barry Steinberg; a brother, Ben Freedman, 30 Coronation Avenue, Lancaster; two sisters: Mrs. Ben Goldstein, and Mrs. Harry Holtzman, 216 King Street East. He was the son of the late Mrs. Mary Guss Freedman. Funeral- services took place from Shaarei Zedek Synagogue. Rabbi Abraham Feffer officiated, assisted by Cantor J. Friedman. Burial was at Shaarei Zedek Cemetery. Mr. Freedman came to Canada in 1905 from Dorbian, Lithuania. In 1918 he went into business with his father, the late Abraham Freedman, founder, and president of their company. Mr. Freedman was past-president. He was a pioneer in the scr.aj> metal business; a founder, past-president, and board chairman of the Canadian Secondary Materials Association. He advised numerous government agencies on salvage during the war years when he founded and organized salvage companies in New Brunswick. He was a past-president of Shaarei Zedek Synagogue; Saint John Branch of the Canadian Jewish Congress; Saint John Kiwanis Club; a past-lieutenant governor of Kiwanis; a member of the Masonic Order; director of the Community Chest; of the Family Welfare'; member of the Board of Trade; chairman for the Israel Bond Drive of 1961-1962.
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