How Jew and Gentile United to Purchase
Three Chapels-on-Wheels for Israel Army
6—Friday, December 24, 1971
to handle the clerical transactions
without fee. But the actual ship-
ping via Zim Lines would be costly.
In May. Rabbi Eskin was phoned
by an Israeli sea captain, then in
These three North American-made "mobile synagogues" have
been acquired by the Israel army, thanks to a campaign by Detroit
Rabbi Herbert Eakin and the help of an automotive company
official The gift has been acknowledged in a letter to Rabbi Eakin
frOm the new chief rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, Rabbi
Mordechai Piron.
A good Christian has helped the
Israel army acquire a trio of
"mobile synagogues" for its men
in outlying military posts.
The role of automotive company
official Jack Palmer was described
by Detroit Rabbi Herbert Eskin,
whose campaign to obtain the three
synagogues-on-wheels came to a
successful conclusion recently.
Rabbi Eskin has received an
acknowledgement of the gift from
Brig. Gen. Mordechai Piron, chief
chaplain of the Israel Defense
Forces, who said the mobile chap-
els have been installed and will
"henceforth serve our soldiers on
the frontier lines and other outly-
ing military posts, in their daily
prayers to our Lord the Almighty."
(aron kodesh, storage space for
prayer books, taleisim, etc.) and
sinks for the kohanim to wash their
hands.
Thanks to Mandell, three Cana-
dian manufacturers agreed to con-
struct the trailers. But Rabbi
Eskin was to obtain the one-ton
trucks to pull them.
He was put in contact with Jack
Palmer, general manager of Chrys-
ler Import-Export Division, who
agreed to do all that he could.
"At this point," said Rabbi Es-
kin, "I cannot laud sufficiently
the cooperation, effort and dedica-
tion of this Christian friend who
pursued this challenge with great
devotion. He not only procured
these vehicles for me at low cost
but
also included all the special
Rabbi Eskin's efforts began in
Israel during fall 1969 when then- fittings at no additional expense.
chief chaplain Gen. Shlomo Goren He assw cd me that delivery of
related to the Detroiter the need these trucks would be Feb. 1."
for chapels in the Golan Heights,
Now Rabbi Eskin faced the prob-
near the Suez Canal and in the lem of how to pay for the trucks
Jordan Valley. Rabbi Goren de- and how to get them to Israel.
scribed Rabbi Piron's unique idea "Again, the Almighty acted as a
for chapels on wheels, which could silent partner and once more
travel from base to base.
through the help of good friends I
The challenge was accepted by was led to an outstanding and most
Rabbi Eskin, who returned to De- charitable Detroit Jewish family
troit with the specifications for con- who decided to donate all three
struction, drawn up by fellow trucks."
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Partisans Friends of Jews mostparilsees were friends of the
Hyman Shenkman, author of Jews. He said he regretted the
"The Partisans Against the Nazi misunderstanding.
War Machine," interviewed in
last week's Jewish News, said he
meant to say not that "most Poles
were friends of the Jews" but that
Chicago, who said two Israeli ships
were heading for Detroit to pick
up some cargo. They also would
pick up the chapels and trucks.
Now the rabbi had to find a ship-
ping agent in Detroit. Palmer con-
tacted the agent who handles
Chrysler shipping and told him not
to charge any fees—usually a con-
siderable sum because of the ex-
tensive paper work involved.
Palmer also , came to the U.S.-
Canadian border customs office to
handle the complicated arrange.
ments accompanying the trailer
crossing from Canada to the U.S.
At the Port of Detroit, on May
10, there was a small dedication
ceremony, attended by the Palme r
family, the truck donors and others
who were involved in the opera-
tion.
'In this effort," said Rabbi Eskin,
"Jew and non-Jew joined together
in assuring the courageous men of
the Israel Defense Forces that in
fulfilling their spiritual needs they
do not stand completely alone.
"So, on Monday, May 11, Israel
Independence Day to be exact, the
Tamar and Hadar departed the
Port of Detroit with three syna-
gogues on wheels and three trucks
and headed for the frontiers of
Israel."
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tourist Dave Mandell, who is in the
trailer business in Windsor.
To save money, Rabbi Eskin. an
armed forces reserve chaplain,
arranged with three men in his
The trailers were to be 30-feet outfit to drive the vehicles and
long and eight-feet high, to seat at trailers to New York, the port of
least 20-30 men, and no more than embarkation.
eight feet wide due to the narrow-
Once again, Palmer came to the
ness of the Israeli roads. It was
to have electricity, the necessary rescue and found a shipping agent
accouterments of a synagogue
1971
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