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Negiect of Hebrew Will Lead to Assimilation in Countries Outside Israel, Eban Says

December 5, 1950
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Israel Ambassador Abba Eban told a Chanukah dinner-celebration here last night that “neglect of the Hebrew movement will lead us down the path of assimilation in the Diaspora.” He warned that without the “Hebrew language there will be no bridge of cooperation” between the Jews in Israel and those abroad. The celebration was arnanged by the Histadruth Ivrit of America.

Louis Lipsky, who presided at the dinner, told the 700 guests that the “ties that bind the Jews in countries outside of Israel to the growing Hebraic life in Israel will have to be strengthened. The Histadruth Ivrith should act as a guide to Hebraic Jewish life, sponsoring and supporting all agencies working in harmony with its ideals,” he added.

Addressing a dinner of the American Association for Jewish Education’s New York chapter, Dr. Abba Hillel Silver said that Jewish life in America, to survive, “must send its roots deep down into the rith soil of Jewish faith and Jewish learning.” Dr. Silver added: “No Jewish community ever survived for long which ignored Hebrew. If we think of any cultural link between Israel and the Jews of the Diaspora, we must think in terms of the Hebrew language.” The synagogue, “which is also the school,” must be strengthened, he concluded.

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