“Jewry’s continuity is in greater jeopardy today than ever before in Jewish history,” Dr. Nahum Goldmann, chairman of the Jewish Agency, said tonight at a dinner given in his honor by the Histadrut Ivrith of America, an organization promoting the Hebrew language and culture in the United States. He pointed out that Hebrew can become a “centrifugal force” uniting all Jews.
Advising the Jews outside of Israel to adopt Hebrew as their second language, Dr. Goldmann said: “Six million Jews were physically lost to us as a result of Nazi genocide. Another two and a half million are divorced from us spiritually by fiat and repression in the countries behind the Iron Curtain. Then there is the horrible prospect that many small Jewish communities will be further reduced in numbers through assimilation and inter-marriage. The danger of fading away, the most ignoble death of all, faces American Jewry no less than other Jewries.
“Hebrew alone, living Hebrew, can assure survival,” Dr. Goldmann continued. “This language, communicating the ideas and values of living Jewish tradition, must become the acquisition of a majority of the American Jewish community, and it is essential if communication between United States and world Jewry, especially Israel, is to be maintained, and our survival depends on successful communication.”
The dinner, marking the Tercentenary celebration of the contribution of Hebrew Culture toward 300 years of Jewish settlement in the United States, was the occasion of two events; 1. The Nahum Goldmann Foundation was established by the Histadrut Ivrith; an annual award to the foremost Hebrew educator will be made by the foundation. 2. A special scroll was presented to Columbia University in recognition of that institution’s promotion and appreciation of Hebrew culture; Dr. Edgar G. Miller, Dean of the Graduate Faculty, accepted the scroll on behalf of the university.
Three Hebrew educators were cited at the dinner in recognition of their role in spreading the knowledge of the Hebrew language and literature in the United States. They are Boris Margolin and Abraham Spicehandler, past presidents of the Histadrut Ivrith, and Daniel Persky, who has contributed greatly to the diffusion of Hebrew literature in the United States.
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