The prime minister seemed unfazed. “It’s all right. I can assure you that we have people like this with us [in Israel] as well.”
The founding of the State of Israel in 1948 highlighted the clash between religion and modern secular democracy. And so it was at Yeshiva University on March 16, 1960, when Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion arrived to deliver a speech to a largely religious audience as part of his nine-day US trip. Apart from the diplomatic necessities of the visit, he took the opportunity to meet the largest Jewish community in the world.
Earlier that day the Israeli premier had delivered a speech to the faculty and students of the Jewish Theological Seminary. He was presented with a photostatic copy of the oldest artifact in the vaunted Seminary library, which was, ironically, a nearly 700-year-old manuscript of Maseches Avodah Zarah from Ubeda, Spain.
The lead-up to the YU event was somewhat contentious. Rabbi Joseph Breuer of the neighboring Kahal Adath Jeshurun had expressed his disappointment at the university for hosting Ben-Gurion. Former Yeshiva College dean Moses Isaacs was one of the few faculty members who decided to boycott the event. A dedicated Agudist, he asserted, “All my life I’ve been against what this man stood for, and I’m not going to change now by honoring him.”
While more than 2,000 VIP guests, faculty, and students packed the Nathan Lamport Auditorium, hundreds were turned away due to lack of space. After meeting privately with Rav Soloveitchik and YU president Dr. Samuel Belkin, Ben-Gurion was introduced to a cheering crowd.
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