Israel-in-the-Making Reconstructed in Eliav's
Fascinating.Collection of Settlers' Narratives

A distinguished member of the
Israeli government, whose pioneer-
ing efforts in setting up housing
units for new immigrants give him
the distinction of being one of the
best informed men in his country
on aliya and integration of set-
tlers, renders an especially nota-
ble service to Israeli and Jewish
history by giving an account of his
experiences and of the attitudes
he confronted in providing shelter
for new immigrants.
Interestingly enough, a series of
stories that make history are told
in a book which Arie L Ellay,
who is known affectionately
throughout Israel as Lyova, has
titled "Ng Time For History." In
this set of narratives, published by
Sabra Books, he tells how the im-
migrants who arrived in• Israel
upon the rebirth of the state were
provided with temporary homes,
how new kibutzim and moshavim
were established and the choices
that were made of settlers for
them.
Eliav, now a member of the
Knesset, who is secretary general
of the Israel Labor Party, gives
credit for "being molded" into his
role as a public servant in the area
of immigrant settlement to his
commanding officer in illegal ha-
migration days, Shaul Avigur, and
to Levi Esbkol, "who inherited me
from Shaul after the War of Inde-
pendence." It was under the direc-
tion of the late Levi Eshkol that
Eliav performed his duties as re-
lated in these stories.
There are some very unusual
experiences in this record of a
labor in behalf of escapees from
oppressions. It is the story of the
period of the maabarot, of the
temporary housing shelters that
marked the era of mass migra-
tion and of trials and tribulations
that taxed Israers energies, was
filled with problems, aroused
new settlers' resentments and
called for firm steps in state-
building.
The reader gains the same ad-
miration for Eshkol that Eliav had
in his relations with him. The
period of the maabarot was de-
pressing. The temporary homes
were far from suitable but Israel
had no means for immediate im-
provement. The refugees were
flocking to the land. What were
they to do, except labor and have
patience? The patience of that
time was absolutely admirable.
It is worth noting what Eshkol
used to say to his associates:
"Kinderlach Children" (this
was the way he would often ad-
dress his peers and elders),
"our life resembles a large sieve.
In this sieve, without order or
plan, there are stones — large,
small and medium—and pebbles,
sand, silt and floating dust parti-
cles. The sieve sinks under the
load of stones, and moves slowly,
to and fro, to and fro, steadily
and constantly. Never, it would
seem, will there be any order
in this muddle. No stone will
find its aperture, and the sieve
is doomed to break and come to
a halt. But you, children, what
are you to do? Just one thing.
Keep the sieve moving and never
let go! • ."
Then come the many incidents
describing the never let go policy
with which the staff of workers
was imbued, and Eliav was among
its leaders. He relates the events
in stories that are excellently
translated in his "No Time For
History" from the Hebrew by Dov
Chaikin
-
In the Ellav story, the reader is
introduced to the factual details
regarding the development of the
new Israeli areas after the War of
Liberatkva, the emergence of the
Laidgab aettletuutte, the Nevatim
center, the eatebliehearat of Kiryat
Gat.
▪ He tells about the arrival of
Cochin Jews whoa be had be-
friended, the Yemenites' integra-
tion and the Magie Carpet flight
to Israel with the oppressed Jews,
of the settlement of African and
other Jews in the new state.

pologist, Dr. Margaret Mead.
Eliav, having guided her for three
days on her tour, asked for her
opinion of Israel. She commented
critically on the manner of absorb-
ing newcomers. And later there
was an experience with Dr. Mead's
daughter's visit in Israel. The en-
tire series of episodes deserves
retelling. Here they are, com-
mencing with the comments of Dr.
Mead:

Their (the new settler?) sole
common denominator, and I stress
sole, is that they're Jews. Further-
more, and this factor is possibly no
less. important, these people are

not farmers at all; only individu-
als among them, from Kurdistan
and Morocco, have engaged in

primitive farming, and it would be
better for them had they not known
the art when they came here. And

you're thinking of transforming

AWE L. (LYOVA) ELIAV

It was an era when there was a
shortage of housing, when the
Maabarot were being established,
when large families were given
limited "blocklets." It was at a
session of Jewish Agency leaders
at which the planning for assign-
ment of "blocklets" was discussed
that an interesting experience oc-
curred with the Yemenis and Eliav
related the following:

Suddenly, one of the settlers
stood up, Lean, bearded, with long
and curly sidelocks, his dark eyes
burning as he spoke: he had a big
grievance to address to "your hon-
ors." "Your honors" — that was
us, the whole caboodle of absorp-
tion staff and instructors. He had
been allocated only one "block-
let," although it was well-known
he had brought two wives from
the Yemen and had, praise God,
four chidren from the- first wife
and three from the second. The
wives were young and the children
small, how could they all live • in
one "blocket"? Where was justice?
Not only was a grave injustice be-
ing done to him, he was also f•us-
trated in his wish to observe the
Biblical tenet "to be fruitful and
multiply."
One of the instructors pointed
out that the "biocklet" was an in-
tegral part of the homestead, and
that if he were given two houses
he would also come into posses-
sion of two agricultural units —
which would not do.
Glancing about him the Yemen-
ite must have sensed that this. time
he was faced by more important
personages than his instructor, and
that this was an opportunity for
an on-the-spot decision which would
override the local man.
He leveled his glance at Eshkol
and said: "Your honor and excel-
lency, it is you people who assert
that the new immigrants with their
many children are a blessing, and
we all pray for more children.
Therefore, if you let me have an-
other tliacket: I shall make an
important deal with your honors?'
"What deal?" Eshkol asked.
"You will provide me with an-
other `blocklet,' and I undertake
to present the State each year with
two children."
Pausing, he then added:
"Two children ... at least!"
The upshot was that the Yemen-
ite got his extra "blocklet." It
transpired that he could be granted
one of the "blocklets" intended for
the artisans: these had not been
provided with plots of land.
A few months later we received

an invitation to attend a circum-
cision ceremony, with a note ap-

pended by the instructor that this
was an advance "on account."

Not only the immigrants but
Jews from the Diaspora who assist
in Israel's upbuDding are given
credit for their labors.
Thus, Elia, writes about Israel
Pollock, the Chilean industrialist,
who established vast knitting and
ready-made clothing factories in
Kiryat Gat. He ' tells about the
wealthy American farmer, Sam
Hamburg, who was responsible for
the establishment of the cotton
industry in Israel.
Ella, relates about the visits to
Israel 'of. distinguished non-Jewish
personalities and especially note-
worthy is the story describing the
visit of the world famous anthro-

them, in a matter of a few years,
into modern farmers within a de-
veloped and complex cooperative
context, which in itself is a novel
experiment in our world."
"Quite correct," I said.
"Well, Mr. Eliav," Dr. Mead
said, "Pd have gone about it. in
the following way: first, I'd have
appealed on behalf of your Gov-
ernment, to the appropriate U.N.
bodies and request them to inves-
tigate all aspects of the subject."
"The U.N. bodies?" I wondered.
"Yes, the U.N. bodies. Once
you'd appealed to them in writing,
they'd answer you a few months
later that they were acceding to
your equest, and would be sending
a commission for an on-the-spat
preliminary study of this weighty
subject. Such a commission would
be composed of representatives of
the Food and Agriculture Orpan-
ization, and similar bodies. The
distinguished commission would re-
quest a reasonable , period of time
for investigating the complex sub-
ject — say, three years. At the

end of three years of ramified re-
search, the commission would re-
quest a year's extension for writ-
ing its report. At the end of the
extra year, you'd receive- a report
—a thick volume containing hun-
dreds of pages. At the end of the
book, under `Conclusions and Rec-

ommendations,' only one line would
appear: `It cannot be done.' "

I had gradually caught on to the
fact that Dr. Mead was pulling my
leg, and now, at the end of her
speech, I noticed the mischievous
glint in her wise eyes.
"And so, Mr. Eliav," Margaret
Mead concluded, "you went your
own way. You didn't call on the
U.N. and its bodies, nor did you
wait for the advice of sociologists
and anthropologists such as myself.
And a good thing, too. This is a
great human adventure, and may
God bless you:"
That was not the end of Mar-
garet Mead's ties with the Lakhish
Region.
Some time later Margaret Mead
again appeared in Lakhish, this
time with her 17-yer-old daughter,
a lovely, rmiling girl, long•legged
and fl ax
eri-haired.
"My daughter wants to see your
border settements," the mother
sighde, "and, of course the won-
derful Nahal soldiers."
We went out to the Lakhish out-
posts, Nehosha and Amatziyah.
At the end of the tour, at Anzat-
ziyah, I was witness to a fairly
stormy argument between mother
and daughter. I refrained from in-
terfering, of course.
Approaching me then with her
daughter, the mother said: "Isn't
it true that it's very dangerous
here, and that there are exchanges
of fire here practically every night
with infiltrators and terrorists coin-
ing font across the border?"
Not being quite sure of the posi-
tion I was supposed to take in this
argument, nor fully grasping the
portent of these questions in the

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

daughter's presence, I murmured
something which sounded affirma-
tive.
"You see," said the mother to
the daughter, "you can't stay here.
It's absurd?
"But mother, said the girl,
"there are also girl soldiers here.
Why should'nt I stay?"
"Isn't it true that she may not
stay here?" Dr. Mead appealled to
me, and I discerned a note of en-
treaty in her voice. The anthro-
pologist had given way to the
mother.
"True," I said.
The daughter started getting an-
noyed and displaying signs of ob-
duracy.
"I'm staying here, and that's
that!" she told her mother. "You
didn't ask anyone's permission
when you went to live among the
head-hunters of Borneo, and I
won't ask anyone for permission
now. I like the place. The boys are
cute, and I'm staving."
Having no option, the mother
consented to her daughter's stay-
ing the night. I placed her in the
capable charge of the company
commander.
`Treat her gently," I told him.
"Rely on us," he replied, wink-

ing.
hfargaret Mead left Israel a day
or two later. The daughter, how-
ever, stayed at Amatziyah not one
night, nor two, but many weeks.
I should not be surprised if, one

day, I come across a book entitled
"Pangs of Adolescence in the Lak-
hish Region."
The informative and the delight-

ful stories in the Elia, book are
numerous in "No Time For His-
tory." How could he have time for
history as such when his very tales
are part of the history that has
emerged in 22 years of Israel's
new life! Lyova's book adds inval-
uable data to the story that will
be called Israel history.
P. S.

Friday, January 8, 1971-45

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