The arrival here of Uri Zwi Gruenberg, Hebrew poet of Palestine has precipitated a conflict between the Hebraist and Yiddishist factions of the Literary Union here.
As a result the Union has cancelled a reception scheduled to be held in Gruenberg’s honor. The Hebraists are now threatening to secede.
The conflict arose when the Yiddishists protested against an alleged statement by Gruenberg referring to the use of Yiddish: “In Palestine we no longer defile our mouths with the filthy Nalewki jargon.”
Gruenberg, a native of Poland and a Yiddish poet for many years, gave up writing in the Yiddish language some eight years ago, and employed the Hebrew language instead. He settled in Palestine.
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