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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE November 7, 1986 Page 13
Ben-Gurion’s Zionist vision
Living in Israel a must for world Jewry
by Richard Bono
TSI staff writer
The story goes that French
President Charles de Gaulle once
asked renowned Israeli Prime
Minister David Ben-Gurion,
“What are your secret dreams?”
The reply: “To have more Jews,
not more territory, in Israel.”
Ben-Gurion told de Gaulle he
expected Jews to emigrate to
Israel from France, from the
United States, from Russia, from
Yemen. He expected them to
give up their color televisions
and Cadillacs. And, using their
“faith as their passport,” Ben-
Gurion said of Jews in the Dias
pora, “Their yearning for their
homeland is the greatest force in
their lives.”
Ben-Gurion’s 35-year-old
grandson, Alon Ben-Gurion, con
firmed the story during a recent
interview with The Southern
Israelite. Alon was in Atlanta for
an Israel Bonds reception and as
a representative of the David
Ben-Gurion Centennial Commit
tee, which seeks to honor and to
celebrate the man. who, more
than any other, was responsible
for the establishment of the State
of Israel, on the centennial of his
birth.
Last year the Israeli Knesset,
in an overwhelming display of
unity, proclaimed there would be
a celebration of Ben-Gurion, from
his 100th birthday on Oct. 19,
1986, until May 4, 1987. Israel’s
Independence Day.
Alon Ben-Gurion agreed to
undertake a month-long excur
sion to the United States to pro
mote the Centennial celebration.
He will visit two dozen cities,
speaking to a variety of groups,
Jews and non-Jews. Atlanta was
his 11th American port of call.
The reception here was hosted by
the Atlanta Division of New
Leadership of Israel Bonds.
The force of David Ben-
Gurion’s Zionist vision did not
culminate with the creation of
the State of Israel, historians
maintain. In Ben-Gurion’s eyes,
they say, the state was never an
end in itself. Alon Ben-Gurion
agrees.
“For Ben-Gurion, for Jews to
resettle to Israel was all-import-
ant,” Alon said. “To Ben-Gurion,
to be a Jew means you live in
Israel. ‘It took us 2,000 years to
get this piece of land,’ he used to
say, ‘now that we have it, come to
Israel.’ That’s where he believed
Judaism has got to exist.”
According to Alon. Ben-Gurion
was ashamed of the long period
Jews were in the Disapora:
“‘What were we?’ he asked. “We
were all over the world, begging
and fighting for our lives. We
didn’t live in our own country.
We felt ashamed for those 2,000
years.’ "
Alon, who holds a master’s
degree in hotel management from
Cornell University, is the execu
tive assistant manager in charge
of food and beverage services for
the Tel Aviv Hilton. In fact, it is
Hilton International that is
sponsoring Alon’s trip to the
U nited States, not only to bring the
American people some of the
essence of his grandfather's vision
and values, but also to promote
tourism in Israel.
“Two years ago tourism was
Alon Ben-Gurion
the number one industry as far as
foreign currency coming to
Israel,” Alon noted. “When
Americans stopped coming
because of terrorism, it hurt. It
hurt a lot. It’s not only my job,
but 50,000 young Israelis are
working in that industry.”
Alon said that one trip to
Israel is worth a hundred speak
ers and books about the Jewish
homeland, yet “eighty percent of
the Jewish people in the United
States do not visit Israel even
once,” he said.
Drawing on his grandfather’s
fierce nationalism, Alon asks,
“Who is a better Jew? Is it the
Jew in New York, who goes to
synagogue three times a day,
keeps a kosher home, learns in
the Yeshiva, fasts on Yom Kip-
pur? Or, is it the Israeli kid, who
doesn’t go to synagogue except
for his bar mitzva, but when the
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My grandfather would say the
Israeli is the better Jew because
to Ben-Gurion Judaism and
nationalism goes one with the
other.”
Biographers and other writers
have noted with frustration that
little exists on the personal life of
David Ben-Gurion. “You and I
would think it’s good to go to the
movie or the theater or a football
game,” Alon said. “Ben-Gurion
said it is a waste of time. What he
considered his personal life was
to build the State of Israel.”
The apparent lack of a truly per
sonal side to David Ben-Gurion
extended into the political realm,
according to Alon. “Ben-Gurion
never took political attacks per
sonally. It was a game. If he
believed in an issue, he would go
for it with all his guts. But it was
never personal.”
When Alon was a child, his
grandfather was no longer prime
minister. Ben-Gurion left office
in 1963. He left the Knesset in
1969.
“There was a political dispute
within his own party when Ben-
Gurion left government,” Alon
said. “He was pretty much iso
lated, so it wasn’t such a big deal
then to be the grandson of David
Ben-Gurion.”
Noting his grandfather’s lone
liness on Kibbutz Sde Boker in
his later years, Alon commented.
“Today they look at him as a
legend but then no one wanted to
talk to him. Then he was iso
lated. Today he is a hero.”
When recalling their frequent
family visits, Alon noted his grand
father’s obsession with reading.
For birthdays and other occa
sions where there were gifts, Ben-
Gurion would always ask, “What
kind of book do you want?”
according to Alon.
“Ben-Gurion did not tell small
stories,” he said. “There was never
any chit-chat. He would talk to
me about history; lecture to me
for hours. Always asking ques
tions.”
Through a child’s eyes, accord
ing to Alon, your grandfather is
just your grandfather, no matter
that he be the prime minister or
the president or whoever. But,
even as a child. Alon noticed,
and later came to appreciate, the
awe with which people greeted
David Ben-Gurion, whose small
frame did not match his presence.
“People were in shock. You
cannot understand. People just
watched him. They could not
talk,” Alon said. “If Ben-Gurion
walked into a room filled with
people talking, they would be so
silent when he came in. You’ve
got to see it to understand. It’s
unbelievable. It was something
in the room when he walked in. I
cannot express to you the feeling.”
The Atlanta Region of Women’s American
ORT is proud to be the Hostess Area for the
700 Delegates of the 16th National Board
Conference to be held at the Westin Peach
tree Plaza November 9 through Nov. 11th.
Featuring:
• Addresses and reports by Gertrude S.
White, National President, Nathan Gould,
National Vice President and Reese Feld
man, National Executive Committee
Chairman.
• Banquet and Keynote Address by Daniel
Schorr, National Affairs Correspondent
for National Public Radio, speaking on
his analysis of the recent political elec
tions and the effect the growing Funda
mentalist Movement has upon them. Fur
thermore, he will address the implications
of the election results regarding Ameri
can foreign policy, domestic issues,
women’s issues and human rights.
• Informal Fashion Show of ORT students’
fashions from Israel & France.
“Improving the quality of Jewish life worldwide through techno
logical and vocational education”.