THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
58 Friday, July 3, 1981
Time Spent Among Bedouins
Inspiration for Israeli Scientist
The
JERUSALEM
work of Israeli archeologist
Pessa Bar-Adon, including
his recent finds in -a nearly
inaccessible cave in Nahai
Mishmar, is the subject of
an article by Philip Gillon of
Israel Scene Magazine.
Bar-Adon recounts the
two years he spent, early in
his life, as a shepherd
among the BedoUin on the
Golan Heights and in the
Beit She'an Valley. He
comments on the effect that
this experience had on his
archeological work later on:
"There is no contradiction
between my working as a
shepherd with the Bedouin
and my leading an ar-
cheological dig in the desert
in my more mature years.
"After we made the
great discovery in the
Nahal Mishmar cave, a
BBC interviewer asked
me to explain my love for
the desert.
In typical Jewish fash-
ion, I answered his question
with a question: Can you
explain to me why a man
loves one particular woman
STRAIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE .. .
and not another?' He
couldn't.
"I told him, 'So it is with
me and the desert. I don't
know why I love it, but I
know that it has got me for
ever in it-, grip.
"When I visited Switzer-
land, for three days I ad-
mired the beauty of lakes
and rivers and forests and
greenery. Then I found my-
self longing to get back to
the arid Negev."
Of his recent dig, Bar-
Adon states:
"I chose a cave known as
Ma'arot Ha'eymin, the
Dread Cave because it was
virtually inaccessible. To
get to it we had to climb
down a rope ladder and then
swing into the cave at the
end of the ladder.
"I chose it precisely be-
cause of this difficulty. I
knew that over the years
the Bedouin had ransacked
caves in the area, and I
hoped that this cave had
proved too hard for them to
penetrate.
"Incidentally, I think one
of the reasons archeological
digs in the desert attract me
is because of the element of
adventure, even of danger.
"Working on the dig we
had volunteers, most of
them students from Is-
rael or abroad, and
soldiers. For a long time,
my cave produced noth-
ing. Nothing at all. One
day a girl from Argen-
tina, Ruthie Pechersky,
and a soldier, were at
work deep inside the
cave. I was closer to the
entrance.
"Suddenly, I heard her
cry out. I ran towards her
and saw that she was shak-
ing all over. I was terribly
worried, I thought maybe
she had been bitten by a
snake, and I shouted,
`Ruthie, what is it? What's
happened?' Just then the
soldier called out, Tessa,
there's more!' and I saw that
Ruthie had something cop-
per in her hand."
"Altogether we found no
fewer than 429 objects."
Hagarin Peanuts
from S. Africa
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KEEPING THE
DREAM ALIVE
By Don McEvoy
THIS GENTILE NEEDS JEWS
T
he writer of' the letter
identified herself as a
Jew. It was obviously written out of
great disillusionment and utter
despair. She stated her sad conclusion
(hopefully not shared by many) that
all attempts to foster interreligious
understanding were doomed to
failure. She had given up all hope
that Christians would ever accept
Jews as equal members of the human
family. She perceived parallels in
America with the last days of the
Weimar Republic in Germany and is
certain of a coming Holocaust on
these shores.
Then she offered her solution.
Since, she said, Christians did not
want to live among Jews and would
never agree to do so in peace and har-
mony, the only logical alternative
would be a massive relocation of all
Jews to Israel.
Instead of organizations like the
National Conference of Christians
and Jews working to create
brotherhood and sisterhood, why not
use our resources to launch a national
campaign to raise funds from Chris-
tian donors to underwrite total
Jewish emigration? Even the neo-
Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan and
proponents of a "Christian
Republic" would contribute to such a
cause, she said.
I knew that I could not reassure her
that her deepseated anxieties were
without foundation, even though I
personally believe otherwise. All I
could do, I decided, was to respond to
her proposal and give her my reasons
for not wanting to have anything to
do with it. I wanted her to hear per-
sonally from one Gentile who wanted
no part of living in a society without
Jews as my neighbors and fellow
citizens.
Beyond the personal friendships
which I cherish, and which sustain
me day by day, there are other_
reasons I would not want to live it
juden-frei nation. Every aspect of rny
life would be impoverished were it
not for the influence of Jews.
I would not want to live in a nation
that could never again have a Louis
Brandeis or : a Felix Frankfurter or an
Arthur Goldberg on its Supreme
Court.
I would not want to live in a coun-
try that could never again claim an
Isaac Stern or an Aaron Copland or a
Leonard Bernstein in the field of
music.
I would not want to exist in an en-
vironment that would never again
send a Jacob Javits or an Abe
Ribicoff or an Elizabeth Holtzman to
its legislative halls.
I would not wish to be a citizen of a
society that would not respond
hospitably to the diverse genius of an
Albert Einstein or a Jonas Salk or a
Woody Allen or Mel Brooks.
Strictly on a theological level, I am
not certain that Christianity could
long survive as an expression of
ethical monotheism without the per-
sistent corrective influences of a
vibrant Judaism side-by-side.
Individually I hail and support the
decision of any Jew who decides to
make Israel his or her home. But I
don't want to live in a country
without Jews.
(Don McEvoy is Senior Vice President of
The National Conference of Christians and
Jews. The opinions expressed are his own.)
Tiberias 2 000-Year-Old Resort
By R.J. LION
Israel Govt. Press Service
TIBERIAS — Glorious
sunshine, spectacular scen-
TEL AVIV (JNI) — The ery, a sparkling sea, ancient
Hagarin Import Co. re- ruins, cultural sights and
cently abandoned negotia- mineral springs are
tions with U.S. peanut com- Tiberias, a 2,000-year-old
pany reported to belong to vacation spot.
former U.S. President
Founded by Herod Anti-
Jimmy Carter in order to pas on the western shore of
buy from South African the Sea of Galilee and
suppliers at a lower price. named in honor of Emperor
Israel exports peanuts Tiberius, it is one of the four
while importing peanut Holy Cities of Judaism (in
butter because peanuts can addition to Jerusalem, Heb-
be sold for $1,200 per ton, ron and Safed). It was here
while peanut butter from that two major commen-
South Africa costs $600 per taries, the Yerushalmi
ton.
Talmud and the Mishna,
were written.
Also here are the graves
of some of Judaism's most
JERUSALEM (ZINS) — important figures, includ-
There was less labor strife ing Rabbi Akiva and
in Israel in 1980 than in Maimonides.
1979.
This area was one of
In 1980, there were 84
strikes involving 91,451 the first regions on earth
workers. In 1979, there to be intensively culti-
were 116 strikes involving vated by man, some
10,000 years ago. The
426,000 workers.
Fewer Strikes
C=(
.4444$
One of Tiberias' promenades on the Sea of Galilee.
settlers of the Jordan
Valley were attracted by
the climate, the fish in the
lake, the abundance of
water and the fertile soil.
Tiberias today is a true
vacation town, popular with
Israelis, Europeans and in-
creasing numbers of Ameri-
cans. The town is pretty and
attractive, constructed in
the most part from the black
volcanic basalt rock native
to the area.
The waterfront is lined
with hotels, beaches, prom-
enades and restaurants, in-
terspersed, of course, by the
occasional Crusades
Roman or Turkish ruin.
Gleaming white lak-
steamers chug from;
Tiberias across the lake ,4.)
Kibutz En Gev, site of the
Israel Spring Music Festi
val.