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ri4clay, d'aobef T.; 1941
.THE--JEWISH NEWS
Benintion in Tel Aviv
A Romantic Fragment of These Times
By JULIAN LOUIS MELTZER
(Copyright, 1943, by Independent Jewish Press Service)
• PROBABLY NO OTHER city in the world
closes down, so to speak, for a religious festi-
.val as completely and zealously as does the
teeming city of Tel Aviv. The busy shops, the
marts of commerce, the bustling market
places are shuttered; the rumbling buses and
carts and bicycles and the plethora of traffic
cease their roar, and the streets are well-nigh
deserted save for the essential non-Jewish
military and police vehicles, and even those
sparingly.
The Parnass was deeply interested in the
young soldier in the front row, Who was
praying with such deep emotion, with such
an excess of reverence, that . it seemed he
was giving his whole being -0 the words of
the liturgy. He was pleaSed to see such piety,
and he beckoned to the shammash, the beadle,
whispering to him to get the name of the
soldier standing there, near the wall.
The charm of the holy atmosphere descends
upon this gay watering place, pearl of the
Eastern Mediterranean shore. And from the
scores of synagogues scattered through its
length and breadth rise the chants' and cad-
ences of congregations praising the Lord.
For it is Rosh Hashanah, the holy New Year
in the Jewish calendar. The ringing voice of
the cantor comes out into the brilliant sunlit
thoroughfares—
The soldier looked up and the Parnass
indicated, by gestures that he would shortly
be called upon to mount the rostrum. Meir
nodded. The service went on. Meir wondered
why he thought, at this time, so much of
Esther. It seemed as though she were near
him, in the spirit, when he was close to the
nature and essence of the Almighty. If he
could only know what had happened to her!
Who is like unto Thee, 0 Lord! among
the mighty?
Wiho is like Thee, glorious in holiness,
tremendous in praises, working mir-
acles?
It is. part of the Jewish faith and the Jew-
ish religion to remember those who have been
the prey of the wicked and the victims of the
unrighteous; -the scorn of the unsympathizing
and the indifference . of the Unctuous; the be-
wildered waifs and strays of the highways and
byways of an alien world.. Secure in their
own liberties, the children of Israel who
*ere saved can never forget their brothers
and sisters in travail.
Those that were redeemed sang a New
song unto Thy great name; upon the
seashore, they all unanimously praised
and acknowledged Thee, King; and said,
the Lord shall reign . for ever and ever!
The synagogue in Northern Tel Aviv was
crowded with worshipers, uniformed men and
women on leave from their units mingling
with the sober- garbed civilians. The Rosh
Hashanah morning service on this second day
of the festival had brought many more than
the building could comfortably hold. .
.4
In the front row stood Meir Sandler, in the
uniform of a British private. ThiS was a part
of the service which moved him Most deeply:
for he was among the newcomers to Eretz
Israel, who had escaped from the purgatory
of Europe after the war had begun. From his
native Bessarabia he had come to Bucharest
and then, by an incredible series of advent-
ures, had reached Eretz Israel.
There was a dull ache in his heart as he.
joined .in the prayers. He thought of the
loved ones whom he would probably never
see again, from whom he had been separated
while still in Rumania, and whom he had
: sought before deciding that the quest must
be hopeless.
The eye of the Parnass . of the synagogue
caught Meir, standing there and praying
devoutly. He thought to himself: There seems
to be an unusual spirit among the congrega-
tion today. They have come closer to the
Almighty. The young and the diffident, those
who denied Him in the past, or those who
scoffed at religion, they too have come to the
synagogue today to beseech his forgiveness. I
call upon that soldier to open the Ark,
as the "shaliach tzibbur," that the people may
see the now faith in Israel.
"Meir ben Israel," .replied the soldier.
The Parnass nodded to him, almost im-
perceptibly, and Meir Sandler went forward
to open the Ark. A sigh went up from the
congregation as he did so, the unknown
soldier, approaching the Ark of the Scrolls
to reveal the Word to the people. They stared
at him curiously, inquisitively, some with
reddened eyes who had been weeping with
the strength of their supplications.
With a firm hand, he pulled aside the
curtain, and the doors were opened, showing
the Scrolls. The congregation burst into the
chant:
Thou art our God in heaven and earth,
almighty and exalted . . . His glory is
everlasting, His look penetrates the life
of all the world . . . He dwelleth above
the skies.
The above scene, in the vicinity of Metzudath Ussish- ,
kin, at Dafne and Dan, Upper Galilee, tells the epic of
Jewish perseverance and new progress in the upbuilding;
of the Jewish National Home since the outbreak of the war.
Here we see the product of modern industry—the tractor-
riaging up for the first time in many centuries, the ancient
and long-untilled soil of Galilee after it was purchased and
reclaimed by the Jewish National Fund in purguance of its
war-time "Land for Freedom" program.
In the first four years of the war, 24 new agricultural
colonies were established, and of these 22 were founded on
the land acquired by the Jewish National Fund. The new
settlements which bring up the total of J.N.F. colonies to ,
166, are located in all parts of the land which in the Bible,
has been described as stretching "From Dan to Beersheba."
American Jewry's part- in the world income of the land .
reclaiming instrument provided during the past year the
lion's share of the new financial resources that were re-,
quired. The Keren Ka.yemeth has added 180,000 dunams of '
land since the outbreak of the war, with the total holdings
now standing at the 650,000 dunam level.
In the women's gallery they peered out,
attracted by the stir in the congregation as
the Ark had been opened. Suddenly there was
a piercing scream, and a voice cried out,
"Meir!"-
The soldier beforethe Ark stiffened. The
entire congregation W
was spellbound at this
unwonted interruption. Again the cry came:
"Meir, is it you at last?"
It was- a never-to-be-forgotten moment for
that congregation, in its hiked synagogue hall
somewhere in Northern Tel Aviv. For chance
had brought this man to their midst and
chance had singled him out to stand before
the Ark of the Law. Chan:de had brought to
the gallery the trimly-uniforined Esther of his
dreams, whom he thought he had lost. Out-
side in the entrance hall they were reunited,
after three painful years of .separation. Inside,
the service proceeded: for no man nor his
earthly woes may interrupt the veneration of
the Almighty by the congregation of Israel.
They stood there embraced, oblivious to the
eyes of the little boys who had - gathered
around and stood with forefingers in their
mouths watching the supreme- romance of
personal reunion. They sobbed in each other's
arms, the man who had joined the Army to
avenge his people; the girl who also had
joined the women's service out of the con-
sciousness of her people's mission.
.
And, as though it were the answer to their
exaltation, the congregation within, with
pious intonation, chanted aloud:
And the. Lord gave ear and heard it, and
it was written in the Book of Remem-
brance of the Most Holy!
Achievements by JNF in Palestine
From '17 to '43 Outlined by Hordes
William Hordes, president of the Jewish National 'Fund
Council of Detroit, in a statement outlining the achievements
of the fund, which is the land-redeeming agency in Palestine,
presented the following, comparison on land-holdings in 1917
as compared with 1943:
THEN-1917
NOW-1943
The land holdings of
The land holdings of the J. N. F.
the J. N. F. amounted to
amount to 640,000 dunams, consti-
16,000 dunams, consti-
tuting 42 per cent of the total area
tuting 4 per cent of the
in JewiSh ownership.
total area of the land in
There are 165 settlements on
Jewish ownership at the
J. N. F. land, in addition to subur-
time.
ban quarters, rural housing quar-
There were 7 settle-
ters, training farms, agricultural
ments on J. N. F. land.
schools and labor camps.
- There were 6 00 peo-
There are 75,000 people living
ple living on J. N. F.
on J. N. F. land constituting 12
land, constituting one
per cent of the Jewish population.
per cent of the Jewish
Settlements on J. N. F. land
population at the time.
supply 65 per cent of the milk and
The share of J. N. F.
milk products consumed by the
land in agricultural pro-
Yishuv, '75 per cent of the egg
duction was infinitesi-
production, 77 per cent of the
mal.
vegetable production.
..
22 New Palestine Settlements
On Jewish National Fund Land
Rhode Island's Governor
Sponsors Palestine Project
"This thoughtful act will serve to associate the ideal of
religious freedom on which our state was founded by Roger
Williams with the Jewish pioneers who are today laying
the foundation of the Jewish Homeland upon the sacred
soil of their past," declared Hon. J. Howard McGrath, gov-
ernor of Rhode Island (fourth from left) to a delegation of
Jewish communal leaders who called upon him to invite
him to serve as honorary president of the Nachlath William
Rogers Council.
The group, co-operating with the Jewish National Fund,
has undertaken to redeem in Palestine an extensive tract
of land which is to bear the name of William Rogers, who
founded Rhode Island as a haven for those who sought
freedom from religious and political persecution.
The well-known Zionist leader, Archibald Silverman
of Providence. is president, and Arthur I. Darman of Woon-
socket, is executive chairman of the Council in which a
group. of active communal leaders are members.
"Geulath Jerusalem's
A Poignant Call—
"Geulath Jerusalem," a new land declama-
tion and development program of the Jewish
National Fund, graphically described here, is
a project which has captured the imagination
and secured the interest: of wide circles in
American Jewry during the past year.
Brought to this country by Rabbi Meyer
Berlin as a member of the Presidium of the
Keren Kayemeth Lelsrael in Jerusalem, the
plan envisages the acquisition, as national
property, of an area of 6,000 dunams of land
in the Mountains of Judaea, on the historic
road from Jerusalem to Hebron, past the
Tomb of Rachel.
This strip of land where Patriarch, Prophet
and Seer of old trod, is to :witness
a new development which will
provide additional facilities for the
rescue of the remnants of European
I.
Jewry. Three or four new agri-
cultural settlements are to be AA 1. 41
established in this area where a forest of
250,0.30 trees is also to -be planted in accord-
./ERUSALEM
"
ance with the
plans of the Mach-
leketh Ha'Charedim,
the Jewish National Fund's Department on
Contact with Religious Organizations.
A 41 1 E ERCN