Pinhas Sapir contended tonight that unless Jewish youth the world over is given “a Jewish – Zionist education” with emphasis on “the revolutionary act of aliya,” diaspora Jewry is doomed to “self-liquidation” through assimilation. In remarks prepared for delivery at the Sixth Plenary Assembly of the World Jewish Congress, Sapir, chairman of the Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organization Executives, declared:
“The world Jewish community must understand that it stands before a clear-cut alternatives. A Jewish – Zionist education or self-liquidation. It is as simple as that. Jewish education based on a diaspora ideology is simply no longer possible.”
Sapir warned that the desire of Jewish communities that their sons stay with them “under the wings of Jewish philanthropy” would lead the Jewish communities to one result–the loss of their sons and their assimilation. He said that “anybody who still believes that it is possible to strengthen the Jewish identity of the younger generation without its stressing the revolutionary act of aliya, lives in a very dangerous illusion.” Sapir stated that “twenty-seven years after the establishment of the State of Israel, we face again the appearances of assimilation and of getting further away from Judaism.” It is quite possible he said, that assimilation today is even more severe than in the past.
PROBLEM OF ALIENATION, APATHY
Sapir said that in the past, the assimilation of Jews among the Gentiles was a conscious act, while today signs of assimilation indicate that many Jews are unaware of the problem. He attributed this to “ignorance, alienation, loss of identity and apathy toward Judaism.”
According to Sapir, the greatest problem facing the continuation of Jewish existence is education in the diaspora. He said it was essential to establish, without delay, a movement for Jewish education that embraces all the organizations of the Jewish people in all their frames.
Referring to the Middle East conflict, Sapir said that only a State of Israel that strives incessantly for a logical settlement with the Arab states would be able to grow into a national home for millions of Jews. An Israel which avoids an agreement accepted on all sides would remain an Israel in its present size–meaning population as well as territory. He said that all efforts should be directed toward peace.
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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.
