(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Hillel Zlatopolsky and Isaac Naiditch, leading Russian Zionist, emigres since the Bolshevik revolution, were the guests of honor at a banquet given here Sunday night under the auspices of the Keren Hayesod on the occasion of their sixtieth birthdays.
The two leading Russian Zionists, who are outstanding members of the Keren Hayesod administration, are credited with having conceived and sponsored the idea of establishing the Keren Hayesod, Palestine Foundation Fund, which was inaugurated in May 1920, at the London Zionist conference.
The idea was based on the Biblical law of Maasser, requiring the payment of one-tenth of the annual increase for state and welfare purposes. The originators of the Keren Hayesod idea, who nurtured it until it was adopted, contemplated the raising within five years of the conference date of an amount £25,000,000.
Nahum Sokolow, chairman of the Zionist Executive, Simon Marks, and Lcopold Shen were the speakers. They stressed the achievements of the two Zionist leaders for the upbuilding of Palestine, the furtherance of Hebrew literature and the spreading of Hebrew literature and the spreading of Hebrew education.
“If Russian Jewry were not prevented by the turn of events from participation, the £25,000,000 of the Keren Hayesod would not have remained a dream,” Mr. Naiditch stated. “Much, hoowever, is to be expected from the non-Zionists of America,” he , said adding that it would not be advisable for the Zionists to turn over the collection apparatus to the non-Zionists.
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.
