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An agreement reached by the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency last month calls for $350 million of the total to be raised during that time by the North American Jewish community and $150 million by other corn- munities in the Diaspora. Some 9,500 Jews left the USSR in October, bringing the total for the first 10 mon- ths of 1989 to more than 51,000. Sixteen percent of the October emigres went to Israel, and that percentage is expected to rise as U.S. re- strictions on Soviet im- migration take effect. Large-city delegates at the G.A. raised questions about Israel's preparedness to resettle 100,000 Soviet Jews and 15,000 Ethiopian Jews, as well as pressures on local needs in the United States and Israel, and fund-raising methods. "There is a fear of finan- cial failure among the leadership," said one leader. "They want to help; they're prepared to help, but based on their experience with Passage To Freedom, they're afraid they may flop." Passage To Freedom, a special resettlement cam- paign to raise $75 million in cash by Dec. 31, has only reached $45 million in pledges to date. (less than $16 million in cash). Detroit was one of the few corn- munities to complete Passage to Freedom suc- cessfully, raising $2.25 million of its $2.50 million goal in six weeks last spring at the conclusion of the regular Allied Jewish Cam- paign. National leadership is worried about a $350 million national goal over the next three years. But optimists were quick to note that while Passage To Freedom was launched hastily and its message was fuzzy — people were unclear as to how the funds would be Alan Hitsky, associate editor of The Jewish News, contributed to this report, as did the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. divided between America and Israel for resettlement — the next campaign will be clearer and the thrust will be on funds for resettlement in Israel, a more popular proposition. One federation executive of a large city voiced the con- cerns of many of his col- leagues when he suggested that "the dollars need to be thought out very carefully." He readily acknowledged that the resettlement needs "The care and concern are there [for Soviet Jewish resettlement], but are the dollars?" . in Israel are the highest priority, but worried what will happen to local American priorities like funding for Jewish edu- cation and the elderly and the whole range of com- munity services over the next five years. "The care and concern are there, but are the dollars?" he asked. Yes, according to three in- ternational leaders who met with representatives of the Jewish press. Ben-Zion Leuchter of Vineland, New Jersey, and president of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (BIAS), said that "the worst mistake we as a community can make is to allow people to think that this special campaign is 'only' a UJA campaign. It's a respon- sibility for the Jewish com- munity of the world and we all have to recognize the historic nature of this oppor- tunity." He said that he felt that as many as 250,000 Soviet Jews might be coming out in the next five years and that "this is the next step of what was an ad- vocacy movement over the last two decades to free Soviet Jews. This cannot fail." Shoshana Cardin of Baltimore, president of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, emphasized that "this is not business as usual, and we do not know the time frame for our efforts." She said the American Jewish communi- ty has the ability to respond and that the leaders need the courage to emphasize the urgency of this campaign. Simcha Dinitz of the Jewish Agency noted that a campaign involves more than funds raised, and that Continued on Page 18 • • • 4 ti 4 • I 4