David Ben-Gurion was welcomed to Philadelphia at International Airport by communal and civic leaders as more than a thousand flag waving Jewish religious school children sang “Hevenu Shalom Aleichem.”
Arriving from Miami on the first stop of his tour of five American cities under the auspices of the United Jewish Appeal, the 80-year-old Israeli leader and his wife were greeted by Philadelphia’s Mayor James H.J. Tate, Frank L. Newburger, Jr., president of the Federation of Jewish Agencies of Greater Philadelphia; Raymond G. Perelman, general chairman of the Federation’s 1967 Allied Jewish Appeal; Yissakhar Ben-Yaacov, Israel consul-general at Philadelphia; other officials and members of Philadelphia’s city council.
Mr. Ben-Gurion briefly acknowledged the greetings and departed for the Warwick Hotel in an official city motorcade. In the evening he participated in a meeting at Gratz College attended by faculty and students of both Gratz College and Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning. The entire meeting, including an address by Mr. Ben-Gurion, was conducted in Hebrew.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
