I 1 - • ••• 0 ,112..,,A=.7.0.610■014■41MCYMarftll..011... " • 56 Friday, Joe 23, 1978 THE DETROIT IEyIISR NEWS liaquela': The Story of a Woman and a Nation "Raquela" is the title of a book. It is the story of an heroic Israeli woman. It was written by one of the ablest foreign correspondents who covered the story of Israel since the state's inception. It is a name to be remem- bered by those desiring to know all of the historic events relating to Israel. "Raquela" may well be judged the story of two wo- men: the heroine and the book's author. If ever a vol- ume earned best-seller list- ing this is it. Ruth Gruber authored this volume which came off the press of Coward, McCann and Geoghegan this week. To understand the value of this unusual story it is well to reconstruct the story of Ruth Gruber, who is well known to many . audiences in this country and abroad and to her many admirers in the Greater De- troit area. Miss Gruber gives con- siderable credit to her hus- band, Henry J. Rosner, for the encouragement she re- ceived in compiling her story. She has to her credit a number of important books, many on Israel. She has been on Israeli tours 29 times. The youngest person to earn the PhD degree ; at the age of 20, she was the first foreign correspondent to report from the Soviet Arctic. She was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's personal representative to accompany 1,000 refugees from Italy to their haven in .the U.S. In 1947, she was the only foreign correspon- dent who was permitted to enter the British prison camps in Cyprus and thus was virtually in the front ranks of those who witnessed the important events marking Jewish_ struggles for indepen- dence in the Israel that was soon to be born into statehood. The fact that she was the only correspondent who was permitted to cover events that marked the voyage of the Hagana ship Exodus gave her added status in the foreign news field. As correspondent in Is- rael for the New York Herald Tribune she gained first knowledge of the events marking the saga of Israel. "Five minutes after I met Raquela Prywes, in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, I knew my search was over. "This, then is her story. "For nine months my husband, Henry J. Rosner, and I lived in Jerusalem, first in the incomparable beauty of Mishkenot Sha'ananim, a writers' re- treat facing the Old City, and then in all the places where Raquela had lived and worked; I wanted to capture a sense of place and time and history in the life story of a hitherto unknown but fascinating woman. "In the course of writing this book, L found that Raquela moved through so many levels of Israel's his- tory, and her own life touched so many people, that to get the true measure of who she was and what she did, it was necessary to spend long hours interview- ing not only her but also scores of others." This is sort of a synopsis of a story so impressively mov- ing that the author's per- sonal aspects are as valu- able for the reader's know- ledge as the story itself. Raquela Prywes and Ruth Gruber who would relate to the About Raquela, be- founding of Israel: cause this is a true story and depicts so movingly "A few years ago I flew to Israel on a quest: to Israel's struggles, aspira- tions, courage of state find a woman — not builders and defenders: Golda Meir, not a power- Raquela Prywes' family ful world-renowned fi- gure, but one whose life lived in Jerusalem for 300 years. Her story begins in would define what it 1929, the year of Arab riot- means to be a woman of ing. The peace she had Israel.. known ended. She was "Having covered the story five-years-old then. From of Israel since its birth, as then on her life is part of her foreign correspondent for people's experiences, of the New York Herald struggles for life and survi- Tribune, I knew that every woman in Israel had a story; val. These are the memorable and when I began my facts about Ruth Gruber search, I discovered that that explain her search for everyone with whom I talked, famous or obscure, the roots of the state of Is- rael and the form it took in had_a candidate. "Raquela." She conceived a "For countless hours, brilliant idea. She was in driving hundreds of miles search of a woman who up and down the country, I would portray the dramatic tracked down most of the story of Israel. Because of candidates. I wanted a the dramatic genesis of the woman who had taken part "Raquela" story it is well to in the so-called 'illegal im- let Ruth Gruber tell her ap- migration' of Jewish sur- proach in her own way. This vivors after World War II, is how she describes her fighting to enter Palestine; search for the personality a woman who had been on the front lines in the four wars; a woman who had known in her own life the joy and agony of growing up in the biblical land, of being an Israeli. "In the end, it was Dr. Kalman J. Mann, the direc- tor general of the Hadassah-Hebrew Univer- sity Medical Center, who said, 'I think I have a candi- date for you. She's a ninth- generation Jerusalemite. A nurse and midwife. She de- livered most of the babies born to the illegal immig- rants in the British camps in Athlit and Cyprus. She worked in the Hadassah Hospital during our wars. And was so beautiful that every man in Jerusalem wanted to marry her.' Raquela chose to be a nurse-midwife. Her studies for that career were con- cluded at the time of the UN decision for the partition of Palestine. Her first assign- ment was in the Athlit camp for displaced persons set up by the British. That's where Raquela learned about the horrors of the Holocaust and the suffer- ings of the survivors who risked the trip to Palestine. She also served in the Cyprus camp. There she was in close contact with the "illegal" refugees who ar- rived on ships that strove to resist British obstructions to incoming Jewish settlers. The war ended, Raquela returned to Jerusalem and she mar- ried the man of her love, Arik Brzezinski. - They were the founders of the frontier's first medical center. From this point on Raque- la's story is that of Israel. With her husband — they had two sons — Raquela gained wide recognition in the medical sphere, during the Sinai campaign of 1956 and until Arik's passing shortly thereafter. She was a heroine again during the war of 1967 when Raquela organized five satellite hospitals. She was the dedicated nurse, aiding the casualties of the war. All of her efforts were marked by the courage that was hers and Israel's, and throughout this dramatic narrative her life is linked with Israel's and the story itself is as much Israel as Raquela: Like her nation, she confronts difficulties and heroically pursues the task of providing help and comfort for her compatriots. The inseparability of Raquela from Israel is evidenced when the state's president, Presi- dent Ephraim Katzir, Golda Meir and others came to comfort Raquela on the loss of her son Rail, killed in the line of duty in 1976. The tribute is great, the determina- tion to carry on is empha- tic. There is mourning but the concluding words are symbolic: "We go on living," Raquela's second husband Moshe Prywes declares. That's the story of a nation and its na- tionals and of a great woman so eloquently de- picted. It is Ruth Gruber's best story. It is the truth about Israel and her most eminent people as they are portrayed in the image of a great wo- man. What a remarkable story! —P.S. Profiles of Great Jewish Women: Their Eminence in History Two volumes just issued by Bloch Publishing Co. richly enhance the availa- ble literature about Jewish women in history. Both works deal with per- sonalities dating back from earliest times to the pre- sent. Some had gained fame among non-Jews; most of the characterized rate high in the history of the Jewish people. Dr. Greta Fink offers a fascinating collection of biographical studies in "Great Jewish Women: Pro- files of Courageous Women from the Maccabean Period to the Present" Beruria, who was the wife of Rabbi Meir and was an authority on the Talmud; her father, Rabbi Hananiah ben Teradion, who was one of the Ten Martyrs in the Second Century of this era; Dina Grazia, the eminent heroine who was a descendant of Por- tuguese - Marranos; Glueckel of Hameln, the famous lady of Hamburg who, in the 17th-18th Century wrote her memoirs which revealed the courage of woman- hood; Rahel Varnhagen, who had befriended the - The cast of characters noted personalities of the in this book includes early 19th Century, and Queen Alexandra of the who influenced many in Hasmonean hierarchy the German of the Ger- who ruled for nine years man intellectuals; Re- in the First Century BCE; becca Gratz, the great Philadelphia lady who is considered the pioneer in establishing Sunday schools and whose name is perpetuated in Gratz College in Philadelphia. Also in Dr. Fink's list of notables areErnestine Rose, feminist; the Maid of Ludomir, who mastered the Midrash; Sarah Bernhardt, the famous actress; Hannah Solomon, the social worker, Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah; Lillian Wald, noted social worker, Emma Goldman, the anarchist; Helena Rubinstein, famed cosmetician; Sarah Sche- nirer who led in advancing religious education among women; Gertrude Stein, au- thor, Nessie Sachs, Nobel Prize winner; Anna Pauker, Romanian Communist; Louise Nevelson, foremost Century Venetian poet- sculptress; Dorothy Schiff, ess, singer and liar- psi- - publisher; Rosalind chord and lute per- Franklin, scientist and re- searcher in biology; Golda former; Benida Ab- Meir, stateswoman. ravanel, 16th Century It will be noted that the Palestinian who used her women listed are all Jewish wealth to ransom Jewish and that their fields of activ- prisoners and expellees ity were not all Jewish. from Spain. Therefore, the book itself Then there is a group of women of influence, includ- has a universal appeal. Equally impressive is a ing Dona Gracia Nasi, a second Bloch volume, Marrano who conducted an 'Written Out of History," underground railroad to re- to-authored by Sandra scue persecutees from Por- Henry and Emily Taitz. It is tugal after she settled in .hrough their writings and Italy; Anna the Hebrew, a letters that they portray the cosmetics dealer of Italy rollowing women: who sought to prevent ex- Mibtahish, a brilliant pulsion of Jews; Esther Ki- woman who dealt in and era, who befriended the devoted herself to female Turkish Sultan's wife, 16th rights in the Fifth Cen- Century, helped Jewish tury; Sambathe, a First merchants who suffered at Century BCE prophetess; the hands of plunderers and Ima Shalom, a First Cen- assisted in publishing tury intellect; Beruria, Jewish books; Esperanza of the Seventh Century; Malkhi, chiefladies' maid to Kasmunah, poetess of the Turkish Sultan's the Eighth Century; harem, 16th Century. Rebecca Tiktiaer, 16th Glueckel of Hameln; Sara zin Bat Tovim the author, 18th Century author; Rebit Mizrachi who headed a Century, Ukraine; Frau Kurdish yeshiva, in the Frumet Wold, 18th Century 16th Century; Devora As- Hungarian pamphleteer; carelli, a translator and Judith Montefiore, the wife poetess,. 17th Century; of the great Jewish philan- SEMI Coppice, St44nly 3. 1 741 Pkr°P 40C1, M.°.rPF8°; Hebrew poetess, Austrian, 19th Century; Rebecca Gratz; Penina Moise, 18th Century Charleston, S.C., author, Grace Aguilar, who gained fame as a novelist and essayist in her early youth, 19th Century, Eng- land; Emma Lazarus, the famed author of the inscrip- tion on the Statue of Lib- erty, and Penina Sahara= Davis, 1877-1925, noted American poet and trans- lator. Women in Jewish Law Of added interest in the field in the distaff ranks is "Jewish Women in Jewish Law" by Moehe Meiselman (Ktav). Many questions relating to the attitude of Jewish law to women and the challenge of feminism is thoroughly explored. The woman's role in the synagogue and her rights to participation in obser- vances are touched upon. The informative nature of this volume gives it special significance in view of the current extent of the feminist movement. —P.S.