Former Premier David Ben Gurion of Israel said here today that Hebrew must replace Yiddish at the universal Jewish language in the Diaspora. Addressing a reception in his honor attended by Zionist, Joint Palestine Appeal and community leaders, Mr. Ben Gurion said that with the decline of Yiddish, “Hebrew must fill the gap because only through Hebrew can Jews understand the full meaning of Jewishness.” The reception was tendered by Michael Sacher, chairman of the JPA’s administrative committee.
Mr. Ben Gurion said that Hebrew education and immigration to Israel were the two most vital problems confronting Jews today. He said Israel needed material aid from the Diaspora to help meet its social needs while the State provides for an ever growing defense budget. But more important, he said, “we need people, young people, the most gifted and most skilled among Diaspora Jews, if we are able to complete the task of building a Jewish state.”
(In Geneva, the Covenant Communications Corp. announced that its film of the life of Mr. Ben Gurion has been completed in Israel after a year’s work. The final sequence was the Battle of Lat-run in the War of Independence. Melville Mark, executive producer, said the film had cost $500,000 to date and would cost another $150,000 before its release. Final editing will be done in London and its premier will be in the auditorium at Kibbutz Sde Boker on Ben Gurion’s 83rd birthday on Oct. 16.)
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
