David Pinski, noted Jewish author and dramatist, returned last Friday from an extended trip through Europe and the Near East, and brought back a glowing report of the Jewish development in Palestine.
“There is sun and light for the Jew in Palestine and only darkness in the other Jewish centers in Europe,” Mr. Pinski stated. “In direct contrast to the healthy, vigorous life of the Jews in Palestine, is the hopelessness and dreariness of the Jews in other countries. Wherever I went, whether in the great cities or in the villages, I saw mainly morose and helpless Jews, sullenly waiting for ruin to overtake them. Vilna, once a proud and prosperous Jewish center, is now a city of beggars. There is no hope and no future, unless it is in Palestine. The crying need, both for the Jews in Palestine and the various countries of Europe, is immigration to Palestine. If the barriers are lifted I am sure that there will be a tremendous influx of Jews into Palestine.”
Mr. Pinski highly praised the leaders of the Palestinian workers and spoke enthusiastically of the work of the Histadruth in Palestine. He called attention to the fact that there is practically no unemployment in Palestine today and ascribed this to the far-sighted policy of the Histadruth.
Mr. Pinski spoke of the enormous growth of Hebrew as the language of the Jews in Palestine. It is a growing, living language, the language of the schools and of the people, he said. He quoted the poet Bialik as being amazed at the progress made by the immigrants in learning Hebrew. “However,” said Mr. Pinski, “Yiddish has also a future in Palestine, since Yiddish will be the bridge by which the Palestinian Jews will maintain close contact with the Jews throughout the rest of the world.”
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.
