Pearlstone, in family tradition, takes helm of Jewish fund-raising effort

Richard L. Pearlstone, member of a philanthropic family that has left its imprint on the artistic, educational and religious life of Baltimore, was honored here recently for accepting chairmanship of the world’s largest Jewish fund-raising effort.

At the annual meeting of Baltimore’s Jewish Federation at Center Stage June 16, Mr. Pearlstone received tributes for his record of service to Jewish interests in the United States and abroad. He was installed in New York on May 24 as national chairman of the United Jewish Appeal.

Since 1990, the UJA has raised $910 million to resettle Jews in Israel under Operation Exodus, one of its many international programs. About 500,000 Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union, 35,000 from Ethiopia and 12,000 from Syria were resettled.

Mr. Pearlstone, 46, was born in Dallas. When he was 4, he moved with his family to his mother’s native Baltimore, where he attended the Park School and was an All Maryland soccer and lacrosse player. He has a home and business interests in Baltimore, but he, his wife and three children spend most of their time at their home in Aspen, Colo.

His grandfather, the late Joseph Meyerhoff, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra benefactor for whom its concert hall is named, was also national chairman of the UJA — from 1961 to 1964.