ABSTRACT
In the years 1879-1881 an important debate took place in the Hebrew press between Peretz Smolenskin, who was one of the leading figures in the Hebrew Haskalah, and Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, who made his debut in public life with the article that initiated the debate. One of the things about which they disagreed was the nature of the education that was desirable for Jewish children in the modern world. Smolenskin believed that Jewry was in danger of extinction through total assimilation into the Gentile majority. The source of the danger, in his view, was the doctrine that he used to refer to as the ‘Haskalah of Berlin’ because Smolenskin believed that the doctrine had originated with Mendelssohn and his disciples. Ben-Yehuda, too, believed that the Jewish people was in danger of extinction through assimilation. In particular, he agreed with Smolenskin that the Hebrew language was in danger of dying out as an active force in Jewish life.
