50 Friday, May 12, 1978
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Israel's 3,000 Years
By SOLOMON H.
STECHOLL
JERUSALEM — Unlike
Arthur Haley, who con-
ducted a lengthy investiga-
tion to find his "roots" deep
in the jungle of West Africa,
Israelis have always known
where their roots were to be
found: in the soil of Israel,
where the history of the He-
brews began following the
migration of Semitic tribes
from the Persian Gulf, 45
centuries ago. The history
and origins of the people,
their "roots" in Israel, are
related in the Bible and
other ancient records.
There has, however, been
a large-scale searching
after more knowledge of the
past, for details to supple-
ment the written biblical
record. A new impetus to
this quest into the past fol-
lowed the establishment of
the modern state of Israel,
30 years ago. Archeological
excavations became — and
remain — the favorite pas-
time of increasingly large
numbers of Israelis.
Under mounds of soil and
stone, Israelis find the roots
of their past, a record of the
period of transition from
food gathering to planned
agriculture, the beginnings
of irrigation and the de-
velopment of building, from
the earliest fortifications at
Jericho through the typical
four-room Israelite house,
to the synagogues of the
early common era.
Above all, the way of
life of the ancestors are
revealed in the day to day
domestic artifacts from
distant ages. Hundreds of
"digs" are conducted
every year, strata and
pottery carefully dated,
where the stress is more
on the systematic re-
search into the past
rather than the collection
of removable items of an-
tiquity for museums or
private collections. It is
this difference which dis-
tinguishes archeological
research in Israel today
from the practice before
1948.
The roots of the Hebrew
nation originated, as told in
Genesis, in the Ur of the
Chaldees, with the migra-
tion of Abraham first
northwards to Nineveh and
then westward to Haran in
the Taurus mountain
range, before moving
gradually southwards to
Canaan, which became the
Promised Land.
Given this starting point,
the present-day search for
the past of the Israelis is
also conducted in the former
Sumerian lands, through
which the Patriarchs passed
in the 19th Century BCE.
The forefathers, nomadic
shepherds, living very
much like the Bedouin of
today, pitching their tents
at gracing sites and then
moving on, were not likely
to have left material traces
of their sojourn.
There is specific mention
of one of the 12 Tribes of Is-
rael, the tribe of Asher, in
Egyptian documents, and
the stele of Pharaoh Mer-
neptah singles out the name
of a nation, "Israel", a fact
which gives evidence that
there were Hebrews living
in Canaan before the con-
quest by Joshua.
In other words, not all
the Hebrew tribesmen
had moved to Egypt, and
the Exodus led by Moses
was of the people in
llgyptian bondage back
to the land where other
members of the 12 Israel-
ite tribes had been living
throughout the 420 years
of Egyptian exile — from
Joseph to Moses.
The biblical account of
the conquest of Canaan and
the resettlement of the Is-
raelites on the land, in the
book of Joshua, is full of ac-
counts of battles. This is
fully supported by ar-
cheological evidence,
which, from the burnt re-
mains of the destroyed cities
of Lachish, Bethel, Hazor
and Tel Bet Mirsim, pin-
points the time of Joshua's
conquest to the mid-13th
Century BCE.
There is mystery, also as
the earth reluctantly gives
up its secrets. Both at
Jericho and Ai, two cities
razed to the ground accord-
ing to the biblical account,
archeologists who worked
at the sites found no evi-
dence whatsoever of fires
and destruction relating to
this period. There is no cor-
roboration from the physi-
cal remains, which led some
to suggest that the account
of Joshua's victories may
have been deliberately
exaggerated, in order to
raise his stature as a mili-
tary commander.
Excavations at Hazor,
Gezer and Megiddo (Ar-
mageddon) have revealed
that the fortress gates of all
these cities had, in King
Solomon's time, been built
by the royal architects ac-
cording to a uniform plan.
Solomon's Temple in
Jerusalem was destroyed by
the Chaldeans in 586 BC,
but at Arad, another Tem-
ple of Solomon, constructed
according to the same
three-division plan, was un-
covered, providing a deep
insight into what was a cen-
tral focus of religious prac-
tice in the Israel of 3,000
years ago.
The excavations at
Samaria, Hazor and
Megiddo also provide
both corroboration and a
better understanding
into the biblical account
of the "might of the
House of Omri." There is
proof in the form of the
palaces and walls, the
buildings and the water
tunnels. There is proof,
also, for the description
of the Palace of King
Ahab given in the Bible
as the "ivory house" (I
Kings 22:39). A large
quantity of carved
ivories was found, which
add to our knowledge of
the Jewish heritage, as
they depict a graphic vis-
ual image of the Temple
ornaments used by mod-
ern Israel's forebears.
Of the many excavations,
three have pride of place:
The excavation of Herod's
mountain top retreat at
Masada on the Dead Sea,
where Jewish independence
ended tragically in the year
73 CE with the mass suicide
of the remaining rebels
against the Romans;
The excavations around
the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem, revealing the
high, massive, magnificent
walls and esplanades of the
greatest builder in the his-
tory of Israel, Herod the
Great;
And the discovery of
the Dead Sea Scrolls in
the Judean Desert caves
at Qumran, which
opened a sealed book,
providing rich evidence
of the development of
Messianism in Judaism
at the turn of the era, and
the influence which the
Qumran sectarians,
probably the Essenes,
exerted in shaping the
doctrines and dogmas of
the early Christian
Church, which has
grown from these roots
and developed to em-
brace a large part of
mankind.
But the Israelis are still
hard at it, seeking their
roots, seeking for more
knowledge of the heroes and
villains of their past. There
is now a massive project
under way in Jerusalem to
uncover the city of David —
the Jerusalem of the time of
King David and King Sol-
omon, the 70 years known
as the Golden Age of Israel.
There is work in progress
to reveal more of the build-
ing works of King Herod.
Already much has been un-
covered of his massive
The excavations of Herod's palace on the summit of building: The Jerusalem
Masada were led by Prof. Yigael Yadin, now Israel's Temple Walls, the Jericho
Deputy Prime Minister. Mosaic floors, bathrooms and Palace, the Structure in
Hebron over the Cave .o•
palace chambers were unearthed intact.
30th Year of Statehood
Machpela where Abraham
and Sarah are reputedly
buried, the harbor and walls
of Caesarea, where at the
amphitheater built by
Herod, regular concerts are
given every summer; the
Herodian palaces at Hero-
dian, Masada and
Machaerus.
There are tangible and
heart-rending remains
from the last armed
struggle for indepen-
dence in the Second Cen-
tury CE by Bar Kokhba,
the last one, that is, until
the struggle which re-
suited in Israel regaining
her freedom 30 years ago;
the skeletons in the
"Cave of Horrors" in the
Judean Wilderness, and
the letters of the rebel
leader himeslf, stored in-
side reeds and found in
the bag of household be-
longings of one of the
rebel women, who died'
with all the others in the
caves, starved out by the
Romans.
Investigations into the
past already revealed that
the destruction of
Jerusalem by Titus in 70 CE
was not the total end of
Jewish settlement in the
country. In Galilee espe-
cially there remained de-
nsely concentrated popula-
tions and a rich religious
life, attested to by the many
synagogues built from the
Second to the Fourth cen-
turies CE, such as those at
Chorazin and Capernaum.
The later synagogues, of
the Fifth and Sixth Cen-
tiu-es at Jericho and at Ein
Gedi, are proof that after
the destruction ofJudea and
exile into slavery of the
people, Jews returned five
centuries later.
Pre-State Heroes Are Recalled
By DULCY B. LEIBLER dear friend. In 1915, when Sarah and Lishansky di-
Feinberg was arrested and rected the espionage activi-
From the World Zionist
Press Service
falsely accused of having ties in Palestine. The NILI
Sarah Aaronsohn was contacted British boats off group did not limit itself to
born and brought up in Zik- the coast, Aaronsohn used spying for the British. It
hron Yaacov. As a child she his connections with Jamal also aided the Jewish popu-
loved reading about Jewish Pasha to set him free. lation, by sending out news
heroes, never dreaming Aaronsohn accepted the concerning the situation in
that she herself would one basic idea that the British
the country , acl smuggling
day participate in exploits army's entry into Palestine in letters and funds.
which would make her into should be aided by espion-
In September 1917,
a true heroine.
age.
Aaronsohn met with
Charming, vivacious and Thus the NILI — a secret Chaim Weizmann and his
intelligent, Sarah had pro-British spying organ- colleagues in London and
many admirers, among ization, came into being. Its
succeeded in convincing
whom was Avshalom Fein- name came from tire initial them of the importance of
berg. Since he was virtually letters of "Nezah Yisrael Lo
NILI's work. But that
penniless, however, Sarah Yeshakker" (The Strength very month, the Turks
dutifully wed the wealthy of Israel Will Not Lie, I Sam.
caught a carrier pigeon
man her parents chose for 15:29). It operated under sent from Athlit to Egypt.
her and moved with him to Turkish rule in Syria and The intercepted message
Constantinople in 1914. Palestine during the years
gave clear proof of es-
Her marriage to Hayyim 1915-1917.
pionage activity within
Abraham was such an un-
Establishing initial the Jewish population.
happy one that Sarah soon contact with the British Fear of reprisal killed
felt she must return to her headquarters in Egypt most of the support the
parents' home. En route to was far from easy. NILI group had enjoyed
Palestine, she was an eye- Aaronsohn had gathered among the settlers.
witness to the savage perse- together a group of Internal conflicts
cution of the Armenians by young men from Zikhron weakened the organiz
' a-
the Turkish authorities.
Yaakov, Hadera, Petah lion.
Sarah's older brother Tikva and Rishon Le
On Oct. 1, 1917, soldiers
Aaron, a tall, broadshoul- Zion, organized them, surrounded
Zikhron
dered man, gifted with qual- trained them and placed
Yaacov. Sarah was among
ities of leadership, devoted them in agricultural the many arrested.
himself to a study of Pales- work at his experimental
For four days and nights
tine's soil and plants. In station. There, he also
she was subjected to brutal
1906 he made a discovery prepared them for es-
torture. She replied only
that brought him world- pionage. His sister Sarah
with words of defiance or
wide fame: he found wild joined the group, as did
stony silence. Fearing she
Emmer wheat in Galilee - Yosef Lishansky, who
could no longer hold out, she
the mother of all wheat!
headed a watchmen's
committed suicide rather
During a visit to the organization, which pro-
than divulge any informa-
States, at the invitation of tected the small Jewish
tion.
the U.S. Department of settlements in southern
Agriculture in 1909, he Judea.
met with influential
Much information was
Jewish leaders who pro- collected but it was not until
vided him with the means January 1917, when Aaron-
to establish his Agricul- sohn went abroad on a sci-
tural Experimental Sta- entific mission, that he was
tion at Athlit near Haifa. able to gain the confidence
Not even Aaron knew at of the British. They sent
this point that the scien- him to Egypt to organize the
tific research institute espionage work on a large
would turn into a center scale.
of espionage. By 1915,
Lishansky and Feinberg
however, Aaron was tried to join Aaronsohn in
convinced of the need to Egypt. They went to
fight the Turks.
Beersheba and then set out
Lishansky escaped
death many times, both at
the hands of the Turks
and of his fellow Jews.
The latter feared that the
Turks would carry out
their threat to destroy
entirely any village in
which Lishansky was
found. But, in the end, he
was captured by Bedouin
who found him trying to
sneak into Egypt. They
turned Lishansky over to
the Turks, who executed
him.
The remaining members
Feinberg came from one for the desert dressed as Be-
of the earliest pioneer douin. A band of armed Be- of the organization contin-
families. Brought up in douin attackejl them and ued their spying activities
Hadera, he spent much of Feinberg was killed. until British forces invaded
his time among local Be- Lishansky was badly Palestine. Weizmann sent
douin, read a great deal and wounded, but managed to Aaronsohn on many prop-
kept a diary. He was a crawl through the sand, half aganda missions to the
member of the Gideonites, a dead, until he was rescued United States and Europe.
society of young men who by an Australian cavalry On May 15, 1919, en route
wanted to form a Jewish patrol. Later, a search was from Paris to London,
Army to revolt against the made for Feinberg's body. It Aaronsohn was killed in an
Turks. wasn't found and it was airplane crash.
Feinberg worked in thought that shiftingdesert After the 1967 Six-Day
Aaronsohn's agricultural sands had covered it for all
War, Israelis discovered
station, and he regarded his eternity. Avshalom Feinberg's re-
boss as both a teaches and
After Feinberg's death, mains in Sinai.