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Friday, December 13,
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By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
'Not Once Have I Dripped' in Jerusalem:
An incident in Non-Jewish Woman's Report
One of the most charming books about Israel was written by a
Christian lady, Mary Clawson, who was is Israel with her husband and
their children while he held a post there as an adviser on farming po-
tentials. Entitled "Letters from Jerusalem" ("A non-Jewish woman's
love affair with Israel"), this volume (published by Abelard-Schuman,
404 4th, N. Y. 16) contains so many interesting comments, and relates
so many interesting incidents, that it will undoubtedly call for many
reviews.
Preliminary to the review itself, there is one item that deserves
special attention at this time. So many people ask about the most
suitable time to visit Israel that Mrs. Clawson's opinion is worth
quoting.
Our own advice is: go to Israel whenever you can. Every time of
the year has something valuable to offer in the land of manifold
contrasts.
Mrs. Clawson, having written under date of July 28, 1953, re-
ported that "we have had the taste of the very worst summer weather
Jerusalem can produce." Then she proceeds to write, to her mother:
"It is a common belief here that Jerusalem is hot in the summer,
and that during a hamsin, life barely verges on the bearable. All I
can say is, try a summer in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago,
Little Rock, or any one of a dozen other places in the States. In
Washington, I dripped, my clothes were soaking wet soon after I put
them on, my hair was plastered to my head, perspiration would fall
from my face on reports I was writing, on hapless ironing or on food
I was preparing to cook. I would get up two or three times a night
to dash cold water on my face and most of the summer slept naked,
without even a sheet; many times our boys woke crying from the heat.
In San Francisco, on the other hand, as you know well, It is actually
cold most of the summer; you are apt to feel cheated, as if summer
had passed you by.
"Jerusalem has all the advantages of a summer hot enough to
leave you in no doubt as to the season, but not once have I dripped,
and never once have we slept without at least one blanket.
"I had read and been told about the dreaded hamsins. They are not
pleasant, but they rarely last more than a few days. `Hamsin' is
an Arab word which has become part of the Hebrew language, despite
valiant efforts on the part of newspapers and purists to have Israelis
use instead the Hebrew word `sharay.' It is a hot, dry, southeasterly
wind, supposedly blowing straight off the desert in Saudi Arabia.
You cannot mention summer in Israel without highlighting the word
hamsin; it would insult Israelis if you did. Any distressing break in a
conversation can be enlivened by discussing the latest hamsin, or the
worst hamsin in memory and so on and so on. . . . The hamsin's
effects ion people's tempers is noticeable; it does have an influence on
the nervous system . . . You become more and more susceptible to
various illnesses during hamsins . . . I suspect it may be they bother
you more the further away you are from the horrors of a Washington
or New York summer . . ."
True, the hamsin is uncomfortable. But, as Mrs. Clawson implies,
it also is mighty uncomfortable in many parts of our own country.
And you drip more in Washington than you do in Jerusalem. Natur-
ally, it is preferable to visit Jerusalem in April or in October and
November, but even in October we experienced hot days in Jerusalem.
Like Mrs. Clawson, we did not drip.
Perhaps this single experience will serve at once to call attention
to an unusually fine description of Israel by this interesting Christian
woman. Her book is eminently worth reading and having. More about
It a bit later.
*
*
*
Cooperation Among Israel's Scientists
A study of Israel's institutions of higher learning and research
reveals a remarkable spirit of cooperation. Technion collaborated with
other universities in studying methods of technology suitable for the
country. The Hebrew University's great scholars work in cooperation
with the scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in their
research activities.
Weizmann Institute scientists are active in various fields of activ-
ity involving Israel's search for oil
and experiments in agricultural
endeavors.
Two of the great scientsts at the
Weizmann Institute — Dr. Israel.
Dostrovsky and Isaac Berenblum-
are engaged in isotope and cancer
research, and the professors of the
Hebrew' University always are
available to them, and to other
scientists at the Weizmann Insti-
tute in Rehovot, in their research
work.
Two distinguished scientists at
the Weizmann Institute, Dr. Leo
Sachs and Dr. Mathilde Danon-
the latter a Swiss non-Jewess-
are at work in important research
activities in the field of medicine.
Exactly two years ago, an excit-
ing bit of news came from Jerus-
alem—about "the diagnosis of sex
before birth, using cells from the
amniotic fluid." Dr. David M. Serr,
a young physician of the depart-
ment of obstetrics and gynecology
at the Rothschild-Hadassah Uni-
versity Hospital in Jerusalem, did
the clinical work in perfecting this
diagnosis. The laboratory work was
done at the Weizmann Institute by
Drs. Danon and Sachs. The cases
for this study were obtained
through the World-famous Prof. B.
Zondek.
Dr. Serr pointed out in his re-
port on this diagnosis: "It has
been proved that the genetic sex
of the fetus is demonstrable dur-
ing the earliest stages of its de-
velopment in spite of the apparent
bi-sexuality of the fetus at this
stage."
The abstract of the report by
Drs. Serr, Danon and Sachs
stated: "It seems that the only
possible error in the present
method of diagnosis, and this can
be ignored for practical purposes,
is in the rare case of an intersex
in which the sexual phenotype ap-
pears to be in contradiction to the
sex chromosome constitution."
Young scientists are performing
these great research tasks. Dr.
Danon is under 30. The average
age of the scientists at the Weiz-
mann Institute is 31. Meyer W.
Weisgal is the directorial genius
of the Weizmann Institute.
See Photographs -
taken at
Weizmann
Institute)
on, Page 43