Former Premier David Ben-Gurion, who was guest of honor last night at a dinner of the Joint Palestine Appeal, appealed to his Jewish listeners to make sure that their children and grandchildren had a Hebrew education. The former Premier, who received a standing ovation at the start and at the close of his address, said that a knowledge of Hebrew and of Jewish history was the only safeguard against the “growing process of assimilation.”
More than 250,000 pounds sterling ($700,000) was raised at the event for the Sde Boker Medrasha, the institute of higher learning sponsored by Mr. Ben-Gurion at his Negev retreat in Sde Boker. Declaring that the area had been explored and investigated, he said much more research was needed because, in addition to gypsum, marble and granite, there were still greater treasures to be uncovered, and the Dead Sea, with its “wealth of minerals,” must be fully exploited by Israel.
The greatest wealth, he said, was the Jewish people who in three generations had transformed the face of the land, But, he added, all of these “remarkable achievements” were only the beginning. If Jews are to make the Negev into a thickly populated center of industry and culture, they must use the twin industries of pioneering and science, he said.
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.
