The United Jewish Appeal presented tonight a birthday gift of $1,200,000 to David Ben-Gurion to build a secondary school as part of the Institute of Higher Studies, the regional educational center which the former Premier is building at Sde Boker, the kibbutz in the Negev desert where he now makes his home. Some 400 people attended the event.
The gift was announced tonight by Joseph H. Kanter of Cincinnati and Miami, a national chairman of the UJA and the UJA’s Israel Education Fund, at the dinner given in Mr. Ben-Gurion’s honor by the Public Committee for the celebration of his 80th birthday, at the Hotel Pierre. Max M. Fisher, UJA chairman is also chairman of the Public Committee.
Mr. Kanter revealed that the Israel Education Fund had originally sought $1,000,000 for the high school and that its oversubscription by $200,000 represented a 50th wedding anniversary gift to the Ben-Gurions. The funds were raised at two dinner meetings given by Mr. Kanter in Miami and by Albert Parker in New York. Mr. Parker is a general chairman of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York. Mr. Kanter, who headed the IEF special drive to raise the funds for Mr. Ben-Gurion’s birthday gift, which was publicly pledged by Charles J. Bensley, IEF president, named the following donors:
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Parker, of New York; Fred D. Pomerantz, of New York; Mr. Kanter; Mr. and Mrs. Andre Aisenstadt, Montreal; Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Blaustein, Baltimore; the Sol Bloom Foundation of New York City; Mrs. Rosaline Feinstein, of Philadelphia; Seymour Grubman, of Los Angeles; Burton and Richard Koffman, of Binghamton, N. Y.; Mrs. Emma Schaver, Detroit; Leo Rosner, New York and Miami Beach; and a group of Las Vegas Jewish leaders headed by Hank Greenspun, editor and publisher of the Las Vegas Sun; Jack Entratter, president of the Sands Hotel; and Jerome D. Mack, vice-chairman of the Bank of Las Vegas.
BEN-GURION LAUDS ROLE OF U.S. JEWRY IN BUILDING ISRAEL
Addressing a meeting earlier in the day of the American Section of the Jewish Agency, Mr. Ben-Gurion declared that he was “never more impressed with the deep Jewish commitment of the American Jewish community” than on his present tour. He expressed his deep conviction that American Jewry will for many years continue to play an important role in the development and growth of Israel.
The former Israel Prime Minister, who for many years was chairman of the executive of the Jewish Agency, laid down three priorities as the pressing tasks for American Jewry: 1. The teaching of Hebrew; 2. the study of the Bible; and 3. the promotion of aliyah. In introducing Mr. Ben-Gurion to the members of the Jewish Agency and leaders of the American Zionist Council, Mrs. Rose L. Halprin, who presided at the meeting, called him “our beloved colleague and friend whom we are happy to honor as he visits us again on the occasion of his 80th birthday. His services to the cause of Israel have made him a legend even in his own time.”
SEES DANGER OF ASSIMILATION OF JEWS IN THE UNITED STATES
Speaking at a special Hadassah Bible Study Seminar here this morning, attended by more than 1,200 Hadassah members, Mr. Ben-Gurion paid tribute to the freedom and equality Jews enjoy in America but saw in it a danger of assimilation. He called upon American Jewish parents to send their children to Israel, conceding that “it is not so easy” for the older generation to emigrate to the Jewish State. He stressed the importance of Hebrew in the lives of Jews. He paid tribute to Hadassah for its contributions to the advancement of the State of Israel.
Mrs. Mortimer Jacobson, national president of Hadassah, announced that the main entrance court of the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem is to be known as “Ben-Gurion Square,” She also presented Mr. Ben-Gurion with a check for $1,800 for his Institute of Negev Research. Certification that the Medical Center court is to bear his name was contained in an illuminated scroll presented to Mr. Ben-Gurion.
The Israeli statesman was honored this afternoon by the American Jewish Committee at a reception attended by more than 100 leaders of the organization. Morris B. Abram, president of the AJCommittee, was chairman of the reception. A luncheon was also tendered today to Mr. and Mrs. Ben-Gurion at the Plaza Hotel by the Farband-Labor Zionist Organization.
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