One of the most essential, and at the same time one of the most difficult, tasks facing the Israel people is the consolidation of its ties with Jews abroad. Premier David Ben Gurion declared here today, in an address to the opening session of a national convention of Israel schoolteachers.
The task is “tough,” he stressed because life in Israel changes far more rapidly than Jewish life abroad. It is “urgent,” the Premier said, that links be tightened now because this difference in peace may result In “estrangement” between Israelis and other Jews and the gap may prove too late to bridge later on. It is “essential” that the gap be bridged, Mr. Ben Gurion continued, because Israel “will not stand alone In the stormy world without the only ally we have–the Jewish nation.”
The Premier underlined the important role of the teaching profession in Israel, comparing it with the army. “The Israel Defense Army has been entrusted with Israel’s security,” he pointed out, “but into your hands the future of our people has been confided.”
The foremost task for Israel, he went on, is gathering in the Jewish exiles, but no one can predict when and how long before this is accomplished. He cited the fact that Jews were living outside Israel even during the period of the first Temple, that their number increased in the period of the second Temple, and there is great doubt that the diaspora will be completely eliminated “during our third Temple.”
More than 175 teachers representing both the secular state and the religious school systems are attending the parley.
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.
