Yiddish culture as a national value will be the chief topic at the World Conference for Yiddish and Jewish Culture to be held in Jerusalem, Aug. 23-26. Itzhak Koren, chairman of the organizing committee, told a press conference today that the purpose of the conference is to underline the importance of Yiddish, increase its acceptance in Israel and to prevent its further decline. He said the decline of Yiddish in the diaspora may undermine the ability of Jews there to stand against assimilation.
The largest delegation, 140 persons, will be from the United States and will include some people in their thirties. A two-member delegation is expected from Rumania.
Former Premier Golda Meir, Aharon Yadlin, Education and Culture Minister, Yosef Almogi, chairman of the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency Executives and Dr. Arthur Hertzberg, president of the American Jewish Congress and Simon Weber, editor-in-chief of the Jewish Daily Forward published in New York, are among the scheduled speakers. The conference is expected to consider the establishment of an Israeli-based Yiddish theater which will also tour Jewish communities abroad.
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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.