UJA campaign film from 1948, featuring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson

Our cover story this week focuses on the new executive of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, and of the changes in the way federations across the country are operating — changes that, as we reported a few weeks ago, are already underway in Paramus.

As a counterpoint, here’s a vintage example of our grandparent’s UJA that I stumbled upon recently: A campaign film from 1948. It was a year when the American Jewish community faced three Herculean tasks: Caring for Holocaust survivors in Displaced Persons camps in Europe, supporting the Jewish community in Palestine where three-quarters would be resettle and where David Ben-Gurion was forging a Jewish state, and helping resettle the 94,000 European refugees who would ultimately settle in the U.S.

If the vintage celebrity-filled black-and-white call to be “your brother’s keeper” hits home, Federation Exec Jason Shames would want you to know that if you want to help Holocaust survivors in Bergen County and the former Soviet Union, and Ethiopian immigrants to Israel, the charity formerly known as the UJA of Northern New Jersey is the place to send your check.

(h/t The Rebbetzin’s Husband)

The Yudelson Files

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